To Honor the Dead
A Long Time Ago In a Galaxy Far Far Away…..
There was no way to explain how they got started, or how I met them. I suppose that my appearance on their ship fast-forwarded an eventually inevitable journey that kept them from their families for some time. Once in a while another lady joined us, the wife of some general who flew with Rouge Squadron (at times like this I can't remember particulars) and was involved with intelligence, which probably was why she left most of the time. But the two of them, Mara and Mirax, Mirax and Mara…I guess the bounty on their heads didn't help a lot, and true some of the scrapes they got into were blatantly my fault, but hey...This wasn't part of the plan…THIS wasn't my fault…
Four years after Union (a few weeks prior to the arrival of Jacen and Jaina Solo at Jedi Academy)
Mara gazed a Luke over the green-blue glow of their lightsabers, trying to sense his next move. She parried his thrust, and spun as he swung his blade away from her counter attack. Backed almost into a corner, Mara put the power of the Force into her jump and flipped over him just in time to block yet another blow.
*Nice Try, but you aren't going to get away that easily.
*Wanna bet, Farmboy?*
*I'm game, but watch out. *
Baring her teeth, she lunged entering a series of offensive techniques. Luke blocked every one gradually pulling them further into the privacy of the practice room. For an hour they fought, neither one able to break the other. Finally locked at an impasse, Mara looked at Luke and nodded, "Enough."
Grinning, he shut down his blade, "Enough." Taking his arm, Mara smiled.
"One day, one of us will beat the other, and I don't know what would happen if it's not me."
"Mara-" He reached and pulled her hair from her face. "One day-We'll see." They exited the temple, where Mara laughingly pulled his face to hers and kissed him.
"Right, we'll see."
The sound of a woman's voice reached them. "Hey Lovebirds, you haven't by chance seen Corran have you?"
"Hmmmm?" Luke pulled away blushing, "Hi Mirax, when did you get here?"
"A few minutes ago." She grinned, "Oooh nice shade of red there. Mara's been busy." Luke turned redder.
"I think I'll go find your husband for you to pick on."
Mara watched Luke walk away from them, a small smile tugging at her lips. She turned to her friend with a mock accusing look. "You did that on purpose!"
"Yeah, sorry, I just needed to talk to you. I need to see my husband as well, but what I have to ask you is important."
"Why do I have a bad feeling about this?"
"You're the Jedi. Actually, it must be about something else, because this is not dangerous at all. I get lonely out on these runs, and I was wondering if you could pull yourself away from the academy for a week or two," she elaborated further.
Musing, Mara scanned the courtyard, "The Academy will do just fine without me. Luke, I don't know."
"Really, Mara, come on!" Mirax knew she had Mara hooked, but she couldn't help teasing her just a bit. "Has Mara Jade Skywalker gotten housebroken?"
Mara's head snapped back aghast, "Oh no you don't. At least I wasn't raised with my head in the clouds."
"Ouch, that hurt."
Hearing her sarcasm, Mara rebutted, "I'm sure it did" Glancing across the field she elbowed Mirax, "Here come Luke and Corran." They watched them approach in silence.
Corran gazed at Mirax with a frown. "What's going on?"
"Hey yourself, Corsec." Mirax leaned over and gave him a brief hug. "Nice to see you too. Actually, I was just inviting Mara here to come with me on a run. A contact of mine found some rare Calamarian artifacts they think is from Thrawn's living museum. I agreed to meet him on Ithor in five days."
Corran smiled. "Sorry, Mirax, I missed you. Though, did you get everything you needed from Coruscant? "
"Pretty much, I got hassled a little trying to get out of the airspace, but nothing unusual."
"Are you taking Jysella with you?"
Mirax sighed, "Well not this time, I was hoping I could leave her here at the Academy, I have a feeling I'm going to need all my attention on this contact, which is why I want someone there backing me up."
"That shouldn't be a problem."
While they talked, Mara glanced at Luke-"So what do you think?"
His blue eyes flicked with something. Worry? *You really want to go? *
Sighing, he ran his fingers through his hair, *I'll miss you, but I think I can handle it. *
*I love you Luke, and I'll miss you too, but hey, its only two weeks. *
*I love you too, Mara. *
Mara broke away from his gaze, and turned back to Mirax and Corran. "So when do we leave?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Although Mara's leaving wasn't the Skywalker's first separation after their marriage, it was still hard.
