Skirmish on Florrum/Legends

"Throwing in with pirates now? Oh how the mighty Sith have fallen."

- Obi-Wan Kenobi to Darth Maul

A skirmish on the Outer Rim planet of Florrum took place around 20 BBY. The battle was fought between the pirate forces of Hondo Ohnaka, backed by the Jedi Order, and the secessionist pirate forces swayed away from Ohnaka's leadership by the Nightbrothers Darth Maul and Savage Opress. Being self proclaimed crime lords determined to seize control of the criminal underworld, Maul and Opress traveled to Florrum with the intention of seizing Ohnaka's pirating empire by force. After an initial scuffle with pirate forces in orbit of Florrum led by Lieutenant Jiro, Maul successfully bribed Jiro and his men with a promise of great wealth, keeping them alive in exchange for unquestioned devotion to Maul's cause. After unsuccessfully ordering Ohnaka to stand down, Maul and Opress, along with their newly acquired pirate army, laid siege to the pirate headquarters to eliminate anyone still loyal to Ohnaka.

The Jedi Masters Obi-Wan Kenobi and Adi Gallia soon arrived to arrest the two Nightbrothers. While the split pirate forces battled it out, Kenobi and Gallia fought Maul and Opress, respectively. Gallia eventually fell to Savage's sheer brute strength, being gored by his Zabrak horns before being finished off with his lightsaber. Outnumbered, Kenobi and Ohnaka's forces retreated indoors, with Maul and his men in pursuit. Ohnaka managed to lure the surviving pirate opposition into a trap and force them into a surrender, reunifying the pirate gang. Meanwhile, Kenobi fought both Nightbrothers by dual-wielding his and Adi Gallia's lightsabers, managing to sever Opress's right arm. Maul and Opress soon fled to their ship, being pursued by the newly reunified pirate forces; Maul lost a robotic leg in the process. After takeoff, the pirate forces destroyed one of their ship's engines, forcing the two to evacuate in an escape pod.

Prelude
"Look Brother. A fortune!" "Our fortune will be the demise of Kenobi. Credit chips are meaningless without a plan to survive. The Jedi are hunting us. We will be forced to make a stand." "Then we will deal with them." "They are too many."

- Opress and Maul discuss their future after finding a large amount of credits

The recently resurfaced Darth Maul and his brother Savage Opress began making a name for themselves in the Outer Rim. Murdering and pillaging at every turn, the two Nightbrothers caught the attention of the Jedi Order, who thought they extinguished the threat of Maul during the Battle of Naboo a decade prior. Then, Maul had an army to back him, in the form of the droid armies of the Trade Federation. Now, Maul found himself displaced and on the run from an enemy that drastically outnumbered him and his brother. In order to survive, Maul deduced that they would need an army of followers. During a raid on a space station owned by the InterGalactic Banking Clan, Maul and Opress came into possession of a large sum of Republic credits. With their newly acquired wealth, the two refashioned themselves as "crime lords" and planned to take control over the criminal underworld of the galaxy. They decided on taking their wealth to Florrum, home of the pirate gang of Hondo Ohnaka, in order to seize Ohnaka's pirate empire.

Meanwhile, Jedi Masters Kenobi and Adi Gallia inspected the aftermath of the Cybloc station raid, where they questioned the warehouse supervisor of the station about the assailants' description. The supervisor confirmed to the Jedi that the assailants were, much to Obi-Wan's suspicion, the Nightbrothers, and that they had stolen the supervisor's shuttle before making a jump to hyperspace; an employee thought he heard a reference to the Sertar sector. Obi-Wan immediately associated the sector with Florrum because of his repeated encounters with Ohnaka, and the Jedi set off for the pirate captain's base. Florrum itself recently suffered from a devastating attack by General Grievous of the Confederacy of Independent Systems, and Ohnaka was still reeling in the damage and losses.

