by Sergio Palumbo

Iridonia, a distant planet in the Ylek System, controlled by the Bounty Hunters Guild, seems everything but a pleasant place...as it is full of sheer canyons, acid seas and lakes, scarce plants and trees, and strong winds. Anyway, it was undoubtedly the only world once Darth Maul could call "home".

To tell the truth, long before becoming a perfect weapon forged by the hateful energies of the Dark Side to ensure the victory of the Sith, even young Darth Maul was attracted to speed and racing, as Anakin Skywalker did when he was very young on the infamous Tatooine, driving a pod-racer, or as later his son - Luke himself- was used to when only a teen, traveling aboard his vehicle to hunt the womp rats among the sands of the planet ( as he had told Wedge once, before going to attack the Black Death...).

Well, the taste of this Zabrak ( the name of his species...) had often been leading him really to some very dangerous rides over lava flows and acid expanse of water on his birth world so far in space, many and many years before he finally decided to join the Sith teachings of his new Master Darth Sidious ... but while he was still youngster, he liked to participate in hard races against several fierce opponents, all sort of adventurers, bounty hunters and- the- like you could find only in such a competition on a far and almost neglected planet...at those times, even if he was already used to his traditional rude garments, the dye of his robe was very similar to that of a Jedi ( strange to say...!) and his vehicle was really a bit bizarre, all painted -as it was in fact - in blue/yellowish/red/grey/black shading and with that huge booster apparatus on the rear to spin at most its speed while flying just some inch over the terrain in a very dangerous way.

On the sides he had put two wide wings to stabilize the flight, just to keep finally away the bad displacement he had suffered before during another almost lethal race on those pointed rocks, surrounded by scarce greenery, wasted all day long because of strong winds, especially in the mornings and at sunset, while on the rear of the driver's seat, at the top of his standard colors, he positioned a stylized bust of a Red Attacker of the lava flows ( a typical fierce creature of this planet...), his eyes like gold coins...

In a way, yes indeed, according to what will be his Sith point of view in the far future, the hardware would seem to be probably outrageously decorated cause to all the swagger ornaments, flaming designs, writings in alien languages and covers in full colors he had put on it...But, those apart, he was mainly proud of all the deep modifications made to the new engines, all powered by means of a double rotor, adding a new booster shot just over the driver's seat and the main one on the rear.

The workings on the vehicle had just made exactly what he wanted...and at the moment the only thing he can think of, while speeding up at its maximum the engine over the water and looking back at his slower alien pursuer, is : "Pimp my ride!"

There are many laps left to run and it's a long and difficult terrain but - as he has outrun one opponent after another and keeps in the distance the yellow- colored customized speeder of his contender- he starts really appreciating the power of the new engines of his vehicle, as the wind blows stronger and stronger across the mountains and brings to him the taste of the next victory that will be soon achieved, even this time.

Well, good moments in his life long ago, only glimpses of the past...everything was going to change in a few years: in fact in his future there will be the deep comprehension of the Force, his arcane tricks, the hard drilling in different lands and climates, other than the apprenticeship in the use of the red lightsaber, typical of the Sith sect, and most of all the mastering of his favorite double-ended blade...

At that time even Darth Maul's clothing ( its colors, the mantle and the robe...) could resemble that of a Jedi...well, in other conditions and with different masters and teachings, maybe, he could have even become a Jedi...but I could also mention some famous Jedi that, unpredictably, have become a Sith instead...One thing we can say about him: in some ways, instead of Anakin (at the start and at the end of his life, apart a long obscure period...) and Luke Skywalker, he absolutely did tend toward the Dark Side of the Force from the beginning when still a youngster, without doubts, and so he put himself against the rule of the Old Republic...anyway, as the story goes, his great knowledge of this obscure art did not help him at all in avoiding to be sliced in two pieces by a lightsaber of a young Jedi adversary, Obi One - who had followed just when a child a totally different way of life...- one day on the distant planet of Naboo, many and many years after these days of free, thoughtless but hard racing on his unpleasant home world.

The models of the diorama ( undoubtedly inspired by the famous pod racers' competition on Tatooine from Star Wars...) come from various box kits or remaining parts: the speeder of Darth Maul is a piece from Star Wars Miniatures (TM) in 1/48 scale, and it has been heavily modified and completely repainted with acrylics - the robe and vehicle - and with oils ( for the face with its intricate ritual drawings ), while the vehicle of the other alien racer is from Games Workshop, customized adding some parts from old Epic kits, so as from small scale models from Tamiya, ERTL, wood, metal, and many others materials. I've preferred to present the other alien driver ( Darth Maul's opponent...) wearing a special mask allowing him to breathe his native atmosphere mix, putting in light that for him the race is much more dangerous than for the common inhabitants of his planet, whose oxygen- based air would turn lethal for him, just in case he accidentally should be put in contact with it... The diorama is made from cardboard, static miniature plants for modeling, painted mainly in grey/green with dry brush all over and several ink washings.

I've added some alien animal in the diorama just to make more realistic the scenery. In particular I've put in the corner a Spherrk, a fictional strange blue bipedal creature - so called cause the typical continuous sound it emits, having fear almost of everything it encounters ( as here it is surprised and worried by the fast passage of the two speeder racers...)- ...depicted in the act of been predated by a dinosaur- like carnivorous, the Jungle Gripper, emerging from the plants nearby. I've placed also another rose- colored creature near the pond, protected by its body armor that let it live in that acid water without problems.

All these creatures are made from some old kits from Games Workshop miniatures.

Image: Darth Maul, night effect

Image: Darth Maul's speeder, underneath

Image: Ensign and engines

Image: Control panel

Image: The other racer

Image: His standard

Image: Left side view

Image: Need for speed

Image: Past in a flash

Image: Home is an acid pond

Image: Where the wild things are

Image: Silent predators