At point blank range
By SJ (skyjade@globetrotter.net)
02-02-02/06-02
________________
Disclaimers: Nothing in the Star Wars Universe belong to me; everything belongs
to George Lucas. Also, everything related to the spoken parts of Heir to the
Empire belongs to Timothy Zhan. I'm only borrowing to make more sense with
Mara's or Luke's missing thoughts (when we follow Luke's thoughts in the novel,
this story will cover Mara's, and vice versa ;). Naturally, everything related
to the situations of Heir to the Empire also belong to Timothy Zhan. Please
don't sue me, it's only for fun; I'm not making any money out of this.
See my homepage for more details.
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Quasar/3702
Special thanks to my shy, secret beta-reader and best friend, Adrianne, for her
help with the final editing of my new stories. Thanks for giving me some of
your precious time, my friend :)
__________________
Place in time:
Eleven years after the first meeting of Pre-destined Soulmates.
In 'Heir to the Empire', right after Luke feels Mara's presence aboard the Wild
Karrde.
******
The moment that Mara Jade felt the Jedi's senses probe her presence, she blocked
her mind from his while allowing him to feel that she would be his death. As
she had expected, the proud Jedi was so shocked by her hatred of him that he
mentally scurried away, like the coward he truly was.
'And right now,' she thought meanly as she continued to monitor both the crew at
the helm and the events that were unfolding a few twenty meters away from her,
they would see how 'vulnerable' he also was.
When the Ysalamiri effect blocked her probe off from Karrde's section of the
ship, she abandoned her station and stalked toward her employer's office.
Skywalker was finally within her grasp and helpless; she barely kept herself
from smirking in grim delight.
At last, here was her chance to both kill the Jedi and avenge the Emperor. For
the past five years, she had been looking for opportunities to fulfill her dead
master's last wish, but events had unfortunately kept pushing her further and
further away from her target.
Until now.
At this very moment, Luke Skywalker, would-be hero and Jedi impostor, was within
her reach, and this time, she also had all the means she needed to accomplish
her last mission.
A clean blaster shot in the head would do, she thought with a mean sneer of
hatred--- then changed her mind.
It would be too fast.
She wanted it to last, she admitted to herself. She wanted him to suffer for
everything he was responsible for: the death of countless Imperial soldiers, the
destruction of her master and her sole purpose in life... the misery she herself
had put up with for the past five years. But not anymore, she thought angrily,
her hand literally itching for a knife, a blaster, or even the Jedi's
lightsaber.
Now there would be an appropriate tool of revenge, she smirked meanly as she
reached her destination.
She was about to key the door of Karrde's office open--- when two men came out,
pushing a deactivated droid in front of themselves.
So, she thought in disdain, Skywalker truly kept the robot around. Probably to
keep record of all his 'great' deeds, she sneered in disgust.
Once the entrance was cleared again, she stepped inside--- and froze in
unprecedented joy/hatred as her eyes rested on the slumped figure of the orange-
clad Jedi. Up to now, she had had a very slight doubt about the true identity
of their passenger. The Force contact had pretty much convinced her of the
truth, but she had been around long enough to know not to trust anything but her
eyes.
And her eyes were now glaring hatefully at the one man responsible for the
murder of her master... the destruction of her old life. Answering her
assassin instinct, she pulled her pocket blaster from her wrist holster and
aimed at the unconscious figure---
"We didn't capture him to kill him," Karrde's well modulated voice calmly
reminded her from her right.
She looked up at him, a thousand thoughts running through her mind while no
sound came out of her mouth. She had to kill him, she wanted to tell him, it
was her duty, her responsibility... her right!
"Yet," Karrde added briefly after a while, as if to reassure her that he
wouldn't free Skywalker either.
She herself refocused on their prisoner.
'By the Gods, it would be so easy to pull the trigger and be done with it,' she
thought angrily. All she had to do was move her finger slightly backward and
her nightmare would be over... but she couldn't do it, she tempered herself.
Karrde had an idea as to how to use the Jedi, and if she disobeyed him, even to
obey the Emperor, he would kick her out of his organization.
She had finally gotten herself an important position, a meaningful job. She
wouldn't risk it for anyone, she decided angrily, not even Skywalker. She
swiftly flicked her weapon's setting from kill to stun and satisfied herself
with an empty shot.
"He was awakening," she shrugged coolly to her approaching boss.
"Combined with the double dose of pandrophine we just gave him, he won't be
awakening any time soon," her boss commented seriously, then continued: "It will
give us some time."
"For what?" she frowned at him.
"For one thing," Karrde commented, locking his gaze with hers, "to figure out
How you knew that he would be there?"
"Feminine instinct," she retorted evasively, turning back toward their
unconscious prisoner to study him.
Even though she had known what to expect thanks to her excellent tracking of any
type of information related to the Jedi, she admitted to herself that he seemed
more square-shouldered than she had been led to believe via the media. She made
a note to herself to be wary of his strength.
Meanwhile, Karrde continued his inquiry.
"And I suppose that this instinct told you that it would be better to capture
him than to leave him where he was?" he asked with just a note of rebuttal in
his voice.
"Yes, it did," she nodded, crouching closer to the fallen man, then searched for
the catch of his weapons' belt.
Even though she could feel that he was out for the duration, she knew better
than to leave an enemy armed.
"Then," her boss went on, definitely serious this time, "you can also tell me
what we will do with him. We are a neutral smuggling group, Mara. I 'had'
declined the Imperials' offer to go after him."
"No one knows that we have him," she reminded him coldly even as she pulled
sharply on the Jedi's belt, freeing it from his dead weight.
His slumped body rolled backward in response to her tug, his shoulder shifting
out of the way, thus allowing her to see his unconscious features.
He hadn't changed much since Jabba's Palace, she instantly thought, then
reflexively lashed out at him as she remembered that awful failure.
The unconscious man didn't react in any way to her attack, but someone else
intervened; Karrde swiftly interposed himself between their prisoner and
herself, then took a strong hold on her still armed hand.
"Don't assault him again," he warned her, reminding her that 'he' was in charge
this time, not her. "Until we decide what to do with him, we will not harm him
in any way, understood?"
