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“This can’t be right…” Maul muttered to himself as he looked up at the building he was standing in front of. He took the holo-flyer from his pocket to check the address.
A few days ago, somebody had stuffed the flyer in the mailbox of Maul’s palace in Sundari, on Mandalore.
Maul had been ready to incinerate the flyer, as he did with all his unwanted mail, but something about it had caught his attention and made him read the hologram.
‘LEARN TO LOVE YOURSELF (AGAIN)!’ the holo-flyer said in big, bold Aurebesh letters above a cartoonish drawing of a humanoid figure with cybernetics replacing their right arm and left leg. The text continued underneath.
‘Have you been cybernetically enhanced but are you having difficulties coming to terms with the new you? Join our support group and share your story. Together we will carry the weight of your metal parts!’
The flyer concluded with a time and date for the next meetup and an address somewhere on Coruscant.
Maul’s initial reaction was to scoff at the holo-flyer but he kept it with him anyways. As the day progressed he kept finding his thoughts drifting back to the flyer, and to his cybernetic legs.
Was he happy with himself as he was right now? His new legs had certainly helped with his height insecurities. and his metallic feet had become weapons on their own.
On the other hand, his cybernetic lower half had been an outright disaster for his sex life.
Maybe one visit to this support group wouldn’t be such a terrible idea after all.
Maul now found himself in front of that Coruscant address, wondering if his senses had betrayed him and he had fallen for a stupid trap.
Because why was a support group for cyborgs held at the Jedi Temple?!
Why hadn’t he turned around and left yet? Was he really considering entering this den full of enemies?
His intuition was telling him this wasn’t a trap. And his intuition was one of the few things left in the world that Maul trusted.
Besides, even if this was a trap, he had probably sprung it already anyways. There’s no way Maul was able to get this close to the Temple undetected.
If he was wrong Maul would just have to cut his way back out.
After hesitating a little longer, Maul swallowed his pride and entered the Jedi Temple.
Maul slowly made his way across the colossal entrance hall of the Temple, in awe of the endless giant columns and elaborate decorations throughout. At the same time he kept his guard up. There were Jedi all around and Maul primed himself to react to any sudden movement. But so far it seemed the Jedi had either not noticed him, or paid him no mind.
As Maul reached the center of the giant hall he suddenly felt a presence approaching behind him. Someone who was very, very strong with the Force. He whirled around but saw nobody behind him. The hall had emptied and he appeared to be alone. Yet this presence persisted. Maul looked from left to right trying to assess the threat to himself. The presence was almost overwhelming and he was starting to panic.
Suddenly, Maul felt someone tapping against his leg, and heard the sound of wood on metal.
“Down here! Down here I am!”
Maul looked down and was greeted by the mischievous smile of Master Yoda, who was hitting his leg with a cane.
Maul jumped back in shock.
“You!”
“Me!” Yoda replied. “Here for the cyborg support group you are I assume?”
The tiny Jedi Master slowly made his way back over to Maul again.
“Glad my holo-flyer has reached you I am.”
All Maul could do was stare back at Yoda.
“Your flyer? This group actually exists? This isn’t just a plot to capture and kill me?”
Yoda responded with an amused hum. “Multi-faceted I am! Not only the Jedi I teach. Almost as old as me my therapist’s license is. Now, follow me!”
Without another word Yoda turned around and made his way for one of the stairways leading out of the entrance hall.
Maul hesitated for a second but followed after him. He was assured by now this wasn’t a trap, just very weird.
And something told Maul this was going to be one of those very weird days.
Maul followed the old Jedi Master through a maze of hallways, stairs and elevators deeper and deeper into the Jedi Temple. Finally, after an elevator ride that was as long as it was awkward and silent the duo arrived at their destination.
“Late you are,” Yoda said, giggling, as he opened a double door and headed inside.
“Already here the others are.” the small green Jedi made a weird giggling sound as if he was laughing at his own joke
Yoda led Maul into a large circular room with a tall ceiling, at the top of one of the Jedi Temple’s spires. The floor of the room was decorated with an elaborate ringed pattern of flowers and ferns, in burgundy, sandy yellow and gold. Tall windows all around the room gave Maul a fantastic view of the Coruscant skyline.
