Disclaimer: Star Wars is owned by Disney and Lucasfilm Ltd. The following work is not intended to add to, promote or distort this series. This is a work of fanfiction, and the author does not profit in posting. This is simply a writing exercise written for fun.
Lady Anhilis watched eagerly from her post, a small outcropping near the veranda now crawling with police droids, as a silver speeder arrived at the scene. As predicted, her black, Mirialan tattooed eyes saw the dishwater blond locks of a particular figure appear out of the car. And, much less predicted, a slender young woman joined him.
They appeared to be dressed in the modern version of Jedi garb, a simple long under tunic with a tabard and belt. Anhilis found it strange that a man so associated with the light side of the Force donned blacks and dark browns, while his companion dressed primarily in whites and creams. Most Jedi preferred the more neutral brown to either darks or lights. And, as if sensing her criticism, the woman turned back and faced her directly, her eyes scanning the area in search of what she sensed.
And she knew this woman.
With her brows raised high on her green forehead, Lady Anhilis pushed her black hair back and sat with her arms crossed. She blinked her spotted eyes a few times, trying to put the pieces together. Senator Solo and Jedi Master Skywalker, she calculated internally, Together at this late hour? How strange? With a wry grin as a particularly devious theory entered her mind, she leaned forward and grabbed her scope from the ground again. She wanted to see what transpired between the two legends of the Galactic Civil War and the infamous Captain Divo, investigator extraordinaire. Who's ego will be injured first, I wonder.
With a grin as she put a small ear-bud into her ear, she listened carefully to the exchange. "General Skywalker!" Divo greeted as he stepped towards the approaching warriors, his now oversized girth jiggling slightly with each step, "Glad you could make it! I'd heard you'd been transferred here from the front lines and was relieved you were available to us." He beamed, "It's about time we got to meet face-to-face. I got to work with your father a couple of times when he was around your age, you know-"
"-Is that so?" Luke inquired, a casual smile on his face as his sister crossed her arms beside him.. Divo, however, took little to no notice of her, clearly still fixated on talking to the knight before him. "Perhaps you can regale me sometime of your adventures." Luke added to be friendlier. That seemed to make Divo's aura sing.
With a wide grin, he nodded, "It would be my honor. Now-"
Till he realizes that Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader are one and the same, Leia added bitterly. Luke smirked to himself at her remark.
Not everyone can worship you, your worship. Luke reminded her as he stepped forward to accompany Divo to the crime scene.
Leia rolled her eyes, It's only cute when Han does that. She could practically feel Luke's chuckle as he and Divo entered the living room attached to the veranda of one Representative Gomen Mato. "The neighbors apparently heard the struggle from their bedroom one floor below and called the Police." Divo began his explanation haughtily, as though having done this a few too many times, "When the droids arrived at the scene, the assailant was gone, and signs of a struggle were evident enough to call for non-droid personnel to investigate."
Leia glanced about the luxurious space, surprised that a representative had enough income to afford some of these luxuries. In the far corner, she noticed a spent death-stick along side at least three more, so it was clear that he was near incapacitated well before the assassin had arrived. By the door, she noticed a large bookshelf comprised of Dornati wood, a rare tree near extinction on its home world. The hallmarks of such trees were their curling age lines. And Leia knew them well thanks to her tenure as senator for the Galactic Empire, when she'd attended a summit on Revalier, where the trees grew.
Other pieces of art also indicated that this Representative Mato had a far greater income than he let on, which meant he had some form of arrangement on the side. But what?
"Since Mato didn't have any known enemies," Divo informed Luke with a grin, "I was hoping that you could divine some sort of lead for us to follow." Glancing about, Luke turned towards Leia, who stood admiring a Cheshirian Glass wall mural with interest. And he smiled wide.
"I'd love to." He informed Divo, who's smile grew wider in hearing that, "But, if it is all right with you," And the smile fell flat, "I would like to give my Padawan a chance to 'divine' first. We are rarely presented with this kind of mystery, and I'd be a fool to pass up on the opportunity." Surprised by the sudden adjustment, Divo nodded silently, glancing over to Leia attentively for the first time.
"Senator Organa-er-Solo?" Divo suddenly remarked with raised brow, "She's your Padawan!?" Luke chuckled and nodded, calling to his sister through the Force. She turned instantly and walked over towards the men. With eyes wide, despite being tired, she glanced from Divo to Luke with curiosity.
