Mara Jade Skywalker vs Darth Maul

The shuttle glided through the toxic atmosphere of Belkadan, cutting through the dense yellow smog like a vibroblade through cheese.

Mara Jade Skywalker sat at the helm, her niece Jaina Solo in the co-pilot seat.

"What do you think is going on, Aunt Mara?"

"I'm not sure, but this is definitely not natural. Someone did this. They poisoned the entire planet. I can feel it."

"Why would anyone do that?"

"I don't know, but I'm sure that's nobody has heard from the scientists in weeks."

Jaina gulped hard. She had been on some dangerous missions, but this felt different. Aunt Mara thought the entire planet had been poisoned. This might be a bit more than she was ready for.

The landing platform was covered in leaves and dead birds that were local to Belkadan. As they departed the shuttle, their boots crunched with every step through mounds of dead insects.

Whatever had happened here, happened quickly, and not even the insects survived.

Approaching the main entrance to the outpost, Mara placed her hand on her lightsaber. Something just didn't feel right about this place. In fact...there was...

Nothing. No feeling at all. Just a void.

"Stay close," Mara said to Jaina.

Mara pulled the panel off the keypad lock to the door, and within seconds had re-wired the door to open.

They stepped through the doorway, the door sliding shut behind them. Mara checked her chrono, which was outfitted with an oxygen detector, determining if the atmosphere was pure enough to breathe. Surprisingly, it was just fine.

Mara pulled her respirator off, and Jaina followed suit.

Mara tapped her chrono again, and a holo-map of the facility sprang from her wrist.

"It looks like the main lab is right down this hallway. Let's check it out. Then we'll check the barracks."

They cautiously made their way down the narrow hallway. The areas where the light actually worked, it flickered.

Finally, they approached the final doorway, leading to the main lab.

Their was no power to the door at all, Mara determined within seconds, so trying to re-wire it would do no good.

With a slight gesture, the doors slid open, obeying the power of the Force, if nothing else.

The light was dimly lit, with a single spotlight shining down in the very center. Broken beakers and glass vials were everywhere.

So were the bodies of the scientists.

Standing in the center, bathed in artificial light, like a monster in the glow of a harvest moon, stood Yomin Carr, Yuuzhan Vong warrior.

Mara stared in shock at the disfigured, tattooed warrior, clad in organic armor and holding a strange staff that resembled a serpent.

The Force emanated with fear from Jaina, and Mara reached out subtly to soothe her, and then reached out to get a sense of this strange being in front of her.

There was nothing. It was like trying to sense a droid.

"I don't suppose I should ask what happened to the scientists then, should I?" asked Mara.

"You shouldn't do anything but prepare to die! You and your infernal abominations!"

Mara and Jaina exchanged glances, when Yomin roared and charged forward.

Mara brought her lightsaber up to bear, stepping in front of Jaina at the same time. As Yomin charged, a red skinned figure dropped down behind him from somewhere in the ceiling, igniting a double-bladed red lightsaber, and impaling Yomin through a soft spot in the armor, the red tip of the blade extending through his left eye.

Maul pulled his lightsaber free and Yomin collapsed to the floor.

Mara stood with her violet lightsaber at the ready, keeping an eye on the figure before her that just killed the ferocious warrior.

Reaching out with the Force, Mara recoiled at the stench of the dark side, much in the way one who had once been addicted to death sticks would after having quit for many years.

"I don't know who you are, but we have no quarrel with you. We came here to find out what happened to the scientists, and now we know. We'll leave in peace."

Mara was nervous. She could sense that this Zabrak was dangerous and highly skilled. His muscles were coiled like a snake ready to strike.

"I killed your scientists. They were fools, unable to understand what is about to happen to this galaxy. Only I can save it, as a conqueror, and a conqueror needs soldiers. Perhaps the young one will do."

Anger boiled inside Mara, but she quickly buried it.

"Oh, I can feel it. Your anger. You have touched the dark side, and you miss it. Perhaps both of you should join me. A ruler must have a right hand!"

