Galen Marek (TNM)

"Brute strength by itself is weak and unrefined. But add the Force, and then you have a very powerful combination."

- Starkiller

Galen Marek, better known to the galaxy as Starkiller, was a Human male taken as a secret apprentice by Darth Vader from his father, a Jedi named Kento Marek, on Kashyyyk during the Great Jedi Purge. For years, the Dark Lord trained him, under the codename Starkiller, in dark side arts and to eliminate his enemies, including Jedi who survived Order 66. Marek was told that he would ultimately assist in overthrowing Vader's own Master, Darth Sidious, Emperor of the Galactic Empire. In reality, Vader and Palpatine only planned to use him to root out those who rebelled against the Empire. In 3 BBY, fifteen years after the commencement of Marek's training, he had begun his missions to hunt down the last remaining Jedi.

After killing Shaak Ti on Felucia, he returned to the Executor, his Master's flagship, on which Darth Sidious appeared and ordered Vader to kill the apprentice. In apparent submission, Vader telekinetically hurled him through the viewing windows, into open space. Vader secretly recovered his body and had him "resurrected" six months later on the science vessel Empirical, during which time he was known as Subject Zeta. The Dark Lord convinced Starkiller that he had saved him from death against his Master's orders, and gave him a new assignment: to rally an alliance of rebels who would eventually destroy the Empire.

After locating key figures, Marek and the rebels met on Corellia where they formed the Corellian Treaty, an accord that created the Alliance to Restore the Republic. However, Vader, along with Imperial forces, raided the meeting, captured the rebels, and revealed to Marek that he had only been used to rally the Empire's enemies. Marek tracked the Dark Lord and the Alliance leaders to the Death Star, a massive superweapon, on which he dueled and killed Vader. After this, he was ordered to kill Rahm Kota. However, he turned and faced Palpatine instead. This time, Marek was defeated and, after having the Rogue Shadow thrown upon him, was put into a suit of armour resembling Vader's and became Palpatine's new apprentice, renamed Starkiller.

Two years later, he was sent to Tatooine to find two droids who had stolen plans of the Death Star with them. He failed at this task, but managed to kill both Boba Fett and Obi-Wan Kenobi. He was later sent to Hoth to lead the Imperial forces there. It was here that he met and dueled Luke Skywalker. He forced the young Jedi to use the Dark Side of the Force against him and after defeating Skywalker, made him his apprentice. Upon returning to the Executor, Starkiller bestowed upon Luke the title of Sith Lord and the pair set out for the under-construction Death Star II. Here, they found Palpatine. The two Sith Lords dueled Palpatine and after a lengthy battle killed him. Starkiller assumed control of the Galactic Empire. He and his apprentice led the Imperial forces to victory at the Battle of Endor, thereby assuring Imperial dominance of the galaxy.

One year later, Skywalker challenged Starkiller for control of the Sith. Starkiller, caught off guard as his apprentice attacked, was slain and Luke Skywalker took the title of Emperor.

Training
"You were weak when I found you. Now your hatred has become your strength."

- Darth Vader

Galen Marek was found by Darth Vader during his attack on Kashyyyk. After witnessing Vader kill his father and Imperial stormtroopers, Marek was taken by Vader to be trained as a Sith. Growing up in the underbelly of the Executor, Darth Vader's flagship, Marek had access to records of the Galactic Republic and Galactic Empire. He devoted himself to the study of these records, believing that understanding an opponent could mean the difference between life and death.



Marek and his master sparred many times, leaving scars on the young apprentice. Vader pushed him to his limits. The physical challeneges he was given bordered on torture and Marek occasionally felt himself to be on the brink of death. When he was summoned to the Executor's bridge, Marek thought that he was going to be hurt again.

When Vader raised his lightsaber above Marek's head, the apprentice prepared himself for death. Instead, it transpired that Marek was being informally knighted. Vader acknowledged Marek as his apprentice, something that Marek had always considered himself to be. He was then sent on his first true assassination mission. His target was Jedi general Rahm Kota.



Missions for Vader
"I bring Darth Vader's enemies to justice."

- Galen Marek

Marek went to the TIE fighter construction facility where Kota was wreaking havoc and fought his way through stormtroopers and Kota's militia. After a long journey through the station, Marek finally found himself face-to-face with Rahm Kota. Kota mocked him and expressed his anger that Vader had sent him "a boy". However, the young Sith apprentice proved too much for Kota, who was blinded and sent plumeting towards the surface of Nar Shaddaa.

After the completion of this mission, Marek was sent to the long-since destroyed Jedi Temple. Here he fought the Force manifestation of Darth Desolous, a Sith Lord who had died two-and-a-half thousand years before Marek's birth. Marek defeated the ancient Sith Lord and was met by PROXY, the holodroid who had been constructed by Vader, who, in the form of Vader, gave Marek his next mission. He was to find and kill Kazdan Paratus.

Marek flew to Raxus Prime, where he saw that Kazdan Paratus had made a copy of the Jedi Temple out of junk. He landed some distance from the 'temple' and proceeded on foot. On the way to the 'temple', Marek encountered Rodian salvagers and battle droids. He fought his way through all of these and eventually met the insane Jedi. Paratus proved to be a capable duelist but was vulnerable to Force lightning. After a lenghty duel, Paratus was killed and Marek returned to his ship.

Marek then retuirned to the Jedi Temple, where he fought the manifestation of yet another ancient Sith Lord, Darth Phobos. After another difficult duel, Marek defeated the ancient Sith Lord and was, once again, met by PROXY, who used the form of Darth Vader to order him to go to Felucia and kill Shaak Ti.

Marek immediatley went to Felucia. There he encountered Felucians and their rancor mounts. After making his way to the Ancient Abyss, which was in fact the largest Sarlacc Pit in the galaxy, Marek dueled Shaak Ti. The battle pushed both combatants to their limits but eventually Marek won. Shaak Ti made a prophecy that "the Sith always betray one another". Marek reached out for the Jedi, but she fell backwards into the Sarlacc Pit.

Vader's "Betrayal"
"Now, you will kill him, or I will destroy you both!"

- Palpatine, to Darth Vader

After informing his master of Shaak Ti's death, Vader told him to return to the Executor immediately, for the time had come to face the Emperor. As Starkiller was aboard the Executor, the Emperor's fleet arrived. Starkiller believed that Vader had lured Sidious to them, but Vader revealed that he did not summon him. As the confused Sith apprentice turned to see PROXY entering the room in the form of Darth Sidious, he was brutally stabbed through the back by the very man who raised him, as Vader angrily stated that the Emperor's spies had followed him there. Darth Sidious commanded Vader to finish off Starkiller and prove his loyalty. Despite Starkiller's pleadings, Vader turned on him, telekinetically ravaging him around the command bridge before finally hurling him through the view port windows. While his body lifelessly drifted through space, a lone cargo droid swiveled by, picked him up and took him to a hidden location.

Resurrection and a New Objective
"Your destiny is now your own. Sever all ties to your past. No one must know that you still serve me."

- Darth Vader, to Galen Marek.

