Celebwen Telcontar: Well, here's my new chapter. I hope everyone's alright with it.

Balrog: Hopefully indeed. Does anyone go to Mustafar? That's like home!

Celebwen Telcontar: (Glares at him pointedly)

Balrog: Oh, right. No givaways. Great. Now I can't tell anyone that Jack Sparrow and Hector Barbosa are showing up!

Celebwen Telcontar: Er… You seem to be rather under-informed. Sparrow and Barbosa do not make an appearance. Please review, people.

CT

Mara felt the arms holding her clench tighter as the man walked up the ramp onto a strange machine. The folded wings made it look like a resting Pteranodon, and a rather vicious looking one at that. The entry ramp of the Muggle machine looked like the lower jaw of some arcane monster, and she repressed a shudder as the ramp closed, sealing her and Daniel inside. A man in a grey military-like uniform sat in the front, soon joined by Daniel and Mara. She began to whimper, not liking this at all. The two adults spoke in a strange language, and the… pilot, for better words, punched a button. Then, he began to pull up on a joystick, causing the ship to rise and clanging and crunching to be heard from outside. Mara screamed, loudly.

"Hush, Mara. It's alright. You'll be a fine young protégé to the Emperor."

What Emperor?! Mara thought in a panic. She continued to squall in a mindless fury, kicking her now-tiny feet and waving her hands. She felt immense satisfaction as she caught Daniel in the nose with a particularly strong kick, feeling something, probably cartilage, give way under her ministrations. Blood poured out of the injured man's nose, and she sat up, ignoring the gore and the swearing man, gripping his goatee. With a savage yank, she removed most of it, and then utilized her two teeth, and bit the man on his newly exposed chin. The man cursed viciously in a strange fusion of differing languages, and Mara laughed delightedly. She had injured him rather badly, for being an infant. The pilot was chuckling, and handed the man a square of cloth with strange emblem in the corner. A six rayed white sun disk was in the center of a black disk with raised portions to compensate for the flattened rays of the inner sun, and lines linked the inner black ring to an outer black ring, which were divided by a broken ring of white.

Daniel staunched his broken and bleeding nose, and left Mara alone on the seat while he went in back, presumably to keep from killing her. The pilot laughed at her, waggling his finger in front of her face and cooing to her before talking in a different language. She cocked her head to the side.

"Wha'you'ay?" she asked, trying to inquire as to what he was saying. The man chuckled, and then called something back to Daniel, who was obviously livid.

Soon, out of the window, Mara saw the cerulean sky darken to ebony, pinpricks of light becoming more distinct and the sun becoming just one more star. Mara shrunk back into her chair; she remembered the last Apollo mission to the moon when she was 12, in 1972. Were they going to the moon, then, she wondered? But no, the moon was way off to her left, and the ship was headed right, towards the other side of the planet. The sun winked out as the ship rounded the Earth, and then the pilot fiddled with some controls. Lights flashed, and the pilot called something back to Daniel. He scooped Mara up into his lap, holding her tight, and then pulled a lever while ignoring her protests.

With a sickening lurch, the ship bounded forwards. Mara was pressed against the pilot, her squirming abated as she tried to figure out what had just happened.

Lieutenant Ados Seleph looked down at the little girl. Daniel had done the impossible and found a child who was strong in the Force, and had a disposition right for an assassin. Ados had seen the murderous persona firsthand when the girl, Mara according to Daniel, had attacked the Force-sensitive Earth bounty hunter, leaving his nose most likely permanently crooked. She was feisty, all right; red hair, green eyes and a temper to match her future profession. If he ever had a daughter, he would want her to be like this little girl.

He decided to get to know her a bit better, and start teaching her Basic. He tapped his chest. "Lieutenant, Ados Seleph of the Galactic Empire," he declared. Mara looked oddly at him, as though he had suddenly grown Zabrak horns. He tapped his chest again, and said his name and rank, then tapped hers.

"Mara Jade," she said firmly. She followed that with a grouping of words from her own language, and then looked around the cockpit. With a grin, she picked up a discarded durafoam cup, looking inquisitively at him. Good stars, she was quick!

"Cup," Ados supplied.

"Cup. L-Lieutenant Ados Sel-Seleph of the Gal-Galactic Emp-Emp-Emp-ire." She pointed inside the cup.

"Caff," he said, dazed. The girl was a literal genius!

"Caff, cup," she said, obviously waiting for something.

"Caff goes in the cup," Ados said wonderingly. She nodded decisively.

