Chapter 30: Cornered
Mara held her blasters in front of her on a hair trigger in the middle of the corridor. They had no choice but to fight there way out now. Out of the corner of her eye, Mara could see Han crouching down just inside the door of Luke's cell with his blaster trained on the door at the end of the hallway. Mara did not turn to check on Luke and Leia since she could not afford the distraction that would accompany looking at Luke again. She had more immediate concerns to deal with.
After a few tense moments, the door finally opened to reveal a pair of stormtroopers which were immediately felled by the twin bolts of Mara's blasters. The fallen troops were quickly replaced by a new pair of white armored soldiers and red bolts were soon flying towards both ends of the corridor. Mara was forced to spin to the side to avoid taking hits and took cover just behind Han inside the door of the cell.
The two shooters managed to keep the stormtroopers penned at the other end of the hall, however, with their superior aim and the buildup of fallen troopers impeding the Imperial troops' progress. This couldn't last forever, however, since the Imperials still stood between them and the only exit with reinforcements presumably on the way. They had to do something soon.
Mara took a deep breath and actively called on the Force. She was surprised how easily the life energy came to her, but Mara would take any advantage she could get at this point. Mara found herself able to sense everything in the area surrounding her. As she searched the area, Mara's suspicions were confirmed as she felt stormtroopers rushing to their position from throughout the palace. The front door was definitely out. They would have to create a back door somehow. The only problem was the sheer strength of the walls in the cell bay. Blasters would have virtually no effect on the durasteel. Mara only knew of one weapon that could get through the wall without killing them in the process, but none of them had a lightsaber.
Just as she realized a lightsaber is what they needed to make their escape, the Force called Mara's attention into the corridor. In her arrogance, Isard had decided to take the point in facing down her opponents. The woman crouched behind a pile of fallen stormtroopers was not what caught Mara's gaze, however. It was the flash of polished metal at the woman's side. Luke's lightsaber. Without another thought, Mara holstered the blaster in her left hand and stretched out with the Force as she continued laying down fire with the weapon in her right.
The lightsaber soon began to shake at Isard's side, but the Imperial noticed just before the weapon left her belt and grabbed the cylinder in her hand. In response, Mara jerked her right arm upward and fired a shot directly into the glowpanel above the Imperial Intelligence Director. Acting on instinct, Isard dropped the lightsaber and moved to cover her head from the shower of sparks raining down from the broken glowpanel. Mara was able to use the distraction she had created to her advantage as the dropped weapon slid along the ground and then through the air into her waiting hand.
As soon as the lightsaber was in her grasp, Mara swung her arm to the side and lobbed it toward Leia inside the cell. Leia was barely able to catch the weapon before it landed on the ground. Without diverting her gaze from the Imperial troops still firing on her from the end of the hall, Mara relayed her plan to Leia. "Cut out a hole from the back wall. We're going to need to make our own exit."
Leia simply nodded her understanding and turned to Luke. She tried to offer Luke his Jedi weapon, but he shook his head slowly. Luke was in no condition to be testing his fine motor skills. It would be up to Leia to wield the lightsaber. Leia turned away from Luke and spared a glance to Han and Mara. The two were still holding their position at the door, but they couldn't keep it up forever. Leia flipped on the green blade of the lightsaber in her hand and slowly pushed it through the wall of the cell. The durasteel around the beam of light slowly started to melt and Leia slowly started to carve a hole just big enough to provide them an adequate escape route.
As Leia continued her task, the sound of blaster fire in the corridor continued to grow in intensity as Imperial reinforcements arrived. Leia tried to push the lightsaber faster, but the durasteel walls refused to give into her demands, continuing to melt slowly. Leia could hear the sound of the stormtroopers' blaster growing closer as she got near to completing the cut. Too much and the Imperial troops would be in the cell. Leia finally finished the cut just as a few stray blasts entered the cell.
With the stormtroopers drawing too close for comfort, Mara grabbed Han's arm and jerked him back into the cell as she took out the controls for the door with the blaster in her other hand. The door shut behind them just as Mara fell into the cell herself. Mara rolled back onto her feet as stormtroopers began banging on the door and looked at Leia's handiwork under the green light of the lightsaber. The cut section of durasteel still remained, but the necessary gap had been made. With a Force boosted kick, Mara removed the slab of loose metal from their path and stepped through the newly made exit. Han and Leia propped Luke up as he walked to the exit. Leia stepped through and Han passed Luke to his sister through the hole before stepping through himself.
