Spirit of the Shifting Sands
Disclaimer. Lucasfilm owns and loves the characters I use in this tale of epic proportions. I am not in the market for financial remunerations over this. Comments welcome - please be kind and thanks to Mona as always.
Ash
Chapter 18
In the Depths of the monastery
Luke closed his eyes against the wave of pain which threatened to engulf him. He reached, with difficulty for his sense of control and focused - immediately it eased. He was being carried on some sort of makeshift stretcher by two of the B'Omarr monks. He hoped Mara was all right and she had managed to find Karrde.
"Stop," he croaked. "Another one."
The wizened monk, Pareer, who had finally granted Luke the privilege of knowing a name to call him by, stopped and produced some sort of technical device. "Thank you, Jedi Skywalker. That is the tenth charge you have identified for us to disable."
"What will you do with them?" asked Luke quietly; knowing that they'd only disabled a fraction of the charges.
"We will place them on the level of the upper chamber where you were kept. Then you will help us detonate them. It will block off the upper levels and prevent the others from finding us. But first I will take you to our library where you can rest and find what you want."
"I have to get back above ground."
Pareer sent him a pitying look. "No, Jedi Skywalker... we cannot permit." And with those words a metal door slammed shut blocking off the rest of the passages leading to the upper levels.
Luke lurched from the stretcher and fell in a heap on the floor. He had to get out of there. But his ankle was too weak to support him and with an audible gasp of frustration and pain he sank down, his head in his hands. "Mara!" he called in his heart, but she didn't answer. 'Please, get out of here.' He couldn't let her risk her life and her future. She couldn't – mustn't come back for him. Who was he trying to kid? It was his future too - he was hoping she saw sense for once.
"How will you get out?" Luke asked.
"There are exits on the South Side. They are secret and were blocked until very recently. We have cleared them. Our aim is to make this place a home and place for the B'Omarr to study - not a meeting place for criminals. Too many times has this happened in our history."
"Ah! I see," Luke murmured. "But do you have to destroy everyone above."
"They were ready to destroy us." The words came out stark and uncompromising. They were not going to negotiate."
"Is there no way I can warn them?" Luke asked. He was a Jedi he had to preserve life not end it. But their minds were strong and not to be swayed.
"No - enlightenment could be given to you..."
The Jedi Master recognised the implied threat and said no more, but his mind was wondering how he could get everyone out of this. Hopefully Karrde would stop Mara from doing something stupid. And somehow he knew that Han was coming. With any luck, he would bring backup.
Pareer stepped forward. "Please slide back on the stretcher, Jedi Skywalker. We will take you to the library."
**************************************
Mara ran towards the passage and then stopped abruptly. Something didn't feel right. She stretched out and let her feelings guide her down the dark tunnel. It came to a sudden end. She pressed her fingers flat against the wall. It was smooth and it was metal. She ran her fingers over the entire surface but there was no way in. She reached out with her senses looking for any flaw, any catch. Hearing soft running footsteps padding behind her she turned, her lightsaber instantly in her hand. It was Page.
"Jade!"
Mara's face was desperate. "I must be in the wrong tunnel. But I can't be."
Page reached out and touched the metal barrier. "I'm sure you're not. There must be other ways down. This place is worse than a womp rat burrow."
"That's what Luke would say, Page. I have to find him. He's injured and in pain."
They ran down the next one and the next one but found them all blocked in the same way. Mara turned bewildered green eyes on Page. "They've blocked the lower levels. There is no way down."
"Come on." He took her arm and started to pull her away from the door. "You'd better get out of here. I'm setting the explosive devices to go off when the task force arrives."
"Mara!"
The mental shout echoed around and around her head.
"Luke?" She twisted from Page's hold and closed her eyes. "Luke."
"Come on, Mara, we have to go!" Page shouted grabbing hold of her arm again.
"Get your hands off me," she snarled.
Page backed off. "Okay! I'm sorry but we have to get out of here, Jade. You're no use to Luke, dead."
"Luke," she echoed softly. "Where are you?"
But there was no reply.
