Spirit of the Shifting Sands
Disclaimer. The characters and situations used in this story belong to Lucasfilm. I've only borrowed them for a while and am making no financial gain from this exercise. I want to thank George Lucas for creating the wonderful Star Wars Universe for us to use. I would like especially to thank Mona who read the epic and patiently corrected my mistakes and gave me encouragement to continue. Also a mention to Licia for telling me to go ahead and post. Angela Jade for influencing me in certain directions and for everyone who has gone the distance with this tale.
Ash.
Chapter 19
B'Omarr Monastery - Tatooine
The oddly assorted group of men surveyed the almost sheer face of cliff in front of them. Arnek eased himself from the speeder and walked to the point where the cliff face met the desert. Pressing his gnarled hands against its flat, smooth surface, he still felt the warmth in the stone after the long day in the harsh heat of the two suns. Fixer and Han had driven the speeder along the wall to see if there was an entrance - there wasn't. Then suddenly Arnek saw it - just a fold in the rock and his hands shook as he lifted them in a beckoning motion.
Fixer pressed the accelerator to bring the vehicle closer then had to jerk the speeder to an abrupt halt as Han leapt from the vehicle. "Arnek's spotted something," the Corellian shouted.
"General Solo - over here!" Arnek's voice quickened with excitement.
Han turned and sprinted over to where the old man was standing.
"Look!"
Han followed Arnek's pointing finger with his eyes... and then he saw it - a narrow, almost hidden aperture in the wall.
"Well, well, old man. I do believe your eyesight is better than I gave you credit for."
"You've never mentioned my eyesight, General."
"True," said Han. Pulling his blaster from his hip holster, he eased flat against the cliff wall and carefully sidled over small rocks and broken boulders. "Cover me," he hissed.
Arnek glanced at Fixer who was clinging to the back of the speeder as if afraid for his life. "Come on Boss, make yourself useful."
The quietly spoken comment reassured the younger man. Turning, Fixer pulled a large rifle he used for fending off the occasional tusken raider from the back of the transport. With a quick glance about him, he scurried across to join the other two men. Reaching the wall he pressed himself flat against it, clutching the rifle so hard that his knuckles turned white.
"Can you see anything?" asked Fixer, his voice a thin sound.
"No, but the passageway seems to widen out a little as it disappears inside the cliff." Han cautiously waved a glow rod in the direction of the opening. "I can't remember this being here in Jabba's day. But then I was usually welcomed through the main entrances - walking or frozen stiff in carbonite. I vote we go in. We don't have much time. My friend could be in there."
"Yeah," muttered Arnek. "Suns are almost set. Dangerous out here after dark."
Han squeezed through the narrow gap, his blaster in hand. Arnek slipped in next with a petrified Fixer following in the rear. Carefully the three men traipsed a short way along the passage until they came to a larger chamber where several tunnels could just be seen in the faint glow of Han's waning light.
"Which way?" asked Arnek. "I think we'd better stay together."
"I don't know which way, but I agree we should stick together." Han inspected their surroundings.
Arnek turned and pointed to the nearest one. "We might as well try that one. It looks as good as any other."
They failed to spot the little robed figure standing guard until he lifted a weapon and fired. Once at a device attached to the ceiling and the second at the three men. The ceiling above their heads gave an ominous sounding crack.
"Get down!" yelled Han firing his blaster into the darkness but Arnek pushed him and Fixer aside, took the full impact of the shot and went down heavily, groaning.
Han snapped off a couple more quick shots but the figure had vanished. "Looks like you picked the right one, old man," Han murmured admiringly, but his eyes sought Fixer's face. The bartender shook his head pointing to a rapidly spreading stain in the centre of his chest. Han closed his eyes. Posting a cheerful expression on his face Han leant over the old man. "Looks like I owe you one."
Arnek lay halfway turned on his side, his breathing growing shallower. "Looks like you do, General."
"We'll get you to the doctor," Fixer spoke soothingly as he knelt beside him and cradled his head carefully. Han glanced at him, surprised. Arnek coughed, and a little blood trickled down the side of his mouth.
"Yeah," but there was knowledge in his eyes. "Now go... get the Jedi out and then come back for me later. It's good that they have returned to the galaxy. Tell Luke he did well and his Uncle would have been proud of him. Mara will be good for him... she's quite a girl." He closed his eyes and seemed to gather himself for a last effort. "I loved you and Camie like my own. I don't have much, but it's yours..." His eyes closed.
