In Shadows and Darkness

Chapter 13

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

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The two battered freighters hugged close together well away from recognised shipping lanes but still in Bothan space, proof of their close shave already written across the hull plates of the larger vessel in the form of multiple dark carbon streaks, a sure indicator of mid-gauge laser cannon fire.

In the Ready-Room of Madine's freighter, the Sol, still relatively undamaged compared to the Arcturus, Leia Organa, Han Solo and General Crix Madine were equally huddled, still trying to figure out just exactly what went so catastrophically wrong.

And more importantly, how to put it right again.

"I'll tell you what we're gonna use," Han Solo said, as cock-sure now as he always was, seriously disgruntled at the fact that they had not only lost Mon aboard the Attin'Cho, but almost lost the Arcturus, and Leia with it, when the Star Destroyer Fury, which had been languishing at the Col Din platform near the unrecognized Sol, had replied to a summons on Imperial channels by the Attin'Cho and pulled a virtual slingshot around Bothawuii to get to Leia's ship. Only the arrival of the Sol, knowing instantly where the Fury had gone and having just barely loaded their cargo, had saved her.

Solo looked to Madine, still fuming, "We're gonna use that damn thing that we all risked our necks so you could sneak off and pick it up today."

The General paused, considering; they'd gained two valuable weapons today, as well as invaluable intelligence - the only problem was, they were in no position to use either yet. "We have no way to deploy the DEMP generators from the ships we're in now- nothing with sufficiently hardened systems."

"We'll deploy them from here." Han argued, unmoved.

Madine frowned, "If we use them now, we've lost them - we'll never get them restored in time to go after the Invincible. Plus we've lost the element of surprise- they're presently unaware that we have them at all."

"So that's what you want 'em for- the Invincible." Han said, prompting a momentary tightening of Madine's jaw at his frustration of having let that out in present company. The Empire's latest Super Star Destroyer was due to be launched in five month's time, itself fitted with DEMP technology - the only ship in existence that was. Han remained unrepentant, "It comes down to this General; which do you want more- the Invincible or Mon Mothma?"

The General looked away, sighing, clearly unconvinced.

"Do we have any reason to assume that any Star Destroyer in the fleet is hardened against DEMP technology yet?" Leia prompted, looking for a clear path.

"No." Madine said, "To our knowledge, none of the fleet has yet taken the time in spacedock necessary to have all upgrades implemented. All that manpower's gone into having the Invincible ready on time."

"Not even the Peerless?" Leia said, aware that it had been the Fury who had been at Bothawui, a Destroyer know to travel in The Heir's attachment; perhaps the Peerless was involved too.

"No." Madine glanced to his fellow Corellian then back to Leia, who was very much aware that in Mon's absence, she had become the de-facto Commander-in-Chief. "However, let me point out the flaws in this plan; firstly, we haven't tested the DEMP generators we just received from the Bothans, nor have we recalibrated them following their transit. Secondly, we have no solid proof that the Fury is vulnerable. Thirdly, we are very, very sure that both the Sol and the Arcturus are vulnerable and if we fire the DEMP both will be damaged beyond repair. And finally, even if all these things were resolved, we still have no idea where Chief Mothma is."

They'd made contact with Home-One as soon as the Arcturus and the Sol had exited their short hyperspace jump; the Fury had gone to lightspeed within minutes of their own narrow escape, clearly with another destination in mind, firinf Leia's worry that perhaps the Peerless was involved too. Informed of Mon's capture, the Rebel baseship had immediately initiated an all-points search for the Fury as well as establishing that both the Peerless and the Executor had entered hyperspace, which rendered them untraceable until they reverted to relspace - and both had been less than four hours from Leia's current location.

The Fury and the Attin'Cho, were nowhere to be seen - and the Alliance had a lot of ships scattered, looking for them right now.

"I'll tell you where she is," Han said without hesitation, "She's onboard the Fury. The'd never risk keeping her on a freighter when they had a big fat Star Destroyer just waiting to go to their location. The Attin'Cho's already been abandoned somewhere or blasted into space-dust. She's onboard that Destroyer."

