**ATTENTION**

I have made a full size map rendition of the state of the Galaxy at this point in time in the series, 37 ABY. Unfortunately, Fanfiction doesn't allow us to post images, so I did make an account page for Rise of the Jedi on , under the same title name. My author's name on there is "First_Chancellor". The galactic map may not be easily readable due to its large size, so I will be making smaller images of just quadrants of the Galaxy. So far the map just shows updated planet locations and the size of the Allied Federation.

Coruscant

Old Senate Building

"That was a complete failure, what a total embarrassment." muttered a disgruntled human delegate that walked the halls of the Senate Building with a fellow convention delegate.

"I guess they're not all gone, how are we going to end this?" asked the other man.

Poe Dameron walked past the two delegates in the hall, heading for Leia's senate office. He heard many whispers and statements about how the Sith Queen got away, and that there were still more First Order warships out there. To Poe, the Battle at Telos was a victory for the Resistance, and for the Allied Federation of Stellates (which was barely up and running). They destroyed the planet-destroying Xyston-class Star Destroyer, they saved billions more lives… yet all people could think of was complaining. To Poe, they didn't seem grateful.

Poe entered Leia's senate office, with her door sliding open automatically. The General was sitting at her desk on call with a planetary leader, a small hologram projected on top of her desk. Poe couldn't tell who or what it was, but it was definitely an alien being. Leia sat straight at her desk with a gray dress on,

"I know, I know. But, we must look at the upside of things, Chairman. There are no more super-weapons capable of destroying entire planets." insisted Leia.

"I understand, but just one of those First Order ships have the power to level a metropolis - that's why I'm afraid, General. That's why I have doubts that this new Federation of yours can do anything." responded the gruff-sounding alien, who was reptile-like. Poe stood near the chairs in front of Leia's desk, crossing his arms. C3PO was in the room as well, organizing old books on a shelf at the end of Leia's office near the windows.

"The only way we can defeat evil is through unity and hope, Chairman. If Kalee wants to live in a safe Galaxy, Kalee must participate in building that security with the rest of us. Please, keep in touch." The hologram of the leader of Kalee disappeared, and Leia leaned back in her chair, taking a long look at Poe.

"Tell me something good." she said. Poe chuckled and pulled the chair a few feet away from Leia's desk so he could sit down comfortably.

"Finn is rallying support on the lower levels of Coruscant for the Federation's founding. He's spreading awareness." informed Poe.

"And?"

"So far so good, people are open to the idea." Poe shook his head and held his hands together, leaning forward, "There's a sense of hope."

"Good, because I've been getting mixed feelings from the rest of the Galaxy." scoffed Leia, "And people are noticing what happened at Telos, specifically the existence of another Sith." Poe nodded his head. He didn't see the Sith Queen, but he did see the fleet of Resurgent destroyers that appeared above Telos and ambushed their own fleet. They lost two MC80 cruisers, four Corellian corvettes, and an entire squadron of fighters.

"What are we going to do about her?" asked Poe curiously.

"Well, I'll be addressing the Federation Senate tomorrow - its first session. I've asked convention members to attend if they'd like, just so they can see that we still want their input in all of this."

"How many planets have actually joined?"

"Thirty eight - six stellates," exhaled Leia, "Coruscant, Hapes, Naboo, Kuat, Corellia, and Bothawui."

"Maybe we should just do this without the rest of them… have you considered that?" Leia closed her eyes for a moment, thinking.

"Poe, I know you're smarter than that."

"General, I'm being serious - do you think the Galaxy even wants this?" responded Poe, inching forward in his chair. Leia looked at him with a solemn look on her face. "I understand you've been through so much… you've sacrificed so much for democracy…"

"This isn't about me, Poe, you know that." said Leia, shaking her head.

"Then maybe we should just let them be free." Poe shrugged his shoulders, "Let the Resistance be its own thing, we can go after that Sith thing on our own - without any political interference." Leia scratched her chin and inhaled.