"We're gonna get you to the doctor and then you can hold on to your own stuff... Arnek! Arnek!
But the old man had gone; he'd been hit square in the chest. Death, thank the Force, had been mercifully swift.
Fixer rubbed a suspicious bit of moisture from the corner of his eye. "I'm gettin' the bast... who did this." He bit his tongue angrily.
Then the roof above them started to fall with a loud rumble. Debris and large chunks of rock rained down on their unprotected heads and the sound of a muffled explosion could be heard.
"Get out of here. Come on - run..."
"But Arnek..."
"There's nothing we could do for him. He's dead."
"I know, but...Luke...?"
"You don't want Anni and Marn to grow up without a father. I did and Luke did. It's not recommended. Arnek wouldn't want that either. If we stay in here we will die and how will that help Luke? We don't know if he's still in there anyway." Han grabbed Fixer roughly by the arm and hustled him out the way they had come and with despairing eyes they watched the passage collapse in an avalanche of rock. "Luke will be fine - I hope. He's got out of worse scrapes than this." Han winced, his heart heavy, as clouds of sand and dust swirled down completely obscuring their vision. When it settled the passage was completely blocked.
"Come on. Let's go for the main entrance. There's no point hanging round here. I only hope Luke got out of there before all this started happening."
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Wedge sat up straight in his seat as they approached the entrance to the vehicle bay. "I have an idea." He turned his head and surveyed the opening and already he could see signs of activity. "Do you have men inside, Jarl?"
Venner nodded. "Not many, but yes."
"Can you contact them."
"Already done. Two of them are over there." He pointed to couple of rough looking humans in dirty tunics.
"You were second in command to prefect Talmont, right?"
"Yes, but..."
"You did manage to discover most of what he got up to?"
"Most of it - none of it was good."
"Including his command codes?" Wedge had a smile on his face.
"I have access to those, yes."
"So if you came in as the Imperial envoy say... to the court of the Twilek."
Tycho grinned the smile reaching his blue eyes. "I get it. We're going to be your escorts."
"Tycho trained at the Academy he knows the drill and I'll copy him. Should get us past the perimeter guards."
"We just need to get in," muttered Venner.
"Getting in won't be the problem," muttered Tycho.
"No," agreed Wedge. "Getting out might."
It worked - on the surface at any rate - but they were met by Venner's own men, which helped.
Wedge watched as Jarl Venner conferred quietly with a nondescript woman in shabby clothes. "There's a squad of stormtroopers guarding the Twilek," he said.
"Do you have any sway with them?" asked Tycho.
"I don't know. There was nothing in the Prefect's data files. If he's given the command codes to the Twilek, I very much doubt it, but I can try."
"Then that will have to do." Wedge's dark eyes were worried. "We can always jam their comlinks. In fact, just do that. In case there's any doubt.
Once inside the main building, Venner transmitted a signal to his people which meant 'Get out now.' The second signal he transmitted scrambled the Stormtroopers comlink frequencies. No one would be able to contact them or they, each other. In effect they were blind.
"Good idea, Antilles."
"I didn't think we had time to bargain with stormtroopers. They're not known for their subtlety."
Just as they reached the corridor which led to the main audience chambers a strange rumble could be heard below them.
"Someone's detonated explosives from within the building!" Tycho gasped. "Brace yourselves."
The Chimaera
Chewie landed the Falcon in the Imperial destroyer's docking bay and Admiral Pellaeon, Corran and Captain Ardiff ran down the ramp.
"Bridge!" barked Ardiff as they entered the turbolift.
The bridge crew strove to look that little bit more efficient as Pellaeon strode to the com officer. "Contact the commanding officer on the Vex Hammer."
Leia felt a little strange as she joined Corran and Ardiff on the bridge of the Imperial star destroyer. It had been a long time since she had done that. There was so much history between the two opposing sides. Corran sent her a reassuring message through the Force as he sensed her worry. It didn't help much and they all felt as if they were holding their breath as the minutes ticked by.
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Pii 3
The TIE interceptors swooped over the small complex, but Cracken thanked the stars that Pii 3 had been a rebel outpost for as long as there had been a rebellion and there was a top-notch shield in place. If they wanted to totally destroy the base - it would have to be a planetary assault and with the wooded terrain and steep mountainous valleys that made it nearly impossible to traverse. His only worry was that the capital ship waiting in orbit as it deployed its fighters, might have a sizable planetary assault troop. He only hoped that it was too busy trying to damage Pii 3 to notice the squadrons setting off from Pii 4 for Tatooine.
