The Dark Heir

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THIS STORY, DISNEY AND LUCASFILM OWN ALL CHARACTERS. I ONLY OWN THE PLOT. I DO NOT MAKE MONEY FROM THIS, THIS IS PURELY FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES.

Description: SPOILERS FOR TROS! An AU for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi, and The Rise of Skywalker. Rey is a scavenger from nowhere when she is found by an agent of The Final Order. She is taken to a planet called Exegol. There she will learn the truth of her lineage and ascend to take her grandfather's place. With The Final Order backing her, she will not be stopped. GREATERGOOD!LUKE DARK!REY, REYLO!

Previous chapter:

Kylo Ren POV—

Suddenly, a new voice speaks up from the entry door to the throne room. "Well, you don't need to wonder anymore. I am her grandfather."

Kylo Ren turns around and feels his eyes widen. A man dressed in a black cloak with super wrinkled skin walks toward him. Kylo recognizes him and drops to a knee. "Darth Sidious." He says.

"Indeed." The man says. "I see you are here to talk to my granddaughter. She will be back soon. She had to go take care of a childhood nemesis."

Kylo still feels himself doubting what is right in front of him. "May I ask how you still live, milord?" Kylo asks.

The former Emperor of the Galaxy just smirks, "The Dark Side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities some would consider to be…unnatural."

Chapter 6(Meeting the Sith Empress)

WARNING: THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS MATERIAL SOME MAY FIND OFFENSIVE

Rey Palpatine POV—

Rey lands her ship near Niima Outpost, but not close enough that anyone would see her land. Rey can feel her anticipation rising. She walks out of the bridge, pulling her hood over her head. She walks into the cargo hold where the Sith Sentinels stand waiting. She presses a button to lower the ramp and the wind blows sand towards her. "Follow me." She orders.

They fall in line behind her with the black-armored commander standing just behind her. The other eight Sentinels stand on formation behind the commander, blasters resting on their shoulders. They walk across the sand-covered desert until they reach Niima Outpost. Many different species stop to look at her and the troopers she has behind her before one takes action. A Twi'Lek draws a pistol and shoots it at her. Rey's men aim their blasters but before they can fire, Rey uses the Force to slam the laser bolt back at the Twi'Lek, puncturing a hole in the head of the would-be assassin. "Anyone else?" She asks coldly.

She turns to her men. "I am going to scare this trader out the back of his stall. Seize him and take him back to the ship. I will meet you there." She orders. The commander nods and the Sentinels walk around to the back of the stall.

Once she reaches the stall from which Unkar Plutt works, she walks forward, cutting to the front of the line of scavengers looking to sell their day's effort of parts. "What do you want, girl? Get out of the way!" The Crolute yells at her.

Rey just smiles cruelly. She begins to squeeze her fist closed behind her back and Unkar Plutt begins to chock. "If you want to live through the next minute, I suggest you close your stall and follow me." She says coldly.

The Crolute nods quickly and closes the metal grate, blocking off his stall. He slowly exits the back of the stall and is grabbed by men dressed in red armor. He looks up in time to see a soldier dressed in black armor reach down with an electro-pack to stun him. Unkar Plutt falls to the ground unconscious.

When his eyes begin to open, he sees the girl from before kneeling before him, flanked by the soldiers from before. "What do you want! I'll give you anything!" Unkar Plutt cries out.

The girl smiles coldly at him, "Anything?" She asks.

The Crolute nods, "Yes! Anything!" He cries out.

The girl just smiles and Unkar Plutt notices for the first time that the girl's eyes are glowing red. "Well, then I am going to tell you what I want." She says. She leans down and whispers in his ear, "I am going to make you scream in agony and when you finally are nearing death, I will cut every limb from your body before finally cutting off your head." She says.

The Crolute's eyes widen in horror, "Who are you? Why do you want to kill me so bad? Why? What did I do to you?" He asks in terror.

