Wow! It's the last day in June, and I've got one more chapter update! THREE chapters in one month! I haven't had updates this frequent in a long, long time!

WARNING: This chapter is pretty dark and probably at least a little bit graphic.

Alone in the officer's conference room aboard the Moonshadow, Vader knelt before the holoprojector. Within moments, the holo illuminated with an oversized depiction of Darth Sidious.

"Lord Vader. Did the Stardust prototype meet with your expectations?"

"Yes, Master. I look forward to the destructive capabilities that will be in our grasp upon the completion of the full-scale battle station."

"As am I. As to the true nature of this communicate. It occurs to me that there are other projects that require field testing, and I have decided to appoint the Star Destroyer Moonshadow as the Empire's designated field testing ship."

"Yes, Master. I shall inform the Admiral prior to my departure."

"Do not depart just yet, Lord Vader. I am sending a ship to your present location. It is carrying another project of mine, and I would like you to oversee its testing."

Vader did not like that. He was supposed to be hunting down Jedi, not acting as a lab rat. "Yes, Master."

"I sense your annoyance at this new assignment. But I assure you, Lord Vader, you will appreciate this new weapon. Along with Moff Toffee's new project, it should be quite an asset in your quest to destroy the remaining Jedi."

"Moff Toffee's project? I wasn't aware he was developing anything. What is it?"

The hologram of Sidious grinned evilly. "All will be revealed in due time, Lord Vader."


As threatening rain loomed in the Takodana sky, two fugitive Jedi Padawans stared, mouths agape, at the Imperial hunter who had tracked them for so long. They had never expected that the inquisitor's identity would be revealed to be someone they knew, let alone another Jedi.

"Master Hekapoo?" Marco ventured slowly, finally finding his voice. "Wh...? Why? How...how could you? You're a Jedi!"

"WAS a Jedi," she corrected. "Not anymore." She slowly paced to the left. "It was time for things to change. The Jedi have been losing their way for a long time."

"Losing our way…? You just cut off my best friend's arm!"

"If it makes you feel any better, I wasn't trying to hurt Star. I was trying to kill her."

"That does not make me feel better," Star whispered.

Hekapoo paced back to the right again. "Peacekeepers, we were, not soldiers. And yet they called us Generals, dragging legions of clone troopers all over the galaxy-"

"To save innocent people from the oppression of the Separatists!" Marco yelled.

"And how many innocent people died because of the Jedi?!" Hekapoo spat. "The Order was blinded by it's own arrogance and foolish leaders who always knew best." She sarcastically emphasized the word "always."

Marco was furious. "So you'd rather have the galaxy be under the control of a Sith Lord?"

"Do you have any idea how much corruption there was in the Republic? How much crime was left to run unchecked? How many citizens in need of help were left to fend for themselves because of politicians too heartless to make even the tiniest sacrifice? It's time for a new power in the galaxy, one who will achieve order." Hekapoo narrowed her eyes. "By whatever means necessary."

Marco clenched a fist. "And you think a Sith with absolute power is going to be any better?"

"The senate still exists, dumb-dumb. He's not all-powerful." She smirked. "And besides, there's nothing wrong with wanting to be on the winning side. My master foresaw this conflict. He had a vision that the Jedi would lose the Clone War, and urged me to follow his example."

Star suddenly spoke up through teeth clenched in both pain and anger. "Wait a second, that pile of bantha dung Pong Krell knew we were gonna lose and he didn't say anything?!"

Rain drops began to fall.

"Krell wanted to gain favor with Dooku and thought sabotaging his own troops was a good way to do that. Those clones were smarter than they looked and figured him out." Hekapoo shook her head. "I chose to wait for the opportune moment to defect. Now I'm in good standing with the Emperor, and I have a new mission." Her lightsabers flew back into her hands from where they had landed on the ground. "And that mission is to kill you two brats." Twin crimson blades ignited, held at the ready. Raindrops hissed into tiny puffs of steam as they landed on the superheated blades.

Teeth grit, Marco pulled his weapon from his belt, stepping between his best friend and Inquisitor Hekapoo. He spotted Star's lightsaber still clutched in her severed hand on the ground and called it to his left hand. Azure and emerald blades hissed to life and he took ready position. "You will not lay a finger on Star. Er, again."

"Oh ho! Look at this big man, defending his partner." Hekapoo chuckled. "I had heard that you were growing quite skilled with a blade, Diaz, training with Master Fisto." She crossed the blades in front of her. "Let's see what you've got."

The rain came down harder, and in seconds all three were soaked. Marco ignored the damp, his eyes locked on his opponent. Behind him, Star watched anxiously, scared for her best friend's life even despite her own injury.

Marco inhaled deeply, his consciousness slipping into the Force, anger welling up inside. Hekapoo stared him down, taunting him with her eyes to make the first move.

