After being stuck on the ship with Tontay, Luke, Artoo, and that wretched animal that Tontay just had to bring along for two days, Mara was about to pull out her hair, scream, and shoot herself out the nearest airlock.
Luke had finally, very reluctantly, agreed to stop by her home planet for a day or two.
She had discovered a year ago that her mother was still alive, and her mother wanted her to come by for a short visit. She'd already visited her a few times, but evidently that wasn't enough for her mother. So, here they were, her home planet glistening before them.
She got landing clearance, and they landed at the local docking bay. Mara insisted that the pittin stay on the ship, and she got her luggage and went down the landing ramp, Luke coming up behind her. "Interesting planet you have here," he commented.
"Yes, but it can be lethal."
"Oh?" asked Tontay, coming to Luke's side and flashing him a beautiful smile.
Mara suppressed the urge to retort something vulgar, saying instead, "Yes, there are several predators on this planet."
"You being one of them?" Luke asked, eyes glinting.
Mara snorted, "Not quite. I know it's a shock, but there are even more dangerous beasts out there than you can imagine, farmboy. Even more ferocious than those pathetic Krayt Dragons you have on Tatooine."
Tontay looked at Mara. "Shouldn't we be heading to your mother's house?"
Mara nodded, throwing a glare to Luke that clearly said: 'We will finish this later.'
They got to Telina Jade's house, where they were happily greeted by her. "Oh, hello, Mara, darling! And who are your charming guests?"
"Tontay Novablast and Luke Skywalker," came Mara's reply, bordering the edge of rudeness.
"Well, you must be starving! Come, I was just ready to have dinner," said Telina, escorting them to the dining room before they could protest. They sat down at the table, Ms. Jade talking away a storm, and ate the fancy food placed in front of them. Tontay, who had mellowed during Luke's stay on Dagobah, gossiped with Telina. Telina also attempted to engage an unwilling Mara in small talk.
Well, the amount that Mara talked was small...But at least she talked more than Luke, who seemed to have something weighing heavily on his mind. She looked at him questioningly, but he just shook his head minutely at her. She shrugged her shoulders. If he wasn't planning on telling her, then she wasn't going to make him.
Yet.
Telina sighed, "That was delicious." She clapped her hands, "Franchay?" A servant came up to her. "Show them to their rooms...I am assuming you all want private rooms?"
Luke looked up and nodded, slightly more than was necessary. Franchay motioned to a droid to get their bags, and he took them up the old-fashioned stairs to their rooms. Luke's was in between Mara's and Tontay, and Mara grumbled a little about it under her breath.
"Well, good night," Luke said to the two.
"Yeah, same to you," said Mara, and with that, she disappeared into her room.
Tontay reached up and pulled down on Luke's neck slightly, giving him a peck on the cheek. She started to pull away, but he stopped her and placed his lips on hers, lingering. She wrapped her arms around him, resting them lightly on his back. He broke away, kissed her forehead, and headed into his room, leaving her staring after him. She mumbled, "'Night."
Sunlight shone through Mara's window while the native birds chirped cheerfully outside. She rubbed her eyes sleepily, mentally cursing the animals who had no respect for a human's need for sleep. She dressed and went out in the hall, knocking on Luke's door first. She heard a faint grumble that sounded remotely like "Hold on" and waited a moment before Luke opened the door, clad only in pants, his hair tousled. Mara swallowed, trying to keep her eyes off his muscular bare torso.
Half asleep, he asked, "Wha—?"
Mara just rolled her eyes, partially in amusement, partially to avert her gaze from his chest. "Get dressed and wake your little girlfriend up. It's almost time for breakfast, and we can't be late...Unless you wish to face my mother's wrath."
Luke looked at her, slowly digesting her sentences one word at a time, then he shook his head, clearing his foggy brain. He knocked on Tontay's door loudly and was rewarded with a "I'll be ready in a minute."