"Come on, Mara. We haven't time for this," Page bit out worriedly.
"Luke," she cried again in frustration. "I heard him call."
"I didn't hear anything… oh!" Page muttered. "Through the Force."
She ran back to the door and hammered on it. "I could hear the Emperor call me across the galaxy. Why can't I hear Luke now?" She closed her eyes and summoned her Force skills to her. Deeper still she reached and suddenly it was as if a blinding light had been turned on for her. She could hear the wind on the Dunes, feel the spirits calling from the desert... and strongest of them all - Luke. She could hear his heart crying for her. He truly loved her that much. She'd never before experienced this depth of focus in the Force. Everything was magnified. Her senses, her awareness and the living Force around her.
"Luke, I can hear you. I hear your heart beating. I feel it. I'm coming for you."
"Mara. Don't. Please. I can take care of myself. You must get out - I insist. You have to - now."
"No."
"Mara. This is an order."
"You can't order me around farmboy, Jedi Master or no."
"Just do it. The B'Omarr have blocked off the lower levels of the building. You can't get down here."
"What about my lightsaber? It could cut through the door and....?" She pulled the weapon and lit the blue blade. "This could get me through," she told Page excitedly.
"They've set detonators on the other side of the barrier. I wouldn't risk it. You have other things to consider. Please, my love. I'll be fine."
Mara froze. He was right.
"I'll see you if I get out of here. Wait for me."
"You know I will. There is a way?"
"There is. But I have to help them. I owe them, Mara. Be strong and trust in the Force. Now for sith's sake get out of this passage."
"Okay, okay. I'm going. I don't like it but I'm going." Mara sent him all of her love through the Force, then turned and strode down the passage. She just hoped it would be enough.
"Come on, Page. The great Skywalker says we have things to do up here. Well?" She stopped and glowered at him. "Are you coming or not?"
Page was left standing as Mara Jade took off at a run. "Wait!" he called as he began to give chase.
"Hurry up then."
"What are you going to do?" he asked bemusedly as he hurried to catch up.
"I'm going to dance after all. I need to get near Fortuna. Luke said once that his mind was weak."
"And…."
"We can't access his mind, but we should be able to affect the things around him."
And….?"
"You go and deal with your explosives."
*******************************************************
Pii 3
The Vex Hammer seemed to float forever on the edge of their screens, but it made no move to attack the New Republic Base. Instead, it had levelled the structures belonging to the Greel Wood Corporation. Luckily no one had been hurt seriously and the building could be rebuilt, but Cracken couldn't see why the Empire was making such a mistake unless they were using it as target practice for the next bombardment. They must have detected the defence grid by now. Rogue Squadron were up there with his own son Pash's flight group in their A-wings ready to engage the enemy.
"General," Brodie stood behind him with data chips in his hand. "Priority message from Coruscant and there's another one from Tatooine."
Cracken grabbed the chips from the young Lieutenant's hands and ran back to his office. Sliding the first chip into the reader with a shaky hand, he collapsed into his chair at the benign expression on Ponc Gavrisoms face.
"We have the beginnings of a peace treaty and it is good." The soft voice of the Calibop whinnied carefully. "Unfortunately we have very little proof on the behaviour of certain members of the council. They have covered their activities well as usual. But there is no way I will be resigning as Chief of State just yet and Leia Organa Solo will return to the post after I have finished. There will be no debate. We still could be in trouble, but I think not. But as I said, we have no proof and I mention no names. I think the expression 'walls have ears' fits very nicely. Make sure the Jedi Master returns to us in one piece or I will investigate every tiny lead until some individuals have no secrets left."
He played the next message and a grimly smiling Leia Organa Solo stood with Admiral Gilad Pellaeon. "By now I hope you have heard from President Gavrisom, General, but we also need to talk on some matters. I await your call."
He froze. Admiral Pellaeon was with Leia.
"Contact the co-ordinates the second message came from - Now!" he yelled. "We still have an Imperial Star Destroyer in orbit."
"Yes Sir."
