She couldn't clearly recall a time before she had come into the Emperor's service. She must have been young when she had been delivered to him. Four, five… she only had the vaguest, fractured and scattered handful of memories that she wasn't even entirely sure were hers. They could have been stories from some of her earliest training. Different personas crafted so that she could rattle off the details as if she'd lived them. In the end it didn't matter. She wouldn't trade any of her training to know for sure. It had saved her life countless times. It had taught her to be ice cold under pressure, to shift and flow with whatever situation was thrown at her. Even in the most dangerous of situations, Mara Jade did not panic. One of her first lessons had been that there was no such thing as being cornered. She should be able to work her way around and out of any situation, and she had. Time and time again.
Granted, it had never gone particularly well when trying to work her way around Darth Vader.
Mara crushed the building anxiety that was buzzing in her chest and pushed herself into action. The Wookie indicated that there were storage compartments under the flooring that were designed to shield against most Imperial scanning equipment. She and Luke ducked into the pitch black space and he was close enough that she could feel his warm breath against her skin. Then it struck her: it was his anxiety she was picking up on. Even as he closed his mental barriers tight against any Force-sensitive in the area, she could feel the worry and the stress building up inside of him. If they were caught, it wouldn't be pleasant, but there was something more about all of this than just a curiosity about his mother.
She reached a hand out in the darkness, finding his and her fingers curled around it. Mara didn't say a word, but instead worked through her own calming exercises. Bit by bit, just as his anxiety had crept into her mind, her calm seemed to take hold in his. By the time the ramp was lowered and the sound of stormtroopers boarding could be heard, both of them sat utterly still and calm, their hands clasped together as a physical link.
Solo could be heard in a muffled sort of way above as he chatted with the stormtroopers and showed them around his ship. She strained to catch and make sense of the words, but the further away he moved, the more difficult that became.
Finally the footsteps returned and she could hear Solo thank them as if they'd done him a favour. The steps retreated back down the ramp and they waited. One minute, two, three… Mara lost count by the time the slab of permasteel was pulled away and light flooded into the hidden compartment. The Wookie roared and Solo looked pleased with himself. He lifted an amused eyebrow and Mara realized she and Luke were still holding hands. She released his and he flushed ever so slightly, scrambling out to regain his composure.
"He can put it back if ya need a few minutes," Solo offered and Luke stood, the dark poncho he wore falling back into place over his hidden lightsaber. It seemed to catch Solo's eye and the flustered expression Luke wore was instantly hidden behind a mask of icy calm and Solo held his hands up in mock surrender. "Or not. Listen… whatever's going on here is your business. Mine is getting you two in safe and I've done that." He waited a moment as if sizing up the situation and his focus fell on Mara. "So that makes us even, sweetheart."
She held his gaze for a long moment, letting him squirm just a little in his uncertainty. "That makes us even."
Luke fell into step with her as they exited the ship, the pathway remarkably clear of nosy Imperials. He moved closer and his voice was low as he spoke. "What is it that makes you think that he won't turn around and give one of the units stationed here our description?"
"Because it's my job to read people, and that man wants to get as far away from us as quickly as he can."
"Hope you're right." He started towards the spaceport exit that would lead them into the capital city of Theed and Mara caught his wrist. He turned a questioning look on her.
"Just because we were able to slip past a boarding crew doesn't mean anything's changed. Your father's still here. It'll be a lot easier to get out than it was getting in, but not if something tips him off."
They both knew the underlying meaning: If Vader sensed Luke's presence just as Luke and sensed Vader's.
Luke pulled in a deep, calming breath and his eyes fluttered closed for a moment. She let him search for whatever he was searching for, the crowds parting in either direction around them. Finally, blue eyes opened and there was a calmness of his own that settled in to push out the remaining anxiety. "This is the time," he said firmly and she nodded.
"Alright. Let's pay Sola Naberrie a visit."
—
It was no wonder there had been riots on Naboo. The planet was ripe for rebels to worm their way in and stoke malcontent. The Queen was a quivering mouse while the Imperial officer in charge of overseeing their presence on the planet was far more interested in his own career trajectory than anything else. Colonel Bardok practically groveled at Vader's feet upon arrival, wasting precious time by listing off what he must have believed were the highlights of a successful career. Somehow the fact that he'd been chasing down these rebels for over a year now was a point in his favour, at least in his mind. He had made a handful of arrests that hadn't led anywhere useful, and when pressed on them, Vader instantly saw the common factor in each case.