"Why do you care, Karrde?" she instantly challenged him, barely managing to
restrain herself from shoving him aside to finish her target. "We won't return
him to his friends and you know it," she reminded him sternly.
"Perhaps," the older man countered, not letting go of her wrist, "but until I
have made 'my' decision, you will not attack Skywalker again," he repeated,
dead-serious.
Horribly torn between her allegiance to her dead master and her hopes for the
new life which she was slowly making for herself, Mara remained silent, her
glare shifting from the Jedi to her boss, then back again--- until she finally
relented. She freed herself from Karrde's grip and stuffed her blaster back in
her wrist holster.
"Point taken," she answered coolly although she was simmering inside.
Skywalker was hers; nobody but her would decide what to do with him... but not
with Karrde around.
"Good, then you will be responsible to keep his presence secret as well as keep
him out of trouble."
Mara felt her teeth grind together upon hearing those news, but other than
flashing a very cold glare at her boss, she didn't react in any other, visible
way.
Great, she growled inwardly, not only would she be unable to kill him, but she
would babysit him as well. Life was unfair, she thought hatefully, her glare
once again fastened on the unconscious, unaware Jedi. One more thing he would
have to pay for, she then added on her mental notepad of grievances against
Skywalker.
******
A day later, Mara sat in a small room on Myrkr where their main base was
located. In front of her, still laying on his back on the pallet where they had
left him, Skywalker finally began to stir awake.
One whole day, she silently cursed him as he barely shifted his neck; she was
feeling irritated enough with him to take a few potshots at him in the legs or
an arm. It wouldn't kill him, she thought meanly, but it would begin to make up
for her waste of time. She had better things to do with her time than to
babysit a sleeping Jedi.
For one thing, she thought more coldly, she could kill him.
But no, Karrde had explicitly forbidden her to even touch the Jedi, and since he
was still in la-la-land, she didn't even have the satisfaction of verbally
taking it out on him. He wasn't aware of her presence. But not for long, she
smirked meanly as she saw him blink against the streaming light. He finally
lifted his head.
"Finally awake, are you?" she sneered at him.
Had she not hated him as much as she did, she would have smirked at his almost-
comical start upon hearing her voice; however, she felt nothing but disgust for
him. The all powerful Jedi wasn't so powerful anymore, she thought in
satisfaction as she warily studied him, and himself, her.
Were she in his place, she then suddenly estimated, she would try to jump him
right about now---.
However, the Jedi didn't seem to be aware of that; instead, he frowned at her
even as his mouth hung loosely thanks to his obvious shock. She could imagine
how he felt; she too had felt lost when she had set foot for the first time on
Myrkr, but in her case, she had gotten over it. Unlike the Jedi, she didn't
rely on the Force anymore than she had to. Skywalker however, was said to live
for it...
It had to be a sweet torture for him, she thought cynically, then, unable to
resist taunting him, spoke up once again: "That's right," she smiled meanly at
him, "welcome back to the world of mere mortals."
His eyes widened even more than they already were; she reflexively stared
straight in them--- and something happened.
Even as the Jedi obviously became aware of his exact predicament, she found
herself becoming more than aware of his very close, strong presence... and even
thought that he was handsom---- whoa, Jade, she instantly caught herself. What
was that??? She hurried to throw her last, disgusting thoughts in her garbage
masher, then mentally shook herself and forced herself to refocus on her
prisoner.
Insults, she reflected, that would keep her focused on her hatred.
She expressed it by giving him one more vocal proof that he had lost everything
that made him special; as she hissed lowly at him, memories of what she herself
had lost came back to her.
She too had been special, she remembered it quite vividly; in fact, she had
been unique---- and he had taken everything away from her, she thought
hatefully, her hand dropping to her lap as the urge to kill him grew strong once
again, but she once again stopped herself as she became aware of the actual
circumstances.
She couldn't let him take her future from her. The past had been enough. She
warily watched him as he finally swung his legs over the side of the bed, then
straightened to a sitting position--- and his right hand moved toward her! She
recognized his intent even as she tightened her grip on her blaster and told him
how useless trying to impress her with Force-tricks was at the moment. The Jedi
countered her retort with something about getting back to his feet.
He might not be able to use the Force, she reflected grimly as she continued to
watch him catch his breath, but she had a fairly good idea that his strength
'would' represent a challenge if they fought physically. In such cases, she
believed in dissuasion, and in this particular case, convincing him to behave
would also keep her from finding an 'excuse' to kill Skywalker and ruin it with
Karrde.
She had had to run from so many places in the last five years that she had lost
count of them, but Karrde's organization was different, she admitted to herself.
They were based on a planet bereft from the Force... and she could really use
her piloting and commanding abilities with the group. She wasn't a menial
waitress anymore, nor a less than important mechanic. Here, she was a second in
command and she wasn't stranded anymore.
"Don't tell me; let me guess. You're Mara Jade," The Jedi tried again--- trying
to look helpless, she noticed with disgust.
She sneered at his feeble act. Skywalker didn't seem to catch her despise in
her voice. Instead, he thanked her about his x-wing. She almost choked on his
words.
Was he trying to befriend her now? Just like he had 'befriended' the whole
galaxy for his own purposes of rising to power? His lack of morality sickened
her.
"Save your gratitude," she spat vehemently at him before telling him exactly
where things stood for him as far as she was concerned: give him to the
imperials or kill them themselves.
Skywalker's blue eyes found hers again at that... and for the second time in
less than five minutes, she felt an almost unbearable attraction for her sworn
enemy.
He was doing something to her, she instantly warned herself even as she hardened
her glare to dissuade him from gazing at her.. A few seconds later, she jumped
to her feet, her blaster aimed at Skywalker's head.
"On your feet," she ordered sharply.
She watched him with unconcealed hatred as he slowly pushed himself to his feet;
she thus caught his reaction when he saw his lightsaber at her hip.
'That's right,' she thought at him in grim satisfaction, briefly wishing to have
the Force back to send those thoughts to him and watch him crumple in fear.
'I'm not a push-over and I can defeat you anytime I want. I too can use the
Force, and more.' Currently however, her prisoner didn't catch any of her
untold messages.
Once he had straightened up, the Jedi spoke again, his voice still devoid of any
anger or hatred.
