LOTF: Ganner Slarwalker/Chapters 9-11

Ganner Slarwalker
Speeding through space in the ship the trio had come in, rebuilt through the Force, Massikus activated a tracking beacon. The beacon wasn't on his shuttle, but rather on the shuttle belonging to Varad. Massikus had figured he would be followed. He was right. The shuttle was heading towards Dantooine, and Varad had no other reason to leave Umbara. Massikus followed.

Arek Saris
I must admit, I was intrigued as to why Massikus would stop at such a place. He certainly wasn't following anyone, why would he be here? Cloaked just under the clouds, I saw the shuttle land by what looked like the remains of a Jedi Temple. An interesting location to kill an ancient Sith Lord. I landed my, technically Varad's, ship a few kilometers out and went into full Force stealth mode, swiftly moving in for the kill.

My first sign that something was wrong was that I felt nothing in the Dark Side. Nothing at all. Given the overwhelmingly Light nature of this place, it was hard to tell without breaking stealth if anyone aligned with the Light Side was here. I started following the tracks from the vessel, and it was immediately clear that these were a female's steps. Unless Massikus had decided to transfer his consciousness into the woman for some reason, I had a feeling this wasn't him.

I followed her tracks into the ruins. Sitting in a wide chamber, with a small pond and a hint of sunlight from above, was the Zabrak from before.

"I don't know who you are, but you'll have to try a little harder to hide from a Jedi Master."

A master, eh? I accepted the challenge.

"I didn't come here for you, so maybe before your life ends you can make yourself useful. Where's Massikus?"

She rose. "Stranded on Mustafar, where he'll stay until I make it home and warn the Jedi Council about him."

"On the contrary. You won't warn anyone about anything again."

"I'll warn you right now this isn't a fight you want to start."

I activated my lightsaber. "But it is."

"Very well then." She remained motionless, leaving me to initiate the combat. And so I did.

Ganner Slarwalker
Massikus found his shuttle parked not far from the rubble of a Jedi Temple on Dantooine even he had never seen it undestroyed. Through our connection, he could sense Yula, and we could sense Saris too. He quickly landed and ran inside to see the two of them locked in combat. Neither of them were wounded, and they seemed to be fairly even. When we entered the room, they both stopped. Saris spoke up.

"Lord Massikus! I-"

"Silence! You will be dealt with later. Leave."

Saris look at Yula, then back at us for a moment, then deactivated this lightsaber and ran out. In the Force, he briefly touched me and I could feel the shock in him.

"Now, where was I?"

Massikus' crimson blade snapped to life. "I can feel Ganner in there. How long do you really think you have before he wins?"

"Much longer than it's going to take me to kill you."

In objection, she deactivated her weapon and spread her arms wide, beckoning me to slay her.

"Or will it?"

I knew I had to save her.

Massikus, mostly still in control, walked towards her. With every step he took, the strain increased, and he shook.... Hold on. Not he, I. He struggled to raise my lightsaber while I deactivated it with ease. Yula's face visibly grew calmer.

"Y-Yula..." I began to form words.

"Ganner?"

"Get..him...out..."

She closed her eyes and raised her arms, her hands reaching for my forehead.

Before they could arrive at their destination, I heard a lightsaber activate behind me. Without thinking, I pushed Yula away- hard. She flew across the room, hitting the other wall and falling unconscious immediately. As soon as I had processed this, I was impaled. I looked down to see another red blade bursting out of my chest. It retraced, and I turned, falling to the ground. It was Saris.

"Tell me, Ganner, Massikus, whoever's in there, have any last words?"

Against the light, the silhouette of a fourth figure in hooded robes approached. "Not for you, he doesn't." He activated a deep blue lightsaber, like the blade of the ocean itself. Scowling, Saris turned.

"And you would be?"

"Call me Galen."

And with that, I passed out from my injuries.

Galen
Could it be him? It had to be. Still, I had to focus on the enemy at hand.

"I don't know who you are, but there's always an easy way and a hard way to these things, and you can measure someone's intelligence by which way they choose. Choose wisely."

He raised his saber and charged at me. Bad choice. Swiftly, I charged towards him in a sudden counter-attack, catching him in the face with the hilt of my lightsaber. He fell, inertia keeping him moving for a brief moment before he stopped. With the Force, I picked him up and shot him out through the hole in the ceiling. He probably would survive. I ran to the Jedi- It had to be Ganner, I could sense it, and began to carry him. Looking across the lake, I saw that his female companion had left. In my haste, I decided it was of little consequence. With Ganner, I left what was left of the Temple, and headed home.