She rises to her feet and waves her hand. The soldiers walk away, leaving the Crolute alone with the girl. She reaches up with her left hand and slowly removes her hood. Her face is beautiful and her pale skin looks soft. Unkar Plutt continues to stare at her until he gasps. "Girl? I thought you were dead!" He exclaims.

Rey sneers, "Oh, if only I was dead. Then you wouldn't have to get tortured and then executed by me." She says coldly.

The trader feels tears begin to well in the corner of his eyes. "Please, girl. Don't kill me! I can help you!" He cries out.

Rey just looks at him in amusement for a second. Then her amusement is replaced by hatred. "You are going to suffer as I did for my entire life here on Jakku. You tried to sell me to a pedophile when I was thirteen. You did nothing when I was kidnapped and nearly raped three times. So I am going to make you feel agony like no one ever has before." She snarls.

The Crolute looks at her in terror, realizing that there is nothing he can do to save himself. "Who are you, girl? How do you control the Jedi mumbo-jumbo?" He asks quietly.

Rey contemplates not answering him but decides because she is about to kill him it doesn't really matter if he knows. "My grandfather's name is Sheev." She says, only adding to the Crolute's confusion, before adding, "But his last name is Palpatine." She says.

The Crolute's eyes widen in terror. "And for your information, I am not a Jedi. I am the Empress of the Final Order and in a matter of years, I will rule the entire galaxy with an iron fist. I am Rey Palpatine. I am Darth Rhaelyx. And I am your doom." She says, pointing her right hand at him. Red lightning erupts from her fingertips and impacts the Crolute's skin.

Rey continues to shoot lightning at Unkar Plutt, laughing at his screams of agony. All of the fat on the Crolute's body begins to boil and drip down his skin. When he finally falls unconscious, Rey stops shooting lightning. She goes into his mind and wakes him up. "Oh, no, no. You are going to be awake for every second of this until I kill you." She snarls.

Her right hand reaches down to her waist and draws her lightsaber. She ignites one end of it and slowly reaches down and presses it into the metal armor covering the chest of Unkar Plutt. The melted skin that was still dripping down his chest was burned away as the heat of the lightsaber burnt a gash diagonally across the Crolute's chest. The molten metal joined with the flow of melted skin as it dripped down his body.

Unkar Plutt screams in agony as Rey slowly begins to drag the lightsaber down his chest. Digging up over an inch of skin and fat from the chest of the Crolute. Rey just laughs, her red eyes glowing as she watches her childhood's nightmare whimper in pain.

She deactivates the blade and takes a step back to admire her work. Unkar Plutt's previously fat covered chest has been trimmed down over an inch and is no longer overly round in shape. The fat dripping down his skin from the Force Lightning has begun to solidify once more and Rey frowns. She points her right hand at the Crolute and shoots more Force Lightning at the whimpering, cowering form of Unkar Plutt. She keeps shooting the lightning until his fat begins to once more drip down his body. She stops the lightning and sighs in disappointment. She knows that the body of Unkar Plutt can't take much more before he dies so she draws her lightsaber.

She leans down and whispers in the ear of the now sobbing Crolute, "I am going to make good on my promise, Plutt. I am going to cut every limb from your body before finally freeing you from this life."

Rey activates one side of her lightsaber and slowly allows it to sink into the left leg of Unkar Plutt. She slowly forces it through the skin and bone before with a final push, the entire left leg of Unkar Plutt falls to the ground. She repeats this process with his right leg before moving up to his arms. She decides to speed things up, knowing the Crolute's nerve receptor has been damaged so badly that he no longer feels pain. She cuts off his right and left arm in turn before slowly kneeling before the still form of the bane of her existence while she was on Jakku. She looks into his eyes and notices that there is no longer any sign of life in Unkar Plutt. Rey quickly ignites her blade and with a quick stroke removes the head from the body of Unkar Plutt, putting him out of his misery.

Rey stares at the body for a moment before standing up and reattaching her lightsaber to her belt. She turns and briskly walks away from her work, ignoring the looks of terror she receives from the residents of Niima Outpost. She walks towards her ship and notices the Sith Sentinels fall into line behind her.

