Mara Jade - Jedi Knight

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Two days later, Luke was standing in one of the Jedi training rooms in the Great Temple, half watching Callista teaching some of the new Jedi trainees, while thinking over what had happened in the last few days. It had been an interesting time, he reflected, as he thought back over them.

He and Mara had returned six days ago, to find Callista already deeply involved helping Kyp, Tionne and Streen run the academy. Tionne had told him that Callista was doing a fine job teaching the students, despite the obvious strain it placed on her. Tionne herself could sympathise, not being particularly strong in the Force. It had formed the basis of a bond between the two of them when Callista had originally arrived at the academy.

Han, Leia, Chewbacca, the children, Barkhimkh, Sakhisakh, and the droids had arrived a day after that. Leia had been greatly relieved to see Luke. The two Noghri had been in a killing rage ever since the news of the attack on Wayland arrived. It had taken all her Jedi and diplomatic skills to restrain them from attempting to take revenge on the Imperial attackers. Their silent fury had unnerved her, as she had spent too much time with them to fully remember how lethal they could be. At her request, Luke had spoken to them, which seemed to placate them slightly.

The evening they arrived, Leia and Han invited Luke, Mara, Kyp, Tionne, Streen and after some deliberation, Callista, to a meeting to discuss Mara's idea of travelling around the galaxy with some of the advanced students. In the end, Leia decided that Callista, in view of her input into running the academy, should attend, despite the awkwardness it might cause. At the meeting, Kyp agreed to Mara's idea, although he wanted to keep the main academy on Yavin and teach the new students. Once all the ramifications had been sorted out, the discussion drifted towards other subjects. During a break in the conversation, Leia asked Luke where he and Mara had been for their honeymoon.

Luke laughed. "We spent the entire time cruising through space. I told you Mara wouldn't be interested in visiting any tourist resorts. Actually, it was quite refreshing just to be on our own for once. Anyway, that wasn't the only thing that happened, is it, Mara?"

"Not in front of the droids please," Han said sardonically.

"I don't mean that, Han," Luke retorted. "Mara built her new lightsabre."

"Yes, not that I needed another," Mara growled at Leia. "Trust you and Skywalker to do something like this. Oh, don't look innocent. I know you gave Luke that Adegan crystal to use for the focussing jewel. With our link, he can't hide anything from me."

Luke smiled. "I had to use a little inducement on Mara before she built it," he said, remembering her reaction. "I had to take my old one back temporarily and threaten not to return it before she gave in.

Mara drew a lightsabre from her belt. A pale purple beam appeared as she ignited it. "Here it is," she said, and ignited her other lightsabre as well.

Callista leaned forwards, a sudden interest in her eyes. "That's unusual," she said. "Jedi who used two lightsabres were very rare in the Old Republic. It demanded a lot of skill and practice. Using one can be dangerous enough, let alone two."

Mara nodded. "I've tried using them together a couple of times, and nearly lost an arm."

"I can teach you how to use them together, if you want," Callista offered. "I had some training on using two blades, as well as some even rarer weapons." She looked at Luke. "Remember I told you I knew General Kenobi in the Clone Wars? Did he ever tell you that he fought an early Sith apprentice of Palpatine's who had a double-bladed lightsabre? He killed Kenobi's master before he himself was beaten by Kenobi."

"He never told me that," Luke said thoughtfully. "It sounds intriguing. You'll have to tell Tionne and me the full story sometime."

Callista nodded. "Anyway, you're welcome to learn how to use them together if you want," she said to Mara.

Mara hesitated for a few moments, then agreed, much to her surprise.

"Tomorrow morning then," Callista said.

The next three days passed quickly. When Callista wasn't training the students, she spent her time showing Mara how to use her two lightsabres. Luke came to watch them occasionally, and was impressed by what he saw. Under Callista's guidance, Mara learnt lightsabre techniques that even Luke didn't know, and rapidly became proficient in using both lightsabres together. By the end of the third day, Mara felt sufficiently advanced with both to test herself with both in lightsabre practice against Luke for the first time.

The ensuing duel was one of the most testing Luke had ever been in. Mara was skilled enough with a lightsabre to give Luke a run for his money, and her skills had grown considerably of late, enough to almost beat him on several occasions. With two lightsabres, she forced Luke to call on all his skills just to keep her at bay. As they fought, with the blades crackling around them as they met and filling the air with the stench of ozone, he could see some of Callista's lightsabre fighting style in Mara's own moves, notably the long side cut that Callista had often used. He drove aside a lunge of Mara's that nearly passed his guard, and somersaulted backwards to open a gap between them as she came forward with her other lightsabre.

He wiped sweat from his forehead, breathing hard, before resuming the battle. They fought for several minutes more, with neither gaining the advantage, but finally Mara again nearly passed Luke's guard, forcing him to step back quickly to avoid her new purple blade. His foot slipped fractionally as he did so, and for half a second his defence dropped as he regained his balance. Mara instantly saw the weakness, and struck hard. Luke blocked the blow, but he had still not fully recovered, and to the amazement of both of them, his lightsabre went spinning across the room.

Mara was momentarily stunned by her success, but stepped forward, intending to make her victory indisputable and knowing that Luke would call his sabre back in a second if she gave him the chance. She drove him back into a corner of the practice room, blocking his efforts to get past her and regain his lightsabre, and finally stopped with her blue lightsabre at his throat. She grinned at him over the blade, savouring her triumph. "I win, I think."

Luke returned the grin. "Not quite. Look behind you. I think it's a draw."

Mara turned to see Luke's lightsabre hovering in the air behind her, aimed at her own head. "Talk about a poor loser," she muttered indignantly, shutting down her lightsabres.

Luke called his sabre to his hand. "It's not a game, Mara," he said. "Lightsabre practice is intended to prepare you for the real thing. In a true fight, stopping to gloat can be a lethal error. You especially should know better than to give your opponent a breathing space, particularly a Jedi opponent. The Jedi fight in defence, never attack, but they do not fight to lose."

He smiled. "But you fought well indeed. You have advanced considerably in your lightsabre skills in a short time. We'll make a formidable pair."

Mara laughed. "You're right there, Luke. We're a pair of shooting stars."

Her comment did not have the effect she expected. To her surprise, Luke stiffened and she could sense a deep turmoil in his mind. After a few seconds, he abruptly turned away and left the room.

Mara stood there for a minute, wondering what could have provoked such a reaction from Luke, before hurrying after him. She followed Luke through the Great Temple until he reached the summit.

She looked round the roof, and was surprised to notice an enclosed pyramid of transparisteel, which she was sure had not been there when she last came to Yavin. Beyond the Great Temple, apart from jungle that stretched as far as the eye could see, the only thing visible was an old Rebel sentry post rising from the trees.

She joined Luke in front of the transparisteel pyramid, which was empty except for a small pedestal in it's centre, which was projecting a hologram of a group of pilots in X and Y-wing issue orange jumpsuits. A plaque mounted on the pedestal read: "In remembrance of all those who gave their lives so that the Galaxy might be free of tyranny."

Mara looked at the squad insignias, wondering why they seemed so familiar, and suddenly remembered. Luke had an old, treasured, jumpsuit in his apartment with an identical insignia.

"Yes, they're the pilots I flew with at Yavin," Luke said quietly beside her. "A couple of years ago, Wedge and I suggested setting up a memorial to all those who died fighting the Empire, particularly those who attacked the first Death Star. This seemed like the most appropriate place to have it, although I think the Senate also put one in the Imperial Palace."

He pointed at one of the pilots. "That's Biggs, my closest friend on Tatooine. Just before we attacked the Death Star, he said we were both shooting stars. That was practically the last thing he told me."

"I'm sorry," Mara said softly.

Luke shook his head. "Don't be. You just caught me by surprise saying the same thing as Biggs."

He was silent for a minute, remembering Bigg's death in the last ditch attempt to destroy the Death Star. "We won, Biggs," he said quietly. "It wasn't easy, but we defeated the Empire."

He gazed out over the forest, remembering the adrenalin rush of piloting an X-wing for the first time. Despite the years, he could still hear every engine roar, laser blast, and communication from the battle of Yavin in his mind.

He stood there for a long time, remembering all the crazy adventures the two of them had shared as they grew up together on Tatooine. Night had long since descended by the time he and Mara eventually left the temple summit.

Luke was abruptly jerked out of his reverie as Callista finished and the students began leaving. He waited at the back of the room until all the students had gone before approaching her. "So how does being a teacher suit you?" he asked. He had been meaning to ask her how she felt for a couple of days, but only now had the opportunity to speak to her quietly. "I appreciate your teaching Mara how to use her lightsabres."

Callista hesitated briefly before answering. "I won't pretend it's easy, when I have to watch them doing things that I can only tell them about. They're coming on well though, I think." She shrugged awkwardly. "As for Mara, I was just doing what I came here to do: pass my knowledge on."

Luke nodded and took her hands. "Callista, I just wanted to say I know how difficult all this must be for you. Tionne's told me how well you're coping." He smiled at her. "You were always the strong one."

Callista shook her head. "I'm not. I left you because I couldn't cope with the loss of my powers. I'd hardly call that being strong."

"You are," Luke said quietly. "I know how hard it was. Leia told me how much it took for you to leave. I don't know if I could have done it in your place. You had the courage to take the hard way instead of the quick and easy path." He stopped suddenly, concentrating hard.

"Something wrong?" Callista asked anxiously.

"No, we've just got a couple of guests arriving," Luke replied, just as Artoo entered the room to announce that. "Let's go and see who they are."

A few minutes later, Luke and Callista were standing outside the Great Temple with Mara, who had also come to see who was arriving, as two X-wings set down on the landing grid. The canopies hissed open to reveal two familiar faces.

"Wedge," Luke called in greeting as one of them climbed out and jumped to the ground. "Corran too, I see. Have you finally decided to become a full-time Jedi?" he asked lightly.

"Sorry, this isn't a social call," Wedge said grimly. "I think we've got some bad news, or rather Corran does."

Corran stepped forward. "I assume you've heard about the marauding Imps that have shot up Wayland and Sluis Van. The Senate sent us to track them down."

Luke nodded. "It's been the talking point around the academy for the last few days."

"Anyway," Corran said, "a couple of days ago, we finally tracked them down and launched an attack." He paused a second for emphasis. "We nearly got wiped out. I'm not surprised they've been so successful. There's some Dark Jedi with them, using the Force to generate fear and despair." He shook his head. "Whoever it is is incredibly strong. We only escaped because I was able to shield our forces, or rather I drew their attention. As soon as I began to try and block the attack, they focussed almost exclusively on me. I've never felt such hate."

Wedge nodded grimly. "Corran's astromech had to pilot the X-wing back to Galactic Voyager, the attack was so strong."

"And you want me to come and help," Luke noted. "All right, give me a little while to get ready." He glanced at Mara, who was looking at him threateningly. "No, I'm not going to tell you to stay here," he said quickly. " I value my life too much for that. Callista, can you tell Han and Leia what we're doing? I'm going to get the Spirit ready for takeoff."

A couple of hours later, the Skywalker Spirit and Falcon were sitting ready to go on the landing pad. Han and Leia had insisted on coming, pointing out that three Jedi would be better than two, and that things had been too dull of late. Besides which, Han had pointed out smugly, why break the habit of a lifetime by not coming?

Luke approached the Spirit, to see Callista standing by the ramp. Han, Leia, Chewbacca, Threepio and the Noghri were already on board the Falcon, the children having been left temporarily with Kyp and Tionne; and Mara was waiting in the Spirit's cockpit with Artoo. "Luke," she said hesitantly as he came up to her, "do you mind if I come with you? Han and Leia don't mind if I go on the Falcon, but it's too crowded."

Luke stared at her for a second in amazement. What the Sith did Han and Leia think they were playing at, allowing Callista, unable to use the Force, to come with them and possibly face a Dark Jedi? He opened his mouth to say no, and then stopped abruptly. A memory of Mara telling him after Builder with Vines' death that he couldn't protect everyone from themselves and had no right to stop them doing whatever they did went through his mind, and he remembered how his instinctive protectiveness towards Callista had been one of the factors that combined to make her leave. And besides, he realised, it would be hypocritical to let Han, Leia and the Noghri walk into that situation, but not Callista.

He took a deep breath. "Alright," he said. "I never could keep you out of trouble, could I?"

Callista smiled, remembering how she had impulsively gone to single-handedly take out the Knight Hammer. "I'll try not to this time," she said, and followed him up the ramp.

With a whine of repulsorlifts, the Falcon and two X-wings rose from the ground and began climbing into the atmosphere. "Ready to go, flyboy?" Mara asked Luke as he joined her in the cockpit. Without waiting for an answer, she engaged the repulsorlifts and the ship lifted gently into the air.

All four ships passed through the atmosphere of Yavin and out into space. "Ready, everyone?" Wedge asked over the comlink, and waited for Corran, the Falcon, and Spirit to acknowledge him. "On three: one, two..."

"Here we go again," Threepio observed gloomily as Han reached for the hyperdrive controls.