Six months after his "death", Marek awakened on board the ISS Empiricial. PROXY,in the form of Darth Vader, gave him a new mission to distract the Emperor's spies by starting a rebellion. Marek fought his way off the ship, rescued Juno Eclipse, and set off in search of Rahm Kota, whom he found in a bar on Cloud City. Marek persuaded Kota to teach him the ways of the Jedi. In return, Kota informed him of who could help him rebel against the Empire. But first, Marek would have to recover something very precious to him that was on Kashyyyk. It transpired that the precious thing was Leia Organa and that Kota's contact was Bail Organa. However, Organa had gone to Felucia and had been kidnapped by Shaak Ti's fallen apprentice, Maris Brood. Marek went to Felucia for a second time and fought Felucians, stormtroopers and Maris Brood and her rancor to rescue Senator Organa.



Marek then received instruction from PROXY, in the form of Darth Vader, to destroy a Star Destroyer factory over Raxus Prime. After fighting his way through Imperial forces and Rodian scavengers, Marek eventually reached the factory. Here, he encountered more Stormtroopers and fought PROXY, who assumed the identities of an Imperial Shadow Guard, Rahm Kota, Shaak Ti, Maris Brood and Darth Maul. Eventually, Marek defeated the droid and continued to the factory. He finally succeeded in destroying the factory, but not before an Imperial Star Destroyer was dispatched to destroy him. Marek fought off wave after wave of TIE fighters before finally bringing the Star Destroyer crashing to the ground. Marek and PROXY then returned to the , which took them to the Rebel meeting on. Soon after the Rebellion was declared, Imperial forces attacked the small group. Darth Vader emerged as the leader of these forces and revealed that Marek had been his apprentice and that he had only used Marek to flush out the Emepror's enemies.

Fall to the Dark Side
"Lord Vader was a broken shadow of his former self; I knew that one day you would replace him."

- Palpatine, to Galen Marek

As the Rebel leaders were arrested, Marek and Vader fought. Vader quickly gained the upper hand when he used the Force to throw a table at Marek, knocking to the edge of the cliff. When PROXY saved Marek's life at the cost of his own, Marek took the opportunity to evade Vader. He was picked up by the Rogue Shadow and travelled to the, where he fought his way to the Emperor's throne room. Before reaching it, however, he was encountered by Darth Vader.

The two fought each bitterly, neither able to gain an advantage. Eventually, Marek gained the upper hand and slashed at Vader's limbs. Vader pushed his apprentice backwards and walked through a blast door into a carbon freezing chamber. Marek followed him inside and Vader proceeded to throw large metal objects at him. Marek resisted Vader's bombardment, so Vader brought down the walkway around the carbon, before using the Force to jump to the only remaining piece of walkway and fight Marek in hand to hand combat.



After a clash of lightsabers, Marek succeeded in gaining an advantage over Vader. When Vader attempted to end this advantage by throwing another metal object at Marek, Marek simply pushed it away and used the force to push Vader away from him. Marek then brought three large metal pipes down upon Vader, destroying his armour in several places and weskening the Sith Lord. However, Vader stood back up and reactivated his lightsaber. Marek attacked and successfully bested Vader once again, forcing him down to the ground. Despite Vader's best attempts to parry Marek's attacks, Marek assaulted Vader with such brutal force that Vader was unmasked before being thrown onto the carbon by Marek. Marek then picked Vader off his feet and hurled him through a window, where he hit a pillar and fell to the floor.

Marek followed his master through the door and was urged by Palpatine to kill him and become a Sith Lord. However, Rahm Kota attempted to kill Palptine at this point but was hit by the Dark Lord's. Bail Organa urged Marek to help Kota and Marek was faced with a difficult choice: help Kota or kill Vader.

Marek turned towards Vader and, filled with rage and hatred for the man who had betrayed him twice, jumped down to battle his master, leaving Kota and the other rebels to die. Marek and Vader engaged in a second duel, but Marek quickly gained the upper hand and picked Vader up again, this time throwing him twice across the room before taking his lightsaber and using both lightsabers to imaple Vader. Marek then leapt back up to where Kota was still being electrocuted by Palpatine, who ordered Marek to kill Kota to complete his journey towards the Dark Side. Instead, however, Marek attacked Palpatine, who easily blocked his attack and revealed that he had known that Marek would turn on him. Then, he blasted Marek backwards to where the bodies of the other rebel leaders lay. Palpatine then hurled the Rogue Shadow at Marek, who was horribly disfigured by the incident. He awakened to find himself inside a life-support suit not unlike Vader's. Palpatine then gave his new apprentice his first mission. He was to find and kill the.

Starkiller
"I still have enemies to find and destroy."

- Palpatine

Ending the Purge
"Now the Jedi die."

- Starkiller

The battle on the Death Star drove a wedge between Starkiller and his master; witnessing Palpatine's willingness to dispose of him, Starkiller considered the concept of training an apprentice of his own. After discovering a young Jedi named, he took the boy as his own secret apprentice. He called this act "Vader's true teaching".

Meanwhile, the Purge came to an end when Starkiller killed An'ya Kuro, whom he knew from Imperial records had been known as the "Dark Woman".

Starkiller and Palpatine were the targets of a group of treacherous Imperial officers led by Grand Moff. Trachta saw the Sith as foolish and archaic, and believed that the Empire should not be ruled by a two-man cult. They planned to use a batch of altered stormtroopers loyal only to them to destroy the two Sith Lords. While the Emperor was dealing with the conspirators, Starkiller set out on a mission of his own to the planet Dargulli to locate a mysterious, powerful Jedi. But, instead of a Jedi Knight, he was confronted by a cadre of bounty hunters who had come to the conclusion that ganging up on, and defeating, the Sith Lord would bring them fame and fortune. With the help of another bounty hunter, Boba Fett, Starkiller quickly disposed of his attackers, only to be approached by a female darksider whom Starkiller eliminated despite her offering to become his apprentice. Afterwards, Starkiller returned to find the conspirators' plot dismantled, in part because of internal fighting between the co-conspirators.

An Old Enemy
"You... I've seen you."

- Starkiller, to the double.

With the loss of the stolen Death Star plans during a in 0 BBY, Starkiller was charged by the Emperor himself with retrieving the missing schematics. When word reached him of a possible Rebel Alliance courier en route to the volcanic Sith moon of Kalakar VI with the plans in tow, the Dark Lord investigated, shadowed by his Master. What greeted Starkiller was unthinkable: a splinter group of Sith fanatics who had managed through their Sith alchemy to resurrect.



It is unknown whether this Maul was created by cloning, by using Sith alchemy to restore and reanimate Maul's actual corpse (which was destroyed in the Naboo reactor core room), or through other means. Starkiller was pressed into combat with Maul, who sought to supplant him as Palpatine's new apprentice. In the eyes of Maul and the fanatics, Starkiller's time as a Jedi had "tainted" him, and only a pure Sith should rule by Sidious's side. Both Sith Lords seemed to be equals in combat, until Starkiller cut Darth Maul's lightsaber in two, followed by Maul switching to the Jar'Kai style—a style Starkiller had little defense against. Having the advantage of two lightsabers, Maul held off Starkiller's lightsaber with one of his blades, and cut into his helmet with the other. Feeling assured of a victory, Maul prepared to deliver the final blow to kill Starkiller. Maul paid for his overconfidence with his life, as Starkiller took his lightsaber and stabbed it through his own body and into Maul's.

As Starkiller met up once more with a suspiciously unsurprised Palpatine, the badly damaged Dark Lord could not help but suspect that the encounter was yet another test. The distrust between mentor and student, fed by a year of such trials, grew.

