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In The Shadows
By Sienn
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Disclaimer: See Chapter 1
Spoilers: See Chapter 1
Rating for Chapter: NC-17
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Chapter 14
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It had been a long time since he had last had problems to stay focused.
Decades of minor and major catastrophes had given him plenty of
possibilities to exercise his ability to stay cool and rational even if
things were seemingly spiralling out of control faster than he could grasp
them.
He had ascended to the rank of Jedi Master, had become the leader of the New
Jedi Order, and had been confident to be able to reign in whatever negative
feelings might bubble up within him in a crisis situation. He did have
first-hand experience, after all, with the Dark Side and knew better than
most how quickly your own evil self could seize your mind and erase whatever
common sense you might have had before.
All these experiences that he had deemed such valuable and effective lessons
weren’t helping him much and his awareness of the problem did, if anything,
only heighten his anger.
Luke Skywalker was barely registering the words of his wife as he made his
way through more of the rubble that was all that was left of the Commenorian
Embassy’s Grand Chamber. His ice-blue eyes were firmly hefted on the closed
doors of the elevator and try as he might, the picture of Borsk Fey’lya’s
victorious, haughty grin would not leave him, would not be pushed back.
The mercenaries that the Bothan had employed had followed their leader,
taking the Ysalamiri with them, and Luke felt the Force flood the formerly
empty area. It did not soothe him. Caught in the Force-repelling bubble the
animals created, he could not feel his twin sister or his brother-in-law. He
did not know what was happening to them – the only thing the Jedi Master
knew was what hideous things the former Chief of State had already done. He
didn’t need a lot of imagination to think of the horrors that the
revenge-seeking alien could inflict upon those he loved.
Fear was swirling deep within him, filling his very heart, and strengthened
its grip with every second that he willingly ignored the calls for caution
that Mara was directing at him.
Did she not understand that he could not wait? Did she not understand what
was going on?
The mere thought of losing Leia, losing Han, losing both of them…. He could
not afford to take his time, could not afford to be cautious and try to
outsmart the Bothan. And, as whispered a small voice deep down, he did not
need to, either. He was a Jedi Master. As soon as he caught up with Fey’lya,
the traitor would see how unwise it was to challenge him, to threaten those
that he loved.
The Ysalamiri didn’t frighten him. He had fought against enemies without the
Force before and he had won. He would again.
His lightsaber sprang to life in his hand and with an expert gaze Luke
Skywalker seized up the doors before him. He would make quick work of them,
just as he would of Borsk. Memories swirled in his head, memories of the
many times he had come away frustrated after another argument with the
Bothan, memories of the other’s arrogance and self-righteousness. They
fuelled his ire and strength flooded his tired muscles.
His pain was quickly suppressed – it didn’t matter and he had fought harder
when he had been much worse. The Jedi Master’s arm came up to thrust the
sparkling green blade of energy into the elevator doors, with much more
force than would have been necessary.
Mara’s movement came so suddenly that he had no time to react and almost
lost his balance as she gripped his right biceps and yanked him around to
face her.
“For Force’s sake, Luke! You’re smarter than that!”
The irritation in her voice was abundantly obvious, as it was on her
delicate face, and the way her emerald eyes glared at him left no room for
interpretation. His wife was upset with him and the sheer unexpectedness of
her reaction left Luke drained of fury and caught in a strange helplessness
that bordered on panic.
He was astonished at the way his voice reflected his emotions. “I have to go
after them!” The former farmboy glanced back to the elevator, “It’s the only
way!”
“It is the way he wants you to take.”
Calm washed over him, bearing the signature of his beloved Mara, and he
latched onto the sensation with the part of him that understood that what he
was doing was irrational and plain wrong. The pressure on his arm lessened
somewhat and the redheaded beauty before him gave him a small smile, “We’ll
figure something out.”
The Jedi Master knew she was right, but the brother was not yet satisfied.
The absence of his twin burnt too painful in his heart and the mere thought
that it could become a permanent ache was stupefying in its horror. “He’ll
kill them.”
Mara took both of his hands and pressed them gently, “He won’t. Luke, he
wants you to follow. He wants her to see you die.” Her palms wandered and
cupped his face as she brought hers closer to his and whispered, “He is
predictable. Not because we know what he’ll do, but because we know what he
wants us to do.”
