assassin had managed to infiitrate the Infiltrator, and was already on board
when Maul blasted off Ralltiir. The Bartokk stowaway stood in front of the aft
hatch, clicking his mandibles together as he made a horrid chittering sound.
He bent his lean-muscled legs and prepared to spring out at Maul.
Maul grabbed hold of his seat with one hand and reached for the control
console with the other. He punched a switch and the aft hatch snapped open,
causing all the air to race out of the bridge. While Maul clung to his seat,
the Bartokk was sucked toward the open hatch. The Bartokk extended his arms
and legs and braced himself in the hatchway. As the air tore at his insectoid
body, the assassin located a manual emergency switch within the hatch frame
and struck it with his lower left arm's eibow. The hatch slammed shut with a
violent clang, clipping off one of the Bartokk's toes. As air was pumped to
repressurize the Infiltrator, Darth Maul leaped from the command console. The
last thing he wanted was a fight that might ruin the interior of his starship.
He dove across the bridge and activated his lightsaber. The Bartokk raised a
blaster and squeezed off three quick shots. Still in mid-leap, Maul swung at
the blaster bolts and struck them away. The three bolts slammed back at the
unprepared Bartokk. Before the assassin could fire again, Darth Maul was on
top of him, slashing his lightsaber with expert precision.
Still speeding through hyperspace, the Infiltrator entered the Corulag
system. The nav computer automatically deactivated the hyperdrive, and there
was a slight shudder as the vessel reentered real - space. Maul conducted a
quick sensor scan of the Corulag system. There was no sign of the Bartokk or
droid starfighters. As Maul had expected, his more powerful hyperdrive had
managed to beat the enemy ships to Corulag. Through a viewport, Maul saw the
planet ten thousand kilometers away. Even though Corulag was located on the
lucrative Perlemian Trade Route, it did not look like a remarkable world.
However, it was home to several billion citizens and the prestigious Corulag
Academy. At the Academy, students were trained to become members of the
Exploration Military, and Merchant Services for the Republic. According to the
vocabulator-equipped Bartokk, Groodo the Hutt had hired the assassins to
destroy Corulag Academy after his son had been denied admission to the
institution. The Bartokk also had said that Groodo intended to watch the
Academy's destruction from his cruiser.
Maul activated his sensors and scanned the Corulag system for any
orbiting vessels besides unmanned satellites. Only one blip appeared on his
sensor screen. As Maul traveled toward the orbiting vessel's location, the
Infiltrator's telescopic sensors produced a magnified visual of a medium-sized
cruiser. It was decked out with broad fins and large oval viewports, and the
hull was painted in vibrant oranges and yellows. In Maul's estimation, such an
ugly ship could only be owned by a Hutt. Suddenly, the Infiltrator's hyperwave
warning light began to pulsate. Twenty-six starfighters were about to exit
hyperspace in Maul's proximity. Maul activated the Infiltrator's cloaking
device, and the invisibility shields came on-line. Just as his starship
vanished, twenty-five droid starfighters and a single Bartokk starfighter
entered real - space. The fighters zipped in fast, then their sub - light
engines took over and they decelerated to a relatively slow crawl. The droid
starfighters were all in flight mode, with their wings retracted to maintain a
sleek profile. Flying behind them, the six-winged Bartokk starfighter
controlled each of their flight paths. Since the Bartokks took up most of the
available space within their star - fighter, Maul assumed they had a compact
droid central control computer on board. Darth Sidious's orders had been
clear: Maul could not allow the Bartokks to use the Trade Fed - eration droid
starfighters to assault Corulag Acad - emy. If the Trade Federation were to be
blamed for an attack on Corulag, it would draw unwanted at - tention to the
Trade Federation in that sector, and possibly affect Darth Sidious' plans for
the future. Maul was contemplating the best way to defeat the starfighter
armada when the Bartokks' ship approached his position. Since the Infiltrator
starship.
Their starfighter passed so close to the invisible Infiltrator that Maul
could look through their fighter's triangular viewports and see the Bartokk
pilot, gunner, and tailgunner seated back-to-back-to-back within. Suddenly,
the Bartokks were iiluminated by a bright flashing warning light in the
cockpit, and all three assassins turned their insectoid heads to peer out the
viewports in Maul's direction. Maul had been so confident in the Infiltrator's
cloaking device, he had forgotten about the Bartokks' sophisticated sensors.
