Friends in High Places

Disclaimer: Star Wars does not belong to me and neither do the known
characters. Do not use any of this without my permission.

Well here we go. The start of another story. Takes place after New
Life.

Luke Naberrie opened one eye as he heard drums. He knew it was
the Emperor formerly known as Darth Sidious. He had been told numerous
times that he should pay his respect to the Emperor. He was told he
might receive one of the 'girls' as a concubine. Concubine, hah, he
laughed at that. He finally decided to listen and the Emperor had
decided to speak to him personally.

Luke strode silently into the throne room. He gave a military
bow as he glanced at him. "You wanted to speak with me, your
highness."

"Yes, yes, young assassin. Your apparent lack progress has
disappointed me."

"Lack of progress?"

"Towards the darkside."

"Your highness, I'm an assassin. Not one of your Sith lords and
I will never become one."

"Perhaps one of my hands can you convince otherwise." He
directed a thin teenage girl towards him. Luke glanced at her and saw
how young she actually looked. As his eyes locked on the red hair and
green eyes he stopped. Luke shook his head and rubbed his face. He
knew who it had to be. She wouldn't remember him because he had wiped
her memory of him. Just to be safe.

"What is the reason of you offering one of your assassins to
me?"

"You may choose any to belong to you as long as you turn."

"You wish to use me against Lord Vader."

"You are very bright for a former Jedi."

"Thank you your highness. If you wish of me I will turn against
Lord Vader and make him writhe in pain but I will not join your legion
of dark Jedi."

"Chose one," he said as he directed at the line of woman.
"I want this one." Luke said as he pointed at a young girl with
long red hair.

"But she's the youngest. Certainly, you must want another."
"No, the older ones are spoiled. I want her. If you don't give
me her I will tell Vader of your plan to be rid of him and he will
turn against you. You will need my help to be rid of him."
"Who do you think you are ordering me around like that?!"
"I'm the murderer of the Jedi. I was formerly the Jedi Master
Luke Naberrie."

The lightning bolts shot from his fingertips and Luke held out
his hand. The lightning gathered in a blue ball of energy inside his
hand. It grew slightly larger as the Emperor fed more lightning into
it. He stopped and stared at the assassin. He threw it into the ground
and it killed many as it went hundreds of meters into the ground.
"Next time you consider doing that to me consider what that
electricity ball would do to your frail body.

"Take the girl. Mara you belong to him now."

"Come on Mara." He offered his hands and she took it, scared.
"I'm not going to hurt you."

"No child he'll just rape you until you're screaming for mercy."

"You may be like that but I am not."

"So you like others to think."

"They like to think that because it's the truth. Not the
falsehood you put forth."

He turned and left the throne room with Mara. "Sir, why did you
pick me? I'm young, inexperienced."

"You remind me of a child I adopted but she was taken away from
me. She had red hair and green eyes just like you."

"Is that why you chose me?"

"I couldn't stand seeing the Emperor hurting you. I thought it
might be possible."

"What was her name?"

"Her name was Mara. She was the daughter of one of my friends,
Barriss Offee, and a Sith named Mathius."

"My name is Mara, Mara Jade."

"Oh really."

"What was Mathius' last name?"

"Jade."

"What was my mother like?"

"She was beautiful, a skilled healer, an artist with the
lightsaber, a supreme dancer and she never gave up. She helped
everyone she could even if they had not been kind to her. Then he
killed her and she gave me her newborn daughter. I lost her when she
was only two."

"I think I remember you. You were a Jedi Master. You and the
bald dark skinned man and the little green thing are what I remember.
You said a friend had disappeared."

"Yes, a Jedi Master by the name of Obi-wan Kenobi."

"Did you ever find him?"

"No."

"I'm sorry."