Placed around the circular pattern on the floor was a half-circle of ornate and comfy looking chairs. Each chair had a different shape and size, apparently having been custom designed to be as comfortable as possible for their owners.
A large banner had been hung across the room, above the chairs, reading ‘Cyborg Support Group Meeting’.
As Yoda had said there were already other people present in the room, having picked one of the chairs to sit in. They sat a little awkwardly in chairs that were clearly not designed to accommodate them.
Maul was unpleasantly surprised to see Skywalker, who quickly avoided any eye contact after giving him an awkward greeting wave.
Next to Skywalker sat a man who Maul recognized as a Clone. But a Clone who had been significantly altered with cybernetics. Plugs had been embedded in his shaven head, he had a scomp link instead of a right arm and both of his legs appeared to be prosthetics.
At least that was something Maul could relate to.
The final participant of today’s session was sitting across from Skywalker and the Clone in the circular chamber. He was almost entirely robotic. Maul would have taken him for a droid were it not for the figure’s sunken in, reptilian eyes sitting behind his face plate, his raspy breathing and the occasional aggressive coughing fits.
Based on Maul’s intel, this had to be the Supreme Commander of the Seperatist’s Droid Army, General Grievous.
What a peculiar collection of freaks we are Maul thought to himself.
Yoda sat himself down in a chair clearly made for him, in the middle of the half-circle of chairs and between the Clone and Grievous. Maul chose a seat at one end of the half-circle, as far away from Skywalker as possible.
Yoda looked from the Jedi and Clone on his left to the Seperatist General and former Sith on his right, and hummed in amusement.
“Now that everyone is here, time for introductions it is, hmmm?”
“Don’t worry. We’re all familiar with each other,” Maul said while trying to mask the disdain in his voice.
“Actually, no” Skywalker replied. “I know who you are, of course. We’ve met before. But I don’t know who the big white cyborg you're sitting next to is.”
Maul sighed and sunk deeper into his chair.
One of those days…
“Very well, Skywalker,” Yoda replied. “Begin you can and around the circle we will go.”
“Okay, Master. Sorry- I mean Counselor.”
Anakin got up and looked around the half-circle, as he raised his right hand to show it to the others.
“My name is Anakin Skywalker, Jedi Knight. I lost my right hand after it got cut off in a duel with the Sith Lord Count Dooku 3 years ago and got this prosthetic to replace it. I’ve learned to live with it but I won’t forgive Dooku for what he did. Next time I see him, he will lose more than just a hand!”
An awkward silence fell across the Council Chamber. Eventually, Yoda spoke up.
“The reason why you’re in therapy this is, Skywalker. Thank you.”
He turned towards the Clone.
“And who you are?”
The Clone shot upright in his seat.
“Yes, Sir!” But then he hesitated briefly. “Do you mind if I call you ‘Sir’? We’re not on duty right now, but anything else feels… weird.”
“No problem that is!”
“Thank you, Sir!” The Clone faced the others in the Council Chamber.
“The name is Echo. I’m an ARC Trooper previously deployed serving under General Skywalker. I got injured in a massive explosion while on a mission on Lola Sayu. My broken remains were captured and modified by the Seperatists and the Techno Union. While keeping me in stasis, they tapped into my brain and used my knowledge of military strategy against the Republic on the battlefield. After almost a year of suffering I was eventually rescued by my old friend Captain Rex and Clone Force 99, who I am serving with now.”
Yoda closed his eyes and hummed solemnly. “A tragic tale. Help you move past it we will.”
“That won’t be necessary” Echo replied as Yoda gave him a puzzled look.
“I already accepted and moved past it. This is just the kind of thing you expect will happen to you when you’re a Clone, unfortunately.” Echo gave an awkward grin.
“I’m here because Anakin asked me to come along. He was nervous he wasn’t going to know anyone in the group and wanted a friend to join him.”
Anakin smiled sheepishly at Maul.
“I didn’t expect you to show up too. And I think that’s fair, to be honest.”
Maul could feel the tension building inside Yoda. He was doing a remarkable job in keeping it under control, as Maul would have expected of a Jedi Master, but he couldn’t hide his feelings completely.
