OK, so it was a new Holocron from sources unknown and not trusted as much by any of the students as the old one. But she had recognized the man, and she was fairly sure that it was right about the man from her dreams, but one question still bothered her Why is he haunting me? She couldn't help but wonder. It was almost impossible not to. Here she was, a young woman, not the most powerful Jedi man or woman by far, not even close. She was as steady in her training as one could get and wasn't likely to turn to the Dark Side.
Yet this mysterious, and evil man haunted her dreams. There was only one thing her or anyone else could do: She was going to Naboo, and she was taking Mara with her. Only one thing remained, getting Mara to go with her.
"Mara I've just got a feeling about this," Chera said, she was starting to become exasperated, she had been saying this same thing for the past half hour to no avail, Mara seemed perfectly content not to go,
"Look Chera, don't even try that with me, it's not going to work! I am not going to Naboo, Luke asked me to stay here, and even if I didn't have every intention of leaving tomorrow for Coruscant whether he likes it or not, I wouldn't go to Naboo!"
"OK," Chera said, sounding defeated. "You win, I've got to go though, goodbye."
With that Chera turned and walker out the door leaving Mara alone.
I wonder...Mara thought to herself, I wonder if she's going to try something else to get me to go.
Just then the COM beeped. It was Kyp. "Mara, Karrde is trying to contact you,"
"Let me talk to him." she said. Instantly the screen in front of her rippled and then gradually the face of Talon Karrde became substantial, "Mara," he began "Mara, I need you to go somewhere on a special mission."
"Sure," she said, "where to?"
"A little place, almost deserted since before the Emperor took control."
"What's it called?"
"Naboo," Naboo, the word hit her like a rock, That's where Chers was just trying to get me to go.
"Are you all right Mara?" Karrde's voice pulled her out of her thoughts,
"Yes, I'm OK. What do you want me to pick up while I'm there?"
"A spice, very rare, called 'Bynica', you think you can find some?"
"Uh, maybe, didn't you just say that Naboo was practically deserted?" Karrde seemed startled, and then quickly replied, "'Practically' doesn't mean 'fully', there are still a few trading villages, just stop by Naboo, pick up some Bynica and come give it to me. It's not that hard."
"I never said it was, I just said..." she began, but Karrde interrupted,
"Good, then I'll see you soon. Wild Karrde out"
Mara sat down and sighed, so she was going to Naboo anyway, now she had to go catch Chera before she left and grab a ride. This was not going to be fun.
A half-hour later Jerik sat in the cockpit of The Dark Abyss. He was deep in thought, mostly about Chera, If she only knew... she seemed nice enough, maybe he should tell her the truth. But that could compromise the entire operation. He sighed; it was always going to be like this he reminded himself, maybe someday he could tell her the truth. But not until they had everything worked out, these things were delicate, he couldn't let her know about his plans. Just then he was jolted out of his thoughts to the sound of "BEEP BEEP BEEP" they were coming out of hyperspace above Naboo. Right on schedule. "Chera, Mara, get up here," he called into the COM system then sat down. A few seconds later Chera was sitting down in the com-pilots chair next to him, and Mara was standing behind them staring out at the small planet below them.
"So that's Naboo huh?" she said rather nonchalantly
"Yes, it is," Chera answered obviously ignoring the older woman's tone, "population, unknown. Dangerous species, unknown. Language, unknown. We don't have any information on this place, I'm not totally sure it's going to be safe to land...." she began. Just then, The power went out.
Chera saw Jerik trying to get control of his ship, but to no avail, without power they didn't have nav-computer, no logs, no scans. It would take all of his skill just to land in one piece. And it would take all her powers just to not panic, she leaned back and took a deep breath and centered herself on the planet to search for somewhere to land with the Force. Just then she felt something, something powerful, something strange, yet vaguely familiar. She looked up at Mara and could tell instantly by her face she sensed the same thing. "Jerik...." Chera began.
"I know, I know," he said "that way" he nodded to the left a little bit,
"Yes," Mara said, "we need to go over there."
"Chers?" Jerik looked at her questioningly
"Yes, over that way." she said calmly.
It didn't take long to enter the planet's atmosphere. And once they had done that it was even shorter to the ground, the only problem was they couldn't see where they were going to land until they were almost on top of it. They finally found a good place and landed, the hatch opened, and saw the place they had landed. It must have been beautiful, once, but now it was little more then some rubble and trees. A few buildings still stood, but those appeared to be mostly cantinas and hostels, although a few houses still stood. This place must have been taken over by smugglers after the Empire was destroyed. Chera thought, then she saw the residents; their faces were pictures of pain and suffering, and their presences in the Force struck her even more. Loud, and painful, but with a determination to go on, to live. They were not going to just fade away and die! She admired their spirit. Just look at what happened when the Empire took over, that was all the empire was ever concerned with, hurting people and covering up their crimes! She thought to herself. She stretched her sphere of responsibility to encompass as many people as possible. She wanted to feel them and their strength, she wanted to help ease their pain, she wanted...She suddenly felt something, something strong, and vaguely familiar, something...Master Skywalker! And someone else.
Walking down the ramp behind Sydnee, Luke felt uneasiness in the air. Someone was watching him. It was just like on Dagobah when he first met Yoda, his former master. Luke looked to the right, nobody. He looked right, Callista. Staring back front face he started walking again. Then it hit him, Callista! Callista walked over to Luke and hugged him. "What brings you doing here?" asked Luke. Feeling an uneasiness come from Callista's direction. "I thought that maybe I could find some information about the Jedi battle for Naboo about 50 years ago." "Well we are about to go get some thing to eat, would you like to get something to eat?" Luke said. "Sure." Luke noticed that Callista had looked at his right hand inspecting the wedding band on his finger. "Who's the lucky girl?" With a hard look in Luke?s direction Callista asked. "Who, her? No that's not my wife. Mara Jade is my wife." Then Luke saw that Sydnee was wondering who the woman was. Luke introduced the two. "Callista meet Sydnee Starlighter." Callista held out her hand and Sydnee met it with hers. "Sydnee meet Callista." Sydnee nodded to Callista. The trio walked toward town. Looking at some figures on the edge of town. Luke noticed Mara with two others. Luke and company headed for Mara. |
