Into the Future
67 BBY
As he slept, 17-year-old Palpatine saw himself running an empire that spanned the galaxy. In his dreams, countless species, countless worlds, countless star systems, were all under his fascistic rule, toiling under the oppression he was bringing about for his own ends. And through it all, he felt that very same power that he felt when he was awake, himself toiling under the oppression his father was forcing upon him; only this time, it was not held back by the likes of Cosinga Palpatine, and it blossomed into its full potential.
Palpatine thought, Could this actually happen to me in the future?
Then he woke. Only this time, he wasn't lying in his bed; now, instead of a modest yet furbished bedroom in his family's luxurious home, he found himself sprawled, on his back, in a pile of dirt, surrounded by miles of trees all around. He was in quite an expansive forest.
And here, that power he felt seemed as if it were magnified tenfold in the confines of his body.
But for the moment, as he stood up and dusted himself off, the feeling of intense power wasn't what was important to him. What was important were the answers to the two question he now asked himself: How did I end up here? And where am I?
Suddenly, the ground beneath his feet trembled, as if an earthquake were occurring. But that earthquake ceased when an organic, spheric red vessel rose out of the dirt ahead of Palpatine. The young man stepped back as the vessel settled down in front of him, and it unfurled a landing ramp that had consisted of its hull.
It is time, Palpatine heard a masculine voice say in his mind. It is time for you to lead the charge of the true rule of the Sith. Something told Palpatine that this unidentified voice was the ship. Yes. Your estimation is correct. I am what you see before you. And all will be explained if you just step aboard my confines.
Palpatine was hesitant. But he mustered up the courage to approach the vessel, that same something that told him where that voice came from gave him the confidence to trust this bulbous, organic-looking construction.
When he stepped aboard, the ramp behind him furled back up and sealed in on itself, as if there were never a gap there. The ship's voice then said, Come here. The young man's intuition led him over to the front of the vessel's seat-less cockpit, which was what made up the entire interior of the ship, really. By the time Palpatine stepped up to the forward end of the ship, the voice communicated, Kneel. So he knelt.
Now I will take you so that you may rule the Sith, as is proper, the vessel said in Palpatine's mind. With that, the young man felt a lurch that indicated that the ship had lifted off the ground and was now flying up into this world's skies. A section of the vessel's hull became transparent, allowing the confirmation of that estimate.
What are you? Palpatine finally decided to ask in his own mental voice to the ship once it broke through the world's atmosphere. Where are you taking me? Who, what are the Sith? What's going on here?
Then, as the vessel lurched into hyperspace, it began explaining everything to Palpatine.
In the hours that passed as the ship travelled through the blue veil of hyperspace. It explained that it was a Sith Meditation Sphere, a living bioship constructed by the ancient Sith Lords of millennia past, an amalgamation of living tissue and mechanical parts, made complete by a sentient, intelligent consciousness made possible by the Force. Its duty was to assist in the training of Sith apprentices, and the name rang a bell in the young man's head.
Palpatine had learned of the Force before in his years preceding his enrollment in university. It was an unidentifiable energy field that the members of the Jedi Order, a division of the Galactic Republic, drew upon for superhuman abilities that they could later master.
The Jedi are not the only ones to draw upon the Force, the Sphere, who earlier told Palpatine that he could call "him" Ship, explained. There are other sects to use the Force, but only one whom can rival the Jedi in their use: the Sith. I'm sure you've heard of them before I ever brought them up, haven't you, young Palpatine?
The Sith were vaguely mentioned in Palpatine's high school studies; from what he knew of them, they drew upon this dark side of the Force and were largely considered by the greater galactic community to be evil Jedi. Personally, from what little Palpatine did know about them, they sounded much more sensible than the Jedi; the Sith seemed to understand the value of their power, and to use it to dominate all who could not even attain that power and make sure they serve them, as should be the place of all those who are weak.
I'm glad you think that, Ship communicated. For you could be a very powerful Sith Lord given time and training in your own abilities in the Force.
So that is what this power that I feel inside me is, Palpatine communed. The Force. But more specifically its dark side, right?
Indeed, Ship replied. And you are more powerful than most Force users that I have encountered. It seems as if the Force itself has chosen you to bring about the true and final rule of the Sith; the empire that will last until the end of time.
Palpatine raised an eyebrow at that. An empire that will last to the end of time? No pressure, huh? he thought sarcastically.
No pressure, Ship conferred in a tone that mirrored Palpatine's sarcasm.
The young man then thought for a moment. What world was I on? And how did I end up there?
You were on Ziost, a Sith world; or rather, a former Sith world. I was buried there for thousands of years. And as I said, for all I know, you were transported by the Force to Ziost so that I may take you to rule the Sith; not the Sith proper... at least, not yet. But you will first lead its Lost Tribe.
Lost Tribe? Palpatine asked.
You will know what I mean, Ship said.
But why me? Why am I to lead the Sith?
Because it is your destiny.
~o~
In his throne room, in the Capital Building of Coruscant, Darth Plagueis the Immortal felt a great disturbance in the Force. Something–someone–was out there now, and he or she threatened his entire empire; and worst of all, his immortality, his life.
Plagueis would not let that happen. He didn't let that happen when it came to the Jedi; he didn't let that happen when it came to the Galactic Republic, which he now replaced with his Everlasting Empire; and he certainly didn't allow the threat of his rule to come under fire from the pitiful bands of galactic rebellions that ensued in the downfall of the Republic. He will exterminate this threat; yet, deep down, he feared that he may not be able to stop it this time.