Chapter Text
Chapter 1: Patient Zero
The air on Lotho Minor stank. It was thick with heat and humidity and it smelled of rot. ‘Fitting,’ Savage thought. Lotho Minor was a planet in the Outer Rim Territories' Wazta sector. It was discovered early in the history of the hypocritical Republic and soon became one of the galaxy's many dumping grounds. Planets such as Naboo often dumped their trash there and as such, Lotho Minor's surface was covered with mountains of trash that had amassed over untold generations. It was this very landscape that Savage Opress had found himself on in his quest to find his lost brother Darth Maul. Assuming Mother Talzin had not fabricated this entire thing as a means to be rid of him. For all he knew, there was no ‘Darth Maul’.
“So, who are you looking for?,” the anaconda that called itself Morley asked inquisitively. “Come on.”
“My brother. I've been searching for him.” Savage replied dissmissivly.
“Uh... Does he look like you?” Morley asked.
“Have you seen him?” Savage was more assertive this time. Perhaps this worthless creature had some use after all.
“No. No. I just heard stories about a horned man.” Morley says as he slithers along the ground. “I thought it was just an old local legend.”
“How old?” Savage inquired.
“Old.” The anaconda said simply. Then after a pause Morley continued, “They say he drags things down beneath and they never come back up!” another pause, shorter this time as Morley saw Savage glaring at him, a silent order to continue. “Oh, but it's only a legend, like I said.” Before Savage could reply he felt a sharp stinging pain on his shoulder. He felt another, then another. He could see the droplets of murderous liquid falling.
“Acid rain.” Savage stated simply.
“It'll melt us down if we don't find shelter soon!” Morley yelled as he slithered towards a small hut. “Over there!” he shouts as he and Savage run (or in morley’s case slither) into the hut. ‘Oh, oh, oh…” suddenly Savage’s amulet began to glow bright blue.
“What the...This is it.” Savage says as he begins searching the small hut, moving the hanging corpses of the junkers as though they weren't even there.
“It doesn't look like anyone's here, big guy.” Morley states.
“I can see that!” Savage yells as he throws junk around. They come far too close to relieving Morley of his head for Morley’s liking. ”Mother Talzin! She betrayed me! My brother must be dead!”
“She's not the only one who betrayed you!” Morley yelled with glee. “You'll make a good offering-” he hits the ground with his tail and it opens a trap door beneath Savage’s feet. “-and when my master's finished with you, I get the leftovers!” Morley laughs as Savage falls into the depths of the planet.
Savage used the force to slow his fall and landed rather ungracefully on a pile of bones and decomposed flesh. He examined the bones as he stood up, noting the gnawing on bones. The walls of the cave-like tunnel system he found himself in were scratched and bloody. Savage activated his lightsaber and immediately saw movement.
“Brother? Is that you, brother?” He says and after a brief pause, he followed the shadow figure through the caverns. The smell of decay got stronger the further into the caverns he went. This place smelled of death. “Is that you, brother?” Savage once again shouted. All he got in response was a snarl.
“Stop there! What have you done with my brother?” Savage yelled at the creature demanding an answer. “Answer me, you monster!” Finally the creature stopped and Savage could see it more clearly. The first thing he noticed were the legs. The lower half of this creature had been replaced by a mass of scrap metal that formed the body of an arachnid. The top half of the creature was red with black tattoos. It had large horns on the top of its head. ‘A zabrak’ Savage thought to himself. “What? It can't be.” but Savage knew it to be true. This creature was none other than his lost brother, Darth Maul. “Brother!”
“No!” the thing screeched out as it darted away.
“Wait, brother!” Savage yelled as he chased his brother deeper into the catacombs. The rotting smell was almost unbearable now, even for Savage.
“No! No!” Maul cried in that same unsettling screech. “No! No! No!”
“You are the brother I've been searching for.” Savage said in a bewildered voice. Had his brother gone mad? It seemed likely. Savage figured if he were stuck in these catacombs alone for ten years he would probably go mad too. No matter. Mother Talzin would restore his mind.
“No! No! No! No! No!” Maul screeched again.
“Yes! We are, we are brothers.” Savage began to say when he was suddenly flung into the wall.
