Chapter 24

The Last Sith

Note: Yes! Finally, it's done! My thanks goes to The Rise of Skywalker that helped me finally find the inspiration to continue my story. Sorry, guys. I know it's been forever since I've uploaded a chapter, but that's because I have had one of the worst cases of writer's block in my entire life! School was also really, really busy for me this year, since it was my first semester of college. But here I am, and I hope I can get back into a regular routine of trying to finish this story. Thank you so much for your patience, and May the Force be with You!

Finn felt like his heart had snapped in two. Giving up Rey was one of the hardest things he's done in his entire life. If not, it was the hardest. He was a traitor. He's never seen Rey that hurt before, and he could do nothing to help her. A good friend never walks away when something happens to their BFF. That's why they were BFFs. Finn just couldn't accept the fact that Rey was on the Dark side now. He was confident she wouldn't turn, but she proved him wrong.

Finn wanted nothing to do with the others. He spent a good few hours reading the ancient Jedi texts in the Millennium Falcon's lounge, hoping he could find something to bring Rey back to the Light side. There was nothing. Or rather, Finn couldn't find anything because of his lack of Jedi knowledge.

Strangely, something happened to him while he was studying. He heard Rey.

Rey called him through the Force, a sadness in her voice but also a pinch of excitement. "Finn."

"Rey? Rey!" Instantly, Finn jumped to his feet. Was Rey truly talking to him? But how? He thought only Force-sensitive people could communicate with a Force bond.

Rey apologized to him. "I'm sorry, but I don't belong in the Resistance. My destiny lies with my grandfather."

"Rey, don't say things like that! We're going to save you!" Finn cried out.

"You don't need to. This is who I am," said Rey.

"Don't give up hope." It took Finn a mere second to figure out he was speaking in a desperate tone.

"I'm sorry, Finn." Then, just like that, Rey left his mind.

Finn was so confused right now, but he knew it was Rey who had talked to him. Wait a minute, did this mean he was Force-sensitive? Is that why he felt so connected to Rey? Just thinking about this gave him a headache.

He looked like a zombie when he returned to the Falcon's cockpit.

In a sweet voice, Rose asked him, "Are you okay, Finn?"

"Yeah, I'm just trying to figure something out," was Finn's response, and he slumped down in the seat behind Chewie, Lando, and Yamo. He brought his hand to his chin as he tried to make sense of what just happened in the lounge. If he indeed was Force-sensitive, then perhaps he could come up with a plan to help Kylo win back Rey. Was there truly more hope than he thought there was? Finn just did not know.

Rey did not want to wake up, but then she told herself that sleeping would not help the war. After the Emperor captured her, he took her back to The Limpton. After all, it was he who highjacked it in the first place.

The room he gave her was dark but comfortable. She had a view of space, a decent-sized bed, and her own chest of blasters and lightsabers to choose from. It was like Granddaddy was expecting her.

Rey breathed steadily from her bed as she started to shuffle and stir. It took her a minute to make sense of where she was, but when she did, she sat up. A blanket fell from her shoulder, landing on her thighs. Around her shoulders was the cape she found on Phonolukamy, and a black cloth now covered the Beacerika's wound on her arm. Rey felt the Dark side of the Force, but it did not hurt her. This was who she was. She was Rey Palpatine. Although, she still couldn't help but to feel scarred by her true lineage. Palpatine frightened her, but maybe she would learn to like him the longer she stayed here. She highly doubted that. How could she be related to someone as heartless as him?

Rey knew she was on the Dark side now, but she still felt light. A lump formed in her throat, and she gulped when an eerie figure appeared in her doorway. Palpatine.

"'Long have I waited, for my grandchild to come home,'" he cackled.

Rey had to be brave, but goosebumps still popped up on her arms. Sweat trickled down her face, and her breathing intensified. She was terrified. Knees knocking together, she slid out of bed and backed away from Palpatine.

"You don't need to be afraid," he told her, "We are more alike than you think. You hold the gift of all the Sith within you – a 'thousand generations' – something that you share with me."

"What do you want?" Rey asked in a brave voice.

"Not much. In order to complete your training, you must travel to Supher and take out the Resistance base."

Destroy the Resistance base on Supher? But Rey's friends were there!

"Can I at least save my friends?" she asked Palpatine.

"Your friends are your weakness," was his answer, "Either you destroy the base, or I will kill you."

Kill her? Would Palpatine really kill his own granddaughter? Rey had a pretty good feeling about it, knowing the kind of man he was. He didn't care about her. He just wanted to use her to create a new Galactic Empire.

"Did you kill my parents?" she asked.

Palpatine did not need to speak for her to understand his answer. His cackle said it all, and this was when Rey struck.

