Hello!

This is the first chapter of a story that will explore Mara's origins, as well as Luke's; and it will go pretty much AU as the story progresses and I will take A LOT of writing liberties concerning Canon. It all indicates that it will become a story of various chapters, perhaps up to twenty or more… So please if you like the story and would like to know more, leave a comment and be patient with me. I write on my free time - of which I do not have that much, but I LOVE writing, so I will do my best to be as quick as I can with the updates.
If everything goes according to plan, I will be posting a new chapter every weekend until it's done.

English is not my first language. I write in English to become more proficient in it.

I would like to thank my wonderful Beta Reader WarmNyota_SweetAyesha at the Jedi Council Forums for the generous and priceless help with proof-reading this story. Thank you Ny!

And thank you for reading! It would be nice if you take the time to favourite this story or leave a comment ;)
I hope you enjoy this story.

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Sometime between 18 and 19 ABY, before "Spectre of the Past." A lot of events go AU from here.

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Chapter One

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Coruscant upheld its title of Centre of the New Government. A huge metropolis, an entire planet that had evolved into one massive city. Strategically located in the Galactic Core, it had maintained its political importance and influence over the ages. A world plagued with colossal infrastructure of numerous levels, rising from ground level and roaring into the sky. The high, magnificent Coruscanti skyscrapers were the protagonists of Coruscant's landscape. Impressive structures of metal and transparisteel glittered under the mid-afternoon's sun.

Amongst all these hyper-high structures, the omnipresent Imperial Palace stood out, indisputably the king of kings of Coruscanti architecture. Seventy-eight towers rose from the face of the palace, all of them filled with dozens of chambers and rooms serving various functions. Some of these spires were destined to safekeep vital records from across the Galaxy. A number of fifty other impressive buildings surrounded the Palace, making up the full Complex, located in the Senate District of Coruscant. The Palace Complex housed numerous Government Institutions, offices and services provided to the civilian population; the main buildings were surrounded by libraries, hotels servicing the off-planet visitors, airspeeder parking spaces, broad squares, wide pedestrian pathways and lush gardens, plus service establishments and living quarters for those who dwelled in the area, tending to their governmental duties.

In one of the highest floors in the building that accommodated the Senate Chamber and its numerous offices, Luke Skywalker sat at a large table in the conference room that had been reserved for him for the day. With Yavin IV left behind for a few weeks, he had come to Coruscant to attend some business with the Senate regarding the Academy and the involvement of the Jedi in the peacekeeping efforts in the worlds under the protective umbrella of the New Republic. Clad in his usual blacks under his dark Jedi Master robes, Luke had been having meetings all day with different representatives in the Senate. Some of these meetings proved to be productive and accomplished their intended goals, others had just been plain frustrating.

The relationship between the ruling Government and the Jedi consisted of collaborative work. The Jedi Academy did not depend on New Republic funds, so this fact was a leverage that gave Luke the liberty to make his own decisions. It was a huge benefit to have complete freedom when deciding where the Jedi efforts should be placed. No one could coerce the Jedi Praxeum into action or force them to support any individual agendas that worked to the detriment of the values the Jedi stood for. Of course, he did not take these decisions unilaterally. The Jedi Master always took into consideration the advice of his closest fellow Jedi, the needs of the affiliated worlds, the issues at stake, the resources at hand, and President Leia Organa-Solo's advice in the matter. It was important for Luke to support his sister. Being the Chief of State was not easy on her, and he knew that both took to heart their duty to safeguard the best interests and the wellbeing of the Galaxy at large.

And in truth, that was why he was here today. Leia had asked him so.

In between meetings, Luke had kept going through a refreshing Jedi technique, so he could stay alert and calm. The demands presented to him by the different dignitaries were all important to their interlocutors; some were reasonable and attainable, but many proved to be absolutely insane. These were giving him a headache!

Rubbing his temples, Luke patiently waited for the next dignitary to make his or her entrance. The programme in his datapad only read: Outer Rim Worlds Commerce Representative. Did that position even exist? 'Never heard of it.' He muzzily wondered. When he looked up from his datapad he was pleasantly relieved by his visitor's presence. Wearing a tight-fitting navy-blue outfit and taupe jacket, fierce red hair framing her beautiful face, Mara Jade entered the room.

"Mara! What are you doing here?" he stood up clearly surprised. No sign of her faithful blaster or the lightsaber she routinely kept at her hip. 'Surely left behind at the security check-point before entering the building.' Luke thought.

