THE ENEMY OF MY ENEMY
Disclaimer: All characters belong to Lucas films and Timothy Zahn. I am making no money nor claiming any rights to characters.
Prolog: This story occurs at the end of Empire Strikes Back and continues through Return of the Jedi. Emperor Palpatine has discovered the last known location of Luke Skywalker is in the Dagobah system. Palpatine dispatches his best assassin, Mara Jade, to the system with orders to find and kill young Skywalker. However, unknown to Mara Jade as she arrives the dank little swamp planet, Luke Skywalker has left the system in route to save his friend and ally Han Solo. While at Dagobah, Mara Jade encounters a being she won't soon forget.
Chapter One: Little Green Gnome
The imperial shuttle landed with a soft thud. Not her best landing, but then there wasn't much of a landing pad in the dense swamp. Mara Jade busied herself with a brief post flight check, then rose to leave the shuttle taking one last look at the picture of her latest target. 'Not much of a target at that', she thought to herself, 'really no more than a boy, barely a man.' As she disembark the shuttle, she looked around at the dank surrounding and grimaced as she anticipated a long trek through the marsh. "Well, at least the kill will be fast," she said aloud. Scowling she tossed the picture of Luke Skywalker into the shuttle, grabbed her bag, and headed into the bog.
She hadn't gone far when she began to feel she was no longer alone. A small figure stood ahead of her and though she considered gabbing her blaster, she sensed no danger. She approached the being mildly surprised he hadn't run. He was less than a meter tall and stood with a walking stick supporting his weight, although she suspected he could walk without it.
The two studied each other for a moment until Mara finally broke the silence. "I'm looking for someone," she said in her best imperial voice.
"Found someone you have, hmmm?" The green being replied calmly.
Mara raised an eyebrow at the small creature's boldness. She replied without pause, "His name is Luke Skywalker. He's a human, about 20 standard years, blond hair, blue eyes." She studied the creature trying to decide if any emotion crossed his face, but he remained impassive. "Have you seen him?" She tried.
"Seen him I have," the little creature replied calmly.
Annoyed at the his brief answers, Mara professionally polite composure began to falter. "Where is he?" She demanded.
"Tell you, I will not," the being replied evenly.
Anger soared through Mara as all patience left her. She bent down to the creature, grasping his tunic between her thumb and forefinger pulling him within inches of her face. She looked him squarely in the eyes, and in her deadliest voice whispered, "Listen you little green gnome, if you don't want to end up at the bottom of that slimy pond over there, you will tell me what I want to know. No more games!"
The creature studied her briefly. He sensed a great deal of hate in her; however present also, although well hidden, was pain, sadness, and a considerable amount of loneliness. Calmly, showing no emotion he replied, "Much anger I sense in you Emperor's Hand."
Mara, taken back, quickly stood up releasing her prey. "How do you know that?"
The creature continued passively, "Much hate also Mara Jade. Many have you killed."
Mara was at a complete loss. No one knew her title let alone her name, but a hand full of the Emperor's top brass. "Who are you?" She questioned harshly.
"Master Yoda I am," he replied.
"Master?" She repeated confused. Slowly it came to her. "A jedi? You're a jedi!" She seared. Her thoughts collected, she drew her light saber. She would get some answers from the gnome then kill him and Skywalker too. She smiled inwardly knowing how pleased her master would be with this added bonus. Yoda turned his back to her and was slowly walking away. He stopped when her heard the snap hiss of her saber. Unmoved he replied, "Trained your mother, I did."
That gave Mara pause. As a well of long forgotten emotions began to stir in her, Mara stammered, "You're lying."
He continued, "Lie I do not. A jedi she was."
"No, that's not true. That's impossible." But there was no conviction in her voice.
Yoda now turned to the young woman before him. "Much like her you look. Same eyes, same face. The hair is your father's I think." Yoda paused as if in momentarily lost in thought. "Yes, yes, the hair is your father's. Brave he was, bravest among all jedi."
Mara couldn't hide her shock. "Both my parents were jedi?" She became introspective, anger and hate dissipating leaving behind numbness and vulnerability. Softly she added, "I don't remember my parents."
"Spare me and tell of them I will, hmmm?"
Mara dumbly looked at her hand still holding the ignited light saber. She turned it off and looked back at the jedi master confused, as if silently asking what to do next. Something about this little jedi made her feel calm. Still more confusing to her, the anger she usually felt suddenly didn't seem so important. Things seemed a bit foggy, as if someone had placed a shroud over her feelings of hate and Mara couldn't quite remember why she was suppose to be angry in the first place.
"Hungry you are, yes? Come, come…good food I have. Eat you will and tell you of your parents I shall. Come." And he again turned from her and began to walk away.
She watched his departure for a moment deciding what she should do. She really shouldn't follow him; she should kill him and be done with it. Her master would not approve. He would be very displeased with her. She had a mission to complete and was shrugging off her duty. But the prospect of finding out about her parents was too great. And, for the first time in her life, Mara Jade put her needs ahead of her master's and began to follow the small jedi through the swamp.
