Mara Jade/Young Jedi Knights

Chasing Shadows

by BioDread

"Through the Force, things you will see, other places.

The future, the past, old friends, long gone..."

Mara Jade groaned. Every muscle deeply ached, it felt as if she had been electro-shocked repeatedly, she knew the feeling, she had endured it many times while serving the Emperor, then later Talon Karde. Mara tried to sit up, she couldn't, her wrists were cuffed to a heavy iron ring fastened to the wall above her, she lay on a slender cot, the warm light of a golden sun played over her nude body. The young woman looked around the room, or more properly her cell. The walls and ceiling were made of worn, brown stone, a single open window allowed bright sunbeams to pour inside. A door faced opposite the window, it was made of pitted iron, dull red with rust.

Mara swallowed and licked dry lips, she was very thirsty, her body was weak, as if she had been resting in the cot for a long time. The act of swallowing drew Mara's attention to the heavy metal collar secured around her neck. It was an inhibitor collar, made to block a Jedi's access to the Force. She had used inhibitors in the latter days of the Jedi Purge, when Vader had scoured the galaxy, slaughtering anyone with Force potential. Mara had always wondered about Vader's fanaticism, why he had hunted down the scattered Jedi so remorselessly. She would never know. Mara shook her head, the heat and her thirst were affecting her mind, the added buzzing of the inhibitor in her brain only added to her disorientation. Shackled to the wall, helpless in her bonds, Mara dozed in the hot sunlight, perspiration beading her naked flesh, drowsiness making her eyes heavier and heavier until she finally succumbed to sleep once more.

***

"Brakiss's course is taking him to Korriban," said Anja, her face lit up from the glow of the display screen.

"The Death World," muttered Jaina.

"It makes sense, it was a Sith stronghold a long time ago," nodded Jacen from the open hatch of the cockpit.

"He's going to see us coming," pointed out Jaina. "The Jade Sabre doesn't have any kind of stealth abilities."

"Think we can raise a Cloak to fool him?" asked Jacen.

"He's a Master, I don't like our chances," shrugged Jaina.

"If it keeps him from summoning one of those Force Storms, I say try it," urged Anja. "We leave Hyperspace in ten minutes."

***

Brakiss unlocked the iron door and pushed it. The rusted metal screamed in protest, jarring Mara from her nap.

"Mara Jade," smiled the blonde Dark Jedi master, sitting lightly on the edge of the cot, folding his pure, white robes in front of him.

"Why are you holding me?" croaked Mara, blinking sunlight from her green eyes.

"We are never free from our sins, Mara," murmured Brakiss, tracing one white-gloved fingertip up Mara's bare thigh. "You offered yourself to Darkness once, to help heal Lord Vader. I have studied the ancient Sith texts, just as Vader once did, I know the secrets of this world, the power that lies untapped, waiting to be freed by one with ambition, someone like me. You are the key, my lovely Mara Jade, the bio-tech that is now part of your luscious body will unleash the glory of the Sith, and I will claim that glory!"

"You're insane, the Sith tech didn't help Lord Vader, he still lost to his son, barely a Jedi himself."

"Compassion defeated him, I do not share that weakness," retorted Brakiss, rising to his feet. "I will take you to the Obsidian Tower now, prepare to feel the caress of the Dark Side once more before you die."

***

Anja jogged away from the closing ramp of the Jade Sabre, her ankle boots dipping into the sand as she hurried to join Jacen and Jaina, who held their cowled, brown cloaks tightly to shield themselves from the howling desert wind. Jacen slowed and opened his cloak so Anja could get some shelter from the biting waves of hurling sand particles. The trio trudged toward the crevasse mouth that would lead to the Sith necropolis, they gratefully halted in the shadowed opening to shake the sand from their clothes.

"Is your shield still protecting us?" asked Anja, drawing her blaster pistol smoothly from the leather holster on her right thigh.

"We haven't been attacked yet," sighed Jaina, "I guess that means it's working."

"Our shield basically camouflages us, blends us in with the ambient Force energy emanating from the planet and everything on it. Desert worlds usually have very little ambient energy, but this planet has the Force levels of a jungle world, I wonder where all the energy comes from?" mused Jacen.

