Chapter 12

In answer to some spoken/unspoken questions:

1. The telepathic "command" Mara overheard (to kill Luke) was not meant for her. Through whatever infinitely-small tendril from her old Force-bond with Palpatine, she picked up him ordering someone else. Who? That's coming later.

2. A few chapters back, I established the Empire had intelligence on both Luke and Andover. Thus, the Emperor knew (at least to a degree) about both of them. Destroying one of his ships in an attempt to escape, along with wrecking a Force-bond with one of his Hands, would surely put them back on the Emperor's "Must Kill" List.

3. And, if you are confused, the Emperor was not dying when he sent that message, unlike in the regular EU. He was just pretty pissed when he heard about the incidents detailed in the past few chapters, and was ordering someone to fix it.

So, yeah.

(A week after the previous chapter)

Luke scratched his head, re-re-re-reading all of the information on Force-bonding the Alliance had. There wasn't much. A few Alliance documents recovered, and some information from the Old Order's dead fugitive Padawan, Ferus Olin. But nothing really explained an involuntary bond. As far as he could tell, this was the only such case of this happening.

Bonds usually took years to form, and could only materialize when masters/apprentices or equals associated themselves mentally. You also needed to have the innate Force-ability to form connections through the Force.

But the Force doing it, voluntarily, without any human instigation, was unheard of.

Rubbing his temples lightly, he randomly picked up one of the articles on his desk. Reading the title, he saw it was about Bastila Shan's battle meditation techniques.

Though it could be sent out to influence others, and in some cases even leave imprints on affected minds, it was still initiated by a being.

Sighing, he picked up another sheet. He perused it quickly, and found nothing important. Within a few seconds, it was back in the pile.

A note, at the bottom corner of a document on his left, caught his eye. He read it.

"Many Jedi did not fully form such connections because of their discipline, because they were forbidden to open their lives to the passions around them, and therefore few of them even realized the extent to which it was possible."

Luke pulled out the sheet, but the rest of the space above it was mysteriously blank. It was probably because when the information was captured, the footnote was all that was decrypted.

Yawning, he sat back in his chair.

Leia came up behind him. In his tired state, Luke didn't even notice her until she spoke.

"Luke, are you okay? it's nearly midnight. Lights out was an hour ago."

"What?" he asked, jolting awake. "Oh, um, yeah." He stifled another yawn.

Leia continued. "Ackbar put together the invasion plans. Limited severely, by Mon, of course. But we attack in two days. Isard censored the Chandrilian incident almost immediately, so few know about it."

"That's good." Luke grabbed another article, and Leia left the room.

Nothing here told him anything significant. Sighing in annoyance, he closed his eyes in an effort to relax.

Then, Mara was talking to him through their bond again. Why am I still in the holding cell? she asked indignantly.

Andover was an anti-Imperial hero even before he joined, Luke reasoned. They still kept him from flying for over two months.

So I'm stuck here, she complained.

You could always go back to Palpatine," Luke suggested, pointedly hitting a nerve.

NEVER! she retorted.

Do you need to talk about it? He inquired. Mara paused, unsure how to continue. He assumed that meant yes, and Luke put away the papers and left.

"Hello," he greeted, quietly opening the door to Mara's temporary room. She looked up coldly from one of the seats as he sat down nearby.

"I didn't ask for somebody to talk to," she elaborated, turning around in her chair away from him.

" Your projecting suggests the opposite," he said. She frowned, spinning back and glaring at him.

"Of course I'm upset," Mara growled icily. "I spent my life in his service. He told me I was the daughter he never had. And to think I was just a tool." She gestured with her hand. "How long until they let me fight?"

"Probably at least a week. Not as long as Andover, anyway."

"Why'd they ground him for so long?"

"I think Leia, when they first met, thought he was a terrorist."

Mara chuckled. "I guess she and I have something in common after all."

Shira Brie was excited. This mission would be the culmination of her years of training as an Emperor's Hand. She was unaware of other Hands' existence, so this was an even more important task for her.

A week prior, during a mission in the Mid-Rim, the Emperor had contacted her telepathically. She had been commanded to do the impossible. He said:

"You will kill Luke Skywalker."

Shira could tell he was angry, even for a Sith. He was projecting in such a way that anyone with even the most basic connection to him could pick up the command.

Later that day, (still a week ago) she received a hologram from him.

