Disclaimer: Don't own Star Wars, make no money.
Blood and Darkness, Book One, Part Two
The Fifth Round Robin
By:
Jayde Jade
Liz Skywalker
KT the Hutt
Luke opened the door and a bat flew in above his head. Not seeing it, he closed
the door and went to contact Lando. He was telling Lando everything he needed to
know. As he disconnected, he turned around and was only mildly surprised to see
Darth Vader standing behind him.
"You should be more aware of your surroundings, young one." Vader said. Luke
said nothing. Then more gently, "I knew the day would come, Luke. How much of
that was truth?" Luke was silent. "All of it, I'm sure. You wouldn't settle for
less. How long has this been going for?"
Luke was impassive, face betraying nothing. "Luke, this is an order." Vader
waited. After a while, Luke spoke up.
"I don't know who I am. It's like I'm two people, Luke Vader...and Luke
Skywalker."
"Your alias with the Rebellion." Vader stated unnecessarily.
"Yes. When I was there, it was like I was another person, even when I kept the
fact that I was a spy foremost in my mind."
"It is well known that Rebellion Conditioning is very hard to break."
"And Imperial is also supposed to be." Luke was silent for a while, then spoke
up. "How long have you known?"
"That you were acting as a double agent? Ever since you got back. But back to
the main subject, tell me about Luke Skywalker."
"What is there to say? He is a rebel pilot who, in six months, grew from a low
fighter pilot to a capital ship captain. Who, on it's maiden voyage as Rebel
ship, was captured in a sneak attack by the Empire. Skywalker was then captured
and given over into the custody of Lord Vader. He has somehow gotten in
connection with the Rebellion and is giving them Imperial secrets." Luke said
nonchalantly.
"With the help of his man-servant, Ven." Vader added. Luke looked up sharply.
"You knew?"
"You could not have made it more obvious. It was almost if you wanted me to find
out that you were defying me."
"It was the Vader in me. Vader vs. Skywalker, the end result is me." Luke turned
away. "I don't know who I am. One minute I'm Luke Vader, no problems, and then
suddenly I'm contacting the Rebellion and telling them what systems you plan to
take over."
"Tell me, Luke, what is Skywalker's position on humans?"
"He thinks they are poor, unfortunate creatures that deserve only pity."
"And Vader's?"
"They are food, and very entertaining prey."
"And what about yours?"
The question threw Luke off-guard. "What do you mean?"
"What do you, at this moment, think about humans?"
"I don't. I prefer not to."
"Luke!"
"That...they...they're food!" Luke blurted out.
"Now was that so hard?" Vader asked. Luke nodded. A brief look came over the
elder Vader's face, but it passed so quickly, Luke couldn't discern what it was.
"Luke, answer me frankly. How long has it been since you tasted blood? Real
blood, human blood."
Luke looked at Darth Vader for a few moments, unmoving.
"How long since your last kill? The last time you wrapped your mouth around a
human's throat and fed? Since you felt the thrill, the sheer animal thrill, of
it?"
"I d-d-don't kn-o-w..." Luke stammered.
"Too long then." Vader took out his comlink. "Bring in Ven." Two stormtroopers
brought Prescott Ven in and knocked him to the floor. Luke looked on with a
hungry expression as Vader took one long nail and slashed Ven wrists. Blood
dripped freely and Luke had a crazed expression on his face. Ven looked at his
master horrified. Vader had guessed right. It had been so long that Luke could
not control himself, that the mere smell of blood would drive him crazy, let
alone the sight of fresh, warm, red blood.
"Drink." Vader urged him. "Drink and live, for it is your destiny upon which I
have placed you." Vader quoted at him.
Luke started to lunge forward, but stopped himself. Skywalker took hold of Vader
and tried to push him back, but the sight of Ven there dripping, the food out
and delicious, drove Skywalker out. Luke Vader stood and ,after a nod from his
father, started to lick the blood from Ven's wrists. Suddenly, that wasn't
enough, and Luke was all over him, fangs in throat. He sucked and drank deep.
Luke drank as never before, he had never known he could be so thirsty. Suddenly,
all he held in his arms was a corpse. Ven was sucked dry.
Luke felt more satisfied than he had ever been before. In fact, he hadn't known
he could be this sated. He had fed more upon Ven's emotions of anger, hurt, and
confusion. Near the end, when the marking broke, Luke had feasted upon betrayal,
fury, and rage. Luke licked his lips. He craved another banquet like that again.
A hand reached down and tousled his white-blond locks. "Little bat." His father
said affectionately. Luke felt himself purr. His father hadn't called him that
in years. That satisfaction combined with finally knowing who, and what, he was,
made for a sumptuous banquet indeed.
"Han, listen to this." Leia told her fiancée.
"What is it?"
"It's sort of the Vampire Bible. It doesn't have a title but it brings down the
real story of how the vampires started and what rules they adhere to. But I want
you to hear this passage: 'Drink and live, for this is the water of life, the
elder told the younger. Drink and live for it is your destiny upon which I have
placed you. Drink and live, for this is the food which you shall drink, the life
blood. Drink and live, these are the words you shall live by.
'And the accursed Jedi got up and said, View this, O Jedi, for this is what you
shall drink, and pointed to the animal before them. This is what you shall
drink, this is what you shall live by. And the Jedi caused many of their number
to die that year.
'And the elder said to the younger, these are the rules you shall live by. When
a child is born, you shall wait 90 days. After 2 moons, if the child changes,
the father shall bite him. If the child does not change, you shall kill him for
he is not of us. If a child of our own is born to the humans, take him at all
costs and the taker shall bite him and he shall be unto him as a son.'"
"Interesting. But what does this have to do with me?"
"We are dealing directly with the Emperor, we have to understand the vampires to
be able to deal with them. Vampires are by definition dead, but since they are
werewolves, they are living and can stand the sun's ray. They can propagate and
they can go without food. They can change into a bat and a wolf at will and do
not change with the moons unless they will it."
"Like Luke?"
Leia sighed. They had tried so hard to conceal that Luke was a Force-sensitive.
"Yes, but he had never been bitten so every month, he changed. But he had enough
control that he could change back immediately and not many people noticed."
"I suppose now that Vader's got him, he's already been bitten." Han said
bitterly.
"Han, we don't know that. He has been serving as a spy for us."
"About spies, Leia, is what I came to talk to you about. Ven has been silenced."
Katrina watched in horror as they took her daughter, her Shmi. The tall slaver
shot Katrina in the chest...
Luke Vader looked up from the documents he had been reading, these visions came
so often now, he almost didn't notice any more. How long had this one lasted? He
looked out the window, the moon was just starting to rise, when the vision had
started the sun was just rising, "Ok, I get it," he said aloud, "The shorter the
vision, the longer it lasts." He sighed and threw the documents a side.
