23Chapter 34…
"You're insane! You actually expect me to accept that type of nonsense!"
Jerking his controls left in a desperate attempt to dodge the oncoming blaster fire, Corran Horn still managed to roll his eyes. "Why do you think we haven't started a full scale war with you?" he asked the Falleen prince through the comm.
"You're awaiting other vessels. Stalling us," Prince Iles replied with a hiss.
Stalling…well… "We're attempting to retrieve our companions, you idiot! Just let us snatch them up, and we'll—"
"No one risks themselves with this much foolishness for a few comrades."
A groan exploded from Corran's lungs. Using the Force to control the frustration, he flipped off his comm system, and then turned back to the battle at hand. He tried not to harm them; the Falleen were fighting out of ignorance and fear—nothing more. It wasn't right to attack. And still, the impulse to protect his friends urged him forward.
In the distance, he watched as Weo's freighter soared quickly in space. Eluding one shot with a twist of her ship, she rushed at the crippled Falleen vessel, awaiting Luke and Mara.
Now, all they had to play with was time.
They marched. Mara's arm around Luke's waist, his doing the same around hers, they supported each other as they continued down the hallway. Ross was securely hunched over Luke's shoulder, the boy's limp arms and legs swaying back and forth as the Jedi Master trudged on. Mara attempted to aid her husband, lifting some of Ross' weight off him through the Force. She knew Luke was just as exhausted as she.
The Force was strong in both, but they had endured so much. The Falleen—the ship. Injuries. Viruses. And, the list went on.
So did they.
The stench of ozone and smoke drenched their clothing. It seeped into their nostrils as if attempting to remind them of why they were so fatigued. Nevertheless, everything else was peaceful. The Falleen hadn't followed; the ship was surprisingly calm.
Through the peace, however, there was a chill in the air. Mara was certain her husband felt it as well, but neither of them spoke of it. There was nothing to be said on the matter.
Curbing around another corner, a wave of relief shuffled down Mara's back. She tightened her hold on Luke, and gently smiled.
"We're here," she declared, and casually pointed a finger at the last door to the corridor's right.
"I don't think they were lying," Henale explained to her commanding officer. "They could have killed us, and yet—"
"They're human, Henale," her commander replied, his eyes staring wildly out the viewpoint of the bridge. "Jedi, at that. It doesn't matter whether they mean peace. You know what the master proclaimed. Their survival means our destruction."
"But—"
"No, Henale," he came back, finally turning to meet his eyes to hers. "Don't make this more difficult." Without another word, the commander snatched his comlink from the side of his uniform. "Prince Iles," he called into it with a dark, almost reluctant tone, "we have intruders in the East Wing of our vessel. There is no possibility for us to retrieve them. We've cut off the section from all the other parts, including life support, but that will take time. The shields are down." He paused, giving Henale one more glimmer of somberness, then continued into the comlink, "It's my best judgment in this matter to destroy the East Wing of this vessel. Before they can escape."
"Are they doing what I think they're doing?" Weo's voice suddenly shot through Corran Horn's comm system like a shouting Jawa.
Staring out into space as one Falleen vessel turned its front port slowly away from Corran and Weo, gradually twisting to face the other crippled ship, all Corran could do was frown.
"Yep," he declared with a shake of his head. "It looks like Luke and Mara have made some nasty enemies. You better get down there, Weo. They're waiting for you."
"What do you intend to do?"
The wild buzz rang so abruptly through the tiny X-wing, Corran jumped. If it weren't for his restraining belt, there was little doubt he would have rammed his head directly into the top of the cockpit.
"Corran?" Weo's called.
"One sec," he replied, and flipped a button on the far left side of his control panel. Within a heartbeat, a wave of information came shooting through his readout. List after list of data—all at his disposal. All from the wonderful city-planet of Coruscant.
A tiny crooked grin clasped to his lips, Corran merely replied into his comm system, "I'm gonna shove a pile of information in the Falleen's faces."
"What?"
"Just get to the coordinates, Weo," he explained, gazing at his readout. "I'll take care of the rest."
"They've cut life support," Mara explained to her husband as they stood at the door of the room Mara had used to enter the ship.
Without hesitation, Luke grabbed one of the oxygen masks from Mara's side poach. Silently, he secured it to Ross' face, and turned back to Mara. "I suppose our attempt at a truce didn't go as well as assumed."
"No," Mara muttered, averting her eyes to the ceiling. "There's a lot of regret on this ship. I can almost smell it."
"Someone else?"
"Probably orders from the other ship," Mara replied, and then slouched against the room's door. Sliding down its smooth metal surface, she sat on the ground. "We did well. Jedi rules, philosophy and understanding right down to the fine details. It's not our fault someone still wants to kill us."
"Our rescue vessel is still far away," Luke continued, and gently placed Ross on the ground. Sitting beside Mara, he rested his gaze on the ceiling. "They're turning the other ship this direction. I'm not sensing anything good coming out of it."
"Trying to blow us up?"
He nodded.
"I'll give them points for persistence."
"I'll add a few myself."