"Rogue Squadron - ready?"
"Yes General," Hobbie Klivian's voice was heard clearly.
"Ace Flight?"
"Yes General," Pash replied, sounding expectedly tense.
"Clear skies." Cracken gave the familiar send off, his frame rigid. Now all he could do was wait and hope the Vex Hammer didn't blast them into oblivion on the ground. Yes he had shields but that ship could still inflict a lot of damage.
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B'Omarr Monastery
"I can't help you create death and suffering." Luke argued desperately.
"If left alive these people will create enough of that on their own." The little monk's logic was unassailable. Luke glanced towards the enlightened being. "I will help protect you, but I will not injure those above."
"Then that will have to do."
"But..." Pareer protested.
"We will have to accept that much from him. The Jedi have their own code of honour. We cannot ask him for any more. To do so would contravene the way he lives his life. He has respected our ways we must do the same for his. However, I feel that the combined forces above will do it for us...without the Jedi's sanction."
Luke closed his eyes as the room continued to swim around him. He was beginning to think that he'd never get out alive. 'Oh Mara, please be careful,' he thought quietly, but didn't broadcast the message to her because she would need all her concentration if she was getting out. He hoped she was out. He'd told Karrde to get her out. Stun her if necessary, but keep her safe. Keep them both safe.
It was time. He closed his eyes and drew on the Force, letting his feelings guide him he placed a shield around the area he was resting in. He didn't know how long he could keep it up in his severely weakened state, but he would 'do'. The Force was his ally. Luke took a deep breath and braced himself. Another tremor shook the walls but Luke kept the danger from the rooms below.
Gasping, Luke relaxed his hold over the Force and suddenly a huge explosion above rocked the library – the walls cracked, but remained more or less intact. Luke belatedly shored up the supports and limited further damage but the effort had exhausted him. Pareer left rapidly to check on casualties among the B'Omarr. Some had been killed and many were injured, but the vast majority had remained intact including those enlightened beings fortunate enough to be stationed in the library and surrounding area. Pareer returned and immediately informed Luke that his help had been partially successful, but he would have to leave him to attend to some of their number whose nutrient jars had shattered in the blast. "If we do not help them, they will die."
Luke couldn't understand how they could so ignore other lifeforms including all the innocents above. A vast amount were far from that, but Mara, Karrde and all the New Republic agents were risking their lives to bring peace to the galaxy. Part of that process was seeing that the guilty could be brought to trial. Death was almost an easy way out. Drained from the effort of holding the structure of the building together the Jedi closed his eyes and slipped gratefully into unconsciousness. The B'Omarr ignored his plight. He'd done what he'd been required to do and their interest in him ended there. "Will we send for the surgeons' cart?" asked one. "No, they are too busy, with our own kind. He would not give his brain willingly and then we would have the problem we had previously."
"Ah yes."
"But he does not look as if he will survive."
"That is not our problem."
"What do we do with him?"
"He must leave us."
"His presence calls to others. If they detect his presence they will come looking for him. We do not want the outsiders here. We have worked for our solitude."
"But what if he dies?"
"Then he dies."
Two of the B'Omarr approached Luke and placed beside him a container containing the precious crystal data disks.
"Thank you for your assistance, Jedi," Pareer murmured quietly to the unconscious man. "Take him away."
The two monks lifted Luke's stretcher and set off towards an exit, so narrow and so well hidden further down the rock face that Han and the others had failed to spot it. The charges set off by all parties involved in the conflict had done more structural damage below ground than the B'Omarr had realised and the journey carrying the comatose Jedi was fraught with difficulty. Eventually they managed to clear a tunnel wide enough to make access possible. Utilising a speeder they had commandeered from the Twilek they drove out into the Dune Sea. Since it was decided that the Jedi couldn't return to the monastery from there on his own, they simply left him. Luke was left unconscious and vulnerable in the uncertainty of a Tatooine night. Native predators called to each other in the dark, but none came near the Jedi. Luke's spirit was so tied up with the living heart of this planet that life there at its deepest level couldn't harm one of its own.
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Bib Fortuna felt a strange kind of satisfaction when the explosives went off in what he had deemed to be the B'Omarr territory. Then he realised that the explosives had been strangely muffled. Not all of them had gone off. A moment later when the second wave of detonators failed to ignite he realised something was wrong.
The throng of people below him had grown restless. They were waiting to see what he would do. He laughed suddenly and gave the order for the Vex Hammer to take down the New Republic base on Pii 3. The time for him to assume his rightful place as the greatest crime lord in the galaxy had arrived.