So he didn't want to wait and find out what they had in store for him?, she
thought in dark amusement even as she became aware that now might be the moment
that she had been waiting for to kill him.
"There's one other one," she answered his comment about his options, locking her
gaze with his even as she stepped closer--- and aimed straight at his face at
point blank range. "You try to escape... and I kill you right here and now,"
she offered him icily, hatefully.
She expected Skywalker to be afraid, or angry, or anything. Instead, he
remained still, his defiant gaze never leaving hers--- and for the first time
since she had been given her mission at Jabba's, she recognized strength in her
enemy. She understood that he wouldn't give her the satisfaction of seeing him
begging for his life, nor would he give her the opportunity to torment him just
like he had tormented her and her master. He shouldn't be like that, she
silently cursed this unexpected trait of personality in him; he had no right to
not pay for his crimes, and only a long and mentally torturous end would balance
for those.
In front of her, Skywalker remained still, not giving her even a mobile for
pulling the trigger. Those eyes of his, she decided in dim unease, were more
impressive in person.
Finally, she admitted defeat in her newest plan to take his life. Again.
Eventually however, she knew that she would be successful. It was her duty, her
right.
"Move," she flicked her weapon toward the door.
Silently, the Jedi complied; she walked behind him, keeping her weapon trained
on him.
And it was set on kill.
******
As they crossed the wide courtyard, Mara almost willed him to try and make a
dash for his freedom so that she could shoot him where it really hurt, but the
Jedi seemed to be aware of her desire.
He didn't try anything.
The closer they walked to the main building, and the more she took her focus off
the back of his head to instead study his back... It was a wrong move; she
unwillingly found her gaze locked on the expanse of his orange-and-white-covered
shoulders--- and gaped slightly in surprise.
He couldn't be that muscled, could he?. She shifted her focus toward his arms
and noticed how the suit wasn't hanging loosely around his arms either. This
had to be a trick from the dimmer light of the day, she decided in disbelief.
No one but professional athletes were that muscled, and she doubted that the
Jedi indulged in such 'lowly' activity. In fact, she had no doubts that he
normally relied only on the Force, as had several of his predecessors. Or else,
she reflected coldly, it was just another Force trick... like his eyes.
Something she had never heard of, but that worked even without the Force.
Well, she decided as she reached past his shoulder to key the main building
open, his tricks wouldn't work on her. She instructed him to walk straight
ahead.
Skywalker fell back in step, remaining as silent as ever.
They finally reached Karrde's receiving room. There, Skywalker spent a good ten
seconds gaping at the huge tree before Karrde finally steered him forward once
again; she herself remained ready for trouble but didn't do anything. However,
she caught sight of the bewildered expression on Skywalker's face and found
herself resuming her new and absolutely illogical fight with herself.
For a brief, unthinkable moment, she had wanted nothing more than to press her
lips to his sensuous-looking ones. Inconceivable, and more than sickening, she
growled inwardly as she followed her prisoner inside. Vornsks would fly before
she ever even touched Skywalker in any other fashion but an aggressive one, she
promised herself.
Karrde began to talk. When the Jedi commented that he might have cooperated
with them, she couldn't help but snort slightly in derision. Did the all
powerful/powerless Jedi think that they were stupid? Who would willingly go
with a group of smugglers who wanted to kill him?, she wanted to challenge him.
Karrde voiced her own thoughts, although in a much more sociable manner than she
would have, then he invited their prisoner to sit down with him. The moment
Skywalker took a step closer to her boss, something strange happened.
Karrde's pet vornsks jumped to their feet and seemed ready to pounce on the
Jedi. Normally, she reminded herself even as her eyes remained locked on the
predators, they were very quiet, even friendly, but not with the Jedi. As if
they knew what kind of scum he was, she then understood grimly while a new urge
to kill him for his crimes grew in her. Once again, she didn't give into it.
In time, she scolded herself.
While she kept herself from making a mistake, one of their crew men took the two
beasts away from their group, then Skywalker sat down. She herself holstered
her weapon and stood beside her boss, her eyes never leaving the wily Jedi.
She had studied him for the past five years, had learnt all his favorite tactics
and strategies which he used against his so-called enemies. She was ready for
him, she thought as she tried to detect any sign that he would attempt anything.
However, just like in the barracks, the Jedi remained calm, quiet... even
confident. He and Karrde proceeded to discuss which options they might have
with him; she felt her insides churn when they mentioned the possibility that
the Jedi might be returning to his friends. Giving him to the Imperials was not
her favorite option either because it meant leaving him alive... In short, she
decided, completely freeing him was unthinkable.
If he ever struck that agreement with Karrde, she promised herself that the Jedi
wouldn't survive his flight off the planet. After all, she thought
sadistically, technical problems happened all the time aboard ships. It would
only be an 'unfortunate' accident.
She refrained herself from smirking too obviously as the image of that plan
formed in her mind, then she forced herself to refocus on the ongoing
conversation. Karrde was explaining to Skywalker the variables which were
making them lean toward the Imperial solution.
Unable to resist the temptation to add to Skywalker's discomfiture, she joined
in and added: "It's not what they would offer, it's what they 'have' already
offered: thirty thousands," she finished meanly, aware that this much money
could, in a way, compensate for not killing him.
It would enable Karrde's group to flourish, or... if she turned him in herself,
it could give her the possibility to start her own business and be free from any
obligations to anyone. However, she conceded grimly, Skywalker being alive
would always taunt her... and her nightmares would remain. No, she decided with
finality, Skywalker wouldn't survive their encounter.
Sooner or later, she would kill him.
When Skywalker searched her gaze again, she made sure that he saw this, nothing
else. She had the satisfaction to slightly shake his composure.
Then, the men continued to discuss, switching to the New Republic.
The hated so-called New Republic. Would-be rulers who had done nothing but
reinstate chaos in the galaxy. When the Emperor had lived, everything and
everyone had known where they belonged, what had been their role in the galaxy.
Now though, aliens were trying to sit in the Senate or at the helm of ships,
young men had the challenge of choosing their destiny instead of being enrolled
in the army, and outlaws were ruling on some worlds.
When Karrde mentioned the most likely outcome of the war between the remnants of
the Empire and the Republic, she tuned in once again and reminded them that the
Jedi and his sister were key elements in Mothma's strategy of ruling while she
willingly locked her hateful gaze with the Jedi's.
