CHANGE OF HEART
Mara Jade knelt before her master. She had served emperor Palpatine since childhood. She had served him without question and without hesitation. She had never felt any need to question the power, wisdom and vision of her master.
‘Rise my hand,’ he murmured softly.
Mara slowly rose to her feet keeping her gaze lowered. Very few people had the courage to gaze into Palpatine’s yellow eyes. The few who did rarely lived to tell about it. Mara knew of the lethal punishments dealt out by her master. She told herself that those who suffered deserved their fate. That if they had obeyed their master they would have been rewarded rather than punished. Palpatine’s second in command Darth Vader stood to the right and slightly behind Palpatine’s throne. It was a position he had held as long as Mara could remember. She remembered a time when a small Mara had stood where she stood now. That child had trembled in fear not knowing the fate that awaited her. She hated Vader and always had since he had brought her before the emperor. Mara only had vague memories of a different home and a different life before the towering black clad figure had burst into their home one night through a hail of blaster fire. She soon found herself brought into the presence of her now master, struggling and frightened. Vader had held her arms in an iron grip so that she could not move or even breathe as his hands were locked around her upper arms. For weeks after she wore the bruises on her upper arms as they changed from black to violet to yellow green. Each night she had looked at those bruises and vowed that someday she would repay Vader’s treatment of her. It was many years later that she realized that Vader was a mindless tool under the service of the emperor. For reasons she could not explain this made her hate him more.
So she had learnt. Learnt to fight, to defend herself, to shoot and to use a lightsaber. She had survival skills that could carry her through any situation. She could fly anything, use any kind of landcraft and spoke a dozen languages. Her role of emperor’s hand required her to travel to the outer rims of the galaxy. Even from the distance of thousands of light years from Coruscant she heard her master’s voice clearly in her mind. She had killed without hesitation, she had lied to, seduced and cheated any enemy of the emperor. She had the respect of all members of the court and beyond. Excluding Vader. Sometimes she could feel his eyes on her. At those times her mind tingled as if he had been about to speak to her. She had often wondered what had happened to Vader. How he had ended up in that life support suit. What had prompted her master to keep him alive to make him his second in command?
Mara knew that most if not all of those who served the empire feared Darth Vader. This was not without cause as she had seen his lethal temper in action. She had seen men in his super star destroyer Executor hurled across huge distances when they displeased him. Mara shook her head to clear it. Now was not the time to be dwelling on the past. For a moment she felt the small smile on Palpatine’s face as if he somehow understood her thoughts and approved. She glanced up at him quickly then looked away hoping he did not notice. But of course he noticed everything, she did not see his smile widen momentarily.
‘Jade,’ he spoke finally, ‘I have a mission for you.’
‘Yes my master,’ she replied automatically.
‘We have reason to believe the rebels have set up their base on the ice planet of Hoth.’
Mara’s lips thinned. That rebel scum, she hoped her master was about to order her to wipe them off the face of the galaxy. Disloyalty was the worst crime she could imagine.
‘You will go there Jade,’ he continued his eyes travelling over her face.
‘Yes my master,’ she replied wondering where this instruction was leading.
‘I want you to join their forces.’
Mara’s head shot up in disbelief, had she displeased him she wondered. Why else would he want her to do the one thing she most despised?
‘Calm yourself hand,’ he said softly noting her distress, ‘you are to gain the trust of the rebel leaders, to learn of their forces and their plans. You will report to me on a regular basis.’
He smiled at her as she contemplated his instructions then added, ‘One must know one’s enemy to defeat one’s enemy.’
Mara nodded, of course he was right. Her master was never wrong. Still as she left the throne room to prepare to leave she could not help but feel a sense of uneasiness she could not explain.
0(0(0(0
Two days later she brought the battered skipray she had been assigned out of hyperspace at the edge of Hoth’s orbit. She stared at the mottled blue and white planet. Grudgingly she had to admit it was a good choice for a base being so remote and considered uninhabitable.
Her comm. unit crackled:
‘Unidentified skipray, hold your approach.’
Mara brought the ship to a stationary orbit and waited.
‘Identify yourself skipray.’ The voice continued sounding cold and clipped.
‘My name is Tianna Raymar,’ she began trying to sound frightened, ‘my star cruiser came under attack a few light years from here, I am the only survivor.’ She broke off in a muffled sob hoping she sounded convincing.
A long pause followed her recitation, ‘Where do you come from Tianna?’ the voice continued sounding several shades kinder.
