Ah, sorry this took so long but it is at least a longish chapter.

Chapter 5:

Raxus Prime

Juno settled into her chair, thankful for the relative safety of the Rogue Shadow. Her charge and PROXY had retreated to the training room that made up the bulk of the ship. The pilot sighed and massaged her temples, trying to sort out all that had happened. After only one mission, her entire world was pulled out from underneath her. How in the galaxy did the man in the other room get thrust into this situation? And for that matter, how did she? All she had done was her job, all on the premise of finally making her father happy. Somehow, Vader had saw something that se did not even see in herself. And now, here she was: piloting a prototype ship for a secret apprentice whose sole purpose was to kill the Emperor.

The door behind her hissed open, and Starkiller took the seat next to her. Juno looked sideways at the apprentice and noticed his attire. There were cumbersome gauntlets attached to his arms, several belts wrapping around his torso, and a heavy looking cloth around his shoulders. "What's all that?" the pilot queried.

"This?" asked the apprentice, looking at his clothes. "Heavy training gear. A test of my skills and by the time I am finished with this mission I will be quicker."

"So you feel it necessary to test yourself as you put your life in danger."

"Ah, but all of life is a test Juno. Mine just happens to be more full of danger," Starkiller defended.

"And where will your test take place?" queried Juno, crossing her arms expectantly.

"Raxus Prime. The greatest, and largest dumping ground in the galaxy."

"Sounds like the perfect vacation spot," Juno remarked sarcastically.

"Or the perfect hiding spot for an outcast Jedi," reasoned the apprentice. "The planet's surface is toxic, but because most of it is covered in the galaxy's broken parts, it should be traversable."

"Should be," Juno replied, shaking her head before turning her attention to her console. "Let's get the hell out of this forsaken place." The Rogue Shadow swiftly pulled out of Vader's ship, and entered lightspeed. As the ship travelled, Juno tried to get more conversation out of the apprentice. "So where is PROXY? Plotting your death?" she asked.

"Who knows," Starkiller grunted, only scowling out the viewport.

"What's wrong?"

"That forsaken place has been my home for years," the apprentice replied, his scowl deepening.

Juno was stunned. She assumed that her charge was a turned Jedi that Vader had concealed from the Emperor. But even then, she did not think that he had spent all of his days under Vader's watchful eyes aboard the Executor. "I'm…sorry. I didn't know you considered it your home. I can't even begin to imagine what it was like."

The apprentice sighed. "No, you're right. To everybody else, it's no way to live. But it's all I know," Starkiller paused. "But I don't want to talk about it."

Juno took a look at her chronometer. "We still have several hours to Raxus Prime, what do you want to talk about?"

"Well what about you?" asked the apprentice, turning his seat to face Juno.

"Oh, you mean PROXY didn't fill you in?" the pilot asked, teasing the young man.

"Yeah, I want to apologize for that," he replied sheepishly.

Juno arched an eyebrow at him. "An apprentice of Vader apologizing?"

"Don't get used to it."

"Fine then. Corulag is in the Corulus system, with many urban areas. Whatever wasn't a city was covered in bamboo. I lived in the capital city of Curamelle. That's where the Corulag Academy was located."

Starkiller yawned. "Yes, well that's all well and good, but that doesn't tell me anything. Come on Juno, you make my time with constant duels torture entertaining. Factual information is fine, but it doesn't tell me what makes you who you are."

Juno blushed slightly at the attention she was receiving. "Why does it matter?" she asked, stalling.

"I should know a bit about you, shouldn't I?" he reasoned.

Juno sighed. What could be the harm of revealing a bit about herself? Unless Vader deemed her dangerous to the Empire or his grand scheme, the chances of Starkiller going after her were slim. "Okay. When my mother died, my father and I were devastated. We never went out anymore, the swoop races we so often attended were disregarded. My father was fiercely loyal to the Empire, but hated the Jedi and so I applied to the Academy."

