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Chapter 6: Unsatisfied

Mara's stolen shuttle exited hyperspace above the planet Cato Neimoidia exactly an hour an half after she had entered hyperspace.

Taking the ship down into the atmosphere she kept a steady altitude of one thousand feet. She was going to go over the base and land, though she was somewhat concerned the smugglers may want to shoot her down since she was, after all, piloting a Lambda class shuttle.

Instead of immediately shooting at her, when she reached a shop over the base and began to descend her comm crackled and Alecto's voice filtered through.

"Imperial shuttle, this is Alecto, administrator of the base below you. You are hereby ordered to land in the clear square between the building or be shot down. Acknowledge."

"Save it." Mara snapped. "This is a stolen shuttle."

"Damn it Jade! You scared the hell out of us. Why didn't you transmit any ID signature?"

"Pay back. I was almost killed when I assassinated that guy."

"Yeah whatever. You're not dead now are you?"

"I suppose not, considering the fact I am talking with you."

"Just land, we'll talk more in a while. Come into the lounge again, I'll be waiting."

"Whatever."

Mara cut the connection abruptly, and ran her hand over to the landing gear controls. The struts ejected just in time as the shuttle touched down. Mara forgot how sluggish they could be. The flicked a switch near the front of the control board, the ramp of the shuttle began to drop, indicated by the hydraulic hissing. Mara stepped out of the cockpit and walked down the ramp, pushing past her escort and heading to the large building. The doors pulled back in front of her and she stepped into the lounge. There again was Alecto, her legs elevated comfortably onto the table.

She looked at Mara and smiled, gesturing for her to take a seat. Mara complied, crossing her legs when she sat down.

"Now," Mara said, slipping something out of her pocket and putting it on the table, still covered by her hand. Alecto put her feet down. "to business."

Mara pulled her had away, revealing the enormous ring the merchant used to wear. When he was alive. Alecto snatched it up and put it in a pouch on her belt, hidden away by her voluminous jacket.

"Yes to business."

"Excellent. Now, when can you arrange my meeting?" Mara asked. Finally she would be able to talk to Kallisto. For the first time in a long time a smile graced her fine features.

"Oh, no, no, no, no, no. Not yet sweetie. I am… still not satisfied."

Mara's smiled faded as quickly as it had appeared.

"What do you mean you are still not satisfied? We had a deal, keep your end of it or I'm going to be very displeased."

"Ha, ha, ha! You would try and kill me? Even if you did you'd have to take one about four dozen heavily armed smugglers, and then you'd never be able to talk to Kallisto."

"But I killed him, and I almost got killed myself!" Mara hissed.

"And that is why I remain unsatisfied." Alecto replied. "That is why I am still unsatisfied. The job you did was to… messy."

"What did you expect! The man had his own damn security force!"

"I expected you to be a good assassin."

"You know what? I don't give a bantha's a—"

"Yeah well, I don't give one either. So you can do one more favor for me, and you can do it right. Or you can skulk back to whatever hole you crawled out of and never meet Kallisto."

A fire ignited in Mara's gut. She nearly reached for her lightsaber. But it was her excellent self control that stopped her. Instead she gritted her teeth, scowled, pushed back a number of retorts and insults that were threatening to erupt from her, and folded her hands on the table, so tightly her knuckles turned white.

"What other favor could I possibly do?" Mara asked quietly

"I got a shipment of death stick. They need to be delivered to Jabba the Hutt on Tatooine. I want two million credits. Make Jabba settle for it."

"No deal! I am not a delivery woman!"

"Then you can leave and not meet Kallisto."

"Ugh! Don't you have some other way? Something a bit less, idiotic?"

"Hmm…" Alecto muttered, stroking her chin. "Perhaps you can do something. If you're up to the challenge."

Mara frowned. Hopefully this challenge would be easy, she didn't have time to do something insanely difficult. However Alecto's tone of voice was doing well to convince her otherwise.

"What challenge exactly?" Mara asked.

"It gets dull around here." Alecto began.

Mara rolled her eyes. "Don't tell me you want a game of sabacc."

"Pfh. Sabacc is the stupidest of card games, I am caught up in the ancient times. I like pazzak."

"Does anyone actually remember how to play it."

"Maybe. Let's just get back to the point. It gets dull around here—"

"We've established that already." Mara interrupted, a smile on her face now that she had gotten a chance to be rude as well.

"I am not finished." Alecto hissed. "It gets dull around here, and I practice the ancient art of sword fighting."

"You use swords? I didn't think they existed anymore, I thought everyone used vibro blades."

"I'm not finished. I do use vibro blades, and as I said I practice the ancient art of sword fighting. Only problem is no one else around here does so I never get a good duel. Sometimes Kallisto likes to but I usually best her. Don't get me wrong she's a good—"

"Are you finished with your life story yet? I get it alright. You want me to duel you and if I win you'll take me to see Kallisto."

"Exactly."

