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. :)
---
Chapter Two
Mara slowly woke up and blinked her eyes. Dust filled the area and gave off a strange hazy look where light was able to penetrate through. She coughed and rolled over, groaning as she did so. Leaning against what she thought was a wall, she rested a little and looked over what was left of the cantina and tried to make out if there was any damage to her own body. Everything ached, her head pounded and what made things worse was the throbbing in her left knee.
Trying to sit up, she almost screamed when her knee was moved. She panted while working her way up and then gingerly touched the area that was throbbing. She came away with something warm and sticky and she knew that it was her blood. She'd have to find some supplies to take care of that right away.
Using her hands to support herself on whatever was available she looked around the cantina again. Through the faint and flickering light, she could make out a few bodies- and some parts that didn't have owners- thrown all over the place. She glanced back and saw where she had come from. The wall was caved in, making a sort of makeshift tent, which had protected her from the blasts and falling debris.
"Thank the maker for small miracles." She whispered.
She spotted the Imperial in the position that she thought was the last one she saw him in. A slab of concrete lay on top of him and the dead look in his eyes told her he wasn't going to be setting off anymore bombs.
"Hello?" Mara crooked. She winced and tried swallowing to help her dry throat and tried again. "Hello?" that one sounded much better; at least you could understand it. "Any survivors?"
Mara carefully hopped on her good leg until she found an iron pole that would take her weight. She made her way to what she thought was the kitchen and listened carefully. She thought she heard wheezing and rubble falling in the kitchen's direction.
"Hello?" Mara rounded the corner and saw her waitress wiggling out of a pile of loose rubble.
The waitress stopped when she saw Mara and glared. After a few seconds of silence she resumed her struggle.
Mara moved forward. "Do you need help?"
"Not from you!" the woman hissed.
Mara froze at the venom in the woman's voice, but moved forward anyway to help. Grasping the woman under her arms she started to pull and grunted when she put weight on her bad leg.
The woman didn't say anything, but started wiggling again to get out of her rubble trap.
After a 15-minute battle with the pile, the waitress was free and both gasped for breath, leaning against the walls for support.
The woman got her breath back first and watched Mara from across the room.
Mara grew uncomfortable with the woman's cold blue eyes and tried to ignore it, but at the same time being cautious.
The light was better in here and Mara took the chance to examine her leg. Just above the knee was a piece of steel sticking out of her flesh. She grimaced when she saw it and hoped that it hadn't gone in too deep. She glanced over at the waitress. "Are you hurt anywhere?"
The woman shook her head and continued watching Mara.
Mara shifted her weight to get more comfortable. "Do you have a medkit around here by any chance?"
The woman slowly nodded her head.
After a few seconds, Mara realized that the woman wasn't going to get up and get it for her. "Can I have it?"
"Why?" the woman snapped.
Mara set her mouth in a firm line, she started to feel anger rising to the surface and quickly tried to shut it down. She needed all of her skills right now to get out of this situation and being angry wouldn't help her. "My leg is bleeding and I think the cut may be deep. I'll need to stop the blood so we can get out of here."
The woman snorted. "I can get out of here without your help and I'd just be as happy with you dying." She coldly remarked.
Mara had had her share of snarky people in her life and she had to admit that she was a bit on the ill-tempered side sometimes, but this woman was ridiculous. Mara had never seen this woman in her life and didn't see her reason in hating her so much. 'It's almost as bad as what I had with Skywalker.' Mara thought.
Mara pulled out one of her blasters and pointed it at the woman. "I need that medkit and I want it now. I'd like to do this with your cooperation so we could both get out of here alive and I don't want to waste my energy pack on you." Mara gestured with the blaster for the woman to get up. "The medkit, please."
The waitress eyed the blaster and slowly got up, walking to one of the fallen cabinets and started rummaging around, She pulled out a red pack and threw it in Mara's direction.
Mara didn't know if the woman did it on purpose, but the medkit landed a good five feet from where she stood, forcing her to move from her 'comfortable' position to get it. She maneuvered around and got the bag, with minimal fuss on her knee's part and opened it. Inside was what she needed: some disinfectant pads and synth-flesh. Mara made quick work of her wound, wincing a little when she pulled the piece of metal out of her leg. After she finished applying the synth-flesh she wrapped some clean bandages around it, just as an extra precaution to stop an infection from starting.
Hooking the medkit on her belt she turned to the woman again. "Do you know your way around this spaceport?"
The waitress set her face in a disgusted look. "Yes."
Mara nodded, "Good. We'll need to find the nearest 'working' communications center or even a 'working' docking bay that has a 'working' ship. Plainly, we're going to look for a way out."
The woman snorted, "Why would I help you?"
Mara got fed up and turned on the young woman. "Listen. I don't know who you are and right now I don't care. When I say 'we' I'm being generous and if I find that you're dragging me down I won't have a problem leaving you." Mara looked the woman up and down. "If you'd rather stay here and rot that's fine with me, but don't you go thinking that you didn't have a chance to get out and there *was* someone here who offered to help you."
