The Dark Emperor of the Sith

Disclaimer: Star Wars, and all its characters are the sole property of George Lucas.

Title: The Dark Emperor of the Sith
Author: Darth Nemesis
Timeframe: AU, Dark Empire for Prologue, Knights of the Old Republic for rest of story
Genre: Adventure/Sci-Fi
Characters: Palpatine, Revan, the rest of the KOTOR cast.

Summary: This story is an Alternative Universe in which the Force Storm Palpatine unleashes at the end of the Dark Empire does not destroy him, but transports him four thousand years back in time.

Prologue: Force Storm

"Curse you, Skywalkers!"

The most powerful Sith Lord that ever lived, the thing born of the dark side of the Force itself and the twisted experiments of Darth Plagueis, laid down a curse upon the Skywalker bloodline. When Darth Maul screamed obscenities at his Jedi foes as they hacked at each other, nothing had happened. When Darth Vader shouted doom at the Jedi he hunted relentlessly, nothing had happened. Yet when Emperor Palpatine cursed the Skywalkers who had dared to defy him, the universe responded. The Force twisted and bent to Palpatine's will. The curse was real and powerful; it would haunt the Skywalker family long after the dark tyrant's apparent death on the bridge of the gargantuan Super Star Destroyer Eclipse. Such was the measure of Palpatine's power, and Luke Skywalker was... afraid.

Luke had been smothered in waves of darkness, his mind battered by Palpatine's will, corrupted almost to the point of no return. Yet Leia had reached out to him, through the veil of shadow that hid the mind of a Jedi, a servant of the light. Luke Skywalker in that moment had abandoned fear... for himself. Yet his sister, and her unborn child, remained beside him, and although that filled him with hope and strength, he was afraid for their safety. Would even three Skywalkers be a match for the nexus of dark side power that was Palpatine?

Luke had no time to contemplate the thought as Palpatine raised a hand toward him.

The Force shook.

A wave of pure dark side energy, burning with cold fire, exploded from Palpatine's outstretched hand, arrayed in forks of lightning that appeared as black tendrils in the Force. The evil of the Emperor struck Luke right in the chest. His lightsaber was no use against Palpatine's malevolence as he fell to the floor in agony.

PAIN!

PAIN!

PAIN!

His every nerve screamed. His mind was overwhelmed by the fire consuming him. He could feel his life force ebbing away...

And then the attack stopped. And Luke realized it had only been a fraction of a second since he had been standing facing the Master of the Bogan. And now Palpatine stood over him, his black robes a cloud of darkness rising around as if to choke the Jedi that now lied at the Emperor's feet. Palpatine's face was a semblance of angelic youth, yet the eyes... they were a sickly yellow, glowing feverishly, as Palpatine spewed hatred.

"I'll tell you the truth about your father," Palpatine hissed. "The great Darth Vader was a sick man in an iron mask! Yes, that mask inspired terror throughout the galaxy, but the feeble heart within was forever possessed by the impotent side of the Force!"

Palpatine continued relentlessly, weaving temptation in Luke's thoughts. "You can be far stronger than he was! Dark Jedi! Are you going to let your weak sister get the better of you?"

Palpatine needed Luke to break. Luke was the ultimate apprentice, the ultimate executor of the Emperor's will. He would live in Skywalker blood - first Leia's child, and then their children - and live as the Master of the Universe and God of the Dark Side forever and ever. Luke could not escape his grasp as had his father. Luke must turn Leia and in doing so ensure the Emperor's eternal domination.

"Get up!" Palpatine spat. "I can give you the power to break her! You will kill your sister if I ask for it!" Palpatine meant it. His mental powers had grown to unprecedented levels.

Now was the One Point. The moment which would decide the fate of a galaxy.

And Luke did not falter.

"No."

Luke rose from the ground, his lightsaber leaping into his hand.

"I made a big mistake," Luke said. "I thought I had to save the galaxy all by myself, but the way of the Jedi is not a solitary path. Many have died defending the truth. Many are together in this great war. Together in the Force!"

Luke stood by his sister as he ignited his lightsaber.

"My ally is the Force," Luke continued. "Through the strength of the Force, your shroud of evil has been lifted from my mind."

Cold fury filled Palpatine as he realized Luke was lost to him. Nothing could turn the boy back from the pitiful embrace of the light.

"So be it," he hissed. "Then through the power of the Force you will die!"

Palpatine's fury manifested in the form of dark side lightning running up the energy blade that had flared from his own lightsaber trophy. Palpatine surged forth like a hurricane, great arcs of lightning surrounding him in a halo of dark power as he swung his lightsaber towards Luke.

For a brief moment, all was a maelstrom of hissing energy blades and the Dark Force unleashed. And then Palpatine's hand fell away, still grasping his lightsaber trophy.

Luke lowered his blade towards Palpatine. "Now, Your Highness, we will escort you to the Alliance base," Luke said. "You will be interrogated and you will surrender the galaxy to the New Republic."

Palpatine laughed.

"You fool," he said, his voice filled with mirth. "Imbecile that you are, you have still failed to understand my power. Look below, Jedi. Look what is happening to your pitiful moon!"

With mounting anguish, Luke and Leia watched as the Emperor's rage took form as a great storm of Force energy that tore the fabric of space and time. The dark magic of the Sith incinerated a thousand ships of the New Republic above Pinnacle Moon.

"I've played along with your Jedi dueling games long enough," Palpatine said. "Now you will experience my full potency. I live as energy. I am the dark side!"

His voice rang with triumph as the Force Storm he had created killed uncounted brave warriors.

"Listen to me, Leia. We can stop him!" Luke called out above the roar of twisted lightning swirling around Palpatine. "I've read his dark books. According to his own word, he has awakened a chaos even he cannot control!" Luke turned to his sister.

"Join your Jedi power to mine, Leia."

Leia smiled. "I already have, Luke. Haven't you sensed it?"

Luke and Leia stood side by side, and closed their eyes. Even the unborn child within Leia's womb, who would one day be called Anakin, joined his power to them. The light of the three ignited like the stars. The luminous power surrounded the dark nexus that was Emperor Palpatine.

With all of his hatred funneled into the death storm, the Sith Lord was caught off guard by the invisible wave of life energy that surged over him, that seperated him from the chaos he had unleashed. Enveloped in light, Palpatine suddenly found himself unable to control the dark power.

The cataclysmic storm turned against its maker. As Luke and Leia fled, the hole in space and time tunneled forward.

Palpatine was consumed in his own power. The storm burnt through the hull and ensnared him. And all was white...