They arrive at her ship and board it. Rey walks to the bridge and guides the ship out of the atmosphere of Jakku. She looks into her memories and inputs the coordinates of Exegol. She reaches down and pulls a lever, causing the stars in front of her to blur together as her ship enters hyperspace.

When she arrives back in the sky above her fleet, she remembers that Kylo Ren is most likely waiting for her. She lands her ship in hanger one of the Ultimus and orders the Sentinels to follow her. She exits the ship and makes her way through the corridors of her Super Star Destroyer until she arrives at the door to her throne room. She turns to the Sith Sentinels and orders, "I wish to be alone with my guest. Once we leave, return to your positions in the throne room until you are ordered otherwise. You are dismissed for now."

She gestures with her right hand and the doors to the throne room swing open. She walks briskly into the room, cloak billowing out behind her. Kylo Ren turns to face her as she enters. "Hello, Empress Palpatine." He greets her.

Luke Skywalker POV—

Luke sighs as he closes his eyes in meditation, his thoughts plagued by the threat to the galaxy. His meditation is interrupted by a voice saying, "Hey farmboy."

Luke's eyes shoot open and he looks towards the door of his room. Standing there, red hair looking like flames in the light, is Mara Jade.

Luke stands up and looks at her in shock. "Mara…" He whispers.

She smiles at him sadly, "It's me, farmboy. I have finally worked up the courage to tell you why I left for over twenty years." She says.

Luke walks towards her and before she can protest, pulls her into his arms. He buries his face in her red hair. "I missed you so much, Mara. Where have you been?" He asks.

She smiles sadly at him. "You may want to sit down for this." She says, pulling herself out of Luke's embrace.

Luke looks at her questioningly but does as she asks. He leads her over to some metal crates in the corner of his room and the two sit down. "I am so sorry, Luke. I never should have kept it from you and now it is too late." She says and tears begin to roll down her face.

"What, Mara? What should you have told me?" He asks.

She looks at him and whispers, "When I left twenty years ago, I was pregnant. I was carrying our child."

Luke looks at her in shock, but he feels a level of joy build in his chest. "Then that is a good thing, right? We are parents." He states.

Mara looks down and says quietly, "You knew our daughter. You trained her."

Luke looks shocked before the realization hits him, "She was one of the students I was training? Oh, no, no, no, no!" Luke cries out. "That means Ben killed her." He says in horror.

Mara shakes her head. "It is much worse than that, Luke." Luke is surprised by her use of his name. "When Kylo Ren left the island with a select few of your students, our daughter went with him." She says sadly.

Luke looks at her, dread building in her chest. "Ben kidnapped her?" He asks.

Mara gulps but shakes her head no. "No, Luke. She went with him willingly. From the moment she was born she had a level of darkness present in her. Kylo Ren used that darkness to convince her to go with him."

Luke looks at her on horror. "Who was she, Mara? Which student was my daughter?" He asks.

Mara sighs, "Her name was Kira. She called herself Kira Jade in private. She never knew you were her father. But now she is one of the Knights of Ren. She calls herself Kayla Ren…"

Luke looks at Mara in horror, face displaying his shock. "Why Mara? Why did you never tell me? I could have saved her from the darkness." He says.

Mara's eyes flash. "Oh, you mean to save her from the darkness as you did with the Emperor's granddaughter? Like your nephew, Ben Solo? No, Luke. You have failed. I love you but I knew you would drive our daughter even further into the darkness if you tried to save her." She says.

Luke feels tears roll down his face and he reaches his right arm around Mara's waist to pull her close to him. "You are right, Mara. I see why you didn't tell me when I was training her, but why didn't you tell me all those years ago when she left with Ben? Why wait till now to tell me?" Luke asks.

Mara takes a deep breath. "Because, Luke. Our daughter has been captured."

Luke looks at her curiously, but his eyes widen. His mind goes back to what Leia told him. The Knights of Ren were captured by the Emperor's granddaughter.