“Very well” Yoda said shortly. “Over time we will not go this way at least.”
The Jedi Master turned to his other side to address Grievous.
“Next you are. Tell me why you came here please. Because you actually need counseling I hope.”
“Well… actually…”
Grievous laughed awkwardly as Yoda gave him a piercing stare. The laugh got interrupted quickly by another coughing fit.
Maul sank back even further into his chair, his shoulders almost at touching the seat now.
one of those days…
“Becoming a cyborg has always been my own choice,” Grievous explained. He got up from his chair and started pacing back and forth in the room with wide struts.
“This might be a bit… more than I originally intended, but I do not have regrets. This body enhances my skills as a warrior and more importantly, it’s a symbol.”
Grievous stopped his pacing and stared out the window towards the city of Coruscant.
“It symbolizes my dedication to achieving perfection.”
The Clone, Echo, scoffed. “Pft! Perfection in what, committing war crimes?”
Grievous spun around and raised his hands, all four of them.
“Such a strong accusation! Especially from someone grown in a vat specifically to wage war!”
He resumed his pacing through the room, making loud clanking noises on the tile floor.
“I’m not a war criminal! I consider myself more of a… war enthusiast! I’m a collector of all sorts of war memorabilia. Mostly weapons. But also stories… ships… and sometimes planets and civilizations, I’ll give you that.”
Grievous’ monologue got interrupted by another coughing fit. He leaned against a chair with one hand to keep himself from falling.
“Anyways…” Grievous rasped out after catching his breath. “We are not here to discuss the semantics of war.”
The cyborg gave a quick glance at Yoda, who was by now sitting upright in his chair. Maul noticed that the Jedi was no longer attempting to hide his displeasure at the current course of events.
“I have come here to help you all. To help you realize the power your cybernetics bring you” Grievous continued.
“I am here to help you, like I helped myself!”
Grievous sat back down and gave an eager look around the room. Nobody replied.
Yoda sighed. “A mistake this was” He mumbled.
“You said it” Maul replied, still buried in his chair.
This comment seemed to cause Yoda to focus his attention on Maul.
“Your turn it is” he said. “About yourself tell us please.”
Maul groaned. “Do I have to?”
Yoda continued looking at him without blinking.
“Fine…” Maul sat back up and leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees.
“So uh… my name is Maul, but you all already know me. I used to be a Sith lord. Then your master-” Maul pointed an accusing finger towards Skywalker, “cut me in half across the waist and sent me plummeting to my death. I survived, I had spider legs for a while, and eventually those got replaced. Now I have these legs.”
Maul casually lifted one leg and wiggled his foot around.
He leaned back into his chair.
“Is that… all you have to say?” Echo asked.
“Yeah, Maul, we can’t really help you this way” Skywalker added.
“Please tell me more about those spider legs…” Grievous requested.
“Who says I want your help?” Maul spat back at Skywalker.
“Well, why are you here if you don’t?” the Jedi responded.
“Right now, I’m asking myself the same thing!” Maul could feel himself losing his patience.
“About your legs please tell us” Yoda said, trying to get his therapy session back on topic.
“A lot of anger I sensed in you when brought them up you did.”
“I don’t have anything to say about them!” Maul spat back.
“You have to feel something though!” Skywalker tried.
“Let me give you an example.”
Skywalker ungloved his prosthetic hand and turned it over, showing Maul the skeletal metal fingers.
“When I first lost my hand all I could feel was upset” Skywalker said.
“I was worried it would affect my skills with my saber or as a pilot. It also felt unwieldy to use. It wasn’t my hand, it wasn’t part of me.”
He balled the metal hand into a fist and stretched it out again, finger by finger, as he studied the prosthetic with a smile on his face.
“But it became a part of me! After a while, I got used to it. Now, I wouldn’t be able to tell you the difference between my old and new hand. It doesn’t even bother me anymore when I use it to touch Pad- Senator Amidala.”
Skywalker quickly corrected himself as he avoided Master Yoda’s inquisitive gaze.
“My point is, whatever you’re feeling now is normal. Eventually you will feel comfortable with those metal legs” he concluded.
