Year
2 of the Great ReSynchronization
(33
Standard Years before the Battle of Yavin)
______________________________________________________________________________
GrS 02:04:22, day (Outer Rim
Territories, Vivenda sector: Dorvalla): Another act of sabotage hits Lommite Limited’s lommite-mining facilities
on Dorvalla. This time, the conveyors suddenly shut down. (note: Star Wars:
Darth Maul: Saboteur states that this happened ‘last month’)
2001 (February), by James Luceno eBook, LucasBooks and Del Rey (The
Ballantine Publishing Group
GrS 02:05:11, morning (Outer Rim
Territories, Vivenda sector: Trade Federation freighter Revenue, in orbit around Dorvalla): The converted Hoersch-Kessel Drive Lucrehulk-class freighter Acquisitor, under the command of Trade
Federation Commander Nap Lagard, undergoes a shield-upgrade. (note: Star Wars: Cloak of Deception states that this occured
‘recently’)
2001 (May 29), by
James Luceno
hardcover (fiction), LucasBooks and Del Rey (The Ballantine Publishing
Group)
GrS 02:05:12, early
morning (Core Worlds,
Bormea sector: Corulag, Curamelle): The
Force-sensitive female Teela Panjarra is born. Her parents are Corulag Academy
scholars. (note: Star Wars:
Episode I Adventures # 4: Jedi Emergency states that Teela Panjarra is ‘already six months
old’)
1999 (December),
by Ryder Windham
softcover (juvenile fiction), LucasBooks and Scholastic Inc.
GrS 02:05:14, morning (Outer Rim Territories, Vivenda sector: Dorvalla): A Human
technician reports to Patch Bruit, Lommite Limited’s chief of field operations,
that the ore-shuttles are loaded and ready for launch. Bruit directs his gaze
to the droid-guided, mechanized transports that are responsible for ferrying
lommite up the gravity well: in high orbit the payloads are transferred to
Lommite´s flotilla of barges, which convey the unrefined ore, which is an
essential components in the production of transparisteel, to manufacturing
worlds along the Rimma Trade Route and occasionally to the distant Core. When
Bruit gives the launch-order, the unpiloted craft rise from the ground, and
ignite their sublight engines. But suddenly, some of the shuttles begin to
diverge from their course. Moments later, they crash back on the surface, their
self-destruct and emergency override disables.
Patch Bruit, chief of field operations, explains to
Jurnal Arrant, Lommite Limited’s leader, that he needs enhanced surveillance
equipment to counter the recent attemps of sabotage. (note: Star Wars:
Darth Maul: Saboteur states that there have been three ‘incidents in as many
weeks’)
2001
(February), by James Luceno eBook, LucasBooks and Del Rey (The
Ballantine Publishing Group
GrS 02:05:19, late day (Outer Rim Territories, Vivenda sector: Dorvalla): A Human
technician reports to Patch Bruit, Lommite Limited’s chief of field operations,
that the ore-shuttles are loaded and ready for launch. Bruit directs his gaze
to the droid-guided, mechanized transports that are responsible for ferrying
lommite up the gravity well: in high orbit the payloads are transferred to LL’s
flotilla of barges, which convey the unrefined ore, which is an essential
components in the production of transparisteel, to manufacturing worlds along
the Rimma Trade Route and occasionally to the distant Core. When Bruit gives
the launch-order, the unpiloted craft rise from the ground, and ignite their
sublight engines. But suddenly, some of the shuttles begin to diverge from
their course. Moments later, they crash back on the surface, their
self-destruct and emergency override disables. This is the second incident in
two weeks.
Patch Bruit, chief of field operations, explains to
Jurnal Arrant, Lommite Limited’s leader, that to prevent such incidents, he
needs increased security personnel to counter the recent attemps of sabotage. (note: Star Wars:
Darth Maul: Saboteur states that there have been three ‘incidents in as many
weeks’)
2001
(February), by James Luceno eBook, LucasBooks and Del Rey (The
Ballantine Publishing Group
GrS 02:05:24, morning (Outer Rim Territories, Vivenda sector: Dorvalla): A Human technician reports to Patch Bruit, Lommite
Limited’s chief of field operations, that the Group Two shuttles are loaded and
ready for launch. Bruit directs his gaze to the droid-guided, mechanized
transports that are responsible for ferrying lommite up the gravity well: in high
orbit the payloads are transferred to LL’s flotilla of barges, which convey the
unrefined ore, which is an essential components in the production of
transparisteel, to manufacturing worlds along the Rimma Trade Route and
occasionally to the distant Core. When Bruit gives the launch-order, the eight
unpiloted craft rise from the ground, and ignite their sublight engines. But
suddenly, two of the shuttles begin to diverge from their course. The
technician reports that the shuttles are still accelerating, but have changed
their course right back at the installation. Bruit shouts for the technician to
enable the self-destruct. When the shuttles do not respond, the technician
tries the emergency override, but it seems to be disabled. Cursing loudly,
Bruit asks for a vector update, and the technician reports that the shuttles
are aimed directly for the Castle, one of the largest mines so named for the
natural spires that grace its western and southern faces. Bruit orders an high
priority evacuation, and seconds later sirens sound in the distance. Within
moments, Patch Bruit sees workers hurrying from the mine openings and leaping
onto waiting hover platforms. A colossal bipedal drilling droid appears at the
mouth of one of the mines, engages its repulsorlift, and steps off into thin
air.