Galactic Civil War
Main article: Galctic Civil War

Searching for the Death Star Plans
"Several transmissions were beamed to this ship by Rebel spies. I want to know what happened to the plans they sent you.''" "I don't know what you're talking about. I'm a member of the Imperial Senate on a diplomatic mission to Alderaan." "''You are a part of the Rebel Alliance and a traitor! Take her away!"

- Starkiller and Leia Organa

With the Kalakar VI mission deemed a wild bantha chase, Starkiller returned to his twofold priority of both locating the Death Star plans as well as the hidden Rebel base. After the 501st Legion's failed attempt to recover the Death Star plans on, Imperials were able to track where they were sent, Tantive IV, a corvette belonging to Princess of. Starkiller chased after the corvette personally.

The first time he captured what he thought to be Tantive IV, it turned out instead to be a ruse set up by. Abso, in order to buy time for the Princess to escape, let himself be captured aboard Tantive V and even fought against Starkiller himself. Abso was easily defeated by Starkiller and executed by the Sith Lord. Starkiller ordered that Tantive V be left adrift in space. An hour later, he captured the real Tantive IV with Leia Organa aboard.

Because of this setback, however, Organa was able to load the Death Star plans aboard and send the droid to. Starkiller once more lost the plans, but gained a partial victory in capturing the Princess. Ordering stormtroopers to take the Princess to the Death Star, Starkiller destroyed the Tantive IV and landed on Tatooine to locate the plans himself.

Mission to Tatooine
"I sense that you have not succeeded in tracking down your objective, my apprentice."

- Palpatine

Starkiller then traveled to Tatooine disguised as a Tusken Raider to locate the stolen Death Star plans suspected to be with two droids. His master contacted him to ask of any information on the droids.

Killing Jawas, Tuskens, and throwing a Sandcrawler off a cliff along the way, Starkiller finally reached Jabba's Palace, and entered by overloading the Palace Security droid. After slaughtering many guards, Jabba was impressed and invited Starkiller to speak business. Starkiller asked Jabba of two droids, astromech and protocol, and that he would be well compensated for any information. Jabba said he knew nothing, but a blunder by his translator droid revealed the droids to be at Docking Bay 94,. Furious, Jabba dropped Starkiller into the pit as the Sith Lord realized his treachery. Starkiller battled Jabba's rancor and eventually killed it with a heavy amount of force lightning and lightsaber attacks. He made his way to the Palace Incinerator, where he encountered a run-down, who helped Starkiller bypass the Incinerator Security, before shutting down for good. Before leaving the Palace however, Starkiller was confronted by Boba Fett, who was after the bounty on him, placed by Jabba. After a vicious duel, Fett launched a missile from his jetpack, which Starkiller grabbed and hurled back at him, killing Fett as a result.

Starkiller left on a desert skiff and made his way to Docking Bay 94, where he saw the droids with Luke Skywalker escaping aboard the . As he attempted to pursue them, Obi-Wan Kenobi remained to face Starkiller, who was thrilled at the prospect of being able to kill the legendary Jedi Master. Though Kenobi was more experienced, Starkiller was more powerful, and eventually overpowered Kenobi, piercing his shoulder, then throwing him into the Falcon's engine. However, before he could retrieve the droids, Kenobi's Force ghost attacked him. Starkiller used his mastery of Force lightning to make Kenobi's spirit disappear. Before completely vanishing, Kenobi urged Luke to escape. As the Falcon lifted off, Starkiller leaped onto the hull and managed to place a tracking beacon before falling to the ground, watching as the ship fled, and clenching the other tracking beacon in his fist.

Battle of Yavin
"There will be no dawn for the Rebellion."

- Starkiller

Because of the homing beacon that Starkiller managed to place on the Millenium Falcon, the Empire was able to locate the Rebels' hidden base on Yavin 4. During the Battle of Yavin, he piloted a distinctive TIE Advanced x1 fighter and almost prevented Luke Skywalker's attack on the Death Star from being successful. Starkiller sensed that the young pilot in his sights was Force-sensitive, putting into motion a series of future events that culminated in the death of the Rebellion. When the Millennium Falcon shot down one of his two support craft, the other panicked and veered into Starkiller's fighter, sending him spinning away from the battle station.

Crash on Vaal
Starkiller limped to, where he abandoned his wrecked TIE Advanced. During his journey to the Imperial communications outpost there, he were attacked by a pack of. He killed several of the attacking predators, including their leader, earning their respect and without understanding it at first assuming the fallen leader's position. Along with the pack, he continued his travel to the relay station. There, he boarded a Lambda-class shuttle without a word to the shocked crew, leaving them to be slaughtered by the hyenax. He soon arrived at, where he expected to dispatch a team to recover the TIE and to re-staff the outpost. Instead, ordered Starkiller to join Captain Sodarra in retrieving the fighter.

Aftermath
Starkiller's team recovered the fighter, and during this time, the Imperial Spy contacted Starkiller, and informed him that the Rebels on Yavin IV were more vulnerable than ever. He launched a surprise attack on the moon, but found it deserted, save for the now-outed spy. Rogor received the brunt of Starkiller's anger for the waste of time. Little did Starkiller know that the Alliance had only evacuated most of its heavy equipment. The base's command and support staff were trapped by the Imperial blockade overseen from Jovan Station. They returned to the Massassi Temples, but not before Starkiller and his forces left the Yavin System. But Starkiller did not make it out of the Bright Jewel Oversector. The system was ruled by Governor-General, one of Starkiller's many rivals in the Empire, and the leader of one of the blockades that impeded the Rebel evacuation. Vellam nearly destroyed the Sith Lord, but Captain Sodarra rescued the remains of the fighter and Starkiller's comatose body. He fled the system in a corvette, planning to take Starkiller to an Imperial base on Shador. Their flight was interrupted when Vellam's flagship caught up with them. Sodarra's ship was destroyed, but he and Starkiller were rescued by a most unlikely person—, who was chasing , a bounty hunter who was holding Leia Organa captive on Tatooine. Starkiller's life was placed in jeopardy once again when Han and decided to place a bomb on the crate, but after Solo discovered that Goot was one of Starkiller's agents, he had no choice but to travel to Tatooine and exchange Starkiller's life for Leia's.

Suspiscion
"If that boy is Vader's son, then I must finish him and complete what I began those few years ago."

- Starkiller

After the exchange, Starkiller decided not to immediately return to Coruscant, instead making reports to Palpatine via hologram. The Emperor would be furious, but Starkiller wanted to track down the Force-sensitive pilot who had destroyed the Death Star first. Starkiller had sensed a strong Force ability in the pilot, one unmatched by any living person in the galaxy, save for himself and his Master. If such a being was serving the Rebel Alliance, the balance could tip in their favor, and so this pilot had to be hunted down and destroyed.

And yet, after his duel with Kenobi, Starkiller had spotted a young man among those who escaped, one who had been distraught at the death of the old Jedi Master. And the ship had been on Tatooine. All circumstantial evidence, certainly, but it was enough to give Starkiller an inkling of the pilot's possible heritage.

