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

Briann! Squeeeeee! I loved the bashful and intense awareness between them and the teasing and the butt smacks Your description of Luke -- in the almost altogether very - I think you enjoyed that almost as much as Mara LOL

 

Good grief, behind in reviewing. Sorry Anakin as a Rogue - priceless. His personality just fits in with them. Luke and Mara together is great. They compliment each other so well.

 

Hey guys. Thank you all for the reviews! I really suck at the whole individual replies thing, don’t I? Yes, I did enjoy writing the blush-worthy scenes in chapter 12. - anakin_sal-solo - this is a total AU with a ripple effect. Anakin will never be born. And JL LUKE HAS COMMON SENSE IN MY UNIVERSE

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


Chapter Thirteen



“Leia, sweetheart?” Han called from outside the refresher door. “What’s wrong?”

Leia was bent over the toilet, still wearing her blue nightgown. For the past three weeks she had experienced nausea in the morning. She knew what it meant: it had been approximately nine months since she had been wed to Han and they had been trying for this. She had visited the former Imperial Palace’s infirmary yesterday to confirm with a scan. Leia was nervous to tell Han and Ani. She had managed to conceal her sickness until now.

“I’m fine,” she called back, before leaning over to dispose of last night’s supper.

“Yeah, you sure sound fine,” Han replied. “Should I get a medic?”

“No,” she called, standing up. She grabbed the cup beside the sink, poured water in it and drank. “Just go install the upgrades on the Falcon that you’ve been planning to do.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes,” she insisted, opening the door. “I think last night’s dinner just didn’t agree with me.”

“Hey, my cooking has never made you sick before.” Han pointed his finger at her as if he was defending his honor.

“Then it’s just a stomach virus.” She walked past him and into their bedroom. “I’ll spend the day in bed.” She got back into their unmade bed. She had no work planned for this weekend.

Han gave her a lopsided grin. “I’m up for spending the day in bed,” he said huskily.

Leia groaned and pulled the covers up over her head.

* * *

Once Han was out of the apartment, Anakin entered Leia’s room with a tray of non-acidic fruit juice and dry toast. “Leia? May I come in?”

Leia, who had been reading on her datapad, sat up. “What is it, Ani?”

“I heard your discussion with Han a couple minutes ago. I thought you might want a little something to eat.” He was dressed for the day in dark brown robes, carrying his portable ventilator and life support systems pack casually over one shoulder.

“Thank you.” She took the tray.

“How are you feeling?” he asked, setting his ventilator down and sitting on the bed.

“I think I just have a small virus,” she said, taking off a large bite of the toast and washing it down with gulps of the juice.

“You’re awfully hungry for someone with the stomach flu.”

She gave him a quick, somewhat nervous, glare.

“I might have had…an out of the norm life, but I’m not dumb or completely out of touch. Unlike the other males living in this apartment.”

“Ani,” she admonished.

“What?”

She rolled her eyes.

“If you don’t want to tell me why you haven’t been feeling well for the past three weeks, that’s fine.” He got up. “But your mom suffered horrible bouts of morning sickness when she was pregnant with you and Luke. I never witnessed it personally due to the war, but she made sure to make me feel guilty about it the few times we were together. I always believed that she was exaggerating, but looking at you, I guess she wasn’t.” He walked towards the door.

“Wait, Ani,” she said.

He turned around.

“I was going to tell Han first, but since you figured it out on your own, I could really talk to someone about this.”

Anakin grinned. “About what?” He walked back to the bed.

She let out an exasperated sigh. “About my pregnancy.”

He grinned from ear to ear. “Congratulations, Mommy!” He resumed his previous position on the bed. “I can feel that you’re nervous. It isn’t anything to do with your health or the babies’ health, is it?”

“No, no, we’re fine,” she answered quickly. “Wait. You said babies.”

“I did?” he asked, trying to cover his butt.

“You did,” she confirmed. “Do you know something I don’t?”

“I know that twins run in your mother’s family.”

“Oh gods,” she whispered. “There are two of them?”

He nodded with a smile. He then frowned. “What’s wrong?”

She let out a long breath. “I don’t know if I can do it…I didn’t think I could raise one child, now I have two lives dependent on me.”

“Leia, you are going to be a great mother.”

She turned away from him. “I’m not so sure of that.”

