Disclaimer: No, I do not own Star Wars: The Force Unleashed

Note: apologies for this being a day late. I got caught up with the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations! Thank you to those who have subscribed and reviewed. Your support, as always, means a lot. A huge thank you also goes out to Liisiko for her help with these chapters.

CHAPTER 31 - Waylaid

Location: Telgorn Space Station

The Rogue Shadow docked at a Telgorn manufactured space station at a little past two in the morning – galactic standard time – and within the hour they had been fully debriefed via holoprojector. The process was most certainly made less painful by the quick report Juno had put together during their hyperspace jump. And, whilst the Alliance had been disappointed about the death of one of the targets, they had no real reason to complain when the mission had put a stop to the work of some corrupt men.

Dead information brokers were certainly preferential to escaped ones.

"I told you that there was no reason to worry." Juno spoke quietly to Galen as they supervised the unloading of their 'cargo'.

Galen looked like he wanted to argue, but he seemed to think better of it; opting for the safety of silence instead. Juno supposed that failure was something that came harder to him than most. He had lived striving for one hundred percent success because ninety-nine would never have been enough. His old master certainly would have responded to even the most minor of faults with severe punishment. There had been cruel reminders of those times carved into his flesh, once, but they were gone now; leaving only his mental scars behind.

She forced herself to smile and added: "What's done is done."

"We upheld our side of the bargain." He replied with a surprising coldness. "Let's hope they upheld theirs."

Juno wished she could assure him that the senators had done all they could to locate the dark clone, but she could not deny that they might not have. She just hoped that if they had news it would be shared with them sooner rather than later; especially now that their mission was complete.

"I'm sure it won't be too much longer before they can report back to us." She replied at last, answering his dubious look with a placating smile. "At least they can't say we didn't try to rebuild the bridges."

He gave a gruff sound of acknowledgment and his features seemed to relax a little.

"I wish they would hurry up." Juno added, watching as a group of armed men hastened around the final cage as they prepared to maneuver it down the loading ramp. "I need to get out of this stupid thing." And she tugged irritably at the dress as if it had done something to offend.

Galen flashed her another brief look and she felt her embarrassment creeping back. "Stop it." She warned.

"Stop what?"

"That. What you're doing."

He smiled – just a little. "I'm not doing anything."

"Don't make me hit you." She warned playfully, turning back towards the ship. Standing there watching the cages being unloaded wasn't going to make it happen any faster. There was perhaps a three second delay before she heard Galen's boots on the ramp behind her and he caught up as she edged around the cage partially blocking the entrance.

She did not miss his apologetic look or the lightest touch of his fingertips at her wrist.

"I'm sorry."

She rolled her eyes and cast him a smile. "It's alright. I was only teasing." A pause and then: "You can make it up to me later."

They dropped into companionable silence as they made their way back through into the cockpit where Sia was sat in the pilot's seat, reading something on her datapad. She gave them a wave and tilted her head backwards to look at them as they entered. "The prisoners got dropped off safe and sound?"

"Almost." Juno replied. "Should be done in a few minutes."

"We got any news on when we're heading back to base?"

"No. I expect we'll be notified shortly."

"But…we'll be here for the next few hours at least, right?"

"I imagine so." Juno leaned back against the console, her arms crossed loosely in front of her. "Why? Is there something you need to do whilst we're docked?"

Sia laughed. "You could say that. A colleague of mine is stationed here. I haven't seen him in a while and was hoping there'd be time for a catch up…"

Juno quirked a brow. "I think we're safe for the next few hours. I can't imagine our next orders will come through until a more decent hour. Not to mention the reports I'll need to file and the checks that need to be made on the ship before takeoff."

"What about time for resting?" The other woman teased; pushing herself up from the chair and stretching slowly. "Okay, well I'm going to head off for a while. Just don't leave without me, alright?" She threw them a wink and slipped through the door.

"That wouldn't be such a bad idea, you know." Galen mumbled when she was gone.

"You don't really mean that." She looked up to meet his gaze and then rolled her eyes, a ghost of a smile flitting across her face. "Okay, so maybe you do."

He avoided the topic. "You're not really planning to work between now and the time we leave, are you?"

She leaned forwards, peering up at him through her eyelashes. "Well…I thought you'd be too busy brooding over what happened. It doesn't make for very good company."

He made a show of looking unimpressed. "You're very funny, you know that?"

