"Smugglers in a Dark Empire, Part I" by R. John Burke sburke@capecod.net Notice: The characters included here belong to Lucasfilm. The story comes from Dark Horse comics. I don't claim to own them. I have not and will not make any money off this story. It's just for fun. Description: The events of the "Dark Empire" comic series, altered and expanded to include the contributions of Mara Jade and Talon Karrde. Note: If you haven't read Dark Empire, you might want to first, but its not absolutely necessary, since I've changed much of it anyway. Also, this is part one of two. This is Mara's story, the next one is Karrde's. PART ONE: MARA The last time she spoke to Luke Skywalker when he was really himself was the day Coruscant fell. Mara had been looking for him for half an hour, spending time she didn't really have. Solo claimed he was meditating among the plants of the City Arboretum, but then, Solo claimed he could do the Kessel run in less than twelve parsecs. Mara wasn't sure she wanted to find Luke, anyway. Their discussions since the defeat of Thrawn six months ago had been few and generally unpleasant. Mara regretted that, since she genuinely liked Skywalker--and she certainly owed him enough. Really, though, it was his own fault. She'd just gotten used to not hating Luke, and he kept trying to push her into this Jedi stuff. Loudly as she tried to tell him she wasn't ready to train as a Jedi, he just didn't seem to be receiving. Maybe it's easier this way, she thought. Maybe Luke should just find out later, from Solo or his sister or somebody, that the WILD KARRDE is gone. I can explain things later... Unfortunately, even as the lift doors opened to the arboretum's highest level, Mara knew it would not be that easy. Her rudimentary Jedi skills had already picked up a Force presence nearby. A very powerful Force presence. Skywalker. "Luke?" she called, unable to focus on the presence. "Luke? Where are you?" At first, her only answer was the rustling of a thousand kinds of alien leaves, brilliant in the last rays of Coruscant's sunlight. It reminded Mara of the first time she'd spoken to Luke without anger, on the rooftop of the Imperial Palace. Don't get sentimental now, Jade, she told herself. You're leaving. Period. A voice called from nowhere, and everywhere. "See if you can tell me, Mara." Annoyed, Mara snapped, "You're hiding from me? Aren't you a bit old for games, Skywalker?" "I've hidden myself with the Force. Stretch out with your feelings. You can do it." Mara tapped a foot against the deck, aware that she was late already. "Luke, I don't have time..." "Mara, your powers in the Force are great, but without practice, they will wither and die. Now, where am I?" Resigned to her fate, Mara relaxed a bit, putting out shallow feelers in the Force, angered by her own lack of skill. When she'd been the Emperor's Hand, she would have known where he was before he did. Alas, Mara's Jedi talents, like so many other things, were not what they used to be. "You're..." she struggled to hold on to her tenuous grasp on his essence, "You're...in this room...somewhere." "You can do better than that." Mara frowned harder. "To the left." "Concentrate, Mara. You can still do better. Feel the Force." But Mara Jade had never been possessed of a great deal of patience. Her hands clenched into fists, her long red hair swinging forward as she brought her fist down on the wall panel. Through clenched teeth, she said, "I don't want to feel the Force, Luke! And I don't have to!" Mara relaxed with a long, calming breath, and spread her hands, almost in apology. "I...won't need it where I'm going." At once, a patch of air that had only been shadow and dim evening sun coalesced into Luke Skywalker, the last Jedi Knight. He frowned at her, his eyes dark inside the hood of his Jedi cloak. "You're leaving Coruscant?" "Yes. Now, in fact. Today." Luke pulled the hood down, concern on his still-youthful face. "But you're the liaison to the Smuggler's Alliance. We need you here!" Mara took a deep breath, unsure how to proceed. "Luke, Talon Karrde resigned his post with the Smuggler's Alliance today. He's going back to his organization." Luke's lip twitched. "And you go with Karrde." Mara Jade shrugged. "He needs me. The group needs me. I'm second in command." Luke just stood there expectantly, face now expressionless, but still radiating disapproval through the Force. Mara, for her part, refused to offer any more. They'd gotten into uncomfortably personal territory already. Finally, Luke spoke. "Mara, I of all people appreciate what Karrde and his group have done for the Republic. But your destiny lies along a different path from his. He's a smuggler, and you..." "Are what?" Mara exploded, "You tell me, Luke! What am I? I'm no Jedi. I'm not the Emperor's Hand anymore. I'm no longer a criminal." She stopped, sighed, the plain truth of it becoming clear. "I'm a businesswoman now. I'm just like Karrde." "Mara, you can't ignore your gifts. You can be more than just a smuggler." And that, Mara realized, was why she'd never make Jedi. That smug self-satisfaction, that utter conviction that the Force was the only way. "I don't want to be any more," she said. Luke sighed, shoulders slumped in fatigue or resignation. "You must do what you feel is right, of course." "Now, don't get huffy on me, Luke..." "It's just," Luke fidgeted, unsure of how to continue, "The Force is the ultimate power for good in the universe. You don't know the horizons it opens up..." Mara snorted. "You sound a little like the Emperor. You sure this Jedi thing hasn't gone to your head?" Luke shook off her criticism, but Mara could see that she'd hit close to the target. "I'm a Jedi Knight. I serve the light side of the Force." "Are you sure?" Mara cocked an eyebrow in unspoken challenge. "Of course. Mara, I've seen things in the Force...things you cannot possibly imagine." Mara laughed, but something in Luke's eyes worried her. "Whoa. Too scary for me. You can keep the Force, Skywalker. I'm leaving on the WILD KARRDE. 