Categories > Movies > Star Wars > Knowing the Dark
Mara Jade had no qualms about killing in general. There was a certain coldness about the way she did it too, not like Ben's simpler detachment at all. Padmé knew she'd have to talk to Ben about it, if both of them got off Coruscant alive. Padmé herself hadn't fired a shot of the blaster pistol she carried, but after Mara had sliced her way through two groups of nameless, faceless figures wearing red robes, she had officially lost track of their body count.
They had penetrated Palpatine's private rooms, crouched themselves in dark corners of barely-lit corridors with black walls. Padmé was fairly certain they'd been detected, but Mara seemed to be taking that in stride. The minute they'd stepped in here her demeanor had turned very relaxed. Padmé thought that if she hadn't been here before, she had been some place very much like it.
"I think we're mostly alone in here now," Mara muttered. "But there's something amiss..."
The corridors wound their way downward. They'd already entered from Coruscant's lower levels, and it may have just been her imagination but Padmé thought the very gravity was getting stronger. She thought one could be buried down here.
Several times during their descent Mara stopped them, directing Padmé to hide in a corner while she walked a corridor up and down, or put her ear to the wall, or simply knelt and tried to tune herself in closer to the Force. Each time it ended with her shaking her head and beckoning to Padmé.
As they went further Padmé had to fight back the urge to demand of Mara if she even had the slightest idea what they were doing. If she couldn't trust her at this point, she didn't know what she would do, but it was getting harder and harder.
Finally they turned a corner and found that the floor's downward slant had turned very steep indeed. They both stared down the slope, which went on so long that they couldn't see the far wall, only foreboding darkness. Sudden fear made Padmé desperately want to turn back.
"Take my hand," said Mara, and somehow Padmé obeyed. "Now carefully." She stepped forward, giving Padmé no choice but to do likewise.
Holding on to each other, Padmé and Mara tottered along the ever-steepening slope. Or at least Padmé tottered; Mara seemed to have no problem with the floor, and walked as steadily as if it had been completely even.
She would have gotten to the bottom of it easily, Padmé knew, if Padmé hadn't been there with her. And it was only a matter of time before she slipped.
Then they both went tumbling down, and of course floor had too little friction to get up, so down they slid, going faster and faster, and Mara actually managed to jump up, but she couldn't get Padmé up with her and fell back down, crashing into her companion in the process and sending them both careening faster still. The corridor was ending, it seemed, and Padmé wondered if they would keep falling until they reached the bottom of Coruscant as a trap set by Palpatine for intruders like them.
"It's okay," Mara said, unfazed, "I can blunt our impact when we reach the bottom, and I'm sure he knows we're here. I think he underestimates us, though."
Anakin had thought himself underestimated once before. Ben had told her about that once. It had been too painful for him to repeat the story, though.
"I think we're getting near the bottom," she then added. Padmé didn't ask how she could tell. "There's noone down there, but..."
When Mara finally sensed it, Padmé somehow knew as well. They both cried it out simultaneously, "Luke!"
"He must have followed us! This was what I was trying to avoid!"
"I think he's in danger."
"You're right. I think he's fighting someone...we're at the bottom." Mara raised her arm, and they both landed lightly on the dark floor of another dimly lit room. On each wall was an unmarked door.
What purpose the setup served usually neither knew, or cared. Without even talking to each other they turned towards the door on the right.
The door was locked. Mara took her lightsaber and sliced through it several times After she did, they could hear the sound of lightsabers clashing not too far away. They dashed through the opening Mara had made, and then as the sound of the lightsabers stopped and they heard a thud that sounded like a body hitting the ground, suddenly Padmé felt as if a large invisible hand was picking her up, her blaster was pulled out of her hand and thrown against the wall, and both she and Mara were flung through one last corridor and into a dark chamber, where they were suspended, struggling in vain to move even a limb. In front of them stood Luke, holding his ignited lightsaber. At his feet stood a beheaded creature in black robes. Padmé thought there was something not quite right about him, and then she heard Mara whisper, "Oh no..."
