Chapter 3

Present Day

Hyperspace, somewhere in the Meridian Sector

The Lucky Karrde – Republic Class Dreadnought

The Force.

It had been so long since she had reached for it. She had become accustomed to its silence. Afterall, it was only through her Master that she had been able to touch it. It had been his gift to her, and with him gone, her gift had faded to occasional flickers and moments of clarity. Good Luck, that was all she had left..

But now it was screaming at her. Consuming her in it irrepressible brilliance.

It filled her senses, blocking out the physical world. She could only feel. The life forces of the crew around her glowed warmly, the distant stars of the galaxy all adding to the flickering kaleidoscope of energy she saw surrounding her.

She was bombarded with images, reflections of the Force, flickering past her mind's eye before she could register them.

She had experienced Visions before, the Emperor had on occasion guided her in meditations, usually to seek out force sensitives or potential Jedi to destroy, but those dreams were the dim reflections of a distant star compared to the vast throbbing supernova that surrounded her senses now.

She saw the infinite expanse of deep space. The silent progression of stars and planets through the eons. Civilizations and alien races rising and falling. The birth of mankind on a world now long broken. She saw great wars that spanned the galaxy. Armies of Sith facing armies of Jedi millennia ago. Just as her master had told her. Pain, death and gore spanning eons as the force looked for one to bring balance to the universe. Somehow she knew all she saw to be true.

She saw the Jedi Council born on a lush forested planet she knew to be Coruscant before the towers and skyhooks. The Old Republic rose and flashed past in an instant, its often-corrupt senate bringing moments of peace to the Galaxy. Then she recognised figures from her past.

The Emperor as a young politician addressing a crowd by a lake on his homeworld of Naboo. A tiny desert-slave-child in awe of a queen…A tall wise Jedi and his apprentice… a hideously tatooed Sith… A young Jedi teasing his Master. The Clone Wars. Separatists. The young Jedi's arm hacked off by a sith lord. The Jedi and queen married in shadows. Palpatine betrayed by a Korun Jedi but saved by the young Jedi… Vader! . The birth of the Empire and the imperial peace. The fall of Jedi Temple… the death of the jedi children at the hand of Vader. His Jedi master leaving him burning alive in a river of lava. The young queen crying, swollen with child. The Emperor saving Vader. The destruction of the Jedi. The death of the queen.

Mara wondered vaguely what Vader's wife would have thought of Obi-Wan delivering her children had she known the hideous fate he had left their father to on the burning planet.

Dimly she was aware of Aves watching her with concern on the bridge of the Lucky Karrde, but she could not move or speak, she was locked in her vision of the past. The images sped up, sometimes she did not even know what she saw, only gauged fleeting emotions.

She saw Imperials she had worked with. Agents she had trained with. Targets she had eliminated. Her Master. The destruction of Alderaan. The death of Obi-wan Kenobi. The destruction of the Death Star. Vader taking Skywalker's arm on Bespin. The would-be jedi choosing death over his father. Her own reflection, Mara Jade, dressed as a dancer, crouched in the shadows of Jabba's palace. An alien Jedi Master instructing Luke Skywalker from his death bed.

Endor.

Dread filled Mara, she did not want to see Endor. She did not want to watch her Master fall. She had experienced that vision too many times. Vainly she tried to pull away, but the memories of the Force continued to flash within her mind.

Skywalker, no longer an innocent desert-child in white, now a Jedi in black walking serenely to his death. Battling with his Vader, besting him, rejecting her Master. The young jedi dying at the hands of her suddenly cruel master, force lightening wracking his slight frame. Vader motionless as the jedi cried out to him. Vader throwing the Emperor into the reactor core. Her Master frantically sending her his vision as he dispersed into the dark side in violent death. The funeral pyre of Darth Vader. Luke Skywalker cying for him. The laughing rebels. The joyous celebrations across the Galaxy on the death of her Master. Ysanne Isard locking her in a cell. The Jedi Skywalker, older, alone in meditation in a jungle. The rebel Princess and her smuggler husband much older, flanked by three jedi children. Herself, smiling, a lightsaber on her hip and a child in her arms. a Jedi? NO!

She knew the vision would continue, would show her things she could not bear to see, so she tore away again, this time with all her strength.

Mara fell to her knees on the cold metal floor of the bridge. Her hands flew to her temples, her eyes squeezed shut and she let out an agonised groan. It had lasted only seconds. It felt like hours.

The crew stared at her in shock for a moment, stunned, then Aves was at her side, taking her arm. To his amazement she wilted in his grasp, seemingly in a faint.

/"YOU WILL KILL LUKE SKYWALKER"/

The face of her Master filled her mind, his deafening command blocking out all other thoughts.

Mara groaned in agony as his presence sought out the corners of her confused, weakened mind and screamed his anger at her failure. She murmured weakly, unaware that she spoke aloud, "..no.. you are dead.."

/"…KILL LUKE SKYWALKER!"/

Instinctively she reached out to the force that she had just shunned, trying to push away her pain, to push away the Dead Emperor's echoing hatred, and she found it.