Even though she didn't say it, she seemed to convey the message that she would
make the Republic fall when he himself wouldn't be around anymore. The Jedi
might have reacted to this, but Karrde's calm voice doused them both and the
tension was over before it had begun.
And so it went for the rest of the encounter.
******
Later, she escorted him back to the barracks, once again finding her gaze drawn
to his broad shoulders. Just out of curiosity, she admitted to herself, she'd
love to use her knife on the Jedi's clothes and see for herself just how muscled
he was. Then, she'd assert if it were true or not.
"Did I miss diner?" her prisoner queried in the silence.
She answered him with as much lack of interest as she could summon.
"Thank you," he answered, angering her with all his useless attempts to befriend
her.
Didn't he know by now that he was uncovered, she silently raged at him? That he
was only irritating her with his attempts to foul her? Why, she ought to trip
him and let him fall face first----
"I don't know why you dislike me so much---" he began.
"Shut up!" she snapped, then, when she felt him prepare a retort, stepped closer
until the tip of her blaster was resting against his back. "Just shut up," she
snarled lowly in his hear.
Thankfully, the cursed Jedi complied.
If only she could finish him, or torture him... or escape his influence. She
would at least recover some peace of mind. Ever since he had woken up, she
hadn't had a moment of respite and she was growing tired of her unceasing
thoughts.
She used to be focused, cold and efficient, she reminded herself.
Her change of life hadn't been long enough for her to lose her skills, she then
resolved as they entered the empty barracks. She was 'still' the best assassin
there was.
They finally reached his room; she nudged him inside and immediately noticed how
he eyed the window. She meanly dissuaded him from trying anything with it.
He grimaced an answer at her then stepped away from her.
Mara was tempted to add another dare, but she knew when she was on the brink of
loosing control. Furthermore, she knew that in this case, she couldn't lose
her control. Hence, she glared at him one last time, then left and locked the
door behind her.
However, the sudden tension she had felt when he had grimaced didn't leave her.
Instead, she continued to remember a certain boy who had grimaced exactly like
what Skywalker had just done...
Now was not the time to think about her farmboy, she admonished herself very
sternly. She had finally caught up with Skywalker. Nothing else was important,
not even how he weirdly brought back memories of a chance encounter on the
desert planet of Tatooine, an encounter which she could still remember as if it
were yesterday although without precise details about her then young
companion... She hadn't thought about him for almost three years now... To have
a flash of him today of all days----
After she would be done with Skywalker, she promised herself, she would give
herself time to think about her farmboy, but for the moment, she couldn't let
her love affect her hatred for the cursed Jedi.
She needed her disgust and aggressive feelings to be as strong as she could be
against her enemy.
******
A while after Mara left Luke alone, someone finally came by with food as well as
the clothes Karrde had allowed him to retrieve.
While he munched on the tasteless ration bar, Luke thought back to the dangerous
woman he had met today. Even without the Force, he knew that she wanted to kill
him, preferably with as much torment as possible. It wasn't the first time that
he met such a person, whom he had probably hurt when he had been with the
Rebellion or through the result of one of his latest missions, but, he wondered,
what could warrant 'as much' hatred as what he had barely felt aboard their ship
before she had blocked him off from her presence.
She was obviously trained in the ways of the Force, he reflected seriously, but
she wasn't a Jedi. On the other hand, she wasn't a dark Jedi either; that much
he had felt during his brief mental contact with her. She was, he surmised, a
dangerous woman who was out for his blood; a wonderful prospect.
And to think, he sneered silently at himself, that his first reaction upon
awakening in her presence had been to think that she was more than beautiful.
What a great Jedi he made, he berated himself, then tossed the remnant of his
unappetizing meal on his bunk. Despite the fact that he hadn't eaten in a
while, he wasn't feeling particularly hungry. However, he could feel fear
creeping up his backbone to invade his mind--- no, he blocked it again.
He couldn't allow himself to be afraid. Just like it had been in his x-wing, he
needed all his wits about himself to get out of this predicament.
Especially now that he couldn't touch the Force anymore.
The Force, he mused as he walked closer to the darkened window to gaze outside.
Ever since he had begun his Jedi training, he had always been aware of its
presence, of its warmth and Light in and around himself.
Here however, thanks to those strange ysalamiri creatures, he was completely
bereft from it. At first, it had felt as if he had suddenly gone blind, but the
more time passed, and the more he felt as if he had also gone deaf and that he
couldn't use his hands anymore.
It was an horrible feeling.
Searching the far away barracks with his eyes, he dimly wondered how Mara Jade
was dealing with it. She hadn't seemed very affected, he conceded with a sigh
as he turned back toward his bunk and decided to change clothes. Perhaps she
wasn't trained enough to feel much difference, he thought while he peeled off
his sweat-stained flight suit... Or perhaps, she preferred it this way.
He then halted on a recent memory: her jade-colored eyes.
Behind her blazing, unadulterated hatred for him, he had also seen pain... a
deep, lingering pain which had made him feel bad for her. Had she not been
aiming at him from point blank range, he knew that he would have tried to
comfort her in some way, but of course, her blaster had efficiently dissuaded
him from even opening this subject with her.
However, he conceded, he somehow knew that he could help her... He couldn't say
why, nor how since he wasn't in touch with the Force anymore, but he could feel
that he could make it up to her without dying to avenge whoever she had lost
during the war. However, he could only wish that he would remain alive long
enough to offer this to her without risking a blaster bolt for an answer.
Sighing heavily to both expel his rising fear and because he was genuinely tired
of his unnatural day-long sleep, he felt in the darkness for his clean tank top,
put it on, before tying arms of his flight suit around his waist, then laid back
on his bed and gazed at the stars which were peeking in from the top edge of his
window.
Would Leia know what happened to him? he wondered uneasily. Could he try to
reason with his captor?.. Somehow, he could feel that making Mara change her
mind would be much more difficult than it had been with his father...
TBC in part 2: Escape
Well, liked it? Had fun? Hope so ;)
2002, SJ (skyjade@globetrotter.net)
Any positive stuff is welcome, but any mean stuff will be thrown down the
Sarlacc's throat without even being read.)
