Rey drags her feet through the ship and all but collapses in the co-pilot chair in the cockpit of 'The Rage' exhausted. Xanthe had urged Rey to climb and jump through the trees and vines of the forest moon of Endor as "training" while they were looking for any remaining Death Star debris.

They were successful in finding some of the debris and although Rey hated to admit it, the running and jumping around had actually helped when it was time to actually explore the ruins. "I told you." Xanthe said smugly after Rey successfully leaped across the from one ledge to the other."

Pulling her out of her thoughts Xanthe walks in the cockpit and sits in the pilot's chair and states, "One moon down, another to go. Next stop is Kef Bir. Unlike the Sanctuary Moon, this one is mostly a water world. Even though the Emperor wasn't here, I'm sure you could still feel a small presence of the Dark Side… you could tell the area surrounding it was tainted. The trees were twisted and deformed, animals refused to venture there and the ones that did were unnaturally vicious and the area surrounding it was barren…dead, including the area that served as Vader's final resting place. That spot is still barren."

"I didn't realise how much of an effect the presence of the Dark Side has on a place." Rey admits.

Xanthe nods and hums in response. As she sets a course for Kef Bir, she replies "The Jedi say the Dark Side is seductive and tempting. Personally, as I grew up experiencing only the Dark Side, there was nothing "seductive" about it. One of the main goals of a Sith is to become stronger and more powerful as explained in our Sith Code. Most Sith crave power and others strive to unlock all the mysteries of the Dark Side to- of course, again- gain more power. However the Dark Side is powerful and intense and for some who immerse themselves so fully- and some that cannot handle the nature of it- end up suffering physical side effects from it. Yellow eyes, disfigured faces, visible veins on their face and body, and others even psychological effects. And when they die… they leave behind a tainted mark. Some say the Dark Side is a corruption of the Force. I believe it is simply another side of the Force and nothing more." Xanthe concludes. Rey doesn't reply but only nods, the exhaustion catching up with her and allowing sleep to claim her.

"Announcement: Wake up Meatbag!" HK announces gleefully, rudely rousing Rey from her slumber. "What do you want?" Rey responds tiredly, rubbing her eyes and yawns. "My Master has informed me we are at Kef Bir. She has been reading in the mess hall for the last two hours and I grew tired of watching the inactivity." HK admits.

Rey sighs and rolls her eyes, and slowly stands up stretching her stiff arms and legs and makes her way to the mess hall with HK following behind. Rey finds Xanthe looking quite comfortable on her chair. As Xanthe notices Rey and HK, she closes her book and stands. "Ah, you're up." Eyeing HK, she asks, "I assume HK woke you up?"

""You know me well Master!" HK states proudly. Xanthe chuckles and shakes her head. "Well, we've wasted enough time. HK, there is too much water for you out there, so stay and defend the ship. I have a feeling something unexpected may happen here."

"Confirmation: Very well Master."

"Alright." Xanthe says as they walk to the hangar doors. "Time to explore Kef Bir."

'I'm not sure what I hate more- water or sand.' Rey thinks to herself after being hit by another wave. Rey is almost completely certain that Xanthe is finding her discomfort quite entertaining. "Why do you keep picking the routes that lead to more rough waters? Do you really find it amusing at my expense?" Rey complains, as she wipes her wet hair away from her face.

Xanthe just shakes her head. "I admit, it is amusing to watch your lack of creativity. I assure you, I didn't pick these routes to the Death Star wreckage just to annoy you. Consider it part of your extra training."

"And how do you figure that?"

"Well… You know you could have just shielded yourself?"

"I… Oh."

"Exactly. The purpose of this was just to help build your reflexes. The sea can be unpredictable and I thought it would be a good way to hone your defensive Force skills and reflexes. Ah, we are almost there. This area seems more...chaotic. Be careful." Xanthe warns as she dodges and jumps through the wreckage and Force repels the waves coming her way.

Finally making their way in, Rey breaks out in a cold sweat and starts to feel sick. She can vaguely hear Xanthe calling her name and it takes all of her willpower to stay upright leaning against the wall. Xanthe sees Rey's pale face and quickly lends support to keep her upright. With the presence she sensed, she had already expected such a reaction from Rey. "I think we are close." Xanthe states quietly. "It almost feels like it did on Korriban. I hate the feeling." Rey groans. "I am sorry Rey, but we have to keep moving. I know the Dark Side runs strong here, but remember what you learned from Ahsoka and the Jedi texts. Stay calm no matter what happens. Look at me and repeat after me: There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no death, there is the Force."

