Chapter 1: Duel of Broken Fates.
KilroywasNOTHere
"BEEP!"
Summary: It is often said that the force has a will of its own, but sometimes even fate can prove to be a fickle thing. By some strange fluke, Qui-Gon survives his duel with Darth Maul and can train Anakin Skywalker, even with this change however, some things were bound to happen one way or another. Saving the republic will be an uphill battle...if it even can be saved.
Disclaimer: I don't own star wars. That belongs to Disney
Qui-Gon breathed gently as he gazed at his ever-pacing opponent. The last time he faced this opponent was on the sands of Tatooine, and if Qui-Gon were honest, between the fact that this mysterious Sith Lord had his face obscured, and with the short amount of time the Skirmish lasted, Qui-Gon's observations were frankly next to nill.
Now here on the core of Naboo Qui-Gon had finally gotten to see his opponent in full, the way he looked, the way he moved, and most importantly, how he felt. The phrase "caged animal" was among the first things to come to Qui-Gon's mind. Maul more or less acted like a hungry but cornered predator, one that desperately waited for the lock to shut off so that it could lung at its prey. The eyes seemed less like eyes and more like glowing balls of flame fueled by pure carnal hatred.
Yet, as Qui-Gon sat there meditating, he couldn't help but sense that even under all that darkness there was still a faint glowing ember of life. Maul as much as he was drowning in the Dark Side, was still a sentient being, one not born evil but like so many others was simply... imbalanced. This fact made a bunch of questions go through Qui-Gon's mind. Where did he come from? Where was his family? Could things have been different had he been taken in by the Jedi or even some other force order, possibly the biggest question of all, was there a chance as slim as it might be that he could be saved?
Qui-Gon snapped out of his line of thought as the ray shields deactivated with his. Qui-Gon quickly snapped into action focusing on the here and now. Try as Obi-Wan might he couldn't get through fast enough to beat the Ray Shield. Qui-Gon had to face Maul alone. While The Jedi Master was able to keep an even pace with his sith opponent for a while, Maul had the advantage in terms of strength and speed. Maul proceeded to get more aggressive going as far as to stagger Qui-Gon with the hilt of his saber staff. the next few seconds had felt like a blur, a searing pain followed by the master slumping to the floor.
"No!" Obi-Wan screamed.
Now, this was where the Force had foreseen Qui-Gon's death. Obi-Wan would train Anakin, The clone wars would occur, the Jedi would fall at the hands of an Anakin reborn into Darth Vader, only for it to rise again through The son of Skywalker. This was what was foreseen. This was Fate, but much to the surprise of even force itself, the wound inflicted upon Qui-Gon was not fatal, and just like that, this timeline had now splintered off into a completely new universe of its own.
Obi-Wan charged into the fray as soon as the Ray shield was deactivated. He struck with fury but it was not quite enough to overpower the sith, but that would not last for long.
"Obi-Wan!" Qui-Gon called out. The Jedi Master threw his lightsaber to his Padawan. Maul had not expected this. What he expected even less was the tenacity of his Jedi opponent. Obi-Wan in the meantime did not relent. For the first time in his life, he felt nearly emotionally numb, there was no fear or even anger or even hate. There was only one thing on his mind and that was to protect his master this demon, this thing. Any strike that maul gave was countered with equal speed and twice as much force. Lights of blue green and red all flashed in a violent whirlwind of color. If it wasn't for the fact that he was caught off guard, Maul might have been impressed. Strike after a strike and blow after blow the two struck at each other until Maul felt himself tumble backward toward what seemed to be a bottomless pit. In a split-second reaction time, Maul had managed to onto a ledge below only to watch as his Saberstaff seemed to fall into the endless Abyss. The Sith Assassin was now hanging for his life.
Meanwhile, Obi-Wan felt conflicted. His Jedi training had taught him that all life was precious even that of your enemy and to kill a disarmed enemy was a path to the dark side. But this was no ordinary enemy this was a Sith. this was a sworn enemy of the light and all that was good in the galaxy. It was an enemy that the Jedi had sworn to destroy. If Obi-Wan simply let Maul fall or perhaps even aided in his demise, he could end this threat here and now before it had the chance to begin. Yet, at the same time, he could not help but remember the words of Master Yoda. "Once you go down the Dark Path forever will it guide your destiny."
yet he could not help but think of his wounded master. If he spared this Sith, he would no doubt try to finish the job, and there was also no telling how many more Jedi he'd kill. this sith, no this thing was too dangerous to keep alive. The two opposing thoughts started to war in his mind.
"Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering..."
"The Sith is a plague on the galaxy it must be destroyed..."
"Consume you the dark side will!"
"You can end this once and for all!"
"Obi-Wan..."
Obi-Wan looked over to see his master gently touching his shoulder with one hand as he clutched the wound in his abdomen with the other. Still, Qui-Gon gently smiled, and in that instant, the sign of comfort all but brushed the dark thoughts within Obi-Wan away.
"He is beaten. Let it go."
Obi-Wan gave a nod and deactivated both blades. Maul could only look upon the whole spectacle in confusion. He was even more confused when the old Jedi master gently leaned over and reached out to him.
"Whoever you are take my hand."
Maul instinctively snarled. No this had to be a trick, no doubt to catch him off guard or mock him. Sidious had warned him of the Jedi and their hatred of the sith. No doubt they would kill him once he reached the top or worse have him taken to the order to be publically executed.
"No!" Maul growled. "Let me fall! Let me die! it would be better for me to fall in battle than to be put down like a common animal!"
"And if I swore on my honor that I would do no such thing?" Qui-Gon asked.
"The word of a Jedi? Worthless."
"I suppose there is no way I can get you to trust me."
"Never."
Qui-Gon let out a sigh. " Nu mnilpaki ant tave midwan iv tave Jen' Garthaz iv akuyi. You will reach the top alive."
Maul's eyes widened. "Did this Jedi Master just swear an oath in the sith tongue? For a Jedi to do such a thing was blasphemy among their kind was it not? was it possible that this master was an honorable Jedi? To be fair he fought well enough to be so.
Maul found himself instinctively reaching up toward them with his free hand. Both Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon wasted no time in pulling him up. Once Maul got to his feet he let out a sigh and closed his eyes. "You fulfilled your oath. Kill me quickly."
Obi-Wan gazed at Qui-Gon with a look of uncertainty. Qui-Gon gave a nod. Both lightsabers fell to the ground with a thud. Maul could only stand in disbelief.
"I-I don't understand. I am Sith yet you spare me, why?"
Qui-Gon again smiled. "Your forces are routed. I sense the Federation will be driven off of Naboo. Enough blood has been spilled on this night."
"I almost killed you." Maul pointed out.
"Yet here I am standing before you."
Maul once again began pacing like an animal trying to comprehend what just happened. "The Jedi hated the sith more than anything they led a genocide against the sith before and would do so again if given the chance? That was what his master had taught him. Unless was it possible that...
Before Maul finished the thought he looked at the Jedi duo.
"You fought honorably Jedi. I hope someday we shall meet again under better circumstances."
"There is one thing my master and I must know. Are you the Master or the Apprentice?"
"Once I thought I was the apprentice. Now I do not know. There is much I must contemplate on."
Maul looked down at the pit once more. he realized if he took it at a scaled descent, he could reach the bottom back to his ship without fatal injury.
"know this, I am Maul. Goodbye Jedi."
With that Maul descended into the pit into what seemed to be nothingness.
"He's gone," Obi-Wan whispered.
"Defeated but not destroyed," Qui-Gon added. "I sense we will see him again, someday."
"We are no closer to answers than we started."
"Not true Obi-Wan, we now know that this Maul was only the apprentice. There is still a master out there and based on his actions said master is with one less apprentice.
"Do you think Maul can turn to the light? is that why you chose to spare him?"
"I sense a sudden shift in the force. Even now I feel its effects. How or why I do not know but I sense Maul plays a part in this."
Qui-Gon took a step only to stagger.
"Master your injured," Obi-Wan said as he braced his master.
Qui-Gon smiled. "It's only a flesh wound. You know I've had worse."
"Still we need to get you into a Bacta Tank."
"On that, we agree."
*Beep beep*
Qui-Gon pulled out his communicator as he heard Panaka on the other end. "Qui-Gon here."
"Master Jinn, our forces managed to drive out the droid forces, but... they shot Queen Amidala in the head in retaliation. She's alive but only just. The same can't be said for Nute Gunray. I'll personally make sure his corpse is hung up on display as a warning to whoever replaces him as Viceroy."
"Get the Queen into a bacta tank immediately," Qui-Gon commanded. "I need one as well."
"Yes sir."