Mara woke up with a sick feeling in her stomach. The feeling hadn't gone away
the entire day. It wasn't that she hadn't eaten, she had fed last night in fact.
It was more like a promotion of evil, of...something. It was as if destiny and
life itself revolved around this day.
So she wasn't startled when she felt a hand wrap around her throat when she was
alone and drag her into a dark corner. She tried to break free but her assailant
was strong. Angry, she bit his hand and felt it heal itself immediately.
Startled, she stopped struggling. The hand withdrew.
"Who are you? And who ever you are, you better have a good excuse..." She
trailed off as he held up a warning finger.
"I got you once Jade, I can get you again. In fact, I want to propose an
alliance, a temporary one of course, but an alliance just the same."
"What do you want to do?"
"Kill the Rebellion." He said nonchalantly as if he did that everyday.
"And how would this help me?"
"I know that the Rebellion is stealing some of your profits and other things.
Killing them would increase your profit margins, and help boost security."
"Security is tight enough." She snapped angrily.
"I was able to get in." He said pointedly.
"Enough of this game, Vader. What is it you want?"
"I want your help, Jade." Luke leaned on the durasteel as he outlined his plan.
Leia started as a figure came from the shadows in front of her. Before there had
been nothing, now there was this...thing. The thing took shape and Leia was
surprised to see that it was...
"Luke", she breathed.
"Correct. Or, partly correct, highness." Luke smiled coldly and Leia could see
the two fangs that hung down from where his canines should have been.
"Vader bit you didn't he?" Leia asked, dreading the answer.
"Partly correct again highness. You think he recently bit me." Here Luke's smile
grew larger and Leia could see how the other teeth had turned partly into
werewolf fangs.
"What's the partly part?"
"You're looking at Imperial Prince Luke Vader." said a voice from behind her.
Leia whirled and was shocked to see Crime Lord Jade standing there. She turned
back to Luke, who's grin grew even more sinister, if that was possible.
"Vader? Luke, is this true?" she asked needlessly. He nodded. Her heart sank.
*Vader, why do you want me here?* Came the voice in his head.
*Just wait and watch.* He replied.
"So what are you going to do to me?" Leia asked.
"LEIA!" The shout came from behind her. She turned and was overjoyed
to see Han and Lando come running in.
"Thank the light," Leia breathed.
*That's why.* Luke sent to Mara.
*Vader, don't tell me that you can't take on three humans. UNARMED humans.*
*Of course I can. But a guy needs to eat.*
*Vader, you have the pick of the litter up there. You don't have to
settle for what I have to settle for.*
*Jade, don't be blind.*
*What do you mean?*
*Organa's a sensitive. Not enough to Change every month, but still a sensitive.
Solo and Calrissian, there is none better than Correlian. It's so hard to get Correlian these days.*
*So you want me to hold them off while you have dinner?*
*Jade, I'm hurt that you would ever even think of such a thing. When a man takes
a woman out to dinner, it's customary that she chooses what she want and the man
gets the left-overs. But I do want a bite of Organa.*
*Only fair, I guess.*
While they had been conversing, the Humans had grouped together and were trying
to get something from their pockets. As they pieced it together, Luke could see
that they were making a stake. He nearly laughed out loud. They thought they
could kill him with a stake. Didn't it cross their minds that a vampire in it's
right mind wouldn't go anywhere if they could be killed by a piece of wood? It
was almost impossible to kill a vampire. Only another vampire could do it.
*Vader...* Mara warned in his head.
*Just break it in your hands, Jade.*
*VADER! DO I HAVE TO SPELL IT OUT?*
*I'll take Calrissian. You take Solo. Organa is already taken care of.*
Mara looked at Leia and, sure enough, she was backed into the wall and looked on
the verge of collapse. Mara turned her attention back to Solo. Vader had been
true to his word. Solo looked much more appetizing than Calrissian. She had
always had a weakness for Kzety Correllian Blood as opposed to Yvopy. She
wondered briefly how Vader had known that.
*Luke.* He insisted in her mind. *My name is Luke.*
*Alright...Luke. And my name is Mara.*
*Okay...Mara.*
Calrissian and Solo approached them, stake out and pointed at Luke's heart. At
the last second, Luke step sided and grabbed the shaft. He twisted and pulled
the stake from their hands. He tossed it to Mara who promptly snapped it. Luke
then turned to face them.
It was over. Mara was standing over Solo, playing with him. Solo would moan and
Mara would lick his ear and then bite his neck viciously. Solo would scream in
pain and Mara would kiss his lips.
Over by the wall, Luke was playing much of the same game with Calrissian. But
Luke was much more hungry than Mara. Luke had stripped Calrissian of his shirt
and had streaked his claws across Calrissian's chest, licking up the blood at
intervals. Luke was alternating between giving Lando the Kiss of Death and
massaging Lando's muscles. Every time Lando groaned, Luke would lick
Calrissian's body, every time a little lower. Calrissian was conscious and kept
screaming, yelling for Luke to stop, to get off of him, to turn back into Luke
Skywalker. At last Luke had had enough of Calrissian's screams and, as he open
his mouth to scream, kissed him full on the lips. Calrissian, startled, stopped
struggling, and Luke moved lower and Kissed Calrissian on the neck.
"What am I, a cup?" Calrissian had time to groan before the life was fully
sucked out of him by Luke who hung on to him like a leech.
Mara stood from her drink to see Luke eying Organa.
"Take her, Luke. I've got the best meal right here." Mara said, kicking Solo in
the stomach. Solo, who was strapped to the remains of the stake and was stood up
in a corner, groaned and coughed up blood. Mara grinned wickedly and kissed
Solo, sucking up the blood. It was true what they said. Vampires who shared
blood together shared lives together. Mara knew it and didn't care. If this was
Luke Vader, she didn't want anyone else.
Leia awoke to see Lando dead by the wall across from her and Han tied up in a
corner and Luke standing directly above her.
"What, what happened?" She asked smally.
"That is immaterial." Luke said flatly.
"What happened to you, Luke? I thought you were my friend."
Luke licked his lips at the feeling of anger and betrayal coming from her. He
had been right. She was a sensitive. "You thought wrong. I was never your
friend."
"Luke Vader." She said in wonder. "You were spying on us." And then louder. "YOU
WERE SPYING ON US!!!"
Mara looked over at them and put her finger to her lips playfully. "Brilliant
deduction, Organa." Luke said dryly.
"What are you going to do to me?"
Luke ignored her. "You know, Organa, you are a sensitive." Hushing her protests,
he went on, "it sometimes manifests in humans, but in you it wasn't strong
enough to Change you every month."
"What are you going to do to me?" She demanded.