Rey repeats it over and over until she starts to feel in control of herself again and then gives Xanthe a questioning look. "Hey, don't look at me like that. My sister was a Jedi Master. It's only right I learn what made the Jedi tick." Xanthe says defensively. "Anyway, let's keep going."

After navigating some more through the wreckage, Xanthe suddenly stops. She puts on the mask of Lord Kallig and pulls out her lightsaber. "I recognise this section." Imperius responds to Rey's unvoiced question. As they walk through one mangled section, they stumble across an opening… with the remains of a throne and a viewing window. "The throne room…" Imperius mutters. "What?" Rey asks. "What is this place?"

"This was the Emperor's throne room… Where he met his ultimate demise. This is where Luke fought his father also."

"Ah, you seem to know so much about my final days, yet I do not recognise you."

They both turn, one in alarm and the other in expectation to the origin of the voice, to find none other than the spectre of Emperor Palpatine. "Darth Sidious." Imperius acknowledges. "Yes. I have not been called that in so long. And who might you be? You wear the robes of a Sith, but following the Rule of Two, there should be none left. And you," He turns to Rey, "Ah, you hold Skywalker's lightsaber. So you must be his apprentice."

Taking a step towards the ghost, Imperius responds, "As another Sith, I will respectfully answer your question. I am Darth Imperius, descendant of Lord Kallig, member of the Dark Council. I was also the Commander of the Galactic Alliance."

"Imperius? There is only one that I have found in Sith records, also called the "Force-walker". That Sith Lord is long dead."

"Oh I assure you Sidious, I am alive and well. As much as I should be dead, the same could be said about you. Somehow, you have found an anchor to keep yourself bound to this world and not become one with the Force."

"An astute observation." Sidious states. Turning to Rey he observes her curiously. "Even though you have the look of a Jedi, there is something familiar about you."

"We found your holocron." Rey blurts out. "On Korriban."

"Korriban…" Sidious drawls out. "You managed to access it young Jedi?"

"Yes. We were told to seek out the ruins of the Death Star if I was to find answers."

Sidious smirks and slowly starts to chuckle and eventually builds up to a gleeful laugh. "So, the Force deemed you worthy of my holocron of Sith knowledge. How amusing. You have no idea of who you are do you?"

"I tried to find answers, but the Force wouldn't show me." Rey admits.

"You tried to find the identity of your parents, but you could only see yourself." Sidious states. "How did you-?"

"That is enough Sidious. Leave her mind alone, before I show you the "Force walk"." Imperius warns.

Sidious looks at Imperius, amused, and back at Rey with… 'What is that? Pride? Admiration?' Rey thinks to herself.

"You, my dear, are a product of something years in the making. You are the perfect specimen of the Force. You will succeed where Anakin failed. You are the result of the Wayland Genesis project. It seems there was a delay as you should be almost thirty, had it gone according to my plans."

"The Wayland Genesis project? Impossible…" Imperius whispers to herself.

"Ah, so you know of it? Then you must have infiltrated my inner circle. Perhaps a high ranking officer, or advisor? Or perhaps of the Imperial Guard? You have my respect for not being detected by me Lord Imperius." Turning back to Rey, he continues, "I had to find the perfect balance of light and dark to accomplish this experiment. I had hoped to find remains of the legendary Jed Knighti and Sith Lord Revan as he would have been the ideal specimen, but not a trace was to be found.

I researched many Jedi until I found the right one. I had tried to find any remains of the Jedi Exile or of Bastila Shan, but no remains were to be found. I had considered the Hero of Tython as a candidate, but due to the exposure to Lord Vitiate, the Jedi was no longer purely of the Light Side. I eventually stumbled across a Jedi Master by the name of Chrysi Sathor, but was mostly referred to as the Barsen'thor. Her tomb was located on the world of Chandrila, and to my delight, her remains were intact. Enough so for genetic material to be extracted." Rey could feel a short spike of anger in Xanthe at the mention of the Jedi Master. Sidious continued, "Once I had material from one of the Light, I needed to find a Sith, heavily immersed in the Dark. I tried to find the remains of the Wrath of your era Imperius, and even the remains of Darth Nox… Even of Exar Kun and Naga Sadow, but unfortunately... Their remains were protected… Their genetic material was of no use. I also needed an individual who could wield both the Light and the Dark, a descendant of Revan and Bastila Shan. I traced the lineage to a point where the name was replaced by Skywalker. As Vader's body was too badly damaged by the duel on Mustafar, the severed hand of young Skywalker that my loyal Hands retrieved for me on Bespin was used as the bridge for the Light and the Dark side. However, I still had the problem of the ideal Sith Lord. I realised, the perfect specimen for the Dark Side would be my own. Thus ultimately making the perfect creation, which would be the perfect apprentice and heir of the Empire- as being a descendant of Revan, myself and Lord Vader. So you, my dear, are- for all intents and purposes- my child and my heir."