"Good to see you too Jedi." She answered dryly.

"Sorry… that came out wrong." He apologized to his friend, still unable to conceal his delight.

"I'm your next appointment." She declared easily. Luke looked puzzled, so she continued, "You didn't pick up your commlink, I needed to see you in person… and it seemed that the only way to do it was through the formal channels," she continued matter-of-factly, "So here I am."

Yes, he'd been up to his neck with meetings and Senate sessions, buried under an excruciating amount of executive work, attending official dinner parties and the like, with no time to pay attention to anything else. Luke was a man of action and found these types of duties very challenging, very draining and at times boring. Even a few moments ago he'd been so absorbed by these negotiations that he hadn't even sensed Mara outside the room! Although, surely, she'd been shielding in the Force too, trying to sneak up on him and surprise him… and she had accomplished it beautifully. These days he'd been so busy that he had not had the time to inquire about her whereabouts.

Luke snorted in amusement, "Outer Rim Worlds Commerce Representative?" he mockingly accused, "Couldn't you come up with a better name?"

"That's Ghent's fault!" Mara said defensively, "He's a genius slicer, but sometimes he's got the creativity of a bantha." She conceded.

Luke smiled openly. Despite the implications of what Ghent's hacking of his programme meant, it was good to see her. It'd been a while since they had last seen each other and enjoying Mara's company was something he always looked forward to. But if she had gone to these lengths only to see him, then whatever it was the Master Trader was here to discuss was surely important. They'd make time for catching up later. He gestured to her to take a seat at the table. Mara sat down taking the chair next to his.

"Ok. Then let's make time count. What's this urgent matter you want us to discuss?" Interest and curiosity seeped into his voice.

Mara's voice turned stern, "This is serious Skywalker, that's why I had to see you. No one else can know about this. So, I'm counting on your discretion."

Luke nodded in silence. The graveness of her demeanour made him worry. Now that he was paying attention, she had dropped her shields a little bit and he could sense acute uneasiness radiating from his green-eyed friend. No, Mara was not uneasy… She was frightened! And if this matter was enough to spook Mara Jade, then he now felt genuinely and utterly terrified! What was all this about? What had Mara so rattled? He looked at her, intently.

"Are you recording your day's sessions?" asked Mara in wariness.

When Luke gave a negative reply, she continued, "I need your help."

"Anything." Luke immediately reassured.

"I need access to the old files in Palpatine's Library, the ones held here at the Imperial Palace." She revealed. These files were classified information, their existence only known to a few and the access to them even more restricted. Luke knew that Mara, as the former Emperor's Hand, knew everything about them, and that probably she could access the files on her own since she had a very specific skill-set in slicing, but it was clear that she did not want to put at risk her brittle relationship with the New Republic, so she needed him for this. "And I mean: full access." The former Imperial agent stressed.

"You can count on it." Luke affirmed. "I'll call Leia and make the arrangements. Give me a day. And I won't mention it is for you."

Mara shook her head in acknowledgement, relief and gratitude in her eyes. "Thank you."

"What is it Mara? Tell me." Luke invited, his tone concerned.

Mara let out a sigh, and Luke could tell she was struggling to put her thoughts together… as if there were a lot of things to say and she were trying to find the best way to come about it.

She finally started, "Many years ago… When I was only a teen and still training to become what Palpatine planned for me: his Hand… In Court I started hearing rumours about an entity thousands of years old. It was said that such entity regularly came to see the Emperor. Rumour had it that it presented itself as a woman with mystical powers, beyond anything the Force could accomplish. No one ever noticed her coming in or out of Palpatine's chambers, no one ever saw her. Not the Emperor's advisors or his royal guards, nor his acolytes… Not even Vader. But the stories prevailed. It seemed that Palpatine always asked to be left alone whenever he summoned her. The nature of these meetings remained a secret and over time many assumed that this mysterious woman was only one more of Palpatine's lovers. These secretive visits were sporadic, but went on for numerous years, and always these happened when Vader and I were away on missions. Many times, I came back to only find more rumours. The Emperor never spoke about this to me, and I knew better than ask. To be honest, I even started believing that all was just gossip made up by airheaded, bored concubines." Mara shook her head in disgust.

"But these ended up not just being rumours…" Luke encouraged.

