Battle on Death Star I

The Battle on Death Star I was a conflict during the Great Jedi Purge and Galactic Civil War, in which Darth Vader and Galen Marek, his former apprentice, dueled against one another on board Death Star I.

Prelude
After the Rebel leaders were captured by Darth Vader for personal execution by Emperor Palpatine, Galen Marek and Juno Eclipse set out to rescue them. Juno Eclipse set down their ship, the Rogue Shadow, inside Death Star I, which was still under construction during the time.

Opening the ship's ramp, Galen was ready to enter the large station. Before doing so, Juno asked if she would see him again to which he said that it was possible he would die in the attempt at freeing his friends. Seeing that it might be the last time she would see him again, Juno embraced Marek in a passionate kiss, stating that if he did die then she would not have to live it down.

Being parted from her, Galen jumped from the Rogue Shadow and landed on the Death Star's surface.

Infiltration
Inside the hangar, Galen found himself besieged by stormtroopers of varying types as well as AT-CTs that were assembled at the bay to aid in the movement of construction equipment. In addition to this, there were a number of AT-STs that were called in to protect the station from the Force user. His main aim was to locate the massive station's laser tube, so that he could gain entry into the observation platform, where the Emperor as well as his prisoners were present.

Along the way, Marek was challenged by numerous Purge troopers which he defeated after which he used the Force to open the ground panels to gain a deeper entry into the station. Once there, he was present within the massive laser tube which he was forced to make his way down in order to enter the heart of the Death Star. The nature of the tube meant that he was forced to seek shelter every now and then in order to escape the laser test fire sequence that fired on occasion. Furthermore, he was forced to fight a number of stormtroopers and personnel that were guarding their posts.

At a number of points on his journey, Galen was obstructed by large circular focusing dishes, which he had to shatter in order to make his way down the laser tube. Several guards were killed during the test firing sequence while pursuing Marek, when they were caught in the midst of the laser that shot through the tube. The Empire discovered that they had an intruder in the facility and began fortifying the station in order to stop Marek. This brought about the activation of the Death Star's internal defensive cannons, which were also destroyed in their attempt at stopping Marek.

Battle in the Station
Going deeper inside the station, Galen found himself at the laser convergence center, which he learned were seven such structures within the massive station. Juno communicated to him that there were sixty four laser tubes that were directed into a single powerful beam. Above this post was where the Emperor's observation platform resided.

After eliminating a number of stormtroopers and AT-ST walkers, Galen made his way to a part of the chamber. Using a number of graviton beam based lifts, Galen was able to rise to the top of the structure in order to reach the relevant doorway. With the various acts of sabotage complete and ready to enter the watchtower, Marek found the large door opening before him, which spilled out a member of the Emperor's Shadow Guard along with a number of his Royal Guard. A great lightsaber conflict erupted between the two sides. Galen managed to kill off the Royal Guard before engaging the Shadow Guard in unarmed combat, breaking its neck.

With his foes defeated, Galen was ready to enter the Emperor's observation dome. This required him to use the Force to manipulate the door mechanism to open allowing him entry.

The Duel
Inside the dome, the former Sith apprentice found General Rahm Kota, along with Mon Mothma, Bail Organa, and Garm Bel Iblis before the Emperor's throne, who accused the captives of being traitors to Empire. He threatened them with interrogation and torture in order to reveal all their contacts and allies, after which they would be killed. A defiant Bail Organa said that their deaths would only rally others, but Palpatine retorted by saying that their executions would serve as a warning to others to prevent further dissent.

It was then that a warning signal activated, which revealed to both the Emperor and Darth Vader, that Marek had infiltrated the base and was within the observation dome - this was something that gave Rahm Kota hope that a rebellion might still survive. Palpatine called upon his Sith apprentice Vader to eliminate Marek. The Dark Lord calmly made his way to the corridor outside, lightsaber ignited, where he confronted his former apprentice.

Duel with Vader
As they prepared to engage one another, Darth Vader admitted that he had trained Galen well, but stated that he still had much to learn. An angry Galen retorted, claiming that his former master had nothing left to teach. With that, they began their duel. After a furious lightsaber engagement in the corridor, Darth Vader pushed Galen aside with the Force before retreating deeper into the observation platform, with Galen in close pursuit.

The duel progressed into a carbon-freezing chamber, where Galen gained the upper hand, striking Vader in the leg, and telekinetically assaulting Vader with several pieces of the ceiling. Vader, temporarily distracted, lost his helmet to a vicious beating from Galen, who then seized the Sith Lord with the Force, and flung him through the window into Palpatine's chambers.

The Emperor's New Apprentice
After witnessing the defeat of Vader, Sidious tried to tempt Galen into destroying his former master, and taking his position as apprentice to the Dark Lord of the Sith. Kota attempted to put an immediate stop to this by stealing Palpatine's lightsaber, and attacked him. Palpatine struck Kota down with a furious barrage of Force lightning. Bail begged Galen to help their Jedi friend, but Marek chose to finish off Vader, avenging the murder of his father and the two betrayals on himself. After another long battle, Galen stripped Vader of his lightsaber, as he did as a child, and ran him through with it. Marek then returned to the main platform where the Emperor was standing over an injured Kota. He instructed the apprentice to kill Kota, giving himself to the dark side and fulfilling his destiny. Marek ignited his lightsaber, and struck down Kota in cold blood. At a second, the Rogue Shadow showed up, but Galen, who was too heavily corrupted, Force gripped it, crushed it into a ball, and made it crash. After killing his former allies, Galen Marek became Palpatine's fourth apprentice, and became known as Lord Starkiller.

Appearances

 * The Force Unleashed novel 
 * Star Wars: The Force Unleashed comic 
 * Star Wars: The Force Unleashed video game