Suddenly a shot was fired into the thick of the mob and the charges Page and his people had placed in the upper levels went off with spectacular timing. The stormtroopers on all sides of him reacted immediately and began firing indiscriminately into the crowd. Karrde ducked to avoid the shots and entered a couple of rogue commands into the database he was maintaining. Aves began to move towards Mara who had frozen in place behind an archway. Page left his monitor and moved to a position of relative safety where he stood with a remote detonator. Karrde gave him a discreet nod and he pressed the button. Another round of conduits went up in showers of sparks. A second later the explosives the B'Omarr had redistributed about the monastery went off with lethal effect.
Mara covered her ears to try and escape from the roar of the explosion and felt the blow of it at her back. Something caught her in the side of the head and she reeled dizzily. The stormtroopers scattered like a whirl of dead leaves. The assembled throng had started to panic. People were shrieking, mouths forming screaming squares. It suddenly turned into a firefight. Every man for himself.
Bib Fortuna stood rooted to the spot in front of his sumptuous throne, screaming wildly into the melee. But he was ignored, his impotent howls of rage merging with the noise and the chaos.
Then the attack came from above.
Fortuna couldn't believe it. What had gone wrong? He shook his lekku and pushed a Klatooinian from a monitor. Grabbing a com he yelled maniacally into it, "Get to my fighters. You're going to have to go up there and destroy them. One by one if you have to. They need to know I have power and am armed. I will use that power."
A stray blaster bolt smacked into the wall just an inch from his head. It was time to move to safety, because this certainly wasn't it. He ducked from his seat ready to make a run for it and stumbled over the dead body of a man. The people around him ran screaming, sobbing and panting as the proton torpedoes began to make themselves felt on the upper structure of a building which had risen solidly from the sands for centuries.
Mara couldn't believe the complete unreality of it. She stood almost paralysed as she watched the Twilek run for cover. His cronies had ceased glorifying him and had started to rid themselves of enemies, which were basically each other. Couldn't they see that by remaining in the building they were inviting death to come to them? But all she saw were dark skinned, bloodstained men and aliens of all descriptions turn into ravening blood crazed beasts, howling threats and obscenities.
"Mara!" Karrde finally moved from behind the terminal where he'd sheltered and as he did so, Fortuna stopped, whirled and brought his blaster up to fire.
"No!" Mara screamed. With a speed that was Jedi trained, Mara's saber hissed into life and blocked the shot.
"Jedi," the Twilek hissed with hatred and surprise. "Jedi here after all this time. I knew there was a woman. Where is Skywalker? Our reports said he was here with a woman as beautiful as the evening suns."
Mara couldn't help it. She blushed, but said nothing - glaring at him, her green eyes cold.
"You will die, beautiful Jedi."
"Don't count on it. You killed our people."
"And I'll kill more before today is out."
"As I said before. Don't count on it." Her hand shook as Hinden's memories assaulted her senses. He'd experienced such pain.
"What can you do? Your friend is beaten."
He indicated Karrde who crouched on his knees on the ground. He'd fallen when Fortuna had aimed the first shot at him but, being Karrde, had contingency plans in mind. He moved his blaster hand out of sight of Fortuna.
"Look at him, cowering in the dust. He's no Jedi."
Karrde's pale eyes went paler still if it was possible. "Cover me, Mara." And he rose to his feet, a blaster appearing in his grasp. "The lady is correct. No one harms my people. Remember the Prada Predator?"
"No, should I?"
The ground shook again as a bomb landed very near to where they stood. Mara felt herself falling as the floor rocked. A dark sinewy hand pulled at her and she flinched in horror. Swiping with her lightsaber, she raked it down the body who had grabbed her. The sound of a choked gurgle made her uncomfortable and the metallic tang of fresh blood teased her nostrils.
"Watch your back, Jade," Karrde hissed out of the side of his mouth.
Mara's danger sense flared and again she brought the vital blue blade up to block blaster fire. "Come on Karrde, get out of here. I'll hold him."
"No, Mara. He killed our people. We have our own way of meting out justice." And he brought his blaster carbine up one more time. Mara noticed the strut upon which Fortuna was perched leak some crumbling matter and aimed her lightsaber towards it in an arc. "Now!" she yelled as both Karrde and Fortuna fired at each other at point blank range. The Twileks' shot impacted off Mara's shoulder but Karrde's aim was truer and Fortuna toppled forward with an expression of surprise across his face. There was a shrieking crash behind him.
