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Once
the senator of Naboo, then the Supreme Chancellor of the Old Republic,
Emperor Palpatine rose swiftly through the ranks of power before declaring
himself Emperor. With the help of his apprentice, Darth Vader, he
crushed the Jedi and brought his own brand of order to the galaxy...
the Galactic Empire.
But Darth Vader was not the only tool at Palpatine's disposal, he
also had his "Hands". The Emperor's Hands were a force of
incredibly secret agents, their true number unknown to anyone still
living. Mara Jade is the only one of these "Hands" known
to still be alive.
Palpatine took Mara in as a child, and her past is unknown to any
except the Emperor himself. He trained her in the ways of the Force,
but not in the powers of either the Light or Dark side. Instead he
gave her simple, basic powers and used her to enforce his will. Mara
Jade served the Emperor well, and never failed him until the fateful
mission at Jabba's Palace. Mara failed to kill Luke Skywalker, and
the Emperor chastised her mentally before sending her onto another
mission. He would discuss her failure later.
The Emperor left for Endor to oversee the construction of his ultimate
weapon, the second Death Star, and to spring the trap to destroy the
Rebellion. But it was the Emperor who was destroyed, killed by his
own apprentice as Luke lay dying before him. In his dying moments,
Palpatine sent a message to Mara, showing her his death at the hands
of Luke and Vader together, betraying him. His final command would
haunt Mara for many years to come. "Kill Luke Skywalker."
But the Emperor did not die at that time. His soul awoke within a
new, young clone body on the core world of Byss, a planet steeped
in Dark side energies. Perhaps it was Palpatine's reawakend power,
and the beginnings of his reemergence, that would lead Mara to hear
his message time and again, until she finally fufilled it by killing
the clone of Luke on the planet Wayland. With the Emperor's control
over her broken, it is no wonder that Mara never felt his return,
and his final death at the hands of a Jedi known as Brand.
So the Emperor died, screaming and alone into the darkness from which
he drew his power, and Mara was free from his influence forever. |
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Perhaps
the single most influential person in the life of Mara Jade is the
Moisture farmer turned Rebel hero turned Jedi Master named Luke Skywalker.
He is the man who destroyed the first Death Star, and who foiled Darth
Vader's plans to turn him to the Dark side causing the Emperor to
grow increasingly worried about the young Jedi.
It was when Luke came to the rescue of his friend, Han Solo, in Jabba
the Hutt's palace that Mara had her first glimpse of the Jedi. A face
to face meeting would have to wait, though, as Mara was kept from
following Luke to what Jabba believed to be the young Jedi's doom.
While Mara went on to another mission, Luke headed to Endor, and the
final confrontation in which Vader returned to the Light Side and
killed the Emperor. Instead of the truth, though, Mara saw a vision
of Luke teaming up with Vader, and the two slaying the Emperor together.
This, paired with the Emperor's final command to kill Luke Skywalker
would make him the focus of Mara's life from that point forward.
It wasn't until several years later that Luke's path would meet with
Mara's once again. While fleeing from an Imperial Interdictor, Luke's
X-Wing was badly damaged, and it was pure chance that Talon Karrde,
the smuggler with whom Mara was working, should be the one to find
him. Luke was more impressed with Mara Jade then she was with him.
The longer she was with him, though, the more she was impressed by
his incredible strength in the Force, as well as his simple demeanor.
Luke helped Mara Jade to save Talon Karrde from Grand Admiral Thrawn,
and continued to think about him as Luke went off to train with the
supposed Jedi Master, Joruus C'Baoth. Finding C'Baoth steeped in the
Dark Side, Luke returned to the New Republic, and met with Mara again
during the mission to destroy the Wayland facilities that Thrawn was
using to clone his soldiers. It was there that the past returned to
haunt Luke, when the very hand he had lost on Bespin was used against
him to create a clone, Luuke Skywalker. This was the chance Mara had
waited for for so many years. She fulfilled the final command of Palpatine
by killing Luke's clone. With the help of Mara and his sister, Leia,
Luke was able to defeat Joruus C'Baoth as well.
As the New Republic grew, it was determined that a new generation
of Jedi Knights was needed to maintain peace and order in the galaxy.
Luke determined it was best to create a Jedi Academy. Mara attended
for a little while, enough to regain more control over her slowly
returning force powers, but soon departed. Luke and his students were
left to themselves to battle against Exar Kun, the spirit of a long
dead Sith Lord. Luke's students prevailed, and saved Luke from nearly
being lost forever.
Luke went on to save the Republic time and again, but eventually became
weary of his role, and went into a self-imposed exile, forsaking the
Force in favor of meditation. But once again, Luke was drawn off on
another mission, this time with Mara Jade, in an attempt to locate
an object known only as the Hand of Thrawn.
On this mission, Luke's life would change forever, for it was within
the Hand of Thrawn, a massive fortress created to explore the outer
reaches of the galaxy, that Luke would declare his love for Mara.
The two swore to get married.
After the Caamasi Incident, the resulting truce with the Empire brought
new hope to the galaxy, and the union of Luke and Mara Jade Skywalker
seemed to reinforce the ideal of peace. But the peace would be short
lived, as Luke began to fear for the future of his new Jedi order.
Luke wished to recreate the Jedi council of old, but as the sudden
threat of the Yuuzhan Vong made itself known, he had a great deal
more to worry about. With Mara sick from a mysterious illness, Luke
was torn between his duty to the Jedi and his love for his wife. Luke
maintained a cold determination that the Jedi should not be directly
attacking the Vong, but assisting in saving innocents.
While the Yuzhaan Vong became more and more wary about the 'jeedai',
Luke found himself increasingly at odds with Kyp Durron, who believed
in taking the battle to the Vong instead of simply waiting for them
to strike first. Meanwhile, Mara's condition worsened until a mysterious
alien Jedi, accompanying a Yuuzhan Vong assassin, provided a strange
cure in the form of her own tears. Mara was not totally cured, but
the strange illness went into remission, and more surprisingly, Mara
found herself able to have children once again. This lead to the birth
of Luke and Mara's son, Ben Skywalker. With the birth of Ben, Luke
has resolved his thoughts, and determined that the Jedi are the only
hope for the New Republic. |
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Get
a personalized autograph
from Shannon! |
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For
Shannon, "Sex in the City", "The Sopranos",
"Deadwood", and "Law and Order" are all must
see TV.
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