- 25 BBY -
- Lotho Minor, Outer Rim -
"I should have killed you when I first saw you," Maul growls at the Zeltron.
"Hehe, you are far too affected by my beauty to do that. You know, I will continue to seduce you and try to get you to do whatever I want, until you do it. There is no getting around that," she says.
"Your pheromones are useless on me, Zeltron. If anything, it allows me to train my resistance and nothing more," Maul says, ignoring the woman and continuing his work.
"You have kept me here on this junk planet for months now. The last thing you could do is call me by my name," she says, embracing Maul from behind and rubbing her very generous chest on his back.
Maul touches her forearm and uses a version of Force Lightning, electrocuting her and getting her off of him.
"Ah, no fair. When are you going to teach me how to do that?" she asks, pouting.
"As soon as you take your training seriously. You have been lucky that I am busy with something and can't be bothered," he says.
"Then call me by my name."
"I will not call you... Whatever it is you call yourself."
"Betsy."
"Heavens, what a bad name that is. And you willingly reveal that name to others. Why not stick to Elizabeth?" Maul asks.
"Say it."
"No."
"Just once."
"No!"
"Say it."
"I said no!"
"Say it."
"..."
"Say it. Say it. Say it. Say it. Say it. Say it."
Finally, Maul explodes. A wave of power permeates the surroundings.
"ENOUGH!"
Maul lifts up Betsy, choking her and pulling her closer to him. Their faces almost meet, and he threatens her.
"You will remember your place you-"
...
"Are you smiling?"
"I can't help it. You showed emotion, and you should know that my race is empathic. So I can tell what you are feeling. Annoyance means that you care, which means I am making progress."
"You forget yourself, Zeltron. As soon as I lose interest in you, you are no longer needed here," Maul says.
"Go ahead. I was ready to die since I was 3," she says seriously.
Maul lets her down and walks out of the workstation. He might not like it or even admit it, but Elizabeth is somewhat correct. He was starting to care, in a way. A bond had formed between them, one that Maul didn't like at all and one he knew he had to remove by any means necessary. He might be a genius and have a beyond-genius level intellect, but taking her to Lotho Minor was a mistake. At least, depending on your perspective. And to understand why, you have to know who the Zeltrons are.
.
Zeltrons are one of the few near-human races that have differentiated from the baseline stock enough to be considered a new species within the Human genus, rather than simply a subspecies. They all produce potent pheromones, similar to the Falleen species, which enhance their attractiveness and likability. They also possess limited telepathic abilities, which allow them to project emotions onto others, as well as read and even feel the emotions of others. Because of their telepathic ability, positive emotions such as happiness, love, and pleasure became very important to them, while negative ones, such as anger, fear, or depression, were shunned.
So it would stand to reason that Elizabeth would shun Maul, right?
No, since Maul is no longer a Sith as it is understood today. He is no longer an edgy being bred through fear, anger and hatred, used and then discarded. He is a new Maul. Elizabeth grew interested in the Zabrak for this and one other reason.
Zeltron culture is highly influenced by sexuality and the pursuit of pleasure in general. Most of their art and literature is devoted to the subject, producing some of the raciest pieces in the galaxy. They look upon monogamy as a quaint but impractical practice. They are also very gifted with holograms and are the creators of Hologram Fun World. Zeltrons are known to dress in wildly colourful or revealing attire. It is common to see male and female Zeltrons wearing shockingly bright shades of neon colours in wildly designed bikinis, or nearly skin-tight clothing of other sorts with bizarre colour designs, patterns, and symbols. Elizabeth is no exception to this. She wears skin-tight outfits for training and on missions, and sleeps without any clothes.
Zeltrons are often stereotyped as lazy thrill-seekers, owing to their hedonistic pursuits. Indeed, their homeworld of Zeltros thrives as a luxury world and "party planet," benefiting not only themselves but also others. If anyone isn't having a good time on Zeltros, the Zeltrons would undoubtedly be aware of it and would do their best to rectify the situation.
Though their first inclination is to love, if pushed to do so, Zeltrons can prove to be formidable warriors. And Elizabeth is one such example. Her past was not a pleasant one, and it led her to become a bounty hunter, where she learned to fight and utilised her natural Force-sensitivity to become a deadly warrior. Maul saw that and naturally saw her as another tool to use, or maybe a student. Her talent in the Force is average at best, but she doesn't necessarily need it anyway. She is an agile fighter, deadly martial arts, and her natural pheromones usually do the trick, getting the better of almost anyone she needs to kill.
After Maul took her back to Lotho Minor and the Null clones were allowed to return to Kamino, he started training her. His charisma, thanks to his Essence, had a profound effect on the young Zeltron, much to her surprise. She felt his depth and the darkness slumbering there, ready to be unleashed at a moment's notice. She wanted to stay away from him, but wasn't allowed to do so, since she was there to be trained. So, this way, both of them started to affect one another—Maul through his Essence and Elizabeth through her pheromones.
.
Maul has trained his mind to resist the pheromones and has even created a minor serum to counteract and neutralise its effects when it enters his system. But time was a peculiar thing. To address this issue, he has decided that the time is right and will move on to the next part of his plan. The next step in his training has to be taken. He has gone through the entirety of the Tedryn holocron and now wants to have another. And he knows just the place to go for that.
"Where are you going?" Elizabeth asks.
