Starkiller

"*What do you think I'm afraid of?*" "*Being yourself. Being Starkiller. Being Ga—*" "*Don't say that name. I'm not him. I'm a clone, a copy—and a bad one at that.*"
―Subject 1138 and Rahm Kota
**Subject 1138**, also known as "**Starkiller**," was a clone of Galen Marek, a Force-sensitive Human male trained by the Sith Lord Darth Vader as his secret apprentice. After the death of Marek, Vader endeavored to create a more powerful and obedient version of his fallen disciple, using a cloning facility on the planet Kamino to carry out this agenda. However, the procedure was imperfect, resulting in a series of unstable clones that succumbed to madness. Though initially impressing Vader with his progress, Subject 1138 was affected by the emotional imprints that he inherited from his template and consequently developed a fixation on Captain Juno Eclipse, a former Imperial officer whom Marek fell in love with. Dismissed by his master as another setback in a long line of failures, the clone fled from Kamino and began traveling across the galaxy to find Eclipse.

The clone infiltrated Cato Neimoidia to rescue General Rahm Kota, hoping that Marek's Jedi mentor would lead him directly to Eclipse. Kota, believing the clone was in fact Marek, tried to convince him to rejoin the Alliance to Restore the Republic, but "Starkiller" was neither concerned with the Rebellion nor interested in assuming his progenitor's identity. However, his determination to be with Eclipse was used by Darth Vader as a way to lure the clone back to Kamino, having captured the Alliance officer in a battle near the Itani Nebula.

Returning to his homeworld, Starkiller fought his way into the facility where he was created, battling stormtroopers as well as other clones of Marek while the Alliance Fleet laid siege to Kamino. Ultimately, the renegade clone was able to save Eclipse and, in the process, defeated the Dark Lord of the Sith in a lightsaber duel. As a result of the clone's actions, the Alliance prevailed against the forces of the Galactic Empire, securing their first major victory in the Galactic Civil War and taking Vader himself as a prisoner of war.

## Before The Merge

The training of Subject 1138 "Starkiller" progressed rapidly, due in large part to the imprinted memory flashes from the original Starkiller. He was also subjected to numerous brutal tests by Darth Vader, such as having to spend thirteen days in isolation without food or water, forced to survive by relying on the Force. Upon one of Vader's visits, the clone was released from the isolation pit and was informed by Vader that Rahm Kota, the original Starkiller's Jedi mentor, had been captured on Cato Neimoidia. At the conclusion of his training, Starkiller was to travel there and execute the Jedi. When Vader inquired about Starkiller's visions, the clone elaborated, curious about their meaning. Vader explained that they were nothing more than "the memories of a dead man," a temporary side effect of the accelerated cloning process. With that, Vader initiated a training session, providing Starkiller with a pair of lightsabers. Engaging a number of Sith Training Droids imitating Rebel Alliance soldiers, Starkiller cut them down with brutal efficiency, falling into a trance-like state. However, as he turned on the last faux-Rebel, he realized that it was an imitation of Juno Eclipse.

Despite Vader's orders, Starkiller was unable to strike her down. Disappointed at Starkiller's inability, Vader struck down the false Eclipse himself, and Starkiller ran to the cut-up droid to check it, as if it were Juno herself. Vader then declared that Starkiller would suffer the "same fate as the others." Now aware that he was going to be discarded by the Sith Lord, Starkiller lost all respect for him, even doubting the fact that there were other clones of the same template; he believed that any other version of Vader's fallen apprentice would be in love with her as well and seek out Juno Eclipse just as he was. Experiencing a sudden memory flash of the original Starkiller being betrayed by Vader, Starkiller then decided to escape this outcome, and therefore turned on Vader at the last moment.

Darth Vader brandished his lightsaber to execute the clone, but was caught off-guard by a sudden barrage of Force lightning from an enraged Starkiller, dropping to one knee as his cybernetics malfunctioned. Starkiller used the opening to blast a hole in the wall of the reinforced training room, leaping out of the tower into the Kamino rainstorms. Using the Force to clear his path of TIE fighters and exterior fixtures on the tower, Starkiller plummeted onto the exterior ramparts of the Timira City cloning facilities. Drawing his two lightsabers, he cut a bloody swath of destruction along the rain-slicked platforms, eventually reaching the landing platform where Vader's TIE Advanced x1 starfighter was docked.

