And this is where I throw the dialogue and events of Felucia out the window with a swift kick in the ass. (You were warned) Obviously Starkiller will eventually succeed, but one must remember that this is about our favorite female Imperial pilot. Cheers!
If i just mention a disclaimer does it count?
Chapter 8:
First of Felucia
When Starkiller emerged from the refresher, Juno was flustered t see the apprentice had no shirt. Only a sash arm wrappings and gloves adorned the man's upper body. "Did the toilet eat your shirt?" queried Juno.
"You're about as funny as an assassination droid," Starkiller responded.
"Sorry," Juno chuckled. "It just does not seem very protective."
"Shaak Ti is going to be quick, plus I'm going to have to traverse through the growth of Felucia," he explained looking down at himself and twisting in an attempt to look at his back. "I think I missed a clasp in the back with my waist wrappings."
Juno simply shrugged and stood to assist the apprentice. Upon examining the man's back, the pilot got a closer look at the many scars that riddled the flesh. Several appeared above the left shoulder, and even more on the opposite. "Are these from your missions or Vader?" she asked, running her fingers along the many raised strips of skin.
"Most of the ones o the shoulders are Vader's doing yes. Master's favorite teaching tool is pain," he whispered. Starkiller took Juno's hand and placed it knowingly on his left shoulder. Juno shivered despite the warmth of his skin. "My first lesson," he chuckled darkly as he made the pilot's finger trace a particularly faded scar before letting go.
"What about this one?" she asked quietly, trailing her fingers to an x-shaped one on the man's lower right back.
Starkiller jumped slightly. "That one tickles. Got that one after trying to escape the Executor. I got a bit overzealous and an explosion shattered metal and glass alike. Vader closed the wound with the shrapnel inside."
"An ever-present reminder of sorts?" Juno supposed as she finally secured the appropriate clasp, the reminder of Vader's cruelness breaking the intimate moment. Intimate? Juno sat back down roughly. How could she even think of that? Utter nonsense! To even think of such a thing was beyond ludicrous! Juno shook her head to banish her thoughts and returned her thoughts to the controls. "Are you ready?" she queried, not waiting for a response before lowering the boarding ramp. With a grunt and a leap, the apprentice was gone.
"I'm tracking your location. Just ahead, that fungus tower is hollow. You'll have to make your way up it in order to progress." From the viewport, Juno could see several shadows crawling towards the apprentice. "Locals are inbound."
"Yeah, I noticed," he said curtly before igniting his lightsaber.
To the pilot's surprise, the Felucians actually put up a fight and were able to stand toe to toe with Starkiller for a few moments. Puzzled, Juno pulled up Imperial records of the Felucians. "They seem to be more organized and…powerful than Imperial records would indicate."
"Hm, they are lousy with the Force. A Jedi's hand is at work," he mused.
"Well, I would hate to see what else she has a hold of," Juno replied, slowly guiding the Rogue Shadow into low orbit. "Be careful."
Starkiller did not reply, but only swiftly made his way towards the hollow fungal tower. The door opened behind Juno and metallic footsteps announced the entrance of PROXY. "Where have you been?" the pilot questioned, thankful that in fact the droid was not present to see her exploration of Starkiller's scars.
"Using my hologram systems strains my energy supply," the droid explained. "I came to see if you needed any help with the scans."
"You are offering help?" Juno snorted.
"Master respects you," PROXY stated simply. "And your performance and tactics on Raxus Prime was most impressive."
"How sweet," Juno said sarcastically. "I'll be fine here. You can go back to recharging your systems, or whatever it is you do." PROXY nodded his head and walked back into the training chamber.
"Juno?" asked the voice of Starkiller as the comlink crackled to life.
"Yes? Is there something you need?" the pilot asked, mildly surprised by the man's voluntary communication.
"I'm still in the tower, and these Felucians are being a bit more of a hassle than expected. Give me any relevant data you have on them."
Juno dutifully pulled the records back up on her screen in an attempt to glean any useful information. "During the Clone Wars, Vader's 501st legion came to Felucia in an attempted to root out opposing forces. Along the way however, they ran into the Felucians. They noticed that the locals operated in tribes and that the chieftains were able to empower their fellow comrades."
"Well, I haven't seen anything that could resemble a chieftain," Starkiller noted. "I'm sure that I'll get to see them once I get closer to Shaak Ti."
"There's something else," Juno said as she read the file some more.
"I have a bad feeling that I'm not going to like this."
"Rancors," Juno said quickly.
"Rancors?" he asked incredulously. "Well that's just great."
"It gets worse."
"Worse? I'm really not going to like this next part am I?" the apprentice groaned.
"Apparently, the Felucians have learned to train the rancors, effectively riding them into battle."
Starkiller sighed over the comlink. "It can't be helped I suppose. I'll just have to figure something out," he said with steely resolve. "Thanks Juno."
The pilot smiled wryly and felt a familiar heat flush her face. Damn that had been happening a lot recently. What was wrong with her? Sure he was mildly good looking, she could not deny that, but she had been around attractive men before. How could such a cruel person evoke such feelings? But was he really cruel through and through? Sure his actions were violent, but his eyes spoke of pain, regret and…innocence. And although Starkiller had tried to snarl and sound angry when they first met, their casual conversations revealed caring and…honesty.
Juno ran her hands through her hair several times to gather more thoughts. Maybe it was because Starkiller treated her like a person. Not just another pilot, not just another number, and certainly never like an incompetent woman. He trusted her, with his life. Believed in her without question, and even protected her. When he was not busy on missions and they talked, the topic was always her. There was not a single forced conversation; he was genuinely interested in what Juno had to say. Damn it all. What did it all add up to?
The jerking of the Rogue Shadow brought Juno out of her reverie. The pilot's head snapped up as she quickly analyzed the situation. One look out of the viewport told her that nothing was attacking the front of the ship. However, it also showed that they were no longer making forward progress. The shield indicators blared to life and warned about damage to rear. "What in the hell?" It was as if something was holding onto the ship. Juno switched off the autopilot and increased the throttle. The Rogue Shadow only shook and strained against the unseen resistance. "PROXY!" she yelled, refusing to panic.
As the shield indicators protested even louder, PROXY entered bearing a lightsaber. "Captain, it seems the local fauna does not appreciate our presence."
"I don't suppose that the lightsaber is to convince it that we are just tourists?"
"I will merely educate the vile plant that it needs to mind its manners," PROXY said calmly. If the thing could smirk, Juno supposed that the droid would be doing so at that very moment.
But before the droid could turn to leave, Juno found herself on what used to be the ceiling, followed immediately by falling through the automatic doors to the training room and smacking into the far wall. There was a sickening crunch and Juno slid to the floor. Through stars, black spots, and blood from an unseen gash, the pilot watched as PROXY stood attached to the floor and leveled the Rogue Shadow. Juno tried to stand only to be met by an outrageous amount of pain. Gritting her teeth against the knives she felt throughout her spine, Juno stood. Her small victory was short lived however as the ship rocked, sending the pilot to all fours. But Juno refused to be beaten. She slowly got to her feet and hunched over because standing up straight hurt too much.
As she entered the cockpit Juno pushed the droid aside. "Out of my way," she said as blood dribbled down the corner of her mouth. PROXY said nothing, and only watched as Juno gripped the controls. PROXY had already leveled out the Rogue Shadow, but Juno would be damned if the smug machine would land her ship.
Well i had so much fun writing this chapter and not paying attention in math. Yes there will be more. Juno will have to analyze herself after her look of Starkiller in this chapter. Stay tuned and as always, please review.