This article is about the New Jedi Order Master. You may be looking for the Old Republic Jedi Master Mara or the freighter Mara. This article is about. You may be looking for

"I'm a fighter. I've always been a fighter. The few times when I have been at leisure, I've been miserable. I want challenges, I crave them." ―Mara Jade Skywalker [src]

Mara Jade Skywalker, a Force-sensitive human female who was during different times in her life, an Emperor's Hand, a smuggler, and later a Jedi Master who sat upon the Jedi High Council. She was raised as a servant and assassin to Emperor Palpatine and became a high-level Force-using operative. As an Emperor's Hand, Jade carried out the Emperor's bidding, killing Rebels and corrupt Imperials alike with cold professionalism, even as a young woman. As Palpatine's assassin, she received top-notch training from experts in a variety of fields as well as training in the Force, which was continued by Luke Skywalker years later. After Palpatine's death, she received his last command, which was to kill Luke Skywalker; however, the death of her Master caused her to go rogue. Eventually she joined smuggler chief Talon Karrde, becoming one of his best smugglers and his second-in-command. During the predations of Grand Admiral Thrawn, she was forced to work with Skywalker, and developed a grudging respect for him. During the Galactic Civil War, Mara Jade proved herself skilled in a variety of fields; she was a good pilot and mechanic and trained in the use of both a blaster and hand-to-hand combat even without relying on the Force.

Over the years, she continued to work for Karrde and interact with Skywalker intermittently, training at his Jedi Praxeum on Yavin 4 for a short period of time. She was groomed by Karrde to take over the Smugglers' Alliance and had a brief relationship with Lando Calrissian as part of that role, although she later admitted it was a charade. She also continued to grow closer to Skywalker and worked alongside him on numerous occasions, including the Almanian Uprising and the Corellian Crisis. The two finally realized in 19 ABY while on a mission to Nirauan that they were in love, and wanted to spend the rest of their lives together.

After marrying Skywalker, Mara Jade took the surname Skywalker and devoted her life to the New Jedi Order, becoming a Master in her own right. Shortly before the Yuuzhan Vong War, she fell ill due to deadly coomb spores that she'd been infected with by a Yuuzhan Vong agent. She used the Force to slow their progress even as she continued to fight against the alien invaders on numerous battlefields including Dantooine and Ithor, but the disease was only purged from her system after the birth of her son Ben in 26 ABY. After becoming a Master, Jade Skywalker took her niece Jaina Solo as an apprentice until she reached Knighthood. During that time, she participated in Jedi offensives against the Yuuzhan Vong, aiding in the war effort. After the fall of Coruscant, she helped Cal Omas become elected as the Chief of State as the New Republic reorganized itself into the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances. Jade Skywalker ultimately saw her efforts against the Yuuzhan Vong rewarded in the war's final battle on Coruscant with the death of Supreme Overlord Shimrra Jamaane.

In the following years, Jade Skywalker was active during the Dark Nest Crisis and the subsequent Swarm War, wherein she helped to thwart the expansionist plans of Raynar Thul and the insectoid Killiks who were spreading into Chiss space and subverting many other people into becoming Joiners under the influence of several Dark Jedi. Jade Skywalker was insistent that the Jedi who had joined Killik communities would be withdrawn, as they were using their skills in combat against the Chiss, provoking them. She continued to serve by the side of her husband as a Jedi Master during the Second Galactic Civil War, first serving alongside the Galactic Alliance against the rebellious Confederation. The re-emergence of the Sith Lady Lumiya was another threat that Jade Skywalker had to confront, but though she and her husband skirmished with both Lumiya and the fallen Jedi Alema Rar on multiple occasions, the darksiders escaped. As the war escalated, Jade Skywalker was killed by her nephew, Jacen Solo, whom she had learned was a Sith and therefore saw as a threat to her family personally, to the Jedi Order, and to the galaxy at large.

Contents show]

Biography

Early life (17 BBY–4 ABY)

"Yeah, it's true. Now tell me who blabbed so I can go cut his head off." ―Mara Jade's response to a couple of Jedi trainees questioning her past as an Emperor's Hand [src]

Mara Jade was born in 17 BBY[1] during a time of great instability as Emperor Palpatine, alias the Sith Lord Darth Sidious, and his apprentice Darth Vader were eliminating the remnants of the Jedi Order. The Emperor took Jade from her parents and brought her to the planet Coruscant at a very young age, where he began to train her in the Force, although officially she was one of the Imperial Palace's dancers. Years later, Jade remembered little about her early life besides her parents' reluctance to let her go and her own certainty that she was going to leave with the Emperor.[9] She did recall at one point that she had had a falling-star globe as a child and had gotten in trouble after breaking it to see how it worked.[10] Her master trained her in the ways of the Force and she was made into an agent of the Empire.[9] Some of the Imperial court assumed her to simply be a dancer or one of Palpatine's concubines.[6]

Emperor's Hand

"She is, shall we say, an experiment." ―Palpatine [src]

Throughout Jade's youth, she was pushed through an intensive training regimen—which involved training alongside the Imperial Royal Guard[11] and learning covert espionage and assassination skills, at which she was adept by the age of fourteen[2]—and became an "Emperor's Hand," one of Palpatine's personal assassins,[12] after a final test in which she successfully broke into Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin's private quarters.[6] In order to accomplish her mission, Jade, posing as a guest at a formal event at Tarkin's residence, feigned illness in order to get away from the other guests. She then retrieved a sack of equipment and descended down the side of the building to the room containing Tarkin's private safe. While she was breaking in, a group of guards came in—actually droids—and she engaged them with her blaster and lightsaber. However, upon sensing that one of the guards was living, she knocked him out rather than kill a soldier willing to give his life in a training exercise. Vader and Sidious were pleased with her skills and she was pronounced the Emperor's Hand.[13]

Despite there being several Emperor's Hands, she, like the others, was unaware of the existence of any other Hands.[14] Due to her deep connection with the Force, she could hear Palpatine's voice anywhere in the galaxy via a telepathic link.[5] Jade carried out Palpatine's will on numerous worlds, eliminating corrupt Imperial officials, traitors, and others who he deemed deserving of death or judgment. His esteem for her was such that he actually allowed her time for relaxation, atypical of Palpatine's usual style.[9] In addition to a personal starship and a protocol droid named K3 to aid her in her duties as Hand, she also received a private quarters on Coruscant, where she kept her lightsaber and a lanvarok for left-handers—although Jade herself was right-handed—among the items in her personal weapon collection.[15]

Before the Battle of Yavin, the destruction of an Imperial superweapon called the DS-1 Orbital Battle Station, she was tasked with gathering intelligence in order to help hunt down any Jedi she found that had survived Order 66—one such Jedi was An'ya Kuro. Jade had come across a man trying to escape Imperial custody on Kuat and he yielded information to her obtained from a Sacorrian smuggler. The smuggler told her that Kuro was on the fifth planet of the Cophrigin system. Jade lobbied the Emperor unsuccessfully to be allowed to be the one to end Kuro, but instead Vader was sent.[16] During the years following the Battle of Yavin and preceding the Battle of Hoth, Jade spied on Darth Vader and delivered reports on his actions to the Emperor, even going so far as watching, from afar, his assault on the Massassi Temples, some six months after the loss of the Death Star over Yavin Prime, which resulted in the capture of Rebel Commander Jan Dodonna. In later missions where she was assigned to discreetly observe him, Jade soon became envious of Vader and sensed a division in him, specifically because she didn't understand the basis of his obsession concerning a young Jedi named Luke Skywalker. Jade began to hope that Vader would betray the Emperor so that she could kill him and take his place as the Emperor's apprentice.[17]

Despite these spy activities, she still performed tasks for Vader himself. Around 1.5 ABY, Jade was responsible for uncovering information about Rebel Alliance droids, C-3PO and R2-D2, for Vader, though Vader was either unwilling or unable to collect the information from her himself. Instead, he sent a spacer who had been doing work for the Empire to pick up the information from Jade on Naboo before returning it to him for a reward of 2,100.[18] Later that year, she participated in the celebration of Empire Day and during the festivities, she tasked an Imperial operative to rescue six Imperial officers from a prison facility inside the hidden Rebel base on the planet Corellia.[19] Around the time of the Battle of Hoth she visited Belsavis.[14]

Jade had also investigated Moff Glovstoak, posing as "Countess Claria" and discovered that he had been skimming the top off tax returns to the Imperial Center. Faking intoxication, she retired to a private room during a formal party Glovstoak was throwing, only to leave an inflatable dummy behind and, having exchanged her formal wear for a combat suit, quickly infiltrated his office and found six stolen paintings worth millions of credits in his palace. Jade returned to Imperial Center and reported her findings to Palpatine, but also saved General Deerian, whom she believed to be honest, from the fallout of Glovstoak's destruction.[12]

Eliminating Choard

Upon Glovstoak's arrest, Jade also took the job of discovering who had delivered the paintings, as well as those who had aided the Moff. First, she went to the auction house where the paintings had been sold, but gleaned little information. Next, she investigated secure storage sites and found a good match in the Birtraub Brothers Storage and Reclamation Center, within which she sensed criminal connections. Observing the facility from a nearby tapcafe, the owners of the storage facility attempted to drug her, but her Force-senses alerted her to the attempt. She confronted the owner, Pirtonna, who attempted to kill her. She easily subdued him and he admitted the involvement of a pirate group identified as the BloodScars, a ruthless gang that wanted to combine several gangs to dominate the Shelsha sector.[12]

Jade stowed away on one of the pirate ships that she had been pointed to, choosing a HT-2200 medium freighter that was being sent to attack a transport carrying Imperial military equipment. About the time the craft launched an attack on the Happer's Way, Jade was also discovered and attacked by a group of pirates. Undaunted, she quickly took over the ship, captured Tannis, and signaled the Reprisal via the Happer's Way's communications relay to assist her and the freighter.[12]

Boarding the Reprisal, Jade was coldly greeted by Captain Kendal Ozzel, who believed she was onto him for five stormtroopers that had deserted earlier after killing Major Drelfin over Daric LaRone's refusal to kill civilians on Teardrop. Jade requested a pair of crewers for the ship, and Colonel Vak Somoril gave her a pair of ISB men to accompany her. Taking the two ISB men and Tannis with her on the Happer's Way, she went to infiltrate the pirate base at Gepparin, pretending to be an independent ship thief who wanted to join the BloodScars.[12]