"Mara, remember Jacen and Jaina are coming soon. I know they'd like to see you."
"Translation: Come back fast right? Subtlety was never your strong suit."
A nod, a twinkling eye, "May the Force be with you." Almost as an after thought, "Be careful."
Later, watching the Pulsar Skate lift off, Corran shifted, "Why is it that I feel like they're going to get into a lot of trouble?"
An innocent beginning right? That's what Mara and Mirax thought. Unfortunately, things are never that easy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ITHOR
The floating ships above Ithor's sacred Mother Jungle never ceased to amaze Mara. Here was a planet, physically untouched by any species. Unbelievable. Turning away from the viewport Mara glanced at Mirax.
"You're sure your contact asked for me?"
"Uh huh, I'm sorry I didn't mention it on Yavin, but Corran and Luke would have insisted on coming as backup, which isn't exactly something that we need right now."
"Over protective husbands? Nah?" Mirax cracked a smile. Mara continued, "Sure, I understand. Where are we meeting him?"
"Its actually a Her-- a Gotal named Linka-Supply Dock 624 on the Tafanda Bay II."
Dock 624
She twitched as she heard a loud click-thump a few feet away. *What was that? * The sound was followed by the scurrying of little feet, "Rats, ugh." The shadows hid her well, as she gripped the bag with her hands. Sometime today she'd be far away, and safe. Her grey eyes flicked to the door, *What was taking Deke so long? * Freezing briefly as the door opened, she crept further into the darkness.
Two women came in, one with dark hair, the other with brighter red. They spoke softly and Anian strained to hear them.
"Is this the right place?"
"I'm pretty sure?"
"Hello...?"
A third voice from behind Anian spoke. "What is going on?"
"Not a lot, the usual harassments." That came from the dark haired lady.
"Its good to know things don't change." The voice paused, "Terrik, is Jade with you?"
"Yes, what do you have?"
"A Jedi Holocron, and a lightsaber-violet blade."
"Why did I have to be here?" That came from the redhead.
"Because the holocron won't play for anyone but you-That is part of my price to see what it has to say."
"How many creds?" Dark one -Terrik- spoke quickly, as if feeling the conversation had gone on too long.
"5000."
"2000."
"3500."
"3000."
"All right, watch your heads."
A bag flew over Anian's head, she almost gasped out loud, but instead she watched the redhead count out the money, and put it on a crate. "If you have any problems, we are docked at 200 but not for a long time. "
Anian blinked at the information, maybe if she got on their ship she could get somewhere-This was her only chance…Deke wouldn't be showing up now anyway…he was already 2 hours late. Not waiting to hear anything else, Anian creeped along the floor and slipped out the door taking the first lift to 200.
~~~~~~~~~
While Mara counted out the money, Mirax called out, "What happened to Linka?"
"Linka?! She had a turn for the worse, ran into some people she shouldn't have." There was some hesitation in his voice.
Mirax turned to Mara-"Check the bag."
Mara opened it, and even without the Force Mirax could she the confusion on her face. Lowering her voice she whispered, "Mara, what is it?"
"There is definitely a lightsaber here, but the other item isn't a holocron, it's a message cube…."She trailed off.
"So what's wrong?"
Instead of answering, Mara reached out with the Force, trying to sense the contact, there was the normal amount of nervousness, and a sense of urgency, but underneath there was a vague impression of suppressed terror.
"Mirax, I'll explain later, but let's get out of here."
"Too late-" Mara turned to face the door and found six blasters trained on them. Fingering her lightsaber, she reached for calm and winced as a blaster barrel was pressed against her neck.
"Who are you?"
"Some old friends." The low voice behind her gestured toward the money. "Take it back, when they find your body we want them to know it wasn't for robbery." Realizing that most of the focus was on her, Mara closed her eyes and feigned defeat. She sent a tendril of thought to Mirax--*On 3 shoot the guys in front.*
*One*… "Ok, ok." Mara shoved the money into her satchel.
*Two* … "Can you tell us what this is all about?"
The voice laughed, and Mara realized it wasn't the same guy who tossed them the bag. *He's probably dead.* The low voice continued condescendingly. "Like we know for sure, orders are orders, and you should understand what happens to those who disobey."