"Good, good." They could hear Palpatine's voice behind them. His voice itself was blackness, the kind that made the listener too scared to breath. How could she have ever found it soothing and kindly, the way she had once? "Now take his place at my side....after you've killed these two who would have denied you your destiny."
"See the hatred in their eyes? The young girl can switch back between herself and your father all she likes; neither can hide it. Have they not lied to you now? Did your mother not play the martyr, practically, even as she denied your father what he had worked so hard for?"
"She did nothing of the sort," Padmé heard Mara hiss. Then she heard a sound like lightening, and Mara cry out in pain.
"Oh come, Lord Vader," he spat the name. "Did your wife neglect to tell you that while you were drifting about as a ghost, she let your old Master into her bed? Is it not true, Senator Amidala, that you've fallen in love with the man, and out of love with him?"
"Is it, Padmé?" The fear-Anakin's fear, of course-in Mara's voice was unmistakable.
"I don't know..." Padmé started, but then she knew. "No. Most of it's true, but now I'm in love with you both, and even if it's wrong I can't change it." As she spoke, she felt something drain out of her. When she had heard Palpatine's voice again her hatred for him had filled her and almost made her choke, but now that was gone, and she was floating lightly, feeling nothing but quiet love-for Anakin, for Ben, for Luke, for his sister back with Ben right now, even for Mara, whom for a year she had traveled the galaxy with.
"Do you really believe that's true?" That oily black voice again, but it held no power over Padmé now.
"You don't have to, Ani," replied Padmé. "You know it is."
"You're right," she heard Mara reply. "I know it is."
"You've failed, Your Highness," said Luke, and as Padmé watched he lightly tossed his lightsaber aside. "You've failed with them and you've failed with me. I'll never turn the Dark Side. I am a Jedi-like my father before me."
Padmé hoped Anakin could feel just a little of the pride and love for their son that welled up within her heart.
But then Palpatine's voice dropped and turned very grim. "So be it, Jedi. Be a Jedi, and die as they did!"
Padmé crashed to the floor as she heard the sound of the lightening again, but this time it didn't stop after a second, but was joined by her son's cries of agony, then Mara's anguished, "Luke!" and she had no idea what happened next but suddenly they were both screaming and there was lightening everywhere including in her own range of vision, and her head was spinning so hard she still couldn't move.
She finally forced herself to roll over and pull her head up slightly. It was as she feared; Palpatine had both Luke and Mara on the ground. Lightening streaked from his fingertips into them both, and they twisted and cried out and Padmé had no doubt that the lightening was slowly killing them. Palpatine was a figure clothed from head to toe in black; she could see only his gnarled hands-he had his back turned to her, having it seemed, thought that she'd been knocked out.
But he'd know otherwise all too soon, and she had to act quickly. If only she still had her blaster.
But lying next to her was the beheaded Sith Apprentice, and clutched in his hand was a lightsaber.
By the time she had it pried from his hand, she knew Palpatine was on to her. He stopped his execution of Luke and Mara momentarily to turn towards her. His face was so drawn and sunken that had she not known who he was she would not have recognized him. "And what have we here?" he asked, and his amusement froze her blood. He raised his hands again, and aimed towards her.
"No!" Somehow Luke pulled himself up; his boots sounded loudly on the floor. Palpatine turned and shot him with lightening, and Padmé suddenly snapped into action, throwing herself at him while her hand groped madly at the handle. Somehow she got the thing ignited, and the next thing she knew she was tumbling to her knees in front of Luke and Mara with the red blade coming dangerously near his foot. Then Palpatine's head, neck, shoulders, and part of his torso and arms landed in front of her. It was far messier than anything a Jedi would have done, but there was no denying its effectiveness.
Luke clambered to his feet. Gently he took the lightsaber from his mother's grip and deactivated it. "We still need to get out of here..." he started.
"Shouldn't be a problem," Mara replied, pulling herself up. "The guards are all dead. I still can't believe you're here. Did you have to come running after me? Or after him? Or after her? I don't care which one you were chasing, I still can't believe it!"