"Captain Divo," She acknowledged with a polite grin and nod.
"Senator Solo." he replied carefully. Luke noted the awkward exchange and promised himself to ask Leia about it later.
Turning to Leia with his grin still plastered to his face, he placed a hand on her shoulder, "Captain Divo has just informed me that the assailant left no leads behind. He was hoping we could locate a clue his droids might have missed."
Leia turned to Luke with her brows raised, unsure of exactly what he was asking her to do. And he sensed that much.
"Remember Queen Julia?" he inquired carefully. Leia thought about it for a moment.
"Of Bardotta?" She wondered as her brother's ever bright eyes blinked the lights of a passing vehicle away. He nodded.
Since the fall of DeathStar II, Luke had spent all his free time collecting Force-abilities from various texts and sages. His array of skills would make Obi-Wan Kenobi blush now. Though Leia accompanied him on many of these journeys, she hadn't always had the control to get all the lessons Luke did. But she was a quick learner, which make Luke's role as master far easier when she wasn't being stubborn.
"She taught us both how to open our eyes to the Force." He reminded her as he stood behind her to put both hands down on each of her shoulders. Luke was well aware he'd have to guide her through this technique, but it seemed too perfect an opportunity not to. "And in doing so, we can use our wills to determine what we see." Leia sighed and closed her eyes as she felt her brother's powerful Force-presence swell up like a star in the sky. He pulled her into a trance long before she was aware of what he was suggesting. "You need only focus on what it is you are looking for." She heard his voice call from a distance. "What do you see?"
Leia opened her eyes suddenly, seeing the room moving as though in slow motion. The colors had faded to shades of some strange, brownish-gray, with light appearing slightly yellow. She knew she was in a trance, and could see it as she stepped away from her body to look around.
Before her was Divo, his robust form teeming with the typical dim, light blue glow of a living person, something Julia had affirmed all living creatures possessed. His mouth was moving so slowly, she was surprised saliva wasn't spilling out of it.
Behind her, she found Luke, standing with his eyes closed while a slight smile remained on his face. He seemed so calm at first, until she focused on him as she had Divo and saw the surprising truth about her brother: he was not alone.
Behind him was this vibrating form, pulsing as though it could not control itself. It glowed a slight blue, but rushed around him, whispering dangerously with the hushed voice of a woman. The way the woman turned about, she practically had her own whirlwind. Her features were tough to see, but she appeared to have long hair and a large dress on. Leia felt slight terror in knowing that something so violent was attached to her brother. She gulped, unsure of what to do. The convulsions of the spirit were starting to turn her stomach.
"What do you see?" Luke's voiced suddenly asked again, echoing around the room. Leia glanced up, trying to find the voice since it clearly hadn't come from her brother's form standing before her. "What have you found Leia?"
Remembering her purpose, she took a deep breath and focused, glancing about the room.
There will be time to talk about this ghost later. She decided firmly, and thus the image left her vision entirely. I need to focus on what I am looking for...I can do this!
With Luke's subtle guidance, the room instantly began to change. Areas that were once dark glowed and so on. Her senses began to adjust to what she sought slowly, sometimes falling back to the original chaos of the room. But when it did, Luke's presence would appear to bring her back to focus, the good master that he was.
Several places had the same blue light of life, but some were glowing with other attributes. Some were the dangerous, purple-red she'd learned to associate with the dark side. Things like the death-sticks were covered in that burning shadow that made her shudder. Someone had given the Representative those sticks with the intent to kill him. Of that, she was sure. "The death-sticks." she reported in. But that seems too obvious, she realized.
Then she turned her eyes to the rare wooden bookcase, seeing black hand billowing with that same ghastly purple-red from before. "Money hidden in the bookcase... inside the wood. It is hollow..." She added, certain that there would be a clue there. "Pull out the shelves."
"Aww!" She heard Divo moan, "That weighs at least as much as an astromech!" She had to fight her chuckle as she looked around some more for any other clues she could find. And, as she turned about, but-
The screaming face of the violent woman from before manifested not more than an inch from her nose. Her image was planted in Leia's mind as she wailed into her face, dark eyes wide and face twisted in horror. As Leia struggled to back away, the creature grabbed at her face with twisted fingers, wailing all the while. Feeling a sudden drain, Leia stepped back, trying to scream, but lacking the energy to do so.