Jade arrived on Gepparin and was brought to meet the Commodore, who was suspicious of her. That evening, Jade was attacked by the two ISB men, who had been ordered to eliminate her, and their attack attracted the pirates' attention. She attempted to deal with the commodore, who ignored her and had his pirate accomplice Caaldra kill her. His attempt was unsuccessful, but she was interrupted before she could stop him and the commodore. Aboard the Reprisal, Ozzel and Somoril, wanting to be sure she was slain, arrived over Gepparin and launched TIE fighters and an orbital bombardment to kill Mara and the pirates. Jade quickly raced to the command center and found the commodore's body next to a HoloNet message he was about to send to Shelkonwa. She shot down the TIE fighters, and the Reprisal left in pursuit of the Millennium Falcon and their rogue stormtroopers who had appeared in-system, allowing her to escape in a Z-10 Seeker.[12] Journeying to Shelkonwa, she found Vader and the Executor already there in search of Rebel leader Leia Organa. Jade believed that Governor Barshnis Choard was a traitor, and informed Vader of her findings. The Dark Lord of the Sith brooked no interference in his search, but he did allow Jade to investigate and deal with Choard. Upon landing, Caaldra attacked her with a purloined All Terrain Scout Transport, but she was aided by the group of rogue stormtroopers, dubbed the Hand of Judgment and led by Daric LaRone. Taking them under her command, she defeated the AT-ST, unknowingly with the help of Chewbacca in a freighter, but Caaldra had escaped. With her newly drafted stormtroopers, she advanced on the governor's palace, where once again Caaldra tried to kill her. She put an end to him when he tried to shoot her and she redirected the bolt into him with her lightsaber. In the mean time, the Hand of Judgment had penetrated the governor's security. Linking back up with the Hand of Judgment, Jade arrested Governor Choard and vouched for the rogue stormtroopers, even in front of Vader. Later, she learned their true story. She let them go, but warned them to lie low and lose their Hand of Judgment name, saying she was the only Hand in the Empire.[12]

Investigating Ferrouz

Subsequently, Jade was tasked with eliminating a corrupt judge, Lamos Chatoor. Upon confronting the official, she was ambushed by a pair of armed guards, but handily defeated both. Ignoring Chatoor's excuses and pleas, she executed him in the name of Imperial justice. Following her successful mission, she was contacted mentally by Palpatine after she returned to her private Lambda-class shuttle. Palpatine had another assignment for her, sending her to investigate allegations of treason against Governor Bidor Ferrouz of the Candoras sector. Ferrouz had been reported to be collaborating with the Rebel Alliance and Palpatine tasked her with ascertaining the voracity of the accusations and executing Ferrouz if they were substantiated.[10]

To reach the sector capital of Poln Major, Jade decided she would need a different, less conspicuous ship than her own shuttle. She also decided that having willing stormtrooper accomplices would be useful. Having monitored the continued altruistic vigilantism of the Hand of Judgment despite her earlier warning to them, Jade decided to use them again. Jade tracked them to Elegasso based on her knowledge of their activities and her own intuition and soon found them on a nearby world where a corrupt local official named Bok Yost had captured them before they could interfere with the election he had rigged to secure his position. Jade burst into the holding area, killing the mercenaries hired by Yost. Confronted with imminent death, Yost had no choice but to surrender his prisoners and resign his position in favor of holding new, fair elections, or else be slain. Jade released LaRone and his men and then recruited them to assist her infiltration of Poln Major. Knowing full well the leverage she had over them, LaRone agreed to her terms reluctantly.[10]

Using the Hand of Judgment's modified Suwantek TL-1800, Jade and the Hand of Judgment flew to Poln Major. Upon arrival, Jade tasked them with surveying the stormtrooper security at the spaceport and obtaining ship logs while she sought to stakeout security at the governor's palace. Her initial observations showed it was heavily fortified from all angles. To test security at the gate, she used the Force to manipulate the steering controls on a passing landspeeder, causing it to nearly crash into the gate. The response by the gates told her it would be possible to arrange a similar, more severe accident to have herself detained and brought into the palace, where she planned to escape. To aid in her plan, she purchased a remote-controlled toy airspeeder and modified it.[10]

Having obtained the report from the Hand of Judgment on spaceport security and ship logs, Jade learned that a fair number of suspected Rebel Alliance ships were insystem, which she considered corroboration of the accusations against Ferrouz. She ordered the Hand of Judgment to meet her at the palace gates after helping them steal some stormtrooper armor with identification markings that would allow them to get close to the palace and had them assist in her entry. Having stolen a civilian landspeeder, Jade again faked a crash into the palace gates with the airspeeder toy in the vehicle as well. She was held up at the gate by suspicious guards when Hand of Judgment stormtroopers LaRone and Saberan Marcross arrived, accusing her of shoplifting from an electronics store. That charge, combined with a ruse where Jade faked that the airspeeder toy was rigged to sabotage speeder controls, earned her a trip to the detention area, precisely what she wanted.[10]

Jade quickly escaped while being taken for interrogation and met up with LaRone after knocking out her captors. Jade then carved a hole into the ceiling and escaped into an abandoned wing of the palace, seeking a way to approach Ferrouz. Having confirmed her suspicions of his treason, she managed to sneak into his office, following a Rebel Alliance ambassador named Vestin Axlon. Ferrouz confessed his treason, but informed Jade that he'd only done so on instructions from the people who had kidnapped his wife and young daughter under the instructions of a powerful local warlord, Nuso Esva. Feeling some sympathy for the man, Jade forestalled his execution to help retrieve his family and deal with Esva first.[10]

Before she could learn too much more, the governor's office was attacked by infiltrators in the employ of Esva while his other henchmen stirred up a riot at the gate to distract the guards. Jade held them off as best as she could, finally dealing with the attackers when LaRone and Marcross ambushed them from behind. Jade then pulled Axlon and Ferrouz into the governor's private exit along with LaRone and Marcross, escaping the palace through the exit and storm drains. Calling in the rest of the Hand of Judgment, they secured a tapcafe as a hideout until Jade could rescue Ferrouz's family. Jade revealed that the governor had been under duress to Axlon, who had been hoping to broken an alliance between the Rebellion and the Candoras Sector. She also told Axlon that in exchange for a truce while they fought off Esva's forces, she would give the Rebel forces in the Poln system two days to leave. Based on information given to her by Ferrouz, Jade then deduced that a security officer named Pakrie, one of her captors from earlier, was in the employ of Esva. She also learned that Esva had a significant space force, armed partially with weapons stolen from the Empire by Pakrie.[10]

Jade then returned to the palace to find Pakrie. While she was gone, LaRone and the Hand of Judgment were attacked by Axlon, who had also been courting Esva's favor and hoped that arranging the governor's death would ingratiate the warlord to the Rebellion. The Hand of Judgment eliminated Axlon and informed her of his treason. Jade suspected that the kidnappers had used the safe room built into the governor's private exit and investigated it. She had one of the governor's security officers bait Pakrie into the safe room by claiming the governor was there. She kidnapped him, but was attacked by eight alien assassins before she could extract information from him. Jade slew them all but Pakrie escaped in the confusion. However, LaRone had a contact who provided her with intelligence of the location where the family was held. Jade located a secret passageway that led there and followed it to an underground area that was heavily guarded. Having learned this, Ferrouz then called Pakrie and informed the duplicitous officer of his location to draw off some of the guards. The ruse was successful, giving Jade an opening.[10]

Noting the passageway was mined with explosives, Jade used an alien corpse to set off the explosives as a distraction while she worked her way along an overhead crane arm. Meanwhile, LaRone's contact, actually Rebel pilot Luke Skywalker, made his own attempt to free the governor's family. He came under fire after subduing some of the guards with his lightsaber and Jade tossed him her weapon. She then drew fire, deflecting it with her lightsaber as she closed on the cabin where the governor's family was being held. Skywalker helped fight off the guards while Jade freed Ferrouz's wife and daughter. As Esva's forces closed in, Jade ordered Skywalker to shoot a pool of flammable liquid she had spilled to cover their escape. The resulting explosion and Jade's skills dealt with the rest of the guards. Meanwhile, the Hand of Judgment fended off Esva's forces and an Imperial fleet destroyed the warlord's navy.[10]

Jade then allowed Ferrouz to live after returning his family, considering that his treason had been imposed under extenuating circumstances. Skywalker and the Rebel Alliance managed to escape, though the Empire had arranged that they would obtain supplies that would lead them to choose a remote, cold location for their next base. Jade later searched for the Hand of Judgment to see what had happened to them, but they had disappeared and she was unable to find them.[10]

Hunting Skywalker

"I hope your salary is more generous than your costume, Miss uh…"

"You… can call me Arica." ―C-3PO and Mara Jade Listen (file info) [src]

A few months prior to the Battle of Endor, Jade was in Palpatine's chamber when Darth Vader brought the Force-sensitive cyborg Lumiya to Palpatine to serve as another Emperor's Hand. Jade was dismissed from Palpatine's presence before he accepted Lumiya's service, maintaining her illusion that she was the only Hand, but Jade nevertheless sensed immediate hostility from Lumiya.[1] Following the Battle of Hoth, Jade became aware of Palpatine's worries about Luke Skywalker; she was sent to infiltrate Jabba Desilijic Tiure's Palace on Tatooine, disguised as the dancing girl Arica, in order to await Skywalker.[20] While waiting for Luke Skywalker, Jade witnessed C-3PO and R2-D2's arrival at the palace. Later, after the droid was forced into the Hutt's service, C-3PO met Jade. After a brief conversation, in which she questioned 3PO regarding Skywalker and introduced herself as Arica, Jade disappeared as C-3PO witnessed the dancing girl Oola's execution.[21]

However, Melina Carniss, a member of Jabba's secret security detail, suspected her of being out to assassinate the Hutt, and attempted to arrest her. Jade turned the tables on Carniss, however, taking her into custody and then using the Force to cause Melina to shoot one of Jabba's Gamorrean guards. Jade fled down a tunnel and came to a ventilation shaft of the rancor pit. After fighting through three rows of guards, she was able to watch Skywalker kill the rancor. She then entered the ventilation shaft of the rancor pit using a vibro-ax, and used the Force to open the trapdoor and follow the crowd out to the sail barge. Though she begged Jabba to let her join him and others at the Dune Sea, a suspicious Jabba instead provided her with a landspeeder and told her to leave and never come back after she tried to use the Force on him. Thus stymied in the attempt to fulfill her mission, she made her way back to Imperial Center—and a displeased Palpatine.[20] Years later, a Force vision revealed to Skywalker that, had she been present at the Great Pit of Carkoon, Jade would have succeeded in preventing his escape.[5]

The search for Black Nebula

"Victims run off and hide. Prey runs off and hides. But I'm not a victim. And I'm not prey. I'm the Emperor's Hand. I am the ultimate predator. And it's time for Dequc and Black Nebula to die." ―Mara Jade during her hunt for Dequc [src]

Following her mission on Tatooine, Jade was given another task by the Emperor—to kill Dequc, a Jeodu who sought to revive Black Sun by incorporating its remnants into his own empire, that of the Black Nebula.[22]

