Life's Last Sweet Moment.

It took a dozen technical recruits to operate the magnetic crane needed to place the final pieces of the weapon in place. The design was not a new one, but this gun had been modified to double the fire power of its predecessor on the original Death Star.

They were behind schedule - way behind. Lieutenant Krusp tapped his wrist communicator and barked orders at the techs' commander. It was the stormtroopers, he believed, that slowed them down. The techs weren't used to the military hovering over their every move and certainly weren't used to working with armed guards watching their performance. Every time one of the masked guards shifted from one foot to the other the nearest tech would jump. Krusp had never seen so many tools dropped in a single hour.

It was getting quite late. The techs were tired and Krusp decided to end the twelve hour shift an hour early. It would not do to have the techs screw up this portion of the new battle station. It had been deemed top priority and was to be completed even before the defense screen. Krusp yelled to the tech commander to finish up the portion they were working on and call it a day. They finished quickly, eager for the break, and filed out of the chamber and up the small elevator platform to the finished levels. The guards followed in single file.

*****

One of the major flaws in any security system is the assumed loyalty of those in charge of security. Even when you can guarantee the top people are working for the common goal there are always far too many underlings. It is impossible to account for each and every one.

The last masked guard lingered behind, stepped into the shadows and waited for the rest of the troop to leave the area. Once they were gone, the stormtrooper moved back towards the newly laid components of the huge, planet-killing weapon. He began to take careful measurements of each piece and the placement of all the parts into the existing design. The guard stared intently and memorized each calculation, for none of them were written down. The trooper finished quickly, always listening for the approach of others, then followed the footsteps of those who had already departed.

The blank corridors of the battle station were nearly empty. There were few soldiers stationed on the new Death Star compared to its size and none were assigned to the section the stormtrooper traveled through. Techs and metal workers outnumbered military personnel five to one during the battle station's construction and it was rare to run into anyone in the dimly lit sections of the unfinished side. Many sections the figure walked through opened out into space. If the magnetic field did not surround the open areas of the station, the workers would be lost to the vacuum.

The trooper stepped lightly and quickly through the maze until coming to a large, empty hanger. Anyone who might have observed him would have noticed his graceful, swift movements - how every step was deliberate and with purpose. He did not walk randomly or carelessly, but more like a gymnast executing a complicated, choreographed routine. Before entering the hanger the figure stopped and cocked a helmeted head to one side, listening. Satisfied there was no one about, the guard headed to the far end of the hanger next to the airlock where a row of pressure suits hung neatly. He reached up and unclasped the helmet of the stormtrooper uniform and removed it, revealing the darkly tattooed face of Maul, former Lord of the Sith.

Maul discarded the uniform in a locker and donned a pressure suit. He accessed the hatch controls and entered, closing the inner door then opening the outer. It was a short space walk to the cloaked vessel starboard of the hatch - the Infiltrator II. He entered his ship and removed the pressure suit. He headed to the back of the ship to make the adjustments to his own version of the Death Star's primary weapon.

Maul had been waiting for this time many, many years.

Years of living in the shadows, making himself non existent not only to his former Master, but to the entire galaxy. Anyone who saw him too closely had been eliminated quickly, quietly, and with a perfectly plausible story to cover Maul's tracks. There were none who could even recall an oddly tattooed Iridonian stalking around the rim planets. It had to be so.

It's the only way his revenge would succeed.

Revenge on the Master who betrayed him, and the Apprentice who took his place.

Darth Sidious had believed his Zabrak Apprentice to be so consumed with hatred of the Jedi and loyalty to his Sith Master that he could never see the truth, but the fall down the Theed reactor pit was long. Maul had had plenty of time to come to the realization that he had been set up - his Master intended for him to perish and the child to take his place. Sidious believed his Apprentice to be of one use only - that of a warrior. It had not occurred to Sidious that Maul was capable of far more.

 *****

It had been Maul's hatred of the trusted teacher who had betrayed him that kept him alive long enough to leave Naboo, build a new ship and begin to plot his revenge. The original ship had to be abandoned at the Theed hanger, and it had taken more than a decade to replace it. Patience, his Master had preached relentlessly, and now Maul understood that lesson.