"There are two types of Kisses. There is the Kiss of Death and the Kiss of
Conversion. They both feel the same to the human it is being done on, but to the
Kisser..." Luke's face showed absolute ecstasy.
"WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO TO ME?"
Luke looked at her as if first seeing her. "Feed." And then he did. Her shrieks
reached the top floor of the building they were in, an amazing feat since they
were in the lower levels of Coruscant.
Mara walked next Luke as they came to the Imperial Palace.
"You sure you want to do this?" Luke asked her. "This wasn't part of our
agreement. I was going to leave you in peace."
"I'm sure." Mara said. Luke nodded and then left her with the stormtroopers as
he went in to see the Emperor.
Left alone by Luke, Mara drifted around the outer throne room, waiting for
admittance to the inner throne room by a royal guard. Absently, Mara's hand rose
to the twin scars that Palpatine had given her when she was 90 days old. But she
felt something out of place. It was almost as if.... It felt like...no. He
couldn't have done...it...to her. It totally undermined the trust they had in
each other. But...if he had...when she thought he had then there was no trust
between them. There was only way to find out. She gathered the energy field that
was called The Force around her and searched out her blood. She detected foreign
elements. THAT JEDI! He had. She blasted herself with the Force and broke the
marking that that little Jedi had put on her.
"Why?" Vader asked Luke.
"I needed her help." Luke replied and looked away. Vader angrily got up and
walked over to Luke. Vader's hands grabbed hold of Luke's jaw, forcing him to
look forward.
"And?" Vader spoke in Luke's face.
"I needed her to help me." Luke said evenly. Vader's fangs slid down.
Luke recoiled in fear. Fangs were read like a Twi'lek's lekku. Luke's were
hidden as a show of respect, non-violence, and submission. He normally wore his
half-down as a sign of readiness. But there were very few times he had seen
Vader full fanged while in human form. It frightened him more than he liked to
admit.
Luke closed his eyes as Vader's fangs slid down Luke's neck and was silent as
they slashed his throat. Vader caught some of the dripping blood on his finger
before the wound closed up.
"Drink." Luke obeyed. The mixture of his blood and Vader's blood went rushing
through his body, momentarily weakening him.
"Now, tell me everything." Vader ordered. As Luke complied, it finally came to
him what Vader had done. In fact, it made him feel older. Father only renewed
bitings when the sons were of age and old enough to care for themselves.
Mara fumed. *To think that I was considering asking that slime ball to blood
me!* To add insult to injury, she knew that blooding could be fatal, she had
done it on more than one vampire herself. Blooding was very complex and included
a wide array of Force use and actual bleeding, which in itself was hard to do
because a vampire's body automatically healed itself. *I will never trust that
womp-rat again!* She told herself firmly, but something in her rebelled. could
it be that she actually liked him after what he had done to her?
Vader nodded and Luke stopped talking. He had just detailed everything from
searching out Mara to why he marked her to how Organa tasted.
"Morphate." Vader told Luke. At that code word, Luke automatically shrunk and
grew wings. Bat Luke flew up to the ceiling and found a perch. He was invisible
to even a vampire eye. His eyes were as sharp as a werewolves and senses keened
up and ready. He watched silently as his father called Mara in and started
talking to her. He could see that she was very angry and that Father was
comforting her. He stretched his ears to hear what was being said.
Luke's frown turned to a cold smile as he listened to what was being
said. "Did you order Luke to mark me?" Mara demanded. She was so angry that Luke
could taste it. It was very appetizing, he decided.
"No." Vader replied simply.
Mara was thrown off-guard. She hadn't expected such a straightforward answer.
"Then why did he?"
"He assumed that you would not aid him if he did not."
"Well, that was correct." Mara conceded. "But why did he need me in the first
place? I know that he could have beaten 3 humans and held off others as he fed."
"Would you believe me if I told you that he was attracted to you?"
"No." Mara answered bluntly. "Also, because I suspect that that was not the
reason."
"Why don't you ask him yourself when you next see him?"
"Why would I see him?" Mara asked, but didn't receive an answer.
Instead, Vader gestured dismissal and Mara was escorted out. Vader looked up and
Luke flew down. Midair, he began to change back. By the time he was close to the
floor, he was fully human. He 'jumped' down from his stalling and turned to face
Vader.
"I want you to follow her."
"Yes Father."
"And explain yourself to her."
"Yes Father." Luke turned on one heel and walked to the doors. Once there, he
paused and turned. "Father?"
"Yes?"
"Why were you angry before?"
"I was angry at myself for not noticing that you had grown. It came to me that
you were acting like an adult and I was still treating you like a child."
Luke paused and absorbed the words. Then, he slowly nodded and walked out.
"Janson!" The cry came.
"What is it, Klivian?" Janson's head snapped up at he glared at his partner.
"Come look what I found."
Klivian brought Janson into a dark room. Janson flashed his glow-lamp around.
"Holy Sith." He exclaimed softly. Inside the room were three mutilated bodies.
"My thought exactly." Klivian said.
"We better report this." Janson said doubtfully. Klivian gave him a look that
said 'you've got to be kidding.'
"Let's keep it as our little secret. It might involve too many higher-ups."
"Good idea. Let's get out of here." Janson backed away quickly and together,
they escaped into the lower levels of Coruscant, looking for more Rebel scum.
Katrina felt a strange sense of peace as her soul started to separate from the
mass of crude flesh, bones and blood called a body. There was no pain, she felt
another presence join her... Devon, but only for a second, it felt as if he was
being torn away from her, she could hear his screams, his cries of pain, and
then, the eerie silence she had 'felt' when she had first become a vampire... oh
gods. In a flash she remembered the bond, remembered what she had done to him...
Katrina heard the cries of her daughter, her little shimmer of hope, her Shmi...
*Why am I left here to be tortured by the cries of my loved ones?!* she 'cried'
to herself, wishing that something would break the horrible, invisible thread
that still bound her to the physical realm, so she wouldn't hear Shmi's cries,
so she couldn't... FEEL the pain... the pain of not being able to hold her child
for one last time... then, suddenly, it was all gone, the world she had known so
well, her husband, her child, her life... and she knew where she was. THIS was
the other side... THIS was the Force.
Mara stood, over looking the city from a balcony. She heard Luke approach her
from behind. "I don't want to hear it." She stated, putting up her hand to stop
him from saying anything. "Mara-" Mara turned to face him. "It's JADE." Luke
sighed, "Alright... Jade."
Mara turned and tried to leave, Luke blocked her path, she started to sift into
bat form, Luke grabbed her hand, sending his emotions through her. She gasped
and pulled her hand away. After a moment of silence Mara spoke up. "Is... is
that really what you feel for me?" she asked softly, turning toward him. Luke
nodded, offering her his hand, she took it and was swept up in a river of
memories and emotions. Luke began to explain every thing...