The woman smirked. "That would be just like you leaving someone to fend for themselves." the woman paused as if thinking. "Especially if they were those who needed you most, you'd just walk away and abandon them to whatever fate had in store for them." She finished bitterly.
Mara was getting irritated. "Why don't you just spill the whole thing then and get it out in the open. I have no idea who you are and what you're talking about!"
The woman turned red. "You abandoned the one person who brought peace and justice to this galaxy! You abandoned those who would carry on his legacy and ran off with the people who wrongly brought it down! You let some upstart Jedi Knight waltz into the Emperor's throne room and murder him!" the woman stopped to catch her breath. "You ruined my life. you let the Rebels win, you betrayed the Empire and left thousands if not millions to die. Including my father."
Mara looked curiously at the young woman. After she had spoken of the Empire, Mara remembered a young girl in the Emperor's court who showed an undying love for her former Master, one that mirrored that of the girl's father.
Lord Devrate had been one of, if not the, staunchest supporter of Emperor Palpatine. And Mara had never been sent on any missions to see if his loyalty was in question. She also knew that Palpatine trusted Lord Devrate very much, but she didn't know how far that trust went. Mara studied the woman and began to have the suspicion that the young woman knew who she was before the whole Thrawn escapade. That would explain who she was and why she seemed to hate Mara so much.
"You're Chrika Devrate, aren't you?"
The woman's face lost its hate and was filled in surprise.
Mara nodded. "I'll take that as a yes. Chrika, right now you have three options. The first is for you to try to kill me now, which I'm sure you've already thought about. Second, you could just stay here and let me go my merry way. And third, you can help me get out of here and in the process you will as well." Mara stopped and waited for the woman's answer. In all likelihood, the woman could just follow her and shoot her in the back- if she found a gun and Mara knew there were probably hundreds laying around in this cantina alone. And the woman could also decide to shoot her after both of them were out of the spaceport. But then Mara would be better prepared and the woman would have a hard time accomplishing her goal.
Chrika looked uncertain and finally nodded. "I'll help you get out of here." She paused and looked coldly at Mara. "But this doesn't mean that I still don't hate you and in some way I will get my revenge for my father and the Empire."
Mara shrugged. "I didn't expect you to forgive and forget." She pointed to what she thought was the entrance. "Let's get going."
--- Writer's blurb: I don't think I've ever really read something, where Mara had to deal with someone who went through the same type of thing as herself. I'm talking about the Skywalker thing. I thought it would interesting to see a 'what if' thing. And- I'm sure that I've messed up some of the terminology in this fanfiction, here and in the chapters to come. sorry for anything that I didn't say, use or referenced to right.
Chapter Two
Mara slowly woke up and blinked her eyes. Dust filled the area and gave off a strange hazy look where light was able to penetrate through. She coughed and rolled over, groaning as she did so. Leaning against what she thought was a wall, she rested a little and looked over what was left of the cantina and tried to make out if there was any damage to her own body. Everything ached, her head pounded and what made things worse was the throbbing in her left knee.
Trying to sit up, she almost screamed when her knee was moved. She panted while working her way up and then gingerly touched the area that was throbbing. She came away with something warm and sticky and she knew that it was her blood. She'd have to find some supplies to take care of that right away.
Using her hands to support herself on whatever was available she looked around the cantina again. Through the faint and flickering light, she could make out a few bodies- and some parts that didn't have owners- thrown all over the place. She glanced back and saw where she had come from. The wall was caved in, making a sort of makeshift tent, which had protected her from the blasts and falling debris.
"Thank the maker for small miracles." She whispered.
She spotted the Imperial in the position that she thought was the last one she saw him in. A slab of concrete lay on top of him and the dead look in his eyes told her he wasn't going to be setting off anymore bombs.
"Hello?" Mara crooked. She winced and tried swallowing to help her dry throat and tried again. "Hello?" that one sounded much better; at least you could understand it. "Any survivors?"
Mara carefully hopped on her good leg until she found an iron pole that would take her weight. She made her way to what she thought was the kitchen and listened carefully. She thought she heard wheezing and rubble falling in the kitchen's direction.
"Hello?" Mara rounded the corner and saw her waitress wiggling out of a pile of loose rubble.
The waitress stopped when she saw Mara and glared. After a few seconds of silence she resumed her struggle.
Mara moved forward. "Do you need help?"
"Not from you!" the woman hissed.
Mara froze at the venom in the woman's voice, but moved forward anyway to help. Grasping the woman under her arms she started to pull and grunted when she put weight on her bad leg.
The woman didn't say anything, but started wiggling again to get out of her rubble trap.
After a 15-minute battle with the pile, the waitress was free and both gasped for breath, leaning against the walls for support.
The woman got her breath back first and watched Mara from across the room.
Mara grew uncomfortable with the woman's cold blue eyes and tried to ignore it, but at the same time being cautious.
The light was better in here and Mara took the chance to examine her leg. Just above the knee was a piece of steel sticking out of her flesh. She grimaced when she saw it and hoped that it hadn't gone in too deep. She glanced over at the waitress. "Are you hurt anywhere?"
The woman shook her head and continued watching Mara.