Imperius and Rey looked at him in shock. As Imperius looked over at Rey, she could see her face had become even paler than before, shock and confusion written all over her face. She had only looked at her for confirmation as her distress was rolling off her in waves that any Force user in the vicinity would be able to sense it. She remembers the conversation she had with Luke and Lana...

"Fear is the greatest downfall of any Jedi. She needs to truly learn what it means to be a Jedi in order to rebuild the Jedi Order and to conquer her battle with Kylo Ren and the Emperor."

"The Force has "rules" I suppose you could say. What I can tell you, as you probably did suspect knowing that Sidious isn't completely gone, is that yes, Sidious has tampered with those rules."...

"Now Rey needs a friend more than ever. She needs the guidance of a Jedi now more than ever. And if she can't have that, then a friend can be better than any Jedi."

"Be there for Rey. She has no one else."

Imperius grits her teeth as she realises that Lana already knew of Rey's origins. 'She isn't just coincidentally like Cora and me… She is Cora. Her lightsaber called to her because she is part of Luke… She could embrace the Dark without being corrupted because she is of Palpatine… That is why she could handle Korriban, but not Sidious' presence. It wasn't the Dark Side that bothered her mind, it was Sidious as she is connected to him... But… She is also a descendant of Theron and Cora… She is a Shan… She is a Skywalker.

She is…

"Be there for Rey. She has no one else."

... my family.' Imperius thinks to herself in realisation. She was pulled out of her thoughts as Rey shouts out "No! Impossible! I can't be connected to you. You are a monster! I have parents! They left me on Jakku, I remember them. There was no Emperor in my memories. You're lying!" She screams as she ignited her lightsaber.

Imperius' eyes widen as she realises something and immediately shields Rey's mind. "Don't you even think about it Sidious. If she is of your flesh and blood as you say, then stay out of her mind. Your manipulation stops here." She lifts her hand up and calls out to Rey, " Stand down Rey. Remember… he thrives on anger and he is a Force Ghost after all. Leave this to me."

"Ah, so your name is Rey… A fitting name for you my child. Come and take your place as ruler of my Empire. Long have I waited... It is finally time to leave this place."

"You are not going anywhere Sidious. No body snatching for you." Imperius responds firmly.

Sidious laughs. " "Body snatching"? That is an amusing term for it. I shall remember it. No, Force-walker… There is no need for that. My vessel is near. My loyal servant shall free me. You said I needed an anchor to remain here? Yes, you are correct. My Hand has my essence inside of him. That is what is keeping me here… My work here is not finished yet. I will not die until all is accomplished." Turning to Rey he smiles in amusement as she is still holding her ignited lightsaber. "I sense the anger swelling in you young one. Give in to your anger. Come, strike me down! Let the Dark Side make you powerful. Embrace your destiny!"

"Rey! Don't listen to him. Remember your training. There is no emotion, there is peace."

Imperius notices the conflict in Rey's eyes between the burning hatred for Palpatine and the training of the Jedi. "He is a master of manipulation." She continues, hoping it will convince her to control her emotions. "Don't give him what he wants." To her relief, she sees Rey take a breath and trying to suppress her anger.

Sidious looks at them in disappointment. "Why would a Sith be encouraging a Force Sensitive to keep to the ways of the Jedi? It seems time has made you forget what it means to be Sith, Darth Imperius." Sidious' remarks. Imperius stays silent. He laughs, "Your mind is well shielded." Appraising Rey, he points to where the entrance to the reactor core once was. "There, you will find your test my young apprentice. You will discover your destiny… your purpose." Turning to Imperius, Rey looks at her for advice. Imperius nods in encouragement. "Go on Rey. You will find what you take with you...and perhaps experience a vision. He is right. It is a test. Just remember your training and who you are."