As Starkiller paused, Darth Vader emerged from within the facility. Quickly boarding the fighter, Starkiller lifted off and escaped Kamino, despite Vader's brief attempt to telekinetically halt the fighter. Although he knew better than to believe he was free, Starkiller further gave in to his imprinted feelings by dedicating himself to finding Juno Eclipse.

### Cato Neimoidia

Main article: Rescue of Rahm Kota
"*The Jedi. Where is he?*" "*Oh… He's alive, for the moment. He's been in the arena for seven days.*"
―Subject 1138 and Merillion Tarko
Knowing that Rahm Kota would most likely be a valuable asset in tracking down Juno, Starkiller decided to rescue his progenitor's former Jedi ally. Thus, he followed up on Darth Vader's information and traveled to Cato Neimoidia. As he had not changed the transponder in Vader's ship, he was believed to be the Dark Lord and was directed to an executive landing pad, where he was greeted by a full retinue of stormtroopers and Baron Merillion Tarko, the Imperial governor controlling the world from Tarko-se, a city that he named after himself. When Starkiller, clad in a tattered Imperial flightsuit, emerged from the vessel, Tarko immediately noticed that something was wrong, informing Starkiller that Kota had been in the Tarko-se Arena for the past several days before questioning his knowledge of the local Imperial security codes. When Starkiller didn't answer, Tarko and the stormtroopers brandished their weapons, prompting Starkiller to ignite his lightsabers. Tarko retreated while Starkiller quickly cut down the troopers.

Carving his way through the eastern archway of Tarko-se, Starkiller eventually reached a public tramway to the western arch where the arena was situated. En route, he was forced to defend the vehicle against an assault by Imperial air forces, destroying most of the opposition. However, the tram finally malfunctioned and fell out of the sky just before reaching the western arch, forcing Starkiller to leap the distance to the tram station. Once in the western arch, he made his way to the entrance to the Tarko-se Arena.

Once within the arena, he approached an exhausted Rahm Kota in the ring. An incredulous Kota turned to him, plainly surprised, but expressing his certainty in Starkiller's survival. As one of the arena doors opening, releasing a rancor, Starkiller brandished one lightsaber. However, his relaxed attitude quickly vanished when the rancor was seized and consumed by a massive Gorog, and he ignited his second blade. While Kota fled the arena to hunt down Tarko, Starkiller remained to contend with the Gorog. With Kota's strategic assistance, Starkiller managed to use the Gorog's restraints built into the arena to pin the beast's arms, before leaping onto its head and cutting into its brain.

The Gorog managed to break loose of its restraints and fling Starkiller aside, destroying the hanging arena's supports in an enraged pursuit of the Force Adept. Starkiller allowed it to do so, hoping it would fall with the rest of the arena. Making his way to Tarko's executive box, he rendezvoused with Kota and confronted the Baron. However, the confrontation was cut short by the Gorog, who seized hold of the box in a last ditch effort to avoid falling. Tarko fell into the Gorog's open mouth while Kota was grabbed by the beast before it fell. Starkiller leapt after them, attacking the Gorog with bursts of Force lightning and lightsaber throws. Finally, Starkiller used the Force to burst through the creature's torso, causing the Gorog to release Kota from its grip. Once freed, Kota used his comlink to contact the *Rogue Shadow*, which swept in on autopilot and caught them before landing hard on the rocky terrain below.

### Revelation

"*I'm not Starkiller! Not the original Starkiller, anyway. I'm a clone, grown in a vat by Darth Vader to take the old Starkiller's place at his side.*"
―Subject 1138, to Rahm Kota
Once within the ship, Starkiller charged into the cockpit, expecting to find Juno Eclipse there. Kota revealed that he didn't know where she was, as the Rebel fleet had been scattered. Starkiller convinced Kota to help him find Juno, and Kota provided the coordinates for the Rebel rendezvous in the Athega system. However, they were ambushed by an Imperial fleet upon their arrival, and forced to flee. Kota was quick to try convincing Starkiller to join the Rebellion in a counterattack against the Empire, brushing aside Starkiller's claims of being a clone with the supposed certainty that cloning Force-sensitives was impossible; he also tried to drill Starkiller for information regarding the Kaminoan cloning facilities in order for the Alliance to launch a full-scale invasion of Kamino.