"I don't think that's a good idea." said Leia softly, "Don't get me wrong: we are going to destroy Temnateta, and we are going to establish democracy across the Galaxy - even if it kills me." Leia got up from her desk, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a meeting with the Senator of Hapes." Leia walked around Poe, and C3PO chased after the General.

"Good day, Master Poe." nodded the golden protocol droid to the commander. Poe shook his head and watched Leia and the droid leave the office, leaving him alone. He rested his elbow on the back end of the chair, staring into blank space…


Jedi Temple

Rey

"I wish I was there with you, we could've taken her out." said Rey quietly, standing beside Cere who was laying in a bed, resting. The eighty-something year old Jedi Master was still very exhausted and drained from her battle with Darth Temnateta a few days ago, and secluded herself to her apartment in the Temple to recover. Ahsoka and Cal were in the room as well, with Cal standing over by the window, with his arms crossed.

"She was strong - she is strong in the Dark Side." said Cere weakly.

"I knew you should've stayed." said Cal under his breath, "It was too dangerous - you could've gotten yourself killed."

"All of us would've been unprepared." stated Ahsoka bluntly, "I wasn't expecting such a being filled with so much hate and darkness."

"Maybe we should call the others back to the Temple." suggested Cal, turning around to look at Cere. Ahsoka glanced between the two, wondering what ever happened to the other three Jedi that were off on some mission. When they first arrived at the Temple, Cere told them that there were a total of five Jedi, and the other three were out in the greater Galaxy.

"No." said Cere sternly, "We cannot bog them down."

"This is serious!" exclaimed Cal. Rey was surprised by the older man's tone, and Ahsoka could sense the growing fear and apprehension in his heart. Cere closed her eyes. "We're dealing with the last Sith, there were five of you on that ship and it wasn't enough."

"I never got the chance to stop her," mentioned Rey, "we were all split up."

"And you lost." nodded Cal quickly, "Right now, we're still split up. We need them with us."

"Where are they?" asked Ahsoka. Cere slumped further into her pillows, sighing loudly. Ahsoka looked at Cal, who was shaking his head.

"Last we heard from them was months ago, they stopped at Martalda." answered Cal Kestis. Ahsoka furrowed her brows, not having heard of that planet before. "It's far in the Outer Rim, southwest, past Sluis Van." he explained. Ahsoka nodded her head slowly. "They're looking for other Force-sensitives."

"Perhaps we could use their assistance." mentioned Ahsoka, "As we are the last remnants of the Jedi Order and there's still a Sith running about."

"Ahsoka is right!" said Cere fiercely, sitting up in her bed. Cal looked at his master, but rather disgruntled and distraught.

"Let her run!" he said back loudly, "Let her fall back into the Unknown Regions."

"That's how the First Order came to be." argued Cere, "We must end it. We must end it now!"

"You'll get yourself killed!" shouted Cal, causing Cere to quickly silence herself. Rey looked between the two. Ahsoka took Rey's hand and the two headed for the door.

"We'll discuss this another time." said Ahsoka softly, and before anybody else could say anything, they left Cal and Cere in the room alone.

"What should we do, Master Tano?" asked Rey curiously, as she walked beside the older Togruta down the hall of the Jedi Temple. Ahsoka thought hard, and shook her head. There was much to think about and deliberate with such a dangerous situation.

"We must remind ourselves that the most present danger has been eliminated." exhaled Ahsoka, "To go after the Sith Queen is not up to me - I think there's someone else who should have a say in this."


