Chapter 5: From Desert Disaster...to becoming an outcast!
Fair Warning: I will be constantly switching between calling Starkiller either by the aforementioned name, or as "the assassin", from time-to-time, because that was more easier for me at the time.
1 day before Starkillers capture: If there was one line that represented both the Sith and the Separatists perfectly: it was that there definitely was "no rest for the wicked". And that certainly was the case for Starkiller. It had been only a day removed from his exhausting encounter with the Jedi Padawan Amy on the Tranquility, and whilst the assassin was certainly no longer fatigued anymore - the wounds were still present on his body.
But that was alright to him: pain was a excellent teacher, and the pain was a reminder that his time would eventually come...and that was a fact that he relished...
Starkillers other armor, what he called his "Dark Lord's Armor", was currently being repaired by PROXY on the Rogue Shadow, and had been for the past day or 2. So he came in his secondary armor which was a lot less protective, but just as maneuverable: the helmet looking similar in design to his previous one, but different color and shape as well...but the armor also revealed his prosthetic right hand as well: which, unlike Skywalker's prosthetic hand, Starkiller's hand looked like it was grafted onto his arm painfully by a drunken surgeon, with no regard for his safety!
It had multiple wires connecting it to who knows where on his arm; they had what looked like razor sharp claws on his fingers, one or two of his fingers was shorter then the others, and with parts of what made the hand clearly being exposed and showed through both the back of his hand and even from when the hand meets the arm, and upwards a fair bit to a...gruesome degree on his arm.
Despite this, he still had access to his Force Lightning, or any lightning based powers, as he was still mostly flesh and bones despite his cybernetic components.
Currently the assassin Starkiller was on Tatooine, for what reason he neither knew yet nor did he care about. His "Sith Stalker" armor, as he called his current one, was covered up from head to toe...or helmet to toe in this case...in what looked like robes, ponchos or tunics from the planets local residents, Sand People.
[Note: I know that's Felucia and not Tatooine, but just imagine he's at Tatooine]
He soon arrived at a nearby clearing, were what looked like scattered remains of Gonk Droids and slaughtered Jawas laid, possibly having been killed by Sand People judging by the markings and tracks in the sand.
He soon got his holo-communicator and activated it, soon showing the holographic image of Count Dooku himself. The Count soon said, contempt in his tone "I trust that you've reached Tatooine with no witnesses, my...apprentice"
The assassin nodded to that in response as he says "Yes, my master." "Good. I have received word from my Master that local crime lord, Jabba the Hutt, has some valuable information regarding a trading route that could be of...significant value to the Separatists." The elder Sith Lord said, the look on the face of Dooku darkening with annoyance as he continued.
"Unfortunately, the Jedi already have this information from the Hutts. It is encoded on a data-disk...and is in the hands of a Jedi named A'Sharad Hett...who is also here, and has also tried to make a deal with his Tusken Raider brethren."
The name A'Sharad Hett didn't seem at all familiar to Starkiller, though he knew that the Jedi had had at least 2 Jedi Tusken Raiders in their order. A father and son. He at least knew that one was dead: the dad.
"You want me to dispose of the Hutt's or the Raiders?" Starkiller soon asked, to which Dooku answered "No, the Hutts could eventually be of some use to us. And to wipe out the Raiders would be to search that pitiful speck of a planet from head to toe. Your objective is to intercept the Jedi and wipe out both him, and whatever tribe of Tusken Raiders he is with, if at all possible."
Starkiller nodded to that a little as he said "I will not fail you...my master." "We shall see..." Was all Dooku said in response before the call ended. At that, the assassin soon put his holo-communicator away, before activating his helmets communicator to the Rogue Shadow. "Master, I've managed to locate the tribe that A'Sharad Hett is in. It's out in the Dune Sea's near Anchorhead." "Thank you...PROXY...Did you find out about the...well...about her?"