Thinking about the several recent incidents of
industrial sabotage, Patch Bruit watchess helplessly as the two rudderless
shuttles are plummeting side by side towards the Castle. They hit the Castle at
almost the same instant, impacting it above the loftiest of the mines, perhaps
fifty standard meters below the tor’s jungles summit. The Castle disappears
behind an explosive flare of blinding light as immense chunks of rock fly from
the face if the tor, and two of its elegant spires topple.
Lommite Limited’s headquarters complex nestles at the
foot of the valleys’western escarpment. But even there a half a centimeter of
lommite dust covers the lush lawns and flower gardens. Patch Bruit enters the
office of Jurnel Arrant. Lommite Limited’s leader remarks that this is the
third incident in as many weeks, and that he does not understand how this keeps
happening. Bruit explains that they will know more once the guidance droids can
be located and analyzed. Arrant tells Bruit that he wants him to devote all of
his resources to root out the saboteurs responsible for this: if Bruit is not
up for it, Arrant threatens to bring in specialists. Their discussion is
interrupted by an incoming priority holotransmission from the Neimoidian Hath Monchar.
From the holoprojector disk set into the floor at the
center of the office rises the life-size holopresence of Hath Monchar. The
Neimoidian greets Jurnel Arrant and conveys the warmest regards from Viceroy
Nute Gunray who was sorry to learn of their latest setback. Arrant scowls,
asking how it is that whenever tragedy strikes, the first one he hears from are
the Neimoidians. He asks Monchar if the Trade Federation has a hand in the
matter. But the Neimoidian replies that the Trade Federation would never do
anything to impair relations with a potential partner. Laughingly, Arrant
points out that he does not know how much they had to pay the Galactic Senate
to obtain a franchise to operate with impunity in the free trade zones, but
they are never going to buy their way into the Vivenda sector. Monchar counters
that Lommite Limited could ship ten times as much lommite ore inside one of the
Trade Federation’s freighters as they can in twenty of their largest barges.
But Jurnel Arrant remarks that before long, it would cost them more to ship
with the Trade Federation than they could possibly earn back. Taking a moment
before replying, Hath Monchar remarks that they would much prefer that their
partnership begins on solid footing: the Trade Federation would hate to see
Lommite Limited become ensnared in a situation that allows it no recourse but
to join them. Arrant tells Monchar to stop threatening him, otherwise he will
report this to the Trade Commission on Coruscant. Telling the Neimoidian not to
contact him again, Jurnel Arrant deactivates the holoprojector. (note: month-date
conjectured by the time-placement of the Darth Maul comic mini-series which
follows closely after this story and is set ‘six months prior to the events in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace)
2001
(February), by James Luceno eBook, LucasBooks and Del Rey (The
Ballantine Publishing Group
GrS 02:05:25, morning (Core Worlds, Coruscant sector: Coruscant: Galactic
City): Despite its rich deposits of lommite, an
essential component in the production of transparisteel, or the recurrent
attention it receives from the Trade Federation, the mining-world of Dorvalla
is to most observers an inconsequential speck in the sweep of star systems that
make up the Galactic Republic. But among the few who have been monitoring the
events on Dorvalla, none has followed them as keenly as Darth Sidious, the Dark
Lord of the Sith.
Darth Sidious tells his apprentice, Darth Maul, that
the rivalry between Lommite Limited and InterGalactic Ore in the Vivenda sector
intrigues him: he sees a way that they might exploit this entanglement to their
own gain. He tells Maul that with some intervention, both mining companies will
collapse, thus they will be able to deliver Dorvalla to the Trade Federation
and gain the further allegiance of Trade Federation Viceroy Nute Gunray and his
lackeys. With Dorvalla secured, Gunray will likely be promoted to a permanent
position on the Trade Federation Directorate, allowing them to further their
larger plan.
