Disclaimer: I do not own any of Star Wars, the right of ownership of Star Wars belong to Lucasfilm and I guess Disney too. The only thing I own is the characters you do not notice and the plot.
Chapter 9: Mark & Vader's 2nd Duel
Mark is piloting his Star Fighter quickly through the air of Bakura. He had gotten permission from the Deputy Prime Minister to fly his Starfighter through the air to get to where he knows Darth Vader is heading.
He senses through the Force that it is a flat out race between him and Darth Vader to the child that is strong in the Force. Mark passes over an area where he senses that Maxus is and notice a shuttle. He drops some proton missiles down around the area. He is guessing that Maxus Zane would be near the shuttle so to create confusion and not harm the twins he shot around it at a distance. He senses Anakin is also there. Darth Vader was gone. Mark made a sharp left turn so the bottom of his Starfighter was facing the right as he turns.
As Mark flies toward where he knows Darth Vader is heading to. He unzips the side of his seat and pulls out a spare Lightsaber. The last time he had faced Darth Vader he need two of his Lightsaber and that was barely enough.
Mark clips the Lightsaber to his belt as he approaches the site. Mark sense Darth Vader is there along with the force sensitive girl. He looks around and notices it is an abandon factory that has been in use back in 200 to 100 BBY. It is a known location for homeless people are people from other planets in the Outer Rim that have slavery. He lands his ship a mile from the old factory and walks up the path.
As he got closer and closer to the abandon factory the darkness he have sense earlier have increased greatly. The darkness he sense is very strong. It seems to be stronger since his last duel with Darth Vader. Then again, he knows Darth Vader hates him and he have been living in that hatred for 4 years. Who wouldn't hate the person who let lava burned you.
Mark walks around a curve and watches Darth Vader approaching a young red hair girl who was playing with a stick as her mother watches. Mark notice that they are wearing tatter cloths. They are either homeless or one of the few very poor people on Bakura.
The little girl senses the darkness coming to her and rushes toward her mother for protection. Darth Vader draws one of his light sabers and activates it. A bloody red plasma blade erupts.
"Who are you!" demanded the mother. When she notices the Lightsaber, her eyes widen. "Are you a Jedi?" ask the mother. Mark senses that the mother hopes it was a Jedi so that she can give her daughter a better life than the ones that they had.
"In ways I could be, but I am not. I am a Sith, now give me your daughter." say Darth Vader holding his palm out for the little girl to take. "Mommy! Baddy!" say the little girl as she points to Darth Vader as she snuggles closer to her mother. The mother got up and tries to run away from Darth Vader but something stop her from running.
Darth Vader use the Force to slams the mother into the abandon factory. The little girl falls to the ground. Darth Vader walks over to the mother who is laying on the ground in pain. He lifts her up with the Force. Her hands went to her throat. They make motions as if they were trying to grab some invisible hand that was chocking her. "Mommy!" whines the girl as she tries to attack the legs of Darth Vader.
"VADER LET HER GO!" snaps Mark as he steps out from his hiding place. Mark uses the Force to rip the mother from Darth Vader. She falls down to the ground gasping for air as Darth Vader turns around to face Mark. The little girl rushes toward her mother.
"Thought you would show up if I made my presence know. You have failed once more Mark. You have failed to kill me on Mustafar, you have failed to protect the Skywalker family and your own family, and you have failed to stop my forces for taking the Skywalker twins." say Darth Vader as his left hand tighten into a fist.
"What you value as failures, I view as mistakes that can and will be corrected. I should have know someone like you would not die on that planet. The Dark Side has corrupted you beyond anything." say Mark as he draws his Lightsaber. An electric blue plasma blade erupts from the hilt of his Lightsaber.
Darth Vader lunges at Mark with a powerful overhead swing. Mark uses the Force to guide himself away from the swing of Darth Vader. As he was moving backwards, Mark uses a Force Blindness to blind Darth Vader. The visor of Darth Vader mask was not fast enough to block most of the effect.
Mark notices his move hardly have enough effect on Darth Vader as he was intended to have. He looks at the helmet of Darth Vader. The visors must have some sort of adjustment to light. That can give him an edge if he works hard at it. If he can blinds Darth Vader fast enough when the visor adjust.
The ground underneath Mark exploded when Darth Vader raises his left palm. Darth Vader then sends Force Blast at Mark. Mark used the Force to guide him to lands on his feet. Then he creates an invisible wall with the Force, which was slammed with the Force Blast. With every impact, Mark can feel the impact slightly through his connection with the Force.
"Let me tell you something Vader, you will not get away with the Skywalker twins. I have outsmart you on that." say Mark. Darth Vader laughs as he sends some powerful Force Lightning at Mark. Mark blocks it with his Lightsaber. Mark uses the Force to send some large boulders at Darth Vader.