Her smile widened. "I try." As she attempted to move past him he intercepted; his hand sliding up to rest against the small of her back, pressing her body close to his. His other hand tilted her chin up; allowing their eyes to meet. The intensity of emotion she found in that look sent a shiver down her spine.

What had gotten into him?

The kiss she had been expecting never came. Instead, his mouth lightly brushed across the line of her jaw; his warm breath pimpling the skin on her neck. She shivered at the tickling sensation and blinked in unmasked surprise when he pulled away.

"Juno…" He leaned in again. "You are beautiful."

She couldn't keep the smile from her face at his words; nor the color from creeping up her neck. But, despite the embarrassment of his heartfelt compliment, it filled her with a strange, girlish delight. She couldn't recall the last time anyone had ever said that to her. And yet at that moment in time, in a dress stained with dirt and oil and her hair utterly windblown, she felt anything but beautiful.

"Even now?" She queried teasingly.

The corner of his mouth twitched upwards in amusement. "Even now."

"So…you're not mad at me anymore? For going against the plan?"

"Well…only a little."

Her hands crept up to hook over his shoulders, giving herself just enough leverage to pull herself up and instigate a kiss. His lips were wind-roughened but warm and he reacted with more fire than she had expected; his heartbeat strong and rapid beneath her palm. He deepened the kiss almost instantly and Juno lost herself in it, aware only of his warm, open mouth; inquiring and insistent against hers. She felt his fingers press tighter against the base of her spine, his other hand now reaching up to work the zipper at the back of her dress. A few seconds later and Juno felt cool air against the triangle of newly exposed skin on her back. The hand that he slipped inside the new opening of her dress, however, was fever-hot in comparison and she shuddered at the contrast.

He broke his kiss with her then, the sounds of their breathing overly loud in the enclosed space of the cockpit, and nuzzled the strap of her dress down off of her shoulder.

When he looked up, Juno rested a hand against the side of his face and rubbed idly at a smudge of dirt on his cheek. Then he kissed her again; the sensation of his coarse mouth against hers pushing any other thought out of her mind.

So intently focused on him, Juno didn't even register the sound of the door opening until their intruder gave an interrupting cough. The next thing she knew, Galen's arms were no longer around her and without that support she staggered awkwardly back against the console. Heart lurching, she lifted her eyes at the same time as she tried to fix her dress – though trying to cover what they had been doing seemed rather pointless now.

"Oops, sorry. I didn't think of knocking first." It was Sia and she smiled across at them with an odd sort of expression on her face. Not flustered or embarrassed as one might expect having walked in on colleagues in a…compromising position. In fact…she seemed more pleased than anything else. Almost as if she had been expecting to walk in on something like that.

"I left my jacket behind." Sia continued, pointing to where it had been left draped over the back of the co-pilot chair.

Juno could feel the burn of embarrassment flaring on her face even as she sought the words to try and explain. But what was there to explain? There was no way to turn this into a misunderstanding. She cleared her throat anxiously. "Sia, I—"

The flight officer's expression changed from pleased to a something more understanding. "It's okay, Juno. You don't want it advertised. I won't tell anyone. I promise." She moved across to grab the jacket that had been conveniently left behind and slung it over one shoulder, hooked on her little finger. "Okay, this is me gone for the day." She gave them a mischievous wink. "Have fun, kids. Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

Then she departed and after a moment of shocked silence, Juno turned her eyes uneasily across at Galen. The expression on his face was hard to decipher; some strange hybrid of embarrassment and…anger? She reached out to touch the back of his hand and his gaze snapped across to meet hers.

"You think she knew all this time?" He asked; his voice low.

Juno nodded slowly. "I think so. Yes."

He blinked, looking confused now. "Why wouldn't she say something about it before now?"

"I…should go and talk to her."

"Why bother?"

"Because." She looked up at him. "We lied to her."

"She knew it was a lie."

"Yes, but we didn't know that. We've been trying to deceive her from the very first moment."

"She didn't need to know." Galen replied firmly. "It wasn't any of her business."

"Maybe not, but she's my friend. I should probably explain to her why we didn't want anyone knowing."

"It seems to me that she understood that perfectly well."

Juno stared wordlessly up at him and finally he relented; exhaling sharply. "Fine. Okay. Do what you have to do." He looked slightly rejected and she reached out to squeeze his hand comfortingly.

"I'll be right back."

"Wait. Your dress."

"Oh, uh, yes. Can you…?"