Rey looks at both Palpatine and Imperius with an uneasy and grim expression and slowly makes her way to the darkened corner. Instantly she sees Kylo Ren emerge from the shadows. He beckons to her to join him or die. "No, there's still time to fix things. You can come back with me. You can help us." She implores. Kylo looks back with a disgusted look. "Here I thought you were a potential and powerful asset to the First Order, but you are nothing but a weakling. The child of worthless drunks. The Light Side has made you weak. There is no room for weakness in the galaxy!" He shouts and lunges at her. Immediately Rey brings her already ignited lightsaber up to block Kylo's strike. "No! Stop this! I can sense the light in you, the conflict. You can still stop this!" Rey pleads. Kylo laughs at her. " What makes you think I don't want this? I want a galaxy with order. The Emperor and my grandfather were right. The Republic is weak and corrupt. The Jedi are weak and foolish. And if you won't join me, you will die as will your friends."

"What about Leia? Your mother? She is your family!"

"If she won't join me… She will die as well."

Rey looks at him in disbelief. "She is your mother! You killed your father, you threw away everything! How could you?" Rey starts to feel anger and rage bubbling up inside her and she gives Kylo a hardened stare. "Fine." She says. If they mean nothing to you, then you mean nothing to me. How dare you ask me to join you, you monster, when you would kill your own family!?" She shouts angrily and despite vaguely hearing Imperius calling out to her and warning her of her emotions, she gives in to the anger building inside of her and goes on the offensive, attacking Kylo. He blocks blow after blow, smirking at her which only fueled her anger, turning it into rage. She yells and swings her lightsaber again and again. She catches him off guard with a Force push, Kylo looks at her in surprise and seeing her coming at him with her lightsaber, he tries to block, but is a fraction slow and she impales him. He looks at her in shock and surprise, even after she pulls the lightsaber back out and falls to his knees. With a loud cry, she brings her lightsaber up and swings it down, finishing him off. As she walks closer to him, to her confusion he fades away. Instead, she hears footsteps coming from the darkened corner. A hooded figure emerges from the shadows. The figure stops with their face obscured by the hood and just waits. Rey looks at the hooded figure in confusion and slowly approaches with caution.

Stopping a safe distance away, Rey calls out, "Who are you?". The figure stays silent, but instead lifts up their head and Rey gasps in shock as their face comes into view. She takes a step back as she sees her own face staring back at her dressed in a black robe and with a lit double-edged lightsaber. "No… It can't be…" Rey whispers, trembling. Sidious laughs and slowly claps. "Good, good! Your hatred has made you powerful. Your journey to the Dark Side is almost complete!" Rey looks at Sidious and then back at the figure, only to find to her surprise that the figure had vanished. "This...This isn't real?"

Before Imperius could reply, her comm comes to life. "Warning: Master! Ships have landed in the vicinity. There seems to be troopers coming your way. Would you like me to assist?"

"No HK, that won't be necessary. Just prep the ship. We will be there soon." Imperius replies and turns off the comm. Turning to Sidious she asks, "Your doing Sidious?"

"Yes. I can sense my loyal servant nearing. It is finally time to finish what I started."

"Will I need to decimate your troops, or will you allow us to leave?'

"It would be foolish of me to expect stormtroopers to be able to defeat a Sith Lord."

Hearing the commotion, Imperius calls out to Rey. " The troopers are almost here. Get into a defensive stance. I highly doubt we will need to fight them, but best to be ready." Rey nods in response, holding her lightsaber and settling into a defensive stance.

The sound of marching footsteps became louder and louder until armoured troops finally appeared at the entrance to the throne room. To Imperius' surprise, there were a mixture of white stormtroopers and modified looking red stormtroopers. Their appearance stirred something in Imperius as if she had seen something like this before. She was pulled out of her thoughts as robes figure steps out from behind them. Rey readies her lightsaber, Imperius also holding hers, her finger ready to ignite it and waits to see what will happen next. The figure comes closer until she can make out his face and when she does, she calls out in surprise "Jeng? Jeng Droga?"

Rey looks over at Imperius but says nothing. Jeng looks at them both, studying them. "You know me, but I do not know of either of you. I am here for my master." He states while looking at the ghost of Palpatine

"You were always the most loyal of his Hands, Jeng." Imperius states. He looks back at her, his demeanor changing. "You know my Hand quite well. You hold a lightsaber? And those robes... I take it you are meant to be a Sith?" He asks with an altered voice.

"Yes and yes. I am not "meant to be a Sith." I am Sith. I am from the Order before Bane's Rule of Two. On another note," Imperius says while switching her lightsaber between hands, "You are no longer Jeng are you?"

"You seem to be aware of these things. I sense no deceit in you. You very well could be true Sith. Yes, it is no longer my servant Droga, but I, Emperor Palpatine, Darth Sidious."