"Years passed by…" The former Emperor's Hand continued, "One night I came back from a mission in the Terroc System… and found Palpatine alone in his chambers, gravely injured. He'd been attacked and wounded by his visitor. He lay in a puddle of blood, weak and, at that time, I thought done for. The room was a mess, the walls were scorched by something I could not identify, and I found a very strange symbol at Palpatine's feet that he'd managed to draw with his own blood. Once he was taken to the infirmary I came back to his chambers and inspected every inch of them…" Mara looked away, searching her memory, "All I could find were more scorches and more weird symbols, different from what he had drawn though…all burned into the surfaces."

"Some sort of ritual?" The Jedi inquired.

Mara assented, "I immediately thought so…"

"And this female entity injured the Emperor?" Luke asked, a hint of surprise and awe in his tone, "I mean… What kind of power did she wield to accomplish that?" Luke had faced the Emperor himself, and certainly knew first-hand about the dark power the old Sith wielded. In their first encounter Luke almost lost his life, if it hadn't been for his father's intervention… and Vader hadn't survived that encounter. In their second face-off, Luke was able to defeat Palpatine for good, but only when he and Leia combined their Jedi powers to break free of his dark influence.

"During his convalescence I asked him about it…" Mara continued, "…and then he let me in in this little secret of his."

Something in her gaze made Luke's skin crawl. He fixed his own on her, urging her to continue.

"He revealed to me that this visitor of his was indeed an entity – an ancient witch in fact, and that she came to see him from another plane." She revealed.

"Another… plane?" Luke asked with befuddlement, without diverging his attention from his friend.

Mara nodded and then continued, "He then confided to me that he was gravely ill, that this rare illness affected his connection to the Force. Palpatine told me that his ailment was a side effect of the vile attack he'd suffer from the Jedi during the Jedi Rebellion many years before, an attack that had deformed him and weakened him," Mara snorted with a sarcastic mock, "A wound suffered in the service of the people, he'd dubbed it."

When hearing this, Luke couldn't help but to feel sheer indignation boiling within. To think that Palpatine had achieved supreme power by appearing weak and defeated, and that he had won Mara's trust and allegiance using that same trick. The Emperor's treachery hadn't known any limits.

Mara continued her story, "He also told me that this witch had been helping him to strengthen his body, helping him to conjure energy from other planes so he could wield power enough to heal and to keep himself alive." The red-head made a small pause, "In return, he was helping her to rebuild her home world. He paid her by facilitating human candidates, people who voluntarily had decided to go with her and start anew… or so he told me. She needed them, to repopulate and restore her civilization."

"What was going on in her world?" he inquired.

"I never knew," the Trader answered. "But Palpatine was no fool and he had done some investigating on his own. He found out that this entity was in fact the ancient Zaferath Witch, mentioned in very old legends… Sith legends."

The mention of Sith unnerved Luke. When Dark Lords were involved, it was never good. "I've never heard of her," He mumbled, while recalling what he knew about Sith lore.

"Neither had I," Mara added. "The legend tells that, in the beginning of time, there was a maiden of unparalleled beauty named Gaethel, who possessed exceptional spiritual powers. Being blessed with these unique gifts, she'd pledged herself to priesthood, and wanted to dedicate her life to becoming a high priestess. Being so beautiful, she was desired by many men, but she blatantly rejected every proposition. Until Ialinh came into the picture. He courted her gallantly, insistently… and eventually she fell in love and accepted him. Unbeknownst to her, as beautiful as he was in the outside, Ialinh was truly a heartless, egoistical, vain man; who had pursued her affections because of a bet he'd made with his friends. He saw her as a prize to be won, and once he'd won it, he got tired of her, and the urge to pursue new challenges willed him to the next thing. Ruthlessly, he betrayed her; he mocked her naiveté and humiliated her. Gaethel became consumed by shame and sorrow, but soon enough she harboured a seething rage towards Ialinh and started thinking of nothing but revenge. She then turned to her spiritual attainment and conjured very dark energy to increase her power; she let herself become one with it. Using this newfound power, she hunted down every man involved in the treachery until she found Ialinh, and utterly destroyed her former lover."

Luke was listening very carefully to every word his friend spoke. Her natural posh accent – acquired from her Imperial nexus, adding a fairy-tale vibe to the whole story. He felt hesitant to ask, but he did anyways, "How did she destroy him?"

"Using her dark powers, she tortured him, fed upon his energy, and once there was no life left in his body… she consumed it." Mara ominously stated. "And Zaferath came to be. A dark witch with enormous power, and a personal vendetta towards men."