Their Force presences mingled as she continued, “We will hurry and we will
think of a way to make this safer for us. But first,” she softly turned his
face towards the corner where the small bunch of survivors sat hunched and
bound, following their exchange from afar and with insecurity shining in
their eyes, “we have a responsibility. As Jedi.”
She could watch as within seconds, the Jedi Knight she had come to admire so
much came back together and saw the wisdom behind her course of action.
Still, there was an underlying tension left, a glimmer in her husband’s
azure eyes, telling her that she was walking on thin ice. Even though he was
aware that he would do nothing more than place himself in deadly peril by
running after his best friend and his sister, Luke Skywalker simply did not
care.
The notion to give his life for them was something that naturally came to
him. It was the quickest, maybe even the easiest solution and he would
happily take it if it meant Han and Leia were coming out of this alive and
unharmed.
Mara saw it in his expression and her own fear reared its head. Her toddler
son’s smiling face hovered in front of her mind’s eye and she felt the
small, budging life in her womb…. These children could not grow up without
their father. Having an aunt and an uncle did not balance this lack – it
couldn’t possibly do so.
Shock left Luke’s expression shattered for a moment and Mara swallowed as
she realized she hadn’t been shielding this thought from him. She scanned
his face, anxiously, afraid that she might have hurt him, but her husband
only closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he looked at her again,
his gaze was clear, the glimmer gone.
She felt his desperation simmering underneath, but knew that he had it under
control. Mara relaxed.
“We’ll bind them loose and help them organize.” The Jedi Master took in the
whole chamber with a wide gesture of his left. “There are bound to be more
survivors and they have to get them out. Then I’m going after Fey’lya.”
“WE are going after Fey’lya.” Mara softly corrected.
Luke’s eyes flashed once more, “You’re pregnant. You can’t put yourself in
such danger. Our daughter…”
“Our daughter needs a father as much as she needs a mother.” The former
Emperor’s Hand was back to glaring at her love. She had a lot of
understanding for his current predicament, but there was only so much insane
behaviour she would tolerate. “If you’re going in there,” she nodded to the
elevator, “then I’m going with you.”
“I won’t let you,” he growled. Under different circumstances, she might have
found this sexy, but the mood would not come this time as she cut her eyes
at him, “You’re welcome to try and keep me from it, Skywalker.”
He gave her a hot glare of his own, but swallowed whatever he had wanted to
say. Instead, he turned on his heels and stalked over to the restrained
beings. With a furious gesture of his hands the cuffs around their ankles
and wrists came off and clattered noisily to the floor. Little fountains of
dust exploded into the air and they stared, mouth agape, at the obviously
sour Jedi Master coming their way.
Mara gave a soft sigh and shook her head. Had she been like this when she
had been just about to shake off Palpatine’s influence? Had Luke felt as
helpless when confronted with her ire back in these times as she was feeling
now, seeing the barely controlled power that begged to be released against
the new threat in his life, the new danger to his happiness?
She was pretty sure these questions would have to be answered with a yes and
this was the only reason she didn’t go over to knock him down with what
would have no doubt been immense satisfaction. Husband or not, no one
ordered her around.
The former Emperor’s Hand glanced over to the elevator and frowned. Her
worry for Han and Leia was no smaller than Luke’s and she fervently hoped
the delay they were forced to endure because of the circumstances would not
result in a disaster even worse than the one they were trying to deal with
now.
*~~
Five pairs of alien eyes looked into the crib and met each other with
helplessness shining in their dark depths. The wails of the small human
toddler had been piercing the silence of the Skywalker apartment for almost
half an hour and no amount of tender attention had been able to assuage
whatever was bugging little Ben Skywalker.
Meewalh clan Kihm’bar wrinkled her nose, exposing her sharp teeth in a hiss
of irritation. “This is not normal,” she stated. Her fellow Noghri visibly
relaxed. They had all come to the same conclusion some time ago, but there
was no way they could have admitted defeat before their leader did.
“Maybe we should contact the Son of Vader and ask for advice.” The young
male who had ventured his idea for everyone to consider did not dare look
into the eyes of his elder, knowing full well that his proposal would not
meet with approval.
To his surprise, the oldest Noghri in the group nodded slowly, “It will be
embarrassing,” she mused aloud, but another look into the flushed face of
the crying child only hardened her resolve, “But we cannot tolerate any harm
to come to the heir of the Son of Vader.”
“We will comm them, then?”
