Somewhere far beyond the haze of dreams and visions were voices. Galen did not want to hear them, but the sounds he could not properly comprehend persisted. The words made no sense to him, they might as well have been a foreign language. He only wished for the voices to cease so he could drift back to sleep. He wanted to rest. He wanted to curl up and die and become nothing, but there was a sound that pierced through all the other noises around him. At first the sound was calming and comforting in its familiarity. Rasping inhale, hissing exhale followed by a pause. His own breath caught in his throat as he understood who was with him.
His eyes shot open, but a bright light directly above him forced him to squeeze them shut again.
"He is awake, Lord Vader," an artificial voice announced. A droid, Galen thought as he turned his head to the side and tried to peer his eyes open again. Years of training compelled him to instant alertness. He made out the silhouette of medical droid. There were tubes and wires and machines. He tried to move, but was held in place. His heart hammered in his chest with sudden panic and the beeping noise of a heart monitor quickened its pace to match it.
"Easy, sir," the droid spoke. "You are bound for your own safety."
"Wha–?" Galen tried to voice his confusion, but managed only a croaky whisper. The dryness at the back of his throat made him cough and once it began there seemed to be no end to it. He gasped for breath between eye-watering hacking coughs as the restraints over his chest pressed against him painfully. All the while he could still hear the all too familiar breathing coming from the shadows of the room.
Though the lights had first blinded him, he could see the room was in fact very dimly lit once the coughing ceased. An intensive care unit, he thought as his eyes took in the machinery around him. Surgical instruments that would extend form the ceiling to transform the space into an operating theatre. Tubes and wires attached themselves to him and there was a needle that disappeared below his skin. Then his entire arm began spasming. He tried to will the arm to remain still, but he could not control it. His leg had started twitching as well, though it had little room to move against the bonds.
"Involuntary muscle convulsion is quite common," the droid said. "This will help."
Galen inhaled sharply between his teeth as the droid pressed an injection needle against his neck. Only seconds passed before he felt the muscles began to relax and the trembling ceased soon after. His breath was still erratic as he attempted to crane his neck to see the dark figure standing behind him. The droid began to unhook him from the monitors and tubes. The lights in the room brightened, and Galen tried to take in as much of it as he could. He was surrounded by glass walls, and similar operating theatres lined the large room on all sides.
"Drink."
Galen needn't be told twice, though it wasn't easy lying on his back, even with the droid supporting his head. The liquid the droid held for him to drink tasted bitter and rolled on his tongue a tad thicker than water, but was nevertheless wondrous for his dry mouth and throat.
"Leave his restraints for now," a familiar voice boomed and Galen could finally see his master walk towards the table he lay on. Darth Vader halted at his side.
"Master," Galen all but whimpered. Why? How?
"There will be time for questions later," Darth Vader cut him off before he could even begin with questions.
"You killed me," Galen stammered.
"You led the Emperor's spies to us," Vader countered. "You almost jeopardised everything I've worked for for the past fifteen years."
"I know," Galen said, pain evident in his voice. "I...I know. That's why... Why..? Why?!" he cried, fighting against the straps that forced him to remain against the the thin mattress. He stared at the man for a moment, then collapsed against the table with a shaky sigh.
"The Emperor wanted you dead –I did not. I ensured you would not die."
Galen shuddered at the memory of himself slamming against the pipes and the sound of his own bones breaking. He remembered being hurled right through the viewport and seeing the emergency shutters close.
"I failed. I deserved to die," he croaked. He did. He had earned his death and now he wanted it back.
"Yes," Vader agreed. "But I still have use for you."
Luke.
"Is–?" Luke all right? Did he make it home? he wanted to ask, but cut himself off. Vader did not know, and Luke was never to be mentioned unless Master brought him up himself. He looked at the black mask tilted down at him and though realistic to the point where Galen could see his own terrified reflection on the eyes of the mask he realised he could not feel his master's presence. Darth Vader wasn't even truly here.
"What use do I have for you?" he asked, defeated. He didn't care it did not sound a least bit respectful.
"Our goal has not changed. You will create a distraction. Your death is an advantage," Vader said, his tone brutal and honest. "The Emperor forced my hand. Now he believes you dead. You will embrace the benefit it gives you."