"Anything we can do to stop them?"
"It's not in our hands. We just have to trust Corran and Weo now."
"Ah. I recall this lesson. How did it end last time?"
Luke turned to her, his eyes and mouth displaying an almost devious edge. "You're the one that always wants to push it up a notch. I believe this can be called fate's irony."
Mara felt a tiny laughter escape her lips. Gently leaning her head next to Luke's shoulder, she closed her eyes. The blood had stopped trickling from her wound, but her vision didn't seem eager to focus. More than anything, she wanted to sleep.
"Well," Mara spoke softly, wrapping an arm around Luke's, "it could be worse. At least we're together."
To her surprise, Luke huffed out a chuckle.
Narrowing her eyebrows, she inched away to get a view of her husband's face. "What?"
"I love it," he explained, his lips still curved upwards. "Your attempt at optimism."
"Attempt?"
"A very good one," he came back, and set his crystal eyes to hers.
Entrancing.
Mara stared back until a tiny grin caressed her lips as well. "You're teasing me…now?"
"No time like the present. Like I said, the future's out of our hands."
"Well," she leaned her head back on Luke's side, "if I'm going to die, might as well take you with me. That was my original plan from the way beginning, anyway."
Luke didn't say anything. Eyes closed, he let out a few light chortles, and then checked on Ross. Silently, Mara closed her eyes, listening in the quiet hallway as she, Luke, and the computer slicer breathed. The Force still alerted her; she felt the tension growing more steadily in the air like a Rebel officer listening to the clank-clank of stormtroopers moving closer to her position.
However, she did nothing. Like her husband said, it was no longer in their hands. To be a Jedi was to be content. No matter what hand the universe dealt. Mara was new to the concept, but her husband was not. And, his calm tranquility could relax any nerves Mara might experience. She held still.
"You have what?" Prince Iles questioned through the comm.
"The Falleen virus!" Corran shouted back as he finished spinning his X-wing through a loop.
It was now up to him. Weo was soaring into position, but other than Corran's tiny X-wing in the way, there was nothing to stop Prince Iles from shooting havoc into the other crippled vessel.
"I don't have time to sit here and explain everything!" Corran replied, dodging another red bolt. "We know about your master—the Falleen and human virus—the works! Just…stop for a second, and I'll send you the information."
"How did you get it?"
"Does it matter?"
"How do I know it's not a fake?"
"Look," Corran finally spoke in a somber tone. Calling out with the Force, he aimed his starfighter at the bridge of the Falleen vessel. "I'm not going to let you kill my friends. Now, you can either take this information, and stop this war right now…or," with a flick of Corran's finger, the four proton torpedoes on his X-wing became armed, "I can do as much damage to your vessel as I can with every Jedi ability I possess. Your choice."
Arm loosely draped over Luke's front, Mara opened her eyes. It was an odd feeling coursing through the ship—through the space outside. The tension had been as thick as mud, swinging between the Falleen and the Force.
And, then…nothing.
Almost like a passing breeze, the Force stopped its ripples inside Mara's mind. Slowly, she removed her head from Luke's shoulder, and glimpsed around. "What just happened?"
With that, her husband merely smiled. "I think it's over."
There was another alarm through the Force. That one, however, wasn't of worry or fear. In fact, just the opposite. Mara looked at Luke. He was already hauling Ross from the ground.
Silently, Mara grabbed the comlink from her belt. "Weo?"
"The Falleen have called back the arsenal," the other woman replied. "I'm sending a force cylinder to the ship even as we speak. Thought you'd appreciate it better than space-walking with three people and two masks."
Mara shrugged to herself, but her smile held like cement. "Hey, if we have the time to secure a force cylinder—"
"Got all the time you need. Leia just sent the Falleen information to Jedi Horn. He's in the process of handing it over to the Falleen right now."
"Thank you, Weo," Luke said as he secured Ross over his shoulder.
"No problem, Master Skywalker. It's nice to hear from you again."
The comlink was silenced; Mara gladly attached it to her belt, and then cocked an eyebrow at him. "You knew we would be all right, didn't you?"
"Why would you say that?" he replied, suddenly confused.
Slowly, Mara's expression fell. "No vision?" she questioned.
"Uh…," he blinked his eyes. "Not that I recall."
"No feelings? No idea?"
"Trust. Remember, Mara?" His features lightened up again. "What type of life would it be if I already knew how everything was going to play?"
Gradually, Mara's smirk resurfaced on her mouth. Pressing the door's controls, the metal slab slid to the right. Already, Weo's force cylinder was securely in place. The hole Mara had created just awhile before was now sufficiently guarded by a long clear tube, connecting the Falleen ship to Weo's freighter.
Silently, Mara gestured a hand to her husband, and stepped out of his way. With a nod, he stepped toward the cylinder, and gently positioned Ross inside. The slicer's body vanished out of sight. Kneeling on the floor, Luke turned back to Mara, and extended a hand.
Slowly walking across the room, Mara stopped beside the hole. Without hesitation, she threw herself inside of it, awaiting for her husband to exit down to safety.