"Use your own hand," Mara snapped back, and lunged forward. Years of being an Emperor's Hand, smuggler, mercenary, and now Jedi had taught her when there was no use trying to talk her way out of a conflict. Some men, some creatures, they just loved to fight. This one, he was obviously used to starting the fight.

Not today.

The Zabrak advanced as well, twirling his saberstaff, leaping in the air and coming down, meaning to cut her into several pieces with one attack.

Mara slid underneath the attack, popping up to her feet and swinging her blade around to catch her opponent in the back. The Zabrak, back facing Mara, blocked by bringing his blade behind his head, then spun quickly on his heel and forced Mara into the defensive, using his saberstaff to double the amount of strikes that one would normally be able to deliver.

Mara blocked many strikes, and used her acrobatics to dodge others. Ataru had been good to her. Cartwheels dodged powerful downward strikes meant to split her from head to toe. Back handsprings avoided slashes meant to bisect her at the waist.

The fortunate thing about the saberstaff, for Mara, was that if she knew where one blade was, she always knew where the other blade was.

"You're fast, Jedi. I'm impressed," Maul gloated. "Very few can keep up with me."

"Bragging to a girl about how fast you are isn't a good thing," Mara replied.

Maul smiled menacingly and made a quick gesture with his hand. A large pipe broke free from the wall and was sent flying toward's Mara.

Mara remembered Luke's story about the time he fought Vader on Bespin, and Vader started throwing objects at Luke with the Force. Luke had told her that since he was so inexperienced at that time, he had no real defense, and the only thing he knew to do was swing at the objects.

I'm about to one-up you, farmboy.

Mara did a back flip over the pipe, instead of meeting it with her blade, and was prepared to land in a crouch in a defensive position, but her plan fell apart when Maul launched a Force blast at her, impacting her right in the chest and sending her flying into a wall.

The wind was knocked out of her, and she slumped to the floor, but quickly rose to her feet, lightsaber at the ready. She looked up just in time to see the Zabrak coming down on her, lightsaber overhead, ready to deal the killing blow.

She could telegraph what would happen next. She would block, but he would simply use the other blade to sweep up and behind her guard, severing her arms, then he would either impale her, decapitate her, or cut her in half.

Opening herself up to the Force, she pulled her reserves together and pulled a Force bubble around her. Maul's blade crashed into the bubble, and bounced off, sending him crashing to the floor.

Mara jumped forward, abandoning the bubble, and swung her lightsaber down hard, cutting the Zabrak's saberstaff in half.

"Would you Jedi stop cutting my things in half?!"

Maul launched another Force blast, but Mara crossed her forearms and braced herself, her natural Force barrier absorbing the majority of the blast.

"Wait, I know you...you're him, aren't you?" Mara asked with genuine curiosity.

"You're Darth Maul. The Fallen Apprentice, as Palpatine would say."

"You knew him as Palpatine, I knew him as Sidious."

"He spoke fondly of you. He said you were the most ferocious warrior he had ever seen. That is until you were defeated by a Padawan."

"And I came back from defeat. Back from death!" Maul shouted, stomping the ground with his artificial legs.

"I am more powerful now than I ever was then."

Mara eyed Maul up and down.

"You're still not more powerful than Vader. I worked with him too, you know. He would have stomped you into a pile of red goo."

Maul smiled.

"You are trying to mock me, trying to make me feel insecure. I let go of my insecurities long ago. I am wise, and I am strong."

"A man who has to tell others he is wise and strong is neither," replied Mara.

"I am no man."

"You're right, Old Ben took care of that back on Theed when he removed everything below your waist."

Maul roared, Mara having finally found the point to break his calm demeanor.

One end of his saber staff still worked. Pulling it into his hand with the Force, Maul thrust, slashed, and chopped at Mara, whom easily met every blow.

Maul was enraged, and this is where Mara did her best work.

Maul swiped at Mara with a backswing, leaving him wide open for Mara's kick to his jaw. Maul stumbled backward, but did not fall.

Mara thrust her blade forward in an attempt to impale the Zabrak, but Maul dodged to the right, and then lunged forward with a thrust of his own.

Mara quickly brought her blade down on top of Maul's, flooding her body with the Force to enhance her strength and hold the blade in place, and then snapped a powerful kick to the side of his head.