1300. If you want to come and see us off..." The blonde man shifted, uncomfortable. "I'll try." Mara Jade laughed again. "Do, or do not, remember? There is no..." Luke cut her off. "You're making a mistake." But Mara just wanted to get out of there, both because it had become uncomfortable, and because of that look in Luke's eyes. "My mistake to make, isn't it? See you around the galaxy, Skywalker..." As she headed back to the lift, Luke's voice called, "Mara, the Force will be with you, always." "It certainly seems to be with you," Mara Jade replied, surpressing the strange urge to run to the turbolift. "For your sake, I hope that's not a curse." The lift doors closed around her, and Mara didn't know whether to shiver or laugh. It was Skywalker, for Hoth's sake! Luke Skywalker, Protector of the Galaxy and All Around Choir Boy! She'd been on both sides of the emotional spectrum about Luke, both hated him and liked him. But she'd never feared him before. Never really feared anything. At the time, Mara Jade dismissed the thought as ridiculous.. She would recall that discussion later, though. Wonder if she'd been seeing warning signs. Wonder if she could have stopped what eventually happened. She might have, she later thought, been able to do something if she'd realized sooner why the look in Skywalker's eyes had bothered her. The look, she later thought, was love for the power and control that came through the Force. A look she'd seen before. Oh, yes, seen many times... In the eyes of the Emperor. It was a time of great unrest in the galaxy. She and Karrde blasted out of Coruscant just ahead of a fleet full of Star Destroyers. Karrde utterly shocked her by not only helping in the evacuation, but assisting Garm Bel Iblis' plan to hold off the Imperial ships. Mara herself shot a few TIE fighters off the MILLENIUM FALCON (And who ever would have imagined that? she thought at the time). Despite brilliant strategy by Bel Iblis and flawless execution by the FALCON and the WILD KARRDE, not to mention two captured Star Destroyers, the Empire won Coruscant. The New Republic, which more and more had relapsed to calling itself the Rebel Alliance, built a new base on the fifth moon of Da Soocha. They called it Pinnacle Base, and Mara had to admit, on the few times that she ran supplies there with Karrde's group, that it was quite and accomplishment. And Mara Jade began having recurring nightmares again. Not the old one, the one that had haunted her for five years as a result of the Emperor's last command, but a new one: One in which she saw the ominous form of Darth Vader commanding the Imperial starfleet, but slowly realized that it wasn't Vader at all. At the end of the dream, the form always morphed into Luke Skywalker, just as, in the background, the Emperor's watchful, glowing eyes appeared... She tried to discuss it with Luke, but got only vague platitudes about the Force in return. Skywalker, it seemed, had also been having visions. He spoke of "something" approaching, something cold...and powerful. He told Mara that she was one of the last hopes, should anything happen to him...and followed up on that ominous prophecy by asked Mara to keep an eye on his sister. Mara, reluctantly, agreed. That was right as Luke was leaving, with Lando Calrissian on the Star Destroyer LIBERATOR, for another of those hit-and-fades against Coruscant. Mara Jade decided to extend her stay on Da Soocha, just in case. Karrde, who was negotiating a new trade deal with the higher-ups anyway, stayed with her. (Though Mara knew the trade deal was only an excuse to keep an eye on her. Karrde would never admit it, but he'd been worried about her since she started having the visions.) The LIBERATOR hadn't been gone two days when the word camein that she'd gone down, in the middle of the Imperial Civil War. Han Solo and his wife Leia Organa Solo left almost immediately on a rescue mission. Spurred by her promise to watch over the sister, Mara Jade went with them. Talon Karrde joined the party, in exchange for generous monetary compensation from the Republic... The MILLENIUM FALCON burned its way through hyperspace, its powerful engines thrumming in rhythm with the fast-beating hearts of worried passengers. An alarm sounded, and Solo cut it off. "Comin' up on the Coruscant system." Organa Solo barked some orders to the Wookiee about keeping in touch with their convoy. The Wookiee agreed. Mara made her way into the cockpit of the MILLENIUM FALCON. "I'll just be glad to get out of the cramped spaces. I still don't understand why we left the WILD KARRDE on Da Soocha." Talon Karrde came in behind her. "It's very simple Mara. At the moment, Coruscant is the most dangerous planet in the galaxy--the most dangerous without a Hutt population, anyway. I owe Skywalker enough to risk my neck, but risking my ship is another matter entirely." "Now, there's a man after my own heart," said Solo, "'Course, I'm putting my ship on the line..." "That's why you're the hero," said Karrde, "And I a simple free trader." The Wookiee grumbled something. "Right," said Solo, "Hang onto your seats, kids. We got some turbulence at the entry co-ordinates." "That'll be battle debris," said Mara, "Imperial factions have been going at it pretty hard." "Think they'd do us all a favor," Solo wondered, "And wipe each other out?" Karrde said, "If they haven't, it's not for lack of trying." "Warn the other ships, Chewie." Organa Solo's golden interpreter droid came up from behind. "Sir, if I may say so, the odds of an actual collision are 3,715 to one. Therefore, were I piloting the ship..." Solo gave a rough chuckle. "The day you pilot my ship again, Goldenrod..." "But sir, if I may just..." "Threepio!" Organa Solo cut him off, "Be quiet. Five seconds." "Right," her husband agreed, "Stay sharp, Chewie, and punch in the sublight engines...now!" The Wookiee did so, and immediately howled that he wished he hadn't. Battle debris flew at them from all sides, converging around them with the speed of asteroids. Solo threw the ship into an incredible series of flips, spirals, and jigs--despite the man's arrogance, Mara had to admit that he was probably the best star pilot she'd ever seen. Thanks to his skill, the MILLENIUM FALCON made it through the debris field. One of their escorts did not. Just as they thought they were out, a stray TIE fighter wing bounced off the topside hull. Solo cursed in Corellian. "That one almost took the paint job off," said Karrde, wincing, "Glad I didn't bring my ship..." Solo glared at the golden droid. "3700 to one, huh?" "Well," the translator said sheepishly, "I may have missed a variable...somewhere." "Look at this