บท 43: From each according to his ability... (III)
Mara Jade opened her eyes as a faint, almost inaudible buzz echoed through the room.
Her mind, honed by years of service under Emperor Palpatine, instantly discarded the last remnants of sleep, fully alert and ready to assess the situation.
Her hideout was intact, with no signs of disturbance. This meant that the enemy hadn't breached the perimeter of the base, but instead...
Glancing at the screen displaying feeds from several dozen holocams around her, the red-haired woman sighed and shook her head.
She had been mistaken on two counts.
First, the enemy was not "unknown." In fact, they were quite familiar. And it wasn't even certain that they were enemies.
Second, they were far from foolish. They had spread out quickly but carefully across the entire base, without breaching its perimeter. They had simply settled in the center of the base in their Sentinel-class landing shuttle. Now, half a company of stormtroopers in gleaming white armor were methodically searching one room after another in the abandoned base. A curious tactic—stormtroopers weren't known for being so cautious, at least not in the past. Lately, though, there were rumors of Imperial Remnants dressing ordinary civilians in the iconic white armor, passing them off as stormtroopers. If that were the case here... then perhaps Thrawn hadn't left the beacons at all. But who knows what kind of chaos is happening within the Imperial Shards right now? Maybe those rumors aren't just rumors, and the stormtrooper armor is being handed out to anyone, regardless of their competence...
Switching between the cameras, Mara confirmed that her suspicions were incorrect.
No, these weren't amateurs who had come to Myrkr.
The "sentry" in the center of the base was only part of the ground squad. Three other similar shuttles were positioned around the perimeter of the abandoned Karrde base, and now one and a half companies of stormtroopers were blocking any retreat into the forest.
Judging by the fact that the only reason she detected the presence of a blocking force was the visibility of their shuttle hulls, it was clear these soldiers were far from inexperienced. It was likely that the half-company in white armor was a mere "distraction," intended to flush out any hiding foes, driving them toward the safety of the forest. Straight into the hands of the other stormtroopers. The fact that the cameras didn't pick up any white armor beyond the base perimeter was irrelevant—no stormtrooper would be foolish enough to wander through the jungle in their standard uniform.
Mara bit her lip, recalling the stories of the ground battle on Endor. Okay, maybe she had been too quick to dismiss them as idiots. But she was certain that the base was surrounded by stormtroopers in camouflage armor. Not to mention that additional units were likely holding back for a second wave of the blockade.
A pang of discomfort twisted in her stomach...
The stormtroopers' actions here on Myrkr, adjusted for circumstances rather than textbook tactics, gave her a sense of nostalgia. While the galaxy was falling apart, with everything Palpatine had built being torn to shreds by ambitious warlords or rebels, and she herself losing everything she had once strived for, it was oddly comforting to see that the stormtroopers remained true to their traditions—stoic, dutiful messengers of death.
Yet, considering how an entire army of stormtroopers and Imperial soldiers had failed to stop the rebel forces on Endor, questions still lingered about their competence.
Much like her own...
Mara felt a jolt of surprise as she recalled the reproachful words of the red-eyed Grand Admiral.
"Luke Skywalker is still alive."
That's what Thrawn had said the last time they met. Here on Myrkr...
A phrase that seemed meaningless. Why should the former Emperor's Hand care that some Jedi Knight was alive? Especially since he was the only one left in the entire galaxy. And really, it wasn't that big of a deal compared to the tales of how the Jedi Order had been wiped out on Palpatine's orders...
If not for one "but."
The same thing that had nearly driven her mad at the time of the Emperor's death. Even being hundreds of light-years away from Endor, she had seen Palpatine's death... He had broadcast the event directly into her mind. The way he sat in his chair aboard the Death Star II, his eyes glowing with molten amber as he watched the lightsaber duel between Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader. The way both combatants had turned on the Emperor, destroying him... And in his final moments, he had looked through space and time, staring directly at her, giving his last command...
The one only she could hear—the Emperor's Hand. She, who could hear his orders across hundreds and thousands of light-years...
"You will kill Luke Skywalker."
Mara shuddered as the memory surged back, stirring up the emotions she had tried to bury...
For a moment, it felt as though the phrase was echoing in her mind, as if Palpatine himself had spoken it. But that was impossible.
He was dead. And she had spent years trying to forget everything she had been taught. Even her skills in using the Force. Only when she succeeded in suppressing those memories did Palpatine's voice and his final order leave her alone. And ever since then, she had been able to live, at least partially, the way she wanted to... She had pushed all her memories of the Empire aside, choosing to live in the present, not the past.
But today, she had remembered the Emperor's order. For the first time in years. All it took was a brief moment of positivity towards what remained unchanged in the Empire and...
Jade bit her lip.
It seemed she had underestimated the situation. Wanting to return to the Empire's service, she had forgotten that she still had unfinished business. And until she completed that task, the Emperor's voice, repeating the same command over and over again, his final will, would haunt her day after day.
And Thrawn should have remembered this! The Sith take him for not reminding her of that moment when they last met...
Wait a minute! How did he know?
The thought was sharp and sobering, coinciding with the moment the stormtroopers began inspecting the residential modules.
She was the only one in the galaxy who could hear the Emperor's voice! Because she was his Hand! She could sense the Force! And she could command it! It was through the Force that Palpatine had transmitted his orders to her!
And the Force, as Mara understood it, wasn't some open channel on the HoloNet that any hacker could tap into. Even if someone else could hear Palpatine's will, that person would need to be sensitive to the Force as well!
But the Grand Admiral wasn't. More accurately, Thrawn didn't possess such abilities. But his colleague, Nial Declann, had been Force-sensitive. However, Declann, like many others, had died with Palpatine.
Then... how in the blazes did Thrawn know Palpatine's last order!?
She had no answer. But there had to be one. Thrawn didn't make such a good excuse for her, forcing her to dig into herself. No, of course, he could have guessed that Palpatine would try to leave some final message to add bitterness to the rebels' victory.
But Thrawn could never have known exactly what Palpatine's order was.
And yet, he did. The only question was—how?
You could speculate until the Galactic Republic was reborn, and still, it might be just a wild guess.
Mara stood up, deciding there was no longer any point in watching the Imperials.
They wouldn't leave—she had called them here herself. To return to the Empire.
She had nowhere else to go.
So, no more sitting here and brooding. It would be much easier and faster to handle this another way.
Thrawn had told her, during their meeting with Karrde, that he intended to bring back everything and everyone the Empire had lost, provided these "resources" were willing to serve the Empire under his command. A simple and straightforward plan.
Thrawn had also told her that Karrde wasn't being honest with her and his other subordinates. In the first instance, he was right. In the second... No, someone in Karrde's organization was certainly privy to his plans. But it wasn't her.
Well, dear Grand Admiral. You wanted the Emperor's Hand to leave someone who hides dirty secrets and deals from her? The Emperor's Hand is gone. You wanted the Emperor's Hand to return to service? Congratulations, you've succeeded. She's back. And she will serve the Empire under your command, Grand Admiral.
But on one condition.
You will have to be completely transparent, red-eyed Grand Admiral.
Utterly transparent.
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