He grabbed her hand so that she couldn’t leave just yet. He sought the source of her uneasiness in the Force. “I feel your fears, Leia. Fears that if you have children, they will make my mistakes. But fear is of the dark side.”

“I know. But is having children really worth the risk?”

“Yes,” he said simply.

“If they make the same mistakes you do–”

“They are worth the risk. Besides, they won’t make my mistakes. Luke and I will make sure of it.”

“You are just saying all this because you want grandchildren. You have Luke to do that, you just have to wait a while.”

“Luke will eventually give me redheaded grandbabies that I can spoil, but I am not thinking of me. I’m thinking of you and the children that you carry. Even though I had nothing to do with your upbringing, I feel a sense of pride and happiness when I look at you. I know I shouldn’t, and I know that I don’t deserve it. Don’t cut yourself off from happiness just because of me and my past.

“Think of Han. He’s going to be ecstatic when you tell him. Know that Luke, Han, Chewie, and I will do everything to help them, to help you raise them. You are going to make a great mother and you won’t be alone. Now, give me a smile and show me how happy you are.”

She let him have a small smile. “What are you? A counsellor? A motivational speaker?”

“Nope,” he said with a chuckle. “Just a grandpa-to-be.” He paused and looked at her earnestly. “That is, if you let me be Grandpa to these children.”

She twisted her mouth. “I don’t know.” She was teasing.

“Come on, how bad of an influence could I be? Solo is their dad.”

“Speaking of Han, he’s going to want to be the first one to know – we’re going out for dinner tonight and I’m going to tell him then – so can you act like you don’t know when we tell you?”

He sighed. “I guess I could do that for you.”

She smiled. “Thanks, Ani.”

* * *

“Can we go yet?” Han asked, fiddling with his holster. Leia was taking him out for dinner to tell him her big news. She had asked him to dress nicely, and he had done so in black dress pants and a white button-up shirt. “I’m hungry.”

“We just have to wait for Chewie to get here,” Leia said, bending over to put on her dancer-styled dress shoes.

“Do I really need a sitter?” Anakin wined from his foam-form chair.

“Yes,” Leia groaned. “You do. It was part of your ‘punishment.’ Someone has to watch you.”

“Oh yeah,” he mumbled.

The door then chimed. Leia got up and grabbed the silver bag that matched her plain, dark blue dress. Her hair was up in a braid-like bun. She stared down at Ani and pointed her finger at him. “You. Don’t go getting into trouble,” she warned before turning around and pointing her finger at Chewbacca, who was just entering the room. “And you. Same warning.”

“Yes, mother,” Ani mocked her tone to which he got a death-glare as a response from Leia.

“Have fun now,” Han said with a smile, offering her his arm. She took it.

Chewbacca garffled something as the two exited. Han swiftly palmed the door switch shut behind them.

* * *

“Are you sure you’re alright to be eating out?” Han asked as he pulled out Leia’s chair for her at the Indigo Tower, one of Coruscant’s finest restaurants. “You looked like you were feeling pretty sick this morning.”

“About that,” Leia said. “I might be sick for a while.”

Han stared at her, with an extremely concerned look on his face, but she could not elaborate since a waiter – a blue male Twi’lek – asked them for their drink orders. Leia replied for both of them.

“He’ll have a tumbler of Corellian whiskey – the hard stuff – and I’ll have water with a leamone wedge.”

As soon as the waiter had walked away, Han grabbed Leia’s hand across the table. “What’s going on? You’re scaring me.”

“I’m scared too, Han,” Leia confessed.

He took a few moments to breathe heavily. “Whatever it is, we’ll face it together, but I need to know: what’s wrong?”

“I have these…things…growing inside of me.”

“What?” Han yelled, gaining the attention of several of the nearby patrons. “Sorry,” he mumbled to them.

“Han,” she said, regaining his attention. “I’m going to be fine.”

They were interrupted once again when the waiter came back. Han took long swig of his whiskey as Leia ordered their appetizers and dinners. Once the waiter had left, Leia started to explain the situation.

“My body will be able to expel the growths on its own once they are big enough.”

“Okay,” Han said, unsure of what exactly was going on. “Until that time, what’s going to happen to you? To your body?”

