Le Gasp! Is it? Could it be? An update with a semi-regular hope for future updates!
By Force it is! However did that happen?
Well, I'll tell you! I got some amazing reviews for last chapter, including an error pointed out to me that is now fixed! Thanks again Mason13!
As for posting schedules, I'm not promising anything in the slightest, but my hope is to get it up every few days. I'm working on this alot lately, and I'm going to abuse my current Muse while it's sticking around. I've already got alot of this planned out in my head and most of it outlined on virtual paper, AKA Open Office. I'm too cheap to but another copy of Word!
Now, I'm definitely encouraging you to go through and point out any other time issues, plot issues, or out of character issues again. I really am striving to improve the quality of my work, so anything you can do is a big help. Thanks!
DISCLAIMER: Though owning Star Wars would be, like, uber cool, I unfortunately do not. If I did, I think I might omit one or two scenes here and there *COUGH* Jedi Rocks *COUGH* To continue, I own nothing but this AU storyline. Mara and Luke are Lucas's, and so is Han and Leia and the Rogues. Though, if you're selling Wedge... *cough*
Chapter Two
The Falcon landed in the Hangar bay of Echo base with a slight jolt, startling Mara slightly.
Hunk of Junk was right, she thought idly. She felt the engines turn off and stood up. Princess Leia stood as well, grabbing her bag and heading towards the ramp. When they'd awoken this morning, Mara was informed that she'd need the parka they'd provided, as well as the thermals. Everyone aboard the ship, save the wookiee, Chewie as she learned his name was, changed and prepared for cold climate.
"Where are we?" she asked again, figuring she'd be allowed to know since she was stuck in the base now.
"Mara Jade," Princess Leia smiled slightly. "Welcome to Hoth."
The Princess lowered the ramp following her proclamation and an icy blast greeted her. A shiver ran down her spine at the abrupt change in temperature. She smiled at the Princess before following her down the ramp.
"Luke!" The princess called out, grinning, She jogged over and hugged the man waiting at the base of the ramp.
"Hey, Leia," he said, hugging her back. "Enjoy your time somewhere warm?"
The Princess laughed, and swatted at Luke's shoulder. "C'mon Luke, don't tell me you're bitter over it. You need to be here anyways to keep Wes from getting a Sexual Harassment claim and to keep Hobbie out of the Med Bay."
Luke laughed loudly.
"Hiya, kid!" Han called from behind Mara. She turned and watched Han descend the ramp and walk over to Luke before slapping him on the shoulder a few times.
"Hey, Han," Luke grinned. Finally, he turned his attention to her. "Hi, I'm Luke Skywalker. Welcome to Hell."
She grinned and nodded. "Mara Jade. Somewhat glad to be here. Though why you rebels couldn't hide in the desert is beyond me."
"Tatooine has too many bounty hunters," Luke joked before walking a step towards her. "Anyways, I hear you're a pretty good pilot. I'd like to fly with you to see your skills and then maybe you can have a position with the Rogue Squadron. We need good pilots like your file says you are."
Mara's eyes widened. "Wow, you guys sure aren't like the Empire with your sexism."
"C'mon, would Leia be our fearless leader if that were the case?" Luke grinned crookedly, before glancing over his shoulder at Leia, who rolled her eyes in return.
"I suppose not," Mara grinned. "I hate to be a bother, but where can I dump my stuff?"
"I'll show you to your quarters," Luke said, before turning and heading off across the hangar. Mara followed, glancing back once at Princess Leia and Han. They were staring at her intently, and Mara figured they were probably seeing if she was a threat.
Luke led her through the icy corridors before stopping in front a door. He palmed it open, revealing a barren bed with only a few sheets folded at the foot of it and some thermal blankets folded up at the foot of the bed. There was a waterproof closet, and a space heater that kept the room above zero.
"Not much, but it's got a locking door and and a bed," Luke shrugged.
"It's fine," she smiled shyly. "I wasn't expecting a four-star suite."
