Beyond - Legends Blind Date (Luke/Mara post TLC)

Author(s): Rivad_Bacar2
Title: Blind Date
Timeframe: Several months post The Last Command
Characters: Luke, Mara
Genre: Friendship, blossoming romance
Keywords: Luke, Mara
Summary: Love is blind

Notes: Disclaimer- I do not own Star Wars. No Credits, Imperial, or Republic, nor even Wookiee Cookies are being made from this work.

This work assumes the following sources as cannon: Episode IV-VI, Sleight of Hand,
Mara Jade: By the Emperor’s Hand, Night on the Town, First Contact, Heir to the Empire Trilogy

This work is unbetaed. We die like true Rebels!

This short story will consist of two parts.

The core of this story is some 10 years in the making. I finally found the courage to finish it. Hope you enjoy.

 

Blind Date
Part 1

Mara Jade moved rapidly through a crowded reception room of the former Imperial Palace. No one dared impede her progress as she sped toward the main entryway following a short and extremely vocal confrontation with one of her least favorite members of the New Republic; in fact, those beings close enough to see the look in her flashing green eyes made a determined effort to get out of the woman’s way. She had nearly reached her destination when he appeared, angling quickly in from the side to step in front of her.

“Get out of my way, Skywalker,” she growled through gritted teeth. “If you try to stop me, Force help me, I’ll put you in the med center. I’m not going to listen to any more of your New Republic’s sanctimonious song and dance! Karrde can find someone else to take this liaison position. I quit!”

Luke Skywalker regarded the striking woman in front of him, even as he prudently moved aside to allow Mara to pass. However, as Master Yoda had once noted, there were times Luke was just plain reckless; he fell into step with the fuming woman as she exited the hall.

“Good evening, Mara. It’s nice to see you too,” he began cheerily in an attempt to lighten her mood. Mara’s only response was to clench her fists and walk even more rapidly in the direction of the central lifts. Luke could tell he was not going to get anywhere with the subtle approach, so he decided to grab the gundark by the ears, reached out, and pulled his companion to a stop.

Mara’s reflexes were lightning fast. She jerked her arm out of his grasp as she spun away to create distance between them. As she whirled to face him, her hand darted under her beaded bolero jacket, undoubtedly reaching for a hidden weapon. She stopped at his upraised hand and placating look.

“Mara, please, what’s wrong? I only want to help if I can.”

Something in his voice made her boiling emotions subside and she relaxed from her combat stance. In the months since the Wayland incident, she had slowly come to appreciate some of Skywalker’s better qualities, and she really couldn’t fault the man for trying to help. He tried to help everyone. It was an annoying habit, but at least he was honest in his attempts, something that couldn’t be said for everyone in the New Republic. Luke followed as she entered an alcove located off the main corridor and turned to face him with a stony expression. Through the Force he could sense a mass of confused emptions coming from her. There were almost equal parts anger and frustration.

“Ok, Skywalker, you want to know what’s wrong? Fine. I’m tired of dealing with bureaucrats who are more concerned with keeping their jobs than doing them. I’m tired of all the staring and whispered gossip that happens whenever I walk down a corridor. Most of all, I’m tired of dealing with that idiot security colonel, Bremen, and playing his stupid games. I quit.”

Luke’s eyes narrowed at the mention of Bremen’s name. He guessed that some new instance in the cold war that existed between Mara and the head of Palace Security was what triggered her rapid exit from the reception, as well as her current mercurial mood. He had been able to sense her emotional outburst from almost half-way across the palace. Again, indulging in his reckless nature, he decided to probe deeper.

“So, what’s happened between you and Bremen that has you so upset?” He was prudent enough to not add ‘again,’ out of a dual sense of both decorum and self-preservation.

The withering look Mara gave him proved that discretion had been a wise choice. Still, she made no move to leave, and Luke’s patience was rewarded in a few moments as Mara softly began to speak. She was so quiet, Luke had to lean close in order to hear as she now refused to look at him.

“About three weeks ago the Smuggler’s Alliance got word of a planned Karazak Slaver raid on Askaj in the Cegul sector. Neither Karrde nor I have ever liked slavers, so when he asked me to pass on the information to the New Republic, I was only too happy to do so. I set up a meeting with Colonel Derlin of N.R. Spec Force, and he at least was intelligent enough to see the value of our intel. He quickly set up an interdiction and rescue mission.” She paused, and Luke noted how her voice hardened when she continued.

“The raid was supposed to have taken place four days ago. I stopped by Derlin’s office yesterday to find out if the interdiction was successful. The only problem was, Derlin and his aide were in a meeting and I got stuck talking with an overly officious military protocol droid.” At this, Luke suppressed a grimace. He had experienced his own run-ins with M-3PO models which were even more difficult to deal with than C-3PO’s eccentricities. He quickly refocused on Mara’s narrative.

“Apparently, it didn’t like my line of questioning – thought I was trying to uncover classified military movements. So, it contacted Palace Security and they ordered it to mark the files classified and revoke my access to Derlin. When I tried to talk to that that idiot Bremen tonight…”

Mara paused and looked away. When she continued it was with the slightest quiver in her voice. Luke could not entirely identify the swirl of emotions he surprisingly felt through the Force. Mara’s considerable shields, although in place, seemed to suddenly become porous and he could not help but feel that she was now experiencing a rare feeling – hurt, at the security officer’s comments.

She finally continued. “When I tried to talk to Bremen tonight, he accused me of only relaying the information from the Smuggler’s Alliance so that we could eliminate a rival syndicate. When I loudly protested that sludge-brained idea he decided to revoke my diplomatic security access for discussing a classified operation in public. I can only move around the public areas of the palace and my residential floor. Even then, he said I would only be allowed to do so if accompanied by a guard; I’m totally locked out of my office.”

Mara finally met Luke’s eyes. He was surprised to see the depth of the hurt in her eyes.

“But the worst part… the worst part was when he gloated that he had finally found a way to put ‘the damn, dirty Imp’ in her place. So… I quit. I thought I could make a fresh start in the New Republic, but obviously people won’t let me. So, I’m going back to Karrde’s organization. At least there they accept me for who I am, and don’t obsess about who I was.”