"...three," Wedge finished. In the blink of an eye, all four craft leapt forwards and vanished into hyperspace with a silent bang."

***

Captain Trazzen stepped up to Lumiya, and was surprised to find her smiling. "Skywalker and his friends are coming," she said with a feral glee. "Finally, I will have my revenge. You and your pitiful group of weak minded fools have served your purpose. I do not wish to waste any more time with you." She turned and strode towards the bridge turbolifts.

"But you promised to help us," Trazzen objected. "We have hurt the Rebels. Together we can destroy their heroes - Ackbar, Bel Iblis, and Rogue Squadron. You have already said that Skywalker is on his way. How can we fight him without your help?"

Lumiya turned. "You still do not understand, do you? You plainly cannot understand. Everything - the attacks at Sluis Van, Wayland, and here - was done for the sole aim of luring Skywalker into a trap. Did you truly think that I meant to help a weak group of simpleminded fools like you? I used you to fulfill my purposes and now I no longer need you. If you are true Imperials, you will no doubt die like ones when the New Republic reinforcements arrive to destroy you."

Trazzen stood silently, staring at her in disbelief, before anger surged inside him. "If we are to die, then we will ensure that you die with us." He spoke into his comlink. "Security, to the bridge immediately." A detachment of stormtroopers, led by a naval officer, clattered onto the bridge. "Stop her," Trazzen ordered.

Lumiya laughed. With a contemptuous flick of her hand, she threw the stormtroopers against the back wall of the bridge or down into the crew pits before they could even level their blaster rifles. The officer stared incredulously at what she had just done, and then drew a blaster pistol and fired several shots, only to see them ricochet around the bridge as Lumiya used the Force to deflect them. The blaster was abruptly torn from his grip, nearly breaking his fingers. Lumiya took it in both hands, and using her cyborg strength, snapped it effortlessly in two. She kept coming, backing the officer against a wall.

"Witness the power of the Sith Lords, Captain Trazzen," she said icily, taking a long cylinder from her belt. At the touch of a button, half of the cylinder retracted to reveal coiled metal strands. "If you still feel inclined to stop me after this demonstration, then you will be the next to feel my wrath." The metal strands unrolled as she lifted the cylinder. At the press of another button, blue-white energy began to flow along each of the strands. The strands crackled and sparked malevolently against each other as she lifted the light whip. "Nothing personal," she said mockingly to the terrified officer, who was unable to move as she pinned him in place with the Force. "I just want to have some practice before I use this on Skywalker."

She raised the whip high and struck.

Captain Trazzen stood silently as he saw the whip come down and a scream of agony ring out. He watched as the whip struck home again and again, not daring to move and scarcely breathing until Lumiya had finished. She turned away from the body of the naval officer, switching off and beginning to coil the strands of the light whip. She had not finished yet, though. She turned to face Trazzen, who was abruptly slammed back hard against the viewports. Raising one arm, she slowly extended a hand towards him, and with an ominous cracking sound, a thin fracture appeared in the transparisteel beside him, gradually lengthening. "Any more foolish attempts to stop me, and I will tear this bridge open to space, Captain."

She looked around the bridge. "Does anyone else have any objections to my leaving?"

No one did.

***

The coordinates were logged in, the navicomputer set to fly the ship, and now there was nothing to do but wait. Luke entered the lounge of the Skywalker Spirit to find, somewhat to his surprise, Mara and Callista discussing Mara's recovered memories of her induction into the Emperor's service.

"I imagine you'll be able to find out more about your parents from some source," Callista observed as Mara finished. "Not all the records can have been destroyed. Luke had access to information about his mother, after all."

Luke hesitated, trying to work out what she meant, before he realised. "How do you know about my trying to find out about my mother during the Black Fleet Crisis?" he asked. "I went halfway round the galaxy looking for information, but never found anything, though."

Callista frowned. "Why did you do that? You had all the information available easily enough. I knew your mother-"

Luke went rigid. "You knew my mother?" he asked incredulously. "You never told me that."

"Why would I need to?" Callista asked. "The droids-" She stopped, uncertainty spreading over her face. "Surely Threepio or Artoo told you that they belonged to your parents? Your father actually built Threepio, and Artoo was an astromech on your mother's Royal Starship."

Luke stared at her, feeling his grip on reality loosen. "That can't be. Don't tell me I went all over the galaxy trying to find out about my mother when the droids knew about her all along." He rose slowly from his seat. "I'm going to remodel them with my lightsabre for this."

"Calm down, Luke," Mara interrupted impatiently. "Very likely anything they knew would have been erased as per standard practice, particularly if they were part of the Royal House of Alderaan. Whatever they knew must have been wiped years ago."

Luke nodded, regaining most of his calm. "I suppose Ben told you this, did he?" he asked Callista. "Yet another thing he and Yoda didn't tell me. I could strangle them if they were standing in front of me right now. What else do you know about my parents?"

"General Kenobi told me some of it," Callista confirmed. "I learned the rest from other Jedi and records. Where to begin...? Your mother was Queen Amidala of Naboo. Her planet was invaded in a scheme orchestrated by Palpatine to help him gain power. Kenobi and the Jedi Master he worked with were sent to negotiate a settlement. Things didn't go according to plan and they had to flee with your mother. To cut a long story short, they ended up on Tatooine, where they found your father Anakin and his mother Shmi Skywalker working as slaves. Kenobi's master freed Anakin and took him to be trained as a Jedi, since he was incredibly strong in the Force. He had the highest midichlorian count ever recorded."

She stopped, noting Luke's confusion. "Another thing Kenobi didn't tell you? Midichlorians are organisms inside us that act as a bridge between us and the Force. They're why Jedi powers tend to run in families. I don't know why you were never told this, since I was trapped in the Eye's computer. Presumably there was a good reason for it. It can't have been to protect the Jedi or potential Jedi from Palpatine's hunters. Palpatine very likely knew about them - midichlorian tests were used to find Jedi in the Old Republic - and Anakin would have told him if he didn't.

"So that's how those Jedi detection paddles work," Luke realised. "They measure the midichlorian levels in blood."

"Anyway," Callista said, continuing, "obviously your father and Amidala fell in love. I never learned much more than that, like exactly how your father fell to the dark side or what happened to your grandmother, before I went to try and stop the Eye. I'm sorry, Luke. I know it seems stupid, but I was sure the droids would have told you this."

She stopped and silence fell as Luke digested what she had just told him. "Where's a Corellian with a clever remark when you need one?" Mara asked almost wistfully.

The rest of the journey to Endor was unremarkable. Mara and Callista spent most of their time refining Mara's use of her two lightsabres. When they arrived at Endor, the three of them were engaging in three way lightsabre practice sessions. With neither Mara or Luke being able to anticipate Callista's attacks, and Mara's excellent use of her lightsabres, all three of them found their lightsabre skills extensively tested.

A warbling alert from the ship's computer brought the lightsabre duel to an end, and Luke and Mara hurried to the cockpit just as they came out of lightspeed. The Falcon lay to starboard alongside them, and the two X-wings were half a kilometre ahead of them.

Endor lay in front of them, behind first the New Republic fleet and then the Imperial ships. Luke and Mara gazed at the forest moon, both experiencing strong memories. It was the first time Luke had returned since the Battle of Endor. He had not had any great desire to return, despite the significance of the system to the New Republic. It held too many painful memories. He wondered briefly if anything was left of Darth Vader's armour after the intervening years.

Mara was having similar thoughts. Here the Emperor had died, after fooling her into thinking that Luke had killed him. That hate was long gone, but she could still remember the shock of feeling his death, and the five bitter years that followed. It had at least set her on her true path. She shivered as she thought of what might have happened if the Emperor had not died. She could have become another Darth Vader, twisted and evil...

Wedge's voice over the comm shook them out of their thoughts. "Ackbar wants to see us as soon as we land," he reported. Luke and Han acknowledged him, and changed course for Galactic Voyager. They passed through several newly arrived Dreadnaughts, Strike Cruisers, and an additional Star Cruiser, the Meteor. In the distance, X-wings and A-wings could be seen forming a starfighter picket line between the two forces. Using Jedi sensory enhancement techniques, Luke was able to identify the X-wings as Rogue Squadron.

A short time later, the Falcon and Spirit touched down in the main hangar bay on board Galactic Voyager. Accompanied by Wedge and Corran, Han, Leia, Luke and Mara were promptly escorted to Ackbar's private office.

"Master Skywalker," the Mon Calamari Admiral said in greeting as Luke entered, turning away from his contemplation of a score of ornately coloured fish swimming through an intricate pattern of floating globes and tunnels of water along one wall, and acknowledging the others as they followed Luke in. "We have been sent enough reinforcements to replace our losses in the previous engagement and overwhelm the Imperial renegades, but we cannot attack until this Dark Jedi is neutralised or destroyed."

"Which should be as soon as possible, if they're half as powerful as Corran says," Leia pointed out. "It seems fairly straightforward, though. We'll deal with this Dark Jedi on board the Strike Cruiser. I doubt they'll be a match for three of us together, regardless of how strong they are. Once that's done, we'll signal you to begin the attack, Admiral."

"Don't be over-confident," Luke advised. "The plan for the attack on the Death Star II seemed fairly straightforward as well, after all. Remember, we'll be fighting on their ground, on their terms."

Ackbar nodded. "I do not think we need to discuss this any further. Defeating this Dark Jedi must be our priority. May the Force be with you all."

"Good luck," Wedge said as they left the room. "I think you're going to need it, from what Corran's said.

"Always the optimist, aren't you, Wedge?" Han remarked.

"Well, what else do you expect from a Corellian?" came the quick reply.

***

Less than an hour after arriving on board Galactic Voyager, the Falcon was out in space again, heading for the Strike Cruiser. It was some distance from the other Imperial ships, which meant that the Falcon would not have to pass within range of the Star Destroyers. The problem though, as Han pointed out, was that they were in range of a Strike Cruiser with a powerful Dark Jedi on board. He watched warily as the Falcon approached the Strike Cruiser, expecting it to open up on them at any second.

"It's alright," Leia said. "I don't think whoever's in charge on board wants us dead...at least not yet."

"Oh, that makes me feel a whole lot better," Han said sourly. "Chewie, keep an eye out for any laser batteries tracking us."

The Falcon continued in towards the Strike Cruiser, the ship's hangar bay looming in front of them as they came nearer. Han tensed, ready for an immediate escape, as they approached. Much to Han's amazement, though, no turbolasers fired though, and a few minutes later, the Falcon touched down in the hangar bay.

Luke and Mara were the first down the ramp when it lowered, lightsabres held ready for any sudden ambush, but the hangar bay was empty, save for a score or so of circular metallic objects lying along the walls. The others followed them down as soon as they were sure the hangar was deserted.

"All clear?" Han asked.

Luke nodded. "Seems to be. I can't sense anyone nearby. No ysalamiri on board either." He looked around the hangar. "Be careful, though. There's something not quite right here."

"Mara and Callista, see if you can get the main doors open," Leia said. "We'll try the others."

Mara nodded and the two of them headed towards the back of the hangar. When they reached the doors, Mara pressed the door pad, and sighed as the door failed to open. "Trust them to make us do the hard way," she said, and began working on the control panel.

Callista watched Mara for a few moments before turning away. Mara was the expert on this sort of thing, and she didn't seem to need any help. She noted that Han and Chewbacca were also trying to hotwire the side doors. She wandered towards the objects along the walls, wondering idly what they were, and stopped dead as she took a careful look at one for the first time. It couldn't be-

Mara whirled as her danger sense flared, snatching both lightsabres from her belt and igniting them as she saw motion throughout the hangar-

Callista ignited her lightsabre as the object in front of her began to move and change-

"Get back!" Luke snapped to Han, Chewie and the droids. Behind him, he heard Leia activate her lightsabre-

In seconds, the wheel like form split open. Three crooked legs emerged and it rose to a standing position. An arched torso and arms ending in dual blasters unfolded. "Destroyer droids!" Callista shouted in warning as the blasters moved to target her. She slashed her lightsabre through it before the deflector shield could activate, sending the upper part crashing to the hangar deck, and leaving the lower half standing motionless.

Mara watched in amazement as the destroyer droids unfolded throughout the hangar, deflector shields activating to envelop them in a pale blue sphere. A fusillade of laser blasts filled the hangar as they opened fire. Mara parried the bolts back at them, but they merely ricocheted uselessly off the shields. The droids skittered forwards, catching her in a searing crossfire. She caught a fleeting glimpse of Luke and Leia deflecting bolts before a blast door slammed down to cut them off from each other.

The fire slackened as the blast door blocked some of the incoming fire, and leaving six destroyer droids firing at her and Callista. The only good thing about them, Mara realised as she deflected blaster bolts from both sides, was that despite having considerable firepower, they were also slow and ungainly, as Callista was convincingly demonstrating. Despite not being able to call on the Force, her reflexes, which she clearly had not allowed to atrophy, would have put many other Jedi to shame, as she ducked, lunged, and whirled to slice through the shield on one of the destroyer droids and hack away both sets of blasters. The fire from that direction ceased, and gave Mara a breathing space. She gestured to send two destroyer droids slamming back into a wall with crushing force, and another, spitting blaster bolts, slewing around to face the one opposite it. In a few seconds, the droid's shields failed and it exploded.