Darth Sidious orders Darth Maul to travel to Dorvalla.
Handing him a data disk, Sidious tells his apprentice to study it as it
contains the names and descriptions of the beings he will encounter on his
mission.
2001
(February), by James Luceno eBook, LucasBooks and Del Rey (The
Ballantine Publishing Group
GrS 02:05:26, late morning (Outer Rim Territories, Vivenda sector: Dorvalla): After the latest incident of sabotage, which occured
two days ago when two of Lommite Limited’s unpiloted craft crashed on one of
the larger mines, the guidance droids of the shuttles are located and exhumed.
Patch Bruit, Lommite Limited’s chief of field operations, had insisted on
overseeing the search-and-recovery operation as he wanted to be on hand when
the droids were analyzed. Few of Lommite’s employees had access to the launch
zone, and fewer still had access to the mechanized shuttles themselves.
Tampering of the sort that had brought down the crafts would have left
characteristic signs of the computer slicer who had effected previous acts of
terrorism and sabotage. Bruit’s sources had already established that the slicer
was an agent of InterGalactic Ore, but the saboteur’s identity had yet to be
ascertained. After running a series of tests on one of the R-series
guidance droids, a Sullustan member of the retrieval team reports that whoever
sliced his way into the droid is the same one who shut down the conveyors last
month.
Patch Bruit orders the launch zones shut down until
further notice. He also wants every member of the launch prep and maintenance
crews brought in for questioning. With that, Bruit sets off for his landspeeder
to head back to headquarters to report to Lommite’s leader, Jurnel Arrant. Bruit informs Arrant that he was right about InterGalactic Ore. Arrant
remarks that he has received news that Corellian Engineering just turned to
InterGalactic for a shipment of lommite they could not provide. Bruit remarks
that it will not happen again: he explains that he has just shut down the
launch zones and is bringing in replacement crews. Arrant cuts him off, telling
him that he has one day as Eriadu has placed major orders with them and
InterGalactic. Arrant tells him that they are expected to deliver by the end of
the week, which gives them just enough time to get the barges loaded and jumped
to hyperspace. Jurnel Arrant explains that this is a make-or-break contract,
with Eriadu going to award it to whichever one of them can deliver on time and
without incident. Bruit nods, remarking that he will have the shuttles up and
running in one day. But Arrant remarks that he wants Bruit to arrange for them
to reply in kind to InterGalactic’s actions. He tells his chief of field
operations that he wants to hit InterGalactic hard, but he does not want them
to do the hitting directly. Patch Bruit considers the words of his leader,
remarking that they could turn to one of the criminal organizations. Arrant
tells Bruit to do whatever he needs to do, no matter what the cost.
2001
(February), by James Luceno eBook, LucasBooks and Del Rey (The
Ballantine Publishing Group
GrS 02:05:26, day (Outer Rim Territories, Vivenda sector: Dorvalla): After the latest incident of sabotage, which occured
two days ago when two of Lommite Limited’s unpiloted craft crashed on one of
the the larger mines, Lommite’s leader Jurnel Arrant has charged Patch Bruit,
the company’s chief of field operations, to assemble a team of mercenaries to
strike back at InterGalactic Ore. Now, Bruit has a secret meeting with members
of the Toom clan, a small outfit headquartered in an underground base deep in
Dorvalla’s unpopulated northern wastes. Although the clan already receives
routine payoffs from both Lommite and InterGalactic to ensure the safety of
their shuttles and ore barges, the Toom clan immediately accepts Lommite
Limited’s generous offer of Republic credits to perform a bit of sabotage work.
2001
(February), by James Luceno eBook, LucasBooks and Del Rey (The
Ballantine Publishing Group
GrS 02:05:28, evening (Outer Rim Territories, Vivenda sector:
Dorvalla): Darth Maul, who has been sent to
the world of Dorvalla by his master, Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Sidious to pit
two rival mining corporations against each other, leaving the world ripe for
takeover by the Trade Federation, is walking through the streets of the company
town Lommite Limited had assembled in the midst of what had once been a
trackless tropical forest. Still hooded, he enters a cantina and orders a pure
water while taking in the surroundings. Maul sharpens his faculties, extending
the range of his hearing to monitor nearby conversations. Most are as prosaic
as he had expected them to be, but then he hears the word sabotage, and his
ears prick up. The customer who had uttered it was a Human, seated off to
Maul’s right in a booth along the cantina’s rear wall. Another man sits
opposite him, and both wear the gray lightweight coveralls that are standard
issue for employees of Lommite Limited, but the lack of dust in their hair or
on their clothing makes it clear that they are not miners. A third man
approaches the booth, telling the others that the chief has called a special
meeting and wants them at his place in half an hour. One of the men in the
booth remarks that Bruit has probably a line on the culprits of the sabotage of
the ore-shuttles. Maul recognizes the name: Patch Bruit, Lommite Limited’s
chief of field operations. Although Darth Maul continues listening, his eyes
are no longer fixed on the men but on something he had glimpsed on the wall
above the booth: a listening device in the form of a native bioluminescent
flitter he had first observed while walking through the streets.