And Marco did. But not with his lightsabers. Motioning forward with his hands as they retained their grip on his weapons, Marco projected a powerful Force-push. Hekapoo was taken by surprise as she tumbled head-over-heels backwards into the woods, landing on her back to find Marco flying toward her from overhead, blades poised to bisect her up the middle.

In one smooth, continuous motion, Hekapoo rolled out of the way and spun back to her feet, her rotation bringing her around to strike at Marco as he brought his blades back up to aim in a new trajectory. The blades clashed hard and locked. Hekapoo watched with amusement as Marco leaned on his lightsabers, desperately trying to force her's back. His teeth gnashed together tightly, and anger burned in his eyes. She twirled to the side and let his blades fall into the space she had occupied a split second before, dealing a spinning slash toward Marco that she was positive he would not have time to block. She was wrong, the glowing blue shaft of his lightsaber flipping around backwards to counter just in time.

Now the duel was on.

It didn't take long for either combatant to realize that their skills were fairly well matched. It was difficult for either to find an exploit in the other's defenses, especially given that both fought with two blades. Back and forth the battle flowed, and the longer the fight progressed, the wilder the maneuvers became as each attempted to take the other by surprise.

Eventually, the battle paused as all four lightsabers locked together for a second time. Marco grunted as he strained to hold the inquisitor back.

Hekapoo laughed evilly. "It isn't the Jedi way to draw strength from anger, Diaz."

"It isn't the Jedi way to betray your fellow Jedi, either," Marco groaned. "But you sure did a good job of that!" Keeping her blades pinned with his own lightsaber, he pulled back Star's weapon and swung low, hoping to catch his opponent in the legs. Hekapoo suddenly fell over backwards, extinguishing her blades as she put her hands down to perform a backflip, kicking upward with her left leg and catching Marco in the midsection. As she flipped, her foot carried Marco up into the air and tossed him over her.

"AHHHHHH-!"

His trajectory carried him right into the deep gulley that ran parallel to the walking path. He slammed hard into the far bank, both lightsabers extinguishing as he did, and tumbled down to the bottom where he splashed down flat on his back into the shallow stream.

And immediately, Marco knew he was in trouble. His left shoulder had been dislocated yet again.

"Oh, not now! I need that!"

Before he could react further, the inquisitor dove into the stream, crimson lightsabers aimed straight down to plunge through Marco's chest. He quickly rolled to the side, the plasma blades missing him by a hair's breadth as they penetrated the water. Clouds of steam erupted from the creek as the superheated blades vaporized water surrounding them, and Marco found he couldn't see. Staggering to his feet, he ignited his lightsaber, still in his right hand. Star's weapon had slipped from the limp fingers of his left and vanished in the mist. He was disoriented, unable to focus. He slowly backed downstream out of the mist, trying to ignore the water filling his boots and soaking his socks. He couldn't stand wet socks.

Then Hekapoo burst from the cloud of steam toward him. Marco held up his lightsaber to block the attack, and the harsh collision of the blades nearly knocked it from his hand. The inquisitor struck again and again and again, and each time Marco was barely able to counter. He needed both hands to hold onto his weapon against the powerful attacks, and that was unfortunately impossible. All he could do was continuously move backwards with the direction of Hekapoo's attacks to lessen the impact of each blow. Every clash nearly smacked the lightsaber from his hand, sending it wildly flailing and making it even more difficult for him to block the next attack.

Then, as Marco was retreating backwards along the stream bed, he tripped on a rock. He didn't fall, but his unsteady footing caused him to stumble, and that shifted his upward blocking motion just slightly. The world suddenly seemed to be moving in slow motion, and Marco could only helplessly watch as Hekapoo's blades slashed toward him. He attempted to jump backwards out of the way, and this time did fall over, but not quickly enough to avoid the enemy's swords.

One crimson blade missed his right hand by mere millimeters, slicing through the hilt of his lightsaber, the azure blade disappearing in an instant as the weapon was destroyed. Hekapoo's second lightsaber came from the opposite direction. It had been aimed directly at Marco's head. As he tumbled over backwards, the pointed tip grazed his face, slashing across his left eye, just penetrating the brown iris and burning a gash that stretched from the center of his forehead and across the upper part of his left cheek.

Marco howled in pain as he splashed down into the shallow water, his hand clutching at his face, which felt as though it were on fire. The inquisitor stood over him, smiling triumphantly as an ominous rumble of thunder rolled through the sky. The sounds of battle abruptly ended, the sounds of the rain and wind and bubbling stream were suddenly quite noticeable over the low hum of the fallen Jedi's weapons.

