Luke woke up with a massive headache, and Artoo's warbles of worry. Luke looked at the screen of his X-Wing's cockpit, where he looked at the readings that the astromech had given him.

After they had made their first jump, Luke had discovered the tracer that was on the hull. Luke had dove for the closest planet and done an emergency landing. The damage from the battle had messed up something with the flight controls, and the whipping winds of the planet had slammed his head against the control console.

Luke removed his helmet, checking for any bleeding. He didn't feel any blood, but he figured he had at least a minor concussion. After a few long moments of observation, he looked out of the canopy of the fighter.

Artoo had set the ship down in a clearing surrounding a pyramid. Luke popped open the cockpit, stepped out of the fighter. "Stay here," Luke said. "I'm going to find our tracer."

Luke did a visual inspection of the ship, and found the tracking beacon on one of the s-foils of the craft. He went back to the cockpit and found the little toolkit that was stashed under the control console. He found the plasma cutter, and started to work on the beacon.

It took him about ten minutes of cutting to get through the body of the beacon. It was designed to be sturdy, that was for sure. The beacon had compromised some of the integrity on the wing it had been on, so Luke had to leave some of the beacon in. He checked with a scanner to make sure that it wasn't still transmitting, but it looked to have been cut off.

"Quick thinking, Prince Charming."

Luke spun around, drawing his lightsaber from his belt quickly. Mara Jade was standing about fifteen meters away from him, dressed in a pilot's suit. It had the cut of an Imperial uniform, but in a non-standard olive green color. She held her own lightsaber, still unignited but definitely threatening.

"Miss Jade, I assume I have you to thank for the thread tracer in my new fighter?" Luke brought his saber to life, its silver blade crackling to life.

"You mean the Empire's new fighter." Mara let her own blade ignite, the snap-hiss filling the air. Their sabers were the only ambient noise around them, the jungle around the clearing painfully quiet. She leveled the blue lightsaber at Luke. "The Emperor has need of you."

"Then he can come get me." Luke hissed. He walked to the front of his X-Wing, keeping himself between Mara and the ship.

The two circled for a moment, and Mara took a step forward, moving them closer. Their blades flashed out, exploring their reaches. Mara's style was quick, efficient, but Luke's defensive posture easily redirected any strikes.

"That isn't your lightsaber," Mara said as she moved with a dancer's grace, circling around him. "It belongs to Lady Tano, does it not?"

Luke held his saber in a defensive stance. "What of it?"

Mara smiled, and she struck out, this time faster than Luke had anticipated. He was able to catch her blade, but it was almost too late. "The Emperor is wise. He could truly train you. Answer every question you had about the Force."

Luke felt his own anger start to grow. He lashed out, making a strike at Mara's center. She deflected the blade easily, but Luke persevered. "He arrested my father, imprisoned my mother in her own home!"

Mara dodged his next strike, and extended her free hand, using the Force to push at him hard. He had to fight to keep himself grounded, but it was enough for her to make a sweeping overhead strike. Luke fell to one knee to block it, but the strength of it forced him to put his free hand on the ground to steady.

"Haven't you ever wanted to know about your birth parents? About Anakin Skywalker, and the woman who betrayed him?"

Luke made a wordless noise of rage, knowing he was pinned down. He shoved his hand on the ground forward, summoning every measure of strength he could. He pushed his own hand forward, pushing back, and springing backwards, giving him much-needed space.

"Yes," Mara stalked him, eyes focused. "Give in to your rage, Luke." She whispered. "For all that composure, the wit, the diplomacy, there's so much anger in you. Give in-" Her words were cut short by the sounds of engines roaring. Both Luke and Mara looked upwards, and six Y-Wing fighters flew overhead, repulsors allowing them to quickly swerve to face the clearing, aiming their guns at the two of them. "What?!"

"I called for backup." Luke grinned.

Mara hissed, and she struck quickly. She lunged at Luke with an unnatural speed. Her blade flashed in a quick series of strikes, but this time Luke was ready.

His feet were planted, his blade seemingly everywhere at once. He gave himself in to the Force, forcing himself to be above his rage, to be in complete control.

Then Mara made her mistake. She overextended, lunging. Luke sidestepped her, and he spun around. His saber caught her in the back, slicing at one of her shoulders.

Mara went down, clutching at her side, and Luke didn't wait for a moment. He drew his blaster, and stunned her. Mara's body fell to the ground. Luke immediately grabbed her lightsaber from her limp form, deactivating it and clipping it to his belt.

His commlink rang, and he picked it up. "This is Organa. You the rebels that got my transmission?"

A man's voice came from the other end. "Lieutenant Tarth. The Flying Bantha's have got your back. We've got a shuttle inbound for your pick up. What happened here?"

"It's a long story, but we've got a high-value prisoner that needs transport back to the rendezvous point. Can you give us that?"

"Sure thing, Your Highness. The Mynock will be in route to pick up you and the prisoner. What about your fighter?"

"It'll fly." He looked back to his X-Wing, then towards Mara. "I'll brief you on how to handle the prisoner when the shuttle lands."

As Luke watched the Y-Wings start to descend, Luke wondered just what Mara meant. She knew who Anakin Skywalker was, and she knew who his mother was. Luke had tried to keep the thoughts of his birth parents from his mind, always focusing on the present, but now, he needed to know.

Ahsoka had explanations for when he returned.