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Darth Maul was not a fool. He knew that if he stayed with Sidious much longer, he would die, either in service of his Master or after inciting his rage. So the next time Sidious sent him on a mission, Maul never arrived.
Darth Sidious did not think much of this. Maul was, after all, a potential Apprentice, but not an overly special one. Sidious could find another Apprentice with equal potential without much difficulty, when the time came.
Maul, on the other hand, did not forget Sidious. He wanted to kill his former Master, but he knew he did not have the power to do so alone.
Still, there were always Apprentices, and the galaxy was full of promising young Force-sensitives that the Jedi would never find.
Tatooine was a hostile planet, even before the revolution bathed it in blood. Sometimes, the instigator of the war would smile, thinking of the slavers who got a taste of what they did to their slaves, while also grieving for those he had lost.
Anakin Skywalker was born a slave, had been thrown out to die in a sandstorm, and had found a Temple in the deserts of his homeworld. A Temple that had shown him secrets, told him of the power in his own veins. He had heard ghosts speak, had been trained by only himself and the dead, and had sworn he would never call another 'Master'.
Darth Vader was born in that Temple, and it was Vader that came out. Vader who slaughtered the slavers of Mos Espa, yet Anakin who buried his mother in the sand. Vader was the name behind the revolution, the figure clad in black robes and a mask that hid the face of a teenager. Vader, whose exaggerated breathing became a cause of paralyzing fear in the slavers of Tatooine, from the lowliest junk trader to Jabba himself. By the time Vader was seventeen, he had fought a two-year war and had freed his people on his home planet. At eighteen, Vader prepared to turn his might to the stars. And at nineteen, a man, another Sith came to Tatooine, and told him of a man prepared to enslave the entire galaxy. The Sith did not offer to be Vader's Master, but instead an ally in a fight.
"I will handle the Rim," Vader told Maul, "and I will be ready when it is time."
Maul agrees to this. He also informs Vader that Anakin Skywalker might not have been born of some smuggler or slaver, but the Force itself. Vader had heard the long-dead Sith call him impossibly powerful, but this feels right. Anakin Skywalker, Darth Vader, is the son of the Force, and the galaxy will fall before him. The enslaved will be free, and those who call themselves masters will feel his wrath.
Anakin wonders, sometimes, what his mother would think of him. Even he finds that he doesn't care anymore. His mother is dead, and she was his only tie to the Light. Perhaps he will free the slaves, but he will not do it in her name, because she would not wish it so, not with the way Anakin's path is bathed in blood, even if it is the blood of those who keep others in chains.
In time, he finds an Apprentice of his own. She will never call him Master, and she will only ever be his student, and then something more.
Asajj Ventress might have no longer been a slave, but that did not mean that when a man came to Rattatak to free the slaves that she did not want to be involved. The fact that the man was in fact rather good-looking was an added bonus.
The man had a lightsaber. It was red, which her Jedi Master had warned her about long ago, but she no longer cared, and if the man had come to do what the Jedi had not, what even she herself had not dared, than she would only offer her aid.
When it was over, he offered to bring her with him. "You have been taught by the Jedi," he said, and she did not ask how he knew, "but I can teach you how to truly make a difference in the galaxy."
"The way of the Sith?" Asajj asked dryly. "There is a reason most associate the Sith with evil."
"The Dark Side is not inherently bad, just... blunter. Grounded, where the Jedi hide up in their Temple and pretend to be above it all. A true Sith accepts the truth of the galaxy, but most simply clamber for power and ignore all those beneath them. There is a man like that right now, right in front of the Jedi's faces, at the heart of the Republic's government. But they do not see him, so caught up in his lies while convinced they know everything. This man would enslave the galaxy. I would free it. And that is what I ask to teach you of."
Asajj smiled. "Deal."
One night, on Dathomir, Talzin suddenly became aware of the presence of her other son on the planet of his birth. By the time she could search for him, he was gone, and his two brothers with him.
The Jedi Council was unhappy. Not because something necessarily bad had happened, but because they weren't sure yet if what had happened was bad or not.
"He calls himself the 'Lord of the Outer Rim'," Master Dooku reported, an amused smile on his face. "He never specified his goals beyond the fact that slavery would never return to the Rim- and he did say return, so I assume he's done something about that already- and that he 'would join the Republic or Separatists when one sun rose on Tatooine, thank you very much, Master Jedi'. He seemed unlikely to budge on that point, but he also didn't seem to be at all interested in the war."
"Rumors give us reason to suspect he may be a Sith, or something of that nature," Ki-Adi Mundi commented. "Did you come across any proof of that?"
Dooku smirked. "I can neither confirm or deny the accuracy of such rumors, Masters."
As the Jedi left, someone groaned. "He's definitely a Sith Lord."
Mace Windu raised an eyebrow. "The Lord, or Master Dooku?"
Obi-Wan Kenobi had decided that being captured by Sith Lords was a terrible way to start one's day.
Also, being captured by Sith Lords who had also captured a bunch of Sith Lords was even worse. And he thought Sidious and Iritati were bad enough. The Zabraks seemed to be here simply to give Sidious a hard time.
"Maul," Sidious smirked. "I'd... well, I'll admit, I'd forgotten you were still out there. Your and your brothers' revenge play went rather smoothly, don't you think?"
The larger one, who Obi-Wan thought was called Savage, turned to Maul. "Brother, when are Vader and Ventress getting here?"
Maul shrugged. "Feral?"
"Depends on whether or not Vader's destroyed any more planets, I'd say."
"Hey!" For someone who had conquered the Outer Rim and was apparently a Sith Master, Vader sounded rather young with his mask off. "That was one time, and there was no one on it but Zygerrians! It’s not like anyone will miss them besides more kriffing slavers, and besides, it was an accident."
That sounded concerning. Iritati seemed to agree. "How do you destroy a planet by accident?!"
"With the Force, genius," Vader shot back.
Iritati scoffed. "That's impossible." Sidious was looked more concerned than doubtful. Obi-Wan was wondering how the Jedi could have missed such a powerful Force-sensitive and let him be trained by the Sith. Surely any Jedi in his area would have sensed him, before he'd learned to shield.
"I've got it recorded if you want to watch," a female voice, probably Ventress, jumped in.
"Asajj!" Vader groaned.
"Sorry, Ani, this is just too good to pass up." And then Obi-Wan got to watch a recording of Vader sharply unclenching his fist to rip a planet apart. Obi-Wan decided he did not want to get on Vader's bad side, ever.
Sidious seemed to get the same idea, but unfortunately for him, Vader seemed determined to throw him around and then leave him for Maul to finish off. Seeing the Sith's lightning just stop at a wave of Vader's hand was terrifying, and Vader seemed content to leave Obi-Wan alone.
Ventress, on the other hand, cut down Iratati easily and got into a makeout session with Vader while he was still fighting Sidious. They could certainly multi-task.
And then Vader gave Obi-Wan a cheeky salute and he and Asajj just left. Then Maul and his brothers were gone too.
Obi-Wan sighed. How was he going to explain this to the Jedi Council?