In a few moments, the odds had been considerably evened, but then the doors behind Mara burst open, and a group of guards burst into the hangar, laying down a savage wall of fire. The wild and intense volley actually broke through the shields of one of the two remaining destroyer droids, blowing it apart. Mara slashed both lightsabres through the shields of the last to cut it into two pieces, and turned just in time to see Callista charge the guards. She hissed quietly, remembering Luke telling her how reckless Callista could be once she decided on a course of action. If she wasn't careful, she was going to get killed. She tightened her grip on her lightsabres and made her own attack.

For the first time, she was appreciative of all the training Luke had given her recently. The limited abilities the Emperor had taught her had given her a solid edge over most opponents, but being a full Jedi made it seem like child's play. She sensed the Force flowing through her, quickening her reflexes, as she opened her mind to it. A pair of soldiers directly in front of her were the first to go down as she reached them. She cut the first in two, and pivoted around him as he collapsed to run her blue lightsabre through the stomach of the other.

To her right, Callista was ducking, sidestepping, and lunging with amazing quickness as she cut her way through a semicircle of guards. Even without the ability to predict and deflect shots, or to use the Force to heighten her reactions, she was more than a match for the soldiers. Mara watched for a few seconds as she spun and advanced on the nearest guard, and sent him to the deck with one stroke of her lightsabre. A bolt flashed harmlessly over her head as she ducked to avoid it. She straightened and lunged to slash her sabre down across the torso of another.

Another sudden flicker in Mara's danger sense alerted her to a new attack. Two groups of three guards had moved in on either side to catch her in a crossfire. The lightsabres hummed and crackled as she deflected the first volley. She took a long step to her right, ducked, spun, and then used the Force to propel her over the nearest group of guards in a twisting somersault. She landed facing the guards, who were not slow to react. Half a dozen bolts sizzled through the air towards her as they whirled to face her, but they were easy to deflect. There was a brilliant flash as she caught two bolts on her blue sabre and then twisted to avoid another. She deflected one with the purple sabre and leapt straight up to miss the other two. To her right, she saw Callista cut one of the soldiers in the other group down, and came forwards, her blades crackling as she sent laser bolts ricocheting around the hangar. She extended her hand towards the centre soldier to send him sprawling like he had been hit by a charging bantha; tore the blaster from the grip of the one on the right; and brought both her blades down on the last, one slicing through his blaster and the other cutting both his hands off at the wrists.

She looked up to see Callista whirl, duck, and cut down two of the three guards left. One man only remained standing, and he dropped his blaster, realising its uselessness against lightsabres, to snatch a vibroblade from a sleeve sheath. He backed towards the blast door as they switched off their lightsabres and began walking towards him. Callista took a long step towards him, and he immediately lunged towards her, sweeping the knife down in a dangerous but clumsy attack. Callista easily dodged and kicked up to send the vibroblade skittering across the hangar deck. "Your turn," she said to Mara.

Mara smiled and delivered a roundhouse blow to the side of the guard's jaw which sent him reeling back against the blast door before sliding slowly down it to the floor. "Sometimes there's no substitute for a good solid punch," she noted, drawing a laugh from Callista. "Good job," she said, gesturing around at the bodies in the hangar. She waved at the ruined destroyer droids. "I take it you've met these before, if you know what they are."

"I've only heard about them," Callista said. "General Kenobi once came across them. They were used by the Trade Federation in the Old Republic. The Federation used remote controlled droid soldiers. There must be a control station for the destroyer droids somewhere on board. Destroyer droids were lethal, but expensive and difficult to produce. The Trade Federation mainly relied on battle droid soldiers." She grinned. "They were even more stupid than stormtroopers."

"Kenobi must have had an interesting time of it," Mara observed. "Destroyer droids and Sith Lords with double bladed lightsabres."

Callista laughed, and then hesitated for a second. "I know this isn't the best time to say this, but I'm glad you married Luke. He seems even more content with you than he ever did with me."

Mara shot her a surprised look. It was the last thing she would have imagined Callista saying. She had expected the other woman to maintain an icy dignity. "Are you?" she asked.

"Of course," Callista replied. "I still love Luke enough to want what's best for him."

"Thanks," Mara said awkwardly, taken aback by Callista's honesty.

Callista hadn't finished, though. "I want to apologise for what I said to you when we met at the academy," she continued. "I must have sounded very petty and jealous. I can only say that it was a bad time for me, trying to cope with the loss of my powers."

"Don't worry about it," Mara replied, starting to get embarrassed at the impromptu confession.

Callista noted Mara's discomfort and looked at the blast door. "I don't think there's much point trying to get through that," she said. "It looked too thick for that." She glanced dubiously at the open main hangar doors. She didn't like the idea of walking into another trap, but they had to get back to Luke, Han and the others, and they might find a way to the side doors. "Come on," she said. "Let's go."

Mara nodded and they headed quickly towards the doors.

Luke saw Mara spin round and begin coming back out of the dip towards them before the blast door came down. There was no time to think, though, as laser blasts began filling the air around them.

"Leia, take the other side," he shouted as he began blocking the incoming fire, and heard the snap-hiss of her lightsabre. He could feel her concentrating on reflecting the shots, but his concern was for Han and Chewie. With the intensity of the laser fire coming in at several angles, it was only a matter of time before they would be hit by a shot which he or Leia had failed to stop. Behind him, Artoo beeped and whistled frantically as bolts crisscrossed the air around him, his dome spinning rapidly backwards and forwards as he looked for cover.

"Get to the ramp," Leia called from behind him, thinking along the same lines.

"Go!" Luke shouted back in confirmation. Giving Han and Chewie cover, he and Leia began backing towards the Falcon's ramp, the only cover available in the hangar. Red bolts suddenly filled the hangar from behind him as, under Barkhimkh and Sakhisakh's control, the Falcon's lower quad laser and the swivel blaster turned to target the destroyer droids. Laser blasts slammed into the blue shield spheres, which quickly failed, unable to absorb the greatly enhanced power of starship laser weapons. One after another, destroyer droids exploded into shards of scrap metal as the guns systematically targeted them. Two minutes later, the hangar was silent, with pieces of shattered droids strewn across the decking.

Luke took a breath as he lowered his lightsabre. The whole thing, brief as it was, had been too like the sentry droid attack in Thrawn's cloning chamber for comfort, with the added problem of having to shield Han, Chewie, and the others as well. "Come on," he said. "We'd better find Mara and Callista."

"They'll be all right," Leia said, sensing his worry. "They aren't exactly pushovers."

Han grinned. "Are you kidding? The only thing Luke's worried about is what they're saying about him behind his back," he said.

Luke ignored him. "There must be a control station for those destroyer droids on board," he said. "Probably on the bridge. We'd better make sure we don't run into any more."

"Captain Solo, what shall I do?" Threepio asked, cautiously emerging from behind one of the Falcon's landing struts.

"Stay here, of course," Han said curtly.

"Oh, that is a relief," Threepio said gratefully. "I do so hate being shot at." He brightened. "I shall be able to practice my starship repair skills on the Millennium Falcon during your absence."

Han went white at the thought of Threepio doing anything with his beloved Falcon. "You so much as reprogram the food synthesisers, Threepio, and I'll sell you to the next Jawas I meet."

Threepio shuddered, remembering the Jawas on Tatooine and on the Eye of Palpatine. "Disgusting creatures." He began to embark on a detailed discussion of the more repulsive habits of Jawas and was expanding the topic to include Gamorreans when Chewbacca gave him a hefty shove in the direction of the hangar doors.

The six of them left the hangar, with Barkhimkh and Sakhisakh trailing behind, ignoring Threepio's indignant remarks and Artoo's answering beeps and whistles. The passage forward through the ship towards the bridge was suspiciously easy. After a few corridors devoid of any crew or guards, it was obvious that they were being watched. Luke and Leia expanded and increased their monitoring of their sphere of responsibility, wary of a trap, but there seemed to be no evidence of any ambush being planned. Several passages later, they finally detected presences ahead in large numbers near what could only be the bridge. Luke nodded to Han and Chewbacca, and they levelled their weapons. Leia halted at the junction of two corridors, waiting for Luke to ignite his lightsabre, then stepped around the corner, closely followed by Luke. A blizzard of blaster fire immediately tangled the corridor from four guards standing in front of a heavy armoured door. Luke's lightsabre flashed, sending the blasts ricocheting off the walls or back at the guards. Leia extended a hand, and two of the guards were slammed back into the door, their skulls connecting with a thud audible above the blaster fire. Chewbacca's bowcaster caught a third, and the other took a Noghri throwing knife in the chest.

"I really don't like this," Han said. "Only four guards on duty outside the bridge?"

"What, no 'I've got a bad feeling about this,' Han?" Luke asked.

"No, I'm saving that for when we really need it," Han said dryly, levelling his blaster as Leia cut a hole in the door. His worst fears were confirmed by what he saw inside the bridge.

The room was full of unarmed techs and crew members.

"This is getting worse," he said. "They've got something planned. I just don't know what."

Chewbacca and the Noghri covered Luke as he herded the crew members into a corner, while Leia used the Force to warn her of any impending attack. "This must be the destroyer droid control panel," Han noted, sitting down in front of a display. He pressed some of the control buttons and grimaced as it began requesting various security codes and passwords. "Artoo, plug in and see if you can override the security systems."

The droid whistled obediently and rolled over to the control panel, extending his computer arm and inserting it into the terminal, and then warbled insistently. "He says the system is heavily protected against unauthorised access," Threepio reported as Han looked at him. "It's an X-30 type Krallon control computer. Bypassing the security systems should take-"

"Well, do it as quickly as possible," Han interrupted impatiently. "We don't have much time."

This time it was Callista's turn to swear instead of Mara, as they turned a corner and found themselves at the branch of a T-junction. Their attempts to find another way into the hangar had so far been futile. They were quickly getting further and further away in the process. She looked up and down the corridor, completely disorientated. "Which way do you think?" she asked Mara.

Mara thought for a second. She normally had an excellent sense of direction but even she was unsure which way to go right now. She shrugged. "That way?" she guessed, pointing to the right.

Callista hesitated and then started down the corridor. As she did so, more guards appeared at the far end to fill the passage with a hail of laser fire. Mara saw Callista's blade flashing as she somehow managed to deflect some of the shots while backing away.

"Move!" Mara shouted, sprinting forwards.

Callista didn't need to be told twice. She flattened herself against the wall as Mara came past her, both blades moving of their own accord to block the incoming shots. She noticed the BlasTech that Mara hadn't yet stopped carrying, and reached out to pull it free of the holster. The incoming fire began slackening slightly as her return fire found targets. Glowpanels began exploding as some of the guards started shooting them out to give them cover. The corridor grew dark, lit only by smouldering holes in the walls where bolts had hit, the flashes of blaster fire, and the glow of Mara's lightsabres.

"Look out," Callista snapped as the front rank of guards abruptly split to reveal two more destroyer droids, which immediately opened fire. A solid stream of blaster bolts lanced down the corridor at them. Mara's lightsabres swung to block the stream of fire, but the intensity of the fire began forcing her to back down the corridor. Both of them retreated as quickly as they dared back to the T-junction and past it down the corridor, followed by the fire from the destroyer droids and the pursuing guards.

Lumiya sensed Mara Jade approaching. She smiled in satisfaction. Her plan was working perfectly so far. She had succeeded in splitting them into two groups, keeping Skywalker and the others occupied in wasting time trying to deactivate the destroyer droids. She did not care whether they succeeded, as long as it kept them busy long enough for her guards to drive Jade to her. Jade was no match for the dark side, and once she had Jade captive, Skywalker's feelings for his wife would force him to surrender to her, and then she would have her revenge on him. She would eliminate his sister and her husband. With them gone, Jade would be easily turned back to the dark side, particularly once Lumiya revealed the truth about the two of them.

Mara swore continuously as she and Callista fell back down the corridor, round a corner and along another passage, with laser fire tangling the air around them. All they needed now was for only two guards to appear behind them, and they would be dead. They retreated a few feet further only to halt as Callista backed into a wall. The firing stopped suddenly. The destroyer droids and guards had stopped dead, with their guns held ready. Mara took a step forward and the destroyer droids promptly opened fire again, only to cease as she stepped back.

They turned to see a pair of doors behind them, standing open, although it was too dark inside to see anything. Both of them looked at each other, sharing a single thought. They had been meant to come here. Obviously, they were about to meet whoever was behind this.

Callista passed the BlasTech back to Mara, and held her lightsabre ready in a two handed grip. "I'll go first," Mara said, knowing that her powers would give her a better chance in a confrontation than Callista, and taking a tight grip on her lightsabres. She grinned. "I don't think this is the time to start getting dogmatic about a lack of Jedi powers, or not needing special protection. Stay behind me, I'll check this out."

