Chapter 8

Starkiller then arrived in an underground cavern, when he heard a vicious growl, and a large creature emerged from the shadows.

It was a rancor, which Starkiller has faced numerous times on Felucia, during his hunt for Shaak Ti. He had slaughtered at least four of the creatures, so he figured one more wouldn't be a problem.

He charged towards the rancor and leaped up, slashing and hacking against the beast as he fell, and then unleashed Force lightning at the creature, stunning it momentarily.

As his feet landed on the floor, he noticed a metal door. Deciding he found a quicker way to finish off the creature, he dashed towards the door, and lifted the door up with the Force. The rancor caught whiff of what he was up to, and charged towards him.

The apprentice quickly dashed through the door, as he watched the large door crash on top of the rancor, killing it.

Seeing the death of his pet, Jabba ordered his minions to kill the Sith. As Starkiller found his way through the caverns, he was swarmed by Gamorreans and Weequays, which he made quick work of with his lightsaber.

Destroying every door that was in his way, he dashed his way through the palace, killing Jabba's henchmen along the way, and fighting his way past security defenses located throughout the palace, including laser turrets and electric fields.

As he made his way through, he received a transmission from Captain Berrus, asking the presence of the two droids. Starkiller told him of the situation in Mos Eisley, and declined the officer's offer to dispatch a Sandtrooper squadron to retrieve them, insisting he will do the job himself.

What was lurking in the next room was a surprise to the Sith. He recognized the machine that confronted him, having destroyed dozens of them prior. It was an Imperial Purge droid. He realized Jabba has been stealing weapons from Palpatine, and reprogramming them to serve his will. And as he destroyed that one, he fell down into another underground chamber.

As he tried to figure out how he would escape through the deadly grinders, a familiar voice came from a junk heap. As he played the voice back in his head, and found the source...flashbacks were triggered in his mind.

He tried to kill him. That was his primary programming. And despite this, he had formed a bond and friendship with the droid.

Then there was that encounter on Raxus Prime. He confronted the apprentice, and took on the form of numerous of his previous opponents, including a Zabrak Sith. As he was supposedly destroyed by the apprentice, he noticed a Star Destroyer crashing towards the building.

As he diverted the destroyer's course and crashed on the city, the droid emerged, unharmed, from a pile of scrap. The apprentice was joyed, and despite the fact the droid no longer had his primary programming, he rescued him anyway, because of the bond.

And that bond was the one that lead to his destruction. The Rebel Alliance was discovered on Corellia, and Darth Vader attacked the apprentice. Before he could finish him off, he was confronted by what appeared to be his former master, Obi-Wan Kenobi. The Dark Lord plunged his saber through the supposed Jedi's abdomen, revealing it to be Starkiller's droid companion, and was deactivated.

"PROXY..." came a deep, resonant voice from the metal mask. He lifted the droid up, sensing that his current power source will not last. PROXY explained to his former master his current state, without a reliable power source and being unable to stand upright.

As the droid laid limp on the floor, Starkiller explained his situation to him. PROXY explained that a scanner on the wall would help deactivate the grinders in the room. Starkiller lifted him into the line of sight of the scanner, and PROXY took on the form of a Gamorrean, and explained he needed to get through.

The grinders were shut down, and Starkiller showed his gratitude to the droid. Unfortunately, PROXY's power didn't last and it shut down.

Starkiller travelled through the chamber, dodging the traps that were still active, and he eventually made it through.

He arrived at a balcony, and saw a pair of skiffs he could use to get to Mos Eisley.

Suddenly, he felt several blaster bolts hit him, causing him to hit the floor.

"Quite a mess you made of the place." came a man with a Concord Dawn accent. As Starkiller got up, he saw the Mandalorian mercenary that was with Jabba earlier. His jetpack was active and he was hovering above the floor.

"Your head's worth a lot of credits. Now, I'll be taking you back to Jabba now."

The mercenary raised his blaster and prepared to fire.