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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Beyond - Legends Over 30 Writers Challenge: Death of a Main Character. "Why Her?"

Discussion in 'Fan Fiction- Before, Saga, and Beyond' started by madman007, Jul 11, 2013.

  1. madman007

    madman007 Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Aug 22, 2007
    This is my entry for the Death of a Main Character challenge. And, yes, I cheated. I was trying to come up with another death, but then it hit me. I've already written one. This is actually the second part of one of my very first fan fiction stories I wrote. Why Did It Have To Be Her? It's been lost from the other site, but still on my fan fiction site. I still think it's a great story honoring Mara Jade. Enjoy!


    Why Her?

    Location: Pyria System
    Time: 40 years after the Battle of Endor

    The glass containing the remaining amounts of the weak Fogblaster toppled over onto the tapcaf’s dirty counter. The ‘tender droid hurried over and started to clean it up. It asked him if he wanted another drink but received no answer. O’loth Zimnaht was too stunned from his reaction to the news on the HoloNet. He stared at the picture of Mara Jade Skywalker taken from her wedding about twenty years ago. Frozen in time. He stared in disbelief. He kept repeating the crawl of words at the bottom of the screen over and over to convince himself they were real.
    Mara Jade Skywalker - murdered by an unknown assailant.
    Someone had managed to kill the Emperor’s Hand.
    That was a feat that he had thought impossible. Today and back then. The back then was roughly thirty-five years ago. He was just at the beginning of his thirties. He was given what was then thought of as a prestigious position as Commander of a secret back up data facility to Bastion called Halowan. He was an old man now. No ties to speak of. Alone. He was now a recluse on Pyria; the epitome of nowhere. A year after the Battle of Endor, the Imperial Remnant shut down the Halowan facilities. Halowan’s data banks were emptied and redirected to Bastion. Then the Yuuzhan Vong destroyed that years later.
    O’loth remembered the day Mara Jade arrived at Halowan like it was yesterday. He had replayed the whole encounter inside his mind countless times. He remembered her skill against an unknown Force user. Her moves with the lightsaber were almost dance-like. He remembered her cool demeanor. He remembered that not once did she show any strong emotion. He also remembered his attempts at flirting with her. He winced at that memory. She did find someone all right.
    It was the galaxy’s most famous hero.
    He remembered the tapcaf on Halowan where they each had a Fogblaster. She kept to herself as she drank in silence. He could not take his eyes off of her while he downed his drink. To this day, he had always wondered how awkward that must have been for her. She had finished her drink and headed back to her shuttle. O’loth knew the incident would be classified and never mentioned again.
    He turned to thank her for the experience. She nonchalantly dismissed it as a flirting ploy.
    “The feeling’s mutual,” was the last thing she said to him. He never saw her again. In person, anyway.
    Mara Jade - dead!
    They said she died of a foreign poison. What a cheap way for the Emperor’s Hand to go. Whomever killed her could not fight her in battle so they injected her with a poison. He hoped they didn’t kill her murderer once they were caught. A lifelong torturing experience would do just fine. Death would be too good.
    It wasn’t as if O’loth didn’t think of Death. It happened all around the galaxy. He had soldiers he befriended at Carida Academy who had perished in both Death Star destructions. His own parents died when he was barely walking as a child. Yet, he showed no emotion over their deaths. Why was Mara’s death affecting him this way? Everyone died eventually. There seemed to be a mythic immortality in Mara Jade. She had led three entirely different lives.
    Yes, death happened. Why did it have to happen to her?
    He called to the ‘tender droid for another Fogblaster. He asked for a double to make it more like the kind he got on Halowan. He had to get his mind off Mara Jade. When he paid more attention to the others around the tapcaf, he realized that wasn’t possible.
    He overheard a Devaronian across the bar from him mention the name Mara Jade. He was telling a story to a group of patrons, as Devaronians will do, without regard to the truth. O’loth focused on his tale.