Mara sighs. "I used some of my old Empire contacts to find out who has her. She is being held on the ancient homeworld of the Sith. It is called Exegol. She is being held by a woman who goes by the Sith name of Darth Rhaelyx. But that isn't the worst news." She says and Luke senses a level of fear radiating off of her.

"What is the worst news?" Luke asks, possibilities racing through his mind.

Mara Jade's body begins to shake as she says, "My master still lives, Luke. The Emperor survived his demise…"

Kylo Ren POV—

As Kylo Ren stands in the throne room awaiting the return of the Sith Empress, he cannot help but admire the throne sitting in the middle of the room. The room itself is a plain black in color but has red lines crisscrossing it at random intervals. "It looks much better than the throne room on the Supremacy." Kylo thinks to himself.

Kylo tenses up as he senses a powerful dark presence approaching the throne room. A minute later, the doors to the throne room are thrown open and in walks the Emperor's granddaughter.

"Hello, Empress Palpatine." Kylo Ren says to the women.

She looks at him, eyes flashing red. "How do you know who I am?" She asks.

But then understanding dawns on her face. "Ah. So my grandfather introduced himself to you." She says.

"How does she know that?" Kylo asks himself.

As if sensing his question she says, "I have the memories of every Sith to ever live, including those of my grandfather."

Kylo looks at her in horror. "So you have my memories and those of my master?" He asks.

She looks at him in confusion before responding, "No. Neither of you are true Sith. You are too conflicted to fully accept the darkness and your master is nothing but a puppet. A clone genetically engineered in a lab on the surface of this planet."

Kylo feels his vision blur when he learns the truth of Snoke's origins before he asks, "If he is a clone, why is he standing against you? Shouldn't he aid your rise to power?"

The Empress shakes her head. "No. The ironic part of all of this is that Snoke doesn't know he is a clone. He believes he is a true Sith. Before my grandfather sent him on his mission, he altered Snoke's memories. You now have knowledge about Snoke that he doesn't have about himself." She says, walking towards the throne and sitting down.

"I assume you know that I only took your Knights to draw you here? After we finish discussing what is to happen next, I will return them to you." She says. A moment of silence falls before the Empress adds, "Although I sense that you don't know the true origin of one of your Knights."

Kylo looks at her, "Who is it?" He asks.

She just grins and lowers her glowing red eyes to look at him. "She is your uncle's daughter." She says.

Kylo Ren stumbles backward. "How is that possible? Luke always followed the Jedi Code to the letter. He would never have taken a lover."

The Sith Empress smirks. "Now that is where you are wrong. He did take a lover. And he married her." She says.

Kylo Ren's mind races as he tries to come up with who is uncle would have taken as a lover. The Empress watches his mind work before saying, "I will give you a hint. She was the Hand of the Emperor to my grandfather."

Kylo Ren's eyes shoot open. "Mara Jade…" He whispers.

The Empress smiles, "Yes. The great Jedi Luke Skywalker married and had a child with Mara. That child is your Knight knows as Kayla Ren." She says, leaning forward on her throne to see his reaction.

He looks at her, "Please don't kill her. I will beg if that is what you wish. She is a very good Knight, my best one in fact. Her powers with the Dark Side are stronger than my own because unlike me, she is not conflicted. She has fully embraced the darkness." Kylo Ren says.

The Empress smirks. "Now that is something I never thought I would see. The Heir Apparent to Darth Vader begging before me. But alas, that is unnecessary. I have no desire to hurt her. No, the opposite is true. I wish to meet her." She says.

She turns on her comm. "Bring the Knights of Ren here. Tell them that their master is awaiting them." She orders.

A few minutes later, the Knights are lead in by Sith Troopers and are guided to stand before the throne at their master's side. "Remove your helmets." Rey orders.

They all hesitate but they sense that they don't really have a choice. One after the other, they all remove their helmets. The Empress' eyes are instantly drawn to a young-looking girl with black hair. The only indication of her parentage is the red sheen her hair has. She bares next to no resemblance to her blood father. "Step forward, Kira Jade." The Empress says, causing said Knight to gasp.

