“The time has come, Kenobi. Surrender yourself and I’ll see that your death is a quick one,” Dirae hissed from beneathe the hood of her black cloak. Her own red-bladed lightsaber was constructed to almost match Maul’s, only hers was not a double-sided saber. The handle was long enough for her to hold it better and strike faster. She held this saber in her clenched fists now, her green eyes filled with her anger towards the Jedi Master.
Kenobi stood before her, the lightsaber of his now dead master, Qui-Gon Jinn, held in his hands. His eyes gave off no sign of anger, only infinite calm and partial pity for this heartbroken Sith female. He felt her inner pain and wished he could talk her out of these endless challenges. Beside him was the teenaged Anakin Skywalker, dressed in the simple brown robes of a Jedi. His own blue lightsaber was drawn and held before him much like Kenobi’s. Only his eyes gave off a distinct dislike for the enraged Zabrakian Sith instead of pity or calm.
“You’ve hunted me down for years, Trator. I’ve told you my reasons for destroying Maul and yet you still persue me and my apprentice,” Kenobi said in a calm yet somewhat tense voice. Dirae pulled her lips back in a snarl, ignoring his words.
“Maul had his reasons as well, Kenobi. Master Sidious didn’t want any interference from you Jedi or the Naboo. Killing you and your foolish master was the only way,” she retorted. “Enough of this banter, Jedi! Defend yourself or die!” With that, Dirae rushed forward at Kenobi and slammed her saber against his when he raised it in defense.
“Master!” Skywalker shouted as Dirae pushed against Kenobi’s saber towards his face. Kenobi thrust forward and managed to free his saber. Dirae skidded backwards, snarled, and charged him again full force. Sparks flew as she hammered into Kenobi’s defenses, anger fueling her every blow. Everytime she confronted the Jedi master visions of Maul flashed through her mind’s eye. Images of him holding his dualsaber towards the reluctant Tatooine barkeep, the animal scent of him, his movements during battle flitted across her mindscape.
Then the image of him standing before her in her quarters, naked to the waist and demanding release. The scar on her cheek tingled with the familiar pain of his horn digging into her flesh. It sparked her anger more; her blows coming on more fierce than the last. The deadly whispers of her saber grew into screams as she continued to plummel Kenobi with striking trusts.
Suddenly, she felt another blow against her back. She fell forward with a cry then glanced over her shoulder at her attacker. Skywalker stood there, his saber extinguished and his fists held at eye level. In front of her she heard Kenobi shout to his foolish apprentice to keep away from her.
“You’ll pay for that strike, boy,” Dirae growled, rising to her full height and slashing at his robes with her lightsaber. Cloth seperated from itself and blood flew free from the wound on his arm. Skywalker howled in the hot pain of the wound and held his arm. He stumbled backwards away from her just as Kenobi came at her from behind. Sensing his attack she whipped up her saber, spun it around so the end of the long handle was protruding outwards, and rapped him sharply on the fingers. His saber dropped and flickered out. Dirae shifted the handle in her hand and held it to his throat.
“Now you die, Kenobi. Just as Maul did,” she said in a low menacing tone. Skywalker shouted at her to stop. Without taking her eyes off of Kenobi she kicked out behind her, hitting Skywalker in the chest and sending him sprawling onto his back. Dirae withdrew her saber just enough to swish it beside Kenobi’s head, severing the small braid in the middle. She smiled evilly, enjoying the slow torment she was putting the Jedi through. Kenobi stared her down, his hands slack at his sides, no expression on his face to betray his true thoughts.
“There is good in you,” he said quietly. Dirae’s left eyebrow twitched, disturbed by his words.
“All that was good in me was destroyed when you killed Maul,” she hissed in reply. “Anger is all I have now.”
Kenobi regarded her with sympathy. “Then why haven’t you struck me down?” It wasn’t a question, more like a statement in the form of an inquiry. Dirae’s grip relaxed on her lightsaber then finally lowered. The low swish of the blade as it was withdrawn sounded and she hooked it back on her belt. She heard Skywalker groan in pain behind her. She cast him a halfway interested glance then turned back to Kenobi.