"What was it like at the Academy?" queried Starkiller, eager for more knowledge.

"Being accepted at age fourteen was no picnic, but I found that I learned things quickly. The teasing soon stopped as the older students lost in the simulators. When I graduated with high honors, my father was nowhere to be found. No support, no congratulations, but it didn't matter. When I came home for the last time before I shipped out, he smiled. I could have sworn that his smile was stolen from him just like my mother was. When he did, it was all I needed," Juno finished, leaning back in her chair and closing her eyes in rememberance.

"Was that so hard?" Starkiller questioned teasingly.

"I guess not," Juno replied, mentally berating herself for being so guarded.

The console beeped and soon the Rogue Shadow was brought out of lightspeed. Before them sat Raxus Prime. The planet looked like a cancerous growth floating before them. The mind-blowing amount of refuse and debris was so vast that it could be seen from space. Explosions periodically went off as chemicals and the planet's poisonous surface clashed violently. The remainder of the planet looked to be covered in yellow clouds, no doubt hiding more detritus.

"I'll take us in and do a scan," Juno said, entering the atmosphere of the junk-ridden planet.

"Don't bother with the scan," answered the apprentice. "I'm willing to bet that there are too many half decommissioned droids out there."

PROXY entered the cockpit finally, brushing at his protective chest plates. "Another excellent duel Master. I hope I have not missed the mission."

Starkiller shook his head with a smirk, "No PROXY."

"Look!" Juno exclaimed, pointing out the viewport. In front of them was an exact replica of the Jedi Temple. Every pillar, statue, window, and archway was constructed entirely out of junk. "Amazing…it looks just like the Jedi Temple on Coruscant."

"PROXY, are you picking up any communications? Anything from that Temple?" queried Starkiller.

The droid put a hand to his head and paused. "Too many to decipher. I can hear thousands of droids, all calling out to each other. This is where all droids go to die."

"There's little doubt that's where the target is. Set us down as close to that thing as you can," the apprentice said, looking over Juno's shoulder as she scanned for a landing zone.

"I will do my best, but there are not many clearings. You will need to approach the Temple on foot," Juno replied, heading towards the nearest location. Juno lowered the ramp, and Starkiller landed safely. "I'm returning to low orbit. There's no way I'll be able to communicate with you with all the interference if I back off too much. It looks like you'll need to make it through that large hyperdrive core in front of you. I'm sure you'll find someway of blasting through."

"Naturally."

"Once on the other side, you should be able to make your way to reach the Junk Temple," Juno finished. "Good luck," she added before taking off. The simple act of just getting to low orbit was a downright pain in the ass for Juno. It was true that the Rogue Shadow was built for stealth and quick maneuvers, but the sheer amount of junk that literally floated through the air was making any task that much more difficult. "Where is all that junk going?" queried Juno, as she finally found an altitude where the junk was not competing with her.

"It seems that gravitational engines have been placed in such a way as to direct the trash in a certain direction," PROXY answered.

"Some sort of salvagers? But who?" the pilot asked before her scanners answered her. The chatter was garbled, but Juno was able to pick up a few words that told her that it was Rodese. "I'm picking up scraps of Rodese communications," she told Starkiller. "It seems that they've set up some sort of salvage operation."

"I'll deal with them," he said simply. There was a large explosion followed by agonized screams in Rodese. There was yet another, "I think I found a way inside."

Juno only shook her head and went ahead of the apprentice below to better scan the planet. As more Rodese filtered in through the communications scanner, the pilot got the distinct feeling that the Rodians were panicking. "PROXY, can you understand what they are saying?"

"Of course I can," the droid stated haughtily.

"Can you translate?"

"I can," the droid said simply.

Juno growled in frustration, "Will you?"

"Certainly! It appears they've encountered a threat, but they are unsure of what the threat is," PROXY summarized.

"Well, I'm picking up a lot of movement, should we go down for a closer look?"