"Why the Fury... of all Destroyers, why the Fury?" Madine's logical mind was searching for reasons, playing the hunch which all good field Generals had- that this fact was important... somehow.

"The Fury is part of the Core Fleet." Leia said, stating the obvious in the hope of prompting some unanticipated realisation, "That's The Heir's fleet; it shouldn't even be out here."

Han shook his head, "Luke can't come this far out - we know that. The Fury must have left the Core Regions for this specific job and been in contact with the Peerless; last positon we have for it was right at the edge of the Core systems- almost as close as it could come. I'm guessing that's where the Fury's heading now."

Madine shook his head, "If they make it to the Peerless then we've lost Mothma. We can't make an attack in Core Space- and not on a Super Star Destroyer; it'd be suicide."

"How many ships do we have close enough to form a task-force, if the Fury came out of hyperspace close to the Peerless' last position?"

Madine didn't need to check, "None." he said, disgusted. "We were trying to keep a low presence in the area in the warm-up to Chief Mothma's meeting."

"I'm guessing the Executor's heading to the same rendezvous." Han said darkly, placing another hurdle in their path. Interesting though; that Luke and Vader seemed to be working together on this; the kid had never done that before.

"But theoretically..." Leia paused, glancing at the door; a second later, a quiet knock was heard.

She stared, momentarily uncertain how she'd known to look...

The door slid open, Captain Wyatt entering, her huge, glassy Mon Cal eyes full of hope, "We have a position for the Fury and the Attin'Cho - less than three hours from here - and they're alone."

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Leia walked down to the Sol's hold on her way back to the shuttle which would return her to the Arcturus, the Sol already calculating the lightspeed jump which would take it to Mon Mothma and the Fury, Leia's own ship, the Arcturus, intending to follow just minutes behind. Pausing, Leia headed across the Sol's hold to where the two newly-gained Dynamic Electromagnetic Pulse generators were.

They were quite small really- roughly her own height, which wasn't that tall, and about twice as large round as her reach; a large sealed cylinder connected to a smaller one, the second coiled about by a fine, copper-colored alloy. Laid in clear support cradles on their sides, a series of delicate copper ariels extended and interhooked about soft, silicon-based processing units, they looked nothing at all; not particularly like a bomb or even an EMP weapon.

The 'techs were already swarming all over them, Chewie among those who were working on the first generator, the second remaining untouched as yet, almost concealed in its enclosed faraday cage.

"Chewie-" Han stepped around Leia, shouting across the bay as he ran forward, still in his pilot's gear after the debacle at Bothawuii. "How long?"

The massive Wookie turned, keening a guess, shrugging as he did so. Han kept on running, reaching the exposed generator and craning his neck to look at the reassuringly simple trigger mechanism hotwired in by the 'techs. Theoretically they knew how to work it and what the result would be if they threw that switch and theoretically, Dynamic EMP's did no damage to flesh and bone - but he didn't particularly relish the thought of being stood next to it when it went off. By the time Leia reached them, the conversation had moved on to the delay between triggering the forst and second DEMP's, the latter having already been fitted with a jury-rigged timer.

"... we don't know - that's the problem." Han continued, turning from Chewie to glance at Leia, "There's no telling how many systems the first pulse will bring down and we need to give enough time for full emergency power to cut in onboard the Fury otherwise the second DEMP won't knock it out. D'you have an estimate on how many systems it'll bring down?"

"All systems, we hope." Leia said, glancing up at the new technology, "Obviously not propulsion, but we think the safety cut-out will shut down the engines when it ceases to receive information from the automated regulating systems. We're pretty sure we'll take those down, even though they're hard-shielded."

Theoretically, the DEMP was little more than a kind of electromagnetic flux compression system with bells and whistles. What made it special was the Empire's development of an advanced dynamic access system, which made it capable of overriding and overrunning all previously safe, battle-hardened systems.

Unfortunately, it did so for a large radius... on everything in the vicinity. Ships, deep space platforms- even surface planet-based technology if the DEMP was close enough.