Scanning around the cantina, Darth Maul’s eyes rest on
a table where a Rodian and two Twi’leks are ostensibly engaged in a game of
sabacc. But upon studying them further, Maul is certain that the trio are in
the secret employ of Lommite Limited’s onworld competitor, InterGalactic Ore,
and the ones listening in on the conversation of Lommite Limited’s security
officers.
When the three Lommite Limited security men leave the
cantina on foot, Darth Maul follows from a discreet distance, keeping to the
shadows when Dorvalla’s moon comes up. The trail that weaves through a dense
stand of forest eventually arrives at a tight-knit community of flimsy
dwellings, many of thm raised on stilts to keep them above pools of runoff
water left by the rain. The men are greeted by Patch Bruit who tells them to
enter one of the dwellings. When the men are inside, Maul hurries from the
shadows and clambers up one of the stilts to wedge himself between the floor
joists of the front room. Maul extracts a miniature recording device from the
breast pocket of his utility suit and places it against the underside of the rough-hewn
floorboards.
In the room above, Patch Bruit tells those present
that Lommite Limited’s leader Jurnel Arrant has decided that after the current
wave of sabotage against Lommite, they need to level the playing field: they
are going to strike at InterGalactic Ore at Eriadu to ensure that their
shipments will reach the world, and InterGal’s will not. One of the men asks
Bruit if it is not wiser to petinion the Galactic Senate to intervene, but
another one remarks that the Senate will defer to committees run by corrupt
bureaucrats: it will take months for it to get to the courts. Bruit remarks
that it has already been decided that the Galactic Senate will not be involved.
He explains that Lommite Limited has been able to learn the hyperspace route
InterGal’s ships are going to take: they will arrive by way of Rimma 13, and
are scheduled to decant from hyperspace at 1400 hours, Eriadu local time. The
chief of field operations tells those present that the people they are
employing to execute the strike, the Toom clan, will be able to calculate the
precise reentry coordinates. One of the men asks Patch Bruit what their part in
this will be, as the deal with the Toom clan has apparently already been
struck. Bruit explains that they need to prepare themselves for InterGal’s
counterpunch.
Darth Maul peels the recorded from the floorboards and
drops down to the loamy soil below the house.
2001
(February), by James Luceno eBook, LucasBooks and Del Rey (The
Ballantine Publishing Group
GrS 02:05:29, night – day (Outer Rim Territories, Vivenda sector: Dorvalla): Darth Maul has been sent to the world of Dorvalla by
his master, Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Sidious, to pit two rival mining
corporations against each other, leaving the world ripe for takeover by the
Trade Federation. Having learned of Lommite Limited’s plan to strike at an
InterGalactic Ore shipment near the world of Eriadu, Maul succeeds in breaking
into Lommite’s chief of field operations’ personal computer to call up the
files relating to the imminent Eriadu delivery.
The cantina is doing a brisk lunchtime business when
Darth Maul enters and takes a seat at a corner table. Two of Lommite’s security
men occupy their usual booth, and not far from where Maul is seated, the Rodian
and the two Twi’leks he had identified the previous evening as agents from
InterGalactic Ore are gathered around a card table. When the three are joined
by a fourth, a dark-haired Human female, Darth Maul uses the Force to move a
small InterGal listening device from the wall above the booth of the Lommite
security men to the table of the InterGalactic Ore party. When the woman,
wearing an earpiece, suddenly hears their own voices, she glances around. Maul
activates the remote control he had tuned to the frequency of the transmitter
and relays a recording: he had spent all morning adulterating the recording he
had made during last night’s meeting at Lommite Limited’ chief of field
operations Patch Bruit’s dwelling, and modifying the resequenced phrases to
sound as if they had been uttered by a single individual:
“This comes straight from the Toom clan. Here’s the
long and short of it. Arrant has decided to move against InterGalactic Ore
shipments. No petitioning the Senate. He is letting loose a shooting war. That
much has already been decided.