“Well, I should be relatively fine for the duration of the time – which will be about eight more months. I’ll probably still be able to work for most of that time. I’ll continue to be nauseous, but that should only be in the morning.” Han nodded, taking it all in. She continued, “These things will probably alter my body chemistry, so I’ll have mood swings. And my abdomen is going to swell…a lot, along with my feet and probably my breasts too.”

“Well that last symptom doesn’t sound so bad,” he said, forcing his trademark lopsided grin.

Leia rolled her eyes as the waiter came back with their appetizers.

“I’m here for you, Leia,” Han said as he dipped a deep-fried spicy cheese ball into a creamy sauce. “No matter what.”

“Even for the midnight feedings?” she asked him.

“Of course,” he said. “If your body needs food to help you survive this, I’ll be more than happy to get anything for you.”

“Though I might need midnight feedings while they are in me, they are going to need plenty of nutrition once they are out of me.”

“We are keeping these…growth thingies?” he asked in disbelief as he popped the appetizer into his mouth.

She gave him a wicked grin. “Of course Han. They are our children.”

The spicy cheese ball dropped out of Han’s mouth and onto the table, smearing orange over the blue tablecloth.

“Huh?”

“Han,” Leia said slowly. “I’m pregnant.”

It took a few moments for him to comprehend the news. Once he figured it all out, he got up, plucked her out of the chair and held her close for a long while. “I love you,” he mumbled into her ear.

“I know,” she replied. “So, I take it you’re happy?” she asked once she was returned to her seat.

He sat back down and smiled from ear-to-ear. “I’ve never realized it before, but I have never wanted anything more in my entire life—wait. You said children.”

She smirked. “I did. I was told that there’s evidence to suggest that I am carrying twins.”

Han was in shock. He covered his awe with a joke. “So, twins eh? Two with one go. I knew I was good, but I didn’t think I was that good.”

* * *

Hours later, Han and Leia walked back to their apartment with their arms around each other. After their dinner, they had gone to walk in the Alderaani Memorial gardens. They had sat in the limiac patch for hours, talking and gazing up at the stars. Because of the late hour, they had expected to come home to a quiet apartment with Chewie snoring on the couch as it was past Anakin’s usual bedtime.

Instead, when the doors swooshed open, they saw Anakin, Chewie, Lando, Wedge, Wes, Hobbie, and Tycho all around their dining room table, playing sabacc.

“What’s going on here?” Leia asked, placing her hands on her hips. Her facial expression showed that she was not pleased.

Anakin looked at her guiltily. “Chewie and I got bored, so we invited some people over for some sabacc.” He looked at his wrist chrono. “Shavit, we lost track of time.”

“Alright,” Han sighed. “Pack it up and get out if you don’t normally live here.”

Once the other men had gone, Leia and Han helped a suddenly very tired Anakin from his spot at the table to his bedroom. He admitted to using the Force to fend off sleep temporarily so that he could continue to wipe the other men – and Wookiee – of their credits. Now that had come back to make him extremely exhausted. When he got tired like this, he needed more help than usual and he hated it. He grumbled while Leia changed him into his pajama pants and hooked him up to his nighttime ventilators and monitors.

“Maybe this will teach you not to do that extra-energy thing with the Force,” Han said as he entered with a glass of water for Anakin, who rolled his eyes.

“Hey,” Leia said, preventing a fight before it could start. “Han has some news for you.”

Han grinned. “Leia is going to have twins.”

Anakin did his best to try to act surprised. “Congratulations you two,” he said as he hugged both Han and Leia.

“I finally get to call you an old grandpa,” Han teased.

Anakin frowned. “If I’m an ‘old grandpa’ at 47, does that mean that you’re going to an ‘ancient dad’ at 35?”

“Shut up old man,” Han scowled.

 

Well done

 

Come on Leia, that's mean. Poor Han thinks you are infested with parasitic creatures... oh wait they do grow up to be needy teenagers...never mind.

Nice update! Now you need to get working on those redheaded grand babies.

 

I love how long it took Han to get it, that was adorable.

 

Oh Bri, I love your AUs to the limit!
Leia's a mischievous sort isn't she? Likes building the suspense in a real novel way.

Twins without the icky stuff later on - oh so there's no bittersweetness.

Anakin and Han snarking at each other like two grumpy old men

How right this all feels.

 

SQUEE! I love it! Leia preggo with twins,Anaking finding out before Han...the reactions...the jokes...this is wonderful!