He yawned and went into his room to dress quickly.
Tontay was still primping when he came out, so he stood in front of her room impatiently. He ran a hand through his still mussed up hair as he waited.
Tontay came out in a lovely eye-catching white dress. Her waist-length black hair was up in a bun that would do Leia proud. She flashed a dazzling smile at Luke and a polite one at Mara. "Are we going to go eat breakfast?"
Mara bit back a reply when Luke looked sharply at her, sensing her intentions. "Yes, we are," Mara said grudgingly.
"Well, what are we still doing standing in the hall? C'mon," Luke said going towards the dining room. He didn't like being late for a meal.
They were welcomed by Telina again and shown to their places. Humanoid and droid servants brought over several steaming dishes. They were eating when Mara looked over at Luke and noticed a distant look in his eyes. "Skywalker, what's wrong?"
He didn't respond, so Mara reached over and tapped his arm, "Hey, farmboy?"
Luke finally looked at her absent-mindedly, his eyes glazed over, "Hm?"
"What's wrong?"
He waited a moment to reply. "Leave. Now. We must." Luke stood up suddenly.
Mara stood up as well, inquiring with an annoyed tone, "What are you talking about?"
"Yeah, what's wrong Luke?" Tontay asked concernedly, getting up to her feet. She placed her arm gently on his.
"Something will happen. Really bad. Leave now, we must," he said, eyes still cloudy.
"Skywalker, it's okay. You're just imagining things, now sit down," Mara told him, forcing him to sit down. He had a wild look in his eyes, as if he were a rabid bantha who might insanely charge around or bolt at any instant if allowed the chance.
Mara and Tontay also sat down, looking at him uneasily.
Telina tilted her head, "What did I miss?"
"Nothing, he's just a little tired, that's all," Mara explained, looking sternly in Luke's direction.
They finally finished breakfast, and Tontay suggested they all go on a walk. Mara accepted, Telina declined, and Luke was still too preoccupied and worried to care. They dragged him along and went out into one of Ms. Jade's big luscious gardens. They discovered a small white gazebo that was covered in all sorts of exotic flowery vines, a little pond with remotely cute swimming creatures in it, and big orchards left and right. Tontay inhaled the fragrant scent and said, "This is a wonderful garden."
"Yeah. My mother spends thousands of credits on plants and gardeners. She enjoys the beauty of life," Mara replied. Or perhaps the price of beauty, she thought to herself cynically.
"Her presence shines in the Force," injected Luke.
Mara glanced over at him, surprised he had spoken, "Yes, but she does not enjoy the thought of Force-users. Ever since Vader and Palpatine took me away, she's tried to shun thoughts of anyone having similar abilities. She makes herself blind to the fact that I can use the Force. It brings up too many painful memories."
"Can we leave now?" Luke asked randomly.
"Why do you want to leave so much, Skywalker?"
"If we stay, something bad will happen. As it is, it could be too late. But we have to do our best to get out of here," Luke said pleadingly.
"Fine. We'll leave tonight after dinner."
"Now."
"After lunchtime."
"Directly before."
"No, after is my best offer—the political situation can't be that bad."
"All right," Luke finally gave in.
A few hours after their walk, they ate lunch. Luke seemed even more anxious to get moving. They packed semi-quickly, but not as rapidly as Luke would have liked. Luke decided to leave the X-wing on Mara's home planet and pick it up later. They said good-bye to Telina Jade and boarded the Jade's Fire.
When Mara pulled the hyperspace lever, she was expecting Luke to relax visibly. He remained tense, however, and she sighed in annoyance.
Luke glanced not-quite-angrily at the perturbed Mara, stood up, then abruptly left the cockpit, running into a scared Deedah who was frantically scurrying around, as if picking up on his mood.
Mara was still mumbling about Jedi and their unexpected mood swings when the ship's alarms went off. She was almost glad to see the Imperial Star Destroyer and the Interdictor Cruiser that had just jolted her ship out of hyperspace.