Uncovering the identity of the Rebel pilot before the Emperor became Starkiller's top priority. His second would be the ousting of the Imperials who would act against him, as Vellam had done. There were many ambitious men in the Empire who wished to take Starkiller's place at the Emperor's side, and the recent incident with Vellam may have convinced Starkiller that these power-hungry beings could be a direct threat to him. The Sith Lord began formulating a plan that would eliminate them, starting with the Fleet Admirals of the Imperial Navy. Eventually, Starkiller planned to finish dealing with the more powerful Tagge family and the crime lord Prince.

Construction of the Executor
"It used to be Vader's, my master's one gift to me."

- Starkiller

However, this plan would require time to come to fruition. In the meantime, the Rebels on Yavin could not be ignored. Starkiller knew now that he would have to deal with the Rebels carefully. He didn't want them to escape or pull a victory out of the void, as they had at the Battle of Yavin. Starkiller thought that perhaps the key to defeating the Rebels would be Executor, which was underway at the shipyards of. With this in mind, he ordered a blockade of the Gordian Reach, the sector containing the Yavin system. This would keep the Rebels in place until Starkiller could return to deal with them. In the meantime, Starkiller resumed his search for the pilot.

The fleet was assigned to the command of General, who would maintain the blockade, while Starkiller charged Captain with the task of persecuting Rebel worlds. Now free to search for the Rebel pilot, Starkiller took Devastator to the Ultaar, where the Sith Lord had learned of a Rebel information retrieval outpost. He hoped to interrogate the Rebels there and learn the identity of that elusive X-wing pilot.

En route to Ultaar, Starkiller detected the passing presence of a Force-sensitive. This new lead was fortunate, for Starkiller discovered that the retrieval team on Ultaar had been wiped out by a bounty hunter named, who was seeking information on a boy with two droids— apparently the pilot Starkiller was also hunting. Far from being distressed, Starkiller found the concept of a rival interesting.

On Devastator, Captain and his crew discovered the Force-sensitive's destination: the Wheel. Devastator raced to the system, where Starkiller found his prey escaping the station in a yacht. The Sith Lord directed his attention toward capturing the vessel, only to be attacked from behind by a familiar smuggling ship— the same ship that had ruined his defense of the Death Star. Starkiller gave orders for the ship to be destroyed at once, but his firing command was interrupted by a flash of pain emanating from the Force user on the yacht. The pain itself passed quickly, but the surprise gave both ships time to escape into hyperspace.

Although his quarry had eluded him for the time being, Starkiller had gained valuable information. He knew that the Rebel pilot was part of a group aiding Princess Leia Organa, a group that included the smugglers who had attacked him at the Death Star.

The next lead turned up when a Rebel spy was discovered, a spy who knew the name of another Rebel, one who had been at Yavin just before the battle, and who in turn knew the name of the elusive pilot. Starkiller tortured a name and location out of the Rebel:, hiding at Rubyflame Lake, a former resort on the planet. Starkiller rushed to the location, only to find that his rival Valance had arrived first. The bounty hunter had apparently had a change of heart after wiping out the Rebels at Ultaar. Valance was now convinced that the boy Starkiller pursued was the galaxy's only hope for a better future. The bounty hunter perished after a short battle, but not before convincing Tyler Lucian to commit suicide. The pilot's identity remained a mystery.

Later, the forces of General Ulric Tagge's blockade engaged a Rebel fleet in battle in the system. Tagge's flagship was destroyed during the skirmish, as was a House of Tagge mining explorer containing family members Silas and Baron Orman Tagge. General Tagge escaped the destruction of his ship, and with the apparent death of his older siblings, the title of Baron fell to him. The new Baron claimed that the battle arose as part of a standard blockade action, but Starkiller's spies informed him that it was something more. The spies also rescued Silas and Orman Tagge from the wreckage around Junction. Both were barely alive, but Starkiller ordered Devastator's medical droids to begin restoring the life functions of the Tagge brothers. The Sith Lord saw this as his opportunity to end the Tagge family's constant scheming against him.

Starkiller also wished to continue hunting for the Rebel pilot, but after a fruitless month of searching, he had no choice but to return to Coruscant and face the Emperor. Leaving Devastator, the Sith Lord commandeered a Carrack-class cruiser for his voyage to Coruscant, taking with him the salvaged fighter.

Punishment
Starkiller found the Emperor in a bacta tank, recovering from an adventure on. Lord Sidious assigned Starkiller the task of recovering Admiral, who had gone missing in the Yavin system months before. The Admiral, who had sent a distress signal from the planet, had in his possession data tapes detailing a final plan of Grand Moff Tarkin's. Starkiller retrieved the tapes, killed the Admiral, and returned to Coruscant.

Starkiller presented the data tapes to the Emperor. Palpatine was not pleased with Starkiller's failure at the Battle of Yavin, however, and Starkiller was punished by being scarred across the back, perhaps as a reminder of Vader's punsihment methods during Starkiller's childhood.

Starkiller was then instructed to head to to oversee the construction of Executor while the task of developing Tarkin's project was assigned to others. After a member of that team was imprisoned, Starkiller had to hire a bounty hunter for a rescue mission, and then a Rebel droid destroyed the project headquarters on Malagarr. En route to Fondor, Starkiller contacted the Emperor to inform him of these new developments.

The project underway at Fondor was the Empire's largest undertaking since the Death Star. The Imperial military objected to this concentration of resources, claiming that it was little better than the Death Star. They also suspected that the Sith Lord was using his position with the Emperor to increase his own personal power, though few fully grasped the relationship between the two. Starkiller cared little for the thoughts of Admirals, but he resumed command of Devastator and conducted a fleet test near Fondor to settle the issue in his own mind.

Once the test was completed, Starkiller moved on to Jovan Station, headquarters of the Imperial blockade. He informed the admirals gathered there that he had decided the course that would be taken against the Rebels, and that the Fondor project would go through. He also staged a confrontation between himself and Admiral, hoping to draw out those who would act against him.

Griff convinced the admirals to allow for a Rebel spy to infiltrate the construction yards of Fondor to sabotage Starkiller's project.

Starkiller returned to Fondor, where he was informed by Admiral Griff that the Rebel spy had arrived. Griff escalated the plans of the traitorous Admirals, arranging for them to meet with the Rebel spy in the tunnels below Fondor's surface. The Admirals were unwilling to risk more involvement with the spy with Starkiller present, but Griff told them that Starkiller was leaving temporarily. In fact, Starkiller slipped off Devastator before its departure, and joined Griff in the tunnels to trap the traitors.

But as Starkiller prepared to strike, he sensed something unexpected—the Rebel spy was Force-sensitive. Not only that, but Starkiller could clearly sense that this boy was a disciple of Obi-Wan. Incidents since the Death Star's destruction had caused Starkiller to suspect that there was such a man serving the Rebels—the mind-touch near Ultaar, the flash of pain at the Wheel, and certain comments made by Valance on Centares—but now he was sure of it. He was getting closer to discovering the pilot's identity.

But the Rebel could sense Starkiller as well. He warned the Admirals, who scattered. Starkiller was unconcerned, however. He ordered Griff to forget the traitors and find the spy, but it was too late. The Rebel succeeded in escaping the system.

While Starkiller failed to capture the Rebel, Griff's men managed to round up the traitorous Imperials. And although the spy could have gained valuable information on the systems of Executor, what Starkiller learned was far more valuable. He had been unprepared for the Rebel's interference, but no more. The pilot may have been a student of Obi-Wan's, but Starkiller was sure that his own power was stronger.

