LOTF: Ganner Slarwalker/Chapters 25-27

Reunion
Dantooine

3 months later

I looked through the cockpit at the ruins of the Temple in front of me. With all that had happened, it seemed like the best place. After a moment of contemplation, I stepped out into the grass towards it. As I entered, the whole group turned to face me. Hans, Ranulph, Cade, Galen, and Vara all seemed surprised, even though they had to have known it was me that had called them all here. The conversations faded to silence as I walked towards them, every step echoing in the otherwise soundless air.

"Welcome back, son," Galen said a little quietly, almost in a whisper. He and Vara were already holding Cade and I had a feeling I had missed something good. Hans was smiling, which had been a commodity when I last saw him, and Ranulph was on the verge of tears. "We thought you were dead..." he murmured.

"Not yet." In quick succession, they all briefly took it for a joke before acknowledging the seriousness in my voice.

"Ganner," my mother asked, "What happened?"

I told them the story as we returned to the Slarwalker residence.

"So.... you're going?" Ranulph asked.

"Before I go, I have something for each of you." I took off holorecorders from my belt and gave each of them one.

"Without you, I, along with the entire Galaxy as we know it, would be dead already. However, when I'm gone, they're still going to need saving. When the time comes, each one of these will be essential."

They each glanced at each other in turn, coming to terms with the responsibilities they now had. Last but not least, I opened my arms and we all embraced each other.

"Goodbye." I could barely push the words out of my lips.

...

After giving a few more personal talks, I finally approached my ship, alone. The ramp lowered, and there Galen stood, in Jedi gear.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" He inquired.

I walked onboard, putting my hand on his shoulder as I spoke.

"Dad, I have no idea anymore, but we have to try. Now let's get out of here; you have a lot to learn."

The Man in White
9 months later

Carlac

As I trained him, Galen and I made a base deep in a cave in valley on Carlac. Not far out from the valley was a small settlement of Ming Po villagers. With Galen's help, I became their protector from the constant Death Watch raids. Over time, they came to adopt me as their guardian, roh putih, the "white spirit." For nearly a year I went about this way, and perhaps for the first time in my life I found a sense of peace in what I was doing. The village, under my protection, was finally able to grow and even thrive. For nine months, the world turned as I kept my village safe and trained my father while I waited for my death to come. Then, winter arrived. The days flew by relatively normally. The Death Watch rarely attacked anymore, especially due to the near-constant storms that now occurred on the planet. Galen was ready, and so was I.

I stood at the exit of the cave, looking out onto the horizon. Galen stood behind me. "A blizzard's coming," he said nervously. Indeed, in the distance, the clouds were growing noticeably grayer by the second. Somewhere in the most remote corners of my being, I felt darkness within the storm. In fact, it felt like the storm was calling to me. I began to walk towards it. "Ganner," my father interrupted, "Look- the village!" Judging from the number of ships, it was as though the entirety of Death Watch had decided today was a good day to hurt my people. Even from this distance, I could see smoke. "Back me up," I ordered, and immediately ran towards it.

The Death Watch showed no mercy to the men, women, and children, carelessly burning down homes and bodies in a gruesome display of aggression I simply couldn't understand the reason behind. Some of them were so caught up in their bloodlust they didn't notice me until my blade had cleaved them in half. The villagers who were lucky ran to shelter. "Roh putih will save us," one boy whispered to his baby sister.

Now, I had the attention of most of the horde, while Galen took care of the rest. A small army attacked me and I fought back violently, putting the Force to good work as I reflected countless shots in between saber throws and lightning strikes. Within two minutes, they all lied on the ground, dead. As I stood there, panting, the sky turned a dark gray. Galen and I exchanged glances. He knew what was about to occur, and he knew his part in the plan. "Whatever happens, son, know that I'm proud of you."

"I know.... Thank you."

Without another word we walked in opposite directions- him towards the cave and I towards the hill of my visions, where Darth Massikus stood somewhere in the raging winds.