The trio looked to the side to find Mara activating one of the many secret passageways in the palace. They couldn't help but notice that Mara seemed to be making an effort not to look at Luke in spite of the fact she was rescuing him. Mara barely spared a glance over her shoulder as she started to march forward once more, motioning for the others to follow. "This way."
Han and Leia propped Luke up between them as they followed Mara through the dim corridor in order to insure that Luke could save his strength as much as possible. Leia thought she could feel her brother recharging himself in the Force, but he was still reviving slowly. Hopefully, he would be strong enough to keep from impeding their final escape. They soon found themselves at the end of the hallway and Mara motioned for them to stay back as she slipped into the room. The muffled sound of two blaster shots accompanied by a pair of stormtroopers hitting the floor could be heard before Mara reemerged and motioned them forward.
Han and Leia deposited Luke onto a nearby couch as Mara secured the room's door. The sound of klaxons blaring followed seconds later drawing a curse from the red haired woman. Leia watched from Luke's side as Mara sat down in front of the room's computer terminal. Looking down to find Luke in some sort of trance, Leia nodded to Han to keep watch over her brother and made her way over to Mara.
Mara responded without so much as sparing a glance at Leia as she arrived next to her. "I've diverted the patrols away from this room, but that can only buy us so much time."
Leia nodded, but coming up with a plan was not on the forefront of her mind at the moment. Mara's behavior was bothering Leia and she was sure Luke was troubled by it as well. Something didn't make sense. "Why won't you even look at Luke?"
Mara closed her eyes as she folded her hands in front of her face. It hurt just as much not to look at Luke as it did to face him. But it was better for Luke if she averted her gaze. This way, the urge to kill him could be held at bay. She would never be able to tell him this in person. Not anymore. She had waited too long and the Emperor's last command had gained too firm of a hold on her mind once more. The Emperor's Hand had regained too much power. "I can't."
"Why not?"
"Whenever I look at him, the call to kill him is too strong. I can't think and I can't concentrate. He's responsible for giving me a new life, but taking away my old one at the same time. As long as the Emperor's last command remains, I'm a danger to Luke. You have to tell him this for me."
Leia shook her head slightly, unsure of what to do with the situation. What Mara said made sense, but why did she still hold such loyalty to the Emperor. Surely, Mara saw the wrongs committed by the Empire now even if she didn't realize it while she was in the Emperor's service. Did her brother mean that little to her? Obviously not if Mara was willing to risk her life to save him, but Leia needed to hear it for herself. "So the Emperor means more to you than my brother?"
Mara spun around in her seat, prepared to show Leia just who she was dealing with, but managed to restrain herself. Instead her eyes narrowed at the woman next to her. Leia didn't understand. No one could. "Luke killed the Emperor. In the process, he destroyed my life. I can forgive him for that because of all he has done, but some part of me still needs revenge. You have no idea what kind of control the Emperor is capable of."
Leia thought she could hear a twinge of regret in Mara's voice as it trailed off. Was the Emperor really so powerful as to implant a command in someone's mind that they couldn't resist? But that command was built upon a lie. Not many people knew the truth, but maybe if she knew, Mara would be able to break free. For Luke's sake, Leia had to try. "Luke didn't kill the Emperor."
Mara's head snapped up at Leia's statement, confusion evident on her face. It was common knowledge that Luke had been the only one to emerge from the confrontation between on the Death Star. He had ended the lives of both the Emperor and Vader and had effectively crippled the Empire. "What?"
"The stories aren't true. No one would believe the truth. Luke didn't kill the Emperor. Vader did. Vader chose to save Luke's life as the Emperor tried to kill him."
"Vader? Why would Vader save Luke?"
Leia hesitated for a moment, reluctant to speak the truth she was still having trouble coming to terms with. The hesitation didn't last, however, as Leia steeled her nerves. She would have to get used to the fact sooner or later. "Vader is our father."
Mara blinked for and remained silent. Luke was the son of Vader. Vader had chosen his son over the Emperor and killed the Sith to save Luke's life. For a brief instant, part of Mara wanted to argue with Leia's story, but the princess wouldn't make something like that up. If Luke was Vader's son, she was his daughter. The story was just as damning to her as it was to Luke. Mara's head drooped slightly when she realized just how much she had been manipulated. The Emperor had simply wanted revenge on Vader even after death. She was no more than a tool to him. Mara had given the Emperor all the loyalty she had and he saw her as no more than a tool of revenge. Before Mara could respond to Leia, an explosion at the entrance of the room caught their attention. They had been found.