The 'her' he referred to was the Jedi, Amy, he fought on the Tranquility the other day. He didn't know why; but he felt like he knew her from somewhere before, or he'd heard her name from somewhere. It was something that, strangely, got his full attention, even more so than normal.
Maybe it was because he respected her for taking him to the limit in their battle. "Not yet Master. Shall I continue?" To which Starkiller says to that after a moments thought "No, not yet. Track the Jedi's movements first. Once I've reached the Jedi, then continue." And at that; he soon goes to grab a speeder and heads towards Anchorhead.
Eventually, the assassin soon arrived at Anchorhead, and soon notices a small group of Sand People raiding a Sand Crawler. He used his speeder to charge directly at the Sand People, who immediately started firing at Starkiller as he approached, or at least the ones with the Blaster Rifles, to which Starkiller activated his darksaber and easily deflected the shots...then he jumped up from his speeder into the air, causing the speeder to crash into the Sand Crawler - an explosion being caused from the crash that also killed some of the Tusken Raiders in the process...even if it wasn't planned...whilst Starkiller landed on the ground and charged at the Tuskens: deflecting shot after shot easily, and soon throwing his darksaber like a spear directly into the chest of one of the Rifle wielding Raiders, killing him instantly, before grabbing and activating his blood red lightsaber instantly with the Force to deflect the remaining blaster bolts from the other Raider before blasting him with a deadly blast of purple Force Lightning, killing the unprepared Tusken within seconds!
He then followed up by using the Force to call his darksaber back to his free hand, before using it to cut the remaining Tusken Raider's Gaffi Stick in two as he twirled out of the way to avoid a potential fatal blow...before delivering a fatal blow of his own as he stabs his lightsaber directly into the chest of the Tusken after his darksaber had cut apart the Gaffi Stick; killing the Tusken instantly!
After all of that chaos: he proceeded to deactivate his sabers, before noticing out of the corner of his sight a small group of Tusken Raiders a fair distance away in the distance just standing still.
He looked to the Sand Crawler...and began using the Force to, shockingly, lift up the Sand Crawler above his head, getting the Tusken's now shocked attention...before the assassin soon threw the Sand Crawler directly at the Tusken's; causing an enormous explosion that wiped out the Tusken's it landed near instantly!
Once he caught his breath - he soon headed off to where the Tusken's had been standing...and 5 minutes later: he soon noticed the Sand People Enclave in the distance...
"PROXY? Is this the place?" He asked, before his trusty droid responded with "Yes Master. Scans indicate that A'Sharad Hett is definitely in that Enclave." "Okay, stand by for extraction..." Starkiller simply said to that. "As you wish Master." PROXY replied casually, as Starkiller soon began to head towards the Enclave, activating both his sabers as he advanced.
Upon being spotted by the Tusken Raiders: they either charged at him or opened fire at him with Blaster Rifles...both of which were proven woefully ineffective against the assassin - as Starkiller either easily deflected the blaster fire back to their sender, or to another Tusken close by; or he cut down the Tusken's charging at him or that got to close to him easily with his lightsaber, not particularly caring much if the Gaffi Sticks get damaged, even if they were ceremonial weapons.
The Enclaves outer defenses, which were turrets that would automatically activate if he got too close, were a bit more of a challenge: as they all opened fire at that same time, which made it harder for Starkiller to block...but he soon overcame them after he jumped up into the air, since the turrets couldn't aim upwards; and he unleash an extremely powerful torrent of Force Lightning! Purple streaks of lightning unleashing on each and every turret, frying their systems and destroying them within under 30 seconds! Leaving nothing but a smoking pile of ash with each destroyed turret!
Once Starkiller had landed on his feet and began catching his breath: he panted exhausted, taking a few moments to catch his breath before entering the Sand People Enclave.
From there, it was a simple matter for the assassin: as the Enclave itself had its Sand People residents spread out all over the place, with a few walking around whilst others guarded certain areas of the Enclave.