Luke barely registered Mara’s final words. Upon hearing Bremen’s epithet directed at her, his right hand clenched so tightly it seemed as if there should have been a high-pitched squeal coming from the mechanical innards, while his left hand turned shockingly white. His narrowed gaze swept towards the ballroom as he darkly mused, “Sounds like I need to chat with the good Colonel.”

Mara’s temper loudly flared to life. “I don’t need you to fight my battles for me Skywalker! If you think…”

“I know you don’t need me to fight your battles!” he dangerously interrupted. “I know you could wipe the floor with Bremen, physically and mentally. But don’t expect me to sit quietly by when one of my friends is so vilely attacked and insulted!”

A scathing retort died on Mara’s tongue and she found herself in the very odd position of having to actively close her slightly agape mouth at the Jedi’s vocal and direct statement. The two stood staring at each other quietly for several moments, as both fought to bring pounding hearts and gasping lungs under control following their heated exchange.

“Do you really mean it?” she softly asked.

Luke quirked an eyebrow at her query.

“You see me as a friend?” she clarified her question.

A humorous upturn of his lips into a small smile accompanied his response. “Yes, Mara, you are my friend, and have been for a while now.” He took a small step forward, placed his hands gently on her shoulders and continued. “In fact, I consider you one of my best friends. Bremen’s attitude would be revolting towards anyone, but directed at you, one of the best people I know…” he shook his head. “It is not very Jedi of me, but I’m still just a person. Someone insults one of my friends this badly, I can’t help feeling upset.”

Luke squeezed her shoulders softly before letting his hands drop away. Mara was both warmed at his words and caring action, while also a little relieved for the foreign moment of physical contact to be over. There was also a hint of wistfulness that the moment was over too quickly, but she quickly banished that thought.

“Thanks, Skywalker,” she finally replied with her own small smile. “I guess that makes two of us.”

The Jedi’s own smile increased at her enigmatic response. He knew Mara was intensely private with her feelings and relationships, but her declaration was not without consideration or feeling. She did consider him a close friend, but would rather wrestle a Hutt than admit it. After a moment of quick consideration Luke decided to continue with this evening’s reckless theme; so far, he had been well served. Grabbing Mara’s hand, he spun towards the central lifts with a jaunty expression and tugged her after him.

His companion was apparently in a better mood as she followed without protesting, and only dryly asked, “And where are we going?”

“To have some fun.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

When they reached the central lifts, Luke entered the information and then stood in front of the panel so Mara could not see the destination. The direction was down and towards the east, but Mara could not fathom why he had chosen that direction, nor would he comment on what he had planned. Instead, the lift ride was accompanied by banter concerning the intellectual capacities of a certain security chief. This occurred in multiple languages, and resulted in Mara learning several interesting Huttese and Jawa phrases with which she was not familiar. Apparently the Farmboy had some interesting linguistic knowledge from his home planet.

Their journey concluded as the doors swished open and Luke proclaimed, “We’ll get this straightened out in the morning. I’m not in the right frame of mind to confront Bremen tonight. I’d probably say something to make the situation worse, so let’s forget about it until then and have some fun.”

Mara looked around the corridor in confusion. This lift stop used to empty at right angles to an outside corridor of the palace that led to eventual exits at either end, which further continued to staff speeder parking or transportation hubs. However, directly ahead a new corridor and addition to the palace lay before them. The entrance was decorated with red, vertical stripes to either side, and a pedestrian control booth prevented errant foot traffic into the new structure. The color coding obviously indicated some form of security status, but Mara was not familiar with the specifics as she had not seen it in other areas of the palace. Luke headed straight for the new opening when she pulled him to a stop.

“What’s going on here Skywalker? I know we’ve been bad-mouthing Bremen, and you have halfway talked me into trying to fix things in the morning. But the fact remains that my security access has been revoked and I’m wandering around without an escort. I don’t want to give him any more ammunition to use against me going into restricted areas of the palace.”

The gleam that came into Skywalker’s eye, and the lop-sided smirk that appeared on his face could only have been learned from Solo. “Ah, but that is the beauty of my plan. This is a public corridor which you have arrived at by public lift; and while I might be flattering myself, I think that having the New Republic’s only Jedi Knight accompanying you can be argued as having a sufficient escort.”

He resumed his trek towards the new opening, again reaching out to take her by the hand, something that she allowed. “Ok, but what about me being restricted to public areas of the palace, oh wise one?” she asked attempting to disrupt his attempts at subterfuge.

Luke grinned even wider, enjoying this all too rare opportunity to impress his friend with a bit of subtlety as he fished a code cylinder from an interior pocket of his robes. “Ah, but this extension isn’t part of the palace,” he slyly intoned as they arrived at the pedestrian control point. “This extension is actually part of the New Republic Starfighter Command, Palace District complex, and therefore Palace security has nothing to say concerning who does, or does not have access.”

Impressed in spite of herself at Skywalker’s legalistic logical contortions, Mara was about to again interrupt and ask what this meant for them, when the Trandoshan security officer at the control point addressed them.

“General Ssskywalker. Good evening, sssir.”

“Evening Portha,” Luke replied as he inserted his code cylinder into the control gate. “Everything going well?”

“Very good, sssir,” replied the hulking reptoid. “How can I help you thisss eveing?”

“I was hoping that Commander Mhathain was on duty tonight. Is he?” he asked, withdrawing the cylinder and re-pocketing it.

The Trandoshan released a string of slithering hisses that Mara could only interpret as great amusement. “When isss the Commander not on evening duty, sssir? He isss alwaysss holed up in hisss cave, lissstening to that noissse he callsss musssic.”

Luke laughed aloud at the guard’s description. “Oh, come on Portha. A lot of the music he listens to is pretty good.”

Mara only barely contained her laughter as Portha very unsubtly rolled his eyes and haughtily murmured, “Jedi!” Luke caught her eye and sent a teasing wink as he grinned at the treatment from the guard whom he obviously knew well.