"It began when I was small and it's carried on until now. I'm sure it was the
same with you, Mara, but I felt it very keenly. I was alone in the galaxy, just
something to be used and then discarded. I know now that that was not the way it
actually was, but I still can't shake off that feeling." Luke paused to breathe.
"I know what you mean, Luke." Mara said softly.
"When I went into the Rebellion," Luke went on as if not hearing her, "I thought
maybe I could be something here, be someone I never was. I let their talk sway
me, to do things I never would have done here. I can blame some of it on my
selection of food. I lost track of the times I had to force myself to eat Human
Food. It's not natural." Luke shook his head. "Once a month, when I changed
myself into a wolf, I thought that maybe I could hunt like this. But Organa knew
my secret and locked me up. The first time, when she walked in on me on the
first full moon, she was about to kill me. I had to convince her that I was an
unbitten Force-user, that I was harmless." Luke spat the word out. "Harmless,
that's what I had to be. I grew my hair out to hide my scars and used make up
before medical check ups. Ever tried holding your fangs in for months at a
time?" Mara shook her head no. "It hurts. It hurts like hell. But my quarters
were bugged and so was my fighter. They would glisten too much. Sometimes, I
would go into the refresher and put my head into a towel and let them out for a
few seconds. I had to put them back up quickly. If I ever was out of site for a
few minutes, security would barge in." Luke shook his head. "Shows how much they
trusted a Force-user. I was a sworn enemy of the Empire, yet every month there
was a few people in the room with me, just to make sure I changed."
"Sounds like the Rebellion isn't the haven it's made out to be." Mara commented.
"That's an understatement," Luke snorted. "They discriminate against anything
that's not their native species. So the humans were discriminated against by the
Twi'leks, the Roans, the Mon Cals, etc, and they were discriminated against by
the humans. But I didn't fall under any of those categories. But not many people
knew that. To them I was a human. To some I was a werewolf that needed to be
watched. And to a select few I was a Sensitive."
"Those that knew you were a werewolf, what did they think you ate?" Mara asked,
caught up in the tale.
"I suppose they didn't think about it. By their thinking, since I was part
human, why couldn't I eat human food? The cooks knew me and what I liked. They
always left some uncooked meat for me. Whenever I had a mission, they were never
solo, I would try to ditch my partner and go hunting. I never had time to savor
the humans. After a while, I stopped caring. By that time, the Rebel
Conditioning had broken into me and started mixing into my natural control. I
started to have visions of my grandmother and her parents in alternate
realities. I saw my grandmother killed at a young age, I saw her killed at her
wedding, I saw her still alive to day. I saw my great-grandparents killed
thousands of ways."
"Her name was Katrina? Your great-grandmother?" At Luke's startled nod, she
continued. "I glimpsed the end of one of your visions of her."
"They come often. I've learned to ignore them. They don't tell me anything
useful."
"How did you come back into the Empire?" Mara asked softly, trying to not break
the spell that surrounded them.
"I earned the Rebellion's trust. I helped of course," Luke grinned, fangs
hanging down low. "They needed only a little persuasion. They gave me control of
a captured Imperial Star Destroyer, Executioner I believe the original name was.
It was renamed Rebel Dream. On it's maiden voyage, my father asked me where I
was. After I had divulged my location, the Imperial Fleet came out of
hyperspace. They shot some well placed shots to where the shield was the
weakest. Accidentally, one of the shots shut off the self-destruct. Quite an
accident."
"I'm sure." Mara murmured.
"Well, the Rebel Dream was captured. It turned into the Rebel Nightmare. No pun
intended. I told all. And so did all the crew-sentients. It was the worst defeat
the Rebellion had ever faced. My father took some sort of perverse pleasure in
that. I have no intention of ever finding out why. I got a ride home in the
Executor."
"And then you killed Palpatine." Mara accused him.
"I was ordered to. Father was half-bitten by Palpatine so he couldn't kill him.
That didn't stop him from being able to order me to kill him. Since there was no
trace of Palpatine's blood in my veins, I had no trouble killing him. It went
very quick. When I was done, Father came in and drank just enough to mark the
kill."
"Which is why I don't feel anything toward him."
"Exactly. He didn't drink enough for Palpatine's life source to be centered in
him so that all Palpatine's servants would serve him. He just drank enough to
know where they all were. For weeks after Palpatine's death, we were busy
killing all of them."
"Except for me."
"Father had heard of you. Who hadn't heard of the Emperor's Hand? Even I had.
But we didn't know who you were. And in the weeks of confusion, you had gone."
"I fled." Mara recalled. "I was afraid of everything. I went underground,
fighting for survival. A crime lord took me on and trained me to be his
successor. When he was done, I drank him. He was very sweet." Mara licked her
lips.
"I don't know, I prefer sour." Luke grinned. This had suddenly turned into a
conversation more ordinary than the human affinity for talking about the
weather. Talking about blood preferences, that was the most everyday thing ever
invented. Luke smiled at Mara and she smiled back.
Mothma gazed in anger at the holos of the bodies that had once been Organa-Solo,
Solo and a man who's name escaped her for the moment. She knew very well what
had happened to them... Vader. She stood up from her desk to cast a spell of
protection... an old habit she had picked up from her parents, her parents...
Mothma felt her anger override her discernment of the situation. Yes she was an
old fool, but a powerful and deadly old fool, at least... she once was. Yes she
had her doubts, and knew that the Rebellion alone could not defeat this powerful
Empire, but with this new ally... with this new belief, the Empire didn't stand
a chance! Mothma let out a horrible, evil cackle in delight.
Luke gazed at the golden orb gently floating in front of him. He reached out for
it, feeling it's power... the power he had to have. Luke took a step forward-and
fell into the darkness. "No!" someone cried... Mara. As he fell, he felt an evil
darker than the deeds he had done in the past... darker than anything he could
imagine. Death. Death was here. He felt the fear of the damned, the pain of
hopelessness. And he saw it, a creature filled with hate and destruction, one
that he knew would not hesitate to rip him to shreds. He knew his only advantage
against this... monster, would be immortality...
Luke awoke in a cold sweat. He had learned to ignore these visions... but this
one was different... how, he wasn't sure, but he felt it held an important
meaning... one he could not yet comprehend... Mara awoke next to him.
"Vision?" she asked softly, seeing the concern on his face.
He shook his head, "It's nothing to worry about." Mara glared at him.
"Vader, you can't hide anything from me and you know it! Out with it!"
Luke shrugged and lay down. "It's just a useless vision, don't worry about it."
Mara sighed, knowing she wouldn't get anything more out of him and lay down as
well, just as Luke got up in realization.
"Oh, shit!" He muttered as he started to climb out of the bed, but Mara grabbed
him and pulled him back under the covers.
"What ever you forgot, it can wait."