Darth Vader leaps up and kicks the large boulders with his leg. Due to the strength of his robotic legs, the boulders crack slightly. He uses the Force to engulf the boulders with fire and send it at Mark. Darth Vader also fire Force Blast and Force Lightning. If Mark has not train so hard to be strong with the Force, that combinations would have been very tough.
Mark uses the Force to form a light blue bubble around him. The ability is called Protection Bubble. Mark let the bubble go after he did not need it. Darth Vader leaps at him. Mark sidesteps him and slashes at Darth Vader who easily blocks it and Darth Vader unleashes a powerful wave of Force Lightning at Mark. The attack came so fast that Mark did not manage to block it. Mark screams in pain as he feels his muscles contract a bit for the powerful Force Lightning.
Darth Vader fires a powerful Force Blast at Mark. It nails Mark in the stomach and he landed hard on the ground about a quarter of mile away. Darth Vader walks down the path slowly. He waits to see if Mark was going to stand up.
When Mark attempt to stand up, Darth Vader launches a highly powerful Force Lightning. This Force Lightning burns the air and when it hit the stone pathway, it melted the rock. Mark uses the Force to slide out of the way. Mark kicks up from the ground and landed on his feet.
"It seems that I am better than you. You did not land an attack on me yet and look at the damage you have taken." say Darth Vader as he walks toward Mark and tries to behead him. Darth Vader blocks an attack that Mark tried to attempt to use against him.
Mark uses a powerful Force Push on Darth Vader, which sends him flying backwards as it uprooted some trees and pushes the ground in front of him up like a wave. Mark than use the Force to leap at Darth Vader. As they were in the air, both Darth Vader and Mark exchanges blows with their Lightsaber.
Both Mark and Darth Vader landed hard on the ground, despite the pain they were both up and locking blades once more in their life. "You will die!" snaps Darth Vader as he kicks Mark in the chest. It feels like the air was knocked out of him. Darth Vader then lunges forward to stab Mark. Mark drops to his knees and use the Force to push the plasma blade back into the hilt as it closes onto his hand. Once the blade was in the hilt, Mark used the Force to send Darth Vader flying into the abandon factory.
Mark rubs his chest it still hurts from the kick Darth Vader gave him. His memory flashes back to the battle that had happen on Mustafar back. He remembers cutting Darth Vader's legs off. So obviously, he had cybernetic replacement for his missing limbs.
The abandon factory crumbles into a ball. Mark sense Darth Vader is using the Force. The edges of the ball is now ablaze. Mark eyes widen as the ball came at him at a very fast speed. Mark leaps out of the way just in time. Head of heels he went down a little hill. Mark used the Force to slow him down before he falls off a cliff that leads to water that is about a mile and half bellow him. He breathes deeply. There was no way; even with the Force would he live through that fall.
Mark climbs up the hill and as soon as he got on top, he was attacked by Darth Vader. He just barely blocks Darth Vader's Lightsaber. The black armor over the wrist of his left arm extends into claws. Darth Vader made a slash with the claws. The super sharp claws slashes through Mark's robes and slash his torso a bit.
Mark tries to ignore the pain, but Darth Vader took advantage of Mark's moment of weakness. He swings his Lightsaber in attempts to behead Mark. Mark sidesteps the attack a bit and blocks the attack.
Darth Vader raises his hand at the mother of the young girl. As if she knew something bad would happen, the mother pushes her baby girl out of the way. "Stay!" shout the mother. "Mommy!" say the little girl.
Mark senses what Darth Vader is trying to do. He was going to use Force Destruction. The ground ripples as the powerful dark force ripples through the air. Mark uses the Force to speed up his run. He got in front of the girls. Mark raises his arms to his side and focus. A blue bubble appears around them. Mark hopes a Protection Bubble could help out. He could have try to absorb the power to use to boost his power and send a powerful attack with the Force at Darth Vader, but no one attempted to absorb an move like Force Destruction.
The little girl's emerald green eyes widen as she senses how powerful the stranger is standing in front of her. Even through she know little about the Force and too young to understand some of the things, she knows whoever is trying to protect her and her mother is one of good people in the galaxy.
"You two be ready to run in case if this failed. Hopefully I am able to block it, but if the shield goes down, you two run!" say Mark while concreting on the Force. He knows the Force Destruction is seconds away from him.
As Darth Vader's attack nears, Mark closes his eyes and put a lot more Force into the bubble. Sweat begins to pour down his face.
Mark felt a strong tremor through the Force as the Force Destruction nails his projection bubble. It is barely holding up. Come on one a few more seconds. The blue bubble of light begins to have cracks in it. When the attack is done, Mark falls down to his knees. The mother catches him before he falls down on the hard ground.
Darth Vader walks over to him. Mark watches as Darth Vader approaches them. Mark used the Force to create an illusion that there are bunch of Clone Soldiers and Jedi around. "You do not have to do something like that, Zane. You are weak, I will not kill you. I will kill you when you are on top of your game, but your stupidness into protecting them had stop me from killing you." say Darth Vader as he leans closer to Mark. His facemask separated to reveal his burnt, scared up face.