In a final effort, she attempted a Force-push inside the vision, sending her assailant hurtling into the opposing wall. The woman shrilled as she flew, disappearing before she collided with the brick.
"Leia?" Luke's nervous voice came to her just before his presence spiked and she felt him pull her out of the trance.
Leia swallowed as she regained consciousness from the vision. She could hear the sounds of several droids separating the bookcase from the wall, the crunching grading on her ears, as well as Luke's near silent breathing. He'd been guiding her, standing over her during the trance, but refraining from entering the vision himself. And she could feel his worry... No, he's angry!?
Wordlessly, she watched as he opened his icy blue eyes, and wordlessly, he stepped away from her and headed towards the veranda. In that moment, she chose to ignore his demeanor, turning towards Divo instead.
"Well, well, well..." Divo grinned as they pulled out all sorts of DataPads from the shelves, "I've said it before and I'll say it again, politicians have nothing but skeletons to hide." Leia frowned in hearing that, but knew better than to challenge an old man like Divo. Old usually translated to stubborn in her experience. She glanced inside and noted the many stacks of DataPads, all likely linked to why this Representative lived in such luxury and sighed. Divo turned to her in hearing her exhale and smiled wide, "Thank you Senator, you've done us a great service here." She nodded to him, and finally decided to gather her courage and confront her brother.
"My pleasure Lieutenant."
Luke exhaled deeply as he released his tension into the Force, his tension, jealousy and anger. Since Endor, Luke had not been graced by any image of his father. It had been four years, and none of his former guides had appeared to aid him. The loneliness was a struggle for him. That presence in her vision felt so much like him, he wasn't sure what else to think.
Now he was frustrated! Especially in knowing that Leia was being visited by their departed father and rejecting him. Luke would have done anything for that.
Before, he could sense his father around, likely trying to mend the wounds that drove them so far apart. Trying to apologize and be forgiven, even though all of them knew just how futile that was. Leia was a kind person, but some grudges she carried. And her grudge against Darth Vader was one of them. Only Moff Tarkin garnered more hate than he.
But Luke loved their father. The man had sacrificed his own life to protect him, and, in his own twisted way, had expressed a deep caring for him that was complicated to understand. But that didn't take away from the legitimacy of his love.
In many ways, he could not understand why his sister would push Anakin Skywalker away. He was a man who would undoubtedly do his best to steer her in the right direction, just as Obi-Wan Kenobi had for him.
And yet, It seemed she'd banished him back to the afterlife.
Such knowledge left him fighting his sourness, even as Leia approached him. He didn't want to confront her over it, he just wanted to release the emotions and be understanding. Leia wasn't as committed to being a Jedi as he. She couldn't separate herself from her emotions as a Jedi must. And she was a victim, more so than he, to their father's cruelty from the days when he sported the dark side like a favorite jacket. Her desire to keep him at further than arms length was entirely normal. Entirely forgivable.
"Luke?" Leia inquired gently, resting a hand on her brother's shoulder. When he didn't shrug her away, she realized that he was in the process of letting his tension go. "What happened?" She inquired of him earnestly, "Who was that woman attached to you?"
Luke near jumped, "What woman?" Leia stared at him, her eyes wide and her jaw dropped. "I didn't sense anyone but father in that vision with you," He added after a time, when the turbulence of his feelings simmered down, "Didn't you see him?" Leia sighed and turned her eyes down towards Luke's mechanical right hand.
Though it didn't look different from any other hand, the internal structures of the prosthetic were all metal and wire, with some plastic. It was designed to look normal and be relatively maintenance free, which is why she'd insisted upon it back during the days of the Galactic Civil War. Back when their father had chopped Luke's hand clear off with his crimson lightsaber.
Over a year later, Luke explained that their father was prone to rage in reaction to pain, which he had given him in their duel in the form of a slice to his arm. Leia remembered feeling how important their father was to Luke. He was Luke's roll-model, both of who to become and who to avoid becoming at all costs. It was not surprising to see him struggle over this perceived unfairness.
