The Last Crossroad
Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars. This is merely a fanfiction. I gain no income from this story.
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The ground seemed to give way beneath Starkiller's feet. He found himself on his hands and knees, the cold metallic floor littered with his warm sweat. He panted, gasping for air. Above him, the phantasm of the Emperor hovered, a smile of faux sympathy plastered on his waxy features.
Starkiller shook his head. His hopes had been dashed. His belief – his hope - that he was the original Galen Marek had evaporated in his hands, had turned to sand between his fingers. Zarbina had been wrong. Pooja had been wrong.
He was a copy, nothing more than a cheap imitation of the real thing.
And the real thing … the real thing was once again under the sway of the Dark Side.
But one thing still gnawed at him … one final hope that perhaps the Emperor was wrong, was lying even. He gasped up at the hooded face. "The Force Bond … how have I been seeing into Vader's mind, reliving his memories if the Force Bond was created between him and the original Galen?"
The Emperor's reply was both cruel and truthful. "Unfortunately, you share the same midichlorians as the original Starkiller. Therefore, you share in his Force Bond with Vader."
Once again, the final hope dashed away.
"Then kill me," Starkiller sighed, his eyes once again downcast. "I've failed at everything. Kota died because of me. Juno will die because of me …" His eyes misted. "She loved another man … her feelings for me are not real … they will always belong to him…" He wanted to claw his own heart out. He wished for death, anything to take away this pain, to cast from his memory the horrors he had learned.
Palpatine, however, did not strike. Instead, he held out a withered hand … almost fatherly. "My boy … you need not give in to despair."
Starkiller's brimming eyes stared back into the hollow yellow ones. He stared at the Emperor's outstretched palm. He didn't move.
Sidious' voice was filled with a new concern. It took on a grandfatherly tone. "There is still a chance for you. Stand up. Join me and take Lord Vader's place at my side."
Starkiller rose shakily. He shook his head. "I -."
"Lord Vader has betrayed me for my old master. It is only fitting that you repay him in kind. Become my apprentice and together you and I will discover my old master's secrets – how to transfer midichlorians to a new host. At my side, you will regain your connection to the Force. Your will become the most powerful Sith to have ever lived!"
Starkiller felt his mind cloud. The evil presence of the Emperor was fogging his mind. He couldn't think clearly. Visions filled his head – visions of glory, of power, of supremacy. He saw himself on the Sith throne.
Palpatine stood in front of him. His face now wore a kindly expression, yet the dim orange lights cast a hellish glow up rotten expression. "Together, we will even find a way to save Captain Eclipse from certain death."
Starkiller faltered. Juno. He imagined her as he left her, in Plagueis' med bay, hooked up to life support, barely conscious, barely holding on. He had wasted the past several weeks following in the wake of Anakin Skywalker, hoping to find some way to rescue Juno. Skywalker was a dead end. As was Plagueis.
But could the Emperor truly help him? A fog rolled into his mind, he couldn't think clearly, the Emperor's voice was washing over him, convincing him.
But a certain dim memory bubbled up to the surface. The fog struggled to keep it down. Something told Starkiller it was important to remember this … it was the memory of another man, but it was essential all the same.
So Starkiller struggled against the mental fog, struggled to shake off the warm embrace of the Emperor's promise. He remembered something he saw on Mustafar … a memory from Anakin Skywalker …
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"Only through me can you achieve a power greater than any Jedi. Learn to use the Dark Side of the Force and you will be able to save your wife from certain death …"
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And in that moment the fog lifted. Starkiller was himself again.
Palpatine had withdrawn his hand as though burned by a corrosive acid. He sneered up at the young clone.
Starkiller stepped forward. "I will not fall for your mind games or your empty promises!"
Sidious' grin was no longer kindly. It was mocking. "And where will you go? Who will you turn to? I am your only hope." He took a step forward. "There is no escape, my young friend. If you will not be turned, then I will grant your apparent death wish."
Starkiller's eyes darted around the room. The Sith Lord was right. There was no escape.
Sidious seemed to read his mind. "Your situation is hopeless. I am your only hope."
The young clone's eyes fell on the lab equipment surrounding them. His eyes fell on the wires on the floor, twisting their way up to the bacta tank … if he could just provide a quick distraction …
His gaze quickly returned to the Emperor. He bit his lip, then wiped all expression off his face. "And I have your word … you'll restore my connection to the Force? You'll … help me save Juno?"
The Emperor laughed. "The sincerity in your voice belies your true motives. You wish to deceive me. I can see into your mind, you have no intention of giving in to the darkness … but then you must believe you have a means of escape?"
