Chapter One

Mara Jade pulled on the abbreviated black tank top she wore in disgust. She knew she had to wear it, and the length of silk material hanging from her hips to her calves in two separate pieces on back and front, to fit in as a dancer at Jabba the Hutt's palace, but that didn't mean she had to like it. She longed for her normal flight suit, her Imperial outfit, or even her normal uniform, anything to get out of her current outfit.

She watched the scoundrels and criminals dance and drink around Jabba, leaving space for the exclusive dance floor over the rancor pit, which is where she would be once the song ended. Mentally she rehearsed the routine she would perform. It was one of her better ones - it had to be, if she wanted to get onto the sail barge.

And kill Luke Skywalker.

She gritted her teeth as she remembered what the Emperor had told her about Luke Skywalker. Oh yes, she knew. Palpatine had informed her of the times, during the years between the battle of Yavin and the battle of Hoth, when Skywalker had become a commander he had used his piloting skills to murder innocent smugglers, and had been spotted once decimating a crowd of helpless ordinary civilians with his lightsaber. Just the thought of the things he had done made her want to do something drastic.

Jade smiled cruelly. She would get to do something drastic – and "very" enjoyable - if she got on to the sail barge.

The song ended and there was a smattering of clapping. She heard Jabba bellow for a dancer, like she knew he would. She made a few last minute adjustments to her hair, which was twined around the top of her head in a braid, then emerged from the doorway, running gracefully to assume her starting position.

As the music began, she moved her hips, twirled her hands above her head and started to dance. She kicked high, threw her head back and arched her back. She threw in a few leaps, jumps and flips for good measure, knowing she impressed everyone. Even Jabba. She could feel it in his sense.

(Fantastic! This woman dances like the wind and the water of Nal Hutta,) Jabba said in his own language. "Thank you, Your Magnificence," Jade purred, sucking up big time. She knew Jabba liked to be flattered. So did she, occasionally, but maybe being compared to the smog-filled wind and slimy water of Nal Hutta was not what she had in mind...

He nodded his approval and waved her away. She bowed again and retreated into the shadows. He clapped his hands together and the band started playing a jazzy tune as Jade disappeared down a corridor.

Jade was jerked awake by the sound of talking, albeit softly, in the hallway leading from the entrance to the throne room of the palace. She had her senses tuned to every little thing around her. She could hear the slow rise and fall of Jabba's breathing across the room. Salacious Crumb was asleep, thank the stars, and so was everyone else, even the guards of the throne room.

She watched from under the hood of her dark cloak as Jabba's lieutenant, Bib Fortuna hurried from his place on Jabba's left, out into the hall. The golden droid, C-3PO was plugged into the wall power outlet, apparently getting a refill. She turned her head back to where Jabba was sleeping and suddenly saw the woman who sat asleep at Jabba's side. Jade recognized her immediately. Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan, a well-known Rebel leader. She wore not much more than Jade had when she had danced, and was chained to Jabba's throne.

Organa had also woken up, at the same time Jade did. She was looking up towards the entrance. Jade kept watching her as Organa's eyes followed a figure that was coming down the steps. Her eyes seemed to be full of excitement and hope. When the Emperor's Hand looked up, she saw why.

In front of Jabba's throne, figure shrouded in a cloak and hood, hands folded over his stomach, stood Luke Skywalker. Jade's hatred boiled to the surface. Seeing him reminded her of the things the Emperor had told her Skywalker had done. Organa looked around in surprise, somehow sensing the hate pouring out of her. In order not to reveal her true identity as the Emperor's Hand and seem as normal as possible, Jade stayed in the shadows and watched intently.

(I told you not to admit him!) Jabba raged to Bib Fortuna, who was now at his side.

"I must be allowed to speak," Skywalker said with a cool confidence. Jade frowned.

Fortuna echoed him, only to receive a stern reprimand from his master. "You weak-minded fool! He is using an old Jedi mind trick."

Skywalker removed his hood."You will bring Captain Solo and the Wookiee to me."

Jade watched him and sneered. He thought he was so powerful and smart.

Looking around, she caught sight of the bounty hunter, Boba Fett that had brought Solo to Jabba. "What is he snooping around here for," she thought to herself.

Turning her attention back to Skywalker, she saw that he was grabbing a blaster from one of the guards' holsters and aiming at Jabba. Then the floor dropped out from under him, Jedi cloak flying up as he fell, a Gamorrean guard following behind him.

