easily dodged it. Before the spear clattered against the wall, the Bartokk
extended ali his claws and lunged. Maul brought his lightsaber up fast and
gave it a neat spin, slicing the Bartokk's claws off with the first turn, and
then topping off his head with the sec - ond. Even though the Bartokk's sku(t
was protected by his exoskeleton armor, his head hit the floor with an ugly
noise. The two Bartokks' dismembered limbs all scrambled and clawed for Darth
Maul. To avoid the crawling carnage, he leaped up into the air and executed a
backward somersault, then landed hard. Maul swung his lightsaber and kicked at
the body parts, sending them into the toxic pool. During Maul's battle with
the two Bartokks, the vocabulator-equipped Bartokk remained off to the side of
the chamber, monitoring Maul's every move. Seeing his two comrades perish, the
surviving Bartokk snatched a fallen spear from the floor. Maul wanted to get
information out of the Bartokk. He was determined to take him alive.
Out of the corner of one eye, Maul noticed the metal hook swinging back
and forth at the end of the chain that dangled from the ceiling. Below the
hook, the toxic pool continued to bubble and steam. As the Bartokk sprang,
Darth Maul used the Force to propel the metal hook through the air. The hook
snagged the Bartokk, catching him before the chain snagged at the pulley. The
Bartokk swung out in a broad arc, struggling to free himself from the sharp
hook as he dangled over the toxic pool. Maul removed the restraining bolt
activator from the Bartokk's belt, then stated,
"You're going to answer some questions."
"You won't get a word out of me," the Bartokk replied in a gravelly
voice. Maul produced the container he had removed from the interrogation
droid. It held a full dose of Bavo Six, a powerful truth serum. Without
further hesitation, Maul jumped up on top of the winch, reached out, and
introduced the serum into the Bartokk's system.
"I want to know the name of your client and why you stole the Trade
Federation droid starfighters," Maul demanded as he deactivated his
lightsaber. Panic was visible in the Bartokk's bulbous eyes as the truth serum
worked its way through his nervous system. Reluctantly, he answered,
"We were hired by Groodo the Hutt. He owns a factory on Esseles that
specializes in the manufacture of customized hyperdrive engines. Our job was
to destroy Corulag Academy, but to make it look like the Trade Federation was
responsible."
Darth Maul considered the Bartokk's response, and realized he now had
more questions.
"Why did Groodo want to blame the Trade Federation, and how did he know
the droid starfighters were on Esseles?"
"The Trade Federation had secretly commissioned Groodo to construct a
prototype hyperdrive engine, but they refused to pay him," the Bartokk
replied. "Groodo placed a sensor tag on the prototype. He tracked the sensor
tag to Trinkatta Starships, where he discovered Trinkatta was constructing
fifty droid starfighters. The Hutt hired us to steal the prototype engine as
well as the star fighters."
"I saw only twenty-five droid starfighters in the landing bay," Maul
commented. "Where are the other twenty-five droid starfighters and the
prototype hyperdrive engine now?"
"They were in another freighter," the Bartokk answered. "It was overtaken
by the Jedi."
The Jedi. Darth Maul was not surprised they were involved. Now he could
think of only two more questions.
"Why does Groodo want to destroy Corulag Academy, and where is he now?"
The Bartokk tried to fight the truth serum, but answered,
"Groodo was angered that his son was denied admission to the Academy.
Both Groodo and his son are now on their private cruiser, in orbit around
Corulag. Groodo wants to watch the destruction of the Academy."
Darth Maul had to admit that Groodo's plan was cunning. By using the
droid starfighters to blame the Trade Federation for an attack on Corulag
Academy, the Hutt would have his revenge on both the unscrupulous Trade
Federation and the discriminating Academy. Without warning, one of the
Bartokk's legs kicked at Darth Maul, knocking the Sith from the winch to the
edge of the pool. Then, the Bartokk reached for a concealed weapon. It was a
razor - edged boomerang. The Bartokk drew his arm back and threw the boomerang
at Maul. The Sith Lord activated his lightsaber and swung at the oncoming
boomerang. The lightsaber's blade barely glanced Bartokk's weapon, but the
contact was enough to launch the boomerang straight for the metal chain that
hung above the pool.
The boomerang cut clean through the chain, and the Bartokk plunged down
into the toxic pool with a great splash. Maul watched as the Bartokk's body
rapidly melted. Maul deactivated his lightsaber and proceeded to the far end
of the chamber. There he found a narrow doorway that led to a circular
staircase. Cautiously, he moved up the stairs, which wrapped around a central
stone column, until he reached a large room on the first-floor level of the
fortress. The room was piled high with explosives and assorted munitions. A
plastic box filled with thermal detonators caught Darth Maul's attention. The
detonators were shaped like small metal balls and resembled standard grenades,
but they contained a powerful synthetic explosive called baradium. Maul
immediately contemplated setting the timer on a single detonator and leaving
it in the volatile munitions room. The destruction of so many baradium-filled
weapons would cause an explosion that might bring down the entire fortress.