Galen closed his eyes for a moment, letting the words sink in.
"What if I don't want to?" he asked, facing the man once more. He felt oddly calm, though he could not remember ever defying his master in such way. But he had already died once.
He could have sworn the temperature in the room dropped as Darth Vader's voice grew harsher yet. "Then you will die."
Galen did not avert his eyes from Darth Vader's mask. "Then let me die."
The hologram hand and the metal beyond slammed at the operating table right beside his head. If Vader had been present, Galen would surely have been hurled right through the glass walls.
"Are you going to let one failure stop you?" Vader seethed. "I have no time for a childish tantrum."
The man stepped back before continuing: "Perhaps I was wrong in salvaging your body and having you be put together again. Perhaps you are not as strong as I thought you were, apprentice."
Apprentice.
That's right. Vader had knighted him. After years of rigorous training and not a word of compliment his master had finally acknowledged that he truly was an apprentice. That he was more than an assassin or a Hand or an Inquisitor. Galen felt a pang of guilt in his heart as he recalled how happy and proud he had felt. Was this how he now repaid? By refusing to take an order after betraying his master's trust?
Galen sighed, slumping further into the thin, hard mattress below. "What shall I do for you, my master?"
The words left his mouth and it was as if the entire universe clicked back into its place. He knew his place in it, he knew how to take an order and serve his master.
"Release him," Vader ordered the droid. Electric locks clicked open and Galen was free. He sat up with some difficulty and attempted to massage his sore wrists as his master spoke: "You will create a distraction. Abandon everything you know and everything you were. You must let no one know your allegiance still lies with me."
Galen still nurtured his wrists, hugging his arms closer. Abandon everything? What about Luke? What about– what about his family..? Surely they should all know he was still with them. How long had he been here –wherever here was. Did they know? Would they know?
But he could voice none of these questions.
"A distraction?" he inquired instead. "Who do you want me to kill?"
"An assassination won't hold the Emperor's attention for long," Vader said, pointing at him. "I want you to find the Empire's enemies and bring them together. You will pretend to seek to destroy the Empire. This will be your chance for revenge. Our time to strike will come when the Emperor is preoccupied by the forces you have created."
"Forces? Like...an army..?" the apprentice asked dubiously, trying to follow what Darth Vader meant. Revenge? It was an odd choice of a word. What would he avenge? His own death..? There was nothing to avenge there. It had been a just punishment.
"Precisely."
Galen did not know what to say. It sounded like an impossible task, but Darth Vader would not take kindly to arguments and he had no energy to think of it now, so he jumped down from the table and merely nodded. "All right. It shall be done, my master."
"See that it is," the Dark Lord solemnly declared. "You must vanish. Leave no witnesses."
Galen nodded again. Kill everyone, was what his master meant. "Yes, master. As you wish."
With that the image dissolved, revealing PROXY underneath. The droid faltered a little, but his system was fully back online before Galen could reach his friend.
"Master!" the droid greeted happily. "It's so good to see you fully functional again! I was beginning to think you would never get up and I would never be able to kill you."
"I'm glad to see you, too, PROXY," Galen chuckled tiredly. Some things never changed, and for that he was glad. He looked around in the room. It was bare apart from the operating table, the machines he had been attached to and the medical droid that had powered off without him noticing. "Where are we?"
"The Empirical. One of Lord Vader's research facilities," PROXY explained.
Galen rolled his shoulders in an attempt to make himself feel less stiff. How long had he been unconscious? Weeks if not months considering all the broken bones he must have had, not to mention the stab wound. He didn't feel right in his skin.
"What sort of research?" he wanted to know.
"Medical," PROXY replied. "You are in fact here as one of his experiments."
Galen rolled his eyes. Of course he was. For all he knew, one of these facilities could very well be where he originated from. Galen Marek could easily be nothing more than a name Vader gave him –just like Starkiller. And for now he needed to be Starkiller.
"So...what now?" he wanted to know.
"We should leave. Lord Vader had me prepare for your escape before having you woken up. This station will plummet into the nearest sun, but before that–"
The entire room shook, cutting him mid-sentence.
"But before that it will self-destruct," the droid finished cheerfully. "It's begun."
"What?" the apprentice barked. "PROXY, we're still onboard. I thought you wanted to kill me in combat."
