Beyond - Legends A Second Chance (SJRS EP7 Challenge) Updated: 11/15/14 - COMPLETE!

Ooh, we've got a mission! Glad that Jacen told Luke about Tenel Ka, and Mara told him about being an Emperor's Hand.

 

Good to see these secrets get confided. I really like how Mara picked up on Jacen's hesitation; great detail.

And it's mission time!

 

Jacen worried about what Tenel Ka would say if she found out, but he remembered the story Luke told him about his grandfather. Secrets could lead to great pain and sorrow. Perhaps it was time to come clean.

WHERE WAS THIS LOGIC IN THE PROFICS?!? Geez.

Great update.

 

Love that the secrets are out! And now I feel like I can like Jacen again

 

I couldn't agree more with the comments said above. I like how Jacen got involved and it helped bring out his secret. Those kind of secrets can eat you alive.

 

I like your Jacen more and more. He is a good man, who deserves to be happy, just like his uncle.It's good thing, that Luke and Mara are going on the mission together.Adventures and danger are the best love potion for obstinate Grand masters.

 

Loved the talk between Mara and Jacen and then the coming-clean for he and she. LOL on Mara getting grossed out on Jacen's theory. Don't blame her.
The Darten 6 mission sounds very interesting indeed. Hope the J/TK situation can be resolved satisfactorily.

 

Agree so much with everyone who liked that Jacen shared his concerns with Luke. So many, many silly problems start with the characters not talking in canon, and eventually you have to wonder if this wonderful family even likes each other.

Loved Mara's reaction to the Palpatine-possession theory. Icky!

 

Yeah, we didn't need people suspicious of everybody. I need everybody on the same team.

Thanks. Mara is good at reading people. She might be accessing the Force and not know it.

There was no logic. Jacen's fall was almost as illogical as Anakin Skywalker's fall the the darkside.

Yeah, I really liked Jacen in the YJK and NJO. I hate what was done to his character.

Secrets suck and can tear up a family. I always felt bad that Jacen was not allowed to be with Tenel Ka. He has a child with her in the profics and he can't be a father and husband.

I think Mara is falling hard for the Grand Master. This is not the Last Command Mara. This is a woman who found out all that was told to her by Palpatine was a lie. I think at that point she became a Rebel at heart. I think she feels comfortable with Luke.

I am still working out the J/TK situation, but I will work it out somehow.

If they only talked to each other they could have avoided a lot of pain.


Well I have another chapter. I hope it is up to par. My muse has gone down the toilet, but I hate leaving stories unfinished. I was afraid that Mara was too OOC, but we have to remember this is a different Mara Jade who holds no animosity toward Luke or the new government.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 13

Darten Six was once a dirtball planet devoid of intelligent life and whose indigent life forms consisted of scrub grass, insects and a few small reptilian species that could survive in the dry landscape. Ten years prior scientists doing a planetary survey of the world discovered vast underground water reserves. The New Republic drilled hundreds of wells and did their best to attract people to the area. Initially only hardy farmers moved to the planet with the promise of free land and a stipend from the New Republic in exchange for working the land, planting fruit trees, crops, and grazing herd animals. The goal was to have the planet self-sufficient within a decade. Eventually entrepreneurs realized the location of the planet would be perfect for a hyperspace lane hub. Hundreds of thousands of engineers and workers descended on the planet with large construction equipment and began building enormous ground side docking bays and orbital stations. What the New Republic didn’t know was the planet was also once the site of a top secret Imperial biological/Chemical research facility. It was unknown if the laboratory was still active or left abandoned decades ago.

Jacen, Mara and Luke were sitting in the cockpit of a J-11 Shuttle orbiting the dusty planet. It was a small cargo transport big enough for two crew cabins and a small cargo bay. Currently they were transporting a SoroSuub Recon Speeder built for speed and durability.

Jacen looked over the planetary maps with Mara Jade. “You said the laboratory was built into the side of a mountain on the Northern hemisphere.” He turned to her and gave a sarcastic grin. “Thank you, that narrows it down to about a million square kilometers. There are five mountain ranges in that vicinity.”

Mara feigned annoyance before she leaned forward in her seat and punched him on the shoulder.

“Knock it off you two,” Luke said mockingly. “Don’t make me turn this vehicle around.”

Jacen laughed. “You sound like my dad.”

Luke grinned, his eyes flashing a brilliant blue. “Who do you think I heard it from? Whenever Leia and I would bicker in the Falcon he’d say that to us.”

Mara closed her eyes, shutting out their banter, and thought back to the time she visited the planet. “I was told the mountain where the lab was located was an extinct volcano. The Imperials used the maze of lava tubes as passageways throughout the mountain. From what I remember the laboratory was at least a kilometer into the mountain from its hidden entrance. How many extinct volcanoes are on this planet?”