Alarmed, she ran over to where everyone had gathered and started watching what was happening in the pit below.

Skywalker was fighting the rancor in the pit. Apparently the rancor had already killed the Gamorrean guard, because he was nowhere to be seen.

After a while, Skywalker defeated the rancor and killed it.

Jabba shouted in anger and turned to his guards. "Bring me Solo and the Wookiee. They will all pay for this outrage."

Jade walked back to her vantage point and leaned against the wall. She watched as Solo and Chewbacca were brought up from their cell, and Skywalker was pushed up the stairway to Jabba's throne.

"Han!" Skywalker called to his friend.

"Luke!" Solo replied. "Together again, huh?"

"Wouldn't miss it."

"How we doing'?"

"Same as always."

"That bad, huh? Where's Leia?"

"I'm here!" Organa called, trying to squirm away from Jabba's slimy hands.

Jade listened as Jabba announced their sentence - to be thrown into the Great Pit of Carkoon. "Oh well, its not so bad. The Emperor could have thought of worse things."

She watched as they were led off, smirking when Skywalker threw a last retort at Jabba.

It hadn't been easy, but she'd done it. Proudly, Jade stood by the railing on Jabba's sail barge. It had taken a lot to convince him to let her go with him, but eventually he had consented. The hot Tatooine wind blew the loose strands of her dark brown hair around as she carefully watched her prey. Luke Skywalker.

He was standing beside a plank that was situated above the mouth of the Sarlaac. The gruesome creature shuddered as if it knew it was about to be well fed.

Beside Skywalker stood his friends: Solo, the smuggler and Chewbacca, his Wookiee partner. They all had their hands cuffed and their faces were grim. Yet Skywalker had an air of smugness about him, as if he knew something that the others didn't.

Jade sneered at him. He would die soon. Maybe she would kill the others too. They were a threat to the Empire. Not a big threat, but still a threat. Jade didn't believe that the Sarlaac would be the cause of their death. No, Skywalker was sure to have something up his sleeve.

Jabba had just asked them if they would beg for mercy. Solo had declined on his offer rather rudely. Princess Leia Organa sat on Jabba's dais, watching anxiously as her friends approached their death.

Skywalker nodded at one of the guards, who returned the nod. Jade rolled her eyes. The boy had no idea how to be subtle. She recognised the guard as Lando Calrissian. He was not really a guard, but had sneaked into the Palace under that disguise. Jade had seen through it instantly.

"Put him in," growled Jabba in Huttese. One of the guards removed Skywalker's restraints and prodded him along the gangplank. Maybe Jade wouldn't have to kill him after all. Maybe he would die in the Sarlaac. It seemed unlikely that he would escape.

Smiling, Skywalker glanced up at the sail barge and stepped off the edge of the platform. Jade blinked in surprise. She never imagined that he'd give up so quickly.

But instead of falling into the Sarlaac, Skywalker twisted around and grabbed hold of the edge of the board. He sprung back up onto the platform, reaching out into midair for something.

Jade looked over in the direction that Skywalker had looked at before he jumped. There was a small astromech droid, a R2 unit. From a compartment inside him, a cylindrical object popped out and flew through the air towards Skywalker.

A lightsaber.

Jade's lip twisted. So this was what Skywalker was going to do. She pulled the hood of her cloak over her head. Very clever indeed. Unfortunately for him, he hadn't counted on another Force user to be present. Effortlessly, Jade lifted up her hand and reached out with the Force.

The lightsaber curved through the air and went towards Jade. Skywalker's mouth dropped open as he watched her waiting to collect the weapon. Desperately he tried to regain control of it, but his mind was too clouded. "Who was this stranger?"

"Hey," cried someone behind her. "Who are you and what are you doing here?" A rough hand grabbed her by the arm.

Her attention snapped. To Skywalker's relief, the lightsaber came back towards him.

"What do you think you're doing!" hissed Jade, looking back at Skywalker. He now had the weapon and was setting his friends free. Jabba was roaring orders. Everything was in chaos.

She glanced at the guard. He was tall with an unkempt beard and he wore the basic uniform of one of Jabba's guards.

"Let go of me," she growled. "I have business to attend to."

"And so do I," said the guard. "Come back inside. I'll bet you're trying to escape in all the confusion. Jabba won't be happy. Come with me and I'll forget that I saw you out here." He pulled a blaster from his holster.