"How adorable that you dorks thought you could best me." Hekapoo switched off her lightsabers and returned them to her belt. "You put up a good fight, Diaz. I'm impressed." She knelt down beside him, and Marco opened his good eye to see her, his jaw clenched both in pain and anger. His entire body trembled from the chill of the water and the pain coursing across his face. "I like you, Diaz. Why don't you join me? I'll complete your training, and you could help me track down the last remnants of the Jedi."

It took a tremendous effort for Marco to spit out even a single word through his clenched teeth. "Never!"

Hekapoo pursed her lips. "Mm. Pity." She stood. "Then you will die." She raised a hand outstretched, fingers curled as if to strangle the air. The Force gathered around Marco's neck, and he felt the crushing grip of an invisible hand tighten around his windpipe. Desperately gasping for air, he slowly rose out of the water, held aloft as he fruitlessly clawed at his throat, choking for breath. He could feel bone and cartilage cracking.

A low, evil cackle dripped from Hekapoo's vocal chords, watching the query she had pursued for so long pointlessly struggle, delighting in Marco's suffering. "Months of my life spent in endless hell tracking you brats, now you get to experience the same pain and suffering as your life ends."

Through a curtain of tears blurring his one good eye, Marco could just make out the inquisitor standing a meter or so away, desperately trying to think of something, anything he could do to take the inquisitor with him into death and save Star from a similar fate...

...but there was nothing. His mind was blank. His brain was becoming starved for oxygen and he could barely think. His vision slowly turned dark as he began to black out.

And then, Hekapoo's cackling laugh abruptly ended as a shaft of emerald light erupted through her chest. Marco suddenly dropped from his arial suspension and splashed down into the stream on his hands and knees. Gasping for breath, he looked up at the inquisitor, surprise frozen on her face as a soft gasp accompanied the air leaving her punctured lungs. Then the green shaft of light vanished and the dead Jedi hunter slowly toppled over to reveal his savior.

Star was soaking wet, her blonde hair speckled with mud and matted to her face. She panted for breath, extinguished her humming lightsaber, and collapsed to her knees before falling over onto her side.

"Star..." Marco feebly croaked. He crawled against the flow of the stream, the gentle water feeling like an ocean riptide. Halfway to Star his hand brushed against the broken halves of his lightsaber, the former weapon of Jedi Master Rhombulus, beneath the water's surface, the heavy durasteel preventing it from being swept away by the sluggish creek. He ignored it. It was beyond repair.

As Marco approached, the best friends reached out to each other with their remaining good hands, clasping their fingers together and squeezing as tightly as their strength would allow.

"Marco," Star squeaked. "We...have to..."

He nodded, understanding. "Janna." He turned over to sit beside her, fishing in the pocket of hoodie for his commlink. But it was gone. It had fallen out at some point during the fight. "Gone," was all the words he could muster. He had no way of knowing, but the inquisitor's Force-choke had partially crushed his trachea, and he could barely breathe. He gasped and wheezed for breath, unable to fill his lungs.

Star fumbled for her little purple bag and found her commlink. She keyed it, attempting to call Janna, but it tweeted out an error code. "Oh...mountains...block comms, too..." She looked at Marco. "They'll...look for us..."

Marco nodded. "But..." His good right eye flickered toward the bank, high above them.

Star understood. How could Tom and Janna find them down here in the gully? "They'll find us...they will." Star brushed wet strands of hair out of her eyes. She gently reached up and touched Marco's cheek, examining the scar across his face. "Marco...your eye..."

He nodded sadly.

"Can you see...?"

"...no."

Star rested her head on his shoulder, tucking the stump of her right arm into her dress. "Tom...and Janna...they'll find us..."

Marco nodded. He knew that Tom and Janna would come looking for them, and he didn't doubt that they would find him and Star.

He just hoped they were still alive to be found when they did.


From the top of a small nearby rise and hidden from view by a large rock, Rosado had watched as the inquisitor met her end. For a moment, he felt relief. No longer would he have to worry about being on the receiving end of her wrath. Then he remembered that he was still under the employ of the Empire. He wondered if he could try to disappear from their radar; Return to Coruscant for his family, move somewhere remote in the Outer Rim where the Empire would never find them.

No. That would never work. Just like every other Imperial Officer, his chain code was in the Empire's system. He would be discovered the instant he tried to board any public transport, which would of course be necessary since he himself could not fly and had no ship of his own.

On the other hand, Imperial command would be expecting a mission status update. He could only imagine how the extremely un-empathetic higher-ups would react to his news.

As far as Rosado could see, he had but one option: He would have to kill the kids himself. And he really, really didn't want to do that. He also couldn't, seeing as how he carried no weapon. He supposed he could go hunt around for one of the stormtroopers' blasters, but...he doubted he had the stomach to execute anyone, let alone two teenagers.

He was well and truly stuck.