The guard then turned his attention to Mara. “Good evening. Identification, pleassse.”

Luke intervened with a smile. “This is Mara Jade. You don’t need to see her identification. She’s with me.”

Portha stood absolutely still for several moments, then spoke: “I don’t need to sssee her identification. Ssshe’sss with you.” He then waved them through the control booth.

As they proceeded down the corridor, Mara favored Luke with measuring look. “Wow, Skywalker; pulling out a Jedi mind trick, just to flaunt the rules. Impressive! And what’s with the General bit, I thought you gave that up?”

He gave her a surprised look in return. “What? I didn’t use a mind trick on Portha. That was all ‘the General bit’, as you call it. If you haven’t noticed, quite a few people still call me General even though I resigned my commission. It’s even more-so on this particular fighter base. This is Rogue Squadron’s home base along with several other squadrons, and I still am officially listed as a special independent contractor and test-pilot attached to the Rogue’s squadron commander. I draw pay at one credit per year, which grants me medical benefits under the military; the squadron mechanics also keep my X-wing up to squadron standards whenever new equipment is brought on-line, and I fly several hours a quarter to give reviews of new upgrades. Anyway, between pilots and staff that I knew personally, or newer faces like Portha who joined after I left the squadron, I still have enough time here that they all know me. And my status of test-pilot grants me a high enough security clearance that I can officially vouch for a limited number of guests. So please don’t run off or I’ll be in trouble with Wedge,” he teasingly concluded.

Mara was surprised to gain some further insight into a portion of Luke’s life, particularly to such a large part of his existence that developed before he became a full-time Jedi. Still, she couldn’t resist dryly commenting, “Humph. Not as cool as a renegade mind trick.”

Luke’s laughter at her irreverent humor brought them to a non-descript blast door in the side of the corridor. “Here we are,” he said, and placed his code cylinder into the terminal beside the blast door.

The hiss of cycling hydraulics as the door closed after their entry was drowned out by the sounds of a haunting woodwind and a low, powerful drum. The music was a type that Mara had never heard before, and yet it’s lilting tones seemed fill the space with a strange, contemplative feeling. The most surprising aspect of the melody, however, was that it was being played in a mostly darkened, blaster firing range.

A line of twenty firing lanes, split equidistant to the left and right of the door. Low standby lighting highlighted the underside of the rests and controls of each lane. The far target area of each section was darkened, except for the far-left lane which was lit and active. This fully lit lane was also adjacent to the main control booth and armory cage, the latter of which also sported an illuminated work bench.

The ghostly music came to a drawn-out coda, and Luke spoke jovially into the sudden silence. “Six, you learned how to use a hand blaster yet?!” He quickly moved down the lanes toward the end, drawing Mara along in his wake.

In response to the shouted query, a blaster bolt ripped down the lighted firing lane to strike the illuminated holo target bay at the far end. The double beep of a perfect hit sounded just before a new song began to play on the overhead speakers. Luke and Mara arrived at the occupied lane, just as a male figure was removing his shooting lenses. He waved a hand toward what was apparently a portable music device hanging from the wall of the shooting lane which silenced the music in the entire room. In a somewhat put-upon voice he dryly replied, while still staring down the lane at the target. “Still haven’t found much use for ‘em, honestly.”

The man then turned and grinned widely at Luke, cheerfully reaching out to shake hands. “Boss, it’s good to see you!”

Mara observed with a small smile as Luke enthusiastically greeted someone who was obviously an old squadron mate. The man wore the rank of a commander, was closer to Solo’s height than Skywalker, and sported dark brown, wavey hair. She had met Antilles several months ago, so the man was obviously not him. Given the man’s rank, and the strange, but somehow enjoyable music that had been playing earlier, she deduced this must be Commander Mhathain who Luke had asked about earlier.

As Luke finished greeting his friend, he turned and made introductions. “Mara, this is the former Rogue Six, Drake Mhathain, now of New Republic Starfighter Training Command. Drake,” Luke said, turning towards her with a smile, “this is my good friend, Mara Jade.”

Mhathain turned towards her with a smile as he politely intoned, “Pleasure to meet you, Miss Jade.” He was just starting to reach his hand out for a formal shake, when a sudden shock of recognition came into his eye. Like lightning he dropped his hand, stepped back and to his right two paces while bringing his right hand to his utility belt to rest on a vibro knife that was sheathed at his left hip. The unexpected movement had caught Mara flat footed with no warning from the Force, but had placed Mhathain in a perfect position to hurl the knife with a flick of his wrist directly into her chest, but without endangering Luke.

With a face now clear of all emotion, save for a single eyebrow raised partially in thought, the man spoke in a clear, certain tone.

“Or perhaps I should call you Lt. Callista Ming.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
TBC

I regret nothing! (Rivad flees the scene before angry mob can pursue him!)

 

So a lot happens here! I know what it's like to have a story hanging out in your head for ten years and then force its way onto a page in a moment of ... well, in my case, COVID lockdown stir-craziness. I like seeing Luke and Mara together, and I enjoy their banter and seeing them interact with the Rogues (rogues, Rogues, same thing...). I admit I was not expecting the twist at the end!

 

Here I am!

A very accurate insight! And Mara is a pretty fair-minded person. She'd likely reach the "that's just how he is" stage pretty quickly.

Yeah, I've wondered about how Mara would be treated around the Palace after TLC, and I can really see it going either way: respected as an obviously trusted ally of people like Luke and Leia and Han, or distrusted and gossiped about as a smuggler and past Imperial. And if it went the latter way, I don't think Mara would put up with it for long.

Aw

I very much like the idea of Luke sweeping Mara off to some mystery excursion to make her feel better

lolol

I like the insights and practical details on how Luke could still be connected with the military like this

LOL, I mean, she's not wrong there

 

I adore this timeframe for Luke and Mara. You have their on-the-brinkness perfectly. I would be outraged if I were in Mara's position, and I adore that Luke is on her behalf.

