Hi, I know time travel fics aren't exactly the most original fics when it comes to Star Wars but I just finished The Force Unleashes and thought it would be interesting sending Galen Marek AKA Starkiller back to the past.
Hope you enjoy this story, feel free to give any tips and advice. I have a general idea of how this story will go but I'm more than happy to listed to any suggestions.
Galen sat up and rubbed his head, trying to ease the headache that was plaguing him. A few moments later the former Sith got up and looked around wondering where he was and how he had gotten here. The last thing he could remember was fighting the Emperor, putting himself between the rebels and the Lord of the Sith to keep them safe, then everything went white. Galen let out a sigh, he had been certain that this mission would be his last and judging by the white abyss he was standing in, he was right. Suddenly someone else materialised in front of him, Galen quickly drew his lightsaber ready to strike but deactivated it as soon as he saw the man's face.
"Kota? I'm dead, aren't I?" Galen asked, certain that he already knew the answer.
"Yes, and no." Kota replied, chuckling at the confused look that formed on Galen's face.
"What does that even mean? And, where are we?"
"You have become one with the Force boy and we are, well nowhere boy. This is a rift in time and space created by the force so we could have this conversation."
Galen groaned, he was already annoyed that he died facing the Emperor which made him wonder if Juno and the leaders of the rebellion escape, something he was now doubting as Kota was stood in front of him in this place. Not knowing the fate of his friends and Juno had him concerned and annoyed especially now that he had Kota talking in riddles, not explaining what the hell any of this meant.
"Kota can we stop with the riddles, my heads already killing me. Did you die too? What about the other leaders of the rebellion? Did Juno live? Please tell me Juno lived."
"Calm down boy, we all escaped thanks to your sacrifice."
Knowing that everyone was safe caused a sigh of relief to escape Galen but then brought another question to mind, if Kota had escaped why is he here? Before he could ask the question, Kota cut him off.
"Just let me do the talking boy. I'll explain everything." Galen nodded and waited for Kota to continue. "The force has been waiting for someone to be sent back to fix the errors of the past and it seems you are the one. You will be sent back to before the beginning of the Clone Wars to stop Order 66 from coming to pass." Kota paused waiting for Galen's reaction to this, the boy looked sceptical which was no surprise, the mere idea of time travel was deemed ridiculous but as any force wielder knew anything was possible with the force.
Galen stood there pondering about what Kota had said, time travel did not seem possible but right now standing in the middle of this white void made it seem like anything could be possible. It didn't sound like too hard a task either, he knew he could defeat the Emperor so all he had to do was kill him and Order 66 never happens.
"Okay, when I go back where's the Sith Lord I need to kill?"
Kota shook his head. "Sorry boy, that is something I cannot tell you."
"Why?" Galen asked surprised that Kota wouldn't tell him what he needed to do to save the Jedi and the Republic.
"The Force may want to reverse the events of Order 66, but it can't take sides. You going back and just killing Sidious won't solve the issue of bringing balance to the Force."
"Kota, I don't understand, The Emperor is the imbalance, isn't he? Surely if he is removed from the picture that solves everything."
This made Kota chuckle again, this time at the naivety being shown by the boy, then again all Galen had known was training his force powers and lightsaber skills, he doubted Vader taught him anything about both sides of the force and more importantly what balance truly meant.
"It's not that simple boy, for the Force to be in balance there must be light and dark equally. Killing Sidious right away will just mean the light will engulf all and that isn't much better than the dark doing the same thing." Kota turned away and scratched his beard as he thought of the best way to explain the situation.
"The jedi lost who they were during the war, gone were the keepers of the peace and negotiators. They were replaced with war generals and those who wanted to impose the jedis will on the Republic. If Sidious is killed as soon as you go back, then the jedi will hold all the power of the Force and I fear what could happen if they had all that power."
Galen wasn't entirely sure if he totally agreed with Kota on this, but he wasn't going to question or doubt him. "Alright, well can I prevent the Clone Wars?"
"No, the Clone Wars must happen for balance to be achieved." Kota sighed as he looked back at Galen with sadness in his eyes. "That is not easy for me to say boy, I know how many lives were lost. Maybe you can save some, hopefully a lot of Jedi at least."