*************************
Leia sat in the shabby main bar at Tosche Station waiting for any news about her loved ones. All she could do now was wait and she was good at it. She smiled at Admiral Pellaeon and had begun to talk about implementing the treaty with Captain Ardiff when Camie pointed to the makeshift holonet provider the New Republic people had set up in the back room.
"It's General Cracken. He wants to speak to you and the Admiral." Leia exchanged glances with Pellaeon and they moved swiftly to the viewscreen.
"Leia," Cracken spoke fast and dispensed with formal titles. "We have an Imperial Star Destroyer in orbit above Pii 3 and it has just flattened the headquarters of the Greel Wood Logging Corporation."
"What!"
Pellaeon stared in confusion. "A Star Destroyer? It can't be the Chimaera." He subsided heavily into the chair behind him.
"It's not. I've tried hailing them - they're not responding on any frequency. The ship's transponder registers it as the Vex Hammer."
"But it shouldn't be anywhere near here!" Pellaeon roared. "This could demolish the peace treaty before it's even constructed let alone signed."
Leia stared open mouthed. "Firith Olan."
"Possibly."
"He's cleverer than I thought."
"Or Prefect Eugene Talmont."
A stunned silence greeted Pellaeon's remark.
"Leggin, get to the office in Anchorhead. Open a channel when you get there."
The officer nodded and disappeared from sight. Almost immediately, they heard the sound of one of the remaining speeders as he took off across the desert.
Corran rubbed his hand over his face in a gesture Leia had seen Luke use on occasions when something unpleasant had occurred to him. "Corran..." she said warningly. "What is it?"
The young pilot pulled a face. "Your man, Venner, says the Prefect's probably dead or in a new body."
Leia's mouth dropped open. She'd spent enough time as Jabba the Hutt's slave, to have encountered the brains in jars wandering about the monastery. "A new body… Oh stars of Alderaan."
He walked over to the bar and put down the glass of lum he'd been drinking. "So who's in charge?"
Pellaeon pushed his chair back and stood up. "I have to get back to the Chimaera. Captain Franek is in charge of the Vex Hammer. We need to get a signal to him - information blackout or no. He must not continue to fire on Pii 3."
"I agree," Leia echoed stiffly. "We'll get you there in the Millennium Falcon. Chewie!" She spoke into a comlink attached to her tunic. "Fire up the converters."
"Are you game, Admiral?"
"It would be a pleasure, High Councillor Organa."
"I'll come too," Corran added softly. "Then I think we should take the Falcon to the Monastery at B'Omarr. I'm not getting anything from Mara or Luke."
"Agreed." Leia swept from the room with her head high, the Admiral in tow. Corran threw a wink at Camie and grinned at Ardiff. They followed without protest.
"Okay," muttered Camie to herself as the door slid shut with a startled hiss. "I can see it now. Aristocrats - Luke doesn't fit with these guys." Leia Organa Solo had given an order and they'd all obeyed. Then a picture of everyone doing what Luke wanted them to without question flickered into her mind. The arrogance inherent in Luke was completely different from that of his sister. But it was there.
She turned and received the shock of her life when her eyes met the impatient green gaze of General Cracken. "They've gone, I take it?"
"Yes, General."
"I don't suppose they said where?"
"They were going to find the Admiral's ship."
"Good, but it would be nice to have been informed."
Camie scowled. "You have ears and you heard?"
All Cracken could do was nod."
"So what's your problem?"
Cracken cut the connection without an answer.
B'Omarr Monastery – the Rancor Pit
Mara wandered casually on to the dance area and stopped, her mouth dropping open in shock. The area which had seen the death of the Twilek dancer, Oola, and had nearly killed Luke had been transformed into a 'club' of the type normally found on the lower levels of the Coruscant Entertainment district. She spotted Aves leaning against a well stocked bar and headed for him.
"It's called the Rancor Pit."
"So I see." She rolled her eyes at the phosphorescent sign on the wall. "This is worse than the tackiest cantina on the cheapest holiday resort."
"Firith Olan never did have taste."
"Neither has Bib Fortuna. Where's Karrde?"