Starkiller and the Emperor began circling each other. The clone shook his head. "No … there's no escape … I realize that …" He planted his feet apart, the wires between his boots. He could no longer feel the Force, but he knew the Dark Side energies within the Emperor were seething, coalescing in his fingertips, ready to strike.
"Amusing." The Emperor's rotten teeth were visible between cracked lips. "That you would try to deceive me … as though your mind were not completely open to me …"
Starkiller took one look at the bacta tank, his mind racing. I'll have only once chance at this. "You're right … I'll never serve you … and as for my escape plan …"
With a sudden thrust, Starkiller smashed the bacta tank open. The gooey remnants and healing fluids gushed out onto the floor.
Palpatine's hands were already outstretched, blue lightning arcing from his fingertips.
Starkiller was on the move. He kicked up the wires trailing from the bacta tank into his hands, throwing them into the way of the Emperor. The Sith Lord's lightning sizzled and arced into the wires in midair … wires which, the Emperor realized too late, had now landed right at his feet.
Right into the bacta fluids which had oozed around his boots.
And the Emperor's eyes widened for the first time as Starkiller dove headfirst into the open turbolift.
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KABOOOM!
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Starkiller shielded his eyes as he landed on the floor of the turbolift. The entire operating theater was now in flames, smoke roiling in demonic swirls. He coughed, struggling to inhale. He stepped backwards and pressed a button on the lift, begging the elevator to take him away from this place of horrors.
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Behind him, in the operating theater, the thick roiling smoke dissipated … unnaturally vanished as though an invisible vacuum had sucked the room clean. Amidst the flames, Starkiller saw a purple-blue bubble ascending from the rubble. And in the center appeared the Emperor, completely shielded from the explosion.
Starkiller jammed his fingers onto the buttons repeatedly, willing the turbolift doors to close, begging them to hurry.
In the operating room, the bubble around the Emperor vanished with a swirl as the Emperor raised his fingers in the direction of the turbolift.
More lightning arced out, racing straight for Starkiller.
He closed his eyes, bracing himself for the inevitable.
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The doors to the turbolift slammed shut in the Emperor's face and the lift began ascending, just as the Emperor's Force attack bounced helplessly away.
The lift was ascending now, up, up, away from the clone's place of origin. Starkiller allowed himself to fall backwards against the wall of his lift and exhaled in relief.
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The lift suddenly jerked to a stop, throwing Starkiller to the ground.
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The young clone stood up. He pressed the lift buttons again and again. "Come on, come on!"
Nothing was happening.
Then, as though moved by an invisible force, the lift began to descend back down to the operating room.
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Palpatine had forced his way into the elevator shaft. He was standing on top of another lift in the shaft, several levels below where Starkiller's lift was now disabled. The Sith Lord was gleeful as he jerked his hands down. Starkiller's lift began descending down, down, back to where the Emperor was waiting …
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Starkiller reached out … attempting to call on the Force to stop the lift's descent. He stopped – he had forgotten for the barest instant that he could no longer call on the Force. He cursed himself. There really was no escape this time.
Frantic, he surveyed the lift … that was when he saw it – a screw in the ceiling of his elevator which was ever so slightly loose …
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Palpatine cackled as Starkiller's elevator slammed down in front of him in the elevator shaft, debris and smoke exploding upwards. Using the Force, he ripped through the door, tearing his way into the elevator, ready to turn the clone into fried slag with a simple gesture of his finger.
His leering face appeared in the elevator's doorway.
The lift was empty.
The Dark Lord snarled and turned his hooded head upwards.
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Starkiller was a hundred feet above him, hanging on to one of the cables controlling the lifts, attempting to climb the entirety of the shaft by himself.
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A hundred feet up, Starkiller shimmied his way upwards, his legs wrapped around the elevator cord, his ankles crossed, his tongue stuck out between his teeth. His connection to the Force may have been gone, but his physical conditioning, his strength and agility, they remained.
And slowly, ever so slowly, Starkiller continued to hoist himself up.
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"No. You will not escape me."
The Emperor's hand contorted into a claw. He jerked his arm upwards. Starkiller's empty lift suddenly jerked upwards, and flew up at Starkiller at full force, ready to smash him into a thousand pieces.
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Starkiller glanced down. He saw the lift shooting towards him, ready to smash into him. Without time to even look, he swung the cable, jumping free of it and grasping on to the cable holding the second adjacent lift.
His lift flew up past him, smashing into the top of the elevator shaft another hundred feet above him. Fire and debris rained down and he squinted his eyes.
Grunting, he continued to shimmy upwards on the second cable.
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Below, Palpatine's arms were now spread out, fingers pointed downwards. He spread his feet atop the second elevator, which was now below Starkiller. Summoning the Force, the Sith jerked his elevator – with himself atop it – up towards the young clone.
