Chapter 10
"That was a hell of a trick you pulled," Mara commented, as Luke sat meditating back in his cell while Andover, now somewhat healed, kept scratching the wall. The line had turned into a polygon 3-feet by 3-feet square and the lines had progressed to about three inches thick.
"What, no sarcastic remarks from the guy who fended me off without a weapon, or his Jedi friend who forced a mind-meld on me?"
Andover sighed. "Concerning the point addressed to me, you're probably more skilled with those planets than you are your lightsaber," he affronted, alluding to his earlier Dun Moch statement.
"Big talk from a guy who sits around scratching a wall."
Undaunted and ignoring the pain, he continued scratching.
Meanwhile, Luke concentrated on his meditation. He had searched through his mind and the minds of others using the Force but had yet to come to a logical conclusion. The only force-bonds he knew of were those between relatives, married couples, and Masters/Padawans.
It just doesn't make sense, he thought.
Like you and your unorthodox tactics, Mara telepathically remarked. Some sick trick you pulled. Now sever this bond and get out of my head.
I didn't purposefully create this bond, Luke reminded her. In fact, you were the one that lowered you're mental shields enough for the bond to take hold.
Technicalities, Mara thought, dismissing him with a wave of her hand.
"Aww, the silent lovers' quarrel," Andover remarked.
Mara ignored him. "You two are lucky," she said. "The entire crew was in hyperspace before I could call them back. But I guarantee you this-you're going to have a long ride home." She enunciated some of the words for emphasis.
"Same thing my school district's airtrain driver said," Andover announced, "but I made it this far."
Disgusted with him completely, she scowled and left the room.
"Quickly, use the Force," Andover urged, the second he could no longer hear her footsteps. "This could be our only chance; strip the paint on your wall in a square you can fit through. Make the lines three inches thick."
Concealing his use of the Force, he silently removed the paint with his mind. Then he saw Andover remove the white pin from his pocket. Smiling, he struck the red square on the wall with the head of the pin, and the paint instantly ignited.
A searing white light pierced their eyes. In a half minute, however, it dimmed and slowly disappeared. In the place of the thermite square was a hole in the wall, leading a random corridor on the Star Destroyer.
Freedom.
"Here!" the younger Rebel cried, tossing the pin over to Luke, who hit his square too. But unlike the first time, it didn't start a fire.
"It won't work!" Luke stated, anxiety creeping into his voice.
"Use the force, then!" Andover told him.
"I can't conceal that big of an effort in the Force," Luke groaned. "I'm not that good yet."
"Who cares? We aren't gonna be on this flying shitpile much longer!" Spurred on by Andover's idea, he ignited the wall. Andover walked through the hole in his cell, and paced around on the other side.
What are you doing, Jedi? Mara cried through the Force.
My friend and I, he answered, well, we work together like a spark and some aluminum powder mixed with iron-rich paint.
You didn't, she seethed, fury emanating through the local Force.
Kindly give my regards to Palpatine and Vader, Luke cordially sent and ended the conversation. He could pick up some of Mara's malicious thoughts, however.
Now, that isn't nice, he sent after extracting an extremely violent thought from her mind.
Damn you, farmboy, she said.
The fire stopped and burnt out when it reached the paint-free zone. Luke stepped through the hole, and Andover gestured for Luke to follow him.
"She knows about our escape," Luke informed. Andover knew exactly what he meant.
"Why?" he asked, despair in his tone.
"Hey, I didn't do anything," Luke defended.
"Sure. You know, if we weren't on an Imperial ship running for our lives, I would make a killer 'that's what she said' line right now."
Luke shook his head. For a war criminal, Andover was surprisingly juvenile.
"Do you have any idea where our ship is?" Luke asked hesitantly.
"We docked on the port side, rear-lower levels."
"Anything more specific?"
"Nope."
They slowly made their way to one of the side lifts. Andover hit the button labeled "Docking Bays" and the enclosed room slowly descended.
"If anyone told me a week ago that this would happen, surely I would have taken them to a mental ward," Andover said to no one in particular.
"Truth is stranger than fiction."
"I guess so. But imperials are strangest."
Luke nodded. A flashing digital display on the wall showed the level numbers slowly decrease. Then the display beeped, and the doors opened.
"Here we are," his counterpart said, as they followed the signs to the side of the ship.
They turned a corner, and faced the wide-open entrance to the connected hangars. There stood Mara Jade, hands on her hips, looking smugly back at the Rebels.
"Fancy meeting you here," Andover tried, putting on a faux Coruscanti accent for the effect.
"Shut up," Mara replied coldly. Luke noticed his father's lightsaber on her belt, and a red haze descended over his head. He ripped the weapon from her belt and calling it to his hand, ignited it in a half-second.
Mara drew her own lightsaber, and the two stood still, waiting for the other to attack.
Suddenly, Andover ran at Mara, ducking below her strike, and sprinted towards his plane. Mara turned her attention back to the Jedi, who calmly rotated his lightsaber in a circle and assumed a Soresu style approach.
"What the hell are you doing?" Andover yelled from the cockpit of the airplane as the steady hum of repulsors lifted him from the floor.
"I'll be fine," Luke exclaimed, blocking a slash at his head.