Meewalh hissed again, “We will go ourselves. His parents will know what is
to be done,” She made a quick gesture with her right and two females
carefully lifted the precious bundle out of its crib. As it had happened
whenever a similar gesture had been made, Ben Skywalker’s cries softened
their intensity, but he continued to sob and sniffle and was not to be
soothed. The Noghri elder shuddered in irritation, “No need to heighten our
shame.”
*~~
“He is not following, Sir.”
The voice was expressionless as it sounded out behind the black mask of the
mercenary. The man did not even look up from his display, but kept
monitoring the elevator shaft that had obviously been lined with miniature
holo cameras.
Borsk Fey’lya grimaced, exposing teeth surprisingly sharp, and focused his
violet gaze on her.
Leia Organa Solo met his eyes with all the disgust she could summon, letting
her anger fill her and strengthen her. From the moment on the elevator doors
had closed in front of her, everything had proceeded with quiet efficiency
and incredible speed.
It had soon become obvious to her that the Bothan had planned this
meticulously in advance – nothing had been left to chance and the former
Princess of Alderaan was sure that every change that had been wrought upon
the building that harboured the Commenorian Embassy had been done on his
order and for purposes that only he could know.
The thought did not lessen her fear and she was trying hard not to look too
often into the corner where her husband lay bound and still unconscious. Her
heart screamed with the desire to run to him, to cradle him, to protect him,
but she did not want to provoke the alien. It was clear that the former
Chief of State was intent to hurt her, and only her, and he wanted to do so
by torturing those she loved. A display of affection so open and honest
would surely give him too many perverse ideas.
She was sitting, hands bound, on a narrow bench that lined one of the walls
of the room Fey’lya had obviously made his headquarters. It was barren
except for said bench.
The tall alien came over to her and brought his face close to hers, his
impatience clearly written on his furred features, “When did your brother
stop caring for you?”
Leia didn’t deign to answer and clamped down the outrage that wanted to well
up within her at the audacious claim. He wanted to draw her out, he wanted
to hurt her and see her dissolve. She would not give him the satisfaction.
Never had she done anything to make life for Borsk Fey’lya easier and she
was determined to keep this attitude.
The Bothan snorted as she remained silent and straightened again, “Well, he
will come. And I’m sure he’ll adore all the lovely surprises I have in store
for him.”
One of the mercenaries that guarded the door chuckled and Fey’lya granted
him an evil smirk, “The shaft is prepared?”
The tall being – in its uniform, Leia could not be sure he was human –
nodded, “A pressure of your finger, Sir, will be sufficient.” He handed over
a small remote and Fey’lya chuckled. “Excellent work, Cros. If it works, you
will more than make up for your blunder on Ord Radama.”
The male bowed and smiled at Leia’s wide eyed stare. Anger cursed through
her, outrage even, as the true extent of her captor’s schemes was confirmed,
and the Princess was glad that the Force was unavailable to her. She didn’t
know what she would have done had she had the possibility to use it in order
to strangle the life out of the vile creature before her.
Fear mingled with the fury, too. What did they have in store for Luke? She
knew, without a doubt, that her twin brother would come for her. He always
came for her. It was inevitable… and Fey’lya knew it was. In all the years
they had worked together – even if not gladly so – he had come to know them
all much better than any of their former adversaries ever had. Many of the
mysteries that had been wrought around all the events of the past few weeks
suddenly seemed so clear and so obvious.
The Bothan had caught her thoughts in her eyes and crossed his arms. “I see
that you’re beginning to understand, Leia.”
He hunched down before her to be on eye level and once again exposed his
teeth in a self-satisfied grin. “Of course I have access to Skywalker’s
medical file. It was so easy to hire a medic and have him mix me a cocktail
that would have knocked him out if not for that blasted, redheaded witch.”
His long airs twitched in annoyance, “I did not take their bond into
account, I give him that. And it was one of the few mistakes I made twice.”
Violet flashed back to the one called Cros, “The Nytinite worked perfectly,
but again, the bond and the Emperor’s whore….” He growled low in his throat,
an incredibly predatory sound that she would never have associated with the
self-centred, pampered politician as whom she had known him. “She spoiled it
all. I should have had him in my grasp and then…. Ah, my dear Leia, I know
so very well how precious your twin brother is to you.” He cackled, “It was
a masterful plan. But it didn’t work.”
