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ladyofleithianIn which things finally go right for Mara and co., but at a pretty heavy cost.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Author's Notes: This chapter was I think one of the most difficult to write in terms of how much was going on. Hope I did well, at least.
It was later that the Falcon pulled up towards Mara, and it was perhaps the most welcome sight that Mara had seen just about all day. She inched her way down the bottom of the city, careful not to slip – in fact, everything about this was a situation that was precarious at best, though she had a feeling that it would be one hell of a thing to tell the others when they got back. Assuming they got back – and it was at the bottom that she fell into the arms of the same man who she’d seen in Terminus’ vision. She couldn’t say who he was, but he seemed friendly enough. “Easy there,” he said. “You okay there, kid? You look like hell.”
Mara grinned. “I’m fine,” she said. “I’m a bit bruised, but I’m fine.” The understatement of it almost made her want to laugh.
He helped her down the ladder and into the main hold. “You’re Mara, aren’t you?” he said. “Terminus’ kid?”
Mara nodded.
“How the hell does Terminus have a kid?” the man said. “I mean…he’s the last person in the galaxy to have a kid.”
“It’s a long story,” Mara said.
“That I can see,” the man said. “I’m just going to get you to the medbay. You look like you got in a fight with a rancor and lost.”
“You don’t know the half of it,” Mara said, trying to grin. It was the best thing you could do after a day that had been, honestly, as hellish as this.
“I can imagine,” said the man. “My name’s Lando, by the way. Lando Calrissian. I’m the replacement Captain for the ship, considering…well, considering Han.” He seemed to become sad, even guilty-looking, almost as if it was his fault that Han had ended up in the situation he did.
“Nice to meet you, Lando,” Mara said.
The moment that Mara got into the main hold, she was practically swamped with people, Leia hugging her frantically, Terminus embracing her, Padme going on about how fortunate she was to be all right, Ada clapping her on the shoulder good-naturedly, Ben hugging her as well, Vader almost crushing her in relief, and more, until Lando pulled her away. “Okay, you guys,” he said, seeming to grin. “Hate to break this up, but she needs to rest. She’s not doing well.”
Padme drew away with the others, then stared at her in shock. “What happened to your arm?” she said.
“Ventress cut it off,” Mara said. She tried to smile, weakly, at her father. “Least that makes another thing that we’ve got in common, doesn’t it, Father?”
“That isn’t funny,” Terminus said, darkly.
“Right,” Mara said. “I may have also lost your lightsaber as well. I’m sorry, Father.”
Silence.
Terminus exhaled. “I’m the one who should be sorry,” he said. “I should not have reacted such towards you. But…you did frighten me.”
“I know.”
Mara embraced him quickly before going off to the medbay. She wished she could spend more time with Terminus, but she knew – as much as she hated it – that she had to rest. She lay there as Lando, occasionally cursing all the while, hooked up the medical instruments.
“Got it!” Lando said. “Finally.” He turned to look at her. “You’re gonna be okay, kid.”
Mara smiled weakly. “I’m twenty two.”
“Still kind of a kid,” Lando said, but he was smiling as well. The ship shook, and Lando sighed. “Hold on a minute. Looks like we’ve got trouble.”
A lot of it. Because Mara could already sense that a whole horde of Ventress’ ships were heading towards them. TIE fighters, Star Destroyers, and a lot more. And Ventress herself, reaching into Mara’s mind, beckoning to her to give in. Come with me. It is your destiny to overthrow the Emperor. Join me. Let the others join us, and let us make things right at last.
Images went through Mara’s mind, things such as bigotry against the aliens, against women, and more being wiped out of the Empire, slavery being wiped out, and so much more. Images that seemed beautiful, even almost fairy-tale-like, and which seemed almost tempting to Mara, even though she knew it was a lie. She could hear the faint sounds of her father’s voice, and Padme’s, in her mind, telling her to not give in, heard the faint squabble from Lando and the others as they realized, too late, that Ventress and her soldiers had deactivated the hyperdrive on the Falcon, the snarl of fury as Chewie shoved past Lando into the engine room. And all the while, Mara closed her eyes, trying to block out the feeling of Ventress’ voice in her mind.