However, Starkiller remained unconvinced that he could be the real Starkiller, believing that Vader found a way to successfully clone Force-wielders with the aid of Kaminoan technology. Furthermore, he remained committed to finding Juno and also stated that he simply needed a quiet place to meditate on his situation. Kota was enraged that Starkiller would not immediately commit to the Rebellion, believing that the clone was putting one woman and his own inner conflict above the needs of the galaxy. Realizing that he could not convince or force Starkiller to change his mind, Kota stormed out of the cockpit, but not before giving the *Rogue Shadow* to him, feeling that the ship had always been his, and demanding to be let out on the nearest spaceport before Starkiller got "lost in the stars".

### Vision on Dagobah

"*Fine, then. Go to the forests of Kashyyyk or the caves of Dagobah, or wherever you think you'll find what you need and let the galaxy die.*"
―Rahm Kota, to Subject 1138
Dropping Kota off on Malastare, Starkiller then followed up on both his Force visions and hints Kota had inadvertently dropped. Traveling to Dac, he found the planet in turmoil from recent resistance activity. On Kashyyyk, he experienced a vision of the original Starkiller's father. From freeing Kota to visiting several worlds, he had found that all of his attempts to find Juno had proven to be counter-productive to his primary goal. Having exhausted all other options, he decided to travel to Dagobah.

Landing on the planet, he probed the swamps through the Force, discovering an odd Force signature that studied him in return. Picking his way through the swamps towards it, Starkiller was forced to fight off several predators, but prevailed. Reaching the Dark Side Cave, he was greeted by Yoda. Yoda steered Starkiller into entering the cave, which the Force Adept did after a moment.

Within the cave, Starkiller experienced a vision. Now clad in the robes of a Jedi Knight and wielding blue lightsabers, he wandered the interior of the cave, only to be accosted by various versions of himself. Initially brandishing his lightsabers, Starkiller lowered them and forced his way through. Entering a final chamber shrouded in shadows, he experienced additional layers of the vision, seeing Darth Vader hiring Boba Fett to track him down, and Juno Eclipse being attacked and wounded on the bridge of her vessel, the *Salvation*.

Emerging from the cave, Starkiller was counciled by Yoda to follow what he had seen. Returning to his ship, Starkiller traveled to Malastare to find Kota. Finding Kota in the workshop of the Rebel contact Berkelium Shyre, Starkiller was recognized by Shyre, who was infatuated with Juno, as the man whom Juno Eclipse always spoke of. After Kota left to rendezvous with his new squad, Starkiller erased Shyre's memory of him, and of his own last meeting with Juno. Afterward, Kota introduced Starkiller to his squad's medic, the Cerean Ni-Ke-Vanz. Vanz possessed extensive knowledge of cloning, having been educated in the subject by a Khommite slave during a shared sentence in the Spice Mines of Kessel. Vanz elaborated on how cloning was not the equivalent of immortality. A clone was its own distinct individual, based on the biological structure of the original subject, but ultimately a different version of its template. Vanz also elaborated on the complications of cloning Force-sensitives, particularly how the clones would lapse into insanity, causing them to develop psychotic and violent tendencies. Although he was unsure, Vanz speculated that the Force was in some way responsible for undermining the stability of Force-sensitive clones.

Starkiller wasn't reassured by this information, despite Kota's belief that it proved he wasn't a clone. They departed for Nordra, the current location of the Rebel fleet, soon afterward. En route, Kota presented Starkiller with a pair of blue lightsaber crystals, relics of the Clone Wars; Starkiller accepted the gifts and installed them in his dual-lightsabers.

### Attack on the *Salvation*

Main article: Battle near the Itani Nebula
"*I have to get to Juno before she's hurt.*" "*Even if it means putting yourself at risk?*" "*Our bounty hunter friend will find it works the other way around.*"
―Subject 1138 and Rahm Kota
Arriving at Nordra, Starkiller and Kota docked aboard the *Salvation* ahead of Kota's squad, which had taken an alternate vessel. While taking a rapid cargo tram towards the *Salvation* bridge, Kota informed Starkiller about the state of affairs within the Alliance. The Alliance leadership was deadlocked, as they didn't have the firepower to take out a meaningful Imperial target, and hit-and-run raids wasted too many lives. Juno Eclipse was part of the militarist camp, calling for an aggressive strike, even for only a symbolic victory. Kota didn't tell Juno that Starkiller was with him, feeling that it would be better for her to see for herself. Starkiller handed Kota an encrypted code cylinder that contained information about the Timira City cloning facilities; everything the Alliance needed to launch a successful attack.