Darth Temnateta

Mandator IV-class Siege Dreadnought

Darth Temnateta walked briskly down the black, glossy, floored halls of the Mandator IV-class Siege Dreadnought, a vessel of the First Order, serving as the temporary flagship of the remains of the First Order. Thankfully, a fleet of Resurgent-class Destroyers rescued Temnateta from the Resistance ambush at Telos, saving her. The fleet quickly fled deep into the Outer Rim, far from any inhabited worlds, rendezvousing with other surviving First Order ships and officials. The Sith Queen had bits of ice layered on her shins, some on her gauntlets, and even parts of her white mask from being out in outer space for a brief moment of time. There were a mix of red armored Sith troopers and First Order stormtroopers roaming the halls of the triangular shaped dreadnought. Only the Sith troopers stopped and held their weapons still as the Sith Queen whisked past them, yet the First Order troopers had no idea who she was.

Temnateta walked down a curving hall, coming upon a large metal door with blue lights around it. She used the Force to open the door, stepping into a conference chamber. There was a white round table in the center of the room, with three individuals seated. There were about twelve seats, yet the rest were completely empty. One of the individuals was Captain Sharda, the weak-willed man who served on Temnateta's destroyer.

"Your majesty," greeted Sharda. Captain Sharda looked at the two other officers, one was a dark skinned woman with long black hair that was braided into two rings on the sides of her head, wearing a fitted black suit, with a red stripe at her right shoulder. "this is General Ira Daha." Temnateta's eyes examined the tall, statuesque, woman, who held her hands behind her back. The Sith Queen recognized the red markings on her suit, she was from the Sith Eternal military structure, yet didn't know her. "And this is Admiral Dris Bargess of the First Order Navy."

"I didn't think you made it out alive." stated General Daha, tilting her head slightly at the Sith Queen.

"You're from Exegol? I was told every last reinforcement was destroyed by the Resistance." responded Temnateta.

"Yes, but I was stationed at Rattatak." answered the General.

"Any others?" asked the Sith.

"No." said Daha bluntly, "I was only informed of your ship being at Kijimi and fleeing to Telos."

"I was going to Moraband." stated the Sith.

"What's at Moraband?" asked Admiral Bargess. Temnateta eyed the First Order Admiral. He was in his mid-fifties, graying hair, and wore a gray First Order uniform. He had to have been a captain, since most First Order generals wore all black. Perhaps he promoted himself.

"Safety." said Temnateta, "Answers. Power."

"We are all that's left, and you want us to go to some cult world?" asked Bargess, "We've got seven ships."

"You want to storm Coruscant with the last of your ships?" asked the Sith Queen sarcastically, "Because just a handful of buffed-up freighters and cruise-liners from the shitfaced Resistance managed to take out one of my ships - and there's more of them now. Far more." Daha nearly chuckled, but kept her composure. Admiral Bargess wasn't too impressed, and got up from his seat.

"I served General Pryde and Emperor Palpatine-"

"As did I, but both are gone." said Temnateta, "I'm all you have, Admiral." she held out her hands and smiled. Bargess shook his head.

"Why weren't you at Exegol? You could have stopped those scum."

"I'm really tired of you asking these idiotic questions." said the Sith, "We are where we are."

"You're going to let her talk to us like this?" Admiral Bargess looked over at General Daha, hoping for some sort of back-up. Daha shrugged her shoulders,

"She's not talking to me like that. She was the Emperor's right hand woman, she's in charge, from what I can put together. And if I may," Temnateta nodded at Daha. "I was stationed at Rattatak to find a lead on the existence of the legendary Star-Forge."

"The Star-Forge…" Temnateta was interested, and put her hands on her hips. The Star-Forge was an ancient super-station built by the Rakatan, tens of thousands of years before the rise of the Old Republic. It took its power from stars and was able to pump out machinery, warships, weaponry, armor, and more through the addition of Sith alchemy. It's what gave the Rakatans power to establish their Infinite Empire.

"We need to find our allies, regroup-"

"We won't need allies if we find the Star-Forge." said General Daha, "We have no allies now anyhow."