Ganner
The visions had never encompassed just how it would feel to be here. As the wind let out its long, deep howl, pieces of ice and snow seemed to nip at every piece of skin it could find. As I trudged onwards, I finally felt the looming darkness, and the storm thickened. He was probably manipulating it. Finally, I was on the hill. In the distance, his silhouette became visible. His new body was physically nowhere nearly as impressive as his last, looking to actually be slightly shorter than mine from this distance. Wordlessly, he drew two blood-red lightsabers and activated them. Standing firm, I activated mine, holding it in my right hand. The time had come.

"Slarwalker," a deep female voice called through some sort of helmet. It wasn't the kind of form I would've expected Massikus to take.

Massikus stepped closer. He--she--whatever stepped closer, finally becoming visible. Massikus was wearing bloody Death Watch armor, with holes in the top to accomodate for horns probably not meant to be in the helmet. Massikus sure liked Zabraks.

"Massikus," I replied.

"You're a hard man to track."

"I'm harder to kill."

"Not anymore." Massikus and I began walking towards each other.

"We'll see."

Finally inches away from each other, Massikus took a quick stab at me, which I sidestepped. I retaliated with a slash of my own, which he narrowly parried, sending warm sparks flying across our bodies in contrast to the ice of the world. We were both holding back immensely- this clash was small talk compared to what we could do.

Massikus quickly charged a ball of lightning in his (for the sake of my sanity) hand and shot it towards me. I absorbed it with my lightsaber and retaliated with a hard Force push. As he went flying, I started to run back towards the cave. The sooner I brought the plan into motion, the better.

"Leaving so soon?" Massikus taunted, following me. He took a high leaping slash at me, which I had to turn around and block. The impact of our blades colliding made me slide a few meters back. I reached deep with the Force into the winds around us. The blizzard turned even colder; if not for mine and Massikus' powers we would've easily frozen to death. Within a few seconds, Massikus' saber fizzed out- even lightsabers weren't built for this kind of temparature. Mine, however, remained active. This was one of the safeguards I had made over the year. I turned and ran again.

Massikus continued to pursue me, launching more balls of lightning at me. The snow behind me exploded, but I didn't stop. Finally, Massikus grabbed me with the Force, lifting me into the air.

"Seriously? Have you not even the courage to die an honorable death?"

He let out a massive push, throwing me farther yet. As I skidded in the snow, I could see the hidden entrance to the cave in the distance. In the Force, I couldn't sense Galen, which was good. The time I spent teaching him the secrets of the Shadow Assassins was finally going to pay off.

I withdrew my focus from the temparature of the wind, and Massikus' lightsaber sputtered back to life. I turned to face him, and he walked towards me again.

"Any last words, Slarwalker?"

Despite myself, I grinned a little.

"Activate Protocol 7."

All across the valley, every few feet, a small, spherical droid popped out of the snow. Little red lasers pointed from each one towards Massikus. They were explosive hunter-killer drones, made with parts I had salvaged from the Death Watch raids and programming I had learned from Ranulph. The entire valley was now a living minefield with one target.

Massikus let out a sharp expletive. As the drones flew towards him, he jumped into the air, unleashing torrents of lightning onto them that caused them to explode. I took advantage of the distraction to run away again, to the enterance to the cave. Using the Force, I pulled off the thin layer of opaque ice that hid the door as the explosions rapidly grew louder. I didn't even need the Force to warn me what was coming. I turned to see Massikus flying towards me, with significant damage to his armor. I could now see Massikus was a yellow-skinned female Zabrak with familiar features.

As soon as the word "Yula" left my mouth, Massikus, propelled by the explosions gripped me by my throat and flew with me through the door into the cave. I slammed against the durasteel walls, dropping my lighsaber as I looked into the eyes of Yula Ardinn, the Jedi who I thought had escaped. Suddenly, it all made sense.

''A tall, black-robed and hooded figure with a red lightsaber stood facing us. Helooked up, darkness still covering all but one bright yellow eye. "More than one...." His deep voice muttered.'' It was Massikus at the Temple, and when he said "more than one" he wasn't referring to Jedi. He was referring to suitable hosts- and Yula was the other one.

