A/N: Thanks to everyone who's still with me on this story! Hopefully, it won't be as long for the next update. DRL has been dogging me.
The entire situation was rapidly deteriorating, Mara realized in dismay. There were Imperial troops all over the station now and they'd had to fight their way through several blockades. It was only due to Lando's knowledge of Cloud City and the skillful use of blasters by Mara and Chewbacca that they had made it as far as they had.
Lando had paused long enough to make an announcement over the public address system to the citizens of the city that the Empire was taking over. So now they had to deal with panicked mobs, as well as stormtroopers. The mass confusion worked somewhat in their favor and they might have been able to blend in with the fleeing crowds…if they hadn't been towing a huge slab of carbonite with them.
The tension between Mara and Lando was getting intense and Chewbacca might have been amused by it if their circumstances weren't so dire. They had just been cut off again and were now huddled in an alcove with a door that would not open, when Lando punched the code into the keypad.
"Now what is it?" Mara asked irritably.
"They've changed the codes," Lando said, his jaw clenched.
"Well, that's just great! Now what do we do?" Mara demanded.
"I don't know! It's a wonder we've made it this far!"
[Someone needs to do something quickly. I can't hold these troopers off forever,] Chewbacca growled.
A frantic beeping from across the hallway caught Mara's attention and she stared in disbelief. "Artoo?" she half-shouted above the noise of the blaster fire. But she knew it was. She'd know Luke's astromech anywhere. The little droid was almost bouncing as he warbled and twittered in his excitement. Maybe the Force is with us, Mara thought as she gestured to Artoo.
"Get over here and help us get this door open!" she shouted and then winced, hoping she didn't sound too harsh. Artoo could be very sensitive sometimes.
However, he seemed to realize the severity of the current conditions. He spun his domed head from side-to-side in an amusing parody of a child checking both ways before crossing the street, and then rapidly sped over to where they were. He blithely ignored the laser bolts that were streaming back and forth just over his head.
Lando looked on in confusion as Mara directed Artoo to plug into the computer outlet. Artoo was almost humming with happiness at seeing his master's friends again and being able to help them out.
"Where in the nine hells of Corellia did we pick up an astromech droid?" Lando asked.
Mara smiled and, for a moment, Lando could see why Han had put up with her for that long six weeks. She was utterly beautiful, and he wondered again about Han's comments on the Jedi boyfriend.
"He's Luke's," Mara said. At the thought of the young rebel and the danger she knew he must be facing at the moment, her smile disappeared, replaced by a worried frown. "Hurry, Artoo, we're running out of time."
Artoo hooted at her and Mara could swear that he was telling her 'hold your dewbacks' as he conversed with the central computer of Cloud City. After a few tense moments, the door opened and they hurried through.
"Lock it down, Artoo! In fact, lock down all the doors behind us in this sector," Mara ordered. Artoo beeped a reply and after another minute, he unplugged from the outlet and rolled through behind them as the door closed, barely missing him. Mara smiled as she realized the small droid seemed to take it all in stride. But then, he and Luke had been in many tight situations in the past.
Mara knew she had to stop thinking about Luke for the moment. The worry over him was only distracting her and they could not afford that if they were going to be able to get themselves out of this mess. She turned to Lando, grateful for the brief respite from the blaster battles.
"Which way now?"
"We're almost there. They moved the Falcon to maintenance bay 714 to work on the hyperdrive. Another few minutes and we'll be there."
"Then we go for Luke," Mara reminded him. Lando nodded, an annoyed expression on his face at her insistence, but she ignored that. She only hoped that wherever Luke was, it wasn't too late to help him.
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As Vader stepped off the turbolift from the carbon-freezing chamber, he felt a sense of anxiety that was unsettling in and of itself. Dark Lords of the Sith did not feel anxious. But he worried….no, worried was too strong a word….he was interested in Luke's condition. He'd kept monitoring the boy's Force sense as he made his way up from the scene of their confrontation.
Luke was hurting, both physically and emotionally, and he was scared. Still, he seemed relatively calm considering the fact that he was in the bowels of Cloud City, where no human was meant to be. Vader realized he needed to get to his son quickly before Luke was expelled out into the atmosphere of Bespin. The poisonous gasses would probably kill him before the fall could.
*Ben! Ben, please….*
Vader scowled as he felt Luke reaching out for his former Master. A rush of anger boiled through him and he reached for Luke on the tenuous bond that had formed between them on that gantry.
