Chapter 31: Last Command
The sight of stormtroopers entering through the hole where the room's door had been blown away spurred Mara to action. She didn't even care to find cover as she snapped her blasters into her hands and began pounding shots into the advancing soldiers. Behind her, Han and Leia rushed to pull Luke to relative safety as they used their own blasters to give Mara what cover they could. Now behind the couch, Luke snapped out of the healing trance he had gone into and struggled to get to a seated position. He was pushed back down by Han, however. "Not now, Kid. Save your strength to make a break for it later."
As Mara's quick and deadly shots held the Imperial troops as bay, Leia slipped away from Han and Luke and went over to the room's computer terminal. They needed to come up with an escape plan and they needed to come up with one fast. Leia was thankful to find a map of the palace indicating their location already displayed on the monitor. A small smile came over Leia's face when she saw that they were only a few dozen meters away from one of the exterior landing platforms. Sending a few blaster bolts at the door as she ran, Leia made her way back to Han and Luke. "Han, call Chewie. Tell him to meet us at the west platform."
Han wasn't about to argue, trusting Leia's judgment after all the years they had spent fighting together. His comlink was in his hand before Leia could even finish her statement. Han's message to Chewbacca was brief and cryptic, but the Wookiee would understand. "Chewie, just like that second trip to Ord Mantell, only higher. Fifteen minutes."
A brief howl told Han that his co-pilot understood and he flipped off the comlink and gave Leia a brief smirk. "We're all set. Ready to get out of here?"
Leia gave Han a quick peck on the cheek in response and grabbed one of Luke's arms to help her brother up. Han propped Luke up on the other side and the trio turned to find Mara making her way out of the room to take the fight to the stormtroopers. They made their way across the room unimpaired, but found a wall of blaster bolts awaiting them at the door. With a simple nod and a quick gesture with her head, Leia told Han what she wanted to do. Han released Luke from him and, with a wink, slid out the door headfirst with his blaster extended.
Mara didn't show any outward reaction as Han slid past her on the floor and brought himself up on one knee to begin firing at the stormtroopers down the hall. Instead, she continued to face forward, pumping off shots at maximum rate the blasters would allow. After a moment, the stormtroopers ducked back and Mara responded to Han without turning her head. "Nice of you to lend a hand."
"I try." The pair continued thinning the ranks of the stormtrooper squadrons, but were unable to finish off the troops once and for all due to a continuous stream of replacements. As three stormtroopers fell simultaneously under one volley of shots, Han saw the opportunity they were looking for. "Leia, now!"
At his call, Leia bolted out of the room with all the speed she could muster while keeping Luke with her. The twins soon slipped down the corridor in the direction of the nearby landing platform as Mara and Han kept the stormtroopers from gaining a foothold in the corridor. As soon as they made it down the hallway, Leia hit the activation panel for the door leading to the landing platform and called out behind her. "Let's go!"
Han immediately moved to fall back to the landing platform, but stopped when he saw Mara maintaining her position. He didn't need the Force to tell that she was angry and the stormtroopers were taking the brunt of her wrath. However, he wasn't about to leave her behind as much as the Imperials deserved the punishment she was dishing out. Sooner or later, the Empire's sheer numbers would become overwhelming and Han wasn't about to leave Mara behind after all she had done. "Mara, we're getting out of here."
Mara snapped her head around, annoyed with the distraction. She was ready to take down the Empire herself. Her life had been built on a lie. She had been manipulated by the man who claimed to be the only one in the galaxy who cared about her. The Emperor had used Mara as nothing more than a tool for his personal revenge and, for that, she would see the Empire he had left behind burn.
Mara was about to turn back toward the other end of the hallway and ignore Solo when she remembered the reason she was here in the first place. Luke would need her help to get out of here. First, she would insure he got off the planet safely and then she would worry about revenge. The Empire would go down after Luke was safe.
Han was about to call out to Mara again when she finally started to back step down the hall, continuing to lay down fire on the Imperial troops that continued to advance. Letting loose shots of his own as he retreated, Han slipped onto the platform and found Luke and Leia sitting on the edge of the platform, watching the horizon. A small smile flashed across Han's face for a moment when he saw the familiar silhouette of the Falcon making its way toward them. That smile faded away soon after, however, when he saw TIE fighters preparing to scramble on a platform a couple hundred meters away. They would be cutting it close.
Blaster fire called the attention of everyone on the platform as the door opened to reveal Mara still letting loose on the troops that insisted on following her. Han dropped back to keep an eye on Luke and Leia, leaving Mara to watch the door. His decision proved to be wise as troops began to fire on them from a nearby balcony. Both Han and Leia turned their weapons on the troopers attempting to snipe at them, looking to buy themselves enough time for the Millennium Falcon to arrive.
Left alone, Luke finally brought himself to his feet. He had managed to regain strength by keeping in touch with the Force, but he was unable to get enough of a grasp on it to help out in the fight. In his almost trancelike state, however, Luke was able to pick up on the anger pouring off Mara as if it was his own. He made his way toward her, hoping to calm her down.
With her tunnel vision on the stormtroopers down the corridor, Mara did not notice as Luke approached from behind her. A pair of shots from each of her blasters managed to do away with the last of the opponents in front of her. Mara was about to turn and finally make her way onto the platform when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Still in combat mode, Mara spun and squeezed off a quick shot with her leading arm before her eyes could even register her opponent.
The blaster fell from Mara's hand as she finally saw who she was behind her. As Luke slumped to the ground, holding his stomach, Mara could feel nothing but shock. The blaster fell from her trembling hand as the Emperor's last command rang through Mara's mind once more. "YOU WILL KILL LUKE SKYWALKER!"