Talon got shakily to his feet. "Justice should be noted to have been done. There's no other body for you to escape to this time, Fortuna. Enlightenment came too late for you this time." Breathing heavily he holstered his blaster. "Mara?" No answer. "Mara," he shouted as he looked around for his second in command. Something rolled against his boot. Mara's lightsaber. He picked it up and looked around for her.
With an ominous rumble an unidentified explosive landed very close to where he stood and a wall crumbled narrowly missing him. "Mara," he shouted again over the noise. Where the hell was she? It was then he spotted her slumped and half buried in a pile of collapsed rubble, blood streaming from the wound in her shoulder. "Emperor's bones!" Karrde dropped to his knees to try and dig her out to the sound of chaos around him.
Wedge, Tycho, Venner and Kapass ducked past falling masonry and charged into the building. "I guess no one will stop us now," grunted Kapass, his shoulders heaving with effort as he pushed a beam from in front of their path.
"We're going the wrong way, that's why," panted Tycho.
Wedge sniffed the air. "Drop!" he yelled and they threw themselves flat as something erupted in a burst of flame near to where they'd landed. Small pieces of stone rained down on them in tiny stinging pieces.
Tycho sniggered as Wedge emerged from a pile of gravel. "Good call," he said admiringly. "You've gone prematurely grey, Commander. Is this a new look?"
"No time to be funny, Captain Celchu. Come on."
They jumped to their feet and took off still dodging small fires, crumbling stone and, as they got nearer the centre of the building, desperate people trying to get out. No one was staying to help a fellow creature. They would kill anyone who stood in their way.
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The Chimaera
"This is Admiral Gilad Pellaeon of the Imperial ship the Chimaera to Captain Jorge Franek."
"Admiral?" the serious man in front of the holo screen asked. "What can I do for you?"
"Call off the attack."
"But..."
"Call off the attack." Pellaeon's voice had grown colder and more deadly. "You have been given false information. We are not in any danger of attack from Pii 3. There is a very important operation going on at this very instant and you are wasting valuable men and resources. We are working with the New Republic on this. Not fighting against them."
"I don't understand."
"Call off the attack and meet me here on the Chimaera."
An officer manning the communications channel spoke up. "Sir," he addressed Captain Ardiff. "We are receiving a communiqué from Tatooine. It's Lieutenant Leggin, Sir."
"Patch him through."
"I'm attaching a series of coded transcriptions which were made by Prefect Talmont. It contains the codes to abort the Vex Hammer's attack."
Ardiff smiled with grim satisfaction. "Do you hear that Captain?"
"I do," but the man looked confused. He turned to a crewman and whispered quietly. The trooper flicked a few switches and his voice was heard sending out a message on a wide frequency band. "Call off the attack. All TIE wings return to base."
Leia closed her eyes with relief and sent silent thanks out through the Force. But when she tried to reach her brother, she could not.
"Incoming message for Senator Leia Organa Solo from General Airen Cracken."
Leia moved to the screen. "General?"
"It's stopped. Thank Admiral Pellaeon for me."
"I will. What of our forces on Tatooine?"
"Very little resistance apparently. Some fighters have been mobilised, but they are salvaged hybrid fighters – 'uglies' – and lack the manoeuvrability of our X-Wings and A-wings. They cannot hold on for much longer. According to Lieutenant Klivian, the rats are deserting quicker than we could hope to catch them. Look Leia, I'll have to go but I'll be in touch to arrange another meeting." He met her eyes squarely. "A proper meeting this time."
A pang of guilt wormed its way into her heart. She had a lot to answer for. She could almost be accused of being complicit in the murder of her brother if he didn't survive this. She'd also all but gift-wrapped him into the arms of Mara Jade. The knot of jealousy twisted into her gut.
"Corran… I have to get back to Tatooine. I cannot feel Luke. He's closed our link and I'm troubled for him."
Corran wrinkled his forehead worriedly. He could feel Mara. She was fighting and in pain and scared about Luke too. But the Jedi Master had gone from their senses. "He's still alive?"
"I'm positive he is, but he's not in the Monastery. I'm sure I would be able to feel him if he was there – it's so close. I don't know where he is. I can't feel him. I'd know if he was dead, but I can't…" She bit her lip to stop it trembling.
"Come on; let's get back to the planet. Luke can take care of himself." He spoke into his comlink. "Chewbacca – this is Corran Horn. Get the Falcon prepped for take off."
