CHAPTER 21

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The blue blade shone through the darkness of the swamp, its vibrant hum adding depth to the abundant noises of life around him. Luke held the blade steady, composing himself while waiting for guidance from the Force.

It came and he quickly acknowledged it, pivoting to block a laser bolt from behind his left shoulder, then whipping back around and bringing his blade down to his right thigh. He jumped, avoiding one of the red beams that came too quickly for him to block with his lightsaber, at the same moment raising his weapon to block a bolt to his head.

Sweat dripped off his face, sizzling against the superheated blade of his lightsaber, the only indication of his extreme physical exertion. He didn't breathe heavily; his movements weren't slow with exhaustion. He was the epitome of a powerful Jedi in combat.

Yet he wasn't a Jedi and wouldn't be one for quite some time. Not until he confronted, and defeated, the darkness inside himself.

Finally the remotes grew still. Taking a deep breath, waiting a moment to ensure that the program had indeed expired, Luke extinguished his blade and turned to the Jedi Master sitting on a fallen log behind him.

Yoda nodded in approval. "Very good, young Skywalker. Improved, your skill with the lightsaber has."

Luke nodded, grateful for the master's compliment. Ever since his success in levitating the X-wing, something had changed in his training. He felt at peace with the Force and his place in it. Physical manipulations of the Force were easier for him, as if the Force was more willing to listen to him now that he was willing to listen to it. As Master Yoda had explained, it truly was a symbiotic relationship.

He often wondered how much longer he'd remain on Dagobah. Yoda had never mentioned how long his training would take, and he'd never thought to ask. Perhaps he'd instinctively know when his training was complete. If that was the case, he thought ruefully, then it was far from over.

His thoughts turned to Mara, wondering how she was and what she was doing. Probably flying with the Rogues or going on another crazy mission for Intelligence. Hopefully she was missing him as much as he was missing her.

Just as quickly he erased the thoughts of her from his mind, remembering his promise not to be distracted. The sooner he finished his training the sooner he'd return to the Alliance.

Master Yoda climbed down from the log, recapturing Luke's attention. The Jedi Master glanced up at Luke and brandished his walking stick. "Finished for the day, your training is. Back home, we will go."

"If it's okay with you, master, I'd like to continue practicing."

Yoda furrowed his brow, nodded once and walked away. Luke watched the diminutive Jedi disappear into the night before bringing up his lightsaber.

Since raising the X-wing he'd felt an unmistakable urge to go back into the Dark Side cave. He was too confused to mention this to Master Yoda, but he suddenly felt certain that this was the missing piece to his training. He needed to fix his one, horrible failure before he could move forward as a Jedi.

He made his way through the swamp without thinking, unable to shy away from the nearby darkness. Before he knew it he was there, climbing into the roots of the tree and trekking down the sloping cave.

His lightsaber was still in his hand, he realized ruefully after he'd made it several paces inside the cave. He clipped it onto his belt, wondering if he should turn around and leave his weapons outside, but he kept moving forward as if not of his own accord.

He stopped abruptly, feeling an odd sense of peace wash over him although the darkness was still close by. Was this…was this what being one with the Force felt like? Comfort and knowledge that, no matter what you were about to face, the Force would always be at your side?

Luke didn't know how long he stood still in the cave, emptying his mind of all thoughts. But then he felt a familiar sound, a sound heard only in dreams and visions—rasping breath, like a monster in a bedtime story, come to steal away children in the night.

Vaguely, Luke remembered a time when he was very young, visiting Anchorhead with his uncle. He'd always been fascinated with the town, with the buildings that had seemed so impossibly large. Later, when he'd grown up, he'd looked down upon the shabby dwellings and shops that were his only haven away from the farm. But as a child, it was a whole new world.

His uncle had gone inside some shop and Luke did his best to remain in place as ordered, but he was five and everything was so interesting, not like listening to Uncle Owen and the shop owner talk. So he began shuffling around, not too much that Uncle Owen would notice and yell at him, but enough to find other, more interesting things to look at.

It was then he noticed the broadcast on the HoloNet, one of the official "news" programs released by the Empire. Luke was young but even he knew what the Empire was, even though it didn't matter much out on Tatooine. Here, the main concern was staying away from the Sandpeople.

There was a man in the broadcast, but he was more like a monster. He wore a helmet that obscured his face and Luke was both horrified and fascinated by it. He wondered what sort of creature would live behind such a mask.

But the breathing…the breathing was the most entrancing thing of all.

A hand fell on Luke's arm, startling him. "I told you not to wander off," his uncle said gruffly, even though Luke couldn't have wandered more than a few meters. Still, he knew better to argue.

"Sorry," he mumbled half-heartedly.

His uncle glanced back to the HoloNet transceiver. His eyes widened momentarily before grabbing Luke and dragging him out of the store.

"Uncle Owen, who was that man in the mask?"

His uncle shook his head. "Nobody you need to know about."

Now Luke faced that same masked man knowing the truth—that he was a monster named Darth Vader and the reason that Luke was an orphan.