Jade arrived on the planet Svivren, where she began laying the groundwork for her new mission. She reconnoitered the crime lord's base, but realized that she would need a distraction to allow her to sneak in unnoticed. She went to the local Imperial garrison commander, General Touno, and requested two squads of stormtroopers and an officer. The officer assigned to her was Captain Strok, and together, he and Jade planned a raid on the building next to Dequc's, but Strok was unaware that the raid was a distraction planned by Jade. The following day, however, saw the raid utterly fail and the majority of the Imperials killed. Jade, though, was still able to use the distraction provided by the firefight to sneak in and assassinate a Jeodu she believed to be Dequc.[22]

After the assassination, Jade reported to the Emperor that the mission had been successful. Palpatine, as a reward for her efficiency, provided her with a vacation. She did her best to enjoy the time that was provided to her, but she found herself mulling over the events which had transpired on Svivren. She came to the conclusion that the assassination was too easy and that any number of the guards present during her attack should have easily been able to stop her. Jade decided to test her theory by setting up a simulation of the assassination. Only two out of five times was she able to successfully kill "Dequc" and withdraw unharmed. She concluded that the person she killed was not the real Dequc, but a cleverly placed decoy. Jade resolved that it was still her duty to hunt down and assassinate the real leader of Black Nebula.[22]

Jade used her Force link with Palpatine to advise him of her findings, but before she could, he allowed her to witness his destruction by both Vader and Luke Skywalker.[22] His last command reverberated through the Force to her: YOU WILL KILL LUKE SKYWALKER.[5] She was overcome by his death agonies and rendered unconscious. She remained in a dream-like state for several days, until she was apprehended by two of Director of Imperial Intelligence Ysanne Isard's henchmen.[22]

They took Jade to Isard, who imprisoned her and used intelligence tactics to try and force Jade to aid her in her bid for power. Jade, though, was able to escape from captivity and find passage to the backwater world of Phorliss. Jade intended to lay low for the time being until she could raise enough funds to relocate. To better blend into her temporary surroundings, she found work as a waitress at a local cantina owned by Gorb Drig. For several weeks she worked for Drig under the alias Chiara Lorn, until members of Black Nebula arrived to collect a debt owed by Drig. Jade could not believe her luck in discovering that Black Nebula had a presence on Phorliss—not wanting Drig to be harmed, Jade did her best to fight the more numerous gang members. She managed to obtain her lightsaber and quickly kill the remaining Nebula members, though not before they killed Drig and Jorshmin, a patron whom Jade had befriended.[22]

Jade set out to find the Black Nebula base on Phorliss, and discovered that the real Dequc was based on Qiaxx. She infiltrated a casino owned by Dequc and administered by a lieutenant in Black Nebula. She disguised herself as Baroness Paltonae and claimed to represent a mysterious corporate interest that had developed reliable and undetectable ways to cheat at gambling and detect lock combinations—Jade, however, simply used the Force to create both illusions in an effort to be brought before Dequc. She succeeded and was taken to Black Nebula's hidden base in the Bubble Cliffs of Nezmi, where Dequc was waiting for her to discuss the corporate interest she "represented." However, once inside the Nebula's base, Jade unknowingly ran into Strok, the Imperial officer she had worked with on Svivren.[22]

She learned that he was actually a Black Nebula agent who had been inserted into the Imperial officer corps to feed Dequc information. Jade was furious about the discovery of an Imperial traitor, but decided to deal with him later. However, she again ran into him in the base's barracks, and when he realized who she was, Jade was forced to kill him to keep her secret safe. His death, though, was soon discovered by Black Nebula and she was forced onto the offensive. Jade eventually managed to make her way to Dequc's safe house, deep within the Bubble Cliffs. Once there, she used her lightsaber and a small explosive to kill Dequc and his guards; she was then able to escape through one of Dequc's secret passageways. Once she had successfully withdrawn, Jade stole a private yacht of Dequc's, one which was filled with all of his private information regarding the inner workings of Black Nebula, and left it at an Imperial spaceport where it could be discovered by the authorities.[22]

On the run (4 ABY–6 ABY)

Her hatred of Skywalker for destroying her master burned deep within her and she vowed to kill the Jedi Knight. She was unaware that the Emperor's telepathic command lay at the core of her rage, making it stronger than any normal wish for vengeance would be. Meanwhile, her life was in shambles: the resources she had once had access to were all dependent on the Emperor, and her life of luxury, privilege and purpose was over. Still hunted by Isard, she made her way through the galaxy, doing odd jobs and manual labor to make ends meet. Her Force abilities faded, returning in ill-timed bursts. All the while, she was still haunted by the Emperor's last command: "You will kill Luke Skywalker."[5]

During her travels, she landed on Kintoni, where she spotted the Rebel general Crix Madine. Jade followed him and infiltrated the building to see Madine interrogating former Imperial Governor Barkale. Jade made her way towards the imprisoned governor and found a datapad showing the Executor along the way. However, she was stopped in Madine's quarters by the general, who pulled a blaster on her and called for reinforcements. Jade shot his weapon and used the datapad to display the image of the Executor on the sensor screens, tricking the Rebels into thinking the ship was after them. She stunned the guards and made a deal with Madine to let her and Barkale escape.[23]

Barkale took her back to his home, but Jade noticed a sculpture that he had reported stolen or destroyed years ago, along with many other pieces of artwork. When she accused him of treasonous embezzlement, Barkale threw a vase at her. Jade, undaunted, executed him, and then informed Madine of her discovery while she got off the planet, figuring that the Rebels would have found the artwork anyway and executing Barkale was worth it.[23]

Smuggler (6 ABY–9 ABY)

"If only for that, you deserve to die." ―Mara Jade, to Luke Skywalker [src]

Jade was on Chibias to see the Coruscant Full Symphony when she encountered a young slicer named Zakarisz Ghent, who had just had a datacard planted on him without his knowledge. Jade took interest in the man and, posing as a member of the concert hall staff, helped him escape from Raines, a member of Governor Egron's staff, who was trying to capture Ghent. Jade took the startled Ghent back to her hotel room, informing him that his trip to the hall had been a set-up. When she failed to slice into records to find out why Ghent was being pursued, Ghent took over and easily sliced through it, revealing the motive behind the attempted kidnapping.[24]

Jade then went to the governor's palace, where she confronted Raines about the absence of any record of him in the governor's personnel files. Raines told her that he was a special aide to the governor and his name was Markko. She also was able to reveal that he had been hired by the governor for computer work, rather than that the governor needed Ghent's services, which was what Markko had originally told her. Jade, acting as Ghent's broker, agreed to bring him to the palace to slice the computer, which Markko had informed her was captured from the Rebel Alliance, after charging him an exorbitant fee.[24]

However, she was followed on her way back to the hotel. Deciding to turn the tables, she lost her pursuit and followed them back to their hideout. Markko confronted her, and then led her at blasterpoint to the rest of the group, revealing that they were actually part of the Rebel Alliance. Jade agreed to bring Ghent to the palace as planned, seeing an opportunity to sell out Markko and earn some credits. Upon arriving at the palace, Ghent learned that the captured computer was not a Rebel machine, but actually a Star Destroyer's control node—Jade quickly ascertained that Egron was planning on selling the information. She stalled for time while using her lightsaber to cut an exit out of the wall with a Paparak cross-cut that would only be revealed when she kicked the wall in. After creating a diversion, she kicked the wall in and escaped with Ghent. However, Egron and Markko managed to intercept her before she could escape the palace. While she executed Egron, Markko took Ghent hostage. However, the two agreed to part ways, despite their ideological differences, with Markko returning Ghent. Outside, Jade told Ghent to go back to his home of Sibisime, while she went to find work on a freighter. Little did she know that Ghent was hired by the smuggler Talon Karrde shortly after she and Ghent parted ways.[24]

For the next few years, Jade drifted from one odd job to another under a variety of aliases. Under the alias Merellis, she was a come-up flector for a Caprioril swoop gang.[25] It was during that occupation that she lost the violet-colored lightsaber she had been given by Palpatine[6] in an encounter with Lumiya.[26] Lumiya, sent by Ysanne Isard, found her and tried to bring her back to Isard, but Jade refused. The two dueled and Jade escaped, though she lost her lightsaber in the process.[1] After her run-in with Lumiya, she later worked as a hyperdrive mechanic on Varonat under the name Celina Marniss.[25]

Fortune finally struck when Jade saved the smuggler baron Talon Karrde from an ambush on Varonat that took the life of Karrde's second-in-command, Quelev Tapper, and almost killed Karrde as well. Jade had originally been working as a hyperdrive mechanic at the spaceport, and her efficiency and striking appearance impressed Karrde, who was operating under the alias of Hart while Tapper was known as Seoul. While out on a safari for Morodins, Karrde discovered both that the Morodins were sentient and that the safari leader, Gamgalon, was responsible for smuggling a catalyst for Tibanna gas grown in the jungle. Gamgalon found out what Karrde knew, though, and planned on executing him, having already killed Tapper when he tried to resist. Fortunately for them, Jade remembered hearing about a smuggler who enjoyed wordplay such as "Hart and Seoul" in his aliases and ships, and decided to help them out in hopes of finding a position with them. She followed them out to the jungle, killed Gamgalon and his guard and rescued Karrde. Karrde was so impressed with Jade that he offered her a job on the spot.

Warning: The following section contains information from a The following section contains information from a Star Wars Legends source that was released outside of the Lucas Licensing process, and its licensing status was never confirmed by Lucasfilm Ltd.

The two of them were said to have been already working together as early as 6 ABY, when Jade sold a Rodian statuette to New Republic Senator Baron Jonas Stern on Sluis Van. She and Karrde were later on Nkllon, with Jade again operating under the pseudonym Celina Marniss.[28][29]

Unlicensed information ends here.