She genuinely wonders that he considers her a friend. I think he was always ready to consider her more than that from TLC onwards.

Then we get that last line... is right! As someone who felt like the entire L/M marvelousness was derailed unnecessarily by Callista, I was NOT expecting that!

 

Thank you everyone, both to those who have liked/replied or even have stopped by to look anonymously.

@Bel505

It was Covid that got me to post this too! Only about 1/2 of part one was down on paper, the rest just kicking around in my head for 10 years. I needed something to fill the time so I finally forced myself to write.

This is the hardest part of writing for me. I would love to do an epic on the scale of your Interregnum masterpiece, but when I sit down to write the details are so hard! But it's the details that make so much of a story. Dang the muses sometimes!

@Mira_Jade

Thank you! That is so kind! It's great to see some familiar faces.

Fans sometimes forget that Luke has always been reckless. Exhibit 1, Ep. IV, searching for R2.
C-3P0: There are several creatures approaching from the south-east!
Luke: Sandpeople, or worse! Come on, let's go take a look...

Sandpeople or worse and he wants to take a look?! Recklessness thy name is Luke...

I feel that Mara often gets short changed by writers in depicting her ability to express and deal with feelings. Yes, she is undoubtedly reserved. But if you are one of the people she allows in, she is going to reach out to you.

We all know she has been hoping he feels the same friendship towards her as Mara has been feeling towards Luke.

The man is the original Rogue Leader and Han Solo wanted him on his crew; he has some definate scoundrel in him...

@Gabri_Jade

Yay! Hopefully DRL has eased up for you.

This is another area where I feel many writers miss Mara. The actions Luke takes to help people, many of which are dangerous and put her friend in peril, drives Mara up the wall. But the honesty of the person behind those actions is exactly the type of person who Mara pushes herself to be and she would never belittle that aspect of Luke.

In reality I think it runs the entire gambit. Oh, was that a hint of events in Part 2?

Yes! I got an 'Aw' response from one of the best L/M writers in the game!

This is actually the original kernal of plot bunny that bit me: "So Luke takes Mara to a blaster firing range to hang out..."

Believe it or not, this idea comes from real life events from the life of Chuck Yeager. More details to come in some Author Notes after Part 2!

No she's not, but Luke is at least pretending to be a good Jedi and not be a little punk...

@WarmNyota_SweetAyesha

Thank you! That fine ballance of will they/won't they is so hard to make believable at this stage. And Luke is a farm boy: right is right, wrong is wrong and this is his friend. Don't mess with his friends.

As a 14 year old in '91, I remember getting about 1 and 1/2 pages into the first pages of HttE introducing Mara and saying to myself "This girl and Luke are going to wind up together." They were destined before they even met!

And finally...

Yes!!!! (Rivad cackles and does happy little evil author jig! )

This idea has been with me for YEARS and I am glad I have finally been able to share it with both old friends and new. In-universe explanation will be coming up in a few minutes, with meta-universe explanation to follow probably next week in an expanded author's notes.

Thank you all so much!

 

Blind Date
Part 2

Tension filled the room as the three figures held themselves absolutely still, waiting as if for some unseen signal for some change to occur.

The silence was broken a few moments later as Luke, carefully projecting calm asked, “Drake, what is going on? Who is Callista Ming, and why are you threatening Mara with a vibro knife?”

The pilot never took his eyes off Mara, and coolly replied. “The woman you call Mara Jade was assigned to a research and development project during the war as Callista Ming, a computer specialist on the aeronautics team. That project was betrayed, and it was later discovered that Lt. Ming was part of a spy ring that penetrated the project. Keyan Farlander and I were test pilots assigned to the project, and luckily where able to help keep the prototypes and staff from falling into the hands of the Empire. That was right before we joined the squadron at Hoth.”

Mara, who had remained very still in the face of a point-blank throw from a vibro knife, marginally relaxed as the details of that operation came back to her. Luckily, no one had died by her hand as a result of that mission. Furthermore, that particular incident was one which had been part of an extensive NRI debriefing at the hands of Airen Cracken and Iella Wessiri and was covered under a very broad pardon and clemency agreement that had been brokered by Leia Organa Solo on her behalf. That same agreement had also hopefully forever buried the knowledge of her role as Emperor’s Hand, limiting that knowledge to only a handful of individuals. Now, if she could just communicate some of that to the observant pilot. She didn’t recall the name Mhathain, but didn’t one of the pilots almost always go by his call-sign…

The memory finally clicked. “You’re the Iceman.”

The other brow rose on his face at her recollection.

“The research project he is referring to, Luke, was Project Shantipole, the development of the B-Wing fighter. I was tasked with infiltrating Ackbar’s aeronautics team; that’s why the Admiral recognized me when I gave my statement to the Inner Security Council before my NRI debriefing”

Mhathain now cocked his head to the side at hearing she had spoken with the Inner Council and been interviewed by NRI. Luke took the opportunity to further calm the situation.

“Mara was a former Imperial Operative, Drake. She has never lied to me about her past. She’s renounced ties with the Empire, and in fact was a key figure at helping bring down Thrawn’s cloning facility. She helped locate and destroy it.” He did not say anything about C’baoth and his own clone. That part of the adventure was still highly classified. “She’s on our side now.”

Mara added a final fact to hopefully finish diffusing the situation. “For what it’s worth, I didn’t physically betray Project Shantipole. Salin Glek, a Quarren on Ackbar’s staff was actually a traitor and betrayed the whole project to the Imperial District Commander, Bane Nothos. I was brought in to assist in gathering technical data on the project, and also to keep an eye on Glek and Nothos. There was some concern by…High Command that they were moving slowly in infiltrating the project and were either helping the Alliance, or were planning to take the material and prototypes for themselves and turn pirate. When the actual raid came, it was a complete surprise to me and I was sealed off in my room for several minutes. By the time I got out, you had already fled with the prototypes, data and staff and the stormtroopers were on board.”

Mhathain finally glanced at Luke, and seeing his reassuring nod the pilot relaxed his combative stance and held out his hand with a grin. “So is your name really Callista, Mara, or something else?”