Any technology requiring integrated circuits, power conductors, anything with resistors, capacitors or remote connectors was killed. That included communication networks, signal processors, automated systems, flight control and digital engine regulation - nothing was immune. If it was connected into the mainframe then it would be affected. If it was an active system when the DEMP blew, it was dead. Even the few systems onboard any starship that were purely mechanically-based and therefore theoretically immune generally relied on binary programs to monitor or regulate them, which would be burned out by the DEMP, so that though they remained functioning, there would be no way to control them remotely or even regulate them.

To any mainframe system, the damage would be wide-ranging and devastating - to something the size and complexity of a Capital Ship, the combined effects would be nothing short of catastrophic, system-wide failure.

This was the Empire's new toy, and it could leave any ship in any fleet older than the not-yet launched Invincible dead in space, the Peerless and the Executor first in line to have the necessary upgrades which would also render them immune. Designed specifically to be utilised by the newly-shielded systems onboard the technologically advanced new Super Star Destroyer, the data had been surreptitiously smuggled out by Bothan spies, two exact duplicate systems built, running apace with the Invincible's system being built at the Kuat Shipyards and taking advantage of any new data and any flaws which were corrected along the way.

It gave Leia a secret, self-satisfied buzz to know that its first use in field combat would not be by a Star Destroyer, but against one.

The only problem was they didn't have a sufficiently-shielded ship to use it from. That technology hadn't yet been aquired - and even if it had, they didn't have time to implement it today.

So they were going to use the Sol.

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Luke strode briskly forward across the main access walkway on the bridge of the Fury, the Attin'Cho having just been taken into its main hold after its reversion to realspace, Karrde's two disguised freighters visible in the bridge viewports just forward and to port. The Fury's Captain, Kavanagh, bowed nervously as The Commander in Chief approached, uncertain of his fate.

"Explain." Luke said, head tilted to one side, dark hair falling before his mismatched eyes, one blue, one cast through with darkest brown near his heavy scar.

"Sir, a second Rebel ship came out of hyperspace behind us."

"A military Corvette?" Luke prompted, already knowing the answer, "A Frigate perhaps?"

The Captain paled even further, if that were possible, "No Sir, a... bulk freighter- heavily modified. We've now identified it as the Sol, a re-spec'd and upgraded Rebel freighter."

"What capacity?"

"Sir?"

"What capacity - how big was it?"

The man visibly swallowed against his dry mouth, "Fifty thousand, Sir."

"A Star Destroyer was stopped in its duty by fifty thousand cubics of freighter." Luke growled, voice low in disbelief, "I'm moved to wonder which side you're on, Captain."

"Sir, we had the Arcturus in tractor restraint, but the second Rebel ship emerged from hyperspace and came in from beneath our engines. It knocked out the tractor-beam array and..."

The Heir shook his head, eyes closed in dismissal, "Don't even try to explain, Captain." Luke stepped in slightly, eyes hard and unforgiving - but in the event, he only huffed, disappointed. Despite his words, Kavanagh was a good Captain and a loyal advocate, and that was always something worthy of recognition, regardless of Luke's frustration. And didn't they always say that any battle plan only survived as long as first contact? "If you're already in a hole, Kavanagh, you should know when to stop digging."

The Captain looked up, a glint of hope in his eyes. "Yes, Sir."

Luke sighed, letting the disappointment leave him with the breath. He turned to Mara, who had catwalked silently up behind him. "Do Intel have anything yet?"

Mara nodded, "They've confirmed that Madine was onboard the second freighter, which they've tentatively identified as the Sol. We don't know who was onboard the first freighter - possibly just Mothma and the freighter Captain."

Which pretty much negated the need to have captured the first freighter anyway, since Madine hadn't been onboard. Luke had actually known over two hours ago that the Fury had failed to capture its target, immediately ordering the Fury to his present location, well off any known shipping lanes on the edge of the Core and Rim borders, Nubia's distant sun casting the faintest of glows.

The Attin'Cho had been busy whilst waiting for the Fury to arrive, Luke clearly not yet willing to give up his chance to catch Madine. Thus, the Peerless, waiting at the edge of the Core Systems, had been placed on alert and Luke had surprised Mara by sending out a call to the Executor, which was only two hours away by lightspeed- quite a coincidence, to Mara's mind.

