Chapter 4 – Missed Opportunity

It's been a long time since I wrote anything for this story. I had no inspiration for it, so I focused on my other stories. Now, I want to pick this story up again. This is a short chapter to get things started again. Next chapters will hopefully be longer again.

! I've made a few changes to chapter three, so make sure to read that one first.

I believe I have said it before, but this story features darker themes. This chapter contains mature dialogue, inappropriate suggestions and death.

Hope you enjoy.

;-

Nar Shaddaa, Imperial spaceport

Aeris Bonteri

We finally arrived on Nar Shaddaa. The flight had been uneventful. With both of us being professional Imperial agents, there was no need for awkward small talk.

So far, Mara Jade lived up to her reputation. She had prepared well for this mission. She had gathered a lot of information about Nar Shaddaa beforehand and shared it with me during the flight. We discussed strategies and tactics for a while and then both us went to prepare for the mission.

;-

We walked off the ramp of the ship. Nar Shaddaa was no civilized world, but ever since the Empire had taken control, it had become slightly better. It was still a hive of villainy, but there was more Imperial presence. And, fortunately for us, all space-traffic went through this Imperial base.

"We will have the Imperial command here to shut down the spaceport." Mara informs me of her plan. "Then we search all of the ships present. Should we find any evidence of rebels, we will order the troops of the base to search the planet and keep the ship secured ourselves." She turns towards me. "We will hide onboard the ship, conceal ourselves and keep the rest of the hangar empty. This will give the rebels a false sense of security and they will be ours."

"An effective plan." I reply. "With sudden Stormtrooper patrols appearing in the city, the rebels will attempt to leave the planet immediately. They'll take the low presence in the hangar as a sign of good luck and walk right into us." A grin spreads across my face.

Mara nods. "That is the plan." She looks at the entrance of the platform we docked the ship on. A group of Stormtroopers, led by a high-ranking officer, was making their way towards us. "Good, this will save us the trouble of looking for them." Mara comments.

"Good day, ladies." The officer says. "Welcome to Nar Shaddaa." From the markings on his uniform, it's obvious that he's a captain.

A shiver of disgust creeps through my spine as the captain checks us both out. "I have my doubts if this this guy will be of actual help to us."

Mara takes a few steps forward. "Captain, you and your men will seal off the spaceport immediately and prevent anyone from entering or leaving the premises." She ordered him.

A disgusted look appears on the captain's face. "You come here and expect to order me around, little girl?" He asks annoyed. He raises his hand and his troops ready their blaster. "Identification, now." He orders us.

Mara and I exchange a look. Obviously they had not gotten the message that two high-ranking agents of the Empire would soon be arriving at their base. We silently agree to play along and hand over our identification chips. If we cause a ruckus, the rebels might be alarmed that something is wrong. They would flee the planet immediately. We can't risk that. Besides, it should be entertaining to see their reactions when they finally realize just who we are.

The captain takes the chips and hands them to a trooper. "Koth, go and check these id's." He orders him and the trooper walks away. "As soon as these are reported to be forgeries, you both will be brought in for further, more thorough questioning." He tells us with a perverted smirk. His troops snicker at his comment.

Mara and I look at each other again. It's pretty clear just how things go at this base. Unfortunately, some troops in the Empire's army get a little drunk with power. They get greedy and corrupt. "He's not deserving of his position." I think to myself. "Let's just see how this plays out for now."

;-

Nar Shaddaa, Imperial base, security center

The Stormtrooper Koth walked up to one of the security booths. "Jack, good to see you." He said to another trooper at the desk.

"Koth." The other trooper replied. "What brings you here? Got another suspicious person?" He asks with a smirk.

"Yep." Koth said with an equal smirk. "Two of them, in fact." He handed over the chips.

Jack put them both into the booth. "What are they like?" He asked.

"A human red-head and some feisty looking Togruta." Koth replied. "They look pretty good."

"Togruta, eh?" Jack said. "Don't see to many of those here these days." He chuckled a bit. "Let me know if you need more help, interrogating them."

Koth chuckled as well. "Oh, I will." He replied.

Then the booth announced that the chips had been checked. Both men turned pale as the snow of Hoth when they saw the results.

;-

Nar Shaddaa, Imperial base, landing platform

Aeris Bonteri

"It's a good thing that I possess plenty of patience, otherwise his head wouldn't be in the same place right now." I think annoyed. This Imperial captain is getting on my nerves with his disgusting behavior. "He's not even attempting to cover up his little corrupt practices."

He had ordered us to stay at the ramp of our ship and make no attempts to move. We simply did that. I could easily get rid of all of these guys in a few seconds, but causing a scene and attracting attention would not help our mission at all.

A few minutes passed and the captain got impatient of waiting. He turned back to us again. "While we wait for the confirmation that your id's are fake," He said in a mocking tone, "we'll do a physical search right now. Please stand upright, hold out your arms and spread your legs." A creepy smile appears on his face with the last words.

I cross my arms defiantly over my chest and give him a look that says "seriously?". Next to me, Mara sighs in frustration. One thing that I have heard about her multiple times is that she values the laws of the Empire above all. Her devotion to the Emperor is exceptional and she never hesitates to see his will and his laws enforced. This captain's actions are a clear violation of the military code. She's known to have dealt with officials breaking rules before.

