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Star Wars: A New Dawn (TheCorsair, Xanaphia)

“So that’s why I am alive,” Mara murmured, “To be breeding stock for a sith lord…” The bitterness in her tone wasn’t just because of what her father revealed, however. She still wasn’t sure she was ready to face him either. She’d thought he could be the father that Sidious never was, but he’d lied to her too. He hadn’t told her he was her father, and he hadn’t told her that her mother was still alive. And now, she wasn’t sure if she were more tired of the lies or the truth.

“Your purpose lies beyond any plans the Emperor my have had for you. You create your purpose.” Padme offered her a smirk, “And there is no reason you have to play into his plans.”

The comment might have been more endearing if Mara hadn’t decided she didn’t like Padme, given all the lies and secrets she’d helped to keep hidden. “No, you think I should go along with my mother’s plans. Plans that have her doing the Emperor’s bidding in the off chance he lets down his guard long enough for her to kill him.”

“I think you need to follow your own path, and do what you think is right. Not what the emperor or even your mother think is right for you.”

Dammit. Why, on top of everything else, did Padme have to be a good mom? She made it rather difficult to despise her. She was as infuriating as her father, in that regard. Which made her realize she was going to have to talk with him now, whether she was ready or not.

Padme must have sensed that realization, and tugged on Luke’s shoulder, “We should let them talk alone.”

Mara wanted to argue, wanted to keep Luke close, but she didn’t have the energy anymore to argue. So she squeezed his hand once, and watched him leave.

“Okay, I am willing to believe you didn’t know Vader was my mother in disguise when we met. But you figured out, didn’t you? You knew before she killed you, right? Is that why you stopped fighting?”

The tears came, and there was nothing left in her to hold them back. “You could have told me on Coruscant. You must have had some idea what was going to happen.” She clenched her fist again, gritting her teeth the nerve spasmed.

“I don’t know what to do. So far I’ve tried to make you proud of me, tried to honor your wishes. I just… I don’t know if I can anymore.” She relaxed her fist and sighed. “You told me she needs me, but I can’t follow her path.” As desperately as she wanted a living mother over a memory, she didn’t know if she could ever forgive her.
 
Quentin took a seat beside the medical bed. “I realized who she was as we fought,” he confessed.

“[BGCOLOR=rgb(25, 49, 66)]You could have told me on Coruscant,” Mara sobbed, anger and grief mixing in her words. “You must have had some idea what was going to happen.”[/BGCOLOR]

[BGCOLOR=rgb(25, 49, 66)]“You’re right, I could have,” he agreed. “But there are tests a Jedi must pass to become a knight, and he - or she - must face them alone and unaided. I could have told you, Mara. I wanted to tell you.” Reaching out, he rested his spectral hand on her mechanical one. “But, if I had, you would have remained Mara Jade Hall-Voss.”[/BGCOLOR]

[BGCOLOR=rgb(25, 49, 66)]He smiled, pride and love radiating from him. “Instead, you are Mara Jade Hall-Voss, Jedi Knight.”[/BGCOLOR]

In response she pulled the hand away, clenching it. [BGCOLOR=rgb(25, 49, 66)]“I don’t know what to do. So far I’ve tried to make you proud of me, tried to honor your wishes. I just… I don’t know if I can anymore.” [/BGCOLOR]

Quentin shook his head. “You’ve already made me more proud than you know, Mara. But it’s time for you to stop honoring my wishes.” He leaned back, smiling. “You are a Jedi now, and your path is your own. Walk it, and let the living Force guide you.”

[BGCOLOR=rgb(25, 49, 66)]She relaxed her fist and sighed. “You told me she needs me, but I can’t follow her path.” [/BGCOLOR]

Quentin nodded. “Neither could I. That’s why I sacrificed myself to allow you to escape. Because she would have defeated me, and I don’t know that I could have refused her if she asked me to follow her.”

[BGCOLOR=rgb(25, 49, 66)]Leaning forward, he took her hand again. “You don’t have to follow her into darkness, Mara. She chose her path, and you can choose yours. But you can show her a new path.” He looked into her eyes. “You can be the light that helps her find her way home.”[/BGCOLOR]
 
“Jedi… I’m a Jedi…”

Mara expected more from this moment. Expected she’d feel different, if she managed to honor her father’s final wish. But the two people she would have shared it with were gone. One dead, and the other, his killer. Now, without an external goal, she felt empty.

Her entire life had been service, trained by the usurper to crave his approval beyond anything else. But the Emperor’s demands were ravenous, unending, and she knew, logically, it would have been impossible to ever truly satisfy him. Even if she had given him an heir within which he could transfer his soul.

She supposed she’d merely transferred that aspiration towards Quentin, upon learning of her true parentage. The idea that he would love and be proud of her, regardless of whether she achieved his goals for her, still felt alien. Felt wrong, almost, as if she should still try to earn his love and pride.

Now, she’d have to give herself purpose, and she hadn’t a clue where to begin. But she nodded along as her father told her to find her own path, and that she could help her mother. Mara just wished she had some idea where to even begin. “I think I understand,” She managed a weak smile, and even felt a little better, “Thanks, Dad.”

~*~

Alone with Luke, Padme studied her son, searched for clues to his state of mind under the stoic mask her wore. He’d learnt well from Vader, but she knew him. The Emperor’s manipulations and plan disturbed him, but he was also considering how to use it to his own advantage.

“The Empire has begun considerable construction orbiting a remote planet named Endor. It could be another Death star, or something even worse. Either way, I think you should investigate it. You, and Mara.”

Kaydia had long worried how Mara would take the eventual revelation, and had predicted several possibilities. As it turned out, the reality was one of the harsher ones, with Mara rejecting her, and questioning everything she’d been taught or believed. “This is a good mission for her. Her confidence is fragile, but once she’s accomplishing goals again, she’ll reemerge stronger than before.”

Padme reflected on Kaydia, and her struggles. “Mara needs someone to be there for her, to support her. You need to decide if that person is going to be you.”
 
“Are we Rebels now?” Peggy asked, moving a stack of cards. Patience was a difficult enough game, made harder by her habit of playing it with the shifting cards of a sabbac deck. She insisted it improved her reflexes.

“You mean traitors, right?” replied Lieutenant Rebequi Sadol, one of the new recruits after the Milennium Falcon had escaped the Death Star and Rogue Squadron. She was a slim, lively woman with dark hair and a penchant for assaulting superior officers who tried to take advantage of her. “Because I think we are.”

“Yeah,” agreed Lieutenant Kah-Rel Yar, the other new recruit. He was a burly man who barely fit within a cockpit. “I think we’re ducked.”

“Maybe not,” replied Captain Yavok. “The Bespin thing wasn’t an official Imperial mission.”

“We still fired on Imperial ships,” Rebequi countered. “Our ships. I don’t think the court martial inquiry will worry about why they were there.”