This time Luke did not strike out against the Sith Lord. He remained in place, allowing Vader to approach him.

And then Vader did something completely unexpected…

He held out his hand.

Luke stared at it for a long moment, contemplating the gesture. Vader'd been after him for a long time—to kill him or recruit him, Luke didn't know for sure. All he knew was that he would never allow the Dark Side to take hold of him.

He stared into the black mask…and shook his head before turning away, not bothering to look back.

He half expected Vader's gloved hand to grasp his neck, but instead he nearly collapsed as another vision overtook him, this one much more vague than the other, but still full of emotion and pain and distress.

It took a few seconds before he could pin the feeling down and when he did, he was shivering and covered with sweat.

He had no idea what he was supposed to do, but he knew one thing for sure.

His friends—and Mara—were in trouble.

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Something was wrong.

She didn't know what, and she didn't know where the danger was coming from. But Mara Jade had been trained to sense danger, and it was there, breathing at the back of her neck.

Sitting around the large conference table in the ornate room that was part of Cloud City's administrative center, Mara glanced around at the other participants, trying to gauge their senses.

Han and Chewie were bored, that was plainly obvious. Leia was intense, as she always was during negotiations. Lando was as gracious and friendly as ever. Threepio stood at the back of the room, Red directly next to him, to record the proceedings.

Everything seemed perfectly normal, exactly as it should be. But Mara knew, somehow, that something was wrong.

Focused as she was on the Force, Mara only listened passively to the conversation, not really paying attention as Leia and Lando hammered out the minute details of Cloud City's agreement with the Rebel Alliance. As per the agreement, the Alliance would receive a large percentage of Cloud City's tibanna gas product while the Alliance would station a garrison to protect the city in case of an Imperial attack.

Mara had to admit that Calrissian was a capable businessman and, judging from what Han had revealed, could hold his own in battle. Any other time, Mara probably would have found herself enjoying the man's company. Now, however, she merely focused on the conversation at hand, mentally keeping record of the proceedings and keeping watch for anything odd.

And did her best to pinpoint the reason why she felt terribly unnerved.

A loud cough from Han caught her attention. Her eyes darted to him and she allowed a small smile at his discomfort. Lando was sitting awfully close to Leia, much closer than a polite business contact should, and constantly brushed his hand against hers when pointing out a particular statement on her datapad. Mara halfway expected Han to jump over the table and punch Calrissian at any moment, but thankfully he seemed to be taking her suggestion to heart and avoiding physical confrontation for the moment.

Finally the meeting came to an end, Leia and Lando cementing their deal with a handshake. Various Cloud City aides congratulated the pair, then Leia turned to Mara and offered a relieved smile. "We'll need to contact Mon Mothma as soon as possible with the news."

Hearing this, Lando inserted himself into the group. "If you would like Princess, you are free to use the city's communications equipment. Our encryption abilities are likely far superior to what you have access to on the Millennium Falcon."

"Thank you," Leia said politely, purposefully ignoring the glowering glare on Han's face. "That is a very generous offer."

A sweep of Lando's arm indicated that the group was to exit the conference room. "After you."

Leia was the first to exit, followed by Threepio, Red, Mara, Chewie and then Han, who still looked like he wanted to punch Calrissian's in the face. To the administrator's credit he remained completely professional, although Mara was pretty sure he was goading Han on purpose. But that was okay with her. Any method of getting Han to openly admit his feelings for Leia was okay with her.

As they made their way through the upper levels of Cloud City, Mara continued to have a very bad feeling. She may not have had many opportunities to use her Force skills over the past six months, but her danger sense was as good as ever. If she felt that something was wrong, it meant something was wrong.

But did that mean that something was wrong on Cloud City, or elsewhere? Even across the vastness of space, Mara had felt the bond between her and Luke grow stronger as he learned the ways of the Force. She had tried many times to communicate with him, as she had been able to with Palpatine, but was unsuccessful. Perhaps she was sensing a remnant of his anxiety.

Or perhaps something had gone wrong back at the fleet. She wasn't aware of any upcoming missions for Rogue Squadron, but that didn't mean that the Rogues hadn't managed to find trouble on their own.

Whatever it was, Mara refused to ignore the bad feeling in her mind. The only thing she could do was listen to the Force.

Of course, that was better said than done when surrounded by two bickering droids and a smuggler who wanted to start a fight with their contact.

Mara sighed as Han hurried his pace, trying to insert himself between Calrissian and Leia. She managed to grab his arm at the last second and kept him firmly in place beside her.

He scowled at her. "Hey, what's the deal?"

Mara raised a brow. "Don't act innocent. It doesn't work for you."

He scowled some more. "Look at the way he's all over her!"

She had to suppress a chuckle at Han's jealously. To think of what could have been if Mara had the opportunity to conspire with Lando and really make Han jealous. Now that would've been something to write home about.

"He's just being polite, Han. Besides, you have nothing to worry about. She's obviously not interested."

