Reflexively, Jade checked the power pack in her blaster; her thumb hovered temptingly over the intensity selector, yet the setting remained on stun. Her muscles tensed, they had stopped moving. It was time. Jade glanced at the man sitting behind her. He was seated seemingly oblivious to the world, his knees drawn up to his chest, his hands resting comfortably on his kneecaps. A soft smile played on his lips as he dreamily regarded the blank door directly ahead of him. Typical Skywalker, since entering the lift Jade had retained a respectful distance from the Jedi, she remained by the door and Skywalker had regained his composure in silence by the other side of the carriage. She didn't like it. She knew when Farmboy was less than totally honest with her; there was more to his little fainting fit than he was letting on, much more. Since she dragged him into the lift he had remained maddeningly serene, balled so tightly in the force she could hardly sense him. Something was not as it should be.
"I'm fine Jade," his gentle voice drifted towards her; minutely she narrowed her eyes, opening her mouth to speak.
"I wouldn't dare," his eyes sparked with mirth. "I value my life too much." Chuckling lightly, Skywalker stood and nodded towards the door. "Ready for our favourite nocturnal pastime? It's a beautiful night to blow up Imperial artefacts", he smiled warmly.
Jade hesitated. A glib Luke was almost as unnerving as a despondent Luke. She made eye contact with the Jedi Master.
"Its not too late Luke," she paused considering her words carefully, "you can still turn back and no one will ever know you were down here, if they catch you it will be the end of your career, everything you have worked to achieved..." He shook his head, and acting on a sudden impulse, reached out and lightly caressed her cheek.
"Its already too late for me," abruptly he turned from her to retrieve the small rucksack they had brought with them, "and if you are found in a highly restricted area of the palace unauthorised, it would be your life, Emperor's hand." His anger was short-lived. "We go together, you and I both need to do this Mara," he smiled soothingly and extended his hand towards her shoulder, only to snatch it away hastily. Jade nodded, he was still acting strangely, it made her anxious. "The target is only a few metres on, the passages forms quite a labyrinth, so keep a good lock on me." She opened the lift doors revealing the darkness before them.
Still occupied with her unsettling thoughts, Leia almost missed the soft chirruping of her com-link. Opening the frequency, she listened intensely to the report from the young officer. Smiling, she walked briskly towards his location.
The air reeked of too much artificial reclamation.
"This way, just round the bend in the passage," Mara lead, "I know this area, spent a lot of time down here." Luke yelped in pain as he collided with yet another unexpected rock. "You teach this to your students?" she hissed.
"No, I teach them never to wander down dark uneven passages without adequate light."
"Enough light for me," she countered.
"Well you have more experience sneaking around down here."
"Then why are you complaining Farmboy, you obviously need the practice."
Jade sighed, "hold still a minute," she paused letting her mental barrier weaken, then nudged their route from her mind to his, the placement of rocks, the change in strata she was searching for, in short all the information he needed not to get to battered before they reached their destination and get out again. Vaguely she wondered what else she might have allowed Skywalker to glimpse.
They worked forwards down the roughly hewn rock passage.
"Here," Jade paused by a nondescript section of rock. She muttered something undecipherable and began examining the stone closely.
Luke shivered. So that was why she had no scar. The memory had flitted over her thoughts and flowed from her consciousness to his with the operational details, he let it unwind...
"Come child, you are troubled," the Emperor's knolled voiced called into the shadows of his throne room. Hesitant footfalls could be heard as the figure of a small girl emerged from the gloom.
"My Master", Mara approached and knelt before him. She was, even now, quite lovely.
"You wish to speak with me, my hand."
"Yes, my Master." She rose, yet cast her eyes to the floor, "I have been thinking," Jade hesitated, "it is my wish to serve you, as best I can, yet it pains me to think that if I fail you I would leave you unprotected. If I am disgraced, then my flaw should not be compounded by my not anticipating the possibility."