"Over there, with the trandoshan. He thinks he might get up to the upper level – they're short on guards apparently."
"Good."
"Where's Skywalker?"
Worry showed briefly on her face. "I'm not entirely sure. He's still in the building but blocked off from this level. The B'Omarr have him and he's helping them with something. I don't like it whatever he's doing and Luke doesn't like it either." Mara paused, her eyes narrowing. "I need to get nearer the Twilek."
"No, you don't. Karrde says you gotta get out of here."
"No."
"I told him that's what you'd say."
"Aren't you the clever one. I'll award you a degree from the University of Coruscant when it's more convenient. Can you wait that long?"
"Sarcasm from you, Jade? How unusual."
"Stick it in the garbage compactor." Mara gave him a thin look and stalked gracefully away. It was then that Aves noticed she was no longer in disguise.
****************************
The Twilek stood on the dais which housed his throne and cackled triumphantly to himself. His links to the outside world were complete. He would rule on Tatooine and build his power until it rivalled the very Empire itself. His purple eyes glowed with a light that shone madly in the gloom. He had laid charges in the lower house which would get rid of the B'Omarr – they had outlived their usefulness. Then he would 'negotiate' with the military high command of the Empire and the endlessly do-gooding New Republic. He would play one faction off against another and the only winner would be Bib Fortuna. He would have the power of a king.
Fortuna glanced into the tactical view screen he'd set up for himself and activated a switch. He heard the cries of confusion and betrayal from below, as a squad of desert stormtroopers marched into the Rancor pit. With a deadly burst of weaponry they sprayed the room with blaster fire.
Luckily Mara's reliable danger sense had alerted her to the probability that something was wrong and with a gasp turned back, grabbed Aves and dived behind a table. They lay crushed on the floor as sentient beings ran about confused and hurt. Some of them would never swindle any being ever again.
"How did you know?" Aves breathed steadily to calm his shock.
"I don't know," Mara murmured. "Or rather I do know. It was just a feeling – something in the Force." Her green eyes gleamed molten fury. "There was no reason for that and.... Stormtroopers!"
Aves com vibrated. "Yes," he hissed. Karrde's disembodied voice could be heard faintly demanding to know if they'd been hurt.
Aves wriggled to try and reach his com. "Could you move a bit Mara? I think you're sitting on the com."
"And here I was just getting comfortable, Aves," she griped irritably. "There happens to be a table on my leg. She reached out with the force and the offending piece of furniture shifted enough for her to pull free. "Now you can talk to Karrde."
"We're fine – both of us. What is it, Karrde?"
"Get Mara out of there. Now."
Mara shook her head. Aves raised his eyebrows. "She won't go."
Karrde exhaled in exasperation. "I keep getting visions of Skywalker in my head and he's not happy about something."
"I'm not going," She scrambled to her feet convinced that the danger was past for the time being. If Fortuna was going to display such a quixotic regard for life, then he would soon be replaced.
Mara reached out again with the Force, but Luke had his barriers firmly in place and wasn't receiving her. 'He'll be as mad as a starving rancor if he finds out I'm still here.' She thought sourly. 'It is all his fault after all, but he knew before I did that he had fruitfully multiplied his species.' And then it hit her. He had known she was pregnant.
"That Sith born bast..." her mouth closed with a snap.
"What?"
"Nothing. I'll just kill him, that's all." And there was murder in her green eyes. Her mind flew to the last time they'd had sex and the way she'd turned to vapour when he touched her. She rubbed her abdomen gently and sent calming sensations to her stomach. If there really was a Skywalker in there he was making her feel very sick. The memories of Luke's touch doused her anger – mostly. She suspected that she'd very cleverly been manipulated – by herself.
"Kill whom?" Aves asked bewildered. Mara was acting very strangely.
"No one important," she growled and led the way to the upper chamber.