End Part Two
End Book One
Blood and Darkness, Book One, Part Two
The Fifth Round Robin
By:
Jayde Jade
Liz Skywalker
KT the Hutt
Luke opened the door and a bat flew in above his head. Not seeing it, he closed
the door and went to contact Lando. He was telling Lando everything he needed to
know. As he disconnected, he turned around and was only mildly surprised to see
Darth Vader standing behind him.
"You should be more aware of your surroundings, young one." Vader said. Luke
said nothing. Then more gently, "I knew the day would come, Luke. How much of
that was truth?" Luke was silent. "All of it, I'm sure. You wouldn't settle for
less. How long has this been going for?"
Luke was impassive, face betraying nothing. "Luke, this is an order." Vader
waited. After a while, Luke spoke up.
"I don't know who I am. It's like I'm two people, Luke Vader...and Luke
Skywalker."
"Your alias with the Rebellion." Vader stated unnecessarily.
"Yes. When I was there, it was like I was another person, even when I kept the
fact that I was a spy foremost in my mind."
"It is well known that Rebellion Conditioning is very hard to break."
"And Imperial is also supposed to be." Luke was silent for a while, then spoke
up. "How long have you known?"
"That you were acting as a double agent? Ever since you got back. But back to
the main subject, tell me about Luke Skywalker."
"What is there to say? He is a rebel pilot who, in six months, grew from a low
fighter pilot to a capital ship captain. Who, on it's maiden voyage as Rebel
ship, was captured in a sneak attack by the Empire. Skywalker was then captured
and given over into the custody of Lord Vader. He has somehow gotten in
connection with the Rebellion and is giving them Imperial secrets." Luke said
nonchalantly.
"With the help of his man-servant, Ven." Vader added. Luke looked up sharply.
"You knew?"
"You could not have made it more obvious. It was almost if you wanted me to find
out that you were defying me."
"It was the Vader in me. Vader vs. Skywalker, the end result is me." Luke turned
away. "I don't know who I am. One minute I'm Luke Vader, no problems, and then
suddenly I'm contacting the Rebellion and telling them what systems you plan to
take over."
"Tell me, Luke, what is Skywalker's position on humans?"
"He thinks they are poor, unfortunate creatures that deserve only pity."
"And Vader's?"
"They are food, and very entertaining prey."
"And what about yours?"
The question threw Luke off-guard. "What do you mean?"
"What do you, at this moment, think about humans?"
"I don't. I prefer not to."
"Luke!"
"That...they...they're food!" Luke blurted out.
"Now was that so hard?" Vader asked. Luke nodded. A brief look came over the
elder Vader's face, but it passed so quickly, Luke couldn't discern what it was.
"Luke, answer me frankly. How long has it been since you tasted blood? Real
blood, human blood."
Luke looked at Darth Vader for a few moments, unmoving.
"How long since your last kill? The last time you wrapped your mouth around a
human's throat and fed? Since you felt the thrill, the sheer animal thrill, of
it?"
"I d-d-don't kn-o-w..." Luke stammered.
"Too long then." Vader took out his comlink. "Bring in Ven." Two stormtroopers
brought Prescott Ven in and knocked him to the floor. Luke looked on with a
hungry expression as Vader took one long nail and slashed Ven wrists. Blood
dripped freely and Luke had a crazed expression on his face. Ven looked at his
master horrified. Vader had guessed right. It had been so long that Luke could
not control himself, that the mere smell of blood would drive him crazy, let
alone the sight of fresh, warm, red blood.
"Drink." Vader urged him. "Drink and live, for it is your destiny upon which I
have placed you." Vader quoted at him.
Luke started to lunge forward, but stopped himself. Skywalker took hold of Vader
and tried to push him back, but the sight of Ven there dripping, the food out
and delicious, drove Skywalker out. Luke Vader stood and ,after a nod from his
father, started to lick the blood from Ven's wrists. Suddenly, that wasn't
enough, and Luke was all over him, fangs in throat. He sucked and drank deep.
Luke drank as never before, he had never known he could be so thirsty. Suddenly,
all he held in his arms was a corpse. Ven was sucked dry.
Luke felt more satisfied than he had ever been before. In fact, he hadn't known
he could be this sated. He had fed more upon Ven's emotions of anger, hurt, and
confusion. Near the end, when the marking broke, Luke had feasted upon betrayal,
fury, and rage. Luke licked his lips. He craved another banquet like that again.
A hand reached down and tousled his white-blond locks. "Little bat." His father
said affectionately. Luke felt himself purr. His father hadn't called him that
in years. That satisfaction combined with finally knowing who, and what, he was,
made for a sumptuous banquet indeed.
"Han, listen to this." Leia told her fiancée.
"What is it?"
"It's sort of the Vampire Bible. It doesn't have a title but it brings down the
real story of how the vampires started and what rules they adhere to. But I want
you to hear this passage: 'Drink and live, for this is the water of life, the
elder told the younger. Drink and live for it is your destiny upon which I have
placed you. Drink and live, for this is the food which you shall drink, the life
blood. Drink and live, these are the words you shall live by.
'And the accursed Jedi got up and said, View this, O Jedi, for this is what you
shall drink, and pointed to the animal before them. This is what you shall
drink, this is what you shall live by. And the Jedi caused many of their number
to die that year.
'And the elder said to the younger, these are the rules you shall live by. When
a child is born, you shall wait 90 days. After 2 moons, if the child changes,
the father shall bite him. If the child does not change, you shall kill him for
he is not of us. If a child of our own is born to the humans, take him at all
costs and the taker shall bite him and he shall be unto him as a son.'"
"Interesting. But what does this have to do with me?"
"We are dealing directly with the Emperor, we have to understand the vampires to
be able to deal with them. Vampires are by definition dead, but since they are
werewolves, they are living and can stand the sun's ray. They can propagate and
they can go without food. They can change into a bat and a wolf at will and do
not change with the moons unless they will it."
"Like Luke?"
Leia sighed. They had tried so hard to conceal that Luke was a Force-sensitive.
"Yes, but he had never been bitten so every month, he changed. But he had enough
control that he could change back immediately and not many people noticed."
"I suppose now that Vader's got him, he's already been bitten." Han said
bitterly.
"Han, we don't know that. He has been serving as a spy for us."
"About spies, Leia, is what I came to talk to you about. Ven has been silenced."
Katrina watched in horror as they took her daughter, her Shmi. The tall slaver
shot Katrina in the chest...
Luke Vader looked up from the documents he had been reading, these visions came
so often now, he almost didn't notice any more. How long had this one lasted? He
looked out the window, the moon was just starting to rise, when the vision had
started the sun was just rising, "Ok, I get it," he said aloud, "The shorter the
vision, the longer it lasts." He sighed and threw the documents a side.