"Sure, you will," muttered Jade under her breath. With a single, graceful movement, she swung her leg and kicked the gun out of his hand. At the same time, she punched with all her might, sending him sprawling.

Now to get back to the battle. She turned back to the railing just to find that neither Skywalker nor his friends were in sight. Confused, she looked down a pipe to see what Jabba was doing about the situation. Jade gasped.

He was dead.

Princess Leia Organa was gone.

Jade looked around. They had to be somewhere! Then she spotted the Princess. She was aiming the big gun on the sail barge at the deck. Skywalker appeared beside her. Together, they swung to safety.

For a moment, Jade was stunned. Skywalker was going to get away. Although she was shocked, she pulled herself together.

The cannon fired at the deck, causing a huge chain reaction of explosions. Jade, who was at the end furthest from the cannon, had just enough time to leap off the end of the barge before it all went up in flames.

With a thud, she landed on her feet in the sands. Wearing her dark cloak, the fierce winds and stinging sands whipped against her cloak and blew it around. She was alone in the desert.

Beside her, she noticed two golden legs sticking out of the sand. A droid? Near the legs, a periscope popped up. She nearly fell back in surprise. Maybe these droids could help her get back to civilization. Then she could return to her master and offer her deepest apologies.

The noise of repulsor lifts came through the howling winds. Jade looked up and saw an approaching skiff. Things were definitely looking up. Perhaps whoever was in the skiff would consider giving Jade a ride. If they wouldn't, she could always use the Force on their minds.

"Don't forget the droids," came a familiar voice. A voice that Jade hated with all her being.

Skywalker.

As the skiff came nearer, Jade looked at its occupants. Sure enough, it was Skywalker, Organa, Chewbacca, Calrissian and Solo. A large magnet dropped of the side and connected onto the droids.

Jade wondered what to do. They hadn't spotted her yet. All she wanted to do was to get to Skywalker so that she could kill him.

"Hey!" cried Calrissian. "Look, there's someone out there. Turn the skiff around." As soon as the droids were on board, the small craft came back towards Jade.

She decided to play along and let them rescue her. Then, after she gained their trust, she could kill him. When the skiff stopped beside her, she stood up. To her surprise, Skywalker was the one who reached down and offered a hand.

"Would you like some help?" he asked. Jade's fiery brown eyes narrowed from under her cloak. How she hated him! He suddenly stepped back and looked her over. "Wait a minute," he said slowly as he recognised her. "You're the one who nearly got the lightsaber off me on the barge!"

Before he could retract his hand, she grabbed it and pulled hard, yanking Skywalker onto the sand with her. She swung a punch, sending him stumbling backwards.

Her danger sense flared as Chewbacca jumped from the skiff and landed behind her. She swung around, giving him a roundhouse kick in the head. To her horror, he barely flinched. The blow would have killed an ordinary man. She had no idea that Wookiees were so tough.

Snarling angrily, the furry creature reached out to grab her by the neck and lift her above the sand. She lifted her hand and gave him a push with the Force. He fell into the sand. Leia Organa, Lando Calrissian and Han Solo jumped to the ground beside Chewbacca.

Jade looked over to where Skywalker slowly getting up from where he had fallen. He looked up as her shadow loomed over him. "Fool," she sneered, walking up to him, ready to deliver a killing blow.

Han suddenly looked up and saw what was happening. "Stop right there or I'll shoot you in the back."

Jade ignored him and kept walking towards Skywalker.

Han lifted up his blaster and fired a shot in her direction.

Her danger sense warning her, Jade suddenly pulled out her lightsaber that was hidden under her cloak with a flash and deflected the shot. She then shut off her lightsaber and used the Force to wrench the blaster from Han's grip. It came flying back towards her hand. Jade caught it and with the Force, crushed the blaster in her hand. She turned around and walked towards Luke again.

Luke got up and grabbed his lightsaber from off the skiff. The green blade glowed as he ignited the lightsaber.

"Don't fire," Luke shouted at Chewie who was aiming his bowcaster. "I'll deal with this person."

Luke turned his attention to Jade. "I don't want to hurt you with this, but believe me I can."

Jade sneered. "You wouldn't be able to even flick a fly off me, Skywalker."

Luke paused for a minute in astonishment. "How could this stranger know my name?" But he quickly shrugged off his speculations and looked back towards Jade. "If you continue to harm me and my friends, you will have to suffer the consequences," he said as held his lightsaber in front of him.

