Grand Admiral Thrawn's Flagship Chimaera

As soon as Mara was back on the Chimaera, she said her goodbyes to Skywalker and boarded her skipray. Within ten minutes she was gone, leaving Luke with a hollow feeling. He had hoped she would stay. He truly thought her finding him in the vastness of space was the will of the Force... that she came into his life for a reason, but he could see the error of his thinking. Sometimes things just happen. After seeing Mara off Luke returned to his quarters only to find an unwelcome guest sitting on his couch.

"Hello, there," the bluish apparition of Obi-Wan Kenobi said cordially. "You didn't return back to your quarters for the last few nights. Could that be because of that attractive redhead I saw you with earlier."

Luke glowered at his former master. "How long are you going to haunt me?"

"Until you come to your senses and realize the Empire is an immoral and malicious government and your father is the epitome of evil."

"Says the man who lied to me constantly from the day we met until the day he died."

"Luke, if I told you the truth you would have run to your father," the elderly Jedi responded. "I know what it is like growing up without parents—the thought of reuniting with your family is never far from one's mind."

"And still you kept me away from my father." Luke glared at him angrily. "And not only that... you tore my father away from his mother! The Jedi separated two generations of Skywalkers from their families!"

"That is completely untrue," Obi-Wan said in frustration. "You father wanted to be a Jedi. He didn't come kicking and screaming."

"He was nine years old and idolized the Jedi order." Luke huffed before walking over to the kitchen and pulling out a juice bottle from the cooling unit. "You and the Jedi were the reason he turned to the darkside."

"What rubbish!" Obi-Wan threw his hands up in the air. "How did he justify blaming the Jedi for him turning evil?"

Luke sat on a chair across from Obi-Wan and took a long sip of of his drink before responding. "You tore him away from his mother and left her in slavery! Why didn't you free her?"

"It...it was unavoidable." Obi-Wan stammered as he ran his hand over his white beard. "We were not in Republic territory. Our credits weren't good there."

"Really, you are actually going with that excuse?" Luke shook his head in disgust. "There is a currency exchange kiosk in every spaceport in the galaxy."

"I assure you, there was not."

"Okay, how about after you left? Once you got to Coruscant or wherever you were going you could have picked up the proper currency, jewelry, rare minerals and went back and bought his mother's freedom...but you didn't. In fact, the Jedi didn't seem to care about eradicating slavery...but do you know who eventually did end slavery...Darth Vader!"

The Jedi apparition pointed a finger at Luke. "You eradicated slavery, not Vader! I know all of the recent reforms came from you and not your father."

"You're trying to change the subject. You left my grandmother to languish as a slave."

"The woman was bought by a man who became her husband. She didn't languish as a slave."

"Did you know that?"

Obi-Wan looked away.

"Answer me," Luke insisted. "Did you know that?"

The apparition looked down at the floor. "No."

"So that brings me back to my original statement about the Jedi being responsible for his fall. My father returned to Tatooine only to discover his mother was kidnapped by Tuskin Raiders and tortured. When he found her, she died in his arms. It was a turning point for him and one that could have been prevented if you had returned to the planet and made sure his mother was freed."

"The Jedi don't get involved in planetary politics outside of the Republic."

"That's a load of crock and you know it," Luke shot back.

"Luke," the Force ghost pleaded. "Can we please get back to the subject at hand. You cannot allow yourself to be manipulated by Vader."

"You are contradicting yourself," Luke was near the end of his patience. "First you say all the reforms came from me and not my father and then you state Vader is manipulating me. Name one evil thing that I have done since I joined my father. Just one!"

The hazy blue apparition did not answer.

"See, every change in the Empire in the last two years has been beneficial...but you don't want to see it. It is the same with the rebellion. You have a score to settle with my father and you just can't let it go."

"Yes, I have a score to settle. He killed me."

"I saw your death. You let him kill you...and I know why. It was you manipulating me! You wanted to make sure I hated Darth Vader. You fought him to a standstill until you knew I was watching and then you raised your lightsaber and let him kill you...all in an effort to turn me against my father."

"Need I remind you that your father captured and tortured your friends." Exasperation was evident in Kenobi's words.

Luke sighed deeply. "True, but they weren't permanently harmed, whereas you tortured my father, cut off his limbs and left him for dead in scorching lava. You could have at least put him out of his misery...but instead you stole his lightsaber and left him to suffer horribly. Then you give me his lightsaber and told me he wanted me to have it...like you parted as friends, and you were just passing on a gift."

The dead Jedi Master crossed his arms across his chest and shook his head. "Your father and I were in a fight to the death. I begged him not to attack me...I had the high ground."