Somehow, this last statement made Luke feel very uncomfortable.

Mara continued, "You know me Farmboy, I could have easily dismissed this as a nonsensical, sappy story… but hearing it directly from Palpatine's mouth… and the state he was in… That was the first and only time that I ever saw him vulnerable, you could say that even frail… All of it gave me a whole new perspective about this tale of his."

"It made it real to you." The Jedi added.

Mara snorted, "Real enough to make me begin my own investigation. I came to my own conclusions, which have become clearer and clearer as time has gone by." She made a pause. Luke felt her struggle with the anger and disappointment that dwelled while recalling those memories, Palpatine had made a mess of her. All those years under his service, she had lived a distorted, wicked lie. When recovering, she continued, "Surely enough these "volunteers" were humans the Emperor had enslaved and was simply using as currency to pay for the Witch's favours," the Trader shook her head with disgust. "I'm also sure the Witch was simply energetically fattening Palpatine up, so she could feed on him too, when the time was right. The old sag was so blinded by what he was being offered that he became sloppy… It almost cost him his life." Mara finished, narrowing her eyes, thinking about the implications of THAT happening. Maybe without meaning it the Witch would have saved the Galaxy a lot of trouble… but they hadn't been that lucky. "When Palpatine found out about my investigation he summoned me and ordered me to drop it, and to not go after her. I obeyed." Mara had always been a devoted soldier, and soldiers always obeyed orders. "I still find that very odd. I've always wondered why he stopped me."

They both were silent for a while, processing everything that had just been revealed. Veiled mystical powers, darkness of a different kind, slavery, the consumption of human flesh… and to think that Palpatine had allowed such power to cross to this plane and that he'd been attacked and almost killed by it… It was all worrisome… and too ominous for Luke's taste.

"I'd think that Palpatine must have done a very thorough job at getting rid of her." Luke added with a hint of hope.

"Maybe…" Mara sounded unconvinced. "Still, he taught me how to vanquish her, so I don't think he was sure about having gotten rid of her for good. I trained without objections. It was my sworn duty to protect him, so I never doubted his motives."

"There is a specific way to fight and defeat her?"

"Vanquish her," Mara corrected, "Yes."

'Vanquish…' Luke formed the word in his mind.

"As mentioned before: it is kind of a ritual." The red-head continued. "There are certain artefacts involved, symbols and incantations in a very ancient and strange language… and only females can do it. Males, particularly human males, are helpless against her power."

Luke thought that, somehow, it all sounded like something any Dathomir Witch would do… to the way they connected to the Force… but Dathomir witches were not powerful enough to defeat a Sith on their own… perhaps not even with all their powers combined. Dathomir society established the dominance of females over males, but the witches did not hate their men. They protected them and provided for them… raised families with them. This Zaferath Witch did not sound anything like the witches he'd known.

"Could Zaferath use the Force?" he asked, trying to understand this power.

"I don't think so…" Mara reflected on it for a moment, "No, I'm sure she couldn't," she then affirmed. "I'm sure she wouldn't need it though, I would think her powers come from another source. She's from another plane, remember?"

"So Palpatine couldn't use the Force against her then, not the dark side anyways…" Luke put in.

"And I wouldn't bet on trying to use the light side against her either," Mara warned, "Everything I learnt about how to fight her has nothing to do with anything related to the Force."

So, the Force would be ineffective… and men were helpless against her… All this just kept making Luke feel more and more uncomfortable. He was not used to feeling helpless, and this situation somehow made him feel that. It was silly of course, he rationalized that he was jumping at shadows and that there was always a way to defeat an enemy… but the feeling lingered. He had to admit that it was Mara's jitteriness what was fuelling his unease. So, he needed to stop letting his own mind play tricks on him and to start being objective. "Couldn't have Palpatine just been lying to you?" Luke wondered.

"No, I'm sure he wasn't. He feared her. No doubt about that." Mara countered.

"The Emperor, Darth Sidious was afraid of this… Witch." Luke let out, feeling a shiver going down his spine.

"Really and genuinely afraid of her," Mara stressed. "And the Palpatine I knew was afraid of nothing!" After a little while she again broke the silence, "Of course, now I know that this illness of his was just a charade to conceal from me the truth of his dealings with this woman. After he ordered me to stop my inquiries, Palpatine went to great lengths to make sure that no-one but me could ever know about her identity." She remembered how elements of the Royal Guard had been called off duty and replaced, as well as butlers, maids and other service personnel… people she'd never heard of again.