“You should have told me that in the first place,” Jacen groused. He pushed a few buttons on the navigation display. “There are three volcanoes on the planet. Two active in the southern hemisphere and one dead volcano in the northern region.”

“I have planetary permission to land outside the docking ports.” Luke looked over to Jason. “Can you give me coordinates to the most likely area.”

Mara was looking over Jacen’s shoulder. She reached out and pointed to the screen. “There! The entrance was near a box canyon.”

Jacen looked over the navigation data. “Coordinates 44062-43026-44.”

Luke punched the numbers into his pilot assist. “We are about twenty minutes out.” He rotated in his seat to face the two, his lips drawing into a tight line. “Prep the speeder, grab the survival packs and check the weapons.”

Jacen regarded his uncle. “You look uneasy. Please don’t tell me ‘I have a bad feeling about this’.”

Luke gave his nephew a sidelong glance as he turned back to the piloting controls. “Okay, I won’t.”

~~~

When they arrived to the entrance of the Imperial laboratory it was obvious that it was no longer operational. One of the durasteel blast doors was lying on the ground and the other was hanging by one hinge.

Jacen and Luke walked up to the tunnel access and stared into the dark abyss for a long time, their faces contorted in concentration. Mara knew they were reaching out with the Force, trying to sense danger.

She tried to search through the Force with them, but felt nothing. Luke told her she had Force abilities, but after the Emperor died she could no longer feel the Force flow through her body. The Grand Master was of the opinion that her long-standing belief that she was only a conduit for the Emperor’s power was a mental stumbling block preventing her from touching the Force. She didn’t believe she could do it…and therefore she failed. Luke thought the roadblock could be removed with some training.

She frowned at the thought. Did she even want the power back? It brought pain into her life and the death of her parents at the hands of Palpatine. Maybe it was better to live a normal life as a pilot or some other profession.

She walked up next to the two men. “Do you sense anything?”

Luke closed his eyes and grimaced. “There is something dark…but I don’t think it is from a living entity. I believe it is darkside Force residue.” He opened his eyes and turned to her. “The feeling is very similar to what I felt in Palpatine’s cloning facility.”

Jacen ran a hand through his hair as he continued to gaze into the dark tunnel. “Do you think there are more Palpatine clones inside?”

Luke gave a shrug. “We’ll never know until we check it out?” He glanced at Mara. “Did you say you drove a speeder through the tunnels to the laboratory.”

She nodded. “It was deep inside the mountain.”

Jacen walked toward the passageway, his hand resting on the butt of his blaster while his other hand lingered near his lightsaber. She could tell that both Jedi were tense and she had a feeling they were downplaying the evil they sensed within the tunnels.

Both men carried their lightsaber and blaster. She was once proficient with a lightsaber, but without the Force she’d probably cut her own head off. Instead she carried a small holdout blaster.

Luke fell in step next to his nephew and looked back at Mara who was reluctant to find out what was making two of the most powerful Jedi in galaxy nervous. “I guess we should see if the tunnels are assessable by speeder. It looks like the Imperials blasted the place before they left.”

She looked at the tunnel and back to Luke. “Where is that platoon of soldiers you said your sister makes you drag around? Are we going in without backup?”

Luke gave a disarming grin. “I only bring them along to pacify Leia. I didn’t tell her I was coming here until we reached orbit. I sent her the coordinates. I suspect the troops will be here in a day or two.”

Mara rolled her eyes. “That is not what I would call backup. If we get into trouble they’ll be doing a recovery operation instead of a rescue mission.”

“I didn’t sense any living organisms inside,” Luke pointed out.

“The troops are a huge hindrance. We work better without them.” Jacen gave a cocky grin. “A Jedi can take care of himself.”

Mara threw up her hands. “Fine.” She walked toward the shattered blast doors. “I am surprised you two survived this long if you often run off on missions with no contingency plans.”

Luke chuckled. “It’s more fun rushing into danger blindly and with no forethought as to how to escape.”

“It always worked for my father,” Jacen added with a laugh.

She gave a disbelieving shake of her head at their cocky, self-assured faith in their abilities. “I would feel more comfortable if we had twenty men with blasters with us.”

Luke stopped and looked at Jacen. “She’s right, you know.” He glanced back at the speeder. “I guess we can wait. It’s not fair to put Mara into possible danger. She’s not a Jedi.”

For some reason Luke agreeing with her made her bristle. She may not have the Force, but she still had all of her fighting skills and she was an expert shot. She pulled out her holdout blaster. “I’m not scared…I’m cautious, but not scared.” She walked past them toward the tunnel entrance. “Let’s go.”

They strode past the doors and into the dusty dark tunnel. Jacen activated a glowrod and held it over his head, illuminating a passage littered with boulders and rubble.

“It looks like we will have to go in on foot,” Mara sighed. “That’s just great. It is going to take all day to get there if the rest of the tunnel looks like this.”

Luke inspected the rubble, ceiling and walls. “I don’t see any impact scoring in the tunnel. I don’t think an explosion brought down parts of the ceiling.”

Jacen examined the tunnel more closely. “It could have been a thermobaric weapon.”

“If they used a fuel bomb, wouldn’t there be evidence of the fire? Soot or charring of the walls,” Mara asked as she ran a hand down the sidewalls. She held up her unstained fingers. “Nothing. I don’t think a fireball went through here.”

Luke raised an eyebrow. “Did the Emperor have you trained in munitions also?”

“Munitions, weapons, hand-to-hand combat. You name it.” She leaned against a wall, folding her arms across her chest. “Being the Emperor’s Hand was a dangerous profession.”

Luke nodded in thought. “So what do you think did this.”

She shrugged. “It could be from a natural disaster. An earthquake perhaps.”

“Let’s hope there isn’t any nasty aftershocks.” He turned to exit the tunnel. “If we are going on foot we will need our packs with provisions.”