He seemed sort of awkward and shy as he zipped the garment back up - which was ridiculous, really, considering he had been the one to undo it in the first place.

"I'll be back." She repeated. "Don't go anywhere." Then, she planted a kiss on his cheek and left the cockpit.

The air outside was cool against her flushed skin and she was grateful that only the night watch staff were on duty as she scurried down the dimly lit corridor. Thankfully Sia had not made it too far, having stopped briefly to chat with someone on the way. She was just leaving the other – a sleepy-faced flight cadet – when Juno caught up.

"Sia."

The woman startled. "Juno? What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be enjoying alone time with your Jedi?" Her face transformed with a wide smile. "Weren't you listening when I said 'don't do anything I wouldn't do'?"

Juno blinked wordlessly.

"I wouldn't have abandoned my man on a ship to go chasing after some idiot flight officer."

"I owe you an apology, Sia."

"For what?" The shorter woman smiled again. "You just wanted some privacy in your lives, that's all. Privacy is hard to get in our line of work, what with rumors springing up from nothing and everyone being in such close proximity to one another. I can understand why you would want to limit your affection in public." She paused, a mischievous glint lighting her eyes. "Just one piece of advice, though. You do need some practice at downplaying things between you."

Juno felt her shoulder's slump with a sudden wave of weariness. "We tried."

Sia burst into good-natured laughter. "Juno, you were both really obvious."

"How long have you known, exactly?"

"Since the beginning. From the day I met you out on the docking bay. I hung around to spy. The subtle hand-holding towards the end was very cute, by the way."

Juno flushed. "Then why didn't you say anything?"

"I want to say that it was 'entertaining', but somehow that seems cruel and it wasn't my intention to hurt anyone." She gave Juno a meaningful look. "See, it should be me apologizing."

Juno looked undecided.

"Listen, if it means anything at all, you were better at hiding it than he was."

"I was?"

"Uh huh. The way he looks at you." She sighed dramatically. "It's so romantic."

Juno gave her a mock-glare. "Well, I'm glad you had fun."

"I did. But now it's your turn." She motioned back towards the ship. "Go on. Get back to him right this instant."

Juno decided that she would do as she was told.

Unfortunately for her, in the short time she had been away something else had come up to further ruin the mood. Juno could hear a voice over the com-link even as she moved down the corridor to the cockpit. Galen was stood over the main display, his shoulders squared.

"You've got to be mistaken."

Juno's heart dropped like a stone.

"There is no mistake, I'm afraid."

She touched his elbow as she drew up alongside him and his dark eyes flicked briefly to acknowledge her.

"So what now?" Galen asked. "What's our next move?"

"Now? Now we extend our search. The ship did not land on Fondor but there is a possibility it was waylaid. Or perhaps it was not headed for Fondor at all." The voice belonged to Garm.

"What do you mean?"

"They could have landed on one of Fondor's moons."

"And how many moons does it have?"

"Six."

Galen was silent.

"So you see, we do not have enough spies stationed in the vicinity to make this a quick process." There was a short pause. "I'm sorry, Starkiller. I wish there was something more I could offer but he is gone and tracking him down is not going to be a simple task."

"That's where you're wrong." Galen replied, his clenched fist pressing against the console as he tried to restrain his frustration. "He won't stay hidden for long. He's on the hunt and sooner or later a lot of people are going to get hurt. Can you look into damage reports? Find out about any word of an unusual disturbance? If so, he'll be the source. I can promise you that."

"What can be done is being done." Garm's voice was clipped. "We will keep you updated as the situation progresses."

The transmission ended, leaving them in uneasy silence.

"Maybe they were right." Juno replied quietly. "Maybe that ship never reached Fondor."

"So where would it go?" He replied sharply. "We found the details ourselves, Juno. That ship was bound for Fondor."

"Maybe it never reached its destination at all. Could the dark clone have taken control? Got the ship to go somewhere else? Destroyed it, even? There's no way we would know for sure unless we tracked that ship through hyperspace. Plans change at a moment's notice. New co-ordinates could have been issued."

He dropped down into his seat. "So it was a waste of time, then. All of it."

She set a hand on his shoulder. "It's a starting point."

There was a brief pause and then Galen straightened in his seat, reaching for the holomap display. "What do you know about Fondor's moons?"

"Not a lot." She leaned over him to track across the map to Fondor. The planet was one of the colony worlds, settled close to the core world's border. Juno managed to point out the six moons relatively swiftly.