Since the detonator's timer offered a maximum countdown of ten minutes, Maul
knew he would have to leave the fortress fast. There was only one setback. For
all Maul knew, it was possible that C-3PX was still trapped within the
fortress' dungeon. If the droid had not already escaped, there would be little
chance for his survival. Maul set the timer on a thermal detonator for a ten-
minute countdown. As he placed the detonator back in the plastic box, he
removed a second detonator and clipped it to his belt. Maul liked to be
prepared. He left the munitions room and quickly found his way through the
fortress until he reached the courtyard. There, under the light of Ralltiir's
moons, the spike-covered Bartokk freighter remained on the landing pad. To
Maul's surprise, the freighter's main cargo door was still wide open. Just
beyond the freighter, he saw two Bartokks standing beside their repulsorlift
skiff. They had retrieved his speeder, and were unloading it from the skiff.
The Sith Lord considered making a break for the speeder, but he needed to find
out what had happened to the twenty-five droid starfighters. He walked around
the freighter and found that the droid starfighters were gone, along with the
six-winged Bartokk starfighter that had been docked to the freighter. Since
the Trade Federa - tion droid starfighters were controlled by a central droid
computer, it seemed likely that the Bartokk starfighter was carrying the
control computer and guiding the fighters to Corulag. The six-winged
starfighter would ha
ve needed a crew of three Bartokks, which left at least
five Bartokks on Ralltiir.
Unlike the Bartokk freighter, the departed starfighters had been
engineered for hyperspeed. To pursue the droid starfighters to Corulag, Darth
Maul knew he would have to return to the Sith Infiltrator. But first he wanted
to board the freighter and take the Bartokks' tracking sensor technology. Maul
hoped the secured technology would enable him to prevent the Bartokks from
tracking the Sith Infiltrator in cloak mode. Maul consulted his chronometer.
He had less than six minutes before the thermal detonator was timed to explode
in the fortress. He had already decided that obtaining the Bartokks' tracking
sensor data was worth the risk. Over by the skiff, the two Bartokks were
examining Maul's speeder. While they were preoccupied, Maul slipped up the
freighter's landing ramp and entered the main cargo hold. He ran through a
murky corridor until he located the freighter's bridge. Like everything else
on the freighter, the main computer console was de - signed to be operated by
Bartokk claws. However, Maul was skilled at retrieving information from alien
technology. He inspected the scanners and his fingers darted over the
controls. Seconds later, Maul found the sensor data. The Bartokks had used a
highly sensitive sensor called a crystal gravitational trap to detect
gravitational fluctuations generated by his cloaked ship. With this sensor,
his cloaked ship could not hide from the Bartokks. Maul punched up a data card
and downloaded the information. Maul believed the Sith Infiltrator's computers
could examine the data and find a way for his cloaking device to elude the
Bartokks' scans. Maul turned away from the computer console and found himself
facing another Bartokk. In each of his four claws, the Bartokk gripped a
vibro-ax. The Sith Lord was amazed the assassin had been able to sneak up
behind him, but his amazement immediately turned into defensive action. The
Bartokk whipped two of the vibro-axes at Maul. The Sith Lord darted to the
side as he acti - vated his lightsaber. The thrown vibro-axes sailed past him
and slammed into the freighter's nav computer console, causing a small
explosion. The Bartokk charged, and Maul's lightsaber was a blur of bright
crimson as he went for the as - sassin's wrists. In a single sweep of the
light-saber's blade, the Bartokk had lost all four of his claws. Two of the
claws, still gripping vibro-axes, thrashed across the floor of the bridge. The
Bartokk leaped at Maul. Maul brought his foot up fast and caught the Bartokk
hard. The Bartokk fell backward and landed on top of the vibroaxes clasped in
his own claws. Seconds later, the Bartokk's severed parts were motionless.
Maul deactivated his lightsaber and returned it to his belt. Running down the
murky corridor to the freighter's main cargo hold, he checked his chronometer.
He had less than a minute to escape the fortress compound before the thermal
detonator exploded. He raced down the freighter's landing ramp and headed
straight for his speeder bike. The two Bartokks were still so busy examining
Maul's vehicle that they didn't see him running toward them. They stumbled
back in surprise as he leaped onto his speeder.
Before the Bartokks could recover, Maul gunned the repulsorlift engine
and shot out of the fortress's landing bay. As Maul zoomed away from the
fortress, he checked his chronometer again. In his head, he counted off the
final seconds.
Five... four... three... two...
