Duel on Vjun (Clone Wars)

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==
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==
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==
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 
==Sources==
*The New Essential Chronology
*The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia
*The Essential Reader's Companion
==Notes and references==
Category:Battles of the Clone Wars
Category:Battles of Vjun
Category:Duels