Now they knew where he was. Before Maul could react, the Bartokk starfighter
swung away from the Infiltrator and all twenty-five droid starfighters turned
toward his cloaked ship. Despite the Infiltrator's invisibility, all the
starfighters had locked onto his position. The droid starfighters' wings
snapped into attack mode, revealing their lethal blaster cannons. Maul quickly
took the data card he'd retrieved from the Bartokk freighter and inserted it
into a computer port. The Infiltrator's computer analyzed the Bartokk's sensor
information, and immediately transmitted a jamming signal to knock out the
Bartokk starfighter's crystal gravitational trap sensor. Before the droid
starfighters could fire a single shot, the Infiltrator had vanished from the
Bartokk starfighter's sensors. The droid starfighters began swerving through
space on an erratic course. They appeared to be out of control, but Maul knew
better. The Bartokks were piloting the droid starfighters by remote control,
steering them on a weaving course in an effort to locate Maul's ship by way of
a direct collision. Maul accessed the data that had been supplied by Darth
Sidious. With the flick of a switch,
Maul seized control of the droid starfighters. The Sith Lord targeted the
Bartokk starfighter, and all twenty-five droid starfighters rotated in space
and aimed their cannons at the six-winged fighter craft. Maul imagined the
three Bartokks were more than startled. By Bartokk standards, it was possible
they were even scared. In a desperate effort to evade certain death, the
Bartokk starfighter turned and sped away from Corulag. The Bartokk tailgunner
fired a steady stream of energy bolts in the starfighter's wake, aiming at
nothing he could see, but hoping he would hit his invisible enemy. Leaving the
droid starfighters behind, the cloaked Infiltrator pursued the Bartokks'
fleeing ship. Maul poured on the speed, dodging the Bar - tokk tailgunner*s
random assault. The Infiltrator was armed with six low-profile laser cannons,
and Maul directed all of them to fire at the Bartokks' ship. The first two
blasts punched a hole in the Bartokk starfighter's deflector shields.
Blasts three and four hammered throu
gh their particle shields. The last
two shots connected directly with the starfighter's hull. With their shields
down, the Bar - tokks didn't have a chance. As their starfighter erupted in a
great tireball, Oarth Maul angled the tnfiltrator back toward Corulag. During
Maul's battle with the Bartokks, the red - and-yellow cruiser had remained in
orbit around Corulag. Although Maul still wasn't certain the cruiser belonged
to Groodo the Hutt, he decided it was time to find out. With the Infiltrator
still in full cloak mode, Maul flew toward the orbital cruiser. When he had
drawn within firing range, he transmitted an emergency hail to the brightly
painted vessel. "Come in, Groodo," Maul uttered into his ship-to-ship comm
unit. Seconds later, the three-dimensional image of a corpulent Hutt appeared.
Although the image was a bit fuzzy, the Hutt's lower lip was moving from
side to side, and his thick cheeks looked like they were quite stuffed. Maul
realized he had caught the Hutt during a meal.
"What's the meaning of this interruption?" the Hutt snarled.
"There won't be any attack on Corulag Academy," Maul stated.
"What?!" the Hutt sputtered.
"I mean... I don't know what you're talking about!"
"You made a grave error when you ordered the Bartokks to steal from the
Trade Federation," Maul responded. "Consider this fair warning: You have
thirty
seconds to evacuate your cruiser before I destroy it."
"You dare threaten the mighty Groodo?" the Hutt retorted. "Show yourself!
"
"Twenty seconds," Maul replied.
"Who are you?" the Hutt demanded. There wasnot a trace of fear in his
response, and he sounded only slightly annoyed.
Maul switched off the comm unit and signaled the droid starfighters to
come in. He commanded them to target the cruiser. At the final second, he
commanded them to open fire. Although the Hutt's cruiser had a powerful
deflector shield, it had not been engineered to endure the combined firepower
of twenty-five starfighters at close range. From the lnfiltrator, Darth Maul
watched as the Hutt's entire cruiser was instantly enveloped in a massive
burst of ion-fueled flame. A single emergency life pod managed to blast away
from the cruiser's wreckage. Maul focused the Infiltrator's sensors on the
pod, and learned that it carried two life-forms. It appeared both Groodo the
Hutt and his son had survived the destruction of their cruiser.
Since Darth Sidious had specified that the Bartokks client should live in
fear, Maul allowed the pod to tumble toward Corulag.
The twenty-five droid starfighters hung like deadly ornaments in space.
Although the Jedi had destroyed the other twenty-five, Darth Maul believed his
Master, Darth Sidious, would be pleased that half the starfighters had been
recovered. Maul considered escorting the starfighters back to Trade Federation
space, but he was disturbed by a single detail: C-3PX. It was highly unlikely
that the droid had survived the devastating explosion on Ralltiir, but Maul
didn't like the notion of C-3PX's body being discovered by any enemies. The
Sith Lord decided to return to the distant fortress and search the ruins.
Maul programmed the droid starfighters to fly to a Neimoidian base in
Trade Federation territory. Responding to his command, all twenty-five droid
starfighters angled in the same direction, then fired their engines aod zoomed
off into hyperspace. After the starfighters had left the Corulag system, Maut
ptotted a course for Ralltiir. Then he punched the controls for the
hyperdrive, and the Infi ttrator blasted into hyperspace. As he traveted back
to RaHtiir, Maul's thoughts turned to Groodo the Hutt. Darth Sidious had been
confideot that the Bartokks' cfient would somehow be useful if he were to hve
in fear of the Trade Federation, but Maul wondered... Are Hutts really afraid
of anything?