Join me, Mara. It’s your destiny. It’s always been your destiny.
No, Mara thought. I won’t. I can’t. I simply can’t.
In the engine room itself, Artoo, who was currently working on a badly damaged – to the point of seemingly being torn apart – Threepio, beeped something. Threepio’s voice. “The central computer told you? Artoo-Detoo, you know better than to talk to a strange computer. Ouch! Pay attention to what you’re doing!”
Mara almost smiled, but the reality of the situation settled on her, heavy and disheartening, and she sighed. Chewie, she thought, as she listened to the sound of Chewie fixing the hyperdrive and occasionally roaring and hitting tools against the wall in frustration, You better find a way to fix this thing fast, or we’re all going to be doomed.
She wrenched herself out of the bed, stumbled out towards the cockpit. Everyone stared at her in shock, and Padme began, “Mara, you’re supposed to – ’’
“I know,” Mara said. “Kitster…meet me down in the engine room. We need to find a way to fix the hyperdrive.”
“What are you thinking?” Vader said.
“I don’t think Chewie’s efforts are any use,” she said. “We need Artoo to work on it.”
They headed towards the engine room, and Threepio spoke. “Mistress Mara, it is good to see you again, but what are you doing out of bed?”
“Good to see you too, Threepio,” Mara said. “But we need to borrow Artoo.”
“With due respect, Mistress Mara,” Threepio said, “Artoo can’t fix the hyperdrive. Chewbacca’s already working on it. And he’s barely finished with me yet!”
“Right,” Mara said. She couldn’t say she’d thought of that. “Kitster? Can you fix the rest of him?” Threepio was close to being finished, but had a leg missing, and still looked badly battered.
Vader nodded. “With pleasure.” He knelt next to Threepio and began fixing him. Artoo, meanwhile, glided over towards the circuit panel and began to get to work as Threepio berated him. “I’m sitting here in pieces,” said the protocol droid, “And you’re having delusions of grandeur.”
“He can do it,” Vader said, gently. “He’s never let us down before.”
Threepio sighed metallically. “I certainly hope so.”
But Artoo didn’t let them down. He continued working, until one circuit, one very crucial circuit, finally lit up. The ship tilted up unexpectedly, sending Artoo sliding into the pit with Chewie, who howled in surprise. Mara barely managed to regain her balance by clinging on with her remaining hand, and Threepio and Vader nearly slid across the floor. Gasps of shock from the cockpit, and then cries of joy as the Falcon shot, finally, into hyperspace.
“You did it!” Threepio shouted.
“Yes!” Vader practically punched the air, clenching it in a that’s-one-for-our-side gesture. Mara grinned. After their day of hell, to put it mildly, finally, finally, luck decided to come around their way. That’s one for the good guys, she thought. One for the Rebels. One for our side.
Artoo beeped, clearly smug, pleased with himself. If droids could say “I told you so”, Mara thought, Artoo was certainly doing it right now.
“Yes, Artoo,” Threepio said, “I may have been wrong about you not being able to do it. I underestimated you.” Another smug beep from Artoo. “Well, there’s no need to rub it in, Artoo-Detoo.”
Mara couldn’t help but chuckle a bit. After all this, after what could be described as a Week of Hell, it was over. It was finally over. Then her laughter died down as she remembered how much they had lost that day. Han was in the hands of Jabba the Hutt by now, and considering his debt that Han still had yet to pay the Hutt, Han’s punishment would be less than merciful. And Sabe, her mother, in the hands of the Empire…
Mara would be lying if she said she wasn’t afraid. For Sabe, for Han, for so many people. What was about to be done to them. They had finally gotten away, and Mara had ultimately managed to refuse being Ventress’ servant in overthrowing the Emperor, but there was still a lot to be done. Too much. Saving Sabe. Saving Han. And confronting the Emperor, for the first and final time.