He shook his head and straightened, “Of course I have backup plans. I always
have. And you have walked right into my trap and did exactly what I wanted
you to do. All the time, from the very first moment on in which I started to
dissect your life. Piece by piece.”
Leia trembled with fury and found no lever to calm down. The shock was still
hovering over her and it still seemed surreal to have a former ally – albeit
an unloved one – in front of her, gloating about how he had tried, and was
still trying, to destroy her family.
“Wasn’t Cal a masterpiece?”
The Princess gritted her teeth, “What does he have to do with it all, Borsk?
Why does he deserve to go to prison for the rest of his life? Because you
hate ME?”
The Bothan’s features closed off in haughtiness, “I needed a distraction. I
needed to lay a false trace for you and your ilk to follow, to convince you
that this threat comes from anywhere but me. You did never even CONSIDER me,
didn’t you?”
Again Leia didn’t answer, but to her chagrin, the alien could see the truth
of his words mirrored on her features. Fey’lya chuckled again, “Of course
you didn’t. Cal was the first choice. Not only was it a wonderful scandal
and a way to win the allies I needed, he is also a friend of yours. A
compatriot. Dear, are you aware that you looked like a ghost as Rodan
accused him? You should work on hiding your emotions.” He grinned, “Then
again, it won’t do you any good now.”
He clucked his teeth together, “You know, Leia, I actually didn’t want it to
come to this. So much dirt, so much… stress.” He feigned annoyance, but his
delight in face of the situation was obvious. “Your brother proved
surprisingly resilient to my abduction attempts, though, while your husband
does honor to his reputation and was lucky enough to get away with his
life.”
The cold in the alien’s gaze was chilling her to the bone as he took in the
slumped Corellian in the corner. “It only delayed the inevitable. Today,
Princess Leia, you will witness the death of your brother and of your
husband. YOU will survive. Lucky for ME, you see, because then I will have
you watch the death of your children, too, as they come to mourn their
father and uncle.”
The Bothan seemed extremely pleased with himself as he licked his lips, “One
by one, I will wipe out everyone you hold dear.”
Her throat felt incredibly dry. Fear was muddying her thoughts, the horror
of what she was hearing, of this devil’s intentions and of the knowledge
that he was all set to succeed. Han was helpless…. Fey’lya could do to him
whatever he wanted. And Luke…. Luke would come for her and the Bothan would
be prepared.
Hot tears stung Leia’s eyes, but she bit the inside of her cheek and forced
the lump in her throat down. There had to be a way out of this. There was
always a way out.
But before she could focus only a fraction of her intellect on possible ways
of escape, there was one question burning on her tongue, a question that she
had to get out, for she longed to understand. She NEEDED to understand.
“Why?”
For the first time, Fey’lya seemed thoroughly enraged. She had no time to
duck as one of his paws snuck out and slapped her right through the face.
Pain laced over her left cheek and she knew his claws had left their mark.
“You don’t even know!” he hissed. “Of course you wouldn’t know. In your
arrogance, you would not have cared about me. About my life that you
destroyed.”
She drew her eyebrows together, unable to grasp what he was talking about.
Her incomprehension seemed to fuel his anger. “You took everything from me.
Since the very day I became Chief of State you’ve been working against me.
You wanted back what you had lost. Might. Power. Fame.”
Violet insanity burned in his face and the fear in Leia’s heart hardened to
a cold, terrifying certainty.
“And then you took it,” He hissed, sputtering in unbound hatred, “You and
your brother, you humiliated me before the galaxy. You took my position, my
honour… my LIFE! The galaxy,” he flailed with his arms, clearly talking
himself into frenzy. His fur was standing on end down the length of his back
and his teeth were flashing white and wet in and out of her field of vision.
“The galaxy should have been MINE! But no. Princess Leia, the hero of the
Rebel Alliance, the idol of the New Republic… SHE had to have it. Little
spoiled Highness had to have it ALL.”
His arms planted themselves to either side of her head as he leant against
the wall behind her and his alien breath was hot and spicy in her face, “She
called on her big brother. On the holy Master Skywalker with his empty
preaches and his moralist blabber. Because they’re twins, aren’t they? The
children of Vader finally coming to claim what they feel has been theirs all
along. Isn’t it so? ISN’T IT SO?”