Mara also relaxed her frozen posture and accepted the handshake with a wry smile. “It really is Mara. Callista Ming was a cover identity which was assigned to me, although I do know she was a Jedi who didn’t survive the Purges.” She looked up to see Luke’s surprised interest. “I think it was someone in…High Command’s way of having a dark joke at the expense of the Jedi to assign me cover identities using some of their names and information.”

Luke knew that by ‘High Command’ she was referring to the Emperor and tabled his curiosity for now. Mhathain, unaware of the deeper subtext underlying the conversation, continued the conversation.

“Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Jade. Sorry about the intense moment there. A friend of the Boss is always welcome here.”

Mara regarded the man with some incredulity. “So, you go from being willing to put a vibro knife in me, to welcoming just because I said I’m on your side now? What if I’m lying?”

Mhathain face became serious again. “It comes down to trust and faith. Luke trusts you. I trust my old Boss. It’s also how the Rebellion ran since the beginning. My first CO was an Imperial defector. Juno decided to come over, despite how hard it was. Same with you. My father’s people taught that it takes an incredible amount of courage to turn around mid-stream when you realize you are going the wrong way. A lot of folks will continue on because it is easier. Some will just stay in the middle and be swept away. The ones who turn around, and head back because that is what’s right, even though that is the hardest thing to do… those are special people. We shouldn’t make their life harder when they are doing the right thing.” He ended his impromptu speech with a smile and left Mara to consider his words.

“But you didn’t come down here for a philosophy lecture from a starship engineer's son. What can I do for you?”

Luke took up the threads of the conversation. “Well, Mara hasn’t had the best night so far, so I thought I would bring her down to the range and have some fun blasting holo targets.”

The fighter pilot observed the formal nature of Mara’s attire and Luke’s Jedi robes and turned with a smirk to Skywalker. “What, had trouble impressing your date at a formal dance, so you decided to come down here for the rest of it?”

“It’s not a date!” two voices rang out in startled harmony.

Mhathain looked back and forth between the startled faces of the man and woman staring at him. With a suspicious gleam in his eye, he decided to withdraw and wait for a chance to needle his friend later. “All right, all right, it’s not a date. Just a fun night of shooting blasters between friends...” He trailed off turning towards the open firing lane. “You still shooting a DL-44, Boss?” he addressed Luke as he began removing a heavy blaster pistol from a bench rest strapped tightly to a table.

“Yes, though it’s been a while,” the Jedi replied.

“I’ve tried getting you interested in real weapons,” the pilot continued as he finished un-clamping the hand blaster from the weighted vice, “meaning long blasters and sniper rifles,” he commented aside to Mara, “but you just can’t seem to see the benefits of the superior weapon system.”

“Drake doesn’t have much use for hand blasters,” Luke explained to Mara as Mhathain handed him the now liberated DL-44 after removing the power pack.

“Here, I just got this one all sighted in and zeroed. Should work fine. What about you Miss Jade, do you have a preference of blaster?”

Mara perked up at the topic of weapons. “I can shoot anything. I like the power of the DL-44, but if we are going to be shooting for scores tonight something slightly smaller for my hand would be nice. Do you have any DL-21’s or a Westar-35?

Mhathain headed for the armory cage. “We have lots of pilots like you who need a slightly smaller profile grip for the best accuracy, so we have a lot of DL-21s. Let me get you one.” He crossed to a side of the cage and consulted a datapad. “I zeroed this batch two days ago, and they haven’t been fired since. Should be all dialed in.” He selected an appropriate model of blaster as well as the necessary power packs. He deposited these on a small cart before retrieving a few more appropriately sized power packs for Luke’s chosen weapon before exiting the cage.

He returned to the bench rest and quickly inserted Mara’s blaster into the vice. “We’ll make sure this is still zeroed correctly. Don’t want accusations of partiality towards the Boss during this friendly, not-date shooting match date.” He grinned at their twin groans at again referring to the event as a date, but continued to ramble on. “Have you heard that there are some new after-market grips being released for the DL-44 that are designed for smaller hands? Supposed to be available next quarter, I’ve got some sales literature around somewhere.”

At Mara’s interest, they discussed back and forth on the details of the new grips for a few minutes as he confirmed the zeroing of Mara’s blaster. He then gave them the standard range safety instruction which Luke knew he could not get out of no matter how many times he had heard it, and Mara enjoyed for the fact that proper routines led to fewer accidents. He then opened up two adjacent lanes halfway down the line up and left them to their fun, but not before Luke held a whispered conversation that lasted a few minutes. At the end Mhathain nodded seriously and disappeared into the range office.

After two blaster-pack’s worth of warm-up and casual shooting, Mara turned with a smile on her face. “So, Jedi, I have to admit this is kind of fun. Didn’t expect this from you if I am being honest.”

Luke grinned back. Despite the earlier teasing by his other friend, he was also having a great time. “Thanks, Jade. It is nice to do something out of the ordinary once in a while.” They both fired off a handful of blasts, each scoring well. Again, Luke’s reckless side rose to the fore and he spoke without thinking, “I bet I can outshoot you, head-to-head.”

Mara burst out laughing. “Are you crazy, Farmboy? There’s no way you can take me. I was trained since I was a youngling by the best marksmanship instructors in the Empire. There’s no way you could beat me.”

“Oh really? Need I remind you that I was a rather successful starfighter pilot. That does involve quite a bit of marksmanship accuracy.”

“Sure, which is heightened by computer assisted control, and you were always using the Force, anyways. Now I admit that you are a bit ahead of me in the Force for fine control, so if you used that you might be able to win.”

Both Luke and Mara wore animated and bright expressions on their faces. Their shared banter and enjoyment of the moment only drove them onward.

“Let’s make a deal then Jade. I flew successfully for a long time with only limited access to the Force, and I say I can take you. So, here’s what we’ll do. Fifty shots each, we take turns shooting, ten shots at a time. Whomever is not shooting monitors the shooter to see if they are using the Force. Force usage during shooting is an automatic disqualification. Looser owes the winner a dinner of their choice.”