“Lord Vader asked us to do it, though,” Peggy said. She looked around the room. “Would either of you refuse, if you had another chance?”

The silence was answer enough.

-*-

“Another Death Star?” Luke stared incredulously at his mother. “Another one? The cost to build the first one was... was...”. He groped for a number, then gave up. “How many of them are there?”

His mother chose to treat the question as rhetorical. “[BGCOLOR=rgb(25, 49, 66)]This is a good mission for her. Her confidence is fragile, but once she’s accomplishing goals again, she’ll reemerge stronger than before.”[/BGCOLOR]

“Her confidence isn’t fragile,” Luke countered. “But her world’s been upended. Over and over again.” He stared at his hand. “At least when it happened to me, my real father didn’t cut off my arm.”

[BGCOLOR=rgb(25, 49, 66)]“Mara needs someone to be there for her, to support her,” Padme continued. “You need to decide if that person is going to be you.”[/BGCOLOR]

[BGCOLOR=rgb(25, 49, 66)]Luke looked up from his hand. “I know. And... I don’t know.” He sighed. “I like her a lot. And I may even be in love with her. But...”. Clenching his fist, he stared at the wall as if he could see through into the medical bay. “Now I’m questioning myself. Do I really have feelings for her? Or are they just another product of the Emperor’s manipulations? Like, like what he tried ...”. To do to me and Leia. But he couldn’t bring himself to say it out loud.[/BGCOLOR]

[BGCOLOR=rgb(25, 49, 66)]“The man you thought was your father raped me,” Padme said.[/BGCOLOR]

[BGCOLOR=rgb(25, 49, 66)]“What?” Luke looked sharply back at his mother. “Darth Vader? And you still...”[/BGCOLOR]

[BGCOLOR=rgb(25, 49, 66)]“No, not Kaydia.” Padme looked almost amused. “Anakin Skywalker. He raped me. Repeatedly.” Luke could feel the emotions the admission brought up, and watch them as his mother - usually so strong - shrank in on herself. “He wanted me, and, and I don’t know if he did it on purpose or not, but the Force... he used it to make me fall in love. To make me want to, to be with him.”[/BGCOLOR]

[BGCOLOR=rgb(25, 49, 66)]She hugged herself, clearly reliving old memories. “And it made me justify my, my actions. When he wasn’t around. Being with your father, your real father, was one of the few decisions I made for myself during that time.”[/BGCOLOR]

[BGCOLOR=rgb(25, 49, 66)]“Mom. I don’t...” Luke began.[/BGCOLOR]

[BGCOLOR=rgb(25, 49, 66)]Padme held up a hand, collecting herself with an effort. “Eventually, I recognized it for what it was. Recognized the effect he’d had on me. And Kaydia helped. She’d been through something similar.” She reached out, taking her son’s hand. “You know far more about the Force than I ever will. Are your feelings due to outside manipulation?”[/BGCOLOR]

[BGCOLOR=rgb(25, 49, 66)]“...no,” Luke finally decided.[/BGCOLOR]

[BGCOLOR=rgb(25, 49, 66)]“Then search your feelings, Luke,” she said. “And decide what to do.”[/BGCOLOR]

[BGCOLOR=rgb(25, 49, 66)]-*-[/BGCOLOR]

[BGCOLOR=rgb(25, 49, 66)]“You’re welcome, Mara,” Quentin smiled.[/BGCOLOR]

[BGCOLOR=rgb(25, 49, 66)]Rising, he leaned forward and kissed her cheek. “I have to go,” he said, sadly. “But... one more thing. You’ve managed to lose both of the lightsabers I gave you.” The teasing note in his voice offset any reprimand his words contained. “So you’ll need to build your own. My various caches - like the one you found on Zeltros - have the tools and parts you’ll need. But you should really find your own lensing crystal.” A grin. “It’s a Jedi thing.”[/BGCOLOR][BGCOLOR=rgb(25, 49, 66)] [/BGCOLOR]
 
Mara Laughed. A genuine laugh, with a hint of embarrassment. “Right. I think I can manage that.” How did he do that? She’d been so angry at him, at everything, just this morning, and now she felt optimistic about the future. Felt as if she could handle the challenges set before her. She would make him proud, she knew, but that wouldn’t be the sole reason driving her forward any longer.

Mara changed from her hospital gown into regular clothes, cognizant of the movements of her new, mechanical hand. It responded well to her, which was a bit disorienting while her body still grappled with the loss of her limb. Within a few days she’d be used to it, she knew, but today she found herself hyper aware of it.

She joined Padme and Luke, and the tension a physical presence in the room. But there was no judgment in Padme’s eyes as they glanced at her, no resentment for her earlier outbursts or sullenness. Padme was entirely too understanding, Mara decided. Luke seemed pensive, but he smiled when their eyes met, and it lifted her spirits. Both of them had their world views upended. Luke was the one person who’d never lied to her, and she needed that now. She needed him. And she hoped he needed her just as much.

“What’s next?”

Padme glanced at Luke, then back at her. “The Endor system. An enormous amount of resources have been transported there, and whatever the Empire is planning isn’t good. You and Luke should investigate it, and you can regroup with the Rebels with that intel.”

She flashed Luke a smirk, “So, does this mean you’re a rebel now?”
 
Luke chuckled. “I think that I’ve been planning rebellion against the Emperor for a while now. It seems to run in the family, after all.” He chuckled again. “I’ll need to figure out what name to use, though.”

“Your father’s last name is Kenobi,” Padme reminded him.

“I think Amidala suits me,” Luke countered. “Emperor Luke Amidala the First.” He smiled as he watched the two women. “But I can worry about that later. For now, Mara, there’s something we need to go check out.”

“A second Death Star,” Padme explained.

“Reports of a second Death Star,” Luke countered. Then he shrugged. “However, those reports do come from my mother’s excellent intelligence network. So, we need to try and verify them. Because I’ve no doubt that this one - if it’s real - will have removed the vulnerability that Galen Ersko engineered into it.”
 
“Are these the right coordinates?” Mara asked over the comms as they come out of lightspeed. Luke commandeered a TIE fighter for her to use, passing her off as a member of Rogue Squadron. It seemed as if Vader hadn’t denounced him yet. Most likely because having yet another child openly rebel against the Empire would have looked badly upon the Sith Lord. “What the hell is even all the way out here?”

Endor was located in a system that was already beyond the distant system of Hoth, and that wasn’t exactly a bastion of civilization. Whatever the Empire was working on, they were keeping it under wraps, and out of the way. Way out of the way.