"Tell me," Vader drawled out, "what power does the Senator hold over your men here?"
Bardok stuttered to a stop in the middle of an increasingly useless tangent. "My lord?"
"In each case you failed to glean any information due to the senator's intervention."
"They have a constitution, my lord. Their representatives—"
"Serve at the Emperor's pleasure," Vader said lowly. "And they are no longer part of this investigation. Nor will you be, should you continue to fail me."
He waited until Bardok - finally seeming to understand the weight of the situation he was facing - swallowed hard and nodded.
"You will detain those you previously released on the senator's command."
"Naberrie," the colonel said quietly.
Vader turned to face the insufferable man, pulling himself up to his full height to tower over him.
"I thought perhaps you'd forgotten her name… since you didn't use it?" the smaller man managed.
"Her name does not matter," Vader snarled, more intensity than he'd really intended to add to the words. "Only that she does not interfere. Now go. I expect the arrests to be made by sundown."
He turned, cape whipping out and curling around his boots as he strode forward, allowing himself to sink a little further into his darkness to drive away the ghosts that threatened in every corner of the palace.
He didn't know what to expect. Not from his mother's homeworld or from her family. All Luke knew was that he needed to be there. He needed to see her face and he couldn't put it off any longer. Mara clearly wasn't thrilled with the decision, but she was with him still as they moved through the city of Theed with their hoods shadowing their faces.
Mara had found more concrete information on Sola than she had on Padme from Imperial records. She had a home address and a separate address for a small clothing design business that she ran. She and her daughters had moved to Theed several years before from the Lake Country when Sola's father's health had declined. The move had brought them closer to Sola's older daughter who served in the Imperial Senate.
Luke didn't know what to expect, but as they entered the small shop called House of Naboo, he was relatively sure he hadn't expected to see a holoprojection on display for all to see at the counter to the side of the shop. He moved towards it, Mara hissing his name behind him, but it was like he was on autopilot. He couldn't stop the forward motion. Instead, step by step, he was drawn to the projection, his gaze fixed on it. A petite woman dressed in the flowing, seemingly traditional Naboo garb he'd seen so many women wear on their walk from the spaceport. The colours were soft - pastel - and the sleeves seemed to ripple in the wind as she appeared to wave whoever had recorded the projection off. But there was no real irritation in her expression. Her smile appeared genuine and it reached her dark eyes. As Luke stood watching the brief clip of his long-dead mother, she ducked down in a laugh that he could almost hear and turned to look directly at him.
For just a moment, he could have sworn he was looking at Leia Organa.
"She was my sister," a voice said from behind him, startling Luke out of staring. He turned and found Sola Naberrie standing behind him with the same kind smile - albeit a bit more subdued - as Padme wore in the holoprojection.
"Oh," Luke managed, his voice small and choked by emotion. "She was beautiful."
"She was," Sola answered, a hint of sadness in her voice. "This was taken by a dear friend of hers a few years before we lost her."
Luke looked back, the projection having looped back around to where she was waving someone off as if to say she didn't want the image captured. "How'd she die?"
"I didn't say that she died."
"Didn't she? You mentioned her in past tense ..."
Sola huffed a small laugh as if she'd been testing him and, despite a reasonable response, he'd still felt like he had failed. "She died in the Jedi Purge."
"After the Jedi betrayed the Emperor?"
"Yes," Sola answered in a way that made Luke wonder if she might be one of those conspiracy theorists that always had a different story when it came to that day. Somehow, no matter how different each theory might be, the common factor was a love for the traitors. "My sister was a senator of the Republic and was…. close with one of the Jedi. I've always wondered if she was caught in the crosshairs. He actually recorded that holo." She tilted her head, her tone strange. "I'll admit, when I saw you standing there I thought perhaps he'd survived after all."
Luke's fingers touched the hem of his poncho, regretting the decision as it was clearly closer to old Jedi garb than the dress of the locals of Naboo.
"Oh no. You look so much like him. You could have been related."
The young Imperial looked back to the holo, his mother's image laughing at Anakin Skywalker on the other side of the recorder. Padme had been happy there. She'd laughed with his father. Loved him. Despite the chill it pulled from him, he tried to imagine the face of the memory on the Shadow Planet on the other side of the looped image, laughing and teasing her. Happy. At peace. There must have been a time, right? Surely his father hadn't always been in pain that he unleashed on the galaxy around him.
"Forgive me," Sola said, what Luke had to assume was a false cheer in her voice. "You didn't come in here to hear old stories. I assume you're shopping for your redheaded friend over there?"