Almost.
They hailed her, and she spun some story together, realizing that it was futile since they didn't believe a word of it. In fact, she soon found herself preparing to be boarded by Stormtroopers. As she exasperatedly passed a muttering Luke, she heard him say something about Vader. She halted in midstep. "Why are you talking about Vader? He's dead."
"He's on that ship."
"No, he's not." Mara reached out with the Force, and a stunned wave passed over her. "Stang...You're right!" Mara cursed under her breath then asked, "What about Tontay? I know we can take care of ourselves, but what about her? Can she take care of herself?"
"Tontay is pretty strong, and has been well-trained. But..."
"But what?" asked a very nervous Mara.
"I worry about her; this is such a critical period."
"I guess if she's with us not much could happen. But if we get separated that could lead to trouble..."
"I have a bad feeling about this," claimed Luke.
Then he turned and ran to find Tontay.
"Yeah, the feeling's mutual," Mara mumbled at Luke's retreating figure.
Luke found Tontay in his quarters sitting on the bed. She seemed scared, and in the back corners of his mind he remotely realized he was picking up Mara's emotions a lot clearer than Tontay's. He filed that thought to the back of his brain under "Weird Things to Contemplate Later." He looked at her sadly, "The Stormtroopers are about to board."
"Yes...Luke, thanks for trying to warn us about something like this happening," Tontay glanced up at him, holding his depressed gaze. She stood up, slid her arms around his neck, and craned her neck up slightly, meeting his lips with hers in a short kiss.
But Stormtroopers were preparing to board the ship, so they needed to get ready. "Another time," Luke told her quietly, looking into her sad brown eyes.
Tontay nodded and blinked away some of her tears. She had some doubts about that statement coming true, but she wasn't quite sure why.
Luke tugged at her arm slightly, and they went to the cockpit where Mara was loading some lethal weapons onto her person. Deedah slunk into Tontay's pocket. Nobody registered the move because they had other problems to worry about.
"They'll run a weapons scan and take all of them away, you know," Luke informed Mara.
"Yeah, but they are not going to take me without a fight."
Luke shook his head. "It's useless to resist. If we bring blasters, vibroblades, detonators, and the like, they'll treat us even worse than they would if we didn't. Just bring your saber and come on."
Artoo whistled at Luke that he was coming, too. Luke looked like he was about to argue, but it was too late.
There was a whooshing of air as the Stormtroopers entered the ship.
"Fine," Mara muttered angrily. She quickly stuffed everything but her lightsaber in a secret compartment under the pilot's seat.
The Stormtroopers entered the cockpit, pointing blasters at them. Tontay and Luke quickly put their hands out to show that they were empty, the latter throwing a glare at Mara, who growled something under her breath and reluctantly copied their move.
"Slowly put your weapons on the floor," a lieutenant ordered. Luke and Tontay put their sabers down on the floor and looked at Mara who finally did the same. "Scan them," he instructed. A Stormtrooper stepped forward and carried out his order. The weapon scanner started beeping loudly when he swept Mara.
The Stormtrooper held out his hand to Mara, and she just looked at it. Luke cleared his throat, and, reluctantly, she reached down and got a vibroblade out from her boot. She handed it to the Stormtrooper, glaring at Luke.
Mara was scanned again, and again the machine beeped.
Mara scowled and handed them a pocket blaster. "There, are you happy?"
It still beeped.
She leaned down, pulled out three more vibroblades, another blaster, an iron pipe of some sort, a ragged piece of metal, a couple hand grenades, some rope, and a few other miscellaneous items that might be used as weapons.
Luke looked at her skeptically. "How'd you manage to fit all that in there?"
The man in charge seemed to be wondering the same thing.
Mara glared at them both.
"They are now clean," came the Stormtrooper's metallic-sounding voice, scooping up Mara's weapons and handing the pile to the lieutenant.