Meeting Skywalker

"Mara once told this one that all it took to lift the Emperor's veil from her eyes was a long walk in the forest with this man. That after she had come to know Luke Skywalker, it was easy to step into the light." ―Saba Sebatyne [src]

Jade entered Karrde's organization around 8.5 ABY.[5] During her first six months of working with Karrde, Jade swiftly rose through the ranks of his smuggling organization. Her Force-sensitivity, lying largely dormant since the death of Palpatine, reasserted itself when she brought Karrde's freighter, the Wild Karrde, out of hyperspace for a routine check right where Luke Skywalker's damaged X-wing was floating in space. Grand Admiral Thrawn, the leader of the resurgent Empire, had posted a significant bounty on Skywalker, and Karrde considered selling him to Thrawn for the bounty or extorting money from the New Republic to ensure his return.[5]

Karrde pulled the stranded Jedi aboard and took him back to his base on Myrkr, where the planet's ysalamiri blocked Skywalker's Force abilities. Jade was at first intent on killing Skywalker, but Karrde would not have it. However, Karrde did keep Skywalker and R2-D2 locked up and hid them from view when Thrawn arrived to collect ysalamiri. Skywalker, though, managed to escape in a Skipray blastboat. Jade gave chase, but both vehicles ended up crashing in the vornskr-infested forest. To complicate matters, Thrawn arrived on Myrkr to harvest ysalamiri, preventing the two from contacting Karrde, for Thrawn would know that Karrde had been withholding Skywalker from him. Jade was forced to work with Skywalker to survive, and she clearly stated her intention to kill him. The two made their way to Hyllyard City after fending off several vornskr attacks, but were caught in a stormtrooper ambush. Thanks to the timely intervention of Skywalker's recently arrived friends Lando Calrissian, Han Solo, and some of Karrde's men, they defeated the stormtroopers, and Solo, Calrissian, and Skywalker left Myrkr. Karrde and his organization also fled Myrkr soon after due to a massive Imperial bounty placed upon them.[5]

As the last members of the organization fled Myrkr, Jade remained with Karrde, who decided to surreptitiously observe the Imperial arrival on Myrkr from the Wild Karrde. As expected, Grand Admiral Thrawn arrived in the Star Destroyer Chimaera and quickly took over the abandoned base. However, what Karrde did not anticipate was Thrawn deducing that the Wild Karrde had remained in the system and had called for an Interdictor cruiser, the Constrainer, to trap the smuggler's ship in place. However, Jade received a Force-related warning of the Imperials' arrival and activated the Wild Karrde's engines, preparing them for flight, much to the surprise of her fellow crew members and Karrde. However, as the Constrainer reverted into the system, Jade piloted the ship out of its range and made the jump into hyperspace, her seemingly premature activation of the ship's engines having saved them from an Imperial trap.[30]

While setting up a new base for Karrde's group on Rishi, Jade was accosted by a bounty hunter, Gunner Groth. She killed him, but Karrde's organization was put to flight yet again. Sent to Abregado-rae to retrieve a ship of Karrde's, the Etherway, that had been impounded, her departure from the system was interrupted by the arrival of the Victory-class Star Destroyer Adamant. Jade realized that Thrawn would not stop hunting them, so she turned herself over to Thrawn, reclaiming her role as the Emperor's Hand and offering him the location of the Katana fleet in exchange for amnesty for Karrde and his men. Thrawn agreed, albeit not without suspicion, but double-crossed Jade by placing a tracking device on her ship. Once she arrived at Karrde's next hideout, Imperial stormtroopers followed shortly afterward and captured Karrde.[30]

Jade, disgusted by Thrawn's actions and now feeling more loyalty to Karrde than ever, decided to break Karrde out of the Imperial brig in which he now found himself, but knew she couldn't do it alone. Instead, she journeyed to Jomark with a ysalamir, where Luke Skywalker was training under Joruus C'baoth. C'baoth attempted to knock her out of the sky with a hail of rocks as she landed, but she was able to set her ship down and make her way towards his residence, where Skywalker was located. As she was climbing down a cliff, she was nearly blasted by R2-D2, controlling Skywalker's X-wing. She convinced the droid that C'baoth was working for the Empire and that Skywalker owed Karrde, and was ferried down to Skywalker's location hanging from the starfighter's landing skid. After a short confrontation with C'baoth had resulted in him stunned from a near-miss from a laser cannon fired by R2-D2, Jade had wanted to finish off the insane Jedi Master, but Skywalker persuaded her not to. Despite her misgivings, she convinced Skywalker to go with her to rescue Karrde from Thrawn's ship, the Chimaera, in the Skipray blastboat that she had used to reach Jomark. Using her passwords to slice into the computer, she and Skywalker reached the detention block and freed Karrde. Thrawn shut down the ship's computer, but the trio was able to make good their escape in the Millennium Falcon, which the Empire had retrieved from Endor after it had been deserted there.[30]

Jade and Karrde's group later returned to aid the New Republic in the Battle for the Katana fleet. Jade flew a Z-95 Headhunter in the battle, but an ion cannon blast left her drifting in space. Fortunately for her, Luke Skywalker rescued her before she died of exposure.[30]

Taken to Coruscant for a month of nerve-regeneration therapy, Jade found herself almost completely alone in the Imperial Palace. She wanted to leave the planet, but before she could, she detected an Imperial intrusion team headed for the Solo family's quarters. Jade, accompanied by Lando Calrissian and Garm Bel Iblis, chased down the intruders. They were pinned down, but Jade used her knowledge of the palace's secret passages to get behind the Imperial commando team. Using the Force to relay a plan to Leia Organa Solo, she successfully gunned down the entire Imperial squad. However, Major Molo Himron, the team leader, survived and implicated her in the attack, which led to her imprisonment by the order of Colonel Jak Bremen.[31]

Wayland

"For I have foreseen that Mara Jade will bow before me. One Mara Jade, or another." ―Joruus C'baoth to Mara Jade on Wayland [src]

Jade later found out about Thrawn's use of clones while imprisoned, via Organa Solo, and remembered the location of the Emperor's cloning center. Realizing that they might be compromised if they went through normal channels, Skywalker, Solo, Calrissian, and Chewbacca broke Jade out of prison and took her with them on the Falcon. She gave them the location of Wayland and the cloning center, and the group successfully landed in the forest, along with R2-D2 and C-3PO. Jade was once again forced to work with Skywalker, who encouraged her to develop her Force skills. Skywalker gradually realized that Jade was acting not so much of her own volition as she was following Palpatine's telepathic command. Jade also came to gradually realize that, that she was being used to inflict a last bit of revenge upon the dead Darth Vader. Skywalker promised to help her remove the command, even though being near her obviously jeopardized his life. They both had premonitions of encountering the insane C'baoth on the planet, which, upon reaching the Mount Tantiss stronghold after an arduous journey through the forest, turned out to be true. Jade asked Skywalker to kill her rather than let C'baoth take over her mind, but the Jedi promised that whatever she would face in the stronghold, she wouldn't face it alone.[31]

While looking for a remote destruct for the facility, Skywalker and Jade found the crazed Jedi Master, who hit them with Force lightning and pitted Skywalker against a clone of himself, armed with his father's lightsaber. Despite the aid of the Solos and Karrde, they were unable to defeat the Jedi Master until Jade retrieved Leia Organa Solo's lightsaber and charged C'baoth. Skywalker injured his clone and strengthened Jade with the Force, and she fulfilled the Emperor's command, slaying the clone. Enraged, C'baoth attacked them with a Force scream, Force lightning and rocks, but Jade, fulfilling C'baoth's visions of bowing before him by kneeling to avoid his attacks, stabbed him with the lightsaber. Skywalker's Force powers kept her from being injured by the dark side energy released upon C'baoth's death, and they escaped in the Wild Karrde as Calrissian and Chewbacca blew up the facility. As a token of friendship, Skywalker gave her his father's lightsaber, and she would continue to use it in the years ahead.[31]

Jade was later sent by Karrde to aid the New Republic after the loss of Coruscant to the Empire. The New Republic had sent couriers out to various parts of the fleet to inform them of their retreat, as their communications had been cut off. One part of the fleet had changed location, so the New Republic paid Jade to meet with the courier ship Messenger to update the crew. As it turned out, the same Colonel Bremen whom she had been detained by on Coruscant was on the ship, and Jade enjoyed his discomfort. However, a homing beacon in the Messenger lured a Carrack-class cruiser, and Jade shot off some of its TIEs to allow the courier to escape.[8]

Jedi Knight (9 ABY–19 ABY)

Apprenticeship

After fully renouncing the dark side of the Force, Jade sought out Kyle Katarn to train her in the ways of the Jedi.[32] In 10 ABY, she was with Katarn on the battlefront of Altyr V aiding the New Republic base there, which was being bombarded from two artificial asteroids and attacked by the Dark Empire. Katarn managed to repel the attack, and destroyed both asteroids. While there, he got a lead about the planet Dromund Kaas having some importance to the Empire and went to investigate.[33]

Jade, however, was on her own—her first mission for the Republic was to negotiate with Ka'Pa the Hutt concerning the New Republic's supplies. In order for Ka'Pa to comply, Jade was forced to steal Takara's GCT device for him. While looking for Takara's lieutenant, Abron Mar, in the Katraasii Spaceport, Jade was trapped by Takara. She escaped the stronghold by killing a rancor and stole the device. Ka'Pa was pleased and agreed to help the Republic.[33]

Jade's second mission was on a Republic Corellian Corvette guarding a Jedi holocron, when they again came under attack from Kaerobani's pirates. Jade repelled the attackers, but the holocron was stolen. To retrieve the holocron, she decided to "board" a cargo crate that was headed for Rathalay, the pirates' base. Using her training, Jade reclaimed the holocron and escaped.[33] There she encountered the severed head of droid 8t88, Katarn's old adversary, and noted that the droid was planning vengeance on whoever had decapitated it.[34]

After that, Jade finally arrived on Dromund Kaas in search of Katarn. While traveling through the planet's swamps, she encountered and defeated many native creatures, including her own doppelgänger. After crossing the swamp, she reached the Dark Force Temple. Finally she found Katarn totally immersed in the dark side. Master and apprentice fought, but Jade managed to fend him off each time, while Katarn retreated deeper and deeper into the catacombs. On the final encounter, Jade voluntarily turned off her lightsaber and surrendered. Katarn realized that he could not follow that path and was able to turn back to the light side.[33] The two later participated in the ancient Jedi tradition of the Concordance of Fealty, a mutual apprenticeship.[35]

When Palpatine returned in his new cloned body, Jade didn't believe it was really him, spurning any thought of returning to his service. Instead, she aided the New Republic in evacuating Coruscant and ferrying cargo for the government. For his part, Darth Sidious supplanted her and the other Hands with new Dark Side Adepts, including Sedriss QL.[6]

However, Sidious was also not content with merely replacing Jade; to punish her for her treachery, he sent several of his servants to intercept her in route to a Smugglers' Alliance meeting in the Senex sector, including the mysterious Blackhole. She was captured, though Katarn and some of his associates later freed her.[35]

Smuggler's Alliance

"When I entered the atmosphere I could feel you and Kun tangling. The Force was boiling." ―Mara Jade, to Corran Horn [src]

After Katarn forsook the Jedi and the Force and returned to his military career, Jade also participated in a mission from Karrde to track down Jorj Car'das, where she pretended to be involved with Lando Calrissian as a cover for the mission.[36] Their quest would at one point take them to the Kathol Rift, where she and Calrissian encountered Crev Bombaasa and helped him out of a tight spot. Karrde would later use that association and owed favor to his advantage.[37]

