"He is dead." Darth Vader told his master as he stared into his former apprentice's lifeless eyes.
"Then he now more powerful than ever." said Emperor Palpatine. "He was meant to root out the Rebels. His sacrifice will only inspire them."
"But now we know who they are." said Vader. "I will hunt them down and destroy them. As you always intended, Master."
Hearing those last words, the Emperor flinched for a second. He started walking towards the door when he turned his head to Vader.
"You must be relentless, Lord Vader." he warned his apprentice. "If even a single Rebel survives, this Alliance that we have unwittingly created…will be our undoing."
The Emperor reached the door but stopped at the last second when his apprentice spoke out to him.
"What shall I do now, my Master?" asked Vader.
"Call in some troopers to dispose of the boy's body." Palpatine answered. "Then go and get yourself repaired, Lord Vader."
"And what of you?" asked Vader.
"I am leaving and heading back to Coruscant." the Emperor answered. "That boy has caused much damage to the Death Star that will probably take years to repair. While we wait, I will deal with those fools of the Senate."
"Yes my Master." said Vader.
The two walked way, leaving Galen's lifeless body on the ground. Once the two separated, Vader ordered two Stormtroopers to dispose of his former apprentice's body while he would go and get himself repaired.
The Stormtroopers entered the throne room and noticed much of the damage that had been caused. Before getting rid of the body, they decided to see if any other soldiers in the battle might be still alive. Meanwhile something flinched. Galen's eyes fluttered open. The first thing he felt was pressure on his upper arms and pain on his knees. He looked down at their feet and saw white armour, searching the rubble. Stormtroopers, he thought. He looked ahead of him, albeit, unnoticeably. Vader and the Emperor were no where in sight, he even felt the Emperor actually getting further from the Death Star. That was good. He could escape without alerting the two Sith Lords.
"It doesn't look like any troopers survived against that kid." said the Stormtrooper on the right.
"It doesn't matter!" said the one on the left. "Lord Vader ordered us to get rid of him. Let's jettison his body out the airlock."
Galen took his chance. He bolted with great speed and planted both feet on the ground, standing on his own, the Stormtroopers shocked.
"What the-?!" one of them said.
The Stormtrooper fired his weapon at the boy, but Galen blocked it with his hand. Calling to the Force, he lifted the Stormtrooper in the air and smashed him into the wall, killing him instantly. Galen then used the Force to lift the other Stormtrooper and then let him drop on the ground. Galen approached him.
"Where is the nearest ship off this station?" he asked the soldier.
"I don't talk to enemy scum!" the Stormtrooper answered.
Galen then repeated his question, but this time using the Force to manipulate the trooper's mind. The Stormtrooper answered without hesitating.
"There's a TIE Fighter in the hangar on the lower level." he said.
Releasing him from the Force, Galen headed towards the door. He suddenly heard noises coming from behind him and he turned around to see the Stormtrooper trying to call in some help using his communication device. Not wanting to take a chance, Galen used the Force to lift the soldier in the air and throw him into the pile of rubble, crushing the Stormtrooper. Galen left the room and took the elevator back down to the lower level. Luckily for him, not many troopers were on this level. He finally arrived to the hangar but it was full of Stormtroopers. While still hiding from all of them, he looked around for an easy escape. He noticed an engineer was working on a TIE Fighter. It would be best to find a working ship. He saw a TIE Fighter enter the hangar and land. That ship was the one he needed to escape. Calling out to the Force, he jumped up to the cat walk surrounding the hangar without any trooper seeing him. He crept slowly and quietly and waited for the pilot to come out of the TIE Fighter that had just landed. As soon as he saw the pilot coming out, he used the Force to lift him up the cat walk and silently killed him with his lightsaber. He carried the body with him as he came over the TIE Fighter. Luckily, no one had noticed the pilot mysteriously float up and disappear. Galen stashed the body but took the helmet in his hands. He looked down at the TIE Fighter and around, making sure no one was looking, before leaping down to it and climbing inside the cockpit. He placed the helmet on and looked through the information.
"I need to find his designation number…Here it is…TK-3218." said Galen to himself. He switched some levers and pushed some buttons, activating the starship and contacting the Imperial hangar control officer. "Permission to leave the Death Star?"
"Designation number needed." answered the officer.
"It's TK-3218." said Galen.
"Permission granted." said the officer. "You may leave the Death Star when ready."
Galen switched the comm. links off and threw the helmet off. How the Imperial Stormtroopers could handle those hot helmets on all the time, was a mystery to him. He brought the ship into the air and took off, away from the massive space station. When it was only a dot in the distance, Galen slowed the ship down. He still couldn't understand how he had survived that Lightning explosion caused by him and the Emperor. Had the Force given him another chance to live a free life, or had he even died in the first place? Maybe he had used up so much energy that he had simply lost consciousness. He sighted. His friends…and Juno probably all thought that had died from the explosion. He had to find them at all costs, but where could they be? They could be anywhere in the galaxy by now. He reached out with the Force to try and find them but it was no use. He was still too weak from his fight against Vader and the Emperor. So instead, Galen used common sense. Then it hit him. For some strange reason, Kashyyyk appeared in his mind. As if someone was telling them that they were there. Was his father, Kento Marek, trying to show him the way? Having no other ideas, he set course for Kashyyyk and prepared for lightspeed.
"I'm coming Juno." he told himself.
Meanwhile back on the Death Star, Darth Vader was being repaired by medical droids. Suddenly, he felt a disturbance in the Force, as if something dangerous had just escaped from the Empire's grip. Believing it to simply be the Emperor's rage through the Force, Vader ignored it and allowed the droids to continue the repairs. But still, Vader couldn't let go of that thought as if his mission would get much more difficult and dangerous for the Empire.