DISCLAIMER: I don't own Star Wars, they belong to Mr. Lucas and I have made
no money- I've only earned a little bit of fun. :)
LEARNING TO FORGIVE
Chapter One
A small and insignificant spaceport floated along the outskirts of the Corellian system. Inside it was relatively busy, beings of all shapes and sizes went around doing their own business and trying not to attract attention to themselves.
One stood by herself and even from a distance one could tell that she was no human to mess with. Blasters and vibroblades were attached to her legs and arms and most assuredly there were some underneath her simple flight-suit. It wasn't necessarily her accessories that frightened thieves, murderers or peddlers away from her, it was her face. Set in a deep and threatening scowl, the look she had would scare any sane being away.
Mara stood near the entrance to her docking bay, absolutely furious with her contact. He was over six hours late with the computer software and Mara had a schedule to keep. Keeping a client waiting was not good business and Mara got especially miffed when someone did that to her- like right now.
Her comlink beeped at her and Mara snatched it from her belt, "What!?" she snapped.
"Trader Jade?."
Mara rolled her eyes at the quivering voice, "You're six hours late Hydan and I am seriously displeased."
"So sorry Trader Jade. my dealer still hasn't delivered all the parts that you requested and he says it's going to take another day-"
"What!" Mara cut him off. "I don't have time to wait another day! I've got other business to do!"
Hydan huffed over the connection. "I am sorry Trader Jade. But this order was very large and placed on short notice. My dealer and I are doing the best we can."
Mara sighed, the order was large and was placed on short notice, one more day would still be a reasonable time to wait, but Mara wasn't going to let Hydan know that. "One more day Hydan. and if you don't make it this time I'll make sure that Karrde will *not* do business with you again."
They made arrangements and Hydan promised that the shipment would be ready the following day. Mara secretly hoped it wouldn't be, she wanted a reason to bunch something and wanted it to be Hydan. She hated the little mouse and his little mousy personality. But Mara knew it was just that her nerves were getting rubbed the wrong way. Her week had not gone well at all and Hydan's delay was just another on top of many.
Mara shrugged and turned to her docking bay and Karrde's ship waiting inside. She'd have to contact Karrde and tell him about the delay.
***
Karrde had been unruffled when she told him about the delay. Mara hated it when he was calm and she was ready to rip something apart. It made her feel like an unreasonable person. She snorted at the thought, 'Over my dead body will I give up my freedom of expression for Jedi calm.'
Mara got out of her chair and walked around the ship, it wasn't very big and she soon ended up where she started. She sighed and sat down again, she was utterly bored. The ship was in peak condition so there was no excuse to work on that, all her data work was done the shipments that she was picking up and delivering. Karrde had suggested contacting Han and Luke, who were also in the Corellian system, to see if they needed help. Mara instantly dismissed the thought, she didn't want to waste or offer her precious time to a farmboy and a former space pirate.
Mara sighed and got up again, this time heading toward the ship's exit. She may as well get something to eat from one of the cantina's, there had to be something out there that had better food than what the ship could offer.
Slipping on an extra-concealed blaster she walked out into the mass of beings and started looking for a place to eat.
The orbiting spaceport had many types of species, but little choice in food. The majority was Corellian and what wasn't was still wiggling on the plate and moving when placed in a beings mouth.
"Corellian it is." Mara mumbled as she watched a fat yellow thing get bitten in half and green slime oozed out of the still living creature.
A small, tidy cantina caught her eye and she stepped inside. It was in better shape than what Mara expected to be in a spaceport. The floor was clean and the utensils as well. She found a seat in the corner, one with a view of everything and everyone.
Quiet conversation filled the room when the inhabitants realized she wasn't about to start a brawl. Mara surveyed her surroundings and saw what looked to be some half-decent food on their plates.
A young woman came up to her smiling, "What can I get you?" she met Mara's eyes and instantly her smile disappeared, the waitress stood rigidly in front of her, glaring.
Mara shrugged off the attitude, if her waitress wasn't going to be nice, then she wasn't going to get a very generous tip. "I'd like the steak special and some water."