The ghost laughs, "Come, let us become whole again. I have been fractured for far too long. There is much we must discuss." And starts walking towards Droga. Imperius grits her teeth wanting to destroy his ghost, but knows as long as Droga lives, he will not be completely gone as well as the fact that they still need answers.

Rey starts walking towards Droga, but Imperius stops her and shakes her head. "No. We have to let them go. We still have questions and he has the answers whether we like it or not. We need to know how far this goes as well as the fact he has one anchor that we know of. Even if you strike Droga down, Palpatine's essence will still survive and next time we will have no way of finding him. No, we must let him reunite with the rest of himself." She tells Rey. Lowering her voice, she continues, "I am confident Sidious will let us leave without a fight. Regardless of what happens next, we need to get back to the ship immediately. You will need to go back to the Resistance and tell General Organa- Leia, of the Emperor's return."

Rey looks at her and asks, "I need to go back? What about you?"

"I… need to follow up a lead. I have a theory and for that I must go alone. Don't worry, I will find you." Imperius assures her.

They watch on as the Emperor's ghost vanishes in a flash of light as he touches Droga and he falls to the ground unconscious. The stormtroopers continue to remain on guard and unflinching. 'More disciplined than the stormtroopers of the Galactic Empire.' Imperius thinks to herself. Eventually Droga stirs and lifts himself up. Immediately both Rey and Imperius realise that is no longer Droga, but Sheev Palpatine- Darth Sidious. "I appreciate your assistance in this matter Lord Imperius. It is a strange feeling to have another Sith Lord other than an apprentice present. Nevertheless I have matters to attend to." He looks at Rey, "I see she has chosen to be by your side. Most unfortunate. However, you are of no threat to my plans, so for that, I will take my troops and leave. Surely you know about clones and the Wayfinder Darth Imperius? Or should I say Major Sathor?" Sidious laughs and walks out of the throne room followed by his loyal stormtroopers.

Imperius watches them leave, still holding out her arm, making sure Rey doesn't follow. They wait until the sound of the armoured footsteps have faded away before she speaks. "This is… going to problematic." Imperius states. "We have to make our way to the ship. I purposely let them get that far, just so they wouldn't be able to track us back to our ship." She clarifies, as Rey had given her a questioning look. As they started to walk out, a black clad figure comes out from the shadows. "I'm not here to fight." The figure quickly assures them, holding out his arm in a peaceful gesture. "Kylo Ren? How on the three moons of Tatooine, did you get here!?" Rey asks incredulously. "The mask of Darth Vader led me here. It said I needed to see something important here before giving me the location of the Wayfinder."

"Ah, so you have heard of it? Do you know of its purpose?" Imperius asks.

"It is a map of sorts. It leads to a specific location and can potentially bring back one who has become one with the Force."

Imperius nods. "Yes, that about sums it up." She points to the corridor, "Your new master is almost gone. You should get going." She states.

"No." Kylo replies shaking his head. "I know how powerful Snoke was and by the element of surprise, I killed him. I could feel the power from Darth Sidious, even without his real body and I know for a fact that we cannot defeat him as we are. I propose an alliance."

Rey scoffs, "You expect us to believe that?"

Imperius ponders this for a moment. "What are you proposing?"

"You can't seriously be-"

"Trust me Rey. It's ok." Imperius interrupts and gestures Kylo to answer. "I propose an arrangement with Rey where we both can get some more intensive training. We have to be ready for anything." Kylo says. "Grandfather said there are two Wayfinders. One for Palpatine and one for him. One of them is on the planet Pasaana."

"Pasaana? A very odd place to leave it. But I suppose no one would suspect it there…" Imperius muses. Turning to Rey, she tells her "I do agree with Kylo surprisingly. The two of you training would be a good idea. I suggest you go and notify General Organa of the… Recent developments and then meet Kylo Ren on Pasaana."

"Are you serious?" Rey asks her incredulously. "You believe him?"

"Yes." Imperius simply replies. "I know the ways of the Dark Side and the Sith. It is not in Kylo's best interest to do any of this alone anyway. He has a point. If you are both to stand off against him, you need training."

"I accept your suggestion. As long as you leave the Resistance alone, we have a deal."

Kylo nods in response and looks at Rey and then back at Imperius. "I will be looking for the Wayfinder until you arrive. You have my word that I will not go after the Resistance. If anyone from the First Order attacks your friends, it will not be on my orders. Whatever Darth Sidious is planning is a threat to all of us." Kylo finishes and takes one last look at Rey before walking out.

Imperius turns to Rey. "Alright, looks like it's time to go back and pick up your ship on Odessen."