Star Wars: Justice Conflict

39 ABY

Luke, Mara, and Ben Skywalker were all taking a vacation on the planet Marfa. Specifically, they were touring one of the many flea markets across the world, just another regular family among many millions of other families throughout the galaxy. Of course, Luke and Mara were pretty famous considering their history as heroes of the New Republic and the Galactic Alliance following the Empire's fall, the course of the Yuuzhan Vong invasion, and, most recently, the Dark Nest Crisis. But out here, on an obscure world like Marfa, which was even more obscure than Luke's home world of Tatooine, the Skywalkers blended in perfectly into the background of the flea market.

The Skywalkers stopped at a nearby vendor to get some food. Mara's attention wandered away for the moment, and all of a sudden, she spotted a strangely familiar human male out in the throngs of people milling about. Consciously, Mara knew she never saw this man in her life, but deep down, she knew she had encounters with this individual that she didn't care about. Her suspicions regarding the man's identity peaked when he saw her looking at him, and almost subtly, he turned away from her direction and began heading the opposite way. Her curiosity about his nature was also peaked when she realized that she couldn't get a read of him through the Force.

It can't be, Mara thought. Weren't they all–

"Mara?" Luke asked as he placed his natural hand on his wife's shoulder, gently turning her around. "What's wrong?"

"Excuse me, Luke," she replied. "Stay here with Ben. I have to go look into something." She said that last part as she turned away.

"Why can't we come, Mom?" Ben asked before he took a bite from the nerfsteak Luke bought for him from the vendor.

Mara turned her head back to look down at her son. "Listen, Ben, I know this may seem confusing right now, but I have to do this myself." And with that, she looked straight ahead at where the man was walking away, his form still visible among the walking crowds, and she, too, began heading that direction.

After Mara was out of earshot, Luke looked down at his son as he took another bite from the nerfsteak and said to Ben, "We have to follow your mother."

Ben swallowed his chewed chunk of the steak. "But Mom said we have to stay here-"

"Yes, yes, I know, Ben," Luke said. "But sometimes, your mother isn't always right."

"Are you always right, Dad?" Ben asked, taking another bite.

Luke again looked down at Ben. "There's no time for that," he replied. "Come on." And with that, they discreetly followed Mara.

Meanwhile, Mara herself was steadily gaining ground on the mysterious man, who had, as of a few minutes earlier, had abandoned subtlety in his efforts at elusion; he was constantly looking behind him and made desperate attempts at losing her by trying to use the crowds to his advantage. Regardless, though she did lose him from her sight from time to time, Mara never let the man out of her sight for more than a few seconds after she negotiated her way through the crowds.

Eventually, the man, knowing that he wasn't going to lose Mara through such a clever tactic, decided to abandon even the little discretion he had within the flea market and started to flat-out run. He wasn't below pushing people out of his way, nor was it ever beneath him when he had seriously injured those who were elderly or very young. But even with that, Mara still didn't lose him.

In the midst of the chase, the strange man ducked into an alley, but then realized to his shock that it was a dead end with no ladders leading up to the building's roof, nor was there a closed manhole for him to escape in the sewers. So, with no choice left, he turned back to the opening of the alley and faced Mara, who had just arrived at the entrance.

"Who are you?" she asked.

Without answering her question, the man charged for her. But Mara kicked her boot into the man's chest and sent him flying back a meter to the ground. She approached him as he rolled up off his shoulder and stood his ground as Mara closed in on him.

When she neared him, the man lashed out with his right hand, which Mara easily grabbed, but when she tried to twist it, he managed to escape her grasp and use his other hand to punch up her jaw. She stumbled back a few steps, and the man took advantage for her stunned form to tackle her to the ground.

Once Mara was on her back, the man crawled up off of her and made a dash for the exit. But Mara rolled on to her stomach and used the Force to hurl a nearby garbage disposal unit into the man's side. He stumbled and crashed into the wall behind him, and just after he pushed himself off, Mara was already on her feet and charging for him. He ducked beneath her right cross, grabbed her forearm, and flipped her over onto her back.

But Mara flipped back and both her boots crashed into the man's mouth. He flew back another meter, landing on his back once more, as Mara gracefully landed in a crouch on both feet. She turned in one swift pivot, stood up, and once again, she almost casually walked over to the downed man. The latter, looking desperate, as Mara observed the fear in his eyes, looked around him and saw a dull blade at his side, its handle still intact. So he grabbed the blade and flung it at Mara, who easily ducked beneath, but it still gave the man enough time to leap to his feet and kick at Mara's knee.

The latter had quickly lifted her leg off the ground so the man didn't kick his intended target, and used the same leg to kneel him in the groin. The man fell to his knees, and in no time at all for her, Mara had won the fight.

"Mara!" Luke called from the entrance of the alley.

Mara turned away from the man to see Luke and Ben approach her, and they stood at her side as she looked down at the man nursing the pain in his crotch.

"Who is he, Mom?" Ben asked.

"I don't know, sweetie," she said as she bent down to the man she defeated. "But I think we're about to find out." Then she reached up to his face and pinched the side of his nose.

And just like that, his skin peeled away until it revealed the features of a Yuuzhan Vong of the Intendant caste.

It was Nom Anor.