- "Ventress found me. We fought. I lost. She took my lightsaber. I composed myself for the killing blow, but instead she took me prisoner. She blindfolded me and bundled me into a speeder for a short ride, no more than an hour. Count Dooku was waiting at the end of it."
- ―Jai Maruk
During the Clone Wars, there was a duel on Vjun between Jedi Master Jai Maruk and Dark Jedi Asajj Ventress, which the latter won. Ventress took Maruk as prisoner and delivered him to Count Dooku.
Prelude
- "We were running recon in the Outer Rim. Began to think there was something funny going on in the neighborhood of the Hydian Way. Little drab transports kept popping up, like a mermyn-trail leading into and out of the Wayland region."
- ―Jai Maruk
In 19 BBY, Jedi Master Jai Maruk was on patrol in the Outer Rim when a curious pattern of small transports kept appearing in the area, which caught his notice. Aboard his starfighter Limit of Vision, a Seltaya-class fast courier, he tailed one of the transports to its rendezvous on the planet Vjun, and made a soft landing many kilometers from it. Despite keeping his heat and IR signatures low, he was still discovered by the Separatist-aligned Dark Jedi Asajj Ventress.
The duel
- "Make no mistake, I am here because Dooku wanted me here. Ventress would have killed me if she could, she made that very plain, but Dooku wanted a messenger."
- ―Jai Maruk
They engaged in a lightsaber duel, and Maruk made the mistake of underestimating Ventress. For the first few passes in their fight, he tried disarming her; by the time he realized his folly it was already too late, she had taken the initiative and drove him back with her relentless attacks. His balance and defensive posture was slowly eroded by his increasing wild parries and Ventress was able to disarm him of his lightsaber. She blindfolded her prisoner and brought Maruk to Château Malreaux, where the Separatist leader Count Dooku was residing as his base of operations. Ventress wanted to kill Maruk to increase her tally of slain Jedi to seventeen, but Dooku released him in order to deliver a message to Grand Master Yoda.
Aftermath
- "That's it, seventeen."
- ―Asajj Ventress taunting Jai Maruk to give in to his hate
Back in the Coruscant, Maruk replayed the duel in his mind, analyzing everything and cataloging every mistake he made. He imagined their rematch a hundred times, choosing which attacks would be most successful and which opening stances to use. What Maruk failed to admit in his self analysis was that she was simply better than he was. When they crossed paths again on Phindar Station during a secret mission to Vjun, he finally realized this and came close to falling to the dark side of the Force due to his frustration and hatred. It was only the intervention of his colleague Master Maks Leem that Maruk was able to stay within the light side. When Ventress finally cut him down with a fatal slash to the abdomen, Maruk was at peace and smiling.
Appearances
- Yoda: Dark Rendezvous (and unabridged audiobook) (First mentioned, in book)