"Are any of them habitable?"

"Most of them, I think. Likely being used for colonization."

"Maybe there's something going on that we're not aware of."

"Possibly, but it's a job that requires an attentive mind. We'll get PROXY to work on it and try to put the pieces together when we're better rested. Where is that droid anyway?"

"On downtime, I think."

"Well, we'll go wake him up." She took a step back and held out her hand to him. "And that'll give you time to keep your word and 'make it up to me'." Her smile grew suggestive and his eyes flicked over her. Then she was grabbing his hand and pulling him out from his seat, seemingly impatient.

He gave an amused sound in the back of his throat and stepped up alongside her. "So much for being busy with work."

"It can wait." Was her only response.

The constant laughter – even if it was muffled – made it difficult for the dark clone to concentrate on anything, let alone where they should be going next. The thought of this didn't worry him so much as it angered him. What was going on in his head? Perhaps he was sick?

He felt breath on the back of his neck and the laughter sharpened suddenly, drilling bolts of pain into his skull. He twisted in his seat and swung around with a clenched fist. He expected to slam his knuckles against ribs, to feel bone shatter and split. Instead his Force-enhanced swing met only air and he almost overbalanced due to the lack of an impact to stabilize himself against.

He blinked, realizing that the Cerean scientist, Alin-Fa-Liir, was standing in the doorway, staring at him.

"Did you see him?" The clone demanded angrily, getting to his feet to advance on his prey. "Is this some kind of trick of yours, Cerean?"

The scientist gave a hoarse cry, lifting a hand in an attempt to ward him away. "No—please, I don't know what you're talking about."

"Did you do something to me?" He raged. "At the hospital?"

"Of course he didn't." A voice interrupted, sounding more than a little amused. "Why are you so insistent on hurting the only person who has tried to help you?"

The clone snapped around to defend himself but, again, there was no one there. Then, when the voice continued it echoed from an entirely different direction.

"He didn't have to release you. He didn't have to take you to a hospital. He didn't have to stay. But he did. You have regained your lost strength. Without him you would be dead. Why do you threaten his life when he could still prove useful to you?"

The clone snarled. "Where are you?"

"No? No answer to my question?" The voice continued unperturbed; as if the clone had not even spoken. "Very well. I'll answer it for you. You're losing yourself to madness."

"You had better shut up."

The Cerean had begun to back out of the room slowly, as one would do if faced with a vicious animal in the wilds.

To the Apprentice's surprise, the voice didn't answer. In fact it had fallen completely silent. Even the distant laughter.

When Galen woke six hours later it was to find Juno already gone; a startling realization because it meant she had not disturbed him on her way out. The bed was cold where she had been lying, too, which meant she hadn't only just departed. There had been a time not long ago when the tiniest sound would have driven him violently from his half-rest. A time where he'd never allow himself to fully relax, knowing that the assassin droid could take advantage of any vulnerability, no matter how small.

It was surprising how quickly one could fall out of such habits. Scary, actually.

He made a mental note to ensure he had time for a training session that day, Kota's voice chiding him on his recent lack of initiative. But that was just it. Without a teacher, what could he learn that he did not already know? How could he gain advantage over the dark clone when they finally came face to face?

He didn't have the answer and he was still mulling it over as he made his way to the cockpit fifteen minutes later.

"PROXY, what did you manage to find out about those moons?" He caught himself a little too late and was thankful that Sia was not in the cockpit. He'd have to be more careful. The flight officer might have considered herself a friend, now, but Galen was certain that she'd be under strict orders to report any unauthorized activity straight up to the senators.

"I have gathered as much knowledge on the six moons of Fondor as I can, Master. I fear, however, that it will not provide you with the answers you seek." The droid extended a gangly arm to pass Galen the datapad. "It's all there, Master."

"All of it?" He dropped into his seat; hope shriveling.

"At this range and with our very limited resources, we are unlikely to find anything of much use."

"Has Sia been back here, yet?"

"No." Juno assured him. "Don't worry. She won't find out."

So, Juno didn't trust Sia enough to let her know they had been doing some investigation of their own. He had to admit that he was pleased that her new friendship had not made her complacent. Even if Sia didn't want to share the information she'd be obliged to. They couldn't forget that.

"Have we been given any orders yet?"

