RESCUING HER HEART Ch. 2

Mara shut down the Fire's engines after coming to a stop in the Woostri's hangar bay she had been directed too. Unsnapping her harness she hit the release valve on the Fire's hatch then left the ship. As she began walking across the hangar she ran through her mind likely locations Luke would have gone to find this mysterious and probably fictional Jedi Master. Fortunately for Mara her background as the Emperor's hand gave her extensive knowledge of most star systems. This included a familiarity with various criminal organisations and fringe groups who worked as mercenaries, slave runners and black marketeers. A shudder ran through her as she thought of the multiple dangerous groups who had a vested interest in removing the Jedi Master from the galaxy. As she walked a sound broke into her thoughts, it was a shrill mechanical squealing.

Turning her head her jaw dropped when she saw Skywalker's X-wing complete with R2D2 still in the droid socket. A surge of gladness raced through as she ran across to the deserted ship. For reasons she could not explain she was very glad to see this fiercely loyal, perceptive and slightly precocious scrap of metal. It was then Mara realized it had been R2 she had heard scream. Clearly the loyal little droid had picked up on and projected his master's terror. The droid jabbered excitedly as she neared the ship. Mara smiled as she realized he was equally glad to see her.

'Slow down short stuff,' she said after popping the x-wing's hatch, 'I can't understand you as well as your master so I need to use the decryption display.'

A remarkably exasperated gurgle was the only response as Mara searched for the connection before plugging R2 into the translation screen. A rapid blur of text raced across the screen as Mara read through R2's excited jabbering. She was right it looked like Skywalker had been taken prisoner by a fringe group but which one. Mara quickly scrolled through R2's commands to see if he may have recorded the actual abduction. After a bit of searching and guessing the correct time and date Mara found what she was looking for. On the small screen she saw an image of the back of Skywalker's head and a group of hooded figures surrounding him. Why didn't he just use the force to dispatch the group and who were they? Mara paused the display just as what was clearly the group leader fired a stun bolt. A stray puff of air had caused the hood he was wearing to blow back momentarily revealing part of his face. A mask covered the eyes and nose but Mara recognized the strangely reptilian jawline and green scaly skin. Damn, she swore in her mind, it was a group of Pandallians Mara felt a cold chill run down her spine, in her experience as Palpatine's agent she had never met a more ruthless and bloodthirsty group of mercenaries. It would be a miracle if Skywalker was still alive. Mara remembered that the mysterious breed of alien possessed an ability similar to the ysalamiri. They could block the force. It was something in their body chemistry that created an invisible shield to any force sensitive that came in contact with them. It was as if these walking, breathing species somehow did not project a life force. Mara remembered the strange sense of nothing she felt when she had encountered them in her former position. The emperor had been in the habit of utilizing every form of evil at his disposal and had hired the Pandallians on a number of occasions. But who would have hired them to abduct Luke she thought and why?

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Tor R'aschtil the leader of the Pandallian group sat in his main command room. The room was literally carved out of a cave. Its heavy stone walls and lack of daylight created a deep chill in the room. However it was exactly this environment the Pandallian strove for. Their species was vulnerable to sunlight the quirk of their body chemistry in repelling the force came with a cost. They could only move around outside at night. Although the abduction of their prisoner had taken place late afternoon, the heavy cloaks and masks they wore gave adequate protection against the late afternoon sun. Now that the mask had been removed Tor's remarkable prism like gold eyes were visible. It was partly their eyes that created problems in sunlight. Their multifaceted iris picked up and intensified external light. Exposure to bright sunlight would blind them.

When he had been hired to abduct the Jedi Master Luke Skywalker he had been warned of the powers of the much vaunted Jedi leader. The contract he had received instructing him of his mission had simply included the Jedi's movements. It also included a large sum with a note saying they could dispose of the prisoner however they saw fit. It was not difficult then for Tor's agents to plant the rumour of the Jedi Master's appearance to lure their prisoner into their trap. His abduction however had been so easy Tor believed the stories he had heard were largely exaggerated. Just at that moment the command room door slid open and his assistant Brach'tal entered.

'My Lord you asked to be informed when the prisoner awoke,' he spoke in the strange insectile buzzing tone of their language.

Tor simply nodded then followed his second in command from the room. The two walked in silence to the pit room. Although it had taken a great deal of excavating to create the pit and line it with smooth stones it had proved its worth a thousand times over. The smooth sides made climbing out all but impossible and the depth of the pit prevented any other attempted escape method. It was an ideal location to house kidnap victims and had been used many times for exactly that purpose. He arrived at the rim of the pit and gazed down to see the Jedi Master attempting to stand. Tor smiled if the situation had been different he would have admired his prisoner's determination. There were few humans he had seen that would try to stand on a badly broke limb.

'Master Skywalker,' he began speaking in passable basic, 'you are my guest for the time being at least.'

'What do you want from me?' Luke called trying not to sound as terrified as he felt.

Tor's strange eyes glittered, 'From you nothing. However I should imagine your New Republic will pay handsomely for your hide.'

Luke swallowed visibly he could not even imagine what ransom these creatures would demand for his return. That is if they would release him after a ransom had been paid, Luke somehow suspected he would be slain regardless. Tor watched the myriad of expressions crossing his captive's face drinking in his anxiety as if it were nectar.

'Your government has been contacted and our demands are to be met within one week or you die, it is that simple.'

'And your demands are?' Luke asked trying to keep the tremor out of his voice.

'Ten million credits and a guarantee that the New Republic government will leave this system forever.'

He watched his prisoner for a few moments then added, 'I guess we will see exactly how much you are valued.'

Tor walked away back to his command room. This had all been so simple, clearly if these Jedi were the best the New Republic could throw at them they had nothing to fear.

This lack of foresight could not be blamed for a situation they were not prepared for. They could not foresee an expertly trained espionage agent, unarmed defence master and weapons expert happened to be the Jedi Master's best friend.

To be continued…