Mission to Cog Hive Seven

In 33 BBY, Darth Maul was dispatched by Darth Sidious on a mission to infiltrate Cog Hive Seven, a prison where secret gladiatorial matches were held pitting inmates against each other. Sidious instructed Maul with recovering a nuclear bomb from the reclusive weapons designer Iram Radique, who operated in the prison. While Maul was tasked with simply recovering the bomb to deliver it to Radique's enemy, the Bando Gora cult, Sidious intended to manipulate events to ensure that the bomb would be used in an attempt to kill his master, Darth Plagueis, on Sojourn.

Maul's mission saw him enter the prison under a pseudonym, where he participated in a series of gladiatorial death matches while attempting to search for Radique. When he recovered the nuclear device, he was forced to work with Komari Vosa, leader of the Bando Gora, when a self-destruct sequence was initiated due to an attack by the forces of Jabba Desilijic Tiure. Despite their initial misgivings toward each other, Maul and Vosa together defeated the Syrox creature before fleeing the prison's destruction with the young inmate Eogan Truax. The three managed to reach Hutt Space, before Maul successfully returned to report to his master on Coruscant.

Background
Darth Sidious instructed his apprentice Darth Maul at the LiMerge Building on Coruscant to infiltrate the infamous and notorious Cog Hive Seven prison to secure a nuclear bomb from the reclusive weapons designer Iram Radique. Sidious told Maul that Radique operated within the prison and that the bomb was to be handed over to Radique's hated foe which was the Bando Gora cult. Maul was further instructed not to use the Force or to reveal himself as a Sith Lord since it would compromise his mission within the prison.

But Sidious did not tell his apprentice that the main purpose was to ensure events were manipulated in such a manner that the bomb would be used in an attempt to assassinate his own master Darth Plagueis on Sojourn. He hoped that his pawns would do the job for him and that it was sufficient enough for him to shroud his own involvement in the plot.

The mission
Maul entered the prison as an inmate undercover with the name "Jagganath" and learnt that there were gladiatorial death matches held in the prison that would pit inmates against each other. Maul himself was forced to participate in four of these death matches and defeated opponents such as a feral wampa and an Aqualish named Rook who provided Maul with vital information on finding Radique before he died. Maul also encountered and killed an unidentified warrior - a Yuuzhan Vong - whose species was unknown to him and the prison's authorities.

During his mission he had a Force vision in which he saw himself face his own doppelgänger. He struck the apparition down but it was in that moment that it shifted into the form of a Muun with the name "Plagueis" entering his mind before he awoke (Maul would not realize the true nature of this vision until sometime later). Darth Plagueis himself took an active interest in Maul's mission and sent the IBC operative Vesto Slipher to monitor the Zabrak's progress. Plagueis was under the impression that the mission was designed to kill Radique and to that end had Slipher - through Plagueis's droid 11-4D - deliver a geological compressor to Maul to kill Radique with. Slipher succeeded but was killed soon after.

The prison's warden Sadiki Blirr learnt at this point that the crime lord Jabba Desilijic Tiure had sent people undercover into the prison and she executed all but one when she discovered this. The Hutt was furious and in retaliation sent a team to intercept the prison barge Purge in order to attack the prison; Blirr was forced to respond in turn and activated a self-destruct sequence but was killed when the Syrox creature found her in the ensuing commotion.

Maul later allied with the adolescent inmate Eogan Truax and the pair managed to find Radique and recovered the device for him. But Radique decided to renege on the deal and refused to help them detach the bombs embedded in their hearts which all inmates received upon their admittance into the prison. Truax kills Radique and a wounded Maul (whom Radique shot in the right shoulder) is able to summon the Bando Gora using an old code from former cultist Artagan Truax. The Bando Gora's forces arrive and its leader Komari Vosa confronts Maul before engaging him. Vosa failed to realize Maul summoned her and their duel ended when the Syrox creature emerged. The pair confronted the creature with Maul killing it when he decapitated it.

The three manage to flee the prison before it's destruction and head for Hutt Space as Maul handed the device over to Vosa. Maul returned to Coruscant after reaching Hutt Space.

Aftermath
The Bando Gora used the bomb in coordination with their allies (such as Gardulla Besadii Tai and Ars Veruna in addition to the Black Sun syndicate) to bomb Sojourn in their effort to assassinate Darth Plagueis. But the Muun was tipped off and was rescued when Jabba Desilijic Tiure's ship the Star Jewel arrived in time. This event also enabled for the elder Sith and Sidious to exact revenge on their enemies with Plagueis dealing with Veruna and Maul being dispatched to exact revenge on the Black Sun. Sidious and Plagueis both decided to wait before striking out at the Bando Gora which later happened some months later.

Appearances

 * Maul: Lockdown