Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II (graphic novel)

The conclusion of the wildly popular game Star Wars: The Force Unleashed positioned the Star Wars galaxy on the verge of a civil war. However, the Emperor and Darth Vader have a different scheme already underway before that can transpire.

Haden Blackman, the original game's author, is back with a fresh tale of betrayal, deceit, and the manipulation of the Force's immense power. Omar Francia, known for his work on Star Wars: Legacy and Mass Effect, returns to provide the stunning artwork for this original graphic novel inspired by the forthcoming LucasArts game!

• Based on the LucasArts game that is soon to be released!

• The initial volume of _ Star Wars: The Force Unleashed _ achieved sales exceeding 80,000 copies!

• This graphic novel isn't just a simple adaptation of the game's events; it enriches the story!

In 1 BBY (precisely one year prior to the Battle of Yavin), the bounty hunter known as Boba Fett finds himself on Nar Shaddaa alongside his occasional partner, Xasha. At this point, both bounty hunters are nearly broke, although Xasha is still hopeful about their chances of recovering financially. Luckily for Fett, he receives a communication from Darth Vader, who wants to give the bounty hunter a mission to capture a target that is more dangerous than any of Fett's previous prey. With the promise of being paid three times his usual rate, Fett and Xasha traveled aboard Slave I to intercept the target on Cato Neimoidia, which Vader believed was the target's intended destination.

Upon arriving at Cato Neimoidia, Fett informed Xasha about the specifics of their assignment, revealing that the target is called "Starkiller" and that he possesses extraordinary Force abilities. The bounty hunters soon realized just how powerful Starkiller was when they saw the wreckage of Tarko-se. After entering the ruins of the city, it was clear that they had missed the battle. As they explored the city's remains, all they could find among the debris were the corpses of numerous Stormtroopers. Xasha wanted to scavenge pieces of Stormtrooper armor to sell on the black market, believing they would be valuable to the right buyers. Fett insisted that Xasha leave the dead troopers alone so they could focus on their mission.

They came across the corpse of a massive beast, which appeared to have died from significant physical trauma. After witnessing Starkiller's capabilities, Xasha became doubtful and felt that she and Fett were not qualified to face someone of Starkiller's power. Just then, Fett detected a heartbeat just as the creature reawakened. While Xasha evaded the monster's attacks, Fett analyzed the beast and discovered that it had a secondary heart. Unable to rely on his weapons, Fett used his jetpack to propel himself through the creature's chest in a desperate attempt to destroy its spare heart. The encounter with the creature, along with seeing Starkiller's destructive power, discouraged Xasha from continuing the hunt, which Boba Fett had anticipated. Although Xasha tried to persuade Fett to abandon the job and stay with her, Fett refused her offer. Before leaving, she expressed her fondness for their partnership and hoped that Fett would survive such a perilous mission.

After separating from Xasha, Boba Fett traveled to Timira City, a cloning facility on his home planet of Kamino. After viewing a holographic recording of Starkiller's last encounter with Darth Vader, Fett discovered that "Starkiller" was actually a clone created from the corpse of the original Starkiller. Fett was surprised to learn that Vader had created a clone who could escape from Kamino, destroy an entire city, and defeat a giant beast on Cato Neimoidia. Vader dismissed the clone as a failed experiment and ordered the bounty hunter to find Captain Juno Eclipse and bring her to Kamino, knowing that the clone would follow. Fett requested assistance from at least a squadron of stormtroopers, though he doubted their survival. Vader didn't care about the resources needed to bring the clone back and granted Fett more than he asked for. After examining several Terror Troopers and a Terror Walker, Fett was satisfied and began preparations to complete his assignment.

Before departing Kamino, Boba Fett inspected a new batch of clones being developed inside their cloning tanks. The cloning technician overseeing their development mentioned that the new accelerated cloning process allowed him to create fully-grown clone units in just a few weeks. However, the process was still experimental, causing the clones to suffer from "abnormal brain development." The cloning technician concluded that all the clones would eventually go insane. He believed that some clones could remain psychologically stable for at least a year, maybe longer, but others would experience mental degradation before even completing basic training.

Aboard Slave I, Boba Fett interrogated a Human male from Corellia who had secretly joined the Alliance to Restore the Republic. After injecting the Rebel prisoner with a truth serum, Fett learned the name and transponder code of the Salvation, the frigate commanded by Captain Juno Eclipse. Since he wasn't paid to kill the prisoner, Fett spared the Rebel's life, only to abandon him on a planet inhabited by vicious carnivores.

After locating the Salvation hiding in an asteroid belt, Boba Fett and his Imperial squadron waited behind the asteroids until the Rogue Shadow arrived and prepared to dock with the Rebel frigate. Fett knew the clone was on the starship and immediately ordered his forces to launch a surprise attack. The Rebels were caught off guard, and although they tried to fight back, Fett instructed his squadron to ignore the other Rebel ships and focus solely on the Salvation. The bounty hunter then boarded the frigate and personally led a squadron of Terror Troopers to the bridge, warning them about Starkiller's Force abilities, particularly his skill with Force lightning. He also ordered that all Rebels be killed, except for Captain Eclipse. With the help of the Terror Troopers, Fett stormed the bridge, disabling PROXY and shooting Eclipse in the arm while his troops eliminated the rest of the bridge's crew.