*Obi-Wan cannot help you now, young one. Join me. It is your destiny.*
Luke's presence in the Force flinched away from the contact much as he had recoiled from his father physically during their altercation earlier. Luke pulled away from Vader's presence in the Force, instinctively trying to erect mental shields between them.
They weren't particularly strong and the Dark Lord could probably batter through them, but he didn't want to take the time to do that. And Luke's position was precarious at the moment. He didn't need the boy to be fighting him so hard that he lost concentration and fell from wherever it was that he was clinging. No, he would retreat for the moment, and it would only be a moment, because soon Luke would be with him. He would not allow him to escape, not when he was so close….
His men were waiting for him as he rounded the corner and he smiled grimly behind his mask. At least something is going right. Captain Tevers stood a little straighter and swallowed nervously. Or perhaps not, he thought with a rare, sardonic humor.
"My Lord. The, ah, prisoners. They've escaped."
Vader paused and turned to stare at the man. He could feel the fear rolling off the officer and relished it.
"Is the Millennium Falcon still docked in the maintenance bay?" Vader demanded.
"Yes, my Lord, but the prisoners know we would expect them to go for it. Isn't it likely that they'd steal another ship?"
"Solo would never leave his ship behind and Jade and the Wookiee would never leave Solo behind."
"They've already retrieved the smuggler, my Lord," Captain Tevers replied and a bead of sweat slipped from his brow to roll down his cheek.
"And Calrissian? Where is he?"
"He, ah, appears to have joined forces with them, my Lord."
His anger surged again at the Baron's betrayal. He supposed he shouldn't have been surprised. Calrissian did have some loyalties, misguided though they may be. Patience, Anakin, he reminded himself.
"If they haven't left the city yet, then they haven't escaped yet. See that they don't. Failure will have severe consequences, Captain."
"Yes, my Lord," the Captain gulped.
"Send a shuttle to the bottom of the city immediately. There's something there of mine that needs to be picked up."
"Yes, my Lord."
"I will be returning to the Executor. Do not fail me," he warned again. Captain Tevers didn't even have time for another 'Yes, my Lord' before Vader turned and left him standing there.
He was halfway back to the shuttle that would take him back to his Super Star Destroyer before he realized that he'd called himself Anakin.
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Luke was having difficulty getting a full breath in the thin atmosphere. Or maybe it was the fact that his emotions were so shattered that caused him to gasp for air. Either way, he was having a hard time keeping the panic at bay.
Well, this is what you wanted, isn't it? he asked himself, somewhat derisively. You chose to die rather than join him. Now you're just getting what you asked for.
He wasn't ready to die. He clung tenaciously with his one good hand to the weathervane sticking out from under Cloud City. He had only looked down once. The resulting nausea and dizziness had caused him to squeeze his eyes shut so tightly that they ached.
Of course, there wasn't much of him that didn't ache at this point. His body was bruised from the battering it had taken, his right arm was in agony, and his heart was wounded so horribly that he felt physical pain there as well. His mind was reeling from what Vader had told him. He refused to believe it. Ben would never lie to him like that. Vader was the manipulator. He called out to his mentor, needing reassurance that this was all somehow a big mistake.
*Ben! Ben, please…*
Instantly, there was the Dark One, seeming to invade his very soul.
*Obi-Wan cannot help you now, young one. Join me. It is your destiny.*
With a despairing cry, Luke jerked away from that frightening presence, trying to shield his wounded self from the monster.
Monster. His father! No, it was a lie! It had to be a lie. For if that was the truth, then everything else in his life was the lie. And he couldn't bear to think of that.
Vader was the one who lied, because if he was speaking the truth, then Ben and Yoda had lied. Luke pressed his forehead against the cold metal of the weathervane, a strangled sob escaping his throat. His vision clouded over as tears began to fill his eyes again. Vader is the liar! Why, then, did his words feel like the truth? Tentatively, Luke stretched out for the Force, clumsily trying to gauge reality from deception.
He caught flashes, fleeting glimpses that danced on the edge of his awareness…
A young couple sat close together, smiling at one another in a beautiful meadow. He was handsome as he gazed at her mischievously. There was a twinkle of amusement in her eyes as she scolded, "Anakin Skywalker! What will I do with you?"
The same young couple, standing before a holy man of some sort, gazing meaningfully into one another's eyes before he leaned down to kiss her tenderly.
The young man (Anakin!) turning to glare at his young wife angrily. "I know what is best for us!" He turns away, ignoring the stricken look on her face.
Two Jedi dueling with lightsabers, their blades clashing, sparks flying from a nearby pit of lava. Somehow, suddenly Anakin (Father?!) was falling, falling. His eyes frightened and furious all at once, as he fell away from Luke's vision, disappearing into a living hell. The other Jedi screaming, "Anakin!" and Luke realized it was a younger Obi-Wan Kenobi.