“No! You... You don't know!” Maul was turning now to look at Savage. “You don't know anything!” Maul ran up to Savage and screamed. Savage finally was able to see his brother's face, and it was horrifying. His brother looked dead. His eyes were glazed over, unseeing. But Savage knew that was a lie. His brother saw him. He shouldn't be able to, but Savage knew he could. Maul's teeth were yellow and crooked. They were caked with dried blood. His jaw was dislocated. One side hanging and stretching the flesh of his face. In some places the flesh was ripped, revealing bloody muscle underneath. Again maul screamed. “Never, never!”
“I know I am your blood!” Savage yelled back.
“Never! Never, never!” Maul screamed, releasing his hold on the force, freeing Savage. Then Savage heard a familiar voice.
“I'm ready for my leftovers.” Morley laughed…until he saw Savage. “Oh! You're still alive, huh?”
“You did this to my brother?” Savage yelled, grabbing Morley by his throat.
“No!”
“Are you part of this?”
“No! No. No. I found him this way.” Morley choked out in complete panic. “It wasn't me. I found him this way!”
“You can't be trusted. You're a slithering liar!” Savage yelled at Morley, squeezing tighter. “You should have been helping him!”
“I didn't know! I didn't know!” Morley choked. Then Savage closed his fist, crushing Morley’s neck. He dropped the body without a second glance. He turned around to look at his brother who was now salivating as he stared at Morleys corpse.
“This is where you live? How long have you been here?” Savage was trying to get his brother's attention but it was no use. Suddenly his brother lurched towards him charging, then in less than a second, Maul had passed him and began tearing into Morley’s body. It didn't take long for Mail to consume the entire thing. Only then did he speak.
“Years and years and years.” Maul began “Through victory, my chains are broken. The chains, the chains are the easy part.” Maul was moving closer, bits of flesh dangling from his blood soaked mouth. He puts his finger to the side of his head. “It's what goes on in here that's hard.”
“You have been lost, my brother.” Savage said as he slowly backed away. Savage realized that until he got his brother to the safety of Mother Talzin, there was no way of telling what Maul might do. “Do you remember who you are? Where you came from?”
“Always remember I am fear, always remember I am hunter, always remember I am filth, always remember I am nothing, always remember I am death, always remember I am hunger.”Maul growls out.
“Your legs…” Savage began before his brother cut him off.
“That scum, he took them from me. He took them!”
“Who? Who took them?” Savage asked. He would make whoever did this to his brother pay dearly. They will suffer, and then they will die.
“Jedi. Jedi!” Maul screamed.
“You remember?” Savage asked. There were many jedi. Savage could take down many jedi with ease, but he was not strong enough to take on the entire order. He needed a specific jedi if he wished to seek revenge. Before he could ask more his brother began to ramble.
“I don't ask for mercy, Master. Mercy is a lie, a delusion of the weak to think themselves strong. I ask not for mercy…” Maul was pacing now.
“What? What is it?” Savage asked
“But the chance…” His brother continued without acknowledging him.
“Brother, what are you saying?” Savage asked in confusion and frustration.
“And through the filth, through the grief, Jedi!” Maul was yelling now, his mangled face pushing right up against that of Savage. Savage could feel the scent of death in his brother's hot breath. Then, in almost a whisper maul said, “Revenge. I must have revenge.”
“If it's revenge you need brother, then it is revenge you shall get.” Savage says, placing his hand on his brother’s shoulder. All at once his brother’s behavior shifted. Saliva drizzled from his gaping jaw, gnawing at the air.
“I need more than revenge brother…” Maul said darkly
“Then what do you need, brother?” Savage would give his brother anything he needed. Anything at all.
“I need… YOUR FLESH!” Maul sprang at a surprised savage who managed to shove his crazed brother away, but not before Maul took a chunk out of his arm. Screaming in pain, Savage used the force to crush his brothers makeshift legs immobilizing him. Maul was rasping now, all signs of intelligence gone, replaced by an insatiable hunger and bloodlust. Savage clutched his wounded arm as blood poured.
“Don't worry brother, Mother Talzin will fix whatever madness has invaded your mind. But even as savage said this, he could feel something nagging in the back of his mind. For some reason, Savage Opress was hungry…