Behind him, the entire fortress was wracked by a massive, thunderous
explosion. Maul looked over his shoulder to see the fortress lit up like day -
light by the incredible blast. Raging fires swept up the three silo-like
towers, then one of the towers buckled and fell, smashing down on the Bartokk
freighter. Although Maul was a bit worried about the fate of C-3PX, he found
the sound of the freighter's rupturing hull to be most satisfying. Suddenly, a
blaster bolt struck the side of Maul's speeder. Maul turned his head to cast a
glance over his other shoulder and saw he was be - ing pursued across the sky
by the two Bartokks on their repulsorlift skiff. As impossible as it was to
conceive, they had escaped the explosion. Flying the skiff across the night
sky behind Darth Maul, both Bartokks gripped a set of navigationa(controls
with their lower arms while their upper arms carried bowcasters. The blaster
bolt that had struck Mavl's speeder had been fired by one of the assassins.
The two Bartokks were preparing to fire another volley at the swift speeder
when Maul steered through a tight spin and angled back on a coflision course
for the skiff. The Bartokks veered away from the oncoming speeder, and looped
the skiff throvgh the air in pursuit of Maul. The Sith's speeder plunged over
the upper rim of the eanyon and raced down to the canyon ftoor. Blaster bolts
whizzed past his head from behind as the Bartokks tried to get a bead on him.
Maul calculated his vefocity and the distance between his speeder ancf the Be
tckks' skiff. He accelerated and steered his vehicfe closer to the canyon
watl. Then he reached for the thermal det - onator on his beft, thumbed the
The detonator met the front end of the Bartokks' skiff. There was a loud
expfosion, and Maul felt a wave of intense heat at his back. He pulled up on
his speeder's controls and blasted away from the canyon wafl before any
burning debris could touch him. The detonator had not only destroyed the
Bartokks and their skiff, but had punched a deep impression into the canyon
wall, forming a small crater. Maul flew his speeder down to the canyon floor.
The Sith Infiltrator was parked exactly where he had left it. As he angled his
speeder toward the Infiltrator, he sighted a lone Bartokk guard standing on
the ground near the stern of the starship. From the guard's relaxed stance,
Maul determined he hadn't seen the approaching speeder. While Maul's left hand
gripped the speeder con - trols, his right hand reached for his lightsaber and
activated its blade. As Maul neared the Infiltrator, the guard caught sight of
him. Maul leaned hard to the side so that his speeder was practically side -
ways, then swung his crimson lightsaber. With dazzling speed, the Bartokk
dodged the deadly blade and snagged the back of the speeder with his claws.
Clinging to the powerful speeder, the Bartokk was yanked from the ground. The
Bartokk's weight brought the speeder's tail down, and the vehicle was thrown
off balance by the unwelcome passenger. The Bartokk was about to attack with
his claws when Maul gunned the engine and launched into a steep vertical
climb. Maul didn't want to risk damaging his own speeder with his lightsaber,
so he quickly deactivated the weapon and returned it to his belt. With his
free hand, he reached back over his head and grabbed one of the Bartokk's
wrists.
Maul braked and swung his arm with all his might. The Bartokk was flung
from the speeder and into the air. Maul's free hand returned to the speeder's
controls and he blasted away from the free-falling Bartokk. No
w that the
Bartokk was out of the picture, Darth Maul landed his speeder next to the
Infiltra - tor. At first, it seemed the Bartokk guard had left the ship
untouched. But after Maul returned his speeder to its storage compartment in
the Infiltra - tor's underside cargo hatch, he noticed deep scratches on the
aft hatchway. Still, the hatch was sealed, so he assumed the Bartokks had not
been able to breach his ship's security system. He opened the aft hatch,
entered the Infiltrator, and headed to the bridge. Maul knew if the Bartokk
starfighter and twenty-five droid starfighters were traveling through
hyperspace by way of the Perlemian Trade Route, they were probably already
halfway to Corulag. The Infiltrator was equipped with a Sienar SSDS 11-A
hyperdrive, which was more powerful than any of the Bartokk or Trade
Federation droid starfighters. Even though the Bartokks had a head start, Maul
believed he might actually beat them to the Corulag system. After Maul
initiated the launching sequence, the Infiltrator lifted off from the canyon
floor and blasted into the sky. Barely a minute later, the Infiltrator left
Ralltiir's stratosphere and entered space. Maul plotted a course for Corulag
and was preparing to make the jump to hyperspace when a warning light flashed.
The Infiltrator's computer had detected a malfunction with the hyperdrive
motivator. Maul wondered if the Bartokks had tampered with his ship after all,
so he ran a com - plete diagnostic. Fortunately, the Infiltrator's automated
repair system was quickly able to repair the malfunction. Maul entered the
coordinates for Corulag into the nav computer and activated the hyperdrive.
Outside the Infiltrator, the stars appeared to elon - gate away from the
central point of his destina - tion. In the next instant, the distorted
starfield was filled with an intense light, and the Infiltrator raced into
hyperspace. Maul consulted a computer monitor to confirm the hyperdrive
motivator was fully operational. But on the surface of the monitor's screen,
Maul saw something he had not anticipated a reflection of something moving
behind him. It was a Bartokk. Maul spun in his seat to face the Bartokk. The