The Adventures of Mara Jade
While she would never be so crass as to lose her cool, Mara Jade, Hand of the Emperor, could not help, but find Imperial Intelligence to be so annoying. It didn't help that their hunt for her is of zero benefit to the Galactic Empire. Both the Emperor and Darth Vader are dead while the rebels are now calling themselves the New Republic and at the current rate of progress, it is increasingly looking like that claim might someday have some merit to it.
So what did Imperial Intelligence do at the direction of Director Isard? Waste precious resources attempting to hunt her down instead of doing something to impede the rebel march on the Imperial Centre. Coruscant if one is feeling unpatriotic, a phenomena that Mara is finding to be increasingly common.
You will kill Luke Skywalker.
The command still echoes in her head, even after a year has passed. Her master's bidding will be done and Mara will kill that Jedi murderer to avenge the Emperor. Unfortunately, it will need to wait until her pursuers are no longer looking for her as even the Hand of the Emperor cannot both evade the grasping hand of Imperial Intelligence and hunt down the most infamous rebel war hero at the same time.
As the redhead pops a blaster bolt into the chest of the agent pursuing her, Mara feels a pang of regret that her time as Ashkae Wyndar has come to an end. While the Hand of the Emperor wouldn't want to spend the rest of her life as the barmaid, it had been relatively peaceful and relaxing. Fending off the leers and hands of drunks had been pitifully easy compared to her usual jobs and it had given Mara time to think on the Final Order.
The Emperor hadn't told her much about his final contingency, his grand plan, but Mara knew enough about her master's magnum opus. The Galactic Empire was powerful, strong and mighty, but it was ultimately flawed. It was forged out of a corrupt Republic and it showed. Abuse of power and corruption was rife amongst every level of the Empire despite the efforts of the Emperor and his loyal servants like Darth Vader and Mara herself. Its fragmentation upon the Emperor's death and the consistent victories of the rebels are a testament to that.
So to replace it, the Emperor had come up with the Final Order. It would be something new, something fresh, something built purely to fulfil the Emperor's vision for the galaxy. And Mara would join them in their honoured duties when she either found them or they found her. But for now, the Hand of the Emperor has more pursuers to shake or slay..
***
Coruscant had fallen to the rebels and that news was a mixed blessing to Mara Jade, Hand of the Emperor. On the one hand, its fall means that what's left of Imperial Intelligence has ceased their hunt for her, allowing her to go about her business in relative peace. On the other hand, it was a major victory for the rebels and it made bringing about their downfall harder.
You will kill Luke Skywalker.
At least she could focus on carrying out the last command of her master. Luke Skywalker has easily proven himself to be her hardest target, but Mara has yet to fail the Emperor and has no intention of doing so now, even if he has been dead for over a year.
To the Hand of the Emperor, the only question is whether Mara should kill Luke Skywalker first or if she should seek out the Final Order to gain their aid in slaying the Jedi Knight. She leans towards the former because the Emperor commanded her and not the Final Order to kill the rebel, but at the same time, Mara can't avoid wondering if she is only picking that path because she doesn't know where to find the Final Order.
Exogol and the Sith Eternal. Those are her clues, overheard from her master. An order of the Emperor's most loyal and devout followers, giving their lives to serve him at Exogol as they prepare the Final Order to bring peace and order to the galaxy. Mara sometimes wishes that she was included amongst their ranks, but as the Hand of the Emperor, she serves a different but equally important role to their mutual master.
Still, she has been looking for it. The location of Exogol, the routes that the Sith Eternal took to find it, the secret hyperlanes used to transport materials and equipment to the hidden world. Her priority is still the death of Luke Skywalker of course, but finding the last contingency of her master is a side project of hers.
"Spending all of my time focusing on Skywalker would just burn me out," Mara tells herself as she tries to relax in her bed.
But she cannot because she hates that man, the mere thought of the Jedi Knight making rage bubble up inside her. He killed her master, destroyed her life of luxury, privilege and purpose and now he goes about trying to undo everything that the Emperor did for the ungrateful galaxy.