Eliminating them was a simple matter: using the Force to either shock the life out of Sand People in pairs, or when there was the rare case of there being more than 2 in one small area with Force Lightning, or he'd use the Force to choke the life out of singular Tuskens that he ran into with Force Choke: another Force power that the Dark Side users would use, but one that Starkiller himself didn't actually use that often, unless he had an encounter with a lone person, or when he was on either a scouting or spying mission.
The assassin though, despite the explicit orders from Dooku about leaving no witnesses alive: he decided against killing any of female Sand People or the children, since they weren't armed and didn't pose a threat to him...plus, it wasn't as if anyone other than another tribe of Sand People would be able to understand their dialect, or the Tusken Raider Jedi himself for that matter.
He soon reached a room that lead into the chambers of the Tusken Raider's Chieftain of this clan...and instantly, he could sense the presence of his Jedi target in the chambers! He smirked at that as he held his inactive sabers in his hands: using the Force to open the roll up door to the room; causing the Tusken's Raiders in the room, a couple of female Tusken Raiders, the Chieftain Tusken Raider, and the Jedi Tusken Raider to turn and stare at the dark assassin in front of him.
Starkiller soon activated both his sabers at the same time, holding them his preferred reverse style, before saying "It's the end of the line for you...Jedi!" But to the surprise of the assassin, A'Sharad Hett seemed somewhat unfazed by the assassin in front of him, then he reached for his belt as he soon grabbed and activated a pair of green lightsabers as he says to Starikiller in a surprisingly basic language "I do no fear you, assassin scum! And if you think you will walk out of here alive for whatever the reason, then you are sadly mistaken!"
[Note: Sorry if the picture isn't the best, but I needed something with his Tusken Raider mask on, and this seemed to be the better image out there]
He held his two sabers in an offensive manner, soon speaking in the language of the Sand People Dialect before the male Tusken Raiders, the Chieftain included, grabbed their weapons - be that Blasters or Gaffi Sticks - the Chieftain having his own personal Chieftain's Gaffi Stick, which one could only assume was something passed down from one Chieftain to the next in a clan; before A'Sharad Hett began to charge directly at the assassin, Starkiller barely being able to block the attack with his sabers at that sudden surprise attack and sudden speed!
And just when he fought it wouldn't get any more surprising, as soon as he was blocking the attack of A'Sharad: one of the regular Tusken Raiders soon attacked Starkiller with his Gaffi Stick; scoring a nasty wound on Starkiller's upper arm near his shoulder - first blood literally being drawn by the Tusken's, as the assassin Starkiller grunted in pain, causing him to lose concentration and break from the saber lock he had with his Jedi opponent!
This gave A'Sharad Hett an advantage that Starkiller would never give his opponents under normal circumstances or large spaces (neither of those being the case here): as the Jedi Tusken pressed his advantage with a parry of lightsaber strikes one-after-another one blade at a time: Starkiller barely able to block the attacks as they came, whilst also trying to dodge attacks from all sides from the other Tusken Raiders in the room, each of whom were scoring their own nasty wounds on the assassins body and scoring their own bloody marks on Starkiller!
The Chieftain Tusken Raider scored a great wound onto the assassin when he hit the assassin in the gut with his Chieftain's Gaffi, before A'Sharad Hett followed that with a powerful Force Push to the assassin whilst Starkiller was distracted from their allies attacks to block it: sending Starkiller crashing into a wall, and tearing through his robes and tunics covering his armor!
It was at that moment, that the assassin Starkiller began to wheeze and cough hard, thinking that one of his ribs must have been injured or broken, and he could feel with his none prosthetic left hand, which had its own razor nail claw-like attachments to the fingers, that his wounds were bad! Not fatal bad yet; but they could possibly become fatal or worse if they continued the way they did!
He soon saw the Jedi and his Tusken allies advancing on him...and soon, he began to feel something in the Force that he had not used in a long time beginning to stir up within him!