Ganner Slarwalker
I woke standing in the middle of a clearing surrounded some abandoned buildings, and further out, by a field of tall grass. Examining myself and the surroundings, I found myself clad in more typical Jedi gear, with my main lightsaber clipped onto my belt. In the Force, Massikus was not tethered to me. Immediately, I began to fully reach out once more as I began to take in my surroundings in more detail. The buildings were broken and withered with age, and on the other side of the village stood another being.

He was certainly bulky, and wore heavy black armor covering nearly everything but his dark gray face and his red eyes. The Force quickly confirmed my suspicions. This was Massikus. I activated my lightsaber, and he followed suit. We both walked towards the center to exchange words before the inevitable duel. Massikus spoke first. "Some sort of bubble within the Force. I'm impressed."

"Why are we here?"

"Because there can only be one of us."

Really, that was all there needed to be said on the matter. We both knew what was coming, and leapt into the final duel.

Galen
I gave Ganner some water as he laid on my bed. Bleeding slightly on his black and red robes, I had many questions for him. Unfortunately, he wasn't conscious for me to answer them. He was very warm, but I could sense his fever did not come from disease; rather, it was from the Force. At my side my wife, Vara, asked "Is it him?"

"It has to be. I felt it in the Temple, or what's left of it. Something inside him is blocking me out, but it doesn't feel like him."

"What is it then?"

"An alternate personality, maybe? Some sort of Force leech that latched on to him? Chances are only he knows."

"Can you help him?"

"I have to try."

Placing my hands lightly on his head, I reached out towards him in the Force.

Ganner
Thrown through one of the huts, I landed on my feet just in time to roll out of the way of another slash. Massikus just kept coming, never giving me a chance to recover. I was almost constantly retreating, blocking and dodging, but never giving in. I didn't think I was going to break any time soon, but neither was he. Massikus attacked again and I held my ground, bringing us violently crashing into a saber lock. I pushed, my arms feeling like they were about to fall off. Aside from the sound of our blades colliding the air was still.

Then, to our left, another blade hissed to life.

"If you're smart, you'll back away from my son." Galen stated. Massikus and I looked over to see a man who indeed looked like an older version of me. Holding his saber from before, he was dressed in white robes with battle armor underneath, and his hood pulled back, giving way to a familiar worn face like looking in a mirror 30 years into the future, with brown hair like mine and a goatee. His eyes, however, were another dark brown.

"Okay, time's up. Made a choice?"

Massikus actually snarled and raised his weapon. I took a quick stab at him, which he dodged, giving Galen time to close in. Galen attack with a large overhead swing, which Massikus blocked. Again, I stabbed him and this time my blade met his flesh. He let out a short gasp, and dropped his weapon.

"This...is...not..."

I pulled my weapon upwards, cutting his top half in two.

In an instant, my senses returned to the real world.

The Knight Returns
I opened my eyes as I quickly sat up, blinded momentarily by the light. I was one in the Force, stronger than I was before but I felt a sort of void where Massikus' strength had been. Standing in front of me was Galen, and a woman. She was shorter than him, and her face was softer and smoother. Her hair was strawberry blonde, and I immediately noticed her eyes- they were the same shade as mine.

"Mom?" I whispered.

"Welcome home," she said.

They took some time to explain everything to me. Their names were Galen and Vara Slarwalker, and they were indeed my parents. Galen was a former Jedi Master himself. Though he was presumed dead, he had merely withdrawn from the teachings of the Order to live differently. Vara was a woman he had met on a passenger freighter during his travels as he searched for a better life.

They had high hopes for me as soon as I displayed my Force and gave me to the Order believing I would go on to do great things. They tried to keep up with the news of my exploits with Bail, Yula, and Tyrral. They also had another son two years after I left, named Cade in my honor. Then, when he was 3, Cade vanished. Galen spent a long time searching for him, but never found him. They hadn't heard from him since.

I told them how I had been bound to Massikus and what had happened since, leading up to the fight in the ruins. When I was over, Galen asked, "So what now?"

"I can't go back to the Order, and even if I could I don't have time. Saris is getting away, and I need to catch him before he can escape to the Temple and warn them that I'm coming for them- and mark my words, I am."

"I ought to give you this before you go." He handed me an orange lightsaber crystal. "This belonged to my Master, who gave it to me when he died. It was found on Kashyyk and is very potent. I'm sure you'll need it."

"Thank you."

As the three of us moved in for a hug, Vara spoke. "We're so proud of you."

When all was said and done, I set out with new gear. I still had Massikus' tracking device and identified Saris' destination as Felucia. I took off into hyperspace to bring him down.