"The dead," replied Jaina as she led the way through the crevasse, her lightsaber hilt nestled in her right hand. "Remember our lessons about the Sith? They harnessed the Force energy from the dying, imprisoned souls to feed from the pain of their victims. The most powerful Sith built enormous tombs that acted as vaults, they used the energy of captured souls to nourish their decaying bodies for centuries, they became liches, vampires who drained the Force from others."

"Are some of these..vampires..still alive?" whispered Anja, her eyes wide.

"No," answered Jaina with a shake of her head. "The last Sith fell to dust long ago. The Emperor was the last one..and Vader."

The young Jedi knights and Anja reached the far end of the cool, dark crevasse. The dying afternoon light was still blinding and hot, the twins raised their cowls again, Anja shaded her eyes with her left hand.

"Can you sense Brakiss?" asked Anja.

"If we try we'll break the integrity of the cloaking shield," replied Jacen. "Besides, we think we know what his objective is."

"What is it?"

"The Obsidian Tower."

***

Mara walked in front of Brakiss down the passage into the heart of the Obsidian Tower. The Dark Jedi had summoned a floating globe of white light to guide them, Mara looked at the narrow walls of the Tower for the first time, they were polished to a mirror-like sheen, oily black, with swirls of blood-red that seemed to flow before her eyes. Brakiss nudged her in the back, she clung to the white sheet he had given her to protect her flesh from the heat and sand of the journey to the Tower. The inhibitor collar was a heavy weight upon her neck, Mara tried to ignore it while walking deeper into the Tower, her body becoming warmer as she plunged deeper into the building's core, the Sith bio-tech inside her resonating with the ancient vault.

Brakiss and Mara walked into the central shaft of the Tower. The silver beam still filled the chamber, Mara lowered her eyelids, she remembered the first time she had seen the column of light, when Vader had used her to mend his awful wound. Brakiss placed his right palm on the small of Mara's back and propelled her towards the pouring shaft of silver. The wire filaments within Mara writhed with excitement, she felt the Force flood through her, filling her until she thought she would burst apart.

Brakiss rested his hands on Mara's shoulders to stop her before she entered the silver shaft. He jerked away the white sheet covering her, Mara shivered in the sudden chill, her pink skin blossoming with goosebumps.

"Now I shall have the power to destroy the Jedi Knights. I will resurrect the Empire, and the galaxy will be mine, mine alone."

Digging his gloved fingers into Mara's naked shoulders, Brakiss pushed her ahead of him into the falling light. Mara squeezed her eyes shut in the sudden explosion of luminescence, Brakiss was so close his body touched Mara's, his sudden quickening of breath brushed the back of her head.

The Sith bio-tech twisted like a living thing inside Mara, it boiled her blood, it wriggled in her belly like an aroused serpent, ready to burst free without warning. Mara's lips trembled, she slowly spread her arms apart, tilting her face to the silver star above her, her heart beating faster and faster. Brakiss rested his arms over Mara's, his lips touched her left ear.

"Give me the power."

***

The necropolis was shaking in the throes of an earthquake. Jacen, Jaina, and Anja raced down the sand-choked streets, dodging pieces of stone that dropped from quivering spires to shatter on the ground. Lines of silver light poured from the summits of every pyramid tomb in the necropolis, converging upon the peak of the Obsidian Tower. The friends ran faster, jumping over debris, panting in the sweltering heat as they drew closer to the looming spire of ebony.

***

Mara was gasping violently, her left hand clutching Brakiss's bare left thigh, her right arm hugging his neck. The Dark Jedi had his pale arms around Mara's slim waist, his head thrown back, blonde mane framing his wiry shoulders, cock buried inside Mara's wet pussy. Brakiss shuddered while bio-tendrils coiled around his cock, entering his body, inflaming his blood. He shoved his prick deeper into Mara, grinding his crotch into her taut ass. Mara whimpered, clinging to the nude man behind her, her breasts shaking every time a spasm tore through her body. Pain and pleasure flowed through Mara, she sensed the Sith tech leaving her, transferring to its new host. Brakiss opened the inhibitor collar with a thought, it fell away from Mara's slender throat. He kissed the back of the naked woman's neck, he nuzzled her throat underneath her chin, she moaned, deep and husky, her pelvis trembling from the cock swelling inside her. Mara and Brakiss kissed, when their mouths locked together Mara's throat bulged, more Sith tendrils escaped from her mouth into the Dark Jedi master's.