place," said Organa Solo, eyes transfixed on the viewport, "It's like a graveyard." "It is a graveyard, Your Worship," Mara said, shivering as an icy spike of Force energy ran through her. "Can't you feel it? Thousands of people died here..." Solo sighed. "Why didn't we all just stay home?" "Because Luke needs us," said Organa Solo promptly. "Luke don't need anybody. Don't let this get around, but he's the best I ever saw at squeezing outta tight spots." "Except yourself, of course," Mara put in, deadpan. "Goes without sayin'. But Luke's good. So good, I'm surprised he ain't Corellian." "Nobody's perfect," muttered Karrde. The MILLENIUM FALCON, clear of the debris field, soared into the atmosphere of the most populous--and war-torn--planet in the galaxy. They'd barely hit atmosphere when a gaggle of Imperial I-7 Howlrunners triggered the proximity sirens. Mara scowled. "Solo, check your sensors!" "I see 'em. You know, we used to get along fine on this ship without a bunch of backseat drivers..." The Wookiee roared. "Yeah, shields up, pal. I think this is gonna get rough..." "They're on an intercept course!" Mara said. In fact, now that they'd reached the atmosphere, she could hear the roar of multiple ion engines. "Hang on!" But the formation wasn't right to Mara's trained eye. "Wait, Solo. They're veering off." As they did so, Solo cursed again. "How do you figure that?" Karrde shrugged. "A pressing engagement, maybe?" "They didn't even stop to say hello," added Mara. "How very rude," said Solo, mimicking the prissy voice of the protocol droid. "We should give 'em an escort to their important meeting." "Han, there's no time," said his wife, "We have to find Luke." "Then we're in luck, sweetheart. They're on a line with Luke's signal." "I don't like the sound of that," said Mara. "Oh, and poor Artoo is them them!" Threepio fretted, "If anything has happened to him, I'll never forgive myself!" "I wouldn't worry just yet," said Karrde, "Like my grandfather used to say, 'Never kiss a Hutt unless all else fails.'" Mara frowned. "What does that mean?" Karrde shrugged. "I wouldn't know, actually. Gramps was rather senile..." "Coming up on Imperial City," said Solo, and he brought the MILLENIUM FALCON in. They found Skywalker, all right. More accurately, they found Calrissian, just in time to face off against a bunch of scavengers. The scavs made the mistake of getting between Solo and his beloved ship, and he and the Wookiee rushed into the fight like woovers being chased by a gundark. Mara joined the battle, too, with the lightsaber Luke Skywalker had given her. They made good progress at first, but when the scavs released a pack of vicious neks, it looked done. Fortunately, that was when Luke Skywalker chose to make an entrance. He scattered the neks and frightened off the scavengers. Then he toppled an advancing Imperial walker with only the power of the Force. It was all over in seconds. The expression on Skywalker's face said it had been mere child's play. But Mara was astonished. "Luke!" "Hello, Mara. I knew you'd come. You and Leia both." "Don't try to con me, Skywalker!" she hissed, still unable to believe her eyes, "I never even saw Vader do anything like that!" Luke stood there, in his darkened Jedi robes, eyes alive with fire, voice controlled, and suddenly he reminded Mara very much of his father. Like in her dream... "I'm far more powerful than Vader now," he said, "I've been studying Sith texts left here by the Emperor...the fighting must have uncovered some secret chambers...and I have progressed to the level of a full Jedi Master." Solo laughed. "A Jedi Master? Did you fall on your head when the LIBERATOR crashed?" Skywalker's eyes flashed with intensity Mara hadn't seen from him before. "Don't mock me, Han! Your continued lack of faith is...disturbing." Organa Solo clearly didn't understand. "Luke, what is it? What's wrong?" But he was looking at Mara. "You must have known, Mara. About the power of the Dark Side. Why didn't you tell me? There's so much I never knew..." Solo was out of his depth, but willing to bluff through it. "Hey, come on, Junior. You're starting to scare me." "I'm scared too, Han. But the funny thing is, it doesn't have to be used for evil. All the new energies I have tapped can be used constructively, as you've just seen." Organa Solo frowned. "Ben Kenobi would disagree." "Yes, well, Ben's 'certain point of view' blinded him to a lot of things." It was about that time that Mara started to hear the distant rumbling. She was pretty sure Skywalker heard it, too, though he didn't warn the others. The Wookiee became uneasy, his hunter's ears picking up the unidentified noise. Solo suggested, in more colorful language, that perhaps they'd overstayed their welcome. Calrissian eagerly agreed. Skywalker announced that he was staying. His sister, and Han Solo, tried to talk him out of it, but he was adamant. Something was coming for him, he said, he was sure of it now. He would stay...but anyone else who stayed would be destroyed. Mara saw the deep blue light on the horizon, like a rip in time and space, moving forward to swallow them. Threepio saw it, and moaned. "We're doomed." "No, Threepio. You're not. It wants me. The rest of you must leave this place, immediately." Skywalker and his sister argued some more. Mara wasn't really listening. In her own mind, she was seeing her destiny. Whether through the Force or plain intuition, she knew what she had to do. She found Karrde, who was already halfway up the ramp of the ship. "Take care of yourself, you old swindler." "Mara, what are you..." "Stay greedy," she said with a smirk, "It's nice to know there are some constants in the universe." And then she was gone, leaving Karrde standing there, still not quite understanding. Which was good, because he would have tried to stop her. Mara approached Skywalker, lit her shimmering blue lightsaber. "I'm staying, Luke. The only way you're going to get me to leave is to duel it out with me right here." To her surprise, Skywalker nodded, serene. "As you wish." It's almost, she thought, as if he expected me to stay. Then the FALCON lifted off, and the storm was upon her, and there was no more time for thought. She awoke on an Imperial SENTRY-class Dungeon ship, along with Skywalker and his astromech. The droid she knew from previous little adventures, and as