(Flashback)

She knelt in front of the screen in her personal shuttle. "What is it, my lord?" she asked.

Palpatine was silent for a moment. Dreadfully silent.

"Your highness?"

He spoke in his usual raspy hiss. "Go to Chandrila, my loyal hand. Luke Skywalker will soon arrive. I have foreseen it."

"Understood, sir."

He paused again. "If there is anyone with him, kill them."

(End flashback)

Originally, she was confused. Every Imperial in the galaxy had dedicated the past two years of their life to finding Luke. But after hearing about Chandrila, she knew.

That lucky pilot who had destroyed the base was still there. The second the Rebel fleet would arrive, the Imperial Navy would pounce. Meanwhile, Luke would be fighting on the surface to extract the pilot and try and remove the rest of the Imperials.

Recently, she felt three major surges in the force. One felt like a conversion; switching sides in the Force left shockwaves regardless of the situation. Another felt like a magnification of Force ability, such as training. Apparently, the surviving Jedi traitors were on the rise.

She also felt another ripple, smaller than the first two. It occurred soon after the Force-transition, and felt very similar to the first magnification, almost as if it was an after-effect. The two disturbances, she noted, felt very similar due to related force-auras, possibly stemming from siblings.

Regardless of what it was, the Force felt different lately. The Light Side had undergone a resurgence, and Shira believed it was her job to fix it.

So she sat in the cockpit of her Imperial shuttle, watching stars streak past her vehicle. Soon, she'd be on Chandrila, and the Rebels wouldn't know what hit them.

Andover tapped his fingers on his desk impatiently. The computer screen, projected onto the wall in front of him, had been frozen for fifteen minutes.

"Avvie!" he yelled.

His twin sister Avramova stuck her head through the doorway. "Mm hmm?" she asked.

"You were right, I can't get into the Alliance networks from here."

She laughed. "Of course you can't." With that, Avramova left the room, and Andover rubbed his temples.

Since he practically staggered through his own doorway a few days ago, he had been trying to authorize the liberation of his planet through the Rebels' computer systems. He surmised that if they weren't here yet, they probably wouldn't come.

His sister was less than helpful. All she did since he came home was throw him an icepack for his wounds. He wasn't fully healed, then, and was unable to catch it. It hit him in the stomach. Hard.

Suddenly, the computer's speakers began to beep, and hundreds of lines of coding flashed on the screen.

I'm in! he thought excitedly. Might as well modify a few more things while I'm at it…

He clicked on one of the encrypted folders and began reading.

(The next standard day, Hoth)

Luke sipped his cup of caf, reading the daily briefing on his datapad. Having read everything, he turned it off and set it back down on the table.

In the distance, Han was in the middle of a colorful debate with Wedge about something.

Luke observed them for a minute, then went back to his caf. Meanwhile, Mara walked into the room. Scanning the tables, she found Luke and headed towards him.

"Guess what, Farmboy?" she asked brightly, now directly behind him. He turned around, and she continued. "The computers cleared me today. I'll get assigned soon."

"Good!" he replied enthusiastically. "That was quick."

Mara sat down across from him. "I know. I bet your friend Lt. Casimir is up to his old tricks again."

Luke smiled. "It wouldn't surprise me."

A buzzer on the wall sounded three times, the signal for all pilots to go to the briefing room. A few dozen people stood up around the cafeteria, Mara included. They slowly filed through the doorway at the end of the room.

Five minutes later, they were all in their seats. Upon Luke's suggestion, Mara sat next to him as this was her first briefing.

Leia, who was analyzing a computer display, seemed extremely confused. For a while, she didn't even seem to notice the forty-some Rebel pilots looking at her expectantly.

"Well?" Han prompted, standing near the doorway.

"Uh," Leia turned around, noticing the crowd, "It seems that Mon Mothma, currently on her way to forge an alliance with an Outer Rim planet, has had a change of heart. We received a signal from her ship telling us to liberate Chandrila immediately."

This piqued everyone's, specifically Admiral Ackbar's, attention.

Andover did this? Mara asked silently. Luke nodded.

"Furthermore," Leia continued, still looking at the screen, "she personally orders Luke Skywalker and Mara Jade to lead the landing parties." She turned towards them. "She must have a great deal of confidence in you two."

Luke smiled inwardly. Definitely Andover.

Sorry for the long wait. Next chapter: the invasion.

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-ClaptonJr.