Jade feigned confusion. "Me? Suffer consequences?" Her voice turned ice-cold. "Nay, Skywalker, it is you who will be suffering the consequences today." She whipped her lightsaber out and ignited it. The purple blade flashed and momentarily blinded Skywalker, but he quickly recovered.

He charged at her; lightsaber held back for a cutting sweep. She blocked it easily as it came at her and swung a lethal blow at him. He only just managed to block it as it came down at him.

Their lightsabers clashed in the Tatooine sunlight as the two people swung and lunged at each other and parried each other's blows. This continued on for a while until Luke started to tire. It was obvious that this stranger was the better fighter and his arms began to protest under the onslaught.

Han, Leia, Lando and Chewie watched in horror and astonishment as Luke fought this mysterious stranger who was obviously very skilled with a lightsaber. As they watched, Jade suddenly took a lethal slash at him. It swung perilously close to his torso and he only just was able to jump out of the way.

Finally, Leia could take it no longer. "Be careful, Luke," she cried.

Luke momentarily stopped to look up and reassure Leia that he would be fine.

But his reassuring glance lingered too long.

As Luke turned away, Jade swung her lightsaber and stabbed him in the leg.

Luke gasped in agony as the lightsaber hit him. He fell to the ground, clutching his upper leg. His lightsaber flew a couple of metres away.

Jade slowly walked up to him, her lightsaber glowing by her side. She lifted her hand and gave him a slight push with the Force. He landed in the sand a couple metres from the skiff.

Jade walked up to him and lifted her lightsaber in front of her. Luke reached out with the Force to grab his lightsaber. As soon as it reached his hand, he attempted to ignite it. It refused to light up. Confused, he looked at it. His eyes widened in shock. The end was sliced off.

He looked up at Jade. The sunlight had reflected off the side of the skiff and shone at the top of her head. He looked into her hood. Two dark brown eyes, glinting like flames of fire and full of hate, stared back at him.

Jade lifted her lightsaber up above her head for the final blow. Suddenly her danger sense flared as several blaster bolts came at her. She swung her lightsaber and deflected the blots as more came flying at her.

As she deflected the blots, Leia, with the help of Chewie, carefully lifted Luke, who had by now collapsed from the pain off the sand and on to the skiff. Leia then ran and prepared to start up the skiff.

Jade saw what was happening and sent a blast of Force lightning from her hand at the skiff. It hit Leia in the back. She screamed and fell to the floor, unconscious. Han stopped firing and ran over to Leia. He held her in his strong arms as he checked her vital signs.

Han got up and looked at Luke and Leia lying on the floor. He picked up his blaster and set it on kill. He aimed it at Jade and fired.

Jade saw it coming and reacted quickly. She dropped her lightsaber and focused her mind completely on the Force. Suddenly, a Force shield completely surrounded her. The blaster bolt hit the shield. To the horror and dismay of Han Solo, the shield dissolved the shot. He turned to Lando. "We don't have time for this. I'll tell Chewie to start up the skiff and we'll fire a few more shots just to keep her occupied."

He turned and yelled at Chewie to start up the skiff. As they flew off, Han and Lando fired a few more shots at Jade.

Jade used her lightsaber to deflect the bolts back at the skiff. But it was too late. They were too far away.

"Damm," cried Jade as she angrily kicked the sand in frustration. For the first time in her life, she had failed her master. It was such an easy assignment, but she had failed the objective. Her master would not be pleased. Sighing, she pulled out a control pad and pressed a few buttons.

Soon the sound of a ship could be heard overhead, though nothing could be seen. A cloud of dust swirled a couple hundred metres away. When it had settled, Jade pressed two buttons. The sky started to wave around and a ship appeared. Jade walked up the gangplank and into the ship.

As she entered, she pressed a switch and the gangplank retracted as the door shut. She entered the cockpit and pressed a button on the side of the wall. The cloaking device re-engaged and the ship disappeared. Jade removed her cloak and set it on the arm of her chair.

That finished, she planned her next move. She had to report back to her master. She remembered that he was not on Coruscant anymore. He had gone to oversee a massive project above the forest moon of Endor.

It would take a few days to reach her destination. Jade keyed in the co-ordinates and let the auto-pilot do the job. After all, she felt that she did deserve a break.