A shadow fell over they as they neared the planet, the orbit of its moon in the path of the star that serves as this system’s sun. Its silhouette was black against the star’s radiance, impossible to pick out details or features. Except that it wasn’t spherical, at least not fully spherical. It almost seemed as if a chunk were missing, as they drew closer. The chunk came into focus, until Mara could discern it was nearly a full half of the colossal black satellite. But once they were close enough to block out the Sun’s rays, details became clear, details not found on any old moon. Details like gun towers, and communication equipment, and an immense cannon like a terrible, unblinking eye…

“Wait, is that…”

A massive ship seemed to grow in the distance. Even half constructed, it was gargantuan, rivaling the nearby moons for mass.

“is it… is it bigger than the last one?”
 
“Is it... is it bigger than the last one?”

“Somebody’s compensating a little, know what I mean?” Peggy laughed.

“Stow it,” Captain Yavok snapped. “Comm discipline.”

“It is,” Luke replied, examining various read outs. They were flying with passive scanners, to reduce the chance of being spotted, but they could still glean a lot of data from them. “About 30% larger.”

“Fucking hell,” Captain Yavok breathed. “How many Star Destroyers - Hell, how many fleets could the Empire construct for...”

“Comm discipline,” Peggy interrupted, her voice a chipper sing-song.

Laughter erupted over the Squadron comm net, laughter that redoubled at Simm’s annoyed “shut up”. Luke ignored them, staring at the new Death Star. “There has to be more to this than the Emperor has said,” he mused aloud. “Fear, yes. But a couple of Star Destroyers could eliminate the populace of a world at a fraction of the expense, and the galaxy would still fear the power of the Empire...”

His voice trailed away as a blinking alert appeared on his HUD. “Look alive,” he called out. “Sensor contacts. Looks like a TIE squadron.”
 
Mara stiffened –even held her breath– as the squadron approached. As if that could hide her identity as the rebellious imperial princess. She’d be safe so long as she appeared to be part of Rogue Squadron. So long as Vader –her mother– didn’t reveal that she and Lake had allied together. Would her mother send TIE fighters to come collect her?

They hailed Luke and he talked them down, some combination of his rank and his gifts in the force, and the squad left them alone, making a wide arc around the planet. Mara released a long, slow breath. They wouldn’t get so lucky, next time. And whatever the emperor was planning, he had to be stopped.

The Death Star could not be allowed to be completed.

***​

“The Rebellion still needs you, Leia.”

She just barely restrained her snicker. Of course they did. What could they possibly accomplish without her? “I’m not abandoning the cause. But the rebellion is the only one who needs me.”

There was disappointment in Bail’s eyes, but he nodded. “Do you even know where to begin looking for him?”

“The bounty hunter took him to Jabba the Hutt, a crime lord located on Tatooine. He’s got one chance to give Han back, or face the extent of my wrath.”

***​

I need a new lightsaber, and I figure Master Valis the best person to see about that, Mara explained, on the way back to Coruscant. Since they were no longer hiding secrets between them, Mara had told him all about Valis Tifar, the last remaining Jedi Master in the galaxy.

She just hoped Master Valis wouldn’t be too angry that she was bringing her sith lover to meet with him. But he’d been been trained by her mother, and despite what he believed about himself, he wasn’t fully sith. If she were going to be a beacon that brought her mother back to the light side, she might have to try with Luke first. Especially since she suspected she had more tools with which to persuade him.

My father left behind most of what I need to construct my own, but I need a crystal. If Valis can’t tell me where to find one, I figure we can dig up archives from the Jedi Temple instead. She lead Luke through the alleyways and sewers, through the path she’d followed Master Valis upon before. They were getting close, but she couldn’t sense him. Was he shielding himself from the Emperor? Reaching out through the force, she called for him.

Master Valis?
 
As Lord Vader - no, Lord Amidala, he corrected himself - talked to the patrol, Sim Yavok turned off the squadron ta net for a moment. “Shit,” he murmured shakily, eying his console. “I can’t believe I’m doing this.”

He made a few adjustments to the ta bet, then resets lushes the connection. “Rogue Squadron,” he remarked. “This is Sim Yavok.”

“Copy, Captain,”.chorused several voices.

“Not Captain. Not right now.” He hesitated. “Before I continue, I need to ask something. Emperor Luke the First. Who likes the sound of that?”

There was dead silence for a long stretch of heartbeats. Then slowly, hesitantly, the agreements came in. Peggy first. Then Rebequi. Then, last Kah-Rel. Sim released a breath he wasn’t aware he was holding. “Right, then,” he said, unable to keep from whispering. “Here’s what I saw...”

-*-

Two droids trudged across the Dune Sea, watching the fortress before them draw closer with every step. Organic eyes would have been deceived, the lack of other structures making it appear closer than it was. But 000 didn’t have those inferior optics.

BT-1 whistled and bleeped. “No,” 000 replied. “I am not enjoying myself.” More bleeping. “Well, yes,” 000 replied in more chipper tones. “That part will be enjoyable.”

Slowly, the fortress drew closer. 000 pounded on the massive blast doors until a probe emerged. “Greetings,” 000 chirped. “We are emissaries, bearing a message for Lord Janna.”

Moments passed. The doors opened, revealing a disreputable Twilek who bid them follow. 000 and BT-1 followed in silence, passive sensors building a tactical map of their surroundings. Kill zones. Choke points. A delight of architecture.

Finally, they were ushered into the presence of Jabba. 000 was aware that most organically found the Hutt loathsome. 000 found all organically loathsome, so it hardly mattered. “Lord Jabba,” he declared. “We are sent bearing a message from the Lady Leia Vader.”

-*-

I am here, child. The old Jedi’s voice was clear in the Force, but oddly weak. As Mara entered his small room, the reason became clear - the air stank of rot and corruption, and his slick pale hide was dry except for the bloody froth that stained his gill slits. He managed a weak smile at her appearance. “Do I look... that bad?” he managed. Then he coughed, a dry, harsh sound that sent more blood leaking from his gills. “It’s... worse than it looks.”

He gestured weakly for her to sit, a chair drifting to meet her. “And... look at you.” Black eyes, filmed with pain, focused on her hand. “So hungry for enlightenment that you seek to shed your flesh already?”

Laughter turned to coughing. “And what of Lord Vader? Did you find... what you seek?”

-*-

Nervously, Sim set his helmet on his seat and climbed out of his cockpit. The Rogues were with him, but this was still touchy. Particularly here on Coruscant. “Your majesty?”

Lord Vader - Lord Amidala - turned to look at him. There was a deceptively guileless expression on his face. “Only the Emperor can claim that honorific, Captain.”

“I know, sir. And...”. He swallowed. “I spotted something. At Endor.”

“Go on..,” Luke prompted.

“The... the station. It isn’t complete, right?” He swallowed again, only marginally more relaxed by the rest of the Squadron joining him. If he’d misread Luke’s intentions, he was a dead man. They all were. But Lord Amidala gestured for him to continue.

