Author's Note: Sorry about leaving you guys hanging. But after much procrastination and a pretty hefty writer's block, I think I'm about ready to finish my story. There is at least one more chapter left to go. Thank you for those who have stayed with me.

Chapter 26

Mara took an involuntary step back and out of range of Callista's lightsabre.

"Not so fast, Jade," Callista snarled. She swung at Mara's mid-section. The blade narrowly missed its target but managed to knock the blaster from Mara's hand as she performed a backward hand spring to temporary safety.

"Callista, this is no time for a cat fight," Mara half-pleaded. She glanced around her for an escape, but her evasive maneuvers had forced her onto one of the catwalks. There was no place to run, and Callista was still coming at her. "We have to get out of here before the whole place becomes one huge melting pot," she tried again.

"You aren't going anywhere."

"You can't be serious. If that spice gets off-planet, the Jedi are as good as dead. How could you do that to people you used to consider your friends?"

"They were never my friends," Callista spat. "They took pity on me because I had lost my powers. They thought I was weak, that I was holding Luke back from using his powers to the fullest extent."

"That's not true," Mara insisted while searching frantically for a weapon. "No one made judgments on you. The Academy welcomes Jedi of all ability levels. Tionne and Corran Horn ­-"

Just then Callista unleashed a fury of slashes and jabs forcing Mara farther out on the catwalk and over the fiery chasm below. The lightsabre blade glanced off the metal railing of the catwalks showering the two women in sparks. The super-heated shards of metal briefly ignited the seeping gases from the volcano's belly causing small explosions above their heads. The stench was growing stronger as more and more shields failed, and Mara had to fight down a wave of nausea. Callista appeared to be unaffected and too consumed by her rage to notice the noxious fumes.

Mara knew she had to get off that catwalk. She couldn't fight Callista with no weapon and no Force abilities. Callista lunged at her again, and this time when Mara dodged, she hopped onto the railing and launched herself upward to grab the base of the crossing catwalk on the next level. Before Callista could cut her down, Mara swung her nimble body onto the platform. She glanced down and saw the determined looked on Callista's face just before the enraged woman followed Mara's lead and leaped onto the same catwalk. Mara used the few seconds she had to run to another catwalk another level up.

Callista remained on the lower level tracking Mara's movements. She ignited her lightsabre again and swiped at the catwalk above her severing the platform in two. The two halves began to swing away from each other. Mara stumbled, but managed to regain enough balance to jump to the other side. But the cables holding the catwalk had been damaged. Mara's extra weight was just enough to snap the weakened cable, tilting the entire catwalk at an almost perpendicular angle to the chasm. Mara slid on her belly down the walkway, the orange glow of the magma far below rushing up to meet her. She dug in her fingers on the perforated surface of the walk and winced as the metal tore her skin.

Callista watched with eager anticipation for Mara to complete her deadly slide, but just as Mara's legs plummeted over the edge, she managed to find a hand hold. Mara's arm muscles strained as she gently pulled herself back up the walk trying to distribute her weight as mush as possible on the unstable catwalk. Callista slapped the railing in frustration and began looking for the quickest and safest way to continue her pursuit.

Meanwhile, Luke was fighting a battle on three fronts. Guru's men kept a steady rain of blaster fire on him, the vornskrs continued their predatory approach toward his location, and he wanted more than anything to step between the fight that had exploded between Mara and Callista several meters above him. He needed to get Mara a weapon though part of him was reluctant to endanger Callista that way. He fought to recognize any trace of the Callista he had once cared so much about, but all he could see was the monster her selfishness had created. He wanted to believe she could still come back to the lightside of the Force, but he knew Mara had been right; he needed to make a choice. If he wanted to see Mara live through this fight, she needed to be able to defend herself. He would just have to trust that she would take Callista alive. But first, he needed to get their lightsabres.

Suddenly a familiar feeling washed over him. Like the sun peeking out from behind heavy clouds, the Force began to trickle back into his being. Something was happening. The white noise that had occupied his mind began to sort itself out. He could feel a disturbance in the Force outside on the mountain. There was a sense of panic and a fight for survival. He glanced up at the catwalks and saw Mara pause and look around in wonder. She was regaining her Force abilities as well.