From afar, he had watched the coming and going of the Clone Wars, the rise of Palpatine's Galactic Empire, and the construction and destruction of the first Death Star. He alone on the first huge space station had closely examined the Rebel's approach, checked the construction databanks and saw their target. He felt what Sidious and Vader had overlooked, even though the call of the Force was so strong in Skywalker's son Maul didn't understand how it could have been missed. Maul had moved quickly to a life pod, fitted it with a portable cloaking device, and jettisoned himself into deep space. He removed the stark white stormtrooper's mask from his head in time to see the Death Star blast into chunks of worthless metal.

Soon he would need to move against the Apprentice and let the grown child prodigy understand the true nature of the Dark Side. It was time to teach the Sith a lesson in true hatred. And the lesson would not be aimed at Vader and his Master alone, but there was the matter of the last of the Jedi to contend with. Maul may not have considered himself Sith any longer, but he wasn't about to let a Jedi live.

Maul would not have let the Skywalker family live even if their Jedi traits had not been developed. They were a threat and would always be, if only because their midichlorian counts outmatched his own. Though Maul's focus was one of revenge, he had not forgotten his original designs on rule of all he could control, and any Force-strong family would threaten that possibility. The Skywalker clan would have to be eliminated along with the last of both orders.

It would take the techs another week to finish the new weapon. They should have been finished some time ago, but one thing after another had slowed the process, and now rumor was Lord Vader would be arriving soon to get the construction back on schedule by any means at his disposal. Maul smiled at the thought of the child (he would always think of Vader as the little runt he should have run over on the outskirts of Mos Espa) traipsing around the station, throttling those who don't perform to his standards without a thought to their worth as allies. Maul both hated and pitied the new Apprentice to Master Sidious, and considered him both unimaginative and tiresome. 

Maul finished the modifications to his own weapon and managed to spend an hour meditating before it was time to return to his stormtrooper duties. Back on board the space station, Maul merged with his unit unnoticed and realized they were not headed for the site of the gun's construction, but were following the main corridor to the other side of the station - the completed section. After a few minutes of lift travel, he was positioned with several hundred others in the main hanger, part of the reception for Lord Vader's arrival.

The former Sith was placed right in front, facing another row of guards. He breathed deeply and evenly, slowly building a thin veil of Force energy around himself like a dark cloak tightening against a cold wind. Though Maul's eyes remained closed, he sensed the approach of the Dark Lord who replaced him as Vader moved closer, growling threats at the station's commander.

"The Emperor's coming here?" the words found Maul's ears and he had to fight to control his mental shield. Vader passed him by without a glance, completely unaware of the Force-user's presence. Once Vader was out of the hanger they were dismissed to continue with their regular duties. With great effort, Maul followed his unit back to the weapon, took the specs he needed (making mental note that the presence of the Sith Apprentice did seem to have sped the techs along) and returned to his ship.

Maul decided it was time to make his move. He needed to approach Vader before the Emperor arrived. He had to plant the seeds of his plan quickly, or all his time waiting and preparing would be for nothing.

Within the confines of the Infiltrator II, Maul sat wearing his old Sith robes - the only thing he kept from his past life. He meditated and pulled strength from the darkest recesses of the Force. The red candles in a circle around his kneeling form flickered though there was no breeze within the confines of the space craft. If there had been any observers, they might have sworn an actual palpable cloak of charcoal energy swirled and spun around Maul's body until he inhaled sharply, and the dense fog of energy disappeared into his nostrils. His eyes opened and the candle flames winked out, leaving him in darkness.

*****

His Sith clothes now gone, Maul closed the airlock and donned his stormtrooper costume. Instead of heading toward his alter ego's duty station he moved quietly and gracefully through the corridors of the station. Though he followed a trail with his Force senses he already knew where the hunt would terminate - at the upper chamber reserved for the Sith Master himself. The elevator was guarded, but the weak Force-users that made up the Emperor's guard were no match for the Zabrak and he passed by them easily.

Maul pulled his Force shield tighter around his psyche and took measured breaths as the lift rose and carried him to the Sith Lord, Darth Vader.

The door slid sideways and the panel disappeared into itself as Maul stepped out and quickly surveyed the chamber. He knew it only from the station blueprints, but was not surprised at the dark room, the walls consisting entirely of view ports with a single, high backed chair in the middle of them. Its resemblance to Senator Palpatine's old residence on Coruscant was uncanny.