Mara closed her eyes. She was afraid. And more than that, now that they were in hyperspace, she allowed herself to feel their losses for the first time that day, in full. She could feel it, growing heavily on her, and though she did not cry, she was almost tempted to. Her chest trembled, and she felt Vader’s arm slink around her shoulder, comforting her as best he could after the hell they all had gone through on different fronts, because in the end, that was all either of them could do.
They were going to rescue Han, and Sabe. They would. And no power in the galaxy would stop them, for they were invincible, they were unstoppable, they were legend.
But even legends had to stop. Even legends had to grieve. So Mara grieved, feeling the first hint of tears slip from her eyes, and Vader wept with her, and in the ship, others did their mourning in different ways, for all that had been done to them, for the loss of two of the crewmembers they cared deeply about, because in the end, that was all they could do.
***
Ventress knew she should be furious at Admiral Piett for allowing the ship to escape. Even as she turned to look at him, she could sense how fearful he suddenly became, as if fearing whatever bit of wrath she was about to fling at him. Just about everyone feared her temper, and for good reason. They feared Terminus’ wrath and Vader’s wrath just as much, and for good reason. They feared the Emperor’s wrath as well, and for good reason (the Emperor was far from a forgiving man, after all). They were right to fear her, Terminus and Vader as well. Fear, after all, was the best way to keep the soldiers in line, to remind them, in fact, that they were not the biggest rancors in the pit, that that distinction belonged to Ventress, Vader and Terminus (before Vader and Terminus betrayed the Empire, that is).
But right now, she could not bring herself to blame the Admiral. The Admiral had failed, yes, but the failure was as much hers in terms of failing to convert Mara and the others (indeed, she had ended up locking them out if only to make preying on the fledgling Jedi easier) as much as Admiral Piett’s.
The Admiral spoke up. “Lady Ventress – ’’
“You are dismissed, Admiral.” There’s nothing I can say to you. I doubt there’s really anything left to say.
The Admiral seemed confused – relieved, of course, but confused. “As you wish, my lady.” He left the bridge. Ventress headed to her meditation room, feeling her hands clench into fists; if she stayed on the bridge, it was likely she would have destroyed the bridge in the sheer fury she felt. Everything was going to plan, victory seemed to be in her grasp – of course things were going too smoothly to be true. She should have suspected that Calrissian would betray her. She should have suspected that Mara would refuse; after all, the girl was as stubborn and blinded as her father once was. And…
Well, she supposed, she doubted she could have suspected that the Millennium Falcon would miraculously escape in time. She could only assume that the crew of the Falcon had purely luck on their side. Of course they did. The lot of them had mostly escaped her through luck after all these years; luck favored them, favored those who called themselves the heroes, while leaving others in the dust. Luck was far from equal, luck instead picked and chose who it wished to favor.
It explained much about this strange series of events.
Ventress settled into her meditation chamber. Of course, luck did not solely favor the heroes. After all, she had the frozen body of Sabe Naris, former Queen of Naboo, in the cargo hold of the Executor. She would awaken in time, and though it would take much persuasion, Sabe would come around to seeing things her way. And perhaps, in time, her daughter would see reason, and her son, and many others. Including Terminus and Vader, she thought. They would all see the light, and they would rule together, and make things the way they should have been, before the Emperor had lied to them.
Ventress sat there in her meditation chamber and despite her loss of the Falcon, she could not help but smile, a sinister thing that came over her face, cold and almost threatening-looking in nature. Yes. This search was far from over. She had not yet failed, like in the past when Dooku would chide her for her failures and even threaten to throw her aside. She had failed, but she had succeeded in taking the frozen body of Sabe Naris with her. In a way, she had won, and the Rebels had still lost. A strange paradox, but it was there nonetheless.
Ventress’ smile widened into an almost nexu-like grin. She would win this war in time. And in time, the Kenobi girl and her friends would see things her way, and the galaxy would be theirs. The Imperial fleet would flock under her banner, not the Emperor’s, as would many other planets.
