Chapter 18: Morning Visitor
Mara awoke early the next morning as Luke approached the door to Jabba's palace. His bright presence in the Force caught Mara's attention even subconsciously and she was soon wide awake. Mara quickly threw on her dancing costume and made a mental link with Luke as she walked briskly to the main chamber. "Jabba caught your sister trying to break Han out last night. Rumor has it he put her in a dancing costume and chained her to his dais. And according to Lando, Han was thrown in a cell with Chewie. Oh, and the grating in the middle of the main chamber is a trap door. Try not to fall in, I don't feel like saving you from the rancor. "
Luke chuckled at the way Mara expressed her concern. Only Mara would give him a warning claiming that the reason was that she didn't feel like rescuing him. Luke knew better and shrugged off her playful jab. They had work to do. "I'll keep that in mind. At least Han and Chewie are together, that should make things a little easier."
"Leia thinks she found the Force strong presence you picked up on and I have to agree with her." Mara sent him the same image Leia had sent her the night before. "She definitely has a bad attitude but…" Mara trailed off, unsure what to say about the feeling she got when she first saw the image of the auburn haired dancer's face.
Luke's concern came to her over their bond. Any feeling Mara may have gotten could be some sort of message from the Force. This wasn't to be taken lightly. "But what?"
Mara hesitated for a moment, unsure how to respond. A gentle prodding from Luke finally broke her reluctance. "There's just something…familiar about her. I can't put my finger on it, but I know I've seen her before."
"We can't do anything about that now. I'll see you soon my love." Luke sent his support to Mara and cut their link, instead focusing on taking care of the guards that stepped out to block his path. He turned to each and held up his hand slightly, sending an impulse of fatigue and exhaustion. The two Gamorrean guards soon stumbled back and fell to the floor snoring. As Luke made his way to the staircase leading to Jabba's main audience chamber, he felt a spark from Leia. She was now awake and aware of his presence just as Mara was. He sent a wave of reassurance to his sister and turned his attention to Jabba's majordomo, who was coming up the stairs to cut him off. He put the weight of the Force behind his words and subtly waved his hand at the Twi'lek, putting a Force suggestion behind his words. "I must be allowed to speak to Jabba."
Mara entered the chamber just in time to see Luke remove his hood and command Jabba "You will bring Captain Solo and the Wookiee to me." As Luke stepped forward to reveal himself in the dim light of the main chamber, Mara felt a spike of anger in the Force that was quickly smothered. She turned to see the auburn haired dancer enter the room with fire in her eyes.
Mara sent a tendril of the Force in the dancer's direction, hoping to get a read as to her intentions. Mara was shocked to run into a barrier in the Force. She knew that technique. It was one that she had learned as well what seemed to be a lifetime ago. Mara quickly sent a warning to Luke through their bond. "Luke, I think that dancer is another Emperor's Hand."
Luke quickly responded "Guess we'll have to go to plan C. Follow my lead." Things never went easily for them. He would have to think on his feet and trust the others to do the same. Luke turned his full attention back to the giant slug before him. "Nevertheless, I'm taking Captain Solo and his friends. You can either profit by this or be destroyed. It's your choice. But I warn you not to underestimate my powers." Luke met Leia's eyes to get her attention, knowing that Jabba would choose to do things the hard way. He sent her a warning to be ready and follow his lead. She nodded almost imperceptibly to let him know she was ready.
Mara's eyes remained fixed on the auburn haired dancer who had continued to stare and Luke since entering the room. Mara tried to find any sort of hidden weapon, but a dancer's costume left very little room to conceal even the smallest of blaster…as Mara knew all too well. She was prepared to snatch away the blaster of one of Jabba's nearby thugs as soon as it was needed, assuming that the suspected assassin would do the same. Mara watched the suspected Hand and waited. The woman would likely use the situation that was likely to develop to go after her target. And Mara was sure the target was Luke.
Luke stared down the Hutt who was attempting to intimidate him into backing down. He caught a warning from the Force as Jabba's small fist slammed down on a nearby lever. A split second before the floor went out from under him, Luke was able to leap away. He flipped backwards over the stunned crowd and called the blaster pistol of a nearby Gamorreon to his hand. Luke was able to land on his feet and quickly fired on Jabba'a thugs as he leapt behind a nearby wall for cover.
Luke called the Force to him to aid his stand. A blaster was not his weapon of choice, but it would do for now. Luke fired a succession of shots at the approaching thugs, hitting them squarely in the shoulders of their gun arms. He had no desire to kill these men if another option presented itself. Luke hit a small signal beacon on his belt as he scanned the room for anything useful in delaying the onslaught of Jabba's lackeys until the backup he had just called could arrive. Spotting the numerous bottles behind the bar to his side, Luke called the Force to him and swept his free arm forward. The bottles flew off their shelves and at the advancing thugs, knocking them off balance and covering them in liquor and shards of glass.
Mara took advantage of the chaos that had erupted due to Luke's actions to acquire a matching set of blaster pistols from a fleeing Nikto guard. She quickly moved herself into a position on the stage behind the instruments where she could cover herself and Luke as well as keep an eye out for Leia from a relatively easy to defend position. As she picked off the thugs attempting to blindside Luke as well as those trying take up position against her on the stage, Mara began to scan the room for the mysterious dancer. The woman had disappeared as soon as the fighting broke out, but Mara knew that she would be back. Any Emperor's Hand would be there to make sure that their job was completed. Unsuccessful in locating the woman, Mara turned her attention back to Luke who was now pushing back advancing thugs with bursts of Force energy, sending them crashing into each other. Hopefully, they could gain some sort of advantage before the assassin returned to finish her mission. "Okay, now what?"
"Just a moment, our backup has almost arrived…there he is." Mara followed Luke's eyes to the main entrance find R2-D2 roll into the chamber. She was about to shake her head in disgust at Luke's audacity when she saw three of the compartments in R2's dome open. Those would do nicely. Three lightsabers shot straight up into the air and quickly veered off and flew in straight lines to the waiting hands of their owners. The snap-hiss of the three blades coming to life in sequence echoed through the room. The bewildered thugs were stunned for a moment before chaos ensued in the chamber once more.