Mara Jade

Mara Jade Skywalker 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.

Early life (17 BBY–4 ABY)
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

Emperor's Hand

 * "She is, shall we say, an experiment."
 * ―Palpatine

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 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.

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

Hunting Skywalker
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

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.

Smuggler (6 ABY–9 ABY)


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.] It was during that occupation that she lost the Red bladed lightsaber she had been given by Palpatine in an encounter with Lumiya. 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. After her run-in with Lumiya, she later worked as a hyperdrive mechanic on Varonat under the name Celina Marniss.

Fortune finally struck when Jade managed to save 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.

Meeting Skywalker
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 the possibility of selling him to Thrawn for the bounty or extorting money from the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances to ensure his return.

Karrde pulled the stranded Jedi aboard and took him back to his base on Myrkr, where the planet's ysalamiri creatures 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 himself arrived on Myrkr to harvest ysalamiri, preventing the two from making contact with Karrde, for Thrawn would know that Karrde had been with-holding 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.

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 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.

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 managed to convince 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

Jade and Karrde's group later returned to aid the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances in the Battle against Thrawn. Jade flew a Z-95 Headhunter in the battle, but an ion cannon blast left her drifting in space. Fortunately for her, Luke Skywalker was able to rescue her before she died of exposure.

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.

Wayland
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

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 out 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 Galactic Federation 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.

Jedi Knight (10 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. In 10 ABY, she was with Katarn on the battlefront of Altyr V aiding the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances 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.

Jade, however, was on her own—her first mission for the Federation was to negotiate with Ka'Pa the Hutt concerning the Federation'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 managed to escape the stronghold by killing a rancor and stole the device. Ka'Pa was pleased and agreed to help the Federation

Jade's second mission was on a Federation Corellian Corvette guarding a Jedi holocron to be delivered to Skywalker, 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. There she encountered the severed head of droid 8t88, Katarn's old adversary, and noted that the droid was planning vengeance on whomever had decapitated it.

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. The two later participated in the ancient Jedi tradition of the Concordance of Fealty, a mutual apprenticeship.

Jedi Training at the Academy
Eventually her and Kyle joined Luke's Academy on Risian and finished their training along side Luke's other 12 Original Students, By this time she had grown to care for Luke even care for him in a intimate way.