Beyond - Legends Honour Thy Father (Anakin lives post-ROTJ - L/M, H/L) - Completed Nov. 4

Jedi_Lover: Thanks. I worked hard on the chapter. If Han ever hurt Leia, I think Leia would be the first one to kill him!

Lady_Misty: Anakin had a vision of the EU as we know it a few chapters back so Luke and Mara are off to prevent it.

Ginchy: Thanks. He is, and yes, Mara did need to hear those things.

Hazel: Thank you. Mara? Stubborn? NOOOO. NEVER!

Jade_eyes: Thank you for all the wonderful comments. I am writing when I have breaks from the shavit ton of reading I have to do, but it’s not L/M. It’s not even fanfic. I’ve gone to the wild world of original fiction.

Darth_Malevolent: Thanks. Of course R2 went with them. Someone has to act as a chaperone

JainaSoloYJK: Don’t cry!!! Thanks. More coming up.

Tag list: Jedi_Lover Lady_Misty Hazel Tribaldancer JediMaster_Jen JainaSoloYJK Jedi_Liz CurtisZidaneZiraa

On? Off? Just ask! New chapter below.

 

Chapter Ten

After weeks of ‘small stuff’, as the list Anakin gave them put it, it was time for something that would change the course of the future. Even though they had spent the past few weeks finding something called the Caamas Document, killing crime lords like Durga the Hutt, freeing prisoners of war from the mines of Kessel, informing a species – Noghri, Mara remembered the name – that the Empire had destroyed that their planet, and helping them relocate to New Honoghr, Mara was not prepared for the next item on the list.

“‘Never underestimate the calming power of a list,’” Mara said with a grunt, quoting Anakin’s words as she stared at the details for this particular task on her datapad. “Well, he’s not the one who has to do this shavit.” She tried to act annoyed, but in truth, the next task scared her.

Luke, who was at the controls of the Second Chance, nodded. “We can do this Mara, together,” he assured her with an uneasy smile.

“Whatever you say,” she muttered back as the ship descended towards the planet Byss.

* * *

Mara felt like the atmosphere in the Emperor’s citadel was trying to strangle her. The darkness – after a year of being a Jedi, she now knew it as such – weighed heavily on her. It felt like it was threatening her. She was its daughter who betrayed it... and it wanted her back.

She stayed close to Luke. He was oddly confident, as if the darkness could not touch him. It was both comforting, yet unnerving. Who did he think he was? He, the son of the former Vader, should know that darkness can touch anyone’s heart.

The dark halls were deserted. According to Anakin, the Emperor had planned, in the event of his death, to be reborn in a clone body. He created this place to store clones. Once his soul took one of the clone bodies, he would call on stormtroopers and dark side adepts to do his bidding, and regain his hold on the galaxy.

Of course, the Emperor hadn’t anticipated Anakin casting his soul to the depths of chaos upon his original body’s death.

Mara saw no point in coming to this place. She then thought about what creepy things might happen if Imperials or gangsters got a hold of a stock of clones of the Emperor.

Maybe Anakin was on to something.

Artoo lead the way to the cloning lab. They took a tubolift that exited out onto a platform.

Mara felt like vomiting. Below them, illuminated by lights that flickered occasionally, were nearly one hundred cloning tanks. Each one had the same man inside at different stages of development.

Emperor Palpatine.

While Mara stared in shock, Luke made his way down a short duracrete staircase to the controls and studied them. After a few moments, she joined him.

“We are going to have to cut the main power to all the tanks, and then cut the individual backup power packs attached to each tank. We might as well attach detonators to every five tanks in a grid pattern to make sure the job is done.”

She slowly nodded. “You get, prepare, and attach the detonators. I’ll cut the power. Where is the main outlet?”

He pointed to a thick yellow wire coming out of the control panel. “Are you sure?”

“I have to be the one. After all the things he made me do, this is the best way to achieve forgiveness.”

He took her hand and gave it a quick squeeze before leaving her alone to get the detonators.

Now alone with clones of her former master in a duracrete lab, Mara ignited her blue blade and cut through the thick yellow wire.

The lights flickered for a moment; as if the darkness was trying one last time to envelop her. But then, Artoo bumped her leg and the lights came back on.

She walked up to the first cloning tank, cut the power pack, and felt the clone die. She was not doing this for revenge – she was doing this for forgiveness.

* * *

Luke eventually came back when Mara was nearly finished cutting the power packs. She was glad that she had the privacy to mourn deep down for the man that had once meant so much to her. She might now despise Palatine for his manipulations, but he had been her father figure for nearly two decades and nothing could change how she had felt about him in the past. By mourning for him, she allowed herself to feel compassion, not anger. She felt like she was truly was embracing being a Jedi, something that was giving her strength in this dark place.

Still, Luke’s face was a relieving sight. It brought her back to the task at hand, which they finished. As they were taking the turbolift away from the place, Luke allowed her to press the button which detonated the cloning chamber.

* * *

On their way back to the hangar, Mara was deep in her thoughts about the past and future. It seemed brighter now. She now felt more worthy of her position in life, her friends and her best friend… even if he did feel a little ‘off’ in the force at the moment.

Luke paused, pulling Mara from her musings. He went into a room and gasped. The room was filled with books, holocrons, and other artifacts of both the Jedi and Sith. There was a holocron on a stone pedestal in the center of the room. Luke walked towards it.