If Palpatine found out that this was because Skywalker and Vader were communicating behind his back, there would be hell to pay; so much so that Mara hesitated to put this suspicion in her report until she had proof one way or the other. Any unauthorised contact between the two was strictly forbidden; if the Emperor even suspected such it would be Skywalker who paid the penalty- and it would be severe.

For the first time, Mara found herself torn between her loyalty to the Emperor and her developing amity with Skywalker; she didn't wish to be the one who took this to Palpatine. She would if she had to but still, she felt a certain... unease at the thought that it would be her who had informed on Luke - and he would know it.

She didn't wish to lose what she had - even if she didn't know quite what it was yet.

He turned to her now, expression thoughtful, "Order Intel to work on Mothma's guards; the Rebels who came onboard with her. I want to know what Madine was doing with the Sol at Col Din- why he wasn't with Mothma."

Mara shrugged, "Probably backup."

"Then he should have been closer." Luke shook his head, "And he should have arrived sooner when the Arcturus put out a distress call... what took him so long?"

Good point, Mara conceded, nodding, "Why don't we go straight to the source; Mothma will know."

"No; no-one's to go near Mothma." Luke said tightly.

Mara had already noted that since her capture, Skywalker had very pointedly avoided any contact with the Rebel leader, allowing no-one else near her either. Despite the Emperor's warning to Mara that she should monitor closely how much time Skywalker spent with the Rebel leader he had known so well, exactly the opposite seemed true; whether he was uncomfortable with her capture or whether he simply wanted nothing more to do with her, Mara wasn't certain. Either way it seemed strange that he now showed so little interest in that which he had invested so much time and effort in securing.

Still, she nodded now, already lifting her comlink from her belt.

"And tell them to find out who was commanding the Arcturus." Luke added before turning away, back to Kavanagh.

It was a more relevant question than it first seemed, Mara knew.

When he had found out that the Fury had failed to capture Madine, Luke had... well, first he'd flown into a temper - not the wild, uncontrolled rage which Mara associated with his father Vader's outbursts; this was something far more cold and calculating, so that by the time he'd calmed, he already had the outlines of a plan in mind.

He still wanted Madine and he clearly intended to go after him - using the one lure that he knew the General just couldn't pass up on.

To that end, he sent a short communiqué to Coruscant on a frequency which it was known the Rebellion monitored, using a code which Intel knew the Rebels had recently broken, acknowledging the capture of Mon Mothma and informing of his intention to remain at his present co-ordinates until the Fury had arrived as escort, at which point she would be taken onboard and he would cross the border to the Core Systems and transfer his prisoner to the Peerless for their return to Coruscant.

He was, Mara realised, gambling that the Sol would be the nearest ship, knowing that if it was the Rebellion would try for an extraction in this brief window of opportunity - with Madine in command.

He'd also, strangely, taken Kavanagh to one side to request that the comm officer who had been in the unit which had boarded the Attin'cho be found something to do which would keep him occupied in the bowels of the ship for the next few hours, and for someone to be with him t make sure he had no view and no outside view and no access to ship's comms. Kavanagh had merely nodded, following orders, but Mara knew the careful exclusion of a suspected spy when she saw it. Luke had a habit of keeping them in active play rather than simply removing them, feeding them information until he felt their usefulness had come to an end.

She'd wondered more than once in the past whether that was her role here too.

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When the Executor arrived, dwarfing the Fury as she came in for a slow pass, Luke made the unprecedented move of heading down to the forward docking bay as a single shuttle made its way across to the Fury.

Mothma was already in the bay, surrounded by a phalanx of white-armoured stormtroopers, but Skywalker gave her barely a glance as he entered the bay, remaining to the far side, his attention on the incoming shuttle. When the tri-wing Lambda-class shuttle came to a stately landing inside the bay, six stormtroopers marched smartly down the ramp and Mara knew immediately who was inside.

Darth Vader stalked down, his height forcing him to bow his head slightly to clear the end of the ramp, and Mara was left standing - both mentally and physically - as Skywalker walked forward.