The Toom clan has a way of settling this – a cure for
the disease. InterGal can level the playing field by employing us to strike at
Eriadu. We of the Toom clan wish to see LL brought down. Someone with real
foresight could build a better organization from the dregs.
We have been able to learn the hyperspace route
Lommite Limited’s ships are going to take to Eriadu, and the precise reentry
coordinates. They will arrive by way of Rimma 18, and are scheduled to decant
from hyperspace at 1300 hours, Eriadu local time.
We have been in the trenches. This is out livelihood.
We can intervene and execute the strike. The Tooms have the means to get the
job done. No one will suspect us. We have no scruples about what happens.
To team up to accomplish this, be willing to spend the
credits necessary. Contact us.”
The recording appears to be having the desired effect:
Darth Maul is pleased to hear the Rodian say that they have to get this message
directly to the top.
Later that day, the Weequay Toom clan leader Nort Toom
accepts the holotransmission from Caba’Zan, head of security for InterGalactic
Ore. The near-Human Falleen tells Toom that he wants to discuss the Toom’s most
recent offer they tendered about destroying Lommite Limited’s ships at Eriadu.
Confused, Toom’s deep-set eyes dart between the holoprojector and one of his
Weequay confederates, before replying that they have so many operations in the
works, it is sometimes hard to remember what offers they are making. Caba’Zan
comes directly to the point, offering 100,000 Republic credits for the job.
Although that is twice the amount Lommite Limited’s chief of field operations
Patch Bruit had offered them, Nort Toom manages to drive the price up to
150,000 credits before accepting the deal. When Toom remarks that they will
begin making preparations immediately, Caba’Zan asks Toom if he is certain
about the reentry coordinates for Lommite’s ships, and the time of their
decanting at Eriadu. When the Weequay clan leader remarks that maybe they
should go over it one more time, Caba’zan relays to him the data the Toom clan
mentioned in the message.
When he deactivates the holoprojector, Nort Toom sits
back, telling his confederate that they will have to make sure to execute both
contracts: they have to sabotage everyone’s ships.
2001
(February), by James Luceno eBook, LucasBooks and Del Rey (The
Ballantine Publishing Group
GrS 02:05:30, early morning
– day (Outer Rim Territories, Vivenda sector:
Dorvalla and Riome): The Toom clan, a
small outfit of mercenaries, begins to shut down and abandon their undergrond
base deep in Dorvalla’s unpopulated northern wastes. Surmising that their
contract with both Lommite Limited and InterGalactic Ore to destroy each
other’s ore barges at Eriadu today will unite both mining corporations against
them, the mercenaries decide to abscond while they can.
Darth Maul, who had been sent to the world of Dorvalla
by his master, Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Sidious, to pit the two rival mining
corporations against each other, leaving the world ripe for takeover by the
Trade Federation, is watching the proceedings. He trails the group to Riome, a
small, ice-covered world deeper in the Dorvalla system, where the clan already
had established a secret base.
2001
(February), by James Luceno eBook, LucasBooks and Del Rey (The
Ballantine Publishing Group
GrS 02:05:30, day (Outer Rim Territories, Seswenna sector: Eriadu): Lieutenant Governor Willhuf Tarkin has arranged for
one of Eriadu’s orbital habitats to host a ceremony to endorse Eriadu’s
potential partnership with ore-miners Lommite Limited or InterGalactic Ore. The
company which delivers the first shipment of lommite from Dorvalla will win the
exclusive contract. All the cardinal players are present at the ceremony:
Lommite Limited’s leader Jurnel Arrant and his counterpart at InterGalactic,
the executive officers of Eriadu Manufacturing and Valorum Shipping, a plethora
of business personnel who stand to gain from the new partnership and Tarkin
himself, representing Eriadu’s political interests. Everyone is gathered on the
esplanade level of the orbital facility, awaiting the arrival of the ore barges
Lommite and InterGalactic had dispatched. The separate flotillas were scheduled
to arrive within an hour of each other, local time.
Jurnel Arrant and his chief of field operations Patch
Bruit are in conversation with the head of Eriadu Manufacturing, when Bruit is
called away. One of his security team members reports that something has yanked
their barges out of hyperspace short of their Rimma 18 reentry coordinates.
