What If : The Story Retold

Enemy of my Enemy.

Mara had been sat there for what felt like ages, despite it only being around half an hour since the droids had left. They had given her no explanation, they just left the second she had exited the scanner. She had asked where they were going but they didn't answer.

She wondered just what they had seen during her scan. As far as she was aware, there wasn't much to see, just a few places where her bones had been reset and mended from the many injuries she had received over the years. But even when she went up to the monitors, she saw the information already classified.

With no more instructions or droids to tell her what to do, she decided that perhaps patience was the right course for now. She had sat herself down on the medical bed, running her fingers through her still damp red hair, using the force to stretch out.

Like a magnet, she had found Luke's force signature first, and though it had been a comfort at first - something she would never admit aloud - when she felt sounding akin to dread, she began to worry. When she stretched out again, though she knew the other Jedi had powerful mental shields, she felt the same from the others.

What had they seen which she did not know about?

In the half an hour she could feel them contemplating something and drawing conclusions, she sat nervously, knowing that behind the mirrored panel, they were discussing something important which she didn't know, and she hated not knowing.

When finally the doors to the medical wing opened, she turned, expecting the droids to be back, instead, there stood Luke Skywalker, the one friendly face she knew in the entire Republic - she could almost laugh at how only a week ago she would still have called him an enemy.

As the door closed behind him, he tentively approached as if unsure of what to say or do. She watched him curiously as he crossed past her and went to the monitor.

Something appeared on the screen which seemed to be a scan of her head, with a small blip pulsing just a few inches deep from her right temple. At first, she thought perhaps they had found some shrapnel or something, force knows she had been in her fair share of battles and explosions. But even if she was force sensitive, no one would be able to survive something like that to the head, even if they did, the medical droids back on Maul's War Ships would have detected it immediately, she visited them frequently enough.

"What is that?" She finally inquired, curiosity now overtaking her, as well as a sense of dread knowing that the Jedi had also been thrown into a predicament over it.

"It's an organic chip," he explained quietly at first before clearing his throat and continuing more confidently, "Probably implanted in you at a young age."

Looking back at him, still confused despite the fact she knew all those words, but not necessarily in this context.

"The Clones used to have something similar to this implanted in them from embryonic stages, it was to make them more compliant and able to follow orders so well," Luke didn't really know how to put this softly so he decided that it would be best to instead just get it over and done with, "You have one as well... We think it was given to you at a very young age, you wouldn't have even been aware of it... We think Maul had one implanted in you to keep you more susceptible to his commands, to follow his orders without question."

Silence now fell over them as Luke watched the redhead take in and process the painful news that her Master had essentially brainwashed her from when she was a baby. Confusion, denial, shame and finally rage all crossed her face, her mouth opening and closing but unable to form words.

Luke, knowing that she was usually quick to anger, decided to move his hands in a gesture for her to try and stay calm. He knew it was in vain but there wasn't much he could do. When the Council had reviewed the information about the chip, they had told Luke he should break the news to her because they had history, but that didn't make anything better.