muchos gracias for the reviews/ideas and i have officially decided what to do but you'll have to wait.

Enjoy!

A/N: don't want to throw you off, but i'm just correcting Starkiller's eye color

Chapter 13:

To Kashyyyk

To be honest, General Kota looked and definitely smelt like some derelict drunk that would rather drown in a cantina surrounded by empty glasses. Still, he was certainly a valuable resource. He stood toe to toe with Starkiller, managed to hide from the Empire, travel across the galaxy blind, and now, it turned out that he knew ciphers and codes that she never could fathom. Ever since he was coherent enough to do so, the Jedi sat in the jumper seat tapping away at the keyboard in an attempt to reach his unnamed contact. He even managed to type while blind so quickly that it made Juno feel inferior. "Any progress?" she asked.

"I am unsure of his exact location," he said groggily after a moment. "But our next location is Kashyyyk."

"The Wookie home world?" the pilot said furrowing her brow. "Last time I heard, it was under Imperial rule. It'll be dangerous."

Kota snorted derisively. "Dangerous? No place is safe when you make a personal enemy of the Emperor. Besides, you don't seem to be one unaccustomed to danger," he said knowingly. "How did you get yourself into such a situation?"

"Are you going to sit there and pretend that you don't know I used to be an Imperial pilot?"

"I had my suspicions. It explains the ship," he said slowly. "But what about him?" he asked, throwing his head towards the meditation chamber.

"Very little," she said trying to lie. However, upon really thinking about it, she did not know next to anything about the apprentice in the other room.

"I see," he said figuratively.

"He hasn't killed me," she said to lighten the mood.

"Yet," he replied with a smile devoid of humor.

Juno stood, leaving PROXY to enter hyperspace. The familiar pull of the Rogue Shadow took hold. "I'll be back after I inform Starkiller of our destination."

"And you trust a man whose real name you don't even know?" queried Kota, settling in a more comfortable position.

"With my life," she said seriously. And it was true. Despite their squabbling, when it came down to it, she would trust that he would do everything in his power to save her. And she knew for certain that she would do the same for him.

"Good," he said before promptly snoring.

Juno studied the sleeping General closely. To the pilot, he looked as reliable and helpful as a punctured airlock seal. For all she knew, Kota and his "contact" could be leading them into a trap. This whole questioning of Starkiller's intentions could easily be a ploy to draw them farther in. The General did used to be a Jedi Master. Juno sighed, and admonished herself for thoughts that were so…Empire-esque. Shaking her head, the pilot walked into the meditation chamber to find Starkiller sitting kneeled in the center of the room.

"Yes?" he asked without opening his eyes.

"I just wanted to let you know of our next location," Juno began.

"Something wrong with the ship's systems?" he asked. "You couldn't just announce it over the system?"

"Well I figured that the next planet deserved your opinion," Juno replied.

"Oh?"

"Kashyyyk," she breathed.

Starkiller's eyes flew open. "Ka-ka-Kashyyyk?" he sputtered.

"Are you okay?" she asked with true concern.

Starkiller took several calming breaths before closing his eyes slowly once more. "Sit with me."

"You want me to meditate?" Juno snorted. "Don't you think that if I could wield the Force, the Empire would have discovered it by now?"

"Just sit," he said, still sounding oddly calm. "You wanted to talk about Kashyyyk correct?"

Juno nodded.

"So sit," he said simply, his voice still devoid of emotion.

The pilot did so. "It was the planet you grew up on was it not?"

A frown flitted across the apprentice's face before disappearing as quickly as it came. "I…don't remember much. I don't even know if I had a family there, or if I was simply left there. I…I remember certain smells: Wookies, underbrush, and other things. And…there was…something…and then there was only Vader."

Juno's heart went out to the young man. No family, not even in his memories. Not to mention a complete lack of any reasonable childhood. "How old were you?" she asked with a voice barely above a whisper.

"I don't know."

"So Vader found you, and took you away?"

"Yes," responded the now sullen warrior. "He saved me. At least that's what I was told. For all I know, it was probably him that orchestrated the entire thing."

"What he did on that planet all those years ago is no longer important. It now matters what you will do," Juno said, grabbing his chin and staring intently into his eyes. His brown irises reflected her fierce and piercing blues. "What will you do?"

Starkiller only stared back and seemed to be struggling to find the right words. Gulping he said, "What is necessary to strike back at the Empire. For everything they've done to us."

'Us.' There was an 'us'? Before it was always Starkiller, PROXY and Vader with Juno simply as an instrument. "What did they do to you?" she asked pointing at his arms that were now devoid of scars. Despite the repaired skin, his nightmares spoke of a destroyed mind. His screams sounded as if something was slowly searing its way out from his intestines. Often times he would call out his former master's name, and still other times it was her own.

"I…I…" he said. "I don't know. This is so goddamn frustrating!" he shouted before slamming his eyes shut and in taking air.

"I'm sorry," apologized Juno as she made to stand.

"No," he replied, his hand clasping hers. "I should not unload my problems on you. I should apologize."

Juno smiled weakly. "I brought this up."

"Yes. You thankfully distracted my straying thoughts," he said before standing next to her.

"And what were said straying thoughts?"

Starkiller coughed and quickly stepped towards the cockpit. "It's…it's uh, not important. I wouldn't want to burden you with any other thoughts."

Juno smirked and followed his trail as the Rogue Shadow came up on Kashyyyk. The planet was mottled patchwork of various grassy greens and dark browns. While beautiful, the planet had obviously seen many hardships, the scars of orbital bombardment was most likely just the beginning. The ship's sensor arrays picked up a very large orbital structure, and Juno made her way closer.

"Can they see us?" Starkiller queried even though his tone of voice indicated he knew the answer.

"No. Stealth systems engaged. But the sensors have picked up a very large…oh," said Juno as the giant structure came into view. When it first appeared on the systems, the pilot assumed it was a docking station, but what they saw was much worse. She knew what it was, but another part of her brain rejected what she saw. But there was no denying it. "A skyhook."

"Your contact sure as hell better be reliable General," Starkiller said as Juno dropped into the world's atmosphere.

"He smuggled me to Cloud City. He's an old ally of the Jedi Order. There is something very valuable to him down there," the Jedi answered. "Find it, and maybe he'll agree to fight the Empire."

"Maybe?"

"Yes."

Starkiller sighed, "Better than what we have."

"That's the spirit boy," Kota said in mock excitement.

"You do realize finding something valuable could be next to impossible?"

"Yes," Juno cut in as the Rogue Shadow landed. "So you better get started so we can get the hell out of here," she said as she pushed the warrior towards the descending boarding ramp.

"Home sweet home," he said sarcastically before exiting the craft.

So that's that. Don't you think they needed alone time? I did so i put it in : ) so next will be juno reflecting/worrying/getting pissed off by Kota

one of these days i'll respond to my reviews at the end of a chapter...but that's not today.