The cargo tram suddenly ground to a halt as the ship was attacked. Starkiller and Kota quickly drew their lightsabers and made their way to the bridge on foot, attacked by Imperial Terror Soldiers along the way. Reaching the bridge, they found it in shambles, most of the personnel dead and Juno missing. Starkiller found PROXY, the original Starkiller's training droid, who informed them that Juno had likely been taken to the Deck 7 docking bays. While Kota remained on the bridge to take command of the ship, Starkiller continued on alone, following the destructive trail left by Vader's bounty hunter and the Imperial forces.

Making it to the hangar, Starkiller arrived just in time to see Boba Fett and a very shocked Juno Eclipse board Fett's ship. Attempting to stop Fett's ship from fleeing by grasping it telekinetically, Starkiller was forced to break off when he was attacked by a Terror Walker. Pursuing the monstrous droid into the *Salvation*'s reactor chamber, Starkiller destroyed it. Contacting Kota, Starkiller demanded that Kota order the attack on Kamino, so he could go rescue Juno from Darth Vader. As he felt his rage build up at the thought of Juno's capture and his Master, Starkiller experienced another vision in the Force; he stood victorious over a defeated Darth Vader and raised his blade to finally end the Sith Lord's life. Before he could deliver the final blow, however, he was impaled from behind by a lightsaber through the chest. In the last moments of his short existence, Starkiller saw that his killer's face was exactly like his own; it was another clone of Galen Marek—a "reborn Starkiller," deeply absorbed in the dark side and much more powerful. The last thing that Starkiller saw before snapping out of the vision was water as Vader telekinetically pushed the imperfect clone's body into the vast ocean of Kamino.

### Battle of Kamino

Main article: Assault on Kamino
"*I wonder if he's here somewhere.*" "*Who?*" "*The original Starkiller.*"
―Subject 1138 and Rahm Kota
Starkiller returned to the hangar just in time to see the Rebel fleet arrive at Kamino. Engaging the Imperial forces that boarded the *Salvation*, Starkiller systematically eliminated them before returning to the bridge. Kota and PROXY informed him that the attack was going badly; as the Imperials had been waiting for them, and the deflector shield protecting Timira City prevented them from landing any of their forces. Starkiller advised Kota to order the ship abandoned so he could crash in through the planetary shield and destroy the planetside shield generator.

Slaving all ship systems to the bridge, Starkiller plotted a course straight at the planetside shield generators and set the ship on autopilot. As the ship plummeted towards Timira City, Starkiller cleared debris from the battle out of the ship's path, allowing it to smash through the shield. As the *Salvation* continued falling, it broke in half, with the rear half plowing into the shield generator, while his flew at the spire where Darth Vader was holed up. Too late realizing that Juno was also being held in the spire, Starkiller used the Force to destroy the entire forward section of the *Salvation*. Managing to survive the fall onto the facility, Starkiller briefly lost consciousness.

While unconscious, Starkiller remembered Galen Marek's mother, and how she sacrificed herself to protect her family from Trandoshan slavers before Galen's abduction by Vader. When he awoke on the Kaminoan battlefield, he tried to shrug it off and focus on the task at hand. As he was on the cloning facilities interior, he needed to find an entrance to allow the Rebel forces in. Making his way towards one of the Imperial hangar bays, he fought his way through dozens of Imperial troops, as well as clearing out a group of snipers harrying Rahm Kota and his squad. Rendezvousing with Kota, they broke into one of the Imperial command centers, hoping to use it to open the hangar doors, but the controls were destroyed by an Imperial bombing run. While Kota and his men looked for a security hub to prevent any more lock downs, Starkiller made his way to an alternate command center only to find the controls locked. Instead, he used telekinesis to wrench the doors open.