There was a brief silence between the two as it sunk into both of them that they had to allow millions of lives to lost in the Clone Wars, Kota had already lived through it and now he had to live with the knowledge that Galen would have to do the same. What made it worse for the boy was that he would spend ten years knowing it would eventually happen and could do nothing to stop it.
"What must I do?"
Galen realised that it was much easier asking that than asking a thousand questions that would all have the same answer of no. This caused Kota to let out a light chuckle as the boy had realised that he couldn't answer specific questions. All he could do was tell him what the force was permitting him.
"When you wake up you will find yourself on Naboo near a palace, the planet is currently under siege from the Trade Federation. You need to enter the palace and find Queen Amidala, get her off Naboo and onto Coruscant as soon as possible. After that keep her safe, she needs to survive after the Clone Wars. There will also be a Zabrek Sith Assassin named Darth Maul pursuing you. Make sure Maul doesn't kill a Jedi you meet called Qui-Gon Jinn. I believe his survival could be the key to this."
"Alright protect Queen Amidala, make sure Qui-Gon Jinn doesn't die and prevent Order 66. I can do that." Galen stated with a confidence in his voice that gave Kota hope.
"There is one more thing boy. As you know Galen Marek will be born not long after the Clone Wars and your father will be in the Jedi Temple, so the name of Marek isn't safe." Kota paused again making Galen feel a little uncomfortable and on edge. "You are going back as Darth Starkiller, Dark Lord of the Sith."
Galen's eyes widened in horror as flashes of what he had seen in the ruins of The Jedi Temple came back to him, the scarred face belonging to his dark and corrupted counterpart and the synthesised haggard breathing so similar to Vader's. As these memories played through Galen's mind he looked down at his hands and couldn't stop himself from screaming as he saw the blades on the fingers of his gloves. He collapsed to his knees as he realised, he was trapped inside this suit just like Vader was. Kota was quick to join him and, to Galen's surprise, he drew the young man into an embrace.
"I'm sorry boy, I did not wish for this, but it has to be this way. The suit isn't attached to you as it was in the vision you saw; this is nothing like what happened to Vader. This is just armour, it is not sustaining you like Vader's did, it is just so you look the part as a Sith Lord and so you can easily hide your identity. You can remove this suit in your private time should you wish to."
After a few minutes Galen calmed down, the reassurance that he wasn't a slave to this suit had driven away his initial fears, he still wasn't a fan of wearing this though. With his emotions now in check Lord Starkiller gave Kota a quick nod and got to his feet noticing not only his own lightsaber but several others as well attached to the belt of the suit. His gaze quickly shifter to Kota wondering why he had these, the older man shrugged.
"Well, it doesn't hurt to have a few extra sabers with you. The two at your hips are both red, the second one was Vader's. The others belonged to me, Shaak Ti and Kazdan Paratus."
"What as reminders of my mistakes?" Starkiller asked bitterly.
"No, as reminders of what you're fighting for. A future where these sabers stay with who they belong."
A portal suddenly appeared to the right of Starkiller, he looked through it and saw the lush green lands of Naboo, its dense forests and what he assumed to be the palace he had to infiltrate. Lord Starkiller looked from the portal to Kota and took a deep breath preparing himself for what he was about to do.
"I'm ready."
"Good luck boy, I believe in you."
The pair embraced again briefly and then broke apart, the Jedi Master watching as the young man walked towards the portal. Just as he was about to enter the portal Lord Starkiller stopped, there were so many things he wanted to say to Kota since this was the last time the two would meet but he found himself unable to say any of them. In the end he settled on raising his arm as he stepped into the portal.
"Goodbye Kota and thank you."
Bright white light blinded Lord Starkiller as he awoke on Naboo, he sat up and clenched his fists, grimacing at the sound of the metal's blades scrapping each other. There was no way he could deal with this annoyance so Starkiller used the force to remove the inconvenient blades, tossing them into the nearby lake and started his journey towards the palace. A desire to save the future and hopefully one day be reunited with Juno motivating every step he took.
And there is chapter 1, I admit I did have Kota give Lord Starkiller a little more information than other fics tend to but he has little to no knowledge of this time so he needed the extra intel.
Thank you for reading, I hope you'll stick around for the next chapter.