"NO!" Luke screamed as he came back to reality with a start, nearly losing his grip on the weathervane. He sobbed brokenly as he tightened his hold just in time to keep himself from falling. It was true. Oh damn, it was true! His father was an abomination…what did that make him? How could he ever face any of his friends in the Alliance again? He looked down once more at the cloud-covered surface of Bespin.
Perhaps he should just let go now. It was going to happen sooner or later. Eventually, his strength would give out and his hold would slip. He would fall…just like Anakin, spiraling downward, vanishing from view and memory. Maybe he wouldn't even live to hit the ground. It would be easier, for him, for everyone, for Mara…
His tears abruptly halted and he gasped as he remembered. Mara was here, in Cloud City!
"We will see each other again, Mara Jade. I promise you that."
"Oh, Force," he whispered. He had made a promise. He had never broken a promise to Mara, not since the day he had burst into her cell on the Death Star and sworn to rescue her. Although, breaking this one may become more a necessity than a choice, he reflected bitterly.
He craned his head backwards to look at the now-securely closed hatch he'd fallen through. No going back that way. He refused to glance down again and that was no longer an option anyway.
Desperate now, he closed his eyes and stretched out towards Mara's bright presence in the Force. She'd heard him before…maybe she could again.
*Mara! Hear me, Mara!*
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Lando Calrissian was dearly wishing that he could shove Mara Jade out of an airlock. Once again, he wondered what he had been thinking to get so involved in this fiasco.
"What do you mean, you changed the codes on the Falcon?" she fairly shrieked.
"To keep anyone else from taking her!"
"I'm sure! You had it all planned, didn't you? Sell us out to Vader and get your precious ship back!"
"That's not--"
"Well, this is Han Solo's ship, buddy, and if you think you're going to waltz in here and--"
[Mara, the hatch is open,] Chewie said calmly.
Lando and Mara turned to look at him in surprise. When they'd finally reached maintenance bay 714, there had been yet another fierce fire fight. Thankfully, Artoo was coming in handy at closing shield doors. However, when they'd tried to gain entrance to the Falcon, they had found themselves locked out. Lando had admitted to having the codes changed, and in the stress of the moment, he couldn't remember what he'd changed them to. And how was he supposed to think with a screeching harpy in his face? Now, somehow, Chewbacca had been able to open her up without the new codes.
Lando frowned in confusion. "How did you--"
[This is my ship also, Calrissian. Do you really think you could ever keep me out of her?] the Wookiee snarled.
"Look, Chewie, you know I'd never try to take the Falcon from Han. I miss her, but I know he won her fair and square."
[We should not be discussing this now. We have other urgent business to attend to.]
Lando suddenly realized Mara had ceased to yell at him and he turned his head to find her staring at nothing as if in a daze, her face bearing a distant expression. He glanced at Chewbacca with a questioning look, but the Wookiee just shrugged his massive shoulders, apparently as bewildered as Lando was.
"Uh, Mara?" Lando said a bit hesitantly.
She didn't seem to hear him as her forehead wrinkled into a frown. "Luke?" she whispered in a soft voice. She gasped and abruptly snapped her gaze back to the two confused beings staring at her.
"No more time for arguing. I know where Luke is and he's in grave danger. We have to move now."
Even disregarding Mara's strange behavior, they were out of time to discuss the mess with the changed codes. The hangar's shield doors began to smoke, indicating the stormtroopers were beginning to force their way through. Artoo squealed in protest at the blaster bolts flying around them as they ran aboard the Falcon.
Lando and Mara paused to return fire while Chewie ran to the cockpit to get them into the air. The stormtroopers were still firing when the Falcon lifted gracefully off the platform and shot away from cloud City.
[Where is he, Mara?] Chewie asked, showing complete faith that she knew what she was talking about.
"Underneath the city," Mara replied.
"What? That's impossible. There's nothing there!" Lando protested.
"That's where he is," Mara said, directing a glare at Lando. "Get us there fast, Chewie. Vader will have his TIE's after us any second."
"This is going to waste time! The carbon-freezing chamber is in Quadrant I. We'll never get out of here alive if we go gallivanting around under the city."
"Just do it, Chewie!"
She didn't have to ask twice. Chewbacca had known Mara Jade long enough to know that if she was that certain, then she was probably right. He also understood, probably better than they did, the bond between Luke and Mara. In some ways, it wasn't so dissimilar to the bond that he and Han shared through Chewie's life-debt. Lando cursed in frustration, but quickly stifled his mutterings when Chewbacca growled at him warningly.