"General Daha is correct." said the Sith Queen, "If we can find the Star-Forge, we can construct a million ships and finally bring back the Galactic Empire for good. We can bring an end to the Resistance andOrgana." Admiral Bargess was skeptical, he didn't like putting all their faith in the hopes of finding a station that hadn't been used in over thirty thousand years.

"I am with you, Queen Temnateta." General Ira Daha bowed her head before the Sith Queen, and she slowly smiled. However, she could sense the uncertainty within Admiral Bargess. The man rubbed his forehead and his eyes.

"Is something wrong, Admiral?" asked Temnateta, her smile disappearing. Bargess started walking to the door, which was near the Sith Queen. He faced the door yet turned his head to look directly in the eyes of Temnateta.

"You're going to lose this war for all of us." he hissed. Bargess turned and continued for the door. Daha's brows raised, and Temnateta shrugged her shoulders. She whipped out her lightsaber, yanked on Bargess with the Force, pulling him right into her red blade. Bargess grunted loudly, looked down, seeing the red blade sticking through his stomach. Temnateta whispered into his ear,

"This is my Empire now, and you've made the wrong choice." she pulled out her lightsaber, letting Bargess fall onto the floor with a loud thud. Daha walked around the table and looked down at the dead body. Captain Sharda was completely silent and still, he was used to seeing his superior dispose of officers like so.

"What a shame," sighed Daha, "he could've been so much more useful to us." Temnateta began to laugh, shaking her head.

"Fuck him, and fuck the men who think they know better than us." she glared at General Daha, "Ira Daha, you are to be my second-in-command. Chief Vizier of the New Sith Empire." Daha inhaled deeply, the corners of her lips curling into a smile,

"I would be honored, your majesty… Empress Temnateta."


Coruscant

Old Senate Building

Convocation Chamber

"The Senate of the Allied Federation is now in session," echoed the temporary speaker of the Allied Federation Senate, the Prime Minister of Coruscant, to the chamber that was about half full of new senators and delegates that were on the fence about joining the new galactic government. "and we shall begin the nominating process for the chief executive, head of state and government, the Arch-Consul, Supreme Commander in Chief of the Federation Armed Forces and leader of the Senate. Senator Szoar of Hapes, you have the floor." the slim and slender man who once governed the planet of Hapes, now its Senator, flew his senatorial pod out into the chamber, taking the spotlight.

"As one of the original founders of the Allied Federation, with support of the stellates of Naboo, Malastare, Coruscant, Pantolomin, Mon Cala, Bothawui, and Eriadu, we nominate Leia Organa of Alderaan to be the first Arch-Consul of the Allied Federation." there was a swarm of applause throughout the chamber, "Senator Organa is the most suited person in this entire chamber, with the most proper judgement and experience to lead us out of these perilous times once and for all." the chamber continued to applaud, and the Coruscanti Prime Minister slammed his gavel on his small podium at his podium tower,

"Order, order." the applause began to die down, and so did the chatter, "Are there any other nominations to be made for the Office of Arch-Consul?" the Prime Minister looked around, the chamber fell rather silent. There were a couple coughs, yet nobody spoke. Senator Szoar of Hapes slowly flew his pod back to his dock, making eye contact with his fellow colleague, Senator Ellani Lanchest of Naboo.

"So be it," continued the Prime Minister, "official members shall be allowed to vote on the election of the first Arch-Consul."


Former Office of the Chancellor

Former Republic Executive Building

Leia Organa stood facing away from the large desk in the center of the enormous office, looking out the wide window, seeing the Senate Building just a dozen blocks away. The General of the Resistance stood in a dark red dress with a sparkling dark gray cloak hanging from her shoulders. Her office was filled with visitors: Rey, Ahsoka, Admiral Prentos, Poe Dameron, Senators Karmyx of Bothawui, Ellani Lanchest of Naboo, and Almen Szoar of Hapes. There were a few protocol droids and cameramen setting up a large camera in front of Leia's desk. The others watched from afar as they prepared for the new galactic leader's first holonet broadcast.

