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Drawing his lightsaber from his belt, but not igniting it, Vader continued, "You can play at being a Jedi all you want. It does not change the fact that you are my apprentice and slave." Dropping to his knees, Galen said, "I'll do anything you ask...Just promise me one thing, as compensation." "Name it." "Leave the Rebellion alone." he muttered. Cocking his head as he considered his options, Vader said, "Deal. Now, to business..." Tossing the weapon to Galen, he continued, "It is time for the ultimate severing of all bonds...Killing your Jedi Master will leave behind any traces of your old life."

Turning the saber over in his hand, considering it, Galen thumbed the ignition, a crimson blade shooting out of the end of the handle. As he raised the saber high to swing, a loud boom sounded behind him. Swiveling to see what caused the sound, Galen watched as a Star Destroyer dotted with flames all over its hull drifted out of Florrum's atmosphere & plummeted to the surface. As the crippled ship slammed into the sand with a massive explosion, a Rebel warship dropped out of hyperspace & took its place in space. As several more ships fell in place beside it, Galen turned & hurled his weapon at Vader, slicing off the Dark Lord's mechanical hand. Lifting the stormtroopers into the air, he clenched his fists and crushed their windpipes, dropping the limp bodies to the ground. Pulling his lightsabers out of the pouch on his belt, he growled, "Looks like the shoe's on the other foot now, isn't it, Vader?" Circling the wounded Sith like a hungry vulture, he spun his blades in a brilliant display of blue light & continued, "You thought we were coming here to meet on your terms. But it's just the opposite now, isn't it? This is on my terms." "You're right", Vader replied, "It is on your terms now. But don't forget..." Activating his lightsaber, he pressed the glowing blade to Kota's neck, the skin a light pink from the glow of the blade as he continued, "I hold all the leverage. Now drop your weapons if you ever want to see your Master and those soldiers alive again."

Suddenly, a flash of bright green flew at Vader from the corner of Galen's eye, slashing the top off of his lightsaber. As the blade soared through the air, a gloved hand caught it as Ahsoka Tano finished a perfectly executed backflip off a passing gunship & landed beside him. A nasty crack sounded as Kota threw his head backwards, slamming into the Dark Lord's helmet & cracking the plastic. As the unconcious Vader fell, Ahsoka asked, smiling, "Didn't think i'd let you do this alone, did you?" "I expected you to come after me", he replied, "But I didn't expect you to bring the whole damn cavalry. Now, with all due respect, let's get the prisoners & get the hell out of here." Nodding, she helped Kota to his feet, offering him one of her lightsaber. As she ignited the second, Galen said, "Let's do this."

Rolling underneath a trooper guarding the prison levels, Galen jabbed upwards, sending his lightsaber through the man's leg & out through his shoulder. As the white-clad body fell, he said, "All right, let's make this quick. Grab whatever Rebel soldiers you can find, then we're leaving." Dashing through the rows of cells, he slashed & chopped at the control panels of those containing Rebels as they dashed after him. Stopping at one cell, Galen smirked at Hondo Ohnaka suspended in a stasis chamber. "Looks like things didn't go as smoothly as you had hoped, Hondo." he said. "No...I guess they did not, Jedi", Hondo said dejectedly, "And that is why I would like to offer my assistance to your little Rebellion. If you liberate me & my men, our loyalty is to you & your people, as long as we live." Nodding, he raked his saber across the control panel & deactivated the chamber. As the pirate boss dropped to the ground, Galen shouted, "Ahsoka! Change of plans! Liberate the pirates too!"

As the last of the pirates filed out of the cell, Hondo said, "We have to go. Vader could..." "Regain conciousness?" the Sith Lord said as he dropped Kota's lifeless body, gripping Ahsoka's second lightsaber in a tight fist. "NO!!!" Galen screamed, charging Vader. The Dark Lord sidestepped easily & knocked him off his feet, doing the same to Ahsoka as she lunged at him. "This has been fun, but unfortunately, I have no more time to waste in battle with you", he said as several stormtroopers stepped up, blasters at the ready, "Kill them."

Tackling Ahsoka to the side as the white-clad soldiers opened fire, he ignited a lightsaber & threw it, slicing off the heads of two troopers as their armored bodies crumpled to the ground. "We've got to go after Vader!" he shouted. "We will", Ahsoka said, "But first we have to do something about those troopers." Turning to Hondo, she said, "Hondo, you think your men can hold them off?" "Will do", he said, grabbing a blaster from a fallen Imperial, "Just nail that bastard." As Rex ducked into a cell as a thermal detonator rolled by, Galen & Ahsoka charged the troopers, raking their sabers across white-armored chests. Slowly chopping through the crowd, Galen gathered Force energy in his feet & soared into the air, flying high above the stormtrooper horde. "Ahsoka, move!" he shouted. As she backflipped out of the crowd, he dropped like a stone back into the living mass of white, allowing Force energy combined with the momentum of the fall to create a powerful shockwave, blowing back the Imperial forces and creating a ring of space.

As several troopers fell over the railings & hit the ground below with a nasty crack, Galen heard a lightsaber ignite & spun around to find Vader pressing his blade to Ahsoka's neck. "Enough games", he boomed, "You'll surrender, or she dies." "I never knew you could've fallen this far, Anakin." she spat. Roaring, the Dark Lord shoved her forward, readying his blade for a thrusting stab. "Don't call me that!" he screamed. Dashing as fast as his legs could carry him, Galen shoved Ahsoka out of the way as the green blade burst through his chest & out his back. "GALEN!!!" Ahsoka screamed, catching him as he fell. "He doesn't have much time, Ahsoka", Vader said, "You can get him help-Or you can catch me. Your choice." Scowling, she said, "I may want to catch you for your crimes, Anakin, but I know where my priorities lay." Galen watched through hot white flashes of pain as Ahsoka scooped him up & carried him away from Vader as the Dark Lord took off down the hall.

Epilogue:

As Galen slowly blinked awake, he attempted to sit up, with painful results. Reaching a hand down to his chest, he found it wrapped in thick bandages. "Oh, you're awake." Ahsoka said as she walked into the medical bay. "What happened to me?" Galen asked. "You did something perilously stupid and almost died from it. Again." she explained. Sighing, he sat back in his hospital bed & chuckled softly. "Where's Juno?" he asked. "She's flying solo while you're recovering." Ahsoka said. Pulling himself up, he said, "Ahsoka, I don't quite know how to say this, but...Thanks for saving my life. I really appreciate you having my back." "No problem, Galen", she said, smiling, "No problem at all."