Mara shifted her weight to get more comfortable. "Do you have a medkit around here by any chance?"
The woman slowly nodded her head.
After a few seconds, Mara realized that the woman wasn't going to get up and get it for her. "Can I have it?"
"Why?" the woman snapped.
Mara set her mouth in a firm line, she started to feel anger rising to the surface and quickly tried to shut it down. She needed all of her skills right now to get out of this situation and being angry wouldn't help her. "My leg is bleeding and I think the cut may be deep. I'll need to stop the blood so we can get out of here."
The woman snorted. "I can get out of here without your help and I'd just be as happy with you dying." She coldly remarked.
Mara had had her share of snarky people in her life and she had to admit that she was a bit on the ill-tempered side sometimes, but this woman was ridiculous. Mara had never seen this woman in her life and didn't see her reason in hating her so much. 'It's almost as bad as what I had with Skywalker.' Mara thought.
Mara pulled out one of her blasters and pointed it at the woman. "I need that medkit and I want it now. I'd like to do this with your cooperation so we could both get out of here alive and I don't want to waste my energy pack on you." Mara gestured with the blaster for the woman to get up. "The medkit, please."
The waitress eyed the blaster and slowly got up, walking to one of the fallen cabinets and started rummaging around, She pulled out a red pack and threw it in Mara's direction.
Mara didn't know if the woman did it on purpose, but the medkit landed a good five feet from where she stood, forcing her to move from her 'comfortable' position to get it. She maneuvered around and got the bag, with minimal fuss on her knee's part and opened it. Inside was what she needed: some disinfectant pads and synth-flesh. Mara made quick work of her wound, wincing a little when she pulled the piece of metal out of her leg. After she finished applying the synth-flesh she wrapped some clean bandages around it, just as an extra precaution to stop an infection from starting.
Hooking the medkit on her belt she turned to the woman again. "Do you know your way around this spaceport?"
The waitress set her face in a disgusted look. "Yes."
Mara nodded, "Good. We'll need to find the nearest 'working' communications center or even a 'working' docking bay that has a 'working' ship. Plainly, we're going to look for a way out."
The woman snorted, "Why would I help you?"
Mara got fed up and turned on the young woman. "Listen. I don't know who you are and right now I don't care. When I say 'we' I'm being generous and if I find that you're dragging me down I won't have a problem leaving you." Mara looked the woman up and down. "If you'd rather stay here and rot that's fine with me, but don't you go thinking that you didn't have a chance to get out and there *was* someone here who offered to help you."
The woman smirked. "That would be just like you leaving someone to fend for themselves." the woman paused as if thinking. "Especially if they were those who needed you most, you'd just walk away and abandon them to whatever fate had in store for them." She finished bitterly.
Mara was getting irritated. "Why don't you just spill the whole thing then and get it out in the open. I have no idea who you are and what you're talking about!"
The woman turned red. "You abandoned the one person who brought peace and justice to this galaxy! You abandoned those who would carry on his legacy and ran off with the people who wrongly brought it down! You let some upstart Jedi Knight waltz into the Emperor's throne room and murder him!" the woman stopped to catch her breath. "You ruined my life. you let the Rebels win, you betrayed the Empire and left thousands if not millions to die. Including my father."
Mara looked curiously at the young woman. After she had spoken of the Empire, Mara remembered a young girl in the Emperor's court who showed an undying love for her former Master, one that mirrored that of the girl's father.
Lord Devrate had been one of, if not the, staunchest supporter of Emperor Palpatine. And Mara had never been sent on any missions to see if his loyalty was in question. She also knew that Palpatine trusted Lord Devrate very much, but she didn't know how far that trust went. Mara studied the woman and began to have the suspicion that the young woman knew who she was before the whole Thrawn escapade. That would explain who she was and why she seemed to hate Mara so much.
"You're Chrika Devrate, aren't you?"
The woman's face lost its hate and was filled in surprise.
Mara nodded. "I'll take that as a yes. Chrika, right now you have three options. The first is for you to try to kill me now, which I'm sure you've already thought about. Second, you could just stay here and let me go my merry way. And third, you can help me get out of here and in the process you will as well." Mara stopped and waited for the woman's answer. In all likelihood, the woman could just follow her and shoot her in the back- if she found a gun and Mara knew there were probably hundreds laying around in this cantina alone. And the woman could also decide to shoot her after both of them were out of the spaceport. But then Mara would be better prepared and the woman would have a hard time accomplishing her goal.
Chrika looked uncertain and finally nodded. "I'll help you get out of here." She paused and looked coldly at Mara. "But this doesn't mean that I still don't hate you and in some way I will get my revenge for my father and the Empire."
Mara shrugged. "I didn't expect you to forgive and forget." She pointed to what she thought was the entrance. "Let's get going."
--- Writer's blurb: I don't think I've ever really read something, where Mara had to deal with someone who went through the same type of thing as herself. I'm talking about the Skywalker thing. I thought it would interesting to see a 'what if' thing. And- I'm sure that I've messed up some of the terminology in this fanfiction, here and in the chapters to come. sorry for anything that I didn't say, use or referenced to right.