With no other options in sight, he crept away from the scene and pointed his feet in the direction of the clearing where the Mentis Mal patiently waited.


Tom stood at the bottom of the boarding ramp of the Raventalon, watching the heavy rain as it poured down from the heavens. The sound of footsteps alerted him to Janna's approach.

"They're still not back yet?" Janna asked.

Tom shook his head. "There's no sign of them."

"They probably didn't leave town before the rain started and they're just taking shelter at the cantina instead of walking home in this downpour."

"I don't know...what if something happened to them? They already got attacked in the cantina once."

Janna sighed. "Yeah, you're right. Maybe we'd better go look for 'em." She turned toward the top of the ramp, where PY-HD was sitting well out of the rain. "We're going out to look for Star and Marco, Pony. We'll be back."

The astromech bleeped questioningly.

"Nah. I would ask you to come, but I already know your sensors don't work in these magnetic mountains."

The droid replied haughtily, its binary language translating as "Good, you weren't getting me out in this rain, anyway."

Janna rolled her eyes and pulled her hat down over her ears before heading out into the rain with Tom.


SF-437 was still standing guard before the Mentis Mal, steadfast at attention in the pouring rain. The stormtrooper saluted Security Officer Rosado as his superior approached.

"Sir!"

"At ease, trooper," Rosado said with a sigh as he started up the ramp." I have to make contact with Imperial Command. We're gonna have to fly the ship high enough out of the mountains to get a signal out."

"Yes, Sir!"

"And please stop calling me 'Sir.'"

"YesSir."

The stormtrooper wasted no time in firing up the Mentis Mal and piloting it straight up into the sky, watching the readout for the comms to return. Rosado stood before the holotable, leaning on his knuckles and taking several long, deep breaths. You can do this...you can do this...

He punched in the frequency for Imperial High Command and hoped whomever he got through to was the understanding type.


With Vader's Lambda-class shuttle moved out to alleviate congestion in the hanger, a small Imperial cargo ship moved into the vacant space. The Sith Lord himself watched the ship's arrival with interest, partially annoyed at having a new project sprung on him by Sidious, and also curious to see what the as of yet undisclosed device to be tested could be.

A pair of stormtroopers lead a large, sealed shipping crate on repulsors down the ramp and parked it a few meters in front of Vader.

"Open it," Vader commanded. "I want to see what the Emperor has sent."

"Yes, Sir." One of the stormtroopers inserted a code cylinder into a port on the side of the crate and the seal popped open with a loud hiss! Then the trooper swung open the hinged front to reveal the secret weapon inside.

Darth Vader was quite surprised. He certainly understood now why Lord Sidious has said the new weapon would be beneficial in defeating the last stragglers of the Jedi Order. He stepped forward for a closer look. "I believe that this device will require proper…test subjects…" He turned to the stormtrooper with the code cylinder. "Activate it."

"Right away, Sir." The trooper connected a datapad to a port on the back of the head and tapped in several commands.

The eyes lit up with a dull, red glow. Vader stepped back to give it space.

And then it walked out of the crate. Vader was quite impressed. It looked and moved just like the original.

"Lord Vader."

The Sith Lord turned around. It was Admiral Oswego. "What is it, Admiral?"

"Forgive my intrusion, but there is a transmission waiting for you."

"From the Emperor?"

"No, Sir. From Security Officer Rosado."


The holotable illuminated and Rosado's blood turned to ice, for he found himself face to face not with an Imperial Officer, but with Darth Vader himself.

"Lord Vader!" he blurted out in surprise.

"Security Officer Rosado," the Sith Lord replied slowly. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Rosado wasn't sure if Vader was in a good mood (or if he was even capable of being so) or if the Sith Lord was mocking him. "Um...Lord Vader, I regret to inform you that...um...the inquisitor...is dead."

It was not easy to discern Vader's reaction considering the man beneath was concealed beneath a helmet. But the way he asked simply, "How?" made Rosado think he sounded genuinely curious.

"The...inquisitor had a plan to separate the Padawans, Butterfly and Diaz, to defeat them, but...they proved to be..." He searched for the appropriate word. "Resilient." He quickly added, "The stormtroopers are all dead, as well. Except my pilot."

"So the Padawans defeated the stormtroopers and the inquisitor?"

Now Rosado was certain Vader sounded intrigued. "Yes, my Lord. Though...not without sustaining, uh...significant injuries."

"Hmm..." The Sith Lord thoughtfully touched the bottom of his helmet, thinking. Rosado could only anxiously wonder what he would say next. "I am altering your assignment, Officer Rosado. Capture the Padawans and bring them to me." And before Rosado could say anything, Vader cut the transmission and the holotable flickered off.

Rosado blinked, trying to figure out what had just happened. "Capture?"