 

What a scene between Leia and Han. The parasites will need midnight feedings while still within and once out.

Put Anakin and Chewy together and you get a sabacc tournement with the Rogues. Anakin being put to bed like a child was great ... like a kid he is too stubborn to go to bed when tired.

 

I can't believe how long it took Han to figure it out, and in the end Leia had to spell it out for him.

I like how excited Anakin is about becoming a grandfather.

 

Oblivious Han!.

I think it's so funny how Leia told Han.

Anakin is observant; but then he needed to be as both a Jedi and Sith.

The Rogues make a cameo to have fun with Anakin and Chewie.

 

Loved how Han was totally clueless!

 

I think you're going to have to add me to this tag list. I had gotten so used to not having TFN that I'm having a hard time coming back! But I'm loving the story. I love Luke with common sense and he and Mara off together in the galaxy. Love that Ani and Leia had a moment and yay for grandbabies! And Han was too cute and clueless.

 

Thanks you all! Children are parasites. They are also STD’s!!!!

Tag list PT1: Jedi_Lover Lady_Misty Hazel Tribaldancer JediMaster_Jen

 

Tag list PT2: JainaSoloYJK Jedi_Liz CurtisZidaneZiraa Zer0 ginchy




Chapter Fourteen


“Come on, Mara, it’s not going to kill you,” Luke said from the couch in the main hold of the Second Chance.

“It might,” Mara countered from her spot at the table.

Luke rolled his eyes. “Cuddling never hurt anyone.” In the months since Yavin IV, his and Mara’s relationship had slowly escalated. He now considered her his girlfriend and according to her, he was her farmboy. Still, it was not a normal relationship. It took her months to get used to holding hands, but she now loved it and even initiated it sometimes. The past few months they had worked on ‘hugging’ in between missions. She was getting used to it, but it was still awkward when she tried to give him a hug. He often had to ask for them. However, maybe because of the abusive nature of the act or because it was her favorite part of his anatomy, she was fine with smacking his butt and he smacking hers.

“It might hurt you if you make me do it.”

“Come on.” He then played his secret card. “It would make me happy.” She would do anything to make him happy and he knew this.

She made a grunt, but got up and plunked her butt next to his on the couch. He put his arm around her shoulders. She tensed under him but he held his ground. He took her hand with his other hand and laced their fingers.

She grabbed the remote from his lap and flicked on the viewscreen. “So, what do you want to watch tonight?” She filed through the holo titles that they had. Since they were on their way to another mission site, they’d decided to have a relaxing evening, an ongoing tradition. “I picked last time.”

“What about The Geneses Project?” That was one of his favourite holos about a team of beings that time travel to attempt to find the origins of the Sith, but really find the origins of the Jedi. It was a pre-Clone Wars movie that portrayed the Jedi as good, unlike the few Imperial-era holos that dealt with the Jedi and Sith and perpetuated the myth that Jedi were evil.

“Sure.” She selected the title from the screen and the holo started.

* * *

Eventually Mara relaxed in Luke’s embrace and by the time the holo was over, she was asleep, her head resting on his shoulder. He faced a dilemma. While he wanted to stay on the couch the entire night with Mara in his arms, they had a mission tomorrow and if they slept on the couch their backs and necks would ache.

Still, he had never held her in his arms so peacefully. He took a moment to enjoy it. He was very careful not to wake her as he stared down at her beauty. He continued to be in awe of her every day and loved her more with each passing instant.

Gently, he craned his neck and kissed her forehead. Once this quest to save the future was over, he would ask her to marry him. He could not imagine his future without her.

“Mara,” he whispered, gently nudging her in the arm. “The holo is over.”

She let out a small grunt, opened her eyes and realized the position she was in. She immediately straightened. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” he said with a slight smile. “By my calculations we will have about seven hours to sleep before we reach our destination.”

“Alright.”

He helped her up and guided her to her cabin. “Goodnight,” he said before wrapping her in his arms. She reciprocated, but with less enthusiasm.

“Goodnight,” she said before turning into her cabin.

Luke made his way to his cabin with a wide grin on his face.

* * *

“That’s the Eye of Palpatine?” Mara asked in disbelief as she stared out of the viewport. The Second Chance had just reverted from hyperspace into the middle of nowhere. In front of the ship was a huge dreadnought that looked like a long asteroid, not a weapon of mass destruction.

