Part 1: The Emperor's Hand

Shortly before the Battle of Endor ...

Mara Jade listened with no small amount of incredulity as her master outlined his next assignment for her. Darth Vader, a traitor? Well, that made a certain amount of sense; Mara had never liked Vader, nor entirely trusted his loyalty to their master. Mara served the Emperor out of conviction and devotion—two qualities she'd never observed in Vader.

Yes, Mara could see Vader making a secret deal to overthrow the Emperor and usurp his throne; but that his partner in this treachery was Luke Skywalker, the young Rebel who'd helped Mara rescue Governor Ferrouz's family on Poln Major three years ago … on the face of it, it seemed ridiculous.

Mara bit her lip and considered. She hadn't made it her business to keep track of Skywalker over the intervening three years, but she'd heard the reports. And the rumors. The consensus among the members of the Emperor's court was that Skywalker had been responsible for destroying the Death Star at Yavin Four and killing tens of thousands of Imperial military and non-military personnel. If she'd known that at the time, she would have thought twice about saving him from Stelikag and his lackeys.

Perhaps, Mara considered ruefully, she'd underestimated the young Rebel during their encounter on Poln Major—she made a mental note to be more attentive the next time their paths crossed.

After explaining Vader's traitorous offer to Skywalker, the Emperor gave Mara her orders: You will find Skywalker on the planet Tatooine, his friend Han Solo has been captured by the criminal Jabba the Hutt. You will infiltrate the Hutt's palace and wait for Skywalker to arrive and attempt a rescue. When he does you will kill him. His death is paramount, all other concerns are secondary.

"Yes, my Emperor," Mara said aloud.

But the Emperor was expert at reading Mara, and he sensed her inner turmoil. You hesitate, my child.

"Forgive me, exalted one. I had a chance to kill Skywalker once before, on Poln Major, and I did not. In fact, I intervened to save his life from a group of mercenaries."

Explain.

And so Mara described her mission to rescue Governor Ferrouz's wife and daughter from Stelikag's mercenaries, how Skywalker had aided her efforts, and how she in turn had thrown him her hold-out blaster, and later opened a barrel of flammable liquid between him and the mercenaries, allowing him to escape. She felt the Emperor's growing censure as she spoke—he'd already chastised her after that mission for her "excessive sentimentality" in not eliminating Governor Ferrouz when it became clear he'd been compromised—and when she finished, she knew she had disappointed him. For a long moment, he said nothing, but he allowed Mara to sense his displeasure. Then, mercifully, his sense softened.

You were in error at Poln Major, he chided, you know this. You have always suffered from an over-abundance of compassion; sometimes, your softness has been to your benefitmore often, it has clouded your judgment and hampered you in serving my will. You knew Skywalker was a Rebel, and therefore a threat to my order, yet because he displayed admirable qualities, you chose to overlook his transgressions.

Child, you must realize that not all those who oppose me are wicked and monstrousmany of them are, but many more are misguided and afraid. It is a tragedy that they are incapable of recognizing the benefits of my rule, but in their deluded self-righteousness they would deny those benefits to every child of my Empire. Their concern for their fellow citizens is to their credit, but in their zeal they would plunge the galaxy into anarchy. It is regrettable to terminate such beings whose only crime is misplaced conviction, but it is a small price to pay for preventing general chaos. Do you understand?

"Yes, my Emperor."

Good. I forgive your error, child. I know your intentions were good, if likewise misplaced, and you were not to know the danger Skywalker poses.

"I will not underestimate him again, exalted one."

See that you don't, the Emperor replied with a hint of sternness. Then his voice grew kindly again. I have great faith in you. Remember that you are the Emperor's Hand, you will do what must be done.

"I will, my Emperor."

Then go. Your Emperor commands it, with that, he severed the connection between them. Ten minutes later, Mara was in her personal scoutship, giving Kaythree the itinerary for Tatooine. She'd screwed up with Skywalker once—she wouldn't miss her chance at redemption.


So you have failed me.

Outwardly, Mara knew she appeared no different than she had a moment ago, but she also knew her Emperor could feel her inward flinch at this rebuke. She'd been dreading this conversation from the moment Jabba the Hutt's officious protocol droid gave her a landspeeder and told her she was to remove herself from the Hutt's sight forever. All of Mara's diplomatic skill had been insufficient to persuade the corpulent crime lord to allow her to accompany him to the execution of Skywalker, Solo, and Solo's Wookiee companion Chewbacca. And whatever else you could say about him, Jabba was anything but weak-minded, so Alter Mind hadn't worked either.

I am disappointed, Mara Jade. Disappointed indeed.

I know, Mara replied, for once not bothering to vocalize her response. Perhaps Jabba can deal with him. She very much doubted that. She'd been preoccupied with her own problems when Jabba dropped the young Jedi into the rancor pit, but what little she had seen was enough to convince her that he'd grown significantly from the untrained boy he'd been on Poln Major. If she'd underestimated Skywalker, Jabba certainly would. For that matter, it seemed to Mara that Jabba underestimated the Alderaanian princess he'd chained up to his throne like a trophy. If she was being honest with herself, Mara suspected the execution at the Great Pit of Carkoon would go very badly for Jabba—perhaps it already had.