Lord Vader stood in the middle of the vaulted chamber on a long, sloping ramp that led to the single seat, gazing out the view ports to the fleet of ships surrounding the partially constructed station.

Maul paused and smiled inwardly. He dropped his mental cloak and waited for Lord Vader to notice him. In the nanosecond it took for the former Jedi to sense him and turn, Maul had stepped out of the shadows near the lift doors and removed the stormtrooper's helmet.

"I know who you are," Vader said, "but not how you come to be here." He took a few steps down the platform towards Maul. "Are you a vision? A guide from the beyond?"

"A guide perhaps," Maul said, "but not from the other side."

"Obi Wan defeated you," Vader stated. "You fell down the reactor's pit on Naboo. You were cleaved in half by his saber."

"Yes."

"You survived the fall?"

"I did."

"How can that be?"

"Irrelevant. I am here now."

"Why are you here?" Vader's automatic breathing remained at the same regulated pace, but that did not veil his suspicion. "Have you come to reclaim the Sith title I assumed?"

Maul released a tight-lipped chuckle. "If it was the Apprenticeship I desired, I would have come for it long ago," Maul took a few steps closer to Vader. "No, it is not your title I seek, Lord Vader, but your alliance."

"Alliance?" Vader sneered. "Ridiculous. What could possibly persuade me in such a direction?"

"Reason, I hope," Maul answered. "I would suggest you hear me out before making your decision."

"I cannot imagine anything you could say that would interest me," Vader replied. "Unless it is to offer me your head."

"So why not listen first and execute me later?"

Vader seemed to consider this, but did not reply. Maul took his lack of response as favorable, and continued.

"Have you ever paused and considered the events in your life?" Maul asked. "Don't bother answering - the question is rhetorical. You haven't, any more than I had when I occupied your same position. I never really understood, or even tried to understand, his plans. Not his plans for Naboo, the Senate, the Galaxy, and least of all his plans for me."

Maul eyed Vader closely to see if he could view any change in expression behind Vader's obscuring facemask. He could not, and so far the Dark Lord's emotions remained hidden from Maul.

"It takes a very, very long time to fall down a reactor shaft," Maul stated, his voice grave. "It's enough time to learn a lot. I'm not talking about watching your life flash before your eyes and facing your guilt and regrets or any such nonsense. I'm talking about genuinely learning something you had not known previously. Math, for instance," Maul laughed. "I learned all about how to put two and two together during that fall. I am here to help you learn a little basic arithmetic, Lord Vader. Without having to be severed first."

"I grow impatient," Vader snarled. "I do not care to be plagued with your personal insights during a near death experience. From my Master's descriptions of you I expected more."

"Touché," Maul bowed his head slightly, "but the fact remains, I am here to offer you some enlightenment. Shall I continue?"

"You only prolong the inevitable," Vader dismissed with a wave. "The only logical explanation for your presence is to challenge me. That is of no concern. Obi Wan bested you, and I defeated Obi Wan. The conclusion of a duel between us is obvious."

" I seek no duel with you, Lord Vader," Maul reminded the Sith, "but a deal."

"Deal?"

"A deal that allows me the revenge I desire and you the galaxy to hold in your hand."

"The galaxy will be mine without your deal," Vader folded his arms across his chest. "You revenge is irrelevant to my success."

"In your experience I'm sure that is true. However, you must realize there was a time when I was next in line to rule the galaxy," Maul gestured to his stormtrooper's garb, "and look at me now! A lowly corporal!" He laughed a bit too loud and wondered if he was becoming a little unstable. That was not the impression he wished to give. Not entirely, anyway. Maul's vision blurred just a little and the room around him seemed to be moving past him very quickly. It was not the first time he had felt such a sensation, but it still made his head swim.

Maul recovered before Vader noticed.

"But please, allow me to continue."

Vader stood motionless and silent. Maul went on.

"As I said, I learned to put two and two together during that fall. I was not bested in the Theed hanger, I was betrayed. Betrayed twice, actually," Maul let the words sink in a moment. "Once by my own ego and again by my Master."