Mara could not help a sly smile from crossing her lips, these rebels were such fools, ‘I come from a world called Eltine. My people were driven from their home by repeated imperial attacks.’ She paused for a moment, ‘I am alone in the galaxy.’
The voice hesitated again then replied, ‘You may continue your approach Tianna. Come in on vector 217.’
Mara keyed the coordinates into the nav. computer. It seemed she was a better actress than she thought. She lowered the visor over the canopy and studied her image in the reflector glass. Her lustrous red gold hair looked dull and unkempt, her face looked thin thanks to some carefully applied shading powder. She could do nothing to hide the brilliance of her large emerald green eyes, so she decided that keeping her gaze lowered was wisest. The tunic she wore had a few small tears and was smeared with engine grease. She hoped the skipray gave the impression that it needed regular mechanical work. She slowed the skipray as she approached the hangar she had been directed to. She shut down the engines and glanced out the viewport at the trio of people gathered to meet her.
In the centre was an attractive petite brunette. She was flanked by a slightly older rugged almost disreputable looking man on her left. On her other side was a younger man with a lean athletic build and sandy blonde hair.
Mara approached them slowly surprised to see the woman step forward her hand extended,
‘Tianna my name is Leia Organa.’
Mara hesitated where had she heard the name Organa? She realized she was frowning slightly and relaxed her face into what she hoped was a shy smile as she accepted the offered hand. The older man gave a lopsided grin and surprisingly a wink. Mara had to resist the urge to slap him for his insolence. She had to keep reminding herself that she was not in the emperor’s court now. She turned her attention to the other man and felt her breath catch in her throat. He had the most remarkable vivid blue eyes she had ever seen. But it was more than that he projected a presence and a serenity that he wore almost like a cloak. Mara’s rudimentary force skills told her this man had strong force ability. Was this why the emperor had sent her here, to kill another force sensitive that may one day be a threat to him?
Mara finally found her voice and thanked the woman for allowing her to land. She could not but wonder if this was the mysterious princess from Alderaan who had led the rebels. As the word Alderaan passed her mind a light went on. Of course Leia Organa, she must be the daughter of Bail Organa. Mara could not help but glance at her serene face wondering how she had achieved such serenity after watching her world blown to smithereens. Mara turned her attention to the younger man, feeling self conscious. She wondered just how well developed his force ability was. She wondered if he could see through her charade. Mara decided charm was her best ally. She turned a soft smile on him as she gazed at him with her emerald green eyes. She had always known her eyes were her best feature and she used them to her advantage regularly. Not surprisingly she saw him colour slightly and glance away clearly flustered.
‘You didn’t tell me your name,’ she said softly keeping her eyes on him.
‘I’m Luke Skywalker.’ He mumbled in reply.
Mara had to force herself to keep the smile on her face. This was the rebel pilot who had destroyed her master’s pride and joy the death star. How could that be she thought. This blushing kid, the reason her master spent night and day planning his revenge.
Mara found herself being led away from the hangar. Leia Organa kept up a running stream of questions about her past. Luckily the data cards the emperor supplied her with including a myriad of details that would deflect even the most persistent questions. They reached the end of the long corridor they had travelled and found themselves in a large well equipped command room. Mara gasped as she glanced around at the sensing equipment, deflector shield controllers and banks of computer monitors. She had no idea the rebels were so well equipped and organised. Up until now if she had thought about them she would have thought of them as a bunch of ragtag misfits connected by the insane notion that they could run the galaxy better than her master. She noticed Leia Organa smiling at her;
‘Welcome to the rebellion Tianna.’
0(0(0(0
Two weeks later Mara found herself assigned to the station of deflector shield monitoring. It had been an interesting two weeks. The rebellion had amassed a surprisingly large force. They seemed to come from all over the galaxy. Correllia was well represented. Not only by the ex-smuggler Han Solo who seemed determined to not show he was in love with Leia Organa. But the second in command of the rogue pilots Wedge Antilles and two other rogues all were from Correllia. Mara had heard rumours that this small out of the way planet had a remarkable reputation for producing some of the best pilots in the galaxy. She had learned that Skywalker had grown up on the tiny desert planet of Tatooine. He kept to himself mostly but Mara could not help noticing his eyes followed her more than she liked. She remembered a rather uncomfortable conversation in the canteen about two days after she had arrived. She had noticed the familiar metal cylinder hanging from his belt and before she could stop herself she asked;
‘Is that a lightsaber?’ after speaking she silently rebuked herself, how would some hick from the tiny farming word of Eltine know what a lightsaber looked like. She noticed Luke gazing at her quizzically with his remarkable dark blue eyes.