~~~

After a few hours of climbing over rubble and squeezing through small openings Mara was exhausted. She didn’t realize how much easier things were with the Force. She was once surefooted with inexhaustible energy. Now she was struggling to keep upright. One time she lost her footing while climbing over a boulder. Jacen was behind her and stopped her fall by bringing up his hands and grabbing her butt. She knew he wasn’t hitting on her, not with the love of his life back at the temple, but she still didn’t like it. She asked if Luke could take up the rear. For some reason she didn’t feel uneasy with the Grand Master following her.

Luke blushed when she made the request but acquiesced and surrendered the lead position to Jacen. When they finally found an intact section of the tunnel where they could walk normally, she slowed her pace allowing Jacen to move ahead of them. “Did I embarrass you?” she whispered to Luke.

His face flushed before he cleared his throat and whispered back. “You could have worded your request better.”

Now it was Mara’s turn to turn red. She hoped her embarrassment couldn't be seen under the warm light of their glowrods. “Sorry. I suppose saying, ‘Luke can you take up the rear? I am tired of Jacen’s hands on my butt’ might imply I would rather have your hands caressing my derriere.”

Luke coughed nervously and remained silent for a moment. Eventually he glanced over to her shyly before his lips curled up to a small smile. “My vows don’t allow me to touch…but I have to admit, I like the view.”

His remark caused her to giggle. She immediately closed her mouth upon hearing such a girlish sound coming from her. She turned away embarrassed and confused.

She's never been attracted to older men before, so why now? She made a furtive glance over to Luke. There was graying at the temples of his blond hair, his face was handsome with beautiful blue eyes and an adorable boyish grin. He was wearing a jumpsuit instead of his Jedi robes, allowing her to see the play of his muscles under the fabric. When he was in the lead position she had to admit the view was fabulous. She grinned as she realized why she was attracted to this older man…he was a catch at any age. It was too bad he hung on to that no-attachment nonsense.

“Thank you for the compliment.” She reached back and slapped her butt cheek playfully. “I do a lot of lunges.”

“So do I.” His lips twitched as he tried to hide a smile.

She raised an eyebrow. Was he fishing for a compliment? “I’ve noticed.”

“Arrgggh,” Jacen moaned. “Even whispering your voices carry in this tunnel. Why don’t you two kiss or something. I am sure all of that sexual tension is not good for an old man’s heart.”

Luke gave Jacen a withering glare. “Not funny Jacen.”

The younger man turned around and walked backwards so to face them. “What’s funny is both of you are obviously attracted to each other, but neither wants to admit it.”

“I’ll admit it,” Mara offered nonchalantly.

Both men stopped and stared at her, astonished at the admission. She gave them a confused look. “What? He’s a good-looking man with a charming personality. What’s there not to like?” She turned to Luke and smiled brightly. “Plus you saved me. I realize now that I didn’t think through my actions thirty years ago. I could have ended up in that stasis chamber for a thousand years until the power failed and then I would have suffered the same fate as the clones.”

“Technically, I’m the one who saved you,” Jacen said with a smirk. “I even did rescue breathing.”

Luke turned and glowered at his nephew. “Why don’t you go further down the tunnel and reconnoiter until you are out of hearing range.”

Jacen flashed a wicked smile. “Sure Uncle Luke.” He turned, snickering as he walked away.

When the younger man was out of sight, Mara smiled sadly as she reached up and put a hand on Luke’s shoulder. “I didn’t mean to upset you. Don’t worry, I understand your vow of chastity.” She hesitated for a moment. “Well, I really don’t understand it, but I realize you are committed to it.” Luke appeared completely flustered. He opened his mouth to talk, but no words came out. Mara shook her head in disbelief. “Please don’t tell me this shocks you? Jacen told me you have dozens of women fawning all over you.”