"The first you can well imagine, I am sure. You suffered from it yourself - you and Governor Tarkin on the first Death Star. Yes, I was there with you. I left in an escape pod when I realized what the rebels were planning and whose son was leading the pack to victory. I thought myself invincible at one point, and to some degree I should have been. I was stronger and faster than both of those Jedi put together. There was only one way I could have been defeated, and that was if they had help. That's where the second betrayal comes in. If I had thrown my blade down the throat of Kenobi I would have killed him, but my ego told me to have a little fun first. He counted on that, you know. I felt his presence while I watched Kenobi hang there. How could I not feel him, my Master, teacher and only companion for most of my life?"

"At first I thought he was there to take pride in my destroying the Jedi or to observe my skills, but then I saw the Jedi's face and I knew - I knew what he was going to do," Maul twisted his head to see Vader on the platform above him. He still saw no expression, but he could sense that the Sith was listening and remembering.

"When Obi Wan came up from the pit it was not entirely of his own power. I could feel my Master's hand about him, pulling him to safety at the same time keeping me from responding. I was held in his grip, my lightsaber dimmed at his will, not mine. Yes," Maul nodded as the realization hit Vader. "Not only did he allow me to be defeated, but he had a hand in it himself."

"Why?"

"Fear, of course," Maul replied. "Fear and cunning, the ways of the Sith. I was a superb warrior. My physical strength would defeat him soon, and he knew it."

"What does this have to do with me?"

"Open your eyes, Lord Vader. You are now in the same position. You are dangling over a pit at Theed, but you have not realized it. Do you really think he is going to allow you and your son to join together against him? Defeat him for the sake of the Sith order? He doesn't care about the Sith! He cares about power! His Empire, above all else!" Maul breathed deep, regaining control. He was finding it more difficult to release these pent-up thoughts than he thought it would be.

"My Master understands the power must flow from Master to Apprentice…"

"Yes, yes!" Maul grew impatient. "I know the code. But he has no intention of allowing you to defeat him, or even allowing your son to go on after him. He will have you defeated by Skywalker as he had me defeated by Skywalker's Master. And once he outlives his usefulness, the Emperor will choose a new Apprentice and allow Skywalker to die at his hands."

Vader made no response, but Maul felt him retract slightly. He knew one thing about Vader's inner thoughts - he wished to rule, just as the Emperor did. He wanted to rule the galaxy with his son at his side. Sentimental idiocy, Maul thought, but he knew Vader's feelings to be strong. He took a few steps forward.

"You know I speak the truth, my mind is open to you," Maul released a tiny sliver of mental barrier and opened to Darth Vader, allowing him to see inside Maul's thoughts. He allowed Vader to glimpse the past and present, to know many secret things in his mind. He granted access to the things Vader would think important and worthy of guarding, and Vader saw these things and acknowledged them. And in seeing these things, he did not notice the knowledge that remained out of his reach. Maul was sure his true agenda remained out of view.

"What is your deal?" Vader's apprehension dropped from him like a cloak falling before battle. Maul smiled inwardly again.

"I want my revenge, with your assistance" Maul stated simply. "I will see the Emperor die and you will rule with your son in return."

"The Emperor has foreseen our destiny - Skywalker will join us," there was no heart in Darth Vader's words.

"He will not, anymore than your saber's blade will turn to blue and you join the rebels," Maul countered. "Skywalker believes you will turn to the light, but we know it is too late for you."

"I will serve my Master," Vader straightened his shoulders and looked down at his predecessor. "You were weak, that is why he eliminated you. There is no reason for me to believe my fate will be the same. I am the strongest the Force has ever produced."

"That is true," Maul nodded. "You have the highest midichlorian count anyone has ever encountered, but how then are you still the Apprentice and not the Master?"

"What do you mean?"

"Why do you think Anakin Skywalker chose the path of darkness?"

"I know the reasons."

"But do you know how they came about?" Maul asked. "What do you think really happened to Shmi Skywalker? Do you really think the Emperor would have allowed her to rejoin you? Do you think her death was an accident?" Maul scoffed. "Do you believe he had nothing to do with the conception of Amidala's child? You think her demise was without his aid? Break through the fog Sidious has sewn about you and you will see his plan unfold before you."