Mara woke up with a sick feeling in her stomach. The feeling hadn't gone away
the entire day. It wasn't that she hadn't eaten, she had fed last night in fact.
It was more like a promotion of evil, of...something. It was as if destiny and
life itself revolved around this day.
So she wasn't startled when she felt a hand wrap around her throat when she was
alone and drag her into a dark corner. She tried to break free but her assailant
was strong. Angry, she bit his hand and felt it heal itself immediately.
Startled, she stopped struggling. The hand withdrew.
"Who are you? And who ever you are, you better have a good excuse..." She
trailed off as he held up a warning finger.
"I got you once Jade, I can get you again. In fact, I want to propose an
alliance, a temporary one of course, but an alliance just the same."
"What do you want to do?"
"Kill the Rebellion." He said nonchalantly as if he did that everyday.
"And how would this help me?"
"I know that the Rebellion is stealing some of your profits and other things.
Killing them would increase your profit margins, and help boost security."
"Security is tight enough." She snapped angrily.
"I was able to get in." He said pointedly.
"Enough of this game, Vader. What is it you want?"
"I want your help, Jade." Luke leaned on the durasteel as he outlined his plan.
Leia started as a figure came from the shadows in front of her. Before there had
been nothing, now there was this...thing. The thing took shape and Leia was
surprised to see that it was...
"Luke", she breathed.
"Correct. Or, partly correct, highness." Luke smiled coldly and Leia could see
the two fangs that hung down from where his canines should have been.
"Vader bit you didn't he?" Leia asked, dreading the answer.
"Partly correct again highness. You think he recently bit me." Here Luke's smile
grew larger and Leia could see how the other teeth had turned partly into
werewolf fangs.
"What's the partly part?"
"You're looking at Imperial Prince Luke Vader." said a voice from behind her.
Leia whirled and was shocked to see Crime Lord Jade standing there. She turned
back to Luke, who's grin grew even more sinister, if that was possible.
"Vader? Luke, is this true?" she asked needlessly. He nodded. Her heart sank.
*Vader, why do you want me here?* Came the voice in his head.
*Just wait and watch.* He replied.
"So what are you going to do to me?" Leia asked.
"LEIA!" The shout came from behind her. She turned and was overjoyed
to see Han and Lando come running in.
"Thank the light," Leia breathed.
*That's why.* Luke sent to Mara.
*Vader, don't tell me that you can't take on three humans. UNARMED humans.*
*Of course I can. But a guy needs to eat.*
*Vader, you have the pick of the litter up there. You don't have to
settle for what I have to settle for.*
*Jade, don't be blind.*
*What do you mean?*
*Organa's a sensitive. Not enough to Change every month, but still a sensitive.
Solo and Calrissian, there is none better than Correlian. It's so hard to get Correlian these days.*
*So you want me to hold them off while you have dinner?*
*Jade, I'm hurt that you would ever even think of such a thing. When a man takes
a woman out to dinner, it's customary that she chooses what she want and the man
gets the left-overs. But I do want a bite of Organa.*
*Only fair, I guess.*
While they had been conversing, the Humans had grouped together and were trying
to get something from their pockets. As they pieced it together, Luke could see
that they were making a stake. He nearly laughed out loud. They thought they
could kill him with a stake. Didn't it cross their minds that a vampire in it's
right mind wouldn't go anywhere if they could be killed by a piece of wood? It
was almost impossible to kill a vampire. Only another vampire could do it.
*Vader...* Mara warned in his head.
*Just break it in your hands, Jade.*
*VADER! DO I HAVE TO SPELL IT OUT?*
*I'll take Calrissian. You take Solo. Organa is already taken care of.*
Mara looked at Leia and, sure enough, she was backed into the wall and looked on
the verge of collapse. Mara turned her attention back to Solo. Vader had been
true to his word. Solo looked much more appetizing than Calrissian. She had
always had a weakness for Kzety Correllian Blood as opposed to Yvopy. She
wondered briefly how Vader had known that.
*Luke.* He insisted in her mind. *My name is Luke.*
*Alright...Luke. And my name is Mara.*
*Okay...Mara.*
Calrissian and Solo approached them, stake out and pointed at Luke's heart. At
the last second, Luke step sided and grabbed the shaft. He twisted and pulled
the stake from their hands. He tossed it to Mara who promptly snapped it. Luke
then turned to face them.
It was over. Mara was standing over Solo, playing with him. Solo would moan and
Mara would lick his ear and then bite his neck viciously. Solo would scream in
pain and Mara would kiss his lips.
Over by the wall, Luke was playing much of the same game with Calrissian. But
Luke was much more hungry than Mara. Luke had stripped Calrissian of his shirt
and had streaked his claws across Calrissian's chest, licking up the blood at
intervals. Luke was alternating between giving Lando the Kiss of Death and
massaging Lando's muscles. Every time Lando groaned, Luke would lick
Calrissian's body, every time a little lower. Calrissian was conscious and kept
screaming, yelling for Luke to stop, to get off of him, to turn back into Luke
Skywalker. At last Luke had had enough of Calrissian's screams and, as he open
his mouth to scream, kissed him full on the lips. Calrissian, startled, stopped
struggling, and Luke moved lower and Kissed Calrissian on the neck.
"What am I, a cup?" Calrissian had time to groan before the life was fully
sucked out of him by Luke who hung on to him like a leech.
Mara stood from her drink to see Luke eying Organa.
"Take her, Luke. I've got the best meal right here." Mara said, kicking Solo in
the stomach. Solo, who was strapped to the remains of the stake and was stood up
in a corner, groaned and coughed up blood. Mara grinned wickedly and kissed
Solo, sucking up the blood. It was true what they said. Vampires who shared
blood together shared lives together. Mara knew it and didn't care. If this was
Luke Vader, she didn't want anyone else.
Leia awoke to see Lando dead by the wall across from her and Han tied up in a
corner and Luke standing directly above her.
"What, what happened?" She asked smally.
"That is immaterial." Luke said flatly.
"What happened to you, Luke? I thought you were my friend."
Luke licked his lips at the feeling of anger and betrayal coming from her. He
had been right. She was a sensitive. "You thought wrong. I was never your
friend."
"Luke Vader." She said in wonder. "You were spying on us." And then louder. "YOU
WERE SPYING ON US!!!"
Mara looked over at them and put her finger to her lips playfully. "Brilliant
deduction, Organa." Luke said dryly.
"What are you going to do to me?"
Luke ignored her. "You know, Organa, you are a sensitive." Hushing her protests,
he went on, "it sometimes manifests in humans, but in you it wasn't strong
enough to Change you every month."
"What are you going to do to me?" She demanded.
"There are two types of Kisses. There is the Kiss of Death and the Kiss of
Conversion. They both feel the same to the human it is being done on, but to the
Kisser..." Luke's face showed absolute ecstasy.
"WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO TO ME?"
Luke looked at her as if first seeing her. "Feed." And then he did. Her shrieks
reached the top floor of the building they were in, an amazing feat since they
were in the lower levels of Coruscant.
Mara walked next Luke as they came to the Imperial Palace.
"You sure you want to do this?" Luke asked her. "This wasn't part of our
agreement. I was going to leave you in peace."
"I'm sure." Mara said. Luke nodded and then left her with the stormtroopers as
he went in to see the Emperor.
Left alone by Luke, Mara drifted around the outer throne room, waiting for
admittance to the inner throne room by a royal guard. Absently, Mara's hand rose
to the twin scars that Palpatine had given her when she was 90 days old. But she
felt something out of place. It was almost as if.... It felt like...no. He
couldn't have done...it...to her. It totally undermined the trust they had in
each other. But...if he had...when she thought he had then there was no trust
between them. There was only way to find out. She gathered the energy field that
was called The Force around her and searched out her blood. She detected foreign
elements. THAT JEDI! He had. She blasted herself with the Force and broke the
marking that that little Jedi had put on her.
"Why?" Vader asked Luke.
"I needed her help." Luke replied and looked away. Vader angrily got up and
walked over to Luke. Vader's hands grabbed hold of Luke's jaw, forcing him to
look forward.
"And?" Vader spoke in Luke's face.
"I needed her to help me." Luke said evenly. Vader's fangs slid down.
Luke recoiled in fear. Fangs were read like a Twi'lek's lekku. Luke's were
hidden as a show of respect, non-violence, and submission. He normally wore his
half-down as a sign of readiness. But there were very few times he had seen
Vader full fanged while in human form. It frightened him more than he liked to
admit.
Luke closed his eyes as Vader's fangs slid down Luke's neck and was silent as
they slashed his throat. Vader caught some of the dripping blood on his finger
before the wound closed up.
"Drink." Luke obeyed. The mixture of his blood and Vader's blood went rushing
through his body, momentarily weakening him.
"Now, tell me everything." Vader ordered. As Luke complied, it finally came to
him what Vader had done. In fact, it made him feel older. Father only renewed
bitings when the sons were of age and old enough to care for themselves.
Mara fumed. *To think that I was considering asking that slime ball to blood
me!* To add insult to injury, she knew that blooding could be fatal, she had
done it on more than one vampire herself. Blooding was very complex and included
a wide array of Force use and actual bleeding, which in itself was hard to do
because a vampire's body automatically healed itself. *I will never trust that
womp-rat again!* She told herself firmly, but something in her rebelled. could
it be that she actually liked him after what he had done to her?
Vader nodded and Luke stopped talking. He had just detailed everything from
searching out Mara to why he marked her to how Organa tasted.
"Morphate." Vader told Luke. At that code word, Luke automatically shrunk and
grew wings. Bat Luke flew up to the ceiling and found a perch. He was invisible
to even a vampire eye. His eyes were as sharp as a werewolves and senses keened
up and ready. He watched silently as his father called Mara in and started
talking to her. He could see that she was very angry and that Father was
comforting her. He stretched his ears to hear what was being said.
Luke's frown turned to a cold smile as he listened to what was being
said. "Did you order Luke to mark me?" Mara demanded. She was so angry that Luke
could taste it. It was very appetizing, he decided.
"No." Vader replied simply.
Mara was thrown off-guard. She hadn't expected such a straightforward answer.
"Then why did he?"
"He assumed that you would not aid him if he did not."
"Well, that was correct." Mara conceded. "But why did he need me in the first
place? I know that he could have beaten 3 humans and held off others as he fed."
"Would you believe me if I told you that he was attracted to you?"
"No." Mara answered bluntly. "Also, because I suspect that that was not the
reason."
"Why don't you ask him yourself when you next see him?"
"Why would I see him?" Mara asked, but didn't receive an answer.
Instead, Vader gestured dismissal and Mara was escorted out. Vader looked up and
Luke flew down. Midair, he began to change back. By the time he was close to the
floor, he was fully human. He 'jumped' down from his stalling and turned to face
Vader.
"I want you to follow her."
"Yes Father."
"And explain yourself to her."
"Yes Father." Luke turned on one heel and walked to the doors. Once there, he
paused and turned. "Father?"
"Yes?"
"Why were you angry before?"
"I was angry at myself for not noticing that you had grown. It came to me that
you were acting like an adult and I was still treating you like a child."
Luke paused and absorbed the words. Then, he slowly nodded and walked out.
"Janson!" The cry came.
"What is it, Klivian?" Janson's head snapped up at he glared at his partner.
"Come look what I found."
Klivian brought Janson into a dark room. Janson flashed his glow-lamp around.
"Holy Sith." He exclaimed softly. Inside the room were three mutilated bodies.
"My thought exactly." Klivian said.
"We better report this." Janson said doubtfully. Klivian gave him a look that
said 'you've got to be kidding.'
"Let's keep it as our little secret. It might involve too many higher-ups."
"Good idea. Let's get out of here." Janson backed away quickly and together,
they escaped into the lower levels of Coruscant, looking for more Rebel scum.
Katrina felt a strange sense of peace as her soul started to separate from the
mass of crude flesh, bones and blood called a body. There was no pain, she felt
another presence join her... Devon, but only for a second, it felt as if he was
being torn away from her, she could hear his screams, his cries of pain, and
then, the eerie silence she had 'felt' when she had first become a vampire... oh
gods. In a flash she remembered the bond, remembered what she had done to him...
Katrina heard the cries of her daughter, her little shimmer of hope, her Shmi...
*Why am I left here to be tortured by the cries of my loved ones?!* she 'cried'
to herself, wishing that something would break the horrible, invisible thread
that still bound her to the physical realm, so she wouldn't hear Shmi's cries,
so she couldn't... FEEL the pain... the pain of not being able to hold her child
for one last time... then, suddenly, it was all gone, the world she had known so
well, her husband, her child, her life... and she knew where she was. THIS was
the other side... THIS was the Force.
Mara stood, over looking the city from a balcony. She heard Luke approach her
from behind. "I don't want to hear it." She stated, putting up her hand to stop
him from saying anything. "Mara-" Mara turned to face him. "It's JADE." Luke
sighed, "Alright... Jade."
Mara turned and tried to leave, Luke blocked her path, she started to sift into
bat form, Luke grabbed her hand, sending his emotions through her. She gasped
and pulled her hand away. After a moment of silence Mara spoke up. "Is... is
that really what you feel for me?" she asked softly, turning toward him. Luke
nodded, offering her his hand, she took it and was swept up in a river of
memories and emotions. Luke began to explain every thing...