In 11 ABY, Jade returned to the Jedi Praxeum on Yavin 4 to learn the ways of the Jedi, arriving during the tumultuous time right after Gantoris's death and Kyp Durron's first act of rebellion, both events caused by the spirit of the ancient Sith Lord Exar Kun. At first Jade and Corran Horn, himself a student under the assumed name of Keiran Halcyon, did not co-exist well, but they soon settled their differences and got along quite well. She even allowed Horn to use her Headhunter, though Durron later stole it in his bid to seize the Sun Crusher superweapon. Under Kam Solusar's tutelage, Horn and Mara Jade trained together, enjoying physical exercise such as running expeditions through the jungle, and learned to appreciate their differences—that proved to be a wise choice, as it was not long until the spirit of Exar Kun took control of Durron and wreaked havoc on the Jedi. She left the academy not long after, but later returned after she heard Kun had put Skywalker in a coma. While there, she helped Horn defeat Kun's spirit, as the Corellian had attempted to distract Kun by invading his temple. She arrived just in time, as Kun was nearing success with turning Horn's fears against him, and had also severely injured him. She helped Horn trick Kun into returning to the Praxeum to use fellow apprentice Streen against Skywalker, leading to the Sith Lord's destruction from the combined Force power of the students there. With Kun defeated, Jade helped the injured Horn back to the Great Temple. However, she again left the Praxeum after the incident.[38]

During that time, she also became one of the leaders of the Smugglers' Alliance. Lando Calrissian, flush with cash from a recent string of successes, wanted to make a profit from mining glitterstim on Kessel. Jade led a group of Smuggler's Alliance vessels to Kessel to help him chase the present administrator, Moruth Doole, off the planet. However, Jade was not entirely thrilled with Calrissian, as she was not fond of his constant flirting with her, though she was impressed by him giving the Falcon to Han Solo as a gift even after winning it back in a game of sabacc. Not long after they took the planet, Jade, Solo, and Calrissian were confronted by a prototype Death Star, which destroyed Kessel's moon. Jade and all her Smugglers' Alliance ships took off and attacked the prototype, but it fled. Jade and the Falcon pursued the craft into the heart of The Maw, unwilling to let the superweapon escape. In an effort to knock out its superlaser, she and Calrissian made their way to the core of the prototype in environment suits, planning to plant thermal detonators along the reactor core, but they were attacked by a group of spacetroopers. The two saboteurs escaped, but a spacetrooper was able to remove all but one of their charges, causing less damage than the duo had hoped. Fortunately, Durron, freed of Kun's influence, led the prototype into a gravitational well, crushing it and ridding the galaxy of its use forever.[39]

Some time later, while the Solos were on Belsavis, they contacted Mara Jade to see if she had information on the planet. Jade did know about the planet—she had broken into its secure file when she was working for the Empire. She told the Solos about a secret mission to attack one of the rifts and how Palpatine and Vader used a combination of drugs and the dark side to create crazed, mindless guards, such as the ones that the Solos had found in the smugglers' tunnels in the valley.[14]

Later, she called the Solos after they learned of the presence of the Emperor's Hand on the planet and assumed it was her. All she had were some coordinates from a landing pad that Han Solo had asked for, but she was quickly informed of Leia Solo's disappearance and that an Emperor's Hand had been on on Belsavis years before, when she had never been on that mission. It was at that moment that Jade realized that the Emperor had lied to her—there were many Emperor's Hands, she had not been alone. Outraged, she grew angry when Han Solo told her the name of the other Hand: Roganda Ismaren.[14] Jade was outraged to learn that Palpatine had been lying to her when he said that she was his only Hand, and later deduced that Lumiya was also a member of the Emperor's Hands.[1] Jade immediately headed for Belsavis and en route, encountered Skywalker and a group of brainwashed crewers from the recently destroyed Eye of Palpatine. She brought them with her to Belsavis for treatment, after noting the serious injury to Skywalker's leg. She also pulled in an escape pod from the Dreadnaught, opening it to reveal Callista Ming, a Jedi who had escaped the Eye of Palpatine after helping destroy it, and who had fallen in love with Skywalker. On Belsavis, Jade helped round up the last of the insane guards, many of whom she had once known, though Roganda Ismaren and her son Irek escaped.[14]

Some time after taking a large role in the Smuggler's Alliance with Lando Calrissian, Jade's contacts passed on word of a Hutt plot related to Orko SkyMine. Jade journeyed to the Yavin 4 Jedi Praxeum to warn Skywalker. Taking him on a ride in her ship, she relayed the information to him and told him that she occasionally enjoyed seeing him. He asked her to stay for dinner, where she met Callista Ming and asked her if she was Skywalker's new lady. Ming affirmed her statement, and asked if Jade was once interested in Skywalker. Jade replied that she had once wanted nothing more than to kill him, though the incident apparently didn't seem to cause much consternation between the women.[40]

Jade continued her on-and-off association with Calrissian during that period. She was recently away from him and aboard the Wild Karrde with Karrde after they had spent a week together on Mon Calamari when he called for information and she told him about the bombing of the Senate Hall. She would also help Karrde deliver a pair of ysalamiri to Han Solo over Almania when he went in search of Kueller, the mastermind behind the bombing who was attempting to kill Skywalker. She even accompanied him to the planet's surface, partially out of her concern for Skywalker and partially because she feared what Kueller could do to the galaxy. Helping the Falcon blast its way to the surface through Kueller's forces, Jade accompanied Solo and Chewbacca and they brought the Force-empty bubble of the ysalamir to where Skywalker and his sister were confronting Kueller just in time to save Skywalker from certain death.[41]

On one occasion, while commanding on the Wild Karrde in Karrde's temporary absence, Jade and the rest of the crew were captured by Ja Bardrin, a wealthy industrialist whose daughter Sansia had been captured by the slaver Chay Praysh. At gunpoint, Bardrin forced Jade to go to Torpris to rescue Sansia, who had, like all female Human prisoners of Praysh's, been forced to work in the slime pits. Jade had no choice but to comply, as she had no way of contacting Karrde and Bardrin threatened to execute the rest of the crew if she didn't do as he wished.[42]

Jade entered the palace under the pretext of bringing a gift to Praysh, supposedly unaware that she was the gift. However, her lightsaber was discovered at the entrance and was thrown to the nearby scavengers, where it was caught by a Togorian named H'sishi. Upon seeing Jade, Praysh had his guards lash her with neuronic whips and throw her into the slime pits, unaware of her identity or intent. Jade made contact with Sansia, though Sansia told her that her father only wanted an experimental, heavily upgraded SoroSuub 3000 luxury yacht that had also been stolen. Jade then inflicted an injury on herself and was taken to the slave infirmary, where she used the Force to muddy the camera and steal some of the drugs and chemicals stored there. Once she was returned to the slave barracks, Jade used her skills as a saboteur to mix the chemicals into weapons. One combination created a fire that allowed her and Sansia to escape in the confusion. Other guards were dispatched with the acid she had created, but they were overpowered and forced to surrender. Dragged before Praysh to be interrogated, Jade was at a loss for what to do. However, the scavenger H'sishi entered with her lightsaber—actually Skywalker's—claiming that it bore the corporate signature of another weapons syndicate. H'sishi then stunned Praysh and threw the lightsaber to Jade, who easily defeated the guards. Jade and H'sishi then fled to the yacht, which Sansia had recovered after she had made her own escape during the fight.[42]

Returning to Bardrin's mansion, Jade was surprised to find that Karrde, with the aid of some Noghri, had already taken the place and was preparing a mission to rescue her. Jade also got Bardrin to reveal that the entire abduction was a set-up, designed to help him take out Praysh and capture some stolen prototypes. Sansia, outraged, gave Jade the upgraded SoroSuub yacht, which she re-named the Jade's Fire. Around that time, Karrde started helping her set up her own small trading company.[42]

Corellian Crisis

"I don't know about the rest of you, but I'd be just as happy if this stayed nice and simple." ―Mara Jade on Selonia [src]

By 18 ABY Jade was temporarily out of Karrde's organization and running a legitimate trading company—which was meant to prepare her to take over Karrde's organization. While in the Talfaglio system, the Jade's Fire intercepted a drone with a message cube bearing an Imperial code and addressed to Leia Organa Solo. Curious, she departed for the Corellian system, discerning that the message was most likely urgent. Arriving over Corellia, she attended the trade summit being held in Coronet City, where she encountered Leia and Han Solo. Jade informed them of the message cube, and Leia Solo escorted Jade to her personal apartment, along with Han Solo, to unlock the message cube, which was coded to Leia Solo's fingerprints. The cube revealed the insurrection plans of the Sacorrian Triad and the Human League, headed by Han Solo's cousin Thrackan Sal-Solo, to blackmail the New Republic by destroying a number of stars using a superweapon. Shortly afterwards, the Human League caused riots and began their insurrection, and Jade, having left the Solos' apartment, disappeared.[43]

Jade was eventually captured by the Human League and imprisoned with Leia on Corellia as the Corellian Crisis sparked across the Corellian system. That, and the fact that her crew was missing, was incentive for her to fight against the Human League. Though neither woman trusted the other, the two decided to work together and escaped out of their cells and rappelled down into Solo's former quarters, where they retrieved Solo's lightsaber and blaster. Jade and Leia Solo then departed the planet on Jade's ship, the Jade's Fire, after Jade called it to her with a beckon call. Both injured, they were pleased with just escaping Human League captivity, and eventually decided to head to Selonia. Approaching the world, they detected the Bakuran fleet and a coneship that was carrying Han Solo and a Selonian, both also escaped from the Human League on Corellia. Jade brought the Jade's Fire to dock with the coneship and Solo was reunited with her husband.[44]

Both craft then continued towards Selonia, but were intercepted by hostile fighters before they could land and the Jade's Fire flew cover for the utterly defenseless coneship until Jade and Leia Solo shot off the rest of the fighters. On Selonia, the Solos and Jade attempted to convince the Selonians to change their mind about turning over a planetary repulsor and aiding them—and they too were imprisoned for a short time. They were freed following Luke Skywalker's arrival, and Jade helped persuade the Selonians to at least sell the operating instructions for the planetary repulsor that was needed to stop the Starbuster weapon on Centerpoint Station from destroying an inhabited system. She took part in the final battle at Centerpoint Station in Jade's Fire, fighting with the Falcon and Calrissian's ship, the Lady Luck, against the Sacorrian Triad fleet, who had been behind the Starbuster plot the entire time. The Solo children, with the aid of the instructions Jade had helped acquire and Bakuran technicians, also successfully averted Centerpoint from destroying its next target, diffusing its weapon with a burst from the planetary repulsor on Drall.[45]

Caamas document crisis

"You didn't know, but after that pirate base thing, Faughn told me you and I made a good team. She was right. We really did." ―Mara Jade, to Luke Skywalker [src]

Shortly afterwards, Jade became absorbed into the events surrounding the Caamas Document crisis in 19 ABY when she and Karrde arrived on Wayland to hire some Noghri to work for his organization. Upon receiving a call from Cakhmaim, the Wild Karrde forced down the ship of Lak Jit, a Devaronian who had found information that the Bothans had helped Palpatine destroy Caamas.[36]

Later, after sensing a disturbance in the Force, Jade rescued Skywalker from the Cavrilhu Pirates while on a mission from Talon Karrde to look up pirate groups who might have been using clones. Skywalker had been infiltrating the group when he was discovered, and Karrde had sent Jade in the Starry Ice to check on him and the pirates. Only her timely arrival allowed him to survive the pirate base's self-destruct sequence by floating a short distance across vacuum to her ship in a Jedi hibernation trance. As they left the pirate base, a small Chiss ship flew by, investigating them before jumping to hyperspace. It would not be the last time Jade encountered these types of ships, however. After meeting Karrde on the Errant Venture, the Star Destroyer received a fly-by from another one of the ships. After the fighter went to hyperspace, Karrde and Jade were able to plot the destination of the ships: the planet Nirauan. She then decided to investigate the world in the Starry Ice.[36]

Nirauan

"Stupid, stupid. A big fat diversion—the oldest trick on the list. And I fell for it like some dumb farm kid."