He reached up and removed her hand from his shoulder and held it between his two palms. “Mara…I don’t know what to say.” He took a couple quick breaths. “You are beautiful…but I…”

When he trailed off Mara gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. “Don’t make a big deal out of this. Just because I said I found you attractive doesn’t mean I intend to pursue you romantically. I am more than happy to be friends.” She cocked her head to the side and looked at him questioningly. “I didn’t screw up the chance of being friends, did I?”

A smile blossomed across Luke’s face. “I would love to be friends.”

She considered leaning in and giving him a friendly kiss on the cheek but thought better of it. Instead she turned to follow Jacen. She was very surprised when she noticed one of Luke’s hands remained holding hers, his grip warm and comforting. She was content to walk hand-in-hand for the rest of the journey, but they heard Jacen cry out to them. “I found something!”

They quickly disconnected and ran down the tunnel toward the younger Jedi.

 

I like how Mara is respectful of his vow. But man, that vow was made to be broken!! heeee. I also like how she reflected on her choice to be put in stasis. I can't help but wonder if the Force was at work with that decision. I wonder what Jacen found?? I can't wait to found out. Great update, lady!!!

 

Well, that was some powerful flirting on both sides!

 

Jedi_Lover - for someone whose muse went on a long long trip somewhere else, I surely can't tell that anything is glaringly off. As a matter of fact, this was perfect! The teasing and the air of mystery both I love Mara's caution and her admission that Luke is hot from the rear LOL and has a charming personality. What's not to like, indeed? Jacen's teasing lends just the right air of humor to lighten the ... sexual tension

Hope the backup arrives earlier than expected though

Big for continuing this.

 

Love love love the flirting and interaction between Luke and Mara. And Jacen only makes it better.

Now what did Jacen find?

 

“Arrgggh,” Jacen moaned. “Even whispering your voices carry in this tunnel. Why don’t you two kiss or something. I am sure all of that sexual tension is not good for an old man’s heart.”

BAHAHAHAHAHA! I literally laughed out loud.

And I agree with Ginchy, that vow has to be broken. Bootknocking requires touching!

 

remember, Jedi-lover, a shine from Ginchy with older hot Luke and young Mara! I hope, your muse will show up pretty soon, because I love this story.The twist, characters, all of it.

 

I adore how Jacen catches Mara -- too cute and the interplay between Mara and Luke is precious. But I think Jacen wins the prize for the comment he made about voices carrying - why don't you kiss or something. Bright young man.

 

Awww! They are making progress. Really liked Jacen in this chapter as well.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

I can't believe I lost track of this story
Goes to show you how badly DRL is treating me lately.

Anyway... I've found it again and now I just have to catch up, which at the rate I am going, will take about two years
But i didn't want you to think I had lost interest; I'm here, I'm just running really late.

 

AU and less rage-filled she may be, but this Mara still has that odd mixture of pride, recklessness, and caution. I think that's a nice bit of continuity; her skills are vital to her.

I liked this moment:

I suppose it may make things more carefully platonic for a while, but it's such a wonderful conversation. I like the complicated but amiable friendship they're building (flirtship? )

 

Thanks! That vow is idiotic. We need to get these two bootknocking.

The flirt is powerful with this one.

Thanks. DRL is in overdrive, but my problems look small compared to other people in this world. This last few months has been crazy when it comes to world affairs. I'm glad you like Jacen in this fic. Most people are so mad at him for killing Mara in the profics that they don't remember what a great character he once was. Now that the EU is gone...so is the Vong and Darth Duffus!

You'll find out in this chapter what he found...and it is not good.

Thanks! I have been talking to Ginchy about when and where the bootknocking will occur, so I think she is contemplating how the scene will play out.

My muse came back today despite it being a stressful day. My poor son had four ingrown toe nails removed by a foot doctor. I swear I think I was more nervous than him. I thought I was going to pass out when the doctor pulled out the clippers. Ugghh! But he put some chemical on his toes that will prevent further ingrown toenails...so that is good.

Thanks. I enjoy writing nice Jacen. His character was ruined by the profic authors. It was a horrible plot.

Thank you. Jacen needs some fanfic redemption.

I hope DRL starts treating you better...treating us all better. Thanks for coming back and reading.

A flirtship...I like that term. I think Mara and Luke are destined to be together no matter what time frame or dimension or whatever weird twist we can throw in. That is why I dread seeing EP7 and not see Mara Jade or at least know Luke once had a wife named Mara who died. I actually dread watching the movie. I will watch it, but It will probably be like when I went to see AOTC. I just wanted it to not suck as much as TPM. I know there are PT fans here and I mean no disrespect, but I disliked the plots and characters. Well, I did like some characters but Lucas killed them off right away...but the annoying characters are alive and well.