“Skywalker?” Mara was standing in the threshold of the room; her feet refused to carry her any further.

“We have to collect this stuff,” he said, looking around in awe.

“No, your father’s instructions on this task were very clear: kill the clones and destroy the citadel.” Anakin did not want them to just blow the place up. He wanted to ensure no clones would survive, that is why they had killed the clones first. “He said nothing about taking artifacts.”

“But, think of the knowledge we could gain. He didn’t know this stuff was here.”

“No, we have enough information to restart the Jedi order.” She let out a breath. It wasn’t like her to disagree with him when they each wanted something different. He wanted to stay and she wanted to get out of this place. “I have a bad feeling about this. I want to get out of here.”

“No. Just give me a minute to look at some of the stuff.”

“Luke,” she said, backing out of the room. This was not like him. He never ignored her. Then she realized the dark energy was enticing him with knowledge and he couldn’t sense it. “Please. There is nothing to gain here. We need to get going.”

He turned to look at her. There was something different about his eyes. Red rimmed his once innocent blue irises. “I said no.”

Mara started to back out of the room. She was then thrown into a vision.

* * *

“There is no escape,” Darth Vader reached out from a gantry to Luke, who was clinging onto an instrument complex, his right hand severed from his body. They were in a reactor shaft. “Don't make me destroy you. You do not yet realize your importance. You have only begun to discover you power. Join me and I will complete your training. With our combined strength, we can end this destructive conflict and bring order to the galaxy.”

“I'll never join you!” Luke screamed back

“If you only knew the power of the dark side. Obi-Wan never told you what happened to your father.”

”He told me enough!” Luke growled. “He told me you killed him.”

”No. I am your father.”

Luke stared at Vader. “No. That's not true! That's impossible!”

”Search your feelings, Luke. You know it to be true.”

“NO!”

“Luke. You can destroy the Emperor. He has foreseen this. It is your destiny. Join me, and we can rule the galaxy as father and son.”

“No,” Luke grit out. His eyes turned bright red, and then completely black. “I will destroy both you and the Emperor! I will destroy the galaxy!”

* * *

As Mara came out of the vision, she stared at Luke. She had been told how Anakin, who had been Vader at the time, revealed Luke’s parentage, but this vision had an alternate ending.

Mara then realized that if Luke ever fell to the dark side, he would be more powerful and more vile than the Emperor and Vader put together. All would be doomed.

“Mara?” Luke stared back at her, the red fading from his eyes. “Mara, are you okay? You look like you just saw a star explode. You’re trembling.” He took a step towards her and that is when she fled.

* * *

Mara reached the ship long before Luke did. She raced to the communication centre and typed in a code. Thankfully the call was answered immediately. A small, blue hologram of Anakin appeared.

“Jade? What the hell happened? I felt Luke…” Mara could tell Anakin didn’t want to finish his sentence.

“We destroyed the clones but the darkness is extremely potent here. It started to influence Luke.” She drew upon her training as a child to keep emotionless. “Talk to him. I don’t think he knows what happened.”

She felt Luke nearing so she left the comm station on and locked herself in her stateroom. She couldn’t face him.

* * *

Luke ran into the Second Chance confused and calling for Mara.

“Luke?” The voice was not Mara’s, it was his father’s. He made his way to the comm centre.

“Dad?” Luke sat in the comm chair. “Did Mara tell you what upset her?”

Anakin nodded. “She did. And it upset me too. I will tell you, but you need to complete the mission. I will talk to you once you are in space.”

Luke nodded and did as his father asked.

A while later, with the citadel destroyed, the Second Chance over Byss and Mara still in her cabin, Luke sat back down with his father.

“Dad?” He was still extremely confused.

“Luke. What did you felt like while you were in the citadel?”

Luke recalled his feelings. “At first I felt heavy, like the atmosphere was thick, but I got used to the feeling and it made me comfortable there.”

“That ‘heaviness’ you felt, that was the dark side,” Anakin said simply.

Luke was in shock. “What? I’ve felt the dark side before. This didn’t feel like the dark side. This felt good, like I was accomplishing something.”

“The dark side imitates many feelings. The darkness was probably so strong there that it influenced you without you knowing it because you were not prepared for it to be that strong.”

Luke gulped. “But Mara recognized the darkness.”

“She is well acquainted with the dark side,” Anakin said with a gentle nod. “Subconsciously she knew how to protect her mind and could even tell when it started to affect your mind.”

“Oh gods,” Luke muttered as he set his face in his hands. “I am a failure.”

“No, you’re not, Luke,” Anakin gently rebuked him. “Every Jedi must touch the darkness to be able to recognize it. You have touched true darkness. You have passed one of the most difficult challenges a Jedi must face to gain mastery of the light side. I am glad it had happened now and in this way. You have learned a valuable lesson. You didn’t let the darkness control your entire mind. You defeated it.”

“But I didn’t even recognize it. I feel like such a failure.”

“Meditate on the events that transpired today and you will be able to recognize the darkness in all forms in the future. And remember, I love you.”

“Thanks Dad. I love you, too.” Luke was about to end the call when his father said one last thing.

“Talk to Mara. This will show her how you need her. Ask for her forgiveness.”