The lieutenant nodded and gestured toward three other Imperials standing by, one of which took some of the weapons from him, and two of which cuffed the trio and put a restraining bolt on Artoo. The lieutenant headed down the ramp, a circle of Stormtroopers bringing up the three prisoners.
"I have a bad feeling about this," muttered Luke under his breath for the second time that day.
A Stormtrooper jabbed Luke in the side with his blaster. "Remain silent."
Luke opened his mouth as if he were about to say something else, but he halted and stared, followed by the rest of the party.
"Welcome, son," came Vader's deep mechanical voice. "Ah, Mara Jade...The Emperor has been expecting you as well. Son, who is your female companion?" Vader inquired.
Luke barely managed to keep his face emotionless, "I thought you were dead."
"Looks can be deceiving. The Emperor foresaw what was going to happen and took appropriate measures. On board the Death Star, what you thought was the Emperor and I was actually clones. Do you know why the Fleet lost so badly at Endor? It was because most of the ships were mere shells with shields and a few weapons. Most were piloted by droids, and the few humans you saw aboard the Death Star were also clones. The Emperor and I hid away with our real fleet, gathering more ships and strengthening it. Most of the officers that have been giving you Rebels so much trouble are also clones. We decided we should strengthen ourselves and catch you pathetic Rebels off-guard, so we can extinguish you once and for all."
Luke threw a shocked look at Mara, who returned it. He let it sink in for a moment, then, "Father, what do you want from us?"
"You, Jade, and some information," Vader responded.
"Can't you let her—" Luke tossed his head at Tontay, "—go?"
Darth Vader responded, "Ah, but I will...if you are willing to cooperate."
Luke swallowed. "What do you wish me to do?"
"Jade must cooperate as well."
Luke looked over at Mara, whose eyes widened. She coughed, "Excuse me, but I am not doing anything for you or Palpatine!"
Vader's respirator echoed threateningly throughout the corridor.
Luke decided to speak. "What do we have to do?"
"The Emperor has been missing his highly skilled Hand, and he wants her back. We also wish to know the location of the hidden Rebel fleet...And Luke, you will either turn to the Dark Side or die."
Tontay's eyes were as big as Tatooine's twin suns, Mara looked uneasy, and Luke's mouth was gaped open.
"You think you could ask for much more?" Luke asked, astonished.
The helmeted head turned towards Luke, eyes glaring through the mask. "I do not need your sarcasm, Son."
Luke turned away. "What if I could give you one-third of that deal?"
"No!" Tontay and Mara said simultaneously.
Luke faced them, "I must...If I turn, will you let them go?" He looked old beyond his years, especially in his eyes. He'd been through much, with more yet to come.
"How could I trust you to follow through on your part of the bargain, Son? Jade can possibly be done without, but you must tell me the location of the Rebel fleet."
"No. I will not turn unless I don't have to give the coordinates and you let them both go."
"You are pushing me too far, Son," growled Vader.
Luke bit his lip. "Take it or leave it."
Vader's menacing helmet turned towards the red Royal Guards behind him. "Take my son and his companion to their cell, but leave Jade and the droid with me."
The Guards nodded and complied. Darth Vader took Mara Jade in with his sinister masked stare. "The Emperor's been wondering what could have made a loyal servant such as yourself turn."
"I found out the true meaning of the Empire, which is now pitifully weak—" Mara broke off as an invisible hand squeezed her throat tightly.
"Watch your criticism or you might find yourself no longer among the living," Vader warned her.
Mara made a strangling noise and tried to use the Force to make the cruel Sith Lord release his strong grip, but in this case there was indeed no try. She started turning a sickly color, so Vader let go, and Mara fell to her knees. "Remember, the Dark Side is much more powerful than the Light...and you should never attempt to outdo a Sith Lord."
Vader looked at the droid, "What is this unit's callsign?"