By SJ (skyjade@globetrotter.net)
02-02-02/06-02
________________
Disclaimers: Nothing in the Star Wars Universe belong to me; everything belongs
to George Lucas. Also, everything related to the spoken parts of Heir to the
Empire belongs to Timothy Zhan. I'm only borrowing to make more sense with
Mara's or Luke's missing thoughts (when we follow Luke's thoughts in the novel,
this story will cover Mara's, and vice versa ;). Naturally, everything related
to the situations of Heir to the Empire also belong to Timothy Zhan. Please
don't sue me, it's only for fun; I'm not making any money out of this.
See my homepage for more details.
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Quasar/3702
Special thanks to my shy, secret beta-reader and best friend, Adrianne, for her
help with the final editing of my new stories. Thanks for giving me some of
your precious time, my friend :)
__________________
Place in time:
Eleven years after the first meeting of Pre-destined Soulmates.
In 'Heir to the Empire', right after Luke feels Mara's presence aboard the Wild
Karrde.
******
The moment that Mara Jade felt the Jedi's senses probe her presence, she blocked
her mind from his while allowing him to feel that she would be his death. As
she had expected, the proud Jedi was so shocked by her hatred of him that he
mentally scurried away, like the coward he truly was.
'And right now,' she thought meanly as she continued to monitor both the crew at
the helm and the events that were unfolding a few twenty meters away from her,
they would see how 'vulnerable' he also was.
When the Ysalamiri effect blocked her probe off from Karrde's section of the
ship, she abandoned her station and stalked toward her employer's office.
Skywalker was finally within her grasp and helpless; she barely kept herself
from smirking in grim delight.
At last, here was her chance to both kill the Jedi and avenge the Emperor. For
the past five years, she had been looking for opportunities to fulfill her dead
master's last wish, but events had unfortunately kept pushing her further and
further away from her target.
Until now.
At this very moment, Luke Skywalker, would-be hero and Jedi impostor, was within
her reach, and this time, she also had all the means she needed to accomplish
her last mission.
A clean blaster shot in the head would do, she thought with a mean sneer of
hatred--- then changed her mind.
It would be too fast.
She wanted it to last, she admitted to herself. She wanted him to suffer for
everything he was responsible for: the death of countless Imperial soldiers, the
destruction of her master and her sole purpose in life... the misery she herself
had put up with for the past five years. But not anymore, she thought angrily,
her hand literally itching for a knife, a blaster, or even the Jedi's
lightsaber.
Now there would be an appropriate tool of revenge, she smirked meanly as she
reached her destination.
She was about to key the door of Karrde's office open--- when two men came out,
pushing a deactivated droid in front of themselves.
So, she thought in disdain, Skywalker truly kept the robot around. Probably to
keep record of all his 'great' deeds, she sneered in disgust.
Once the entrance was cleared again, she stepped inside--- and froze in
unprecedented joy/hatred as her eyes rested on the slumped figure of the orange-
clad Jedi. Up to now, she had had a very slight doubt about the true identity
of their passenger. The Force contact had pretty much convinced her of the
truth, but she had been around long enough to know not to trust anything but her
eyes.
And her eyes were now glaring hatefully at the one man responsible for the
murder of her master... the destruction of her old life. Answering her
assassin instinct, she pulled her pocket blaster from her wrist holster and
aimed at the unconscious figure---
"We didn't capture him to kill him," Karrde's well modulated voice calmly
reminded her from her right.
She looked up at him, a thousand thoughts running through her mind while no
sound came out of her mouth. She had to kill him, she wanted to tell him, it
was her duty, her responsibility... her right!
"Yet," Karrde added briefly after a while, as if to reassure her that he
wouldn't free Skywalker either.
She herself refocused on their prisoner.
'By the Gods, it would be so easy to pull the trigger and be done with it,' she
thought angrily. All she had to do was move her finger slightly backward and
her nightmare would be over... but she couldn't do it, she tempered herself.
Karrde had an idea as to how to use the Jedi, and if she disobeyed him, even to
obey the Emperor, he would kick her out of his organization.
She had finally gotten herself an important position, a meaningful job. She
wouldn't risk it for anyone, she decided angrily, not even Skywalker. She
swiftly flicked her weapon's setting from kill to stun and satisfied herself
with an empty shot.
"He was awakening," she shrugged coolly to her approaching boss.
"Combined with the double dose of pandrophine we just gave him, he won't be
awakening any time soon," her boss commented seriously, then continued: "It will
give us some time."
"For what?" she frowned at him.
"For one thing," Karrde commented, locking his gaze with hers, "to figure out
How you knew that he would be there?"
"Feminine instinct," she retorted evasively, turning back toward their
unconscious prisoner to study him.
Even though she had known what to expect thanks to her excellent tracking of any
type of information related to the Jedi, she admitted to herself that he seemed
more square-shouldered than she had been led to believe via the media. She made
a note to herself to be wary of his strength.
Meanwhile, Karrde continued his inquiry.
"And I suppose that this instinct told you that it would be better to capture
him than to leave him where he was?" he asked with just a note of rebuttal in
his voice.
"Yes, it did," she nodded, crouching closer to the fallen man, then searched for
the catch of his weapons' belt.
Even though she could feel that he was out for the duration, she knew better
than to leave an enemy armed.
"Then," her boss went on, definitely serious this time, "you can also tell me
what we will do with him. We are a neutral smuggling group, Mara. I 'had'
declined the Imperials' offer to go after him."
"No one knows that we have him," she reminded him coldly even as she pulled
sharply on the Jedi's belt, freeing it from his dead weight.
His slumped body rolled backward in response to her tug, his shoulder shifting
out of the way, thus allowing her to see his unconscious features.
He hadn't changed much since Jabba's Palace, she instantly thought, then
reflexively lashed out at him as she remembered that awful failure.
The unconscious man didn't react in any way to her attack, but someone else
intervened; Karrde swiftly interposed himself between their prisoner and
herself, then took a strong hold on her still armed hand.
"Don't assault him again," he warned her, reminding her that 'he' was in charge
this time, not her. "Until we decide what to do with him, we will not harm him
in any way, understood?"
