Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II Read Online Free PDF Page A

Electrical discharges danced around the cockpit. Darkness briefly shrouded him.
    Then he was through and above the clouds and rocketing high into the atmosphere. The planetary shield surrounding Kamino was designed to keep ships out, not in, so he passed easily through their visible barrier. Stars appeared, and Vader was far behind.
    Now what?
    He didn’t dare believe that he was entirely free, or that Juno was entirely safe. He had to find her before Vader did. He had to be with her.
    Every breath he rook filled him with the certainty of that fact. This was the emotion that would rule him, not revenge or blood-lust or despair. But how to pursue this mission? Where did he start looking for one woman in an entire galaxy?
    “Starkiller’s former conspirator has been captured. “
    General Kota. If anyone knew where she was, it would be him.
    As the cloud-racked face of Kamino receded behind him, Starkiller locked in a course for Cato Neimoidia.

CHAPTER 2
    Four days earlier…
    The Solidarity shone like a miniature star in the reflected light of Athega system’s blazing primary. The streamlined, organic-looking star cruiser, a recent Mon Calamari model, hung in the shadow of volcanic Nkllon, a small world about as inhospitable as any Juno could imagine. There the Solidarity and its small flotilla of attendant vessels were simultaneously hidden from any passing gaze and shielded from the blazing, hull-stripping light of the deadly sun.
    “Your request to come aboard has been granted, ” Juno’s second in command said. Nitram spoke cautiously, as though reluctant to intrude on her mood. “The shuttle is ready to launch. “
    Juno didn’t blame him. Knowing what she faced, she had been tense throughout the journey, and her crew had left her alone, which was exactly what she had needed. She had a lot to consider where the Alliance leadership was concerned.
    “Thank you, Nitram. You have the helm until I return. “
    He saluted, touching his left ear with the tip of one paw-like hand. “Yes, sir. “
    She strode unhesitatingly from the bridge, keen to give the impression that she had no doubts at all about her return, when in fact there were no certainties at all. She had put her ship at risk to assist Kota on one of his unauthorized missions. In the past, the success of Kota’s missions had protected her from disciplinary action. This rime, she had no such recourse. Officers had been demoted for much less.
    The short hop in the shuttle seemed to pass in seconds. She saluted the escort awaiting her at the other end, keeping the fear that it was there to take her prisoner deeply concealed.
    “Welcome aboard, Captain. Commodore Viedas is expecting you. This way, please. “
    The derail fell in around her, and she matched their pace step for step. Around them, the ship hummed with industry and discipline, its white fittings clean and well maintained. Her ship, the Salvation, seemed old and clunky by comparison. It had been liberated from the Empire during a skirmish over Ylesia and renamed in the style of the fledgling Rebellion. The Salvation still bore the scars of battle, unlike the Solidarity, which looked brand new.
    The issue of the ships making up the Alliance’s fleet occupied more than her own mind, as she discovered on being admitted into the commodore’s secure conference room.
    Yar-de Viedas was a Rodian, and a natural for enlistment with the Rebel forces, given the Empires xenophobic stance on nonhumans. A privateer of some standing, he had risen quickly through the ranks of the Corellian Resistance, ultimately to be handpicked by Garm Bel Iblis to lead the attack group Juno belonged to. He was short, and his Basic became increasingly accented under stress, but he was liked and respected by his officers. Juno had served with him briefly after the birth of the Rebel Alliance on Kashyyyk, and she knew that, whatever came next, it wouldn’t be born from maliciousness or ill feeling on his part.
    “I’ll hear