The droid only nodded, and Juno guided the Rogue Shadow back through the debris on the other side of the hyperdrive core. From the viewport, the two watched as Rodians wildly fired at machines. "They look like droids," commented Juno. "I'm going to open fire and clear a path." The lasers of the ship easily took out the salvagers, but the droids would simply disappear through whatever they were standing on. "PROXY, droids can't do that," Juno said in shock.

The Rogue Shadow lurched forward violently. As Juno looked out, she saw that a creature seemingly made of spare parts had landed on the nose of the ship. It was huge and seemed to have a churning energy source in its stomach. "That's not a droid," PROXY said. The large thing lifted its weapon and was ready to attack the ship when it froze. Jutting out of its stomach was lightsaber, as the creature looked down towards the new wound, it was then hit with electricity and then sent flying where it exploded into parts once more.

"Try to stay out of trouble Juno," came Starkiller's voice. "I wont' always be here to save you."

"You did not save me," Juno protested. "You simply came at the precise time you were needed."

There was a chuckle over the comlink. "What exactly was that thing? It looked like it was made of scrap."

"Master, those things had no energy source and all attempts to communicate were in vain," PROXY said. "It was as if they were being held together by something."

"The Force," Starkiller practically whispered.

Juno thought back to when she heard the meeting between Lord Vader and Starkiller. He had said that Kazdan Paratus was stronger than Starkiller. These scrap heaps were a perfect example t the pilot. The "Temple" was still a long way off and he was still able to control several of his creations simply through the Force.

"Let's keep moving," Starkiller said, as he jumped through another ship.

Juno agreed and took the ship back to its previous altitude and over the structure. "Watch your step, the ships in this area have leaked their hyperdrive plasma. It's very toxic," Juno warned.

"And very yellow," commented the apprentice.

"You're out of there already?" queried the pilot.

"It will take more than salvagers and scrap heaps to stop me," he replied. "Where can I go from here?"

Juno glanced at her scans, "There's a scavenger camp nearby. You'll need to shutdown an energy field."

"I'll need a distraction," Starkiller said simply as he made his way towards said camp.

"I believe I can help you with that one," Juno said as she took the Rogue Shadow down once more. The Rodians had constructed a very large central structure as small transport ships came and went carrying more parts or salvagers. Juno opened fire and the aliens began fleeing in terror. None noticed the lightsaber wielding figure as he ran to another section of the base in search of a way to disable the energy field. With most of the camp in ruins, Juno was satisfied with her work and began her withdrawal. The scavengers apparently had other ideas as they chased after the pilot after mounting several salvaged guns onto their transports. "Persistent bastards."

For once, Juno found herself at a distinct disadvantage. The transports were smaller than the Rogue Shadow and therefore could be more easily maneuvered between the perpetually flowing rivers of junk. Whenever the pilot tried to reach a higher altitude in order to escape, the transports were already waiting above the ship, where the lasers could not hit them. Still, she had to do something. The idea finally struck her. If the Rodians would not let her go up, then she would have to go down. The pilot started flying against the rivers of scrap, dodging as best she could while maintaining the current altitude. She finally saw her chance and let the Rogue Shadow descend right in place. The result was several of the transports hitting a particularly large piece of metal and exploding, while the one at the back of the group had enough time to avoid it. Juno smirked and was swiftly in position behind the transport and opened fire.

"Excellent work Captain," PROXY said.

"Thank you PROXY," she replied with a curt nod, and returned to low orbit. After circling back to the Junk Temple, Juno saw an extraordinary bright light shoot into the sky from the roof. It looked like a wave of electricity or pure energy, Juno was not sure, but she was sure that it was Starkiller's doing.

"Juno," came his voice over the comlink. "We're done here."

So Raxus is done and i needed to insert Juno into the mission because honestly what does she do n game? just float there? BORING! Besides it allows room for banter, and appreciation between herself and Starkiller. And now you should review!