And perhaps, in time, Ventress would shape this galaxy the way it should have been shaped, before the Emperor had all but destroyed it.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Author's Notes: This chapter was I think one of the most difficult to write in terms of how much was going on. Hope I did well, at least.
It was later that the Falcon pulled up towards Mara, and it was perhaps the most welcome sight that Mara had seen just about all day. She inched her way down the bottom of the city, careful not to slip – in fact, everything about this was a situation that was precarious at best, though she had a feeling that it would be one hell of a thing to tell the others when they got back. Assuming they got back – and it was at the bottom that she fell into the arms of the same man who she’d seen in Terminus’ vision. She couldn’t say who he was, but he seemed friendly enough. “Easy there,” he said. “You okay there, kid? You look like hell.”
Mara grinned. “I’m fine,” she said. “I’m a bit bruised, but I’m fine.” The understatement of it almost made her want to laugh.
He helped her down the ladder and into the main hold. “You’re Mara, aren’t you?” he said. “Terminus’ kid?”
Mara nodded.
“How the hell does Terminus have a kid?” the man said. “I mean…he’s the last person in the galaxy to have a kid.”
“It’s a long story,” Mara said.
“That I can see,” the man said. “I’m just going to get you to the medbay. You look like you got in a fight with a rancor and lost.”
“You don’t know the half of it,” Mara said, trying to grin. It was the best thing you could do after a day that had been, honestly, as hellish as this.
“I can imagine,” said the man. “My name’s Lando, by the way. Lando Calrissian. I’m the replacement Captain for the ship, considering…well, considering Han.” He seemed to become sad, even guilty-looking, almost as if it was his fault that Han had ended up in the situation he did.
“Nice to meet you, Lando,” Mara said.
The moment that Mara got into the main hold, she was practically swamped with people, Leia hugging her frantically, Terminus embracing her, Padme going on about how fortunate she was to be all right, Ada clapping her on the shoulder good-naturedly, Ben hugging her as well, Vader almost crushing her in relief, and more, until Lando pulled her away. “Okay, you guys,” he said, seeming to grin. “Hate to break this up, but she needs to rest. She’s not doing well.”
Padme drew away with the others, then stared at her in shock. “What happened to your arm?” she said.
“Ventress cut it off,” Mara said. She tried to smile, weakly, at her father. “Least that makes another thing that we’ve got in common, doesn’t it, Father?”
“That isn’t funny,” Terminus said, darkly.
“Right,” Mara said. “I may have also lost your lightsaber as well. I’m sorry, Father.”
Silence.
Terminus exhaled. “I’m the one who should be sorry,” he said. “I should not have reacted such towards you. But…you did frighten me.”
“I know.”
Mara embraced him quickly before going off to the medbay. She wished she could spend more time with Terminus, but she knew – as much as she hated it – that she had to rest. She lay there as Lando, occasionally cursing all the while, hooked up the medical instruments.
“Got it!” Lando said. “Finally.” He turned to look at her. “You’re gonna be okay, kid.”
Mara smiled weakly. “I’m twenty two.”
“Still kind of a kid,” Lando said, but he was smiling as well. The ship shook, and Lando sighed. “Hold on a minute. Looks like we’ve got trouble.”
A lot of it. Because Mara could already sense that a whole horde of Ventress’ ships were heading towards them. TIE fighters, Star Destroyers, and a lot more. And Ventress herself, reaching into Mara’s mind, beckoning to her to give in. Come with me. It is your destiny to overthrow the Emperor. Join me. Let the others join us, and let us make things right at last.
Images went through Mara’s mind, things such as bigotry against the aliens, against women, and more being wiped out of the Empire, slavery being wiped out, and so much more. Images that seemed beautiful, even almost fairy-tale-like, and which seemed almost tempting to Mara, even though she knew it was a lie. She could hear the faint sounds of her father’s voice, and Padme’s, in her mind, telling her to not give in, heard the faint squabble from Lando and the others as they realized, too late, that Ventress and her soldiers had deactivated the hyperdrive on the Falcon, the snarl of fury as Chewie shoved past Lando into the engine room. And all the while, Mara closed her eyes, trying to block out the feeling of Ventress’ voice in her mind.