Luke groaned as he buried his head in his hands. "There you go again with the high ground."

Obi-wan looked indignant. "Everyone knows the high ground has a tactical advantage."

Luke stood and pointed at the specter. "Leave me alone and get off my couch...and why do you need to sit at all? Are your ghost feet getting sore?"

"I do it to make you feel more comfortable. If you like I could float around the ceiling."

"Oh, so you can proclaim that you have the high ground? I'll take a hard pass on that. Go away!"

Obi-wan frowned deeply before fading off to nothing.

"This is so kriffed up," Luke groused before going off to bed.

.

.

~Two Months Later~

"Kriff!" Aves shouted as he tried frantically to plot in a short jump away from the Imperial Star Destroyer blockade. Mara ran up behind him and dropped down into the co-pilot seat and took over the piloting duties as her comrade worked on plotting a course.

"Karrde! She yelled back to the cargo bay. "Any chance of getting rid of any illegal cargo without being seen?"

Before she could get an answer the Wild Karrde rocked. "Frack, they got us in a tractor beam." There was no use piloting anymore. She ran back to the cargo bay where Karrde and Chin were shoving any questionable contraband into the ray-shielded hidden compartments. She looked to her boss. "Any chance that they won't find the spice?"

Karrde's face was grim. "Doubtful if they bring a scanning crew aboard."

She blew out a frustrated breath. "Luckily it is only Scarn. Having pre-spice is semi-legal...although it will put us on the 'Search on sight' list with the Imperials."

"Yeah," Karrde said slowly as he held up a long, black mesh bag. "Unfortunately, the Mandalorian disruptor rifle and a thermal detonator in this bag are highly illegal. I was hoping to shoot them out the airlock, but now that we are caught in a tractor beam..." he trailed off, not finishing the sentence.

"We only have a couple illegal weapons...for personal protection. They shouldn't add in the smuggling charge on top of the possession."

Karrde shook his head. "Possession itself is a twenty-year sentence." He let the bag drop to the floor as he walked up to the flight deck. "I'm sorry. The disruptor rifle was my idea. I'll take full responsibility. Hopefully, my crew won't suffer for my poor judgement."

Aves turned around when they walked onto the flight deck. "We are being hailed by the Imperial Star Destroyer Redeemer. We are to power down, drop shields and prepare to be boarded once we are in the ventral docking bay."

Aves looked to his boss for orders. Talon pointed out the viewing port. "Do what they say. We don't want to give them an excuse to blow us into so much space dust."

Aves nodded and shut down the engines. "Shields down, boss."

Karrde looked down at the deck before gazing at his crew. "Let me do the talking. The Scarn shouldn't get us in too much trouble if they can't prove it is going to be refined as spice." Karrde walked back to the cargo area. "I'll hide the weapons and hope they don't find it. If they do, I'll tell them they're mine."

About ten minutes later, there was some turbulence and then a thud as the ship landed on the deck of the Star Destroyer docking bay.

Mara jumped when she heard a familiar voice sound off in her head. ["Hello, Mara. We meet again. Does this mean you've reconsidered my offer?"]

Skywalker! She took a deep breath and blew it out. ["At this point I am willing to consider anything."]

There was a pause. ["Does that mean you're not going to pass our custom's check?"]

["It depends on how thorough your men are?"]

["I'll meet you. Be cooperative until then."]. Mara wasn't sure, but she thought she sensed a tinge of amusement coming from the Supreme Commander.

Mara walked back to the cargo area where Karrde had finished tucking away his weapons. "I'll go and meet the inspection crew."

Karrde looked to her in surprise. "I'm the Captain of this ship. They'll want to see me."

"No," Mara remarked. "The Supreme Commander is onboard. It's me he wants to see."

Talon looked toward the flight deck. "I didn't hear any further communications from the Imperials. How do you know?"

She gave him a look of exasperation. "You know how."

Karrde smirked knowingly. "Oh...I didn't know that was possible. What else can you do?"

"I'll give you the whole story if we get out of this unscathed."

Chin ran into the cargo hold. "We are so screwed. Skywalker just walked onto the deck. You don't think he's still mad about the kidnapping and trying to sell him to the rebels, do you? I mean, I know he gave us a reward, but he may have had some second thoughts."

"Him mad?" Mara said sarcastically. "Why would he be mad? What's a little kidnapping between friends?" She lowered the loading ramp and walked down to where Skywalker was waiting.