Yoda hummed. “Hmmm, correct Skywalker is for a change.”
Grievous also nodded approvingly.
“It’s cute that you pretend to know how I feel.”
Maul could feel himself reaching his boiling point. His fuse had always been short, and this day had done very little to lengthen it.
“I strongly doubt my feelings will ever change!”
“We all feel like that at one point” Grievous said between raspy breaths. He put a supportive hand on Maul’s shoulder.
“Try to focus on the benefits of your enhancements. For example, those legs make you so tall.”
Okay. That was it. Maul had enough.
“You know what? This is ridiculous!”
Maul could feel the last of his tolerance leaving him, leaving him with only his rage at this waste of time. this charade!
He slapped Grievous’ hand away, who recoiled with a grunt.
“What are we doing here?” Maul yelled.
“We’re enemies, all of us! We’re supposed to not be in a room together without blood being spilt. And yet here we are, asked to talk about how we feel by a green muppet in a robe!”
“A lot of rage I sense in you” Yoda simply replied, nonplussed.
“Wow! REALLY?” Maul was shouting at full volume now. He shot up from his seat and made his way over to Yoda, but was stopped by Skywalker quickly jumping in between them.
“Maul! Control your anger!” Skywalker shouted.
“Out of my way, Skywalker! Unless you want to lose your other hand as well!”
Maul tried to push past Skywalker but the Jedi stood his ground.
“No! No! Let him be angry!” Yoda objected.
“His anger he listens to!”
Yoda closed his eyes.
“Now angry you are, think of your legs. How do you feel?”
“How do I feel?” Maul sat back down, fuming at the audacity of the Jedi Master.
“FINE! Let me tell you how I feel, if that’s what you want! I hate these legs! Not for what they are, what they stand for! The day I lost my lower body was the day I lost EVERYTHING I fought so hard for! I cannot look at them now and not be reminded of the failure I am, and the man who took it all away from me!”
Maul took a deep breath, and whispered.
“The man I hate more than anyone in this wretched Galaxy.”
Maul screamed, louder than he ever had. He channeled all of his rage, his hatred, his self-loathing into this one expression of his feelings. The windows shook and reverberated his call around the chamber.
“KENOBIIIII!!!!”
The scream echoed through the room for several seconds after, as Maul panted deeply to recover his breath.
Everyone else was silent, staring at Maul as he struggled to regain his composure.
Everyone except for one.
From next to him Maul heard a long robotic gasp, followed by a brief coughing fit.
He turned to see Grievous stare at him with a strange light in his eyes and both of his hands against his metal face.
“You hate Kenobi too?!”
Maul was taken by surprise and snapped back into the moment by the Cyborg General’s reaction.
“Of course I do! Why wouldn’t I? Wait- ‘too’?”
“Yes!”
Grievous jumped up excitedly.
“For as long as I have been leading my armies in the Clone Wars that blasted General Kenobi has foiled me at almost every step. We have crossed sabers many times.”
Grievous’ eyes were shining with a mixture of hatred and admiration as he spoke.
“I consider him my ultimate nemesis.”
Maul chuckled at that, forgetting his own anger for a moment.
“Well, it looks like there’s at least one sane thought left in that bolted brain of yours!”
“Wait…” Skywalker said, interrupting their moment. “Does everyone here hate Obi-Wan?”
Once again Maul was taken by surprise. Did he just hear that correctly?
“Elaborate, Skywalker.”
“Why you hate Master Kenobi tell us please, Skywalker” Yoda asked, visibly tired now.
Skywalker gave the Jedi Master an awkward look before turning back to face Maul and Grievous.
“Okay, hate might be a strong word. But we’re not on good terms right now. We had a big fight recently.”
Skywalker began fidgeting with his glove in his hands and became visibly frustrated as he recalled the conflict.
“We were talking about the war. And Obi-Wan found it necessary to bring up his issues with my military tactics. Or, as he phrased it, ‘reckless acts of near-suicide’,” Skywalker said while using air quotes.
Maul was impressed by the Jedi’s ability to mimic his Master’s tone of voice. It was almost eerie.
“I countered by saying that they have been mostly successful so far. But nooo… we have to do things ‘by the book’ from now on…” Skywalker scoffed.
