Disclaimer: I do NOT own Star Wars!
Author's Note: I'm back with another chapter~ Not much to say this time around, except that I'm also considering doing some Dragon Age 2 fanfic, so if any of you are as obsessed with that game as I am, keep a look out! Also you may have got this chapter flag up twice if you're on my watch list, that's because I previously uploaded my scrap version without the spell-checking or the extra comments at the beginning (cos I know you love these, lol!)
Liisiko - I'll let you know how I get on with them! They're sitting next to my computer, staring at me! I will set myself the task of reading them this week! A little note about the Holocron. I was actually considering doing more on the Holocron as a side-story to this one, a one-shot or something like it, which takes place after the second game shortly after they are reunited. Just because I feel I have to do more research (aka read the books) to be able to do that part justice. Hope you enjoy this chapter, and once again, thanks for your review!
CHAPTER 10
Starkiller boarded the Rogue Shadow and almost walked straight into PROXY standing just inside the entrance.
"Master, welcome back."
"Thinking you might succeed in killing me when I'm not in top shape?" Starkiller mused with a weary smile.
"Good idea, Master, but no. Juno sent me to make sure you were okay. She was worried about you." The droid's golden eyes seemed to brighten. "Shall I inform her that you are in good repair?"
"She'll see herself. I have questions for the General." He moved past the droid and down the short, curving corridor that opened up into the cockpit. Kota was sitting slumped in his chair and, opposite the consoles; Juno was scanning through lists and lists of data, clearly absorbed.
"Who was she, Kota?" Starkiller asked in nothing less than a demanding tone.
The white-haired man didn't even flinch. "Her name is Princess Leia Organa, daughter of Bail Organa, who – as you already discovered – is my contact within the Senate."
"I want to talk to him."
"You can't."
Starkiller barely managed to restrain his anger and frustration. "What do you mean, I can't? I just rescued his daughter on a planet overrun by Stormtroopers! You said—"
"—You can't talk to him because I can't find him! He's gone missing, boy!"
Starkiller gritted his teeth. "What? When?"
"Bail tried to recruit me to rescue Leia. I refused, so he went in search of another Jedi. A Master Shaak Ti. I warned him of the dangers but the fool went after her anyway, alone…and vanished as soon as he landed on—"
"—Felucia." Starkiller ended but immediately regretted it. He'd given himself away. Idiot! How would he have known unless he'd already been there and met her? His body tensed, his fingers flexing over the saber clipped to his belt.
Kota's eyes narrowed. "The Force is strong in you, my boy, to be able to sense my thoughts."
The tension dropped from him like a stone, though it left him shaken. He needed to be more careful with his choice of words otherwise everything he had worked towards would be for nothing. "You're just easy to read, old man."
"Then you should already know our next mission. We're going to Felucia to rescue Senator Organa."
"Fine." He left them in the cockpit and moved back down to the training room, closing the door behind him. He needed time to think for a bit. Time to consider what he'd discovered on Kashyyyk. Time to…time to get to grips with who he was. What had that spectre called him? Galen?
…Son.
He untucked the old robe from under his belt and tipped the holocron onto it. A soft but extremely dim yellow light glowed from its centre and he stared at it as if the answers might leap out at him. In truth, they probably would, if he could bring himself to seek them.
The door to the training room opened and Starkiller closed his fist over the holocron, hiding it behind him as he turned to see who had intruded. It was Juno, as he had expected, and she looked just as annoyed as he did.
"Okay. What's going on?" She demanded, stepping right up in front of him. "Something happened down there. Why won't you tell me?"
"Because it's none of your business." Starkiller snapped.
"So we're back to this again, are we? I thought we were past all of this secrecy. I thought we were…friends. Why do you have to be so guarded all the time? Haven't I earned your trust?"
She looked hurt and he hadn't been prepared for that.
"I…" He blinked. "I just need time."
She sighed, her expression mellowing. "Then that's fine. Just…" She hesitated, looking down, and then reached out to set a hand on his arm. "Just remember that I'm here if you need to talk." Her hand slipped away again and she took a step back, casting a lingering look at him. He watched as she moved to exit and felt the burden of guilt grow all the heavier.
"Juno."
She turned to look at him, expectant, perhaps?
"Thank you."
Her slight smile did funny things to his heart.
"Oh…how could they?" Juno drew away from the console.
"Juno…are you seeing this?" Starkiller's voice buzzed over the commlink.
"Yes. I have a visual…but I don't understand. What could possibly possess the Empire to do such a thing?"
The Sarlaac had been imprisoned by masses of cruel Imperial construction.
"They don't need a reason, but I'd wager that they're pursuing the last of the Felucians."
"Master." PROXY chimed in, unfazed by the scene. "Imperial schematics show that the central lift is powered by generators located on each of the crane platforms. Power those up and the lift will be back online."