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Starkiller saw the Emperor coming full fury below, the manic grin beneath the hood widening, fingers glowing with energy. "Oh hell …"
He jumped, aiming for the first wire in the first shaft, his fingers outstretched.
He missed by a centimeter.
And Starkiller plummeted down, past the Emperor's elevator.
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Starkiller plummeted a full fifty feet. He reached out, his fingers closing along the first cable, desperate to stop his fall. His palm skimmed down a full fifty feet of elevator cable, which sliced freely into his palm. He cried out.
Ignoring the pain in his hand, he skidded to a stop, dangling high in the shaft, holding on with one hand.
The Emperor's lift was now above him. Palpatine glowered down at him.
Starkiller grunted. His hand was now slack with blood which flowed freely from his palm. He grunted, biting his lip. He reached up with his other hand and grabbed the wire to stabilize himself.
But his situation was no better.
He was still trapped.
And up above, Palpatine exulted in victory as he stretched his arms downwards.
ZRRRRAAAAACCCCKKK!
And the elevator shaft was filled with lighting once again.
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Starkiller watched the lightning arc towards him full blast.
No time to weigh his options.
The only way out now … was down.
Closing his eyes and taking a final breath, Starkiller released his grip on the wire and fell backwards into oblivion.
Darkness consumed his vision and everything went black.
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"No sign of his body, sir."
Stormtroopers stood at attention in one of Kamino's conference rooms. The Emperor sat at the head, several Kaminoans attending to him and Imperial Dignitaries, including Sate Pestage, at his side.
"Double your search," the Emperor ordered.
The stormtroopers bowed and followed the Kaminoans out of the room.
The Emperor tapped his fingers on his chair. Sate Pestage bowed. "The seas are enormous, my lord. Even if we tripled the search party, he is not likely to be found. With his escape -."
The Emperor silenced him with a wave of his hand. "He did not escape. He was released, as one releases a tracking beast." His face cracked into a smile. "Everything is proceeding as I have foreseen …"
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Starkiller gasped as his head bobbed up among the waves of Kamino's oceans. His plunge in the elevator shaft had deposited him right into the raging seas.
He struggled to float on his back, to float with the waves as the storms raged above him. His whole body ached. He felt as though he had been hit full-on by a ronto. Raising a shaking hand, he pressed a button on his wrist, then allowed himself to lay back, struggling to keep himself stiff as a board at the top of the vast oceans.
But above him, the grey clouds turned green before his eyes. He was falling asleep, descending into a dream.
He saw lush trees.
A beautiful tree house.
And a young boy, staring hopefully up at the sky between the thick foliage …
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In the cockpit of The Rogue Shadow, Kaden pointed to Wedge. "There – his beacon!"
Wedge nodded as he saw body bobbing along Kamino's waves. "I see him … boy he looks bad … let the others know we've got him."
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Starkiller lay in The Rogue Shadow's medbay. PROXY was examining him while Pooja, Zarbina, Wedge and Kaden either paced or waited impatiently.
"No significant damage to his vital signs," PROXY announced and the rest breathed a collective sigh of relief. "All he needs now is some rest and -."
Starkiller swung his legs over the side of the cot.
PROXY was indignant. "I said rest."
Starkiller got up and without a word walked out of the medbay without so much as a glance at the others.
They all looked at each other, concern etched on their face.
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Starkiller stood in his quarters, staring out the viewscreen at the vast stars ahead of him. A part of him wished he hadn't escaped, that the Emperor had finished hm off. Then he wouldn't have to deal with this pain.
The door behind him opened.
"I'd rather be alone if you don't mind," he said blandly.
Pooja closed the door behind her and folded her arms. "You come back. Severe injuries. Your hand sliced up. And you look as though you've seen a ghost. What happened?"
"I'd rather not talk about it right now …"
Pooja came up behind him and put her hand on his shoulder. "Let me help you …"
"No one can help me."
"What happened down there?"
He remained stone-faced, staring out the viewscreen. He ignored her question. "I'm leaving, Pooja."
She was taken aback. "What? Again?!" Indignation filled her. "Why?!"
"You don't need to know the details. As soon as we dock at the next port for supplies, I'll be gone. I need you to tell the others for me … If I try to tell them myself, I won't be able to bring myself to go …"
"You can't leave us," Pooja replied "We've all become like a family … and all because of you!" She gripped his shoulders and turned him around. "Look at me -."
He turned his face away as her fingers tightened on his arm.
"Galen – don't shut me out."
Starkiller's body flinched. "Don't call me that name …"
"Then what should I call you?"