Then Luke saw a flicker of light and movement on the far side of the laboratory. Through on of the far exits, he saw Annaïse, Rohney and several of the freed slaves march into the laboratory brandishing torches. He stared in amazement as they began to set fire to the stacks of crates within their reach. He then realized what he'd sensed a few moments earlier. They must have set the mountainside on fire to kill any of the anti-Force flowers. Along with the Force, hope filtered through his body as he realized how the tables had turned in their favor.

Luke turned his attention back to the battle at hand. Guru and the guards, distracted by the sudden blaze in the laboratory, suddenly found themselves locked in combat with new enemies. The former slaves, using stolen weapons and simple blunt objects attacked their captors with a fury that can only stem from a lifetime of cruel treatment and inhumane living conditions. Luke used this momentary distraction to use a Force-aided jump to catapult him onto the center platform where Guru had found cover. There was no mistaking the look of surprise and terror on Guru's face when he realized his captives had suddenly gained the upper hand.

Guru wildly squeezed off round after round of blaster shots at Luke, but all missed their mark. Luke had a look of serene calm on his face that was more terrifying than murderous look Guru had ever encountered. He looked to his guards for help, but realized he would get no aid from them. They had their own battles to contend with. Guru tried to back away from the approaching Jedi but found himself trapped by the console and the fiery pit below him.

Then Luke was upon him. With a simple wave of his hand, Luke sent the blaster flying over the edge of the platform. Guru tried to throw a punch in Luke's face, but the Jedi side-stepped him and knocked him ceremoniously onto the deck plating. Luke stooped and picked him up by his collar. Luke's hand shot out toward his midsection, and Guru flinched thinking he was about to get socked in the stomach. But Luke simply removed the lightsabres from Guru's belt and dropped the spice lord back onto the ground.

"Your slaving and spicing days are over, Guru," Luke said matter-of-factly. He then grabbed some nearby packing tape and tied Guru to the console. "Now don't you go anywhere," Luke said with a smile.

A crash from above tore Luke's attention from his captive. Callista had finally caught up with Mara, and Mara was frantically dodging a hungry lightsabre. Since Mara had regained her Force abilities, the fighting between the two women had intensified. Callista swung wildly at the cable holding the catwalk on which Mara stood. Mara leaped toward Callista's catwalk and used the Force to swing around a cable. She came up on Callista from behind and planted her feet in her back. Callista flew forward, but caught her momentum in a forward roll along the catwalk and sprung back onto her feet.

Luke raced up the maze of stairs to get to the two women. Mara was fighting admirably, but she was still falling back. He then saw Callista brace herself as she severed the walkway in two. He was out of time. He sent a tendril of the Force to Mara.

This time Mara was prepared for the jolt, but she still stumbled backward and landed on her back. Callista saw the opportunity to finish the fight and launched herself toward Mara. Mara shot her arm over the edge of the catwalk and felt her lightsabre sail through the air and connect with her hand. Callista was in mid-air with her lightsabre drawn ready to cut Mara in two. Mara brought her own lightsabre across her chest and used the Force to brace her arms as Callista came crashing down upon her. With sweat dripping down her forehead, Mara gave a mighty push physically and through the Force that send Callista flying back the way she came.

The catwalks swung away from each other with the force of the women's strength. Callista looked surprised, but she landed on her feet. Mara scrambled to her feet, brought her lightsabre into en garde position and dared Callista to attack. Callista realized she had lost whatever edge she had, but she refused to let Mara win. The catwalks continued to swing further away from each other. Both women charged at each other, leaped from the railings and met in the mid-air. Their lightsabres locked above their heads while they spun and fell several meters. A catwalk broke them apart, and they had to let go of each other and grasp the grid work of bars on the underside of the catwalk in order to keep from plummeting all the way down into the volcano's belly.

Both women glared at each other while hanging from opposite sides of the catwalk. Mara had anticipated that they would climb back onto the platform before resuming the fight and was surprised when Callista clipped her lightsabre to her belt and swung her feet toward Mara's midsection. Mara winced as Callista made contact, but managed to continue to hang on. She clipped her own lightsabre to her belt and used both hands to maneuver under the catwalk. Callista swung again, but Mara deflected the blow with her own powerful dancer's legs. She swung and grabbed onto another bar in an attempt to get into a better position to defend herself and possibly launch an offensive. Callista followed her movements and positioned herself to square off with Mara head-on.