The Falcon angled sharply as it cut under the huge spire that was Cloud City. Mara leaned forward in the co-pilot's seat, her eyes scanning back and forth with a hint of desperation.
"There!" she shouted and pointed at a dark blur that was clinging to a weathervane extending out from the bottom of the city. Lando's jaw dropped in astonishment as he realized it was indeed a human being hanging there. Then he noticed something that Mara did not…an Imperial shuttle, rapidly closing in on the figure from the opposite direction.
"Looks like someone else is interested in rescuing your friend," he said grimly.
Mara gave a cry that was half-anger, half-fear. "Chewie, cut that shuttle off! Lando, you take one gun, I'll take the other!"
"What?"
"I'm not letting them get to him. I'll blast them out of the sky if a warning won't do it!" she bit out and dashed towards the Falcon's upper turret gun.
When Lando didn't move for a minute, Chewbacca yelled at him. [Now, Calrissian!]
"All right, all right," Lando muttered.
The shuttle tried to fight the Falcon for the prize that was Luke Skywalker, but they couldn't hope to match the Corellian freighter for firepower or maneuverability. It wasn't long before the shuttle was falling towards the planet of Bespin, critically damaged by Lando and Mara's skillful firing.
There was no time to celebrate as Chewie's warning came through their comms. [TIE fighters incoming!] Mara clenched her jaw in determination as she blazed away at the enemy fighters. She tried to send a reassuring thought to Luke, whose consciousness in her mind was slipping in and out.
*Hang on, Luke. We're coming.*
*Hurry, Mara…can't hold…much longer.*
The weakness of his presence in her head worried her. She had no idea why they were suddenly able to communicate like this, nor did she understand why it didn't frighten her. In fact, it seemed the most normal thing in the galaxy to be able to talk to Luke in this manner.
"Lando! Watch your fire! You're getting too close to Luke!" she shouted.
"The aggravation is definitely not equal to the guilt." She heard his griping reply over the comm, although he probably hadn't intended for her to.
"Just understand that if he falls, so do you," she snapped.
She blocked him and his grumbling out of her mind and concentrated on the TIE Fighters that were swarming around them. If Vader wants Luke alive, he's certainly not being too careful, she thought with a grimace. The TIE's had come close to him in their sweeping passes around the Falcon and had nearly fried him with their lasers at least a dozen times.
Almost as if someone had heard her thoughts, the TIE's suddenly broke off their attack and peeled away, disappearing rapidly back up towards the city. Mara didn't waste a moment in scrambling back to the cockpit.
"Lando, get to the top hatch and get ready. Chewie, get under him, now! He's not going to hold on much longer." As much as she wanted to get him herself, Mara understood that Lando's greater physical strength would be necessary to make sure Luke didn't fall. At any rate, the access lift to the top hatch would barely accommodate two people at once, and it certainly couldn't handle three.
*******************************
Luke was physically and emotionally exhausted. He had been encouraged by the sight of the Millennium Falcon, but now, after narrowly missing being blasted by lasers or flattened by a TIE that came too close, he was almost ready to give up. His vision was starting to get fuzzy and his one remaining hand had gone beyond painful cramps to numbness.
*Luke, why do you resist this? Your destiny lies with me.*
Although the contact was astonishingly gentle, Luke still shuddered and again tried to pull away from the dark touch.
*Son, you don't understand the power of the Dark Side. Come with me. Let me show you what you were meant to be.*
It was a seductive whisper in Luke's confused mind and for one horrifying moment, he wanted to say yes. Yes, daddy, come and save me, please! He crushed that thought before it could become known. He flinched as another blaster bolt from a TIE barely missed him.
*For someone who wants me to join him, you're letting your pilots do their best to kill me!* Luke sent almost defiantly.
A surge of surprised anger battered Luke through the shaky bond that had been formed between himself and the Dark Lord. Luke whimpered, trying to cut it off, close it, but Vader's presence in his consciousness was too strong for him to deny.
Suddenly, Vader was the one who pulled away and Luke breathed a trembling sigh of relief. He nearly sobbed when he felt Mara's tender touch, telling him to hold on.
He fervently wished she would hurry. What little strength he still possessed was dwindling fast. He must have zoned out for a brief time because he blinked his eyes and the TIE's were gone. The Falcon loomed in front of him and not a moment too soon. The would-be Jedi Knight could not hold on one second longer. His world faded to black as he let go.
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