"Watch your language." ―Mara Jade and Luke Skywalker [src]

Jade journeyed to the Hand of Thrawn complex on Nirauan, losing contact with Karrde and his organization after setting down on the planet in a Defender starfighter. While exploring the area near the fortress, she fell and knocked herself out on a rock. Her absence and failure to report in caused the second-in-command, Faughn, to head out on the Starry Ice to seek help, leaving her stranded there. Faughn reported to Karrde, who was with Luke Skywalker at the time. Skywalker had been investigating a vision the Force had given him of Jade lying facedown in water when he met Karrde, and the vision had disturbed both of them. The Jedi agreed to go to Nirauan to rescue her, bringing her Jade's Fire and his X-wing to the remote planet.[36]

Fifteen days after she had been stranded on Nirauan, Skywalker finally reached the cave she had been hiding in, surrounded by the local Qom Jha who had carried her there when she had fallen unconscious. The Qom Jha had taken her weapons and hadn't let her go too far, but other than that had left her unharmed. They also took her starfighter and placed it inside the cave, as she was being hunted by the Chiss who occupied the fortress. While Jade couldn't understand their Force-based communication, Skywalker was able to, and he showed her how to understand the aliens. The two were able to convince the aliens to help them get into the fortress, via a series of underground passages. While they were traveling through the caves, they spent their time together settling some of their differences. Jade informed Skywalker that she had hoped for some attention while at the Jedi academy, but since it had never happened, she stopped attending. She also told him that he should stop trying to do everything himself, as he hadn't fully gotten over his experience serving the reborn Emperor. The layered cortosis in the walls near the tunnel entrance, along with semi-sentient predators and fire creepers, slowed them down, but they were able to penetrate the fortress.[37]

Along with their native guides and R2-D2, they explored the lower levels, but stopped after a pair of Chiss gunmen opened fire on them with charrics, injuring Jade in the shoulder. Skywalker helped her out back into the caves, where he put her into a Jedi healing trance. By that point, Skywalker had come to realize that he loved Jade, expressing his feeling by kissing her while she was asleep. However, when they awoke, Skywalker confronted her about her past and her refusal to give herself to service to others, but the conversation degenerated into an argument, with Skywalker inquiring about her relationship with Calrissian while she referred to his experiences with Gaeriel Captison and Callista Ming. Jade calmed down some, and revealed to Skywalker that she and Calrissian were never really in a relationship; it had been a cover story for Karrde's mission. Their discussion led to a lowering of the barrier between them, to the point where they were in close mental contact. The two entered the fortress again, only that time they found the existence of the Empire of the Hand and their plans to turn its considerable territory and resources over to the Imperial Remnant.[37]

Realizing that they needed more information, Jade went down to talk to the inhabitants of the fortress, where she encountered a group of ysalamiri and the leaders of the fortress, Voss Parck and Soontir Fel. Parck gave her the true story of Thrawn's mission and history, while trying to recruit her into the Empire of the Hand. He also informed her of numerous threats in the Unknown Regions, which the Empire of the Hand was supposed to guard against. When she refused and they became aware of Skywalker's presence, they decided to keep the two Jedi prisoner by forcing them into hibernation trances, namely by inflicting non-lethal wounds on Jade. She attempted to avert being shot, but Parck was unconvinced. Fortunately, Skywalker intervened by cutting through the wall. Parck ordered his troops to stand down to prevent unnecessary slaughter, and the two escaped, pursued by Chiss troops once they were clear of the officers. Arriving in the fortress hangar, they disabled the clawcraft there, taking one for their escape.[37]

Outside the fortress, the two realized that they needed to return to the fortress, to obtain data on the threats Parck was referring to earlier. While Skywalker rested in a hibernation trance, Jade made her sacrifice. Using a beckon call for her ship, she crashed the Jade's Fire into the hangar, preventing Parck from making contact with and turning over his resources to the Remnant, which would use them against the New Republic. Sneaking in through a second passageway shown to them by their alien guides, Skywalker and Jade entered a different part of the fortress, that time encountering an unripe clone of Thrawn. However, two guard droids, layered with cortosis armor, attacked them on a floor laced with rope snares. Fighting back to back, the two joined minds to battle the droids in perfect coordination, though they had little chance of defeating the two droids. However, R2-D2 distracted one of the droids long enough for the two to cut through the wall, letting water from a lake on the other side of the wall into the room, and in the confusion from the flood, Skywalker destroyed the two droids. Realizing that the water had trapped them inside, Skywalker told Jade of a vision he had of her lying facedown in water and also confessed his love to Jade, which she had completely realized when they had joined minds. As the water rose, Luke Skywalker asked her to marry him. She accepted.[37]

Skywalker then realized that letting water into the fusion generator into the cloning chamber would create a blast big enough to blow through the wall. Jade actually made the cut, as she had more experience with the technique needed, a Paparak cross-cut. As the water roared through the newly created outlet, Skywalker put her in a hibernation trance, and they both flew through the water unconscious. The Jedi awoke first and pulled Jade from where she had been lying facedown in the water, waking her with the phrase "I love you, Mara." With the aid of the Qom Jha and Qom Qae natives one final time, they boarded their ships, with both of them in the clawcraft they had taken, and left the planet for the New Republic. As an added bonus, R2-D2 had picked up Thrawn's copy of the Caamas Document while in the fortress, which they took back to resolve the conflict that had broken out over Bothawui.[37]

Marriage to Luke Skywalker

Luke: "Mara… will you marry me?" Mara: "You mean if we get out of here alive?" Luke: "I mean regardless." ―Luke proposing to Mara[src]

After the signing of the Pellaeon–Gavrisom Treaty , Skywalker and Jade spent a couple weeks on Garqi in the Outer Rim relaxing. However, back on Coruscant, Leia Solo announced their wedding , which was taken by the press as symbol of Imperial and New Republic unity. To complicate matters further, C-3PO became involved in the wedding planning, resulting in a grandiose ceremony, much to Jade's chagrin.

As part of the preparations, Jade had to deal with a number of dress designers competing for the design of her wedding dress, ranging from a masked dress to a black dress reminiscent of Imperial agents' attire to a minimalist dress that Jade refused to step out of the dressing room in. She grew frustrated and left Solo's apartment, where the designers had been coming, to go on a walk. On the streets, she met a despondent Twi'lek female dress designer named Jari'kyn who had been seeking to bring her design before Jade, but had been fired by her employer instead. Jade revealed her identity to the designer and was quite impressed with her designs.[46]

Shortly after she commissioned her dressmaker, Skywalker and Jade had a private, less formal Jedi wedding ceremony at the Jedi training area that had been established on Coruscant. Joining two halves of a crystal together in a symbol of their union, they were married by Kam Solusar. However, Jade was later displeased to find out that Skywalker got into a bar fight during his bachelor party. She was also disturbed by a nightmare of Palpatine having won, and she was marrying a Skywalker corrupted by the dark side.[46]

While Skywalker and his male friends recuperated from their previous night's altercation, Jade and her bridesmaids—Leia Solo, Mirax Terrik Horn, Iella Wessiri Antilles, Winter Celchu, and Tionne Solusar—went to a spa to relax. While there, they grew bored and worked off the stress on the slingball court, handily defeating a group of pilots from Champion Squadron. However, all the women made sure not to tell their husbands of that event, as they had already taken them to task for the bar fight.[46]

Leaving the spa, Jade went to get her gown from Jari'kyn and was impressed by its appearance. However, they were attacked by a former Imperial Royal Guardsman seeking to derail the wedding. Still wearing her lightsaber, Jade handily defeated him. On the day of her formal wedding, despite an Imperial plot to ruin the wedding and a former Moff appearing at the climax of the ceremony threatening to shut down all communications, Skywalker and his friends were able to prevent any serious altercations, with the Jedi calming down the Moff while the Rogues, Chewbacca, and Solusar dealt with the Imperials. The two exchanged vows and rings, and were introduced to the galaxy for the first time as the Skywalkers. After their reception, Han Solo flew the couple to their honeymoon site.[46]

A year after they married, Jade Skywalker grew frustrated with Skywalker's time constantly being taken by other people as he arbitrated a number of disputes on a planet that revered Jedi wisdom. Her husband, however, had made special arrangements for a special second honeymoon for her, which pleased her to no end, although she did playfully warn Skywalker not to imitate their native host by calling her a "blushing bride."[47]

For the next few years, Skywalker spent most of his time at the Jedi Academy instructing his Jedi candidates in the ways of the Force. Jade Skywalker, retaining some of her wanderlust, sojourned far afield with smuggler Mirax Terrik Horn and assisted the fledgling Jedi Knights in leaving Yavin IV.[6] During that time, she and Mirax were brought up on charges, but were exonerated.[48]

The rediscovery of Outbound Flight

"Doesn't look promising, does it?" ―Mara Jade Skywalker during the search for Outbound Flight [src]