"After all three of you. And I had to come. It was hard enough to convince Leia and Ben to keep out of it. But they were really worried about that Death Star. Let's go upstairs; do you think you could hotwire some sort of contact with them, Mara?"
They had penetrated Palpatine's private rooms, crouched themselves in dark corners of barely-lit corridors with black walls. Padmé was fairly certain they'd been detected, but Mara seemed to be taking that in stride. The minute they'd stepped in here her demeanor had turned very relaxed. Padmé thought that if she hadn't been here before, she had been some place very much like it.
"I think we're mostly alone in here now," Mara muttered. "But there's something amiss..."
The corridors wound their way downward. They'd already entered from Coruscant's lower levels, and it may have just been her imagination but Padmé thought the very gravity was getting stronger. She thought one could be buried down here.
Several times during their descent Mara stopped them, directing Padmé to hide in a corner while she walked a corridor up and down, or put her ear to the wall, or simply knelt and tried to tune herself in closer to the Force. Each time it ended with her shaking her head and beckoning to Padmé.
As they went further Padmé had to fight back the urge to demand of Mara if she even had the slightest idea what they were doing. If she couldn't trust her at this point, she didn't know what she would do, but it was getting harder and harder.
Finally they turned a corner and found that the floor's downward slant had turned very steep indeed. They both stared down the slope, which went on so long that they couldn't see the far wall, only foreboding darkness. Sudden fear made Padmé desperately want to turn back.
"Take my hand," said Mara, and somehow Padmé obeyed. "Now carefully." She stepped forward, giving Padmé no choice but to do likewise.
Holding on to each other, Padmé and Mara tottered along the ever-steepening slope. Or at least Padmé tottered; Mara seemed to have no problem with the floor, and walked as steadily as if it had been completely even.
She would have gotten to the bottom of it easily, Padmé knew, if Padmé hadn't been there with her. And it was only a matter of time before she slipped.
Then they both went tumbling down, and of course floor had too little friction to get up, so down they slid, going faster and faster, and Mara actually managed to jump up, but she couldn't get Padmé up with her and fell back down, crashing into her companion in the process and sending them both careening faster still. The corridor was ending, it seemed, and Padmé wondered if they would keep falling until they reached the bottom of Coruscant as a trap set by Palpatine for intruders like them.
"It's okay," Mara said, unfazed, "I can blunt our impact when we reach the bottom, and I'm sure he knows we're here. I think he underestimates us, though."
Anakin had thought himself underestimated once before. Ben had told her about that once. It had been too painful for him to repeat the story, though.
"I think we're getting near the bottom," she then added. Padmé didn't ask how she could tell. "There's noone down there, but..."
When Mara finally sensed it, Padmé somehow knew as well. They both cried it out simultaneously, "Luke!"
"He must have followed us! This was what I was trying to avoid!"
"I think he's in danger."
"You're right. I think he's fighting someone...we're at the bottom." Mara raised her arm, and they both landed lightly on the dark floor of another dimly lit room. On each wall was an unmarked door.
What purpose the setup served usually neither knew, or cared. Without even talking to each other they turned towards the door on the right.
The door was locked. Mara took her lightsaber and sliced through it several times After she did, they could hear the sound of lightsabers clashing not too far away. They dashed through the opening Mara had made, and then as the sound of the lightsabers stopped and they heard a thud that sounded like a body hitting the ground, suddenly Padmé felt as if a large invisible hand was picking her up, her blaster was pulled out of her hand and thrown against the wall, and both she and Mara were flung through one last corridor and into a dark chamber, where they were suspended, struggling in vain to move even a limb. In front of them stood Luke, holding his ignited lightsaber. At his feet stood a beheaded creature in black robes. Padmé thought there was something not quite right about him, and then she heard Mara whisper, "Oh no..."
"Good, good." They could hear Palpatine's voice behind them. His voice itself was blackness, the kind that made the listener too scared to breath. How could she have ever found it soothing and kindly, the way she had once? "Now take his place at my side....after you've killed these two who would have denied you your destiny."