As communications ended. The two Jedi grabbed thier lightsabers and staggered back. to palace medbay. Still, Qui-Gon couldn't help but shake the feeling that events were meant to end very differently. "I need to meditate on this." Qui-Gon thought. "the winds of fate have changed indeed."
Disclaimer: I don't own star wars. That belongs to Disney
Qui-Gon breathed gently as he gazed at his ever-pacing opponent. The last time he faced this opponent was on the sands of Tatooine, and if Qui-Gon were honest, between the fact that this mysterious Sith Lord had his face obscured, and with the short amount of time the Skirmish lasted, Qui-Gon's observations were frankly next to nill.
Now here on the core of Naboo Qui-Gon had finally gotten to see his opponent in full, the way he looked, the way he moved, and most importantly, how he felt. The phrase "caged animal" was among the first things to come to Qui-Gon's mind. Maul more or less acted like a hungry but cornered predator, one that desperately waited for the lock to shut off so that it could lung at its prey. The eyes seemed less like eyes and more like glowing balls of flame fueled by pure carnal hatred.
Yet, as Qui-Gon sat there meditating, he couldn't help but sense that even under all that darkness there was still a faint glowing ember of life. Maul as much as he was drowning in the Dark Side, was still a sentient being, one not born evil but like so many others was simply... imbalanced. This fact made a bunch of questions go through Qui-Gon's mind. Where did he come from? Where was his family? Could things have been different had he been taken in by the Jedi or even some other force order, possibly the biggest question of all, was there a chance as slim as it might be that he could be saved?
Qui-Gon snapped out of his line of thought as the ray shields deactivated with his. Qui-Gon quickly snapped into action focusing on the here and now. Try as Obi-Wan might he couldn't get through fast enough to beat the Ray Shield. Qui-Gon had to face Maul alone. While The Jedi Master was able to keep an even pace with his sith opponent for a while, Maul had the advantage in terms of strength and speed. Maul proceeded to get more aggressive going as far as to stagger Qui-Gon with the hilt of his saber staff. the next few seconds had felt like a blur, a searing pain followed by the master slumping to the floor.
"No!" Obi-Wan screamed.
Now, this was where the Force had foreseen Qui-Gon's death. Obi-Wan would train Anakin, The clone wars would occur, the Jedi would fall at the hands of an Anakin reborn into Darth Vader, only for it to rise again through The son of Skywalker. This was what was foreseen. This was Fate, but much to the surprise of even force itself, the wound inflicted upon Qui-Gon was not fatal, and just like that, this timeline had now splintered off into a completely new universe of its own.
Obi-Wan charged into the fray as soon as the Ray shield was deactivated. He struck with fury but it was not quite enough to overpower the sith, but that would not last for long.
"Obi-Wan!" Qui-Gon called out. The Jedi Master threw his lightsaber to his Padawan. Maul had not expected this. What he expected even less was the tenacity of his Jedi opponent. Obi-Wan in the meantime did not relent. For the first time in his life, he felt nearly emotionally numb, there was no fear or even anger or even hate. There was only one thing on his mind and that was to protect his master this demon, this thing. Any strike that maul gave was countered with equal speed and twice as much force. Lights of blue green and red all flashed in a violent whirlwind of color. If it wasn't for the fact that he was caught off guard, Maul might have been impressed. Strike after a strike and blow after blow the two struck at each other until Maul felt himself tumble backward toward what seemed to be a bottomless pit. In a split-second reaction time, Maul had managed to onto a ledge below only to watch as his Saberstaff seemed to fall into the endless Abyss. The Sith Assassin was now hanging for his life.
Meanwhile, Obi-Wan felt conflicted. His Jedi training had taught him that all life was precious even that of your enemy and to kill a disarmed enemy was a path to the dark side. But this was no ordinary enemy this was a Sith. this was a sworn enemy of the light and all that was good in the galaxy. It was an enemy that the Jedi had sworn to destroy. If Obi-Wan simply let Maul fall or perhaps even aided in his demise, he could end this threat here and now before it had the chance to begin. Yet, at the same time, he could not help but remember the words of Master Yoda. "Once you go down the Dark Path forever will it guide your destiny."
yet he could not help but think of his wounded master. If he spared this Sith, he would no doubt try to finish the job, and there was also no telling how many more Jedi he'd kill. this sith, no this thing was too dangerous to keep alive. The two opposing thoughts started to war in his mind.
"Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering..."
"The Sith is a plague on the galaxy it must be destroyed..."