For eternal seconds, violet met chocolate and in these few moments Leia
realized that Borsk Fey’lya was way past the stage where reason could reach
him. He had never been able to accept the truth of his errors, of his
mistakes, had never been able to accept them and the guilt he had laid upon
his shoulders. Maybe it had been because of the pride that had been so
inherent to his soul for all his life or maybe it had been because of fear
of failure that dominated the lives of so many influential, high-ranking
individuals. The Princess tended towards cowardice – sheer cowardice to face
the consequences of wrong decisions made out of greed and power lust.
“You’re pathetic.” She said. There was no fear in her voice. The closest
emotion she allowed to be reflected by her words was pity. “Pathetic and
insane. And if you do all this, then the whole universe will know.” Contempt
crept into her words, and although it was a pure means of distraction from
the terror that raged in her soul, it was as honest as it could possibly
get. “Before, they just thought you were a poor tactician. After this,
they’ll know the insane fool you really are.”
He gripped her chin, his fingers hard as durasteel as they pressed into the
soft flesh of her cheeks. She saw her own blood trickle down the length of
his claws and soil the soft fur of his arms. Fey’lya ignored it. “You will
be sorry for every word you ever uttered in defiance of me, Princess Leia
Organa of Alderaan.” His head turned and fur slapped against her face,
astonishingly rough in quality. Leia was sure she would never in her life
forget the scent.
*~~
The elevator shaft loomed above him, dark and narrow. He didn’t need to be
privy to Borsk Fey’lya’s plans to know that it was a trap. Luke Skywalker
felt, though, that he had no other choice.
One of the survivors of the explosion had been stationed at the gaping hole
that had once been filled by the circular window of the Grand Chamber. With
the help of the Jedis’ lightsabers, they had fashioned crude flags out of
the decorative New Republic banners and they hoped that someone would be
seeing them while the tall Elomin Senator at the window was waving them up
and down for attention.
There was no telling when help would arrive and Luke knew that he could not
wait. He still couldn’t feel his sister’s presence, caught as she was in the
middle of the Force-free Ysalamiri bubble, but his instincts were screaming
at him to get going.
They were unfortunately screaming at him, too, that he should not take the
elevator shaft. But the Bothan had been clever. The Jedi Master had long
come to the conclusion that the ideas for the renovation of this building
had not come from Fyor Rodan. The Commenorian rogue Senator might have
ordered it all, but the plans had been created by Borsk Fey’lya.
Knowing the former Chief of State, Luke was confident that he wouldn’t have
gone to such lengths if he hadn’t seen a purpose in it. This purpose, the
former farmboy was sure of it, was solely to see him come to his death in a
booby-trapped dead end.
The problem was that there was no other way. He and Mara had checked the
length of the chamber, thoroughly and more than once. There was no door to a
stairway and the transpariglass façade of the building offered no footholds
or handholds to allow climbing. Not even two Jedi Masters could levitate up
or down the length of several thousand meters and hope to be alert and fresh
enough to be able to defend themselves against attacks.
No matter how much he tried to find another solution, he kept coming back to
the elevator shaft.
“A known risk is a calculated risk.” Luke murmured as he clipped his
lightsaber back to his belt. It had done good work opening the doors to the
shaft but would for now be useless. Even if he were to come into a situation
where he had to deflect blaster fire, in the narrow space he’d soon be
confined to there was not enough room to safely use a weapon of such vast
reach.
“That’s rubbish.” Mara’s voice echoed through the metal-covered space as she
peeked into it behind him. “It’s something Calrissian’s invented to
apologize for his idiocy.”
“It’s kind of comforting.” The Jedi Master gave her a small smile.
Mara perched an eyebrow, “Lies always are.” She squeezed next to him onto
the small perch and looked down. The shaft went kilometres into the depth of
the city planet. Only years of combat training and a Jedi’s sense of balance
allowed them to stand on this thin line of duracrete as if on a wide alley
made of firm earth. “Luke, this is crazy.”
“Do you have another idea? I’m all ears?”
The redhead sighed, “I don’t.”
She watched as he extended his arms and got a firm hold of one of the myriad
protrusions – all of the small things, no bigger than his fist, created the
magnetic fields in which the elevator cabin moved. Shut off when the shaft
was empty, they made for excellent climbing help.
Trusting the Force and the muscles of his arms and legs, Luke was soon
clinging to the wall opposite her, only centimetres of magnetic field
generator between him and the abyss. Her emerald eyes narrowed. She had seen
him wince, even though he had tried to quench it.