He soon began to slowly jump up in the air as his enemies approached him, pulling his wounded arms and legs into a crouching position of sorts as he could feel the Force surge through his body like a whirlwind: and before his unlucky foes could stop in time to realize what was about to happen...it was too late - as he soon expanded his body outwards as a tremendous amount of Force Energy blasted out of his body in all directions: causing his unlucky foes to be forced back in all directions with enough force to snap their necks or crush every bone in their body, killing all but the Chieftain and his Jedi foe!
That, was the power of one of Starkiller's most devastating, and most powerful of all moves in the Force and in his arsenal of tricks...the Force Repulse!
As soon as the assassin was done, he landed on one knee on the ground, panting from the tremendous amount of energy he had used alone to use that maneuver! The damage could be seen easily: the Chieftain looked like he had been crippled by the blast, as he was wailing in what could only be guessed as tremendous agony...and the Jedi looked like he was struggling to stand.
Starkiller took this moment to force himself up, thrusting his prosthetic hand forward with great force as he unleashed a powerful Force Push that sent A'Sharad Hett smashing into a wall, knocking his sabers out of his hand and paralyzing his movements, Starkiller holding him briefly in this position as he said these final words to his now helpless foe! "You fought ferociously Jedi! Die with your head held high!" And at that: he soon quickly clenched his hands together as he created a Force Orb filled with purple Force Lightning, before instantly launching it directly at A'Sharad moments later; hitting his target dead on in the chest, and ending his life instantly!
He panted and wheezed for a long time, his body screaming in pain from his wounds and with the blood spilled from his body drying ever so slowly. He made his way to the body of the now late Jedi, slowly kneeling and retrieving the data-disk from the body and placing it on his belt...before soon looking to the crippled and screaming body of the Tusken Chieftain, and he could instantly feel his pain and his agony!
He knew that the leader of this tribe would no doubt die from the wounds afflicted to him, and no doubt soon...but surprisingly...all he could feel for this foe...was remorse and pity for this warrior...for he knew the pain that this man, this warrior, was feeling...and despite this, he couldn't help but feel sorry for him. And he looked at the Chieftain as he looked up at him...and all he could sense was one thing...that he was pleading for the pain to stop, even if he would not ask this of any other person...much less the person who tried to kill him...
Starkiller closed his eyes at that, soon slowly grabbing his darksaber and placed the hilt near the Chieftain's chest slowly where his heart is; soon saying slowly in a remorseful tone "Forgive me..." before reluctantly activating his darksaber: the blade instantly plunging into the heart of the crippled Chieftain, ending his life painlessly instantly...and at that, he could not help but shed some tears as well at his actions...reminding him of before hand...with the loss of someone else he knew, roaring out in sadness as tears flowed down his face, not that anyone could see them...deactivating his saber instantly before laying his hands on the floor clenching the ground...the assassin having broke for the first time in a long time...*
After a few minutes, he slowly got to his feet - gently taking the Jedi's lightsabers and placed them on his belt, gently handing the Chieftain's Gaffi to one of the female Tusken Raiders, both as a mark of his respect and to allow them to elect a new leader somehow; before slowly limping out as he called to PROXY on his helmets com in a sorrow filled tone, unable to mask the fact he had cried.
"PROXY...pick me up at the Enclave entrance...I've had enough of this planet..." PROXY, picking up his sadness, soon asks concerned for his friend and master "Understood Master. Are you alright?" To which Starkiller answered slowly "No...but thanks for asking..." before exiting the Enclave.
The Rogue Shadow soon arrived minutes later, and he boarded the ship before they departed from the planet: Starkiller placing the data-disk and A'Sharad Hett's lightsabers down as he headed to his meditation chamber. "Send the disk to Dooku...and send those lightsabers back to the Jedi...they can honor their dead..." the assassin said as he entered his quarters, shutting the door as PROXY slowly looked over surprised by that last part.
It was a few hours before PROXY saw his master again, the disk having been sent to Dooku and the lightsabers of A'Sharad Hett having been sent to the Jedi on Coruscant, labelled as being sent "anonymous"...though the Jedi would still probably guess who sent them...
