Disclaimer: I am not Rick Riordan or George Lucas.
Enter Mara, escorted by Ravelin and Mazicia via speeder bike.
Mazicia. The Magma Caverns were over there. You know, where K'Kruhk and his two friends defended the city from an invading army? Now, there was a brave Imperial.
Ravelin. And look, dear. That's the place where Bail and Prestor washed ashore.
Mazicia. Ah, yes. You were so kind to flood yourself and wash my babies ashore for the Fosh to find.
Ravelin. It was nothing.
Mara stares at the two in disbelief.
Mara. [aside] He's talking about something that happened thousands of years ago. Ravelin saved two babies, one of whom went on to found the galaxy's greatest empire. It was nothing.
Mazicia points out an apartment building.
Mazicia. That used to be a temple to Lwyll. Then it was a church. Then a palace. Then an apartment building. It burned down three times. Now it's an apartment building again. And that spot right there . . .
Mara. [to Mazicia] Please. You're making me dizzy.
Mazicia. [laughs] I'm sorry, dear. Layers upon layers of history here. But it's nothing compared to Corellia. The Republic was old when Bastion was a collection of mud huts. You'll see, if you survive.
Mara. Not helping.
Ravelin. Here we are.
The speeder bike pulls to a stop at a padlocked building composed of Wayland marble.
Mara. I'm going in there?
Mazicia. [laughs] No, my dear. Not in it. Under it.
Ravelin points out a set of steps.
Ravelin. Bastion is chaotic aboveground. But that's nothing compared to below ground. You must descend into the buried city, Mara Jade. Find the altar of the foreign god. The failures of your predecessors will guide you. After that . . . I do not know.
Mara. My siblings . . . None of them made it all the way to the shrine, did they?
Ravelin. [shakes his head] But you know what prize awaits, if you can liberate it.
Mara. Yes.
Mazicia. It could bring peace to the children of the Republic and the Empire. It could change the course of the coming war.
Mara. If I live.
Ravelin. [nods] Because you also understand the guardian you must face?
Mara considers the arachnes she encounted on Bakura, not to mention Luke's dream of Lomi Plo.
Mara. Yes.
Mazicia. [to Ravelin] She is brave. Perhaps she is stronger than the others.
Ravelin. I hope so. Goodbye, Mara Jade. And may the Force be with you.
Mazicia. We have such a lovely afternoon planned. Off to shop.
Exit Ravelin and Mazicia.
Alone, Mara descends belowground. Halfway down she freezes as a thought occurs to her.
Mara. Kriff . . . I haven't done something like this since I was a kid. After running away from home, I spent a few weeks surviving on my own, living in alleyways and hiding from monsters until Jaina and Caedus took her under their wings. Then, once I arrived at the Jedi Praxeum, I lived there until I was twelve. After that, all my quests have been with Luke or my other friends. The last time I've felt this scared and alone, I was seven years old. She remember the day Jaina, Caedus, and I wandered into a Wookiee's lair in the underlevels of Coruscant. Jaina and Caedus were captured, and I had to cut them free. I still remember shivering in a dark corner of that dilapidated mansion, listening to the Wookiees' mimicking my friends' voices, trying to trick me into coming out into the open. What if this is a trick, too? What if those other children of Ashla died because Ravelin and Mazicia Organa led them into a trap? Would they do something like that?
Mara forces herself to continue.
I have no choice. If the Galactic Roundel is really down here, it could decide the fate of the war. More importantly, it could help my mother. Ashla needs me.
Upon reaching the bottom of the stairs, Mara arrives at a locked door. The instant she touches the handle of the door, the Mark of Ashla materializes, and the door swings open.
Mara draws her vibroblade and ventures further inside, stepping into an underground chamber which combines modern technology with the manner of construction used during the days of the Empire. Around the room there are stray boxes, which contain balls of string and fake lightsabers.
Mara comes upon another set of stairs, and after switching on a glowpanel, she continues to descend. Arriving in yet another underground, she discovers an apparent bottomless abyss, within which she can hear running water.
Mara. I'm not jumping.
The Mark of Ashla glimmers into existence, signifying that this is the only way.
Mara considers her options.
[aside] Too dangerous to jump. No ladders or ropes. I could borrow some durasteel scaffolding from above to use as a fire pole. But no, it's all bolted in place. Besides, I don't want to risk the building collapsing on top of me. [frustrated] I have spent my life watching other Jedi gain amazing powers. Luke can control water. If he were here, he could raise the water level and simply float down. Tahiri, from what she says, can find her way underground with flawless accuracy and even creature or change the course of tunnels. She could easily make a new path. Ben would pull just the right tools from his belt and build something to do the job. Jag could turn into a hawk-bat. Jacen could simply control the wind and float down. Even Danni with her Force manipulation . . . she could have convinced Ravelin and Mazicia to be a little more helpful. What do I have? A vibroblade that does nothing special, and a cursed Jedi Credit. I have no amazing powers. Even my one true Forceful item, my cloaking device, has stopped working, and it's not even here.
A voice appears in the back of Mara's mind.
Ashla's Voice. You've got your intelligence.
Mara. Of course. Intelligence . . . like Ashla's favorite Jedi, Obi-Wan. He won the Clone Wars with cleverness, not strength. He overcame all sorts of monsters and herdships with his quick wits. That's what Ashla values. Wisdom's daughter walks alone. That doesn't mean just without other people. It means without any special powers. Okay . . . so how to get down there safely and make sure I have a way to get out again if necessary?
Mara returns to the upper chamber, taking in the balls of string and the plasteel swords. With desperation, she quickly uses the string and sword to weave a makeshift rope ladder.
After first ensuring that the ladder is strong enough to hold her weight, Mara begins climbing down the ladder, managing to make it safely to the bottom, landing in a puddle of freezing water.
Assuming this underground chamber to a portion of an ancient Imperial plumbing system, Mara considers how it could have survived after all these centuries. This leads her to a chilling idea.
Over a year ago, Luke and I went on a quest in the Graveyard of Alderaan — a secret network of tunnels and rooms, heavily enchanted and trapped, which ran under all the worlds of the Galactic Alliance. When Vodo-Siosk Baas died in the Battle of the Graveyard, the entire asteroid field had collapsed . . . or so I believed. But what if that is only in the GA? What if this is an older version of the Graveyard? Baas did say that his creation had a life of its own. It was constantly growing and changing. Maybe the Graveyard could regenerate, like monsters. That would make sense. It's an archetypal force, as Yoda would say . . . something that can never really die. If this is part of the Graveyard . . .
On the off chance that this is indeed part of the Graveyard, Mara begins unraveling the remaining string behind her as she continues her journey. In the Graveyard, it would be too easy to get lost.
Exit all.