‘Yes it is,’ he finally replied, ‘have you seen one before?’
Mara thought quickly, ‘I think I saw a picture of one. My dad had an old story book about Jedi that he loved.’
Luke smiled slightly, ‘Yes the Jedi were well known at one time.’
‘So are you a Jedi?’ she pressed wondering if this was why he had that maddening air of serenity.
‘Well you might say I am a Jedi in training,’ he said with a modest smile.
Before she could stop herself Mara found herself returning his smile. There was something so open and engaging about him she could not help feeling safe. Looking him over she acknowledged that he was attractive, mostly because of his remarkable eyes. If circumstances had been different she would have contemplated a dalliance with Skywalker. Mara had always enjoyed the challenge of deflowering innocents and clearly Skywalker was just that.
She could not quite figure him out. He was a strange combination of innocence and worldliness. He had that modest, shrugging affability that went well with his Tatooine upbringing. But his eyes held a pain and a maturity that made him seem years older than his youthful appearance. Mara wondered what had put that expression of pain in his eyes. She wracked her brain to think if there were any records in the imperial database about Skywalker. But as far as she knew he had literally come out of nowhere flying an X-wing and somehow fluked a perfect shot of a proton torpedo into the thermal exhaust port that led to the reactor of the death star. That single lucky shot created a ricochet of explosions that obliterated the huge, powerful battle station. She had been on assignment at Bilbringi when she was rocked to her knees as her master’s scream of rage reverberated around in her mind. It was not until she returned to Coruscant that she had learned of the shocking single act that had set the empire back decades in their quest for domination over the galaxy. It was difficult for her to associate such an extraordinary act of sabotage with this humble, unassuming young man.
Although she hated to admit it there was a comfortable air of camaraderie and unity amongst the members of the rebellion Mara had never experienced before. The Imperial echelon had been such a melting pot of fear, suspicion and mindless obedience. It amazed her how readily and easily she was enfolded into the rebellion. These people who lived on a knife edge of potential discovery and destruction had no reservations about welcoming a new member. Mara’s cynical trained mind told her that was their mistake and they deserved to be destroyed for being so blindly trusting. But a part of her wondered what it would have been like to grow up in this kind of supportive, caring environment. She thought of Leia Organa who had lost her entire world yet the support of her friends in the rebellion had clearly eased her grief. Mara often wondered what would happen to her if by some miracle someone was able to overpower the emperor. No matter how unlikely it seemed a part of her couldn’t help but worry about where she would end up if this happened. She was forced to acknowledge the fact that if the empire came to an end she would be totally alone in the galaxy. Although she enjoyed the respect of most of the Imperial court she knew none of them were really trustworthy and definitely could not be considered her friends.
She had made reports to the emperor via the force every few days. When she did she was often self conscious wondering if Luke Skywalker was sensing the communication. He never gave her any outward indication that he suspected her of duplicity. Eventually Mara relaxed. The emperor seemed happy for her to stay with the rebels indefinitely to learn as much as she could about their activities.
Before long she found herself welcomed into the social activities of the rebels. Regular sabacc tournaments were held. Mara laughingly refused to take part as she told them she would not know one card from another. The rebels didn’t need to know that her sabacc skills had more than once defeated the best gamblers in the galaxy. The complexity of her role as emperor’s hand meant that she was multi-skilled. She had taken on roles as an engineer, a fighter pilot, a dancer, a singer and a croupier in one of the many planetary casinos among others. The only person who seemed less willing to welcome her into their fold was Han Solo. Mara often found him watching her with a curious expression in his hazel eyes. At first she had been able to ignore him, there seemed so many other people and activities to hold her attention. But as time passed she became more aware of his scrutiny. It came to a head when one afternoon she was heading back to her quarters after finishing her shift when she ran into Solo coming the other way.
‘Hey red,’ he greeted her stepping into her path, ‘got a minute?’
Mara resisted the urge to verbally take him apart over the ridiculous nickname he insisted on using with her. Controlling her hair trigger temper she smiled at him.
‘Sure Solo, something wrong?’
‘Let’s go to the canteen,’ he replied evading her question.
A few minutes later Mara found herself sitting across from him with a cup of the disgusting caf they served in front of her. Solo sipped his caf and gazed thoughtfully at her over the rim.
‘What is this about?’ Mara finally asked impatiently.
‘I just thought we could get to know each other a little better,’ he replied maddeningly.
