Disclaimer: I do not own any of Star Wars, the right of ownership of Star Wars belong to Lucasfilm and I guess Disney too. The only thing I own is the characters you do not notice and the plot.
Year: 7 BBY
Chapter 21: Near Losts
Back in the main courtyard of the Naboo royal palace, Rachelle was sitting in one of the rooms of a Pelta-class Frigate worrying about her older sister and thinking over what she just have learned. She has learned that her mother is not only alive but also is Darth Asteria, the Sith Lady who has it in for her. When she first met Lillian she has learned that both of her parents died when there ship crashed into the sun in the Corellia System.
It does not bother her for the fact that Darth Asteria is her mother, but how in the world did she live through the incident that causes her ship to crash into the sun. Rachelle sighs as she looks at the window to see Lillian was in a Bacta Tank and that there are Holoscreens monitor her condition. The doctors aboard to her that if they have waited even 10 minutes later, Lillian would not be able to recover and would have died in the next 48 hours. Those that are injured in the Naberrie family got medical treatment that they needed.
Ruwee who have a broken arm got wrapped up in Bacta wrappings for faster healing. His daughter, Sola, was given Bacta Patches for her Blaster wounds in her left shoulder and right thigh. Overall, Rachelle part of the mission is a success and she knows Obi-wan's mission was a success because him and his unit arrive to take out the rest of the Stormtroopers in the city and they are still currently do that.
She does not know about the space battle that is going on above or about her lover's, Mark, mission is going. When she thought of him that was when she sense his surprise and pain through the Force. "MARK!" shout Rachelle as she took off running and jump on a Speeder Bike that came with the supplies and take off trying to find her lover.
In the Naboo Spaceport not that far from the Royal Palace sit an Imperial-class Star Destroy. Mark was walking away when he got surprise by someone shouting his name and then he was blasted by the destructive Force Blast. For not the first time in his life, Mark is using the Force to keep the atoms of his body from separating. He knows if he does not prevent that from happening, his body will be vaporized.
Mark lands hard on the ground after preventing his body from vaporizing. Before the attack him, he swear that he saw a slightly younger Darth Sidious come off one of the ramps of the Star Destroyer.
"What was that you said to me, Zane? Roast in hell you son of a bitch. Maybe you should rephrase to you roast in hell!" laughs a very dark voice of Darth Sidious as he uses the Force to lift the injured Jedi Master up in the air.
Darth Sidious once more try to stab the Jedi Master in the chest, but failed when Mark kicks him in the face. "I do not know how you come back alive, but I will just have to kill you once more." say Mark. "You wish." say Darth Sidious as he sends bunch of Force Blasts at Mark. Mark duck and sends a powerful Force Push right back at Darth Sidious. Darth Sidious quickly steps out of the way.
Mark soon realizes, while he is getting tired out, Darth Sidious seem to have full energy. Darth Sidious once more kicked at Mark's feet and unlike the past few times, he landed and Mark falls down to the ground. Mark quickly rolls away before a red plasma blade nails the surface where he was standing.
"I sense you are in pain and tiring quickly. This should be easy! Soon the galaxy will be rid of the famed Jedi Master Zane and the rule of the Sith and my Galactic Empire can begin!" laughs Darth Sidious as he sends a powerful wave of Force Lightning. Mark uses his Lightsaber to blocks the attack and he went sliding backwards.
Mark senses Rachelle was coming. He mentally curses himself. Now he does not only have to worry about him, but also Rachelle. Darth Sidious once again manage to come back alive. Then the Force gave Mark another warning. The Star Destroyer fires another fire at Mark and Darth Sidious jumps back just in time. Mark throws up a protection bubble and when the powerful fire of the Imperial-class Star Destroy nails the blue shield it knocks Mark down onto his knees. When the smoke clear, Mark found out he was standing on a small circle piece of Spaceport surface which surrounded by a 2 and a half mile deep around him.