A tiny flicker, but conjured of her own skill, not her master's. Soft and white it seemed. Without thought or hesitation she immersed herself in it.

The voice faded. The throbbing stopped.

Silence.

There were no more disturbing visions.

She felt her memories of the vision fading until all that remained were vague images and impressions. Jedi. Sith. War. Death.

Mara let herself drift in the silence. In glorious nothingness. She had no form. Mara Jade existed in this place as only a spirit, a presence in the Force.

She felt at peace for the first time in her life.

Then she realised she was not alone.

She felt a light beside her. It filled her spirit with warmth. She didn't know what or who it was, but she didn't care, loosing herself in the Force was too peaceful for anything to worry her.

Then she felt a tentative, gentle pressure against the shields of her mind. It felt so unlike the harsh probing of the emperor, the only other who had ever sought to enter her mind with the Force, that Mara thoughtlessly allowed it into her consciousness.

It did not probe further instead a soft, weak, man's voice floated towards her. /please…./

Mara's force presence was surprised and wary, instantly suspicious, but at the same time curious, /is it actually a person/

She felt a weak smile / last time I checked.. although I'm not sure for how much longer../

Mara was definitely interested now. The presence was familiar. And it seemed weakened. She was wary, but her danger sense did not flare, so she felt mostly reassured. Her grogginess lifted slightly.

She became more aware of her surroundings, she could feel a ship's cold metal deck beneath her again and knew she would awaken from her force trance soon.

/no.. please.. don't go/

The voice was fading, and for some reason, the thought of not hearing it anymore upset Mara, /…I can't hear you…/

The voice was weaker still /I have been floating out here for.. forever it seems… I don't know how long… please…i am .. tired... help me…/

The voice seemed guardedly hopeful.

Mara found herself agreeing /yes. I will help you../

/thank you mara jade/

She wasn't overly surprised to realise he knew her name. She sensed him careful pressing against her shields. Suddenly her suspicion doubled.

/no, I don't want to …break your shields../ the voice was so soft now Mara could barely make it out. She could hear Aves calling name however.

/ if I can help you, you'd better explain how quickly./

The presence pressed against her shields once more, then apparently gave up.

Mara waited.

/come. this will be easier.. I'll… just show you…/ She got the impression of exhaustion from the man's presence.

His warm light was pulling at her, she was afraid for a moment, the presence was so bright it scared her, but it was irresistible. She let herself reach out slowly and guardedly towards it.

She reached out her fingers, dimly aware in the corner of her mind that in this place she had no fingers, and felt a delicious heat envelope her hands. Then what felt like the callused hands of a man took hold of her arms. Realising it was his force presence, she stepped towards him fearlessly, slipping easily into his arms. Then she was immersed in it. Joy and pleasure rang out in her very soul. The light of the force that was a part of this man surrounded her, caressing her. A word flicked across her consciousness, /jedi../

Some distant part of her was outraged at her apparent easy acceptance of one of the cursed jedi, but it was swiftly silenced by what felt like the man's warm breath on her shoulder and his whisper in her ear.

/yes. Jedi… Like you/

Mara's head seemed to fit against his body perfectly, even if it was not really his body she was leaning against. His words did not anger her as they should of. Her mind was filled with the peaceful light of him and the force and her thoughts were again unclear and muddled.

On Karrde's bridge Mara Jade's body froze suddenly in Aves arms and she gasped. A brilliant smile spread across her face, proving to her crewmembers beyond a shadow of a doubt that she was undoubtedly dying. Mara Jade smiling!

Surrounded by the Jedi's brilliant force presence, warming her and sending every single one of her nerve endings on fire, Mara instinctively reached toward him, wishing to be even closer, deeper in this glorious feeling and felt him do the same. She knew that they had, for a moment sunk into each other creating one being in the force. The feeling was indescribably perfect. /Better than any drug available in the Known Regions./ she sluggishly thought.

Mara could feel the man that surrounded her carefully keeping their minds separate, so as not to intrude upon her. She wondered how it would feel to truly let their force presence's blur into one./I bet it's even better…/

She knew if she so desired she could reach out around her and sift through all of his thoughts and memories, but was touched, and a little surprised that he was making no such intrusions upon her. She was tempted to look into his thoughts, but restrained herself.

His voice was still weak, but it was clearer as if it was still whispering in her ear / mara jade. I don't have much time…/ She quickly remembered that there had been an actual purpose to all this at some point. Slightly embarrassed she pulled away from him slightly.

/show me what you want to do/

She felt a nod.

/this…/

The man pulled her into his consciousness. Mara, for once in her life trusting a stranger, did not resist.

She was in a cockpit. Or rather… he was in a cockpit.

/let's say we are in a cockpit../

A T-65 X-Wing cockpit. One that had seen a lot of action, one that was disabled. The dead instrument panels were splattered with dried blood. The canopy was blackened and melted from a very close laser blast. The air was stale. The life support systems had obviously failed some time ago.

