Thanks to all that favorited and read this story. Here's chapter 2! First mission with Juno thoughts.
A/N: Just a few corrections and making Proxy into PROXY and editing
Chapter 2:
TIE Factory
"Starkiller?" questioned Juno once they were drifting outside the Empirical. "Obviously we won't be discrete."
"I am to leave no witnesses, Imperial or otherwise. Your job is to get me in quietly. You will be discrete, but I won't," Starkiller said, rubbing a calloused hand through the stubble on his head, and then taking a seat in the cockpit.
"I'm assuming that means we are going to the TIE factory over Nar Shadaa then," Juno said, pulling up the schematics of the factory from her own seat.
"Master, this one is very astute," PROXY chimed in with only a tinge of sarcasm.
"So I've noticed. There may be hope for her yet," Starkiller muttered. "Alright PROXY, give me the target."
The droid nodded and assumed the form of an older looking man. The man had militia style armor, white hair pulled into a bun, and a lightsaber at his hip. "According to Imperial records, Master Rahm Kota was a respected general in the Clone Wars."
"You're hunting Jedi. You're an assassin?" questioned Juno.
"I bring Darth Vader's enemies to justice," Starkiller said vaguely. "And now, so do you."
"Justice? Or to their deaths?"
"Does it matter?"
Juno's next response died on her lips. Of course it did not matter. Vader's orders were law unless you had others from the Emperor himself. Denying either meant certain death. She had killed before, but never personally hunted and killed a target, especially not a Jedi. The pilot shook her head, grateful that she was only the pilot.
"Smart. Continue PROXY."
"Master Kota was a military genius, but felt the clone soldiers were unfit for battle. Instead, he relied on his own militia."
"So that means that there were no clones in his squad when Order 66 was issued," Juno surmised.
"And after Order 66, he vanished. Official Imperial records actually claim he's dead," PROXY finished, before powering down into his native form.
"Why come out of hiding and attack the Empire now?" Juno asked, ready to deem the Jedi insane.
"He wants to be found," Starkiller said simply.
"Then we're walking into a trap."
"Yep."
"How many pilots have you lost before me?" Juno asked, turning back to her console.
"Seven."
"Excellent. The coordinates for Nar Shadaa are locked. Prepare for lightspeed."
She was not sure why, but Juno always found the quiet of lightspeed comforting. No distractions and no orders. Starkiller and PROXY had left her alone in the cockpit, plenty of time to sort out what was to come. No matter how hard she tried, Juno's thoughts constantly drifted to the young man in the other room. What could have happened to him under Lord Vader's control? Where did he come from? Was he a full-blown Sith? And what the blazes was his real name?
"How are we doing?" the man queried, breaking the pilot's train of thought.
"A civil conversation?" queried Juno.
"I'm…sorry. I was just anxious to finally hunt a Jedi. Besides, I need to stay on your good side if I want any of this to go smoothly," Starkiller explained.
"Yes, I noticed the advanced scanners on the ship. Will I be able to see what you see?"
"More or less," PROXY cut in. "The scanner works through my Master's homing beacon and provides you with a layout based on what the beacon transmits. Of course you could also use the computer to remotely hack into security camera systems."
The computer beeped. "Time to bring her out of lightspeed," Juno proclaimed and proceeded to do so. Before them appeared the TIE factory as the Imperials fought off what remained of Kota's ships outside the factory.
"They've already taken over the factory," Starkiller noted.
"The Force I'm assuming?"
"Of course."
"The containment field on hangar twelve has been lowered. A welcome mat it appears," Juno said as she lowered the Rogue Shadow to the indicated location. Starkiller only shrugged and dropped into the facility. "Eclipse to Starkiller. I'll be moving the Rogue Shadow out of firing range while you attend to your mission. The onboard scanners should be able to track your movements, and I will provide whatever intelligence support I can via your commlink. Captain Eclipse out."
Juno pulled the ship from the factory and engaged the cloaking device. A cloaking device is very good for not being seen, but it does not mean that the ship can avoid getting hit by crossfire and other ships. Fortunately, the fight was dying down as the more experienced Imperial pilots defeated the militia, but since Kota's forces had taken control of the factory, no new fighters could reinforce the patrols. Feeling relatively safe, Juno turned her attention to monitoring Starkiller's progress. "Looks like they sealed the hangar's bulkhead door. You'll need to find a way through."
"Working on it," came the response along with cries of help and anguish coupled with explosions.
"Sounds like quite the party," Juno muttered, getting to work on slicing into the factory's communications.
"Yes," PROXY noted, startling the pilot. "Master makes violence into art."
"A trait from Lord Vader no doubt," Juno said absently, concentrating on her work. "Got it! Eclipse to Starkiller. I've sliced into the facility's communications grid. Imperial reports indicate General Kota has already taken over the command bridge, several floors above you. I'll guide you to him."
