Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II Read Free Page B

was no ordinary training session.
    He waited. There was no hurrying Darth Vader.
    “I have a mission for you. “
    “Yes, my Master. “
    “Starkiller’s former conspirator has been captured. “
    He experienced a moment of confusion. Then his memories stirred, providing a name. The name of the one who had lured him away from the dark side and to his death.
    The same voice that had disturbed him from his meditation…
    “Vader thinks he’s turned you. But I can sense your future, and Vader isn’t part of it. I sense only… me? “
    “General Kota, ” he said, struggling to keep himself anchored to the present.
    “Yes. You will travel to Cato Neimoidia and execute him. “
    “And then will my training be complete, Master?”
    “You will not he ready to face the Emperor until you have faced a true Jedi Master. “
    The voice was Darth Vader’s, but again from another time, another memory. The present-day Darth Vader hadn’t spoken at all.
    Starkiller put his manacled hands to his head and turned away, lest his disconcertion be exposed. No matter how he tried, no matter how he concentrated, the past simply wouldn’t leave him alone.
    Vader’s close attention hadn’t ebbed. “You are still haunted by visions. “
    “Yes. ” There was no point denying it. “Yes, my Master. “
    “Tell me what you see. “
    He didn’t know where to start. Thirteen days, this time, he had stayed motionless in the pit, subjected to visions and hallucinations through all his senses: strange odors, fleeting touches, voices calling him, sights he could never have imagined. He tried to ignore them, and when he couldn’t ignore them, he tried to piece them together instead. Neither was entirely possible, and every attempt hurt so badly he despaired of it ever ending.
    “Sometimes, ” he said, falteringly, “I smell a forest on fire. “
    “Continue. “
    “I see the general falling, and feel the ground shake as a starship crashes around me. And I hear a woman-a woman’s voice-when I try to sleep. ” He swallowed. This was the most painful recollection of all. “I can’t understand what she’s saying. Do you know who she is?”
    A pleading note had entered his voice, and he hated himself for it.
    “They are the memories of a dead man. ” Vader came closer, his physical presence lending weight to his words. “A side effect of the accelerated cloning process and the memory flashes used to train you. They will fade. “
    “What if they don’t?”
    “Then you will be of no use to me. “
    Starkiller straightened. For the first time, that fact had been said aloud. He had always known it was so; Darth Vader wasn’t renowned for his charity. But to hear it stated so baldly-that this Starkiller, this clone, would be disposed of like some faulty droid if he didn’t pull himself together soon-had a profoundly focusing effect.
    Nor for long.
    “Try the Corellian razor bounds. “
    That was a new voice, one he hadn’t heard before. He winced, and knew that by wincing he had effectively doomed himself.
    “Starkiller’s emotions made him weak, ” the Dark Lord said. “If you are to serve me, you must be strong. “
    What form of service that might take, Darth Vader had never said. To take the former Starkiller’s place, he presumed, as a weapon that could be aimed at the Emperor then Vader’s enemies whenever he commanded. From treacherous commanders to perhaps the Emperor himself-that was how it had been, and how he assumed it would be now. For the moment, however, that didn’t matter. The new Starkiller wanted only to live.
    “I am strong, my Master, and I am getting stronger. “
    Vader stepped behind him and waved a hand. Metal complained as the manacles dropped from Starkiller’s wrists and hit the floor with a boom.
    “Show me. “
    Numerous pairs of eyes lit up in the shadows. The PROXY droids were activating. Starkiller’s fists balled in readiness. He had defeated their training programs over and over