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Han gunned the speeder and brought his comlink to his lips. "Wedge, we're coming in after you. There's nothing we can do at this end. The place is going up everywhere. The tunnels are blocked and we can't get through - it would be suicide. We've already lost the old man."
"I copy, General Solo." Wedge turned to his companions. "Come on. Let's go and look for any of our people.
"We seem to be going the in the wrong direction," murmured Tycho to Kapass as several aliens ran past them firing blaster carbines at anyone who got in their way.
"You've said that already."
"Well, we're still doing it."
"So what's new?" Wedge panted as they jogged along the passage avoiding falling masonry, fleeing criminals and stray bullets.
"Wedge!"
The Corellian turned and grinned, thankful to see Cullen Page standing before him.
"Everything seems to be going according to plan. I've set the main charges now. If anyone's left in this part of the building they'll blow with it in ten minutes."
"We came to find Luke and Mara."
A muscle twitched in the Intel man's cheek. "I don't know where Luke is. The B'Omarr took him. Mara managed to get free, but says Luke was hurt and wasn't able to move fast enough to escape with her. She's frantic with worry about him, but he told her she needed to deal with Fortuna."
Tycho nodded. "Luke's been in too many combat situations not to take that tack. If there was a chance Mara could escape she had to take it. Two of them would have had much less chance especially if Luke is carrying an injury."
Page sighed. "When she attempted to get back to where Luke was captured the tunnels were sealed off. She couldn't get to the lower levels. That's all we know."
Wedge swallowed and wished he hadn't as the muck in the air choked him and he coughed. "We'll... need... to get moving."
Tycho slapped him on the back and handed him a water container. "Here, drink this."
Wedge took a slug of the warm liquid, made a face and handed it back. "Thanks."
They followed Page to the central audience chamber, but it was almost impossible to see anything, the air was so thick with smoke and dust.
"Over there!" Venner pointed to the figure of a man digging frantically among the ruins. Karrde looked up, his face cut. Dried blood had trailed over his forehead and torn cloth had been wound around fingers red, raw and bleeding. Karrde was attempting to dig his second in command out of the wreckage. "I need help," he called, his face anxious. "She's unconscious."
Venner noticed the body of Bib Fortuna lying only metres away from where Karrde and Mara were. He was very dead, the cooling body stiffening.
"Use her lightsaber." Wedge pulled his blaster from his pocket and, changing the setting, aimed it at some of the boulders imprisoning Mara. For a second they glowed red-hot and then broke down into smaller pieces.
Karrde ignited Mara's saber and very carefully with the blue humming blade began to help free his associate.
Tycho was able to get his hands underneath Mara's armpits and slowly, aware that time was against them, began to inch her out very gradually. They didn't want to bring anything else down on their heads.
"Got her!" grinned Tycho as he handed her over to Venner.
"She is okay?" questioned Karrde.
"She's alive," Venner lifted Mara's limp figure into his arms
Mara lay still, her face whiter than the Hoth snows as she was carried swiftly from the monastery. Kapass and Tycho supported the smuggler chief as he limped as fast as he could.
"Have you seen Aves?" he croaked.
Page nodded. "I sent him to place one or two charges for me. He's waiting outside. I said I'd come back to get you. He's fine."
"And Luke?"
Silence greeted him.
"You don't know where Luke is?"
"No, we don't."
"Mara could find him."
"She could if she was conscious, but she needs medical attention herself by the looks of her. She's not capable of finding anything at the moment besides, Luke would want her to be safe."
"Come on, we'd better hurry."
As they made their way out of the crumbling building Han brought his speeder to a halt and dived across to where he could see Wedge and Tycho. Jarl Venner emerged from the building carrying what looked like a woman's body. Fixer climbed out and went to help.
"Is she...?" he asked still in shock at the speed of Arnek's death. The matter of fact way the New Republic men and women dealt with loss surprised him. Corran had been right. Playing the hero was fine if you made it.
"She's just stunned I think - concussion. Wall came down on her."
"She was hit in the shoulder," Karrde croaked. "I don't know how bad."
"The Falcon's on its way."
"So is the Valorous," said Wedge. "It's got a good medical facility. I think you need a couple of hours in a bacta tank yourself, Karrde.
The smuggler chief smiled tiredly, then his pale eyes hardened. "What do we tell her, when she wakes up? We haven't found Luke and there's no way down to the lower levels, is there?"
"Is he there?" asked Han, dread pooling in the pit of his stomach.
"He was," replied Karrde quietly.
Han swore quietly under his breath and looked to have aged ten years in minutes.
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