Luke nodded. “Yup. According to scans, there are no lifeforms aboard, but the technology and weapon scans are off the charts.”

“Then we are at the right location.” Mara had used her old Emperor’s Hand codes to look up classified information on the Eye of Palpatine. It had been constructed at the beginning of the Emperor’s reign, but it was never used because its first mission – to kill a group of Jedi that survived the purge – would have outraged the Imperial Senate with its collateral damage. The Eye of Palpatine’s troops were scattered amongst Outer Rim worlds and the actual Eye was set out of anyone’s path, to wait for a time when the Imperial Senate was no longer an issue for Palpatine.

However, according to the reports, a pair of Jedi that survived the Purge had infiltrated the ship and sabotaged its computers, rendering the superweapon useless. The Eye of Palpatine had been forgotten; however, Anakin still wished it to be destroyed encase some anti-Alliance individual or group got it to work again.

“I wonder how we get in,” Luke said, looking over the dreadnought from the co-pilot’s seat.

As the Second Chance approached the Eye of Palpatine, a crack appeared in its rock-like hull. The crack grew bigger, revealing a hangar.

“How about the front door?” Mara asked with a smirk. She directed the ship into the hangar and set it down.

“So, plan of action?” Luke asked. “I want to know what you think of this situation – you were the one that did all the research.”

“Well,” Mara said, undoing her crash webbing. “Our main mission is to destroy the dreadnought. I should be able to activate the dreadnought’s self-destruct fairly easily. However, the Imperials wiped most of their databases when they knew the Empire was doomed. Since this ship was isolated from the rest of the galaxy, the computer could contain valuable information and codes that we may have extreme difficulty obtaining elsewhere.”

“Alright,” Luke said with a nod, getting up. “If we don’t encounter any danger, get as much useful information from the computer and put it into Artoo.”

The astromech droid tweetled, happy to be a part of a mission from the start instead of coming in at the last moments to save his master and his girlfriend.

* * *

The corridors of the Eye of Palpatine were empty, silent – except for the sound of Luke and Mara’s boots – and dimly lit. Only flickering emergency lights illuminated the inside of the dreadnought.

She pointed left. “The bridge should be this way.” They reached the end of corridor to find a turbolift.

Luke eyed the keypad. “What are the chances of this working after all these years?”

“Knowing our luck, I wouldn’t bet anything on it working.”

He pressed the key to call the turbolift. There were grinding noises, yet nothing appeared to happen.

Mara let out a huff. “Just when this mission was looking easy.” She followed Luke’s lead and unclipped then activated her lightsaber. Together they cut an opening in the turbolift doors. Once finished with the task, they pushed in the metal. It took a few moments before the chunk landed at the bottom of the shaft with an echoing thud.

He turned to Artoo. “Looks like we are going to have to leave you here.”

The droid let out an indignant bleep which was ignored.

Luke popped his head into the opening. “Looks like a long way up.” He stepped in.

Mara was right behind him, entering through the hole and balancing on the ledge. The shaft was almost completely dark.

“How do you propose we do this?” Luke asked, activating a yellow glowrod and looking up.

“The easy way.” Mara pulled her blaster off of her utility belt, attached a durasteel grappling hook, then shot it up. It grabbed onto something far above their heads at the top of the shaft – their destination.

“That works. Here.” He gave her the glowrod, taking the blaster from her and holding it in one hand. He extended the other arm towards her. “Now hold onto me, like we are hugging.”

Mara caught Luke’s smile as she wrapped her hands around his neck. He held onto her around the waist securely then activated the switch, wheeling the line in and pulling them up.

They eventually reached the top of the shaft. Balancing on another ledge, they cut an opening in the floor of the turbolift and another in the doors. They exited into what looked like to be the bridge of the Eye of Palpatine. It was quite large with many weapon control stations.

Mara spotted a computer terminal and lead Luke over to it. They both sat down in the dusty seats. Luke pressed the switch to power on the main computer. To their surprise, it took only moments for it to start up. What was even odder was the initial message across the screen.

‘WHAT IS YOUR INTENT?’

Mara looked at Luke, confused. “Odd start-up message, even for a superweapon, isn’t it?”

“Yeah,” he agreed. He then typed in MENU.

Instead of getting a menu, the computer asked, ‘WHO ARE YOU?’