"Attention all personnel," a voice spoke over the intercom. "There has been an explosion on sector seven. The area has been sealed. Stay clear of sector seven until further notice."
"I do," PROXY replied, ignoring the intercom in the background. "Don't worry, master. We have plenty of time to leave. Forty-eight minutes to be exact. Come, you should get changed."
Starkiller followed his friend to the side of the room where a neatly folded pile of clothes awaited on top of a monitor –everything from underwear to a utility belt. Two near identical lightsaber hilts rested on them. Seemed like a pretty straightforward way of saying "learn Jar'Kai". He wondered what had become of his own lightsaber. It was probably floating somewhere in space at Scarl system and he would never see it again –but he had no time to get sentimental now. He changed his hospital gown into a shirt, trousers, long boots, jacket and gloves.
With the combat gear on, a sabre on his belt and another in his hand he felt like himself again. He opened himself to the Force and reached for the dark side. He felt like Starkiller.
"Okay, let's get going, PROXY," he said, throwing the unfamiliar hilt in the air and catching it. He pushed with the Force and the glass door shattered. Alarms blared instantly.
"Hurry, master," PROXY urged. "I know where the Rogue Shadow is."
Rogue Shadow...
"Juno!" Starkiller gasped.
"Ah, yes. Captain Eclipse could prove useful," PROXY agreed. "But Lord Vader said to abandon everything you were."
"Alert sector ten," the intercom spoke again. "Specimen containment field for specimen 1138 has malfunctioned. Investigate immediately."
"Where is she?" Starkiller urged, ignoring the announcement that likely meant troops would be heading his way. Dread filled him and he knew Juno was in pain. He could feel it. It was a memory of a dream somewhere far at the back of his mind.
"Officially she's been executed for conspiracy and treason months ago."
"She's not dead," he repudiated. "I can feel her." He truly could. She couldn't be far away.
"No, she is not," PROXY confirmed. "Captain Eclipse is held at the prison ward."
"Where is it? I'm going to get her."
"Lord Vader won't be pleased," the droid scolded, but replied: "The prison ward is relatively small. It's located at the lowest level."
"I need a pilot, I'm going to get her," Starkiller repeated, pushing a heavy door off of its hinges. It mowed a squad of stormtroopers that had just arrived. "I'll meet you at the ship."
"Be careful, master," PROXY said before taking off to the opposite direction. "Let me know if you need directions."
"I can feel her."
"Thirty-nine minutes," PROXY called. There was no time to lose then. Starkiller ran down the corridor, only to come face to face with another squad of troopers.
"Oh blast," one of the troopers swore. "One of Lord Vader's experiments is loose," he elaborated, speaking over comm to alert his superiors.
"Set blasters to kill!" another shouted as Starkiller ignited the sabre. A blue beam of energy hummed as he adopted his opening stance.
"Yeah, subject 1138," the first trooper confirmed as the rest stepped forward, guns aimed at him.
"Freeze!"
"Drop your weapon!"
Starkiller did neither. He pushed at the squad, sending them flying against the walls. Blaster fire began immediately, but he deflected the bolts that made it to his path. He killed the trooper nearest to him as he ran past. If the whole facility was to be destroyed, then it hardly mattered whether he killed them or no. He had no time to stay and finish the job. The facility shook again.
"Red alert! Subject 1138 has escaped!" the intercom announced. Must be me, he thought as he ran with his eyes half closed, concentrating on Juno's fleeting presence. Her pain resonated with his heart as he dashed down emergency stairs. What had they done to her? Why was she in such pain?
"Alert all personnel. There has been another explosion on sector three. Avoid sector–"
The ship shook again.
"Uh, that– that sounded like another explosion," the baffled man spoke over the intercom. "Um, we– What? All of them? How?"
The intercom guy seemed to realise the channel was still open and the line went dead.
"PROXY, what's going on?" Starkiller spoke into his wristcom. How much time did he still have left?
"The ship's navigation should now be offline and all escape pods have been jettisoned. I suggest you hurry."
Starkiller disregarded the last bit. By now it seemed the staff had realised something was extremely wrong. People ran past him, but none tried to stop him. They all were headed away from the lower levels he was headed to. He ran across a pair of stormtroopers, but as one of them took aim the other interrupted: "Forget the subject, we have to leave!"