She entered the room, closely followed by Callista, and stopped dead as all the glowpanels in the room lit up at once. They were standing in a Sith temple. Dozens of statues of what Mara presumed were Sith lords stood along the walls, all looking sinister and imposing. Among them, she recognized Palpatine, Vader, Exar Kun, and one that Callista identified as the apprentice of Palpatine's that she had told Luke and Mara about, Darth Maul.

"Look at this," Callista said, stepping towards a wall niche between two of the statues as a glint of light reflecting from crystal and metal caught her eye. "A Sith Holocron. It looks ancient."

"Well, just do the right thing and put your lightsabre through it," Mara advised. "We have enough trouble with the Sith as it is without leaving that lying around for them to use."

That was when the doors slammed shut with a resounding boom, and the glowpanels went out again, leaving them in a disorienting total darkness. Mara's lightsabres were immediately in guard position against a sudden attack. Behind her, she could hear Callista whirl, dropping the Holocron, as she also assumed a defensive position. They both waited for a couple of minutes, but nothing happened. "Stay there," Mara said, picking her way carefully towards what she hoped were the doors they had come in by, with her lightsabres casting a feeble glow around her. She felt herself bump into a wall and worked her way along it, trying to find the doors.

The sudden blaze of light temporarily blinded her. She staggered back, throwing an arm up to shield her eyes, and then felt herself thrown across the room to slam into a wall. The back of her head hit the wall, and everything went black.

The flare of light as the glowpanels came back on, this time lighting the room in a sinister red glow, briefly dazzled Callista. It took a few seconds for her eyes to adjust. Blinking them clear, she stepped out from the wall niche to see a figure appear through a door at the back of the room and stride towards the stunned Mara, holding what looked like a lightsabre hilt in one hand. She reacted instinctively as she saw it activate, stepping in front of Mara and igniting her lightsabre.

Lumiya walked towards the unconscious Mara Jade, activating her lightwhip and raising it to strike. A few wounds to his precious wife would make Skywalker much more amenable to surrendering, she reflected. She stopped dead as she saw a yellow lightsabre ignite in front of her.

"Sorry, did I startle you?" Callista asked mock-sweetly. "Couldn't you sense me?"

Lumiya's eyes narrowed. "Another of Skywalker's women," she said with anticipation. "This will be a day to remember."

Callista nodded, as Lumiya had expected. She lifted the lightwhip and struck. Dozens of the dual metal/energy strands wrapped round the lightsabre blade, crackling savagely as the two energy weapons met. More still whiplashed at Callista, forcing her to step back to avoid them, and weakening her grip on the blade. With skill born of years of long practice, Lumiya expertly and effortlessly tore the lightsabre from Callista's grip. The blade vanished as the deadman button was released, and the lightsabre went clattering into a corner of the room behind Lumiya. Without pausing, she brought the lightwhip back around to strike at Callista's face in a blur of motion. Moving equally quickly, Callista dropped under the whip and rolled to where Mara lay. There was a quick flash of movement, and a few seconds later, she was back on her feet with Mara's purple lightsabre held ready and ignited.

The lightwhip cut through the air towards her again, but this time Callista was ready for it. As Lumiya swept the light whip in a left to right stroke, she ducked with Jedi speed, swept the whip strands aside with her lightsabre, and straightened up, taking a step forwards. Lumiya gazed at her in surprise. Few Jedi would be able to block such a stroke successfully. "Most impressive," she observed, before striking rapidly and repeatedly with the light whip, hoping to force Callista into a mistake.

Artoo whistled emphatically as he managed to bypass the security locks. "Great," Han said. "Deactivate all the destroyer droids."

The droid beeped again a minute later, indicating that he had shut down the destroyer droids. Luke nodded. "Okay, let's go find Mara and Cal-"

He went rigid as he sensed a sudden and brief wave of surprise and alarm from Mara, and then nothing. "No," he whispered, his hand tightening on his lightsabre. The thought of Mara injured or even dead, and Callista facing a Dark Jedi alone... "Leia?"

"I know," she said. "Chewie, Barkhimkh, Sakhisakh, stay here. Keep an eye on the crew and see if there's a self destruct system."

The three of them hurried through the corridors. They didn't need to think where to go. The disturbance in the Force was enough to guide them.

Callista twisted to avoid a blow from the light whip and fell back, catching her breath for a moment. So far, Jedi trained reflexes had let her avoid Lumiya's attack, but she was sweating heavily and tiring from the strain of fighting. She was increasingly being forced onto the defensive, and knew that the longer they fought, the more likely the cyborg was to win.

Lumiya was thinking much the same thing. Her plan had been going perfectly until this Jedi interfered. With Jade stunned, and Skywalker and the others occupied with trying to deactivate the destroyer droids, she had practically won. She had not anticipated having to fight a prolonged duel. The more time she lost fighting, the less chance she would have of defeating Skywalker. Her anger rose as she sensed how near he was getting. She felt the dark side flowing through her as her rage increased, letting her intensify the speed and aggression of her attacks. The lightwhip cracked and hummed malevolently in a deadly series of blows.

Callista saw the fury in Lumiya's eyes, and knew that her anger was betraying her. Despite the speed and power of her attacks, they were becoming increasingly wild and actually becoming easier to avoid as she sought to gain a quick victory. She stepped toward Callista, sweeping the lightwhip in a diagonal left to right stroke, and leaving herself momentarily vulnerable as the lightwhip's momentum dragged it down to the floor. Callista instantly darted in, dodging the whip coils again as they came back towards her, and brought the lightsabre down on Lumiya's hand, slicing halfway through it. There was a shower of sparks from the cyborg circuits and a stench of seared flesh. Lumiya was still human enough to gasp in pain and drop the light whip. Seeing her chance, Callista struck at Lumiya's neck in her characteristic cross-cut, hoping to finish her quickly.

Even wounded and weaponless, though, Lumiya was still deadly. As Callista struck, she grabbed the lightsabre hilt with cyborg speed. Callista strained to push the blade forward with both hands, but even one-handed, Lumiya was too strong for her. The two of them stood rigid for a few seconds, and then Lumiya gave a mocking smile of triumph as she easily pushed the lightsabre up, away from her, and down again.

Callista's eyes went wide with shock as the purple blade stabbed down through flesh and bone, from below her shoulder to the centre of her back. There was no pain...yet.

Lumiya calmly switched the lightsabre off and pushed Callista back against the wall. For a second, she stayed upright, and then sank to her knees. She lifted her head to look at Lumiya briefly before collapsing sideways to the floor. Lumiya tossed the lightsabre aside and regarded the dying woman scornfully. She smiled momentarily at the thought of Skywalker's despair at seeing his former love mortally wounded. His death would not be so quick, though. She stepped towards the unconscious Mara Jade, retrieving the light whip and raising it again.

Leia came through the door to see Lumiya standing over Mara, with the light whip raised, and reacted immediately. She hurled her lightsabre at the cyborg, and saw her step quickly aside to avoid the weapon.

Behind her, Luke entered the room. Lumiya's eyes flicked towards him as he appeared, and the hate he saw in her eyes stopped him cold. He could feel a tide of anger, pain, and bitterness pulsing out from her, and with them came a strangely familiar feeling. It was reminiscent of the hate he had felt from Mara the first time he had been brought on board the Wild Karrde, but there was something else, which he couldn't quite pin down, that reminded him of Mara. Shaking it off, he moved to stand between Lumiya and Mara, casting one agonised glance at Callista's still form, as Leia called the lightsabre back to her hand.

Han followed him into the room and raised his blaster, then thought better of it, remembering Vader in Cloud City and C'baoth in Mount Tantiss. He hurried over to Mara and shook her roughly until her eyes opened. "Come on, get up," he growled, glancing over his shoulder at where Luke and Leia were standing warily facing Lumiya.

Mara groaned and slowly got to her feet. "Okay, Solo," she said, rubbing the back of her head briefly before igniting her blue lightsabre, just as Luke and Leia attacked Lumiya together.

Lumiya retreated slowly and grudgingly before Luke and Leia's combined attack. With her good hand injured, she was only just fending them off. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Mara Jade climb to her feet, and knew that she had lost. Even in death, Callista had still beaten her. It was only one battle in a war that she would eventually win, though. She would have to plan the next more carefully.

"There'll be another time, Skywalker," she snarled, and extended a hand towards the three of them, her rage and bitterness at her failure fuelling the Force lightning that erupted out at them. Brilliant bolts of blue-white electricity filled the room, crackling and coiling around the lightsabre blades like living things, and slamming Leia back into the wall as she missed some of the bolts.

The Force lightning ceased abruptly as Lumiya fell back suddenly, opening a gap between her and Luke, Leia, and Mara. Reaching out with the Force, she activated a control panel to her right. Two hatches hissed open in the walls and a pair of destroyer droids that were controlled separately from the others emerged in their wheel form, unfolding rapidly and opening fire. Under cover of the crossfire, Lumiya vanished through the doors at the back of the room. As Luke and Mara reflected the blaster bolts, Han and Chewbacca fired a dozen shots into the control panel. The displays vanished in a shower of sparks and smoke, and the destroyer droids went dead. Luke sprinted past the immobile forms to the doors, determined not to let Lumiya escape. He was too late, though. He felt her vanish from his senses as she cloaked herself with the Force, and there were too many corridors to know which one she had taken. He fought down his anger and frustration at her escape, and came back into the room, hurrying to where Callista was lying, her eyes shut.

He took her hand gently and she opened her eyes. "Luke," she said.

He glanced down and grimaced, noting the terrible wound. He placed his other hand on the wound and reached out to the Force, knowing even as he did so that it was futile. As a Rebel pilot, he had seen enough similar injuries to know that they were invariably fatal. Karrde had told him how Yoda had healed Jorj Car'das, but he lacked Yoda's skill in the Force or even Cilghal's aptitude for healing.

Callista's hand closed over his and lifted it away. "Don't, Luke," she said softly. "Just hold me."

He swallowed, but nodded and took her in his arms. Behind him, Mara took Leia and Han by the arms and gently but firmly pulled them away, leaving Luke and Callista alone.

Callista raised a hand to touch his cheek, and he moved his own to hold it, seeing in her grey eyes both serenity and her love for him, broken only by stabs of pain. She looked towards her lightsabre, knowing she would never use it again.

Luke gazed at her in anguish, seeing the increasingly frequent expressions of pain cross her face. He stretched out again, using the Force to try and ease her pain.

"Thank you, Luke," she whispered in his mind.

Luke nodded, and then went still as the realisation of what had just happened sank in. Her powers had returned. His hand tightened on hers. "I can sense you with the Force," he said softly.

Callista smiled weakly. "I can feel you too. Look." She stretched a hand towards her lightsabre and it rose a few inches from the floor. After a few seconds, it trembled and then fell back to the floor as her strength failed.

She gazed into his eyes. "Luke, promise me you'll take my lightsabre. You will know why when the time comes." She coughed weakly. "Don't grieve for me, Luke. I'll always be with you. This is only a brief parting. Remember what Yoda said: luminous beings are we, not this crude matter. The Jedi never truly die. One day, you will make this journey, and I'll be waiting for you when you do."

Luke nodded, and she sagged in his arms, her eyes closing for the last time, as a final look of peace crossed her face. "My master has come for me."

Blackness hovered at the edge of Callista's mind as her eyes closed. She knew she was dying but she was not afraid. Her task was done and this was the last trial of a Jedi, to face death without fear. As the darkness closed in on her, a sense of peace pervaded her as a last image came. She saw herself standing on her ark back on Chad, with the only noise that of the waves and the calling of the cy'een around her. She turned slowly as she sensed a presence behind her. Her long-dead teacher, the Jedi Master Djinn Altis, stood behind her. "Your destiny is fulfilled, Callista," he told her. "You have done well. You have walked the path of a Jedi." He smiled at her warmly and held out a hand. "Come with me, my student."

Callista nodded. "Yes, Master," she said, and took his hand...

Without warning, Callista's body faded into nothingness even as Luke held her. Her Jedi tunic and robe slid gently from his fingers and floated to the floor. He stared at them for a second, knowing that she had gone forever, and then bowed his head in mute sorrow.

After an indefinite length of time, a hand touched his shoulder. "She's gone, Luke," Mara said quietly.

Luke nodded and slowly rose to his feet, still staring at the empty clothes. He turned away and called Callista's lightsabre to his hand, then silently followed the others out of the room, without looking back. Artoo whistled mournfully as Luke approached. "I'll be alright, thanks, Artoo," he said, patting the droid's dome.

"Are you sure?" Leia asked anxiously.

Luke swallowed briefly before replying. "I'm fine, Leia. Let's go."

Ahead of them, Han was speaking into his comlink as he hurried down the corridor. "Have you found a self destruct, Chewie? Right, tell the crew to get to the escape pods, and meet us in the hangar."