Luke glanced to where Mara had busied herself in his distraction, appearing to look at a dress that he wished she would purchase. Maybe she could wear it next time their missions crossed and they had to blend in.
"She has good taste. That colour matches her eyes."
"How much?" Luke asked.
"Usually it's one thousand credits, but I'll give you a deal. Eight fifty."
The front door to the shop burst open, gaining everyone inside's attention. A man rushed in, his face flushed, and he looked around the shop before his dark eyes came to rest on Sola. "Where is she?"
Even when he risked reaching out through the Force, Sola was calm. "On a fabric run for her mother."
The man turned to look at Luke. "You need to go. The shop's closed."
"My shop is not closed," Sola countered and offered Luke a smile. "Please, take your time. Kelan, this way?"
Luke watched, ready to find a new position in the store to eavesdrop on the conversation, but Mara's hand came to rest on his arm. "You got what you came for. Let's go."
He looked back to where Sola and Kelan had stepped back to a small alcove in the shop, Kelan explaining something in a flustered and frustrated manner. For her part, Sola simply listened. She didn't appear worried or ruffled, only nodding every few words as if to placate him.
"Luke," Mara urged quietly and he sighed, turning to leave with her.
The door to the shop popped open as they started for the exit, three stormtroopers and an Imperial officer blocking their exit. Luke froze, staring at an officer he didn't know and wondering if he'd be recognized as Vader's son who had no reasonable excuse to be on Naboo at the moment without his father's knowledge. His answer came quickly enough in the way the officer flicked his hand and a stormtrooper moved between him and Mara, aggressively pulling them further back into the shop. "No one leaves until Kelan Marrisser is found," the officer drawled. "Where is he?"
Luke and Mara both gave innocent shrugs, making themselves as small and insignificant as they could. They both outranked him, so he clearly didn't have a clue who they were.
"Excuse me," Sola greeted sternly as she rounded back into the main shop room alone. "May I help you, Colonel?"
The colonel signaled another stormtrooper and he brushed past her in the direction she'd come from.
Sola turned a furious look on the Imperial. "You have no right! When the senator hears about this —"
"Your daughter can't save you now," the colonel said. "Not if you're harboring a fugitive. Your younger daughter's friend, isn't he? We'll be taking a closer look at her as well."
Shouts could be heard from the back and Luke felt Mara tense at his side. It was a warning to stay still and let things play out. To interfere would be to shine a light on them that he wouldn't be able to snuff out, and it wasn't just him. She had come with him without her Master's knowledge or approval. She'd taken that risk for him.
The stormtrooper returned with Kelan slung unconscious over his shoulder.
"Mom, we got the colours you —" a voice called out as the front door opened again, revealing a young woman with her arms full of fabrics. She looked a great deal like the image of Padme. Like Leia. This must have been the younger daughter, and with her was an elderly man that looked just as startled as the girl. For her, though, the shock hardened into anger when she saw Kelan. "What did you do to him?"
"We have a few questions for him. And you. Resist and you'll get the same treatment," the colonel said.
"Pooja," Sola managed, sounding frightened for the first time. "Come here. Dad —" she directed at the older man, but his eyes were fixed on Luke. A fact that he became acutely aware of as soon as he glanced his way. It was like he'd seen a ghost.
And then all of a sudden, tears filled his eyes and he smiled, taking a step forward. "Anakin," he laughed. "Anakin Skywalker. You've brought my girl home to us? You've brought Padme home? Where is she?"
The shop was silent for a moment, confusion hanging heavy in the air with a name spoken aloud that had long since been silenced. Luke looked around him. They'd heard. They'd all heard.
"What is this?" the colonel huffed and Sola shook her head.
"Nothing. My father is not well."
The colonel turned back to Sola's father. "And who is this Skywalker? A member of the Rebels here in Theed?"
"He's the Jedi who is protecting my daughter. Jedi Skywalker, is she —"
"Anakin Skywalker is dead," Luke said firmly and he could practically feel Mara willing him not to do anything. She didn't understand. Not yet, but she would. She would piece it together and if Father had even an inkling that she knew who he really was he'd kill her without hesitation. The Force may have led him there, but it had all gone wrong faster than he could have predicted.
One of the stormtroopers took a step towards them and Luke's hand flicked out from under the poncho. There was a resounding crack and he fell dead to the ground, his neck bent awkwardly. The next few seconds were a blur as his lightsaber snap hissed to life and he swung, deflecting one shot towards the stormtrooper that shot at him and the other to the colonel, dropping them both.
