The only reason to build anything here is its remoteness, Luke thought.
"Skywalker?" a voice interrupted his thoughts. "We're ready."
He nodded, and stepped out of the shuttle. Stormtroopers were already forming up next to their landing ships.
They arrived in this system less than an hour ago, and immediately detected recent powerful hyperdrive signatures. That, and the existence of a secret imperial installation on the planet, prompted Fel to investigate. He knew the chances were slim, but he couldn't afford to miss it. And so, while the rest of the fleet stood by, ready to jump into hyperspace somewhere they'd be more useful, the Redoubt took orbit and sent a battalion of stormtroopers commanded personally by Colonel Queder.
They had three hours to find something. If they didn't, no more time would be wasted. That wasn't enough to deploy the heavy hardware such as walkers—if they needed support, it would come from fighters aboard the Star Destroyer. If they needed really powerful support, the Redoubt's turbolasers were ready. Of course, if they needed such support, this system would no longer be a waste of time.
The stormtrooper battalion assembled. Queder stood in front of his men, looking them over. He smiled, saluted the unit, and slipped on his helmet, becoming indistinguishable from them.
When Queder first learned Luke was going with them, he offered the Jedi a set of armor, but Luke refused. Agility was more important... and wielding a lightsaber in stormtrooper armor would be problematic at best. He was now walking point, next to the colonel.
A Jedi with stormtroopers at his back. Who'd have thought?
They approached the installation and entered. Neither the sensors inside the soldiers' helmets nor Luke with the Force detected any danger. The inner courtyard was peaceful, quiet...
Luke pointed at the grass, which, while it wasn't cut in years, had been recently trampled. They didn't bother to even try to disguise the fact.
Queder nodded. He and Luke approached the door that was likely leading into the rest of the complex.
"It's locked," he said.
"Can—" Queder whispered, but then, the door opened by itself. It stood, almost inviting.
"Colonel Queder to General Fel," the stormtrooper officer said into his helmet comlink.
"Fel here. Report."
Queder quickly summarized their situation. "What is your recommendation, sir?" he asked.
"You're the man on the ground, and Skywalker is with you. Do you need anything else? Fighter cover?"
"No, sir," Queder answered. "We're going in. We'll keep you appraised. Queder out." He turned to Luke. "Do you sense anything?"
"No... wait, that's it. I don't."
A stormtrooper helmet couldn't look confused, but the man behind it definitely did.
"Ysalamiri," Luke said. "There's a rather large bubble in there."
"A company, we're going in," Queder said. "B and C companies, stand by. D company, you've got our
backs." A few seconds of replies came through, then the colonel nodded and went ahead. Luke got his lightsaber out, although he didn't light it, and stepped in as well.
They got quite far ahead when lights blazed all around them. Against normal humans, the transition would temporary blind them. But Jedi could control how much light their eyes received... and stormtroopers had glare filters in their helmets.
Luke felt they were at the boundary of the ysalamiri anti-Force bubble.
Then that bubble vanished.
It vanished so suddenly that Luke knew that could mean only one thing.
The ysalamiri were dead. All of them.
"Yes," a quiet voice whispered. "They've served their purpose. Even a Jedi Master couldn't detect me until I wanted him to."
Somehow, Luke realized he knew this person. A dark figure in black robes appeared on a bridge extending over the chamber ahead of them.
"Remember me, Skywalker?" it said, and flipped down to the floor. In mid-air the hood and robes dropped. At first, Luke gasped, since he thought it was Mara. But it wasn't...
"Shira Brie," he said.
"That name no longer has any meaning for me," Vader's former apprentice said. "You took it away. For that, you will die."
A red snake of light flashed towards them with incredible speed, and took off one of the stormtroopers' heads.
The rest of the men raised their rifles and fired. Shira laughed and deflected the bolts back. More men fell. Luke ignited his lightsaber and started to block the bolts coming off the whip. Shira gave them a cold smile and leaped back up onto the bridge. The troopers kept shooting at her.
Colonel Queder looked at Luke, and saw what he planned to do. "Cease fire!" he ordered.
The order was well timed. The last bolts were striking Shira's whip just as the Jedi Master completed his own leap and landed on the catwalk. By the time she turned to face him, his lightsaber was ready to meet her whip.
XXX
The door of the cell opened once more, and stormtroopers threw Mara in. Han caught her, she appeared worn out.
"Thanks," she muttered.
"They brought food while you were gone. I saved some for you."
Mara dug into the bowl of cold stew. "Some, Solo?" she said snidely. "Did you eat any yourself?"
"I was sitting here. What did they do to you?"
"Nothing. Just used my iris pattern to open some decades-old installation."
"What was in there?"
"I don't know. They dragged me back to the shuttle right after that." She swallowed several spoonfuls, then paused. "I really feel the urge to use my lightsaber."
"Not on me, I hope?" Han said.
She glanced at him for a few moments. "No," she said. "You wouldn't make a good target."
Han smiled. "You said Leia didn't approve of Luke's choice of a wife. Well? Which woman volunteered to withstand daily lectures on the perils of the dark side?"
Mara gave him a glowering look. "I don't think it'd be that bad."
"Well, it's not like you're the one who—" Han caught her stare and gasped. "You?" he managed.
Mara nodded.
"Oh, Force!" Han lamented, then he grinned at her. "Welcome to the family."
"Your wife disagrees with both of these sentiments."
"Why?"
"Apparently, the Jedi Master marrying a former Imperial assassin doesn't reflect good on the New Republic."
Han stood up. "You're kidding. This is political?"
"Well, I didn't speak with her. Luke... Luke said she declared I didn't love him."
"I'm going to kill her," Han whispered..
"What?"
"Now everything makes sense. 'Save him from his own foolishness.' I thought Luke could be in real danger."
"So what do we do? If we get out of here, that is?"
"When we get out of here," Han said, "you're going to marry Luke."
"Just like that? But—"
"I'll persuade her. Don't worry."
"Solo, you have a very high opinion of your persuasive skills."
Han smiled. "Leia will listen. Do you really love each other?"
"Yes."
"Then trust me. Leia will come around."
"You better be right, Solo. I have no intention of spending the rest of my life on the run. I lived that life. I could go back—but I'd rather not."
"All of us did—including Leia."
"Do you miss it?"
Han thought. "Sometimes. It's exciting, but it ain't glamorous. You know the adage: there are no old smugglers."
Mara smiled. "Old Jedi, on the other hand..." She stopped. "What if you're wrong? What do we do then?"
Han thought for a moment, and looked up at her. "Simple," he said. "You elope."