he'd proven himself to be far more useful then the standard-issue R2 unit, Mara trusted him. It was Luke Skywalker she wasn't sure about. Their destination turned out to be the planet Byss, which had been one of the Emperor's super-secret fortress worlds in the old days. In fact, Mara Jade, as the Emperor's Hand, was one of the few sentients who had even known of its existence. She wasn't even sure Thrawn had known about it, since he hadn't used it during his campaign. Mara could feel the dark side, heavy and oppressive like a humid day with no warmth, the moment they entered the atmosphere. She shivered. Skywalker showed no reaction. As noted, Mara Jade had rarely known fear in her life. But if she ever had, this was one of those times. Stormtroopers met their ship. In the background, dark and shadowy figures waited, radiating cold power. One of them stepped forward, spoke to the Stormtrooper commander for a moment. After a second, the stormtroopers approached with some kind of glowing, floating bubble. "What is that?" she asked. "A Jedi trap, I think," said Luke, "We'll go along, though. For now." The droid warbled in concern, but could do nothing as Mara and his master squeezed into the force-bubble. Luke whispered, "Mara, that man who talked to the stormtrooper." Mara cast a gaze at the hooded figure in black. "The Force is with him." "The dark side," Luke said with a nod, "Do you recognize him?" "Never had the pleasure--" Mara paused as another flash of insight embedded itself in her mind, "But he's not alone." Luke nodded at another approaching figure. "That woman. In blue, with the dark ponytail." That was actually rather a sparse description. The woman wore a cloak of dazzlingly bright blue with the hood down. Her hair was dark as space, and her brown eyes shone with the same kind of fire Mara had seen in Luke's. A Dark Jedi, without question. Mara realized abruptly that she was looking at what she herself could have been--would have been, if she'd continued as the Emperor's Hand. The woman addressed the man in black. "Kraise? What is the meaning of this?" "I'm taking the Jedi to the Emperor," said Kraise, in a rich, superior voice that indicated his opinion of the question. "In a cage? Do you seriously think it would hold against a Jedi Master?" Kraise shrugged. "I tested it on myself." The woman smiled up at him with just the same touch of contempt that Mara would have used, long ago. "That has nothing to do with my question. He's here because he chooses to be. Your pitiful tricks haven't hindered him." Kraise snorted. "Such faith in the power of the almighty Jedi." "Careful, Kraise," she said, "That Jedi is likely to be your new master. "If he'll turn. If not, I've been promised the right to kill him. Don't underestimate my power." "That would be impossible." The woman in blue showed absolutely no hint of the respect that Kraise clearly felt he deserved. "I'll speak to him now." "Be brief." She smiled again. "If it suits me." The woman approached their cage. "Welcome, Master Skywalker. I am the Lady Darth Arias." "DARTH Arias?" said Mara. She thought, I have a bad feeling about this. "The proper form of address for a Sith Knight," said Arias, "If she chooses to take the title. The man who met you is my associate, Darth Kraise." Mara scowled. "He's a charmer, isn't he?" Arias regarded her like a myrmin under a set of macrobinoculars. "Well, this is a surprise. Mara Jade, the former Emperor's Hand. I don't think even my master expected you...but he'll be pleased to see you." "He?" asked Mara. Arias smiled thinly. "I don't want to ruin the surprise." Arias released them from the cage, and led them into the main chamber of an enormous building--not unlike, Mara thought suddenly, the Imperial Palace on Coruscant. With that thought, a sudden flash of insight rippled through Mara Jade. Her bad feeling doubled and redoubled, especially when she saw the throne sitting on a pedestal above them. Memories flooded back, forgotten or set aside. As if it were yesterday, Mara remembered bowing before a similar throne. And pledging her life to it's occupant. The same occupant who slowly turned his throne to regard Luke Skywalker. "Excellent. Excellent. You have come to me of your own free will." Too astonished for anything else, Mara reverted to sarcasm. "Shouldn't you be dead or something?" "Eh? What's this? Yes, the new pattern emerging from the Force. Quite unexpected." Familiar yellow eyes regarding her, turning her blood into a Hoth blizzard. "But it is good to see you again, Mara Jade, my most trusted Hand." Anger bubbled to the surface. "You said I was the only Hand." "Ah, Mara," the Emperor laughed, a well-remembered hollow cackle, "I had forgotten your fire. Your jealous nature. You could have been very powerful in the Dark Side. You will be yet." Luke interrupted. "You're mistaken, Your Majesty. I am a Jedi Master. This woman is my apprentice. We will not turn." Mara breathed a sigh of relief to hear Luke talking like himself again--of course, some cynical voice inside her head said that it was too late, they were in far too much trouble for it to matter. But it helped some. The Emperor cackled again. "Why, my dear young friend...you have turned already." Insistent, Mara hissed, "Curse you, you old wizard! How can you still live?" At that, the Emperor explained about his clones, his way of cheating death and the decaying power of the Dark Side. He used an illusion, or so he explained, to make the normal people around him think his appearance was unchanged. Simplicity itself, or so he claimed, for a Dark Master. It was his most precious secret, one even Mara had not known. But his words had the ring of truth, or as close as Palpatine ever got to it. Besides, Mara could feel it: This was no impostor. This truly was the Emperor. Her old master. A year ago, she reflected, this would have been the happiest day of my life. Why do I feel so cold, now? Frustrated, angry, Mara decided to do what she did best. Act decisively. "Come on, Luke! We're wasting time! Let's just kill him and get out of here!" The Emperor was amused. "Such hostility, Mara. There was a time when you swore your very life to me." "There was a time when I was an idiot," she said, refusing to allow the reasonable diplomacy of the man's voice or the hypnotic quality of those yellow eyes to dupe her