"No you won't!" With that, Andover vaulted over the side of his plane and joined the fight. He pulled a blaster from his pocket and fired at Mara. In between parries with Luke, she managed to step out of the way of the blaster bolts. She jumped back, and called the gun to her hand. She fired, and the bolt hit Andover right in the stomach. He cried out in pain and collapsed, dead.
But Mara was distracted, and Luke took advantage of it. He ran to the glistening Nicomedia and force-jumped in, locking the canopy, and flew out into space.
Coward, Mara gloated telepathically. At least your friend got what was coming to him.
But I'm fine, Luke reminded her, feeling guilty about how he had taken advantage of teh moment and left hsi friend's body.
Hopefully not for long. I assure you, your buddy will receive a proper cremation.
Luke rubbed his head in exhaustion, and turned the plane towards the Hoth system.
(A week later)
"So he's dead, huh?" Wedge asked sympathetically, sitting in the mess hall with his friends. "Sorry."
"I sure bet Mara's happy," Han commented. Leia shot him a withering glare.
Luke remembered something. "A file in his plane came up when the computer recognized he wasn't flying. It said that if Andover was hurt or killed, the plane was supposed to be given to his sister."
"Who cares?" Leia asked. "He's dead. It's the property of the Alliance now."
"He saved my life," Luke reminded her. "Me, the last Jedi. I believe he deserves enough respect to get his death wish."
"He'd probably say his death wish was to not get killed," Wes cut in.
Luke sighed, looking at a letter which was laid on the table by one of the ensigns. It was the letter that would inform Andover's sister that her sibling was killed in action.
The last thing anyone would want to get in the mail.
He excused himself, citing the need to meditate. When he got to his quarters, he found a large crate on the floor. It hadn't been there when he left for dinner. Notes of "Live Animal" and signs pointing "This way up!" adorned the plywood. Through the breathing holes on the top, Luke could hear muffled, muted attempts to scream. Sighing, he read the note taped to the top.
-From Andover Casimir-
Luke's jaw dropped. He unfolded the piece of paper, and read.
If you're reading this, I have probably been killed by now. That's what everyone thinks, right?
Luke frowned, but read on.
Dumbass. I never get killed.
He visibly smarted. That was Andover, all right. He was alive!
Listen, I'm back in Liezden if you or Leia need me. I figure that I've had enough of war; my dreams of wartime heroism and grandeur were destroyed in my capture. While I recover from my injuries, I thought you should know that helping out the rebels, even momentarily, was the best thing I have ever done in my life. It's the first time I can say that I honestly helped someone. Not anyone, but the last Jedi and only hope for freedom in the Galaxy.
What a way to go, right?
I just wrote to say that I survived, if only barely. Those healing techniques really helped.
I know that I will probably never see that Emperor's hand again, whose hair is probably still "bleeding". But I bet that you two will cross paths sometime soon. How is that relevant to this present? It's a note to remind you; you can do anything you want with a suckerpunch, a tranquilizer dart, and human ingenuity. You'll soon know what I mean.
Take care, Luke. May the Force be with you.
-1st Lieutenant Andover Casimir
P.S. Check the Chandrilian news. I did something to help you further. It definitely "left an impression".
Luke picked a datapad off of his bed, and searched "Chandrila." Of the icons, one was from the Imperial News Center. He clicked on it, to see a large burning crater in the middle of a picturesque natural landscape. He couldn't make out any details, because heavy smoke hindered the camera's view.
"This just in, an Independence-class star destroyer apparently lost control and fell from orbit onto the planet Chandrila's Imperial headquarters," a voice informed. "The base was obliterated, with an estimated fifteen thousand Imperials dead. Many suspect a Rebel attack or sabotage."
Wow! He freed his system! Luke realized. He called Leia on her comlink.
"Call all squadron leaders to the briefing room," he ordered when she picked up.
"Is everything okay?" she asked, confused.
"Yes, we're going to Chandrila."
"Okay," she said, turning off her comlink.
Luke's eyes drifted to the crate still sitting in the middle of his room. Sighing, he walked over to it and looked in the top. Whatever the animal was-if it actually was actually an animal, it was pretty big, and had scarlet-red fur.
He maneuvered tha cage into the corner of the room. The sudden movement prompted the inhabitant to continue its muted protests. Luke set up a force-barrier around the crate, and pried open one side of the box with the Force from about ten feet away.
The plywood side fell down with a resounding crack.
Luke looked inside. It was a woman. She had red hair, and was curled against the opposite wall.
It's Mara Jade, he realized. She had her feet tied together, her hands stun-cuffed behind her back, and she was dressed in a skimpy metal slave-girl outfit. A leather strip was tied around her mouth and knotted behind her head, preventing speech. Her eyes went wide when she noticed him.
I am going to kill you, Mara thought, projecting her emotions. Then I'll get that miserable Chandrilian. Nobody can beat me in a fight and do this to me while getting away with it.
After all he did for me, I can't let you hurt him, Luke told her silently. He then mentally kicked himself, realizing how perverted that sounded.
Mara just shook her head. Damn you, farmboy.
Ohh, Andover lived. He must have incapacitated Mara, or at least her dignity. I thought that was a good way to write him off.
That's ten chapters! And Mara's on Hoth now! Oh, the plot bunnies!
And please, don't forget to review. Thanks.
-ClaptonJr.