Okay, I wrote this chapter last night while I had an ocular migraine and after my son's foot procedure today...so it might be a little dark.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 14

Mara and Luke raced down the corridor until they came upon Jacen standing in front of a large metal and transparisteel door covered with biological/Chemical labels along with warnings stating only authorized personnel beyond that point. Jacen was wiping his hand across the dust and dirt covered view panel so he could see inside. He looked through the transparisteel and then back to Mara and Luke who had moved up next to him. “It looks like we found the laboratory.” He stepped aside allowing Luke and Mara to take a peek.

Luke motioned to Mara, “After you.” She gave him a thin smile before peering through the door view panel.

“I’ve been to this part of the laboratory,” Mara said as she stepped back allowing Luke to view the area. “The left side of the hall has offices, a break area and a locker room for the scientists to change out of their regular clothing and into a positive pressure containment suit. On the right side of the corridor are the individual laboratories.” She pointed toward large metal doors embedded with an array of sensors. “To get into the laboratories you have to go through multi-compartment entry vestibules containing showers, a vacuum room and an ultraviolet light room. Only one vestibule door can open at one time and that leads into the negative pressure laboratory.”

Jacen let out a low whistle. “What were they working on when you were here?”

She gazed at Jacen gravely. “They were trying enhance the killing capabilities of various chemicals such as hetametabuterin, Zaloxipine and Trihexalophine1138 to name a few.”

Luke blew out a breath. “Trihexalophine1138 doesn’t need enhancement. It almost destroyed the entire planet of Honoghr during the Clone Wars.”

“I think it was the ‘almost’ part that the Emperor wanted to correct.” She turned to Luke. “I was here years before I went into stasis…therefore I have no idea what they were working on when they abandoned the facility.” Mara looked over the entry lock. “This is a standard Imperial security deadlock.” She let her backpack slip off her shoulders and onto the ground. Kneeling down next to her bag, she rummage through the satchel pulling out a datapad and slicing equipment. “I should be able to get us inside.” She looked up to Luke. “If that’s what you want.”

He looked to the door and then back to Mara. “Do you have any other ideas?”

She stood and faced him, her expression filled with uneasy worry. “We could back out, call in a demolition team and bury this laboratory under a million tons of rubble.”

The Jedi leaned against the door and closed his eyes in concentration. He breathed in a deep calming breath and let it out slowly. After a long pause he opened his eyes and gazed at Mara intently, almost apologetically. “I know your idea is probably the safest way to deal with this, but the Force is telling me I need to get inside. There is a reason why I’m here…why we’re all here.” He gestured toward the door. “I believe I will find my destiny beyond this door. The Force is calling me.”

“The Force is calling you,” Mara murmured softly. “I guess you can’t just tell the Force to leave a message.” She didn’t wait for an answer, but moved to the door lock and proceeded to slice through the security protocols. After working on it for a few minutes she turned to the two Jedi and gave them a grim smile. “This lock has power, so obviously the back-up power system is still functional. Hopefully any nasty chemicals inside are still contained.” She returned to her work and eventually the thud of a lock disengaging could be heard. She returned the slicing gear to her pack and pulled it back over her shoulder. “It’s open.”

The three pulled at the heavy metal door which produced an earsplitting shriek of metal-on-metal as it slowly opened. Luke was the first to enter with lightsaber in hand. He reached over to the wall light switch and flicked it on. The overhead glow panels remained dark, but a row of emergency lights activated in the hallways and in the laboratories.

As they slowly moved into the underground building the impressive size of the facility became apparent. The hallway was at least two-hundred meters in length with dozens and dozens of laboratories lining the corridor. Each research area was visible through a thick transparisteel window. Inside beakers, microscopes, centrifuges and other laboratory equipment could been seen. Danger signs were posted inside and outside the laboratory warning that chemical irritants were stored inside.

The first three research areas were similar. It wasn’t until they reached the fourth laboratory that they noticed something different.

Luke’s brow furrowed. “Why would a chemical laboratory have metal bars on the other side of the transparisteel glass?”

Jacen leaned closer to the window. “I see cages in the back corner. They might have been doing experiments on animals.”

Luke looked where Jacen was pointing.Along the side wall were a half dozen cages large enough to house small animals. “The transparisteel windows are ten centimeters thick.Why the extra precautions of bars?”

“Maybe they were working with animals that could break through transparisteel,” Jacen suggested. “Perhaps animals that can spit acid or something like that?”

Luke put a hand against the window and drummed his fingers absently. “Like a Dhislug?”