When she finally did manage to get her feet moving, a subtle move of Luke's hand told her to remain where she was, leaving her to frown in confusion- not particularly that she had been excluded from the conversation; even with Vader, that wasn't uncommon. Luke tended to keep all conversations private, even the most inane or adversarial, more out of a point of principle than any greater incentive. She was after all Palpatine's agent at the end of the day, and everyone present knew it.

No, what surprised her was firstly that Skywalker had come down to the bay at all - something he had never done before - and secondly that he stepped forward to acknowledge Vader, the slight nod of his head as his father stepped onto the docking bay floor far more telling than his neutral body-language or his impassive face.

Mara watched closely as the two began a slow walk forward, but the pair spoke quietly and were past her too quickly for her to get any useful reading from Skywalker's lips as he spoke, and even if she had, it would have been at best a one-sided conversation.

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Vader took a long look at Mothma, the woman he had spent so much time hunting through the vast Rim Systems, but she didn't look up and anyway, his conversation with his son was of greater importance. Strange- once nothing else would have mattered except catching this elusive quarry; now she was almost below notice, both for himself and more curiously, for his son, who had been made both pariah and prey by her command.

"Thank-you for coming at such short notice." The boy said, nothing more than filler to get them past the Emperor's little spy, Vader knew, her green eyes watching intently.

They had after all, made arrangements that he would remain close to the Bothawuii system, entering lightspeed and drawing even closer the moment the battle was launched in case he should be needed, which apparently he was though he couldn't see why; Mothma was in custody and the Fury was halfway back to the Core Systems. Why Luke had stopped here at all was a mystery.

"You require assistance?" he asked, straight to the point as always.

"I need you to take Mothma aboard the Executor. The Fury failed to secure its second goal, and I'm hoping to correct that now."

"That is?"

Luke paused, fighting the urge to tell Vader, his enemy for so long, that his intentions were none of Vader's business. Instead he took a short breath- and told Vader everything. "I want Madine as well - this may be the only chance I get, since he's not about to come into the Core Systems any time soon and Palpatine has made it clear that this is a one-off permission for me to go beyond them. The Fury was charged with picking his ship up at Bothawuii when I had already left with Mothma, but it failed to do so which means I'm going to have to try to reel him in now."

"Using Mothma as bait." Vader finished; he too had picked up the transmission sent to Coruscant by the Fury, and wondered what games his son was playing.

"Yes. Only I'm not willing to risk her to gain a lesser prize and I have no intention of being accused of such by the Emperor- so I need her safely removed."

Vader considered; "To hand her to me is contentious; she should be transferred to the Peerless."

Luke shook his head, "I need the Peerless as back-up. I have no idea what the Rebels will do to try to regain Mothma; Intel says they don't have the firepower close enough to this region to threaten a Star Destroyer, which is why I've chosen this location and given them a small window of opportunity timewise, to limit their responses. But they're used to uneven firepower, so they'll try something unexpected- they always do, which is why I need the Peerless to hand. Admiral Joss and Captain Kavanagh have three years experience working together in the field; if it comes to a fight, I want them both here."

Vader looked away, tone dismissive, "The Rebels are undermanned and under-equipped - they are hardly a threat to a Star Destroyer."

"And yet we lost eight to them already this year in the Rim Systems." Luke said without looking up, tone neutral. Newfound amity or not, he wasn't prepared to acquiesce to his father's domineering attitude.

Vader clenched his jaw but didn't argue; what could be said? "Then you should have leaked that Mothma was aboard the Peerless not the Fury, and had a Super Star Destroyer waiting for them."

Again his son shook his head, "They wouldn't have risked the attack. It had to be the Fury; on its own it'll draw them out. Any more and they would have hesitated, waited for backup."

They stopped, having reached the far side of the bay, and Luke turned to his father, no time for extended discussions. "Will you take Mothma?"

"Yes." Vader said at last, still uneasy that this would seem too much of an accord to their Master; they couldn't be seen to be allies, even for the Empire's advantage. Even that would be too much for the paranoid Emperor.

Luke nodded and they began a slow return to the shuttle, "You need to leave as quickly as possible; the Rebels can't be that far behind us and I don't want them to pick up traces of the Executor's drive waste if they scan. The Peerless is in orbit around Nubia in case I need to summon her- if you could wait there too?"

"Very well."

