Author's note
MAJOR SPOILERS for Star Wars: Episode III
Warning, this chapter has references to drug use, and prostitution.
"Nice flying, sir. Thanks for the breakout," the man says.
"We're safe for the moment, but we have a problem," Starkiller replies.
"Sir?"
"As long as we're in hyperspace, they can't track us, but we're running low on fuel. Now, I'm betting that they have tracking devices in the ship. I deactivated their ability to kill me remotely, but they can still track the device in me."
"The device?" the girl says. "You're a slave?"
"We can swap stories later," the man says. "How do you suggest we take care of the tracking devices."
"We'll be spotted as soon as we drop out of hyperspace, so we need to find the trackers, and remove them, then drop out of hyperspace, jettison the trackers-"
"Why not just destroy them?" the girl asks.
"To lead them to wrong place," the man says.
"Right. Then we jump back into hyperspace, and hope we have enough fuel to reach a depot," Starkiller says.
"Can you use the internal sensors to find the tracker?" the girl asks.
"I think so," Starkiller says, hammering away at the controls in front of him. "There!" he says after a time.
He stands up, and walks to a console near the back of the cabin. He pulls the faceplate off, and starts digging in wires. He pulls free a gray, disc shaped gadget about three inches in diameter.
"Got it."
"What about the one that's," the girl stammers. "In you?"
"Lets go to the med-bay," he says.
He helps the girl to her feet, and she leans on him while he leads her to the med-bay. The man follows close behind. They reach an impressive medical bay given the relatively small size of the ship. They are greeted by a medical droid, and Starkiller helps the girl to a med-table, then starts searching through drawers, looking for the right tools. He searches while the droid examines the girl, and the man.
The droid gives them each a series of injections.
"Those should help you to recover from the carbonite," the droid says with a high pitched, metallic voice.
"Thank you," the girl says, then turns to Starkiller. "My name is Ahsoka by the way. Ahsoka Tano."
Starkiller's eyes go wide. Ahsoka?.. My master's first apprentice? It can't be.
For the first time, he really looks at his passengers. The girl wears a kind of tunic that he supposes could pass for a tank-top, though he isn't exactly a master in fashion. The man wears a black tunic, and black leggings. What a clone would wear under his armor.
"Can I help you find something, Master?" the droid asks, coming up beside him.
"I have a device implanted at the base of my neck, I need it removed."
"Should not be a problem. Have a seat."
The droid starts examining him with scanners. Starkiller turns to the man, sitting a few tables away.
"And You're Captain Rex of the 501st."
"That's right," he says.
Starkiller sighs, and the droid starts going about removing the device. They have no idea they've been gone for so long.
"What is it?" Ahsoka asks. "What aren't you telling us?"
"You've been gone a long time."
The droid numbs the area, and tells Starkiller to remain very still.
"How long?" Rex chimes in.
"Decades," Starkiller says. "Forty years, maybe. I don't exactly know."
"Forty years?" Ahsoka gasps.
"What of the war?" Rex says. "The Republic?"
"The Clone War?" Starkiller clarifies.
"Yes, the Clone War," Rex grumbles.
"I hate to break this to you, but the war didn't end well."
"What happened?" Ahsoka asks, afraid of the answer.
Where to even begin?
"What do you remember about the Chancellor?" Starkiller asks.
"Smart, slimy like any politician. A bit arrogant, but Anakin- my master considered him a close friend."
"He was a Sith."
"No," Ahsoka shoots back in disbelief.
Starkiller shrugs, and the droid implores him to remain still.
"He was the last Sith, the one the Jedi were searching for. He corrupted Count Dooku, and took him on as an apprentice. He led the war from both sides."
"What you're saying is impossible," Rex says.
"The Jedi would have known," Ahsoka bites back.
"The dark side blinded them," Starkiller says. "They never saw it coming."
"Saw what coming?"
"In the Twilight of the war, Dooku had been killed, and the CIS was on the run. The Jedi Council sent Master Obi-Wan Kenobi after Grievous, thinking that if they killed Grievous, then the war would be over. They were right. Obi-Wan killed Grievous, and The Separatist Government all but collapsed, the last of them tried to hide on Mustafar."
"So we did win the war?" Rex says.
"Yeah, you certainly did. After the death of Grievous, the Chancellor's identity was revealed as Darth Sidious. Master Windu led what Jedi he had left to arrest him. It didn't go well. His entire team, including Kit Fisto were cut down by the Sith Lord. Master Windu managed to disarm him, and that's when our master showed up," he says, looking at Ahsoka.
"Our master? You were trained by Anakin too?"
He ignores the question, and continues the story.