The woman jotted down the order and left without saying anything else.
Again Mara shrugged and sat back in her chair, watching as people entered and left the cantina. She started running through her head what she could do after her meal and was quickly coming up with nothing. Mara sighed, she knew that if she didn't have anything to do, it would drive her insane. She was becoming desperate for something to do and was even considering asking Han and farmboy if they wanted her to do anything when someone sat across from her.
Mara glanced up and raised an eyebrow. It was a human male, about her age and judging from the way he sat and held himself, she had the distinct impression that he was Imperial.
"Can I help you?" she asked sarcastically.
The man slowly drew out his blaster and ordered. "Hands on the table."
Mara glanced at the weapon and shrugged. "All right." She slowly complied to the order and hid a smirk when she saw the weapon waver slightly. He was Imperial, but he either hadn't done this before or he was scared.
Mara decided to sit back and wait to see what would happen. The man in front of her definitely didn't know what he was doing. That could be used to her advantage to get out of this situation, but it could also mean that innocent bystanders could get caught in the crossfire. She wanted to avoid the latter at all costs.
Mara's unhappy waitress appeared before them again, the Imperial tactfully hid the blaster from her view. Setting down Mara's meal, the waitress left, not saying a word.
Mara glanced down at her meal and realized that she was indeed very hungry. She reached for a fork.
"What are you doing?"
Mara looked over at the Imperial. "I'm eating my dinner. You're welcome to join me if you like and if you don't want to. too bad. I'm hungry and I'm not going to waste hard earned credits."
She dug into the food and was pleasantly surprised to find that it was indeed good. She ate for a few minutes, watching the Imperial out of the corner of her eye. "What can I do for you?" she asked around mouthfuls of steak.
The Imperial straightened. "I am here to take you into custody for treason to the Empire."
Mara almost choked on her food. "You've got to be kidding me!"
The man's face remained serious as he looked straightforward. "I am *deadly* serious."
Mara rolled her eyes. "I guess I am flattered that you guys would pay attention to me after all these years. what's it been. about 8 now? But I have to say that if I've been on your minds for that long, why do they send an inexperienced man to get me." Mara raised an eyebrow. "I'm kindof hurt that the Empire thinks so low of my abilities."
"I am expendable."
She froze at the words. "What do you mean by that?"
This time the man let a smile creep into his serious face. "The spaceport is rigged with hundreds of bombs that will go off if you do not co-operate."
Mara took a deep breath. She certainly didn't want to walk into the Empire's hand. It was a dying civilization and Mara did not feel like being on the losing side. But at the same time, she didn't want innocent people to die, especially when the Imperials were only after her and no one else.
She leaned back in her chair and put on an air of nonchalance. "Why should I care about a bunch of people I don't know? And why in the world would you think that I would cooperate with you in the first place? "
Again the Imperial let a cold smile slip through. "We've been watching your activities for some time. and it seems that you have taken the habit of *caring* for those around you, even those you don't know." He leaned back and smiled. "Even if you don't come along with me. you'll end up dead and those in power now would be just as happy with that." He paused. "They were really set on the idea of watching you die though."
Mara digested the information the man had given her. The way the Imperial phrased his words told her that in all likelihood, he had the detonator to the bombs. The Moffs or whoever was in power were at a safe distance and would get someone else to do the dirty work. What Mara couldn't figure out was if this Imperial was alone if there were others. She quickly glanced around the cantina, trying to spot anyone that looked like they were also part of the party. She didn't see anyone, but assumed there were others, they always traveled in packs. Next she glanced at the Imperial, trying to find where the trigger was. She had made up her mind that she would *not* be walking over to the Imperials without a fight and she was confident that she would be able to take out the man in front of her.
Mara took in the Imperial and saw nothing that looked remotely like a standard detonator. If she didn't see it, then it must mean that he wasn't holding on to it and that gave her some extra time to react and stop him from blowing the spaceport up.
Mara slumped in her chair. "All right. you've got me. Lead the way."
The Imperial couldn't hide the surprised look that crossed his face and slowly nodded. He motioned with the gun for her to get out of her chair and pointed to the door. "You first and through the door."