The emergency escape pod landed in a dense forest thirty-four kilometers
southwest of Curamelle, the capital city of Corulag, and home of Corulag
Academy. The pod had crashed down through heavy foliage before setting down
between three tall, wide-trunked trees. The pod's hatch slid open and Groodo
the Hutt slithered out onto the grass-covered ground, followed by his son. The
younger Hutt was considerably smaller than his father, but he was of healthy
size for his age. Groodo carried a comlink that accessed a HoloNet transceiver
in the escape pod. As he punched in a series of numbers to piace an
intergaiactic call, he turned to his son and said,
"Don't worry, Boonda. Your old man's going to make everything all right."
"Sure, Pop," said Boonda with a shrug. "Whatever you say."
On Railtiir, at the site of what had only recently been the Bartokks'
fortress, Darth Maul used the Force to lift a heavy boulder from a pile of
rubble. Maul had used the Sith Infiltrator's sensors to scan the fortress
ruins for any sign of C-3PX. The sensors penetrated deep below the collapsed
floors and fallen walls, searching for any trace of metal that might belong to
the golden assassin droid. Now, Maul found himself sifting through the area of
what had been a chamber near the fortress's dungeon. Maul did not watch the
boulder as it levitated away through the air, and he ignored the loud thud,
eight meters away, that sounded as he released the boulder from his power. The
Sith Lord's yellow eyes were fixed on something that rested on the crushed
floor, staring at something that had been concealed by the transplanted
boulder. It was a restraining bolt. The same bolt that had been placed on C-
3PX by the vocabulator-equipped Bartokk. The droid had escaped from his cell
after all. Darth Maul raised his gaze and surveyed the debris. All around him,
thick black smoke rose from the fires that burned beneath the scattered
debris. Except for the rising smoke, nothing else moved. He looked at the Sith
Infiltrator, resting on a flat level of earth at a safe distance from the
smoldering stones. Although Maul trusted his starship's sensors, he relied
even more on his own senses. He closed his eyes and held his breath. He
blocked out the sound of the small, crackling fires, and of the whispering
wind that blew over the ruins, sending fine sand drifting down into the
canyon. He tuned out all natural noise, and he listened for the faint hum of
logic processors, the dull whir of a pelvic servometer, and the shuffling
scuff of metal feet on rocky ground. But in the end, there was only the wind.
C-3PX was gone. Darth Maul knew Darth Sidious would be expecting a full report
back on Coruscant. Maul drew his dark cloak over his head, then walked swiftly
to the Infiltrator. He left no footprints.
At the Jedi chapter house on the ice planet Rhinnal, Obi-Wan Kenobi
walked past a group of doc - tors and entered Adi Gallia's spacious, brightly
lit medical suite. He found Qui-Gon Jinn standing at the foot of Adi Gallia's
bed.
"Welcome, Obi-Wan," Adi Gallia said. She was seated on the edge of her
mattress pad, and her dangling sandaled feet nearly touched the spotless white
floor. The suite was designed to accommodate dignitaries, as was indicated by
an expensive holocom console and tall picture windows. Obi-Wan bowed his head.
"I'm pleased to see you well, Master Adi." Despite the fact that Obi-Wan
could barely contain his curiosity, he refrained from asking Adi Gallia to
confirm that she had once saved Qui-Gon's life.
"The medics say she's almost fully recovered," Qui-Gon informed his
apprentice. "We also noticed the lights have come back on. Has the magnetic
storm passed?"
"Yes," replied Obi-Wan.
"That's what I came to tell you. We're cleared to leave Rhinnal, and both
the Radiant Vll and Metron Burner are ready for launch."
"Were you able to get a message through to Corulag?" Qui-Gon asked.
Obi-Wan nodded.
"A Corulag Space Traffic Control satellite reported an orbital space
battle that took place less than an hour ago. Twenty-seven ships were involved
in the skirmish: a Bartokk starfighter and an unidentified cruiser were
destroyed. The other ships all sounded like Trade Federation droid
starfighters, but they escaped into hyperspace."
"Could the cruiser have been the Bartokks' target?" Adi Gallia asked.
"It's unlikely," Qui-Gon replied, stroking his chin as he thought.
"Bartokks are professional killers, not suicide squads. The Bartokk
starfighter's purpose would have been to control the twenty-five droid
fighters. If the cruiser had been the target, the Bartokks would have simply
programmed the droid fighters to destroy it."
"Maybe the Bartokks were ambushed by the cruiser," Obi-Wan suggested.
"Perhaps," Qui-Gon allowed. "But we are still left with an awkward
question: Who has the droid starfighters now?"
Before anyone could offer an answer, a doctor entered the room.
"Excuse me," she said, "but there's a HoloNet message holding for Qui-Gon
Jinn. It's from Coruscant."
The doctor left Adi Gallia's suite, and Qui-Gon went to the holocomm
console. He passed his hand over an ID scanner, then watched as a green - ish