Luke ignored the message and typed in MENU once again.

‘WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT IS YOUR INTENT?’ was the response they got.

“Where’s Artoo when you need him?” Mara grumbled. “Should I go back and get him?”

“Yeah, that might be the best idea. Can you do it by yourself? I want to try some codes my dad gave me for overriding programs like this.”

“I should be able to rig something up.” She got up. “You can stay here and fight with the machine. Try to bring it to the light side. You seem to be good at doing that.”

Luke let out a brief chuckle at her comment as she left.

* * *

‘ARE YOU SURE THIS IS SAFE?’

Mara read the message from Artoo as it scrolled across her datapad. “Of course it’s safe. I spent the better part of an hour working on it,” she told the droid. They were talking about the harness made out of two grappling hooks, line, and belts, which would pull Artoo up the turbolift shaft to the bridge. “Now come here so that I can strap you in.”

The droid reluctantly rolled to her. She put it in the rig and ascended the shaft alongside him.

When they got to the top, she pushed him through the hole and onto the bridge. If it was not for the assistance of the Force, the droid would have landed on its side. “Some help would be nice,” she said in Luke’s direction as she climbed through the hole and started undoing the belts around Artoo.

Luke quickly said something Mara didn’t hear then got up. “Sorry, but this is amazing,” he said, his eyes full of delight. Mara had never seen him like this.

“What is?” she asked.

“When this dreadnought was first built, a pair of Corellian Jedi that survived the Jedi Purge was alerted to its presence. They came aboard to try to destroy it but they were both killed. One, however, managed to transfer her soul – her consciousness – into the computer system to prevent the automated function of this superweapon.”

Mara gave him a look of skepticism. “Skywalker, do you know how crazy you sound right about now?”

“I’m not crazy. Her name is Callista,” he said with a twinkle in his eye. “She’s the one who asked us who we were. She is using the ship’s systems. She can hear and see us. Do you know how much we could learn from her?”

“No, what could we learn from her?”

“Why don’t you ask her yourself?” Luke guided her to the main computer terminal.

Mara sat down as words began to appear on the screen.

‘HELLO MARA JADE. I AM CALLISTA. I HAVE MUCH TO OFFER YOU. LUKE EXPRESSED A SPECIFIC INTEREST IN CODES FOR THE SUN CRUSHER.’

Mara recognized the name. She and Luke had to eventually retrieve it from the Maw to create a black hole somewhere in the Unknown Regions. Anakin claimed it was the most important mission on her and Luke’s quest.

She was about to type something but Luke stopped her by putting a hand on her shoulder.

“She can hear you,” he reminded Mara.

Mara felt extremely awkward talking to a dead woman inside of a dreadnought’s computer. “Er... Hello. We would be grateful for these codes. What would you wish in return for them?”

‘I WILL GIVE YOUR ASTROMECH DROID THE CODES ALONG WITH OTHER INFORMATION PUT ON THIS SHIP’S MEMORY SYSTEM.’

With a smile, Luke directed Artoo to the port to start the downloading process.

I ALSO HAVE INFORMATION THAT MAY HELP YOU REBUILD THE JEDI ORDER. I KNOW THERE ARE A NUMBER OF JEDI YOUNGLINGS ON BELSAVIS. MY LOVER AND I, GEITH, SABOTAGED AND GAVE OUR LIVES TO PROTECT THEM FROM THIS SUPERWEAPON.’

Mara froze. She knew that planet.

Luke, who had been exited as he was reading along, now turned his attention to Mara. “What is it?”

“Callista, may Luke and I talk alone?”

‘JEDI HAVE NO SECRETS FROM EACH OTHER.’

“Fine,” Mara said, slightly annoyed. She did not know how to say what she needed without going into a long explanation about her past. Luke would understand, though. “About four years ago, I was sent to Belsavis to investigate longstanding rumors of Jedi there. I found evidence that there had once been a group of Jedi hiding there, but they had either fled or been captured a decade or so before I got there.”

Luke looked disheartened. Callista simply wrote, ‘OH.’

After a moment Mara asked Luke, “Did you tell her of our main objective here?”

“No,” Luke said quickly.

‘WHAT IS YOUR INTENT HERE? LUKE TOLD ME IT WAS TO OBTAIN INFORMATION AND CODES STORED HERE BY THE EMPEROR.’