“You broke a rib.” She stated. There had been no time to assess his injuries
and he had given no outward sign of them, but she felt the Force pulse in
him. He used it to suppress the pain, to keep going as if there was nothing
wrong at all. It was an art Luke Skywalker had perfected over the years, but
he wouldn’t be able to pretend forever. They were both about to thoroughly
exert themselves, Force or not. She had come away with a mild concussion she
had almost healed already. Luke had suffered from at least a cracked rib and
who knew from what else.
Her husband ignored the statement and instead focused on her with a plea in
his eyes, “Will you stay?”
Mara shook her head, firmly, leaving no room for discussion. Luke’s face
fell and for a moment it seemed as if he were going to argue despite of the
stubborn determination he felt within her. In the end, he didn’t. He simply
nodded and started climbing.
His wife followed him straight. She felt a protective cocoon wrap around
her, felt additional strength flow into her limbs and glared upward. “Better
take care of yourself, Skywalker.”
She saw the smile on his shadowed features as he proceeded upward into the
darkness and was unable to lay any sting into her words.
*~~
“He’s coming.”
It was an unnecessary statement, as the display linked to the holo cameras
in the shaft gave them an excellent view of the two figures that were making
their way upward with the fluent, graceful movements of trained warriors and
Jedi Masters.
“I know he can’t feel you in the Force,” Fey’lya’s tone was light as he
brought one of his hands up to his chin and smiled, “But he can feel the
empty space within it that the Ysalamiri are projecting. It’ll lead him
straight here.” The tall Bothan turned and grinned at Leia. “Of course that
is exactly what I want.”
The violet chunks of ice – bereft of any emotion but hatred and glee –
focused on the lead mercenary and narrowed, “Are your men in place?”
Receiving a confirmation, Borsk Fey’lya gave a satisfied nod, “See,
Princess, over the years, I’ve read many, many of the reports your brother
filed to the New Republic.” He sneered, “Oh, I didn’t mind you two all too
much at the beginning - until you started working against me after Endor.”
Leia knew she was gaping at him – her surprise and her indignation were too
great as that she could have controlled her facial expressions. “Endor?”
The alien growled, “Don’t play innocent, Leia. It was after Endor that you
two decided that the New Republic should be yours. After Palpatine’s and
Vader’s death and your pivotal role in it all, there was not much that could
have kept you.” Fey’lya started pacing. His fur was rippling as his emotions
sent waves of movement through his muscles.
The Princess shook her head, “Luke and I never….”
“Don’t lie to me!!!” The voice was a shrill screech and Leia involuntarily
shuddered. His gaze was hot as he met hers. “You got enmeshed into politics
and he decided to bring back the Jedi. Oh, you were good, both of you, with
your ruse. You fooled everyone. They all believed that the children of Darth
Vader were determined to make up for every wrong their father had brought
upon the galaxy. And so they were blind to what was really going on.”
Appalled at the way his wounded pride had twisted Borsk’s mind, Leia could
but stare at him in numb disbelief.
“I,” he patted his chest and puffed with pride, “was the only one who
realised what you really were after. You WANTED your father’s legacy. With
Skywalker at the head of a new Jedi Order and you at the head of the New
Republic, the universe would have been yours and just as it had happened
with Palpatine, we would have all given it to you out of our own free will.
But I fought you – all these years, I fought you. Alone, but courageous I
kept…”
“What a load of Hutt poodoo.”
The sharp, mocking remark had the Bothan veer around on his heels and his
hands came into fists as he faced the contemptuous glare of the Corellian.
“How dare you…!”
“You kept working for your own ascent to fame.” Han Solo shook his head as
he fought himself into a sitting position, “Face it, Borsk, you’d have taken
Palpatine’s place if you had been able to. You were scheming and bribing
your way up until your idiotic lies convinced the Senate to vote you into
the position of President.”
The contemptuous glare was enhanced by a smirk that was meant to be
belittling and had the Bothan hiss in anger. “If Leia had not decided that
she no longer wanted to be in politics, you’d still be licking boots for
votes – in vain.”
Han did barely wince as the alien was in front of him with a series of long
steps and his paws came around his throat. He felt Fey’lya’s claws dig into
his neck and he knew that the situation was desperate. The Corellian didn’t
have all the details of the situation sorted out yet, having come out of
unconsciousness mere minutes ago, but he saw in Leia’s eyes that the mess
they were in couldn’t possibly get any worse.