Mara got up and complied to the instructions, the Imperial stepping in right behind her. Before she took two steps she lashed out with a backward kick and knocked the blaster out of the Imperials hands, it skittered across the floor and into the kitchen. She then punched him in the stomach, making him double over and then to the temple, knocking him to the ground. He sat wheezing and holding his stomach.
Mara glanced up and saw a very angry man holding the gun and pointing it in the direction of the two.
"I don't want any of this in *my* cantina!" he spitted out. "You two don't move I'm comming the task force to come in and take care of you!"
Mara was slightly amused at how much anger could come out of a tiny little human, but then she had a blaster held in her direction so it wasn't nearly as funny. The Imperial was getting up and had a slight smirk on his face. 'What's up with that?' she wondered.
The tiny owner swiveled the blaster in the Imperials direction. "Don't you move!" he screamed. "Or I'll shoot you where you stand!"
The Imperial gave an odd look at Mara and smiled.
Mara frowned. He shouldn't be smiling, he had his own blaster pointed in his direction and by all means it looked as if the owner would use it.
The Imperial shifted again and started walking towards the owner, who slightly backed up a bit and screamed a 'Stop or I'll shoot!' type thing.
It dawned on Mara then and she would have cursed herself for being so dense if she had time. "Don't shoot it!" she screamed.
The Imperial quickened his pace towards the owner.
"Don't shoot it!" she screamed again. "It'll blow the place!"
The owner didn't listen and pointed the gun at the Imperials head. He set his mouth in a firm line and squeezed the trigger.
Explosions started to rock the spaceport and beings fell all over the place, screaming and clawing at one another trying to escape. Mara too jumped for some type of cover, but an explosion that was very near went off, throwing her off her feet.
There was another boom and everything went dark.
Writer's blurb: Hmmmm. what to say. I've seen other people do this at the end of their stories, so I decided to it too :) Not too terribly exciting is it? Well, it does get better, at least I think so and so does a friend, but maybe that's just biased. I'll stick the other one up soon. Oh!! Almost forgot- I like reviews!! :) C-ya later!!
LEARNING TO FORGIVE
Chapter One
A small and insignificant spaceport floated along the outskirts of the Corellian system. Inside it was relatively busy, beings of all shapes and sizes went around doing their own business and trying not to attract attention to themselves.
One stood by herself and even from a distance one could tell that she was no human to mess with. Blasters and vibroblades were attached to her legs and arms and most assuredly there were some underneath her simple flight-suit. It wasn't necessarily her accessories that frightened thieves, murderers or peddlers away from her, it was her face. Set in a deep and threatening scowl, the look she had would scare any sane being away.
Mara stood near the entrance to her docking bay, absolutely furious with her contact. He was over six hours late with the computer software and Mara had a schedule to keep. Keeping a client waiting was not good business and Mara got especially miffed when someone did that to her- like right now.
Her comlink beeped at her and Mara snatched it from her belt, "What!?" she snapped.
"Trader Jade?."
Mara rolled her eyes at the quivering voice, "You're six hours late Hydan and I am seriously displeased."
"So sorry Trader Jade. my dealer still hasn't delivered all the parts that you requested and he says it's going to take another day-"
"What!" Mara cut him off. "I don't have time to wait another day! I've got other business to do!"
Hydan huffed over the connection. "I am sorry Trader Jade. But this order was very large and placed on short notice. My dealer and I are doing the best we can."
Mara sighed, the order was large and was placed on short notice, one more day would still be a reasonable time to wait, but Mara wasn't going to let Hydan know that. "One more day Hydan. and if you don't make it this time I'll make sure that Karrde will *not* do business with you again."
They made arrangements and Hydan promised that the shipment would be ready the following day. Mara secretly hoped it wouldn't be, she wanted a reason to bunch something and wanted it to be Hydan. She hated the little mouse and his little mousy personality. But Mara knew it was just that her nerves were getting rubbed the wrong way. Her week had not gone well at all and Hydan's delay was just another on top of many.