"See the hatred in their eyes? The young girl can switch back between herself and your father all she likes; neither can hide it. Have they not lied to you now? Did your mother not play the martyr, practically, even as she denied your father what he had worked so hard for?"
"She did nothing of the sort," Padmé heard Mara hiss. Then she heard a sound like lightening, and Mara cry out in pain.
"Oh come, Lord Vader," he spat the name. "Did your wife neglect to tell you that while you were drifting about as a ghost, she let your old Master into her bed? Is it not true, Senator Amidala, that you've fallen in love with the man, and out of love with him?"
"Is it, Padmé?" The fear-Anakin's fear, of course-in Mara's voice was unmistakable.
"I don't know..." Padmé started, but then she knew. "No. Most of it's true, but now I'm in love with you both, and even if it's wrong I can't change it." As she spoke, she felt something drain out of her. When she had heard Palpatine's voice again her hatred for him had filled her and almost made her choke, but now that was gone, and she was floating lightly, feeling nothing but quiet love-for Anakin, for Ben, for Luke, for his sister back with Ben right now, even for Mara, whom for a year she had traveled the galaxy with.
"Do you really believe that's true?" That oily black voice again, but it held no power over Padmé now.
"You don't have to, Ani," replied Padmé. "You know it is."
"You're right," she heard Mara reply. "I know it is."
"You've failed, Your Highness," said Luke, and as Padmé watched he lightly tossed his lightsaber aside. "You've failed with them and you've failed with me. I'll never turn the Dark Side. I am a Jedi-like my father before me."
Padmé hoped Anakin could feel just a little of the pride and love for their son that welled up within her heart.
But then Palpatine's voice dropped and turned very grim. "So be it, Jedi. Be a Jedi, and die as they did!"
Padmé crashed to the floor as she heard the sound of the lightening again, but this time it didn't stop after a second, but was joined by her son's cries of agony, then Mara's anguished, "Luke!" and she had no idea what happened next but suddenly they were both screaming and there was lightening everywhere including in her own range of vision, and her head was spinning so hard she still couldn't move.
She finally forced herself to roll over and pull her head up slightly. It was as she feared; Palpatine had both Luke and Mara on the ground. Lightening streaked from his fingertips into them both, and they twisted and cried out and Padmé had no doubt that the lightening was slowly killing them. Palpatine was a figure clothed from head to toe in black; she could see only his gnarled hands-he had his back turned to her, having it seemed, thought that she'd been knocked out.
But he'd know otherwise all too soon, and she had to act quickly. If only she still had her blaster.
But lying next to her was the beheaded Sith Apprentice, and clutched in his hand was a lightsaber.
By the time she had it pried from his hand, she knew Palpatine was on to her. He stopped his execution of Luke and Mara momentarily to turn towards her. His face was so drawn and sunken that had she not known who he was she would not have recognized him. "And what have we here?" he asked, and his amusement froze her blood. He raised his hands again, and aimed towards her.
"No!" Somehow Luke pulled himself up; his boots sounded loudly on the floor. Palpatine turned and shot him with lightening, and Padmé suddenly snapped into action, throwing herself at him while her hand groped madly at the handle. Somehow she got the thing ignited, and the next thing she knew she was tumbling to her knees in front of Luke and Mara with the red blade coming dangerously near his foot. Then Palpatine's head, neck, shoulders, and part of his torso and arms landed in front of her. It was far messier than anything a Jedi would have done, but there was no denying its effectiveness.
Luke clambered to his feet. Gently he took the lightsaber from his mother's grip and deactivated it. "We still need to get out of here..." he started.
"Shouldn't be a problem," Mara replied, pulling herself up. "The guards are all dead. I still can't believe you're here. Did you have to come running after me? Or after him? Or after her? I don't care which one you were chasing, I still can't believe it!"
"After all three of you. And I had to come. It was hard enough to convince Leia and Ben to keep out of it. But they were really worried about that Death Star. Let's go upstairs; do you think you could hotwire some sort of contact with them, Mara?"
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