"Why do you care, Karrde?" she instantly challenged him, barely managing to
restrain herself from shoving him aside to finish her target. "We won't return
him to his friends and you know it," she reminded him sternly.
"Perhaps," the older man countered, not letting go of her wrist, "but until I
have made 'my' decision, you will not attack Skywalker again," he repeated,
dead-serious.
Horribly torn between her allegiance to her dead master and her hopes for the
new life which she was slowly making for herself, Mara remained silent, her
glare shifting from the Jedi to her boss, then back again--- until she finally
relented. She freed herself from Karrde's grip and stuffed her blaster back in
her wrist holster.
"Point taken," she answered coolly although she was simmering inside.
Skywalker was hers; nobody but her would decide what to do with him... but not
with Karrde around.
"Good, then you will be responsible to keep his presence secret as well as keep
him out of trouble."
Mara felt her teeth grind together upon hearing those news, but other than
flashing a very cold glare at her boss, she didn't react in any other, visible
way.
Great, she growled inwardly, not only would she be unable to kill him, but she
would babysit him as well. Life was unfair, she thought hatefully, her glare
once again fastened on the unconscious, unaware Jedi. One more thing he would
have to pay for, she then added on her mental notepad of grievances against
Skywalker.
******
A day later, Mara sat in a small room on Myrkr where their main base was
located. In front of her, still laying on his back on the pallet where they had
left him, Skywalker finally began to stir awake.
One whole day, she silently cursed him as he barely shifted his neck; she was
feeling irritated enough with him to take a few potshots at him in the legs or
an arm. It wouldn't kill him, she thought meanly, but it would begin to make up
for her waste of time. She had better things to do with her time than to
babysit a sleeping Jedi.
For one thing, she thought more coldly, she could kill him.
But no, Karrde had explicitly forbidden her to even touch the Jedi, and since he
was still in la-la-land, she didn't even have the satisfaction of verbally
taking it out on him. He wasn't aware of her presence. But not for long, she
smirked meanly as she saw him blink against the streaming light. He finally
lifted his head.
"Finally awake, are you?" she sneered at him.
Had she not hated him as much as she did, she would have smirked at his almost-
comical start upon hearing her voice; however, she felt nothing but disgust for
him. The all powerful Jedi wasn't so powerful anymore, she thought in
satisfaction as she warily studied him, and himself, her.
Were she in his place, she then suddenly estimated, she would try to jump him
right about now---.
However, the Jedi didn't seem to be aware of that; instead, he frowned at her
even as his mouth hung loosely thanks to his obvious shock. She could imagine
how he felt; she too had felt lost when she had set foot for the first time on
Myrkr, but in her case, she had gotten over it. Unlike the Jedi, she didn't
rely on the Force anymore than she had to. Skywalker however, was said to live
for it...
It had to be a sweet torture for him, she thought cynically, then, unable to
resist taunting him, spoke up once again: "That's right," she smiled meanly at
him, "welcome back to the world of mere mortals."
His eyes widened even more than they already were; she reflexively stared
straight in them--- and something happened.
Even as the Jedi obviously became aware of his exact predicament, she found
herself becoming more than aware of his very close, strong presence... and even
thought that he was handsom---- whoa, Jade, she instantly caught herself. What
was that??? She hurried to throw her last, disgusting thoughts in her garbage
masher, then mentally shook herself and forced herself to refocus on her
prisoner.
Insults, she reflected, that would keep her focused on her hatred.
She expressed it by giving him one more vocal proof that he had lost everything
that made him special; as she hissed lowly at him, memories of what she herself
had lost came back to her.
She too had been special, she remembered it quite vividly; in fact, she had
been unique---- and he had taken everything away from her, she thought
hatefully, her hand dropping to her lap as the urge to kill him grew strong once
again, but she once again stopped herself as she became aware of the actual
circumstances.
She couldn't let him take her future from her. The past had been enough. She
warily watched him as he finally swung his legs over the side of the bed, then
straightened to a sitting position--- and his right hand moved toward her! She
recognized his intent even as she tightened her grip on her blaster and told him
how useless trying to impress her with Force-tricks was at the moment. The Jedi
countered her retort with something about getting back to his feet.
He might not be able to use the Force, she reflected grimly as she continued to
watch him catch his breath, but she had a fairly good idea that his strength
'would' represent a challenge if they fought physically. In such cases, she
believed in dissuasion, and in this particular case, convincing him to behave
would also keep her from finding an 'excuse' to kill Skywalker and ruin it with
Karrde.
She had had to run from so many places in the last five years that she had lost
count of them, but Karrde's organization was different, she admitted to herself.
They were based on a planet bereft from the Force... and she could really use
her piloting and commanding abilities with the group. She wasn't a menial
waitress anymore, nor a less than important mechanic. Here, she was a second in
command and she wasn't stranded anymore.
"Don't tell me; let me guess. You're Mara Jade," The Jedi tried again--- trying
to look helpless, she noticed with disgust.
She sneered at his feeble act. Skywalker didn't seem to catch her despise in
her voice. Instead, he thanked her about his x-wing. She almost choked on his
words.
Was he trying to befriend her now? Just like he had 'befriended' the whole
galaxy for his own purposes of rising to power? His lack of morality sickened
her.
"Save your gratitude," she spat vehemently at him before telling him exactly
where things stood for him as far as she was concerned: give him to the
imperials or kill them themselves.
Skywalker's blue eyes found hers again at that... and for the second time in
less than five minutes, she felt an almost unbearable attraction for her sworn
enemy.
He was doing something to her, she instantly warned herself even as she hardened
her glare to dissuade him from gazing at her.. A few seconds later, she jumped
to her feet, her blaster aimed at Skywalker's head.
"On your feet," she ordered sharply.
She watched him with unconcealed hatred as he slowly pushed himself to his feet;
she thus caught his reaction when he saw his lightsaber at her hip.
'That's right,' she thought at him in grim satisfaction, briefly wishing to have
the Force back to send those thoughts to him and watch him crumple in fear.
'I'm not a push-over and I can defeat you anytime I want. I too can use the
Force, and more.' Currently however, her prisoner didn't catch any of her
untold messages.
Once he had straightened up, the Jedi spoke again, his voice still devoid of any
anger or hatred.
