The Negotiator and the Fire Fang

Investigation on Iveria: Black Out

Shan focused intently, her body shaking slightly from the effort. She had mastered the Trayus form with one saber long ago, but was still learning how to control two. She had never attempted a double bladed saber before.

This saber was awkward to duel with. To focus on both ends at the same time, the weight and balance of it, it was a lot. Rumor has it that Darth Traya, the Sith Lord the form was named after, was able to maneuver three. Shan wasn't sure if she believed the old story. That would be incredibly difficult and would require an absurd amount of skill. But, perhaps it was. Traya was skilled enough to master and possibly even create the form, so maybe three wasn't too impossible for her.

Maul moved slickly around Shan's sloppy strikes. For a moment, she thought she had taken him off guard with the little known lightsaber form, but now, looking at his stone faced expression, she wasn't so sure. Maul tried to pull his hilt to him, but Shan broke his concentration by sending his saber at him like a spear. He back flipped over it.

"I see why Kenobi is so... fond of you." Maul said as his saber came to a stop behind him. Sahrea kept her focus, but his words resonated with her. Kenobi was fond of her? What did that mean? She shook her head free of those thoughts. He was trying to distract her. She twisted the red blade and cut into Maul's bicep. He hissed, an animalesque sound.

"Enough!" he snapped, rage in his voice. He reached out in a Force choke. Shan released her hold on his saber as she attempted to inhale past the invisible hand wrapped around her windpipe. Maul shoved his hand up. Sahrea slammed into the ceiling of the cargo hold. He released his grip and she became a victim of gravity.

She free fell onto the metal floor. The second the initial shot of pain passed, Shan knew something was wrong. It hurt to breathe. It hurt to move her arms and legs, her neck. Even moving her wrist sent a shock wave of pain through her being. Maul came over to her side. He had a sympathetic look on face.

"I wanted to bend you. I did not mean to break you quite so soon." he said, looking down at her. She couldn't even speak. Tears slipped down the sides of her face. She hated herself in that moment for allowing Maul to see the pain he inflicted on her so outwardly.

The Zabrak looked up and ushered someone over. He squatted down, pulling something out of his chest pocket as he did. It was the diamond shape of Ceros holocron.

"You... slimy..." was all she managed to force out, the end of the sentence cutting off sharply. She knew exactly which holocron he had taken. He had no idea the significance of what he held in his hand. He smiled at her coolly.

"We're gonna get you fixed up so you can help me open this." he said, wiggling the diamond between his fingers. He tapped her forehead. That was when her vision darkened and she got very sleepy. 

---

When Shan awoke, she wasn't entirely sure where she was or what had happened. Above her, white lights beamed onto her face. It took a few blinks for it to come into focus. She was in a medbay.

Sahrea rolled over on her side, letting loose a scream. There was an agonizing pain going up and down her spine. She remembered all at once the excruciating hours of treatment to the four fractures in the vertebrae of her spine, the forced bonding of her bones. It could have been worse; Maul did not damage her spinal cord, which could have ended in irreparable paralysis.

Shan dug her fingers into the pillow under her head, taking heaving breaths as the throbbing in her vertebrae receded.

In the back of her mind, she wondered why Maul bothered healing her at all. It certainly wasn't out of the goodness of his heart. Her heart rate kicked up as the door on the opposite wall slid open. The former Sith stepped in.