Luke nodded, and then terminated the call.

* * *

Mara let out a breath after Luke knocked on the door too her cabin. She tried to remain calm. “What do you want?” she yelled.

“Can we talk?” he asked softly. “Please?”

She got up from her bunk and palmed the door opener. “What?” She looked into his eyes and only saw the Luke that she knew. The only red rimmed his eyeballs. Had he been crying.

“I am a failure. I let the dark side influence my thoughts and actions. I’m sorry for yelling at you and for letting you down.”

Mara let out a sigh and let him in. She offered him the seat at her small desk while she sat on the edge of her bunk. While he had been talking with his father, she had been thinking. “You are not a failure, Luke,” she said honestly. “You made a mistake, like the rest of us do. You are only human too, Luke. You need to remember that. You are not immune to anything, including the dark side.”

He nodded, processing the information.

“I’m sorry too, Luke,” she said, looking into his eyes. “I should have told you that you were acting strangely. I should have gotten you out of there sooner, or at least warned you.”

Luke let out a breath. “That is why I need you, as a partner, a friend, and perhaps maybe even more. I need you to remind me that I am not immune, that I am just a man.”

“I will be more than willing to remind you,” she said, thinking back to her vision. Was this the purpose for which the Force gave her a second chance? To keep Luke from straying from the light and to aid in his restoration of the Jedi order using her personal knowledge? She was sure it was. She would do it, and where ever it led to her with her relationship, she would go, even if it scared her. She would do it for Luke and the galaxy. And if it led her to happiness, she would feel like she deserved it.

“Now,” she said, getting up. “I think you need some hot cocoa.”

 

See, that is a good way to step away from the darkness - good friends and family call you up on it and you listen.

Well done, Bri!

 

Hot cocoa! What? They need make-up sex!

Very nice! They are tying up all the loose ends.

 

Fantastic way to get rid of a threat and to show Mara's essentialness. It's great and shows her strength that she was able to recognize the trouble and keep it at bay in herself and I think Luke's concern for her actually pulled him from the brink.

 

Hush up, Jedilover! Not all of us have your dirty mind.

PHEW! Scary stuff. Interesting that Mara was the one to help pull Luke away from the darkness. Great chapter!

 

Great chapter, what would Luke do without her?

Briannakin, could I get on that tag list, by the way?

 

The Dark Side tempts everyone differently.

Hot soothing drink should calm their nerves and then they will be off to finish the rest of their tasks.

 

Luke touching the darkside is very scary. I can see why he wanted the artifacts....but what if he had taken SITH ones as well?

 

Hey guys. Thanks for all the wonderful reviews. No individual replies again because tomorrow my life is going to implode. But, Jedi_Lover, get your mind out of the gutter, at least until chapter 20

Tag list: Jedi_Lover Lady_Misty Hazel Tribaldancer JediMaster_Jen JainaSoloYJK Jedi_Liz CurtisZidaneZiraa zero



Chapter Eleven

“This is your ‘best and brightest?’” Anakin asked, doubtful. He, Leia, Winter, and Han were standing atop a set of stairs. Below them was a debriefing room full of eleven Rogue Squadron members in their ‘natural state’ along with other New Republic agents, numbering about a half dozen, looking on in mild annoyance.

Wes was poking Wedge in the arm incessantly while the leader repeated “Stop it” every time he was poked. Hobbie and Tycho were making bets on how long it would take before Wedge snapped. The other Rogues were either asleep or playing the schoolyard game ‘slap hands’. The newest Rogue, Corran Horn, had studied the game for several minutes and was now dominating his competitors.

“Don’t worry, Anakin,” Han said, clapping him on the back. “You’ll fit right in.”

Anakin turned to glare at him. Even after living with Han and Leia for three months, Anakin was proud of the fact that he could still make Han quiver in his boots with just one look. “I’ll remember that.”

Anakin followed Winter down the set of stairs.

Wedge noticed their entrance. He swiftly backhanded Wes and dashed to the front of the room. He cleared his throat, getting the room’s occupants’ attentions. “Rogues. New Republic agents. May I welcome General Skywalker. He has a mission and he will be honoring us by flying on the mission. He will be Rogue Leader and Corran Horn’s wing mate. Please give him your respect.”

Wedge clapped as he took his seat and Anakin took his position.

“Thank you Commander Antilles,” Anakin said with a slight nod. “As many of you know, I was a personal prisoner of the Emperor. He enjoyed boasting about his power to me.” This wasn’t completely true, however it wasn’t a complete lie either, and it did explain how Anakin knew so much about the inner workings of the Empire. “I learned many things, including the existence of an Imperial research center within the Maw cluster of black holes. Grand Moff Tarkin established this installation for the creation of superweapons. Tarkin died believing the Emperor did not know of this project, but luckily for us, he did. To my knowledge, there are superweapons ready to be fired in the Maw.

“Our task is to evacuate the civilian scientists and lower ranking Imperials within the installation, arrest the high ranking Imperials, and then destroy the entire installation. We will all go in on the flagship Perennial. I will be navigating it using the Force. They will not be expecting us. I doubt they even know the Empire has been destroyed – for secrecy reasons they were cut off from the rest of the galaxy. We will catch them off guard, destroy their ships so no one can escape, and arrest everyone. After they get back to Coruscant, the innocent will be set free. They will go on the Perennial, backtracking my exact jumps out of the cluster, while the members of Rogue Squadron and I stay behind to destroy everything that is left. There will be one superweapon that we won’t be able to destroy with lasers, torpedoes, cannons or detonators – the Sun Crusher. Do not worry about it.”