"Hello Mara," Luke said happily. "It is so nice to see you." He turned to the captain in charge of the platoon of Stormtroopers accompanying him. "Captain Decker, I'll inspect the ship. These are old friends of mine. You can dismiss your men."

The captain opened his mouth, probably to protest, but then shut it and nodded. "Yes Sir." He turned on his heel and dismissed his platoon.

Luke motioned toward the ship. "Shall we get on with the inspection?"

Mara rolled her eyes. "Sure, do you have a list of things you want to inspect?"

Luke chuckled. "No, but I thought I would improvise."

They walked side by side up the boarding ramp. Skywalker stopped when he met Talon on the top of the ramp. "Captain Karrde." He held out his hand in greeting. "It's always a pleasure."

Talon Karrde looked at Luke's hand cautiously before he shook Luke's hand. "No hard feelings?"

"None at all...that is if you can let me borrow your second-in-command for a moment in private?"

Karrde gave Mara a guarded look. "That is entirely up to Mara."

"It's okay, Talon," Mara replied. "He said he is going to do a search...so let him search." She grasped the sleeve of Skywalker's dress uniform and pulled him down the corridor. "We'll start in my cabin."

"Ahhh..." Karrde muttered. "Exactly what type of search is he going to do?"

Mara rolled her eyes. "Get your mind out of the gutter, Talon."

Luke turned and gave Karrde a wink. "I need to check her for tracking devices."

"Knock it off," she growled at Luke as she pushed him inside her cabin and shut the door behind her. She leaned against the bulkhead, arms crossed across her chest, glaring at him. "You already know we can't pass inspection, so what is it going to take to get out of our current predicament? Am I going to have to audition for your pleasure harem?"

Luke's eyes went wide. "First of all, I still don't have a pleasure harem and second...what the hell are you smuggling that you are willing to offer up your virtue to hide it."

A sardonic laugh escaped her lips. "Virtue? Your choice of words is comical."

"Call it what you like. What are you smuggling? Slaves, nacro-spice, nerve gas?"

"Scarn."

Luke's brow furrowed. "Scarn is not illegal."

"And maybe a disruptor rifle...and a thermal detonator."

"Is that all?" Luke said looking relieved. "The way you were talking I thought you really did something horrible. I think I can look the other way when it comes to something that insignificant."

"Yeah, but at what price," Mara asked him again.

"Can we sit?" She nodded and sat on the edge of her bunk while Luke pulled out her desk chair and settled down in it. "I've missed you. I wondered if you perhaps reconsidered my job offer."

"No, I enjoy my job and my freedom."

"You would be free."

"Skywalker, you want something more from me...and I am not interested."

He shook his head adamantly. "No, I just want your friendship and I'd like to offer you a job. I am not asking for a relationship."

She sighed deeply. "Platonic friends?"

He nodded with a smile. "Yes, completely."

She thought about it. "Okay, platonic is good because I've been dating someone."

The smile faded from his eyes and lips. "Oh, ummm...I didn't know."

"Ha!" Mara smirked at the man. "See, if you only wanted a platonic friendship then me dating wouldn't be a problem."

"No, but I was hopeful to lure you away to work for me...but luring you away from a lover is a different story." He smiled weakly. "Congratulations."

"Kriff! Skywalker stop looking so miserable. I'm not dating anybody. I just wanted to see what you would say."

"That's not very nice, Mara." Skywalker expression was stern for about a nanosecond before he smiled and changed the subject. "If you won't work for me...how about a date?"

Her jaw dropped in astonishment. "What?"

"Stay a few hours. Your crew will be welcome at the Officer's Club as my guests and you and I can have some dinner."

"In your quarters, no doubt."

Luke grinned widely. "Wherever you like, Mara. I have a dining room in my quarters, but you can join me at the Officer Mess if you so desire. I can introduce you to Commodore Vanto who commands this ship when I'm not on board. Well, in all honesty, he really commands this ship all the time. My military experience is pretty much limited to X-Wings and air speeders. So, what do you say? Dinner?"

Mara looked him up and down for a long moment. She had to admit, it wasn't a bad way to get out of this mess and perhaps the crew can make some contacts onboard. Imperials are often their best customers, often asking for expensive liquors, cigaras and other hard to get luxury items.

"Your quarters will be fine."

He gave her a devastating smile, "Outstanding." .

.

.

Mara walked into Luke's quarters...his massive ship's quarters. It was bigger than Palpatine's throne room, with a huge sitting room, full kitchen, and two bedrooms with private 'freshers. After Luke gave her the tour, he called down to the Officer Dining Facility and ordered room service. "I'm having them send a couple bottles of that wine you liked when on Admiral Thrawn's ship."