Jacen nodded. “Or Nim Drovis carnivorous mold.”

“Both of which are small enough to slip through the bars before eating its way through the windows,” Mara pointed out. “Palpatine’s journals suggested he was experimenting with Sith Alchemy to mutate animals such as rancors or wampas. His journals talked about it, but it didn’t say if he was successful.”

“Mutant rancors, oh that’s just great,” Jacen said sardonically as he moved down to the next laboratory view panel before sucking in a shocked breath. “I think I know what they were experimenting on.”

Luke and Mara quickly moved to the window Jacen was looking through. There they found the mummified remains of what looked like a human female…a very pregnant human female. Most of her body was covered by a thin white sheet but leg and arm restraints were visibly binding her limbs. “What were they doing?” Luke looked to Mara wide-eyed as if she would know the answer.

She shook her head as she tried to fight down the bile rising up her throat. “I don’t know. I didn’t read anything about experiments on pregnant women in his journals.” She turned away in disgust. She knew Palpatine could be cruel, but this was beyond what she could have imagined. “If I had seen this when I was here…I would have returned and killed Palpatine myself.” She walked down the hall to the next lab area. “Please let that be the only one.” She stopped at the next viewing port and tried to suppress a sob. “That bastard.”

Inside were the remains of another pregnant female. This victim appeared to be Twi’lek, her eye sockets empty and her mouth open in a silent scream. Mara felt her stomach twist in disgust as she moved down the long hall going from laboratory to laboratory only to find dead pregnant women of various species chained to exam tables. She turned to Luke and Jacen. “We need to find out what they were doing here. If the Force led you here there must be a reason. It can’t be a coincidence that you sensed danger here right when Darten Six is about to become a hyperspace hub. If a virus is released into the atmosphere and got to the port it could spread throughout the galaxy.”

She crossed to the other side of the corridor where the offices and supply rooms were located. “The head of research when I was here had the rank of Colonel. See if you can find a door nameplate with an impressive title or rank.”

Both men gave a nod as they spread out down the hall looking for the office of the post commander or lead researcher. “Colonel Jammison, Senior Researcher, Imperial Research Division,” Jacen called out.

Mara grabbed her pack off her back and pulled out her slicing gear. “It should be safe to go into his office. There isn’t a series of safety vestibules.” She examined the entry door. “There is just one door and it looks like a biological failsafe barrier. It closes if there is a containment breech.” She slid a microchip embedded smartcard into a slot and used the datapad to wirelessly run through the millions of possible combination codes. A light turned green on the locking mechanism and the door slid open automatically. “It appears this side of the corridor is also hooked up to emergency power. Hopefully we can get into the computer systems.” Mara stepped into the office and moved over to the large wooded desk in the center of the room. Behind the desk shelves lined the wall and were overflowing with lab specimens floating in preservation fluid, antique microscopes, and an eclectic collection of scientific curios and oddities. On the desk sat a computer, a briefcase and a cardboard box that was half full.

Luke looked over the items and pursed his lips in thought. “It looks like the Colonel left in a hurry.”

“Do you think something bad happened here?” Jacen asked as he examined the collection of artifacts on the shelves.

Luke made a face. “I hope that’s not the case, or we might be infected with whatever killed those women already.”

Mara looked up from the computer as a low rumble moved through the building, shaking of the floor and walls. All three looked at each other questioningly. “Maybe they left,” Mara said slowly. “Because this extinct volcano isn’t quite dead yet.”

“Yeah.” Luke agreed as he looked up at the ceiling, his gaze following a crack that went from one side of the room to the other. “Let’s get what information we can and get out of here.”

Mara nodded and went to work on the computer. “This model was old when I went into stasis. It shouldn’t be hard to crack.” She turned the machine on and waited for the monitor to light up. At the center of the screen a box appeared requesting the access code. She drew in a long breath and then let it out slowly. “I remember when the Rebels stole the plans for the Death Star Palpatine went nuts on information security. All access codes were required to have at least three upper and lower case letters, a number, a symbol, it couldn’t contain common words and it must be between 12 and 36 characters in length.”

“That must have increased security,” Jacen remarked.

Mara started searching in and under the desk drawers. “Not really. Nobody could remember their password so they would write it down somewhere.” She lifted up the keyboard and looked underneath. “Gotcha.” She tore off a slip of paper taped to the bottom. “The password is Kieh8LKd?!ksd99.” She typed in the code and the monitor brought up a list of files. She analyzed the various folder names. “Letters home, Hazmat procedure files, promotions and reprimands, Narlo Virus, Holomatazine chemical interactions, BW Virus alternative studies.” She looked up to Luke. “The list goes on and on. Any idea where to go first?”

“Can you sort through the documents based on last modified file?”