She attacked out of anger, fear, and stress. Rey lifted her hands and launched Force lightning at Palpatine. However, since he was a Force ghost, it didn't even faze him. Instead, the lightning destroyed the chest of blasters and lightsabers in the corner of the room. Rey tried again, and she made sure this round of Force lightning was even more powerful than the last. Again, nothing happened, and Palpatine floated towards her. Rey sensed what he was about to do. He was going to try to take over her body like he did with Hux, and force her to become Empress.

"No, please," she whimpered. Rey held her left hand out to the pile of sabers and blasters and called one saber over. It landed right in her palm, and Rey ignited its red blade.

To her surprise, Palpatine ignited a red lightsaber of his own. Hold on, did that mean Force ghosts could still handle a weapon? Rey did not have time to ponder this question because Palpatine thrusted his lightsaber at her and she had to block it. The two blades met, causing a fight to break out between granddaughter and grandfather.

Rey fought with all her strength, but it was difficult with her injured arm. She took a defensive approach to Palpatine, rather than an offensive. She ducked under his lightsaber blade and slid behind her bed to hide.

"A Sith does not hide from her enemy. She fights, whether she wants to or not." Palpatine explained to her.

He was right. Rey couldn't cower before him. She had to fight, and she tried, but he overpowered her. Palpatine snatched her lightsaber from her hand and used a Force shove to chuck her into the room's wall. Broken and bleeding, Rey fell to the ground and groaned. This was one battle she was not going to win. She may have beat Kylo Ren on Starkiller Base, but she could not beat Palpatine.

"You're going to become Empress," he snarled, "'It's in your blood. Our blood.'"

"And I thought Kylo Ren was a monster!" Rey snapped. "You can possess me, but the last Jedi will save me!"

"Not while I'm present. You're going to destroy him, as well as the whole Resistance."

"I'm not talking about Kylo Ren! He is not my final hope!" Rey could say no more because Palpatine made his move. While she was down, he flew into her body, possessed her, and turned her into the next Empress. The battle was lost. Evil had won, but Rey did not scream. This was her destiny. She knew it was, but she also knew that the true last Jedi would free her from this Hell. She just had to be patient. Her eyes flashed yellow as she sucked in her grandfather's life form, turning her into not the last Jedi, but the last Sith. It turned out the cape she possessed belonged to Palpatine all along. He left it on Phonolukamy for her to find because as he said, it completed her training. More and more power found its way into the young woman's body, and it gave her the strength to stand up. No longer did she hold the lightsaber she started with in her hand. Instead, she held Palpatine's.

She used her new powers to destroy her room and stepped outside to The Limpton's hallway where she was confronted by a group of Sith Troopers. They looked like regular stormtroopers but wore red instead of white. They bowed to their new Empress and welcomed her into their home.

Rey, who had her hood on her head, demanded, "We leave for Supher. Now!"

"As you wish, Empress Palpatine," said the Sith Troopers. Quickly, they scooped up their weapons and followed behind Rey as she made her way to The Limpton's bridge. She could hear Palpatine laughing inside her, confident that he had won when deep down, she knew he was far from winning. The last Jedi would come to her rescue. It wasn't her, and it wasn't even Ben. It was Finn.

"Seriously, Finn, what is wrong with you?" Rose asked Finn during the last leg of the Falcon's journey back to Supher.

"Nothing. I'm just fine." But Finn was far from fine. Something inside told him that Rey was no longer the kind, orphan scavenger he met on Jakku but the new Empress of the galaxy. He wasn't the only one who knew this. Temiri did too. By prophecy, two more people were destined to aid Kylo Ren in his fight to save Rey: him and Finn.

"You feel it too?" Temiri asked Finn who was later sitting in one of the Falcon's gunner chairs. It was easier to think here than in the cockpit.

"Temiri, I need to ask you something," the young man nervously told the child. He peered outside to space and took a deep breath as he tried to find his words. "Am-Am I Force-sensitive?"

Temiri was quiet for a minute. He could not bring himself to say anything.

"Please, I need to know," said Finn.

"I know, but I wasn't going to tell you until we returned to Supher." Temiri sighed and settled down next to Finn's arm. "Yes. You are Force-sensitive."

Kylo Ren also knew Rey just became Empress. In the cockpit of his own ship, he tightened his grip on his steering wheel right when the Force message found its way into his brain. No, there was still hope. Rey would not destroy the Resistance. Not if three Jedi took her on. She may be Palpatine's granddaughter, but she was not invincible. There was definitely light in her. If Ben could redeem himself, so could she. He just had to come up with a plan to defeat the dark entity that made her the Empress, and the most feared person in all the galaxy. Rey Palpatine.