Mara yelped as one of Maul's horn's impaled the top of her foot.

She fell to the ground, her lightsaber skittering from her grasp. With a devilish smile, Maul walked to her and kicked her in the head, stars exploding in her field of vision as blood began to pour down her face.

Maul stood over her, with what could only be described as a gleeful smile. He casually twirled his lightsaber, and plunged it downward for the killing blow.

But the blade stopped just short of Mara's sternum. In shock, Maul watched as Mara held the blade in place with her bare hands. Tutaminis. An ability he had not mastered.

Enraged, Maul bolstered his strength with the Force, attempting to push the blade further down. If he couldn't break Mara's tutaminis, he could at the very least overpower her, until her arms could no longer hold the weight and the blade plunged through her chest and severed her spine.

Mara gritted her teeth and held fast. Her hands were on fire. No, literal fire, as the tutaminis was only able to protect her so much.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her niece Jaina, frozen in fear. Either Maul would kill her, and quickly, or he would turn her into an agent of the dark side, which could be a fate worse than death.

Refusing to allow her darling niece to go down the same path she once traveled, Mara flooded her body with the Force, to the extent that some of her cells actually began to burst.

With a scream, she channeled all her energy into her palms, sending energy back up to the lightsaber blade and into the hilt. The focusing crystal fractured, and the lightsaber exploded in Maul's hands, lethal energy blasting through his palms and shredding them into bloody ribbons of meat and bone.

Maul stumbled backwards, staring at his hands.

Mara made her way to her feet, unsteadily, but ready to fight again.

With a howl, Maul charged Mara with Force enhanced speed, catching her off guard and driving his horns into her abdomen, and pinning her against the wall.

Mara cried out in pain as Maul pushed into her with all his might. Jaina had dropped her lightsaber at the sight of her aunt being impaled, and Mara felt tears mix with the blood streaming down her face.

With one final effort, Mara summoned her lightsaber to her hand and ignited it, plunging the blade straight through Maul's spine and out his abdomen.

Maul convulsed, and then fell limp on the floor, completely paralyzed.

Mara fell back against the wall, and then slid down, holding her injured abdomen.

Maul stared at her, unblinking. Alive, breathing, but unable to move his arms or legs. Jaina rushed to her aunt, pulling gauze from her medic pouch, but Mara waved it away.

"I don't need that, I have the Force. I've been healing myself from this illness for a year now. I can handle this."

"Aunt Mara, you're bleeding, a lot. He went in deep."

"Sweetheart, they never go in as deep as they think they will. I'll be fine."

"Okay, but I think it's time to get out of here. Let me help you to the shuttle."

Mara nodded in affirmation. Jaina put her own respirator on Mara, and then pulled an additional mask from her pouch. As she helped Mara to her feet, there was a disturbance in the Force, and Mara instinctively put her hands to her throat, and her eyes began to bulge.

Jaina looked helplessly at her aunt, not sure what was going on. She happened to glance down at Maul, and noticed that there was the faintest smile across his demonic face. Maul was choking Mara with the Force. He had no control over his body, but he still had the Force.

"No!" Jaina screamed, and ignited her blade, bringing it down across Maul's neck, instantly breaking the hold on Mara.

Mara was choking for air, but she was still alive, though barely. Jaina could feel Mara fading fast.

She rushed her to the shuttle, levitating her with the Force, and strapped her in the back.

Once they broke through the atmosphere and had communications, she immediately sent a message out to every Jedi in the galaxy. Mara Jade Skywalker would not die on this day.

@richard96@thesithmaster@azronger@amethystgravity@kbroskywalker@emperordmb@emperor339@yousufkhan1212@erkan12@darthbane77

"Bragging to a girl about how fast you are isn't a good thing," and "Would you Jedi stop cutting my things in half?!" prevented me from taking the fight seriously, as well as Maul's whole hissy-fit about being "strong".

Besides that, I very much enjoyed how close you portrayed the duel. Well done!

Although the battle was nice, and I liked the Maul/Mara exchange, Maul would dispatch Mara, tbh.

And I hate the fact Jaina intervened. Why was Jaina even in the story?