Join me, Mara. It’s your destiny. It’s always been your destiny.
No, Mara thought. I won’t. I can’t. I simply can’t.
In the engine room itself, Artoo, who was currently working on a badly damaged – to the point of seemingly being torn apart – Threepio, beeped something. Threepio’s voice. “The central computer told you? Artoo-Detoo, you know better than to talk to a strange computer. Ouch! Pay attention to what you’re doing!”
Mara almost smiled, but the reality of the situation settled on her, heavy and disheartening, and she sighed. Chewie, she thought, as she listened to the sound of Chewie fixing the hyperdrive and occasionally roaring and hitting tools against the wall in frustration, You better find a way to fix this thing fast, or we’re all going to be doomed.
She wrenched herself out of the bed, stumbled out towards the cockpit. Everyone stared at her in shock, and Padme began, “Mara, you’re supposed to – ’’
“I know,” Mara said. “Kitster…meet me down in the engine room. We need to find a way to fix the hyperdrive.”
“What are you thinking?” Vader said.
“I don’t think Chewie’s efforts are any use,” she said. “We need Artoo to work on it.”
They headed towards the engine room, and Threepio spoke. “Mistress Mara, it is good to see you again, but what are you doing out of bed?”
“Good to see you too, Threepio,” Mara said. “But we need to borrow Artoo.”
“With due respect, Mistress Mara,” Threepio said, “Artoo can’t fix the hyperdrive. Chewbacca’s already working on it. And he’s barely finished with me yet!”
“Right,” Mara said. She couldn’t say she’d thought of that. “Kitster? Can you fix the rest of him?” Threepio was close to being finished, but had a leg missing, and still looked badly battered.
Vader nodded. “With pleasure.” He knelt next to Threepio and began fixing him. Artoo, meanwhile, glided over towards the circuit panel and began to get to work as Threepio berated him. “I’m sitting here in pieces,” said the protocol droid, “And you’re having delusions of grandeur.”
“He can do it,” Vader said, gently. “He’s never let us down before.”
Threepio sighed metallically. “I certainly hope so.”
But Artoo didn’t let them down. He continued working, until one circuit, one very crucial circuit, finally lit up. The ship tilted up unexpectedly, sending Artoo sliding into the pit with Chewie, who howled in surprise. Mara barely managed to regain her balance by clinging on with her remaining hand, and Threepio and Vader nearly slid across the floor. Gasps of shock from the cockpit, and then cries of joy as the Falcon shot, finally, into hyperspace.
“You did it!” Threepio shouted.
“Yes!” Vader practically punched the air, clenching it in a that’s-one-for-our-side gesture. Mara grinned. After their day of hell, to put it mildly, finally, finally, luck decided to come around their way. That’s one for the good guys, she thought. One for the Rebels. One for our side.
Artoo beeped, clearly smug, pleased with himself. If droids could say “I told you so”, Mara thought, Artoo was certainly doing it right now.
“Yes, Artoo,” Threepio said, “I may have been wrong about you not being able to do it. I underestimated you.” Another smug beep from Artoo. “Well, there’s no need to rub it in, Artoo-Detoo.”
Mara couldn’t help but chuckle a bit. After all this, after what could be described as a Week of Hell, it was over. It was finally over. Then her laughter died down as she remembered how much they had lost that day. Han was in the hands of Jabba the Hutt by now, and considering his debt that Han still had yet to pay the Hutt, Han’s punishment would be less than merciful. And Sabe, her mother, in the hands of the Empire…
Mara would be lying if she said she wasn’t afraid. For Sabe, for Han, for so many people. What was about to be done to them. They had finally gotten away, and Mara had ultimately managed to refuse being Ventress’ servant in overthrowing the Emperor, but there was still a lot to be done. Too much. Saving Sabe. Saving Han. And confronting the Emperor, for the first and final time.