"Okay then, well, the mess hall serves food pretty much all the time the blast doors are open, and see Leia about your duties. Almost everyone rides a TaunTaun on patrol sometime within a month."
"TaunTaun?"
"Horrendous creatures," Luke said, wrinkling his nose. "But until we can fix the icing problem with the speeders, we're stuck with them."
She nodded, barely following. "Um, when do you want to see my piloting skills?"
"It's a little late in the day to be going out on patrols, but I can still show you the X-Wing you'll be assigned regardless of what squadron you're in," he said.
"Let's do that, then," she grinned. Luke smiled back widely, his eyes almost sparkling with enthusiasm.
"Back to the Hangar then," he said, gesturing back down the hall.
"Here she is!" Luke announced, proudly displaying the X-Wing they deemed hers.
"It's in good condition," she noted, running her hand along the hull. "Who maintains it?"
"I do, actually, but now you do," he grinned.
"You're a mechanic?" she asked, glancing over her shoulder at him while she continued to examine the ship.
"All my life," he said simply. "Nothing better to do on Tatooine."
"Ah, you're a farmboy, aren't you?" she smirked.
"Technically, but I hated moisture farming."
"Well, once a farmboy, always a farmboy,"she teased. Luke rolled his eyes.
"Now is that anyway to treat your possible new Commander?" he jabbed back.
"You're a Commander?"
"Yeah, of the Rogues," he said. "Which is why I'm the one that wants to see you're flying."
Mara shook her head. All her thoughts were jumbled as soon as she entered the base. This was entirely new territory for her. She wasn't used to it all.
"Wow, I don't know why I didn't make the connection sooner," she mumbled.
"Doesn't matter," he shrugged. They stood in silence as Mara continued examining the outside of the X-Wing, getting to know her ship. At least, that was until Wes Janson decided to test his fate with Mara.
"Hey, Luke, is this the new recruit?" he asked, grinning as Mara walked back towards the side of the X-Wing Luke was on.
"Yeah, Wes, meet Mara Jade. Mara, Wes Janson," Luke introduced, gritting his teeth slightly. He couldn't explain it, but something in the idea of Wes even thinking about Mara set him on edge. He didn't know why.
"Ms. Jade," Wes greeted, reaching to take her hand to kiss it. Mara narrowed her eyes though at the blatant flirting and just stared at him slightly bent and reaching for a hand that was now on her crossed arms.
"Mr. Janson? I believe that at this moment, we do not know each other well enough, and until we do, I must ask you to please refrain from blatantly hitting on me. I may be new here, but there are a lot of men in the Empire that pull stunts far worse than you. I can assure you, I am well versed in weapons training, as well as hand to hand combat, and I could take you down faster than you could say Rebellion."
Wes stood staring blankly at Mara. Sure, people shot him down all the time, but never as quickly as Mara had. Or so roughly.
Luke, on the other hand, was having a hard time disguising his snickers as coughing. Mara glanced in his directing and cracked a small smile.
"Well, um," Wes stuttered. "I'll be, uh, seeing you around, uh, Jade, I mean Mara, I mean Ms. Jade."
Wes took off, walking quickly in the direction of the mess hall. Mara looked back at Luke and burst out laughing. The two stood there, laughing harder than they had in a long, long time. It was a glorious feeling to Mara. Being an Emperor Hand, she was subjected to a life of bleak coldness and death. There were few things that made her feel whole again.
"I don't think I've ever seen someone turn him down that forcefully or quickly!" Luke laughed, wiping his eye slightly from where it'd teared up from laughing so hard.
"Did you see his face?" Mara asked, in between bouts of laughter. "I mean, oh Force that was a hilarious look on his face!"
"You are quickly becoming one of my favorite people here, I swear!" he said, catching his breath and grinning at her. "Just beware, there are three other Rogues to look out for."
"Great," she rolled her eyes. "I wasn't coming to the rebellion to increase my love life. Though how much of a love life can you have on this ice cube?"
"Not much. I suppose those that get some get it in the ships," Luke shrugged. "Wouldn't know."