Pirate turncoats
Upon entering Florrum's orbit, the Nightbrothers deactivated their transport's hyperdrive, main reactor, and communications systems in order to feign being stranded in space. Falling for the bait, Lieutenant Jiro of the pirate forces, who was commanding the planet's perimeter defenses set up in the wake of Grievous's previous attack, formed a boarding party with his men with the intention of boarding the ship, killing its crew, and looting it of whatever valuables it contained. Jiro set up a docking tunnel between his Corona-class frigate and the seemingly damaged transport, and boarded the ship with two other men. They discovered a wealth of supplies in the cargo hold, including a number of firearms and a large crate containing pure spice. Overjoyed, Jiro stated that they would drink tonight to their newfound wealth. However, the two Nightbrothers emerged from the shadows and ignited their lightsabers. Believing the two tattooed men to be Jedi, Jiro and his men opened fire. Maul and Opress deflected all of the pirate's shots, disarmed Jiro using the force, and held the pirate lieutenant at bay using a force choke.

Opress and Maul revealed the large fortune they acquired from their raid on InterGalactic Banking Clan territory, and offered to bestow it upon the pirates if they were to devote themselves to the Nightbrother cause. The two explained that they were not Jedi; however, they skirted the topic of their Sith and Dark Jedi training, instead referring to themselves as "crime lords". Jiro was initially reluctant to betray Hondo, but after the two Zabraks explained that money was of no issue, dedicated himself, as did two other lieutenants; however, one pirate was still on the fence, and he requested that they contact Ohnaka and give him the chance to turn himself over as well. Contacting the pirate captain via hologram, Maul explained that three of his lieutenants had betrayed him, and executed the indecisive pirate with his lightsaber to demonstrate the penalty for insubordination. Ohnaka refused to surrender himself, calling Maul a "laser-sword wielding maniac" and explaining that he has survived everything the galaxy had thrown at him. As such, Maul readied his newly acquired pirate army for a ground assault.

Soon after, Kenobi and Gallia arrived in the system, and contacted Ohnaka via hologram. Ohnaka explained the situation to the Jedi Master; Kenobi offered to deal with the Nightbrothers while Ohnaka handled the traitors.

Ground battle
"I have plans, Kenobi, and you will not stand in my way this time!"

- Maul to Kenobi

Three of the Ohnaka's starfighters landed on Florrum, launching an aerial assault. As the cargo ship and the transports landed, the traitorous pirates quickly ejected from the ships and began shooting at Ohnaka loyalists; Ohnaka's pirates immediately took defensive positions. As Darth Maul and Savage Oppress stepped out of the cargo ship, they spotted the Jedi shuttle landing down on Florrum. Realizing the Jedi had come too soon, Maul and Oppress dashed to their position to confront them. Obi-Wan briefly sarcastically spoke to Maul; lightsabers ignited and fury building, Maul charged at Kenobi with a few saber strikes. Savage then launched himself at Master Gallia with a furious array of saber strikes. After a quick flurry with both duels, Kenobi and Gallia jumped off the cliffside and separated.

Savage then ramped up his assault on Gallia with aggression. Gallia stayed on the defensive as she lost footing and ducked. Kenobi dueled on top of a ruined engine with Maul, while Savage attacked with sundering strikes down below at Gallia. She threw a kick at Savage's left leg, which failed to affect the hulking Nightbrother, which caught her off-guard: using this opportunity, Savage barraged her with lightsaber strike and threw a powerful Force push that catapulted Gallia into the side of the ruined engine. Savage then charged at Gallia and shoved his horned head into her body, mortally wounding her. He finished her with his lightsaber.

Ohnaka, realizing that his men were slowly dying and outnumbered, called out to Kenobi to follow them back into the base. Kenobi complied, but not before collecting Gallia's lightsaber. Ohnaka ordered his men to carry a large turret deeper into the tunnel. As they set up the ambush, Kenobi rendezvoused with Hondo: the next part of the plan was Obi-Wan would draw the brothers away. As the Zabraks and the traitorous pirates met up with Hondo and Obi-Wan's position, Hondo ordered a retreat into the base. The brothers and the pirates followed. Obi-Wan turned left while Hondo turned right. Then, as Savage and Maul followed Obi-Wan, Hondo shot his blaster at the ceiling, sealing themselves in with the pirates. While Maul and Savage dueled Kenobi, the traitorous pirates were about to open fire on Hondo and his men, but as the big turret was about to open fire, Jiro and his people surrendered, openly admitting they were bribed and persuaded by the brothers. Hondo wouldn't kill them, knowing that Maul and Savage only bribed them for their interest in Kenobi. The pirates once again reunited, Hondo and his men decided to congratulate their reunification by going out to the cargo ship and taking the cargo.

