CHAPTER XVII

"Alright, Rey Palpatine," Kylo Ren said, slowly walking towards the bridge of the Star Destroyer and addressing not just her but the entire crowd of Sith in the room, "You make a compelling case. But what reason do we have to trust you? You may be a Sith Lord's granddaughter, yes. But are you a Sith?"

Rey had thought about this, knowing she would likely be probed on this issue. She wasn't sure how to answer.

"Up until today, you were part of the Resistance," he went on, "You and your little friends were strategizing against us."

"My life is strikingly similar to yours, Ben Solo," she answered back, which led to a lot of murmuring throughout the room, "Your parents were Han and Leia, and those two were the closest thing to parents I ever knew. Both of us were trained by Luke Skywalker. And both of us have tried to take up our grandfathers' legacy. And now we're both here, in this room, face to face. What makes us any different?"

"This does," he answered, and with a wave of his hand, commanded the Sith to attack!

Rey was suddenly ambushed on all sides by thirty Sith warriors, all of them strong! She quickly ignited her lightsaber and swung away, but was pushed back with the Force!

She slammed onto the floor, then was picked up and pressed up against the wall!

Suddenly, all the air was sucked out of her lungs, and she realized she was being Force-choked! And not just by one Sith, but nearly all of them. She reached for her neck, but felt nothing there!

"Stop this madness!" she heard Kur call out from the other side of the room, "You're killing her!"

"We won't kill her," she could barely make out Kylo Ren's voice responding, "We just need to see how she performs."

Using all her strength, Rey reached out and Force-choked her opponent, despite not seeing who it was! This released her and she fell back to the floor!

Immediately she was back up on her feet, lightsaber in hand, and began dueling the entire room!

One old hooded woman with long grey hair and a disgusting smile, from a species she could never recognize, came at her with her own lightsaber, cackling away!

They clashed, going back and forth on each other! Rey was exhausted; she had no idea what she was even fighting for! All she knew was she had to stay alive!

She leapt up into the air, doing a tremendous backflip, and curling onto the wall like an insect!

The hooded woman eyed her, smiling the whole time like a strange predator.

This continued for several more minutes-

-then Rey leapt to the ground, hoping to slice the woman's head-

-only for the woman to shoot lighting from her fingers and hit Rey directly! Rey fell to the floor in agony!

Pain sizzled through Rey's entire body as she screamed! She had no idea what this lightning was; all she knew was it was a darkside power. And as long as she was being electrocuted, she was completely powerless!

Finally the woman stopped, and Rey coughed up a mouthful of blood! She spat it out, then only lay on the floor in defeat. As she slowly got her breath back, she realized she had never been beaten this badly in her life.

"Excellent duel!" the woman said, "You are one of us!"

Rey took these words in.

"So to answer your question, Rey," Kylo Ren's voice came from behind her, "The only difference between us is I am a Sith. Which means I command this army. But as you've just proven in your duel with Darth Kayla here, you are every bit as skilled as anyone else in this room, especially when you use the darkside."

Rey looked up at the hooded woman-Darth Kayla, apparently she was called-and saw that this was where her destiny had led her. It was time to stop being in conflict with herself.

Getting back up on her feet, she looked directly at Kylo Ren and said: "I choose to join the Sith."

She could hear Kur sighing. As she turned to him, he looked defeated.

"Do you pledge yourself entirely to the teachings of the Sith?" Kylo Ren asked her.

"I do," Rey replied, "All my life, I've only wanted one thing: a family."

I thought Finn and Udo were that family, she thought, but I have to protect them. As long as my name is Palpatine and I am skilled with the darkside, then I belong here.

"Very well," Kylo Ren said, "We will support your claim as Empress and be the army you need to take the throne. But while your public persona is Rey Palpatine, you must train with us, as an apprentice, to learn the ways of the Sith."

"I will train her," the cackling old woman known as Darth Kayla said, "I just bested her in a duel; the least I can do is take her under my wing."

Rey hesitated a second, then said:

"So be it."

She knelt down as Kayla cackled, reaching her arm over Rey's shoulder.

"The Force is strong with you, Rey. A powerful Sith you will become. Henceforth, you shall be known as...Darth Barla."

"Thank you, master," Rey said quietly.

"Rise, Darth Barla. The Empress Palpatine."

And Rey got back on her feet once more.


Ten minutes later, after all the commotion had settled down, the Sith had all returned to their posts on the Star Destroyer, and Rey had been given a traditional Sith black robe. It was musty; she could smell it as soon as it was handed to her and she guessed it was quite old. But she put it on.

And now she walked beside Kylo Ren as he led her over to his quarters.

"You fought well out there, Darth Barla," he said, "You will make a very good Sith and even better Empress."

"Thank you-Master Ren," she said.

Once they reached his quarters, they were rejoined by Kur. He looked at Rey, showing not disappointment but pity.

"Now, Kur," Kylo Ren said, "Shall we resume where we left off? You were going to teach us the ways of the Force and how to create planets."

"I will do this out of loyalty to the Force," Kur said, "but I want to make it clear that I have not renounced my ways. I am and shall always be a Jedi."

"Noted," Rey said, "But we all need to work together."

"Very well," Kur said, "Then, as I was saying, you use the Force to focus on space itself. Now let me tell you about The Planet That Has No Name-"

And as they talked, Rey embraced her destiny, feeling the slightest tinge of regret.