A Jedi's Return
Chapter 15
PG
By Maara
Mara had boarded the shuttle and sat back as it lifted off, heading for the Death Star. As they made their way through space, Mara did her best to stay calm. She knew she may never return from this place, but she also knew that what she was doing was necessary.
Upon disembarking, Mara made sure she was at the end of the formation. As the stormtroopers marched their way down a long corridor, Mara slipped quietly out of formation and into a doorway placed off to the side. It was a small room filled with computer consoles and holo-tables that turned out to be a mapping room.
There was only one officer inside, who only looked up a moment as she walked in. He must have thought she came to report something to him. "What is it?" he said, continuing on with what he was doing.
Mara said nothing, continuing to advance towards him. As she came up beside him, he turned to look at her, but never got his head all the way around. Mara took the butt of her blaster rifle and knocked him unconscious, watching him fall to the floor. As she watched him hit the floor, she wondered at the change in herself. Usually she would just kill him. He would probably die anyway, but she knew it would not be at her hands.
Acting quickly, Mara took off the trooper helmet and quickly grabbed two data pads and downloaded the layout of the massive station, simultaneously to both. Mara kept her ears attuned for any new sounds. She knew she didn't have much time before she was discovered. She stripped off her uniform and stowed it in the compactor chute so it wouldn't be found. Then she put in a request for more detailed information to go to one data pad and took the other one and headed to the ventilation shaft opening. She took the cover off and climbed in, securing the cover on behind her. After crawling deeper into the shaft and turning a corner, she stopped to review the data she had downloaded.
Luke felt Mara's sense touch his, and sighed in relief that she was ok. His relief was short lived as he got her message that she was off to face whatever she had to face. Luke had wanted her to wait and tried to tell her so, but she threw up her barriers before he could talk to her and pin point her location.
Luke stretched out harder with the Force, trying to get her again before realizing that there was nothing he could do about it and resigned himself to making his way back to the ground troops and Han and Leia. Sighing, Luke turned and headed off through the dense forest.
A short time later Luke arrived to find that Leia hadn't yet returned. Han and Luke were both worried about her and sent the troops on to the shield generator and set off to find her. As they trudged through the forest, Luke felt Han tap him on the shoulder.
Luke turned towards Han as he continued to walk. "What is it, Han?' Luke could sense his worry about Leia, but felt something else playing at the edge of his friends mind. He knew what was coming.
"Luke, where is Mara?" Han hadn't seen Mara much, but he could see that his young friend cared for her, but he was also suspicious about her absence.
"She had something she had to do." Luke answered, not looking at Han.
"What do you mean, she had something to do? I'm in charge here, you know. She should have checked with me first." Han tried to sound angry, but Luke sensed the truth of his emotions.
Stopping, Luke turned to Han. "This is something she needed to do, Han. She has to completely break the hold the Emperor has on her." Luke waited for the outburst he expected.
"What!? Do you mean she went to face him!?" Han was in shock. "What if she goes back over to his side and fulfills his wish to kill you?"
Luke sighed. "Yes, Han. She has to face him. But she won't turn back." Luke said confidently, turning he began walking again, but was stopped as Han grabbed his arm. "How could you let her go off alone like that? I thought you cared about her." Han knew this would rile his friend, but didn't care.
At Han's comment, Luke felt anger building up inside him, but a moment later he got a handle on it, knowing he deserved an answer. "I do care about her, Han. I care about her a great deal." Luke blew out a breath, "There was no way I could have stopped her. She told me through the Force that she was ok and had found her chance to face her destiny. Before I could try to talk her out of it, she cut off the link between us and I haven't been able to get a sense of her since." Luke turned and continued walking again.
Han felt bad about what he had said to him. He jogged ahead to catch up to him. "Luke…"
Luke stopped and cut him off. "Look Han, I really do care about her. Hell I'm in love with her, but this is something she has to do." Luke looked down a moment, "I'm worried that this time the Emperor will succeed in killing her. I just can't do anything about it right now, so can we just find Leia and do what we need to do?" Luke turned and began walking again. This time Han didn't stop him.
Han turned to Chewie as he walked up beside him, roaring a question. "I don't know Chewie, but I hope, for his sake, that he is right."
Chewie grumbled a reply. "Yeah." Han shook himself, "But Luke's right. We can't do anything about that right now. We have to find Leia." His voice sounded far away, as if he was lost in thought. Chewie roared at Han wanting to find out what was going on in his mind.