@thesithmaster: Have you ever read the novel Vector Prime? This is taken straight from that. They go to Belkadan, although I can't remember if it was Jaina or Anakin Solo with Mara.

@bigsambino87:

I have no idea what Vector Prime is. Anyway, Jaina shouldn't have interfered because Maul outclassed his foe, and should have taken his victory.

Also, the fight would be nowhere near as close as portrayed here.

@thesithmaster: Why do you think Maul is so far above Jade?

Mara was a very inappropriate person, quick witted and full of dirty humor. Even in serious situations she would make jokes such as that. I usually try to add a bit of banter in, just to make the reader chuckle a bit, although I think I've usually missed the mark when it comes to Maul.

Good job.

Also, Mara squarely matched Darth Caedus in combat. Maul outclassing her is kind of ridiculous, to say the least.

@bigsambino87

Why do you think Maul is so far above Jade?

I don't have him far and above Mara, just above her by a solid margin. I guess I exaggerated a bit. Maul could take her. It's not going to be easy by any means, but also not a stellar contest.

Anyway:

Maul, before his prime, was stated to be one of the most skilled/deadliest Sith swordsmen ever.

One of the most skilled and deadly warriors in Sith history, Darth Sidious' apprentice took part in the first encounter between jedi knight and sith warrior for more than 1,000 years in the battle for Naboo.

Star Wars: Fact Files #001

One of the deadliest, most efficiently trained Sith in the Order's history, Darth Maul's tattooed face is as symbolic of his utter devotion to the dark side.

Ultimate Star Wars

We know for a fact that he improved up to TCW (I'm assuming this is TCW Maul, given the metallic legs and his exchange with Mara). Not just in power, but general/overall combative skill.

Jason Fry, the author of Shadow Conspiracy, answers this when questioned about Maul's improvement:

Q: There is a passage says that ''Maul had grown more powerful'', is this a specific power ? Such as the Force ? Or in all categories such as speed, skill, strength etc. ?

A: No, just in general.

Jason Fry, answering a question in theforce.net

This means that TCW Maul is better than TPM Maul, who accomplished the following feats:

Easily defeating the Dark Jedi Komari Vosa, even with a blaster bolt injury. A Padawan (and thus pre-prime) Vosa killed twenty Mandalorians.

Quickly defeats Anoon Bondara, a Jedi battlemaster whose skills were second to none but the best (Qui-Gon, Mace and Yoda) in a quick bout. This isn't conclusive, because a thoroughly outmatched Bondara committed suicide by making Maul's speeder explode, probably hoping to kill them both.

Defeats Qui-Gon Jinn, a fighter solidly superior to Bondara and one of the best in the Order of his time and in the Order's history in fifty seconds. Note that Maul had a leg injury slowing him down.

Wrecks Qui-Gon and his Padawan Obi-Wan. At this point in time, Obi-Wan is already one of the best Jedi in the Order.

Maul only seemed to be defending. This is not true. Maul was clearly controlling the engagement.

First off, Maul was working his way through the Jedi with confidence and ease,and even Anakin, who knew next to nothing about saber combat, could see Maul was more skilled than the Jedi collectively.

The Sith Lord was supple and quick, and he worked his way between the Jedi with confidence and ease, whipping his two-ended lightsaber back and forth between them, more than holding his own against their efforts to bring him down. He was skilled, Anakin saw--more skilled, perhaps, than the men he faced.

Then, he kept driving them back.

Anakin had a momentary glimpse of the Sith Lord driving the Jedi across the hangar and through an opening into a room beyond, pressing them backward relentlessly, pursuing them with a fury that was terrifying.

The team attacks, with their efforts being woefully inadequate, pretty much opposite to Maul's efforts. Even their collective efforts only enabled them to hold their own against Maul.

Together, they were able to hold their own against the Sith Lord, but their efforts at attack, at assuming the offensive against this dangerous adversary, were woefully inadequate.

Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan kept attacking, and Maul backed away, but he only did so because he chose. Maul attacked, and at the same time negated the team's counterattacks.