Mara takes a step forward. "Physical searches on a female sentient are only allowed to be performed by female staff members." She informs him. "Such procedures are clearly dictated in the Empire's laws and regulations."

The captain merely snickers and walks towards her. He tries to place his hand on her chin, but Mara steps back. "Unfortunately, all female staff is currently unavailable." He replies in a sadistic tone. "So I will be performing the search myself. As captain of this base, it is my responsibility to make sure that everyone remains safe."

"And by 'everyone's safety' you mean satisfy your own revolting desires." I comment sarcastically. He looks at me and I snarl at him. "Careful, I have fangs and I won't hesitate to use them."

He was about to comment when the trooper Koth comes rushing back through the door. I can't help but smirk when I sense his panic. He quickly makes his way towards us, panting heavily.

The captain turns back to the trooper. "Ah Koth, I take it that their id's are fake?" He asks him amused. "Just what I thou…" He paused when he saw the panicked look on Koth's face.

The trooper walks up to us and quickly hands us back our identification chips. "My apologies, madam we… ehm…" He stutters out. We silently accept our id's chips back, giving them an annoyed look.

"Koth, what are you doing?" The captain asks confused. "Explain yourself, now!" He demands, his frustration rising quickly.

"They…they're…" He stutters in panic. Then he points at me. "She's one of Lord Vader's personal agents." A round of shock resonates of the troopers and especially the captain. "And her…" He says as he points at Mara. "She's the Emperor's Hand!" His voice is filled with panic as he backs off more.

Mara walks a bit closer to them. "Now then, captain." She begins, her voice is full of authority, causing the captain to flinch in shock. "About my earlier orders. You will…" She pauses as her eye catches a departing ship.

I look at the ship myself. It has a bit of a circular shape. It looks like a beat-up old freighter, something not worth our time. It suddenly blasts off at a higher speed than such an old thing should be able to. "Probably some smuggler with a few upgrades. Probably illegal, but it's not my problem."

For some reason, Mara looks incredibly annoyed by the ship vanishing from sight. "What is it?" I ask her. "What is the deal with that ship?"

She turns to me. "I've seen that ship before." She replies. "It's called the Millennium Falcon, owned by a rebel leader called Han Solo. It's frequently used by him and other high ranking rebels such as Leia Organa and Luke Skywalker."

"What?!" I exclaim in frustration. I immediately expand my senses with the Force, but it's no use. The ship is already too far away for me to sense anything about its crew. "This can't be true! He was so close!" My anger starts to boil.

Mara turns to the captain. "We were sent here by the Emperor himself to track down the rebels. Because of your incompetent behavior and corrupt antics, we failed in our mission." She says neutrally.

"I-I-I…I'm….I-I'm sorry, my lady…" The captain stutters out, too afraid to be able to form normal sentences.

I walk towards him. "My Master has no patience for failures like you." I say as I raise my hand. "And neither do I." He gasps in fear as he's lifted off the ground. Using the Force, I slowly choke the life out of him. "Lord Vader's way of dealing with failure is so easy." I think as I watch the foolish captain struggle for breath. A small minute later his lifeless body falls to the ground. I sigh. "What a waste of time."

Mara sighs as well. "I can sense that there is nothing on this planet worth staying around for. Let's go back to the Imperial Center. We'll see what the Emperor wants us to do next." She suggests. I nod and we both board the ship again.

Before I enter the ship fully, I look up at the sky. "You got lucky this time Skywalker, but it won't last."

;-

Millennium Falcon

"Well, I'm glad we're leaving that junk heap of a planet." Han Solo commented as he launched the Falcon into Hyperspace. Chewbacca growled next to him. "I know, the Imperials really wrecked the place." Han said in return.

Princess Leia Organa sighed behind the two. "That's the reason we went there in the first place, Han." She replied. "Planets like that always have plenty people that want to get rid of the Empire. And, ever since our latest successes, they are a lot more willing to join our cause."

Han turned around in his seat. "I know that, your highness." He said sarcastically. "But aren't there a lot nicer planets we can go to look for new recruits?" Chewbacca growled some more next to him. "Chewie's right, why don't we go to some more tropical planet next time?"

Leia shook her and turned to Luke. His worried expression startled him. "Luke? What's wrong?" She asked concerned.

Han noticed his expression as well. "Yeah kid, what's up?" He asked. "Nothing went wrong with this mission. Why do you look so worried?"

Luke looked at them. "I suddenly had a very bad feeling." He replied. "Something…dark… just arrived on the planet. I think we left there just in time." He looked at the streaming light on Hyperspace, trying to figure out what this dark presence in the Force was.

;-

That's it for this chapter.

Like I said, this chapter is not the longest. I have a couple of things in mind for this story. In the next chapter, we'll be following Mina again. I'll be switching between the sisters in the upcoming chapters.

Now, in a couple of days I will be going on a vacation again. For a couple of weeks I'll be enjoying myself in Florida. I have already begun writing the chapters of the battle on Kirs for my Ahsoka and Barriss story. I will upload them to my doc manager on the site. That way I will have access to them. I will be trying to write a bit in the evening if I can. However, most of my time will be about relaxing from everything else.

The chapters for my Ahsoka and Barriss story will probably be up in a few weeks.

Until next time.