The Emperor, it seemed, harbored similar misgivings: Do you seriously believe that? He paused, giving her the chance to answer, but only, Mara was sure, as a formality. When she said nothing, he continued. Skywalker is of no immediate importance. Continue on to Svivren. We will discuss this when you return, with that, he broke the connection between them.

The details of Mara's assignment, she knew, would be waiting aboard her scoutship. She had a new mission, but, Mara silently promised herself, she would fulfill her old one, someday. Skywalker's death had merely been delayed, not averted.


Days later, Mara was gazing out the viewport of her room in the Imperial Palace, contemplating the Svivren mission. On the surface, it seemed to have gone perfectly, with the target eliminated and Mara making a clean escape. But since her return to Imperial Center, she'd begun having doubts. Eliminating the target had been almost trivially easy, even with one or two missteps along the way. Also, there were no signs of the ripples in the underworld which the death of a major scum-lord should have provoked.

Reluctantly, Mara came to the conclusion that she'd failed her Emperor again. Two failed missions one after the other—this was unacceptable.

She was just preparing to launch a thorough investigation of Imperial Intelligence files on her most recent target—and to hells with Director Isard's obstructionism—when her master contacted her again. And what he showed her swept all thoughts of Svivren aside.

Mara Jade, he said, behold, child, what unfolds above Endor.

Mara watched in confusion, then in mounting horror as Skywalker and Darth Vader battled before the Emperor's eyes aboard the second Death Star. At first they seemed intent on fighting each other, then they turned, and with a combined scream of pure hatred they charged the Emperor. Mara felt a brief shock of relief as the Emperor raised his hands and blasted the pair with blue lightning from his fingertips, but her exultation was premature. Skywalker and Vader shrugged off the attack and pressed forward, despite the Emperor's increasingly desperate pleas. They raised their lightsabers high … and brought them swinging down.

YOU WILL KILL LUKE SKYWALKER, the Emperor snarled. And then nothing.

In that moment, Mara's universe exploded. She felt the Emperor's death, and the pain and anguish were so intense she felt they would sear away her very mind. She was disappointed when they didn't.

She lay facedown on the floor of her room for what felt like hours, grief and heartbreak and self-recrimination consuming her thoughts, feeding off each other, amplifying her misery with each passing second. She had failed her Emperor, and now he was dead because of her mistake.

Over and over again, his last words to her echoed in Mara's head: YOU WILL KILL LUKE SKYWALKER.

Mara was in no state to resist when stormtroopers working under the authority of Imperial Intelligence Director Ysanne Isard came to lock her in a cell on suspicion of involvement in the Emperor's death. For hours she sat there, near catatonic, the same thoughts running over and over through her brain: must kill Skywalker, could've killed him years ago, should have killed him years ago, saved his life when I should have killed him, should have, should have. All my fault. Must kill Skywalker. YOU WILL KILL LUKE SKYWALKER.

Eventually, that first thought began to override the others. Mara still had a mission in life, and she discovered if she concentrated on that, on her need to kill the man who'd killed her master, the misery and the self-loathing were muted to a background buzz. She could still feel them, gnawing away at the back of her mind like a nek worrying a piece of meat—perhaps they would always be there—but they no longer overwhelmed her.

With her mind fixed on her new mission, Mara found she was able to concentrate again. She wouldn't be killing anyone locked up in Isard's cell; wouldn't be doing much of anything.

Mara began the long, agonizing work of pulling herself together and planning her escape.


Several hours and numerous close-calls later, Mara boarded a transport leaving Imperial Center. Knowing Isard, this would not be the end of Mara's troubles with Imperial Intelligence. She'd eluded the Director's agents for the moment, but they would be on her trail for a long, long time.

Mara would have to lie low, disappear, cut as many ties to her old life as possible. She probably would have done that anyway—without the Emperor, Mara's place in the galaxy was gone forever. No one else—save for the traitorous Vader—had known of her position, and those who suspected, like Isard, now thought she was the traitor. There was nothing left in the Empire for the personal Hand of a dead Emperor.

Very well, she would lie low, and try to make a new life for herself. The pain and the misery would always be with her, Mara knew, and also the blame. You failed to kill Skywalker on Tatooine. You saved him on Poln Major. The Emperor's death is your fault.

Eventually, the pain, the misery—despair even—would fade, but the guilt of her own failure would burn in her breast forever. She would have to find a way to live with that.

The attendant accepting passengers aboard the ship told Mara seats cost extra. She'd made do with far less in her life as the Emperor's Hand. She would survive this, too.

Just before entering the airlock, Mara turned to bid farewell to the world she had called home for almost her whole life. But that had been when she was the Emperor's Hand. With him dead, she was just Mara Jade. It would be interesting to find out exactly who that was.

This was her task now, and Mara would devote herself to it as zealously as any mission assigned her by the late Emperor. It might take her years or even decades to build a new life, but Mara Jade would persevere.

She would not hunt down Luke Skywalker immediately. But sometime during her wanderings, Mara's path would cross with his again—she was convinced of it. Then, Mara would kill him, and maybe, just maybe, she would be able to forgive herself for not doing so before it was too late.

To be continued …