Juno shook her head in dismay and tipped back in her chair. As a pilot, she'd never really come face to face with anything like this. She'd just been trapped in her happy bubble of flying from place to place, shooting at other ships, unable to see the faces of the pilots inside. She'd been happy to do it. Proud, in fact, to serve as part of the Empire. She wondered how many other pilots realised the extent the Empire were willing to go to achieve their goals. Probably none of them, if she was anything to go by.
"Juno, I sense…I can feel the creature's suffering."
It sounded like he was suffering, too.
She leaned forwards again and shook her head in dismay. "Is there any way you can lessen the creature's pain? Can you destroy those cranes that are holding it down, perhaps?"
"I can try."
"Thank you."
"Generators back online." PROXY reported.
Juno added: "Be careful. If you get into trouble down there—"
"Captain, we've lost his signal." PROXY interrupted.
"Starkiller? Are you there? Are you alright? I've lost you on the scanner." Still nothing. "I'm not reading you. Please respond." She tried to keep the worry out of her voice but failed utterly.
"He'll be fine." Kota assured her.
"You don't know that." Juno snapped.
"I know more than you think, girl." And under his breath he mumbled. "Pah, no one respects their elders anymore."
Juno ignored him. "Juno to Starkiller, you need to stay away from the monster's digestive fluids. They are extremely dangerous. I repeat: extremely dangerous." She sighed helplessly, running her hands through the escaping tresses of her white-blonde hair.
"How long have you known him?" Kota queried.
"Not long." Her eyes flicked across at him. "But long enough to care if he dies." It was the truth. A guarded truth. In any case, he didn't come back with a response, so she supposed that it had sated his curiosity. Yet, even as she spoke the words, a horrible wrenching sensation tugged at her gut. What they were doing here. The missions, the rallying. It was working towards one thing: defeating the Empire. The realisation of it sank in and left her feeling hollow. They were going up against the Emperor. A powerful Sith Lord.
There was no coming out of the other side alive.
"There is always hope." Kota spoke suddenly, jolting her from her horrible realisation.
She hit the commlink again. "Do you hear me, Starkiller? Are you there? I repeat, do you copy?"
"I'm here, Juno."
Warmth swelled in her heart. "Oh thank—Are you alright? Are you hurt?"
"I'll live."
"Good…" She drew in a shaky breath and felt the tension unwind. "Your signal looks strong again, but I'm picking up more life signs heading your way."
"Falling in love with a Jedi." Kota spoke up suddenly. "Is more often a curse than a blessing. You would do better to rid yourself of your feelings for that boy."
Juno flushed, swivelling in her chair to face the blind Jedi. "I'm quite capable of controlling my feelings, thank you, Master Kota."
"It is not encouraged among the Jedi to grow attached." The man continued as if he had not even heard her. "Love between that of a man and woman can be selfish. Possessive attachment can lead to jealousy and fear…both paths to the dark side. For a Jedi, love can be - and has been - a terrible thing; ending in tragedy. I should know. I've seen it happen."
Juno stared silently at him, unsure what to say or to do. For some unknown reason, bitter tears were biting at the surface of her eyes. "You have no reason to worry, Master Kota. We're on a suicide mission. None of us will live long enough to fall in love." She turned back to the consoles to track Starkiller's progress.
Beside her, PROXY had been watching for any change and had remained perfectly silent throughout.
"Any sign of Senator Organa?" Juno asked of Starkiller.
"Not yet, but he's close…I can feel it."
Down on Felucia's surface, a few moments later, Starkiller set eyes on the man he had gone through so much trouble to find. Rough skinned, thinning dark hair to match equally dark eyes; this Senator did not look as grand and important as his title dictated.
"Senator Organa. Master Kota has sent me here to rescue you."
"Ha! I knew my old friend wouldn't be able to stay out of the fight for long. Though I expect he's angry at me for ignoring his advice."
"Oh, he's angry." Starkiller replied smoothly. "But I think he wants to yell at you in person."
"Well, in that case, we'll need to hurry. Shaak Ti's apprentice has gone mad!" His nervous eyes wandered briefly around the clearing.
"This whole planet has gone insane." Starkiller corrected gruffly, moving towards the Senator.
"Oh, we're not crazy." A distinctly feminine voice sounded from behind the apprentice. The Zabrak moved towards them with sleek, deadly grace; a modified lightsaber readied in each hand. "We've just embraced the power of the Dark Side."
Starkiller allowed an 'unimpressed' expression to fall easily into place, his own blue saber buzzing in hand. "Stand aside, girl, unless you want to get hurt. You are no match for me."
"Hurt me? Ha! You won't get the chance. He won't let you." She stepped aside, the malicious smile spreading just that little bit further across her face.