Disclaimer: All characters belong to Lucas films and Timothy Zahn. I am making no money nor claiming any rights to characters.
Prolog: This story occurs at the end of Empire Strikes Back and continues through Return of the Jedi. Emperor Palpatine has discovered the last known location of Luke Skywalker is in the Dagobah system. Palpatine dispatches his best assassin, Mara Jade, to the system with orders to find and kill young Skywalker. However, unknown to Mara Jade as she arrives the dank little swamp planet, Luke Skywalker has left the system in route to save his friend and ally Han Solo. While at Dagobah, Mara Jade encounters a being she won't soon forget.
Chapter One: Little Green Gnome
The imperial shuttle landed with a soft thud. Not her best landing, but then there wasn't much of a landing pad in the dense swamp. Mara Jade busied herself with a brief post flight check, then rose to leave the shuttle taking one last look at the picture of her latest target. 'Not much of a target at that', she thought to herself, 'really no more than a boy, barely a man.' As she disembark the shuttle, she looked around at the dank surrounding and grimaced as she anticipated a long trek through the marsh. "Well, at least the kill will be fast," she said aloud. Scowling she tossed the picture of Luke Skywalker into the shuttle, grabbed her bag, and headed into the bog.
She hadn't gone far when she began to feel she was no longer alone. A small figure stood ahead of her and though she considered gabbing her blaster, she sensed no danger. She approached the being mildly surprised he hadn't run. He was less than a meter tall and stood with a walking stick supporting his weight, although she suspected he could walk without it.
The two studied each other for a moment until Mara finally broke the silence. "I'm looking for someone," she said in her best imperial voice.
"Found someone you have, hmmm?" The green being replied calmly.
Mara raised an eyebrow at the small creature's boldness. She replied without pause, "His name is Luke Skywalker. He's a human, about 20 standard years, blond hair, blue eyes." She studied the creature trying to decide if any emotion crossed his face, but he remained impassive. "Have you seen him?" She tried.
"Seen him I have," the little creature replied calmly.
Annoyed at the his brief answers, Mara professionally polite composure began to falter. "Where is he?" She demanded.
"Tell you, I will not," the being replied evenly.
Anger soared through Mara as all patience left her. She bent down to the creature, grasping his tunic between her thumb and forefinger pulling him within inches of her face. She looked him squarely in the eyes, and in her deadliest voice whispered, "Listen you little green gnome, if you don't want to end up at the bottom of that slimy pond over there, you will tell me what I want to know. No more games!"
The creature studied her briefly. He sensed a great deal of hate in her; however present also, although well hidden, was pain, sadness, and a considerable amount of loneliness. Calmly, showing no emotion he replied, "Much anger I sense in you Emperor's Hand."
Mara, taken back, quickly stood up releasing her prey. "How do you know that?"
The creature continued passively, "Much hate also Mara Jade. Many have you killed."
Mara was at a complete loss. No one knew her title let alone her name, but a hand full of the Emperor's top brass. "Who are you?" She questioned harshly.
"Master Yoda I am," he replied.
"Master?" She repeated confused. Slowly it came to her. "A jedi? You're a jedi!" She seared. Her thoughts collected, she drew her light saber. She would get some answers from the gnome then kill him and Skywalker too. She smiled inwardly knowing how pleased her master would be with this added bonus. Yoda turned his back to her and was slowly walking away. He stopped when her heard the snap hiss of her saber. Unmoved he replied, "Trained your mother, I did."
That gave Mara pause. As a well of long forgotten emotions began to stir in her, Mara stammered, "You're lying."
He continued, "Lie I do not. A jedi she was."
"No, that's not true. That's impossible." But there was no conviction in her voice.
Yoda now turned to the young woman before him. "Much like her you look. Same eyes, same face. The hair is your father's I think." Yoda paused as if in momentarily lost in thought. "Yes, yes, the hair is your father's. Brave he was, bravest among all jedi."
Mara couldn't hide her shock. "Both my parents were jedi?" She became introspective, anger and hate dissipating leaving behind numbness and vulnerability. Softly she added, "I don't remember my parents."
"Spare me and tell of them I will, hmmm?"
Mara dumbly looked at her hand still holding the ignited light saber. She turned it off and looked back at the jedi master confused, as if silently asking what to do next. Something about this little jedi made her feel calm. Still more confusing to her, the anger she usually felt suddenly didn't seem so important. Things seemed a bit foggy, as if someone had placed a shroud over her feelings of hate and Mara couldn't quite remember why she was suppose to be angry in the first place.
"Hungry you are, yes? Come, come…good food I have. Eat you will and tell you of your parents I shall. Come." And he again turned from her and began to walk away.
She watched his departure for a moment deciding what she should do. She really shouldn't follow him; she should kill him and be done with it. Her master would not approve. He would be very displeased with her. She had a mission to complete and was shrugging off her duty. But the prospect of finding out about her parents was too great. And, for the first time in her life, Mara Jade put her needs ahead of her master's and began to follow the small jedi through the swamp.