Hobbie let out a huff. “With a name like Sun Crusher, I think we should worry about it.”

The rest of the Rogues nodded and stated their agreement.

Wedge hid his face in his hands. “And they were behaving so well.”

Wes poked Wedge in the arm. “It wasn’t me this time.” He poked his commander again. “Besides, at least we were listening for once.” Another poke came after he finished speaking.

Wedge finally snapped. “You poke me one more time and I swear on my astromech droid I will shove your finger up Hobbie’s butt!”

“Hobbie would probably enjoy that,” Tycho huffed.

Hobbie turned around to stare at Tycho. “I’m not giving you your five creds now.”

Han started to laugh from his seat on the stairs. “You’re supposed to deny it, Hobbie!”

“What?” Tycho squawked, pointing a finger at Hobbie. “We made a bet! Wedge snapped before the debriefing was over. You owe me those five credits.”

The debriefing quickly disintegrated into chaos.

Leia turned to Winter, whom she was sitting beside at the front. “I was beginning to wonder if they were sick.”

Winter nodded. “Me too, but they are acting like themselves now.”

“Are they normally like this?” Anakin asked the two women.

Both nodded glumly.

“Is this some kind of punishment for not raising you and Luke?”

Both shook their heads. “Luke created Rogue Squadron for a reason,” Winter explained. “They truly are the best fighter pilots in the Alliance.”

“Luke created these guys?” he asked in astonishment.

“Yes. He brought them together and set the standards for them,” Leia answered. “You should be able to handle the bunch. Just become one of them. Give into the Rogue side.”

Anakin rolled his eyes but turned back to his audience. “Enough.” He raised his hand to get their attention.

It didn’t work.

“Threaten them with kitchen duty,” Leia offered.

“If you men don’t shut it in three seconds, you all get kitchen duty,” he yelled over the voices and hoots of laughter.

The room was silence in an instant. The only sound that could be heard was Anakin’s slight wheezing. He hadn’t had to raise his voice like that in over a year. His body and life-support systems momentarily struggled to keep up with the action.

Leia got up to adjust the controls on his ventilator and he stopped wheezing.

Anakin continued. “I will have my son, Luke, deal with the Sun Crusher at a later date. After destroying the installation, I will lead the Rogues out of the Maw cluster. Any questions?”

“Sounds too easy,” Wes spoke up. “Why do you need the talents of Rogue Squadron?”

“First off, there will be many explosions once we start destroying things. We will be in a confined space. The Maw is a cluster of black holes, as many of you may know. One wrong maneuver will mean you get sucked into oblivion. Second, there are flight routes but the safest way to get out of the Maw is navigating via the Force. Each member must follow my exact path, or again, you will get sucked into a black hole.” Anakin could tell that they still weren’t convinced. “And finally, the Imperial in charge of the installation is Admiral Daala. Daala is insane.”

Wes grinned. “Insanity, General Skywalker, is what we do best.”

* * *

When Leia exited the refresher in her cabin aboard the Perennial, she found Han sprawled out on their bunk completely nude. She and Han had enjoyed a very active sex life since getting married.

He stared at her. “What are you doing in that?” She looked down at her floral, knee-length nightgown. “Aren’t you giving me some loving this evening?” he said with a pout.

Leia rolled her eyes. “I’m just going to check on Ani,” she said, grabbing her robe.

She left Han, walked down the passage, and knocked on Anakin’s door. He answered it in night pants, an under tunic, and a plushy bath robe. The heat was cranked in the cabin. Even after over a year, he still had problems regulating his body heat. He had relied on the damn suit the Emperor encased him in for too long.

“Leia,” he said with a slight smile. “What would you like?”

“I’d like to know that the General of this mission is getting some sleep.” She peered behind him. Data-pads littered his bunk. “But I can see that isn’t the case.” She brushed past him into the room with a sigh. She started to turn off the data-pads and stacked them on the desk. “What were you looking up?”

“I was just hacking into some Imperial records using my old security override keys trying to find any information beyond what I know about the Maw and the installation.” Leia knew he could do this. His hacking and override keys had help defeat the remnants of the Empire after the Emperor had died. “I couldn’t find anything.”

“That’s alright. Tomorrow will be a success… if you get some sleep,” she said as she pulled down the blankets on the bunk. “Now come on.”

“So bossy. Just like your mother.” He slipped off the bath robe and into the bed. “One of my greatest regrets is that she couldn’t see you grow up. She would be so proud of both you and Luke.”

She laid him back on the pillows, disconnected him from his portable ventilator, and connected him to his night ventilator. “She’d be proud of you too,” she whispered.

* * *

After Anakin had successfully navigated through the black holes to the installation, ion torpedoes shot at the ship yards. There was no escape for the Imperials.