Grievous laughed, then coughed again.
“Your tactics are as unorthodox as they are effective, Skywalker. Kenobi has no idea what he’s talking about, as per usual.”
“Thanks,” Skywalker replied. “Even if I still don’t know who you are, I appreciate it.”
“I guess we do all have something in common, then?” Maul said thoughtfully.
The three of them turned towards Echo, who jumped up in his seat.
“What, me? I don’t hate General Kenobi!”
But then the Clone thought for a moment, stroking his chin. “Altough…”
“Yes?” Maul said, smiling excitedly.
“I have always been quite jealous of that magnificent beard of his. It’s so thick and stylish! I would never be able to grow a beard like that, nor would I be allowed to keep it if I could!”
He looked at Maul. “Does that count?”
Maul checked with Grievous and Skywalker, who nodded and gave a thumbs up.
“Good enough, you’re in!”
“Alright!” Echo got up from his seat to join the others in the center of the Chamber and a passionate discussion erupted quickly about everything Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Maul couldn’t believe it. Finally he had found a group of similar minds, at least when it came to Kenobi. And he would have never expected THESE to be the people he could share his feelings with!
The former Sith talked at length about his confrontation with Kenobi on Naboo, that had lead to his original defeat. Grievous and Anakin laughed loudly at Maul’s recreation of his fall down the pit. Grievous, in return, told Maul about the many times he had clashed with Kenobi since. And about the odd chain of coincidences that led him to somehow never meet Kenobi’s Padawan.
“Wait, YOU are General Grievous?” Anakin said with tears in his eyes, as Grievous slapped him on the back.
“Took him long enough!” Echo exclaimed, doubled over from laughter.
“Everyone, please sit down again,” Yoda asked, trying in vain to get the session back on track.
“Cyborg support this is, not the Anti-Kenobi Club!”
His pleas fell on deaf ears. The Jedi Master was completely ignored.
Yoda sighed, and got up from his seat.
“Too old for this I am..” he mumbled as he made his way out of the High Council Chamber.
As Yoda was about to close the doors behind him, he heard a familiar voice.
“Master, are you alright? You seem upset, and I keep hearing my name coming from the Council Chamber?”
Yoda quickly slammed the door shut. “Nothing it is!”
He recomposed himself. “A little tired I am, Master Kenobi. But fine it is. Something to eat do you want to get?”
Kenobi laughed. “Always, Master”
The two Jedi left for the elevator, heading back down and out of the Jedi Temple.
At the end of the day, as the sun was sinking behind the Coruscant skyscrapers, Maul made his way down the stairs out of the Jedi Temple again.
He could feel the weight that had been lifted off his shoulders. Although it had a rough start, this day had been great and Maul was sad to see it end.
Luckily, he and the others had agreed to meet up again at the end of the month. Grievous would be hosting this time, in his castle in the Vassek system. Maul was looking forward to seeing how his new friend’s palace compared to his.
The others had left already.
Echo got picked up by his squad to go on another mission for the Republic, assisting the liberation of the Outer Rim world of Kaller.
Grievous had decided to be a tourist and explore the city. He would have never visited Coruscant if Yoda hadn’t invited him for his support group after all. Now that he was here, he wanted to see what the Republic capital had to offer. He seemed particularly interested in visiting the Republic Senate.
As for Skywalker, he had stayed behind in the Jedi Temple. He had told Maul that it had been a great relief to vent about Kenobi together. But now that the high emotions had passed he was feeling a little guilty about their fight, and wanted to apologize to his Master.
As much as Maul disagreed with the idea of apologizing to such scum as Kenobi, he understood where Skywalker was coming from and wished him luck.
Maul boarded the Nightbrother, his starfighter, and took off. As he entered Coruscant Space he couldn’t help but smile. The most genuine smile he had smiled in a long time.
This could have gone a lot worse he thought to himself as he entered Mandalore’s coordinates into the nav computer. This wasn’t one of those days after all.
Even if Yoda’s therapy had been an idiotic waste of time, at least Maul came out of it with three new friends.
Friends, that was new to Maul. But he could get used to it.
Maul activated his hyperdrive, and blasted off.