"It began when I was small and it's carried on until now. I'm sure it was the
same with you, Mara, but I felt it very keenly. I was alone in the galaxy, just
something to be used and then discarded. I know now that that was not the way it
actually was, but I still can't shake off that feeling." Luke paused to breathe.
"I know what you mean, Luke." Mara said softly.
"When I went into the Rebellion," Luke went on as if not hearing her, "I thought
maybe I could be something here, be someone I never was. I let their talk sway
me, to do things I never would have done here. I can blame some of it on my
selection of food. I lost track of the times I had to force myself to eat Human
Food. It's not natural." Luke shook his head. "Once a month, when I changed
myself into a wolf, I thought that maybe I could hunt like this. But Organa knew
my secret and locked me up. The first time, when she walked in on me on the
first full moon, she was about to kill me. I had to convince her that I was an
unbitten Force-user, that I was harmless." Luke spat the word out. "Harmless,
that's what I had to be. I grew my hair out to hide my scars and used make up
before medical check ups. Ever tried holding your fangs in for months at a
time?" Mara shook her head no. "It hurts. It hurts like hell. But my quarters
were bugged and so was my fighter. They would glisten too much. Sometimes, I
would go into the refresher and put my head into a towel and let them out for a
few seconds. I had to put them back up quickly. If I ever was out of site for a
few minutes, security would barge in." Luke shook his head. "Shows how much they
trusted a Force-user. I was a sworn enemy of the Empire, yet every month there
was a few people in the room with me, just to make sure I changed."
"Sounds like the Rebellion isn't the haven it's made out to be." Mara commented.
"That's an understatement," Luke snorted. "They discriminate against anything
that's not their native species. So the humans were discriminated against by the
Twi'leks, the Roans, the Mon Cals, etc, and they were discriminated against by
the humans. But I didn't fall under any of those categories. But not many people
knew that. To them I was a human. To some I was a werewolf that needed to be
watched. And to a select few I was a Sensitive."
"Those that knew you were a werewolf, what did they think you ate?" Mara asked,
caught up in the tale.
"I suppose they didn't think about it. By their thinking, since I was part
human, why couldn't I eat human food? The cooks knew me and what I liked. They
always left some uncooked meat for me. Whenever I had a mission, they were never
solo, I would try to ditch my partner and go hunting. I never had time to savor
the humans. After a while, I stopped caring. By that time, the Rebel
Conditioning had broken into me and started mixing into my natural control. I
started to have visions of my grandmother and her parents in alternate
realities. I saw my grandmother killed at a young age, I saw her killed at her
wedding, I saw her still alive to day. I saw my great-grandparents killed
thousands of ways."
"Her name was Katrina? Your great-grandmother?" At Luke's startled nod, she
continued. "I glimpsed the end of one of your visions of her."
"They come often. I've learned to ignore them. They don't tell me anything
useful."
"How did you come back into the Empire?" Mara asked softly, trying to not break
the spell that surrounded them.
"I earned the Rebellion's trust. I helped of course," Luke grinned, fangs
hanging down low. "They needed only a little persuasion. They gave me control of
a captured Imperial Star Destroyer, Executioner I believe the original name was.
It was renamed Rebel Dream. On it's maiden voyage, my father asked me where I
was. After I had divulged my location, the Imperial Fleet came out of
hyperspace. They shot some well placed shots to where the shield was the
weakest. Accidentally, one of the shots shut off the self-destruct. Quite an
accident."
"I'm sure." Mara murmured.
"Well, the Rebel Dream was captured. It turned into the Rebel Nightmare. No pun
intended. I told all. And so did all the crew-sentients. It was the worst defeat
the Rebellion had ever faced. My father took some sort of perverse pleasure in
that. I have no intention of ever finding out why. I got a ride home in the
Executor."
"And then you killed Palpatine." Mara accused him.
"I was ordered to. Father was half-bitten by Palpatine so he couldn't kill him.
That didn't stop him from being able to order me to kill him. Since there was no
trace of Palpatine's blood in my veins, I had no trouble killing him. It went
very quick. When I was done, Father came in and drank just enough to mark the
kill."
"Which is why I don't feel anything toward him."
"Exactly. He didn't drink enough for Palpatine's life source to be centered in
him so that all Palpatine's servants would serve him. He just drank enough to
know where they all were. For weeks after Palpatine's death, we were busy
killing all of them."
"Except for me."
"Father had heard of you. Who hadn't heard of the Emperor's Hand? Even I had.
But we didn't know who you were. And in the weeks of confusion, you had gone."
"I fled." Mara recalled. "I was afraid of everything. I went underground,
fighting for survival. A crime lord took me on and trained me to be his
successor. When he was done, I drank him. He was very sweet." Mara licked her
lips.
"I don't know, I prefer sour." Luke grinned. This had suddenly turned into a
conversation more ordinary than the human affinity for talking about the
weather. Talking about blood preferences, that was the most everyday thing ever
invented. Luke smiled at Mara and she smiled back.
Mothma gazed in anger at the holos of the bodies that had once been Organa-Solo,
Solo and a man who's name escaped her for the moment. She knew very well what
had happened to them... Vader. She stood up from her desk to cast a spell of
protection... an old habit she had picked up from her parents, her parents...
Mothma felt her anger override her discernment of the situation. Yes she was an
old fool, but a powerful and deadly old fool, at least... she once was. Yes she
had her doubts, and knew that the Rebellion alone could not defeat this powerful
Empire, but with this new ally... with this new belief, the Empire didn't stand
a chance! Mothma let out a horrible, evil cackle in delight.
Luke gazed at the golden orb gently floating in front of him. He reached out for
it, feeling it's power... the power he had to have. Luke took a step forward-and
fell into the darkness. "No!" someone cried... Mara. As he fell, he felt an evil
darker than the deeds he had done in the past... darker than anything he could
imagine. Death. Death was here. He felt the fear of the damned, the pain of
hopelessness. And he saw it, a creature filled with hate and destruction, one
that he knew would not hesitate to rip him to shreds. He knew his only advantage
against this... monster, would be immortality...
Luke awoke in a cold sweat. He had learned to ignore these visions... but this
one was different... how, he wasn't sure, but he felt it held an important
meaning... one he could not yet comprehend... Mara awoke next to him.
"Vision?" she asked softly, seeing the concern on his face.
He shook his head, "It's nothing to worry about." Mara glared at him.
"Vader, you can't hide anything from me and you know it! Out with it!"
Luke shrugged and lay down. "It's just a useless vision, don't worry about it."
Mara sighed, knowing she wouldn't get anything more out of him and lay down as
well, just as Luke got up in realization.
"Oh, shit!" He muttered as he started to climb out of the bed, but Mara grabbed
him and pulled him back under the covers.
"What ever you forgot, it can wait."
End Part Two
End Book One