Nightbrother retreat
"Jiro, ready the men, we're leaving" "My men aren't going anywhere with you. Look at them. How powerful can they be? They are running away from Kenobi!" "Filth! You will pay for your insolence." [laughing] "Insolence? We are pirates, we don't even know what that means! Open Fire!"

- Maul and Hondo while the rest of the pirates watch As the Force-wielders came to a halt, Maul sneered at Obi-Wan to surrender, considering how outnumbered the Jedi Master was, but Kenobi ignited both his and Gallia's lightsaber. The Jedi Master used the Jar'Kai style against the brothers, leaping back and forth between the brothers, throwing kicks at Maul and Savage one by one. Afterwards, Maul Force-gripped Kenobi and threw him into a wall, leaving him vulnerable. As Maul and Savage were about to kill Obi-Wan, the Jedi Master barely blocked both killing strikes. During the saber lock, the Human glanced at Savage's front leg and landed a kick at his knee joint. As Savage yelled out in pain, Obi-Wan broke off the saber block by cutting Savage's left arm. Savage was left on the ground in pain. Maul then turned to Kenobi and fired a powerful Force push at Kenobi, throwing him to the end of the corridor and causing the ceiling to cave in. Maul, realizing his plan has failed, picked up his brother/apprentice as Savage's arm spilled out Magick.

The Nightbrothers made a run for the cargo ship as the newly reunified pirates fired on Maul and Savage. They attempted to deflect all the lasers, but Hondo shot Maul in the leg, causing Maul to limp. Jiro then fired on Maul's leg again. As Maul howled in pain, his leg from the shin down was dismembered. Savage quickly lifted Maul over his shoulder and continued running, while Maul continued deflecting laser bolts. Then Maul looked over on the cliffside to the Jedi shuttle. He used the Force and pulled it off the cliffside, obstructing the pirates and Kenobi's pursuit. As the brothers boarded the ship, they attempted to fly, but a pirate fired on the ship with a rocket launcher, compromising the engines. The two Zabrak brothers limped over to the escape pod and fled Florrum, while the rest of the cargo ship landed down onto the surface, exploding.

Aftermath
"I understand your reservations, Master Kenobi, but I am afraid we can no longer allow this personal matter of yours to be a Republic concern. It does not appear this "Darth Maul" is a direct threat to the Republic. We need to redirect your efforts to the cause at hand: stopping Count Dooku, and thus ending the Clone Wars."

- Palpatine to Kenobi, in his office on Coruscant

Hondo, his pirates and Obi-Wan drove over to the wreckage of the cargo ship on speeders. Hondo and his pirates took the riches of the cargo ship for themselves. The pirate leader deduced that since the ship exploded, the brothers were killed. Obi-Wan disagreed, considering Maul survived even after being cut in half and falling down into a pit.

Later, back on Coruscant, Obi-Wan reported the events that took place to Chancellor Palpatine in a meeting with him, Anakin Skywalker, Mace Windu and Yoda. Palpatine merely ignored it and urged Obi-Wan to forget it ever happened and returned to his office. However, Yoda swore that if Maul was still alive, the Jedi would act as soon as he revealed himself again.

After the Jedi left, Palpatine returned to his office with a sinister grin. Now that the knowledge of Darth Maul's survival came to him, the two brothers would be a boon to the Rule of Two, considering Dooku is still Sidious's apprentice.

Behind the scenes
The skirmish on Florrum appeared in the first episode of the fifth season of The Clone Wars TV series. The battle depicts the death of Jedi Master Adi Gallia at the hands of Savage Opress; this directly conflicts with the previous depiction of her death in Star Wars: Obsession, in which she is killed by General Grievous during the Battle of Boz Pity. Leland Chee, the official Lucasfilm Ltd. keeper of Star Wars continuity, states that her death in The Clone Wars takes precedence.

Appearances

 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Darth Maul: Shadow Conspiracy
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Darth Maul: Shadow Conspiracy