The sight that met them was of the Twilek reclining on the throne he'd had designed for himself in imitation of Jabba the Hutt's. A phalanx of Stormtroopers stood guarding Fortuna and various creatures, all of whom were sitting with consoles and data screens. Karrde sat behind one with a cold smile on his face. Mara smiled. She knew that look – Karrde meant business and about time too. There had been too much creeping around. It was time for action.
Mara breathed a little sigh and reached for her focus. She hadn't time to transform herself into Arica – she only hoped that she could hold the Force illusion for long enough. Yoda's favourite phrase came to mind. "Do or do not, there is no try." Mara slipped into the back of the line as if she'd never been away and tried to ignore the feeling of worry as she moved automatically through the intricate steps of the routine – perfect in her guise as Arica.
***************************************************
Lower Levels - B'Omarr Monastery
Luke winced as his stretcher was lowered to the floor. When he got a proper look at the room he was in he sat up quickly then dropped his head as a wave of pain hit him. As immediately as it arrived, he applied his Force healing skills and the pain died a little.
The room was a the library. The crystal data disks must have been centuries old, but he knew that if he could have access to these there would be information he could both learn from and use to teach.
"What do you want me to do?" he asked. "But I warn you, I will not be held as ransom for them."
Pareer stretched his lined face into what Luke hoped was a smile. "We want your protection, Jedi Skywalker."
"The being was enlightened for a short while, but then he betrayed us and will continue to do so. He and his kind want us gone. He does not realise we will fight him if we need to with weapons he will not understand. But our most successful weapon will be the Twilek himself."
Luke diverted half his attention to healing and relaxed a little. "It is nearly sunset. When the suns go down he will make a grand statement and then a grand gesture. One of them will be the detonation of the devices he has placed in the rooms we use."
"I got rid of them," Luke protested. "But there are more, aren't there?"
"Yes, far more than even we suspected. If left to chance we would be destroyed. We need you to protect us from the blast in the defence of our home and place of study. We thought you would understand because you also seek enlightenment. In a different way from ours of course, but you still aim for what you want to know." He indicated the brain in the walker.
"Our technology is not up to the task of protecting us. We need your help."
Luke considered for an instant. "If I didn't help I'd be dead too. Wouldn't I?"
"It is a fact, Jedi Skywalker. But we wanted to give you a choice."
"Not much of one," Luke muttered under his breath. "But yes, I'll do it. Why change the habit of a lifetime?"
"We do not understand."
"No, sometimes neither do I."
Out in the Western Dune Sea
"Stormtroopers!" Han muttered to Arnek. "I saw Stormtroopers. They make me itchy."
Jarl Venner's mouth tightened. "We need to get inside." But in his heart he wondered if they were too late.
Han considered their options. "Front way is out. Speeder park is round the far side but is well guarded. Or used to be in Jabba's time."
The company he was keeping had silently overawed Kapass up until now. "Can we get in round the back?" he piped up nervously, then gulped as Venner gave him a look that could have kept him quiet for another few hours.
"He's got a point, Major," Han quipped. "But in all the time I spent as one of Jabba's pilots, I can't ever recall a back way in."
"There was at one time, but that must have been centuries ago."
There was a stunned silence as the other men all turned to stare. Arnek kicked a loose rock, a faint flush covering the grizzled features.
"I wasn't always a bartender," he muttered defensively. "But it was a long time ago."
"Aye, I was told I was playing with a krayt dragon by employing this one. But he's related to the wife and the family persuaded me. Most of the time I don't mind his nonsense, but sometimes..." Fixer let a rare grin cross his face.
"It's sheer cliff. I've never seen any way in or out. Building right on top."
"Could we blast our way in?" asked Tycho.
"How? Supposing there's just solid rock. It also signals that we're coming in and we don't want to advertise out entrances that publicly. I was hoping to sneak in."
Han and Arnek spoke as one. "There isn't." Arnek continued "There are tunnels and rooms below the surface. We don't know how far they descend into the cliff. No one does."
"When I last stayed at Jabba's as his honoured guest, I spent time in his dungeon cells. They were at least four floors below the Rancor's abode. The monks who were the rightful possessors of the building had been driven even farther underground. But I don't know how deep they went. Jabba wanted to execute me so I didn't hang around."