Mara decided to wait him out. Clearly something was bugging him and she refused to let him intimidate her. She had turned bigger men than him into a quivering mess of fear. Finally he cleared his throat.
‘I was just wondering whereabouts on Eltine you came from? I spent a bit of time there back when I was smuggling,’ he hesitated locking eyes with her, ‘it was a nice place.’
Mara tried to read his facial expression. Did he know or suspect something about her story. She shrugged her shoulders.
‘I try not to think about it, too many bad memories, you know’ she finally said dropping her eyes, ‘my folks had a small fruit farm.’
‘So what happened?’ he continued.
Mara finally lost patience with him, ‘Where are you going with this Solo?’
He smiled at her, ‘It’s just when I used to deliver farming equipment to Eltine it was part of Imperial space. Why would they need to attack a planet that was under their control?’
Mara froze for a moment her eyes widening. Why had the Imperial researchers given her a planet of origin that was under Imperial control. Surely they could have found some tiny out of the way place that was self governed. Solo studied her expression then continued.
‘I really don’t know who you are or why you are really here, but your little sob story doesn’t wash with me,’ his voice was suddenly like steel, ‘there are a lot of good people here. They are my friends. They are fighting an insane despot who has no hesitation in destroying whole worlds. They don’t deserve to be betrayed, particularly by someone they have been kind to,’ he held her gaze for a moment, ‘I haven’t said anything to anyone yet, don’t give me a reason to.’
After this statement he rose and left Mara sitting there. Her heart was pounding and her breathing constricted. His words kept echoing around in her mind. What the hell did she do now?
0(0(0(0
A few days later Mara found herself sitting at her desk if front of the deflector shield control panel still in a state of suspended anxiety from Solo’s warning when her master spoke in her mind causing her to gasp in surprise.
*Jade, a task force is about to attack Hoth. You will not I repeat will not deactivate the shield.*
Mara was puzzled for a moment, *But master, how will they succeed with the shield in tact?*
A small pause, *Jade your identity must not be discovered. The rebels must believe you are one of them.*
She felt the connection break and tried to calm her breathing hoping no-one had noticed her reaction.
0(0(0(0
A short time later warning sirens began to howl through the Hoth base.
‘We are under Imperial attack. We are under Imperial attack,’ an almost hysterical voice kept repeating, ‘all crews to their fighters and major transports begin evacuation of ground staff!’
Mara sat for a moment watching the organised chaos going on around her. It was difficult to understand how this group had achieved their success at Yavin. There seemed to be no order or purpose to many of the actions of the ground crew. The fighter pilots had already boarded and taken off in their X and Y wings, Skywalker amongst them. Mara could not help wishing she was flying with them. It would be all too easy to accidentally on purpose fire a killing shot into Skywalker’s X wing in the heat of battle. For a reason she could not explain this thought did not give her pleasure as she thought it would. In fact a cold shiver ran down her spine. She could not help but compare the actions around her to the military discipline and precision that would be shown by Imperial forces in a similar situation. As she sat at her desk she became aware that she was being watched. She turned her head to see Solo standing a few feet away the same quizzical expression on his face as he noticed the indicator lights over her head showed the deflector shield was fully operational. She wondered if he thought she had betrayed them. He seemed to be arguing with Leia Organa trying to convince her to leave. Organa was ignoring him as she dashed from one control station to another, issuing orders. The comm.. crackled again:
‘Imperial troops have entered the base! Imperial troops have ent….’
The voice had grown to full blown panic before being cut off. Mara had a mental image of the comm. operator slumped dead over his station. The first gnawing doubts about the casualness with which the empire ended life began to penetrate her mind.
‘Tianna are you coming?’ said a voice urgently from over her shoulder. She turned to see Leia Organa’s large brown eyes gazing at her questioningly. Solo stood behind her his expression unreadable.
‘Sure’ she responded climbing to her feet.
‘We’ll have to hurry,’ Leia said before they began a mad sprint through the winding corridors of the Hoth base. As they emerged into the main hangar Mara caught a glimpse of a stormtrooper squad entering from the other end of the building followed by a familiar tall black clad shape. She felt a moment of panic before Solo grabbed her arm and ground out softly in her ear,
‘You’re with us now remember?’
Mara nodded then hurried after him to the lowered ramp of the Millenium Falcon. She threw herself into one of the seats behind the co-pilot station as she watched Solo and the wookie Chewbacca rapidly going through the pre-flight sequence. Mara’s heart pounded as she realized for better or worse she was escaping an Imperial raid aboard a rebel vessel.
End of part one...had to cut as LJ told me the file was too big..