again, "That time has passed." "Indeed," said the Emperor, "And what of you, young Skywalker? Have you come to join me? To take your father's place, your rightful position at my side?" Luke stood firm, looking every bit the Jedi Master. "I will not turn. You'll be forced to kill me." Darth Kraise stepped forward. "My Master, let me do it! The Jedi defies you! Let me kill him!" The Emperor tried again to budge Luke, but finally sighed. "Very well, Lord Kraise. The Jedi Master is yours to kill...if you can." Kraise grinned with the ferocity of a rancor, and lit a deep orange lightsaber blade. "I will destroy him for you, My Master, and take his place at your side." "If that is your destiny." Kraise lunged at Luke, who lit his blade just in time and parried it. Kraise attacked again, and Luke batted each blow aside one- handed. He hardly seemed to be trying. Mara realized that replacing Luke was not this mans destiny; becoming nerf-kabob was more like it. She glared at the Emperor, his glowing eyes watching every move of the combatants. You knew that, you old fossil, she thought, you're just using him to raise Luke's anger! But Kraise's skills were hardly sufficient to get Luke angry. In fact, the Jedi Master looked bored, swatting away overly aggressive thrusts with total confidence. Luke was toying with this man, too. Mara felt an unexpected rush of sympathy. "Just end it, Luke!" Luke shrugged. With three blows, he had broken down Kraise's defenses, robbed him of his saber, and forced him to his knees. The Emperor cackled with delight. "Good. Good! Now release your anger! Kill him, my young apprentice!" And to Mara Jade's utter astonishment, Luke did exactly that, separating the helpless man's shoulders from his torso with a single swipe. "It's done," said Luke. "How...how could you?" Mara muttered. What happened to the choir boy? she wondered. I was just getting used to him... "He was evil," said Luke, "He served the Dark Side." So do you, now, thought Mara. She watched in horror as the Emperor continued his little game, skillfully manipulating Luke's emotions with promises, taunts, images of the raging Battle of Calamari (Isn't the ETHERWAY at Calamari? Mara thought, but had more pressing problems). Fifteen minutes after he'd killed Darth Kraise, Luke Skywalker had taken his father's place at the Emperor's side. Mara felt the disturbance in the Force like a hurricane, a terrible swirling of dark energy. It sickened her. The galaxy's last Jedi Master had fallen to the dark side. Mara was imprisoned after her refusal to join them, but she'd known that was too good to last. For a while, she'd had the companionship of Skywalker's astromech, but soon they wheeled the little droid away for reprogramming, and Mara was alone. Alone. As ever. It was her destiny, it seemed. She would turn, or she would die. And what she'd seen in the Emperor's chambers was enough to make Mara rule out turning. As she had been between the Emperor's death and her stint with Talon Karrde's group, Mara was totally, hopelessly alone. The thought of Karrde made her sit up. She tried to focus through the Force, to see where he was, whether he was searching for her or had given up. Except that he wouldn't give up. He'd come all the way to Byss if he had to, to save one of his people. That thought led to another. Leaning back, relaxing her mind, she stretched out as Luke had taught her. She drew the Force around herself as tightly as she could, using all the skills she had, all her remaining power. And called to Karrde. HELP US, she said, INNER CORE. PLANET CALLED BYSS. She hesitated, then called, PLEASE... But her call went unanswered, as she knew it would. She was too weak, and anyway Karrde had no strength in the Force. He might be able to "hear" her despite that, but over the distance of a few meters, not millions of light-years. She was alone. The door slid open. Arias stood there, looking down at her with a mixture of contempt and pity. "He can't hear you," she said, "It's pointless to resist." Mara kept her tone light, to distract herself from the sinking feeling in her gut. "I like a challenge." "You'll get challenges, Mara Jade," said the other woman with a smile, "Believe me, you will be challenged. Come with me." The doors slid open, and Arias remained outside while Emperor Palpatine regarded his former apprentice with eyes that were carefully calculated to appear concerned. Mara had seen the pose countless times before, had been on the receiving end of his phony warmth enough that she would not be fooled. Never again. "Skywalker's sister approaches," said the Emperor simply. With Solo and a rescue team, I hope, thought Mara. Fighting to control her sigh of relief, she said, "It's about time." "Isn't it? But I thought it best that we complete our business first." Mara kept her voice cold. "I'm honored." "What's happened to you, Mara?" the Emperor's voice was almost pleading, certainly confused--or so it sounded. Mara felt the subtle touch of his mind attempting to influence her, but the Emperor himself had taught her the proper defensive pattern for that, and besides, she was not at all weak-minded. Her former master went on, "I speak to you now as your mentor. Practically your father! I trusted you above all others. Even Lord Vader never held as much sway with me as you did." Mara laughed contemptuously. "I was only your Hand--one among many, it seems." "You were special, Mara," he said, and sounded so annoyingly sincere that Mara felt a moment's doubt, "You anticipated my orders before I gave them. You understood the vulnerable position I was in as Emperor and eliminated threats before they existed. I had great plans for you." "I don't need you to plan for me!" she hissed, "I control my own life now!" "The dark side controls you, as it will control everything," the Emperor said, "I have called you here to give you one last chance to reclaim your position." "Shove it in your motivator." The voice shifted to utter sympathy and understanding. "You're angry with me. I don't blame you. My death left you without your position, your power." Mara Jade, ex-Emperor's Hand and aide to the most powerful smuggler in the galaxy, could contain herself no longer. "This isn't about power! You took me away from my parents! Your last command almost destroyed me! You kept me from any kind of a normal