Maul probed into the Dark Lord's mind, gently. There was no resistance, and he could see the mental effect his words were having on the Sith. The events of the past began to unfold and shift, and his knowledge grew. Darth Vader turned away from him, his hidden eyes focusing outward, past the fleet beyond the view ports. Maul knew at this point that he had won. He would have his revenge.

*****

Maul marveled at how easy it had been. The Emperor had gained many flaws as he advanced in years, and the biggest ones seemed to be complacency and arrogance. Here he stood, the former Apprentice, not twenty meters from the Master Sith, and his presence went unnoticed. He nearly laughed out loud when he saw the uniforms of the Emperor's guard. They could almost have been worn by the handmaids on Naboo. The old fool never seemed to get over that tiny, pointless planet. Now Maul concealed himself in the red fabric as the Apprentice stepped through the doors, young Skywalker at his side.

The guards were ordered to leave. With a mental glance at Vader, Maul turned and left with the others. He was disappointed - he would not be able to see his former Master fall with his own eyes, but he would still know. His plan with Vader would not fail, though he didn't think the outcome would be quite as Vader imagined it. And the idea that Vader would be left to rule with his son - preposterous!

None of them would be left, and there would be nothing remaining to rule. The Empire and the Rebels would not survive the day.

Maul left the other guards, disposing of them quickly and carelessly when they protested his leaving. Stealth was no longer his concern. Back on the Infiltrator II he went through the automatic motions of preparing his ship to depart and added the finishing touches to the weapon it now housed.

Although his hands worked on his departure, his mind was still deep within the Death Star's bowels where Vader and his son fought. The son was focusing too much on the battle outside and those pathetic rebels being blown into pieces just outside of the station's active magnetic shield. Vader probed at his son's thoughts and came up with the bit of information Maul had withheld from him. It would have been the last bit of influence used to convince Vader, but Maul had not found it necessary to expose the truth of the other child - the twin sister. It didn't matter now.

Maul felt Vader's defeat in battle and knew his pain when the severed hand flew away from his body. That had not been part of their plan. Again, Maul turned his mind's eye to the Apprentice and gave him enough strength to rise and stand close to the Emperor.

You see? Maul spoke inside Vader's head. He would have let you fall.

Vader's mind seemed to slump down as his body did.

Not yet, my accomplice, Maul growled. You aren't finished yet.

Maul saw through Vader's eyes and felt, to some degree, the pain in watching his son being tormented by the Emperor's lightning touch. Young Skywalker was weakening and Maul compelled Vader to turn his head, looking to the Emperor. Maul reached out, his fingers grasping at the mind that he knew so well. His Force power reached his former Master and held him there. Vader took his cue and flung the Emperor into the reactor shaft.

As Darth Sidious fell Maul projected his own image to the Sith Master. It wouldn't do for Sidious to perish without knowing who had brought it about. He wanted him to know, and when he felt the old man's understanding, anger and hatred, he let go.

Again, Maul felt the world around him spin and blur and the cockpit of his ship seemed to fade out of existence for a moment. He tried to shake his head to clear the sensation of falling from his mind, but he could not. His memories conjured up the vision of Obi Wan far above him, staring down with contempt and hatred - his face mingling with the features of Senator Palpatine.

Maul slumped forward over the console of the Infiltrator II. He swallowed hard and tried to regain control over his throbbing head. There seemed to be a huge, dark emptiness inside of him, like a chunk of his own being had accompanied Sidious down into the reactor's fire and shared the fate of the Sith. When he tried to breath inward it came as a sob, his throat constricting and not allowing him to push himself back into the command chair. Space swirled and spun around him and his reflexes jerked, like one does when roused from a light sleep. He clenched his eyes tight and gritted his teeth. Slowly he managed to push himself up and stand, shaking, and start the control sequence to move his ship away from the Death Star.

The automatic pilot took him to a predetermined point on the dark side of the forest moon where he could still clearly see the partial Death Star blast into billions of tiny glowing bits of shrapnel through the transparasteel screen. He sat back in his seat and breathed deeply for several minutes. He reached out with his mind to find Vader but felt nothing. He wasn't sure if the distance was too great for his weakened condition or if Vader and Skywalker had perished.