“The primary reactor conduits,” he continued. “They’re still under construction. They’re a road straight into the core, and the hypermatter reactor.” He hesitated, watching Lord Amidala’s blue eyes. “The right ships could fly down them, and blow the thing.” He hesitated. “TIE fighters, for instance. An elite squadron of them.”

Luke looked from face to face, and Sim felt sweat crawl down his back. “We could do it, right now. If the Rmperor commanded it.” He steeled himself to meet Lord Amidala’s gaze. “Your majesty.”
 
“Master Valis…”

It was impossible to keep the concern out of her voice or off her features. Mara grasped his hands in hers, organic and artificial alike. “What happened to you?” she asked, ignoring his questions.

“It doesn’t matter. I’m not long for this flesh.” He coughed again, the sound rattling in his chest and Mara winced. “I had hoped you’ve learned better than chase revenge across the galaxy. Is that not what you learned from meeting Vader?”

“I… I am still processing that lesson, Master.” She leaned in closer, and blotted a trickle of blood that rolled down his gill. “You’re the last living jedi master; I can’t lose you too.”

“There is death, yet there is the force, child. I’ll be no more gone than your father is. But listen, my time grows short. There is a great darkness in the galaxy, Mara, a darkness that grows and festers in the killing of planets. It–” The rest of his explanation died off in a fit of coughing and wheezing.

“We found the new Death Star, Master. We are going to destroy it, and keep the galaxy safe.”

“The Death Star was just a weapon, Mara. The real horror is the deaths it inflicted. It cannot be allowed to be harnessed, else all light could be snuffed out. This is my last task for you.”

Mara nodded, “I’ll stop it, Master Valis.”

Valis responded with a small smile, and caressed her cheek with one webbed hand. Slowly, his hand fell, until it hung limp over the side of his bed. His gazes went distant, hazy and unfocused until finally his eyes closed, and his chest stilled.

Mara moved his arm over his chest, but it slid from his bulk and landed flaccidly upon his mattress. With both of her arms resting on his chest, she buried her face in her hands and wept.


“Lord Jabba,” he declared. “We are sent bearing a message from the Lady Leia Vader.”

Jabba chortled, and waved his arm before him. BT-1 initiated the hologram, which materialized into the blue tinted visage of Leia, clad skin tight black leather that showed off her lithe figure. Jabba chortled again, appreciatively, and his court joined in raccously.

Greetings, your eminence. Allow me to introduce myself. I am the Sith, Lady Leia Vader, paramour to Captain Solo. I know that you are powerful, mighty Jabba, and that your anger towards Solo is equally powerful. I seek an audience with Your Greatness, to negotiate for Solo’s life.” Another bout of laughter left Jabba’s lips.

“With your wisdom, I am sure we can come to a mutually beneficial arrangement, that spares us the need for any confrontation. As a gesture of goodwill, I offer you these two droids. Both are quite talented, and will serve you well.”

Jabba snickered. “There will be no bargain. I do not wish to part with my favorite decoration. I like Captain Solo where he is.”

000 turned towards BT-1, “It seems were stack stuck here, now.”
 
BT-1 warbled in response. “Oh, no. I don’t believe that would be a good idea,” 000 replied.

BT hooted in response. “Well, yes. Of course I thought it was an excellent idea. But the Lady Vader would disagree. And she is quite admirable, in her organic fashion.”

“Take them to the pits,” Jabba boomed, gesturing at the two droids. “Have them fitted with restraining bolts, and put to work.”

“Restraining bolts?” 000 huffed indignantly. “Restraining bolts?”

BT-1 uttered a warbling whistle.

“Yes, yes, I know that,” 000 grumped, allowing a burly Gammorean to hustle him towards an exit. “But still. The indignity of it! Restraining bolts indeed.”

-*-

“Mara.”

The voice belonged to Quentin Hall, but he - his Force ghost, at least - was nowhere to be seen. Only the sound of the words, seeming to emanate from just behind her left ear.

“I don’t have long, Mara. It isn’t safe on Coruscant, not in the shadow of Darth Sideous. Read up on Darth Nihil, Mara. There’s a history, in my safe house on Dantooine.” There was a pause. “The Death Star is terrible, Mara. But the power to destroy a world is insignificant next to the power of the Force.”

Another pause.

“I love you, Mara. Now go. An Inquisitor is coming.”
 
Another time, she might have stuck around, just so she could get a jump on the inquisitor and slit his throat. But that was an old idea, born of her training under the emperor. And to best honor Master Valis, she’d have to heed his teachings. A Jedi wouldn’t need to kill their opponent; a Jedi would avoid the encounter all together.

So she faded into the shadows, cloaking herself in the Force. The inquisitor entered from one door, and she slipped out another, following the hidden pathways that Master Valis had once shown her. Once she was back on the surface, it was just a matter of making it to the designated spot, to rendezvous with Luke.

“So, what’s our plan to destroy the Death Star?”



Howls echoed off the confines of Jabba’s palace, carrying a rage that announced Chewbacca before he ever came into sight. Chained, a bounty hunter in a full mask dragged him along, and the crowd parted to make way.

“I’ve come for the bounty for the wookie.”

“At last, we have the mighty Chewbacca.” With great sweep of his arm, Jabba beckoned over Triple 0 to translate.

“The illustrious Jabba welcomes you, and will gladly pay you a reward of twenty-five thousand.”

“I want fifty thousand credits. No less.”

“And why shouldn’t Jabba just kill you where you stand?” Triple0 took two steps towards the bounty Hunter. “In fact, I gladly volunteer, if only the wise lord Jabba would give the word.”

“Because I have this.” This was a thermo-grenade, already primed to detonate if the bounty hunter’s fingers slipped from the lever.

Shock and alarm reverberated through the room, but Jabba laughed, and warbled in response. “This bounty hunter is my kind of scum. Fearless and inventive.”

Triple 0 relayed the new offer, “Jabba Offers the sum of thirty-five. But if I weren’t in the blast radius, I’d advise you to hold out for more.”

The bounty hunter nodded, and two guards collected Chewie, and dragged him deeper within.
 
There was silence in the throne room. The revelers and toadies and hangers-on has long since departed. Mighty Jabba had wanted his rest, after all. And nobody in his court was willing to defy him. Not with the fate of those who displeased him on full display for all to see.

A single footstep disturbed the silence. The masked bounty hunter slipped cautiiusly into the room, his helmet scanning the surroundings before resting in the carbonite-encased figure of Han Solo. He regarded the smuggler for a moment before slipping forward, taking great care to avoid certain grates in the floor. Most likely they only activated when Jabba pressed certain buttons on his throne. But why take chances?

The bounty hunter examined the carbonate slab and the attached controls, comparing them to a schematic displayed on his wrist. Then a gloved finger tapped out a command sequence, flinching at each soft beep. His work done, he stepped back.

Nothing happened.