In 22 ABY, Mara Jade Skywalker ended her alliance with Karrde in order to commit herself to her marriage and Jedi knighthood, after one final mission to smuggler Jerf Huxley to inform him that Karrde's group was releasing him from employment. The angered smuggler tried to intimidate her with a patched-together droideka, but the Skywalkers easily cowed the smugglers and destroyed the droid. Immediately afterwards, they were invited by the Chiss, via a message from Karrde, to act as representatives of the Jedi in the return of the ruins of the Outbound Flight Project, which had been revealed to have been destroyed by Thrawn and whose remains were located in a Chiss stronghold known as The Redoubt. However, Karrde also warned them that the original message had been stolen by a man formerly in his employ named Dean Jinzler. The Skywalkers traveled as honorary guests aboard the Chaf Envoy. Upon arrival to the Chaf Envoy, a cable detached from the ceiling and nearly hit Luke Skywalker, who deftly avoided it. Though the incident remained suspicious, the two Jedi were unhurt, though Jade Skywalker investigated the fixture later. While she was examining the cable, she encountered Chak Fel, accompanied by four stormtroopers from the Empire of the Hand. Thankfully, the stormtroopers did not appear unfriendly, and neither did Fel, as they were also interested in the remains of Outbound Flight.[49]

Before they had a chance to depart, the Chaf Envoy was approached by an outdated vessel bearing a people calling themselves the Geroons, who had allegedly been saved from slavery years ago by the Jedi aboard Outbound Flight. The Chiss let some of the Geroons board the Chaf Envoy as representatives, and the impoverished people were overawed by the two Jedi. Eventually, the collected party made their way towards the Redoubt on the Chaf Envoy, along with Geroon representatives, Dean Jinzler, who was posing as a New Republic representative, Chak Fel and four stormtroopers from the Empire of the Hand, with none of the disparate groups of guests trusting any of the others or their Chiss hosts. During the expedition, the Skywalkers grew increasingly suspicious after several attempts to sabotage the mission, including someone setting an area near the fuel tanks on fire and the discovery of a group of destructive line creepers running through the ship. In the former instance, the two Jedi, along with the four stormtroopers, were on hand to provide assistance. Charging into the burning compartment where the stormtroopers were already battling the blaze, Skywalker levitated his wife up into a position where she could use her lightsaber to slice through a coolant line. The result of her actions quickly doused the fire, and Chiss begrudgingly thanked them for their assistance. In another incident, one of the Geroons was shot by a mysterious assailant, and the Jedi, though responding quickly with lightsabers ready, were unable to determine the attacker and were reprimanded by the ship's captain for waving weapons around unnecessarily, to Jade Skywalker's annoyance. As they continued to their destination, Jade Skywalker began having doubts about her time as an Emperor's Hand though her husband managed to coax her out of it.[49]

Once they arrived on Outbound Flight, the various parts of the diplomatic party were separated by the Survivors, the last remnant of the crew of Outbound Flight and their children, in repulsor cars. The Skywalkers ended up in a gimmicked repulsor car, but they managed to escape and make their way back up to the entry point. However, the Geroons revealed themselves to actually be the tyrannical Vagaari and to be in much greater numbers than first thought. The aliens had already seized control of the Chaf Envoy and were making their way around the derelict. As such, they were attacked by a party of Vagaari and their wolvkils while making their way back through the Dreadnoughts. The Skywalkers handily defeated them, as the Vagaari had been kept deliberately ignorant by the Chiss as to the capabilities of Jedi and their lightsabers. Making contact with Fel and the stormtroopers, they headed back to rescue the Chiss diplomatic party, engaging numerous Vagaari. Eventually, they were able to rescue the Chiss and unite with the stormtroopers and Fel, who had also battled their way through Vagaari patrols. After brief negotiations with the Survivors, the Skywalkers persuaded them to aid them in fighting the Vagaari.[49] Her visit and acts of kindness left an impression on many of the younger members of the Outbound Flight survivors, including a young man named Khedryn Faal.[50]

Soon, with the aid of the Imperials, the Chiss party, and the Survivors, the Skywalkers had the Vagaari in full retreat and forced them to activate their contingency plan. After the Vagaari re-activated, separated, and took one of the six Dreadnaughts that comprised Outbound Flight back to rendezvous with their main ship, the Skywalkers chased it down in a Delta-12 Skysprite and intercepted the ship. On board the ship, they fought their way through heavy defenses, including a fully programmed and activated droideka, and defeated the Vagaari leader. As it turned out, their entire visit had been orchestrated by the Chiss in order to lure the Vagaari into attacking them, thus allowing them to launch a full-fledged war against them. At the end of the mission, Jade Skywalker told her husband that she felt that being at his side in the New Republic was where she felt she should be, despite its shortcomings and the attractiveness of the Empire of the Hand.[49]

In that time period, Jade Skywalker also took her niece Jaina Solo as an apprentice, bequeathing a modified Z-95 Headhunter to her. Jade Skywalker told Jaina that her first lesson was a flying one, and that she was to fly the ship to meet her family on Mon Calamari. Jade Skywalker was not feeling well, though, as a mysterious illness had begun affecting her.[51]

Yuuzhan Vong War (25 ABY–29 ABY)

Jedi Master

"As long as I'm fighting, I'm not dying. And I'm not done fighting just yet." ―Mara Jade Skywalker [src]

During a diplomatic ceremony on Monor II to witness the accession of the Sunesi tenth priest-prince, Agapos the Tenth, Jade Skywalker served as a bodyguard for one of the attending minor diplomats.[52] Nom Anor, a Yuuzhan Vong agent masquerading as a head of state, was also in attendance, and secretly infected all those present with coomb spores, a deadly Yuuzhan Vong bio-agent which killed everyone infected, except for Jade Skywalker.[53] She was able to resist the disease through use of the Force, although no permanent cure could be found.[54]

Before the beginning of the Yuuzhan Vong invasion, she accompanied Ambassador Leia Organa Solo and Jaina Solo on their diplomatic mission to the planet of Rhommamool, which at the time was waging a civil war with its sister planet, Osarian. The meeting ended in a failure when Rhommamool's leader, actually Nom Anor in disguise, lectured Organa Solo and sent them off, as his sole purpose in requesting the meeting was gathering information, especially on Jade Skywalker's condition. The three women returned to Coruscant, with Jade Skywalker again experiencing an attack of the disease, now in her womb. Her husband, meanwhile, had just returned from a meeting with the New Republic Advisory Council, and Jade Skywalker advised him about the rash actions of Jedi Knight Wurth Skidder in destabilizing the situation over Rhommamool. Back on Rhommamool, Anor would later use a missile strike to hit the Mediator and destroy Osa-Prime, causing the political conflict to escalate into a full blown war.[54]

Both frustrated by Coruscant's government, the Skywalkers and Solos, visited Calrissian's outpost on Dubrillion to obtain information about Jedi activity in the Outer Rim. Jade Skywalker also took the opportunity to test her apprentice's training by having Artoo drop her out of hyperspace in a different location from her calculated destination. As expected, Jaina Solo was up to the challenge and plotted her course back to the rest of the family. When a distress call came from the ExGal-4 outpost on Belkadan, the Skywalkers decided to investigate together. On Belkadan they discovered that the planet suffered from an ecological disaster, a result of Yuuzhan Vong terraforming. Jade Skywalker then sensed that her disease was somehow related to the planet's devastation. She was the first Jedi to engage a Yuuzhan Vong when Yomin Carr, who had instigated the world's destruction, attacked her. She was barely able to defeat the infiltrator.[54]

Acting on information they had gleaned from ExGal-4's databanks, they went to the Helska system, where Skywalker was attacked by hostile coralskippers when he began to take his X-wing down to the surface of Helska IV. Jade Skywalker came to his aid and they fled the system for Dubrillion. Skywalker realized that he had to return to investigate, and planned to use one of Calrissian's iceborers to sneak through the icy crust of the planet; Jade Skywalker would pilot the carry-ship for the trip. However, she was weakened from her disease, and the Solo twins took the craft instead. When a New Republic fleet led by the Rejuvenator arrived, the Skywalkers followed the fleet to the Helska system, where they flew cover for Solo's iceborer while the New Republic fleet was badly mauled by the Yuuzhan Vong. After Jaina Solo recovered her brother, who had gone into the Yuuzhan Vong stronghold and rescued Danni Quee, the Skywalkers took the Jade Sabre to a nearby system, where they transferred Quee from the extremely cramped iceborer into the Jade Sabre.[54]

After discussing the invaders with the young scientist and Jacen Solo, they prepared to return to Helska, accompanied by shieldships and starfighters from Dubrillion in an effort to use the shieldships to melt the planet. Jade Skywalker flew in the Jade Sabre again, knowing that the planet had to be destroyed to kill the Vong inside, and that every craft was needed to cover the shieldships, despite her worsening condition. However, in the thick of battle, she collapsed, and Jaina Solo's attempts to take over the controls were in vain; her lapse had already allowed significant damage to the Jade Sabre. Only a last-minute maneuver by Skywalker saved her life when he used his repulsor coils to push the Jade Sabre away from the melting ice planet. Still, the shieldships were able to melt the planet and the Praetorite Vong were defeated. Following the battle, Jade Skywalker experienced a gradual return to health as she battled the disease inside her.[54]

Escalation

"The key thing is to find out for certain if my illness is connected to the Yuuzhan Vong. If it is, when I get healthy, the Yuuzhan Vong will pay." ―Mara Jade Skywalker [src]

Following the Battle of Helska IV, Jade Skywalker returned to Yavin IV, where Luke Skywalker had called a meeting of all the Jedi. The meeting resulted in Skywalker assigning different members of the Order to various missions, and Jade Skywalker was sent with her nephew Anakin Solo to Dantooine, both as a chance for her to recover and fight her disease and as a small scouting probe to see if Dantooine was on the Yuuzhan Vong invasion corridor.[55]

On Dantooine, Jade Skywalker tried to recover and also taught her nephew Anakin Solo a lesson about not trivializing the Force on small things, such as in his bartering with the native Dantari. They had been on the planet for a few weeks when they discovered the Yuuzhan Vong had landed on the planet. Anakin had to fend off hunting parties of Yuuzhan Vong warriors until they were rescued by Skywalker and Jacen Solo, as the Jade Sabre had been destroyed by the Yuuzhan Vong. They then participated in the Battle of Dantooine, though Skywalker asked his wife to stay with Leia and the noncombatants. For once, Jade Skywalker agreed without argument, but even the middle of the refugee camp was not safe for her as she sensed and engaged three Yuuzhan Vong infiltrators in ooglith masquers with the aid of Leia and her Noghri bodyguard Bolpuhr. Killing the warriors quickly, Jade Skywalker then sent Leia off to find Danni Quee, who was Force-sensitive and could detect Yuuzhan Vong, to hunt for more similarly clad infiltrators. Meanwhile, Jade Skywalker checked other parts of the camp, killing one more warrior. The defenders were able to hold off the Yuuzhan Vong advance, though at heavy cost. Once the battle was over and the refugees had been evacuated, the Solos and Skywalkers, including Jade Skywalker, returned to Coruscant with their grave report of the battle, their retreat covered by Bothan Admiral Traest Kre'fey.[55]