Starkiller hurried past them. They were as good as dead anyway. The prison ward was small indeed and completely abandoned apart from the prisoners themselves. He heard yelling and banging behind the durasteel doors, but there was only one life here that interested him. He ripped the door open and gasped her name.
He froze and his heart skipped a beat at the sight. Juno, half naked and beaten, hung in mid-air. Her blonde hair was a mess around her face. She must have heard him for she whined, barely conscious.
Starkiller turned the repulsor off. She fell, completely boneless. Starkiller caught her, easing her fall with the Force. Her head hung as if she were already dead, but he could feel a faint presence in the Force. She was a fighter.
He adjusted her limp body to a better position in his arms, trying his best to support her head against his chest. He managed to run almost halfway to the hangar with PROXY's directions before anyone tried to stop him.
"Halt!"
Starkiller did. He turned to look a man wearing an officer's uniform aiming a blaster at him.
"I don't want to kill you," Starkiller said. It was true. He had killed hundreds of people in his life, but unless he had a specific target he had no urge to kill. Collateral damage just was inevitable. "But I will if you attempt to stop me."
The man fired. Starkiller activated his lightsaber, throwing Juno away and catching her mid-air. The blasterbolt scorched the wall.
"This is your last chance to walk away," Starkiller warned. When the man prepared to shoot again, he grabbed the man through the Force and pulled his body straight through the lightsaber. The corpse fell on the floor.
Starkiller deactivated his weapon and clipped the hilt back on his belt. He could feel his concentration slipping as Juno weakly struggle against the invisible bonds levitating her.
"Juno," he gasped, pullign her back into his arms. Her eyes opened slowly. Disorientation and confusion dominated her mind.
"Star...killer?" she tried saying, but her lips barely moved and her voice came out quieter than a whisper.
"Hang on, Juno," he begged her. "I'm getting us out of here."
He didn't know if she had heard him. Her eyes closed and she fell completely limp again.
"Hang on," he pleaded as he moved her over his shoulder as gently as he could. He needed his other hand free for the lightsaber in case more people would try to shoot him. They would though, wouldn't they? He wasn't inside a building, this was a space station –and it was about to be destroyed. He was the only one with a chance to escape.
The closer to the hangar bay he got, the more resistance he faced. He wasn't at his strongest, but it hardly mattered. He destroyed anything and anyone in his way.
The hangar bay was in chaos. Every ship save for the Rogue Shadow had been destroyed. Anyone who had attempted to board his ship was dead at its door.
"Master, hurry!" he heard PROXY urge through the Rogue Shadow's speakers. The droid had already boarded and got the engines running.
It was difficult to dodge fire with Juno hanging over his shoulder, and impossible to use the Sith lightning with the fear that the electricity running through him would harm her.
He was almost at the Rogue Shadow's ramp when a woman stepped right in front of him and stood with her arms spread wide to show she had no weapons.
"Take me with you," she begged. "Please!"
She wasn't a soldier, she was just a doctor. A researcher. She was insignificant. She stood between him and safety for Juno.
Starkiller looked at her with contempt. "I can't."
"But you're taking her! You're saving that prisoner!"
"I need my pilot," he replied. "Move. Or I will kill you."
"I'll die anyway," she cried. "If you won't take me with you, at least kill me quickly. I don't wan to burn. Please."
Starkiller held his lighsaber at her. "As you wish."
He swiped through her neck so quickly that the head didn't even separate from the body until it collapsed on the floor. He jumped over her and ran up the ramp. The ship lifted off instantly. By the time he had keyed the correct code, entered and closed the ramp behind him they were already flying through the airlock.
Still cradling Juno he hurried to get her to the small medbay. She was so weak, so weak. He feared she would not survive. He lowered her onto the mattress as gently as he could, and started the scanner immediately. Juno did not move or make a sound.
Starkiller looked at her readings, but he did not understand much about medicine. He spoke with the holographic meddoird that assured him Juno would be fine if she received the correct treatment and rested well. She was bruised, malnourished and dehydrated, but she had suffered no internal injuries. She showed signs of torture, but had not been harmed permanently. Starkiller did everything the meddroid advised him to best to his ability and finally left the room with a heavy heart when told there was nothing more he could do. She needed rest.
