Emperor's Legacy [Mara Jade Skywalker, Ben Skywalker, R]
Title: Emperor's Legacy
Author/Artist: were_lemur
Rating: R
Warnings: graphic violence, character death
Word count: 1,268
Summary: EU; Mara Jade, Ben Skywalker; Gen/Angst/AU; Emperor's Legacy - Mara survives, Jacen doesn't.
Something slammed into Mara's leg, and she felt Jacen's triumph through the Force, but she didn't care. She'd take the double-kill. She plunged both her vibroblade and her shoto into Jacen's chest, dragged them to the center and up, bisecting his torso and head on the way out.
Even as he dropped, nothing more than meat, she realized something was wrong. In a sudden burst of insight, she realized that Jacen had stabbed a poison dart into her leg. Something she couldn't identify, couldn't simply heal. But she had one, slim chance of survival.
The Emperor's Hand did not hesitate. She cut off her leg, just above the dart.
She thought she'd been ready for the pain. But nothing could have prepared her. She screamed behind gritted teeth, and again as she collapsed onto the stump. But she dove deep into the Force, going within to find the damage the toxin had already done.
She'd been fast enough -- she'd survive. But the toxin was complex; it had locked into the very cells of her brain. She needed a healer, or an anti-toxin.
She fumbled for her distress beacon, but her it tumbled away. Maybe she shouldn't use it, anyway, Mara realized; Lumiya was still out there. She should ...
She passed out.
* * *
Ben felt a sudden, agonizing pain flash through the Force. Mom!
Distracted as he was, he lost contact with the Sith sphere. It streaked off away for deep space, but he didn't care. He was reaching out into the Force, trying to feel his mother.
She was unconscious -- but alive.
He homed in on her presence, racing to her rescue.
Out of his sight, the Sith sphere circled around to follow him.
* * *
Ben raced down the tunnel, using the Force to dodge debris. He barely slowed at the cave-in.
And then he found her. Lying sprawled on the ground, scratched, bloodied -- his mind refused to see the missing leg for one long, horrified moment, and he didn't dare look any closer at the horribly mutilated body that she shared the stretch of corridor with. He knelt beside her, put a hand on her forehead.
After a long moment, her eyes fluttered open.
"Mom? Can you hear me?"
"Beh. Mso." She turned her head, looked at the corpse. " Msosor ..."
"Mom?"
She frowned in concentration. "Beh -- Ben." She was still staring at the corpse; he followed her gaze, wondered what she saw in that ruined face.
And then he knew. "Jacen?"
"Mso." I'm sorry.
"It's okay, Mom." He stroked her hair. "You did everything you could."
He saw her eyes fill with tears, and she rolled her head from side to side. He touched her forehead again, to ease her pain. "It'll be okay -- " He felt like he was choking on the lie, but she lay still. He probed deeper, felt the poison within, clogging her synapses.
It was too much for a fourteen-year-old to deal with. The clinical side of him kicked in. He tried to figure out what had happened. Lumiya was accounted for -- maybe Alema? But she didn't have the skill to outfight both of them.
Unless she'd gotten lucky. Or tricked them somehow --
His mother sat bolt-upright, eyes wide. "Miha!" she shouted. "Coh -- "
* * *
Lumiya was coming.
"Shh. Mom. It's all right. We'll -- we'll find out who killed Jacen. But now we need to get you back to the ship."
It would break his heart. But for now, she had to keep him alive. It took all her concentration to say "Lumiya's coming," and it still sounded garbled to her ears.
But Ben understood. "Come on. We have to get out of here."
She shook her head. "Trapped."
"Don't worry, Mom. I'll protect you."
She shook her head, violently. "Run."
"I won't leave you."
She shook her head again. Patted his chest. "Bait." Then her own. "Trap."
"You can't -- "
She fumbled for her shoto -- but couldn't quite grasp it. "Tie. Hand."
"No, Mom, no ... "
"Now! No t-" She took a breath, focused herself. "No. Time. Argue!"
She thought he would argue anyhow, but then he gave her a tight nod. Used the spray bandage from his medkit to secure her fingers around it, her thumb on the activation plate.
I love you, she wanted to say, but she knew she needed to save her strength. So she let herself fade from the Force, and waited.
* * *
Lumiya stormed down the passageway. The Skywalker brat was hers. She'd strip the flesh from his body while he screamed, and dump him on Luke's doorstep.
Unless, of course, Jacen found him first. Perhaps, she thought, this was the moment that he had dreaded, and his young cousin the sacrifice. Under her mask, she smiled.