"I don't know … I don't know who I am anymore …"
"You are Galen Marek, hero of the Rebellion and now the last of the Jedi Order."
"No. That's not who I am." His voice was dry and he continued staring at the bulkhead behind her.
"Galen … please, just talk to me. It can be just me and you, you don't have to tell the others if you don't want to. But please … just give me this chance to help you, whatever happened down there, we'll -."
"I'm not Galen Marek." And for the first time, he stared her in the face.
She withdrew. "What do you mean?"
"I … I met the Emperor down there."
Pooja's hand went to her mouth.
"That's how I got all beat up like this," he continued. "And … he revealed the truth." He closed his eyes. "Pooja … I'm a clone after all. And … and the Dark Apprentice is the real Galen Marek."
Pooja stared up and she felt her eyes well in compassion for her friend. "I'm … I'm sorry … I don't know what to say …"
Starkiller turned back to the viewscreen and gripped the frame with his hands. His shoulders slumped. "What does this mean for me? What about Juno? My feelings for her … they're not real after all…"
Pooja caressed his back. "All feelings are real."
"What I feel … are the feelings of another man. I don't even know my place in anything anymore. I'm just a replica. A replica of a man who allowed himself to fall back to the Dark Side!"
"Your fate is in your own hands. And besides – you wouldn't abandon Juno to her fate?"
"What's the point? I thought I loved her … but my feelings are only a cheap imitation of the real Galen's feelings. I've only felt love for her because I'm connected to the original Starkiller. I've been feeling his old feelings for her. And as for him … does he even feel anything for her anymore? He tried to kill her! It's because of him that she's in this position! He poisoned her on Dantooine! And because I insisted on dragging you all on a wild gundark chase for Anakin Skywalker, she's going to die just like Kota!" He punched the bulkhead. "It's all my fault!"
Pooja remained silent, letting the clone give vent to his feelings.
He panted, before turning to her. "And in the end, am I any different from him?"
"He's been deceived again," Pooja said. "He doesn't remember who he is! He's trapped in his own mind, wrapped up once again in Vader's lies. But you – you can forge your own path! Now that you know the truth, you don't have to stand in his shadow anymore! You can be your own person! And the person that I know is in there would never abandon Juno to death!"
Starkiller lowered his gaze. "You don't know the person in here … I don't even know him …"
Pooja caressed his face. "You're wrong. You know your own heart. And I do know you. When any of us were in danger, you never hesitated to risk yourself for us. You never stopped to ask what would Galen Marek do. You always acted on your own feelings."
Starkiller choked back his own tears and nodded. "And my feelings are telling me to leave. I have to. I'm of no further use to you or the Rebellion. But you – the Alliance will listen to you. You have to convince them to send their fleets in. They have to find Mortis and stop Plagueis. Now!"
"I'm not going back to the Rebellion without you."
"You have to! If I go, I'll only get in the way. I'm of no use anymore. Besides, I know too much about the Alliance, its leaders and its bases. If Plageuis captures me, he'll have a road map to every major Alliance leader and base. Don't protest – you know I'm right, Pooja! And … there's a place I have to see. I have to go where it all began for Starkiller. I feel called there. Just after I learned the truth about who I am … I have to see his original home …"
Juno's hands were on his upper arms. "Please … I'm begging you … reconsider. We need you. I need you."
"No you don't. None of you do."
Pooja bit her lip. It was now or never. "Isn't it obvious … why I'm still here? Why I stayed after Onderon? It wasn't just about finding out what happened to my Aunt Padme …"
Starkiller looked into her eyes. "What are you -?"
"If I let you leave, I'll regret it. But if you do go, at least I'll never have to live this down." And she cupped the back of Starkiller's head and crashed her lips into his.
Starkiller's eyes opened wide, before he settled in and kissed her back. Their lips broke and she stared up at him. He returned her gaze, newfound confusion swirling around him. Images of Juno flashed through his mind … but now Pooja was there too.
Pooja clasped her hands. "Please … don't leave … stay here with me …"
He spread his arms. "I can't give you what you want, Pooja …"
She closed her eyes, accepting his words.
But she gave one final protest.
"Don't go …"
"I have to. I have to remove myself from all of this. And as for Juno … you have to be the ones to save her. Vader had a cure on Mustafar and I'm sure that wasn't the only dose. You have to stop him and Plageuis and get your hands on that cure. It's her only hope. As for me … I have to do what the other Jedi have done. What Ben Kenobi and Yoda have done." He caressed Pooja's tear-stained face. "Goodbye, Pooja … tell the others for me … tell them I'm sorry …" He kissed her forehead before slinging his bag over his shoulder and vanishing through the doors.
Pooja buried her face in her hands and for the first time, broke.
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