"Everything alright here, PROXY?" he inquired as he entered the cockpit illuminated by eerie blue light. They were in hyperspace. "Where are we going?"
"All clear, master. We should be coming out of hyperspace in seven minutes. The Empirical's location was remote and near unchartered space. We should be quite safe here."
Starkiller collapsed on the jump seat and buried his head in his arms. "Thanks, PROXY."
The droid regarded him in silence for a moment. "How is Captain Eclipse?" he inquired.
"She's stable now. She'll pull through."
"Lord Vader won't be happy," PROXY tutted.
"I'll deal with it, it'll be fine," he said. It didn't matter what Darth Vader would think. He just wanted Juno here. And what Vader didn't know...
"Is there anything I can do, master?" PROXY asked. He sounded worried. Or perhaps confused.
Starkiller shook his head slowly. "No. Just...I'm just tired. What are we even doing, PROXY?"
"I believe we are–"
"I mean... I betrayed everyone," Starkiller despaired and muffled a sob with his hand. "I led Palpatine's spies to us. If he had found Luke... He wouldn't have just taken him. He would've taken Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen, and used them against us. I almost got them into this. I messed up. I messed up real good. I failed everyone."
PROXY tilted his head and reached out to place his hand on Starkiller's shoulder.
"Chin up, master. Lord Vader still has faith in you."
"No he doesn't. He saved me because he needs me. Even if he didn't, I wouldn't deserve his faith. I betrayed him. I deserved to die."
"Don't say that, master," PROXY attempted to soothe him. "I wouldn't want anyone else kill you before I can."
A mixture of sob and laughter escaped Starkiller's lips. "Good old PROXY. I'm glad you're here buddy. I don't know what I'd do without you."
"What Lord Vader orders, of course. We are all programmed by him."
Starkiller huffed in bitter amusement. "Yeah, I guess you're right. It's just that...I thought I was so close. To my...my "primary programming". And I ruined it. And now he's sending me away again."
"He's not sending you away, master. You've been given an important mission."
He sighed. "An army. He wants me to create an army. How am I supposed to do that?"
"I don't know, master. But I'm sure you will excel eventually. You always do."
The ship jerked almost unnoticeably as they exited hyperspace. Starkiller could see nothing but faraway stars from the viewport.
"Where are we?"
"Nowhere. As I said, this area is barely charted. There is nothing here."
"Let's float here for couple of hours, then. Check the systems and try to scan for any trackers."
"What about you, master?"
"I'll check on Juno and take a little nap," he replied. "And please don't ambush me. Don't wake me up unless something serious happens. Keep an eye on Juno, too, will you?"
"Of course. And don't worry, master. I won't try to kill you until you're fully functional again. My current primary function is to help you vanish."
Starkiller dragged himself up from the seat and left. Juno's state remained the same. She breathed steadily in her unconscious slumber and had a calm, relaxed expression on her face. There was nothing he could do but to adjust her thermal blanket, so he made his way through the training room (the lights had been fixed, he noticed) and retreated into the familiar safety of his own chamber.
He hung the jacket away, kicked off his boots and removed the utility belt. He weighed the Jedi weapons in his hands before turning to put them away. He wondered idly who they had belonged to as they were clearly a pair, but he could not feel a thing from them. Perhaps Vader had killed their owner himself. Or it could have been any of the Inquisitors or Dark Jedi under the Empire's command. Once again Starkiller couldn't help but to worry if it was wrong to regard himself special.
But hadn't Vader knighted him? Shouldn't that prove there was something more to him? Hadn't his Master gone to extreme lengths to hide his existence from Darth Sidious? Hadn't he entrusted the safety of his son to him?
Hadn't he just saved his life?
Starkiller sighed and shoved the new lightsabers into a drawer, just wanting to be rid of them. He slammed it shut, then halted. He felt something – a familiar call. Slowly, carefully, he pulled the drawer open again. A piece of dark red fabric wrapped around something lay on top of all the random little items he'd thrown in to get them out of the view and the new lightsaber hilts rested on it. Through the Force he knew what he would find before he even began unwrapping it.
His battered old lightsaber. He'd thought he'd lost it forever.