"Why would you even ask that? Of course I want to find Leia." Han looked at Chewbacca straight in the eye. "I love her, Chewie. I'll never leave here until I find her." Han started walking to catch up to Luke, "No one has ever believed in me the way she does. I never thought anyone would do anything to help me like she has. I don't know what I'd do without her."
Chewie placed a furry hand on his friends shoulder and grumbled low in his throat at him. Han softened towards his friend. "Thanks, Chewie, I know we'll find her, too." Han started to go ahead again, then turned back to his friend. "I'm just worried about Mara, too. What if she does turn back to the Emperor and tries to kill Luke?" Han shook his head. "I just hope he knows what he's doing."
Han and Chewie hurried to catch up with Luke and scoured territory as they went. As they spilt off to the side, Luke stopped and found two wrecked speeders and a helmet that looked like those the ground crew was wearing. Luke started to look around, stretching out with the Force to see if she was nearby. Then he heard Han's voice calling him and he raced off to see what he had found.
Luke came around and saw what Han had seen. Then saw and felt his friend's pain and worry for Leia. He wanted to do whatever he could to find her. He hated to add to his concern, but had to show him the helmet. "There's two more wrecked speeders back there. And I found this." Luke tossed the helmet to Han.
Han turned it over in his hands and looked frantically around for Leia. She had to be around here somewhere. "Leia!" Han started to move around the speeder to look over where Luke had come from. "Leia!"
Luke could feel his friends roiling pain and desperation to find Leia. But he was going to drive himself crazy the way he was going. "Han." Luke reached out to grab his arm, but when Han felt him trying to stop him, he whirled on him in anger.
"Let go of me! God dammit, aren't you even worried?" Han started to look around as he spoke. "I am scared to death that something bad has happened to Leia. I am at least trying to find her." Han just let it all come out. "Instead of being so damned accepting of what's happening. If you truly were in love with Mara then you would be trying to find her! Trying to save her. But no, you just let her go, knowing she could turn evil or be killed and you would never know which until she came after you!"
Luke stood rooted to his spot, shocked by his friend's words. "Wait a minute. There is no reason for you to be lashing out at me. Of course I'm worried about Leia." Luke turned and walked over to Han stopping him from plunging into the trees to look for her more. "And what would you have me do to find Mara? Leave you all behind and jeopardize an already risky mission?" As Luke went on his voice raised in anger at his friend. "There is nothing I can do to stop her, Han. It's killing me that I can't stop her. I want nothing more than to have her here helping us. But blast it, there is nothing I can do about it now!" Han started to reply but was cut off by Chewie's roar.
"What?" Han demanded. Chewie just ignored him and ran deeper into the forest. "What Chewie?" Han asked again as they ran after him. He was hoping he caught a whiff of Leia, but was disappointed to find an animals carcass hanging from a stake in the ground.
Just as he reached up to take it down, Luke's danger sense flared to life. He rushed forward to try to stop him, but he was too late. Suddenly they were all swinging in the air from a net.
"Great Chewie, great. Always thinking with your stomach." Han chastised. Chewie just growled back and was silent as he struggled to free them from the trap. Artoo used his resources and freed them from the net, while Han tried to get at Luke's lightsaber. Just as he reached it, they crashed through the net to the ground below.
They looked at each other and started to get up, but they soon found themselves surrounded by a crowd of small teddy bear like creatures called the Ewoks. At first it seemed as if they were safe, but soon had spears pointed at them. Han pushed one to the side only to find it once again pointed at him. He went for his blaster, but Luke, sensing something tugging at the back of his mind stopped him. "It'll be alright. Trust me."
Han looked at him a moment then gave a small nod, relinquishing his weapon. He had a feeling Luke was right. The look in his eyes told him to trust what he said.
Just then, C-3po sat up and a gasp was heard among the fury little creatures. Han and Luke were confused when they all started bowing to him. Luke and Hand just looked at each other, and were amused to find out the Ewoks thought he was a God!
Amused, Han tried to get him to use this to their advantage and get them set free, but got angry when C-3po told him that it would be improper to impersonate a deity. As he made a move towards him, spears were once again thrown in his face. Han stopped quickly and shrugged, realizing his mistake. "He's a friend of mine."
Luke hid a smile behind his hand. They were bound to stakes and carried high up into the trees to the Ewok village, wondering what their fate might be.