"So, you think the rest of the information you need is in those files?" the Jedi asked.

"I know it's there." Mara firmly stated. Palpatine kept everything in those personal files of his. Information he could rely on to be used with every ounce of malice he only knew how.

Luke knew better than to question Mara's knowledge on Imperial intel. She'd been a high rank member of Palpatine's elite Forces, second only to Darth Vader. So, if she said she was sure the files would be there, these would be.

"Why would you want to go after her now?" the Jedi resumed their conversation, "After all these years, she must be probably gone. If Palpatine vanquished her, then there's no way she could have come back."

"You would think that… I've even thought she'd be dead by now, but..." She hesitated for a moment and then continued, "I had this lead that ran cold many years ago, it just went dead… then a few weeks ago, I picked up the trail again. I got this information about smugglers gone missing. I got my hands on some holos from what was left after the attacks… and I immediately recognized the markings."

"The same scorch marks and symbols." Luke filled in.

Mara nodded an affirmative. "I went on board the last vessel that was affected and saw the evidence with my own eyes… No finger prints, no DNA, no recognizable energy left behind… Just the scorched symbols, blood splattered everywhere with a positive correlation to the victims, but no bodies… Everything matches what I saw in Palpatine's chambers years ago!"

"Couldn't it be a copycat?" He offered.

"Impossible. Remember that nobody outside Palpatine's Court knew about this… and everyone but me is now gone." She pointed out, her mind racing, "All the casualties in the smuggler circle have been human males… And the surviving women speak of purple energy, surges of heat and cold, haziness, whispered words and chants… All coming in and out like nothing! Every smuggler in the area is spooked!"

"Jade, you know how smugglers can be… they tend to overstate their tales exponentially." Luke added dryly, while running a hand through his unruly sandy-blond hair.

She gave him an annoyed look, "Everything is too suspicious to leave it alone… and if the legend is true…" her emerald eyes narrowing in concentration. "This is bad Skywalker, REALLY bad!" Mara muttered. "She's leaving a lot of bodies behind and I'm not going to sit and watch her get away with it!" She finished, a hunter gleam in her eyes.

Cautiously Luke took her out of her ruminations, "Mara, it sounds more like a horror story…" A flicker of annoyance crossed her eyes and he rushed, "I mean… I don't doubt you, but… this sounds so far-fetched."

"That's why I'm here talking to you Farmboy!" she admonished him a bit irritated, "I cannot just blab about this with anyone else! You're the only one I can trust with this. You of all people would know better… with all the crazy shavit you've encountered in all your little escapades!" She stopped herself, her words had just come out too fast. Mara took a slow breath, "You've got to help me. We cannot let her be!"

Calmly, Luke let everything he'd just learned sink in, then he inquired, "How can you be sure that these two things are connected?"

"I just know!" She declared, abruptly standing up and grabbing her head with both hands, visibly agitated. Without adding more words, she turned towards the transparisteel window, looking out into the city's bustle.

The chime in the meeting room's table beeped softly. Luke pressed the blinking button and Threepio's prim voice came through, "Master Luke, this was your last appointment for the day, and just to remind you that tonight you have dinner with the Gotal dignitaries."

"Thanks, Threepio, I'll take a few more minutes here, something very important has come up. Please send word to Leia that I will be delayed." The Jedi requested. It was important to him to help Mara, in any way he could.

Luke sat quietly, his blue gaze slowly studying her. Mara was too troubled by all this matter and she needed to calm down. This was so uncharacteristic of her. For once, he found himself on the other side of things: being the one calling for caution, and it felt a bit awkward; usually Mara was the cool-headed one. "I don't doubt you Mara." He reassured her, "But it's just clear to me that you are obviously too invested in this matter, and I can't help to wonder if it might be getting in the way of your objectiveness."

Mara turned around to face him. 'I can't believe you're questioning me!' She countered angrily through their Force bond.

"I believe you!" Luke replied out loud, while holding up his palms defensively, trying to stop her ranting before she got going, "I'm just saying I know how it is to be too far into something… I'm not the best example in forethought myself."

This last comment seemed to appease her outrage. She could understand where Luke was coming from. Too many times he'd been accused of jumping head-first into any situation, and obviously he was just trying to keep her from making a similar mistake. And she knew she was rushing, and she never rushed. Evidently, the Jedi had picked up on this too. He really knew her well.