* * *

Old Ben Kenobi stared into open space. He had no idea if anyone
was alive besides the decoy. The decoy created from Jedi Master Luke
Naberrie's own DNA which confusingly was a perfect combination of the
DNA of Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Naberrie. He couldn't understand how
it was possible.
He glanced at the figure in the dis

tance. An average height
figure with tousled blond hair stood still then raised a pair of
macrobinoculars. He recognized Luke Skywalker, the decoy. He looked
and acted like the Jedi Master with small differences. One thing that
stayed the same was that he was as stubborn as a Tauntaun. It was that
reason alone that Luke had once been considered untrainable. If Mace
Windu had not looked past his stubbornness Leia and the twins would be
in the hands of Vader.

* * *

Princess Leia Organa walked down the corridors of the Tantive IV
head held high and spine straight. Her ship had intercepted the plans
to the Death Star and she was headed back to Alderaan to give them to
her father, Bail Organa.

She glanced up startled as the ship shook and knew they were
being docked by a Star Destroyer. She had to get the plans to her
father some how.

* * *

Luke Skywalker stared across the bare Tatooine landscape and
squinted as he saw a flash of light. He raised his macrobinoculars and
stared out. It had to be a space fight; it just had to be!

Luke knelt down beside the girl. She couldn't be more than
thirteen. Mara, he had to remember this was Mara. The deal worked out
with the Emperor was that Luke would receive his freedom if he took
down Vader. It could not be done at his convenience either. He had to
save her but he would be leaving in such a short amount of time. He
had no place to hide her and when the Emperor found out he would bring
his wrath down on her. Luke knew he had no choice but to leave her on
Coruscant.

Luke rested a hand on the sleeping teenager and kissed her cheek
then up and left.

* * *

"Help me Obi-wan Kenobi. You're my only hope."

Luke Skywalker stared at the woman on the hologram. Old Ben was
sitting beside him. He knew something was going on.

"You must learn the ways of the Force if you're to come with me
to Alderaan."

"Alderaan?" Luke shook his head and laughed. "I'm not going to
Alderaan. I've got to get home. It's late; I'm in for it as it is."

"I need your help Luke. She needs your help. I'm getting too old
for this sort of thing."

* * *

Mara woke up in a shock something was going on. Something was
happening. Something important. The other assassin, the man that had
known her parents, was gone.

* * *

Leia lay on the 'bed' of her detention cell. They had begun
torturing her for the information but she hadn't given it yet. She
didn't know how long she could hold on. She had to hold on. She
couldn't tell them where the rebel base was. She hoped the R2 unit
with the Death Star plans got to Obi-wan Kenobi and was returned to
the rebels. The rebellion would be dead without it.

Luke Naberrie glared at the leering Emperor in front of him.
"What's your plan to turn the tables on your faithful servant?"

"You will work from within the rebels to take him down. You will
be assigned there by Vader himself."

"A simple spy mission? Vader wouldn't dare waste me on such a
mission when any amount of others could do it. I have never been used
for spy missions. I'm an assassin, not a spy. By the Force, you are a
fool."

"Who's the more foolish? The fool or the fool who follows him?"

"That was one of Obi-wan's favorite lines."

"I had ears in your vaunted Jedi temple. I knew everything that
went on in it."

"Not among the Jedi Council."

"I don't know why I haven't killed you yet."

"Because you can be overpowered by Vader and if I was to be
injured in one of these exchanges he would turn on you faster than a
Vornskr."

"I will grant your freedom and you will run off in disguise,
accidently getting caught by Imperial Forces. You will then show that
you are one of the Programmed. When Vader finds you again he will give
you a low level assignment in order for you to redeem yourself."

"Has it occurred to you that this could very easily end with my
death?"

"Yes, that's why you're doing it."

Luke glanced down at the ground. The Emperor had an ulterior
motive for doing this. He didn't just grant a Jedi freedom in order to
take out a servant. Through their exchange he had withheld any attack,
which was most unusual. Even if Luke did belong to Vader the Emperor
never withheld any attack when Luke pushed it and Luke had made sure
he had pushed it.

