The Empress is married to Palpatine, Hier to the Galaxy of her childhood dreams, now she realizes that Regeane's warning of him being Darth Sidious is realized,
and she must flee, or her reign will last no longer.
Now in the darkness beneath the magnificent city, the former ruler now runs from her home in the magnificent castle, knowing that if she didn't leave now, she
would be executed in the guise of a rebel.
As she reaches what she believes is a safe place, she hears the troops of her husband get their orders to bring her back to the Palace alive . She shudders in fear,
but is relieved that she had learned to hide in the darkness of any place.
She moves silently in the dim light of the lanterns that hang from the dark and dirty ceiling, listening for the familiar sounds of the troopers, that she knew from
reading her friend's books. She was in a lonely part of the Underground when she realized that she was hopelessly lost in this strange place of Darkness.
As the child of goodness wanders through the Realm of Darkness, she stumbles upon an old relic from the past, a small fighter out of the past, a sleek vessel all in
gold and silver, with the engines in front and not in behind, the cockpit in the back, and she realizes that it is from a planet that was forcibly erased from the
populace forever.
She enters the fighter, and flies away from the planet that she knows she can never return to, for she knows that he will never stop in his search for the wife that
had ruled by his side, and that he would never let her be free in her mind and soul
It was the way of his kind, they took over the minds of those they wanted and never let them be free, always near them, always controlling. She had freed herself
only by getting the Emperor drunk, then fleeing.
She goes into the space where she knows the Alliance rules and prepares to be questioned severely, but a strange peace settles over her and she flies further into
the space of those who would be her saviors.
The sensors of the fighter detect a Corellian freighter, she allows her ship to be picked up by the freighter, and brought to the Alliance base. When she disembarks
from the fighter, they look at her with surprise. She can tell they are wondering what the Empress of the Galaxy is doing flying a fighter in their space.
She tells them that although on the outside, she looked vibrant and happy, she was really being controlled by Palpatine, with the Darkness. The hero of the
Alliance looks at her in wonder, could she be telling the truth of her plight?
He asks her if she will permit him to look into her mind and see what she had gone through in her viewpoint. She tells him that he may, and he creeps gently,
fearing that if he is too abrupt he could destroy her mind.
What he sees astonishes him, the empress was right in what she told them, she had been controlled and the friends that she had lost because of her status. He
leaves her mind and tells everyone that she was truthful.
Her thoughts then race to her friends, Dawn and Regeane, the friends out of her past. She goes up to the warrior princess and asks her if she has seen or heard
anything concerning them. She sighs and says that she has only heard reports of 2 girls being hunted down for information.
On the capital planet the friends of the renegade empress run to the only vessel they have, a small freighter that Dawn had won in a game of sabacc. They manage
to get there and into the ship, when they see the Royal Guard coming, they flee into the stars and wander about trying to get to Alliance space.
When they get there they find that everything is quiet, in puzzlement they land and find that everyone is murmuring that a high Imperial person has defected to the
Alliance. In wonder they go and see this strange rebel.
When they walk into the room they are greeted by their friend-turned-empress. They get excited as they feel that their friendship could be rejuvenated, but they
know that they are all in danger of being captured and brought to Palpatine.
They tell the Alliance that they cannot stay for long, as they are wanted by Palpatine much more than any of the members of the alliance. They are sad to see them
go, but they know that in order to help the galaxy they must fight Palpatine.
They board Dawn's freighter and go back into the great unknown that is space, knowing that their confrontation with evil was only the beginning of what must
follow. They gather their wit and their courage about them, as their ship takes them back to Courscant and to their destiny.
When they reach the planet they thought they would leave behind forever, they travel carefully towards it, not knowing that the leader's second-in-command had
sensed them through the Force. He goes to his Emperor, warning him that the Empress had returned for the "Final Battle" for the galaxy and her soul, along with
her allies. He takes this with scorn, saying there is no way that they could destroy him.
Near the palace walls, the Empress suddenly stops, feeling the presence that was her former husband's in her mind. He begins to taunt her challenge but she uses
the powers of the Force to push him out of her mind and keep him out. She tells her friends that they must hurry if they are to destroy the Emperor forever. They
look at her, knowing what has happened in her mind, and she told them that they must be even more careful as they approached the Palace.
When they get to the walls of the Palace of Darkness, they hear the cheers of the Imperial court, within the walls. The Empress looks somewhat disturbed and tells
them that it was quite commonplace for the court to witness the executions of captured rebels. Her friends look horrified, while she pushes codes into a small
handheld computer. A side door opens and they walk through, watching and listening for anyone. The Empress seems worried, and hurries along the corridor, not
knowing what is in store for her and her friends.