“No credit limit on dinner?”

“No limit.”

Mara’s face split in a predatory smile. “Better get out your creds, Farmboy. I’ve always wanted to eat at the Skysitter. You’re going down!”

Skywalker didn’t bat an eye at the mention of the exclusive, expensive restaurant. “You’re on.”

Luke also took a moment to show Mara how to tune her Force sense to tell if someone was actively using the Force to enhance their abilities. They then flipped a deci-cred coin to determine who would shoot first. Luke won, much to Mara’s consternation, though she did monitor the flip with the Force and admitted it was a fair flip with no outside manipulation. Luke chose to defer, so Mara positioned herself to begin.

Right before she released her first shots however, there was the sound of a cleared throat from behind them.

“Sorry to interrupt, Boss. I was able to track that info down that you asked about.”

Mara and Luke turned to see Mhathain offering a datapad to his former commander. Luke took the pad, scanned the contents and let out a whoop of joy. He then grabbed Mara into his arms, who was only just barely able to place her blaster down on her lane’s table, before she was whirled in his strong arms. The surprising spin left her heart racing and her cheeks lightly flushed at the sudden experience.

“They did it, Mara! They were successful!” Luke cheerfully exclaimed.

“What are you talking about, Skywalker?” she huffed in exasperation.

Luke showed her the datapad. “I asked Drake to do some covert digging. He was able to search through Starfighter Command reports and found that the Tierfon Yellow Aces were assigned to fly cover for a Spec Ops mission against the Karazak Slavers in Cegul sector. The operation was a complete success. No civilians were harmed, no serious Republic casualties for any teams, and the Slaver operation was completely smashed! They were able to do all this thanks to what you and the Smuggler’s Alliance passed on to us!”

Mara stood slightly dumbfounded, reading the report summary Luke held in one hand, as he squeezed her in a one arm hug. She recalled the whispered conversation the two pilots had shared before she and Luke had started their range time. Luke had asked his friend to look into the anti-slavery operation so she would know what had happened. Her throat tightened slightly at the kindness of her friend and that he had thought of her, once again tonight. She looked at Luke and gave him a true smile of gratitude, which for some reason made him bashfully look away after a few seconds.

“Ahem… well, I’ll let you two get back to your…range time,” Mhathain said with one of his teasing grins as he retrieved the datapad and turned towards the office. The unspoken implication that he considered them to be on a date hung over the pair as they watched him retreat, whistling a cheerful tune. Both refused to look at each other and quickly moved apart from the close proximity they had held since receiving the good news.

The result of Mara’s increased heart rate at the good news, and sudden unscheduled spinning at the hands of a farmboy turned Jedi had her first few shots just slightly off. It was not a result of how nicely his arms felt during said spinning, she ruthlessly told herself. As she finished her first grouping of shots, she did take some small satisfaction that Skywalker appeared out of the corner of her eye to be regulating his breathing and a slight flush was just disappearing from his cheeks.

Skywalker was a surprisingly good shot, keeping pace with her throughout the competition. Entering the fourth round they were still virtually tied, and both were deep into the spirit of competition. It was after Mara’s forty-second shot of fifty that she suddenly became aware of her shooting lane cubby suddenly feeling much closer than it had been all evening. Glancing over her shoulder she found Skywalker leaning inside the dividing wall of her lane. She raised an eyebrow at this display, to which he replied by raising his own eyebrow in return… and slowly smirking in a slow, devilish manner with one side of his mouth.

Mara slowly turned forward again, drew a careful breath and returned to her sight picture. The increased thumping she suddenly felt in her chest caused her to slow her rate of fire so that she could wrestle her aim under control. After shot forty-eight she suddenly heard a low pitched “Umm-hmm, that is excellent shooting Ms. Jade…” shot forty-nine went out… and then suddenly she felt the tickle of warm breath on the back of her neck and ear… “But then again, I’ve always known you were amazing.”

She felt a strange humming in her chest, a sort of airy lightness and warmth at his statement. It took her a moment to realize that she had pulled her final shot just slightly, leaving Skywalker just enough room that if he shot cleanly with his final grouping, he could beat her!

She dropped her blaster on the lane shelf as she whirled on him and glared straight into his bright blue eyes. “Why you low down, scum-snuffing, underhanded… JEDI!”

Skywalker had not moved which resulted in them being in very close proximity to each other. She could feel the warmth coming from him, see the depths of his eyes, and practically feel the satisfaction leaking from his contented grin. “We agreed no Force, Mara. We didn’t say anything about any other outside means of distraction!”

With that, Luke quickly turned away to his lane, leaving the red-head fuming at his underhanded tactics. She was still so shocked at the Farmboy’s temerity that she didn’t realize he was already four shots into his final grouping of ten before she rounded the small wall into his lane. He just took his forty-fifth shot when he suddenly straightened from his shooting stance. “Uh-oh,” he quietly said.

Now thoroughly distrusting anything to come out of Skywalker’s mouth she glared suspiciously at him. “What?” she snapped.

“I’m getting the low power warning on my blaster,” he returned. He began looking around the spent power packs for a fresh one.

“Sure, Mr. high and mighty, always honest, Jedi. What are you trying to pull here?”

He grinned at her, certain that while he had riled her up on the one hand, she was also highly enjoying the events of the evening on the other. At least he hoped she was. He calmly replied, “You know as well as I do that the DL-44 sacrifices power pack life for increased hitting power. Mine has just run out.” He showed her the pulsating diode on his blaster’s grip indicating in only had two shots left, not enough to complete the round. “I’m out of power packs, so I’ll go get a last one from Drake.”

Mara narrowed her eyes, but could not find any further deception in his sense. Reluctantly she moved out of his way. He smiled, ejected the nearly spent power pack, and set off for the armory cage with the empty blaster in his hand. She scowled at his retreating back while she tried to come up with some sort of inventive way to win the match.