*Three*…Mara twisted grabbing the muzzle of the person's blaster behind her with one hand, and brought out her lightsaber with the other. From the corner of her eye, she saw Mirax fall. The lightsaber flashed wildly, as the shooters aimed for her. Suppressing the pain, Mara hurled the blaster seconds before the stun blast numbed her hand. The person holding it disappeared, and she was aware of feet running away.
A few seconds later, they were alone.
Mirax glared at the dead in front of her. "Shavit, what is going on?"
"I don't know, and these men won't tell tales. What happened to you just now?"
"I tripped over a body. Lucky I did, the blaster bolts nearly took off my head."
Her words reached Mara. "Wait, what body?"
"The one right…Emperor's black bones! He's still alive, but barely. They probably shot him while they were waiting for us."
"Any ID?" The need to leave was coming back.
"Deke Jordan. Age 25."
"Let's take him with us. Maybe he knows something. Get him to a Med Center on another city."
"I agree. We need to get in touch with Luke and Corran, too."
"I'm not looking forward to that."
"Neither am I."
~~~~~~~~
There was no point to them bringing Deke with them. Even the Med Center at the city couldn't do anything for him. He's now somewhere between Ithor and Yavin. Go figure. Maybe I'll join him soon.
~~~~~
"Mara, you should get your hand checked out."
"Right, Mirax, just like you're going to get those blaster burns checked out."
"Right, when we get further away. How's the Mr. Jordan doing?"
"Not too well, he keeps mumbling-the fever's too high."
The ship bumped as it landed. Anian knew they hadn't gone far, because it had only been 10 minutes from take off. They must be on another floating city.
"This should be far enough away, let's get him to the Med Center."
The voices died away, and grew silent.. For ten minutes the Pulsar Skate was quiet, then slowly with a slight clang, the smuggling compartment lifted slowly and Anian scurried out of her hiding place.
"They have Deke, I have to follow…" A split second later caution kicked in, and she realized that leaving here…her only way out wasn't the smartest idea. And then there was the promise she had made to Deke that if one of them didn't show, the other would try their hardest to escape. No matter what. So instead of following, she ambled over to the prep units and the fresher, making her meal and cleaning up in a quarter of an hour. No sooner had she settled into the compartment, than did she hear boots pounding on the boards above her head.
"Kick in the sublight engines."
"Check."
"Shields at max."
"Check-"
Anian grabbed hold as the ship rose and took off, listening to the conversation above her head. They hadn't made it to the Med center, a group of guys from before were waiting. They got away but not without getting into another, *Another? *, Fire fight. The sudden lurch was her only warning that they were entering hyperspace.
After a few moments, Anian was aware of someone calling for help. *Deke? * She sighed in relief, he wasn't dead. Then she realized, that it was only a matter of time before she lost him for real. There was no way that she could get his attention and say goodbye, because no Med Center meant that Deke wouldn't make it….
Deke, her best friend. The only way she was able to pull herself out of the worst night of her life, to get away before she was killed.
So into her thoughts was she that she didn't notice the sound of someone walking carefully across the deck.
"Deke, my name is Mara. You have a fever, and I may be able to help you. Can I try some pain suppression techniques on you?"
No answer.
"We tried to get you to a Med Center, remember? But your friends were waiting for us. You should have told them to stop shooting. These burns won't kill you, but they are going to painful for a while."
"Didn't know them…didn't do anything…. Surprise…Where is Anian? Get away did she?" He coughed.
"That's blood…. Let me lay you down."
"I'm not going to make, it…Save Anya…"
There was a rasping sound, followed by a boom, and a quiet curse. "Mirax, we lost him."
Anian shoved her hand in her mouth, horrified. Her best friend was dead. Struggling to keep quiet, her insides grew cold. With every shaky breath, she trembled more. Almost in a trance she recalled something he had said to her once.
"Anya, how would you like to be remembered?"
"No way…just remembered." He smoothed back her hair, and gave her a hug, like a brother.
"I want more-is that selfish?"
"No-I'll tell you what, when you die I'll give the Eulogy-
Deke, no Derek Jordano (we have to use your real name), wanderer of the stars, head of the pirate orphans, the lost children who wander from planet to planet. Friend of many-
"-Love of few," he finished for her, chuckling at her rendition of the Eulogy in their favorite holodrama-"The lost ones" -"We are never truly lost are we?"
She had whispered back "Never lost, just never found."
Now in the cold compartment under the Pulsar Skate, the lone girl remorsefully murmured, "Never lost, just never found." She gasped as the darkness closed in.
END OF POST 1