Starkiller looked up – and kept looking up – until he saw the monstrous grey face looming out of the mist above him. The grotesque head with its slathering jaws and protruding horns swung low and the mist relented its hold on the rest of the colossal body. The rancor was huge, its thick muscle covered in leathery, grey skin.
"Oh please," Starkiller mumbled. "You have got to be joking." Lowering his position and holding his arm poised behind him – saber held in his trademark reverse-grip.
The rancor bellowed, clouding him with the stink of its foul breath, and then it lashed out with a clawed hand. The strength of that blow would be enough to break the body of a less adequate man. For Starkiller, it merely meant leaping out of harms way, tumbling with the grace of a gymnast so that he could get the Senator out of its sights. The rancor – predictably – followed up with another similar attack, turning its bulk around so that it could keep the Jedi in its line of vision.
In its next lunge, Starkiller leapt up towards it, plunging the saber deep into its shoulder. The creature reared back, roaring with pain as Starkiller dangled helplessly from the weapon embedded deep into the beast's flesh. One of the horned hands slashed at him, crushing him against the rancor's arm and leaving him winded, but as he tried to work the blade free, he was knocked flying through the air and down onto the damp earth. The saber was left behind, protruding from the beast's shoulder as it advanced on him.
Lifting one hand, Starkiller drew on the powers of the Force, curling the invisible ribbons around the handle of the saber and tugging it free. The blade came away in a spray of blood and leapt back into his waiting hand.
Determination on his face, he rolled away from the huge hand that slammed down to crush him and leapt up onto the creature's head. It flailed to get him down, reaching up to snatch at him with clumsy, desperate hands. Starkiller, desperate to get this done before he was thrown again, sank the blade into the base of the creature's skull, severing it from life.
The light in the creature's eyes died and its strangled cry faded as it sagged to its knees and collapsed onto its stomach, jaws gaping.
A second later and Maris Brood came flying over the monster's corpse, screaming with rage as she lunged for the kill. "Now I'll finish you myself!" She snarled.
He parried her blows with surprising ease, his cool and collected manner far surpassing her flailing rage-filled attacks. He met each attempt with one of her own, playing defensively so that she would tire herself out.
"You cannot win this." Starkiller growled. "Stand down."
She was tiring; a bead of sweat running down across her temple. She gave another strangled cry of rage and blasted Force power at him. It hit him squarely in the chest but he allowed himself to fall backwards, turning the stumble into a roll that saw him out of trouble. He was on his feet again and able to counter her next attack just in time.
Then she disappeared.
Startled, he whirled around to find her leaping at him from behind. He parried the blow and knocked her aside, moving in to strike her down. Again she disappeared and he lunged out at where she had been and felt his blade come into contact with something.
She appeared again, gashed across the back of her leg, and turned to meet his advance. The heat from the crackling lightsabers was astounding, blue and red glowing feverish purple where they connected.
Her ending came as a surprise to both of them.
Engaged in their duel - filled with technical and difficult moves that came one after the other in clear and precise succession – neither seemed willing to give in to the other. She had skill, Starkiller would give her that. Her modified lightsabers were short, not allowing her as much reach, but they were wielded with confidence and intent and he had to keep extra vigilant to protect himself from both blades without leaving himself open.
He attacked with an outward arc, forcing her to leap back to avoid being gutted, and followed up the attack with three short bursts of Force power that knocked her to her feet. She tried to stand but her legs seemed unwilling to support her.
He advanced, saber directed at her.
"Okay, okay." Her own duel weapons fizzled out. "You've won. Take the Senator and go. There's no need to kill me now."
"You're a slave to the Dark Side." Starkiller returned coldly. "I'd be doing the galaxy a favour."
"No…no, please. This isn't my fault. Shaak Ti abandoned me here. This planet is evil. It corrupted me. But you…you can save me. Just let me get away from this place I'll turn my back on the Dark Side. I can do it if you give me the chance."
Starkiller hesitated.
Perhaps another, wiser man would have closed his ears to her pleading and taken her life – or at the very least, taken her captive – but as he looked on, he saw himself reflected there in her beseeching eyes. She was a slave to the darkness in the same way that he was slave to Vader. If he thought she should die, then by rights, he should die, too. He'd been given the chance to change. Yes, a change that was supposed to have been fake but…
…there was no point denying it now. Vader still had a hold over him, but…
He closed his eyes to will away these thoughts, afraid that Vader would pick up on them. Afraid that this act he had been putting on was wooing him and…and that he'd suffer when the truth came out and all those he was helping came to face their fate at the hands of Vader and the Emperor.
Juno. Kota. Bail. And the rest who would follow if his plan to get them on side succeeded.
In his silence, Maris Brood nervously began to back away, her face betraying her fear over what his lack of response could mean. Then, when she had slunk back enough, she turned and raced for the cover of the trees.
