Chapter 2

Legacy, Part I

"…our responsibility to the Jedi extends for hundreds of years, Senators! We cannot abandon them now!"

The distortion of the audio from the weak HoloNet connection did nothing to take the sting out of the screams of protest that erupted and reverberated throughout the large hangar. Luke bit the inside corner of his mouth and sighed. At least there were more sounds of applause than those of protest.

"If nothing else, we owe it to ourselves to provide them with the resources to continue to protect the Republic as they always ha—."

"And give them the opportunity to attack us again? Never!"

Luke cringed at the interruption from the Viceroy of Obaria. He took his eyes off the HoloNet transmission, contemplating getting back to work on his starfighter that beckoned to him from a few meters away.

"The Senator is out of order!" The tone in Chancellor E'Room's voice both quieted the senators and drew Luke's attention back to the blue-tinged image. "You will wait until the chair recognizes you."

"My most abject apologies, Chancellor," was the terse reply, the Viceroy's voice betraying no sign of regret.

"I thought I might find you here!"

Stumbling awkwardly as he punched the holotransceiver to shut down the feed, Luke quickly got to his feet and spun in the direction of the voice.

He let out a sigh of relief. "Oh, it's just you."

The lithe girl leaning casually against the durasteel frame of the hangar entrance as if she were molded to it raised an eyebrow. Luke fought the temptation to stare at her smooth lavender face. Looking away, his eyes focused, almost of their own volition, on the soft contours of her hips that swayed just so as she seemed to float toward him.

"I guess that means you can relax, then, right?" Her lips curved upward and her perfect white teeth glistened in the ambient light.

Luke swallowed hard. "Umm…Shinah…" He stepped backwards and collided with the holotransceiver. "So…umm…you were looking for me?"

When did she get so close?

"What's the matter, sand kitten?" Shinah whispered teasingly. She reached out and put her index finger on his chest, then walked her hand with her fingers slowly up to his face, finally resting the tip of her hand against his chin. "I don't make you uncomfortable, do I?"

Her eyes were so green!

Spinning away, Luke shuffled backwards and then did his best to look casual as he walked over to his personal Jedi starfighter, picking up an immobilizer as he went. "No…" he winced at the crack in his voice. Puberty had been long past. Why did his voice always make that ridiculous sound around Shinah? He cleared his throat and swallowed. "Not at all. You just surprised me, that's all."

"Right," she grinned, leaning to her right and placing a hand on her hip. She looked around the bay. "Since when do you watch RNet anyway? I thought that was Leia's obsession."

Luke kept his focus on a loose bolt, struggling to get the immobilizer to connect to it. "It's the best place to get a sense for what people think about us, I guess." He finally realized that he wanted a spanner, not an immobilizer. He threw it in disgust and it bounced off the side of the ship, leaving a ten-centimeter scratch along the side. He grunted and slapped the wing with the palm of his hand. "Stupid!"

Shinah chuckled. She picked up a spanner and walked over to Luke, handing him the tool as she placed her free hand gently on the small of his back. He turned and found himself suddenly frozen in place. She smelled so good! Shinah slipped her arm around his waist and used her other hand to grip his as the spanner clanked on along the wing.

"Aren't there more interesting things we could be doing, other than talking about silly politics?" she breathed.

"I'm…umm…I…"

She leaned forward and brushed her lips against his.

"Shinah..."

"Luke…"

"What are you two doing?"

Their heads whirled about.

Pushing Shinah away by the shoulders, Luke stepped forward and ran a hand though his mop of brown hair.

"Leia! Hi. How are you?" He winced and kicked himself. "How are you?" Pathetic!

"Not as well as you, it seems," Leia replied, crossing her arms. She glanced over at Shinah, who now leaned back against the starfighter with her own arms crossed, grinning. "Hello, Shinah," Leia greeted coolly. "Shouldn't you be in training with Master Secura?"

"No…don't think so," Shinah laughed.

Leia glared.

Abruptly, a scowl appeared on Shinah's face. "Look, you're not his mother, Leia! We've been together a month now and he still hasn't even kissed me! I bet that's your doing, isn't it?"

"We don't discuss you," Leia replied dryly. "My brother can…frolic…with whoever he likes. Perhaps he just doesn't like purple Twi'lek girls and doesn't want to hurt your feelings."

Shinah's lekku twitched in irritation and she stalked forward.

Leia spread her legs slightly and dropped her arms to her sides.

Luke grabbed Shinah about the waist and pulled her away. "That's enough!" he snapped. "There'll be no talking about me like I'm not standing right here." He focused on Shinah. "All right?"

Shinah glared at Leia over his shoulder. Luke grabbed the sides of her face and covered her mouth with his. The kiss was awkward, but Shinah melted into it nonetheless. Ignoring the annoyed hiss coming from Leia behind him, Luke let the kiss linger a bit longer. When he heard Leia's loud sigh, he smiled inwardly and pulled away.

Shinah leaned backward with her eyes closed, an odd smile on her face. Luke decided it best to let it go and turned to Leia.

"I'm assuming you came looking for me for a reason?"