"No. I expect it won't be too much longer, though." On closer inspection it would appear that Juno was coming to the end of running her diagnostic on the ship. The status on the display blinked green. "We did receive an update on the status of the Chadra-Fan, though." Juno continued, not looking up from her work. "Cheemi is in a stable condition and Okiier is still alive, though he hasn't been released yet."

"They were lucky." He replied.

"Very."

Galen started to file through the data that PROXY had collected. Unfortunately, as he had been forewarned, nothing leapt out at him as being very useful. There was plenty of information on the settled colonies, on the quality of the soil and some listing of produce that had been shipped in and out. He supposed he should have expected no more than that.

Beside him, Juno sat back and ran her fingers through her hair, shaking the blonde strands loose irritably. "Ugh, I thought I'd scrubbed that Nar Shaddaa stink out of my hair." The stench of that horrible moon seemed deeply ingrained. "I really hope that's the last we've seen of that place."

The corner of his mouth lifted but he didn't respond.

"Incoming message, Captain." PROXY declared.

"That'll be our next orders. PROXY, try and contact Sia, will you?"

Galen tucked the datapad carefully away in the lining of his jacket, not wanting to leave it where prying eyes might see. "Co-ordinates?"

"Back to the Armistice." Juno confirmed a moment later. "It sounds like they've got another assignment waiting for us."

"They must be pleased with us then." Galen growled.

"Galen…I'm sorry about the dead end in our lead."

"It wasn't your fault."

"Something will turn up."

"Yes. A few hundred dead bodies." He replied darkly, getting up out of his seat.

"We might get to him before he can do anything like that."

"You don't believe that anymore than I do." He turned away from her. "If you need me, I'll be in the training room."

The ground where the research facility had been was caved in, as if struck by a huge, clenched fist. And still, the structure beneath the ground was unstable, shifting and groaning under the stress of bowed metal and the weight of the soil. Above it, the heavy, grey sky was laden with rain; casting everything into ominous shadow.

It was a site of ruin.

"You failed me, Admiral." The slow, metallic voice of the Dark Lord was accentuated with an austere tone.

Admiral T'arrk, standing at his side, looked suddenly small and vulnerable. He remained completely silent, clearly aware that no attempt at justification would rescue him from Vader's wrath.

The Dark Lord raised a hand and with it, a huge chunk of durasteel curled up and over itself, revealing an opening in the debris that was big enough for a man to pass through.

"The remote, Admiral." The Dark Lord continued.

T'arrk fumbled for the device secreted in the inside of his jacket. No sooner had it left its pocket was it being snatched away – by the Force – and deposited into Vader's waiting hand.

"You had better hope that the prototype has not been compromised."

As if waiting for its cue, a tentative metal limb poked through the new gap in the debris, tapping at the clods of newly disturbed earth as if to test the stability. A few moments later and the limb retreated, the silence interrupted by the sound of a mechanism cranking slowly. When the Walker moved again, it was to flatten its body almost completely, slotting four of its appendages forwards to pull itself through the gap. The double-jointed limbs allowed it to fold up small enough to squeeze through with no difficulty at all.

Beside Lord Vader, the admiral had begun to edge away. His fear was palpable.

The Walker made an impressive show of unfolding its flexible limbs - the pointed tips sinking into the muck - and gave a shrill, mechanical scream. Its Arachne-inspired appearance was – for the lack of a better word – a repulsive design.

In a single, fluid motion, the Walker leapt up onto safe ground and started forwards. Its gait had a strange, jaunty bounce to it, though it smoothed out as it picked up speed.

Admiral T'arrk balked and – as Vader had hoped – he turned and ran for safety.

The Arachne-Walker caught up to him in seconds; spearing him again and again with startling, unrestrained violence; until he was nothing but a bloody pulp on the ground. Then, after a moment of hesitation, the mechanical monster took a step back and turned slowly around to face the way it had come.

Vader, pleased with the destructive force of this undersized Walker, pressed the remote and watched the light in the photoreceptors dim.

Behind him he heard the shuffle of movement and turned slowly to where five members of the Imperial Navy had stepped out to do their duty. Their fear was an intoxicating thing and he reveled in it.

"I want the Walker taken aboard, Captain."

He sensed their terror spike and watched as they scampered – like rodents – to do his bidding. The Walker was stationary now, its limbs locked in place, lights dark.

Vader was satisfied that the journey had not been a total loss after all. The disobedient slave might have escaped but he would not get far. He wasn't running to safety. He was simply running into a trap.

To be continued...

Next update: 16th June