These days Mara doesn't know what is worse, the rebels calling themselves the New Republic and proclaiming themselves to be the galaxy saviours or the Imperial warlords who shattered the once great Galactic Empire to fuel their petty ambitions. This so-called New Republic could have been crushed in its infancy, but these warlords couldn't put aside their differences to deal with a threat to the Empire. Instead they tore apart the Empire they were supposed to serve and turned their forces upon each other rather than the rebels.
She needs to calm down, but the Hand of the Emperor cannot as she tosses and turns under her blanket. The sooner she kills Luke Skywalker the better. Or she finds Exogol and the Final Order. Either one will do.
***
Mara Jade, Hand of the Emperor, dislikes playing the pretty ditz, but she has the body and acting skills for it and in situations like this, it serves her well. So she lowers her dignity and plays the attractive fool to deceive her lessers into thinking that they are her betters. And it will be worth it because Luke Skywalker is in the same room as her.
You will kill Luke Skywalker.
"Countess Minesta, you are as charming as you are beautiful," says the CEO that Mara is currently dancing with.
"Why thank you, Baron Zombolli," replies Mara, flashing the man a brainless smile, which gets him smiling in satisfaction.
The man won't be sleeping with her tonight, of course, Mara has standards, but she is perfectly content to lead him on. After all, she only needs him long enough to get close to Skywalker. Once the Jedi has been dealt with, Mara will no longer require the services of the pumped up CEO.
"I am always happy to please a lady like yourself," says the man as his smile turns into a confident smirk and Mara decides to put things into motion.
"My dear baron," says Mara as she glances over to Luke Skywalker, "Do you know who that is? He looks so familiar. I am just so sure I have seen him before, but I can't place him."
"Hmm," mumbles the man as he follows her gaze, "Ah, that is General Skywalker, hero of the Rebellion and the last of the Jedi. I doubt you have met him before, but it is no wonder he looks familiar to you. He has spent some time now as the most wanted man in the galaxy and is responsible for personally killing both the late Emperor Palpatine and his right hand, Darth Vader. Ah, I hope it doesn't offend any Imperial sensibilities to have him here, my darling Countess."
"Not at all," replies Mara as she pushes her body closer to the man, "After all, we are no longer on an Imperial world."
"No, I suppose we are not," agrees the CEO, "Not after the surrender last month. Would you like to meet him? I would certainly be happy to introduce you."
Excellent, she doesn't even need to bring up that idea herself.
"I would be delighted to," answers the Hand of the Emperor as she begins to mentally prepare herself to finally carry out the final command of her master.
Then it all goes wrong. As Baron Zombolli leads Mara to her target, a series of concussion missiles slam into the exterior wall of the ball room. Huge gaps are blown into the wall that expose it to the elements while the shockwaves and explosions injure several members of the hall's crowd and send the rest into panic.
Baron Zombolli is one of the latter and Mara is one of the former, the man fleeing the room as a chunk of the wall slams into the Hand of the Emperor. The redhead is thrown to the ground in pain while stormtroopers repel into the room, their blasters blazing at Skywalker and anyone unfortunate enough to be too close to the Jedi.
You will kill Luke Skywalker.
Wincing in pain as she gets to her feet, Mara narrows her eyes as she glares at Skywalker as he fends off the stormtroopers with his lightsaber, the gleaming green blade deflecting red blaster bolts back into the stormtroopers. She draws her blaster to shoot Skywalker in the back, but then things go wrong once again.
Spotting her with her blaster, some of the stormtroopers begin shooting at her, not realising that they and the Hand of the Emperor share the same goal on this day. Mara throws herself behind a table, letting the blaster bolts rip chunks from its wooden frame instead of her fleshy body.
Sensing where Skywalker is with the Force, Mara pops up and aims her blaster, but before she can get that fatal shot off, the redhead is shot herself. A stormtrooper shoots her in the shoulder, the blaster bolt easily piercing the fabric of her dress. A second blaster bolt strikes her blaster and Mara curses as a quick inspection reveals that it has been damaged beyond use.
Why does this group of stormtroopers have to be one of the few competent ones?
Tossing the now useless weapon aside, Mara makes the reluctant decision to call it a day as with an injury, no weapon and no element of surprise, the odds of her killing Skywalker today are increasingly vanishing. She makes a run for the door, cursing her bad luck as blaster bolts chase after her.
You will kill Luke Skywalker.
***
So here is an omake. The subject matter has been discussed with the QM and approved by them.