“Imperials and scientists of the Maw Installation,” Leia said over the Perennial’s communications station. Her voice could now be heard on comlinks and comm stations across the Maw Installation. “This is New Republic Secretary of State Leia Organa Solo. We will be destroying this facility. We will evacuate all inhabitants aboard this flagship. You have nothing to fear if you evacuate in an orderly manner. We will be docking in thirty minutes.”

Leia switched off the comm and turned to Winter. “You think it will be that easy?”

“Is it ever that easy for us?”

“It is when I’m around,” Anakin said, getting up from the navigator’s station. “And when I have the power of Rogue Squadron behind me.”

“Oh gods, what have I done?” Leia asked.

“You put your father on a ship with the Rogues for five days and put him in charge of this mission. You should have known that he was going to turn into one of them,” Winter said.

“So, are you going to join me down the hangar?” he asked.

“Only because I have to,” Leia responded, referencing the fact that because he was in her custody, she had to accompany him almost everywhere. This mission was a special exception.

Together, they made their way to the hangar and where the Rogues were getting into the X-wings.

“General Skywalker,” a Twi’lek technician said with a salute. “Your X-wing is ready for you. Your astromech droid, R2-M7, has been loaded.”

“Thank you,” Anakin replied with a nod.

Leia followed him to his X-wing and up the ladder. She helped him take off his ventilator and set it behind the seat. He strapped on his crash webbing and put on his flight cap and helmet. “All set?”

He nodded.

“May the Force be with you,” she said, and climbed down the ladder.

He laughed. “It’s always with me. You though, are going to need the Force to deal with Daala.”

With the roll of her eyes she said, “Thanks.”

Leia watched as the majority of Rogue Squadron flew out of the hangar. Wes and Corran stayed behind to help her arrest Admiral Daala. Leia waited there until the Perennial docked. When the airlock was engaged, the doors opened. They revealed one woman – a redhead in a crisp admiral’s uniform.

“Who the kriff are you?” she screamed.

Leia walked to her with purpose, flanked by Wes and Corran, who both could be intimidating when they wanted to be. “Admiral Daala?” According to Anakin, if they arrested the admiral, the evacuation of the installation should go easily.

“Yes. I am the officer in charge of all operations within this space. What is the meaning of this? You are not from the Empire.”

“No shavit. We’re kinda normal,” Wes muttered.

Leia gave him a harsh glance. She knew she should’ve asked for Wedge. “No, we are not,” Leia confirmed. “We are from the New Republic, the one true government within the galaxy.”

“What? What are you talking about?” Daala demanded. “The Empire is the only legitimate government in the galaxy.”

“Not no more,” Wes said with a grin, saying what everyone wanted to say.

If looks could kill, he would have been dead from the glare Daala gave him.

Leia took a breath. “Admiral Daala, you and the other beings at this installation have resided here with no outside communication for over a decade. “Much has happened since you came here. The Alliance to Restore the Republic has defeated the Galactic Empire and the New Republic has been established. Now –.”

Daala interrupted Leia with a snarl. “Impossible.”

“Nothing is impossible,” Leia said simply. “Now, if you come willingly, the action will be taken into thought when you plead your case before a military judge.”

“Never!” Daala’s hand went to the blaster on her hip.

She was swiftly apprehended by Wes and Corran before she could make a mess.

* * *

“My gods,” Anakin heard the voice that he recognized to Hobbie’s in his ear. “This evacuation is taking forever.”

Anakin rolled his eyes. He and the other Rogues were just perusing the installation while they waited for the inhabitants to board the Perennial. According to the most recent update from Winter, it was going smoothly.

“Cut the chatter,” Tycho said for the tenth time. Anakin could feel the Alderaanian’s edginess, no doubt due to the half built Death Star looming in the distance.

“Yes, we can’t get any updates with you yacking like that annoying droid of Leia’s,” Wedge added.

“Hey, I made that ‘annoying’ droid,” Anakin griped.

“Well, that explains Threepio then,” Wedge replied.

There were hoots of laughter over the communication system. There then was crackling and Winter’s voice came to Anakin’s ear.

“Rogue Squadron: Perennial is disembarking now. You are clear to start your mission.”

Anakin was about to send an affirmative when Wes spoke. He had joined the Rogues in the air once Daala had been taken care of. “So we can blow shavit up now, right?”

Winter’s icy voice sounded only slightly annoyed. “Yes, Lieutenant Janson, you may.”

Anakin made sure to take control of the squadron once Winter buzzed out. “Alright Rogues. Time to get to work.” The first order of business was to put the Sun Crusher within the middle of everything. He did this using the Force. Anakin hadn’t been completely honest with the Rogues during the debriefing. The Sun Crusher would not be destroyed today because it couldn’t be destroyed in a typical way due to its quantum-crystalline armor. Luke would take care of the super-weapon though. He would cast it into a black hole, but only after the super-weapon saved the galaxy from disaster. Until that time came, the only way Anakin saw to keep the Sun Crusher out of the wrong hands was to destroy everything within the Maw instillation around it.

And everything was.

Weapons of all shapes and sizes were destroyed. Anakin didn’t even know most of their names, let alone their uses.

Finally, one final superweapon remained. The third Death Star.

“Captain Celchu?” Anakin asked. “Would you destroy the final target?”

“It would be my honour, General,” Tycho replied.

Anakin and ten Rogues flew around the perimeter of the Maw installation and watched as a son of Alderaan flew in to the Death Star, riddled the core with detonators and escaped the collapsing sphere.