As Luke walked out he encountered Vader and knew he had another
assignment coming. He felt the presence of Vader lift from his mind.
He was free; he was actually free! His spirits dampened severely as he
felt the presence of his new master, the Emperor. So that was why he
was letting Luke get away with treason as far as he was concerned. He
realized he had just traded Anakin's life for freedom from Vader
alone. He remembered growing up at the Jedi Temple. Anakin had been
his closest friend back then but it didn't last. The emotions were
overpowering him. He felt the pain of what he was going to do. Anakin
had come close to killing him many times but now Luke just felt guilty
for making the deal with the Emperor.

"Naberrie," Vader said. "I have a mission for you."

"Yes Master?"

*Take the mission but do not return. At the end of the mission
run off and take your disguise. *

*Yes Master. *

"There is a leader of a people that are devoted to the rebels. I
want him destroyed." Vader handed Luke a datacard, "here is the
information you will need."

"Yes Master."

He pocketed the datacard and felt beside it the bottle and
syringe for the highly illegal substance that would change his
appearance completely. It would also wipe his memory replacing it with
the memories of his persona, Kelvin Delsen, an ace pilot from Naboo.

next part

Luke knew what he had to do. The Emperor wanted Vader dead so
Vader would be dead but if Luke worked this correctly Anakin would
not. The Emperor would be able to do nothing about it because he would
have a revolting Sith Lord on his hands.

Luke smiled inwardly as he saw he was looking for. The man
wasn't very tall and he had pale skin and wild red gold hair. Mathius
Jade was recognizable where ever he went. If his appearance wasn't
enough he had a bit of a temper and agressivness to go along with it.
As Mathius saw him for the first time he stopped what he was
doing and lowered his head. He still held very much to his Jedi
virtues but after being lied to his anger controlled him. All he
needed was a budge in the right direction and he would return to the
light.

"I didn't know you were still alive."

"Mathius, what are you doing here. You still hold to the light."

"The Republic murdered my wife and my anger controlled me."

"You do realize you've been lied to. The Emperor took care of
her death personally." Luke winced inwardly at the small lie. One of
the Emperor's assassins had killed her, not the Emperor himself. He
saw the pain on Mathius' face. It was enough to make him turn away.
Mathius gave a moan of emotional pain as he faced the fact that
the man he followed had murdered the most precious being to him.

"You know what the Emperor's Hands are?"

"Yes, assassins that belong to him and he does whatever he wants
with them."

Luke inhaled sharply then released his breath. "Your daughter is
one of them."

"Nooo," he moaned then turned and left moaning. "You sure know
how to drop a thermal detonator."

Luke turned around to see Vader behind him. "I'll be going on
the mission now."

"If you think it will be easy to overthrow the Empire, think
again. We will not fall because of your petty attempts to undermine
us."

Luke turned around and left.

It was several hours later by the time he was on his way to the
Aquaris. He was needed to wipe out the people of the base they held
there. He was thought ideal for the job because he had been mutated by
an encounter with radiation while in custody of the Programmers the
first time. He was born able to breath underwater which helped him
when he was growing up to escape security.

The people were helping the rebels so he was to teach them a
lesson. A lesson they would never forget.

*A lesson Naberrie? I shall teach you a lesson! *

*How are you going to do that? When you can't even control me? *

*You have turned against me for the last time. *

*Wrong, your majesty * Luke thought towards him with an edge of
sarcasm. The Emperor couldn't hurt him from this distance and he would
use it to his advantage. He hadn't yet learned how to control Luke
even if he did have the remote. *I was never on your side. *

*You'll pay for this someday. *

*Not anyday soon. I'll never be old and crippled enough for you
to harm me as long as you're around. * Luke smirked, he still had
control, he could taunt and torture him all he wanted to and he
couldn't harm Luke.

here's the next one

Luke laid down on the single bunk of the small ship he used for
missions. His mind skipped back to a time years ago when he was only
fourteen. He had been on a mission with his master and five other
master/Padawan pairs. When the masters had been taken and imprisoned
in a fortress all six of the Padawans had rescued them. Master
Windu had ridiculed Luke for the way he had broken in. He had told
Luke it was naïve and irresponsible. After that the six Padawans had
become inseparable friends.