Mara glanced down. They dropped to one of the lower levels, and the only to break their fall would be the burning magma far below. The nearest platform was several meters away. "Callista, you are going to kill both of us," she said through gritted teeth, trying to reason with woman.

"So be it," Callista replied simply. She swung her legs out, but Mara curled her body into a ball, and Callista only caught air.

Mara uncurled and tried a swinging kick, but Callista swung away. Mara felt hampered in this fight. It would take very little to detach both women from the catwalk, but if she were the cause of Callista's death, Luke would probably never forgive her. Mara swung onto another bar farther away from Callista, but Callista continued her pursuit. Suddenly, her hand hit something hard, square and metal. She turned and saw the object she had hit; a small black box with a clock counting down the time. Five minutes and 28 seconds. Her eyes widened. She turned back to warn Callista, but found the woman less than a meter from her face. Callista had used Mara's distraction to advance on her, and she wrapped her legs around Mara's body before the other woman could do anything to stop her.

Callista tried to pull Mara off the bar with her legs, but Mara held on strong. When she realized her legs weren't enough, Callista let go of her own bar and clung to Mara's body. Mara's arms shook with fatigue and the added weight of Callista.

"Callista, there's a bomb here!" Mara exclaimed.

"We won't be around long enough to see it go off," Callista countered and began yanking on Mara's arms.

"What about Luke?" Mara pleaded. "He won't leave without us. You'll be killing him to."

A look of sadness crossed Callista's face, but passed quickly. She looked right into Mara's eyes. "Then we can all die together," she said bitterly. Callista gave a giant tug, and Mara's strength finally gave out. But the warmth of the Force washed over her, and as she felt her fingers slip off the bar, she felt a pair of strong hands grasp her wrists.

"I'm not ready to die yet," Luke replied. "And I'm not ready to let either of you die either."

Callista looked up, surprised to see her former lover. She had been so intent on hunting her prey, that she had not even noticed Luke's approach. She looked back at Mara, but only saw a confident smile.

"Cutting it a little close aren't you, hon?" Mara lightly retorted to Luke.

"You know me," he replied.

Just then an explosion shook the mountain, and the platform they were on violently jolted. Mara felt Luke's grasp slip, but not before he swung them down to another catwalk. Mara hit the walk first and used their momentum to send Callista flying once more. Once Luke had regained his balance, he leaped onto their catwalk and helped Mara to her feet. Mara searched for the cause of the explosion. At first, she thought the bomb had gone off ahead of time, but then she saw the fire the freed slaves had started. The blaze was igniting hidden pockets of gases. From below, a rolling tremor coursed through the mountain and the temperature began to rise drastically.

"I don't think the volcano liked that little explosion," Mara said.

"We'd better get out of here," Luke replied.

Mara nodded and the two turned to where Callista had fallen, but the spot was empty. Luke moved to go after her, but halted when Mara put a hand on his arm.

"She'll find away out," Mara said. "We need to get these other people out of here."

Luke looked grim, but he agreed. Together they raced back up to the level where most of the fighting was dwindling down to a few skirmishes.

"Everyone get out of here!" Luke shouted. "This place is gonna blow any minute!"

Luke glanced back to where he had left Guru tied up, and realized the spot was empty. He tracked down Annaïse and Rohney. "Did you see where Guru got off to?"

Rohney growled and barked a response, nodding toward the exit to the house.

"The house?" Luke repeated.

"A few of the slaves followed him," Annaïse added.

"We need to get these people to safety," Mara reminded them.

"We'll get these people out through the south exit," Annaïse volunteered. "You guys take care of the others."

"Thanks," Luke replied. "And, hey, guys, thanks for the save."

"We can thank each other later," Annaïse replied with a smile. "Just remember, the clock is ticking."

Mara agreed. "Come on, we've got to move quickly."

Luke nodded and they took off at a run for the house.