"I want you dead as much as Sidious wanted you dead for doing this to me, but I do not want to take you down when you are weak. I should have killed you before you fall down that hill. I want to kill you when you have are on defensive not like this. I will prove to the galaxy that I am nothing like you." say Darth Vader standing up.
"So there is good in you. A Jedi never kills some who is defenseless." say Mark. "Oh do not get me wrong Zane; I am far from a Jedi. You should know that by know. I killed that pathetic Jedi Knight when she was talking to you back at the temple. It just you are a special case." say Darth Vader as he reaches for the girl.
Mark uses the Force to push him away. Mark struggle to stands up. He uses the Force to summon his Lightsaber. "I am not done." say Mark. "You might not but I am. Have that pathetic girl. She is not as strong as the Skywalker twins are together. Next time, Zane when you are on top of your game I will not toy with you. I will kill you and prove that I am the best." say Darth Vader.
Mark's Lightsaber falls out of his hand and landed on the ground deactivate. He falls down to his knees. Mark presses a button on the spared Comlink that he got from his Starfighter. A red light flashes a bit. It is a homing beacon.
"Who are you?" ask the mother. "Jedi Master Mark Alan Zane." say Mark. The mother eyes widen as she heard the name of one of the most famous modern Jedi. The Hero of the Republic saved them.
"Who are you?" ask Mark lightly. "I am Maria Jade and this is my daughter Mara Jade. Yes, I know our names are not so different it was my husband idea. Thought it was funny." say Maria Jade with a slight sense of humor.
Maria Jade have long golden red hair, similar to her daughters, she have bright green eyes, stands at 5ft 3in, B size breasts, thin, with a slight muscle tone on her body but have a feminine look to it.
"Mommy, who is?" ask Mara looking from her mother to the tall man who head is laying on her hands, which are on her lap. Maria looks down to her daughter with a slight smile on her face. "He is one of the good guys. He's a Jedi." say Maria.
They hear a ship flying around them. Maria looks up and notices it is Low Altitude Assault Transport or LAAT for short flying down. They saw people in white armor with various colors or pattern on their armor walk out. They seem to be led by a guy in white armor that has a red X on his torso part of his armor.
"Get him aboard the ship now!" say the guy in the red X armor. He looks down at the red hair mother and daughter. "I am Clone Captain Kia of the 3rd Legion of the Grand Army of the Republic." say Captain Kia as he helps them up and get aboard the ship. He than looks down to a radar he was holding. He is picking up signals of Mark's Starfighter a mile away.
He walks to one of the Clones that are standing around Mark on a Hovergurney. "I need you to pilot General Zane's Star Fighter back to the Cruiser." say Captain Kia. The Clone went off to do what he was told. Captain Kia grabs a hold of a ring from the ceiling.
Captain Kia looks out the doors as they take off from the ground. He just hopes everything went okay for Anakin. The troops around the shuttle that Darth Vader had arrive in seem to have some amount of troops with them. He knows some of them would be more dangerous because he saw those carrying Lightsabers. A gut feeling is telling him that Darth Vader is trying to start a war of some sorts with the Republic.
At that thought, Captain Kia looks back to Mark who was laying on the Hovergurney. If Darth Vader could hurt Mark like that, it makes him worry. It appears besides a few cuts, bruises and maybe some broken bones, Mark is just exhausted more than he is in physical pain.
He listens to Maria telling him what had happen between Mark and Darth Vader before they arrive. She told him how Darth Vader wanted her baby girl because of how strong she is with the Force. The strangest part was how after Mark protected them, he did not want Mara.
Okay I had a little problem to find out what is Mara Jade hair color. Is it golden red, dark red, or flaming red. I did some research and it seem like both of them are right. When Timothy Zahn, the creator of Mara Jade Skywalker, created her in one of his books. He stated that she have a golden red hair, which is back by a lot of fans. Then there was some comic book, I do not know the name, but her hair was a dark red. And according to Wookiepedia in the character information it states she have flaming red hair that later became gray, but the picture above that information it not what I see as flaming red but dark red.
So due to Timothy Zahn is the creator of her and he stated that she has golden red hair, that is the type of her she will have. For me imaging it, golden red looks better than that ugly dark red picture of her on Wookepedia. Seriously go to Wookiepedia and type Mara Jade Skywalker in the search bar and go to her page. The first image show you an dark hair color which is what I do not view as flaming red. Also on that page are bunch of different pictures having dark red hair color or golden red hair color. So that subject is a bit strange.
A short one on Mara Jade's mother. Since there is no information about them, I have made my own character. I thought it would be good idea to play with Mara's name to get her mother's name: Maria. I like the sound of it.
Next Chapter, we will see what happens to the Skywalker Twins.
Until then, enjoy.