Luke arrived at the entry to the armory cage to find Mhathain working on a stripped-down blaster pistol on the workbench. He raised his head as Luke entered the cage. “All done?” he asked cheerily.

“Almost,” Luke replied. “I’m on my last grouping and need one more power pack. Got a lot riding on this last round!”

“Oh?” his friend enquired as he moved towards the power pack storage for the heavier hand weapon. Luke quickly explained the parameters of the bet and what was on the line. Drake laughed as he tossed a selected power pack at his former CO.

“Here, try that one. I think that should be charged.”

Luke pointed the barrel at the ground and inserted the new pack to check the power level. Unfortunately, the new pack did not seem to seat well and it would not connect. In fact, it seemed to be stuck and would neither engage or eject. After wrestling with it for a few moments, Drake asked, “Something wrong?”

“The pack seems to be jammed. It doesn’t want to engage or eject.”

“Hmm… gimme.” A few swift checks and one minor blow to the receiver and the power pack ejected. Mhathain turned to the rack of power packs again and selected another. Over his shoulder he teased his friend, “Don’t worry, I’ll get you back to your date soon.”

“It’s not a date, Six!” Luke wearily replied.

“Do you want it to be?” his friend asked as he turned back and presented him with a fresh pack in one hand and the blaster in another.

Luke stared at the floor for a long time, then looked at his friend with a wistful expression. He shrugged one shoulder and gave a small, longing smile.

“Go finish your grouping, Boss. Don’t put that pack in until you get to the lane!”

“Yes, Six,” the Jedi replied as he moved back to his firing lane to complete his grouping. Before he could move far, he was called back.

“Oh, and Boss, give this to your lady friend.” Luke caught a code cylinder tossed his way against his chest with his full hands.

“What’s this for?”

“That’s so Miss Jade can come get some range time if you’re not around. If what you told me about Bremen is true, she needs somewhere where she can come blow off some steam away from the overbearing colonel and the rest of palace politics.”

Luke sketched a two-finger salute and returned happily to his lane, excited to finish the competition with Mara. When he arrived however, he came to an abrupt stop and could only stare at the sight before him. Mara was perched sideways on the platform ledge of the lane, one leg crossed over the other and swaying gently back and forth. The effect pulled her skirts tightly against her upper thighs and left her lower legs quite bare. She sat smiling at him with a very teasing grin.

“Ready to finish up, Skywalker?” Her voice held a fine balance of warmth and teasing, and all Luke could do was gulp inaudibly for a few moments.

He finally gathered himself, and asked if she could move so he could finish his last shots. Mara only smiled sweetly and shook her head no. “I’m quite comfortable. I don’t think I want to move.”

Luke gulped a bit more, but then shook himself, determined to win the match. He stuffed the code cylinder into a random pocket to be presented to Mara later, and was about to load the blaster when he stopped. He glared at Mara and queried “Do I have your word you won’t bump me or something?” She nodded demurely at him, and he slowly approached the line.

It was a bit of a snug fit as he had to move all the way to the right as Mara sat on the lane’s ledge, crowding him to the left. He could feel the closeness of her body, smell the wonderful scent of her perfume. Her beautiful leg continued to sway back and forth at the bottom edge of his sight, and out of his peripheral vision he could see her staring at his eyes with her own vibrant green orbs.

He slowly squeezed off three shots which left him with only two remaining. Two perfect hits and he would win. As he prepared for his second to last shot, he could see Mara lick her lips and lean slightly forward… “Luke,” she whispered just as he squeezed. Somehow the shot was on target. She leaned forward as he carefully sighted in his final shot. The breath of her voice wafted over his cheek. “I’ve had an amazing time tonight.” He took his final shot.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Commander Drake Mhathain watched as Luke Skywalker and Mara Jade walked out of the blaster range chatting animatedly. Their arms were interlaced, and her free hand was wrapped around his bicep as she exulted in her two-point victory in their competition. She was already planning the dinner outing that Skywalker now owed her.

Mhathain smiled as he waved his music player to on, then went to collect the blasters and power packs from the lanes where he had insisted Luke and Mara leave them. He didn’t want to interrupt the happy pair in the rest of their evening…nor did he want them to examine Luke’s blaster too closely.

After returning the power packs to charge, he moved Luke’s borrowed blaster back to the sighting rest in the first lane. He then pulled up a diagnostic program and began the process of putting the blaster sights back into alignment. The acoustics in the range were quite good, one reason he listed to music while working. When it was silent it was also amazing what you could hear from clear across the range with a pair of very sensitive ears.

Not a date, hah! Some people were truly blind, and needed an intervention. It sounded as if Mara was really excited to go to Skysitter, and would appreciate the company of a certain Jedi. So, he had loosened Luke’s sights to go slowly out of alignment with each successive blast until they drastically moved on the second to last bolt. He had worked his magic by first jamming a defective power pack used in jam training into Luck’s blaster when his friend had come for an extra power pack, then doctoring the sights when his back was turned to the Jedi. Sometimes a great romance needs a little encouragement to get off the ground. Hopefully, their next formal date went as well as this one!

FIN

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it. Author's Note section to follow sometime next week!

 

What a fascinating mission detail around Mara's 'cover' as Callista What a delightful contest of wits, firing accuracy, and flirtiness that followed!

I am very happy that Luke was able to uncover the truth of Mara's role in defeating the slaving ring.

LOL ... Mhathain knows what's up with these 2, right enough?

 

Nope But, y'know, I get back to stories for feedback. Sometimes it just takes me way too long

Yup, totally agree.

I love it

LOL

You know, I'm rereading Allegiance at the moment, and there's a part where the person standing next to Mara flinches as something big and heavy passes very close to them, while Mara automatically calculates distances and velocity and doesn't move even though it only misses her by a few centimeters, so this line struck me as very accurate

Glad to have an explanation for this, because I was definitely wondering

I have Wedge say something very similar to Mara in one of my own WIPs

I like this bit of realism, too. Mara's surely learned how to handle every sort of weapon and how to compensate for size and weight when it's not really right for her, but she's a pretty small person - not quite 5'3", and a slight build. It makes sense that the grips of a lot of heavier blasters would be a strain for her.

