"There!" Luke was the first to see it, pressing a finger against the viewport, but then he was looking expectantly at exactly that spot. Mara scowled into the darkness, struggling to make out a shadowy shape against the void about it.
"It's dead too."
"They didn't have shielding either. Where the hell did they get that DEMP from?"
"Two." Mara said; "They must have fired one to take out the Fury's systems, then waited for the emergency back-ups to come online and fired a second to be sure they'd overloaded everything."
"Well it worked." Luke said flatly. He took a half-step away from the viewscreen and rested both palms against it, eyes on the distant ship. "What are you doing, Madine?"
This wasn't like him; it wasn't his style to come in with guns blazing. He was confident yes - he was after all an ex-Imperial officer - but he tended towards small gestures which generated large effects, which was why he was so useful to the Rebellion...
"He's not doing anything anymore." Mara said dryly, eyes still on the dead freighter, "He's just as stuck as we are."
"No, he's doing something; this is for something..." Luke stared at the shadowy ship, dead in space, "He wants Mon... and he thinks we have her..."
"Maybe he's slowing us down - maybe he's called for backup?"
"No..." Luke's fingers tapped lightly against the viewport as he considered, "He doesn't have time. When we scanned a few hours ago there were no Rebel ships within three hours of here- that's why we chose these co-ordinates. They know the Fury would be reported as having failed to check in within an hour of missing a broadcast and that the fleet would start the search from our last known location, which gives him two hours at the most..."
Mara glanced out at the ship again, "Well he's too far away to do any damage from..."
"Chell!" Luke whirled away from the viewscreen striding quickly back into the inky shadows of the corridor, Mara rushing behind him as he explained, "Another ship! He has another ship coming in from hyperspace right now!"
Mara shook her head pointlessly in the darkness, "You just said Intel confirmed there were no other ships in the area-"
"The second freighter." Luke reminded, of the unexpected Rebel freighter that had come in from Col Din during Mon's capture. "Remember Madine was on a second Rebel freighter at Bothawuii?! They must have met up just outside the system then jumped to our location a few minutes apart. That freighter out there's dead in space from the DEMP pulse it released, but the second freighter would only need to be a minute or two behind at lightspeed and..."
"It'll be undamaged." Mara finished, realization hitting her. "At lightspeed they'd be outside the pulse range coming in to Madine's co-ordinates!"
They passed into the darkness, Luke pausing at the first intersection to get his bearings, Mara barreling into him from behind with enough force send him staggering forward a few steps.
"Hey!"
"Sorry." She sounded suitably sheepish and just a little too amused." Can you see anything?"
"The Force can enhance sight enough t.... what the hell are you doing now!?"
Mara was fumbling in the darkness for his waistband as he half-turned towards her, "Oops! Sorry. I was... just..." she finally found his belt and wrapped her hand about it, "Tell me if we hit steps."
He made a sound somewhere between a snort and a sigh and set off again, jerking Mara's arm as she set forward, one hand holding his belt, one hand out before her in the pitch black.
.
.
"Three steps down." came Luke's voice from the darkness.
Mara slowed slightly and waited until Skywalker stepped down the first, his downward pull where she held onto his belt giving her the location of the stair's edge as she gingerly stepped down. When he leveled out she knew she should too and they both set off again at a slow jog.
They were getting a good routine now. Luke had headed back to the midship turbolift shafts which were wrapped about with the emergency stairwells, Mara assuming he'd head up to the bridge from there, so that there'd been a brief spat when he'd headed down, Mara hauling him to a halt by his belt, Luke telling her in no uncertain terms exactly why she shouldn't do that.
They'd crossed the paths of various officers, troopers and non-comm's, most of whom had been calmly making their way towards the emergency assembly sites. Luke had sent four separate officers to the bridge now, using them to relay orders. Priority was to get long-distance communications working to call in help from the waiting Peerless, then check life-support and carbon monoxide levels.
He'd not taken any troopers with him; he and Mara were moving too quickly and troopers would slow them down, the night-vision capability of their helmets now rendered useless. Most had taken them off, their unfiltered voices sounding uncharacteristically human to Mara's ears.
They'd also come across numerous droids in their travels, collapsed in a heap wherever they happened to be when the DEMP had gone off, Luke using the Force to push their heavy bulk to the sides of corridors so that no-one would stumble over them in the absolute darkness of enclosed internal corridors.
Mara was getting strangely used to the impenetrable pitch now. She'd found it easier for some reason to actually close her eyes, learning to feel for the slightest change in Luke's stance, the break in his even stride, the way his torso moved against her fingers where they touched his back, to listen to the rhythm of his breathing in the complete silence... to just... let him take charge and be led, relying on him not to let her get hurt. It was a strange thing to be suddenly so completely dependent on another person - yet to have absolute faith that they wouldn't fail you; like the longest 'trust exercise' in history.
He slowed to a halt and Mara stopped close behind him, panting from having run so far, her free hand against his back, feeling it rise and fall as he too breathed heavily.
"What?"
"They're here." He stated simply, "Another ship- a hundred or so crew... We need a..." He walked to the side, Mara yanked with him as she held onto his belt, feeling the changing tension in his body and the pull of his shirt as he lifted his arm.
Another door grated reluctantly open, the pale wash of starlight incredibly reassuring to Mara, like being able to take a breath after swimming under water. They walked forward to the small viewport there; they'd been among Petty-Officers' living quarters for the last few floors, the corridors here narrow and twisting, hallways that were so familar in normal light suddenly seeming a near-indecipherable maze. Luke had tried to stay close to outside walls to maintain some sense of bearing, always keeping the dead Rebel freighter to his left, so Mara wasn't surprised that the first outside room they entered afforded a view of it - and its new companion.
"There!" she announced pointlessly; it was the only thing with running lights in the vicinity, a flare of light to Mara's dark-adjusted eyes.
They waited, watching the ship for a while, but it seemed to come no nearer nor make any offensive move, despite the Star Destroyer's obviously crippled state.
"What are they waiting for?" Luke murmured, frowning, reaching out with the Force into the ether, training all his perceptions on the brightly-lit freighter...
And there she was, like a distant figure in a sandstorm, scattered and diffuse but bristling with outrage and brimming with determination.
"Leia." He whispered beneath his breath.
"What?" Mara's asked, aware that some change had come over him.
He turned to her, his pale eyes almost black so wide were the pupils, and he smiled that feral smile... and in that moment, looking up into his face in the dim light of the starry night, Mara knew absolutely why Palpatine called Skywalker his Wolf.
"An old acquaintance." He said at last, an edge to his voice now though he spoke deceptively quietly, turning back to the Rebel ship, "I wonder if she'll come and visit?"