Mara shrugged and turned to her docking bay and Karrde's ship waiting inside. She'd have to contact Karrde and tell him about the delay.
***
Karrde had been unruffled when she told him about the delay. Mara hated it when he was calm and she was ready to rip something apart. It made her feel like an unreasonable person. She snorted at the thought, 'Over my dead body will I give up my freedom of expression for Jedi calm.'
Mara got out of her chair and walked around the ship, it wasn't very big and she soon ended up where she started. She sighed and sat down again, she was utterly bored. The ship was in peak condition so there was no excuse to work on that, all her data work was done the shipments that she was picking up and delivering. Karrde had suggested contacting Han and Luke, who were also in the Corellian system, to see if they needed help. Mara instantly dismissed the thought, she didn't want to waste or offer her precious time to a farmboy and a former space pirate.
Mara sighed and got up again, this time heading toward the ship's exit. She may as well get something to eat from one of the cantina's, there had to be something out there that had better food than what the ship could offer.
Slipping on an extra-concealed blaster she walked out into the mass of beings and started looking for a place to eat.
The orbiting spaceport had many types of species, but little choice in food. The majority was Corellian and what wasn't was still wiggling on the plate and moving when placed in a beings mouth.
"Corellian it is." Mara mumbled as she watched a fat yellow thing get bitten in half and green slime oozed out of the still living creature.
A small, tidy cantina caught her eye and she stepped inside. It was in better shape than what Mara expected to be in a spaceport. The floor was clean and the utensils as well. She found a seat in the corner, one with a view of everything and everyone.
Quiet conversation filled the room when the inhabitants realized she wasn't about to start a brawl. Mara surveyed her surroundings and saw what looked to be some half-decent food on their plates.
A young woman came up to her smiling, "What can I get you?" she met Mara's eyes and instantly her smile disappeared, the waitress stood rigidly in front of her, glaring.
Mara shrugged off the attitude, if her waitress wasn't going to be nice, then she wasn't going to get a very generous tip. "I'd like the steak special and some water."
The woman jotted down the order and left without saying anything else.
Again Mara shrugged and sat back in her chair, watching as people entered and left the cantina. She started running through her head what she could do after her meal and was quickly coming up with nothing. Mara sighed, she knew that if she didn't have anything to do, it would drive her insane. She was becoming desperate for something to do and was even considering asking Han and farmboy if they wanted her to do anything when someone sat across from her.
Mara glanced up and raised an eyebrow. It was a human male, about her age and judging from the way he sat and held himself, she had the distinct impression that he was Imperial.
"Can I help you?" she asked sarcastically.
The man slowly drew out his blaster and ordered. "Hands on the table."
Mara glanced at the weapon and shrugged. "All right." She slowly complied to the order and hid a smirk when she saw the weapon waver slightly. He was Imperial, but he either hadn't done this before or he was scared.
Mara decided to sit back and wait to see what would happen. The man in front of her definitely didn't know what he was doing. That could be used to her advantage to get out of this situation, but it could also mean that innocent bystanders could get caught in the crossfire. She wanted to avoid the latter at all costs.
Mara's unhappy waitress appeared before them again, the Imperial tactfully hid the blaster from her view. Setting down Mara's meal, the waitress left, not saying a word.
Mara glanced down at her meal and realized that she was indeed very hungry. She reached for a fork.
"What are you doing?"
Mara looked over at the Imperial. "I'm eating my dinner. You're welcome to join me if you like and if you don't want to. too bad. I'm hungry and I'm not going to waste hard earned credits."
She dug into the food and was pleasantly surprised to find that it was indeed good. She ate for a few minutes, watching the Imperial out of the corner of her eye. "What can I do for you?" she asked around mouthfuls of steak.
The Imperial straightened. "I am here to take you into custody for treason to the Empire."
Mara almost choked on her food. "You've got to be kidding me!"
The man's face remained serious as he looked straightforward. "I am *deadly* serious."
Mara rolled her eyes. "I guess I am flattered that you guys would pay attention to me after all these years. what's it been. about 8 now? But I have to say that if I've been on your minds for that long, why do they send an inexperienced man to get me." Mara raised an eyebrow. "I'm kindof hurt that the Empire thinks so low of my abilities."