Then they go to a narrow catwalk, with the team having the environmental edge, given Maul was pinned between them. Maul still kicked Obi away. Qui-Gon, using both environment edge and the fact Maul had to leave himself slightly open to deal with Obi-Wan.

In the junior novel, Obi-Wan can barely stay alive, even with Qui-Gon for help. Then the Jedi were forced back.

In both novels, Maul clearly had the upper hand.

We also have Maul being disgusted at the Jedi, because they weren't a challenge.

Rapidly spinning his lightsaber, he anticipated their moves with ease. Having expected a greater challenge from Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan, he felt even more disgusted by them.

The Wrath of Darth Maul

And then, we have a clone of TPM Maul that defeated ANH Vader. This clone had roughly the same abilities of the original. Most people can't accept this and deny it, but that's just excuses for the most hated character in Star Wars not to beat the iconic Vader.

So, by TPM, Maul is one of the greatest swordsmen in history, and he can casually defeat a Jedi battlemaster who ranks among the top members of the Order, quickly defeat a Jedi Master that's one of the best in 25K years of Jedi history with an injury that slowed him down, and then wreck that Master+the master's Padawan, who was already one of the best fighters in the Order- in a quote that only listed, aside from him, top Masters.

TCW Maul improved. Here, SoD Maul fodderized three MagnaGuards via saber combat, and another in the Force. This is only a few months away from ROTS, and thus these MagnaGuards are much better than the ones Ahsoka defeated early in her Padawan days (just so any Maul hater- not referring to you in any way, shape or form- cannot lowball this showing).

This is very impressive, given that slightly better versions of these things in the exact same number were far beyond ROTS Obi-Wan's ability to defeat.

In sabers, we can conclude Maul is above Mara. Not by much, but by a noticeable margin. I know, Mara has the duel with Caedus, but to be honest, Caedus had not yet reached his prime, and he was badly injured. Caedus>Mara under normal circumstances.

Now, Maul's greatest advantage over Mara. Strength. While speed is certainly closer, strength is just something in which Maul thoroughly and purely outclasses Mara Jade. And massive strength advantages have been shown to be meaningful- Anakin vs Dooku being a very good example of that.

Now, the following strength feats will be feats for TPM Maul. Which means Maul is pre-prime, as proven above-

Shatters the lower spine of a Rodian with an elbow strike.

The fight hadn't lasted long, and only when the blade-bearer had accidentally bumped into him had Maul glanced up long enough to drive an elbow upward and shatter the Rodian's lower spine.

Maul: Lockdown

A fifteen year old Maul (thus vastly inferior to his pre-prime TPM self) brutalized guards, tearing into them.

Leaving the swordplay to the masked Dathomiri, Maul tore into the Vollick's rear guard with fists and feet, bruising bodies and breaking bones as he fought his way to the warlord himself.

Restraint

Absolutely squashes a Yuuzhan Vong warrior, making blood come out of his head, eyes and mouth, breaking its neck.

While seriously injured, brutalizes a Wampa, pulverizing its mandible, shattering its skull, plunging through it, and ripping off its heart, the latter two blows being dealt with only remnants of Maul's strength.

Kicks into a person's chest.

Snarling, he whirled, moving faster than human eyes could follow, breaking Magneta's neck with the edge of his hand, then spinning again to send his stiffened right foot into the chest of the bodyguard as he rushed into the room.

End Game

Shatters durasteel binders with a jerk, feeling no pain even as they dug into his flesh.

Behind his back, Maul flexed his wrists. The durasteel binders dug into his flesh, but the Sith Lord felt no pain. With a jerk, Maul pulled his arms apart. The binders shattered, scattering bits of durasteel all over the cell's filthy floor.

Episode I Adventures: The Fury of Darth Maul

That's vastly above what Mara has to offer.

His saber skills and strength are, IMO, the main reasons why Maul defeates Mara Jade in single combat more often than not.

This was pretty nice! I agree with the outcome, since I think Mara is on Maul's level.

Also, I loved lines like these:

I'm about to one-up you, farmboy.

"Would you Jedi stop cutting my things in half?!"

"A man who has to tell others he is wise and strong is neither,"

I also liked the reference to Mara's past as the Emperor's Hand (with the pseudo-pun), and the mentioning of the saberstaff's weakness.