Vader, he realised as he touched the hilt. Vader had salvaged his lightsaber and brought it here.
He blinked his watering eyes in confusion. Must be the exhaustion, Starkiller told himself. He had woken up from dreams and visions he couldn't recall anymore into a world that felt alien. How long had he been on the Empirical? He didn't feel like himself, and he did not know why.
At first he had just wanted to be left to his death. Then came guilt and acceptance, the horror of finding Juno, tortured because of him. Yet he had felt immense relief to find she was alive at all. How could Vader allow it? He knew, even as he asked himself. Vader would let nothing compromise Luke's safety. But why had he allowed her to live at all then?
Starkiller didn't know, but he was grateful she had not truly been executed. The idea of the Galaxy without her made his heart ache and breath catch in his throat.
Had Darth Vader ever felt like that, Starkiller wondered. Had he ever looked another human being with such intense emotion it felt more like agony than happiness? Like a heavy weight upon his chest and a knife twisted in his heart. That's how he had felt as he looked upon her just minutes ago.
But Vader would not care about that. He never did care about others. Nor would he ever do. He had after all selfishly ripped Erv Lekauf from his family years ago, and the man had not seen his wife or children ever since. Likely never would. Lekauf never spoke of it and Starkiller had always ignored it, but behind the Lieutenant's unwavering loyalty for Darth Vader, for Luke and all of them, was fathomless sorrow and despair. Lekauf loved and missed his family.
Not for the first time he wondered about Luke's mother. Who was she? What had happened to her? Luke said Vader had confirmed she was dead, nothing more. What had the relationship between her and his master been like?
He jerked from his thoughts when something fell from the folds of the fabric. He caught the item in midair before it hit the floor and levitated it to his hand. It was an earpiece. He flipped it on and a little light appeared to indicate there was a new recording. A biometric reader suggested it would be destroyed if anyone else but the person it was intended for attempted to listen it. It might just erase the recording, or in worst case scenario, explode inside the poor being's head who was stupid enough to try. He did not worry though. Clearly the message was meant for him. Starkiller put the piece in his ear, but before playing the recording he gently wrapped the fabric back around his lightsaber and returned it to the drawer.
He undressed from the rest of the clothing and changed into a more comfortable, simple outfit he used for training. His body ached all over. It felt stiff and wrong. He lay down on his bunk and wrapped the thick blanket around his exhausted body. Once the lights went off he finally allowed the recording to play.
The sound of breathing that followed him in his nightmares filled his ear.
"Starkiller. I did not expect you would survive."
Starkiller smiled tiredly. What a familiar statement. If he didn't know better, he would have said there was a hint of humour in Master's tone. The next words from his master were far more unexpected: "I trust you had sense to save your pilot. We need every ally we can get."
"Captain Eclipse is in the passenger quarters," he replied without thinking despite knowing Vader did not hear him.
"Take the Rogue Shadow to a secure location," Vader continued. "Do not contact me. Do not go anywhere near Tatooine until you have disabled the tracking devices on Rogue Shadow. There are two that I know of. One is on the outer hull below the cannons. The other is behind the maintenance panel in the floor hatch. There may be more. The Emperor is keen to keep an eye on you, but expects you to seek for tracking devices."
He had been right to ask PROXY to check for trackers then. But if the Emperor wanted to keep tabs on him...
"He knows you live. I planned to spare you, but Sidious realised my intentions. Whatever I may have told you when you woke up are likely lies. Proceed with whatever orders I gave you, but know that they were given by the Emperor's command. His spies are everywhere and they attempt to watch my every move. If I contact you, assume it is done under his watch and anything I say are his words."
Starkiller felt a cold lump settle at the pit of his stomach. Thank the stars he had kept his mouth shut about Luke when Darth Vader had spoken to him.
"We can still turn this to our advantage. Remain cautious. Be mindful of your surroundings. And do not fail me again," his master sternly warned. "Remember. The dark side will be with you. Always."
"The dark side will be with you," Starkiller whispered in tune with the tape. "Always."
It was the closest thing to a "goodnight" or "goodbye" or "good luck" Lord Vader had ever said to him. The message started looping itself and Starkiller listened through it again. And again. The fourth time it began playing he was already drifting to sleep.