space:

A battered and aged YT 1300 Corellian Freighter sat in orbit above an uncharted gas giant. Onboard the ship sat a petite woman in white robes with mix of white and dark hair. The woman sat in the engineering room of the freighter in deep meditation. A young man with a lightsaber clipped to his belt entered the room. He was in his early twenties. He had dark hair and was medium sized. He had a look of determination and experienced that would indicate he was a fully trained Jedi Knight. He stopped as the woman opened her eyes. He then spoke, "Master based on the Imperial communications array that I hacked into, it appears that Vader just responded to a mysterious attack on Carida."

The Jedi Master closed her eyes as she reached out with the Force. She knew that they were a parsec away from Carida. She saw this as their opportunity to hone in on their quarry. With a deep breathe she opened her eyes as she spoke, "I will be in the cockpit in a moment. Is the course set?"
"Yes, and we are ready to go to Hyperspace on your order."

She nodded her head as she spoke, "Good we need to stop him before he causes any additional damage. But we also need to keep Sidious fearful of defeat and do our part to ensure his defeat."
"How will we do that Master?"
"I will plague his dreams and terrorize him with endless Force visions. Sidious hates being unable to predict or identify what is out there. My efforts will drive him mad," she said.

"How will he react?"

"It will make him more reckless and more desperate. If all goes well, we will see a mentally traumatized Sidious in the coming years which will make his calculations and decisions more desperate."

Space above Carida:

Vader had hastily returned to the Devastator. Four other Stary Destroyers had entered the system and had positioned themselves strategically around the dreadnought vessel. Instead of formality, Vader had rushed down the ramp of his shuttle craft and had stormed through the hallways of the Devastator so that he could make his way to the command bridge with Captain Piett.

Piett was anxiously waiting for his commander as the Sith Lord stormed onto the bridge. Piett looked back at the large vessel as he realized why he had felt a familiarity from the sight of the vessel. It was the same vessel from the edge of the unknown regions that he had seen in the midst of the singularity.

"Report?"

"The weapons on all vessels are fully charged. We have prepared fighter crews to engage at your order along with tie bombers. They have appeared to raise their own shields and their weapons are charged."

"What can you tell me about their weapons capabilities."
"Formidable," Piett replied.

He looked at his datapad as he spoke, "They have at least 1,500 turbolasers and Ion cannons and multiple concussion missile emplacements."

Vader's eyes widened as he turned towards Piett, "They can easily outmatch one or two Imperial II Class Star Destroyers without being outnumbered one on one the majority of the ships in the fleet do not have that kind of firepower."

"We have the advantage of knowing that they have heated their weapons on the last ship. They can destroy one or two of our vessels now but they would be close to overheating and that would be when we would finish them."
"I hate being outgunned," Vader said in anger.

Vader took in a deep breath as he spoke, "Lock weapons on their propulsion and order the other Star Destroyers to do the same."

"Yes Milord," Piett replied."

He looked at Vader as he spoke, "This is the ship Milord."

Vader looked at Piett as it dawned upon him, "From the Empire Day Incident?"

"Yes," Piett replied.

Vader was about to speak but he held his tongue when he saw a young officer approaching himself and Piett.

"Sir they are hailing us," the officer stated.
"Open a channel and patch the image if it is by hologram to us. Make sure you record and encrypt the contents of this transmission to be retained only by myself and no one else."

"Yes, Lord Vader."

Piett looked at Vader as he spoke, "Move out of range of the monitor and let me deal with him myself for your own safety."

Piett stepped several feet back as a life size image of a hooded man materialized before his commander.

Vader looked at his quarry as he spoke, "The Force is strong with you but you clearly do not have the training and experience that I have."

"That is true, I was not as fortunate as you were to have a Master to teach me the ways of the Dark Side."

Vader's eyes narrowed as he spoke, "Who was your master?"

"You would not know my Master and that is a guarantee Vader."

Vader spoke, "You have much to explain and that is why I am demanding that

you unconditionally surrender and board our vessel via shuttlecraft. Refusal to do so will result in destruction of your ship."

"Lord Vader, you know that this vessel has firepower that is superior to your victory class Star Destroyers. We are outnumbered and you are likely going to lose a third of your fleet here even if you defeat us. We have made a simple calculation that we can escape from you because we have the element of surprise."

Vader narrowed his eyes as he stared at the man, "You are clearly younger than me and greener. I am not sure who you are or where you came from but I will find out and I will destroy you."

"Join me Vader, and together we can rule the Galaxy."

Vader laughed but his laugh was shortened by a sudden blast from the mysterious vessel. He saw one of the surrounding Star Destroyers exploding under the heavy barrage from the enemy ship.

The transmission ended as Piett spoke, "They may have superior firepower but we have them outnumbered we can win. We will suffer heavy casualties but if we all coordinate our fire on the bridge and their propulsion, we can take them out."

Vader shook his head, "Victory is not his goal. He just wanted to clear the way so he can go to hyperspace before we could disable and board his ship. He knows he is outnumbered."