"Caff goes in the cup. Lieutenant Ados Seleph of the Galactic Empire goes in the…" She didn't finish the sentence, not knowing the word. Ados tapped the bulkhead.

"Ship. This is a ship, an Imperial shuttle."

"Ship…?" she said, her face betraying her confusion.

"Ship. I go in the ship." He stared at her. She pointed at the window. "Viewscreen." She pointed at it again. "Viewscreen," he repeated, puzzled. She shook her head and pointed at the window yet again. "Er… hyperspace?" he asked.

"Viewscreen goes in the hyperspace?" she said.

"No, the ship goes in hyperspace," Ados clarified. "Not just the viewscreen. Well, you're a little genius, aren't you? I'll have two weeks to teach you as much as I can before we meet up with Lord Vader on the Executor." Mara looked at him, and then squirmed in his lap, her face a mask of concentration. She was obviously uncomfortable, and Ados picked her up and took her to the refresher, anticipating her needs. Apparently, she was already toilet-trained, which was an immense relief. Ados didn't fancy himself to changing nappies for the eight week trip to Coruscant, and he had to teach the girl all about food capsules, water canisters, and other important things onboard an Imperial shuttle.

"Alright, Seleph," Daniel grunted, exiting the sleeping rooms. "Where's the little assassin?" His chin was swathed in Bacta bandages, and his nose looked like more of the healing aid was stuffed up it.

"You look like you lost a fight with a rabid rancor, Jacobs," Ados chuckled. The Force-sensitive Earth-native scowled at Ados.

"I'm only doing this for the money, Ados," Jacobs snarled.

"You have to admit, Jacobs, she is kind of cute." The Imperial Lieutenant chuckled at the murderous glare the bounty hunter was giving him. "We've got fifteen standard days until we rendezvous with the Executor and then another week until we arrive at Coruscant. You'd best get used to her."

"Used to her my arse! She's going to kill me before the trip is halfway over!" Jacobs hissed before turning and stalking out of the hallway and back into the cargo hold which served as his preferred sleeping quarters, for some odd reason. Mara and Ados would just have to make do in the rough Murphy-bed military-style bunks, as the Lambada-class Imperial shuttle was designed to hold 20 people at a squeeze.

As Ados continued to laugh over Jacobs' misfortune, he saw the refresher door open and Mara step out. She looked tired, and had shadows under her eyes that Ados didn't notice before.

"Come on, Mara," Ados said softly, taking her hand in his and leading her to the bunking room. "Do you want a high bunk or a low bunk?" he asked. She looked at him quizzically. He lowered a pair of bunks, one high and one low, she pointed to the low one, and he grabbed a pillow from the supply closet as well as sheets and blankets. He knew how cold it could get in space, so he had extra blankets ready. Before he made up the bed, he gave Mara a set of standard military-issue sleeping clothes, and told her to get changed. She did, and when she returned from the refresher, he had to chuckle at how the pajamas hung off of her; like a little girl playing dress up. He smiled, wishing he could just adopt the little girl. Mara was a little angel, no matter what Jacobs said. She just knew how to defend herself.

He quickly put her in bed, and tucked her in, then kissed her forehead in a goodnight gesture, and left after switching off the lights.

Mara slept fitfully. It wasn't the bed; at her body's age, she could sleep on a bare broken lava field and not suffer repercussions. No, it was her mind. She saw Harry and James often, once seeing Harry with a massive boy she didn't know, and seeing James get killed from multiple different angles, as she didn't actually see her husband's death. Several times, she saw herself throw her body between the sinister green curse and her son's head, and then see the green curse continue on to hit Harry. Bits of curses reflected off of mirrors ignited walls, causing the house to ignite. Once, Sirius, Harry's godfather, was there. He died at the hands of a giant fireball, and once Peter was there, laughing along with Voldemort. Remus, in his wolf form, tore Harry to shreds before working on James, and the Lestranges were laughing the whole time. Frank and Alice were killed, and the Prewitt's were killed together. She was surrounded by a dream-wreath of death and guilt, and then she saw Harry's eyes merge with the green of the killing curse, and shoot out at her.

She woke up screaming.

Celebwen Telcontar: Well, how was that?

Balrog: It looked pretty good. The nightmares were realistic enough. But why did the bounty hunter sleep in the hold?

Celebwen Telcontar: He would be just uncomfortable enough to sleep lightly. Bounty hunters don't sleep heavily unless they want either loss of job or life.

Balrog: That makes sense now!

Celebwen Telcontar: Please review!

CT