Admiral Griff soon departed Fondor to return to his duties as system blockade commander, while Starkiller stayed behind to oversee the Fondor project.

Before long, Griff contacted Starkiller, informing him that the Rebels were gathering allies to their base at Yavin. The Admiral deemed the Interdictors ineffective; the pirate fleet had managed to slip past their blockade. Griff pleaded with Starkiller to launch a full scale attack, but Starkiller wouldn't hear of it. He would not authorize an attack on the Rebel base until Executor was ready, and certain other events put in motion.

Vader's Son
"The son of Vader must not become a Jedi&hellip;''" "''If he could be turned, he would become a powerful ally&hellip;"

- Palpatine and Starkiller

Starkiller's spies had learned of a Rebel pilot who had returned to his homeworld of Centares bringing with him a first hand account of the Battle of Yavin. Starkiller hired a team of bounty hunters and Ban Papeega to bring the man in. On Centares, the Rebel finally revealed the last name of the pilot who had destroyed the Death Star—Skywalker. This was the same name Starkiller had found on Anchorhead municipal records for a T-16 skyhopper owned by a nineteen year old human boy who had resided at the Lars farm. It was also, according to a Mos Eisley based spy called, the name found on a Spaceport Speeders sales record for a landspeeder purchased from a young man who had left Tatooine on the freighter Millennium Falcon.

Starkiller had gone for months without knowing the name of the one he had sought, but he now suspected that Vader, as Anakin Skywalker, had conceived before his placing inside the metal suit that Starkiller had only ever known him to be in. Something stired within Starkiller now, a feeling of guilt at having taken this boy's father from him without them having ever met.

The Sith Lord quickly dismissed these emotions, however. Obi-Wan had reached the boy first, and he was serving the enemy now. Skywalker would have to be turned, or he would have to be destroyed. With Vader's son at his side, Starkiller would have no need of Sidious.

But for his plan to succeed, Starkiller knew his Master could not discover his true intentions. He quickly set about slaughtering the bounty hunters who had captured the Rebel. While the Sith Lord was busy executing mercenaries and bounty hunters, the Rebel pilot who had betrayed the name to him was killed by, preventing Starkiller from discovering anything more.

In the Emperor's throne room at Imperial City, Starkiller came before Palpatine in person for the first time after the destruction of the first Death Star. The Emperor inquired after Starkiller's apparent loss at Fondor, as well as the destruction of Tarkin's project. Starkiller made no reference to Skywalker, stating instead that he pursued the pilot who destroyed the Death Star for revenge. After his meeting with the Emperor, Starkiller received notice that Skywalker had been given a diplomatic assignment on, and set out immediately to capture him.

Starkiller ordered the ruler of Jazbina,, to hold Skywalker until he arrived. The young man managed to escape custody, but Starkiller cornered him before he could leave the planet. The Sith Lord came face to face with the boy for the first time. Skywalker was protected by the Rebels of Jazbina, but surrendered himself when Starkiller threatened to have his Interdictor bomb the cities of the planet. It seemed that Starkiller's quest had come to an end.

But a single Rebel pilot,, managed to destroy the Interdictor in a suicide run, and a crowd of angry Jazbinans neutralized Starkiller's stormtroopers. Skywalker had managed to sway the entire planet to the Rebel cause. Faced with the prospect of having to battle the massive populace protecting Skywalker on his own, Starkiller returned to Coruscant without his prize. When he visited Palpatine to inform him of his failure to capture the pilot, he was addressed to by the Emperor, who in fact knew of the Rebel's identity as well, as "Skywalker."

Now that Skywalker was known to his Master, Starkiller would have to work quickly. He departed Coruscant in the Devastator, searching for Rebel bases. The Sith Lord's forces decimated a Rebel refueling station, where the torture of a Rebel officer revealed Skywalker's full name—Luke Skywalker.

Tao
Upon discovering this information, Starkiller let his apprentice,, go free. Tao had been unable to display the anger and hatred necessary to embrace the dark side anyway, and Starkiller planned to train Vader's son in his place. It was only then that Tao displayed his anger towards Starkiller but, upon leaving, was captured by the Emperor himself. While Palpatine officially conferred upon Starkiller the newly-christened Executor, he also brought Tao before Vader and ordered him to strike Tao down to prove his loyalty. Though he did not want to, Starkiller was unable to control his body and soon slashed his lightsaber through Tao's torso.

Starkiller, distraught at what he had been forced to do, took the near-dead Tao to his home planet of to die where he had been born. While there, Starkiller was attacked by a Tusken Raider who had been tracking Vader and then his killer ever since Vader had destroyed his village and killed his family. The Tusken quickly gained an advantage over Starkiller, damaging his armor and revealing the lightsabers which he had built into his gaderfii. Just as the Tusken was about to strike Starkiller down, Tao rose from the brink of death and struck it down, saving Starkiller's life. Just before he died, Tao pleaded with Starkiller to let go of his hatred and not let the Emperor control him; Tao still sensed some good within his master. After carving a small monument to Tao, Starkiller returned to his former home on briefly to contemplate his own life.

Subjugating the Tagge Family
Now Starkiller moved to bring the Tagge family to heel. Starkiller confronted the new Baron, using the Force to extract a confession: Tagge revealed that he and his brothers had planned to destroy the Rebels at Junction with a new invention, in an attempt to win the favor of the Emperor from Starkiller. The General also disclosed the fact that the Tagge family had known of Skywalker for weeks. Enraged, Starkiller revealed to the General the survival of his older siblings, and threatened to bring the entire family before Palpatine if Ulric continued to oppose him.

Monastery
"No more, Skywalker! I've thoroughly tested you... Made you perform in a hostile environment... Probed your emotions by placing your friends in jeopardy. I now know your limits... And your limitations."

- Starkiller, to Luke Skywalker on Monastery.

Now satisfied that the House of Tagge was no longer a threat, Starkiller traveled to the ringed world of, home of the Order of the Sacred Circle, to which the youngest Tagge family member, , belonged. Starkiller forced the young woman into cooperating with him, promising power and prestige in the Order, as well as revenge on Luke Skywalker, for Domina believed her brother dead. Domina hated Starkiller, but she also despised Skywalker.

The Order had remained carefully neutral in the Galactic Civil War, but Starkiller, in hopes of capturing Skywalker, made overtures on behalf of the Empire. The Order wished to hear both sides, and Domina Tagge journeyed to Yavin, where she convinced the Alliance to send Skywalker as their representative.

When Luke Skywalker arrived on Monastery, Starkiller confronted him once more, insulting the Rebel and using every opportunity to diminish him in the eyes of the Order's elders. Starkiller succeeded in goading Skywalker into a lightsaber duel, but before their blades could cross, Domina intervened. She took advantage of the situation, and now schemed to eliminate both the Rebel and the Sith Lord. Luke and Starkiller were forced to take their duel to the deadly Crystal Valley.

Starkiller did not intend to engage Skywalker in combat just yet. First he wished to test the young man's abilities. He had arranged for Orman Tagge to escape from the Devastator, and when the former baron arrived, Starkiller took his vengeance upon Tagge. He knew that, above all else, Tagge had valued the innocence of his younger sister. Starkiller showed him that he had corrupted Domina, and then forced Tagge to battle Luke Skywalker, disguising him with the Force so that Orman appeared to Luke as Starkiller, until the illusion was shattered by the death of Tagge.