Before Fett forced her inside Slave I, Eclipse briefly saw "Starkiller." But since she didn't know he was a clone, she assumed he was the same young man she knew before his death. Before Starkiller could stop the bounty hunter, Boba Fett escaped from the damaged frigate with his prisoner and immediately set course for Kamino to complete his mission. Through the Terror Walker's view, Fett watched as Starkiller destroyed dozens of Terror Droids, including the Terror Walker. Eclipse warned Fett that Starkiller would come after her, which Fett fully expected, considering everything he had done to find her. Eclipse tried to frighten Fett by pointing out that Starkiller lacked the restraint and control of a Jedi and would utterly destroy Fett to rescue her, even if it meant pulling down an entire Star Destroyer on the bounty hunter. In response, Fett revealed the truth to Eclipse: the real Starkiller was dead. The one searching for Eclipse was a clone created by Darth Vader, whom Fett described as a "half-mad copy who only thinks he's in love with Juno Eclipse." As Eclipse despaired, she begged the bounty hunter not to let her be used by Vader to hurt the clone. Although somewhat moved by her pleas, Fett continued to Kamino to deliver her to Vader.

When Slave I landed on Timira City, Boba Fett exited the starship with Eclipse to meet Darth Vader and his escort of stormtroopers. Although he wanted his payment for capturing and delivering the woman alive, Vader refused, stating that their arrangement wouldn't conclude until Starkiller was captured. After seeing the clone's capabilities, Fett insisted on leaving before Starkiller arrived. Vader refused and ordered Fett to stay. The Sith Lord promised that after Starkiller's defeat, Boba Fett would receive an exclusive contract with the Galactic Empire. Fett complied, but only after listing his terms, such as being allowed to negotiate his rates on every job and having the Empire cover all his expenses. Shortly after the stormtroopers escorted Eclipse into the cloning facility, the Rebel fleet arrived, beginning the Assault on Kamino.

After Starkiller used the remains of the Salvation to breach Kamino's planetary shield, the Rebel forces began their assault on the planet. General Rahm Kota and a squadron of Rebel troopers landed on Timira City and tried to engage Boba Fett. Caught off guard, Fett narrowly escaped into the cloning facility. There, he encountered an highly deformed clone of the original Starkiller. The clone was psychologically unstable and immediately attacked Fett with a lightsaber. Fett's initial attempts to kill the clone failed. After the mad clone sliced apart the bounty hunter's rifle, Fett tried to kill him with his flamethrower, but to no avail. Overcome by rage, the aberrant clone Force-pushed Fett and prepared to strike him down. Fett barely survived by launching his jetpack's missile directly at the clone, killing him.

Shortly afterward, Boba Fett encountered the technician he had met earlier, who was preparing to leave Kamino to save his cloning research by taking it to Coruscant. When Fett asked about the clones still in their tanks, the technician said that the accelerated cloning process had failed again. He promised to return to Kamino after the Rebels were defeated to see what went wrong with the clones. The bounty hunter was displeased and demanded at gunpoint that the technician not abandon the clones in their unstable conditions, especially since they were the legacy of his "father." The technician revealed that the clones weren't created from Jango Fett's template; they were made from Boba Fett's genes. Thus, they were essentially "clones of a clone." Fett demanded to know how this was done, and the technician confirmed that Darth Vader hired Xasha to collect samples of Fett's DNA and an imprint of his brain patterns for the memory flashes needed to train the clones. Boba Fett was enraged and killed the technician before destroying all his clones.

When the last of his clones were destroyed, Boba Fett saw Darth Vader from a distance as the Sith Lord used Eclipse to force Starkiller into submission. The bounty hunter watched through his helmet's visor as Vader regained control over the clone. Suddenly, Eclipse tried to assassinate Vader with one of Starkiller's lightsabers. Vader narrowly avoided being struck by the blade, though Eclipse succeeded in slicing across Vader's chest panel. In retaliation, Vader Force-pushed Eclipse out of the tower, causing her to fall to her apparent death on a platform below. Starkiller tried to save Eclipse, but Vader did everything he could to prevent the clone from reaching her. Blinded by uncontrollable rage, the clone attacked his former Master with all his power and determination.

Just as Boba Fett picked up his sniper rifle to assist Vader, he was approached by General Kota, PROXY, and a squad of Rebel troopers. Relying on his skills as a combat expert, the bounty hunter easily dispatched the troopers and even defended himself against the aging Jedi Master. Before engaging the bounty hunter, PROXY used his holographic technology to transform into the long-dead bounty hunter Jango Fett, who wore armor nearly identical to Fett's Mandalorian armor. To his shock, Boba Fett found himself being attacked by the Holodroid disguised as "his father." The droid's tactic worked, and Fett was distracted enough for PROXY to shoot him in the arm, causing Boba to fall to his knees in apparent defeat. Before Kota and PROXY could arrest him, however, Boba Fett detonated a sonic grenade to temporarily disable the Jedi and the droid.

Fett managed to escape in time to watch Starkiller defeat Darth Vader by cutting off the Sith Lord's right hand before blasting him with Force lightning. As Starkiller prepared to take Vader's life, Fett aimed his sniper rifle at the clone's head. But before either could act, Kota and his troopers arrived, urging Starkiller to spare the defeated Sith Lord so the Alliance could turn him into a valuable prisoner. At the last moment, Starkiller relented and went to Eclipse's body. Just as Fett prepared to end the clone's misery, Juno Eclipse miraculously awakened and kissed Starkiller. Fett removed his helmet in complete shock at seeing that the woman had survived certain death. Although he tried to aim at Starkiller again, he decided the fight was over and it would be wrong to attack the clone in his vulnerable moment. As the Rebels defeated the remaining Imperial forces, Boba Fett slipped away from the battle.

After the Rebels secured Darth Vader aboard the Rogue Shadow, Boba Fett intercepted the Alliance transmission and listened as the Rebels planned their next move while inside Slave I. He watched a holographic projection of Juno Eclipse reporting to Senator Leia Organa. Just before Eclipse finished her report, Boba cupped the holographic image of Juno's face as the transmission ended. When Juno and Starkiller left Kamino with Vader secured in their starship's meditation chamber, Boba Fett secretly followed them in his own starship.