Then, Bruit hears people gasp behind him. When he turns, everyone’s attention
is fixed on the huge monitor screens that display views of Eriadu’s orbital
shipyards. Some distance of the shipyards, and way off course, several
lackluster space barges are reverting to realspace. Patch Bruit watches in
shock as a second group of ships begins to emerge from hyperspace. Seconds
later, Lommite Limited’s flotilla collides with InterGalactic Ore’s flotilla:
lommite ore begins to stream from the fractured hulls, turning local space
white. Backing away from the display screens in numb horror, Jurnel Arrant
mumbles that they are ruined. Patch Bruit turns to his security team, barking
that the Toom clan has double-crossed them. He orders his security officer to
send a message to Caba’Zan, head of security for InterGalactic Ore,
immediately, telling him that they will have to meet as soon as possible. (note: Star Wars:
Darth Maul: Saboteur states that both Lommite Limited and InterGalactic Ore
are ‘expected to deliver by the end of the week’)
2001 (February),
by James Luceno eBook, LucasBooks and Del Rey (The
Ballantine Publishing Group
GrS 02:05:32, early morning
- day (Outer Rim Territories, Vivenda sector:
Dorvalla): After both Lommite Limited and
InterGalactic Ore failed to bring in an exclusive contract with Eriadu for
ore-shipments, Lommite’s chief of field operations Patch Bruit meets with
InterGalactic’s chief of security, the Falleen Caba’Zan. The two men realize
that, in trying to win the contract, they both hired the illustrious Toom clan
to sabotage each other’s ore-flotillas which collided during an official
ceremony at Eriadu. During the discussion, both men come to the conclusion that
a third party must have orchestrated the disastrous events.
Secreted beneath the stilted dwelling where the meet
is taking place, Darth Maul smiles to himself. The plan of his master, Dark
Lord of the Sith Darth Sidious, to pit the two rival mining corporations
against each other, leaving the world ripe for takeover by the Trade
Federation, is working out fine. Maul never doubted that the Toom clan would
enter into contracts with both mining companies, nor did he think that the clan
would fail to deliver on its promise to sabotage the ships. Thus he had had no
reason to go to Eriadu to witness the fatal collisions. Instead he had passed
the time watching members of the Toom clan shut down and abandon the base on
Dorvalla. Surmising correctly that their betrayal would unite Lommite Limited
and InterGalactic Ore against them, the mercenaries had decided to abscond
while they could. Darth Maul had trailed them to Riome, a small, ice-covered
world deeper in the Dorvalla system, where the clan already had established a
secret base.
Now, Darth Maul’s next task is to make certain that
Patch Bruit learns the location of the Riome sanctuary by planting evidence at
the site of the clan’s former base.
2001
(February), by James Luceno eBook, LucasBooks and Del Rey (The Ballantine Publishing Group
GrS 02:05:33, morning
(Outer Rim Territories, Vivenda sector:
Dorvalla and Riome): Darth Maul, who had been sent to the world of Dorvalla
by his master, Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Sidious, to pit two rival mining
corporations against each other, leaving the world ripe for takeover by the
Trade Federation, had spent a full day in frigid temperatures and howling
winds, waiting for Lommite Limited´s chief of field operation Patch Bruit and
his men to arrive. Armed with blasters and an assortment of more powerful
weapons, they race from the shuttle that has delivered them from Dorvalla´s
equator and storm the underground base of the Toom clan. The Toom clan
double-crossed both Lommite and their rival, InterGalactic Core, and destroyed
both companies´ ore barge fleets at Eriadu. Accompanying Bruit is Caba´Zan,
InterGalactic´s chief of security. Frustrated to find the base deserted, they
begin a search for clues as to the mercenaries´ whereabouts. For too long Maul
was convinced that he would have to intrude on their sloppy search and rub
their noses in the evidence he had so artfully sown. But ultimately they
discover it on their own.
Darth Maul is already inside his ship when Patch Bruit
and the rest reboard their shuttle and launch, presumably for Riome.
In his smaller and faster craft, Darth Maul arrives at
Riome ahead of Patch Bruit´s mixed squad of would-be avengers. Maul sees no
sign of the Toom clan´s Interdictor ship in orbit, and assumes that the
mercenaries have concealed it in the asteroid field coreward of Riome. Darth
Maul lands his ship a kilometer from the Toom´s secret base, which consists of
a series of interlinked semi-cylindrical bunkers that had once sheltered a team
of scientists.