"Not quite. Master is a bit more…creative," PROXY responded, staying with the topic. "There are many things that Master can do that his master cannot."
"So he is training to be a Sith?" queried Juno, the lure of new information to enticing to ignore. "That would explain his condition."
"Lord Vader can be very cruel, but what does not kill you makes you stronger," PROXY said before adding. "Or so I'm programmed to believe."
Juno's console beeped and the voice of a stormtrooper was heard, "Attention all crewmembers, disregard all orders from the main control room and only accept orders from this frequency in the flight tower. Deploy a TIE squadron in sector 18."
The pilot's eyes flitted to another screen that showed Starkiller's location. Of course he was sector 18. "Eclipse to Starkiller. I've intercepted a message from the flight tower. The Imperials have mobilized a TIE Fighter squadron in your sector. Keep your eyes open."
An explosion retorted over the commlink. "Thanks for the warning," Starkiller grunted.
Juno watched as the red dot indicating her charge methodically made it's way towards a tower in the sector. "Schematics show a lift nearby that can take you to the upper levels."
"Yeah, but the question is who is waiting above me?" the apprentice asked.
"Give me one moment," Juno replied and went to work getting control of the security systems. The password was predictably easy, "Hail Vader," and just like that, Juno had control. "Smile for the camera," smirked Juno, as she found Starkiller waiting in front of the lift.
The apprentice looked up at the camera and gave a short nod. "Nice job. Before we leave-"
"Erase all the files?"
The apprentice nodded. "Alright, let's see what's waiting."
Juno accessed the appropriate camera and saw that indeed Starkiller was expected to exit from the lift at any second. "They're definitely waiting for you, they have some cover as well."
"Freeze the elevator until I give the word, I've got a surprise for them instead." Juno watched as Starkiller loaded barrel after barrel onto the lift until he was satisfied. "Raise the lift, and tell me when the timing is right."
The pilot had no clue what the man had up his sleeve, but decided not to question someone that took orders directly from Lord Vader. The elevator slowly rose to the upper levels and once it reached its destination, puzzled quite a few of the men. When the men left their cover to investigate, Juno finally grasped what the plan. "Now." The barrels that Starkiller had left on the elevator shot forward en masse towards the men. Upon making contact with any thing solid, the barrels exploded and tore the small regiment of men to pieces.
When the smoke finally cleared, bodies were strewn everywhere, consoles sparked and blood was splattered all across the floor, ceiling, and walls. The power that Starkiller possessed baffled Juno. Never before had she seen such a display of the Force. Her charge was an entire level below, blocked by durasteel and wiring and yet he still managed to carve a swathe through the room without even stepping a foot inside.
"The room is cleared," Juno said, recovering from her shock. "I'll lower the lift." With that done, Juno shut off the cameras. She wasn't interested in what Starkiller would do next. Such wonton destruction made the pilot sick to her stomach. It reminded her of Callos, something she hoped to have escaped by accepting the top-secret mission Vader had given her. But it seemed destruction and violence were the only thing the Empire knew. And they did it well. Vader's "protégé," or whatever he was, was just another example.
"Juno?" came the man's voice over the comlink. "Hate to admit it, but I need your help. They've raised laser gates."
"There must be a generator close to your location. Destroy it, and the gates should drop," Juno replied. Starkilller must have found the generator, because once again the red dot indicating his position forged forward. Finally, he came to another lift. "This is it," Juno said after glancing at the schematics. "Kota is just above you now."
"I'm ready."
"PROXY?" Juno said, turning to face the droid.
"Yes Captain?"
"Do you think he can do it?" Juno asked, now somehow worried about Starkiller's well being.
"I have complete faith in my Master. If I cannot kill him, I doubt Kota can," the droid reasoned.
"You've tried to kill him!?" Juno asked incredulously.
"Of course. It's my core programming," he said simply.
"Unbelievable. No wonder why he is such a wreck," Juno said.
An alarm started blaring throughout the Rogue Shadow. Juno looked out and saw the control room plummeting towards Nar Shadaa. Predictably, the console indicated that Starkiller was falling with it. "Damn!" cursed Juno, grabbing hold of the controls, and steering towards the rapidly falling structure.
As she got closer and closer, a body fell to the planet below. Juno's heart stopped for a moment before realizing that the body did not belong to Starkiller. Positioning the Rogue Shadow under the control room was no easy task. One could not simply position the ship beneath it, lest the room smash them into pieces. Luckily, the Rogue Shadow had the capacity to descend while staying in place. Once positioned correctly, there was a soft thud as Starkiller jumped onto the hull and quickly opened the hatch and dropped inside.
So that's the end of chapter 2. Hope you liked it, now review