The fortunate thing about the saberstaff, for Mara, was that if she knew where one blade was, she always knew where the other blade was.

@thesithmaster: trust me, I'm fully aware of Maul's abilities. He's a high tier character, for sure, but so is Mara Jade. She had a greater danger sense than Luke Skywalker himself, greater and more varied Force abilities than Maul, and legitimately contented with Darth Caedus, who himself was above Vader in Legends, and whom most people rank alongside SOR Revan, Plagueis, and higher than Mace Windu.

After the Purge, the theory in Legends is that the Force became more concentrated in many living Force sensitives, like Kyp Durron, for example. The Jedi of the NJO were incredibly impressive. If you haven't read the NJO series and up through LOTF, you don't fully understand Mara Jade and what she is capable of.

At the time that Jacen became Caedus, only two Jedi were considered to be above him: Luke and Mara.

Mara's feats and accolades mark her as comfortably above Maul. This spiel is unnecessary

Darth Caedus wills Mara out of existence without all those extreme degrees of external circumstances that favoured her in their fight.

OT: Can go either way.

@bigsambino87:

I am open to the idea of Mara being more powerful than Maul. Yeah, this fight is closer than I thought. Still not as close as portrayed in the story, but still close. Maul should still win, his strength being the main factor.

Mara is really good, but she only managed to stalemate an injured, Pre-Prime Caedus. I'd still favor Maul, although Mara is not far off in skill and more powerful.

Neither is comfortably or solidly or vastly above the other, though. Especially Mara, who I admit to have underestimated.

@thesithmaster: Caedus wasn't exactly pre-prime. That event happened about mid-way through the LOTF series. He was already incredibly powerful. Mara is always ready for anything, and she's shown a few Force powers that most do not possess, such as being able to form a Force energy bubble around her and levitate in it, and keep her body strong while being ravaged by an illness that killed most within weeks. She lived for over a year, healing herself, and still engaging the Vong in close combat, winning every duel, even though she was close to death at times.

My opinion is that Mara is above Maul, but not by a tremendous amount. Her varied Force powers are the key to winning this fight. She beat Maul, here. He was paralyzed completely, and about to die. Yes, he was choking her, but Jaina took off Maul's head before Mara could, even though Mara still had enough in her to take Maul out.

@bigsambino87said:

Caedus wasn't exactly pre-prime.

OK, but from what I know, he hadn't reached the peak of his capabilities.

Anyway, Caedus was badly injured, so that favored Mara.

and she's shown a few Force powers that most do not possess,

True. While these powers would probably award her a victory against TPM Maul, and a solid victory against Rebels Maul, I think that they will not be able to get her a majority against Prime (TCW) Maul.

and still engaging the Vong in close combat,

Maul, with his bare hands, destroyed a Vong. While considerably pre-prime.

My opinion is that Mara is above Maul, but not by a tremendous amount.

Yeah it depends on the iteration of Maul.

She splits or gets a 5,5-6/10 majority against this version of Maul.

She loses about 6 or 7 rounds against this version of Maul:

She gets a 6-8/10 majority against this version of Maul:

Her varied Force powers are the key to winning this fight.

Against the TPM/SWR iterations. This will not award her a victory against TCW Maul.

@thesithmaster: I don't recall Caedus being badly injured at that time, though it has been a minute since I've finished the series. I'm currently re-reading it. He was badly injured when he was defeated by Jaina, yes. The fight with Mara happened as he was growing tremendously in power, leaving Luke to postulate that with his continued growth, Jacen (nobody knew he was Caedus) was on track to become more powerful than the Grandmaster himself within a year. He was able to conceal his presence in the dark side from everyone on the Jedi Council, including the most powerful mortal Force user to ever live, Luke.

Mara's near defeat of Caedus wasn't circumstantial, she was just that good. She used her skills to bring him down, and he only lived due to his ability to use a Force illusion against her, which caused her to hesitate for just a moment. They were both fighting all out.

@bigsambino87 said:

I don't recall Caedus being badly injured at that time,

There you go.

