41. Murder

Juno had misgivings when PROXY projected Rahm Kota and began to tell Starkiller about the old Jedi.

She was as loyal to the Empire as any of the pilots in her squadron had been, but it had been many years since the Emperor had purged the Empire of Jedi. If any of them had survived that long, perhaps they deserved to be left in peace.

She remembered stories from when she was young – the Jedi were always heroes. Even when her father said they were traitors and murderers.

For the first time in her career, doubt crept into Juno's mind.


42. Mystery

There was something about the Jedi Temple that made him incredibly uncomfortable. The stormtroopers were nothing but an annoyance. It was the feeling that seemed to permeate the whole building.

He would feel the Force here, stronger than ever before, but it was different. There was something off about it, something he could not place. He could feel death—and something else that he could not identify.

Starkiller had a feeling that Vader had sent him here for more than he had been told. It was not his place to question his master, but he could not ignore the doubt.


43. Writer

Juno usually found solace in the reports she needed to submit to Republic High Command. The report in front of her was different. It hurt to see the official communication. Rham Kota was dead and his young companion had left the system after the funeral.

Her insides twisted as she remembered the last time she had seen Kota and Starkiller. Not since her sudden departure after she had realized that she and Starkiller could never survive. He was not the man she remembered; he was scattered and unstable. She loved him, but this was where she was supposed to be.


44. Retired

The years after Kamino were long. They were difficult, too Kota died in his sleep half a decade later. Juno returned to the Rebel Alliance. That left him alone, save for PROXY. He was lucky, he knew. He was alive. Vader was dead. He finally had peace.

It had taken him several years to make his way back to Kashyyyk. The memory flashes still bothered him, but it was better in the place he remembered seeing his father.

He traced his hand over the Marek firebird – the Rebel firebird now – and let out a sigh for what could have been.


45. Teacher

When he realized that the future he sensed was himself teaching Vader's assassin, there was nothing that could have shocked Rahm Kota more.

At Cloud City on Bespin, he was even more shocked. Though he was not entirely sure that the boy before him was the same boy, he had a feeling that it could be. Who else would it be?

In the end, he realized that he should be honored to teach the founder of the Rebellion, the young man who sacrificed everything for the hope of the galaxy, the way of the Jedi. He wished he still could.


Posted 11/28/14