"Consume you the dark side will!"
"You can end this once and for all!"
"Obi-Wan..."
Obi-Wan looked over to see his master gently touching his shoulder with one hand as he clutched the wound in his abdomen with the other. Still, Qui-Gon gently smiled, and in that instant, the sign of comfort all but brushed the dark thoughts within Obi-Wan away.
"He is beaten. Let it go."
Obi-Wan gave a nod and deactivated both blades. Maul could only look upon the whole spectacle in confusion. He was even more confused when the old Jedi master gently leaned over and reached out to him.
"Whoever you are take my hand."
Maul instinctively snarled. No this had to be a trick, no doubt to catch him off guard or mock him. Sidious had warned him of the Jedi and their hatred of the sith. No doubt they would kill him once he reached the top or worse have him taken to the order to be publically executed.
"No!" Maul growled. "Let me fall! Let me die! it would be better for me to fall in battle than to be put down like a common animal!"
"And if I swore on my honor that I would do no such thing?" Qui-Gon asked.
"The word of a Jedi? Worthless."
"I suppose there is no way I can get you to trust me."
"Never."
Qui-Gon let out a sigh. " Nu mnilpaki ant tave midwan iv tave Jen' Garthaz iv akuyi. You will reach the top alive."
Maul's eyes widened. "Did this Jedi Master just swear an oath in the sith tongue? For a Jedi to do such a thing was blasphemy among their kind was it not? was it possible that this master was an honorable Jedi? To be fair he fought well enough to be so.
Maul found himself instinctively reaching up toward them with his free hand. Both Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon wasted no time in pulling him up. Once Maul got to his feet he let out a sigh and closed his eyes. "You fulfilled your oath. Kill me quickly."
Obi-Wan gazed at Qui-Gon with a look of uncertainty. Qui-Gon gave a nod. Both lightsabers fell to the ground with a thud. Maul could only stand in disbelief.
"I-I don't understand. I am Sith yet you spare me, why?"
Qui-Gon again smiled. "Your forces are routed. I sense the Federation will be driven off of Naboo. Enough blood has been spilled on this night."
"I almost killed you." Maul pointed out.
"Yet here I am standing before you."
Maul once again began pacing like an animal trying to comprehend what just happened. "The Jedi hated the sith more than anything they led a genocide against the sith before and would do so again if given the chance? That was what his master had taught him. Unless was it possible that...
Before Maul finished the thought he looked at the Jedi duo.
"You fought honorably Jedi. I hope someday we shall meet again under better circumstances."
"There is one thing my master and I must know. Are you the Master or the Apprentice?"
"Once I thought I was the apprentice. Now I do not know. There is much I must contemplate on."
Maul looked down at the pit once more. he realized if he took it at a scaled descent, he could reach the bottom back to his ship without fatal injury.
"know this, I am Maul. Goodbye Jedi."
With that Maul descended into the pit into what seemed to be nothingness.
"He's gone," Obi-Wan whispered.
"Defeated but not destroyed," Qui-Gon added. "I sense we will see him again, someday."
"We are no closer to answers than we started."
"Not true Obi-Wan, we now know that this Maul was only the apprentice. There is still a master out there and based on his actions said master is with one less apprentice.
"Do you think Maul can turn to the light? is that why you chose to spare him?"
"I sense a sudden shift in the force. Even now I feel its effects. How or why I do not know but I sense Maul plays a part in this."
Qui-Gon took a step only to stagger.
"Master your injured," Obi-Wan said as he braced his master.
Qui-Gon smiled. "It's only a flesh wound. You know I've had worse."
"Still we need to get you into a Bacta Tank."
"On that, we agree."
*Beep beep*
Qui-Gon pulled out his communicator as he heard Panaka on the other end. "Qui-Gon here."
"Master Jinn, our forces managed to drive out the droid forces, but... they shot Queen Amidala in the head in retaliation. She's alive but only just. The same can't be said for Nute Gunray. I'll personally make sure his corpse is hung up on display as a warning to whoever replaces him as Viceroy."
"Get the Queen into a bacta tank immediately," Qui-Gon commanded. "I need one as well."
"Yes sir."
As communications ended. The two Jedi grabbed thier lightsabers and staggered back. to palace medbay. Still, Qui-Gon couldn't help but shake the feeling that events were meant to end very differently. "I need to meditate on this." Qui-Gon thought. "the winds of fate have changed indeed."