existence! I have built myself a life now! For the first time I have a place in the galaxy that doesn't depend on your whims! As far as I'm concerned..." Mar drew in a deep breath, drained of her anger at last, "As far as I'm concerned, you should have stayed dead." "What a pitiful speech," the Emperor said, contempt leaking from those yellow eyes, "I took away minor trivialities form you, Mara. Parents. Friends. In return, I offered you ultimate power. I gave you the secrets of the Dark Side and this is how you repay me?" "You used me," Mara stated the simple truth, to him and to herself, for perhaps the first time. "I won't be lied to anymore." "Mara, I am truly sorry that you see it that way," he said, tone complacent once again, "You know it is dangerous to defy me." "Take your best shot," Mara said, steeling herself for the inevitable blue lightning. "I would rather show you the error of your ways." The Emperor leaned forward in his throne. "I'll give you back everything you've lost and more. Your Force ability, for a start. Go ahead. Try any Force trick you wish. It will come easily now." Mara scowled at him, wanting to defy him...and unable to. Not because of some mind trick, but because she needed to know if it was true. If she could indeed have ll her abilities back. She focused on a minor support girder in one corner. Called the Force into her mind. Pushed... The girder snapper in two, durasteel cracking as easily as flimsiplast. And Mara was overwhelmed. "I don't...believe it. I haven't been able to do that since..." "Your old power back," said the Emperor, his voice low and seductive, "Your old place within the glorious order of a new Empire. Everything you've wanted, everything you've lost, is yours. Join me, Mara. Help me to restore order. It is your destiny." In that moment, that perfect second it time, Mara Jade knew that he was right. Things would be the way they used to be, the galaxy would be put right again. The nightmare of the last six years would be erased as though it had never been... "Yes," she said, almost dreamily, "Yes, I will..." "Excellent!" cackled the Emperor, and Mara realized that she'd been gone too long, "Excellent! Look...stretch out with your feelings. You can see the work being done. The battle over Calmari. See our new Empire being forged before your eyes." And Mara did look. Searched, with all the power of the dark side, the vastness of space parting before her advance as though it were nothing. She saw the World Devastators, the Star Destroyers, mixing in furious battle with an overwhelmed Rebel force. Saw territory that rightfully belonged to the Empire being reclaimed. She felt the minds, too. The combatants. All the various minds, either cocky with victory, paralyzed with terror, or clouded with pain. A glorious song of battle, composed from the dark side... Mara felt the minds... Stopped. Gasped, unbelieving. "Karrde..." He was...he was there. At the battle. Helping the Rebel forces. not even that...more like directing. He was one of the rebel leaders, side by side with Calrissian, Ackbar, and Antilles. Why? What could have happened to convince Talon Karrde, the mercenary's mercenary, to throw in with the Rebel Alliance? She touched his mind for the answer... Revenge. Friends lost. The ETHERWAY, torn up by a World Devastator over Calamari while he watched, light-years away, unable to respond. It changed him... Mara felt his emotions. Determination. Fear. Disbelief that he'd gotten himself into this. And an overriding concern, not for himself but for his people...those he was responsible for... Concern, above all, for those he'd lost, or feared he'd lost. Like the ETHERWAY's crew. Like Mara Jade. In the heat of a terrible battle, in way, way over his head, and Talon Karrde was worried about her. The Emperor sensed her thoughts, sought to redirect them. "Regrettable. He'll die with the rest, of course. But you don't need him anymore. He was useful, helped you regain your power, but he is mere Fringe scum. Your destiny is far grander..." Palpatine was right, in a way. Nobody would really miss Karrde, if he were gone. Aves would take over the group, or perhaps Mazzic or somebody would absorb it, and things would go on as they always had...in the grand scheme of things, Talon Karrde's life mattered not at all. Nor did she owe him any sentiment. She'd repayed any debt to Karrde a thousand times. He wouldn't expect her to think of him before herself. And despite some of the coarser rumors going around the smuggling trade, there really was nothing between her and Karrde. Nothing. "Come, Mara," said the Emperor, "We will meet the Princess, and explain matters to her. Together, we will sway her to the dark side." Nothing at all, Mara told herself. Nothing but the closest thing she'd ever known to friendship. In the end, it was enough. "You'd better go on without me," she said, finally releasing the vision. "What?" Mara took a deep, steadying breath. "If Karrde is with the Rebels, then I'm with the Rebels." The Emperor looked at her with the closest thing she'd ever seen on him to genuine puzzlement. "This isn't like you at all, Mara. I admit, even with all my power, I cannot understand your foolishness." Mara looked him in the eye, those yellow eyes which somehow were no longer so intimidating. "No. I guess you wouldn't." The Emperor stared for another moment. "So be it. Arias!" The door swished open, and Lady Arias (Another former hand? Mara wondered, or just a dark side adept?) appeared. "Yes, my master?" "Take Mara to the prison level," the Emperor said, fixing her with a cold stare, "Give her four hours to reconsider. If she does not, you may destroy her." Arias half-smirked in the dim light. "With great pleasure, my master." "Don't count on it, honey," said Mara, confidence returning with her decision. She walked down from the throne level, joining Arias at the door. She met those eyes again. "We'll meet again, Your Excellency. At your funeral." Mara watched Arias all the way to the prison level. They had almost reached it when Skywalker's astromech trundled along near them, being brought from one computer system to the other in its new work as an Imperial coordinator for clone operations. And Mara saw her chance. After deactivating her lightsaber in those last moments on Coruscant, she'd stashed in the secret compartment