Mara eyed Luke. “You didn’t tell her.”

“I didn’t want to hurt her.”

Artoo bleeped, informing them that the data transfer was complete. The droid’s arm retracted and disconnected from the computer terminal.

Mara felt jealously rising up in her. Did Luke have feelings for a dead woman trapped in a dreadnought’s computer? They had only ‘talked’ for an hour. “Luke, we need to complete this mission. This dreadnought has way too many weapons for it not to be a threat, even out here in the middle of nowhere.”

‘YOU MEAN TO DISTROY THIS DREADNOUGHT. I WOULD BE DISTROYED WITH IT.’

“Yes,” Mara said. “If this superweapon fell into the wrong hands the results would be catastrophic.”

“If there was any way to save you, we would,” Luke said earnestly.

‘THERE IS.’

“How?” he asked as soon as the words formed on the screen.

‘I CAN TRANSFER MY SOUL INTO ANOTHER BODY IF YOU PROVIDE ONE FOR ME.’

“What would happen to the soul inside the body?” Mara asked cynically.

‘IT COULD BE A DROID FOR A TEMPORARY SOLUTION, THEN I COULD TRANSFER MY SOUL INTO A BRAIN-DEAD BEING.’

“But would you really want to do that?” she asked. Luke looked at her, surprised and confused. “Callista, your body has been dead and your consciousness has been stuck in here for over twenty years. The galaxy is a much different place now. Many, if not all of the people you once knew are dead.” She then paused for a moment. “And what about your lover, Geith?”

‘GEITH….’

“He has been waiting for you for so long. If he… appreciates you as much as I appreciate Luke, then he is suffering without you. I know I would be if I went that long without being with Luke.” Mara felt Luke’s hand traveling down her arm and to her own hand. Their fingers laced and she felt Luke’s Force presence glowing.

After a few moments words appeared on the black screen.

‘I AM STARTING THE SELF-DESTRUCT SEQUENCE.’

‘SELF-DESTRUCT INITIATED’

30 STANDARD MINUTES UNTIL SELF-DESTRUCT.’

Luke bowed his head. “Thank you, Callista.” He then turned to Mara. “We’d better get going.”

Mara nodded. Silently they strapped Artoo into his rig and began to descend the shaft. About halfway down they heard metal moaning, as if the dreadnought anticipated its destruction and was putting up a protest.

Suddenly the turbolift broke free of its spot at the top of the shaft. It descended at an accelerating rate.

There was no time to think.

Mara aimed Artoo and used the Force to make him fly up through the hole in the bottom of the turbolift. She was about to aim herself and Luke to do the same, but the turbolift was falling too fast.

She felt Luke press her to the side of the shaft – her back to the wall, belly to belly. Her head was buried in his shoulder. A moment later the turbolift went screaming past them, deafening her for a few moments.

The lift finally crashed at the bottom.

Mara took a deep breath. “Skywalker? Are you alright?”

There was no answer so she looked up at him. His eyes were closed.

“Luke?”

He began to fall backwards off the ledge they were standing on. Mara wrapped her arms around him and she felt blood on his back.

“LUKE!”

 

Great update

 

Ah man, evil cliffie. Good chapter. I liked the interaction between Luke, Mara and Callista. Slowly but surely Luke is getting Mara to relax. He is being very patient and keeping his goal in sight in more ways than one. Hope Luke is not too badly hurt.

 

That cliffhanger.

Great update though, pretty interesting stuff.

 

BRIANNAKIN - WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO LUKE?!

Ahem. Great chapter, very well paced and developed.

 

I second Hazel's question. Loved the conversation with Callista and how Mara handled the situation Squeeing over Mara and Luke's increasing closeness and how he's gradually getting her comfy with it.

 

Callista averted and now Luke's injured with with minutes to go before Ka-boom.

 

ACK! I don't like cliffies. They should have blown up the Eye of Palpatine from space. Luke can't die, you promised me bootknocking. And I don't want any creepy "Luke in a coma" kill-Bill type of bootknocking.

 

Mara and Luke's relationship: Yay!
Finding Callista:
Callista setting self-destruct herself:
Cliffhangar:

ACK! Please let Luke be OK, please let Luke be OK...

 

What a cliffie. Gah.

 

Bri, don't make me have to get the Brave Hat out!!!! My Lukie had better be okay.