"Windu thought the Sith Lord was too dangerous to be left alive. He was going to strike him down. Skywalker intervened, cut Windu's arm off, and allowed Sidious to kill him."
"No, Master Skywalker would never! He-"
"You don't know him as well you think!" Starkiller barks, then composes himself. "He was secretly married to a senator."
Ahsoka bites her lip. She'd always known that her master had issues with attachment regarding Senator Amidala from Naboo. She didn't have to be force sensitive to see that.
"He was having visions of her death, and thought that somehow Sidious could help him save her. So at the prospect of her death, he decided to doom the galaxy to decades of darkness."
"Maybe he didn't mean to- I mean, he was just trying to save his love," Ahsoka tries to reason.
Starkiller sets his jaw, anger starting to rise again.
"What happened next?" Rex asks.
"Order 66," Starkiller says, watching the former Captain very closely with all his senses.
No reaction, but confusion.
"What's that?"
"The Chancellor ordered the clones to turn on their Jedi Generals. It was a slaughter."
"No!" Rex shouts. "No way would my brother's would betray the Jedi!"
"It wasn't their fault," Starkiller says. "A few months after your disappearance, there was an outbreak among the clone population. They called it a plague, but in reality, it was a genetic mutation in the form of an air-born virus."
"What does that mean?" Rex asks.
"For weeks, the clones were unable to perform their duties, then the Chancellor's doctors developed, and distributed a cure. The cure was just the second stage of the mutation. The first stage broke down all the clones defenses, leaving them vulnerable to the mutation, then the cure strengthened the mutation, and knocked out the symptoms of the plague."
"What mutation?"
"It altered their brain chemistry, took away their conscience, made them less independent, and made them unwaveringly loyal to Sidious."
"So all the Jedi were killed by clones?" Ahsoka says.
"Some lived. Master Kenobi, Master Yoda. I don't have all the answers," Starkiller says, "but I'll do my best to answer your questions."
The droid continues his work. Starkiller ignores the splitting pain in his neck as the device is being cut out.
"Master Plo Koon?" she says.
"Shot down by his own squadron."
Rex clenches his jaw, and fists. Ahsoka tries to hide the deep hurt she feels.
"Master Secura?" she croaks.
"Shot in the back by dozens of her clones on Felucia while walking to a transport."
"Master Mundi?"
"He was advancing on a droid stronghold on Mygeeto. He was leading his clones across a bridge. His clones fell back, and he was shot by both clone, and droid armies."
"Master Unduli, and her apprentice Barris Offee?"
"Master Unduli was on Kashyyyk, doing cleanup duty after a battle. She was healing the wounded clones when a squad shot her in the chest. She never even drew her lightsaber. Barris Offee was no longer Unduli's padawan. Offee was sent with Master Secura's group to Felucia. She was leading a group of clones into battle. They fell back. She ordered Lieutenant Galle to fire, and he shot her instead, then had an AT-TE shoot her remains to ashes."
Starkiller can see that the poor girl is having a very hard time controlling her emotions, and an ever harder time accepting his version of the story.
"What happened to General Skywalker?" Rex says.
"After the death of Master Windu, he became Darth Vader, apprentice to Sidious. He led his clones on an assault of the Jedi Temple. They never stood a chance. The few Jedi that were left there were cut down. Skywalker's forces sacked the Temple, and," he trails off, not sure if the girl can take what happened next.
"And what?" she says forcefully.
"And Skywalker murdered the younglings, taking refuge in the Council chamber."
Ahsoka lets out a grief stricken cry.
"NO!" she spits out. "I don't believe you! I can sense the dark side in you."
"But do you sense deception?" he pauses. "Why would I lie? You asked. I'm only telling you what I was told."
"By who?" she sneers.
"Darth Vader," he says evenly.
That stops her cold. Anger becoming confusion. The droid chimes that he's finished, and drops the device into a steel pan.
"How?"
"Lets take care of the trackers before we run out of fuel," Starkiller says, getting to his feet.
He strides from the med-bay, and back to the cockpit. He drops out of hyperspace, walks to the back of the cabin, to the airlock, drops the trackers onto the floor. He steps behind the door, and closes it, then opens the outer airlock door. He watches the trackers fly out into space, closes outer door, then heads back to the cockpit.
He checks his fuel, and plots a course to a space station on the edge of his comfort zone. He checks the engines, then jumps back into hyperspace. He sighs, and slumps a bit in his chair, then hears stumbling behind him. Both Ahsoka, and Rex come into the cockpit, and take seats.
"You should probably stay in the med-bay," he says without turning to face them.
"We have more questions," Rex says.
"I doubt that you'll like the answers."
"We need them just the same."
He wheels around to face them, and nods.