***

The Falcon shot away from Endor and Lumiya's Strike Cruiser, heading towards the New Republic ships. Behind them, dozens of escape pods could be seen shooting away from the doomed ship. "Should be any second now," Han said, anxiously watching the distance between them and the Strike Cruiser gradually increase. A small group of guards had engaged them in a brief but intense firefight in the hangar, and cost them valuable time in escaping. If they weren't at a safe distance before it blew...

A moment later, a jet of fire and air erupted from the side of the Strike Cruiser as the self destruct countdown reached zero. An explosion tore away the bow of the starship, followed almost instantly by another that blew the hulk into millions of glowing shards.

"Brace yourselves!" Leia snapped, watching the blast ripple out through space far more quickly and powerfully than she had expected. The shockwave hit the Falcon a few seconds later, shaking the small freighter violently for a minute before it gradually diminished.

Han checked the displays and grimaced. "That explosion took our shields down by 30%," he announced. "And just to make matters worse, we've got guests arriving." Ahead of the Falcon, the Star Destroyers and frigates were forming a perimeter line to prevent the New Republic ships from intervening. Five squadrons of TIE fighters and interceptors were driving towards the Falcon, together with the entire group of Corellian Corvettes. Already ranging laser blasts were lancing out from the Corvettes.

"At least they're trying to take us in one piece," Leia commented.

"Only so they can have an insurance against attack," Mara replied.

"That doesn't really help us," Han snapped. "Have you been taking lessons from Threepio in how to tell us what we can work out for ourselves? Hold on."

He pulled the Falcon into a twisting downwards turn, and was followed by a score of TIE fighters. Laser bolts sizzled past the canopy from underneath the Falcon. "They're trying to drive us towards the Corvettes so they can disable us or get a tractor beam lock," Luke said.

"Tell me something I don't know," Han retorted. "If anyone has any Jedi tricks up their sleeve, now's the time."

Leia leaned forward to toggle the comm to the cargo hold. "Barkhimkh, Sakhisakh, take the quads," she ordered.

"We are already there, Lady Vader," Barkhimkh mewed in reply.

"Alright, here goes," Han said as blasts from the quads started finding targets. The Falcon twisted, turned, climbed and dived madly to avoid the mass of TIEs swarming around them. Fighters disintegrated with nearly every shot fired, but more swarmed in to replace them, pelting the Falcon with a relentless hail of fire. Turbolaser and ion blasts from the Corvettes cracked into the clustered TIE fighters, blowing many apart and disabling still more, but some of the shots smashed into the Falcon's shields.

"This is hopeless," Han snapped as a warning light lit up on the control panel, indicating that the shields were getting dangerously low. "There's too many of them. Even if we get rid of this lot, we'll never get past those Star Destroyers with the shields this low. They're jamming us, so we can't even signal for help. I need ideas, and fast."

"There's only one thing we can do," Mara said slowly as she stared out at the Star Destroyers.

"Great," Han said. "What's your plan?"

"Simple," Mara said. "We let them bring us on board."

There was a dead silence. Luke gave no reaction, as he had known what she was thinking through their Force bond, but Leia and Chewbacca turned slowly to stare at her in amazement. Han shook his head incredulously. "I knew it," he muttered. "She's gone crazy. I should have realised it when she agreed to marry Luke."

"Shut up, Han," Leia snapped. She looked at Mara. "Why?"

Mara nodded appreciatively and proceeded to quickly explain her plan.

"I don't know," Luke said dubiously when she finished. "We'd have to fight our way through an Imperial Star Destroyer. It doesn't sound like the sort of thing a Jedi should do. I think it's too aggressive."

"I think it's carrying out justice," Mara shot back. "It's exactly the sort of thing a Jedi would do. What about Wayland? What about Mon Renalla? Do we just destroy the Imperials, and then say justice has been done?"

Luke hesitated for a moment, and then nodded, unable to suppress a feeling of irony that Mara had suddenly become a stickler for justice. "Leia?"

"I agree," she said. "Let's do it."

Han groaned. "You're all crazy," he growled. "OK, I agree as well. Doesn't look like we have much choice."

"Why does no one ever ask me what I think?" Threepio said plaintively to Artoo in the back of the cockpit.

On board the Tyrannic, the comm officer hurried up to approached Captain Nalgol. "Sir, the Millennium Falcon has ceased fire," he reported.

Nalgol blinked in surprise, and some regret, at how easily they had surrendered. He had expected more resistance from the legendary Han Solo. This was, after all, the Corellian who had made the entire Imperial fleet chase him through an asteroid field. "Instruct the Corvettes to escort the Millennium Falcon in until it is within tractor beam range. If they resist, have them destroyed." He felt relief course through him. With the Jedi Knights Luke and Mara Skywalker, and Leia Organa Solo and her husband their prisoners, the New Republic would never dare attack them.

He watched as the Falcon, flanked by the Corvettes, approached the Tyrannic until it vanished underneath the hull of the Star Destroyer.

Three squads of stormtroopers, their blaster rifles held ready, lined the docking bay as the Falcon appeared in the entrance and passed through the magnetic field. Two E-web blaster cannons were being quickly assembled as it settled to the deck with a hiss of repulsorlifts. Fingers tightened on triggers as the ramp gradually lowered. The officer in charge waited for a minute, then raised a megaphone disk to his mouth when it became clear that no one was coming out. "You have 30 seconds to come out of your ship before I order it destroyed," he announced, his voice booming across the hangar.

They came out.

Luke and Mara leapt from either side of the ramp to the deck, their lightsabres already ignited and in a defensive position. The stormtroopers immediately opened fire, but their shots were merely deflected to ricochet around the hangar. Behind Luke and Mara, Han, Leia, Chewbacca, and the two Noghri opened fire. In seconds, a storm of blaster fire was filling the hangar. The stormtroopers, with no cover and their shots being steadily blocked by Luke and Mara, rapidly began becoming targets. The officer was one of the first to fall. A shot caught his megaphone disk dead centre, blowing it into tiny fragments, and then another shot caught him squarely in the chest, slamming him back into a wall.

Via a holocam, Nalgol watched the firefight with alarm and shock. Blaster bolts crisscrossed the hangar, blowing smouldering holes in walls, smacking into the Falcon's hull, and burning through stormtrooper armour. The Wookiee's bowcaster spat precisely aimed bolts of energy, tearing holes in the line of stormtroopers. Next to him, Organa Solo, her husband, and the two Noghri were wreaking similar havoc on the stormtroopers. As their fire slackened, Mara Skywalker charged forwards. The remaining stormtroopers shifted aim to fire at her, but both her lightsabres flashed rhythmically as she deflected the few shots that came anywhere near her. The rest whipped harmlessly through empty space as she whirled, ducked, leapt and flipped, working her way systematically around the hangar to cut down stormtroopers with every stroke from her lightsabres.

Nalgol watched it all with a kind of appalled fascination until the holocam suddenly went blank as a stray blaster bolt smashed into it. "I want reinforcements in hangar 27 immediately!" he thundered at an aide. "Tell the stormtrooper captain I want to know exactly what's happening."

In the hangar, Mara slashed a lightsabre through the armour of one of the last two stormtroopers, and a shot of Han's sent the other flopping backwards. She took a breath. "Alright, that's this lot taken care of," she said. "We'd better get moving before more arrive. We need to get a message to the fleet as well."

"There's a computer over there," Luke said, gesturing towards the deck officer's station.

Mara nodded and hurried in that direction. She reached the office and began accessing the computer. The Imperials had jammed the Falcon's transmissions, but they would hardly be jamming their own transmissions. She quickly entered two messages, switching to a frequency known only to very few people in the New Republic for the first message, and then a wide band frequency for the second.

Wedge Antilles snapped out of a light sleep and cursed as his comlink began warbling, indicating an incoming message. With a groan, he keyed the comm, and his eyes widened as the message began playing...

Two minutes later, he was sprinting towards Rogue Squadron's hangar, with the duty call wailing. Beneath his feet, he could feel the vibration as Galactic's Voyager's sublight drive surged to full power. Clearly Ackbar had just received a message as well, he noted.

"Okay, that's it," Mara called to the others as she finished.

"Right, let's go," Luke shouted back as she ran to join them. "You know the way around a Star Destroyer. What's the quickest way to the bridge?"

"That way," Mara answered, waving at one of the blast doors. "There should be some turbolifts leading straight to deck 33. From there, we should be able to work our way back towards the command superstructure, and then take another turbolift up to the bridge. Useful knowing Rogue Squadron's private frequency, by the way. I don't think even Karrde, with all his sources, knows what it is."

"Come on," Leia said. "There'll be more stormtroopers here soon."

"Too late," Han snapped back as the turbolift doors slid open. "They're already here." Both groups opened up in a new volley of laser fire, punctuated by the crackling and humming of Luke and Mara's lightsabres as they deflected more blaster bolts.

The audio feed was being relayed over the bridge comm system. "What in Vader's name is going on?" Nalgol snarled at the stormtrooper captain over a background of solid blaster fire.

"They're wiping us out, sir," came the panicked reply. "We need to fall back."

"No!" Nalgol snapped. "Hold your positions. They mustn't- "

There was an abrupt gasp of agony, and the transmission died in a burst of piercing static before it cut off.

The archway leading to the turbolifts became a deathtrap for the stormtroopers. Caught by walls on three sides, they had nowhere to hide from the hail of blaster fire that saturated the archway. They all went down in less than two minutes. A green flash marked the journey of Luke's lightsabre as he threw it overarm, guiding it with the Force to slice through the last two stormtroopers before it cut the captain in half from shoulder to hip.

Twelve X-wings swept out from Galactic Voyager, locking their S-foils in attack position. Behind them, a swarm of other X-wings, B-wings, Y-wings, and A-wings emerged from the fleet hangars. Galactic Voyager moved into the centre of the New Republic battle line that was forming, flanked by Dreadnaughts, Strike Cruisers, Escort Frigates, and Corellian Gunships. The Meteor and Starwind took position on the very end of the lines.

       Captain Narven stared out at the New Republic ships that were moving into a battle formation in front of him, knowing that they had lost their guarantee against attack. Nalgol had failed to capture Skywalker and his friends, who were running amok aboard the Tyrannic. They were enemies of both the Empire and New Republic now, with their destruction staring them in the face. Anger rose inside him. If nothing else, they would at least give the New Republic a bloody nose. "All ships, begin the attack on the New Republic fleet," he ordered. "Helm, proceed ahead at flank speed. All weapons emplacements, fire at will. Deploy all TIE fighters now."

"Rogue Leader, look to your right," Rogue 7 said.

Wedge glanced out of his canopy and whistled. The entire Imperial force had moved into an attack formation and were heading straight for them.

"Multiple drive trails, Rogue Leader," Rogue 10 advised. "Looks like they're launching every fighter they've got."

"Sure does, Ten," Wedge commented. "Here we go...

"They're not trying any subtle attack, then," Bel Iblis mused, watching the approaching enemy ships as he stood beside Ackbar.

Ackbar shook his head. "They appear merely to be making a suicide attack, hoping to cause as much damage as possible."

Wedge looked around at Rogue Squadron flying in formation around him, back at the other New Republic fighter squadrons, and down to check his laser, shield, and engine displays. "Rogues, get ready. May the Force be with you."

And with a sudden hail of green and red laser blasts, both sides met. TIE fighters and interceptors hurtled past his X-wing, and the battle dissolved into chaos.

Wedge pulled his X-wing around, tracking a TIE fighter, and scored a direct hit. The fighter blew apart, both solar fins spinning away from the disintegrating cockpit structure. He caught a fleeting glimpse of turbolaser batteries spitting fire as Galactic Voyager exchanged salvoes with the Ironhand at close range. Sharp flashes marked the impact of proton torpedoes as they slammed into each ship's shields. More torpedoes shot away from a group of TIE bombers ahead and below of him as they fired at Galactic Voyager. "Eleven, pull in," Wedge ordered. "Let's take those bombers. Mark them as Delta 1-6. Ten, Twelve, cover us." He throttled down to two-thirds power to match the slower bombers.

"I'm with you, Rogue Leader," Eleven acknowledged. "I'm locked on Delta Five." All four lasers fired from the X-wing that had appeared alongside Wedge, and a bomber erupted into a cloud of debris.

"Good shooting, Eleven," Wedge acknowledged as his own target exploded and he acquired another target.

Three of the remaining TIE bombers abruptly vanished in clouds of red and black as a burst of laser fire and several torpedoes ploughed into the group. "Sorry, Rogue Leader," Green Leader apologised as a concussion missile shot past Wedge's canopy to destroy his target.

"No problem," Wedge replied, accelerating back to full speed, and acquiring a TIE interceptor.

"Where are they now?" Nalgol barked at an aide. Skywalker and his friends had cut their way through all the stormtroopers and naval troopers who tried to stop them, and were quickly working back towards the bridge. Their arrogance was amazing. Actually daring to fight their way through an Imperial Star Destroyer...

He had heard enough stories of the abilities of Skywalker and the Jedi before now, but always dismissed them out of hand. That opinion was now undergoing a rapid reappraisal.