Another shot went off at his back - the stormtrooper carrying Kelan slower to react than his companions with his load - and Mara's magenta blade sent the bolt back into his chest.
They stood there and Luke could feel his father's presence. He'd dropped his barriers during the brief fight and now he knew. He took a steadying breath. "You need to go. All of you. More will be here soon."
Sola stared at him for a moment, but wisely pressed her lips together against the truth that had gotten the Imperials killed. Finally she nodded, turning to take the holoprojector from the counter. She pressed it into his hands and held his gaze for a long moment.
Luke finally took it, switching it off and slipping it into his poncho. "You can't breathe a word of this. No one can save you if you do."
"My older daughter is in the Palace."
"She'll have to find you. Go."
He waited until she nodded, she and her daughter rousing the half-conscious Kelan and guided her senile father to what was hopefully a back exit. He stopped, looking at Luke again. "You'll protect her?"
If he meant his granddaughter or if he was still trapped in the delusion and thought he was begging Anakin Skywalker to protect his long-dead daughter, Luke wasn't sure. Either way, he was wasting time that they desperately needed to slip away. Luke nodded silently and watched the family he'd never known rush for their escape.
Mara sighed heavily. "We won't have much time, but I can —"
"He knows I'm here," Luke cut her off, "but he doesn't know about you. He can't."
"Luke… there's no way to explain this. I know you wanted to protect them, but he won't accept that."
"Let me deal with my father. Just… don't speak about anything that happened here. Please."
She studied him for a moment. She would piece it together. He'd told her his mother's name and Anakin Skywalker's had been thrown about since Sola's father had walked into the shop. Once she had a moment to herself, she'd know, and all he could do was pray she'd understand the danger of that knowledge and keep it to herself.
"Luke."
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to put you in danger."
There was a long moment of indecision. Finally, Mara nodded, accepting his request for discretion. She tipped up on her toes and pressed a kiss to his lips. "Be careful."
"You too."
And then she was gone, leaving Luke in an empty shop surrounded by dead Imperials, his father's presence hanging heavy in his mind.
—-
She kept her mind carefully and intentionally calm as she slipped through the streets of Naboo's capital city. She couldn't linger on what had happened. Not the fool's errand she never should have agreed to or the battle against fellow Imperials that she had joined him in to save the life of a few Rebels. His mother's family. Luke's family. She didn't dare focus on it yet.
Nor the name that had sparked the violence. Anakin Skywalker. A name that Mara didn't readily know, but one that Luke had been willing to kill to keep away from an Imperial officer and a small handful of stormtroopers. And what if he'd told her to keep this trip and all that had happened less to protect himself from his father's wrath and more to shield them both from her Master? From Vader's Master. From the Galactic Emperor.
A shudder tore through Mara. No. She didn't have the full picture yet. Better to track down answers to outstanding questions first, and then - once she had all the puzzle pieces laid out - she would know which move to make.
You are troubled, my child.
The words echoed in her mind and she slammed to a stop in the middle of the busy street.
Do not be troubled, my dear girl, Palpatine's command echoed. You have played the part you were meant to play this day.
"Watch it!" a man yelled at her and she scurried off the road, a careful breath calming her.
What part is that, my Master? Mara asked carefully.
A reminder that I see all. That I know all.
She pursed her lips together thoughtfully. Cryptic, but she couldn't be sure if it was a gloating statement or fishing for more information.
Do you think it a coincidence that Lord Vader was sent to Naboo at the same time that you took young Natus on a journey to discover a past that no longer has claim to?
Gloating then. Of course not, my Emperor.
As you have, so he shall learn that these ties are meaningless. The past is done and the future is in flux. There was a pause. Searching. You care for him.
The mental tone wasn't quite accusatory, but Mara couldn't help but feel accused. I have known him a long time.
Do not fear, child. Your loyalty is not in question.
And his? Her question slipped through her mind before she had a chance to banish it. She stepped even further off the road, pressing her back against the outer wall of a building.
I have faith in you, my girl, that you will help guide him down the correct path.
And then her Master was gone from her mind, leaving Mara alone on the busy street of Theed with only her own warring thoughts for company.
—
Luke had served as an enforcer of Imperial justice long enough to know that rebellion was always snuffed out, no matter where it took root. Again and again it happened. A handful of individuals would get it into their mind that they could do it better. They didn't understand what went into maintaining order over an entire galaxy or what it would cost them to try to change it. They would push and they'd be reprimanded. If they continued, they'd be put down. It was the way that it had to be. If leniency were given or favourites were played, it'd be chaos in the end. It was the way things were. It was the way things had to be.