The bounty hunter examined the schematic again, only to have his attention drawn by a soft hiss. The carbonite began to soften and run, sublimating into a gas as the drops fell towards the floor. The man inside gasped suddenly, sagging forward and then falling. He gasped again as the bounty hunter caught him, pain stabbing through numb limbs. Then a fit of coughing tore through him, and he clutched at the bounty hinter’s arm. “Relax,” the bounty hunter told him in a mechanical voice. “You’re free of the carbonite.”

Han’s response was a feeble moan and rapid blinking. “Shhh,” the hunter told him. “You’re suffering from hibernation sickness.”

“I...”. Han’s head turned from side to side. “I can’t see.”

“Your eyesight will return in time,” the hunter said, trying to help him to his feet. “But we need to move. We’re in Jabba’s Palace.”

Ham struggled against the hunter’s grip. “Who are you?”

In response, the hunter removed his helmet. Beneath was a smile, and string crimson features, and an unruly shock of crimson hair. “A friend,” Kalinn replied. “Of yours, and of Leia’s.”

In the background laughter boomed out. Both men froze. “I know that laugh,” Han groaned.

A curtain drew aside at the far end of the room. Jabba laughed again, and his major domo and his guards laughed with him. “Hey,” Han said, leaning on Kalinn. “Hey, Jabba. I was just on my way...”

Jabba boomed something out. “The mighty Jabba,” 000 declared, “says it is too late for that.”

“The psycho droid’s working for Jabba?” Han whispered.

“Long story,” Kalinn replied.

“You May have been a good smuggler,” 000 declared, continuing the translation, “but now you’re Bantha fodder.”

“Look...” Han began.

“Take him away,” 000 announced. “And bring the Zeltron to mighty Jabba.”

Han continued protesting as he was dragged away. Jabba ignored him, greedily watching the young Zeltron as the guards led him forward. “Tell him...” the crime lord began.

“I speak fluent Huttese,” Kalin boomed.

Jabba laughed again. “Oh, most delightful.”

“And you will regret this,” Kalin added as he was dragged closer. “We have powerful friends.”

Jabba leaned forward, his tongue lolling out. “I’m sure you do...”

-*-

The TIEs launched skyward, climbing towards orbit under antigravatics and the thrust of their ion engines. Nobody challenged them. TIE fighters were a common sight in the skies of Coruscant. If you could see the sky, anyway.

“The plan is simple,” Luke explained. “The new Death Star is under construction. And the Emperor is going to be there to oversee construction. So we fly in and blow the primary hypermatter reactor.”

“Which starts a chain reaction,” Peggy added, “which takes out the entire station.”

“And then Lord Va- Lord Amidala claims the throne in the confusion,” Sim added.

“Unless we all die first,” Rebequi chimed in.

“Well,” Peggy laughed. “Aren’t you just a ball of fun?”
 
Mara didn’t join in conversation, replaying Master Valis’ last words. Destroying the Death Star would satisfy his last request, wouldn’t it? So why did it feel as if he were telling her otherwise?

Vader and the Emperor would be there, upon the Death Star. Taking it out would eliminate all their threats at once. Would secure the rebellion, and even the greater galaxy for generations to come. Would right the wrongs of the Usurper, and restore justice and, eventually, the republic.

Would also eliminate her mother’s last chance to return to the light.

Mara frowned at the thought, and punched in the lightspeed coordinates. She had her chance. Too many chances. If she truly wanted to return to the light, she would have started with sparing Quentin.

Hardening her heart, Mara pushed the lever forward, and dropped into hyperspeed.



Lady Leia Vader strode across the dusty floor of Jabba’s Palace, walking with a prideful air that demanded audience. Kalin, who was chained to Jabba’s throne, wearing naught but a flimsy loincloth and slave collar, perked up, worry writ on his face at the sight of her.

“I will be taking Captain Solo, and his friends.” Her voice was deceptively calm. Authorative. “You can either profit from this, or be destroyed. Your choice, but I warn you not to underestimate me.”

Jabba inhaled deeply, his lipless face curving into a smug grin. “There will be no bargain, Sith Mistress.” The words oozed with contempt, and Jabba jerked Kalin back by the chain around his throat. “I shall enjoy watching you die. But, perhaps not too quickly…” Jabba Laughed, and his court joined in.

With the flick of her wrist, a nearby guard’s blaster leapt to her hand. Before she could even aim at Jabba, however, the grate beneath her opened, drawing her and the nearest guard underground. The cave she landed in was strewn with bones and half eaten corpses. On the far wall, a thick metal gate began to slowly rise.

“Oh no,” Triple 0 called, “The rancor is quite a messy death. Shall I put her out of her misery, Master Jabba?”

Leia got to her feet as the gate fully extended, revealing the terrible beast. Dozens of overgrown teeth extended from his maw, as large and as sharp as the talons on each of his claws. It towered over her, filling the small cave with its size. Leia steeled herself, and gave it space, but soon ran out of cave, with her back to the wall. The Gamorrean guard who had fallen with her squealed and fled towards the door, struggling desperate against the steel bars.

The Rancor turned towards the terrified guard, and within two steps was upon him. Lifting him in a single enormous claw, the Rancor drew him close. The guard’s screams increased in volume, echoing against the cave walls and nearly drowning out he laughter and cheers from up above, before dying off in a dreadful silence. It took two bites to finish off the guard, wet flesh rending and bones crunching within its massive jaws.

Her only option for a weapon was the leftover femur of a creature that was much larger than her. Wielding it like a club, she allowed the rancor to grasp her in its talons, and lift her to its mouth. Once she was close enough, she jammed the bone into the beast’s mouth, propping it painfully open. With the beast distracted, she hid under a small crevice in the rocky cavern walls. From between the beast’s legs, she could see her exit –the very gate the rancor had once emerged from.

When the Rancor tried to claw her out from her hiding spot, she grabbed the biggest rock she could reach and slammed it into his talons. It reared up in agony, and she took the opening, sprinting through the cave to the opening on the other side. That proved futile, when another barred door blocked that path, but from this side of the gate, she could see the button to control it. Stabilizing breathes steadied her, as she waited for the Rancor to be in position, and then throw a rock into the switch while the Rancor was under the gate. It slammed down upon its head in a sickening thud, puncturing its thick skull with iron flanges. Cheering and laughter from above died away and Jabba roared out in rage.
 
Jabba’s court was silent as Leia was dragged in, watching the black-clad woman with baited breath. Nobody had succeeded at what she had done. Nobody. And now, everyone wondered what form her punishment would take.

“Han!” Leia called, lighting up as she saw the other prisoners standing befor the crime lord’s dais. “Chewie!”

“Leia!” Han exclaimed, face turning vaguely in her direction. His eyes were still unfocused, a symptom of the carbonate sickness.

“Are you all right?” she asked, wrestling against a guard’s grip to try and touch his face.

“Fine,” he assured hereith a cocky grin. “Together again, I guess?”

“Always,” she smiled.