Kira Jade steps forward hesitantly and looks at her. "All Knights except for Kayla and Kylo are dismissed. Escort them back to their cells for now." The Empress orders.

The Sith Troopers step forward and lead the Knights out of the throne room. Kayla Ren looks at the woman sitting on the throne for a moment before hesitantly asking, "How do you know my name?"

The Empress smiles. "Ask what you will, girl. You are free to speak while in my presence. And as for how I know your name, I know much more than that. I know the name of your mother." She says. Kira Jade looks at her in shock before the Empress adds, "And I know the name of your father." She says.

Kira Jade gasps. "Who is it? What man abandoned my mother to raise me alone?" She asks.

The Sith Empress just looks at her, "Both I and your master have serious reasons to dislike your father. Your father is Luke Skywalker." She says.

Kayla Ren gasps. "No. No, that isn't possible." She whispers.

The Empress stands from the throne and walks towards the now shaking girl. "I am sorry, Kayla. I don't understand why your mother didn't tell you. A child should know their parents." She says and Kylo Ren hears a level of pain in the Empress' voice as she says that.

Kayla Ren looks shocked, hurt, angry, and confused all at once. Then the Empress smiles as a look of determination passes over her face. "My father didn't want me in his life, so I will end his." She says coldly, no hint of hesitation, nor any falter in her voice.

The Empress smiles at her before turning back to face Kylo Ren. "Now that you both know the truth, I have a proposal for you." She says.

Kylo nods his head. "I am more than willing to listen. It is abundantly clear that you are way out of both mine, and my master's league." He says.

The Empress smirks. "You are very much correct. If I wanted to, I could kill your master from here." She says, causing both Kylo and Kayla to look at her in fear. "I could kill anyone, anywhere in the galaxy, at any time." She adds.

Kylo and Kayla both look at her in fear and disbelief. "Just how powerful are you?" Kylo asks.

The Empress just smirks. "Well, back to my offer. I wish for you and your Knights to join me. We will use my fleet to conquer the entire galaxy. I am sure that you saw on your arrival, Kylo, that my fleet is bigger than any fleet ever before seen in the galaxy."

Kylo thinks for a second before saying, "Before we make any major deals, I would like to know what you plan to do with the galaxy. And how you plan on dealing with those who would oppose you."

The Sith Empress smirks, "I will follow in my grandfather's footsteps. I am going to control every planet and star system in this entire galaxy. Any who oppose me will die." She says.

Kylo nods and goes to respond but before he can the Empress cuts him off. "Before we continue discussing my offer, I will give you a demonstration of the power I control. Follow me." She orders Kylo and Kayla.

They both do and follow her out of the throne room. She leads them to a hanger in the Super Star Destroyer and guides them onto the same ship the Knights of Ren were held captive on. She walks to the bridge and guides the ship out of the hanger and into the nearest Star Destroyer's hanger.

She lands her ship and walks briskly out of the transport. She walks through the ship, passing many different Final Order troopers and officers. When she reaches the bridge of the ship, she orders the captain of the ship to set a course for Jakku.

The captain does and a few minutes later the Star Destroyer is speeding through lightspeed. Kylo begins to wonder what they could possibly be doing on Jakku and he can sense that Kayla is wondering the same thing.

When the ship exits hyperspace, Kylo turns to look at the Empress and sees her grinning ear to ear. She walks to the front viewport, gesturing for Kylo and Kayla to follow. They do and she turns and orders the gunners of the ship to charge to superlaser. "The weapon is charged, milady. And Jakku has been targeted." One of the officers says.

The Empress takes a deep breath and then orders, "Fire."

The ship begins to shake and Kylo and Kayla watch in fascination as the Star Destroyer fires a red beam of energy into the planet's surface. After the beam remains in contact with the planet for around five seconds, the planet of Jakku erupts outwards. What was once a planet is now nothing more than a large amount of debris.

Kylo and Kayla are in awe of the power possessed by the women standing next to them. Kylo can't help but ask, "And every one of your Destroyers can do that?"