Mark breathes heavily as he stands up. Darth Sidious leaps at Mark and they begin to duel on the small piece of land, very similar to the duel that they had in the Senate Rotunda that cost both of them their lives. Blue plasma blade is crossing red plasma blade very different times. It seem like nether warrior seem to want to give up. Then they lock their blades. "Ready to die, Zane!" roars Darth Sidious.
"Are you, Sidious." say Mark as he tries to Force Push Darth Sidious away. Both of them were using Force Push against each other. Then they both went flying off and Mark crashed into the side of the wall as Darth Sidious crashes into the Star Destroyer.
"Fire at him again!" shout Darth Sidious. Once more Mark finds that the Star Destroyer was aiming for him again. Why can't he give a break just once in his life? He knows he is in not condition to move anywhere fast and he surely know he does not have enough energy to protect himself with a Protection Bubble against a Star Destroyer.
Mark punches the ground and waits for what is going to happen. Tear leaks from his eyes, not for the fact that he is dying. Oh no, he is a Jedi and he does not fear dying like the Sith. Death is just another adventure waits to be taken. What saddens him is that he will be leaving Rachelle and his family behind to suffer his demise.
"You are finished, Zane!" shout Darth Sidious with an evil laugh of victory.
Rachelle try to put all the speed that the small Speeder Bike could take she sense Mark is getting weaker during the fight with Darth Sidious. That feeling keeps on getting stronger.
After about 15 minutes of traveling, Rachelle came to a Spaceport and the sense of urgency set up. She speeds through the entrance, much to the annoyance of the officers there. When she got to the Spaceport platforms she notices a couple holes in the ground around an Imperial-class Star Destroyer which was still smoking. She sees a dead body laying on the ground and see Darth Sidious standing near the Star Destroyer.
Her eyes quickly scanned for her lover and he found him laying against the wall. He was injured and beaten very bad. She knows he is not any condition to protect himself for a blast from a Star Destroyer. So she speeds toward him praying to the Force to give her enough time to save the one she loves.
That was when everything seems to be in slow motion when she hears the bang and some plasma shoots out of cannon on the Star Destroyer. She could see that the bolt of plasma is nearing him. At the last moment, Rachelle uses the Force to bring Mark on the Speeder and drives out of the range before the plasma nails the wall. She senses that Darth Sidious is mad.
"Rachelle you crazy… I cannot even think of a name to call you! Since you here get us out of here!" shout Mark over the wind. She speeds through the hole in the wall. Darth Sidious cursed as he went into the Imperial-class Star Destroyer. Right before she speeds out of the hole she notices the dead body was an armless Darth Sidious. Now that is strange, but she has the strangest feeling when the time comes, Mark will explain what is going on.
Major Kia was sitting drinking some warm tea that was made for him when he nearly got scared and run over by a Speeder Bike. "Okay, I want that license of that drive!" snaps Major Kia almost spilling his tea after he moved quickly out of the way.
Obi-wan who was standing nearby senses that it was Rachelle. No surprise, Rachelle does have a bad record at driving crazy. He sensed that a very injured Mark was aboard. He and Major Kia rushes forward when they saw Mark. He did looks beaten very badly. "Is Darth Sidious dead?" ask Obi-wan. "Obi-wan not now! Can't you see his injured? He needs Bacta Tank right now!" scold Rachelle as she slaps him and shakes his head. Major Kia hears this and went to offer his assistance to his non-Cloned friend and commanding officer. Rachelle was grateful for the Clone's help. Soon they got aboard and, Mark undress down to underwear and had white shorts put on. Soon the doctor has him in a Bacta Tank next to Lillian Hunter. Lillian was wearing a white robe instead of shorts.
Rachelle remembers when she helps her sister undress, she was very skinny and she could literally count all of her ribs and her body have bunch of scars on it. It pains her to see her sister in such of a condition. How could a mother do such a thing to her own child? The thought seem to freeze in the mind of Rachelle Hunter. It all goes back to what Master Yoda told her when she was a youngling, the Dark Side changes people for the worst. Through something in her mind is telling her that Darth Asteria was like that before becoming a Sith but when she become a Sith those traits increased.
"He been blasted by a Force Destruction but used the Force to prevent himself from being vaporized." say Obi-wan notice small lines all over Mark's body. He saw it before when Mark prevent them from being vaporized by Darth Vader.