Skywalker had shown her in its dome...she'd hidden the motion from Skywalker, just in case, and he'd once said that the compartment was shielded even from high-level scans, which meant the programmers shouldn't have found it. If the saber was still there, she was in business. If not, then... well, better to get things over with, anyway. The caught the droid's attention as they passed in the corridor. Nodded, just slightly. The compartment sprung open and Mara's lightsaber--originally used by Anakin Skywalker, the great Jedi Knight, given to her by his son--leapt into her hand. The droid chirped gratefully, zapped its Imperial sentry in the leg with an arc welder, and trundled off. "Find Skywalker!" Mara called as her blue blade crossed with Arias' bright yellow one, "Talk some sense into him!" The droid's reply, in semi-intelligible binary, was something about Luke having things under control. Great, thought Mara, I'm away from him for a little while, he gets delusions of grandeur... Turning her full attention to her better-trained opponent, Mara blocked a vicious slice three-tenths of a second before it would have taken her head off. Their blade locked and sizzled. And Mara smiled. "You know what, honey? I just don't have time for this right now." Mara sliced down, forcing Arias' blade into the floor. In the half second that bought her, Mara leapt, using all her strength, training, and Force skill, and sliced a ventilation grate off its place on the wall. The thing fell on Arias, connecting with the side of her head. As she landed, Mara slammed the hilt of her lightsaber into the same area. the other woman collapsed, out cold. Mara nodded, satisfied, then sliced the lock off a cell and dragged Arias inside. She melted the lock, then rushed off to find a terminal. Using the Emperor's still-unchanged security codes, she sliced into the system. The MILLENIUM FALCON, it seemed, had just landed. She called up a base schematic, and was still trying to decide how to proceed when she heard footsteps approaching. Mara hauled herself up and into the ventilation shaft, pulling the grate closed behind her. She smiled when she saw who her company was in the detention area. Help had arrived, and done so in the dashing and currently very angry form of Han Solo. Mara waited for the guards to leave, then made her way down to the floor. From inside his cell, she heard Solo talking to the Wookiee. "Will you quit complaining? I'm not that heavy!" Chewbacca disagreed. "Well, I've got to work on this window. I think, if I can cut the bars, I should be able to get out...It's only a twenty story drop." The Wookiee pointed out the obvious flaw in that arrangement. "I'll think of something. First, we gotta get out...Uh-oh. Put me down. Somebody's coming." Mara hear the thud as Solo hit the floor, probably too hard for his tastes. The Wookiee asked a question. "I dunno, but if they're here to execute us, I ain't goin' quietly. Am I right?" His first mate bellowed enthusiastic support. "Right." Mara ignited the saber again and cut the door open. The whole ordeal was worth it, she thought, for the look of shock on Solo's face. "I don't believe it! Jade?" "Hello, Solo. I'm here to rescue you." Solo still looked like he couldn't quite believe it. "When I saw who was running this party, I figured you'd most likely left us to the rancors and gone back to your roots." Mar's stomach twisted. "You don't know how close I came." "Well, I'm impressed, anyway," said Solo as he and his large friend joined her in the corridor. "How'd you get out?" Mara shrugged. "Actually, it wasn't as hard as I..." From behind her, Mara heard an explosion, and felt a jolt of Force energy. She turned to see the door to Arias' cell on the other side of the corridor, and a very angry Dark Jedi striding out. Mara groaned. "Now it's as hard as I thought it would be." Arias extended a hand, and her lightsaber flew from Mara's belt and lit up as it reached the other woman's palm. Mara brought her own blade into en garde position. "Get behind me, Solo." "No way. I ain't gonna..." Solo started forward, and was met by a jolt of Force lightning that blew him halfway down the corridor. Mara risked a glance back to check on him. He was alive and conscious, thin wisps of smoke rising from his burnt vest. "You know what, Jade?" he muttered, "I'm gonna let you get this one..." Mara turned her full attention back to Darth Arias, who faced her with open contempt. "You can't escape this time, Jade. One of us will die right here." Mara smiled, showing confidence she didn't feel. "That was my thought exactly, sister..." With that, she lunged forward, driving into Arias with every trick and gambit the Emperor and Luke had shown her. Arias countered them, not showing the disinterest that Luke had shown with his prey, but not looking particularly worried. "The Emperor has taught you well, Jade," Arias admitted, breathing hard, "But you are not a Jedi yet." They went at each other again, blue and yellow blades clashing with angry sizzles as they fought. Mara was skilled, but Arias was a full Sith Knight, and successfully drove her back. As they exchanged blows, Mara was steadily driven back into Solo's cell. The Corellian followed them in, gamely trying to keep up with the slashing and striking. "I'm here, Mara! What can I do?"| Mara stopped another cut, but her counterattack was also slashed aside. "Lend moral support!" "Um..." Solo said over the hiss of competing sabers, "Go, team!" A minute later, Mara was backed against the wall. Two more cuts from Arias dropped her to her knees. She lost her grip on her saber, and it skittered across the floor. Arias stood over her, panting, savoring victory. "And now, Jade, the Emperor's true Hand will take over..." She raised her saber to strike. With a Wookiee battle roar, Chewbacca charged in, hauling Arias bodily off her feet. Arias screamed and kicked, and zapped the huge alien with dark side lightning, but Mara reached out with the Force to protect the Wookiee, absorbing the destructive energy herself. She didn't know how long she'd be able to keep it up, however. Fortunately, Han Solo, as usual, had a plan. Wielding Mara's lost saber, he slices four cuts into the cell wall, exposing the twenty story drop below. "Chewie!" he cried, "Bring 'er here!" Howling in relief, Chewbacca took two steps to the