Free The Force Unleashed by Sean Williams

steps
    through the foyer and out onto the surface of the junk world. The Rogue Shadow
    swooped smoothly out of the sky. Catching the ramp sure-footedly, he retreated
    gratefully inside.
    * * *
    As they reached for orbit, he watched the Temple retreat behind him until the
    outline of its ludicrous grandeur was barely discernible among the surrounding junk
    hills. He could have knocked the ridiculous toy castle down around Kazdan's ears
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    with one Force push. If only it had been so easy for his Master to erase the Jedi
    from the galaxy. Years after the Purge, here he was continuing that great work.
    Perhaps it would be finished in his lifetime. Perhaps he had already killed the last
    of the remaining Jedi. Perhaps now his Master would regard him as truly worthy.
    He retired to his shadowy meditation chamber to tend to his wounds and restore his
    strength. Instead of meditating, however, he devoted an hour to repairing Kazdan
    Paratus's light-pike, snapped in two when he had clutched the tiny Jedi Master so
    hard. Trying to repair it, at least. No matter how painstakingly he worked, he
    couldn't realign the focusing crystals with the lens assembly. Nor could he make the
    emitter matrix conned to the power conduit. Like everything on Raxus Prime, the pike
    had become worthless junk.
    Or, he told himself, there was something getting in the way of his concentration.
    Is it my new pilot? he wondered. She was quick and efficient, as she should be, but
    she also made an effort to come across as lighthearted, and that was having an
    effect on him he hadn't foreseen. He had praised her good work after Nar Shaddaa and
    had felt glad to be aboard after finishing off Kazdan Paratus. Praise and gladness
    were not encouraged by followers of the dark side. The Emperor help him if they were
    developing a rapport.
    He would deal with his new emotions as he had dealt with other challenges he had
    faced. At the same time, he would watch her closely. Rapports weren't one-sided
    things. If her feelings of bonhomie became stronger and she couldn't keep her
    sociability under control, he would have to take action.
    As he pondered what form that action might take, the sound of heavy breathing rose
    up behind him. The pieces of the light-pike fell apart and scattered across the
    floor. The apprentice sensed rather than saw a darker shadow enter the chamber. He
    looked up expectantly.
    There was no face visible in the silhouette of the Dark Lord, I mi that had never
    made a difference.
    "Kazdan Paratus is dead, Master."
    The domed head, blacker than night, nodded. "Then there is but one more test before
    you can fulfill your destiny." One more. Would there always be one more? "Master, I
    am ready now."
    "You have defeated a tired old man and an outcast." Anger cracked like a whip in
    Darth Vader's vocoderized voice. "You will not be ready to face the Emperor until
    you have faced a true Jedi Master."
    The apprentice squared his jaw, thinking of the pathetic imitations he had faced in
    the junk Temple. "Who?"
    "Master Shaak Ti-one of the last of the Jedi Council." Then was a grudging respect
    in his Master's voice, mixed with naked contempt. "She is training an army on
    Felucia. You will need the full power of the dark side to defeat her. Do not
    disappoint me."
    "No, Lord Vader. I will not."
    The robed shadow dissolved into static. The hologram fell away, revealing PROXY's
    skinny frame beneath. The droid shuddered, and the apprentice was instantly at his
    side to steady him.
    Together the two of them left the meditation chamber to give Juno the news of their
    third and most deadly mission.
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CHAPTER 7
    As a teenager Juno had imagined her future life as a pilot, cruising the heavy
    traffic of Coruscant's skylanes, ferrying important dignitaries to and from
    meetings, blowing insurgents from the sky with single, well-aimed pulses from her
    laser