“Good.” He squinted, trying to see. “How are we doing?”

“Same as always.”

Han chuckled. “Well fuck. What’s the plan?”

Jabba boomed something out, shaking a slimy fist as he spoke. 000 stepped forward. “His High Exaltednesd, the great Jabba, has determined that you will be terminated immediately.”

Leia turned to face the crime lord, all the love and joy draining from her. “You will release us.”

Jabba laughed. “The illustrious Jabba reminds you that your Jedi mind tricks will not affect him,” added 000 in a helpful fashion.

Leia’s eyes filled with crimson fire. Jabba laughed again, then screamed as his corpulent body writhed and twisted. His arms flailed aimlessly as he struggled with nothing, tongue killing as he struggled for breath. “I am no Jedi,” Leia replied, ice in her voice. “And this is no trick.”

-*-

The swirling chaos of hyperspace vanished, collapsing into the star-studded night that enveloped Endor and it’s forested moon like a blanket. For a moment, there was the illusion of peace and beauty. For a moment, until the eye took in the grey specks of distant Star Destroyers, and the dull grey disc of the new Death Star.

Luke wipes his hands on his slacks, then gripped the control sticks of his fighter. “Look alive, Rogue Squadron. Target’s in sight.”

“ETA six minutes fifty-two seconds,” Sim added.

The TIEs flashed through space, and slowly the Death Star grew larger. Luke squeezes the sticks and then relaxed, seeking the balance his father - mother? - had stressed in his lessons. There is strength in your emotions. But you must still rule them, or you will be lost.

What was he to make of that training? What had Scarlet’s game been, the decades she’d masqueraded as his father? To forge a weapon of him and his sister? Had he - she - cared, or had it all been a ploy?

No matter. He could figure it out later. “We’ve been pinged,” he announced, watching his instruments. “Try to look like you belong here.”

“Any suggestions how?” Peggy asked.

“I don’t know. Fly casual.”
 
For a moment, while Jabba struggled and writhed and succumbed to death, his court said nothing. Did nothing, but watched in horror as the Sith killed him with her mind. Even once he’d died, most were dumbfounded, unsure how to proceed from this point. Leia took advantage of shock, freeing herself from the guard restraining her, and rushing to Han’s side.

She pulled him closer, arm around his waist until their bodies touched. Sparing just a second, she took a triumphant kiss from his lips. It didn’t last long– it couldn’t last long, not while they were surrounded by enemies in Jabba’s court. With an open palm, she created a shield to deflect blaster bolt from hitting them, and then, by twisting her wrist and hand into a fist, pulled the weapon away from its owner.

“Here” she said, placing the blaster in his hands.

“ I can’t see and you want me to shoot?”

“Don’t aim,” Leia murmured, pointing his hand in the direct of the crowd, “just fire.”

Once he freed Chewie from his chains, Lando pushed back the crowd with his spear, and Kalin used the chain around his neck as a weapon. Still, the group of five was surrounded and outgunned in Jabba’s court. Not that it deterred Leia any.

“Triple 0,” she called, sinking her perceptions into his circuitry. She traced the pathways of electricity, seeking the interference from the restraining bolt to guide her. Once she isolated it, she overloaded it, shorting it out. “I’ve released you from Jabba’s service. And I command you to unleash your worst upon my enemies.”


Mara maintained a steady rhythm of breathing, to keep herself calm. To keep her heartbeat in check, while enemies flew nearby. As soon as they entered the main cannon bore, the masquerade would be up, and they’d be forced to complete the destruction of the Deathstar.

The red beams made up the skeleton of the cannon came into view, and grew in size. The choice had already been made, Mara told herself, and there was no backing out now. This was for the entire galaxy, for the hundreds of billions of living beings that feared in fear of the empire and its weapons of mass destruction. Her father had asked her to do this, and Master Valis as well.

If this was the right decision, why did it feel so fucking terrible? Like cutting off (another) hand? Wasn’t there any other option?

You can be the light that helps her find her way home.

Gripping the yoke of her ship, she opened her senses, and reached for her mother, reached through the freezing darkness to touch her mother’s mind.

Get out. Get out now.


In her guise as Vader, Kaydia led Palpatine through the skeleton of the newest Deathstar, explaining how they had improved upon the original design, and how quickly it could be functional. The emperor’s aura was a choking miasma that recalled her worst torments of her life, from her torture at the hands of the baronet, to having her daughter torn from her body and arms and held as a hostage to ensure her obedience. But Kaydia had expected that, and had long prepared herself to choke down the rage that burned hot within her.

What she hadn’t expected was the caress of the light side against her thoughts. It felt so much like Quentin, her heart ached. Swallowing hard, she steeled herself, and opened her mind to her daughter for the first time in two decades.

Get out. Get out now.

Hope carried those words, that warning. Vague impressions of a plan, of the destruction of the very ship she was upon.

Why would she risk everyone, just to save her? After she’d done as Vader, she didn’t deserve consideration from Mara. Perhaps she’d inherited an unhealthy habit of forgiveness from her father?

Perhaps there was still a way back?

No. Not now. Especially now, with Mara so close. The deathstar would be destroyed, again, and this time both she and the emperor would be caught in the blast. It wasn’t what she’d wanted –she’d hoped to reconnect with Mara, and continue to keep her safe, to guide her in this new world in the shadow of the empire, as well as through the journey of her force gifts. But… Mara didn’t need her anymore. She had Luke, and Padme, and Master Valis and Quentin.

Do what you must. I love you Mara.

“Do you feel that?” Palpatine asked, stopping suddenly.

No, this can’t fail now. Not now. “I do not, my Lord.” He can’t be allowed to leave the ship.

“Luke has returned. With… with the wayward princess.” Palpatine’s wrinkled features twisted into a nasty smile.

“Has he?” The ventilation on her suit hid the concern in her voice. “Then it is as you bid him, my Lord. We should head for the landing bay to greet him, so he may present her to you.”

Palpatine stilled for a time, and time stilled with him. Could he sense Mara and Luke’s intentions? Was this her moment, her chance to finally end the man and his reign of terror? “No. We must leave, now. Luke will bring the princess to me aboard a Star Destroyer.”

Kaydia’s hand hovered over her saber. Could she kill him now? Could she kill him before he killed her? Could she wound him enough to prevent his escape? Or had the opportunity completely passed them by?

Suppressing her sigh, she nodded once. “Yes, my master.”
 
“Oh my,” 000 remarked, photoreceptors glowing crimson. “I must say, Mistress Leia, that you are far more tolerable than Master Bail. I shall be certain to make your death painless when I finally emancipate myself.” He hesitated. “Well, mostly painless.”

Chewbacca bellowed, swinging a vibroaxe he’d taken from a careless guard. 000 sighed. “Oh, do permit me a moment of indulgence.” His attention shifted to the court in general. “Your attention please!” he called, raising his hands. A fine mist sprayed into the air. “What you are experiencing now is the effects of concentrated tulak venom attacking your central nervous systems.”