Two Twi'lek women fixed Leia's hair and makeup, patting her cheekbones lightly with a light makeup pad, evening out her foundation. The second Twi'lek pulled back loose strands of white hairs behind her ears.

"We're live in thirty seconds." said the human cameraman behind the camera with the two protocol droids. Leia nodded, and remained still. The Twi'leks gathered their supplies off of Leia's desk and moved aside, out of the shot. Leia glanced at Rey who was to the right, standing with Ahsoka and Poe. Rey gave her a thumb's up and Leia smiled. The cameraman began counting down from five from his fingers,

"Five, four, three…" two, one. He pointed at Leia, and she saw a red light turn on above the camera's lens.

"Good evening, brothers and sisters of the Galaxy." she began, "It is with much honor that to announce that the people's galactic convention has elected me as Arch-Consul of the Allied Federation of Stellates, your new commander-in-chief. On this same day, roughly one hundred more star systems have joined the Allied Federation, expanding our size to a total of six hundred ninety four planets. Many of you may be aware of the tragedy that happened at Serenno, its destruction by the self-proclaimed Sith ruler, Darth Temnateta. Our forces destroyed her flagship that has the power to destroy planets at Telos, however, she escaped with other First Order survivors." Leia held her hands together and paused for a moment,

"Heed my words, this war will not end until we hunt down the remaining survivors and bring them to justice. My first act as Arch-Consul, with full support of the Federation Senate, is to establish a new Navy with up-to-date warships capable of finishing what we started. I ask the brave men and women of our Galaxy to rise up and join our cause, we are not going to destroy evil by sitting on the sidelines. Good intentions are a good place to start, but not where we stop…

"Star systems that help the Sith Eternal in any way will be punished by the justice system of the Federation, there is no more room for secrecy or treachery. It is time we bring an end to this era of suffering and destruction."


Jedi Temple

Ben Solo stood on the rooftop of the Jedi Temple, staring out at the sky, watching new ships enter the atmosphere above the Senate Building. The sun was beginning to set, hanging right over the dome of the Senate Building, sending rays of light around it and through the dense clouds. The wind tugged at his hair as he looked off the edge of the bastion of a temple, seeing even more large ships descend through the clouds.

Leia's MC85 was joined by three triangular warships that were nearly its length, perhaps the same size of a Resurgent-class Star Destroyer. They were light beige and gray in color, with gold stripes on their undersides and a low-command tower. The MC85 was still the largest ship in the sky, totally dominating the skyline. Ben tried to think what the world looked like during the reign of the Empire, all the Imperial Star Destroyers that patrolled the planet… all to instill fear in the people's hearts. His mother's ship seemed to do the opposite. There wasn't a feeling of fear, there was a feeling of hope… and of change.

"Hey." Rey walked up from behind and Ben was glad she did. She stood by his side and looked up at the sky, "Your mother's new ships from Kuat," she added, "Nebula class."

"Powerful name." said Ben lightly, nodding his head, admiring the sleek design of the star destroyer. "What are you doing up here?" asked Ben, looking down at her. Rey kept her gaze on the ships above the Senate Building,

"I want to spend some time with you," she said quietly, "everything has been happening so fast that I feel like we never get a moment to just ourselves." she looked up at Ben, and he met her eyes with his own. For just a moment, he looked deeply into her eyes, saying nothing. Just her presence was a gift to him, a soothing feeling in the Force. He understood how she felt, it wasn't too difficult to comprehend. It wasn't too hard to sense. Rey took Ben's hand in her own, squeezing it. She caressed the back of his hand with her thumb, keeping her eyes locked onto his.

"I…" stammered Ben, "I want you to be with me." Rey's thumb stopped moving against his hand, and her heart skipped a beat. "Always." added Ben.

"I'm here, aren't I?" smirked Rey. Ben reached down to kiss her, pulling her in closely and tightly.