Starkiller's dark eyes lifted to watch as she disappeared from sight.
"That one…she is afraid and angry. That will leave her vulnerable. You shouldn't have let her go free." Bail spoke quietly.
"You really think she's free?" Starkiller replied, not daring to look at him. "She'll carry the memories of what she's done here forever…"
And so it would be for him.
"We can't do it." Bail Organa was shaking his head solemnly. "Open rebellion is too dangerous, Master Kota. I know I owe you my life, but…"
"You don't owe me anything." Kota replied quickly. "I told you back on Cloud City that I cannot help you; not since I lost my sight." He turned to 'look' in Starkiller's direction. "He's your hero and it's your rebellion. Join us, Senator, not because you owe us, but because it's right. Because he's asking you to."
"You are the first to really fight against the Empire." Organa considered. "However, we are not prepared to go to war yet. We will need weapons and starships and people with the courage to use them. I don't know how many others will agree to stand with us…"
"Surely you know some who will." Starkiller could feel his impatience slipping again. Did age bring with it a lack of decisiveness and a reluctance to face danger?
"Well, yes. There are others who have spoken out against the Emperor, but they will be hard to convince. This is a dangerous thing you are asking of us. Many people will die. There will be much suffering."
"And how is that any different from now?"
"Still your tongue, boy." Kota held out a warding hand. "We just need to show them that the Empire is vulnerable; that it is not as powerful and invincible as they would have us believe."
Starkiller nodded. "Let me meditate on that. I'm sure I'll find the right target. In the meantime, Senator, gather your friends. We're going to need all the help we can get."
He felt the Senator's eyes on him as he left them alone; moving back to the Rogue Shadow where PROXY waited and Juno appeared to be working on one of the panels in the ship's hull. She paused in her work, dragged the back of her hand across her forehead and cast him a smile, unaware of the dark smudge she'd left behind. He threw her an amused look, which died a moment later as he realised where he was planning to go.
He met PROXY's 'eyes' and gave a short nod. The droid, seeming to understand, followed him aboard, joining him in the small, circular training room.
They had barely had a chance to enter when PROXY informed him of his Master's presence and the gangly droid became taller, imposing and dark. The figure of Darth Vader seemed to suck the light and warmth from the room and Starkiller, automatically, dropped to one knee; bowing his head.
"You have received my message?"
"Yes. Your mission goes well, my Apprentice." The title was stressed, and Starkiller startled, realising he'd forgotten to address his master as such.
"I have recruited others to my cause. But, now I am in need of your counsel. My allies seek a major strike against the Empire."
"The Emperor rules the galaxy through fear. You must destroy a symbol of that fear. The Empire is building Star Destroyers above Raxus Prime. That Shipyard will be your next target."
"Thank you, Lord Vader." He returned to his feet.
"There is much conflict in you." Darth Vader cautioned. "Your feelings for your new allies are growing stronger. Do not forget that you still serve me." His words put a chill in Starkiller's heart, but what disturbed him more was the lack of concern in his…Master's tone. Was it that Vader had faith he would make the 'Sith' choice or…
The image dissipated and PROXY groaned. "I hate being him…"
"I think he does, too."
"Master…" The warning tone in PROXY's voice had Starkiller's heart plunging. He closed his eyes, knowing who stood behind him without even turning around.
"Juno."
He turned to look at her. Big mistake. The hurt in her face was so evident that he could not fool himself into thinking he had imagined it.
"I came to find out where you wanted to go next, but it looks like you've already been told." The vulnerable hurt was slowly becoming cold and hard.
He shook his head. "Juno, this isn't what it looks like." He reached out to her but she knocked his hand aside. If only she knew the turmoil he had been in, the pain of being torn into two different directions. The torment of doing what you wanted or doing what you had been told – what you had been programmed to do.
"Of course it is! You're still loyal to Vader. Even after he branded me a traitor and tried to kill you, you're still his…his…"
"His slave." He finished for her, surprised at the bitterness in his own voice.
She shook her head. "No. No. If that was the case…" She grasped for words. "Then why did you defy Vader and rescue me? He wanted me dead, not alive here with you."
He flushed, realising what she was getting at and shying away from it. He couldn't go there, not yet. Maybe not ever. She was…she was…
"I needed someone to fly the ship."
"We both know that's not true!" She shot back, exasperated. "My being here has never been about my piloting. Starkiller, sometime soon you will decide the fate of the Rebellion. You. Not your Master. And when you are faced with that moment, just remember that I, too, was forced to leave behind everything I had ever known." She quietened. "Please. Don't make me leave another life behind."
He watched her go. Remembered the hurt on her beautiful face and drew in on himself.
She was right. Time was running out. He would have to make a decision. There could no be no more standing half in light and half in shadow. No more pretence. It was time to choose a side.
To be continued...