Rachelle knows that is a very destructive power that requires a lot of energy. Not everyone who are in the Dark Side could use such a destructive force. It is so powerful that it is usually use as a last ditch effort. Through some Sith, such as Darth Vader, could use it a few times. She also knows not everyone could survive a direct hit from a Force Destruction because a direct hit means the person get vaporized.
Major Kia walks over to Rachelle. "General, Admiral Jade wants to speak with General Zane, but seeing as he can, I think you should, since you often work with us." say Major Kia. Rachelle nods as she walks out of the medical ship and to a portable handheld Holocom that was sitting on a low gardening wall.
"Maria this is Rachelle. Mark cannot communicate with you right now. He have been serious injure and is currently in the Bacta Tank." say Rachelle as she looks at the small hologram of Maria sitting in a chair. "I am just calling to say that the remaining fleet of True Empire is leaving. Through I swear that I saw a Star Destroyer leaving the planet." say Maria.
"You did, Darth Sidious and Darth Asteria were on it." say Rachelle remembering sensing her birth mother on the ship when she saved Mark from being destroyed by the Star Destroyer weapons. "Well since Mark is currently out of commission and you normally worked with Mark in the 3rd Legion, I guess that makes you in change. I was thinking about keeping some of the fleet above the planet well those that need repairs could either head off or land on the planet to get some repairs done." say Maria.
Rachelle is not used to these big decisions making. It was always Mark who got the final say in something like that. She tries to think what he would do in this situation. He always aims for the best of all options. "I think I would have to agree, Admiral. Assign ships to protect Naboo." say Rachelle. "I would also like to point out that my ship will need repairs." say Maria.
"Then head to the shipyard at Fonder. The planet is located in the Colonies Region of space so it will be closer. Hopefully they could repair any damages that have been done." say Rachelle. "Should I get a replacement ship while this one be worked on?" ask Maria. "We'll see what the shipyards have to say before doing anything." say Rachelle.
Maria nods before the Hologram fades away from view. She walks up the ramp of the medical ship and sits in one of the room. Her chest begins to hurt and decide better to get a Bacta Patch to help smoothes the pain and try to not let a scar appear. She will hate to be all scarred up after their wedding.
Rachelle smiles and shakes her head at the thought; she bet not a lot of women Jedi have thought of that before the codes were change. She really got to stop hanging around with Amelia and Padme, not really. Through the pain of is driving her insane a bit. She found a nurse who was checking the Holoscreens of Mark and Lillian. "May I trouble for some Bacta Patch or Bacta Wraps?" ask Rachelle. "Sure, just give me a few seconds to write down this." say the nurse as he looks up at Rachelle as he was writing something on the Datapad he had. He put it in a pocket of his robes and wave to Rachelle to follows him. As she walks past the Bacta Tanks with Mark and Lillian in it, she closes her eyes.
She knows she was close at saving both of them. Today she nearly lost the love of her life and her sister. If she did not act as fast as she did in both of the situations they will be dead or dying in her sister case. For Mark there wouldn't have been a body to return to the Jedi Temple.
She remembers the saying that you do not know what you have until you lose it. Well she figure out that is half correct. You always takes things you have for granted until you lose them, but also the fact of almost losing them make you see it as if you do lose them. She should have begged her sister to not to go.
"Here you go." say the nurse as he hands her a Bacta Patch. Rachelle nodded her thanks and went into the bathroom to take off her tunic and put the Bacta Patch on the wound. As she was putting her tunic back on, she looks at herself in the mirror.
The guy who has been searching for Maria Jade looks at the mirror in the bathroom of the ship he has found. He is having a feeling he is getting closer to where the Force wants him to be at. What still bothers him is why the Empire so interested in Admiral. He could see reasons because she is part of the Grand Army of the Republic and personally he knows she is very good at what she did. From what he gathers about Mark, she is the Admiral of the ship he usually on and the 3rd Legion is one of the well known military unit within the Grand Army of the Republic.