"You raise an interesting problem," the Emperor sneered, his yellow eyes glittered in the half-light. "It is not a possibility that I have foreseen, yet it would prove unfortunate to lose your particular talents. What action would you suggest, my hand?"
"My teacher of Antiquity told me of the Clone Wars Master. Could I be copied in a similar way?" Mara replied. The Emperor laughed, a dry wheezing cackle that lay heavily in the air.
He leaned forwards in his throne, yet seemed to move deeper into the shadows. "There is a way. It would be sufficient, not cloning in the strict sense, as I am sure your tutor told you. That technology was perfected by the Clone Masters, who are now no more." His gaunt fingers pressed together beneath his chin "The alternative would be exquisitely painful," he hissed, " So child?"
"To serve you is my life, Sire."
The Emperor beckoned one of his royal guard and whispered instructions to him. He left promptly.
"I am fortunate that you are a female, in this regard at least, for within you lies the easiest way to accomplish this." Jade looked up at her master in confusion, as if to answer her question, he continued, "I will take from you the organ that produces eggs, that would, if fertilised, produce your offspring. My scientists will fertilise it with your own material. The result, a being closer to you than a daughter." The Guard returned and set up a low table. "Remove your garment, lie still on the table, I will detach the tissue personally."
"Yes Master," she hurried to comply. She was cold, yet fought the need to shiver. It grew colder. The Emperor reclined within his throne and reached for the power that was the Dark Side.
He willed it, and it became so, cities would fall, men would die history would be rewritten, from the recesses of his throne he focused his mind upon his hand and what he now desired. He sensed each vein, each artery, each corpuscle. Quickly, the Emperor determined the path of least resistance, and bent his will to the task. At his bidding the force pushed, it was a minute amount of pressure, ordinarily the stirring would have gone unnoticed, like the gentles summer breeze. Yet it was as if a wedge of transparisteel was being driven through Jade, a hole appeared in her abdomen and grew. The force was concentrated in an exact point, nudging the cells of her body apart, holding the liquids within her still. Jade screamed continually until she lost consciousness.
Once her body cavity was sufficiently exposed, he located the ovary and pulled it free. As he withdrew from Jade, her flesh reformed leaving nothing but an ugly bruise.
Luke was wrenched from his thoughts as light spilled into the corridor, Mara had already moved into the chamber, he followed. "What now, Jade?" she graced him with a withering emerald glare. "You set charges."
"I'm fine Jade," his gentle voice drifted towards her; minutely she narrowed her eyes, opening her mouth to speak.
"I wouldn't dare," his eyes sparked with mirth. "I value my life too much." Chuckling lightly, Skywalker stood and nodded towards the door. "Ready for our favourite nocturnal pastime? It's a beautiful night to blow up Imperial artefacts", he smiled warmly.
Jade hesitated. A glib Luke was almost as unnerving as a despondent Luke. She made eye contact with the Jedi Master.
"Its not too late Luke," she paused considering her words carefully, "you can still turn back and no one will ever know you were down here, if they catch you it will be the end of your career, everything you have worked to achieved..." He shook his head, and acting on a sudden impulse, reached out and lightly caressed her cheek.
"Its already too late for me," abruptly he turned from her to retrieve the small rucksack they had brought with them, "and if you are found in a highly restricted area of the palace unauthorised, it would be your life, Emperor's hand." His anger was short-lived. "We go together, you and I both need to do this Mara," he smiled soothingly and extended his hand towards her shoulder, only to snatch it away hastily. Jade nodded, he was still acting strangely, it made her anxious. "The target is only a few metres on, the passages forms quite a labyrinth, so keep a good lock on me." She opened the lift doors revealing the darkness before them.
Still occupied with her unsettling thoughts, Leia almost missed the soft chirruping of her com-link. Opening the frequency, she listened intensely to the report from the young officer. Smiling, she walked briskly towards his location.
The air reeked of too much artificial reclamation.