"What happened to the Republic?" Ahsoka asks.
"Sidious said that he had survived an assassination attempt by the Jedi to justify his assault on them, and used it as an excuse to grant himself more power. The Republic became known as The Empire, and he became known as The Emperor."
"What about the Jedi who survived?" Ahsoka says.
"Master Kenobi, and Master Yoda made it back to the Temple, they discovered Anakin's treachery. Master Yoda attacked The Emperor in his office. The Emperor had sent Anakin to murder the last remaining Separatists hiding out on Mustafar. He told the separatists that he was sending Anakin to protect them. Kenobi found Anakin after he had killed them. They fought, and Kenobi won. He left Anakin crippled, and burned."
"And Master Yoda?"
"He failed to kill the Emperor, but managed to escape with Senator Organa. So the Emperor went after Anakin, and found him. They used robotics to try, and save him. What was left was more machine, than man."
"And Senator Organa?"
"Leader of The New Republic, apparently."
"New Republic?" Hope finding its way into Ahsoka's voice.
"That's what I've been told by the party guests who came to the celebrations."
"You don't know?"
"Last I knew, The Emperor had firm control over everything, and Vader was hunting Organa, and his band of Rebels. I guess they turned the tide, and killed Sidious, and Vader after I..." he trails off.
"After you, what?"
"Never mind."
"How do you fit into all this?" Rex says accusingly.
"How were you Skywalker's apprentice?" Ahsoka says.
"Did you know a Jedi by the name of Mallie or Kento?"
"Kento, and Mallie Marek?" she says. "They were a cautionary tale about where attachment could lead. They married in secret, and deserted the Jedi."
"They were my parents," Starkiller says.
"Oh," Ahsoka says, cheeks flushing.
It had taken Starkiller a long time before he could remember any of his childhood other than Vader, but with the help of General Kota, he had regained some, and with the "reawakening" of his soul, he found his memory to be near perfect.
"Because they weren't there during the conflict, they survived the initial assault of Order 66. Sometime after, my mother gave birth to me. We traveled a lot, trying to stay hidden, and stay ahead of the Empire. They were searching for all Jedi, even former Jedi were being executed. We were living on Bespin. I was still very small. Vader, and his forces caught up to us. My mother had been wounded. She stayed behind to hold them off, so that my father could get me to safety."
"I'm sorry," Ahsoka says.
"After that, my father took me to Kashyyyk. We built a modest hut, and lived quietly for a while, then Vader caught up to us. I watched him murder my father. I tried to fight him off, and he sensed something in me. My parents had told me that the force was strong with me, but I didn't really know what that meant. I watched Vader murder his own troopers, then he took me off the planet, and began my training as his secret apprentice."
"You're a Sith," Rex says.
"I was- I was a Jedi killer. I had been raised, and indoctrinated by evil. He raised me with a purpose: to one day join him, and kill the Emperor."
"So, he wanted to kill the Sith? Maybe he wasn't all bad?"
"He murdered both my parents," he pauses for a breath. "He trained me in the dark side, and when I came of age, he sent me to kill Jedi to prove that I was ready to kill The Emperor. It wasn't until he sent me after General Kota that I started to doubt Vader's teachings. It turned out to all be a ruse. I was never meant to kill the Emperor, I was a tool to identify Organa's band of rebels."
"So you aren't a Sith anymore?" Ahsoka asks.
"I don't know what I am anymore, but I know that I am not a Sith," he says. "Now, I'm going to get some rest before we arrive."
"Where are we going?"
"Delta III. A space station near Tatooine. They'll have fuel there."
With that he leaves the cockpit, and goes to the meditation room. It isn't really her fault, he supposes. Her life with Skywalker was far different than the one he knew. He can't really blame her for still caring about him. He just needs to meditate, and clear his mind, because the hard part is still upcoming.
Starkiller walks the upper level of Delta III's promenade, wearing his gray armor under his usual black duster, and has a bag looped around his shoulder. Shops line all the walls, and vendor's stands take up a considerable amount of walking space. The ceiling is one giant window, looking off into space. The walls are a dirty looking brown, and the floor is a steel grate. He passes a group of people browsing at a shop. He needs a way to make fast cash.
They need fuel, but have no money to buy it. He has options however. In a station like Delta III, there's never any shortage of dirty dealings, drugs, prostitution, assassination, theft. The organized crime, and gang activity is staggeringly high. Any wrong step could start a three-way gang war.
He ponders why he had shared so much with the two relative strangers who are currently waiting for him to return to the ship. Was it pity?
Pity isn't really something that he's very familiar with, but still, he doesn't think it was pity. If not pity, then what? Was it all the questions that he had asked the guards, and all the bogus answers they gave? Was it the fact that they were suffering from something that he himself has suffered?
