Chapter 21
Rakata Prime
The Oubliette-class transport, now called the Night Buzzard, jumped out of hyperspace. It drifted by several large chunks of asteroids as it headed to Rakata Prime. "The tracker says that Skywalker is a few meters away from us", Mara explained, "Their ship is in low power. They're most likely sleeping". Ragnos took this in as he observed the assassin. "Power down the shuttle. We'll rest here for tonight", Ragnos said as he instructed the knights to leave him and Baylon. Mara got up and headed to her small room, far from the others. Mara's room was small, and lacked any sense of decorations. Having only received the shuttle a couple of days ago, it made sense that she wouldn't have touched anything. Mara placed her holoprojector on the table next to her bed. It activated as soon as it hit the surface. The image of Gallius Rax reappeared in front of her. "Aassasin, its been a while since your last report", Rax said in an unamused tone. "Like I said in my previous report Rax, I've been busy", Mara spatted back as she avoided looking at the man. "Hopefully this report has added something new to the dreary excuse back on Korriban?", Rax questioned the assassin. Mara huffed as she turned around and faced the man. "I've followed Skywalker to these coordinates. And judging by the audio I planted on him, this is his last stop", Mara explained to the fleet admiral.
Rax studied her expression for a second, before speaking in a colder tone. "You have 48 hours to bring me Thrawn alive. Captain Canady will be waiting for you at the rendezvous point", Rax declared. Mara turned to face the fleet admiral, "Wait!", she said in desperation, "How do we know if Thrawn is even alive at this point? I'm going to need backup just to face Skywalker". Rax gave Mara a cold smile, "The Chimera went missing a year prior to the Death Star's destruction on Yavin IV. However it kept receiving transmissions till our victory on Hoth. I'm sure that he is very much alive. As for Skywalker, I'm sure you and your band of misfits can handle him. Do me a favor and simply follow orders Assassin. You already know the punishment for failure". Mara instinctively reached for her neck, the inhibitor chip planted in her vibrated softly. "I won't fail", Mara said calmly looking directly at Rax, "I will bring Thrawn and the crew of the Chimera alive. And have Skywalker's head". Rax mumbled as he heard Mara's words, "We shall see...we shall see", he replied in a menacing voice before disconnecting. Mara sat alone in the dark. The only light was the holoprojector on the table. Mara let out a deep breath as she contemplated on her plan. Her main goal was to kill Luke Skywalker. But with everything that happened, she was no longer certain if she could carry out her plan. With the sudden return of Marka Ragnos and Baylon's blind loyalty to him like a stray lothal cat, she was sure her desire for revenge will not be allowed. "Should've killed him when I had the chance", Mara scolded at herself. It was true, she had his weapon in her hand when they were on the platform on Coruscant. One quick stabbing motion would've been enough to end him. But something inside her told her not to do it. The voice inside her head claimed that she needed him alive for now. She needed to get rid of Ragnos, and if it meant having to kill Baylon and his Knights, then so be it.
Her door suddenly opened, Mara winced as the light from outside stung her eyes. "Hey", Baylon said as he walked in. "What do you want?", Mara asked annoyed. She just wanted to be alone, away from the Knights of Ren, away from Marka Ragnos, away from everyone. "Just checking up on you", Baylon replied softly, "You've been quiet recently, want to talk things out?", he asked as he sat next to her. Mara hesitated as she didn't want to really talk at the moment. Baylon looked around the room, eyeing Mara's holoprojector on the table. He went to grab it, when Mara's hand suddenly stopped him. "Don't", she said defensively. This sudden motion activated the projector. It opened an image, one that sent pain to Mara's heart. The image was of a young Mara Jade smiling proudly, at the age of 16, she had just graduated from the imperial academy on Coruscant. She stood there in the middle of the picture, Darth Vader, Gallius Rax and Emperor Palpatine looming in the background. Next to her were two individuals on both sides. A young man and woman only three years older than her stood proudly. The aurebesh letters reading: Proud to be the Emperor's Hand. "Galen Marek and Juno Eclipse", Baylon said identifying the pair. Mara quickly turned off the projector and put it back in her pocket. "I see you still care about them, even after they betrayed the Emperor", Baylon said in disgust. "They may have betrayed everything I believed in, but they were still family", Mara argued. Baylon simply chuckled at the amusement presented to him, she was easily manipulated by him. She showed him the image she was trained to forget. The lies she was led to believe by so many. This would certainly serve his purpose.
"I hope you aren't planning to kill Skywalker", Baylon suddenly said. Mara looked away, as she slowly moved away from him. "That was the initial plan. You even agreed to it!", Mara yelled at him. "I have", Baylon nonchalantly agreed, "And I still do. But once Ragnos takes over Skywalker's body, I will learn all the teachings of the sith. And once I am powerful enough to challenge him, that's when I'll kill Luke Skywalker". Mara huffed as she got up from her bed and went to occupy herself with a weapon. "I don't. are if you want to be a sith or not. I'm just doing it for revenge", Mara said raising her voice, "And I won't stop until the head of Luke Skywalker dangles from my hand. Not even you will be able to stop me", she said darkly. "Look at you, so gullible", Baylon stated in disgust, "You believe every word that comes out of your mouth, and yet you still believe that Galen truly cared about you". Mara let out a loud cry as she pushed Baylon out of her room. Baylon fell to the floor, quickly moving his feet before the door. slammed shut. He laid there, on the floor smiling under his mask. He had managed to brake her to reveal her true intentions.
Baylon limped back to Ragnos, who was staring at the nava-computer. It displayed the T-6 Shuttle just 100 meters away, drifting in the vacuum of space. "So, did you get the confession?", Ragnos asked the Knight. "In a way", Zyon simply stated, "You were right. She plans on betraying us for her own pleasure". Ragnos simply took this in, he would've been proud to see that betrayal still ran in the sith teachings. But now was no time to teach, he may be physically limited, but with Skywalker being the last Jedi, he could already imagine the endless possibilities to bring in a new Sith Order. "Revenge is merely temporary. But the sith ideology is eternal. She must see beyond the act of selfishness and see the true power of the dark side", Ragnos said as he clenched his fist, "When the time comes, you shall strike her down". Zyon hesitated to respond. He didn't want to hurt her, but no weakling shall survive. "Your personal feelings won't get in the way?", Ragnos asked menacingly, he slowly turned around to face the Master of the Knights of Ren. "She means nothing to me", Baylon replied. "Good", Ragnos said showing a toothy grin, "Good. Now go and rest, tomorrow is a big day". Baylon bowed down before heading back to the shared room with his knights to rest.
Ragnos turned back into the cockpit, watching as the T-6 slowly drifted towards the planet. He brushed his hand against the holographic image of the jedi shuttle. "Oh Skywalker", Ragnos said deeply, "Tomorrow is truly a day of the sith. And nothing can stop us".