Needing a shortcut across the facilities interior towards the base of the cloning spires, Starkiller climbed on top of the hangar doors and leapt onto a passing Y-wing. The pilot, Wedge Antilles, obliged to Starkiller's request for a ride, flying him across the dome. Leaping off and entering the spire, Starkiller began ascending. Within, he engaged Imperial Saber Guards and Sith Acolytes, and finding to his horror that most of the cloning tanks within the spire contained more clones of Galen Marek. As he ascended higher and higher, he attempted to do so stealthily and with as little bloodshed as possible, but was given away by an unnoticed Terror Trooper, forcing him to kill them all.

Around this time in the battle, he approached the cloning tank of Subject 1157 and hit it with a Force push, killing the other Galen Marek clone.

#### Confrontation with Vader

"*I knew it was only a matter of time before you returned. Now you will surrender to me, or you will die here where you were created.*"
―Darth Vader, to Subject 1138
Exiting an elevator in the cloning labs near the top of the spire, Starkiller continued on, despite Kota's protests via comlink. As he wandered through the smoke-shrouded corridors, he was attacked by Vader. Starkiller managed to fend off the Sith Lord, but was struck by a sudden and violent Force vision before he could counter, allowing Vader to slip away. Tortured by his own mind as he wandered the corridors, Starkiller was attacked twice more by Vader before reentering the larger interior spaces of the spire.

Darth Vader made himself visible on one of the tank platforms, declaring that Starkiller would either surrender to him or die. Starkiller leapt up to engage Vader, but the Dark Lord relied on more evasive tactics, fending off Starkiller's attacks while sending Sith Training Droids in the guise of various figures from Galen Marek's past to fight him. Starkiller easily held them off and turned on Vader. However, the Vader he fought turned out to be just another Holodroid, and Starkiller leapt further upwards in search of the real Sith Lord.

As he prepared to face the true Darth Vader, Starkiller also found himself confronted by a veritable army of aberrant clones of Galen Marek, thus proving that Vader had not lied about creating other clones of Marek, as Starkiller had originally believed. As he fought his "brothers," Starkiller could sense that all of the clones were virtually the same as him—not only because they possessed the same skills as him, albeit in varying degrees, but also because they had inherited the same Force potential and identity crisis as Starkiller. Faced with what were essentially alternate versions of himself and his template, Starkiller was forced to truly accept his identity as a clone in the face of this overwhelming proof. His aggressive counters against the clones were reluctant, as he felt they had just as much right to live as he. He killed them all with a powerful Force repulse, then quietly questioned Darth Vader; *Why me?*

After a momentary dialogue, Starkiller rushed Vader in a rage. Vader casually parried the attack, and blocked the follow-up with his lightsaber and telekinesis, throwing Starkiller off his feet as the platform bucked. Starkiller regained his feet and came on swinging. Even as they fought across the top level of the tower, Starkiller sensed that Vader was still testing him, and attempted to keep a handle on his emotions. When an opening came, Starkiller moved to take it, only to be hit by a vision of a dead Juno Eclipse in his arms. Starkiller's momentary confusion allowed Vader to knock him down and quietly retreat. Starkiller pursued him, and reached the very top of the spire.

When Starkiller demanded Juno's location, Vader sidestepped and revealed her standing behind him. Vader took her up in a telekinetic chokehold, demanding that Starkiller surrender to him in exchange for her life. Starkiller agreed, casting aside his lightsabers and dropping to his knees. With the clone in submission, Vader commanded Starkiller to locate and kill Rahm Kota, embrace the Dark side of the Force, and to hunt down and execute the Rebel leaders upon the completion of his training; failure to meet any of the Sith Lord's demands would result in Juno's death. However, while Vader spoke, Juno retrieved one of Starkiller's lightsabers and attacked Vader. Vader managed to dodge, blasting her back with a powerful Force push, seemingly killing her. Starkiller fell on Darth Vader in blind rage, only to be thrown out of the spire as well. He landed on a nearby roof, situated above what appeared to be a power generator that harnessed Kamino's constant lightning strikes as an energy source. Starkiller immediately attempted to reach Juno, wanting desperately to save her, but found his path blocked by Vader.