"Miss me?" Yula's voice asked.

Out of the corner of my eye, I became aware of a silver streak of movement- the lightsaber flying into Galen's hand.

"It's really amazing," Massikus went on. "Two and a half years I've had this one, and she has yet to stop screaming for me to let her go. Maybe this will shut her up."

Massikus put his blade to my neck, its warmth searing my hairs.

"Through victory, my chains are-"

With a snap-hiss, a beam of white emerged from his chest. His eyes wided, and his grip on my throat loosened. I pushed Massikus off me as Galen turned the weapon off. As he fell unconscious, Galen and I quickly picked Yula's body up and carried it to a nearby bed.

"Ready?" He asked.

"Yes." I lied.

I put my hands on Yula's head, and reached out towards her in the Force.

Galen
I sat there watching hopelessly as Ganner did whatever he was doing in her head. With his eyes closed in the dim blue lights that filled the cave, he almost looked like he was sleeping. For a moment, all was still.

"Dad," Ganner whispered, his eyes still closed. I walked towards him hesitantly, unsure if I had actually heard him or if it had merely been a figment of my imagination.

"Journals..." his voice trailed off. "Protect the journals."

"What journals?" I asked.

Ganner's eyes opened.

Ganner
"NOOOO!" Massikus' voice rang out in my head. Slowly, he came to the realization that he was not dead- he was within me again.

I opened my eyes, taking in world once more. On the dimly blue-lit bed, Yula lied, unconscious. I could sense Galen rather close behind me.

"Did it work?" He asked.

Massikus, taking control, quickly spun around to attack him. I resisted, and my body stopped halfway, leaving me shaking as two minds pushed in opposite directions.

"He's--he's stronger than-" He pulled my lightsaber towards my hand, though it missed its mark. Barely in control, I took a step back and almost fell. "He's stronger than I thought."

"Why, thank you." In the Force, Massikus pushed everything he had against me. I responded in kind, exerting the most power I ever had.

"Save yourself," I warned Galen. To my side, Yula stirred.

"But, Ganner-" His voice was cut off by another barely-witheld lunge that left me sprawled on the floor, twitching.

"GO!" I yelled. "Take her too!"

As Galen picked her up, Yula whispered a soft, "Ganner?" As I struggled to stand up, I looked into her purple eyes. In that moment, I found solace in the knowledge that as long as she had survived, my death had not been in vain. I had saved her. Galen stopped by the door for a moment. "I love you, son."

"Do you really think you've saved her? Of course you do...."

I took over full control just for long enough to Force push him outside. He got up and ran, leaving me to my own pathetic struggle with my own body. My eyes were locked on my lightsaber, lying across the room.

"My death will only serve as a beacon for the rest to come out of the shadows."

In my mind I saw a dark legion- hundreds of Sith. It had to be a bluff; I had to ignore it. I crawled slowly towards the weapon, as Massikus did everything in his power to stop me. With every inch I gained, his grip on my loosened just a little more, and I picked up momentum, crawling on my arms across the room. My hand found the hilt. In the Force, Massikus surged like he never had before. The sheer darkness shook the core of my being as he charged up power, causing objects in the room to shake and fall, and the lights to flicker.

"YOU CANNOT KILL ME! I AM DARTH MASSIKUS, MASTER OF THE SITH! I HAVE SLAIN A THOUSAND GENERATIONS AND I WILL SLAY TEN THOUSAND MORE!"

Standing up by holding myself against the wall with my empty hand, I looked at the lightsaber and pressed it against my heart. I now realized my armor was the same I had seen Galen wearing in my dreams when he had taken Massikus out of my body. I contemplated what it meant for a second before deciding it was ultimately irrelevant.

"HE WILL COME, SLARWALKER, AND WHEN HE DOES, THE DEATH HE WILL BRING WILL BE INFINITE."

"Massikus, shut up already." I pressed the button.