At the Wheel, Fondor, and Jazbina, Luke and his abilities with the Force had been an unknown factor, but now, after this thorough test, Starkiller knew the limitations of the young Rebel. Starkiller intended to capture the boy, but Luke escaped, and it would be years before they would meet face-to-face again.

Incompetence and Pursuit
Starkiller received word from that his son had been captured on, and was being held for the Sith Lord. Skywalker managed to escape, however, and Starkiller executed Parnell for his incompetence.

Luke managed to disappear after these events, and Starkiller's many spies could not locate the boy. Starkiller chose to travel throughout the galaxy, setting hundreds of traps on planets Skywalker might visit. One of these worlds was. Dantooine was once home to a Rebel base, and, centuries before, the Jedi Enclave.

Also on Dantooine, Starkiller was surprised by an ancient trap in the Jedi ruins. The trap killed his escort of stormtroopers, but Starkiller survived with only a small wound. Starkiller chose to investigate further, but the discovery of a Rebel outpost by one of the Devastator's scout ships forced him to change his plans. He departed the ruins, leaving only his shed blood behind.

Revision of Methods
Starkiller decided to adopt a hands-off approach to capturing Skywalker. He was sure that the Force would lead Skywalker to his destiny eventually. Moreover, the man he had charged with hunting Rebels, Captain, had been killed over. Starkiller began to take care of Rebel bases himself, such as the outpost discovered earlier. Starkiller ordered the Emperor's Hand to infiltrate the Rebel headquarters to learn the latest of the Alliance's plans.

When the Sith Lord received word of a new Alliance base operating near the Panna system, he decided to utilize Boba Fett to locate the base. Fett befriended Luke Skywalker on Panna, and nearly got the location of the new Rebel base out of him, but he was forced to retreat, and failed even to capture the young Jedi.

While in battle with an Alliance space fleet, Starkiller learned from Blackhole that the Alliance's new plan was to fail in all direct confrontations with the Empire, while their main efforts would be in gathering new allies, such as the pirates Griff had spotted near Yavin, to the Rebel cause. Starkiller instructed Blackhole to capture those Rebels. Blackhole attempted to kidnap Luke and Leia on, but he and his failed.

Phelarion
Still later, while investigating the disappearance of valuable megonite near Phelarion, Devastator's scouts encountered a Rebel shuttle, which they shot down over Phelarion, home to an Imperial labor camp run by Lady Tarkin, the widow of Grand Moff. Starkiller's men managed to back track a message sent from the planet's surface, and pinpointed the location of the Rebel from the shuttle. Starkiller crashed the Thirteenth Imperial Diplomatic Conclave being held at Port Tarkin, where he found that the Rebel was none other than Leia Organa herself. Starkiller's stormtroopers trapped her on a landing pad, but she was rescued by the Millennium Falcon. Starkiller held Lady Tarkin personally responsible for Leia's escape and the missing megonite.

Deception and Ambush
Having failed to capture Rebels at Phelarion, Starkiller prepared a trap for the Alliance. Upon hearing that a school on had been using illegal material for its curriculum, Starkiller ordered that the teacher and her students be captured. He transmitted his plan to execute them galaxywide, hoping to draw out the Rebels. Skywalker himself led the mission to rescue the children, and beyond all odds, he succeeded. The Star Destroyers waiting at Harix were tricked by a faux fleet, while the real Rebel rescue force whisked the teacher and the students away.

Before the Harix incident, Starkiller had chosen to allow others to deal with Skywalker. On Harix, as on Panna, Tol Ardo and Vorzyd, Skywalker had continually foiled his plans to deal with the Rebellion at large, while eluding capture from even the most skilled of operatives. Starkiller now decided that it was time to give his personal attention to Luke Skywalker.

Soon after, Starkiller learned from one of his spies that six flights of Rebel X-wings were planetside for re-work on. Following up this new lead, Starkiller discovered that Skywalker was among the pilots. When the Devastator arrived, its TIE fighters were attacked by a mere six snubfighters. Before the battle could truly begin, two ships rammed Devastator in a suicide run, leaving the Star Destroyer vulnerable. Starkiller chose to retreat, promising that he would find Luke Skywalker another day. He then returned, albeit briefly, to Coruscant.

Xizor
"Xizor has been a thorn in my side for years! I would do anything to be rid of him!"

- Starkiller

After leaving Coruscant once more, Starkiller had to contend with the machinations of Prince. Although the Sith Lord had eliminated Baron Tagge and the hubris admirals of the fleet, Xizor retained the Emperor's favor, and Starkiller could not attack him directly. In a conference on Coruscant (which Starkiller attended via hologram from the Devastator), the Dark Prince proposed a scheme that would shatter the powerful Bounty Hunters Guild, leaving only the strongest bounty hunters for the Empire to use against the Rebellion. Starkiller strongly opposed this plan, but Palpatine gave his blessing. The Emperor also assigned to the task of monitoring Starkiller.

Completion of the Executor
"I am going to destroy their base at Yavin and nothing they have can stop me!"

- Starkiller

At Fondor, the Executor was finally completed, and ready for a shakedown cruise. Starkiller ordered that the ship be taken to the nearest Rebel installation—a depot on, where Starkiller officially christened his new ship by obliterating the depot.

Now Starkiloler's long wait had paid off, and the Executor traveled to Yavin to smash the Rebel command, eliminating several small Alliance strike forces on the way. Finally the Rebels seemed to have given up all hope of stopping Executor, but Starkiller knew better. Sure enough, one last ship, a tiny attack craft, assaulted his Star Dreadnought just outside of the Yavin system.

And this was no ordinary ship. The craft carried a, a rare mineral formation that could shatter any energy shield. Starkiller also sensed that someone on board the tiny ship was sensitive to the Force. He suspected that Luke Skywalker, hero of the Death Star battle, had been sent to stop Executor. The Imperial battle plan did not account for detours, but Starkiller was determined to capture Skywalker who had evaded him enough times already, and so the massive ship swung around to pursue the Rebel ship. Starkiller soon sensed through the Force that, somehow, Skywalker had left the smaller vessel. As the Rebel ship turned around to attack the Executor head on, all shielding on the Star Dreadnought was transferred forward, smashing the small craft and negating the effects of the power gem.

But the Executor was then attacked from behind by Skywalker on board the Millennium Falcon. With no aft shields in place, the Rebel was able to damage Executor's gyro-control systems. With the gyro systems disabled, the mammoth Star Dreadnought was unable to maneuver, and Starkiller was forced to turn command of the Imperial assault over to blockade commander Admiral while repairs were carried out.

Thanks to Griff's incompetence, Luke Skywalker, the Millennium Falcon, and the Rebel fleet managed to flee the Yavin system, but Starkiller chose not to pursue. He had learned that General, the Rebel leader who had masterminded the attack on the Death Star, had remained behind at the Rebel base, and was leading a group of stranded Rebels against Imperial forces. Starkiller decided to take revenge for the Death Star's destruction by capturing Dodonna, a traitor to the Empire, and led a squad of stormtroopers against the Rebels. Starkiller and his troops took out the anti-air turrets protecting the main Rebel base. This allowed a flight of Griff's TIE bombers to attack the Massassi base directly. But Dodonna had rigged the main base and the surrounding temples with explosives, which he used to wipe out the Imperial ships.