"Yeah? Could've fooled me," Han muttered as Leia offered Calrissian a genuine smile.

Mara rolled her eyes. "Remember all those times you'd talk to women in front of her, to make her jealous? Maybe she's learned some tricks from you."

"Hey! My conversations with other women had nothing to do with her. I'm just a friendly guy."

"Right. And I'm the next Empress. Now come on, the sooner Leia makes this call the sooner we can get off Cloud City."

And then, right as Han muttered some derogatory comment under his breath, Mara tightened her grip on his arm and stopped dead in her tracks. That bad feeling had just gotten much worse and she could almost reach out and touch it…

She was vaguely aware of Han questioning her, but she ignored him and stretched out with the Force. Yes, the danger was definitely inside the city and it was definitely related to them.

Then Mara's eyes blinked open in recognition. The last time she'd sensed this disturbance in the Force was during that horrible confrontation with the Executor…

"Vader," she whispered.

He'd found them. He'd finally found them.

"Mara? Mara!" Finally she turned her attention to Han's voice, facing him with frightened eyes. Han took a step back, for he knew that Mara rarely got scared. "What's wrong?"

She shook her head, rushing past him to take Leia's arm and pull her away from the group. "We gotta get out of here," she said through gritted teeth.

Leia, aware of Mara's abilities in the Force, stepped back in fear. "What is it?"

"Vader."

Leia's hand flew to her mouth. "Are you certain?"

"Positive. I don't know how, but he's found us."

"But…" Leia trailed off, turning to Calrissian as a thought went through her mind. "You don't think?"

Mara narrowed her eyes, trying sense of whether or not the administrator had deceived them. She shook her head, finding no treachery. "I don't think so, but we need to leave."

Leia nodded, the decision already made. She spun around to face Calrissian. "What's the quickest way to our ship?"

"Uh…I thought you were going to use our communications equipment, princess?"

"We've had a change of plans."

"What's goin' on?" Han demanded, stepping forward and taking hold of Leia's arm. She immediately snatched it back.

"Trouble," was all she would say before hurrying down the hallway, not bothering to wait for Calrissian's answer.

Running to catch up with her, Calrissian asked, "Princess, please, what is the matter?"

She spared him a glance while following him through the empty corridors. "The Empire has found us."

He paused for a moment, then regained his composure and hurried beside her again. "Princess, I can assure you, our security has been very stringent and there is no possibility of Imperial presence in the city—"

"But there is, administrator!" Leia cut him off. "And not just someone stopping by to take away your tibanna gas. It's Vader."

Now Han was the one to misstep. "Vader?"

"Are you really going to argue with me now, Han?"

"No, but—"

"Stop!" Mara's word rang through the heated discussion, silencing all talk except for Threepio's doomed mutterings. Even Red's distinctive whirring seemed to quiet down.

Mara ignored the others, peering around the empty corridors that should be bustling with citizens at this hour of the day. She whipped around. "Is there another way? A secret way?"

Lando didn't bother asking for an explanation. "Follow me."

Mara nodded at him in admiration. "Smart man."

They followed him down the hallway, Han continuing to demand what the hell was going on while Leia inquired what Mara knew.

"He's here already," she whispered, as if he'd be able to hear her. "They used the meeting as a distraction to infiltrate the city. It's just a few troopers right now until they apprehend us, then they'll bring in an entire garrison to secure the city."

"Princess, I implore you, I had nothing to do with this—"

"We'll discuss your integrity later, administrator. Right now we need to get to our ship."

"But if they know you're here you can't go back to your ship, they'll be waiting for you there."

"Right," Mara agreed. "Vader will plan for that…" Certainly he knew she was aware of their presence; she wouldn't be able to shield her access of the Force from someone of Vader's power. "Is there a place we can hide out, go to ground so to speak, and try to get word out to the Alliance?"

Calrissian nodded. "Yes, in the lower levels of the city. It's all industrial; the Empire won't look there."

"Then let's go."

They hurried through hallway after hallway and lift after lift, making their way through the maze of Cloud City's upper levels. The last hallway had several doorways. "We're almost to the entrance to the lower levels," Calrissian said. "We can cut through these offices as a shortcut."

Mara motioned for him to continue.

Calrissian stopped in front of one of the doorways. Looking over his shoulder, he palmed the entrance…

And there, standing in front of them, was Darth Vader, surrounded by half a squad of stormtroopers. Han had his blaster in hand before Leia could even cry out in fear, but Vader wrenched it away with just a thought. It flew in a delicate arc across the room, landing directly in the Sith Lord's palm.

Mara didn't bother with her blaster. She knew it would be a useless gesture.

Vader stepped forward, all his attention on Mara. She forced herself to stand tall and hold his gaze, calling upon her years of immersion in the Imperial Court. She would not allow him to intimidate her.

Sensing this Vader chuckled, a low rumbling in his throat. He glanced to Leia, then back to Mara. "Princess Leia." He bowed his head. "Mara Jade.

"I am honored that you could join us."