Venner gave Arnek a fleeting glance. "What is it boy?"
"What did you do before...?"
"Fought in the Clone Wars. When they ended, I came home. Things weren't good then and they didn't get better. I needed a job, any job – so I worked for the Hutts. Most folks did. I'm not saying I liked it, and I did things I'm not too proud of now. But I had a wife and a family. She didn't want me to do it, so eventually I quit. It wasn't Jabba – it was his cousin, I think. These Hutts all look the same to me. Jabba was a nastier piece of work."
Han agreed. "You did what you had to do to stay alive and feed your family. I would have done the same."
"Not a problem for you," grunted Fixer.
"No – not recently. But I could have lived in very different circumstances. I've been where you have, Fixer – probably worse. Sure, Leia's a princess, but when we first met she was in a prison cell scheduled for execution. We spent years running from world to world with prices on our heads – sometimes we were cold and hungry. Although latterly, Luke was the one they really wanted."
Fixer shook his head. "Luke?"
"Yeah, Luke. Don't let that calm outer appearance fool you. He's quite a guy. The Emperor and his second in command, the Dark Sith Lord, wanted Luke because of the power he can wield. Lord Vader also wanted him because he was his son. But Luke stood firm and saved the rebellion and me. I owe him and I'm not leaving here without him. If Leia says he's still in there, he's still in there." Han stopped, a rueful expression framing his handsome features. "I must apologise, I meant to spare you New Republic propaganda. We don't have time for this." Han looked into the sky just as the two suns were about to make their fiery descent from the heavens.
Venner started the speeder. "I vote we try the Vehicle Park. Where else would you put a speeder, but in plain sight of the enemy? No one would think we were that foolish."
Han barked a crack of laughter and looked at Wedge and Tycho. "Well boys? What do you think? Does that sound familiar or what?"
"Depressingly so," murmured Tycho sotto voce. Wedge gave him a warning glare. Fixer shivered in the warmth of the early evening. He really was beginning to wish that he hadn't come. Luke was Darth Vader's son? Even this far out on the rim that name sent chills up his spine.
"You okay with this, Major – brazening it out?" Han asked and Venner turned his head, startled. Solo was consulting him.
After a quick glance at Kapass, Venner gave an affirmative. "What if we split up? Commander Antilles..."
"Wedge." The Corellian stated.
"Wedge, Captain Celchu..."
"Tycho."
Venner sighed and tried again. "Wedge, Tycho, Kapass and I, go in via the vehicle park and..." he hesitated. "I guess it's not General Solo?"
"You're learning, Kid."
Venner relaxed enough to almost smile. He'd been a little tense. "Han – you take Arnek and Fixer and investigate the cliff side. If there isn't any access round the back, you follow us into the side entrance. With any luck we will make it in without discovery."
Han chuckled. "Luck? A wise man once said there's no such thing as luck. I like to believe in it. I'd have been very depressed in life otherwise."
"May the Force be with us."
The Imperials and the Tatooine natives looked startled at Wedge's pronouncement. But Han smiled grimly. "That's the other thing we need."
*********************************************
Upper Audience Chambers
"Friends, supporters and potential enemies. You're all one and the same. Betray as soon as eat."
"Nice sentiment," whispered Aves to Page. "Tell everyone you don't trust them."
"Where there's no loyalty involved, there is no honour and it is almost expected that faith will be broken. I couldn't work like that," the Intel man replied soberly.
"I know. Neither does Karrde and for that I am grateful."
"Come on, I need to get to the upper chamber. I think I could get on to one of the control panels he has set up there."
"How?"
"Let's say, I made a few allies, who were willing to help me improve myself in return for my 'loyalty' when they make their move on the Twilek."
"What do you want me to do?"
"Stay close to an exit, but be ready to get out. Time's running short. Most of my people have been given their orders. They're manning some detonators. They prime them and then get out."
"What about Skywalker?"
"We have to hope he can make his own way into the desert."