TBC…
Chapter 15
PG
By Maara
Mara had boarded the shuttle and sat back as it lifted off, heading for the Death Star. As they made their way through space, Mara did her best to stay calm. She knew she may never return from this place, but she also knew that what she was doing was necessary.
Upon disembarking, Mara made sure she was at the end of the formation. As the stormtroopers marched their way down a long corridor, Mara slipped quietly out of formation and into a doorway placed off to the side. It was a small room filled with computer consoles and holo-tables that turned out to be a mapping room.
There was only one officer inside, who only looked up a moment as she walked in. He must have thought she came to report something to him. "What is it?" he said, continuing on with what he was doing.
Mara said nothing, continuing to advance towards him. As she came up beside him, he turned to look at her, but never got his head all the way around. Mara took the butt of her blaster rifle and knocked him unconscious, watching him fall to the floor. As she watched him hit the floor, she wondered at the change in herself. Usually she would just kill him. He would probably die anyway, but she knew it would not be at her hands.
Acting quickly, Mara took off the trooper helmet and quickly grabbed two data pads and downloaded the layout of the massive station, simultaneously to both. Mara kept her ears attuned for any new sounds. She knew she didn't have much time before she was discovered. She stripped off her uniform and stowed it in the compactor chute so it wouldn't be found. Then she put in a request for more detailed information to go to one data pad and took the other one and headed to the ventilation shaft opening. She took the cover off and climbed in, securing the cover on behind her. After crawling deeper into the shaft and turning a corner, she stopped to review the data she had downloaded.
Luke felt Mara's sense touch his, and sighed in relief that she was ok. His relief was short lived as he got her message that she was off to face whatever she had to face. Luke had wanted her to wait and tried to tell her so, but she threw up her barriers before he could talk to her and pin point her location.
Luke stretched out harder with the Force, trying to get her again before realizing that there was nothing he could do about it and resigned himself to making his way back to the ground troops and Han and Leia. Sighing, Luke turned and headed off through the dense forest.
A short time later Luke arrived to find that Leia hadn't yet returned. Han and Luke were both worried about her and sent the troops on to the shield generator and set off to find her. As they trudged through the forest, Luke felt Han tap him on the shoulder.
Luke turned towards Han as he continued to walk. "What is it, Han?' Luke could sense his worry about Leia, but felt something else playing at the edge of his friends mind. He knew what was coming.
"Luke, where is Mara?" Han hadn't seen Mara much, but he could see that his young friend cared for her, but he was also suspicious about her absence.
"She had something she had to do." Luke answered, not looking at Han.
"What do you mean, she had something to do? I'm in charge here, you know. She should have checked with me first." Han tried to sound angry, but Luke sensed the truth of his emotions.
Stopping, Luke turned to Han. "This is something she needed to do, Han. She has to completely break the hold the Emperor has on her." Luke waited for the outburst he expected.
"What!? Do you mean she went to face him!?" Han was in shock. "What if she goes back over to his side and fulfills his wish to kill you?"
Luke sighed. "Yes, Han. She has to face him. But she won't turn back." Luke said confidently, turning he began walking again, but was stopped as Han grabbed his arm. "How could you let her go off alone like that? I thought you cared about her." Han knew this would rile his friend, but didn't care.
At Han's comment, Luke felt anger building up inside him, but a moment later he got a handle on it, knowing he deserved an answer. "I do care about her, Han. I care about her a great deal." Luke blew out a breath, "There was no way I could have stopped her. She told me through the Force that she was ok and had found her chance to face her destiny. Before I could try to talk her out of it, she cut off the link between us and I haven't been able to get a sense of her since." Luke turned and continued walking again.
Han felt bad about what he had said to him. He jogged ahead to catch up to him. "Luke…"
Luke stopped and cut him off. "Look Han, I really do care about her. Hell I'm in love with her, but this is something she has to do." Luke looked down a moment, "I'm worried that this time the Emperor will succeed in killing her. I just can't do anything about it right now, so can we just find Leia and do what we need to do?" Luke turned and began walking again. This time Han didn't stop him.
Han turned to Chewie as he walked up beside him, roaring a question. "I don't know Chewie, but I hope, for his sake, that he is right."
Chewie grumbled a reply. "Yeah." Han shook himself, "But Luke's right. We can't do anything about that right now. We have to find Leia." His voice sounded far away, as if he was lost in thought. Chewie roared at Han wanting to find out what was going on in his mind.