cell window and flung the dark side adept through. Her final scream echoed in the air for a full minute. Mara remained where she'd fallen, exhausted. To the Wookiee, she said, "Nice arm." Solo was examining his partner protectively. "You all right, pal?" The Wookiee gave a quick, yelping reply. Mara spoke Wookiee, but was too tired to translate. "What'd he say?" Solo laughed. "He said he's fine, but he's gonna smell like burnt fur for days." "Right now, I could kiss his burnt fur," Mara said, dragging herself to her feet, "Let's go." They didn't have to go very far. In the next second, a giant Imperial Hunter/Killer droid appeared in the void outside. Mara cursed, but it soon announced itself as the property of Solo's friends Salla Zend and Shug Ninx. After a minute, Skywalker and his sister joined them. It turned out that the R2 unit had been correct. Skywalker had faked going to the dark side to defeat the Emperor. He'd locked the command codes for the World Devastators that were destroying Calamari into the droid's memory banks. They took off for Calamari, and reached the water world in time to save the remaining Republic fleet. The events surrounding the Battle of Calamari went on for some time after that--for one thing, Skywalker had never really left Byss, but tricked his sister into leaving him behind so that he could take on the Emperor--but in a very real way, Mara's involvement ended there. The Emperor showed up at Coruscant in his giant flagship and Organa Solo was forced to confront him. Mara offered Leia her father's lightsaber to use, but otherwise knew it wasn't her fight. It was a Jedi thing--Leia Organa Solo had to face the Emperor alone. Face him she did, and save her brother, but Mara was frankly too tired to care at that time. She had done her bit, fought the Emperor and his minions all she cared to, and was done playing hero. She received the news of the Emperor's death later, strangely without emotion. She'd made her peace with that part of her life as well. She had spoken with Karrde, who was both insufferably pleased with himself and somewhat chagrined that he'd been so easily talked into doing the "right thing." The Calamari had awarded him the Silver Comet for bravery, which he said would make a nice memento if nothing else. Then he asked Mara to take his place as head of the Smuggler's Alliance. He pointed out that she'd need experience with strategic and tactical planning to be his successor with the group one day, and added that she'd certainly acquitted herself well on Byss. Mara agreed, on the condition that the group would be waiting for her when she was ready to rejoin it. Karrde considered that a given. He asked one question that she wasn't prepared for, however. "Why didn't you stay with the Emperor? I'd have thought that was your greatest dream." Mara thought about that for a minute, shifting uncomfortably in place. "Let's just say I didn't care for his terms." Then there was Han Solo, who was busy singing her praises and his own to anybody who would listen--and who was especially playing up his partner's role. Chewbacca, he noted, had taken several jolts of Force lightning and lived, something not even Darth Vader had accomplished. Neither of them seemed to know that Mara had actually taken much of the lightning for him, and Mara wasn't about to spoil what was, truthfully, shaping up into a very good story. One for Solo to tell his kids about. All three of them. Organa Solo, it seemed, was pregnant. Mara remembered most of the things that happened in those few days after the Battle of Calamari in this fashion; half-remembered fragments, vague sketches of detail. She was simply too drained to recall most of it clearly. One thing she did remember, however, was her discussion with Luke Skywalker upon returning. When she arrived at his quarters on Da Soocha, he was putting things into a stasis box. "What are you doing?" she asked. Luke turned, shrugged. "The Council is already talking about retaking Coruscant. Just making sure I'll be ready to go." "Sure you're not thinking of bailing on the Republic?" Luke started with a reflexive denial, but his face clouded over midway through the first word. He plopped heavily onto his bed. The dark side was gone from those eyes, replaced by familiar farmboy earnestness. "I...don't know. I served the Emperor, Mara. How can they ever trust me again? How can I trust myself?" Touchy-feely discussions were one thing Mara Jade was very bad at, and giving advice was another, but she decided to give it a try. "Leia trusts you, doesn't she?" "Leia," said Luke with a touch of sarcasm, "Would still trust me if I had destroyed Calamari myself, personally. A sister's love is not the most objective thing in the universe." "Oh, and you are being objective?" "Yes," Luke insisted, "Leia doesn't understand how close I came. I almost killed her. I almost got everyone killed. I just...never realized how close I was to the dark side." "You want to know something, Luke?" Mara leaned against the wall, too tired even to stand up straight, "Everybody's close to the dark side. And everybody's close to the light. And sometimes we cross over to one or the other." Luke thought about that. "Once you've crossed over, how do you come back?" "It takes strength," she said, "And I know you have that. So the question is, which side do you want to serve?" Luke didn't even hesitate. "I want to be a Jedi Knight." "You are," she said, "You're more than that. You're a Master." Luke's expression was pained. "I don't feel like a Jedi Master." "That's a shame," Mara said, and drew the lightsaber she'd gotten back from Organa Solo from her belt, "Because as the new head of the Smuggler's Alliance, I'm going to be around a lot. And I'm going to need a teacher." She saluted him, mock-seriously, with the lightsaber hilt. Luke looked at her for a moment, then stood up and began to unpack. "I take it you're staying?" she asked. "Of course," said Skywalker, "The Republic needs me here. Besides, I have an idea to work on, an idea for a Jedi academy." He smiled at her in gratitude. "I think the Jedi are about to rise again." (Note: I would appreciate any feedback on this story, as I am planning a second part showing how Karrde got involved in the Battle of Calamari and want to know if anyone's interested. Thanks and may the Force be with you....)