"Father was not there at all." She admitted to her brother as she turned to gaze at his profile, "Only this strange, witch-like woman. She seemed to be struggling, screaming even..." Leia then took a deep breath, "She terrified me."
Luke swallowed, his eyes suddenly scanning the verandas across the way. He was listening, but focused on something else as well. "What did she do?"
Leia sighed, following her brother's lead in seeking out danger across the way. She could feel his presence reach out, touching everything in search of clues as to what was making his senses go off. "This ghost grabbed on to me and I felt all my power disappear."
Surprised, Luke turned to Leia with his jaw dropped. But the visual exchange only lasted a minute before the pull of the Force told them to duck or die. A shot rang out in the valley between apartment complexes, and Luke and Leia just barely missed being killed by it. Hiding behind a partial column, the two reached for their lightsabers at their belts and stood up with green and blue blades ready to deflect bolts.
Their assailant had no problem aiming at them, their shots coming uncomfortably close to their mark, but Leia and Luke, especially, were too skilled with in a variety of Jedi defensive forms to be struck down, their blades resembling twin hurricanes of light as they sent the bolts back across the ravine. Soon, their Mirialan assailant holstered her rifle, and leaped aboard a swoopbike towards the lower districts of Coruscant.
Not ready to let her go, Luke and Leia followed suit, with Lieutenant Divo rushing out to the veranda to assess the situation. All Leia could do was wave to him as Luke took off after the assassin with their speeder.
Their speeder hummed angrily as Luke pushed it to its top speeds, racing through the skyline and interrupting the late night traffic patterns. Several horns went off, and shouts sounded as the Skywalker twins tore apart the air in pursuit of their Mirialan suspect.
Yet she was a skillful driver as well, weaving in and out of traffic to throw Luke off her trail, but she had picked the wrong pilot to race against.
Luke turned and arched the speeder with relative ease, aligning himself with the swoopbike diagonally. Leia readied herself with her lightsaber, planning on disabling the forward thrusters, to leave the woman stranded in the middle of the road, but she was met with a surprise.
As Leia stood up to swing, the Mirialan donned her own, deep crimson lightsaber and swung it at the unsuspecting Senator-Jedi. In the nick of time, Leia blocked the strike and parried with one of her own, stepping out on the the hood of the speeder while Luke continued to keep pace with the assailant. As the two women waged war thousands of feet above Corsucant's level 0, Luke focused on disabling those forward thrusters with the Force, keeping just enough concentration on driving to ensure Leia would not be thrown off.
He'd seen those thrusters before. He knew which gears to crush.
With a distinctive pop-bang! the forward thrusters of the swoopbike puttered out, leaving the Mirialan floating helplessly in the air while Luke and Leia swept around to capture her. But, just as they neared her, she jumped from her swoop bike into a free-falling speeder, driven by a very angry looking Togruta male.
Cursing in at least three languages to himself, Luke angled his speeder down and made to follow the pair. Leia felt sweat build on her forehead as she watched the speedometer of Luke's vehicle throw numbers out that she didn't realize it could reach; sweat that was brushed away by the harsh winds of their fall. The city around them became a blur as they neared the male Togruta's speeder. But as they did, the Mirialan pulled her rifle out once more and began shooting at Luke. To protect her brother, Leia countered with her lightsaber.
At one point, however, a bolt came close to hitting her. But this stray shot was blocked by a green blade that swooped by swiftly.
Leia frowned and turned her eyes back to the two ahead of them. She noticed that, at this rate, they were going to run out of airspace to fly in. And yet, the Togruta was still diving in a free fall.
Is he crazy?
Luke sighed, "No crazier than we are." It was then that another bolt nearly hit Leia, but her arms rose swiftly enough to deflect it. "But we've gotta end this chase now. I don't want these two getting away... They're both Force-sensitive." Leia gulped in hearing that, and started looking about to form a plan while her brother focused on keeping them both in pursuit and alive.
It was then that she spotted some of the poorer district's many laundry lines. Calling on a cable with the Force, she took hold of the line and attached it to the Togruta's speeder by the back bumper. The Mirialan took note of this and started trying to shoot it off. Luke smirked when he saw that, and helped his sister in coordinating the other end, securing it to the front of his speeder.
And then he slammed on the breaks, stopping them safely by level 42.