"This way, just round the bend in the passage," Mara lead, "I know this area, spent a lot of time down here." Luke yelped in pain as he collided with yet another unexpected rock. "You teach this to your students?" she hissed.
"No, I teach them never to wander down dark uneven passages without adequate light."
"Enough light for me," she countered.
"Well you have more experience sneaking around down here."
"Then why are you complaining Farmboy, you obviously need the practice."
Jade sighed, "hold still a minute," she paused letting her mental barrier weaken, then nudged their route from her mind to his, the placement of rocks, the change in strata she was searching for, in short all the information he needed not to get to battered before they reached their destination and get out again. Vaguely she wondered what else she might have allowed Skywalker to glimpse.
They worked forwards down the roughly hewn rock passage.
"Here," Jade paused by a nondescript section of rock. She muttered something undecipherable and began examining the stone closely.
Luke shivered. So that was why she had no scar. The memory had flitted over her thoughts and flowed from her consciousness to his with the operational details, he let it unwind...
"Come child, you are troubled," the Emperor's knolled voiced called into the shadows of his throne room. Hesitant footfalls could be heard as the figure of a small girl emerged from the gloom.
"My Master", Mara approached and knelt before him. She was, even now, quite lovely.
"You wish to speak with me, my hand."
"Yes, my Master." She rose, yet cast her eyes to the floor, "I have been thinking," Jade hesitated, "it is my wish to serve you, as best I can, yet it pains me to think that if I fail you I would leave you unprotected. If I am disgraced, then my flaw should not be compounded by my not anticipating the possibility."
"You raise an interesting problem," the Emperor sneered, his yellow eyes glittered in the half-light. "It is not a possibility that I have foreseen, yet it would prove unfortunate to lose your particular talents. What action would you suggest, my hand?"
"My teacher of Antiquity told me of the Clone Wars Master. Could I be copied in a similar way?" Mara replied. The Emperor laughed, a dry wheezing cackle that lay heavily in the air.
He leaned forwards in his throne, yet seemed to move deeper into the shadows. "There is a way. It would be sufficient, not cloning in the strict sense, as I am sure your tutor told you. That technology was perfected by the Clone Masters, who are now no more." His gaunt fingers pressed together beneath his chin "The alternative would be exquisitely painful," he hissed, " So child?"
"To serve you is my life, Sire."
The Emperor beckoned one of his royal guard and whispered instructions to him. He left promptly.
"I am fortunate that you are a female, in this regard at least, for within you lies the easiest way to accomplish this." Jade looked up at her master in confusion, as if to answer her question, he continued, "I will take from you the organ that produces eggs, that would, if fertilised, produce your offspring. My scientists will fertilise it with your own material. The result, a being closer to you than a daughter." The Guard returned and set up a low table. "Remove your garment, lie still on the table, I will detach the tissue personally."
"Yes Master," she hurried to comply. She was cold, yet fought the need to shiver. It grew colder. The Emperor reclined within his throne and reached for the power that was the Dark Side.
He willed it, and it became so, cities would fall, men would die history would be rewritten, from the recesses of his throne he focused his mind upon his hand and what he now desired. He sensed each vein, each artery, each corpuscle. Quickly, the Emperor determined the path of least resistance, and bent his will to the task. At his bidding the force pushed, it was a minute amount of pressure, ordinarily the stirring would have gone unnoticed, like the gentles summer breeze. Yet it was as if a wedge of transparisteel was being driven through Jade, a hole appeared in her abdomen and grew. The force was concentrated in an exact point, nudging the cells of her body apart, holding the liquids within her still. Jade screamed continually until she lost consciousness.
Once her body cavity was sufficiently exposed, he located the ovary and pulled it free. As he withdrew from Jade, her flesh reformed leaving nothing but an ugly bruise.
Luke was wrenched from his thoughts as light spilled into the corridor, Mara had already moved into the chamber, he followed. "What now, Jade?" she graced him with a withering emerald glare. "You set charges."