"Whatever happens, don't bring Mon Mothma back into the battle."

Vader turned, the slightest shade of dry amusement in his bass voice, "I have no intention of returning to the battle. If you cannot stop the Rebels with the Fury and the Peerless combined, then you do not deserve the Executor's aid."

Luke glanced to his father, allowing no trace of a smile to show on his face, knowing that Jade would be watching them now as they neared the shuttle again. "A comforting thought." he murmured in sardonic reply, "Motivational."

Vader offered nothing more and Luke glanced away uneasily, suddenly aware with whom he was conversing so casually.

As they reached the ramp of the shuttle, Vader glanced to the stormtroopers at the far side of the bay and his son nodded, gesturing for them to come forward.

A thought occurred to Luke and he turned to his father, "I trust you'll keep her in a safe place."

Vader glanced at his son, the implication clear; 'safe room' was the code they had always used to refer to any untapped place- a room without surveillance.

He nodded once, "She will be kept safe." He stated simply, and his son nodded, knowing his father had understood.

Luke needed to talk with Mothma yet- there was nowhere in his own Destroyer's detention centre where he could reasonably deactivate surveillance all of a sudden and he didn't wish to cause suspicion by suddenly having her transferred to a standard room onboard the Peerless in which there was- 'coincidentally'- no surveillance. This would be better; harder to monitor, particularly if he could make the trip to the Executor unnoticed. Palpatine knew Vader would have nothing to do with any tryst with the Alliance, and would allow no such transgression in his son either.

But Vader would allow Luke to speak with Mothma if he believed it would further his own ambitions - and to that end, he would take all precautions necessary to ensure that Palpatine did not find out, including covering up a visit to the Executor by Luke.

He turned away as Mon Mothma was escorted to his father's shuttle, not wishing to meet her eye. He would have to speak to her sooner or later of course, but that could be dealt with later; he didn't yet have the time to unravel the knot of convoluted feelings which tied tighter every time he saw her. But he would have to, sooner or later, because a lot rode on the conversation's outcome - not least of all Mon's life.

Too many games in play, he thought sourly; too many balls in the air. He briefly remembered Master Yoda teaching him to float and juggle stones in the air whilst standing upside down in a handstand. Now he was doing it with lives; with destinies.

Was he forcing his will upon the future and the Force - or simply finishing what he had begun, as he'd promised the old Jedi Master he would?

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"So what was the thing in the shuttle bay all about?" Mara finally asked into the silence, deciding to try the direct approach; chances were Luke knew exactly what was on her mind anyway, and he didn't generally appreciate prevarication.

The Executor was long gone, the Peerless was already waiting at Nubia until summoned, and now they were finally alone, returning to the turbolift from the final rundown in Ops, on their way to the bridge.

"What?" Skywalker asked without looking round.

"That whole Vader thing. You've never asked him for anything in your life- now suddenly you're handing Mon Mothma over to him."

"I'm not handing anybody over, least of all Mothma. She'll be returning to the Peerless at the first opportunity, I assure you. I simply don't wish to risk her just to get Madine. Mothma is for the Emperor- Madine is just because I want him."

"I'm sure Palpatine would like to see him again too."

Madine was a traitor of the worst kind; an Imperial General-turned-Rebel, taking classified intelligence and countless codes over with him when he defected, still using his knowledge of Imperial infrastructure and methods against the Empire to this day. Their master would be more than happy to see him again.

"Unfortunately if I catch him, he won't get the opportunity; Madine orgaized andimplemented the assassination attempt; he won't make it as far as Coruscantif I get him."

From the tone in Skywalker's voice, Mara doubted the Rebel General would even make it down to the Detention cells. She risked a quick glance as they walked, but he was still looking dead ahead, expression as unreadable as ever. He'd been in a foul mood since... she wanted to say since he'd found out that Madine had escaped at Bothawuii but in truth, it had been since he'd taken Mothma captive.

"Wow," she murmured, "You really know how to hold a grudge."

He turned to her just slightly. She was stood to his right, so the long, deep scar which ran down his face from above his eye through his lips and over his chin was painfully visible, as was the twist of darkness which had colored his right eye ever since the assassination attempt.