Killing her was the test: the words of the prophecy were meaningless, and at a visceral level he knew that her death was the pivotal act. He didn't know how, and this wasn't the time to stop and think about it. He surrendered totally to the instinct for the first time in ages. Whatever guided a Sith's hand had to guide him now.

But he was hurt, and badly.

Legacy of the Force: Sacrifice

Caedus is insanely durable, but of course the injury will slow him down.

The fight with Mara happened as he was growing tremendously in power,

That only proves my pre-prime point. If he was growingin power, that means he hadn't yet reached the peak of his capabilities.

Mara's near defeat of Caedus wasn't circumstantial,

Yes, it was. Caedus was injured, and hardly at his best. If Caedus wasn't injured, Mara would have died in a duel.

They were both fighting all out.

Oh, I don't doubt this. But Caedus was still seriously hampered by his injury.

@thesithmaster: What was the injury from? I honestly can't remember.

@bigsambino87:

I think he was ambushed by Mara before the fight. She kicked his knee, then made rubble fall on him. Jacen was buried.

@thesithmaster: For Mara to be able to sneak up on him is pretty impressive in itself. The description on the back of LOTF: Bloodlines, the one I'm reading now, describes Jacen as a complete master of the Force. So yes, here I would say he is pre-prime, but he was very close to prime by the time he defeated Mara.

@bigsambino87:

Yeah, it is a very impressive stealth feat. But that won't help her in a 1v1 against Maul in which both combatants are dropped cold into a random battlefield.

Maul is also very good at stealth, because he also did jobs for Palpatine which required stealth. Much like Mara.

Yeah, he was pre-prime by a small margin, but the injury still hampered him.

@thesithmaster: Perhaps this battle would have been better if she was hunting Maul? Or if they were hunting each other?

@bigsambino87:

Nah, the 1v1 was good. Even with Mara (or should I say Mara and Jaina) winning, the battle was good.

@bigsambino87: Caedus was pre-prime. He wasn't even yet Darth Caedus when he fought Mara, lol. It was stated a few books before that his powers were growing by the day, and it is canonically stated that even back then he was above any other character in NJO except Luke, Mara included.

Anyways:

- Mara ambushed an unready Caedus, meaning that his force defenses was lowered. This showing is as as illegitimate as any cheap shotting or backstabbing feat you know in the books.

- She lured him to a place of her choosing where she could execute her assassin expertise at close quarter combat, one that she trained her entire life ever since she served under Palpatine, while Caedus couldn't even use his lightsaber or fully utilise his force powers effectively. Obviously, Mara's weaponry is more viable in this specific setting when it's a really packed surrounding. Turn this into a neutral open area and her weapons won't do jack shit to Caedus.

- When the battle truly started, Caedus was already greviously injured. He suffered from a gunshot wound that could have incapacitated most other force users. In addition, he suffered from a heavy fall from a trap that Mara specifically set up for him. Already, Caedus was at a huge physical disadvantage, in addition to the already apparent environmental disadvantage that sets up Mara to perfectly execute her expertise while hindering Jacen's. Furthermore, Jacen was getting weaker as the fight dragged on due to suffering from the initial cheapshot injuries inflicted by Mara. Meaning that Caedus not only had to battle against Mara, he had to battle against time.

- This fight actually shows how resourceful Jacen is in spite of being at a massive disadvantage and severely weakened to the point that Mara could match him. It is his tactical strategy to bait Mara into a position where she appeared vulnerable, and immediately exploit the opening to gain the upper hand in their fight - without any external environmental advantages whatsoever. In this case, he created an illusion to fool Mara and used the opening to kill her. He used the same tactical strat against Luke and Katarn in their fights to great effect.

So no, Mara is leagues inferior to Caedus, and would stand no chance in a fair fight against him. In fact, this shouldn't even be considered a legitimate feat for Mara.

Also, Jaina never legitimately defeated Caedus. She only killed him because he allowed it.

@noobsnowman: Caedus let her win, yes, because he feared for the life of his daughter, so instead of defending himself, he called out to his daughter and Tenel Ka through the Force to warn them.

Although I could have sworn that he had already taken the name Caedus, prior to Mara's ambush.

EDIT: You are correct, it was after Mara's funeral.