"Are you going to try to get me drunk?"

Luke laughed. "No, but maybe I'll let you get me drunk." He sat down on the large couch and patted the seat next to him. She reluctantly sat down, trying to keep a respectful distance from the man.

"What are you doing on the Redeemer? I thought you traveled on the Chimaera."

"I have quarters on all the fleet flagships, but I prefer staying on the Redeemer."

"Why is that?"

"Because Commodore Vanto doesn't intimidate me like Grand Admiral Thrawn does. Eli Vanto is closer to my age and is very easy-going. When I am with Thrawn I always feel like I am under his scrutiny."

"I don't blame you. He is hard to read through the Force." She crossed her legs and regarded him. "Tell me, was your father mad that you lied about me kidnapping you?"

Luke shrugged nonchalantly. "Not really. He said he couldn't fault me for doing something he did as a young man...lie and deceive when it comes to women. As a Jedi he was banned from forming any attachments. The Jedi could not marry or have children. He wanted both but didn't want to give up the Jedi Order."

Mara's eyes narrowed. "Is that what you want...a wife and children?"

He looked at her with a guilty smile. "One day...the Force willing."

She groaned in frustration. "Well, keep looking, because it isn't going to be with me."

He rose and went to his cooler and pulled out a bottle of wine. "This isn't exactly the type you favored, but it is a sweet white if you want some."

She rolled her eyes. "Are you just going to ignore what I said?"

"No," he sighed softly. "You're not interested in me. I got it...but you must admit, I am useful to you. Why don't we work from there? You use me to get out of difficult smuggling situations and in exchange you tolerate me for an occasional dinner." She opened her mouth to say something, but he held up a hand in a halting motion. "And that's all! Dinner. I'm not going to conscript you for my imaginary pleasure harem, compel you to marry me, force you to bear my children or make you clean my apartment...nothing unseemly." He stood a little taller, his head held high. "After all, I am an officer and a gentleman."

He lips twitched in amusement. "Okay, dinner it is."

"Good." He picked up two long stem glasses and brought them over to the couch placing them on a glass top side table before opening the wine and pouring the drinks. He set the bottle down and handed Mara one glass and him the other. "We should toast to something."

"Sure." Mara raised her glass. "To not being thrown in an Imperial brig."

Luke smiled warmly. "That is always an upside. How about toasting to friends."

"Why not." She raised her glass higher. "To friends." She sniffed the wine's bouquet before sipping. "This is good."

"Thank you." Luke risked settling down in the seat next to her. "Have you considered going legit? I can use regular shipments from a supplier. As you can imagine, getting some of the finer things in life are more difficult when dealing with Imperial supply chains. It will be regular work, less hassle from Imperial custom checks and good money."

Mara chewed her bottom lip in thought. "It will be up to Karrde. I'll talk to him about it. Will we still be independent traders or will we have to fly under the Imperial flag?"

"Whatever way you want. The Imperial trade league has priority in shipping lanes and berthing in spaceports. They can utilize Imperial facilities such as hospitals for free. They are eligible to shop in military commissaries if they are delivering to military bases." He paused for a moment before adding. "Did I mention dental insurance?"

She gave an unladylike snort. "You are really piling it on."

"I can use good people who I can trust."

"And you trust the people who kidnapped you and sold you off for a bounty."

"Captain Karrde seems like a man who doesn't forget when a person does a favor for him. And you, you were a loyal Imperial once. I suspect you wouldn't mind coming back to the Empire in one way or another. This could be a way to bring together your desire for freedom and your patriotism for your former government."

"I said I would tell Karrde. I'm not able to make that decision."

Luke nodded. "Fair enough." He gave her a sideway glance. "I really wish you would reconsider working as my bodyguard. My father said you were one of Palpatine's best operatives...as deadly as you are beautiful."

She let out a scathing laugh. "Darth Vader said no such thing."

Luke blushed slightly. "He didn't say it that eloquently, but it was the general gist."

She put her glass down on the side table and looked at Skywalker questioningly. "Exactly what were his words?"

Luke shrugged as he cleared his throat. "He told me the position of the Emperor's Hand was given to the strongest Force adept and one that was the most alluring. The job of a spy and assassin is best performed by somebody who doesn't look dangerous. It puts a person off guard. Men were often the targets of assassination and therefore a stunningly beautiful woman could often get close to the target with ease." He took another sip of his drink. "He warned me that having you close could mean my downfall if you decided to turn on me."

"Then why did he allow me to live?"

"He wouldn't tell me exactly. He said he meditated on the subject and determined you might be useful in the future."

