Star Wars

Episode 1 Adventures

#3

The Fury Of Darth Maul

by Ryder Windham


Scanned by [BroD] june 2003

Inroduction

On the planet Esseles in the Darpa Sector, the Trade Federation had
recently forced a Kloodavian manufacturer named Trinkatta to secretly build
fifty droid starfighters. The Trade Federation provided Trinkatta with a
prototype hyperdrive engine and had him duplicate the engine for installation
into each starfighter. With hyperdrive capability, the droid starfighters
could be deployed for long - range sneak attacks to almost any point in the
galaxy. Trinkatta's test pilot, Bama Vook, hoped to prevent the Trade
Federation from obtaining such dangerous weapons. Bama sent a data card to
alert the Jedi Council on Coruscant, telling them what was going on. After
Trinkatta's droids loaded the fighters onto a freighter, Bama Vook and his
droid Leeper stole the entire freighter and hid it in a Calamar City docking
bay on Esseles. Unfortunately, Bama and Leeper did not realize the freighter
belonged to a hive of Bartokk assassins. The bloodthirsty Bartokks had
conspired to steal the droid starfighters themselves, and reprogrammed
Trinkatta's droids to take over his starship factory. Jedi Master Adi Gallia
was sent to investigate Trinkatta's factory, but she was captured by the
reprogrammed droids before she could act. Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn, his
Padawan Apprentice Obi - Wan Kenobi, and the Jedi Knights Vel Ardox and Noro
Zak went to rescue Master Adi from the rene - gade droids. They learned the
droids had been re - programmed by the Bartokks, and assumed the assassins
intended to use the starfighters for a deadly assignment. Because Master Adi
was wounded, Vel and Noro took her to a Jedi chapter house on Rhinnal, a
nearby planet that was famed throughout the Darpa Sector for its citizens'
medical expertise. Meanwhile, Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, and Trinkatta remained on
Rhinnal to look for Bama Vook and the fifty droid starfighters. They found
Bama and Leeper... and a band of vengeful Bartokk assassins. The Bartokks
kidnapped Bama's hulking young son Chup-Chup, then made a daring escape from
Esseles in the freighter. Fortunately, the freighter was not capable of flying
at lightspeed, and a lone hero was able to catch up with the fleeing ship.
Chup-Chup was saved and the Neimoidian prototype hyperdrive engine was
retrieved. Since the freighter had been on a programmed course for the planet
Corulag, it was assumed this was the Bartokks' target. The freighter and its
cargo were destroyed to prevent it from reaching Corulag, but the danger was
far from over. The Bartokks had transferred twenty-five starfighters to a
second freighter.

Obi-Wan used a subspace transceiver to transmit a warning to Corulag. He
also sent a message to Rhinnal, but no response came from the Jedi chapter
house. Concerned for the safety of Adi Gallia and the other Jedi, Qui-Gon
insisted on traveling to Rhinnal immediately. As for the second Bartokk
freighter, Qui-Gon was confident that he and Obi-Wan could still locate the
sluggish vessel before it reached its destination. At this time in history,
the Jedi believed their mortal enemy, the Sith, had been extinct for over a
thousand years. Thus, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan did not have any idea that the Trade
Federation's hyper - drive-equipped droid starfighters were part of a plan
devised by an evil Sith Lord named Darth Sidious..

After Darth Sidious learned from Neimoidian spies that the droid
starfighters had been stolen by the Bartokks, he decided the assassins would
have to be punished. He summoned his dark apprentice, Darth Maul.

















Twilight fell over Galactic City. The mirrored surfaces of countless
skyscrapers reflected the deep velvet sky, and every building was speckled by
illuminated windows. Such spires covered the en - tire planet of Coruscant,
ensuring that the sweep - ing views were enjoyed only by those who lived
within the highest towers. The uppermost levels were reserved for prominent
dignitaries, influential politicians, and the wealthiest citizens. Most of