Leia did nothing to hide the look of disgust on her face as she stared at Shinah who grinned devilishly back at her. Luke shook his head. At length, Leia looked back to Luke and frowned. "Yes. Mother wants to see us—I don't know why, so don't ask."

Luke frowned. Their mother almost never sent for them. She usually left them to their own devices, seemingly convinced that their father had them on a tight enough leash as it was. The few times that Luke and Leia had been summoned by Padmé, it almost always had something to do with them being forced to go some dinner or another.

"Well, I guess we better get going." He started toward the door.

"What about your girlfriend over there?"

Luke looked at Shinah and smiled, waving. Shinah fixed her eyes on Leia as she blew Luke a kiss.

"She's fine. Let's go."

They turned and walked out the door. "What do you see in her anyway?"

Luke's eyes widened and he didn't hide the surprise from his voice. "Have you seen her?"

The stench of eopie dung on the dirt streets of Mos Eisley had long bothered Mace. As hard he tried to ignore the foul smell, he found it near impossible not to notice its similarity to the stench of a tauntaun's intestines. The memory of once having had to eat his tauntaun just to stay alive on Hoth caused his stomach to lurch. Avoiding the brown pile in his path that was the most current source of the smell, Mace turned away and headed down the dark alleyway.

Searching for the entrance to the establishment the barkeep had informed him about, but seeing nothing but brown tarp-covered abandoned stalls that had clearly stopped selling wares many months before, Mace suddenly realized that he was very much alone. He frowned. After a moment's hesitation, he decided to continue down the silent street while keeping an eye on the roofs above.

They didn't wait long.

He didn't need the Force to tell him that he was surrounded. The buffoons breathed so loudly, he could hear them from two streets away. Mace stopped, closed his eyes and sighed. Deciding that it was best to get a sense of how many he was dealing with, he took a slow, deep breath. The Force flowed into him in a steady stream. He focused on trying not to bend it to his will. It had been so constant a struggle for him that he was beginning to believe he would never rid himself of the urge.

Within moments, the unlit makeshift arena blossomed into clarity as the Force divulged the exact locations of his would-be attackers. Three of them he recognized from the cantina. The other two were new. The two new ones were larger, and he immediately sensed that they were the most dangerous of the group. It was also abundantly clear that they were the hired help.

Mace shook his head and shrugged.

The one the others had called Harm stepped out from behind one of the stalls with a smug look on his face.

Mace raised an eyebrow and inclined his head.

"Didn't think we were done with you, did you?" Harm grinned. He wore the confidence of superior numbers like a brand new suit.

"I admit, I had hoped you would have the good sense to walk away with your pride and your body parts intact."

Two separate chuckles erupted from behind him—the hired muscle.

Harm's eyes narrowed slightly, but he kept smiling. "Who knew ex-Jedi could be so funny, eh?"

The ones behind Mace slipped out of their hiding places and moved cautiously toward him.

"I don't suppose there's any way I'm going to convince you boys that this is a bad idea, is there?" Mace pushed his cowl back and dropped both hands to his sides.

"Hmm…let me think about that one," Harm answered, scraping a finger on his stubbled chin as if he were seriously thinking about it. Then he lowered his hand and crossed his arms, his barely lit face taking on a vicious appearance. "No."

"Good."

Harm's face barely registered surprise before Mace's boot was planted squarely in it, crushing his nose as blood splattered everywhere.

Mace bounced backward, avoiding the blaster bolts that suddenly sprang from the hiding place of Jor and Shinn, who had stupidly decided to crouch in the same location. When Mace landed in front of them, their combined shock and fear wafted off them like Kalorian perfume.

"Oh, sh—"

Mace's fist crashed hard into Jor's face and he relished the sensation of the man's front teeth coming loose in his mouth. Before Shinn had finished raising his blaster, Mace kicked hard into the man's protruding gut. When the man crumpled under the blow, Mace drove his knee hard into his exposed chin before twisting away to face the other two, neither of whom had moved from his spot.

The previously quiet alleyway suddenly erupted in a series of groans that Mace could just hear above the pounding of his pulse in his ear.

Mace steadied his breathing and glared at his remaining opponents.

One of them brought his blaster up to waist level.

Mace shook his head as he kept his eyes firmly on his would-be assailants'.

"Yuh don' scare me!" The blaster in the brute's hands shook noticeably.

"Fair enough." Mace pulled the corners of his mouth downward as he raised his right hand open palmed and then closed his fist dramatically.

Both blasters suddenly crumpled in their owner's hands and then thumped to the ground.

"I don't know how much you boys know about fuel cells…" Mace began.

The effect was immediate. Likely deciding that whatever they had been paid was not enough, both thugs turned and ran.

Reaching into the Force, Mace raised both weapons high into the air where the subsequent explosion did nothing more than light the prone figures who rolled about on the ground.

Mace stalked over to Harm, grabbed him by the lapels and hoisted him up. Pushing Harm against the wall with his one hand, he gestured with the other to gather up the remaining blasters and flip them up onto the surrounding roofs.

"Since you were kind enough to stop by, Harm," Mace smiled in a conversational tone, "I was wondering if you wouldn't mind helping me find someone."