"They've just arrived here," the aide reported. "Team 87 reported their presence there before we lost contact with them."

Nalgol glanced at the section of the Tyrannic that the aide was indicating on his displays and grimaced. It was getting worse all the time. As well as trying to control a Star Destroyer in battle, he was having to worry about the intruders who were getting steadily closer to the bridge. "I want every stormtrooper and naval trooper available sent to that deck to start taking up defensive positions. Deploy E-webs if you have them. Lock down all the turbolifts. I don't want them getting any further. We'll have to forget about taking them alive."

Ackbar stood watching the battle raging outside the bridge of Galactic Voyager. Two Gunships had flanked a Corellian Corvette, and were hammering it with turbolaser fire. B-wings and Y-wings were making attack runs on the ship, firing torpedoes and ion blasts into the rapidly weakening shields. As he watched, an A-wing blew apart as a TIE fighter scored a direct hit. A second later, the TIE itself ceased to exist as a shot from a Dreadnaught caught it dead centre. There was a searing flash as the Corvette exploded, taking a B-wing, two Y-wings and several TIEs with it.

Bel Iblis examined the bridge tactical hologram. "Concentrate fire on the Malice," he ordered, noting its fading shields.

"I copy," Wedge acknowledged, blasting a TIE apart, and turning towards the frigate, along with a dozen B-wings and a Strike Cruiser. He switched to torpedo mode, and waited until the targeting display turned to red. Two pairs of blue flashes marked the launch of four proton torpedoes as he stabbed the fire button. He pulled his X-wing away from the frigate, giving himself a few moments to assess the battle. Things seemed to be going well for the New Republic so far. Two Corvettes, three squadrons of TIEs and half a squadron of bombers had been destroyed, and the Malice severely damaged. He glanced towards the frigate to see the first two torpedoes he had fired impact on the shields. The shields managed to disperse the energy blast, but failed a second afterwards, leaving a hole for the second pair to enter and explode against the hull. Amour plating was blasted away and buckled inwards by the explosions. Other torpedoes came in at the Malice at varying angles, battering down the other shields and further weakening the hull.

As the X-wing came around to head away from the frigate, it revealed the Obliterator being bombarded by Starwind and two Dreadnaughts. The ion blasts playing up and down the arrow shape showed that the Star Destroyer's shields had collapsed. With each ion salvo fired, the answering turbolaser blasts became increasingly few and spasmodic. The Obliterator began listing to port as the ion blasts scrambled it's control systems.

"Well, that's one less to worry about," Janson observed.

A second later, six Star Destroyers reverted to realspace directly in front of him.

"Ships coming out of hyperspace in Sector 8," one of Ackbar's aides shouted. Ackbar and Bel Iblis turned sharply to see the Star Destroyers drop out of lightspeed behind them, but that was not the worst. Beyond the Star Destroyers, an Interdictor Cruiser had appeared to prevent them from escaping.

"All ships, prepare to jump to hyperspace," Ackbar ordered urgently. "Display the status of the gravity well projectors."

The aide checked his displays and seemed to slump. "Admiral, it's a Class II cruiser," he announced. He had no need to explain further. Everyone on the bridge knew what that meant. Class II Interdictors were a refined model, able to generate gravity wells instantly upon leaving hyperspace, unlike the original Interdictors.

"Blue and Gold Squadrons, move to attack the Interdictor," Ackbar ordered. "Dreadnaughts Glory and Korletta, likewise. Rogue Squadron, cover them." In the middle of the battle, two groups of B-wings broke off from their targets and headed towards the Interdictor, with X-wings moving into escort position around them. Glory and Korletta were already moving forward from the battle line, and then turning towards the Interdictor.

"Wait!" Bel Iblis ordered, examining the tactical displays. "Belay that order. That's the Chimaera."

Wedge watched the Star Destroyers looming in front of them in disbelief. There were three ships approaching rapidly, one of which was a very familiar looking Corellian Action VI bulk freighter. He switched frequencies on his comm. "Karrde, we've got to stop meeting like this."

Laughter greeted him. "Don't worry, I'll be sending you my fee as soon as this is over," Karrde said. "In the meantime, we have a battle to fight."

Followed by the Starry Ice and Dawn Beat, the Wild Karrde moved to engage a Nebulon-B frigate. Even together, they were hugely outgunned by the frigate, but they kept it tightly pinned down.

"Admiral?" an aide called on Galactic Voyager's bridge. "We're getting a transmission from one of the Star Destroyers."

Ackbar hesitated briefly. "Put it through," he ordered.

An image of Admiral Pellaeon appeared on the viewscreens. "Admiral Ackbar," Pellaeon said. "I apologise for arriving at an awkward moment. Talon Karrde informed me of the location of the mutinying Star Destroyers three days ago. I would be honoured to fight alongside you to destroy these traitors. With your permission..?"

Ackbar's first thought was to refuse point blank, suspecting a trap. His enslavement by Grand Moff Tarkin was something he would never forget, and the suffering of his people at the hands of the Empire had bred a deep distrust of any Imperial commander in him, which no peace treaty could completely allay. On the other hand, Princess Leia had said that Pellaeon was honourable. In a quandary, he glanced at Bel Iblis, who nodded in confirmation.

"Very well, Admiral Pellaeon," he acknowledged. "We will be appreciative of your assistance."

Corran whistled softly as he saw the new group of Star Destroyers moving to attack the renegade Imperials. The Nemesis and Judicator were launching drop ships to board the Obliterator. The Chimaera was in the vanguard of the attack and moving to close with the Tyrannic. As he watched, the two ships came into range of each other and began exchanging turbolaser fire.

"There's something you don't see every day," he observed. "Imperials fighting Imperials?"

"Stay sharp, Nine," Wedge ordered, staring out at the Obdurate and Ironhand. The two Star Destroyers had closed up and were pummelling Starwind, which was lying broadside to them, from both sides at point blank range. The Star Cruiser was firing back, but it was considerably overmatched by the two ISDs. "Rogues, form up. We're going after those two Impstars. It's time we paid them back for Mon Renalla. We'll make a straight line run down between the two of them at full throttle, and then pull up and target the shield generators when we come in line with the command superstructures."

"Rogue Leader, at that speed, will we be able to pull up in time?" Gavin Darklighter asked anxiously.

Wedge grinned. "Okay everyone, we heard Six. You know what to do. On two: one, two..."

"...It'll be just like Beggars Canyon back home," they chorused in unison.

"Trust a Tatooine farmboy to ask these questions," Wedge said, laughing. "All right, Rogues, here we go."

The twelve X-wings tipped over and dived towards the two Star Destroyers. Sheets of turbolaser fire rose to greet them, filling space in a terrifyingly beautiful yet useless pattern of light. Wedge wondered briefly why the Imperials still used such outmoded technology. It had been proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that TIEs, with no shielding, hyperdrive, or torpedo launchers, were no match for X-wings, or that Star Destroyers, as awesome and effective against other capital ships as they were, could not defeat a starfighter attack.

Luke and Mara, followed by Han, Leia and the Noghri, stepped into a new corridor, and were immediately greeted by a stream of fire from a pair of E-web heavy repeating blasters. They reacted immediately, blocking the bolts, but the power and intensity of the laser fire forced them back into the passage they had just left.

"We have them pinned down, sir," the lieutenant in charge reported to Captain Nalgol. "They can't handle the fire rate of the E-webs."

Nalgol smiled. Finally something was going right. "Send another E-web crew up behind them to surround them," he ordered. "If we can do that, they will be trapped. Make sure you kill them. If you succeed, consider yourself promoted to Captain."

In the passage, much the same conversation was taking place. "We'd better get out of here quickly," Han pointed out. "If we just stand around, they're going to send another group to catch us in a crossfire. Thanks for getting us into this mess, Mara. What a great idea you had, suggesting taking on an entire Star Destroyer."

"Well, perhaps you'd like to have a go with the lightsabres instead?" Mara retorted, offering them to him. "If you think you can do better, you're welcome to try. By the way, you hold the glowing part away from you, in case you were wondering."

Leia closed her eyes briefly, stretching out to the Force to examine the nearby corridors and rooms, as Han and Mara argued with each other. She ignited her lightsabre and drove it up into the ceiling between the two of them, which had the effect of instantly silencing them. "Will both of you shut up?" she snapped as they stared at her in disbelief. "Talk about the Death Star detention block all over again..."

Spinning her lightsabre in a circle, she cut a bevelled section of metal out of the deck and used the Force to lift it aside. Another deck level could be seen through the hole. With a Force leap, she jumped up through the hole. "Come on," she said to Mara. "We'll take out the E-webs."

"I'll keep them occupied," Luke said as Mara leapt up to join Leia. Gripping his lightsabre tightly, he stepped out into the corridor, deflecting the laser bolts that came at him for half a minute before retreating back to join Han and Chewbacca.

"Not much for starship layout, are they?" Leia observed as she and Mara ran down the corridor. This level seemed to be identical to the one immediately below them.

"No, they aren't," Mara answered, coming to a stop. "They're right below us. Ready?"

Leia nodded, and Mara sliced a crude rectangle in the decking. The thick slab of metal crashed down, crushing an E-web into useless scrap. Leia leapt down through the hole, her first stroke of the lightsabre slicing through the barrel of the other E-web. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Luke sprinting to join her, as Mara jumped down, her lightsabres slashing through the armour of two stormtroopers.

Nalgol cursed as he saw the ensuing chaos on his displays. The air was alive with laser fire, but he somehow doubted that it would take more than a couple of minutes before the stormtrooper detachment was eliminated. The E-web crews had been dangerously close to the bridge for his liking, and with them destroyed, there wasn't much left between him and the Jedi.

"Close all the blast doors," he ordered. "I want the bridge stormtrooper squads positioned outside all the blast doors."

He knew they wouldn't be able to stop Skywalker and the others for long, if the way they had disposed of all the other stormtroopers was anything to go by, and the blast doors weren't designed to stop lightsabres. The designers had failed to consider the possibility of Jedi fighting their way through a Star Destroyer when the drew up the plans.

He had another idea, though. The battle might be lost, but he was going to ensure that the New Republic would pay dearly for their victory. "Helm, turn to course 2-1-19," he ordered. "Lock the course into the navicomputer and withhold all access. Fire all ion batteries."

Pellaeon was watching the broadsides being exchanged between the Chimaera and Tyrannic, when the Star Destroyer abruptly disengaged and moved away at flank speed. "They've given up," Captain Ardiff said in surprise. "I didn't think Nalgol was a quitter."

Pellaeon watched the Star Destroyer moving away, anticipating it's course. "They haven't," he said grimly as ion blasts laced the void of space in front of the Tyrannic. "They're making a suicide run."

The crackling of laser fire suddenly erupted outside the Tyrannic's bridge blast doors, continuing for two or three minutes before fading into silence. Nalgol turned and watched as a green lightsabre blade was thrust clear through one of the blast doors. Metal began to glow white-hot and drop away as a rectangle was cut in the blast doors.

"Lower your blasters," he ordered as some of the bridge crew levelled their weapons. "They've failed."

A second later, the rectangle of metal fell inwards with a resounding crash. "Jedi Master Skywalker," Nalgol said calmly as Luke entered the bridge. "You've arrived just in time for us to die together." He gestured towards the viewports. "We're on an impact course with Galactic Voyager. At least we will succeed in critically harming the New Republic, with your death, and those of Admiral Ackbar, Bel Iblis, Councillor Organa Solo, and Mara Skywalker."

Luke followed his gesture. The ion blasts being fired from the Tyrannic were scrambling the Star Cruiser's control systems enough to prevent it from taking evasive action.

"The course is locked into the computer," Nalgol continued. "There's no way you can bypass the access controls in time."

"No, but you can," Mara said, pushing past Luke.

Nalgol smiled coldly. "What will you do, Mara Skywalker? Kill me in cold blood? Hardly a proper course of action for a Jedi."

"I'm sure we can work something out," Mara said, matching his smile. Barkhimkh and Sakhisakh appeared beside her. "I don't think they have the same compunctions I do, especially not after what you did to Wayland."

Nalgol paled momentarily as Barkhimkh took a step towards him, needle teeth clicking ominously together, before recovering his composure. "Kill me if you like," he said dismissively. "You can't stop what's going to happen."

"Think so?" Mara shot back, crossing to the helmsman's station, followed by Sakhisakh and Barkhimkh, hands ready on their knives. The helmsman hastily stood and backed away from his station as he saw the Noghri approach.

Nalgol merely smiled as he watched Mara try to access the navicomputer. "Your codes as the Emperor's Hand won't work," he informed her. "Admiral Pellaeon had the override access codes removed from all Star Destroyer main computers over three years ago."

Mara cursed violently as she found out that he was telling the truth. None of her codes were working. The computer flatly rejected every one. She hesitated, wondering whether to try to get back to the Falcon, but she knew they would never make it. They were already too close to Galactic Voyager.

Nalgol gazed at them in triumph. "As I said, you can't stop what's going to happen."