“Let’s go home.” Anakin lead the group out of where the instillation.

“So,” Wes drawled after a few minutes of silently following the line of X-wings. “What brand of underwear did the Emperor wear?”

Hobbie groaned.

Corran took the bait. “I don’t know. What?”

“Fruit of the DOOM!”

Despite the horrid quality of the joke, Anakin found himself laughing.

 

Briannakin, I have a new title for you, the Queen of the Rascally Rogues. No one has ever captured their - certifiable insanity better! Oh, funny! Nice wrapping up of the Maw threat.

 

Those Rogues! They better be careful or I'll asphyxiate from laughing so hard.

Fruit of the Doom, Fruit of the Loom I get it.

Anakin could fit right in with them.

Two insane red heads down and one to go..

 

Oh come on, you guys love it when my mind is in the gutter. LOL!

I think I will have to read your post for a second time. I got as far as Han lying on the bed nude and I just couldn't get that naked scoundrel out of my head.

Nice update.

 

Oh gosh...I'm dying over here! Those Rogues are nuts! LOVE the comment about Threepio, LOL. I was wondering when that would come up.

 

Fruit of the doom. Great line.

 

Those Rogues are always good for a laugh.

Fun chapter Bri!

 

Excellent! So funny! Luke's going to have his hands full now that his father is an honourary Rogue.

 

Anakin an honorary Rogue? Keep WES away from him!!!!

 

Hehehe. I put that in there with you in mind


Hey guys. Thank you all for the reviews! I let my insanity flow out in chapter 11 and I’m really glad you all enjoyed it. It’s Thanksgiving here tomorrow and I’m really thankful for all the readers this fic has!

Tag list: Jedi_Lover Lady_Misty Hazel Tribaldancer JediMaster_Jen JainaSoloYJK Jedi_Liz CurtisZidaneZiraa Zer0





Chapter Twelve


After the small fiasco at Byss, Luke and Mara decided to take a short vacation – or ‘meditation break’ as they referred to it as when speaking to Anakin – before continuing on with their mission. Before doing so, however, they had to decide where exactly to go. They wanted to go somewhere enjoyable, but still somewhere they could meditate and seek the Force.

“What about Tatooine?” Mara asked, looking at the holomap.

Despite his somber attitude since his touch with the dark side, Luke scrunched his nose. “We wanted an enjoyable planet, not somewhere that we would be reminded that you were sent to kill me once. Besides, getting sand in places that I never knew I had isn’t my idea of fun. I endured nineteen years of that.”
Mara rolled her eyes, but she was glad he was starting to act more like himself once again. His failure to detect his waver to the dark side was evidently weighing heavily on his mind. Mara hoped with more time and some meditation, he’d be back to his regular self.

“What about places my dad listed as possible sites for a Jedi academy?” Luke suggested. Anakin had suggested that sometime during their mission that they search for possible planets and moons for a future Jedi school.

“Alright.” She looked at the datapad in her lap. “Ossus? Dantooine? Yavin IV?”

“Yavin IV has some pretty good memories for me,” Luke said as he began to type in coordinates into the navicomputer.

* * *

The humid heat hit Mara as she descended the Second Chance’s boarding ramp. She looked around. They had landed on top of a Massassi temple, one that was used for a base for the Rebel Alliance a few years back. They were surrounded by trees and sounds of animals. She followed Luke down a set of stairs that led into the temple. The hall that they entered was made of stone with vines invading from the cracks.

“At least if this place gets picked for the academy, we won’t have to do many renovations,” Mara said as Luke showed her around.

He nodded. “When the Alliance left here to go relocate at Hoth, we left pretty much everything intact. There’s a mess hall, kitchen, even living quarters.”

They turned another corner into shadows. “They’ll need to be more lights installed though.”

“Yeah,” Luke agreed. “I don’t remember it being this dark. There is something different about this place, but I can’t figure out what it is.”

“We can meditate on it,” she offered. “That is what we’re here for.”

* * *

They had spent a few hours walking around the Temple and the surrounding area. Mara couldn’t help but get an eerie feeling whenever she stepped into the shadows. She and Luke had eaten dinner together atop the temple and had set up temporary quarters in two sleep chambers.

Mara was now meditating on the eerie feeling that had been plaguing her all day. She sat on her bedroll, clad in simple black cloth shorts and an undertunic for the warm night ahead, and slipped into the Force. She felt all the essences around her. There was Luke – despite his recent brush with darkness, he still was a beam of pure light. Mara expanded her senses outward. She felt hundreds animals in the nearby jungle, their primitive instincts shading their appearance within the Force. There was something else, too. Mara focused on it.

At first touch, it felt like nothing Mara had ever experienced before. It felt ancient, almost as old at this moon, and it – or rather him – offered her a vast amount of knowledge and power. Guarding her heart and mind closely, she went further into the feelings and sought out his true intentions. He spoke to her, much like the Emperor had done.

“Mara Jade, you are an orphan. Come back to where you belong. I will give you purpose. Come back into the night.” It was not a request, but rather an order.

Although she vowed never to become what she once had been, she knew she had to get answers. “Who are you?”