***

At the end of the long, narrow passage, the tremors stopped. Jacen and Jaina looked at each other, they hefted their silent lightsabers before advancing into the core chamber of the Tower. Anja trailed behind the two Jedi knights, her palm slick around the butt of her blaster, her heart hammering inside her chest. A single shaft of silver light illuminated the enormous, round room, the ceiling was lost in shadows, the walls looked like black glass.

Brakiss draped on a blinding, ivory robe, he turned at the intruders' approach. Mara lay motionless on the floor at Brakiss's feet, her limbs were splayed apart, she didn't breathe once.

The twins activated their lightsabers with loud snap-hisses. Brakiss withdrew a lightsaber from the folds of his robe, it flashed to life, a blade of sizzling silver.

"At last, you will die," smiled Brakiss, his eyes cold and dead, his teeth gleaming like polished bone.

Jacen and Jaina separated, attacking Brakiss from two different directions. The Dark Jedi moved impossibly fast, parrying the twins' blows, slamming one heel into Jaina's stomach, lunging at Jacen with a vicious string of slashes and cuts.

When the duelists shifted towards the left-hand wall, Anja ran across the chamber to Mara. She knelt next to the naked woman, touching Mara's throat, hoping for a pulse. Anja smiled with relief, the beat was still there, but dangerously weak.

"Get..get her away from here," coughed Jaina, clutching her bruised belly.

"I can help," offered Anja.

"Not against Brakiss," countered Jaina before she straightened and charged after the Dark Jedi master.

Ignoring the clash of lightsabers behind her, Anja hefted the limp Mara in front of her and carried the woman towards the chamber's exit. The crashing of hissing blades became louder, Anja looked over her left shoulder just in time to see the duelists heading straight towards her.

"Anja! Get out of the way!" shouted Jacen, blocking an overhead slash from Brakiss.

"Foolish girl!" snarled Brakiss, stabbing forward with his lightsaber, aiming at Mara's heart.

Anja only had a moment to think, she met Jacen's eyes, then spun on her heel.

Brakiss's silver lightsaber impaled Anja Gallandro. Anja let Mara drop to the floor just before the silver blade slid through her left breast, a terrible coldness spreading through her chest.

"NO! " screamed Jacen, slashing from right to left, cutting deep into the Dark Jedi's back.

Brakiss stiffened and turned, knocking away Jacen's lightsaber, his face twisted with fury even as his ivory robe turned scarlet. The two Jedi traded blows, their lightsabers spat angry sparks, their faces were bestial in the harsh glow of their weapons. Brakiss didn't even sense Jaina when she stabbed him just below his left ribs. Jacen opened the wounded man's chest, Brakiss blinked before he fell, lightsaber dropping from limp fingers.

Jaina guarded the Dark Jedi's body while Jacen threw away his lightsaber and dove to his knees beside Anja. A trickle of blood marked Anja's gray lips, her eyes were glazed as Jacen rested her head on his lap.

"Anja! Anja, can you hear me?"

Anja Gallandro looked up into the young man's face, she smiled wanly, then the light faded from her eyes, her chest stopped moving.

"No...," whimpered Jacen, clutching the young woman, tears raining upon her.

***

Epilogue:

Jacen rested his head on Jaina's firm stomach. He could feel her breathing evenly, she was asleep, her body warm next to his, her skin soft against his cheek. Jacen hugged his sister's thin waist, listening to her breathing, thinking about Anja, his friend, now gone forever.

***

Mara Jade reclined in the piloting chair of the cockpit, the Jade Sabre hurling through Hyperspace. She raised the half-empty bottle of spring wine and toasted Anja's memory before swallowing another mouthful. The buzzing of the inhibitor collar had been gone for hours, but the Force would not come when she tried to summon it. She had never felt this empty, not even when the Emperor had died. The Sith tech was the only explanation, the wire tendrils had not just enhanced her abilities, they had become her link to the Force, serving the same function as Mitochlorians did within Jedi Knights. She was barren now, impotent. The tears flowing down Mara's cheeks were not just for Anja as she took another deep drink from the wine bottle, the spinning vortex of Hyperspace sucking her into oblivion.

The End.