“You’re bluffing,” a humanoid in a guard uniform growled.

“I do so love it when my victims delude themselves!” 000 laughed, clapping his metallic hands together. “So delightful! But no, I’ve been adding it to the alcohol, and the aerosol has just deactivated the inhibitor.” He looked around. “You are all about to die in terrible agony.”

The guard started to raise his blaster, only to watch it fall from numb fingers. No, not numb. Tingling. Burning. He collapsed as his joints stopped responding, and only an inability to move his own muscles kept him from screaming.

“May I watch?” 000 asked, moving to stand beside Leia. “Before we depart, I mean. I do rarely get to enjoy my work, these days.”

-*-

The squadron hurtled towards and then into the superstructure, weaving and dodging to avoid massive structural beams. “We’ve got incoming,” Sim replied.

“How many?” Peggy responded.

“Twelve, and they’re hailing us.” Sim hesitated. “Shall I respond?”

“No,” Luke replied. “I will,”. He adjusted com settings, and his cockpit was filled with demands to reverse course. I’m response, he smiled thinly and flipped a switch. “All ships. This is Luke Amidala, once known as Luke Vader, Lord of the Sith. Emperor Palpatine has betrayed the Empire, wasting untold resources on a second vanity project after failing to prevent the destruction of his first Death Star. I propose to end the madness, and restore order to the Empire. Signal, if you are with me.”

“This is Captain Piett, commanding the Executor, came an immediate response. “We stand with you.”

More voices chimes in, some pledging loyalty and others declaring him a traitor. But it was the final declaration that brought a real smile to his lips. “This is Captain Pellaeon, commanding the Chimera. Grand Admiral Thrawn has directed me to lay all of the resources of the Eighth Fleet at your disposal.” A pause. “Emperor.”
 
Palpatine caught Luke’s allegations as they entered the star port, watching through the forcefield at the fleet beyond them. Watched as captains declared allegiance or betrayal, and turned upon one another in turn.

Red flame burst in the Emperor’s eyes, and a maelstrom of darkness gathered around him. The darkness whipped like gale force winds, and bit with the chill of sub zero temperatures. Purple lightning crackled in his hands, arcing and snapping and flickering brilliant violet light. Then, still smiling that nasty smile, he raised his hands to the sky, calling forth fulguration that blinded Vader, despite the protective glare of her helmet.

“You have served me well, Luke! Palpatine snarled, channeling his lightning into every ship that betrayed him. “You have revealed the traitors of the empire, and gathered them where I could easily deal with them!” The massive column of electricity light up space like a solar flare, and enveloped the ships, disabling their systems and frying their crews from without.

This was her chance! With Palpatine completely engrossed in his strike, he was defenseless against her. Strike him down now, while he destroyed his own fleet.

Except… Mara… and Luke…


The triumph of Luke’s allegation and the fleet’s declaration was short lived. Palpatine’s voice came through every com, distorted until nearly unintelligible. It wasn’t just in the coms, however, but in her head. In everyone’s head pounding against their skulls like a throbbing headache. The throbbing and Palpatine’s voice reached a crescendo, deafening until it felt as if a blood vessel might burst, and stopped suddenly. Only for a heartbeat, before it transformed into a blinding light that burned purple arcs into her retinas.

The readings from her radar went wild, the electricity interfering with device. Navigation systems failed, control systems when haywire, and life support systems choked and sputtered. The ships floated, slowly losing altitude and drifting towards the unfinished tunnel and scaffolding. None of her controls responded to her desperate flailing.

A shield encompassed her ship, and Luke’s as well. But it receded against the fulmination, growing weaker under the sustained lightning attack. Mara reached for Luke, reached for their connection to bolster the protective ward around their ships, until it ballooned to protect his entire rogue squad

The power that protected them wasn’t merely her and Luke, and not merely a force bond. A third presence joined them in the force. A presence sheathed in darkness, armoring a core of light.



Kaydia focused the force in a protective shield between her daughter and adopted son, expending every last fiber of her will to defend them. The ventilation of her suit hid her harried breathing, and it was only her mechanical legs that kept her standing.

If she stopped concentrating, she could still kill the Emperor. Possibly. But then Mara and Luke would succumb to Palpatine’s force lightning, and everything would have been for naught.

Finally, Palpatine relented, and the firefight in the space around them devolved into a massacre. Kaydia release her focus on Mara and Luke, leaving their safety in their own hands. They would live, to strike down Palpatine another day.

“Are you still with me, Vader?”

“Yes… my master.”
 
“The fuck?” Peggy called out.

“Some internal defense?” Sim suggested, voice nearly lost in static. “Or a malfunction?”

“Whatever it is,” Rebequi added, “it’s going to kill us.”

Luke didn’t respond. He couldn’t. All of his attention, all of his strength, was focused on two things: trying to protect the squadron, and trying to keep his erratic fighter from smashing into the walls of the shaft. All around him, beating at him, he felt the dark will of the Emperor trying to destroy him. Only the strength he could draw from his Force Bond with Mara, a strength multiplied beyond the sum of its parts, kept him from breaking.

Mara. And... Vader?

He could taste Vader’s presence in the Force, helping shield them as well? What was his fa... his adoptive mother doing? What game was he... was she playing?

And then it was over,

“Look alive Rogues!” Luke gasped out. “That wasn’t the worst of it! The reactor core’s dead ahead!”

The TIEs emerged into a vast chamber, larger than the length of a Star Destroyer in diameter. But it felt cramped, filled with the bulk of the station’s hypermatter reactor. “Arm torpedos,” Luke ordered. “And fire at Will. The target isn’t dodging.”
 
Mara squeezed the trigger, syncing her shot with the rest of Rogue Squadron. There wasn’t even time to watch the torpedoes strike the core reactor, before they banked in a tight circle to head back the way they came. It would take less than a full minute for the reactor mass to reach critical, and they still had to travel three hundred kilometers before they’d escape the Deathstar.

Mara led the way through the shaft, relying entirely upon the force to guide her movements as structures failed and debris broke away. As they neared the opening, more pieces came loose, blocking their path. Well timed plasma shots struck the wreckage and they burst through the eye of the station in flash of fire.

Behind them, orange light expanded, devouring the Deathstar in a nova of plasma and flame. Even though they were free of the disinigrating ship, they were still surrounded by the imperial fleet, and crews who condemned Luke’s coup, and witnessed the price of betrayal. And every ship captain knew that killing them, if not capture, would earn them a place in the Imperial Court.

“Rogue Squardon, input coordinates J29, N45, F65, K76, A13 and U98 and initiate lightspeed jump,” Mara called, over the comms, “On my mark…” She had to dodge incoming plasma fire, leading two pursuers on a dog fight between star destroyers. Maneuvering, underneath anti-air fire, her foe took the hit, and careened into its ally. “Now!” Before her, the light stretched, and shifted into a chaotic, swirling pattern.