Until she found the bodies. It took her a long moment to realize what she was looking at. Jacen -- and all her hopes had died with him.
She'd take a long time with Ben Skywalker.
And then she heard the snap-hiss of a lightsaber. She whipped her head around -- and pain seared into her back.
* * *
Mara called on the Force to fling herself upright; she buried her shoto deep into Lumiya's back. She must have hit something vital -- the cyborg collapsed.
But so did Mara.
The two women landed in a heap. Mara was on top, but with her mobility limited, she flailed ineffectively; Lumiya jerked her head to the side, and then backward, into Mara's forehead. Light exploded in Mara's vision; she stabbed blindly.
Lumiya shoved with the Force, and Mara found herself flying through the air. She landed on her back, hard enough to drive the air from her lungs. She looked over at Lumiya, watched her struggle to rise -- and fail.
She smiled to herself. That ought to slow the tin-can down.
But Lumiya was determined. She rolled over, and started to drag herself after Mara. "You'll pay," she grated.
"Worth. Every. Credit."
Lumiya reached out, and called her lightwhip to her hand. It flared to malign life. Lumiya drew it back, and flipped it overhead. Mara dodged, but she was too slow; the strands brushed against the outside of her leg.
Before Lumiya could draw back for another shot, Mara brought her foot down on Lumiya's outstretched hand, ground it against the floor of the tunnel.
In response, Lumiya punched up into the bloodied stump where Mara's leg had been.
Mara took the pain, the rage, the fear for Ben, and fed them into her uncooperative muscles. She sat straight up, shoto over her head, and brought it down into where Lumiya's neck met her skull. Drove it in with all her strength.
She sensed the rush of dark energy as Lumiya's life left her. Heard Ben's footsteps as he raced to help her. Felt his arms slide around her, his fingers as he pried the shoto from her hand. "It's okay, Mom," he said. "It'll be okay."
She nodded, too exhausted for the effort it would take to speak. But she managed to get an arm around Ben.
Soon, she knew, she would have to tell him what had really happened to Jacen. Not long after that, she'd have to tell Leia and Han. Between were a few hours (if she was lucky) or a few weeks (if she wasn't) with either a healer or a doctor, and a fitting for prosthesis.
But for now, she was content just to hold her son.
Author/Artist: were_lemur
Rating: R
Warnings: graphic violence, character death
Word count: 1,268
Summary: EU; Mara Jade, Ben Skywalker; Gen/Angst/AU; Emperor's Legacy - Mara survives, Jacen doesn't.
Something slammed into Mara's leg, and she felt Jacen's triumph through the Force, but she didn't care. She'd take the double-kill. She plunged both her vibroblade and her shoto into Jacen's chest, dragged them to the center and up, bisecting his torso and head on the way out.
Even as he dropped, nothing more than meat, she realized something was wrong. In a sudden burst of insight, she realized that Jacen had stabbed a poison dart into her leg. Something she couldn't identify, couldn't simply heal. But she had one, slim chance of survival.
The Emperor's Hand did not hesitate. She cut off her leg, just above the dart.
She thought she'd been ready for the pain. But nothing could have prepared her. She screamed behind gritted teeth, and again as she collapsed onto the stump. But she dove deep into the Force, going within to find the damage the toxin had already done.
She'd been fast enough -- she'd survive. But the toxin was complex; it had locked into the very cells of her brain. She needed a healer, or an anti-toxin.
She fumbled for her distress beacon, but her it tumbled away. Maybe she shouldn't use it, anyway, Mara realized; Lumiya was still out there. She should ...
She passed out.
* * *
Ben felt a sudden, agonizing pain flash through the Force. Mom!
Distracted as he was, he lost contact with the Sith sphere. It streaked off away for deep space, but he didn't care. He was reaching out into the Force, trying to feel his mother.
She was unconscious -- but alive.
He homed in on her presence, racing to her rescue.
Out of his sight, the Sith sphere circled around to follow him.
* * *
Ben raced down the tunnel, using the Force to dodge debris. He barely slowed at the cave-in.
And then he found her. Lying sprawled on the ground, scratched, bloodied -- his mind refused to see the missing leg for one long, horrified moment, and he didn't dare look any closer at the horribly mutilated body that she shared the stretch of corridor with. He knelt beside her, put a hand on her forehead.
After a long moment, her eyes fluttered open.
"Mom? Can you hear me?"
"Beh. Mso." She turned her head, looked at the corpse. " Msosor ..."