Luke shook his head. They thought they were inseparable but they
were wrong. He remembered the vow of friendship they all had made.
"We're going to be friends forever," Barriss Offee was saying, her
dark hair pulled back. "Not even a Sith Lord will be able to tear us
apart." She put her hand out in front of her.

"I'll agree with that," Anakin Skywalker said with a grin and ran
a hand through his short blond hair and rested a hand on hers.
Mathius nodded in agreement and rested his hand on theirs. He
glanced toward the other three. All six of them were no longer
Padawans but full Jedi Knights.

Myna Veran, a female Twi'lek, shifted her lekku at Luke. He
rolled his eyes at her attempts. She rested her hand on top and smiled
seductively at Luke. It was a running joke between them.
"Yessss, I agree." Fertan Henat, a Friguano said. He was a
creature that lived in the trees with claws and sticky pads on his
hands and feet. A humanoid with green slimy skin and large yellow
eyes. He had long claws to help him climb the trees and a muscular
tail.

"Luke," Anakin said as he glanced back at the tall but silent
figure. Luke glanced up and saw they were all staring at him.
"This is stupid really. We can't tell what is going to happen in
the future. We can't swear that we'll never be torn apart because we
don't know. We've all got our permanent assignments and for all we
know we could be posted on opposite sides of the galaxy. We may never
see each other again."

"Luke, you worry too much. Be optimistic," Barriss said as
she shook her head. "You're idealistic and the rest of us are
pessimistic idealists."

"I'm not a realist," Anakin reminded her.

"No, I can't do this."

"Luke, no one knows the future."

"I do," Luke whispered hoping that they wouldn't hear.

"Then what, what's going to happen?"

"I can't." Luke turned around and left but Anakin and Barriss
caught up with him.

"Luke, what's wrong."

"You're going to die. All of you are. All the Jedi. You'll turn."

He said glaring at Mathius.

"What?"

He turned back to Anakin. "And you're going to kill them all."

Luke broke free from their grasps and fled. He ran until he reached a
large tree and collapsed against it. It was hours later when some one
finally approached him. "Luke will you please tell me what's wrong."

"No."

"Tell me about it."

"No, you're not my family and I'll never have one." Luke slipped
a long knife out of the sheathe in his boot. Mace Windu stared at his
old Padawan and as Luke pressed it to his throat he struggled with him
and finally won it. He knew if Luke had been himself he wouldn't have
been able to grab it but if Luke had been thinking logically he
wouldn't be in that position.

"Give it to me," Luke said his voice cold.

"Why?"

"Because I want to die." His eyes were chiseled from ice and it
scared Mace Windu.

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because you're like a son to me."

Luke covered his head and started murmuring in between sobs.
"Mara, I need you. Mara, Mara."

Luke sat up on his bunk. He was ragged from the memory of that
time. The Programmers would take the DNA and create a fetus. The child
would be born of a substitute mother. The parents he had been born to
never wanted him. As soon as he had been weaned he had been put in
the garbage wrapped in an old rag. He had been saved by the Jedi and a
year and a half later he was on the streets considered untrainable. He
lived on the streets and refused any who offered to adopt him. He had
been hurt badly and would never accept a family. Even his life as
Skywalker couldn't heal the wounds. He doubted when or if he ever got
back to his normal time he would accept a family, his family again.

The wounds were too deep. He knew instantly if ever he returned he
would reject Mara,Leia, Han, Jacen, Jaina, Ben, Rasoul, and Rachaelle
as his own family. It hurt to even think about it. The wounds were the
reason he had distanced himself from Master Windu. The closest thing
he had to a family one time was Anakin. They were as close as brothers
but now Anakin had deliberately hurt him too. Luke was summoned from
his thoughts as the hyperdrive alert beeped that signified he was
coming out of hyperspace.