On Coruscant, she, Corran Horn, Skywalker, and Kyp Durron along with many other Jedi had another meeting on the role of the Order in the war. The Skywalkers and Horn sought to ease the aggressive nature of Durron and his sizable faction and they were somewhat successful. Jade Skywalker did not contribute much to the meeting, preferring to sit and observe, quietly supporting her husband from the sidelines. Later, though, she and Anakin Solo discovered that someone had been accessing files on old Imperial superweapons. The Skywalkers and Anakin quickly determined that their suspect was Jedi Knight Daeshara'cor and Skywalker recruited a fringe information broker named Chalco to help them, as Han was still too overcome with grief from Chewbacca's death to assist. Skywalker realized that Daeshara'cor was going to Vortex to talk with former superweapon designer Qwi Xux and the trio journeyed to Vortex with Mirax Terrik Horn on the Pulsar Skate to intercept the rogue Jedi Knight.[48]

On Vortex, the Skywalkers met up with Xux, who told them that she had told Daeshara'cor nothing. In the course of the discussion, Jade Skywalker said that under the right circumstances she would use a superweapon, but Xux maintained her belief in pacifism. The Skywalkers left Xux at the Cathedral of Winds, continuing their search on Garos IV, a world famed for its university and large database of old Imperial files. They were disturbed to learn that Daeshara'cor had kidnapped Anakin after the Twi'lek Jedi called them offering a trade: Anakin for information on Imperial superweapons. However, Anakin proved to be a hard catch and, with Chalco's help, subdued the renegade.[48]

The Skywalkers then journeyed to Ithor, soon to be a key battleground in the war. Jade Skywalker did not participate in the releasing ceremony to commune with the jungle that the other Jedi did, but did get a chance to spend some time with her husband. Jade Skywalker told her husband that she was ready to face the uncertainty of the future and that she had long wanted to carry his child, though she wanted to beat her illness first. However, their pleasant time on Ithor was interrupted when Yuuzhan Vong commander Shedao Shai arrived with a large force of ships and warriors, launching a combined air and ground assault on the world. Jade Skywalker fought against his troops on Ithor's surface, acquitting herself well despite her relative weakness. In the process, she saved Anakin from the Yuuzhan Vong, and the invaders were temporarily beaten off. The contest for Ithor ended when Corran Horn challenged and killed Shai in single combat, but his subordinate brutally destroyed Ithor anyway. Horn was left to shoulder the blame, and Jade Skywalker supported him in his decision to abandon both the Jedi Order and the New Republic temporarily, over her husband's protestations.[48]

A gathering darkness

"Your sister might be Han's soul mate, but Chewbacca was his first mate. It's going to take time." ―Mara Jade Skywalker commenting on Han Solo's grief following Chewbacca's death [src]

On Kashyyyk, during a brief respite from the war, a memorial service was held for Chewbacca. In attendance were Luke Skywalker, Han and Leia Solo, and their three children—Jade Skywalker was unable to attend Chewbacca's funeral due to the severity of her illness during that time. The memorial was a somber affair and during it Han was given one of Chewbacca's bowcasters. Much to Han's surprise two of Chewbacca's relatives chose to take over his life debt to the smuggler and his family, but Han declined saying he was not yet ready for something of that nature. Following the funeral Skywalker returned back to Coruscant to Jade Skywalker. She confided to him that her spirits were dwindling as the war continued—Jade Skywalker had hoped that things would have improved in the galaxy after the treaty with the Empire. While Skywalker had been on Kashyyyk, Jade Skywalker had visited a resident doctor on Coruscant who had advised her of the same thing regarding her illness that she already knew: that it was a foreign and unknown composite; that there were no known cures and/or treatments; and that the Belkadan beetle, which Skywalker had recovered, was also of an unknown species. However, the discussion was quickly deflected by Jade Skywalker onto the recent memorial for Chewbacca. Skywalker described to her the ceremony and his worries about Han and how he was dealing with Chewbacca's death. Jade Skywalker reminded her husband of the reasons Han was acting the way he was and that with space and time, Han's wounds would eventually heal.[56]

Meanwhile, the priestess Elan, a Yuuzhan Vong spy, defected to the New Republic along with her familiar Vergere in the hopes of being able to get close to the gathered Jedi leadership where a deadly virus could then be unleashed, essentially wiping out the only real threat to the Yuuzhan Vong continued success. Once the spy and Vergere had defected, they provided valuable information on a number of things—most notably intelligence pertaining to an upcoming attack on Ord Mantell, and also information which revealed that that Yuuzhan Vong had released a deadly virus into the galaxy long before their invasion. For the Jedi, especially Skywalker, that was the only available piece of information found thus far which could help Jade Skywalker fight her illness. However, Elan notified New Republic intelligence that all future information would only be provided on the condition that she was allowed to meet with the gathered leaders of the Jedi to personally provide more information on the mysterious virus they had introduced. Skywalker and the Jedi realized that the meeting could be a trap—but they also recognized that that information may be the only way to cure Jade Skywalker.[56]

However, the tide of the war managed to overtake the plans for a meeting between the Jedi and Elan. The Queen of Empire, a luxury liner turned refugee transport, had come under attack by the Peace Brigade in an effort to capture Elan to return her to the Yuuzhan Vong—Elan's assassination mission was unknown to the Peace Brigade. In the ensuing fight Han Solo, who was aboard the Queen of Empire, went after Elan and was nearly killed when she tried to exhale some of the deadly virus on him. Elan was eventually killed by her own designs, and Vergere escaped via an escape pod—however, not before she provided Han with a vial of tears which she stated must "reach the Jedi."[56]

Though Han was worried that the tears may be a veiled weapon, he nonetheless provided them to the Jedi who proceeded to perform experiments on them—what they found initially shocked, and then gave hope to the Jedi. The tears contained tremendous healing properties found within. Convinced that the tears were an antidote for her illness, Jade Skywalker snatched the vial away from her husband and squeezed its contents into her mouth. Immediately Jade Skywalker began to feel something different throughout her body—she could feel as the tears were counteracting the illness within her. However, even though her illness appeared to be in remission the Jedi were unsure if the tears were something which would prove permanent relief.[56]

Expecting mother

"Of course I'm up to it. I haven't felt so obnoxiously healthy since…Well, in a while." ―Mara Jade Skywalker after taking on an assignment following the remission of her disease. [src]

As the Yuuzhan Vong continued their conquest of the galaxy, the planet of Kalarba and its moon Hosk Station eventually came under attack. The Yuuzhan Vong planned to recreate the horror of Sernpidal by pulling the moon onto a collision course with its chief planet. In response, the New Republic dispatched Rogue Squadron to help stem the enemy assault. During the battle, however, Jaina's fighter was destroyed and she was forced to eject from the doomed fighter. Around the galaxy, many Jedi felt through the Force that something terrible had happened to Jaina. On Duro, Jacen collapsed due to his and Jaina's twin-bond; Leia, who was also on Duro felt the same pain which Jacen felt; and on Coruscant, both Skywalkers were aware that something had gone wrong with Jaina, but knew that the situation would be taken care of.[53]

Meanwhile, the Skywalkers had decided to call a meeting of several Jedi, which included Anakin Solo and Kenth Hamner, on Coruscant to discuss the current state of the war. Jedi Master Cilghal reported how the war was taking a tremendous toll on life, and that the days were continuously growing longer for the Jedi healers. As the meeting progressed, Jade Skywalker began to reflect on the war thus far: how she was forced to abandon Jade Sabre; the fact that the mysterious disease was now in remission after the gift of Vergere's tears; and how Anakin had almost single-handedly saved her life during the Battle of Dantooine. As the meeting progressed, the Skywalkers listened as various reports from Jedi regarding missions were brought forth. During the meeting Jedi apprentice Tekli informed the Skywalkers that she had overheard some talk in a local tapcafe, the Leafy Green, which could have suggested the presence of Yuuzhan Vong infiltrators wearing ooglith masquers. Tekli believed that it should be investigated by a Jedi who had more experience with that type of thing. It was eventually decided that Anakin would investigate the claims while under the watchful eye of Jade Skywalker.[53]

Shortly thereafter, Jade Skywalker and Anakin departed for the Leafy Green, and along the way she continued her previous lessons on spying and infiltration with Anakin. The two arrived at the tapcafe and found a table which allowed them to survey the establishment while still allowing them a quick avenue of escape. It did not take long for them to find a being whose presence and composure seemed out of place. Using the Force to probe their quarry, they quickly learned that the being gave off no signature in the Living Force. Not wanting to apprehend the Yuuzhan Vong spy in the midst of a large crowd, Jade Skywalker and Anakin finished their meals and followed the spy as he left the tapcafe. They tailed the spy and eventually cornered the Yuuzhan Vong in an alleyway. What ensued was a fierce, but brief, fight which saw the spy attack using a hidden amphistaff. Jade Skywalker managed to knock the spy to the ground after discovering that she could kill the amphistaff with a blow to the center of its head, but after realizing that the Yuuzhan Vong were almost immune to the effects of a blaster set on stun, she decided to end the fight with a quick jab to the spy's temple. With the Yuuzhan Vong now unconscious, Jade Skywalker and Anakin took the captured spy back for interrogation and study.[53]

Jade Skywalker delivered the Yuuzhan Vong over to Cilghal and the exobiologist Dr. Joi Eicroth who proceeded to tie the captured spy down to a table for further examination. During that time, the spy recovered from the blow Jade Skywalker had inflicted, and managed to use a hidden claw in its hand to slice some of the table restraints. Though Anakin was prepared to defend those present by killing the spy with his lightsaber, Jade Skywalker yelled at Anakin to stop—the Yuuzhan Vong chose to slit its own throat with its claw, rather than be a prisoner of the Jedi. She and Anakin were disappointed that their prisoner was now dead, and it was commented that the whole operation had been for nothing. Skywalker, however, reflected on the fact that they had managed to take a Yuuzhan Vong infiltrator out of the war, and they had also discovered a way to kill amphistaffs, by aiming directly into the snake head's crest.[53]

Eventually, the Skywalkers were asked to meet with various leaders of the New Republic's military. At the meeting, the two Jedi were briefed by Ayddar Nylykerka, the chief of Fleet Intelligence, on the recent losses to the Yuuzhan Vong—most notably the planets Kalarba, Druckenwell, and Falleen. He continued by stating that even if the New Republic were able to defend and hold the planet Rodia, that the Corellian Run would still be cut off. The war, it seemed, was only going to get worse for the New Republic and the Jedi. During the meeting, they were informed that, after the debacle with Centerpoint Station during the Battle of Fondor, the immense weapon was now out of commission—and that was being kept a closely guarded secret. Following that, the meeting soon devolved into an anti-Jedi debate. Eventua