Wedding Battle
"After you, your highness," Mara said with a faux bow.
"How do we know you won't stab us in the back," Galen said, as he put one arm around his bride.
"I'm not the traitor," Mara responded. Mara nodded at stormtroopers who opened the doors. "You see them. You stab me in the back, and they will press a thermal detonator, where some of your beloved Jedi younglings are held captive," Mara said with a sweet smile.
"Liar!" Leia said evenly.
"Am I lying? Are you willing to bet their lives on it?" Mara said, as her grin spread across her face. Mara turned and walked out of the cathedral, with Galen and Leia behind her.
"I have no wish to kill you, Princess," Mara said suddenly.
"Mara, you are on the wrong side of this war," Leia responded, as her yellow lightsaber cast a sunny glow over the Jedi princess.
"But that doesn't mean I won't."
"You are no match for me, Mara," Leia told her. They had dueled many times, and it was obvious that Leia was the superior duelist.
"Much has changed since we last saw one another," Mara replied cryptically. "Your overconfidence will be your downfall," she said as Leia force pushed her rival. Mara stumbled, but unlike in the past, she kept her balance. Mara's eyes glowed as she reached into the Force and shot lighting and Leia's bridegroom.
"Galen!" Leia said as he was knocked down, his duel lightsabers fallen from his hands. He hadn't been prepared for the attack, not with Mara. Leia faced Mara, her hand dropping to her husband's neck to check for a pulse. She needed to Force heal him but she couldn't turn her back to Mara. Luckily, she didn't have to. She felt the Force presence of her brother growing brighter and brighter.
"Mara!" he called as he reached them. "Leave them alone. It's not them you want revenge on, it's me. It's my fault that you went with the Emperor."
"The Emperor loves me," Mara shot out. "He has chosen me as his successor. I will become more powerful than any Jedi ever dreamed."
"That power is an illusion, Mara, you know better than this," Luke said.
"Draw your weapon," Mara said, jumping in for an attack, "Or be destroyed by my blade, Jedi," she sneered.
Leia was able to turn from the battle, no matter her worry for her brother and heal her husband. "Galen, love, wake up," she urged him, as she healed him. Why wasn't he waking up, she wondered?
Luke took out his lightsaber at the last moment and met her blade for blade. "You can't win, Jedi," she snarled.
"I don't need to win," Luke said, smiling up at her. "All I need to do is distract you," he said, with a grin.
"What do you mean?" she asked.
Suddenly, she felt the presence of her father, of Ahsoka Tano, of Anakin Skywalker, or Tyrone Dooku, or Master Plo, and Master Shaak Ti.
"You are surrounded," Luke told her. "Resistance is futile. Mara, I truly am sorry," he said as he watched her eyes fill with the shame of defeat. They had led her to a cliff. There was no escape. Mara hit a button, on the side of her gloves as she disengaged her lightsaber.
"What can I say? You Jedi are smarter than I thought," she said.
Luke felt the warning from the Force as his dad quickly engaged his lightsaber holding back the lightning she threw at him. When she changed the angle of her attack, it hit the crystal in Anakin's lightsaber. Anakin planted his feet as he dropped his lightsaber and caught the lightning in the palm of his hand, redirecting it harmlessly. Mara screamed in frustration, as her Force powers waned and she dropped to her knees. Anakin came forward decisively, and picked her up, throwing her over his shoulder as if she was a youngling.
"Is she…." Obi-Wan asked.
"She will live," Anakin told him. "She will have to be locked away for now," Anakin said. "She has become a very grave threat," he added. Ahsoka came forward with Force binders for Palpatine's pet. She put the binders on her, as Obi-Wan put her into a force-induced sleep. Right now, that was all he could do for his eldest child.
Ahsoka put an arm on Obi-Wan's shoulder. "That was a very brave thing you did," she told him.
"Pray to the Force you never have to," he responded as he followed Anakin. He was angry, Obi-Wan couldn't help it. He knew Anakin had made the right choice, they couldn't let her escape. She couldn't be allowed to return to the Emperor, but locking up his little girl seemed so wrong. He wasn't sure if he was mad at Anakin, at any of the Skywalkers, or if he was mad at Mara, or himself. He knew Anakin had made the right move, as a Jedi he knew that.
Galen felt Leia's lips on him as he fluttered his eyes. "Hey beautiful," he said with a soft smile. "What did I miss?"
"We got everyone to safety," Leia told him.
"What happened?"he asked sitting up.
"Mara is a Sith," Leia said as she shook her head thinking about how she had shot out lightning at her new husband. "Daddy caught her, she's going into a Rebellion prison," Leia explained.
"I don't know what we would do without your father," Galen said with a frown. He had always liked and respected Grand Master Anakin Skywalker. He had never realized before now, the shadow of Anakin Skywalker he would be living in. He had failed to protect his bride, but Anakin had succeed. Galen Marek couldn't help but wonder would he always fail in the shadow of his father in law? How could Leia respect him when her father could protect her better than her husband? Galen frowned as he wrapped his arms around Leia. He was supposed to be her protector, how many times would he fail in her eyes.
"Is something wrong," Leia asked.
"No, nothing. Don't we have a honeymoon on Naboo to get to," he said with a smile. Galen put his arm around his bride, and pushed the dark thoughts away. He was going to enjoy his honeymoon, and he was going to do whatever it took to protect his wife, the only family he had.