"I am expendable."
She froze at the words. "What do you mean by that?"
This time the man let a smile creep into his serious face. "The spaceport is rigged with hundreds of bombs that will go off if you do not co-operate."
Mara took a deep breath. She certainly didn't want to walk into the Empire's hand. It was a dying civilization and Mara did not feel like being on the losing side. But at the same time, she didn't want innocent people to die, especially when the Imperials were only after her and no one else.
She leaned back in her chair and put on an air of nonchalance. "Why should I care about a bunch of people I don't know? And why in the world would you think that I would cooperate with you in the first place? "
Again the Imperial let a cold smile slip through. "We've been watching your activities for some time. and it seems that you have taken the habit of *caring* for those around you, even those you don't know." He leaned back and smiled. "Even if you don't come along with me. you'll end up dead and those in power now would be just as happy with that." He paused. "They were really set on the idea of watching you die though."
Mara digested the information the man had given her. The way the Imperial phrased his words told her that in all likelihood, he had the detonator to the bombs. The Moffs or whoever was in power were at a safe distance and would get someone else to do the dirty work. What Mara couldn't figure out was if this Imperial was alone if there were others. She quickly glanced around the cantina, trying to spot anyone that looked like they were also part of the party. She didn't see anyone, but assumed there were others, they always traveled in packs. Next she glanced at the Imperial, trying to find where the trigger was. She had made up her mind that she would *not* be walking over to the Imperials without a fight and she was confident that she would be able to take out the man in front of her.
Mara took in the Imperial and saw nothing that looked remotely like a standard detonator. If she didn't see it, then it must mean that he wasn't holding on to it and that gave her some extra time to react and stop him from blowing the spaceport up.
Mara slumped in her chair. "All right. you've got me. Lead the way."
The Imperial couldn't hide the surprised look that crossed his face and slowly nodded. He motioned with the gun for her to get out of her chair and pointed to the door. "You first and through the door."
Mara got up and complied to the instructions, the Imperial stepping in right behind her. Before she took two steps she lashed out with a backward kick and knocked the blaster out of the Imperials hands, it skittered across the floor and into the kitchen. She then punched him in the stomach, making him double over and then to the temple, knocking him to the ground. He sat wheezing and holding his stomach.
Mara glanced up and saw a very angry man holding the gun and pointing it in the direction of the two.
"I don't want any of this in *my* cantina!" he spitted out. "You two don't move I'm comming the task force to come in and take care of you!"
Mara was slightly amused at how much anger could come out of a tiny little human, but then she had a blaster held in her direction so it wasn't nearly as funny. The Imperial was getting up and had a slight smirk on his face. 'What's up with that?' she wondered.
The tiny owner swiveled the blaster in the Imperials direction. "Don't you move!" he screamed. "Or I'll shoot you where you stand!"
The Imperial gave an odd look at Mara and smiled.
Mara frowned. He shouldn't be smiling, he had his own blaster pointed in his direction and by all means it looked as if the owner would use it.
The Imperial shifted again and started walking towards the owner, who slightly backed up a bit and screamed a 'Stop or I'll shoot!' type thing.
It dawned on Mara then and she would have cursed herself for being so dense if she had time. "Don't shoot it!" she screamed.
The Imperial quickened his pace towards the owner.
"Don't shoot it!" she screamed again. "It'll blow the place!"
The owner didn't listen and pointed the gun at the Imperials head. He set his mouth in a firm line and squeezed the trigger.
Explosions started to rock the spaceport and beings fell all over the place, screaming and clawing at one another trying to escape. Mara too jumped for some type of cover, but an explosion that was very near went off, throwing her off her feet.
There was another boom and everything went dark.
Writer's blurb: Hmmmm. what to say. I've seen other people do this at the end of their stories, so I decided to it too :) Not too terribly exciting is it? Well, it does get better, at least I think so and so does a friend, but maybe that's just biased. I'll stick the other one up soon. Oh!! Almost forgot- I like reviews!! :) C-ya later!!