Their body was cold, as if in death. She/he could not move.

Panic rose in Mara, /You are dead/

She tried frantically to pull away, but his gentle presence was as solid as duracrete.

Her body flailed about, pushing at him as she screamed out in her mind at him, ./What are you! Some sort of monster! I trusted you JEDI!…What now! Am I going to be stuck here in this tin can with you forever/

She felt a warm sensation, as if the man had pressed a finger to her lips. ./I am neither dead or a monster... …. I am in a hibernation trance… I will die soon... Without your help…/ He paused, Mara felt something like guilt. / if I do die…you will simply return to your own form… I would never have brought you into any danger…/

/oh./

Mara was unsure of what to say. / so… Where are we/

He said some co-ordinates which were not particularly familiar to Mara. /I will try and pick you up, but, I don't know how long it will take me to find you../

Sadness filled her at the thought of the man dying.

/you are right beside me../

/yes, in the force I am, but in reality/

/your ship is passing mine in Hyperspace…/

Relief filled her at his words.

/Oh. Well, I'd best get back to my body. I sense my butt has grown quite numb on the floor…/

He seemed a little put of at her sudden joke. His response was tentatively sarcastic, but his voice very faint and weak/thank you…. Your selfless sacrifice of… comfort… on my behalf is duly noted…/

Mara was regaining her usual caustic wit as she returned to consciousness, /don't push me jedi. I could just leave you here you know…/

/I meant …the thank-you…./

Mara's voice softened slightly at the pain and weakness in his response, /Yes, you can reimburse me when you are conscious again…./

/I will …repay you …for your kindness./ His voice was fading away to almost nothing. /You should go… To pull me from the trance just… tell me to wake up…Thank-you…./

She felt his gratitude surge towards her through the force.

Mara let herself rise fully to consciousness, wincing as her force presence separated from the Jedi with a sharp ripping sensation. She sensed him react in similar pain. She noted his light was dimmer than before.

The cold cockpit of the damaged X-wing faded from around her.

Mara Jade leapt to her feet, apparently completely back to normal. She turned to Aves, "Drop the ship out of Hyperspace immediately!"

Aves, and all others on the bridge, started at her.

She glared her patented 'Mara Jade, Bad-Ass Privateer' glare.

"NOW!"

Aves winced, "Mara! We can't just drop out of hyperspace in the middle of nowhere! You know that!… now… are you alright?"

Mara walked over to the banks of consoles and without hesitation, pulled back the Hyperspace lever.

"MARA!"

Aves and the crew all screamed at her in fear and anger as the large freighter lurched sickeningly back into real space, thankfully avoiding colliding with anything.

Mara ignored them, trusting their fear of her and Captain Karrde would stop the more violent crew members on the bridge from aiming a blaster at her head.

Directly in front of the ship was a stranded New Republic X-Wing. Or, Half of one to be precise.

Mara smirked.

A moment later, Karrde appeared on the bridge, out of breath, a datacard clasped in his hand "What's going on!"

Aves gestured wildly at Mara, "She just pulled us out of Hyperspace!"

Karrde's eyes widened, "You WHAT?"

Mara Jade turned coolly towards him. "I would have informed you Captain, however, there was no time." She gestured towards the silent ship before them. "There is a man in there. I have a feeling he will be most grateful of our timely intervention. I imagine a large stack of credits await his rescuers."

Karrde glared at his First Mate about to let her know exactly what he thought of her recklessness and disrespect, pile of credits or no,when he glanced through the main display and froze. Instantly he recognized it as an NR X-wing, and with the information from his datapad still fresh in his mind, quickly noticed the identification markings on the small wrecked fighter. He spun to one of his officers, "Enlarge the main display view screen! Focus in on that X-wing!"

Dimly Karrde thought to himself /Well, Mara's definitely got some Force potential to pull us randomly out of Hyperspace so confidently.../ He shuddered slightly at the thought of the odds for reverting from Hyperspace blind and living.

Dutifully the heavily armed Twi-lek, missing a leku and an arm, who was posted at the visual display console zoomed in the sensor array on the fighter, or what was left of it. Karrde's mouth opened and closed. Most of the crewmembers exclaimed in surprise, instantly recognising the markings of a Rogue Squadron Fighter over the long nose of the scorched cockpit. The Twi-lek laughed morbidly, obviously thrilled at the thought of a having an injured Rouge Squadron pilot at the Captain's mercy. Mainly of them were New Republic Celebrities. /Wedge Antilles, Corran Horn….Luke Skywalker…/

Captain Karrde glanced down at his datapad, scrolling through a few pages of information., then swiftly turned to Aves, his eyes wide, "Bring that ship in NOW!"

Mara smiled, a Rogue Squadron pilot would undoubtedly have some solid New Republic credit backing him up. "I'm glad you've seen the light Captain."

The smuggler turned to look in complete bewilderment at his second. "Jade. How in the Nine Corellian Hells did you find Luke Skywalker!"