The Galaxy spun below him, a dazzling array of painfully bright lights that turned the very blackness of space white.
It hung there for ages. Millennia came and went, and shadows swept over the shimmering jewel, but they were fleeting – the mere passing of clouds.
The brightness seemingly grew, and grew, until he wondered if he were blind.
Still he watched.
And gradually, the pressure on his…eyes…grew less. There were holes in that carpet of stars, and behind those holes, some dark magnificence roiled.
He smiled in anticipation.
The Light shifted, trying to fill the holes that it had lost.
Geonosis.
The Light buckled, convulsing like a stricken animal, and he took pleasure in hearing its' silent screams. His victory.
Light fought Dark, but with desperation, stars trailing off into space like frayed cloth, and each wound the Dark received served only to make it stronger.
He watched carefully.
One star, blindingly brilliant, moved toward the Shadow. Other stars tried to prevent it, and were consumed by the first's fire. And then…
It exploded. It threw off its Light, smashing it through hundreds of other stars, snuffing them without apparent effort. And the Darkness was doubled.
He was satisfied.
The Galaxy, now wonderfully dark, stretched before him. Only a few spots of Light marred its perfection.
He was not worried. All stars burned out, eventually.
He turned to leave.
Wait.
He knew better than to argue with that voice, and so he paused.
Something brushed against the back of his brain. A wave of…apprehension? Fear?
Something was wrong.
He looked back at his Dark Galaxy. Every sense he had was screaming danger at him, but he stayed and watched. It wasn't real yet.
Something was…odd…about one of the spiral arms. It was almost as if pieces of it were…disappearing.
Darkness can not die. Darkness is what comes after death. Darkness is what is left when life is gone. It is the beginning, the foundation, the very essence of the universe. But, it was dying. Bits of Darkness flaked off, and became…Void. Nothing. The Dark fought, but its opponent was invisible, intangible, and Void flowed down the spiral arm, annihilating all in its path.
It reached the core, and the cornered Dark lashed out at the Void with all of its glorious strength. And for an infinitesimal moment, the Void was balked.
Then Nothing roared down all of the arms at once with the ferocious speed of a krayt dragon.
Supreme Chancellor Palpatine's senses were flooded with light as he wrested himself from the vision. The red glow of twilight flooded through his massive office window, setting the floor of his office aglow, washing out all colors in shades of red and orange.
Never had he felt such an undeniable threat. The Dark One savored his own fear, rolling it around in his mind and sending it on the first steps to anger, rage and power. He enjoyed a challenge – a little taste of terror made winning all the sweeter. He only regretted that he had to change his perfect plan; the Seeker of Shadows had so enjoyed watching all those brilliant stars, those Jedi, die.
The best plans were the ones that could evolve.
Darth Sidious slowly turned away from the coral dusk, and called his secretary.
"Prepare the Galactic Map room." He hung up before the aide could reply.