Yet he'd let them go. Sola and her father and daughter and her daughter's clearly guilty friend. Perhaps Sola's daughter had been guilty as well. Perhaps they all had been and that was why his father's name was so dangerous. They'd known it and he'd let them live, which was more than Luke could say about his fellow Imperials that had heard the name Anakin Skywalker dropped into the open air. The whole thing was a mess, even if his father hadn't been sent to Naboo to quell a rebellion and if Mara hadn't heard the name. Luke had chosen to let enemies of the Empire that knew a dangerous secret live. Everything he'd ever been taught told him he shouldn't have, but somehow he couldn't find it in himself to regret it.
All necessary questions had been answered through their bond before Darth Vader ever strode onto the scene.
What had happened? Luke had been looking for answers.
What had he found? Padme Amidala's family.
What had sealed Bardok and his men's fate? They had heard the name Anakin Skywalker.
There was no reaction - either over their bond or when Vader himself strode through the front door of his sister-in-law's shop - to the answers received. Questions asked, answers given, and presumably they were filed away. Vader commanded the scene as he always did. Bodies were cleared, and Luke didn't have a chance to ask about his older cousin when he stepped outside to see the palace up on the hill burning. Rebellions always were snuffed out by Imperial justice. It was the way things had to be, even if it left him feeling hollow inside.
"The Aeres is -"
"You will be provided with a shuttle to return to your ship when we arrive at our destination," his father answered coldly. Luke swallowed the obvious question on why he couldn't simply take one of the many shuttles on the Executor rather than going to whatever destination his father had been ordered to next.
The Dark Lord and his son left Naboo in shambles behind them and, as Luke sat in his old quarters on the Executor with the stars streaking outside the viewport, he held the looping holoprojector in his hands and watched his mother smile back at the recorder. At his father on the other side.
Somehow, despite accomplishing what he'd set out to do and confirming his suspicions, he couldn't help but feel like his mother would be disappointed in him that day.
The door behind him swished open and Luke immediately deactivated the projection. He heard his father push a breath out through the mask, even if his true feelings were still carefully hidden behind his mental walls. He moved into the room, the door shutting behind him, and Luke looked over from his place at the small desk. He opened his mouth, fully intent on speaking, but the words stuck in his throat. Finally he frowned, thumb moving over the deactivated projector as the Executor shifted out of hyperspace.
The mass out of the viewport caught Luke's attention. He turned, head tilted as he took in the crescent construction orbiting the planet. Even unfinished, it was large. Once completed it would dwarf any Star Destroyer that the Empire had its navy several times over, though it didn't look like any ship he'd ever seen. It was something else. Something new. "What is that?"
"That," his father breathed, "is a warning to all that may defy the Empire."
Luke stood, his feet carrying him to the window and he stared out through the thick panes. "It's a weapon."
"Yes. When completed, it will bring entire planets to their knees."
"Or destroy them," Luke managed, a chill sweeping through him that he could not push aside.
"Yes." His father's hand came to rest on his shoulder. "We must remain focused, my son."
"On what? That is -" Luke shook his head. It was death. Massive, spiraling death to anyone that dared cross Palpatine. When completed, the Emperor would be able to destroy entire planets. What could he do to the likes of them? They'd always known their days were numbered serving the Emperor, but Luke had always thought that with their combined strength, they could overthrow him. Now, looking at Palpatine's new weapon, that seemed impossible.
"On survival," Darth Vader said quietly.
And that was why he hadn't lashed out at Luke's arrival on Naboo. It wasn't that he wasn't angry, it was that he couldn't afford to be. He couldn't afford to alienate his only true aly.
"You have answered your questions," his father said, his hand slipping from Luke's shoulder, "and now you must bury them. There is no room for weakness now."
Luke frowned at that. "Is she a weakness?"
"Everything is a weakness. Everything but you and I." He turned towards the door. "A shuttle is ready to take you to your ship. I trust that you will maintain focused."
"Yes, father," Luke breathed, but even as the words escaped, it felt like he was drowning.
TBC
Notes: This chapter took a lot longer than I expected and fought me so hard in the last couple of scenes. I knew where I needed them, mostly how to get there, but I can't tell you how many times I rewrote and adjusted the angles on the scenes to get things to flow. I will say that I'm kinda bummed I did't get to focus in more on Vader's perspective while there, but it just didn't fit.
Next Time: Loyalties are tested.