And you know I liked "Mara perked up at the topic of weapons"

Aw, that's our Luke

lol, well, it's nice to see Luke be the one to pull this trick for once

I foresee Mara becoming a regular here

Oh, I just bet she was demure

That sneak Although this also reminds me a bit of Jonesy from The Hunt For Red October. But still a sneak!

Great job with your first fic! You'll be posting stories regularly in no time

 

Great to see a Luke and Mara date. They are the essential couple in the EU for me

 

@WarmNyota_SweetAyesha

Glad you liked my Callista/Mara surprise!

@Gabri_Jade

I remember that scene too. I'm of two minds on it. On one hand it shows Mara just being so competent and not flinching. On the other it also seems that her practical side would realize she might make a miscalculation and as it is a huge piece of steel coming at her, maybe it would be wise to move...

It's a delicate ballance to show her as supremely capable, but not turn her into a caricature. In this case I'm glad my approach worked!

I knew this was going to be a plot point that would make readers go Whaaa? Glad you liked the explination.

Rogues must just get it!

This WIP is going to be coming out soon, right?!

I did some competitive target shooting many years ago so I hoped the range details came across well.

I know cannon has Mara at around 5'3", but my head cannon has always put her at around 5'7". That was just what I original pictured her at when I read the first book, and has stayed there. Weird how the details of imagination can stay with you for decades.

And Mara is always up for talk of weapons!

His compassion and love are what truly drive him. And one of the things that gets Mara to fall in love with him.

I always felt he had a thing for Mara and was just waiting for a excuse to say something. This Luke was just a little bit more brave and got to shave off 10 years of waiting.

Just assign her her own lane now!

Hey, it was totally legit, not like she had extensive undercover and acting training or anything...

He's not a sneak on purpose. He's just watching out for the Boss and has really good ears...

And I wasn't even thinking of Jonesy, but that is a rocking comparison.

Well, technically Halley's Comet is regular...

I actually have a few old stories in the ancient, truncated boards. May need to see if I could do a Special Edition or two. (And maybecompleteonethatwasneverfinishedshhhh)

@earlybird-obi-wan

"It's not a date!" - said the clueless OTP couple.
From the first book I wanted them together.

Thanks all! I promised an Author's Notes section, but Darth Real Life hit this week, so I am running slightly behind. Hopefully a few more days. Thanks!

Rivad

 

Author Notes:

Wow. DRL has been incessant the past two weeks which means this notes section is a lot longer in coming than I had attended. So let’s get on with it.

The inspiration for Luke being a test pilot comes from the life of Chuck Yeager. Reportedly after he retired from the Air Force, he was contracted at $1 a year to be a consultant and test pilot. This allowed him to have benifits through the Air Force and let him continue to use his combat and test flight knowledge to assist in new plane design.

Now, Mara is Callista...

My academic background, both undergraduate and graduate, is in history, with a specific emphasis on Medieval Europe. (And if anyone ever finds themselves dealing with insomnia, let me know: I have a scintillating thesis concerning conversion patterns in Norway and Iceland that will put you right to sleep. You’ll be out in minutes! ) Anyway, as I was proceeding with my academic research I found so many parallels with the development of the Arthurian legend cycle, and the sometimes chaotic, even contradictory depictions of events, history, and characterization present in, at the time, early 2000s Star Wars Expanded Universe.

For quick background, the Arthurian legend cycle develops over the course of several centuries spanning early to late Medieval Europe. The battle of Mount Badon is first recorded in the 500s by Gildas. It is not until the 800s in the Historia Brittonum that the figure of Arthur is added to accounts of that battle. “Then in those days Arthur fought with the kings of the Britons against them [the Saxons] but he himself was the commander of battles.” He is not even listed as a king, merely the dux bellorum, or battle leader. It is not until Geoffrey of Monmouth in the 1100s where Arthur is mentioned as a king and his legend really starts going. Characters such as Guinevere and Lancelot aren’t even added by the English, but are French additions to the Arthurian EU.

So I was in the midst of this research for my degree, and reading Star Wars EU books and fan fic as a way to stay sane when it hit me…

A long time ago…

[Y]ou’re going to find that many of the truth’s we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view…

Star Wars is the Arthurian legend cycle.

(Which makes perfect sense as Lucas wanted to construct a modern epic legend consisting of good versus evil and the hero’s journey.)

But, Star Wars is the Arthurian legend cycle.

Which means that I actually have an academic excuse to consider ALL of the old Cannon, Expanded Universe, (and now even Disney Cannon) and even Fan Fiction as 100% authentic… because the legend has developed over the many centuries it has taken to get to us, and most of it is added on to by the various cultures and planets it has passed through on it’s way to our humble nook of the universe. The true parts of the legend (i.e. what I like, or what you like) have just had all this other stuff added around it.

And thus was born the idea of making Callista Ming a deceased Jedi whose name became a cover identity of Mara Jade. What if, over the unknown number of centuries it has taken the Star Wars Legend cycle to reach Earth, the story has been jumbled, added onto, sliced, diced, pureed and blended? And what if Children of the Jedi was originally based on a Luke/Mara adventure that some culture decided, “Aw, that’s nice but let’s soup it up, and add in a sweet super ship! Oh and what’s with her name, Mara? We can’t even pronounce that name in our dialect! Hey Sam, what’s that other name she has? Callista? Great, we’ll use her other name, we can say that…”

So, there you are my friends, an academic explanation on how ALL of Star Wars can exist, while at the same time all the parts you struggle with or don’t like (I’m looking at you Waru!) didn’t REALLY happen, they were just a tale a random bard at a tavern came up with one night to pay for her meal, and it happened to be the one legendary fragment from that planet that was placed next to all the other tales.

(Whew! The lengths we go to in order to satisfy our personal cannons, and to justify all those rabid plot bunnies! )

Anyway, hope that gives some insight into how I came up with the Mara/Callista part of this story, and if you are still with me, thanks for reading through a very random author’s note!

Rivad