The Empress nods. Then the voice of Kayla Ren asks, "If that is what your Star Destroyers can do, then what can the Super Star Destroyer do? It is at least ten times the size of the normal Destroyers."

The Empress' face turns into a cold smirk. "That is something that I will keep to myself for the time being." She says. "Now. Are you prepared to join me? Or will you make me kill you as I will do to Snoke?" She asks.

Kylo and Kayla look at each other for a second before both nodding their heads in assent. "We will join you. You are obviously the best option this galaxy has." Kylo says.

The Empress smiles victoriously. "Good." She says, once again pronouncing the 'good' in a way that seems unnaturally long.

She turns back to the captain of the Star Destroyer. "Well done, captain. Now return us to Exegol." She orders.

As the stars before the ship turn into lines, Kylo begins to wonder where the Empress was raised. "It couldn't have been Jakku, could it?" He asks himself. "Although that would explain her apparent joy at blowing that planet out of existence."

Luke Skywalker POV—

"I am sorry to have to tell you more bad news, sister, but I must." Luke says.

Leia looks at him curiously. "Well, our problems can't get much worse so let's hear it." She says.

Luke takes a deep breath worried about how to tell his sister. From his side, Mara squeezes his hand in a comforting manner. "Mara and I apparently have a daughter." He says.

Leia's eyes widen before she smiles. "Well, that is good news then." She states before seeing that Luke and Mara aren't smiling.

"That isn't the bad news, Leia." Luke says with a sigh. "When Ben left my training facility and slaughtered the majority of my students, he took with him a few of the students. They became the Knights of Ren."

Leia looks at him, trying to determine what happened to their daughter. Before she can say anything, the voice of Han Solo interrupts as he walks to Leia's side. "Hey, kid. Are you saying Ben killed your daughter?" He asks.

Luke shakes his head. "No." He states quietly.

Leia's eyes widen as she realizes the truth. "She joined him. She became a Knight of Ren." She says.

Luke nods. "Yes. She now calles herself Kayla Ren. She is the second in command to Ben." He says voice laced with pain.

Leia walks towards Mara and Luke and pulls them both into a hug. Mara is hesitant to hug her back, but does, sensing the positive message Leia is giving. Once Leia breaks the hug, Luke sighs. "That still wasn't the worst news, Leia."

Leia looks at him as if begging him to say that he is kidding. Begging him to give her positve news instead. Luke once again tries to decide the best way to tell his sister and decides to just be as obvious as he can. "The Emperor lives, Leia. He is most likely the one training his granddaughter."

Leia holds a hand to her heart in shock. "How is that possible? You told me father through him down a reactor shaft." She says.

Luke sighs, "I have no idea how he did it, I only know that he did."

Leia goes to ask another question, but before she can an alarm sounds. Luke and Leia watch as the Holo-display in the center of the room displays an image of a planet. As they intently watch it, a Star Destroyer comes out of hyperspace. A few seconds later, a beam of energy is fired from some sort of underbelly superlaser the Destroyer has. They watch in stunned horror and disbelief as the planet is blown up.

Luke finally breaks the silence, "It appears that the Emperor's granddaughter has made her first move."

Leia slowly lowers herself onto a metal crate as she is hit with a realization. "That means-"

She is cut off by Mara, "That every Destroyer in her fleet has planet-killing weapons. Of course, they do. This is how she plans to finish it. I guarantee you that it was the Emperor who had this fleet built." She says.

Han interrupts, saying the one thing they were all thinking but didn't want to say, "We're fucked."

A/N.

Wow. That was quite the chapter to write. Please let me know what you think of how the story is progressing. Do you like the addition of Luke's wife Mara Jade? And most importantly, do you like the addition of an OC in Kayla Ren?

Next Chapter:

Kylo Ren and Rey begin to discuss their lives and become closer.

Snoke discovers that Kylo Ren betrayed him and that the person responsible for the destruction of Jakku is the Empress of the Sith.

Word Count - 5,070