The guy rubs his face with some water. He looks down at the golden necklace that has a golden heart on it. He opens it up once more to stares at a picture of him and Maria. Around the edge of the picture was their names engraved in it. Around his picture is his name, Logan Jade.
Logan Jade was born in 55 BBY on the planet of Mandalore. He is 6 feet and 8 inches tall with messy dark dirty blond hair that goes down to chin length. His eyes are a bright sky blue with a tint of green in them. His face is strong but young looking. On his right cheek there is a faded scar that looks like an X, a part of the scar goes from the lower right side of his face all the way to the top of the forehead on the left side. He also got a scar going from his left shoulder to the right side of his waist. He is well built that have muscle tone that is well defined.
Just looking at him, people know that Logan Jade is not someone to miss with. Even before his fall to the Dark Side, he was a Jedi that people did not want to mess with. He is aware that his height could intimidate people a lot. What he is unaware of is that the infamous Darth Vader of the Empire, he is taller than him.
Logan picks up the golden necklace and put it on. He gives it a soft kiss before throwing a tunic over. Logan hasn't done much shopping or anything. So the tunic he is wearing is very battle worn and patch up. Even his robe, is patched up, making him look like some homeless person.
In a way he agrees with the term homeless, but not in a way people would think. He does not have a home per say, but could live off the grid, some might say. Logan picks up his Lightsaber. Even his Lightsaber could be shown to have been in tons of battle. There were scratches, dents and burnt marks on it. He has made the hilt of his Lightsaber out of Lightsaber resistance materials. So that is why they are burnt but not cut in half.
He clips the Lightsaber on his belt and went to the front of the ship, where it was on autopilot. He sits down and the path he was traveling seems to change through the Force. The Force all of a sudden does not want him to head to the planet that he was heading too. "What the?" say Logan as he shut off the autopilot.
He turns the ship around and headed back to the Outer Rim. For some odd reason the Force wants him to go to the Outer Rim, which is farther away from Maria. Still he cannot help to feel the pull. The Force was telling him that something is going to happen there and Maria might be involved.
Okay here is the ending to the battle between Darth Sidious and Mark. Now really, you think I will kill off Mark that easy, he is the main character of the story. Nothing much to say about this chapter.
Let's jump to the end of the chapter. Okay, remember some chapters back that I asked for name for the mystery person who was searching for Maria Jade. Since I really did not have any good names up and only one suggestion, i chose it. The Idea and the basic discription of Logan Jade came from canonman89, but I added on to his description. What he suggested was he be 6ft 8 in, which is quite tall, a scar in the shape of an "X" on one of the cheek. Then he told me ideas about his clothing being rip, torn and have holes in it, so I did something similar to he suggusted.
Personally, I was trying to Mark Logan look like this tough person. Keep on thinking of Wolverine X-men when I heard the name Logan. So I wanted to make him look and have the sense of being tough and not someone you want to mess around with. To add to the effect, I even made his homeworld Mandalore, which before Satine became Duchess, it was a warrior type planet. The scar on his torso and extending a part of the X to reach across his face, was my idea.
Hopefully Canonman89 likes how his idea turn out, I surely did. Through I might not be done with some of the surprises with Logan here. Officially Logan Jade is taller than my Darth Vader, who stands at 6ft 5in. Also I think Logan might be the tallest character not only I made for Star Wars, but the tallest of all of Star Wars characters I can find.
Now if you do not know who Logan Jade is to Maria, then you might be a bit blind to the story.
Once again, thanks to Canonman89 for his idea of Logan Jade. Let this be proof to you all that I do take in suggustions from my readers, even through they might not be exact. I was tempted to make Logan 6ft 5in, but decided that the 3 inches of height will make him look even more intimating which was something I was trying to get at when I describe him.
Also when I was doing this, I was also think of Han Solo and Leia Organa. I mean both Leia and Maria are people who like order and they both fall in love with guys that are not exactly the same way as them. So it was that personality I was also try to put into the look a bit. Through I promise Logan will not be like Han Solo, unless I am not trying to make him as such.
Enough of my ramblings
Until next time, enjoy!