Dodonna's body was recovered from the wreckage by Starkiller's search teams. A quick mind probe revealed a Rebel operation geared against the planet, but gave no useful information on the whereabouts of the Rebel fleet.

Griff's Failure
"Griff is a fool, and I will not tolerate his insolence much longer!"

- Starkiller

With the general captured, Starkiller waited for Executor to be repaired, allowing Griff to continue directing the Imperial pursuit of the Rebel fleet, even after an attack by the on the blockade. Starkiller's inaction was a clever plot to capture both the fleet and Skywalker. If Griff threatened the Rebels, Skywalker would use the Force to aid them. Starkiller waited in his meditation pod, searching for any disturbance in the Force. When at last Skywalker opened himself to the Force, Starkiller was able to locate him, and brought the fleet under the guns of the Executor.

Starkiller underestimated the ambitious Admiral Griff, however. In a last-ditch attempt to corner the Rebels before Starkiller, Griff attempted a blind hyperspace jump, smashing his own Star Destroyer and two others into the Executor's shields. This allowed the Rebels and Skywalker to escape, bound for parts unknown. Once again, Starkiller was thwarted, but he knew that his inevitable encounter with Skywalker was only delayed.

Culling the Military
Starkiller, now aboard Admiral 's Star Destroyer Conqueror, began monitoring reports from the abandoned Rebel base. When the Falcon returned to Yavin with Skywalker aboard, the incompetent Quist failed to capture her, and soon joined the ranks of late Imperial commanders. Not long after, while revisiting the abandoned base on Dantooine, Luke fell into the trap Starkiller had set there. Using his agents, the, Starkiller tempted Luke into using the dark side, and even projected a mental image of himself to Dantooine for Luke to battle. Skywalker was saved when broke the trance, but Starkiller promised that next time Luke wouldn't be so lucky.

Starkiller then set about punishing Imperial officials, and locking down on Rebel attempts to gain food and supplies. He followed up on the information stripped from Dodonna's mind and led an Imperial effort to retake Reytha from the Rebellion. He killed Moff for allowing the Rebels to thrive on the planet and drove the Alliance from Reytha. Starkiller also executed Overlord for dealing with the Alliance, and visited  to put pressure on  to complete.

Searching for Information
Hoping to uncover more information on the whereabouts of the Rebel fleet, Starkiller visited, and demanded that gain information on Alliance activities. Afterwards, Starkiller was set upon by Falleen assassins seeking vengeance for the devastation Starkiller had brought upon their world. After defeating them, Starkiller returned to Coruscant, where he monitored possible Rebel activity in the Shelsha sector and searched the Emperor's databases for more information about Luke Skywalker. There, he again crossed paths with Mara Jade.

Not long after, Starkiller blockaded the Kashyyyk system in an attempt to capture a Rebel group that included Skywalker and Organa, but they somehow managed to slip in and out of the system while evading capture.

Some time after that, Starkiller met the survivor of the, , thought to be dead but merely in self-imposed exile following his use of the dark side to defeat Separatist General during the early days of the Clone Wars. Shen-Jon was defending princess Leia while she was escaping to her ship on. Echuu was also carrying the, an ancient Jedi artifact. Starkiller killed him, but Leia managed to escape and Shen-Jon broke the Vor'Na'Tu into pieces.

Mimban
When Governor learned that Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia were on  in  searching for a powerful Force relic known as the, he contacted the Dark Lord. Starkiller traveled to the jungle world hoping both to capture Skywalker and get hold of the powerful crystal. He tracked the Rebels to the abandoned deep in one of Mimban's jungles. Luke, Leia and, a Force-sensitive local Human with whom they had undertaken the search for the crystal, had left C-3PO and R2-D2 outside the temple while they went in to look for the crystal.

Starkiller deactivated both droids. He then entered the temple to face Skywalker and the Princess. Starkiller immobilized Luke by dropping a ceiling stone at him with the Force, but the Kaiburr crystal's proximity had intensified the Sith Lord's anger, and he was surprised at being overcome with the desire to kill the two rebels. Leia briefly dueled with Starkiller using Luke's lightsaber, but the Dark Lord quickly subdued her and slashed her body repeatedly with his blade as a form a torture. When Luke emerged from under the stone, Leia threw him his lightsaber, and the two crossed sabers for the first time. The crystal's presence enhanced Starkiller's already formidable Force powers but Luke's actions were guided by Obi-Wan Kenobi. This guidance coupled with the fact that Luke was in possession of the crystal, were enough to deflect the lightning and slice Starkiller's arm off. However, this act drained Obi-Wan's spirit to the point that he could no longer aid Luke, and Starkiller simply shrugged off the injury. As he advanced on the two siblings, he caught sight of the lightsaber Luke was holding, which looked just like the one that Imperial records showed had formerly belonged to Vader, but toppled into a deep sacrificial well, allowing the Rebels to escape. Starkiller was unconscious for over an hour at the bottom of the pit, but the battle made him realize that Luke could help him overthrow the Emperor.

Request Denied
Starkiller was also dispatched to quell Rebellion in the system, where the governor boldly approached Starkiller and declared independence. Starkiller Force-choked him to death, callously stating, "Request denied, governor." Starkiller then proceeded to lead Imperial forces to destroy the ill-fated independence movement. He also rescued then-Colonel from imprisonment. Veers then put his knowledge to work and deployed the next generation of walkers, which would be used to great effect in the Battle of Hoth. It was on Zaloriis that Starkiller learned of possible Rebel contacts on.

Awarru Tark
In 3 ABY, Starkiller was the target of bounty hunter 's rage aboard Avenger that nearly took his life. As the two combatants faced each other, Starkiller reached out into the very mind of Awarru and sensed the source for Awarru's hatred. Starkiller and Awarru both became paralyzed and shocked due to Starkiller's telepathic attempt. However, Starkiller struck first, ending Awarru's suffering. Starkiller, now with a deep scar across his face caused by one of Tark's lightsaber daggers and his circuits damaged, barely managed to escape. Not since Vader had Starkiller faced a fearsome warrior that was worthy of a fight.

Hoth
''Main article: Battle of Hoth

"You have failed me for the last time, Admiral."

- Starkiller executes Admiral Ozzel

After dispatching a snowspeeder with his lightsaber and exiting his AT-AT, Starkiller began his attack on Echo Base. Captain Keenah - who was to act as Starkiller's attack group liaison - planned an infiltration route for the dark lord to enter via ice caverns adjacent to the base. The caverns were infested with wampas, who he dispatched with ease. As ice columns the Sith had been jumping across started to collapse, Captain Keenah contacted Starkiller on his comlink to inform him of the cavern's instability and admitted that the most likely cause was the walker invasion force. Although the captain claimed the mistake to be unintentional and Starkiller was unharmed from the experience, the Dark Lord reached out with the Force to strangle the captain for his failure. Lieutenant Marsen was next in line as Starkiller's liaison and attempted to aid the Sith throughout the rest of the invasion.

