This chapter is here because i solemnly believe that there is no way Juno could have been kept in the dark for so long, plus she deserves to at least see Vader.

Oh, and I'll be following the Xbox360 and PS3 version of the story, so if you're looking to see those temple missions, sorry, but i don't know enough about what happened in those missions

Oh yeah: i own nothing of Star Wars (I don't want credit for the three latest films anyways)

Chapter 4:

A Glimpse

Once they were safely aboard the Executor, Juno breathed a sigh of relief. She was not sure why she did so. The debriefing would reveal their true fate. It all depended whether Lord Vader was pleased with the mission or not. Even if he deemed the mission a success it did not guarantee their survival.

Juno, Starkiller, and PROXY no sooner stepped off the boarding ramp, than two stormtroopers entered the hangar. "Captain Eclipse," one began. "You are to report immediately for a debrief on the mission."

"Can it wait?" Juno asked, hoping to delay any meeting with a stuffy admiral or commander. "I would much rather look to the needs of my ship."

"Your ship will be taken care of. Lord Vader waits for nobody," the other trooper replied.

"Lord Vader?" Juno and Starkiller asked in unison.

The stormtroopers only nodded and turned to lead the way. Juno buttoned her uniform and began following. To say that the pilot was a nervous wreck was an understatement. Just hearing Vader's voice made her cringe and sent shivers down her spine. But even being a part of his Black Squadron did not lead to meeting Lord Vader directly. Rumors about ordinary officers and meeting Vader ran rampant throughout the Imperial ranks, and none of them ended well. Vader's contempt for mistakes and stupid moves cost men their lives almost daily.

As she followed the stormtroopers around another corner, Juno began racking her brain trying to figure out if there was something Vader could blame her for. Certainly she could not be blamed that the other destroyer had arrived! They would have gotten out of there sooner if Kota did not try to bring down the control room.

Finally, the journey was over, and Juno and her two guides stopped at a very large door. When it hissed open, Vader's back was turned as he overlooked the ongoing construction of his ship. "Enter," came Vader's mechanical voice, followed by the mechanized sound of breathing. Gathering her courage, Juno strode to the center of the room, and dropped to one knee. "Stand Captain Eclipse." The pilot swiftly did as asked.

After several seconds of silence, Vader finally turned to face Juno. "I want to know why it took so long for you to return."

Juno gulped as she stood at attention, trying to remember her training. "Upon retrieval of Starkiller a destroyer entered the vicinity, supposedly to provide back up to the facility. Remaining under the procedure to not be detected by any forces, Imperials included, I decided that laying low amongst the debris would be the best course of action."

"And what was your reasoning behind this? Why did you not immediately jump?" Vader asked taking a step closer and crossing his arms in impatiently.

"The destroyer had already released TIE fighters, had we jumped right then, our vector would have been tracked. Instead we hid and planned on waiting until they left the sector," Juno explained.

"Continue," Vader implored, obviously satisfied with her reasoning so far.

"When it became clear that they were not leaving anytime soon, it was decided that the fighters had to be destroyed and that we would jump before the destroyer could send anymore." Juno finished.

"And what is the condition of the prototype ship I entrusted to you after your battle?" queried Vader.

"The Rogue Shadow is in perfect working condition and took zero damage," Juno answered.

"You may leave," Vader said as he turned back around and the door hissed open.

Juno swiftly turned on her heel and walked out of the room. Once the door hissed back shut Juno let out an enormous sigh of relief and ran her hand through her hair nervously. "No wonder there are rumors. That man is absolutely terrifying."

"Imagine having to talk with him all of the time," came Starkiller's voice startling the pilot. The apprentice was being led to the same room also accompanied by troopers. "Good to see he didn't kill you. Maybe my Master is in a good mood for once," Starkiller said calmly.

"I don't think Lord Vader is ever in a good mood," Juno replied. "Should I wait for you?"

The apprentice only shrugged and slowly walked into the room when the door opened. The troopers that were left behind made no motion to remove Juno, and instead walked back toward the direction of the hangar. So she simply waited for Starkiller's debriefing to finish.

"What took so long?" came Vader's voice from behind the door.

"Master, a destroyer arrived and-"

"I'm well aware of the destroyer," Vader interrupted. "I sent them."

It did not make any sense to Juno. Why would Vader purposefully want to complicate things? Was it a test to see if they could escape? Or was it like imposing a time limit on the mission? Either way Juno felt grateful that she was not in the room.

"I want to know why it took so long to eliminate Master Kota," demanded Vader.

"He was expecting an assassin, and when I did meet up with him, he detached the control room we were in and sent it towards the planet below," Starkiller explained.

"Then the failing was yours," Vader reasoned. A resounding thud echoed from the room and a something slammed against the door.

When it was Starkiller's grunt of pain that followed, Juno was horrified. It was not enough that they were successful in the mission. Vader wanted certain objectives achieved without his apprentice even knowing what they were. It hardly seemed fair to Juno, but she knew that this was how Vader and the Emperor operated. The pilot could not help but feel sorry for Starkiller, as this was no doubt only the tip of the iceberg as far as punishment went.

After a few more times of throwing the apprentice around the room, Vader finally stopped. "Master Kota is dead?"

"Yes," Starkiller could only grunt.

"His lightsaber," there was a pause. "My spies have located another Jedi. Kazdan Paratus is far more powerful than you. I do not expect you to survive."

Again Juno only shook her head angrily. Setting unreasonable goals was something the Empire did quite often, but never had anybody come right out and said that they were expected to fail. More and more Juno understood why Starkiller had snapped at her when they first met. The man was tormented everywhere he turned.

"If you destroy him," Vader continued. "You will be one step closer to your destiny."

"The Emperor," Starkiller said expectantly.

"Yes. Only together can we defeat him."

"I will not fail you, my master."

The Emperor? The situation was becoming more and more confusing to Juno. At the moment she was wondering whether she should have followed the stormtroopers back to the hangar. Staying and listening turned the pilot's entire view on just about everything turned upside down.

The door hissed open, and Starkiller walked out. "We're leaving."

Juno debated whether to say anything about what she heard, but decided she probably had already survived by the skin of her teeth. Instead she brought up the poor man's punishment. "Are you okay? I heard quite a few thumps."

"Yes, that was my body doing the thumping. Punishment takes a new face when the Force is involved," Starkiller said with a shrug before chuckling darkly and walking towards the hangar. "You were wrong, he was in a good mood."

Reviewer reply time!!!

LordEurope: I agree! They needed more displays of why Juno was picked. And the entire point of fanfiction is to write what could happen other than what's not seen/heard/shown

Mandalore18: glad to entertain you, i always try to inject some humor. "Try" being the operative word.

DRS: cuz i'm too lazy to write ur entire name. Welcome to another one of my stories.

To everyone else: Keep on reviewing!