"Why would you even ask that? Of course I want to find Leia." Han looked at Chewbacca straight in the eye. "I love her, Chewie. I'll never leave here until I find her." Han started walking to catch up to Luke, "No one has ever believed in me the way she does. I never thought anyone would do anything to help me like she has. I don't know what I'd do without her."
Chewie placed a furry hand on his friends shoulder and grumbled low in his throat at him. Han softened towards his friend. "Thanks, Chewie, I know we'll find her, too." Han started to go ahead again, then turned back to his friend. "I'm just worried about Mara, too. What if she does turn back to the Emperor and tries to kill Luke?" Han shook his head. "I just hope he knows what he's doing."
Han and Chewie hurried to catch up with Luke and scoured territory as they went. As they spilt off to the side, Luke stopped and found two wrecked speeders and a helmet that looked like those the ground crew was wearing. Luke started to look around, stretching out with the Force to see if she was nearby. Then he heard Han's voice calling him and he raced off to see what he had found.
Luke came around and saw what Han had seen. Then saw and felt his friend's pain and worry for Leia. He wanted to do whatever he could to find her. He hated to add to his concern, but had to show him the helmet. "There's two more wrecked speeders back there. And I found this." Luke tossed the helmet to Han.
Han turned it over in his hands and looked frantically around for Leia. She had to be around here somewhere. "Leia!" Han started to move around the speeder to look over where Luke had come from. "Leia!"
Luke could feel his friends roiling pain and desperation to find Leia. But he was going to drive himself crazy the way he was going. "Han." Luke reached out to grab his arm, but when Han felt him trying to stop him, he whirled on him in anger.
"Let go of me! God dammit, aren't you even worried?" Han started to look around as he spoke. "I am scared to death that something bad has happened to Leia. I am at least trying to find her." Han just let it all come out. "Instead of being so damned accepting of what's happening. If you truly were in love with Mara then you would be trying to find her! Trying to save her. But no, you just let her go, knowing she could turn evil or be killed and you would never know which until she came after you!"
Luke stood rooted to his spot, shocked by his friend's words. "Wait a minute. There is no reason for you to be lashing out at me. Of course I'm worried about Leia." Luke turned and walked over to Han stopping him from plunging into the trees to look for her more. "And what would you have me do to find Mara? Leave you all behind and jeopardize an already risky mission?" As Luke went on his voice raised in anger at his friend. "There is nothing I can do to stop her, Han. It's killing me that I can't stop her. I want nothing more than to have her here helping us. But blast it, there is nothing I can do about it now!" Han started to reply but was cut off by Chewie's roar.
"What?" Han demanded. Chewie just ignored him and ran deeper into the forest. "What Chewie?" Han asked again as they ran after him. He was hoping he caught a whiff of Leia, but was disappointed to find an animals carcass hanging from a stake in the ground.
Just as he reached up to take it down, Luke's danger sense flared to life. He rushed forward to try to stop him, but he was too late. Suddenly they were all swinging in the air from a net.
"Great Chewie, great. Always thinking with your stomach." Han chastised. Chewie just growled back and was silent as he struggled to free them from the trap. Artoo used his resources and freed them from the net, while Han tried to get at Luke's lightsaber. Just as he reached it, they crashed through the net to the ground below.
They looked at each other and started to get up, but they soon found themselves surrounded by a crowd of small teddy bear like creatures called the Ewoks. At first it seemed as if they were safe, but soon had spears pointed at them. Han pushed one to the side only to find it once again pointed at him. He went for his blaster, but Luke, sensing something tugging at the back of his mind stopped him. "It'll be alright. Trust me."
Han looked at him a moment then gave a small nod, relinquishing his weapon. He had a feeling Luke was right. The look in his eyes told him to trust what he said.
Just then, C-3po sat up and a gasp was heard among the fury little creatures. Han and Luke were confused when they all started bowing to him. Luke and Hand just looked at each other, and were amused to find out the Ewoks thought he was a God!
Amused, Han tried to get him to use this to their advantage and get them set free, but got angry when C-3po told him that it would be improper to impersonate a deity. As he made a move towards him, spears were once again thrown in his face. Han stopped quickly and shrugged, realizing his mistake. "He's a friend of mine."
Luke hid a smile behind his hand. They were bound to stakes and carried high up into the trees to the Ewok village, wondering what their fate might be.
TBC…