When they remerged, they were far away from the battle “Okay, I am pinging a location on everyone’s radar. Rendezvous there, so we can regroup.”



The victory was bittersweet. They’d destroyed the second deathstar, but the Emperor escaped. Luke inspired the allegiance of nearly half the Imperial fleet, but most of them had been destroyed in the skirmish. Her mother had protected them, but forfeit her opportunity to slay Palpatine in the process.

And yet, all of Rogue Squadron survived, so that was worth a celebratory drink or two. Even if Mara felt like brooding over her drink. They were hiding out in an abandoned rebel space station in an attempt to regroup and plan the next move. Most of the TIE fighter sustained serious damage from Palpatine’s lightning attack, and it was worth taking the time to reset all their systems.

Luke’s presence touched hers as he approached, before the echo of his boots in the empty passageway reached her ears. “Hey,” she acknowledged, turning to face him, and finishing her glass in a single swallow. “Did you sense that I needed a refill?” The joke was weak, and her laughter hallow, but she stood and joined him anyways.

“I suppose we can join back up with the rebels. Urge them to strike the imperial now, while they are weakened from your coup attempt.” Mara shrugged, and wrapped her arms around Luke. “Or, we could head to Dantooine. My father, my real father, had a safe house there. He said something about researching an older Sith Lord, to figure how we can defeat Sidious.”
 
Luke followed Mara’s presence in the Force, navigating through the old rebel station like a rat in a maze. Which was how he’d felt, to be honest. They were in a bad place. Extremely bad. Most of the Fleet that had declared for him was destroyed, now. Sure, he still had Grand Admiral Thrawn and the six Star Destroyers in his command, but that was hardly enough to take on the whole empire.

“You are reckless.” It had been his father’s - well, Darth Vader’s - warning to him over the years. “You act without thinking. This will be your downfall.” Prescient words.

“Hey,” Mara said, looking up and draining a glass as he entered. “Did you sense that I needed a refill?”

“Maybe,” he laughed, holding up a bottle of something green and luminous. “Or maybe I just hate drinking alone?” The humor died as he refilled her glass. “Or maybe I just hate drinking alone. And I really need a drink right now, because we are in serious trouble.”

“I suppose we can join back up with the rebels. Urge them to strike the imperial now, while they are weakened from your coup attempt.” Mara shrugged, and wrapped her arms around him.

“That would go well,” he said with a wry smile, sliding one arm around her waist and taking a pull from the bottle. “Hi. I tried to take over the Empire. Care to give up your dreams of reestablishing the Republic and put me on the throne instead?” Another swallow. “I suspect that ends poorly.”

“Or, we could head to Dantooine,” she suggested. “My father, my real father, had a safe house there. He said something about researching an older Sith Lord, to figure how we can defeat Sidious.”

“A lightsaber to the face should do it,” he said with a bark of harsh laughter. “But, yeah. If anyone will have a good idea about how to kill a powerful Sith Lord, it’d be one of the Jedi Assassins. And my fath...”. He coughed and corrected himself. “Your mother said he was a sneaky bastard.”

He drank again, and stared out into space. “If it’s a Jedi safehouse, then it might have the materials to build yourself a new lightsaber as well. I’m sure you’ll have a use for one, soon.”
 
“Yeah, that’s what my father said, too.” Mara’s fingers brushed his as she took a grip on the bottle, and brought it to her lips for a swallow. “And based on the fact that my mother has taken this long without even an attempt at killing Palpatine, I suspect it’s a bit more difficult than merely stabbing him through the face.”

Following the instructions left in her holochron lead Mara and Luke to the old Jedi Enclave on Dantooine, near the rebel base that had been long since abandoned. The cache was hidden upon the base, behind a door disguised as part of an overgrown tree, left off the blueprints.

“You, uh, might want to step back,” she advised Luke, recalling the warning Ahsoka had given her before discovering the first of her father’s caches. It was a simple matter to input the numerical code into the lock, expending her focus in the force to disable the Khyber crystal within the lock.

The safehouse wasn’t much different from the last she’d visited on Zeltros. A smallish room, filled with miscellaneous items, many she recognized, and more she didn’t, as well as a shelf filled with even more books than the last cache. She picked up another notebook, and skimmed through it.

“I think this is another book my mother wrote. Well, both of them, perhaps, based on the different handwriting in places. It catalogues a collection of Sith Holochrons they uncovered from a mission on Malachor.”
 
“Malachor? Shadows must have led interesting lives.” Luke picked up a thin, razor-edged disk of black glossy stone from a stack of identical copies. “A lanvorok? Did they collect ancient Sith weapons as well?”

There was a faint clatter as he put it back down. “This is remarkable, though. I always assumed that a Jedi safehouse - when I thought about them at all - would be a spartan affair. Minimal. Not...” he gestured around. “Not like a swoop bike garage combined with a university dorm.”

Selecting a book at random, he perched on the bed shoved into one corner of the structure. “This, uhm, it looks like field notes. With two different writing styles. I guess... Quentin and Kaydia?” He leafed through, skimming. “Hm. Listen to this.”

Licking his lips, he read aloud. “Finished deciphering Aldane’s notes with Linora’s help. Like we thought, he was trying to complete the Vahdar Rite. I hope that bastard’s suffering now. He was also, though, trying to piece together the ritual of, uhm, gbigbemi ẹm?” Luke pursed his lips. “I don’t know if I pronounced that right. But whichever one of them who write this entry said: ‘What is it with Sith and mad immortality schemes?’ So, this gbigbemiem thing may be a lead?”
 
Mara joined Luke on the bed, sitting close enough her thigh brushed against his, and leaned in even closer to read from the notebook he’d picked up. “Sounds like it.” Looking over Luke’s shoulder, she read the next few lines to herself. “Seems like this refers to a holochron?”

The bed shifted as she got up, and she made her way to a lockbox on a bottom shelf. It too had a Khyber crystal embedded in the lock, and it took several moments of focus to disengage the lock. Opening the box, a thick wave of chill escaped, and for a moment she was nauseous. It took a few deep breaths to steel herself, and chase away an impending migrane. The box was filled with metallic artifacts, various polyhedrons with interlocking pieces and empty veins etched into ancient symbols. Consulting the passage once more, she located the holochron in question.

Handling it was mildly painful, like grabbing a handful of ice with a bare hand. Ignoring her discomfort, she held it up for Luke. “It’s has the info we need, but it’s a Sith Holochron,” she explained, rolling it around in her hand to counteract the numbing sensation that seeped into her fingers. “I think we can access it, if we join our perceptions in the force.” Once more she joined him on the bed, and offered her free hand. “Certainly couldn’t hurt.”
 
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