Both twins were panting as they watched the Togruta and Mirialan slam their heads into the glass windshield. Their lack of movement made the twins smile with equally devilish grins.
"Nice call." Luke complimented his sister jovially, switching gears to pull the two speeders onto the roof of a restaurant one level up.
As the two speeders floated into park with a jerk, Luke and Leia hopped out of their silver speeder to assess the damage of the black one they'd been following. Both had a lightsaber in their hands and were moving carefully, probing the space tentatively with the Force as they moved.
The damage was extensive; the windshield was nonexistent, and the rear bumper was about to fall off. Pairing those with the damage from deflected blaster bolts, the vehicle looked more like Swiss cheese than it did a speeder. Luke only hoped his speeder was in better shape; he was actually afraid to look.
After a few moments, both stood straight up, abandoning their battle-ready stances. "I think they're out of it." Leia noted before the pop-screech of two lightsabers proved her wrong. Both warriors sprang to life, their eyes colored the intense inferno-yellow of an angry Sith. For the first time, Luke and Leia felt their distinct presence as practitioners of the dark side. The cold that ran down their spines almost froze them in their efforts to defend themselves... almost.
Igniting their lightsabers, the two of them waged war against these monsters. The Togruta faced off against Luke, his sharp teeth showing wide behind an angry snarl as he slashed at Luke with every swift movement he could think of. But Luke was a patient warrior, earned from years of things going wrong all the time, and he dodged and parried carefully while looking for an opening to end this conflict swiftly. "Foolish Skywalker!" the Togruta hissed, "You're no match for me!"
Luke smirked to himself, "I haven't heard that one before." He replied before the hole in his opponents stance became apparent and wide. He stepped back to stab at the man's shoulder, only to watch him dodge and return with another crescendo of slices and strikes.
Leia's opponent was no better or worse. She dance around Leia with a peculiar cackle, trying to keep the young warrior on her toes as she pushed her out of stance after stance. Leia wasn't as adept at lightsaber combat as Luke, and so she relied extensively on her stances to ground her, but this Mirialan saw through her moves and was trying to break her.
Rather than endure another change of pace, Leia grew frustrated and quickly reached out to grab a metal crate from a nearby platform. The Mirialan didn't see it coming until it nearly collided with her, which was all the distraction Leia needed to push her out of the offensive with her own series of strikes. Leia was about to corner her when the sudden cry of a male rang out on the rooftop.
Both she and the Mirialan turned their heads with a jerk, each hoping that the cry they heard was not their partner. To Leia's relief, Luke stood over the Togruta with his saber raised, with the pitiful orange man on the ground and curled over his arm in agony. Apparently her brother had severed most of his fingers from his hand, and thus ended the fight. Few could survive the shock of amputation, much less function with it.
With a string of curses, the Mirialan lunged forward and collected her partner. She swiftly started moving towards the edge of the roof.
Luke and Leia made to follow her, but were stopped in their tracks to deflect a sudden burst of lightning strikes from level 48. They glanced up to spot a green speeder angling down, a cloaked figure in the passenger seat while a droid drove. The assailants hopped in swiftly while the cloaked warrior continued to barrage Luke and Leia, going so far as to aim for Luke's speeder in the process.
And in an instant, they were gone.
Both twins glanced about the sky, hoping to spot something to help them, be it a speeder or police droid. When none became apparent, Luke sighed and returned to his now demolished vehicle.
"I'll call Divo." he volunteered when he suddenly stopped in his tracks with a hiss of pain.
With a great cry of agony, he put his hands over his face, where mysterious hand prints were forming over his cheeks. He shrieked and jerked, trying to pull the invisible threat from himself. All the while, he grew more tired. Exhausted even. Leia, help me!
Leia turned to him, sensing his alarm in the Force, and watched as her brother collapsed, his body seizing as he shouted into the night. "Get away from me!" Moments later, as Leia stood over him, the convulsions started.
Author's Note: I just wanted to say thank you to those of you who reacted to my story, especially with reviews, follows or favorites. This is my first time posting on and it is exciting to see all the responses. I did invent a few more things this chapter, Lady Anhilis being the most prominent, but also Representative Gomen Mato and all the luxuries in his apartment. Again, I will do my best to post when I can. In the meantime, please continue to respond and, especially, review!