So he didn't want to wait and find out what they had in store for him?, she
thought in dark amusement even as she became aware that now might be the moment
that she had been waiting for to kill him.
"There's one other one," she answered his comment about his options, locking her
gaze with his even as she stepped closer--- and aimed straight at his face at
point blank range. "You try to escape... and I kill you right here and now,"
she offered him icily, hatefully.
She expected Skywalker to be afraid, or angry, or anything. Instead, he
remained still, his defiant gaze never leaving hers--- and for the first time
since she had been given her mission at Jabba's, she recognized strength in her
enemy. She understood that he wouldn't give her the satisfaction of seeing him
begging for his life, nor would he give her the opportunity to torment him just
like he had tormented her and her master. He shouldn't be like that, she
silently cursed this unexpected trait of personality in him; he had no right to
not pay for his crimes, and only a long and mentally torturous end would balance
for those.
In front of her, Skywalker remained still, not giving her even a mobile for
pulling the trigger. Those eyes of his, she decided in dim unease, were more
impressive in person.
Finally, she admitted defeat in her newest plan to take his life. Again.
Eventually however, she knew that she would be successful. It was her duty, her
right.
"Move," she flicked her weapon toward the door.
Silently, the Jedi complied; she walked behind him, keeping her weapon trained
on him.
And it was set on kill.
******
As they crossed the wide courtyard, Mara almost willed him to try and make a
dash for his freedom so that she could shoot him where it really hurt, but the
Jedi seemed to be aware of her desire.
He didn't try anything.
The closer they walked to the main building, and the more she took her focus off
the back of his head to instead study his back... It was a wrong move; she
unwillingly found her gaze locked on the expanse of his orange-and-white-covered
shoulders--- and gaped slightly in surprise.
He couldn't be that muscled, could he?. She shifted her focus toward his arms
and noticed how the suit wasn't hanging loosely around his arms either. This
had to be a trick from the dimmer light of the day, she decided in disbelief.
No one but professional athletes were that muscled, and she doubted that the
Jedi indulged in such 'lowly' activity. In fact, she had no doubts that he
normally relied only on the Force, as had several of his predecessors. Or else,
she reflected coldly, it was just another Force trick... like his eyes.
Something she had never heard of, but that worked even without the Force.
Well, she decided as she reached past his shoulder to key the main building
open, his tricks wouldn't work on her. She instructed him to walk straight
ahead.
Skywalker fell back in step, remaining as silent as ever.
They finally reached Karrde's receiving room. There, Skywalker spent a good ten
seconds gaping at the huge tree before Karrde finally steered him forward once
again; she herself remained ready for trouble but didn't do anything. However,
she caught sight of the bewildered expression on Skywalker's face and found
herself resuming her new and absolutely illogical fight with herself.
For a brief, unthinkable moment, she had wanted nothing more than to press her
lips to his sensuous-looking ones. Inconceivable, and more than sickening, she
growled inwardly as she followed her prisoner inside. Vornsks would fly before
she ever even touched Skywalker in any other fashion but an aggressive one, she
promised herself.
Karrde began to talk. When the Jedi commented that he might have cooperated
with them, she couldn't help but snort slightly in derision. Did the all
powerful/powerless Jedi think that they were stupid? Who would willingly go
with a group of smugglers who wanted to kill him?, she wanted to challenge him.
Karrde voiced her own thoughts, although in a much more sociable manner than she
would have, then he invited their prisoner to sit down with him. The moment
Skywalker took a step closer to her boss, something strange happened.
Karrde's pet vornsks jumped to their feet and seemed ready to pounce on the
Jedi. Normally, she reminded herself even as her eyes remained locked on the
predators, they were very quiet, even friendly, but not with the Jedi. As if
they knew what kind of scum he was, she then understood grimly while a new urge
to kill him for his crimes grew in her. Once again, she didn't give into it.
In time, she scolded herself.
While she kept herself from making a mistake, one of their crew men took the two
beasts away from their group, then Skywalker sat down. She herself holstered
her weapon and stood beside her boss, her eyes never leaving the wily Jedi.
She had studied him for the past five years, had learnt all his favorite tactics
and strategies which he used against his so-called enemies. She was ready for
him, she thought as she tried to detect any sign that he would attempt anything.
However, just like in the barracks, the Jedi remained calm, quiet... even
confident. He and Karrde proceeded to discuss which options they might have
with him; she felt her insides churn when they mentioned the possibility that
the Jedi might be returning to his friends. Giving him to the Imperials was not
her favorite option either because it meant leaving him alive... In short, she
decided, completely freeing him was unthinkable.
If he ever struck that agreement with Karrde, she promised herself that the Jedi
wouldn't survive his flight off the planet. After all, she thought
sadistically, technical problems happened all the time aboard ships. It would
only be an 'unfortunate' accident.
She refrained herself from smirking too obviously as the image of that plan
formed in her mind, then she forced herself to refocus on the ongoing
conversation. Karrde was explaining to Skywalker the variables which were
making them lean toward the Imperial solution.
Unable to resist the temptation to add to Skywalker's discomfiture, she joined
in and added: "It's not what they would offer, it's what they 'have' already
offered: thirty thousands," she finished meanly, aware that this much money
could, in a way, compensate for not killing him.
It would enable Karrde's group to flourish, or... if she turned him in herself,
it could give her the possibility to start her own business and be free from any
obligations to anyone. However, she conceded grimly, Skywalker being alive
would always taunt her... and her nightmares would remain. No, she decided with
finality, Skywalker wouldn't survive their encounter.
Sooner or later, she would kill him.
When Skywalker searched her gaze again, she made sure that he saw this, nothing
else. She had the satisfaction to slightly shake his composure.
Then, the men continued to discuss, switching to the New Republic.
The hated so-called New Republic. Would-be rulers who had done nothing but
reinstate chaos in the galaxy. When the Emperor had lived, everything and
everyone had known where they belonged, what had been their role in the galaxy.
Now though, aliens were trying to sit in the Senate or at the helm of ships,
young men had the challenge of choosing their destiny instead of being enrolled
in the army, and outlaws were ruling on some worlds.
When Karrde mentioned the most likely outcome of the war between the remnants of
the Empire and the Republic, she tuned in once again and reminded them that the
Jedi and his sister were key elements in Mothma's strategy of ruling while she
willingly locked her hateful gaze with the Jedi's.