“I am the greatest Sith Lord ever to have lived. Greater than the man you called ‘Darth Sidious’. While I lived I was known as Exar Kun. I was killed and bound to the shadows of this moon. You will know me as Master and you will make me great once more.”

Mara was about to deny him what he wished, but he continued to speak to her.

“I sense resistance in you. You have turned from the ways of true power. But that does not matter to me. You shall serve me – willingly or not!”

Mara sensed a surge of dark energy coming at her. She came out of her meditation trance to find herself being hurled against a wall. She used the Force to dampen the blow, but she still banged her head against the stone wall hard. She blacked out for a few moments.

When she came to, she noticed it was night. She must have been in meditation longer than she had thought, which wasn’t an odd occurrence. She heard hurried footsteps outside the door. Luke burst through with his lightsaber activated. The green glow seemed to pierce the darkness.

“Mara!” he gasped, rushing to her side. He deactivated his lightsaber and switched on a lamp.

“I’m fine,” she muttered, rubbing her head. She then noticed Luke’s attire, or rather lack thereof. Mara had seen Luke shirtless before, but now he wore no pants as well. He was clad in only grey boxer-briefs.

“It attacked you, didn’t it?” he asked, concerned. Much to her annoyance, he helped her onto the bedroll.

“Yes. How did you know there was something here?” she asked, still dizzy.

“I told you I sensed something different when we arrived here. Something I would have remembered if I had felt it last time I was here - I figured I was too busy, young or inexperienced to sense it last time. I still couldn’t put my figure on it, so I meditated on it before I went to sleep,” he said.

“I sensed it too. I meditated as well. What did you feel?”

“I felt a great wealth of knowledge and power. Although it didn’t feel dark, I knew it was. It wasn’t like what I felt on Byss, but I knew it was evil. I withdrew before I was influenced by it.”

Mara allowed herself a small smile. “Congratulations Luke. You have learned from your mistake at Byss.” She explained briefly what she had learned of the spirit of Exar Kun.

“So, what do we do about him?” he asked, reminding her that he was as much of a student as she was.

She rested her head on her knees. Her head was beginning to hurt…a lot. “Can we figure it out in the morning?”

“Oh, Force, of course,” he said quickly. “You probably have a concussion.”

“I can confirm that,” she murmured.

“Here, I’ll go get you a cold-pack from the Second Chance,” he said, getting up.

“No,” she stopped him. “I don’t want some old dead Sith watching me sleep.”

“Good idea,” he said. “I was having some pretty freaky dreams before I woke up.”

“Dreams? You sure they weren’t visions?” she asked.

He nodded his head. “Unless Lando and Isard had a fling that I never knew about.”

She shuttered. “I don’t even want to imagine that.” She stood up, swaying a bit.

Luke immediately got up to help her, wrapping his arm around her waist. “Skywalker,” she grumbled, trying to push him away. It was then that she realized how little she was wearing, almost as little as he was. Her arm brushed against his hard abs when she pushed him away. She grabbed onto the stone desk to steady herself.

Luke blushed. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“It’s fine,” she assured him. She was only used to being grabbed in a fight, not out of comfort or aid.

“Here,” he said, and picked up her robe off the floor. He put it around her shoulders.

She was about to protest when he interrupted her, stepping in front of her and taking her hands. “Before you grumble my last name because I’m helping you, remember, that is what I’m here for. We’re best friends, Mara. We help each other. You helped me recognize the dark side, I owed you one. Besides, you’re hurt.”

She took her hands out of his and slipped her arms through the sleeves of her robes. “Do best friends really keep tabs on who owes who?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.

“No, we don’t,” he said, taking her hands once again. He then smirked. “Except if you owe me credits, then I will always keep tabs.”

She let out one burst of laughter, and then winced in pain. “Don’t make me laugh. It hurts.”

“Let’s get you back to the Second Chance. I want to make sure your head is alright.”

* * *

Luke managed to make Mara admit that she needed help steadying herself for the walk back to the ship. He aided her through the Temple, onto the ship, and to the small medbay. She sat on the edge of the white, sterile bunk.

He quickly got her a cold-pack and snapped it on. “Lean forward,” he instructed. She did and found herself in a very uncomfortable situation. She had her face two decimetres from his tented underwear, which she had not noticed until now, and he was cautiously touching the back of her head. She could sense him drawing on the Force.

“You have a nasty bump and a slight concussion,” was his final conclusion. He gingerly placed the cold-pack on the back of her head and got her to hold it there. When she sat up, she noticed that his cheeks were bright red. He had been aware of the situation as well.

“I’ll get you some painkillers,” he said, turning around quickly to search a drawer. He got a bottle and handed them to her.

She opened the bottle and swallowed two pills dry. “I think I can get back to my cabin by myself.” Mara slowly climbed off the bunk.

* * *

Luke felt both relieved and unwanted as Mara climbed off the bunk. He wanted to get out of this extremely awkward situation, even though she had already seen his arousal, yet he also wanted to make sure Mara was fine.

She paused before she left the medbay. “Can you get me some water?” She asked him.

“Of course,” he smiled. He went to the small kitchen area and poured a tall glass of water out of the cooling unit. He hurried back to Mara.

Luke entered her cabin to see her climbing into her bunk. “Here,” he said, handing her the glass.

She took a long swig of it.