He would have lied had he claimed not to be afraid, but Han Solo would
gladly die before he showed Borsk Fey’lya.
“The position of Chief of State was MINE!” Fey’lya hissed. “I’ve been
working towards it for ALL my life and I, single-handedly…”
“You single-handedly lost the war against the Yuuzhan Vong, Borsk!” Leia’s
voice was sharp as she rose and glowered at the insane alien. “You never had
the kind of mindset fit for someone that is supposed to PROTECT. You just
wanted to reap benefits, to amass wealth and to exert control. You didn’t
choose to ally with the Rebels because you believed in our cause. You did it
because you thought it was the most opportune thing to do for YOU.”
“Face it, Borsk,” Han’s voice was rough because of the pressure the Bothan
was applying, but his grin was as smug as if he were sitting in a pub
enjoying himself, “You chose yourself a job for which you’ve never been
SMART enough.”
The insanity in the feral violet before him sparked and swirled for a
dangerous moment and the pressure on his throat increased to a point where
he felt dizziness claim his thoughts, but just as the first stars were
appearing in his view and he saw Leia restrained by two more mercenaries as
she wanted to come to his aid, Fey’lya loosened his grip and straightened,
“Not yet,” He hissed. “We want to go according to plan. Timing, Leia,” He
smiled at her, “is everything. Now, where was I?”
He frowned and smacked his lips, “Right, I remember. Endor changed
everything. Your brother should have died there. Things would have been so
much easier for me if he had. It was a mistake Palpatine made… I will
rectify it today.” He beckoned to his henchmen and they led Leia to the
small screen their leader was still holding in his hands.
Pictures of the past were whirling in Leia’s mind. It was where Borsk had
been living… it was where his insanity had begun, where he had sought for
someone to blame as he had fallen from grace and vanished from the awareness
of the galaxy. She could not help but think of the past, too, of the
dreadful day she had been led to another display, a giant one, that had
showed her Alderaan. Her beautiful, peaceful Alderaan – destroyed in the
blink of an eye by the Death Star while she had been forced to watch.
Whether voluntarily or not, the parallelism was not lost on her and she felt
her knees go weak and her palms break into sweat as she watched the slender
figure of her brother and the smaller one of her sister-in-law approach the
place the camera had been mounted on – wherever it was.
*~~
They had been climbing for several minutes and were making excellent
progress. Nothing and no one had showed up to hinder their ascent and Luke
was feeling increasingly nervous. This was not what he had expected.
He could feel his own suspicion mirrored in Mara’s feelings as she followed
close behind him – under him, really – and both of them had their Jedi
senses trained on the whole of their surroundings, scanning for any kind of
peril, any sort of trap that they were certain had to be there.
The absurdity of it all prompted a smile of disbelief to blossom on the lips
of the Jedi Master. In the course of the past few weeks, Fey’lya had
repeatedly managed to manoeuvre him into situations where he had no other
choice left but to walk heads-on into a trap. It was a display of power that
Luke knew the Bothan would savour and he felt his anger spike anew at the
realisation how much they had all been played with.
Luke almost wished that something would happen so that he could finally
FIGHT.
As if on cue, his danger sense flared hot in his head and he looked around
frantically, sensing the urgency.
“Remind me to slap you if you ever wish for that again.” Mara hissed beneath
him. Her emerald gems were steadily moving and he saw her brow wrinkle with
irritation as they could both not detect anything that looked as if it could
be dangerous to them.
He was about to give a retort when what he had been waiting for broke loose.
A meter to his left, a door slid open. In the darkness he hadn’t noticed it
and as he recognized the peculiar shapes of Ysalamiri and their nutrient
cages on the back of the shadows that were carefully peeking into the shaft,
he knew why he hadn’t had any clue it was there.
The Force-negating effect of the animals was nagging at the edge of his
consciousness. Between him and the bubble they had created couldn’t be more
than centimetres to spare. Excellent timing, he had to give the mercenaries
as much. Not enough, though.
Mara was completely out of reach of the Ysalamiri and – under him – very
much out of their aggressors’ sight. They would know she was there, but they
couldn’t see her, which was just the same as if they hadn’t known she was
there in the first place.
