Star Wars: The Wrath of Darth Maul

Star Wars: The Wrath of Darth Maul — page 7 — Fortunately Maul was alone Looking through the window he tried to spot any signs of life Occasionally he would glimpse Mustafar's armored natives riding lava fleas in the distance heading for the northern region where they worked as miners A few times he had even seen ore haulers traveling across the sky At the moment he could not see any Mustafarians or vessels just the never ending flow of lava fire smoke and clouds The droid had told Maul that he wouldn't last long on Mustafar's surface but that didn't stop him from wanting to venture outside After all if the Mustafarians could move about freely why couldn't he He might need Mustafarian armor to protect him from the heat and also some kind of breathing apparatus He wondered how difficult it would be to acquire such things He had no reason to believe a Mustafarian would just give him what he needed to survive But he did imagine that going outside would be exciting Maul moved slightly and saw something shift across the window's surface Maul realized it was his own reflection He could see only the top of his head which had multiple small horns Like the rest of his body his head was distinguished by red and black patterns His eyes were bright yellow with small black pupils The first time he had seen his reflection he had been startled because he had thought he was seeing another person For all he knew his reflection was another person person another boy who looked like him and echoed his

Star Wars: The Wrath of Darth Maul — page 8 — every movement A boy who was semitransparent suspended suspended in the smoky air outside the room A boy who was free to roam the planet's volcanic surface without fear of injury who could leave Mustafar and go anywhere anywhere he wanted A boy who could help Maul escape Maul wished he were that boy Bracing his hands against the seamless area where the smooth metal wall met the glass Maul jumped up so he could see more of his thin body reflected in the window He jumped again and again fascinated by his leaping reflection as well as the sound of his bare feet smacking against the metal floor He pushed himself himself away from the window as he jumped back still facing the window and continued jumping for several minutes He didn't stop until well after his breathing had become short his feet had gotten sore and his leg muscles had begun stinging with pain Catching his breath he turned away from the window window and surveyed his room The room's only remarkable features were a single door against the wall opposite the window and a cold water faucet that was operated by a palm sensor positioned over a small drainage hole in one corner The door was made of thick metal the same material as the walls floor and ceiling The bottom of the door had a narrow horizontal slot through which the droid would sometimes shove a small tray of food usually usually bits of uncooked meat Maul could not see through the slot because it remained sealed when not in use by

Star Wars: The Wrath of Darth Maul — page 9 — a sliding sheet of metal Above the door was a convex blister that housed an audio speaker and also a photoreceptor photoreceptor which allowed the droid to watch Maul at all times There weren't any controls to open the door from inside Maul's room at least none that Maul had ever been able to find A chime sounded from the speaker alerting Maul to begin his exercises Even though his room was not very large and his legs were still tired from jumping he knew better than to ignore the chime He immediately began running in place At first Maul kept his arms tucked by his sides Then he started pumping his arms up and down to match the steady rhythm of his leg muscles He wanted to close his eyes and pretend that he was somewhere else perhaps a larger room but he was not allowed to close his eyes while exercising He forced his eyelids to stay open and pumped his legs faster The chime sounded again Maul stopped running fell back against the floor and began doing a series of sit ups and leg lifts After several minutes the chime sounded and Maul rolled over to do his push up exercises alternating alternating between one- and two handed push ups Several more minutes passed before the chime sounded again signaling the exercise session's end Maul collapsed against the cold floor Someone's coming Maul pushed himself up and stared hard at the door

Star Wars: The Wrath of Darth Maul — page 10 — Although he could not hear approaching footsteps he knew the door would open in a moment and a visitor would be standing in the chamber outside He didn't know how he knew this He just knew Maul could imagine only two possible visitors One was the droid that looked after him The other was the Man who rarely visited The Man wore a dark robe with a deep hood that left most of his features in shadow Maul had never actually seen the Man's eyes Maul hated the Man even more than he hated the droid The Man frightened him The door made a hissing sound as it slid up and vanished into a slot in the ceiling Standing outside the doorway was the droid Made of shiny black metal the droid had a bulbous head with five red mechanical eyes called photoreceptors and a mesh grille vocabulator for speaking and a cylindrical torso that held four long jointed pincers for arms The torso rested on a swivel hinged abdomen that had six spiderlike legs Maul never knew what to expect from the droid Sometimes it brought food or medicine or sprayed Maul with antiseptic cleansers or escorted him to a larger adjoining chamber where it would chase him or let him run in circles Other times it would talk to him and teach him words Usually the droid brought pain Once the droid had delivered a bright green and yellow snake that wasted no time in attacking Maul

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