The ice caverns adjoined to the Rebel base and presumably to prevent wampa and other attacks from the cave, the Rebels had set up a sentry auto turret defense. Easily dispatching the turret, the Dark Lord encountered Rebel troops who had came to investigate the disturbance. They stood no chance at defeating Starkiller, who continued to push his way into the base, violently slaughtering all Rebels as well as many wampas which entered the base during the battle. Lieutenant Marsen contacted Starkiller about the presence of a group of Rebels ahead of his location that likely had an officer with them - he was not incorrect, and Lord Starkiller had finally found Skywalker. Upon confronting Luke alone, Starkiller revealed the truth about Luke's father in an attempt to infuriate and confuse him, although he denied it. Despite the surrounding turmoil of the invasion, Luke kept his cool in the lightsaber and Force duel that followed. Luke even tried to turn Starkiller away from the dark side by telling him he could sense the good in him, but his attempts in all respects failed and Luke was forced to let two wampas out of containment to cover his escape. This did not distract him for long, and Starkiller continued to make his way through the base to trap Skywalker.

When Starkiller disabled the force field generator protecting the Millennium Falcon in the Echo Base hangar, the blast doors were closed to protect the ship as well as Princess Leia. Starkiller attempted to force open the doors with the Force, but Skywalker was waiting for him and Force Pushed him away, stepped through, and resealed the doors behind him. Luke claimed he would not run away from Starkiller or his own destiny. Another duel ensued, this time as the hangar was engulfed in fighting between Rebel and Imperial soldiers. Starkiller overpowered and continued to humiliate Luke, drawing Luke toward the dark side. As snowtroopers ran up to capture Skywalker, he tapped into the passionate forces of the Dark Side to defeat them and was reinvigorated for battle against Starkiller. Skywalker began using red force lightning, wild lightsaber attacks, and boasting that even though Obi-Wan could not defeat Starkiller, he could.

Although Luke's powers were very aggressive and damaging, Starkiller absorbed his opponent's powerful lightning into his lightsaber and launched it back at him throughout the battle and beat him in lightsaber combat. Starkiller threw Luke into the path of an outbound T-47 Snowspeeder. Recovering, Luke, wildly attacked Starkiller. After blocking an attack with his lightsaber, Starkiller cut off Luke's right hand. As the Dark Lord readied for a final stab, the blast doors protecting the Millennium Falcon opened behind him and the ship shot off through the hangar, ready to escape the planet. Starkiller reacted quickly and withdrew from his attack to catch the ship with the Force. Starkiller told Luke that he could only save his friends with the power of the Dark Side of the Force and the now-fallen Jedi quickly obliged by shooting force lightning out again which Starkiller blocked with his lightsaber and sent it back to Luke pushing him across the hangar floor. Although Luke had succeeded in distracting Starkiller with the attack, allowing the Millennium Falcon to escape, he was beaten and had embraced the power of the dark side. Lord Starkiller congratulated his new apprentice.

Personality and Traits
"Galen Marek is no more. Starkiller is supreme."

- Starkiller

Though he was brutally and continually punished by his master, Darth Vader, Galen Marek submitted willingly to the teaching method of the Dark Lord, essentially because he knew nothing else. He was also of the belief that whatever did not kill him would make him stronger, more adept in wielding the dark side. Such was Marek's state of mind towards the end of his training with Vader that a part of him almost wished for death. In addition, due to his life-long isolation from all but a few individuals, Marek was rather reclusive to anyone but PROXY, and only began to open up to Juno Eclipse after a great deal of time.

When hunting down and dispatching his targets, Marek was always satisfied that he had helped defend the Galactic Empire and fulfill his master's will. To that end, he was disturbed by the fact that he would have to cut down Imperial troops during his mission to kill General Kota, feeling that their only crime had been to cross his path, but he was careful to conceal his feelings from his master. At the same time, for much of his life he had craved a confrontation with a Jedi Knight, and was excited by the prospect.

Marek was raised by Darth Vader, who was not a very kindly father figure, creating turmoil, anger, and apathy in his mind. He was trained to be loyal, but also a ruthless assassin and an unstoppable force. While powerful and confident, he demonstrated many different sides to his personality. He was wary of his purpose in life and what he was meant to be doing; he began with a sure focus on the Sith destiny trained into him by Vader. However, his exposure to both Jedi, the light side of the Force and also to the reality of Sith life caused his focus to waver. Ultimately, his innate sense of loyalty proved incompatible with Sith philosophy, and he gradually made his choices in life accordingly.

After Vader's second betrayal on Corellia, Marek displayed not only anger, but also pity for the Dark Lord, remarking that if he were to die there, then Vader would never be free from his master. When Marek converted to the light, most of Starkiller ceased to exist, and Marek fully accepted his destiny in the makings of a Jedi. However, a small spark of Starkiller remained and burned on occasion. During his battle with Darth Vader, Marek stated that he did not hate the Dark Lord, but pitied him, declaring that he would kill him to free him.

When the Emperor tempted Marek into killing Vader, Marek struggled briefly with his emotions, but in the end decided to embrace the Darkside once again. He gave in to his anger and killed Vader, taking his place as the Emperor's apprentice. At this moment, Marek died and Starkiller took hold once again. This persona stayed with the Sith Lord for the rest of his life.

Powers and abilities
"You had such promise. You could have been my successor, my equal."

- Darth Sidious

Though Galen Marek failed to reach his full potential, due to the injuries he recieved during his battle with Darth Sidious, he was nevertheless a very powerful Sith Lord. If he had reached his full potential he would have been the equal of Darth Sidious.

Lightsaber training
Galen Marek was an exceptionally skilled swordsman, managing to defeat some of the best lightsaber duellists of the day. He possessed at least basic knowledge of all lightsaber combat forms and was able to quickly recognise his opponents fighting styles. Starkiller often fought using the unorthodox Shien style, holding his lightsaber in reverse grip. However he was equally skilled at using the standard grip utilizing both Juyo and Soresu. Marek's skill with a lightsaber allowed him to defeat all of PROXY's training programs, blind the powerful Jedi Master Rahm Kota, overwhelm Kazdan Parratus and Marriss Brood and even slay Darth Vader, Shaak Ti and Obi-Wan Kenobi who were three of the greatest duellists of their time.

Even after being defeated by Emperor Palpatine, Starkiller was still a lethal opponent and mastered all three of his preferred fighting styles.

Force powers
Galen Marek was exceptionally powerful in the Force and had the potential to be one of the most powerful Force users in history. Even after he was weakened by Darth Sidious, Starkiller still weilded considerable power and skill in the Force.

Galen was a master of Force Lightning which he used to kill Shaak Ti and destroy the Force Ghost of Obi-Wan Kenobi. He also demonstrated the ability to kill a rancor with the power and was capable of targeting several opponents simultaniously. Even after he was weaknened from his battle with Darth Sidious, Starkiller retained his mastery of Force Lightning, showing that his human hands had not been damaged, or at least not severely because if they had he would have been unable to weild the power.

Galen was also incredibly proficient with Telekinesis, even managing to rip an Imperial Star Destroyer out of the sky and force it to the ground. He was also capable of using the powerful Force Repulse ability and when Darth Vader attempted to overwhelm him by hurling debris at him he countered by deflecting the debris back at the Sith Lord. Starkiller was also capable of using Force Choke.

Despite his incredible combative Force powers, Marek had difficulty when it came to forseeing the future, until he turned to the light side of the Force.