“There will be a time when doubt no longer clouds my judgement, Jedi. When that time comes you’ll be the one in half instead of me,” she swore, turning away from him. She spat at the ground near Skywalker’s fallen form and climbed aboard Maul’s Speeder not too far from where they had fought. Without looking back at the two Jedi she sped away back to her ship, Maul I.
* * *
Back aboard her ship, Dirae sat in the pilot’s chair, fingers templed before her chin, her eyes gazing out blankly at the starscape. Always when she was alone, her thoughts traveled back to Maul. Evil as he was, his darkness had fully seduced her, rendering her concious thoughts useless, she had come to love him for who he was and what he stood for. The Sith had been almost wiped out for a thousand years by the Jedi Knights and Sidious had done what he had to to bring back the balance to the Force.
Sadly, she lowered her head onto the comm-panel and sighed deeply. She remained like that for a few moments, her mind racing, her heart continuing to break every time she envisioned his face. Tattooed, fierce, ruthless, and loyal, Maul was her prime example of a male. Suddenly, a notion came to her. Sidious had been devising ways to clone people in the past years. Yet the idea of a clone of Maul disappointed her. He wouldn’t have his scent, his ferocity, his passion for battle. Only one thing remained. She had to find him at the bottom of the Naboo palace. With renewed determination, she set a plot course for Naboo, switched on autopilot, and retreated to her tiny quarters.
Hours later after traveling in lightspeed, the green planet of Naboo loomed up in her viewscreen. Dirae’s heart pounded. Somewhere on that planet her beloved’s remains rested, split in half by an angered Jedi, and tossed into the deep recesses of an abyss. She could restore him, heal him, make him whole once more and they would have their revenge on the Jedi. Despite what Sidious would do or say, her heart screamed Maul’s name; yes, she was quite set in her plans. She would have her dark love again.
* * *
Dirae landed Maul I on the outskirts of the bustling city, deep within the woods. She had no fear of the water-dwellers, the Gungans, since their treaty with the Naboo. She flipped the cloaking device control on her wristcomm and watched her ship fade away, the only evidence of its presence the indents of the landing gears in the grass. Satisfied, she double-checked her saber, drew up her hood and started for the city.
Outside of the palace, a pair of Gungan warriors paced the grounds before the entrance. They carried long spears over their shoulders for weapons. Further up on the steps were Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, and Padme`, otherwise known as Amidala. Both Jedi had their hands crossed beneathe their flowing sleeves as they strolled with the young queen in her casualwear. The real Padme` was seated in the throne room acting as Amidala while the real queen enjoyed some time to herself.
From behind a wall of the palace, Dirae watched with seething hatred at the two Jedi and their young queen. Her revenge would have to wait on this day; she was here for her love’s remains. Once the guards were out of her range, she sped forward on swift feet, silent as shadows. The trio of humans didn’t seem to notice her presence at all. Dirae scoffed at how unobservant they were and hurried into a rear palace entrance.
She silently made her way to the docking bay in the rear of the palace and roamed into the generator core chambers. Energy beams hummed all around her as she stalked towards the damaged abyss near the main generator. She swalloed thickly and peered down into the lighted tunnel shaft. Miles and miles of nothing stretched out beneathe her, yet she felt no fear, only joy. She closed her eyes and reached out with the Force to sense his spirit. In the distant recesses of her mind she heard him calling her name softly.
“Dirae...” The words were like a whispered prayer carried on the wings of a demon. They reached her heart and seared her soul pleasantly. Releasing a long sigh, Dirae removed a grappling hook from her belt, hooked it on an undamaged section of the abyss, and began her long descend to the bottom. Wherever that was. Lights flashed in her eyes yet she could not see them. Her eyes were filled with the image of him laying at the bottom, surviving on his darkness alone. His body was dead yet his soul remained strong in the Dark Side. The Sith were not so easily beaten. Destroy their bodies, remove their weapons, they always retained their hold on the Dark Side of the Force and would return in the form of another to destroy those who destroyed them.