Darth Maul (ASWS)

"I am Hell, Viceroy. Never forget that."

- Darth Maul

Darth Maul was a supposed starwars:Sith Lord from the starwars:Order of the Sith Lords during the Invasion of Utapau. He was instrumental in solidifying Nute Gunray's power as Viceroy of the Trade Federation.

Early life
Darth Maul was a starwars:Zabrak born on starwars:Iridonia. Sometime during his childhood, he was located by a Lord of the Sith and began training in the dark arts. Shortly after the appointment of Nute Gunray as Viceroy of the Trade Federation, Maul contacted Gunray and told him that he was a Sith Lord, though he could tell that Gunray did not fully believe him. However, Maul promised to make him the sole leader of the Trade Federation, so Gunray decided to become allies with him. Maul also promised that the Trade Federation would be able to create a much larger droid army than the starwars:Galactic Senate had allowed them to build.

One year later, during a summit on starwars:Eriadu, the Trade Federation battle droids unexpectedly opened fire on the members of the Trade Federation Directorate, all of whom were not Neimoidian. All were killed save for Gunray and Senator Lott Dodd, who both conveniently had missed the meeting. Maul guided Gunray in filling the empty seats with Neimoidian puppets such as Rune Haako and other easily influenced associates. Doing so firmly established Cato Neimoidia’s monopoly over the corporation.

Shortly thereafter, Senator Malus Palpatine of Utapau that the slave trade be abolished in the outlying star systems. After several months of debate, Palpatine’s bill was signed into law by Supreme Chancellor Valorum and all worlds and corporations in the outer reaches of the Republic, including the Trade Federation, were forced to free all of their slaves. Outraged, Gunray requested Maul’s help in forcing the Republic to overturn the law. It was then that they plotted the blockade of Utapau. Gunray and the directorate had help from Maul during the process, as well as a man named Fett who was a member of the Mandalorian Clans.

Utapau Invasion
When the Trade Federation launched it's blockade against Utapau, Maul traveled with them aboard the lead blockade starship. However, he did not take an active role for the first few days except to make his presence known to Arcadia through a transmission. However, he was forced to take a more active roll after Chancellor Valorum sent two Jedi Ambassadors, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Jard Dooku, in an attept to negotiate for the release of the planet. Gunray asked Maul what he should do about the Jedi via hologram and Maul told him to simply let them go on their way, as the Jedi suited his plans. Gunray complied, though Maul sensed that he was not satisfied.

Only minutes later, Maul could sense that a conflicted had began somewhere on the ship between the two Jedi and the battle droids, and he could also sense that the battle droids attacked first. Maul made his way to the bridge where Gunray attempted to explain his actions, though Maul would hear nothing of it and ordered his guards to take the Neimoidian off of the bridge. Moments later, he recieved a transmission from Queen Arcadia who told him that she knew the ambassadors had arrived. Playing dumb, Maul told her that he knew nothing of any Jedi, allowing her to know who the ambassadors were. Arcadia became cocky and thought she had gained the upper hand by ending the transmission, though Maul knew better and ordered the Neimoidians to begin the invasion.

Hours after the invasion began, Maul made his way into his chambers where Gunray was being held. Because Gunray deliberately defied him, Maul subject him to a session of painful torture. It lasted for some time, which impressed Maul because he knew that most Neimoidians were cowards and would have broken within minutes. Still, the resiliant viceroy was still only a means to an end for him, so he continued to subject the Neimoidian to a great deal of torture until he nearly broke, thus showing Gunray exactly what a supposed Sith Lord was capable of.

Shortly thereafter, Gunray and Rune Haako made their way down to the surface to secure the royal palace and force Arcadia into signing a treaty. However, they contacted Maul sometime after to tell him that Arcadia had disappeared. Angered by such a failure, Maul demanded to know what had happened. They told him that one cruiser was able to make it past the blockade but it had gone too far out of range and was too difficult to detect. Maul, however, knew otherwise and knew that he could locate the escaped vessel.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: Episode I - The Chosen One