Piett looked at Vader as the said vessel jumped to hyperspace. He was surprised at how calm the Dark Lord was by the failure of their fleet to secure the enemy ship. Vader looked at him as he spoke, "We have intel and we can investigate and learn more about this new threat. I want every bit of information that we have on their ship in my office. Alert all commands and make an effort to calculate possible destinations of the ship."

"Yes Milord," Piett replied.

Piett turned back to Vader after speaking with a distressed lieutenant and spoke, "Sir Admiral Ozzel was onboard the ship when it was destroyed."

Vader looked towards the remains of the Star Destroyer. He had never liked Admiral Ozzel. Ozzel was supposed to be transferred to the Executor when it was ready to leave the dry docks as the commander of his personal fleet. He smiled to himself he would have likely executed Ozzel for failure in the near future but now Ozzel was no longer a nuisance. The man had a very mixed track record and Vader was not pleased to have him onboard his ship because he was only half competent. He also knew that Ozzel was loyal to the Emperor before he was loyal to him. He turned back to Piett as he spoke, "You are in command now Admiral Piett."

Piett's eyes widened in shock and horror as he could only reply "Thank you Lord Vader."

Firmus Piett was in disbelief as Vader left the bridge. He had not liked Ozzel but he also was uneasy about serving as Vader's first officer. He had a wife and two children, he hated the thought of leaving them behind. He knew that Vader was unstable although he had clearly caught the attention of the Supreme Commander of the Imperial Fleet. He had witnessed Vader's execution of one officer just a week ago and he only could hope that he could keep him happy so he too would not be on the receiving end of the man's wrath.

Coruscant:

Palpatine sat in his office as he reviewed the data that Vader had sent him on the mysterious Star Destroyer that had raided Carida. He read his apprentice's report as he

wondered who this new foe was? There were only two Sith Lords at any given time and each and every Sith Lord and Apprentice that had existed in Bane's lineage was currently

accounted for. He had felt Maul's death not long ago and was under the impression that Maul had not taken an apprentice or even strictly adhered to the ways of the Sith. Who

was this new dark sider that was a threat to his rule? He would have suspected that his Apprentice was treacherous enough to have his own secret apprentice but Vader clearly

and sincerely was as bothered by this new enemy as he was. Who was the rebel Jedi apprentice that had destroyed the Death Star? Who was the shadow leader of the Rebellion

that had been propped up by Organa and Mothma? So far, they had been unable to successfully detain any rebels that knew who the shadow general of the Alliance Council was.

He did know that that said General may have advocated the attack on Scarif that had led to the theft of the Death Star Plans and the death of Orson Krennic. Whoever this

leader was they were not only willing to take risks but they were calculating and brilliant.

At that moment he saw a blink on his holocom. He pressed the button and an image of Lord Vader materialized before his eyes, "Master, have you reviewed what I sent you?"

"I just finished Lord Vader, this is very troubling. This Star Destroyer appears to be even more advanced than the Executor will be once it is out of the dry docks."

"They still cannot win in a battle if we have numbers on our side. If we had the Executor, we could blow them out of the water. The problem is the damage that they may do to our security and our intel which they are clearly after."

"And they know where they can gain information with low risks of consequences," Palpatine said.

"They also played a way out of Carida because they knew that they were outnumbered."

"I think the best we can do is double the security of key intelligence institutions. It is clear to me Lord Vader that they will strike in due time. In the meantime, you should also move to Yavin IV to mop up the Rebels before they complete their evacuation."

"I have the course set. We will be leaving in moments my Master. If we catch any in the system my main priority is to capture a Rebel ship to see if we can learn anything about the shadow leader."

"After you are done with the mop up of Yavin IV we need to discuss your failure to protect the Death Star. Clearly the Jedi apprentice is challenging even your piloting abilities. We have to get to the bottom of who he is."

"Yes Master," Vader replied.

After the transmission ended, Mas Amedda entered the room with a datapad. Palpatine took the datapad as he spoke, "Lord Vader is hiding something. I think he knows more about Moff Jade's attacker and the shadow General."

"Speaking of Jade, I have some news."

"Oh?" Palpatine asked.

"He still remains in a coma but the doctor expects him to live."
"Perhaps he will have a description of our mysterious Jedi when he awakes," Palpatine said.

Palpatine smiled, Vader would focus on the Rebels and Thrawn would be his second set of eyes in chasing this unknown adversary. Thrawn could be an extra set of eyes discovering who and what this new enemy was and if for any reason this adversary was in league with Vader, Thrawn could provide evidence of such an alliance.

Hours later, Palpatine found himself sleeping. It was rare that he slept for he always had to consistently worry about how safe he was when he slept. He never knew when his enemies might target him. He never knew whether they were watching him or not. As he slept, he saw a hooded woman in light robes.

The woman spoke, "Nothing you do can prevent your everlasting defeat. You are doomed. You will be destroyed and the Sith will die with you once and for all. The Sith lose as they are always meant to lose. Nothing you do now will prevent the return of the Jedi."
Palpatine was terrorized as he saw the hilt of a lightsaber that was clipped to her belt. "Who are you?"
"I am all of the Jedi. I am your destruction."
"The Jedi are no more," Palpatine replied.