Whether Vader had died in the explosion or not, he would not have survived the effects of the Emperor's final attack on him. The electrical controls of the suit that kept him alive would not have maintained their functionality with such current flowing through them. Vader was gone.

Maul pushed himself up into a standing position. He was still weak, but his head was clearing. He realized some few hours had passed since the ship had begun its orbit about the moon. He reached out again, this time for the Force-signature of the Skywalker twins. They were easy to locate, one not knowing how to conceal her mind and the other believing there was nothing left from which to hide.

The gun was ready.

It wasn't near the size of the weapon that had been on the Death Star, or nearly as powerful. It could not take out a planet of any size, nor a decent sized moon like Endor. However, it could take out a sizable chunk. Maul flipped a series of switches and the weapon began to hum.

It occurred to Maul that the power of the beam just might be too much for his small one man craft to handle. He might very well be tossed back and out into deep space, drifting without power.

He cleared his mind of the thought. It was of no consequence and he had to act quickly. His scanners picked up the life forms on the planet below, their fires in the dark clearly visible from space. Maul grinned - they were having a party, he realized. A celebration of their victory. If only they knew how short lived it would be.

Maul maneuvered the cannon's electronic sighting mechanism until it focused on the group below. He calculated the general range and fallout area and was satisfied it would encompass them all. Skywalker was standing away from the group, and Maul was concerned that he might be far enough from the epicenter to survive, but the Force leaned towards darkness for a moment, and Skywalker walked slowly towards the others, a whimsical smile on his face.

Maul studied the youth in the amount of time it took for his finger to find the trigger of the weapon and engage it. Skywalker looked up just as the bright red flare burned through the atmosphere and engulfed the settlement.

Fires burned throughout the moon for nine days and nights until the entire forest was consumed. The Ewok race no longer existed along with most of the other large sentient creatures. A few invertebrates remained within the moons few lakes, but nothing more. The lessened mass of Endor caused its orbit to shift and the moon gradually warmed as it spiraled into the nearby star.

Maul did not know the extent of the destruction. The weapon had indeed flung him out into deep space, far from any of the Empire's trade routes or the influence of the Rebel Alliance, if either existed now without their leaders. The electric pulse had shorted-out most of the guidance equipment on the Infiltrator II and there was no way to control the small craft. Ironically, the cloaking device not only remained intact, but fused in such a way Maul could not shut it down. If it had not, there would have been the slim chance a trader or pirate would have spotted his ship and offered some high-priced assistance. But it was not to be.

Maul pondered the Force and its designs, as he often had since his long trip down the reactor shaft on Naboo. He knew the Force to be his ally, and it flowed through him and comforted him. Even knowing his strength with the mystical energy, he wondered how he could have been spared death from that fall. Why was he allowed to exact his revenge on his enemies just to die floating in space? It didn't seem fitting, but he found the thought fading from his mind.

A long, long fall it was. It offered enough time to not only see the past, explore the intricacies of the present, but also enough time to live out the future. A difficult and mind-numbing procedure the Force reserved only for those most worthy. And Maul was worthy.

Maul's vision blurred a bit and he felt dizzy. His hand slipped from the weapon's controls and he felt his head tilt back. There was a sudden pain through his middle, one he had not experienced in a long, long time. He knew he was falling backwards, his control over his muscles suddenly vanishing like an extinguished star. He would hit the floor of the Infiltrator II soon. No matter, he thought. I have survived a fall that was much farther than this.

"Obi Wan defeated you," Vader stated. "You fell down the reactor's pit on Naboo. You were cleaved in half by his saber."

"Yes."

"You survived the fall?"

"I did."

"How can that be?"

How, indeed? How had he survived such a long, treacherous fall? How was he healed? He searched backwards in his mind, but found no answer, only a soothing voice telling him it did not matter, he was here now.

Maul felt his eyes close and he smiled to himself once more. The fall did not matter. What mattered was that he had completed his task. The Jedi were destroyed along side his old Master and the new Apprentice. Jedi gone, Sith gone. He felt he could die now without regret or longing for revenge.

He didn't hear the sound of his head and back hitting the floor, nor the sound of his lower half dropping down next to him. He did not see the extensive shaft above, nor feel the heat of the core below, but lay silent and content.

END