In contradiction of his words, the navicomputer screens in front of Mara abruptly went blank and the characteristic vibration from the sublight engines died. The ion cannons also stopped firing. Nalgol turned sharply to see the rate of closure between the Tyrannic and Galactic Voyager dwindle rapidly and then stop. He turned back to stare at Mara in amazement that she had managed to shut down the navicomputer, but stopped as he saw the expression of disbelief on her face.

"You did it," Luke said, crossing over to Mara.

Mara shook her head in confusion. "I didn't do anything. The main computer just spontaneously shut down. Why in Vader's name would that happen?"

Admiral Pellaeon nodded in satisfaction as he watched the Tyrannic's ion cannons fall silent and the glow of the Star Destroyer's three main engines fade to nothing, bringing the starship to a halt. As the ion cannons stopped firing, Galactic Voyager quickly began moving away from the Star Destroyer.

"How unfortunate for Captain Nalgol that he never suspected that I had my own override code hardwired into the main computer at the same time that those for the Emperor's agents were removed," he observed dryly to Captain Ardiff, who was standing next to him.

Wedge felt like he was flying down a long tunnel. Turbolaser blasts lanced out at Rogue Squadron from the Ironhand and Obdurate as they flew between the two Star Destroyers, forming a cylinder of light around the X-wings. Gate was emitting a continuous screech of terror, but he was too involved in avoiding the laser fire to hear Gate. The whole experience was eerily reminiscent of the Death Star trench run, with walls of metal to both sides, and laser fire coming at them from all directions. Ahead of him, he could see Tycho, Gavin, Hobbie, and Janson's X-wings, making the first run on the shield generators, in the most dangerous part of the attack. To obtain a torpedo lock, they would have to keep their fighters still, increasing the chances of being hit. One blast seared the canopy of Gavin's X-wing, but the fighter continued on course. The three fighters abruptly changed course, turning to port and climbing sharply towards the command superstructure of the Ironhand. Two streaks of blue fire shot out from Tycho's X-wing as the snubfighter came into range of the shield generators, followed by six more a second later as Janson, Gavin and Hobbie fired their torpedos.

"Two Flight, turn to starboard and climb on my mark," he ordered as Gate stopped screaming to whistle a timing tone. "One, two...mark." Followed closely by Rogues 10, 11, and 12, the X-wing soared upwards in a steep climb. Gate whistled to warble a targeting lock, and he flicked a switch to transmit the telemetry data to the rest of Two Flight. Eight torpedos appeared, accelerating rapidly away from the X-wings. The bridge gunners switched their aim in an attempt to knock out the incoming missiles, and actually managed to hit two of the torpedos. The other six avoided the laser fire and homed in on their targets. Twin balls of fire blossomed on the top of the Ironhand's superstructure as the torpedos found their mark. The Starwind immediately opened up with it's ion cannons, engulfing the bridges of Ironhand and Obdurate in a storm of blue fire.

"Okay, Rogues, start taking out the turbolasers," Wedge ordered, pulling his X-wing away from the damaged bridge of the Ironhand.

"No need, Rogue Leader," Tycho said. "It's over."

Wedge took a quick look around him. Tycho was right, the battle was over. The Obliterator had already been disabled, the Tyrannic had ceased fire, and Ironhand and Obdurate had been crippled with the destruction of their shield generators. Already dozens of assault transports and drop ships were launching to board the Star Destroyers. The remaining renegade ships were gradually ceasing fire as they saw the Star Destroyers surrender. Between them, the Wild Karrde, Starry Ice, and Dawn Beat had inflicted serious damage on the Nebulon-B frigate.

Only now did the novelty of the situation strike him. It was not the first time they had fought with the Imperials against a common enemy, but it was the first time they had done so as true allies, in a state of peace. It seemed like a good omen for the future, a solid basis for building a relationship of trust and cooperation between old enemies.

Luke, Mara, Han and Leia stood at the bridge viewports of the Tyrannic, gazing out at the mopping up operations. The Star Destroyer was already swarming with New Republic and Imperial commandos. Captain Nalgol had been taken to a detention cell and placed under suicide watch.

"You're in a strong position to claim the Tyrannic for yourselves," Leia pointed out to Luke and Mara. "You said you'd need a large ship for this Jedi school of yours. You can't get much larger than an Imperial Star Destroyer."

"No thanks," Mara said with a grimace. "I've seen what the Errant Venture costs Booster Terrik to maintain. Besides, I don't imagine Pellaeon would let us have it. They haven't got enough Star Destroyers to let a fully intact one go without a fight."

"Besides, I don't think having a Jedi school on board a Star Destroyer is the image we want to project," Luke added.

"You could have it," Han said to Leia. "You were the one who said the Falcon was hardly the ideal transport for a New Republic Senator. You'd certainly make an impact with a private Star Destroyer for a ship."

"I think I'll pass on it too," Leia said. "I've got too many bad memories of Star Destroyers to want one as a personal ship."

"No, you just can't bear to be away from the Falcon, can you?" Han said smugly.

***

An hour after the battle, Leia was back on the bridge of Galactic Voyager, discussing the situation with Admiral Ackbar and Bel Iblis, when the comm officer approached. "Excuse me, Admiral, but we have an incoming transmission from Supreme Admiral Pellaeon," he reported. "He wishes to speak to Councillor Solo."

The three of them glanced at each other. "Transfer it to my quarters," Leia instructed. "I'll take it there."

She left the bridge and hurried to her quarters, passing dozens of crew members who had not yet been instructed to stand down; hangar bays that were still swarming with arriving and departing transports and fighters, pilots, and flight staff; and commandoes assembling ready to be taken over to the surrendered Star Destroyers and other ships. Entering her rooms, she sank into a chair in front of her desk and briefly composed herself, then reached out and touched the comm key. The display flickered and resolved itself into an image of Admiral Pellaeon.

"Councillor Solo," Pellaeon said in greeting, inclining his head. "It is a pleasure to speak to you again. Regrettably, we cannot meet face to face this time."

Leia nodded. "Thank you, Admiral. No doubt there will be another time for us to meet. Your help against the renegade Star Destroyers was most appreciated."

Pellaeon's face hardened. "They mutinied against the Empire, killed General Hestiv, and made an unprovoked attack on the New Republic. Such actions are still high treason, and therefore punishable by death. The Empire is not as lacking in spirit as the New Republic." He hesitated as he realised he had overstepped the mark. "I must apologise for that outburst, Councillor. General Hestiv was a good friend. It is important to respect our differences, even if we do not agree with them."

Leia nodded. "A worthy sentiment, Admiral. If I may ask, why did you join the Empire? You seem like an honourable man."

Pellaeon's eyes narrowed slightly. "Contrary to popular opinion in the New Republic, the Empire is not a haven for the scum of the galaxy, Councillor Solo. We are not all power crazed mass murderers. Many of us hold loyalty, duty and order dear. You may deplore the flagrant acts of genocide, the general suppression, and anti alien bias that characterised Palpatine's New Order, as did many Imperial officers, if the truth be known, but it brought the galaxy peace and stability. Even your vaunted New Republic has just demonstrated that it has severe weaknesses. The Caamas Issue brought you to the brink of civil war."

He gave a rueful smile. "A great number of us were appalled at the destruction of Alderaan and it's people, but we dared not say anything against the Emperor. We were secretly pleased when the Death Stars were destroyed, and the Emperor finally overthrown. He had become a power crazed tyrant. Grand Admiral Thrawn at least knew the difference between order and tyranny. The Empire now is what Palpatine should have made it. We give our people the contentment of stability without excessive control and the choice to live under either our or your system of government if they so wish."

Leia nodded. Pellaeon's comments confirmed a common view in the New Republic that most of those who served the Empire approved of Palpatine's strong leadership, even if they loathed the palpable evil of weapons like the Death Star or the savage Imperial tyranny. She herself believed absolutely that the New Republic was the only system of government that offered true justice, freedom and prosperity to the galaxy, but sometimes she was not wholly unsympathetic to Pellaeon's viewpoint, especially when she saw disputes like the Caamas Issue erupt or the Senate tear itself apart in arguments. If a planet or system wished to live under the Empire's rule, then she could accept that, provided they were given the freedom to leave it if they so wished. "We have both learnt that we can live together in harmony despite our differences," she pointed out. "We were able to work together to destroy a common enemy. Perhaps we can develop a relationship of trust and peace rather than one of war and hate."

"Let us hope so, Councillor," Pellaeon noted. "The Galactic Civil War need never have happened. Perhaps we may be able to resolve our differences by discussion and working together rather than by war."

"We may indeed," Leia said. "I have an idea how we may start. Between us, we managed to capture Captains Narven, Nalgol, Trazzen, and Argona alive. I suggest that we hold a joint trial to try them and Moff Disra for crimes against the New Republic and Empire."

Pellaeon nodded. "An excellent idea, Councillor Solo. Talon Karrde has informed me that you, General Solo, and Luke and Mara Skywalker made an attempt to personally capture Captain Nalgol. You may have been surprised by the sudden shutting down of the Tyrannic's main computer. I had the Emperor's backdoor codes removed a few years ago and took the opportunity to install my own at the same time."

"Mara was certainly surprised," Leia replied. "She was unable to use the codes given to her as the Emperor's Hand to access the navicomputer, and was consequently taken aback when it shut down." She glanced at her chrono. "I am due to leave in a few hours. I have duties on Coruscant. Admiral Ackbar will remain here for a time to supervise the clean up operations if you wish to contact the New Republic High Command. Before I go, however, may I make a request?"

Two hours later, Han, Luke and Mara returned from the Tyrannic, where they had been doing a few impromptu repairs to the Falcon's shields and a few other systems which had been damaged during the battle with the TIE fighters. They entered Leia's quarters, and stopped dead in amazement.

"Well, what do you think?" Leia asked expectantly.

The three of them gazed in bewilderment at the strange holographic artworks in the middle of Leia's quarters. "Where in space did you dig these up from?" Han asked. "Has Lando managed to sweet-talk you into buying them?"

"No, I didn't get these from Lando," Leia answered. "I asked Admiral Pellaeon to give them to me. They're from Grand Admiral Thrawn's personal art collection. As we know, he thought that art was a way of understanding an enemy."

"But why do you want them, though?" Luke asked. "What good are a few bits of miscellaneous art work going to do us in understanding the psyche of whatever races created these?"

"You don't understand," Leia said. "These aren't just pieces of art that Thrawn collected, they are his art. Apparently, he had some artistic talent. These are what he did when he had the time. I thought we could get some insight into him by studying these." She raised an eyebrow. "Let's see if you would make art critics."

Mara nodded slowly. "How about this one?" she said, indicating one that showed half a dozen images of Thrawn's face, all slightly different. "Obviously an inconsistent personality."

"How do you work that one out?" Han asked sceptically. "I can hardly see you as an art critic. It doesn't tell me anything"

"Nothing to it, really," Mara said sardonically. "Being an art critic is one of the easiest jobs in the galaxy. All you have to do is look like you're analysing it deeply, nod wisely a few times like you've suddenly realised something amazingly enlightening about it, make a couple of enigmatic remarks, and there you are. Of course, I imagine doing even that might be out of your league, Solo."

She ignored Han's scowl and carried on. "Anyway, when I met Parck in the Chiss fortress, he said that Thrawn was only concerned with fighting whatever's out in the Unknown Regions, and thought highly enough of me to intend recruiting me once he had crushed the New Republic. If so, why didn't he just explain this to the New Republic so they could team up, rather than trying to completely destroy it; and why did he deliberately alienate me when I tried to get him off Karrde's back by giving him the Katana fleet? The hologram just helped confirm it."

Leia nodded. "Very good. Your turn, Han?"

"Not me," Han said. "Anything more artistic than a space yacht, and I lose interest. You have a go, Luke."

Luke took a breath and gestured to another hologram. "Well, that one seems revealing..."

An hour later, Leia was sitting alone in her quarters, studying a datapad report on the latest Senate meetings. Han had dragged Luke off to help him finish the repairs to the Falcon, and Mara had vanished into one of the cabins to meditate. "Yes, I know," she had said as Leia gave her an incredulous look, not believing that Mara would ever do anything like that. "I can hardly believe it either."

Leia shifted to a more comfortable position in her self-conforming chair, and turned her entire attention to the reports. Borsk Fey'lya was, as ever, up to his usual tricks, she noted. She managed to read a third of the first report before her attention began wandering. It was concerned primarily with the latest and most tedious economic analysis of the industrial production figures for Graxill sector that she had yet seen, and yet another argument between the Ishori and Diamalan Senators. She sighed. Meditation sounded extremely tempting at this point.

She leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. Even that proved short lived, however. She jumped involuntarily, her eyes coming open, as she felt a powerful wave of shock ripple through the room. A few seconds later, Mara appeared from the cabin, her face white. "Mara, are you all right?" she asked anxiously.