Even though she didn't say it, she seemed to convey the message that she would
make the Republic fall when he himself wouldn't be around anymore. The Jedi
might have reacted to this, but Karrde's calm voice doused them both and the
tension was over before it had begun.
And so it went for the rest of the encounter.
******
Later, she escorted him back to the barracks, once again finding her gaze drawn
to his broad shoulders. Just out of curiosity, she admitted to herself, she'd
love to use her knife on the Jedi's clothes and see for herself just how muscled
he was. Then, she'd assert if it were true or not.
"Did I miss diner?" her prisoner queried in the silence.
She answered him with as much lack of interest as she could summon.
"Thank you," he answered, angering her with all his useless attempts to befriend
her.
Didn't he know by now that he was uncovered, she silently raged at him? That he
was only irritating her with his attempts to foul her? Why, she ought to trip
him and let him fall face first----
"I don't know why you dislike me so much---" he began.
"Shut up!" she snapped, then, when she felt him prepare a retort, stepped closer
until the tip of her blaster was resting against his back. "Just shut up," she
snarled lowly in his hear.
Thankfully, the cursed Jedi complied.
If only she could finish him, or torture him... or escape his influence. She
would at least recover some peace of mind. Ever since he had woken up, she
hadn't had a moment of respite and she was growing tired of her unceasing
thoughts.
She used to be focused, cold and efficient, she reminded herself.
Her change of life hadn't been long enough for her to lose her skills, she then
resolved as they entered the empty barracks. She was 'still' the best assassin
there was.
They finally reached his room; she nudged him inside and immediately noticed how
he eyed the window. She meanly dissuaded him from trying anything with it.
He grimaced an answer at her then stepped away from her.
Mara was tempted to add another dare, but she knew when she was on the brink of
loosing control. Furthermore, she knew that in this case, she couldn't lose
her control. Hence, she glared at him one last time, then left and locked the
door behind her.
However, the sudden tension she had felt when he had grimaced didn't leave her.
Instead, she continued to remember a certain boy who had grimaced exactly like
what Skywalker had just done...
Now was not the time to think about her farmboy, she admonished herself very
sternly. She had finally caught up with Skywalker. Nothing else was important,
not even how he weirdly brought back memories of a chance encounter on the
desert planet of Tatooine, an encounter which she could still remember as if it
were yesterday although without precise details about her then young
companion... She hadn't thought about him for almost three years now... To have
a flash of him today of all days----
After she would be done with Skywalker, she promised herself, she would give
herself time to think about her farmboy, but for the moment, she couldn't let
her love affect her hatred for the cursed Jedi.
She needed her disgust and aggressive feelings to be as strong as she could be
against her enemy.
******
A while after Mara left Luke alone, someone finally came by with food as well as
the clothes Karrde had allowed him to retrieve.
While he munched on the tasteless ration bar, Luke thought back to the dangerous
woman he had met today. Even without the Force, he knew that she wanted to kill
him, preferably with as much torment as possible. It wasn't the first time that
he met such a person, whom he had probably hurt when he had been with the
Rebellion or through the result of one of his latest missions, but, he wondered,
what could warrant 'as much' hatred as what he had barely felt aboard their ship
before she had blocked him off from her presence.
She was obviously trained in the ways of the Force, he reflected seriously, but
she wasn't a Jedi. On the other hand, she wasn't a dark Jedi either; that much
he had felt during his brief mental contact with her. She was, he surmised, a
dangerous woman who was out for his blood; a wonderful prospect.
And to think, he sneered silently at himself, that his first reaction upon
awakening in her presence had been to think that she was more than beautiful.
What a great Jedi he made, he berated himself, then tossed the remnant of his
unappetizing meal on his bunk. Despite the fact that he hadn't eaten in a
while, he wasn't feeling particularly hungry. However, he could feel fear
creeping up his backbone to invade his mind--- no, he blocked it again.
He couldn't allow himself to be afraid. Just like it had been in his x-wing, he
needed all his wits about himself to get out of this predicament.
Especially now that he couldn't touch the Force anymore.
The Force, he mused as he walked closer to the darkened window to gaze outside.
Ever since he had begun his Jedi training, he had always been aware of its
presence, of its warmth and Light in and around himself.
Here however, thanks to those strange ysalamiri creatures, he was completely
bereft from it. At first, it had felt as if he had suddenly gone blind, but the
more time passed, and the more he felt as if he had also gone deaf and that he
couldn't use his hands anymore.
It was an horrible feeling.
Searching the far away barracks with his eyes, he dimly wondered how Mara Jade
was dealing with it. She hadn't seemed very affected, he conceded with a sigh
as he turned back toward his bunk and decided to change clothes. Perhaps she
wasn't trained enough to feel much difference, he thought while he peeled off
his sweat-stained flight suit... Or perhaps, she preferred it this way.
He then halted on a recent memory: her jade-colored eyes.
Behind her blazing, unadulterated hatred for him, he had also seen pain... a
deep, lingering pain which had made him feel bad for her. Had she not been
aiming at him from point blank range, he knew that he would have tried to
comfort her in some way, but of course, her blaster had efficiently dissuaded
him from even opening this subject with her.
However, he conceded, he somehow knew that he could help her... He couldn't say
why, nor how since he wasn't in touch with the Force anymore, but he could feel
that he could make it up to her without dying to avenge whoever she had lost
during the war. However, he could only wish that he would remain alive long
enough to offer this to her without risking a blaster bolt for an answer.
Sighing heavily to both expel his rising fear and because he was genuinely tired
of his unnatural day-long sleep, he felt in the darkness for his clean tank top,
put it on, before tying arms of his flight suit around his waist, then laid back
on his bed and gazed at the stars which were peeking in from the top edge of his
window.
Would Leia know what happened to him? he wondered uneasily. Could he try to
reason with his captor?.. Somehow, he could feel that making Mara change her
mind would be much more difficult than it had been with his father...
TBC in part 2: Escape
Well, liked it? Had fun? Hope so ;)
2002, SJ (skyjade@globetrotter.net)
Any positive stuff is welcome, but any mean stuff will be thrown down the
Sarlacc's throat without even being read.)