Maul Lays Trap for Count Dooku & General Grievous on Ord Mantell
Maul feels confident about luring Dooku to Ord Mantell to fight
Following the battle at Zanbar in which Darth Maul lost many of his many of his forces, he has been driven to flee, and contacts Mother Talzin, who warns Maul about Darth Sidious that “nothing is ever as it seems” and that it must be that “he allowed you to break free.” Talzin guides him in saying that “Sidious will expect you to retreat to my protection,” but that “we will not do this”, instead, instructing him to lead his fleet to Ord Mantell. She knows his allies, the Black Sun, have a stronghold there, and she promises him to send help from Dathomir.
When he arrives to Ord Mantell, Maul is queried by Ziton Moj (whom he compelled to join his efforts in the fifth season of Star Wars The Clone Wars), “Do you truly intend to fight Count Dooku and his Separatist legions?” Maul responds, “These Clone Wars have vastly overextended Dooku and General Grievous. They are more vulnerable than they realize.” To which Fife, a Pyke, adds, “And they remain unaware of our true numbers.” They then begin planning their trap to lure them in (as opposed to their lacking a plan when they got attacked on Zanbar and got decimated).
We see Count Dooku and General Grievous speaking, with Grievous asking, “Why is this witch so important? She has no Army.” Dooku responds firmly and knowledgeably that “Talzin is an older and fouler creature than you guess, General. Her power run deep. Her teachings – her magicks – were sought out by my master. They were once allies. Now her meddling could compromise all of our designs. She must be destroyed.” This is quite fascinating, as we get to hear of a past alliance between Mother Talzin and Darth Sidious(!). It also clues us in as to why Darth Sidious is greatly concerned about her continued presence.
Thereupon, Grievous and Dooku are informed about the forces heading toward Ord Mantell, including a ship headed from Dathomir there. The Separatists then move their forces to Ord Mantell, beginning with an orbital bombardment, followed by a ground invasion of droids led by Count Dooku. These ground forces of droids are able to do a lot of damage to the gathered ground forces of Black Sun/Pyke/Nightbrother/Mandalorian forces, although one of the Nightbrothers, Brother Viscus, engaged in a duel with Count Dooku.
While the fight on the ground is underway, Mandalorian warships surprise attack the Separatist ships in orbit, which is a brilliant move by Maul’s forces, which include Maul’s infiltration of the Grievous’ command ship. Maul is able to powerfully make his way to the command center and not only take General Grievous captive, but also shut down the command signal to the droids on the surface of Ord Mantell.
While the forces allied with Maul were cornered and there was almost no hope left for them, the droids shut down when the command signal goes dead. They are then able to save Brother Viscus from death at the hands of Dooku, as well as capturing Dooku.
At the conclusion of this second issue of Darth Maul: Son of Dathomir, Darth Maul reports to Mother Talzin of their success in capturing Count Dooku and General Grievous, to which she responds in a pleased manner, telling him “Soon, Sidious will follow and, together, we will have our revenge.”
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