Mara shuttered not like the sound of that. "That is always scary when a Sith Lord thinks you might be of some use to them in the future."

"It can't be too scary. You worked for Palpatine for a long time. I am certain he didn't have your welfare in mind during your employment with him."

Mara wanted to argue the fact, but realized he was right. Palpatine only valued her because she did his bidding. As soon as she failed him the punishment was swift and cruel.

"In his meditations, he might have saw something totally benign. He once told me I desperately am in need of a...handler. Somebody who will keep me from making stupid rimworld blunders. Maybe that is what he thought you would be useful for."

"I think that might be beyond my abilities...or anybody's abilities." Mara thought about it. "It would help if we could make you look more natural in that uniform. You don't look like a Supreme Commander as much as some bucolic farmboy dressing up as an imperial for a costume party. Also, you need to lose that thick rimworld accent."

"Is that all?" Luke looked hurt.

She chuckled. "For now."

"You have a Coruscanti accent," Luke ventured. "Were you born on Coruscant?"

Mara gave a 'who knows' hand gesture. "I don't remember my parents. I was raised in the royal court to be Palpatine's servant. He was the closest thing I had to a father. I wouldn't say it was a close relationship, but he could pop into my head at any instance, no matter where I was in the galaxy. It was sort of a creepily intimate connection. The communication back and forth was fine, but he could also sense my emotions and often read my thoughts...or at least my intentions, but to me, he was a wall. I only picked up from him what he wanted me to know. His mental shields were impenetrable."

"Oh," Luke looked down at his glass. "I hope you didn't see my...umm...my Force communication with you as intrusive."

"No, it just surprised me." She turned to him; her expression was slightly troubled. "Your father believes our ability to communicate is due to a Force bonding."

"Do you feel...bonded to me?"

She met his steady gaze, then quickly glanced away. "I don't know what I feel."

Luke frowned when door indicator buzzed, interrupting their conversation. "That's probably dinner." He stood and moved to the front entrance and let a member of the dining hall staff wearing a light grey chef uniform entered pushing a serving cart. Luke pointed over to his dining table. "Over there please."

The young man pushed the cart up to the table and placed the various plates of food on the table. He then quickly left without saying a word. Luke gestured to the table. "Dinner is served."

Mara gave Luke a long hard look before convincing herself the Tatooine farm boy was harmless, and she might as well have a nice meal. "Just a meal and then we get to leave right?"

"Of course," Luke assured her.

"And don't make it a habit of detaining me and the crew!"

Luke gave his best innocent look. "I would never."

Mara wasn't sure if she believed him. He was persistent. .

.

.

Mara hated to admit, but she truly enjoyed Skywalker's company. The food was good, he was courteous and didn't nag her to work for him. Afterwards he walked her back to her ship. When she arrived, she was immediately wary about the conspicuous absence of her crew. She turned to Skywalker. "Where are they? Where's the Wild Karrde crew?"

"I don't know."

Skywalker sounded sincere, but she still didn't trust him fully. She pulled out her commlink and attempted to communicate with her boss. After a few minutes Karrde's voice could be heard. "Yeah?"

"Talon? Where are you?"

"I'm in the Officer's Club." She could barely hear him over the cacophony of voices in the background.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm more than okay," Talon said with a slight slur of his voice. "I am fantastic." Mara heard a female voice calling out to her boss. "Don't worry. We're alright...all of us." There was a pause as he said something to somebody in the background. "And Mara...don't wait up for us. Have fun with your Imperial...see if you can find out what's makes him so supreme." Karrde laughed in a way she had never heard before. "What? Wait Mara, Chin is saying something. Oh...Chin asked if it's the size of his lightsaber...you know...that makes him supreme."

"You are drunk," Mara said in disbelief.

"Oh, got to go. It turns out Imperial women really find civilian men with long hair and beards sexy."

With that Karrde disconnected the communication. Mara stared down at her commlink in shock. She had seen Karrde drunk before, but never in a public setting and she had never seen him pick up women in bars.

"See, he's alright," Luke said brightly. "If you like I can get my men to round up your crew and bring them back."

She shook her head. "No, it sounds like Karrde is having fun...and that is a rarity."

"Do you want some company while they are out partying?" His blue eyes filled with mirth. "I know you handled my lightsaber before, but if you want a second look, I'm game."

"Oh, for the love of...no Skywalker, your lightsaber holds no interest to me."

"Ouch...you are brutally honest." He rocked back on his heels as he gave her a toothy grin. "How about a drink while we wait for your crew to return?"

She sighed in frustration but gave a nod of her head. "Sure, why not."