"Mom?"
She frowned in concentration. "Beh -- Ben." She was still staring at the corpse; he followed her gaze, wondered what she saw in that ruined face.
And then he knew. "Jacen?"
"Mso." I'm sorry.
"It's okay, Mom." He stroked her hair. "You did everything you could."
He saw her eyes fill with tears, and she rolled her head from side to side. He touched her forehead again, to ease her pain. "It'll be okay -- " He felt like he was choking on the lie, but she lay still. He probed deeper, felt the poison within, clogging her synapses.
It was too much for a fourteen-year-old to deal with. The clinical side of him kicked in. He tried to figure out what had happened. Lumiya was accounted for -- maybe Alema? But she didn't have the skill to outfight both of them.
Unless she'd gotten lucky. Or tricked them somehow --
His mother sat bolt-upright, eyes wide. "Miha!" she shouted. "Coh -- "
* * *
Lumiya was coming.
"Shh. Mom. It's all right. We'll -- we'll find out who killed Jacen. But now we need to get you back to the ship."
It would break his heart. But for now, she had to keep him alive. It took all her concentration to say "Lumiya's coming," and it still sounded garbled to her ears.
But Ben understood. "Come on. We have to get out of here."
She shook her head. "Trapped."
"Don't worry, Mom. I'll protect you."
She shook her head, violently. "Run."
"I won't leave you."
She shook her head again. Patted his chest. "Bait." Then her own. "Trap."
"You can't -- "
She fumbled for her shoto -- but couldn't quite grasp it. "Tie. Hand."
"No, Mom, no ... "
"Now! No t-" She took a breath, focused herself. "No. Time. Argue!"
She thought he would argue anyhow, but then he gave her a tight nod. Used the spray bandage from his medkit to secure her fingers around it, her thumb on the activation plate.
I love you, she wanted to say, but she knew she needed to save her strength. So she let herself fade from the Force, and waited.
* * *
Lumiya stormed down the passageway. The Skywalker brat was hers. She'd strip the flesh from his body while he screamed, and dump him on Luke's doorstep.
Unless, of course, Jacen found him first. Perhaps, she thought, this was the moment that he had dreaded, and his young cousin the sacrifice. Under her mask, she smiled.
Until she found the bodies. It took her a long moment to realize what she was looking at. Jacen -- and all her hopes had died with him.
She'd take a long time with Ben Skywalker.
And then she heard the snap-hiss of a lightsaber. She whipped her head around -- and pain seared into her back.
* * *
Mara called on the Force to fling herself upright; she buried her shoto deep into Lumiya's back. She must have hit something vital -- the cyborg collapsed.
But so did Mara.
The two women landed in a heap. Mara was on top, but with her mobility limited, she flailed ineffectively; Lumiya jerked her head to the side, and then backward, into Mara's forehead. Light exploded in Mara's vision; she stabbed blindly.
Lumiya shoved with the Force, and Mara found herself flying through the air. She landed on her back, hard enough to drive the air from her lungs. She looked over at Lumiya, watched her struggle to rise -- and fail.
She smiled to herself. That ought to slow the tin-can down.
But Lumiya was determined. She rolled over, and started to drag herself after Mara. "You'll pay," she grated.
"Worth. Every. Credit."
Lumiya reached out, and called her lightwhip to her hand. It flared to malign life. Lumiya drew it back, and flipped it overhead. Mara dodged, but she was too slow; the strands brushed against the outside of her leg.
Before Lumiya could draw back for another shot, Mara brought her foot down on Lumiya's outstretched hand, ground it against the floor of the tunnel.
In response, Lumiya punched up into the bloodied stump where Mara's leg had been.
Mara took the pain, the rage, the fear for Ben, and fed them into her uncooperative muscles. She sat straight up, shoto over her head, and brought it down into where Lumiya's neck met her skull. Drove it in with all her strength.
She sensed the rush of dark energy as Lumiya's life left her. Heard Ben's footsteps as he raced to help her. Felt his arms slide around her, his fingers as he pried the shoto from her hand. "It's okay, Mom," he said. "It'll be okay."
She nodded, too exhausted for the effort it would take to speak. But she managed to get an arm around Ben.
Soon, she knew, she would have to tell him what had really happened to Jacen. Not long after that, she'd have to tell Leia and Han. Between were a few hours (if she was lucky) or a few weeks (if she wasn't) with either a healer or a doctor, and a fitting for prosthesis.
But for now, she was content just to hold her son.