Mara stood and surveyed the scene from where she had been placed. Hjarn had been pleased she had made it back into the squad. Everything had to be perfect. She couldn't believe the multitude of beings crammed into such a small space. It looked as if every small time crook in the galaxy had arrived here to pay homage to the new Crime Lord. The Bith band clutched and fingered their instruments in a nervous fashion. Dancers surreptitiously tried to stretch straining muscles. They were all waiting for something.
Bib Fortuna scrutinised his kingdom and his servants. He was all supreme as he inspected those who would obey his commands and carry out murder and mayhem in the worlds he wanted to dominate. His white armour-clad stormtroopers watched impassively as he held his arms outward in a benevolent gesture. Talmont had turned the command codes over to him just before he died. Now he, Bib Fortuna, would rule the sector. The scarred Twilek laughed a little hysterically. Yellow pointed teeth parted in a venal smile and the purple eyes gleamed almost red.
"I will bring a new prosperity to our kind."
There was a crescendo of tongues, which worked their way into a deafening cheer. The mob had liked that statement. The Twilek bared his teeth in his feral grin and stretched out long nailed talons to quiet the seething, restless mob. His lekku twitched imperceptibly, but Mara saw it and realised the time was fast approaching. She geared herself for some sort of action - the Force moved and she felt as if everything was happening in slow motion.
The Twilek opened his mouth and spoke again. "It is our turn. For too long we have been an oppressed people. Our need for power, wealth, conquest and blood is real. It is our right and we demand these needs be met. I will see that you have what you want and that you can take it when you want it."
The crowd fermented, the emotions rising like bubbles in lomin ale. Mara tried to let herself not be too affected. She had to be calm and peaceful. The creed of the Jedi. Well she was sleeping with one and now it looked as if he'd impregnated her too. She shied away from dwelling on her condition. It was too new and they had a difficult time ahead of them before she was able to deal with the future implications. She also hoped that no-one noticed she'd changed species.
"We have already destroyed an enemy base in this sector."
Holo-footage flashed onto giant screens. Karrde bit his lip in shock. They'd not destroyed the New Republic base at all. It was, or had been, the headquarters of the Greel Wood Logging Corporation.
Mara watched stunned as the Twilek proclaimed that this had been the secondary site and they were waiting for his signal to obliterate the primary base. The assembled throng cheered loudly. Most of them had no love for any type of organised government, be it Imperial or New Republican.
"The Imperial Prefect of Tatooine has sadly lost his brave fight with illness, but he was a forward looking man and knew I was the best thing for Tatooine." He sneered and faint sniggers could be heard. Aves clenched his fists and Page had to stop himself from wanting to take a shot at the criminal.
"I - I am what is needed to bring us the power. I am Bib Fortuna..."
There was a collective gasp and the place went deathly silent.
"When our dear master Jabba died I was injured in the final explosion. The B'Omarr monks saved my consciousness and for a time I became one of their number. I live again through the selfless sacrifice of the brave Prefect Talmont and a fellow member of my race, Firith Olan, who suffered brain death in a tragic accident and lived only long enough to give me his body. He recognised I was the only hope for our people and with his dying breath gave me his outer shell. I hoped we might live in peace with the B'Omarr order but I have evidence that they are plotting against us. They mean to kill us all - they want your brains to feed their consciousness. We cannot let that happen." The silence was broken as uneasy whispers began to ebb and flow. Many of the beings there were totally convinced, but others had known the Twilek before and didn't trust him one bit.
Mara gripped the handle of her saber, her knuckles white. It was the one Luke had given her so many years ago and it was a promise - something which spoke of hope for a new future. And, by the Force, she was owed a future. She stepped forward out of formation and gave Karrde a desperate glance.
"Our time has come," Bib Fortuna proclaimed and he cast a look heavenward to where the light was fading from the skies as the suns descended to be received by the grateful earth.
"Captain Franek - you may proceed," Fortuna spoke into the comlink he carried and a roar of approval went up.
Lights sprang to life as the last flicker of sunset disappeared and suddenly without warning the floor tilted and shifted. With a shrieking crash the floor caved in.
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