She smiled. “Good thinking.” She taped a few buttons and one folder moved to the top of the list. She clicked on it. “It appears they were doing research on a virus called the Blackwing Virus.” She read through the scientific abstract. “According to this the virus was a failure. It was supposed to make super soldiers that were resistant to disease and death, but it ended up the test subjects lived, but without cellular regeneration. The cells were long-lived and difficult to kill, but they didn’t regenerate. So the soldiers would continue on fighting but wounds would not heal, diseases would run unconstrained. The cells wouldn’t die, so an injured or burned trooper would live on in that horrifying condition.” She read some more and then looked up at Luke wide-eyed. “The virus was highly contagious and caused madness. According to this report the entire crew and convict population of an Imperial prison barge was infected with the death of tens of thousands on board in a matter of days. They were trying to fix this. They wanted to make cells resistant to dying, but they also wanted them to regenerate when damaged.” She paused for a moment collecting her thoughts. “They wanted to make nearly immortal soldiers.”

“Then why were they messing with pregnant women?” Luke asked. "It would take two decades to grow an army that way."

She read through the report, skipping through most of the medical jargon. “It looks like they thought if a weakened and mutated form of the virus could be injected into a fetus early in development then maybe they could work around the problem. Once they figured out that part they would switch from babies to fast-grown clones.” She kept reading and frowned. “We would need a geneticist or microbiologist to look over this report.I don’t understand most of what I’m reading, but it looks like the women became ill and wasted away, much like the prisoners on the Purge.”

“Wait,” Jacen said slowly. “Did you say the prison barge was named Purge?”

She nodded. “Yes, why?”

He shook his head in thought. “I remember my father talking about the Purge.” He looked over to his uncle. “I want to see those victims again.”

“Okay, I’ll go with you.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a microdrive. “Here.” He tossed the device to Mara who caught it midair. “Put as much as you can on this drive. We’ll bring it back to Coruscant and have some of our top scientists examine the research.” He put a hand on Jacen’s shoulder and led him outside to the corridor. “What did Han say about the Purge?”

“He said he and Chewie were prisoners on the ship before its destruction.” As they walked across the hall a feeling a dread crept down Jacen’s spine and when he spied the very pregnant mummified remains of a shackled human female a terrible feeling of foreboding struck him.

He swallowed the lump in his throat and continued. “Dad used to tell me and Jaina about his time on the prison barge to scare us into being good. ‘You better behave, or I’ll send you to the Purge.’” He bit his bottom lip while thinking about the times his father would give him that warning. “Dad used it the same way parents warn misbehaving children that they might end up in the spice mines of Kessel. His stories about the Purge scared the crap out of me when I was little.”

He took in a deep calming breath, not wanting to admit the stories still aroused a nervous reaction from him. “Dad said he and Chewie were caught smuggling by the Imperials. The Falcon was seized and they were imprisoned on the barge. They ended up in solitary confinement because Chewie attacked some guards. After days of confinement they were released by the prison doctor. She said a disease was running rampant and she was releasing the prisoners so they wouldn’t starve to death. Dad and Chewie helped her and another prisoner off the ship.” He ran a hand through his hair and he realized he had broken out in a nervous sweat. “Dad said the disease made people into monsters. They were dead, but walking, screaming, eating. But he also said they must have had muscle memory because some of the infected Imperial pilots tried to fly their ships. They weren’t completely brain dead and they were trying their damnedest to get off the barge.” He laughed harshly. “I always thought dad made up those stories to scare me and Jaina. I mean…who would believe the dead could walk.”

Another tremor rumbled through the facility making both men flinch. Luke gestured to the dead woman inside the laboratory. “Your dad may have been exaggerating. That woman looks very dead.”

“Maybe.” Jacen raised his hand and slapped it against the transparisteel window. “Hey!” he called out. “Hey!”

“What are you doing?”

Jacen shrugged and gave Luke a self-conscious grin. “I’m trying to wake the dead.” Jacen watched the lifeless body nervously fully expecting it to turn and look at him through empty sockets while giving him a tooth filled grin. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest as his old childhood fears rose up in him. He jumped away from the window when he saw movement under the sheet. “Did you see that?”

Luke leaned toward the window and scrutinized the prone figure. “See what?”

“I saw something move under the sheet!”

Luke watched the sheet intently and something did move. “We can see her arms and legs are restrained. Whatever it is, it’s not coming from her. Perhaps it’s a rat or a spider-roach.”