    “So, my partner and I took her to the General. And you remember how Duro was run in those days. The General had put her in prison in no time. Was she kriffin’ pissed. They took all her weapons, including her favorite Blas-Tech 550. State of the art. And me and my partner talked about it. I says to him, ‘Mannei, this is Mara Jade they just put in the clanger.’ So we made a plan to break her out. We killed the guards and we already knew the codes for her cell. We got her blaster back and we had to fight our way out of there. Stang, was she great in a firefight. We all escaped and we took her back to her ship. She was so grateful. I don’t know how many times she thanked us.” The Devaronian downed his drink and announced, “So, that’s how I can say I saved Mara Jade. She was a piece of work, lemme tell ya. Shame she’s gone.”
    After hearing this, O’loth Zimnaht chuckled loudly and shook his head.
    The Devaronian noticed. “Did I say something funny, old man?”
    O’loth replied, “Where do I start?”
    “You think I made this up?”
    “No, I think that if any of that tall tale is true, then I’m a Podrace winner on Malastare.”
    “And what do you know of Mara Jade?”
    “Enough to know that you never met her. Or at least, if you did, you sure do embellish.”
    “How do you figure?”
    O’loth gulped down his drink and ordered another. He was going to have fun debunking his story. “Let’s start with location. Duro. If you’re speaking of General T’saivas, that man had almost no intelligence to begin with. But he at least had the smarts to know that you don’t imprison Mara Jade without consequences. Second, the weapon. Mara Jade had no favorite weapon. She used whatever weapon that was called for in any particular mission. And even if she did have one weapon that she favored, she would choose her lightsaber over something as erratic as a ‘state of the art’ blaster. Which brings me to another missing piece of Mara Jade you forgot to mention. Jade had the Force. She could have gotten out of that prison with no help from anyone. And she could have done it without firing a single shot or swinging a blade.” O’loth took a moment to down a gulp of his drink. He was ignoring the look of contempt he was getting from the Devaronian . He swore he could see the creature’s horns twitch. At the same time, the others in the tapcaf were nodding in approval on his assessment of Mara Jade.
    O’loth wanted to finish before he got too tanked. “And the last thing that tells me you never met Jade is the fact that you said she was grateful. The Emperor’s Hand never would have said thanks. She did her job and finished her missions efficiently. It didn’t matter what side she was on. So, no, I do not believe you dealt with Mara Jade. Nobody dealt with the Emperor’s Hand. She dealt with you. Take it from someone who has met her. And watched her in action.” O’loth paused as it strained him to say his next words. “May she rest in peace.”
    At that moment, a Twi'lek sitting nearby the Devaronian raised his drink and announced to the crowd, “To Mara Jade.” Another Twi'lek next to the first did the same. Then another patron repeated it. Then another. And another. Soon, the whole tapcaf prepared for the toast. Even the Devaronian raised his glass and repeated it, despite his look of defeat.
    Finally, O’loth Zimnaht raised his own drink. “To Mara Jade Skywalker. Emperor’s Hand. Jedi. Mother. And one hell of a damn woman.”

    THE END
     
    AngelQueen likes this.
  2. earlybird-obi-wan

    earlybird-obi-wan Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Aug 21, 2006
    A great look into Mara as seen from your OC.
    Nice story
     
  3. newdawn12

    newdawn12 Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Feb 9, 2013
    Nice story, loved it the first time I read it.
     
  4. Jedi_Lover

    Jedi_Lover Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    Nov 1, 2004
    Nicely done. I bet a lot of people tell tall tales like that. When I was a member of the American Legion I would hear all types of stories...many I was sure were greatly embellished.
     
  5. JediMaster_Jen

    JediMaster_Jen Force Ghost star 4

    Registered:
    Jun 3, 2002
    Very nice. Terrific insight into Mara and who she really was from your OC. =D=
     
  6. Jade_Pilot

    Jade_Pilot Jedi Master star 5

    Registered:
    Dec 10, 2005
    Nice idea to let us see this from a new viewpoint! Gives us a whole new perspective. Clever.