"Away."
"I'm coming with you," she says.
"No."
"Why not? I can tell you'll be gone for a while, and I want to come along."
"What is it with you? You're aware that I'm the one keeping you here, right? You are essentially a prisoner or subject of interest at the moment. What gives you the impression that you can do whatever you want?"
"I like you."
"What?"
"Hehehe, I can still surprise you," she laughs.
Maul groans and walks off.
"You will not, and I repeat, you will not follow me on this trip."
...
...
Naturally, she followed Maul on his trip. They move to the 'starship garage', which Maul has added to the Bulk Freight. He has started to create different versions of shuttles and small starships, and the one they will be using is his best and most impressive creation to date. The Muscle V52
[Picture]
After having created his 'garage', Maul started to build the first idea of a starfighter, but stopped, as he wasn't happy. He got the idea of a Muscle car starship quite soon after that. He liked the sound the engine of a powerful car made in his old life, and wanted something like that. However, he wanted to utilise advanced technology to complement it. And after two years of building, replacing, and upgrading, Maul managed to create the 52nd version of the Muscle, as he calls it.
It functions using something Maul named the Spiral Conduction Drive, or SCD.
The core consists of a trio of concentric, cylindrical gyroscopes that rotate on independent axes. Each cylinder contains hyperdense, beskar-laced alloys suspended via gravitic repulsorlift rings. The gyros rotate in opposition to one another, building up high-frequency rotational energy and following the mathematical frequency Maul devised.
When spinning in precise harmonics, the three cylinders open up a temporary torsion field in local spacetime, allowing the ship to 'spiral' through space rather than brute-force punch into hyperspace. After Maul had the theory down, he laughed like a maniac and caused a thunderstorm in the air. With the Muscle 52, Maul has taken the first step towards revolutionising hyperspace travel. Moreover, this 'spiral-fold' drive isn't fully capable of travelling through hyperspace for extended periods of time, but rather an ultra-fast spatial compression effect. It allows him to make 'short' jumps.
This means that Maul is no longer beholden to hyperspace lanes, but can't make long travels. Nevertheless, there is still massive potential for improvement.
The steeling wheel isn't mechanical, it's a hybrid of electro-conductive crystal and songsteel, attuned to the Force. Songsteel is an extraordinarily light and luminescent silver metal, used in masterpieces such as swords and staves. The metal is reserved only for the most exquisite of weapons and was extremely tedious to forge and shape. Songsteel was highly resistant to lightsaber strikes like phrik and cortosis. Finding the small amount that he did was a stroke of immense luck for Maul.
The steering responds not just to touch, but to Maul's intent. A Force-sensitive pilot can direct directions through the wheel by focusing their will. The stronger the Force-user, the faster and more precise the spin, and therefore, the greater the ship's manoeuvrability and 'folding' capability.
Finally, the ship features a neural interface that resonates with the pilot's brainwave activity. It's one of the last breakthroughs that Maul has made while training and studying the Force powers related to the mind, such as Telepathy, Mind Probe and Alter Mind. His Essence was truly broken in that sense, since the Force, as its name suggests, was a fundamental aspect of reality, allowing Maul to study it by observing its effects and creating ways to use it.
The interface uses biofeedback amplification to convert Force-pushed intent into the rotation commands for the cylinders. If the pilot becomes emotionally unstable or confused, the harmonics destabilise, which can be potentially catastrophic and quite lethal. To allow for greater manoeuvrability, Maul made the cylinder chamber more spacious to allow for more of the entire 3-dimensional movement. But he also made the security measures less pronounced. If the cylinders get out of hand, they could implode and take anyone on the ship with them. And if it were in the process of jumping through space, it would be over as the entirety of the space being pushed apart to make room for the Muscle 52 would come crashing down.
So to summarise, the Rotational Cylinder Drive mimics a miniature version of a Kerr black hole, but without going as far as to create a singularity. It is not a true black hole after all. Which is why using the Force to power it is so important. You need to feel where you are going and also the status of the ship itself.
As for speed, well, the atmospheric speed is unknown at this point in time, but Maul theorises that should he use the Force to 'coat' the Muscle 52 while he is flying, the only limit would be his concentration and power in the Force. Meaning, as he grows more powerful, the faster he will be able to go.
There is also another problem with it, and one more reason why it needs to be steered by a Force-sensitive. Like the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird, it wasn't dangerously unstable, but at low speeds, it flew like a giant underpowered dart. The Muscle 52 basically says: Go fast or go home, as the high speeds were where it felt most comfortable.
.
"So where are we going?" Elizabeth asks.
"Korriban," Maul answers.
"Where?"
"You might know it as Moraband in the Outer Rim."
"Aha, and what's there that we want?"
"Knowledge and, if we're lucky, remains of a rather powerful and useful prototype covert operations craft."
"Really? But don't you make your own ships and vehicles? I thought that was one of your passions," Elizabeth says.
"It is, but you don't refuse advanced technology if it is presented to you. Besides, there is more to be gained on Korriban than most realise."
"And what kind of knowledge are you looking to find?" she asks.
"The Dark Jedi kind."
______________________________
I want to explain something here. I have included the Zeltron for a reason, and believe it or not, it wasn't primarily for a female lead. It will become a theme here, something that Maul will understand eventually, and it has to do with the Force.