Mara closed her eyes. She was afraid. And more than that, now that they were in hyperspace, she allowed herself to feel their losses for the first time that day, in full. She could feel it, growing heavily on her, and though she did not cry, she was almost tempted to. Her chest trembled, and she felt Vader’s arm slink around her shoulder, comforting her as best he could after the hell they all had gone through on different fronts, because in the end, that was all either of them could do.
They were going to rescue Han, and Sabe. They would. And no power in the galaxy would stop them, for they were invincible, they were unstoppable, they were legend.
But even legends had to stop. Even legends had to grieve. So Mara grieved, feeling the first hint of tears slip from her eyes, and Vader wept with her, and in the ship, others did their mourning in different ways, for all that had been done to them, for the loss of two of the crewmembers they cared deeply about, because in the end, that was all they could do.
***
Ventress knew she should be furious at Admiral Piett for allowing the ship to escape. Even as she turned to look at him, she could sense how fearful he suddenly became, as if fearing whatever bit of wrath she was about to fling at him. Just about everyone feared her temper, and for good reason. They feared Terminus’ wrath and Vader’s wrath just as much, and for good reason. They feared the Emperor’s wrath as well, and for good reason (the Emperor was far from a forgiving man, after all). They were right to fear her, Terminus and Vader as well. Fear, after all, was the best way to keep the soldiers in line, to remind them, in fact, that they were not the biggest rancors in the pit, that that distinction belonged to Ventress, Vader and Terminus (before Vader and Terminus betrayed the Empire, that is).
But right now, she could not bring herself to blame the Admiral. The Admiral had failed, yes, but the failure was as much hers in terms of failing to convert Mara and the others (indeed, she had ended up locking them out if only to make preying on the fledgling Jedi easier) as much as Admiral Piett’s.
The Admiral spoke up. “Lady Ventress – ’’
“You are dismissed, Admiral.” There’s nothing I can say to you. I doubt there’s really anything left to say.
The Admiral seemed confused – relieved, of course, but confused. “As you wish, my lady.” He left the bridge. Ventress headed to her meditation room, feeling her hands clench into fists; if she stayed on the bridge, it was likely she would have destroyed the bridge in the sheer fury she felt. Everything was going to plan, victory seemed to be in her grasp – of course things were going too smoothly to be true. She should have suspected that Calrissian would betray her. She should have suspected that Mara would refuse; after all, the girl was as stubborn and blinded as her father once was. And…
Well, she supposed, she doubted she could have suspected that the Millennium Falcon would miraculously escape in time. She could only assume that the crew of the Falcon had purely luck on their side. Of course they did. The lot of them had mostly escaped her through luck after all these years; luck favored them, favored those who called themselves the heroes, while leaving others in the dust. Luck was far from equal, luck instead picked and chose who it wished to favor.
It explained much about this strange series of events.
Ventress settled into her meditation chamber. Of course, luck did not solely favor the heroes. After all, she had the frozen body of Sabe Naris, former Queen of Naboo, in the cargo hold of the Executor. She would awaken in time, and though it would take much persuasion, Sabe would come around to seeing things her way. And perhaps, in time, her daughter would see reason, and her son, and many others. Including Terminus and Vader, she thought. They would all see the light, and they would rule together, and make things the way they should have been, before the Emperor had lied to them.
Ventress sat there in her meditation chamber and despite her loss of the Falcon, she could not help but smile, a sinister thing that came over her face, cold and almost threatening-looking in nature. Yes. This search was far from over. She had not yet failed, like in the past when Dooku would chide her for her failures and even threaten to throw her aside. She had failed, but she had succeeded in taking the frozen body of Sabe Naris with her. In a way, she had won, and the Rebels had still lost. A strange paradox, but it was there nonetheless.
Ventress’ smile widened into an almost nexu-like grin. She would win this war in time. And in time, the Kenobi girl and her friends would see things her way, and the galaxy would be theirs. The Imperial fleet would flock under her banner, not the Emperor’s, as would many other planets.
And perhaps, in time, Ventress would shape this galaxy the way it should have been shaped, before the Emperor had all but destroyed it.