Luke jumped out of the bed and made it to the cockpit and pulled the
hyperdrive lever. The starlines faded into stars and he glanced down
at the blue planet that was his target. Aquaris was a planet
completely made of water with a secret rebel base under the water. He
already knew how he was going to destroy the rebels and the base and
be allowed to live. He would have to work to make it so he did not
loose his ship in the process. He saw several floating docking ports
and landed the ship. It was rather convenient; it was too lucky for
him to trust it. Perhaps it was the Force after all but if it was why
was the Force not with him when he needed it. Why the sudden
providence? Why not when Vader took him captive? Could the Force be
trying to show him something? Luke shook his head to release himself
from the thoughts. He had a mission to complete first before he began
thinking too much about the Force. He pulled the ship even and slowly
cut the repulsors to land.

When he was landed he left the ship locked down and grabbed a
remote. He pressed a button and the ship began to hover then
disappeared into the sky. It would return again after orbiting the
planet when he used the remote again. He put the remote into a
waterproof pouch when the docking bay was covered and lowered into the
water. He hid in the shadows and when the rebels showed up they saw
nothing. He didn't know what they were expecting to find. When they
left he came out of the shadows and began scanning the area for the
airway that would lead him inside. He found it one the ceiling of all
places. He used the force to work the screws out and pull it down.
Then he glanced around and jumped. Luke clung to the edge and pulled
himself in. He had to drag himself on his stomach by his arms but he
slowly made it to his point of entry. He saw below him a group of
rebels. They were organized around a table and Luke decided to listen
in.

"We can't just stay here and wait. We have to fight."

"If we let it be known that a Rebellion against the tyranny of
the Empire has begun the Emperor will have us squashed like bugs. We
must stay here."

"Then we can run and fight."

"It's not that easy Leia. They overpower us. We are safe now.
They don't know we exist."

Luke sat there but didn't pay much attention to the rest of the
conversation. When they left he used the force to release the grate
and jumped down. He then put it back in place and walked over to an
area and rmoved a plate from some wirings. It was close to the center
and would force the shields to falter and a hole to form so it was
flooded. He placed several thermal detonators inside. He had five
minutes to run.

"Freeze Imp," a voice said from behind him. Luke froze, "how do
you deactivate this thing?"

Luke spun around and knocked the blaster from her hands and was
soon pointing it at her. As he saw the two people that had been in the
meeting room approach he turned towards them. "You two take a ship and
get out of here. No one but you, this girl, and her friend can leave
or I'll kill you all."

"They followed directions and used the computer to shut down the
shields and lock the doors down. He hurried to a hatch that led into
the bottom part and a drain for the water to go to the purification
chamber. He dove in and swam against the current until he reached a
door and sliced it open.

When he made it to the surface he dug the remote out and pressed the
button. The ship returned with in a few minutes. He lowered the hatch
and dragged himself on board. He soon left and punched in the
coordinates for Naboo.

"I'm sorry Master, I've failed you." Luke glanced around. He knew
where he was, the Jedi Council Meeting Room. It was circular with
chairs surrounding the perimeter. They were all full except one. He
knew the one to his left. He had spent many hours hearing cases
sitting in it.

Master Mace Windu leaned forward. "You are going to let some one
control you? That's very unlike you Luke."

"I have no choice. The remote_"

"Is a fake meant to scare you into obedience. Your fear makes you
obey. The remote doesn't control you. It might control others but not
you. Your spirit is too strong to be dampened. You cannot be forced
into obedience or meekness. Surely you remember your days as my
Padawan. Even after all those years of punishment and discipline you
have remained cocky towards your superiors if you know you can
outfight them. Reckless, stubborn, adventurous, must I go on. You will
soon wake up and remember none of this but lock it away that you will
never be controlled."

A young man at seventeen landed the ship. He was Kelvin Delsen
and rather well known. He knew life was going to be great with an
appointment to the Imperial naval Academy to look forward to the only
thing that stood in his way was his history as one of the Programmed.