He maneuvers through the crowd, trying to think of a plan. He lets his feelings guide him, trying to see what they're telling him. He sees a man leaning against the wall. People hand him something, then he hands them something else in return. Drug dealer.
Then it occurs to him what the force is suggesting. Rob a drug lord?... Dangerous proposition, but who else would have a mountain of cash lying around?... And crippling one of the gangs plaguing this place wouldn't be the end of the galaxy.
He walks right up to the dealer.
"You will tell me where your boss keeps all the money." He waves his hand with the words, sending a very powerful suggestion at the dealer.
"Sub-level 27, Cabin B," the dealer says mindlessly.
"You will go, and give the money you've made to the poor."
"I'll go, and give this money to the poor," he says, then turns, and leaves.
Starkiller half chuckles, then huffs it to an elevator. He presses the button marked SL27, and waits. A few seconds, and he steps off the elevator into a darkened corridor. If he thought the promenade was dingy, he has no idea what to call this place, except Hell, maybe. The lighting is a dark shade of red. The homeless lay among corridor walls. Every inch of the walls are covered in grime.
Women of every species stand in front of doorways, waiting for their next clients. He puts his head down, and walks past, looking for Cabin B. He passes a couple in the corner, who didn't even bother finding a vacant room, and people walk past him rambling incoherently, high out of their minds.
With force enhanced senses, he can hear women screaming, and babies crying. A man runs past, and vomits on the floor behind him. Somewhere down the seemingly endless corridor, he can hear blasters being fired. He forces himself to continue down the corridor, ignoring the women offering themselves to him for a few bucks, so their pimps will give them drugs.
He finally finds Cabin B. Two men stand in front with impressive blasters.
"I'm supposed to be here," he says to one of the men, waving his hand.
"He's supposed to be here," the man repeats.
"Let me pass," Starkiller says to the other man.
"Let him pass," he repeats.
Starkiller nods, then goes into the drug den. The apartment is small, but filled with people, all sprawled out on couches, chairs, even tables, sleeping off a night of partying. Blasters lay around everywhere. Starkiller puts on his best I belong here face, and works his way deeper, letting his feelings guide him.
A man in a chair sees him, and his eyes go wide.
"You don't want to get up," Starkiller says with a wave of his hand.
He goes for his blaster, and Starkiller rips it from beside the man before he can grab it, then sends it back, smashing into the man's face, knocking him out. Starkiller makes his way down a hallway. He stops in front of the last door on his left. He can feel it, this is the room. He also feels two lifeforms in the room. He turns the knob, and opens it quietly.
His eyes find two lumps in the bed, fast asleep. He figures this is the leader's room. He steps in without a sound, senses roving over the room. He walks to the closet, and uses his mind to silently remove a loose wall plate. Inside is a shelf with bundles of cash stacked high. He starts silently putting the cash into his bag. A few seconds later, and the shelf is empty. He quietly replaces the loose wall plate, and exits the closet.
He senses that both people in the bed are still fast asleep, and no one outside is alerted to his presence. He walks quietly out of the room, and closes the door behind him. He walks confidently down the hallway, past the unconscious man, past the sprawled out people, and out the door. He nods to the guards as he leaves, then huffs it to the elevator. He stops in front of the elevator, and presses the call button.
The doors open with a ding, and he goes inside. He presses the button for the promenade, and doors close. He feels the elevator moving, and he can't help the smile breaking out across his face.
He steps off the elevator, and heads to the depot. He purchases all the fuel that the ship can carry, and arranges for it to be delivered to the ship. Usually the Rogue Shadow wouldn't need to refuel for a very long time, but Interimo had it running on fumes, probably in case a prisoner ever tried to steal it. He also buys some basic attire for his passengers.
He heads back to the docking port, and radios Captain Rex.
"I'm back. Let me in."
Author's note
I decided to alter the canon a bit to make the Clone Wars tv show fit with the movies a bit more. I just can't see those Clones turning on their Generals.
So I also changed things slightly with Mallie Marek's death. She wasn't originally killed by Darth Vader.
Thank you GRZ for the review! I really appreciate it. You are awesome!
So that was part three. It was a bit long, but I couldn't justify posting it with just Starkiller's explanations, so I waited to update until the drug den scene was finished.
To my knowledge, there really isn't an official "what happened" to Ahsoka or Rex, so I thought borrowing them for the story was plausible.
Did I go too far with the drug den scene? Do I need to rate it M? Did I do wrong with altering the canon for the clones, and Starkiller's mother?
Hope you all liked it. Please leave a review to let me know what you think.
Thanks for reading.