PROXY soon entered the meditation chamber, seeing droid components scattered and smashed across the room, beyond repair, in what could only be described as pent up emotions being let out against the training droids unfortunate enough to get in his way. "Master...?" PROXY asked, concerned.
"Over here, PROXY..." Starkiller replied, standing in a corner in the room with his head against a wall...PROXY soon came up to him and said. "He's here...", causing Starkiller to turn and stand straight as PROXY's form began to change into that of Count Dooku.
Starkiller took to a knee at that, barely managing to both hold in and hide his conflicting emotions from the Sith Lord. "My mission is complete...my master." "Good. I have received the data you have sent me. You have done well. Return to my ship at once! We have great things to discuss..." The Count said, ominously, before the hologram form of Count Dooku returned to being PROXY, causing the latter to stumble and for Starkiller to catch him and straighten him up. "I shall set course for Dooku's flagship Master." PROXY said as he left the room.
A few hours later: The Rogue Shadow soon reached Count Dooku's flagship, landing on a secret docking bay reserved only for The Rogue Shadow to enter. Starkiller soon made his way out of the ship, not having bothered to change out his armor with the robes over his body from Tatooine, and having left all but his darksaber on the Rogue Shadow.
He made his way to the bridge...only then did he realize he had not spoken to PROXY about the matter of the Jedi Amy he had asked him to look up. He soon entered the bridge of the ship, soon seeing Count Dooku staring out of the viewpoint out to the vast emptiness of space beyond the ship, though it was less empty at the moment as three Separatist Frigates appeared.
Starkiller soon came up behind Dooku and stood behind him, the silence between the two was so tense you could either cut it with a knife, or be suffocated by it if it was at all possible.
"My Master, Darth Sidious, has arrived." Was all Count Dooku said. "You've lured him here to us? For what purpose?" the assassin asked, confused by this move...only to get a shock when the Count said "I did not summon him...boy!"
That shocks Starkiller as he turns around as he hears the door open, foolishly turning his back to the Count...who instantly ignited his lightsaber into the gut of the assassin, a blood red blade soon began showing from his gut, as the assassin Starkiller grimaced in pure pain, Dooku soon saying to him "His spies followed you here!" before retracting the blade from his gut and deactivating his saber, Starkiller falling to the ground, before the elder Sith Lord looked to his dark master and bowed with a hand across his chest.
"What is thy bidding, my master?" "You've forgotten your place, Lord Tyrannus!" The Sith Lord replied in a deep, foreboding tone. "By taking this...shell of a boy as your secret apprentice and assassin...you have betrayed me! Remember, there can only be two Sith, and this...boy is no Sith!" Lord Sidious continued, venom in his tone.
"Now you will kill him! Or I shall destroy the both of you here and now!" Starkiller wheezed in pain and agony, slowly looking to Dooku as the Sith Lord looked down at him...before Dooku began to move towards his dark master...and before lifting up Starkiller in a Force Choke before smashing him against a wall at the end of the corridor; then he threw and smashed him straight through the viewpoint visor of the bridge, sucking the assassin Starkiller in the dark vacuum that is space, before the defensive walls for the ship cover the damaged glass! Leaving the body of Starkiller unconsciously floating out into the depths of space...
As he floated unconsciously through space for what seemed like an eternity...a lone Probe Droid appeared, searching through the area: grabbing hold of the body of the assassin...and carrying it away once shining its light on the body to determine what it had found...where it's taking his body...only the droid knows...
As what felt like an eternity went by...he eventually felt like he could hear someone speaking...or something...uttering in a simple tone "General Skywalker...he's regaining consciousness..."
*Note: If you are confused why I had Starkiller be like this: I was going off the fact that he was reminded of how he became as he was, and he became filled with both survivors guilt, and was having PTSD as well of that time. They are also the reasons why he's a lot more...darker in his thinking regarding his own mortality.
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