The Jedi Master’s green blade extended with the familiar snap-hiss and the
cold light spilled over the masked faces of the mercenaries. They showed no
surprise – Luke hadn’t expected them to. Trusting into the Force, he shifted
on his narrow stand, bringing himself into the position to deflect the bolts
they would loosen. He felt Mara’s lightsaber come to rest in her palm, as of
yet extinguished. It would give him more freedom to manoeuvre if he didn’t
have to worry about her blade shearing off his leg. He was determined to not
let any blast get close to her anyway.
Jedi Master Luke Skywalker was all ready.
The mercenaries did not fire.
The former farmboy was puzzled, but carefully controlled his facial muscles
and kept staring at his enemies. Why did they not fire? They did not expect
he would surrender or that they would stand a chance against him if they
were to climb into the shaft themselves. Ysalamiri or not, he had too much
room to avoid the effect they had on him and they had to know it. What,
then, were they waiting for?
The answer he received was unwelcome. It was a soft crackle, still far away,
but it triggered a waterfall of memories - memories of agony and
helplessness and the acute feeling of betrayal that had surged through him
on that day many, many years ago.
He would never forget the sounds that had filled his ears and that had
drowned out everything but the cackle Emperor Palpatine had sent straight
into his mind, to gloat over his victim until the very last moment.
‘Move!’ He sent the command through the Force, knowing that Mara would
instinctively react much quicker than if he had worded it and he felt that
she was mirroring his actions as he pushed away from the wall, using his
Jedi senses to float in the air.
Electricity shrieked over every surface of the shaft, jumping from one
miniature magnetic field generator to another, weaving a deadly net. Luke
felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on end and his skin tingled with
the energy all around him.
He was still puzzling over the possible purpose of this stunt – after all,
Fey’lya would have known he would be levitating out of harm’s way – as the
Force suddenly left him. The shock was total and he understood too late that
the move destined to rescue him from the deadly energy had brought him into
the Ysalamiri bubble. It did not extend far enough to the side of the
mercenaries to get him, but it filled the shaft IN FRONT of them. Where he
was hovering. Had hovered.
It was a feeling as if he had stepped out into thin air, but of course he
was not allowed to fall, to leave the Ysalamiri bubble and draw the Force
back around himself. Instead he was grabbed by one arm and cried out in pain
as his own body weight strained his shoulder. His lightsaber went clattering
down into darkness.
The two men dragged him in, careful not to come into contact with the
charged walls of the elevator shaft. One of them had his blaster rifle
firmly pointed at him, the other at Mara and for a horrific moment Luke
simply did not know what to do. His shoulder sent agonizing waves of fire
all through his body, through his chest and bereft of the Force, he was, for
a moment, not more than a helpless chunk of dead meat that they could haul
in like a fish.
It lay not in Luke Skywalker’s nature, though, to give up and succumb to
panic. He glimpsed through the haze of pain and the first thing he saw was
one of the magnetic field generators, blue lightning dancing over it. The
inkling of an idea came to him and when another wave of white hot agony shot
through his left shoulder he had gathered himself and knew what he had to
do.
Another gamble, of course. The Ysalamiri complicated everything, but if he
didn’t go with it, the pain in his ribcage would make him black out – or a
stun charge of the mercenaries would.
Hoping fervently that Mara would be at the ready for SOMETHING to happen,
Luke extended his right hand, his artificial hand, and laid it firmly over
the magnetic field generator. The shockwave was excruciating and he heard
himself cry out – yet, he didn’t need to bear it for more than a second.
Only until…
The Jedi Master did not feel the pain as the small dual power cells in his
artificial hand exploded, the energy they set free enough to wreck the
generator beneath his palm. With the circle broken, the electrical net that
had spanned the elevator shaft vanished in the blink of an eye, but the
energy that had travelled through Luke’s body remained, speeding up his left
arm and catching up with the being that had dragged him half-way into the
corridor. That mercenary gave a shrill scream as electricity cursed through
him and his accompany followed suit, close enough for his colleague to have
grabbed him in helpless spasms.
Luke’s thoughts were swimming, his muscles cramping, and when the Force
flowed back into his body, it felt like a cooling balm on his burning skin.
The Ysalamiri had been instantly killed, as fragile creatures as they were,
and he could wrap the all-encompassing power around his body to wait for the
energy to crackle to an end, trying not to think of what he might have
possibly done to himself.
----------------- To be Continued...