“I’m going to check on you in two hours to make sure the concussion isn’t too serious.” He turned to leave.

“Hey, Luke?” Mara called, setting the water down.

“Yes?”

“Thank you.” She hesitated.

Luke knew she was looking for the right words. He gave her a reassuring smile. “Hey. What are best friends for?”

“I honestly didn’t know until I met you. No one has ever cared for me in my entire life,” she admitted softly.

He took a few steps forward and sat on the edge of her bunk. “And no one has ever treated me the way you do. I’ve always been that dumb farmboy or hero of the Rebellion. With you, I’m Luke. I love caring for you, even if you don’t like it sometimes. I love being your best friend and when you are ready for more, just tell me because I am certainly ready.”

“But I don’t want to lose you as a best friend if things don’t work out between us.”

“Nor do I, but I think it’s worth the risk. The thought of getting closer to you excites me like nothing has before.”

Mara glanced pointedly at his neither regions. “I can see that.”

Luke turned the same shade as her red blankets. He tried for words, but they did not form.

“So, when I am ready, I will tell you. I want you to be happy, and if that’s with me, I guess I’ll just have to deal with a dumb farmboy.”

“Such a tease,” he said, but despite this he picked up her hand and kissed it. “Thank you. Goodnight.”

As he left, she muttered, “Goodnight, farmboy.”

* * *

“So, what are we going to do about this Exar Kun guy?” Mara asked as she sat down at the Second Chance’s table with her breakfast – a bowl of smuggle-O’s.

Luke shrugged ad he finished his bite of sweet-toast. Both were dressed for the day. “I talked to my father. He gave me the two options that I had thought of last night before I went back to sleep. We can leave and then come back to deal with Exar Kun at a later time when we think we have enough experience. This planet is uninhabited anyways so it’s not like Kun possesses any threat to anyone else. Or, if we think we can do it, we can try to rid this place of Kun by ourselves.”

“How would we do that?”

“My father said simply through the power of the Force. I think we should do it.”

“Luke, I’m all for trying, but what happens if we fail and get seriously injured, or even killed? Who would finish this big long mission your father has us going on? Isn’t that more important than one dead dude that can’t do much harm since he is on an uninhabited planet?” she rhetorically asked. “This Kun guy said that he has been kicking around here for 2000 years. If the Old Republic Jedi couldn’t take care of him, what makes you think that the two of us can?”

He nodded. “Overconfidence was Palpatine’s weakness; I don’t want it to be mine. We will wait, finish our main mission. When we have more Jedi, we will find out why the Old Republic Jedi didn’t or couldn’t send him off to Chaos.”

“Sounds like a plan. Shall we get our stuff from the temple and get out of here?”

“Yeah.” When she got up to leave, he stopped her by taking a hold of her hand. “Thank you for pointing that out to me.”

She smirked. “What are coworkers for?”

He lightly kicked her in the butt from his sitting position, making her blush slightly. “I told you, we are best friends. And if you don’t get it right, I’m going to advance our relationship so that you get more time to get used to that term.” He stood up, looking at her with a boyish smile on his face.

“Luke, you just touched my butt. I think you already advanced our relationship.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you; it’s just something that boys do on Tatooine when they like a girl. It’s rather immature.”

“It’s fine.” She walked past him, smacking his butt. She turned to see a very red-faced Luke staring at her. “Hey, if you can touch my butt, your nice buns are fair game for me.”

* * *

Awhile later Luke and Mara were sitting in the cockpit of the Second Chance, preparing for lift-off.

“So, where to?” Luke asked.

“Well, if this vacation was any indication, I’d say trouble follows you onto whatever planet you go to–”

“It does not,” he protested, his voice borderlining on a whine.

“So,” she continued, “let’s get our vacation time in on the way to a distant mission site.”

“Okay.” Luke looked at the mission datapad. “We have to assassinate somebody named Thrawn in the Unknown Regions. The coordinates indicating where he’s located are pretty far off. Another mission location, Wayland, is on the way and all we have to do there is blow stuff up.”

“Blowing stuff up and assassinating someone evil? Sounds like a vacation to me,” Mara said with a grin as she continued the lift-off procedure.

 

Exar Kun is going to be dealt with later so now it's off to Wayland to blow things up and to assassinate Thrawn. Never knew what to think of teh guy anyway.

 

Okay what the heck is this? It looks like common sense. We'll have none of that in the EU. I think it is an unspoken rule that one must become overly curious in a near fatalistic fashion in the SW galaxy.

"What's that scary noise? I think we should go outside in the dark and investigate. No we don't have time to dress...let's go in our underwear." That is what happens in all the movies. You never see, "What's that scary noise? Maybe we should lock the doors and call the police and have them check it out."

I see the L/M relationship slowly progressing. Oh yea! I sense bootknocking in the near future.

Nice update!

 

Whoo! Several blush-worthy scenes in there. Luke and Mara are definitely walking the line between freinds and more-than-friends territory. Glad they decided not to choose Yavin IV. It gave too many problems in the EU. *shudders*

Aww! Luke is so sweet! That's why we all love him.

 

Well, they went through that very well
It's nice to see these two balance each other so well.

 

Great update!

 

plz go back to Yavin 4 in a few years, A/T still needs to rescue Master Irkit and the children in the Golden Globe.................