Mara looked at her for a few moments without seeming to notice her, and her face hardened when she did. "I'm fine," she snarled. "Your brother won't be when I find him, though." She stalked out of the cabin, leaving Leia gazing after her in bewilderment, and wondering if she would ever quite understand Mara.

***

A Lambda-class shuttle raced through hyperspace on automatic pilot. Sitting in the cockpit of the shuttle, Lady Lumiya gazed out at the tunnel of starlines outside the canopy without really seeing them. Her thoughts were a swirling mix of anger, hate, and failure. She had failed to kill Skywalker due to the interference of the Jedi woman. She had, she realised, been overconfident and complacent. The next time, she would have to be better prepared and careful. Clearly, the increasing numbers of Jedi was a problem she would have to take into account. She had allowed herself to be distracted by the Rogue Squadron Jedi and thus let the New Republic fleet to escape, and she had been unprepared to fight Skywalker, his sister and wife together. Next time, though, she would make no such mistakes. Already a new plan for dealing with Skywalker was beginning to form in her mind...

***

Four days later, the Millennium Falcon touched down on Han and Leia's private landing pad at the Imperial Palace.

Behind Han, the door to the cockpit slid open and Leia entered. "I see we're back," she said with a distinct lack of enthusiasm, coming to stand just behind him.

"Not for long," Han replied. "We're only stopping to get a few things, and then we're going to a very quiet and exclusive resort that Mara told me about. Not even Gavrisom is going to know where we've gone. Why do you think Luke said he'd look after the kids for a little longer? I sorted the whole thing out with him and Mara while we were repairing the Falcon."

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her tense. "What?" he asked suspiciously, turning to look at her.

Leia hesitated. "Well, the thing is..."

As if on cue, the door slid open again to reveal Threepio, closely followed by an enraged Chewbacca. "No, I will not be quiet, Chewbacca," the droid snapped in response to a particularly intimidating bellow from the Wookiee. "Princess Leia was scheduled to meet with a Gran delegation yesterday for the start of a three day trade conference, Captain Solo. They are insisting that she attends as soon as possible," he explained.

Han scowled. "Thank you so much, Threepio. Sorry, you're not going," he said to Leia, stepping past her to block her exit.

Leia sighed. "You're in my way, Han," she said. "I don't want to see the Gran delegation, but it's unavoidable. Don't make it worse than it already is."

Han ignored her. "Threepio, go and tell the delegation that Leia is unable to see them for the foreseeable future, or something like that," he ordered.

Leia glared at him. "Han, I have to go. You're not going to stop me. It'll only be three days. You said the Falcon needed more work doing on the way back here. I imagine it'll take you at least three days to fix this piece of junk."

"Thank you so much," Han growled, ever sensitive to any slur on his beloved Falcon. He turned away abruptly. "Go on then," he said brusquely. "I'll stay here and work on the Falcon. Come on, Chewie, the starboard drive feedback absorber needs looking at."

Leia followed them down the corridor. "I'm sorry, Han," she said. "I'll see if I can get through the conference quickly."

Han nodded silently as he rummaged through a container of tools. Leia hesitated for a moment and then reluctantly turned and left, followed by Threepio. Han straightened up as he found the tool he was looking for, to find Chewbacca staring at him. "What are you looking at?" he demanded irritably. "I know what I'm doing. Here," he said, tossing the Wookiee a hydrospanner, "go and make a start."

The work proved complicated. In only a few minutes, Han was sweating heavily and rapidly running out of patience. "Okay, try it now," he shouted to Chewie, connecting a group of circuits together. The Wookiee flicked a set of switches on a control board, and bellowed negatively. "Right, hold on," Han called back, separating the circuits and then reconnecting them differently. "Run it again."

There was a momentary pause, and then Chewbacca roared in alarm as lights began flickering wildly on the control board. A second later, there was a bang and flash from where the circuits joined an energy dissipater, followed by a shower of sparks and smoke. Han coughed several times, fanning the smoke away, and then kicked the feedback absorber in disgust. "That's it," he growled. "Come on. We're going to get Leia."

By the time they had learned where the meeting was being held and found Leia, she was already talking to the head of the Gran delegation outside the conference room. A flicker of anxiety crossed her face and she stepped away from the delegation towards Han and Chewbacca. "Not now, Han," she warned.

Whatever Han might have said was cut off as the Gran delegate came up to them. "We are due to have a conference that is already a day late in starting," he said. "We will not accept the conference being further delayed or postponed."

Han raised his hands. "The thought never crossed my mind. Leia, stay here for a minute." He winked at her. "Trust me."

"If you can come this way," he told the Gran delegates. "Threepio, you go first," he said, waving the droid into the room, and waited until they had taken their seats. "Unfortunately, Princess Leia will be unable to attend the conference," he said from the doorway when they had done so.

"Han!" Leia snapped angrily, taking a step forward, only to stop suddenly as Chewbacca grabbed her arms.

"Since you don't wish to cancel the meeting, her protocol droid will host the conference in her absence," Han continued. He grinned at Threepio. "Enjoy the meeting, Goldenrod," he said. A blaster shot vaporised the internal lock, and he stepped back and hit the doorpad to seal the Gran delegation in the room.

Leia glared at him, enraged. "Trust me, you said," she snapped at Han. "Will you let go of me, Chewie. Open that door right now, Solo. Can you imagine the diplomatic repercussions if I refuse to see the Gran?"

Han gave her his best smuggler's grin. "Yeah, trust me to do what I just did," he shot back. "You know me better than that by now. Yes, I can imagine the diplomatic repercussions, but I don't care, sweetheart. Gavrisom can sort it out. That's his job, isn't it? You can say we kidnapped you if you want. Either you get back on the Falcon yourself, or Chewie and I will drag you on board."

Leia looked at him for a moment, her anger dying as she imagined Chewbacca dragging her to the Falcon. She shook her head. "Sometimes I think I don't deserve you, Solo," she said. She drew herself into her most regal posture and slipped her arm through Han's. "Come on, Captain, let's go."

Threepio's muffled voice, interspersed with a loud and indignant pounding on the door from the infuriated Gran delegation, could be heard as they walked away. "Captain Solo, this is too much," the droid protested. "I must insist that you open this door and let us out at once," but Han and Leia paid no attention as they strolled down the Grand Corridor on their way back to the Falcon...

***

Far across the galaxy, the Skywalker Spirit landed on Yavin 4.

In her co-pilot's seat, Mara checked the instruments, and then looked at Luke, who was sitting silently in his seat, as he had done for the entire journey. This had gone on long enough, she decided. He might be able to fool Han and Leia into thinking he was alright, but not her. "Do you want to talk about anything?" she asked.

Without looking up, Luke said "There's nothing the matter, Mara. You needn't bother worrying."

Luke had rarely seen Mara truly enraged, so the force of her anger caught him by surprise, not to mention the disconcerting sensation of feeling it in his mind through their Force bond had on him. "Nothing the matter?" she snapped, slamming a fist against a bulkhead. "Don't treat me like an idiot, Skywalker. You sit there all the way back from Endor, barely saying a word, and then you tell me not to worry?"

She took a breath to calm herself. "After all we went through together on Nirauan, you're not going to start acting like the all-powerful Jedi Master again if I can help it. We're a team. If there's something wrong, we'll talk about it. Neither of us really talked to each other over the last ten years, and look where it got us. Look, I know how you feel about Callista. You don't have to try and hide it, especially not to me. Do you remember the Jade's Fire? Mara Jade, tougher than a krayt dragon, crying over her ship. If I can behave like that in front of you, then there's nothing for you to feel ashamed about."

Luke nodded. "I know. Sometimes you have to be on your own though," he said. "I'll be alright. I just need a few minutes alone to think."

Mara looked at him sceptically, but she could see that he was being honest. If he wanted to act like this, it was his choice. She had done her best to talk to him. "Fine," she said coldly. "I'll be in the Temple. You come when you're ready." She stood and left the cabin, and a minute later, Luke saw her walk away from the Skywalker Spirit. He watched her vanish into the Temple, and then leaned back into his chair, closing his eyes.

He was not surprised when the voice called him a minute later. He opened his eyes to see Callista's shimmering blue form sitting in the co-pilot's seat next to him. "I told you not to mourn for me, Luke," she chided.

Luke looked at her. "I loved you. I can't just put that aside so easily, despite what you and Mara might say to the contrary."

Callista shook her head. "You must. That is the way of the Force. Once you become one with it, there are no more secrets. It was my destiny to die attempting to destroy the Eye of Palpatine. That would have been the time to grieve for me. Nevertheless, I cheated death by using the power of Life Transfer first to enter the Eye's computer, and then in taking Cray's body, in violation of the Jedi Code. Such an action is incompatible with the light side if used on the living, and I lost my powers as a result. Because it was done willingly by Cray and out of love for you on my part, though, the Force did not completely abandon me, but it left me dangerously open to the temptation of the dark side, as you saw on Dagobah and Yavin. Other Jedi have done it before, for their own ends, and fallen to the dark side as a result."

Luke nodded as one of the memories he shared with Mara came to the surface. "Mara once faced a Jedi, Vantos Boda, who was convinced he was destined to destroy Palpatine. His brother disagreed with him over it and killed him, or so he thought. Boda was able to attach his spirit to his brother's. When my father killed him in the Jedi Purge, Vantos was able to reanimate the dead body."

An expression of horror passed over Callista's face. "That is truly an act of the dark side. If he used Life Transfer for such a purpose, he would have forever been lost to the light side."

Luke nodded gravely. "As a result of taking his brother's body, Vantos succumbed completely to the dark side. He became as much a servant of the dark side as Palpatine or Vader."

Callista was silent for a few seconds. "I redeemed myself in the end by dying to protect another, as the Jedi should. One life ends and another begins," she said softly. Her eyes dropped to her lightsabre, which was hanging at Luke's waist. "Go to Mara to know why I gave you my lightsabre."

She smiled. "Remember me," she said, and faded from view.

Luke left the Skywalker Spirit and entered the Great Temple. One advantage of his and Mara's Force bond was that they could instantly sense each other's presence anywhere without the other being able to conceal themselves. A few minutes later, he was on the top of the Temple. In the twilight, he could just see a silhouette standing motionless at the edge of the summit. Mara didn't turn or speak as he came up beside her.

"I'm sorry," he said to her, knowing that it would only make it difficult to say something if he didn't say it now, particularly since she was clearly waiting for him to speak first.

Mara nodded. "Callista talked some sense into you then," she said.

Luke started, before remembering that she knew everything he experienced. "Yes, she did," he said. "She said I'd know why she asked me to take her lightsabre after I'd spoken to you. Not so I'd have to defend myself from you, I hope," he added teasingly.

Mara shook her head. "Forget it, Luke. I'm not angry. I haven't exactly shared everything with you either." She turned towards him, taking his hand, and pressed it against her stomach, covering it with her own hand. "Let's see if you can work out why Callista gave you her lightsabre."

She was impressed favourably by Luke's skills of deduction...

Kyp and Tionne, studying the latest records that Tionne had found, looked up together as they sensed a wave of pure exhilaration ripple through the Force. "Well, it looks like Master Skywalker has something to celebrate," Kyp noted with a grin.

***

EPILOGUE:

Eight months later, Leia and Han waited impatiently in the medical wing of the Imperial Palace. It had been a long and stressful time for Luke, during which his elation at the prospect of being a father had been tested to the limit. Pregnancy had not made Mara any calmer or indolent, far from it. She had actually increased her daily activities as if to prove that it wouldn't make any difference to her routines. She intensified her lightsabre practice sessions, spent every available moment teaching the Jedi students, and engaged in a Tatooine sandstorm of tasks and duties until she almost fell asleep on her feet at the end of every day. Luke was no stranger to hard work, but even he became exhausted merely by watching her. He knew far better than to suggest that she might be wise to slow down, though.

When Mara's expanding stomach finally started imposing limits on her activities, she began complaining bitterly about looking and feeling like a bantha that had swallowed a Star Destroyer, cast savage aspersions on every aspect of the Skywalker family, and generally maligned Luke for getting her into this situation. Luke was extremely relieved when even that became too much effort for her during the last two months of her pregnancy.

Two weeks before the baby was due, they had returned to Coruscant, due to Mara insisting adamantly that she was not going to give birth on Yavin. "My stars, I am not going to have Cilghal, Tionne, Kirana, or anyone else start saying 'There is no passion, only serenity,' or similar things while I'm having the baby," she said emphatically. Their return to the Imperial Palace had given her a chance to divide her grievances equally between Luke, Han and Leia instead of heaping them exclusively on Luke. Han had returned her sarcasm and jibes as vigorously as he had done in the run up to the wedding, spurred on by her temporary inability to exact any kind of physical retribution.

Finally, at 0300 hours Coruscant time this morning, Mara's labour had begun. The consequent disturbance in the Force had woken Leia up. She was unable to suppress a smile at Mara's reaction, which had not been a calm one, to say the least. Every Jedi and Force sensitive in the Palace and for some distance around had picked up a stream of invective during which every oath imaginable in Basic and a dozen other languages, including but not limited to Rodian, Ishori, Dev