"You never saw her then?" the Jedi wondered.

Mara shook her head in a negative.

"Then you don't know what she looks like?" he stated.

"I know how to track her energy signature and how to destroy her…" she clarified, "But the whereabouts of what I need in order to do it is in those files! And I would rather follow this lead wherever it takes me and find nothing, than to leave things to chance!" the Trader declared.

Luke nodded in understanding.

Mara pressed a hand against her forehead, grunting in annoyance. "Listen… I know you are busy, but if you only get me access to those files… it's all you'll have to do."

That felt like a slap in the face! An expression of shock appeared on Luke's features, "I'm coming with you!" he protested. "Wherever this leads you…"

She interrupted, "Farmboy, you don't have the time..."

"I'll make time!" Luke stated. "Mara, this matter's got you very upset, and it's not like you! I'm worried! I'm not letting you do this alone."

The Trader gave back an annoyed look to her friend. That Jedi protectiveness really got on her nerves. She did not need Luke to babysit! But she'd let it slip, for now. "First get me into those files! We can argue later." She bluntly stated.

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oOo

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Before leaving the meeting room he'd been occupying for the whole day, Threepio had given Luke the highlights of the next day's activities. He had another day full of appointments with different dignitaries. It seemed that the Senate had run out of things to argue about and had decided on an early morning's full session on lightsaber licensing and regulation. Some nonsense to which of course he would strongly oppose. He would give every valid argument as to why these weapons should remain under Jedi tutelage and craftmanship, and was confident that he would be able to knock down any opposition. Only Jedi could craft these legendary weapons, and this had been the case for over a millennia. Embedding the power crystals with the Force was a critical step of construction. Non-Force sensitive beings could not construct a workable lightsaber, let alone machines. To think that members in the Senate thought that lightsabers could be mass produced and wielded in a carefree fashion gave Luke every knowledge he needed to confirm that still the Senate didn't understand what the Jedi were about. So, he'd have to make sure they'd remember.

It was already dark by the time he left the building. The Jedi Master walked with his customary aplomb through the lush gardens and polished stone walkways of the Palace Complex, his long dark cloak flowing in the soft breeze. He reached an elegant restaurant located in the Main Square, arriving just in time to start the first course of an elaborate dinner prepared and displayed in Antar 4's style, the home world of the Gotal. Leia greeted her twin brother with veiled relief, it was obvious to him that she didn't want to go through the evening on her own. After giving his apologies for his delay, the Jedi took his place next to the Gotal Minister of Education. For a moment, Luke regretted not bringing C-3P0 with him; it had slipped his mind that the Protocol droid would have come in handy. Luke was proficient in a dozen languages, but Gotaleese was not one of them, so he felt relieved when the Minister spoke to him in fluent Basic.

Dinner with the Gotal dignitaries turned out to be quiet and uneventful. Leia displayed her well-practiced diplomatic skills and etiquette while interacting and exchanging impressions with their guests. The former Tatooine farm boy had learned a lot from the Alderaanian Princess, and he followed suit with propriety. For a while he discussed and exchanged experiences on the processes of teaching with the Minister he'd sat next to, but as dinner progressed and headed towards its ending, Luke became quieter and withdrawn in his interactions, he had other things on his mind. He had Mara in his thoughts.

Luke had dealt with numerous dangerous challenges and peril throughout his adult life as a Jedi, but this matter with Mara really disturbed him. He'd sensed his friend's apprehensiveness, and this time for once she'd really showed it. She was so out of character, in such a hurry… Her Jedi abilities weren't fully trained, but her danger sense was infallible, it was even better than his! If Mara's suspicions turned out to be right… To think that they'd have to face whatever Sith-related menace that had Mara on edge gave him the creeps. He had to admit that his own Jedi intuition confirmed Mara's fears, this matter didn't feel good. The more he thought about it, the more he felt unsettled. He'd been trying to probe the issue with the Force, trying to look further into it, to sense the presence of this entity in the energy spectrum of the Force, but he couldn't find it… A blank wall of uncertainty was all he was able to meet. Luke didn't want Mara to face this alone. The loyalty he felt towards his resolute friend was strong, it was unbreakable, unconditional… and he would use whatever power he had to help her. He knew Mara would go after this witch with or without him, so he'd make sure he would be by her side.

Come what may.

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To be continued…