Starkiller attacked Vader yet again. At first, he could not understand why Vader was deliberately keeping him from getting to Juno, as she was the one tool that could be used to control him. However, as they fought across the rain-slicked generator roof, Starkiller realized that his former master was using both the duel and Juno's death in an attempt to cause him to fall back into darkness. Without Juno, both Vader and Starkiller knew that he would no longer be motivated to resist the lure of the dark side. With this sudden comprehension, Starkiller attempted to reason with Vader, even as their fight increased in intensity. He even went so far as to suggest that his Master join the Alliance in order to destroy the Emperor. But Vader simply redoubled his own attack in response, making it clear that he wanted nothing to do with the Rebellion. As they continued to fight, Vader tried to encourage Starkiller to rise above his artificial feelings for Juno Eclipse, stating that she meant nothing and was only holding him back. Starkiller continued to press his attacks in order to get to Juno, but Vader stayed firmly between the two and reminded the clone that Juno had loved Marek, but as Starkiller was not truly Marek, he could never have her love.

Starkiller was eventually forced onto his back foot and disarmed. Vader then gave Starkiller one last chance to surrender, telling him that if he did not, he would die. Starkiller appeared to surrender, which caused Vader to drop his guard. Then Starkiller absorbed a lightning bolt from one of the lightning rods surrounding the platform upon which they were fighting and used the energy of the lightning in conjunction with his own powers to launch an incredibly powerful blast of Force lightning at Vader. Having dropped his guard, Vader was struck head-on by the blast, and was severely damaged by the bolt.

Starkiller prepared to execute Darth Vader, even as the Sith Lord continued to try turning him. However, he was halted at the last second by Rahm Kota and his squad. Kota called for taking Vader prisoner to interrogate and formally execute him, reasoning to Starkiller that Vader was the only one who knew for sure whether or not he was truly a clone. Unknown to Starkiller, he had both Boba Fett and the Dark Apprentice—a fellow surviving clone of Galen Marek—preparing to intervene if Starkiller attempted to kill Vader. Ultimately, Starkiller chose to spare Darth Vader, thus heeding Kota's advice rather than succumbing to Vader's insistence that the clone fulfill his destiny.

### Vader captured

"*As long as she lives, I will always control you.*"
―Darth Vader, to Subject 1138
With Darth Vader overcome, Starkiller rushed to Juno, whom PROXY was attempting to revive. Unsuccessful, PROXY apologized for his failure, though Starkiller was quick to forgive him, stating that the fault was his own, for seeking out Juno in the first place. Holding her body in his arms, Starkiller began grieving when Juno inexplicably awoke. Unknown to Starkiller, Boba Fett had been preparing to kill him with a sniper rifle, but relented out of sympathy when Juno awoke.

With the battle won and Vader captured, the Rebel attention was turned to cleanup the Timira City facilities. Vader would be transported on board the *Rogue Shadow* to keep his whereabouts secret, with Starkiller supervising his transport. Kota saw to Vader's "accommodations" aboard the *Shadow*, telling Starkiller that he hadn't said a word during this process. Starkiller was skeptical that Vader would give in to interrogation, believing that the Sith Lord's own experiences had already pushed him past his breaking point. Starkiller then saw PROXY enter the ship, with scavenged parts from the numerous Sith Training Droids Starkiller had destroyed clutched in his arms. Starkiller followed him into the crew quarters, where PROXY was experimentally swapping out components from the scavenged droids with his own, revealing that he was attempting to find himself a new primary programming to replace his long since erased original. Starkiller advised PROXY to instead figure out a common factor between all the various individuals he had encountered; a set of principles.

Starkiller then went into the onboard meditation chamber, where Vader was detained. While he attempted to project a bold front, Starkiller was inwardly confused and uncertain. He declared to Vader that by letting him live, he had broken the Sith Lord's hold over him. As Starkiller turned to leave, Vader countered that as long as Juno lived, he would always control Starkiller. Starkiller refused to give Vader the satisfaction of an answer, and left the room.

Taking his place in the copilot seat in the *Rogue Shadow* cockpit, Starkiller left the piloting duties to Juno. The *Shadow* met up with a formation of Rebel cruisers above Kamino, all arrayed in different directions to throw off pursuit, and was the last to leave. However, they were being tracked by *Slave I*, which had been hiding in the wreckage from the battle.

### Aftermath

Darth Vader's tenure in Rebel Alliance captivity wouldn't last long, as he would be free and active again by 0 BBY. Starkiller's reemergence would likely prove to be a boon to the Alliance, though both Kota and Juno encouraged him to keep a low profile, wanting to keep it under wraps for the time being, unsure about what the Alliance leadership would think of him.