Almost nothing is known about Mara Jade's past. It is rumored that Emperor Palpatine took her as a young girl and had her parents killed. He trained Mara as his personal Force-sensitive assassin, teaching her how to use a lightsaber and basic Force powers. The best of his protectors taught her hand-to-hand combat, marksmanship, spy techniques, and political intrigue. Mara was code-named the Emperor's Hand. She performed missions that regular troops couldn't handle. She helped expose traitors, eliminated or discredited Palpatine's enemies, and brought down mindless bureaucracies.

The most important of Mara's talents was her Force ability to hear the Emperor's call from anywhere in the galaxy. Mara even went on a mission to Jabba's Palace to kill Luke Skywalker. She was disguised as a dancer, but she didn't have a chance to kill Luke because Jabba wouldn't let her go to the Great Pit of Carkoon for the executions. As the Emperor was dying, he sent Mara a message telling her to kill Luke Skywalker. Mara spent the next several years working with smugglers and traders. Without the Emperor around, she lost most her Force abilities.

Mara was finally hired by the smuggler Talon Karrde, and she advanced rapidly in his organization. One day Mara and Karrde picked up a distress signal from a damaged X-wing, the last person Mara expected to find onboard was Luke Skywalker. Nor did she expect to spare his life several times over the coming months, or to have him save hers. Mara and Karrde were pulled into the fight against Grand Admiral Thrawn. Although she made it clear to everyone that she intended to kill Luke Skywalker, she gradually became very valuable to the New Republic.

Finally, Mara would face her destiny. During a mission to destroy the Emperor's hidden Spaarti cloning cylinders, Luke began helping Mara regain her Force talents. Joruus C'Baoth called both Luke and Mara to him intending to turn them to the dark side. When he realized Luke would not turn, he unleashed a clone of Luke. In the following battle, Mara killed the clone, and with Luke and Leia's help she slew C'Baoth also. She had finally fulfilled the Emperor's command, and she was free from him.

After they got back to Coruscant, Luke gave Mara the lightsaber he had lost on Bespin (his father's lightsaber). Later Mara became the leader of the Smugglers' Alliance and took over Talon Karrde's operation when he retired. Mara also spent some time at Luke Skywalker's Jedi academy. If she ever takes the time to complete her training, Mara may become one of the most formidable Jedi of all time.

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