Later, Darth Maul watches Patch Bruit´s shuttle fly
over the complex, and set down on a circle of permacrete, alongside a disk-shaped
Corellian freighter and a gunship of equal size. The Toom clan could not have
been unaware of the shuttle´s arrival, but Bruit manages to catch the
mercenaries unprepared nevertheless. His force of twenty emerges from the
shuttle aboard a troop carrier equipped with both repulsorlift engines and
weighty tracks for surface-effect locomotion. The Toom clan rallies a quick
defense, but the forces of the mining companies fan out to begin a methodical
advance on the bunkers. What Bruit does not know, however, is that the lead
bunker has been fortified with blast doors, and the coarse grass apron that
fronts it is impregnated with fragmentation mines and other traps.
Darth Maul decides that it is time to show himself. He
appears briefly on a rise, east of the base, a two-legged stranger dressed in a
long cloak, deep black against the snowfield. The assailants take him for one
of the clan and immediately open fire. Maul propels himself over the rise with
leaps and bounds, though scarcely of the sort of which he is capable. Patch
Bruit does the wise thing and splits his team, figuring, as Maul predicted he
would, that the lone enemy knows another way into the base. Maul keeps himself
in plain sight, dodging the blaster bolts fired by his pursuers, without using
his lightsaber. Briefly hidden by a snowdrift, he calls on the Force to twirl
himself deeply into the white wave. From the depths of his self-excavated tomb,
he hears Bruit´s men dash for the relatively undefended entrance to which he
had led them. Maul waits until he is certain that the last of them had entered
before following them inside.
Judging by the way the assault is progressing, it is
Patch Bruit´s forces that will be left standing at the end. Despite being
outgunned and outnumbered, the miners´ assault is invigorated by the wrath of
the betrayed. Even with a third of their group already wounded or dead, Bruit
and his InterGalactic allies persevere, continuing to bring the fight to the
Toom clan, which hold the rear of the bunker.
Patch Bruit and Caba´Zan lead the final charge, their
combined forces going hand to hand with Weequay and Aqualish members of the
Toom clan, whose weapons are exhausted. The miners show them no mercy, and in
moments the battle is over, with Bruit, Chaba´Zan, and five others left
standing amid the carnage.
Realizing that he cannot let Patch Bruit investigate
the matter further, Darth Maul ignites both ends of his lightsaber and drops
down to the floor of the prefab bunker. Bruit, Caba´Zan and the others spin
around and stare at him. When Maul marches forward, a Rodian opens fire, but
the Sith apprentice deflects the blaster bolt straight back at him. Caba´Zan
yells that they have no fight with the Jedi as this does not concern Coruscant.
But growling, Maul continues his advance. Swinging his lightsaber, Darth Maul
kills all of them except for Patch Bruit. Gaping at Maul in disbelief, Lommite
Limited´s chief of field operations lets his blaster drop from his rigid hand.
He stammers that although he does not know how or why, he knows that Maul has
to be responsible for everything that has happened. Gesturing broadly, Bruit
asks his assailant if he can at least know why before he is going to be killed.
Darth Maul explains that it is something that had to be done for a larger purpose.
Then, he deactivates his lightsaber and uses the Force to crush Patch Bruit´s
neck.
2001
(February), by James Luceno eBook, LucasBooks and Del Rey (The
Ballantine Publishing Group
GrS 02:06:02, morning (Outer Rim Territories, Vivenda sector: Dorvalla): Lommite Limited´s leader Jurnel Arrant is in his
office when he receives the details of Patch Bruit´s death on Riome. Bruit had
been Lommite´s chief of field operations, who had been charged by Arrant to
take action against rival companies´ InterGalactic Ore sabotage attempts
against Lommite´s operations. The messenger is a judicial agent, who has been
dispatched from Coruscant at Arrant´s request. In a tone of anguished
confession, Arrant explains that he is responsible for the entire business: he
is guilty of ordering Bruit to bring in outsiders to do the dirty work which
escalated the conflict between both companies.
Dorvalla´s lommite ore could still be mined, but
Lommite Limited no longer has enough barges to transport it. Replacing them
will cost more than the company is currently worth. From what Jurnel Arrant had
heard, InterGalactic Ore is in the same fix. Angered, Arrant states that he is
convinced that the Neimoidians with the Trade Federation got to the Toom clan
and paid them to sabotage both Lommite´s and InterGal´s ships. The judicial
agents explains that that will be difficult to prove as the Toom clan has been
effectively wiped out: and unless Arrant can produce evidence to support his
theory, they cannot show good cause for interrogating the Neimoidians. The
judicial takes an audio disk from his pocket, remarking that Jurnel Arrant
might want to hear the recording which was retrieved at the Toom clan´s base on
Dorvalla. When playing the disk, it relays a conversation between Patch Bruit
and Caba´Zab, head of security for InterGalactic Ore. The audio recording shows
evidence that both men teamed up with the Toom clan to move against both
companies during the ceremony at Eriadu. What the judicial agent and Arrant do
not know is that the recording was fabricated by Darth Maul, who had been sent
to the world of Dorvalla by his master, Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Sidious, to
pit the two rival mining corporations against each other, leaving the world
ripe for takeover by the Trade Federation.