"I'm learning." He stated, and the quiet tone of his voice did nothing to dispel its menace.

They walked on in silence, Mara having nothing to say against that, on edge in a way she associated far more with being around the Emperor than with Skywalker.

She didn't mind it particularly; in fact she rather liked it. She was used to being around men of power and Skywalker was becoming just that, slowly beginning to take his place, flexing his authoritative muscles as he worked to reinforce- to earn his position as the Emperor's second-in-command. He was becoming a force to be reckoned with, both in Court and in the military arena, and she was fascinated by the gradual shift; drawn in rather than intimidated by the man he was becoming.

It occurred to her for the first time to wonder where she fit into all this- from Skywalker's perspective, rather than the Emperor's. Yes, she was here by the Emperor's command, but she'd seen many times what Skywalker did to those he didn't wish close, whether the Emperor approved or not. No; more and more lately, she realised that she was here by Skywalker's sanction as much as Palpatine's - and she wanted to know why.

Because she was realising just how important that was to her; that she wanted to remain right where she was. In fact... she wanted to get closer.

They stepped into the turbolift and Luke keyed for the bridge, staring ahead blankly, thoughts obviously elsewhere.

"Quiet?" Mara said at last, bringing his head round to her.

"Hm?"

"You're quiet."

He seemed to consider that for a moment, then turned to look straight ahead again without reply.

"Know what your problem is... you need to get out more." Mara said casually without looking round.

"Thank-you," he replied dryly, "I'll bear that in mind."

"Maybe a little company." she elaborated, steadfastly refusing to take the hint. "Not one of those airhead little fripps who hang around in Court batting their carefully-curled eyelashes at you, you understand. They're just a waste of space."

"You're all heart." Luke said, the slightest hint of amusement coloring his voice now, knowing she was trying to draw him out, though he didn't look round.

"Please," Mara dismissed, "You wouldn't look twice at them. You don't; I've watched you."

"Really?" He turned at that, affecting a suddenly-interested air at her claim, "And that would be because...?"

Mara ignored his teasing tone, "They're decorative, I guess. But I don't think you go for that. I think you like the type that has a little something between her ears - which basically puts all of them out of the running. Too much inbreeding in the Royal Houses if you ask me. Plus they're a little too eager; kinda like shooting fish in a barrel."

Luke glared at her, eyes widening slightly in mock offense to hide his amusement, but it only egged her on. "Oh come on- half the women in Court would climb over their dead grandmother to make you notice them."

"That's not actually a selling point." Luke said, "And anyway, they'd climb over their dead grandmother to get The Heir to notice them. I just happen to inhabit the same space."

"What you need is a challenge." Mara continued, flashing a sideways grin without meeting his eye.

He glanced away, but she knew that he was trying hard to disguise the half-smile that was turning the edge of his scarred lips up. "I'm flattered you've put so much thought into it."

"What are friends for." Mara said with an elaborate shrug, carefully not looking round as she saw his head turn to her at the categorization.

He held silent for long seconds, then looked forward again, "I didn't know they were for this."

"Well you don't seem to be getting very far on your own." Mara countered, enjoying the banter now, very much aware of the fact that they were suddenly charting new territory.

"I didn't know I was being judged, either." Luke countered easily, eyes on the turbolift display.

Mara turned, arching her eyebrows, "I haven't seen anything to judge yet."

"Maybe if you'd clarified that you were waiting..."

"Maybe if you'd..."

Without a second's warning, the lights in the turbolift all fell to darkness and it lurched to an instant stop, Luke reaching forward to steady Mara as she put her own hands out, her heart skipping a beat, her equilibrium lost at the rapid deceleration.

For a moment they remained still, eyes struggling uselessly to adjust to the absolute black of the enclosed space, Luke's hand still to Mara's arm, one of her hands against the wall, the other clutching Skywalker's outstretched arm. Luke moved slightly in the darkness, so close that Mara could feel his breath rustle her hair as he began to speak, then she felt his other hand brush lightly against her waist, touching on her hip-

"Now w..." Luke's words were lost beneath Mara's lips as she leaned in from the darkness, one hand to his cheek...

And kissed him.