“Maybe,” Jacen said slowly as his breathing came in quick short breaths. He quickly ran through a Jedi calming technique, embarrassed that his father’s old ghoul stories were making him jumpy. “Oh kriff!” He yelled as he saw what was making the movement. From under the sheet came a hand. A small, boney, baby sized hand. It grabbed at the edge of the sheet and flung it out of the way exposing the woman’s extended abdomen. The skin was leathery and lifeless with a large hole torn out near her navel. Jacen could see the hand holding onto the edge of the abdominal wound and something under the skin move and press against the woman’s ribcage. Eventually a malformed head slowly rose from the body cavity. The creature had eyes that were as black as night and a toothless mouth that snarled in Jacen’s direction. The infant monstrosity clawed its way out of his mother’s womb and ended up falling from the table to the floor with umbilical cord still attached. Jacen could see part of its skull cave in upon impact, but it still moved, its arms flaying, legs kicking. Jacen slowly moved away from the transparisteel window until his back hit the opposite wall. “I’m ready to leave now!” He was infinitely grateful that his voice remained calm, despite the cold fear that gripped his heart.

“Same here.” Luke muttered. “I’ll get Mara.” He turned and ran back to the office. When he entered another tremor rocked the underground facility. He motioned to Mara. “We need to go.”

She looked up from the monitor, but didn’t move. “I’m almost done downloading.”

“Now!” Luke yelled as another earthquake hit, this one larger than the next. “Those things in the labs are alive and if what you read is true, they are highly contagious.”

The last tremor continued increasing in intensity. Mara looked at the crack on the ceiling wall grow wider. She pulled the Microdrive out of the computer and stood. “I’m ready.”

Before she could move the briefcase sitting on the table shifted and fell to the ground. They could hear the sound of glass breaking and a brownish fluid flowing out of the case. “Uh oh,” was all Luke could say before alarms went off and the office door slid shut.

“I don’t know what was in that briefcase, but this can’t be good.” She moved a couple steps toward the door before intense spasms hit her lungs and muscles. “Luke, I think we’ve been exposed to something.” Pain shot down her arms and legs and she was sure her head was ready to explode. She looked over to Luke who was on his hands and knees, his face contorted in agony. Outside she could see Jacen pounding on the door. Luke somehow stood through what she knew must be excruciating pain so he could talk to his nephew. “Jacen, go get help. If you aren’t experiencing what we are going through you’re probably not affected. Go get a hazmat team, doctors. We need to kill those things and seal off this area.”

“I won’t leave you here.” Jacen activated his lightsaber as he examined the door for the best place to cut it open.

“Stop Jacen! Don’t or we’ll all die and the platoon of troopers your mother sent will probably be exposed. We can’t let this contagion get to the ports. Everybody will die. Please…” Luke coughed, straining to get the words out. “Go get help. Please.”

Anguished tears rolled down the young man’s cheeks as he deactivated his lightsaber. “I’ll get help and save you two.”

Luke nodded and Mara could see his fists clench in pain. Jacen turned to depart but Luke called out to him. “Jacen! Wait! Promise me something. If you come back and I am like one of those things in the next room…kill me. Don’t try to take me alive. I don’t want your mother seeing me like that. Promise me you’ll kill me.”

“No!” Jacen shook his head vigorously. “No!”

“Jacen, please. You know your mother will do everything and anything to keep me alive. I’ll end up as some grisly monstrosity. It’ll break your mother’s heart. Promise me that you will kill me if I turn into one of those…dead things. Promise me!”

Jacen placed his head against window and sobbed. Eventually he straightened his shoulders and looked into his uncle's eyes.

“If you are one of those things….” He choked up and had trouble continuing. “I promise you…I will come back and kill you!”

With that the Jedi turned and ran down the corridor leaving Mara and Luke to their fate.

 

Pleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseplease get help fast!

Good on your for the EU references. Just because it's NuCanon doesn't mean the EU should be totally ignored.

But WHAT IS THAT BROWN STUFF??? And WHAT IS IT DOING TO MY FAVORITE COUPLE IN STAR WARS?!?!?!?!?

 

WHATTT?!!?! That turned VERY dark and VERY scary, VERY quickly.

I never read Death Troopers or the other horror EU book that went with it, so I'm assuming there are some references here I'm not getting.

 

...That escalated quickly. Everybody in the car, the lab is full of chestburster zombies -- what do you mean there's no car? GET IN THE CAR!!!!!!

Han, your bedtime stories were certainly something. The callback to Jacen's dream from before is fantastic, by the way.

 

Pretty much what Jacen told Luke about his dad on the Purge was a synopsis of Death Troopers. They were basically zombies except nothing but fire could kill the creatures and they had to be burnt to ash. If you chopped off a hand the hand would continue to twitch and move. But they did have some brain function because they were trying to get off the Purge. It was like the virus was trying to spread using the walking dead.

 

OMG, you've got me scared now. I've never read such creepiness in a SW fanfic before. (I'm impressed but scared). Please don't leave our heroes in peril for long. (And I hope your migraine is better and that your boy is feeling better too.)