Jurnel Arrant tells his protocol droid secretary that
he needs to make two holocalls immediately. The first will be to the chief
executive of InterGalactic Ore to discuss terms of a possible merger. And the
second call will be to Viceroy Nute Gunray to discuss terms of granting the
Trade Fedetation exclusive rights to the shipping and distribution of
Dorvalla´s lommite ore.
2001
(February), by James Luceno eBook, LucasBooks and Del Rey (The
Ballantine Publishing Group
GrS 02:06:06, day (Outer Rim Territories, Vivenda sector: Dorvalla): The bankrupt ore-mining corporations Lommite Limited
and InterGalactic Ore merge to become Dorvalla Mining. Under a new agreement,
the Trade Federation will transport the lommite ore, and will represent the
world of Dorvalla in the Galactic Senate on Coruscant.
2001
(February), by James Luceno eBook, LucasBooks and Del Rey (The
Ballantine Publishing Group
GrS 02:06:24, day (The Colonies: Neimoidia): In a dank, fungus-encrusted grotto on the Neimoidian homeworld, Hath
Monchar and Viceroy Nute Gunray receive a startlingly sudden holovisit from
Darth Sidious. First to reach the holoprojector and the cloaked apparition that
is the Dark Lord of the Sith, Monchar is the first to greet Sidious. But
Sidious tells the Viceroy to dismiss his underling so that they can speak in
private about the recent events on the lommite-rich world of Dorvalla.
Dismissing Monchar, who leaves under protest, Gunray slides off the mechno-
chair and approaches the holoprojector. The Neimoidian tells Sidious that he
had no idea he was aware of the events on Dorvalla, much less that the Trade
Federation had an interest in the world. Sidious remarks that the Viceroy will
find that there are few matters of which he is unaware. He tells Gunray that
they have not seen the last of Dorvalla, explaining that there is something
they will need to attend to in due course. But Gunray counters that the matter
has been resolved now that Lommite Limited and Intergalactic Core have merged
to become Dorvalla Mining: the Trade
Federation will transport the ore, and will represent Dorvalla in the Galactic
Senate. Sidious remarks that more importantly, Nute Gunray now has a permanent
place on the Trade Federation Directorate, which means that the stage is set
for the next act of the grand plan. The image of Darth Sidious tells Gunray
that he will inform him at the appropriate time. For now, Sidious will continue
to secure the power base of the Trade Federation and strenghten Gunray´s
personal position in the organization.
2001
(February), by James Luceno eBook, LucasBooks and Del Rey (The
Ballantine Publishing Group
GrS 02:06:24, day (Core Worlds, Coruscant sector: Coruscant: Galactic
City): In his lair, Darth Sidious, the Dark Lord
of the Sith, deactivates the holoprojector and turns to face his apprentice,
Darth Maul. He asks him if he finds their Neimoidian allies any more
thrustworthy than before, and Maul replies that they are more frightened, which
may achieve the same end result. Making an affermative sound, Sidious remarks
that they are not through with the Neimoidians yet, not for some time to come.
Darth Maul tells his master that he begins to understand now. Sidious tells
Maul that he did not disappoint him in his recent mission to Dorvalla. Studying
his apprentice for a moment, Darth Sidious remarks that he senses that Maul
enjoyed being out on his own. The Dark Lord of the Sith tells him that soon, he
will have another taks for him. For now, Darth Maul is to familiarize himself
with the workings of the criminal organization known as Black Sun. And while he
is doing that, he is to return to his warrior training as his lightsaber may
very well come in handy for what Darth Sidious requires next.
2001
(February), by James Luceno eBook, LucasBooks and Del Rey (The
Ballantine Publishing Group
GrS 02:07:17, day (Outer Rim
Territories, Vivenda sector: Dorvalla): The converted Hoersch-Kessel Drive Lucrehulk-class freighter Revenue arrives at the mining world of
Dorvalla to pick-up a load of lommite ore, a major component in the production
of transparisteel viewports and starfighter canopies. (note: Star Wars: Cloak
of Deception states that the
Revenue had been loading at Dorvalla ‘for close to three standard days)
2001 (May 29), by James Luceno