"The Jedi are returning and you fell twice so you shall fall now. The Jedi will destroy you."
Palpatine was mystified when she said, "As twice you fell so you shall fall now."
What did she mean? When did he fall? How did he fall?
"I don't believe that we have ever met."
"Not yet but soon you will know me and you will know your own doom Darth Sidious," she said.

Palpatine reached forward and raised his hands in the dream as she spoke, "The Sith Order will fall. The Jedi Order and the Republic will rise again. Freedom and Democracy will return and we will see your destruction."

He saw a vision of himself, a vision of himself being carried as he released a torrent of force lightening by a dark cybernetic being. He was screaming in that vision as the lightening started to go through his body onto the being's metal components. The Being did not relent despite obvious pain and managed to hurl him down the seemingly bottomless shaft to his death.

In another vision he released a torrent of lightening that was deflected back at his body. He trembled at the image he saw as the lightening was returned to him. He saw his body dissolving he saw lightening that was repelled by two blue lightsabers onto his body by a young dark-haired Jedi girl that he had never before seen yet he felt as though he should know her.

He saw the fall of the Empire. He opened his eyes in terror as he stood up shaking from the vision.

"As twice you fell so you shall fall now," Palpatine heard her say again. He fearfully stood up and spoke into his comlink, "I need a full sweep of the Palace. I think we may have an intruder. Summon available inquisitors and have them commence with a search of the Jedi Temple and surrounding areas of Coruscant. We may have a Jedi presence on the planet."

Yavin IV:

Vader walked through the empty Massassi Temples knowing that his former Master was close. He walked into the large now empty hanger bay and noticed a lone starfighter. Obi-Wan was standing not far from a Y-Wing fighter that appeared to be his way off world. Obi-Wan looked at him and spoke, "When will your fleet be here?"

"In about ten minutes. I told my second in command to bring them here and that I was investigating a possible lead on the attacker."

"What have you discovered?" Obi-Wan asked.

"I fought with him briefly. The Force is strong with him he is capable and trained but clearly inexperienced."

"How old do you think he is?"

Vader shrugged, "He was hooded but he is far too young to be a fallen Jedi Knight. He would have been a youngling at most at the time of Order 66. He also knows my name."

Obi-Wan's eyes widened as Vader held out a datapad. The Jedi Master reached out as Vader spoke, "There is footage of our fight on Carida and footage of their vessel as well as everything that we know about it. Keep a close eye on my family old man. I am counting on you."

"I will do that Anakin."

"The Emperor suspects this man may be a secret apprentice of mine because he fears that I am planning to turn on him. His paranoia is the reason that he has to have a second set of eyes investigating. He has Thrawn looking for answers on the matter."

Obi-Wan frowned, "I just cringe to think of the possibility of them getting hands on their intel which appears to be greater than ours."

"Believe me old man, I am just as concerned," Vader said.

"Anything else that I should know?" Obi-Wan asked.

"He knows who I am and he knows about Luke," Vader said.

Obi-Wan's face went pale white as he spoke, "This is most concerning."

"It is," Vader replied.

"May the Force be with you."

"And with you and my family," Vader said as he turned his back to the old Jedi Master.

Vader turned and left the older man as he thought of Padme and Luke and Leia. He knew that his life had suddenly changed because of their existence. He was thirty-six years old. His entire life had been spent at the center of galactic affairs. He had gone to the wrong side in an effort to save her from death which had been a misplaced fear. Now he had lost fourteen years of time with his wife and two children. He had to make things up, he had to protect his family. He turned back to the old man as he spoke, "You were right Obi-Wan." Obi-Wan paused as Vader turned back to him, "I should have listened to you when you told me to be careful of Palpatine. I trusted him too much. Had I listened to you, the Galaxy would be a better place and I would not have lost fourteen years with my wife and children."

"Anakin she still loves you. She wants you back and she has faith that you can come back. After the Death Star after Tatooine, even I can see that her faith is well founded. Come back to us Anakin."

"I cannot just leave Obi-Wan. We need to deal with this man that is hunting for my son and we need to eliminate Palpatine. As long as the two are alive they will not be safe and you and I know that. I am confident that I can defeat Palpatine but not alone. I think the best time to strike will be when the twins have completed their training."

"I am inclined to agree Anakin."

Vader then left the hanger as Obi-Wan boarded his starfighter and flew off with the information provided by his former Apprentice.

Yes I am alive! I know it has been forever since I have updated or shown that I still am alive and I apologize. My personal life has had many changes which I do not wish to go into great detail on right now. But needless to say, I lost the work for this fic and had to start over again and recently had time to start over. I may go back on some promises made in Chapter 4 if you remember when I said I would not add any new Cannon characters. Consider this a fic where you may see both Cannon and Legends characters mixed in. That should be a given with my OC known as a Moff Jade. Thank you for reading and reviewing. Until Next time. Happy Holidays!

-Fallen Jedi 79