"Oh, please," Mara scoffed. "Are you just saying that you haven't gotten some in the rebellion or just this base?"
"No one's caught my eye," Luke shrugged, grinning shyly at her. Mara's smile turned from teasing to a warmer, genuine smile.
"What about the princess? I saw how she greeted you."
"Leia?" Luke asked, eyes wide. Then he laughed. "No, at one time, I thought I had had a crush on her, but no. She's too much like a sister to me now. We're best friends."
"Oh, well, I'd give you more names, but she's the only one I've met," Mara shrugged. A small thought drifted across her mind that she should give Luke her own name, but she squashed that thought quickly. It wouldn't be very proper to date her future Commander. No, she would squash any feelings she had for Luke. But she had none, of course. No problem!
"No, I think I'm perfectly content where I am right now," Luke smiled at her, and she returned the smile before he continued. "Shall we go find something to eat?"
"Lead the way," she said, and followed him across the hangar.
That night, Mara quietly entered her room, and then set up the lock to allow only her hand print to enter. After her security was in place, she turned to her small duffel bag. She didn't exactly have much in the way of winter gear, but Princess Leia had assured her the Alliance could issue her clothes. Being roughly the same size as the Alderannian Princess, she was lucky they had a decent stock in her small size. She was slightly taller than the Princess, but not by much.
Mara sighed and pulled the drawstring and dumped the bag upside down on her bed. Her black cat suits and various holsters and vibroblades fell upon the bed. Her lightsaber landed on top of the heap and rolled off the bed, clanking loudly on the ice floor.
"Sith!" she cursed, before quickly retrieving the cylindrical object. She examined the casing, noting that it had survived the short fall with out a dent, before flicking the switch and igniting the blade. The red blade hummed to life and she frowned.
Palpatine's blade was red. So was Vader's. Wasn't that the thing she was running from? The sith oppression? How could she ever escape when her favorite weapon was a constant reminder.
Make a new one.
Mara frowned at the thought. Where ever would she find a crystal for her saber if she was stuck on Hoth until the Empire found them? She wouldn't, so she was stuck for awhile longer until she could retrieve a new crystal.
She deactivated the blade before turning to the closet. She opened the door and saw an array of snowsuits in the cremes and off-whites that the Alliance wore here, and a small data-pad sitting at the bottom of the closet next to the snow boots. She clicked the screen to activate it, and grinned at the message.
Leia told me you didn't have any clothes, so I rounded up a few for you. There's a weeks supply save grease stains while you fix up you ship. But there's also a flight suit in the drawer below for once we hit the skies. And don't forget to set your security. I didn't even need my droid to break into here. Take care, Mara.
-Luke
Mara grinned and wiped a stray tear from her eyes at the note. No one had ever cared enough to not only make sure she had clothes, but to also stock her closet for her. Palpatine had always just sent off an aide to make sure she had what she needed.
And no one had ever cared about her safety before either. Ever.
Luke Skywalker was worming a very nice spot next to her heart, and she couldn't decide whether she like it or not.
There you have it! Some of this was incredibly hard to write. I'm trying to get across that they may be attracted to each other, but are taking things slow. Especially Mara. She's in denial right now and will be for awhile.
I've started chapter three already, but I'm kinda iffy on how it's turning out. I've written alot of it under the influence of exhaustion, so I might be going back to rewrite somethings.
Also, I've officially started to read the EU. I caved. I was in B & N today and my sister and I tried to figure out all the books. We pretty much know what happens thanks to Wookieepedia, but still. Also, there are barely any of the earlier Mara books there. We don't even have the Thrawn Trilogy there. We did however, buy out the Han Solo Trilogy. I happen to be reading numero uno right now in that. But my crazy sister is starting with Sacrifice. Which is Mara's last book. Yeah, D, I still think you're nuts.
But, I digress.
Chapter Three: Suspicions arise, Mara makes a mistake, Wedge tries his hand at wooing her, and Luke finds out just how good a pilot this former Hand is!