"Why do you want to know?" Mara asked laboriously, giving him a venomous glare.
He gave her a penetrating stare, the invisible hand settling again on her throat. "Artoo Detoo," she replied, hastily. The invisible hand left.
"Interesting..."
The Guards threw Luke and Tontay into the cell and exited with a mutter of contempt, leaving Luke and Tontay scrambling to keep upright.
"Thanks, we will be sure to ask you to be our escorts next time," murmured Luke. "Though hopefully there won't be a next time..."
Tontay glared at Luke. "How can you be so sarcastic in a moment like this?"
"It's better then doing what they want and just sitting around being frightened." Luke moved towards Tontay.
"I suppose so," Tontay said doubtfully. Luke came around behind her, encircling her with his arms. She leaned back against him, her dubiousness melting away.
With some barely noticeable hesitation, he turned her towards him and cupped her chin in his hand, staring into her dark brown eyes. She stared back into Luke's crystal blue eyes, which somehow seemed to have a slight bit of ice in the very depths of them...He had seen far too many harsh things for one so young...
Sensing that her evaluation of him was teetering on the edge of pity, Luke kissed Tontay's forehead and looked at her tenderly.
The door swished open to reveal a cowled figure. Luke and Tontay quickly broke away and turned towards the black robed, slightly hunched form. The hood fell back a little to reveal a shriveled face with beady eyes.
"Ah, so your relationship is as lovers?" hissed Palpatine. His malicious face actually managed a smile. "This will work out well."
Luke's anger started bubbling up, and Tontay squeezed his arm lightly to warn him to control himself, but he paid it no heed. "Palpatine, you need to realize that creatures are not in this universe just for your own personal pleasure. We have lives, needs, and feelings of our own. The Dark Side blinds you to that. You're as blind as a mynock that—" Luke stopped as a blue bolt of electricity flew from Palpatine's fingertips. He gasped and struggled to remain standing. Tontay tried to steady him, but she was hit by lightning from Palpatine's hands and the force of it knocked her halfway across the room, slamming her into the wall with a sickening sound. From there, she went to the floor.
Luke's eyes went ablaze with anger, changing from cool and calculating to fiery and fearless. His arms clenched at his sides, and he began to glow with a sort of transparent blue energy. He raised up his mechanical hand, and it also started glowing as it charged up, but, instead of blue, it was yellow. Palpatine took a few steps back; he hadn't foreseen this.
Luke held his hand up, palm outward, and a ball of kinetic energy flew from it, swerving around the Imperial Guards that had jumped in its path and hitting Palpatine in the center of his chest.
That is, it would have hit him, but it stopped short of its mark.
Luke stood there, panting slightly and wondering what had happened. Then the realization hit him: there were ysalamiri that just barely held Palpatine in their anti-Force bubble. How could I not have realized that there were ysalamiri? Well, I guess I wasn't really concentrating on that, just my anger, Luke thought with a sigh. That is what happens when you let your feelings overtake you...
The Dark Side was still there, strongly beckoning Luke to once again let it engorge him with power.
Palpatine smiled sinisterly at Luke, sensing what he was thinking from his facial expression.
Luke hardened his face into a mask, mentally kicking himself. He closed his eyes, and Palpatine left the room cackling, most of his Royal Guards silently following, though some stayed to watch the two prisoners.
Luke suddenly remembered Tontay, and he bolted over to her side. She was finding it hard to breathe and was making short desperate gasps. The pittin jumped out at Luke, startling him. Deedah squeaked and went to a corner, shaking in fright.
Luke placed his hands on Tontay's forehead, shutting his eyes and using the Force to help heal the damage the electric bolts had done. Tontay finally began breathing regularly, and looked up at Luke, who was now drained of all energy. He slowly sank to the ground next to her, feeling like a traitor and a coward for giving in to the Dark Side. He opened his mouth, and said "I—"
But the blackness came upon him before he could say any more.