"I accept. Prepare to lose." Mara said, reaching for her lightsaber.

"Not yet! The rules state each participant of the duel takes one hour to prepare themselves."

"That's ridiculous. What moron invented that rule."

"I did. Now," Alecto waved her hand and a guard came up beside Mara.

"He will show you to your temporary quarters. When the hour is up we will duel, with no audience."

"So I have to trust the honor of a smuggler?"

"And I have to trust the honor of a spy and assassin."

XxX

"You're not trying hard enough!" A voice roared, Mara sat up in bed. The decided to take a cat nap for the time Alecto gave her. She scanned the dark room, searching for the source of the voice.

"Avenge me. Kill Skywalker and Vader!"

Mara jumped up onto the floor and reached for her lightsaber, activating its blade.

"Where the hell are you!"

"Has it been so long that you have forgotten?"

Mara swung her lightsaber behind her, where the sound of the voice was coming from, but it ran through thin air.

"Get out of here!" She cried.

"I am not in here, therefore I cannot get out Mara Jade. You know who I am. Are you so fearful as to admit it?"

Mara slumped to the edge of the bed, dropping her blade which deactivated as it hit the floor, singing the carpet.

"No."

"No?"

"I am not afraid to admit it. Will you leave me alone?"

"Are you not alone?" The voice echoed. "You are alone, I am a voice inside your head. Do you not remember?"

"I remember, but it was never like this." Mara replied.

"Of course not. Our bond was strong yes, we could speak to each other this way, but only when I died did I truly develop the technique."

"Get out of my head!"

"Avenge me!"

"I am! I want to kill Skywalker, he left me with nothing after he killed you."

"Good, good. Your hate makes you powerful. Use it to kill Skywalker, stop dealing with that imbecile and find him!"

"Damn it I can't!" Mara cried, her eyes glassy. "I need help. Can't you do something?"

"I have no influence in the world Mara, only through you. You are my hand."

"Leave me alone. I'll kill him soon enough."

"Yes, you will."

Mara did not reply, and when the voice did not speak again she stood up, brushing her hair out of her face. Damn him! She had heard his voice inside her head for the past few months now. Ever since his death. In frustration she picked up the small chrono and hurled it at the mirror of the room, shattering it. She was beginning to hate Palpatine. A while ago she would have said she wanted to kill Darth Ravan to avenge his death. Now it was different, if she didn't kill Darth Ravan the voices were going to drive her insane. She had to kill him, for herself. Maybe then the former Emperor would stop tormenting her and she could find peace.

At that moment her door slid open and a man stepped in. He was scruffy and tall. He looked exactly like what you think of when you hear the word smuggler.

"It is time."

XxX

Alecto was true to her word. The guard had led Mara to the second floor of the building, into a storage room that had become a make shift sparring room. Mara entered it as the guard left, Alecto was the only one in there. She wore no leather jacket this time, the only thing she was wearing that Mara always saw her in was the tight shirt, now she wore matching pants and light combat boots. Her hair was still in the same ponytail it always was. She also wore a pair of light fingerless gloves on each hand, skin tight. In each of those gloved hands she bore a vibro blade, both looked completely identical.

"Welcome." Alecto said. "Do you want to verbally joust first or shall we get right to it?"

"I'm ready." Mara replied, pulling out her lightsaber and activating it in one quick movement.

"Oh, no, no, no, no." Alecto cried that was one of her usual phrases which got rather annoying. "No lightsabers. I told you we be fighting with vibro blades."

Alecto tossed one to Mara. She caught it in mid air, reluctantly she deactivated her lightsaber and switched the vibro blade on, it hummed silently and shook somewhat as it began to vibrate.

"Your move." Mara said to Alecto.

Alecto smiled, put both hands on her blade and angled it low, pointing it behind her in a stance Mara had seen a few times before. It was an ancient form of swordplay, better used with a katana. Alecto ran at Mara, stopping a few paces away and bringing to sword into an uppercut. Mara leaped back and slashed with her blade at Alecto waist line, spinning she whacked it out of the way. Alecto turned her entire body towards Mara and raised her blade, a big mistake. Perhaps Alecto was not as good in swordplay as she made herself out to be. Mara ran her blade inches away from Alecto's stomach, mimicking a cut.

"You lose." Mara said, rather disappointed. She wanted the duel to last longer. Alecto dropped her blade.

"Damn it. I thought you were going to be easy."

"Are you blind?" Mara asked, pointing to her lightsaber and dropping her blade as well. "I can use a lightsaber. It is hard to use a lightsaber. I am no amateur."

"I see that. I guess you win." Alecto sighed. "When do you want to leave to meet Kallisto?"

Mara smiled. "How soon can you take me there?"

Sorry the duel was so short, but its not like I can just whip up fighting scenes like that (snaps fingers). It takes time and thinking and its not easy, at all. By the way Alecto was going into some Japanese form of sword fighting a saw on a movie or TV or something.