Hey, everybody. Back with another chapter.

So, this one will be a bit shorter. Hope you like it.

Let's get to it.

Guest: I plan for the Galactic Civil War to follow canon more than Legends, but to draw some inspiration from Legends. It will last longer than in canon.

Havalt300: If they wear any body armor, it's generally body armor worn under the normal uniform similar to kevlar, but of a composite that deflects some of the energy of a blaster bolt. And I'm still undecided if I'll include the Yuuzhan Vong at any point.

Guest: If someone actually wanted to make movies or TV shows out of this series, I wouldn't be at all opposed to letting that happen, but I doubt that will happen, and I think there also some laws governing stuff like that.

Guest DCDGojira: I won't be publishing any more side stories until this story is complete.

Chapter 59- Intelligence Break

(February 2, 2017)

In a mostly abandoned building, an American CIA agent named Carl Bishop is waiting impatiently. He knows he doesn't have much time. Every moment he spends here with his equipment set up increases the chance for him to be found be the Imperials.

Bishop was one of a number of intelligence agents part of a task force called Task Force X. The group was led mostly by the Mossad, but also included intelligence agents from the CIA, MI6, the Russian SVR, the German BND, and the Polish AW. Task Force X was the Terran Alliance intelligence task force tasked with the surveillance of Coruscant and gathering reports on activities on the planet as well as attempting to find the Empire's greatest secrets.

Bishop is one of the most experienced agents on the team. Today, he is meeting one of the cleaners at the Imperial Palace who was recruited by the Mossad years ago. The man had indicated he had obtained some very crucial information that the Alliance needed to hear immediately. Bishop had come to this building that the task force sometimes used for transmitting reports, and had set up his high tech communications equipment to send the report directly to Thrawn's headquarters on Naboo so Thrawn could relay the information back to Earth.

Bishop checks his watch. The time the man gave for the rendezvous was three minutes ago. They had previously agreed that if he was more than 5 minutes late, the rendezvous was to be abandoned and rescheduled.

Suddenly, the door flies open. Bishop whips around, raising his Glock 19, only to see that it's the man he's waiting for. "You're late," Bishop says impatiently.

"Sorry. I had to evade some stormtrooper patrols," the man says. He then pulls out a small device and says, "I made a recording with everything I learned and stored it on here."

"Good. Then let's get it transmitted," Bishop says.

Bishop hurriedly powers up his communications equipment. After a minute, he sees the main screen display that it's ready to transmit.

Bishop holds out his hand for the device. The man hands it to him, and Bishop quickly slides the device into his equipment. He hurries to get the message uploaded from the device to his equipment. Once the message has been uploaded, Bishop begins transmitting the message.

(Naboo, Terran HQ)

Thrawn leans back in his chair in his office in his HQ in Theed. The fleet is currently preparing for another invasion, this time against Mygeeto. At the moment, forces training on Naboo are in between training exercises, and are essentially on leave.

At the moment, Thrawn is reading his copy of Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant. Some of his favorite books since coming to Earth have been memoir books of famous military leaders.

Suddenly, there is a knock on his door. Thrawn closes the book and calls out, "Enter."

One of his aides, a Japanese Lieutenant Commander, walks in. "Grand Admiral. We've received a transmission from Task Force X agents on Coruscant. Labelled Top Secret," he says.

Thrawn stands up. "Very well," he says. He follows his aide out of his office and to one of the communications rooms not far from his office.

After entering the room, Thrawn walks over to one of the officers. "Pull up the transmission," he orders.

The officer pulls up the transmission, then hands Thrawn a set of headphones. He then commences playing the message recorded by the spy.

Thrawn listens intently, his face completely calm as he listens. As soon as the message is finished playing, Thrawn says simply, "Transmit this back to the Joint Command immediately."

(Pentagon)

Deep under the Pentagon, in the International Military Command Center, Grand General Dempsey and Grand Admiral Roughead are going over recent reports on Imperial movements and fortifications on certain planets. Also present is General Rommel and General Mofaz. The three of them are also waiting for a conference call with Alex Younger, the Chief of MI6, and Yossi Cohen, the Chief of the Mossad.

Suddenly, the door opens and an American Air Force Colonel walks into the room. "Pardon me, gentlemen, but we just received a report from agents of Task Force X, which was passed on to us from Grand Admiral Thrawn. I think you need to see it immediately," the Colonel says.

"Very well," Dempsey says.

The Colonel hurries forward, holding a small projection device. He sets it down in front of the men and presses a button, bring up a projection of the Imperial palace cleaner.

"This is a message for the Terran Alliance leaders. I have recently heard word within the Imperial Palace of a top secret Imperial project. On several occasions, I have overhead the Emperor describe it as what will finally bring an end to the Rebellion and to the Terran Alliance. Recognizing the significance of this, I at times put myself at great risk of discovery in order to try and learn what this project was. After weeks of attempting to discover its identity, I have learned that the Empire, following the Battle of Yavin, decided to build a new Death Star. However, this Death Star is even larger and more powerful than the first, and, I believe, even more indestructible."

"The battlestation is still under construction. I estimate, by what I've heard, it's nearly 60% complete. I have not yet heard anything regarding where it is currently located, but it sounds to be located in either the Mid or Outer Rim. I know it is my position only to gather intelligence, but I must say this: You must find a way to locate and destroy this Death Star before it is completed. If you don't, the Terran Alliance is doomed and this galaxy will never break free of the tyranny of the Empire."

The message cuts off. The four men sit in silence, staring where the man's image was being projected just a moment earlier, then look up at each other. After a few moments, Mofaz says, "Well, we're in deep s***."

"We'll have to bring this up with President Obama and the rest of the Joint Command immediately," Roughead says.

"Agreed. However, we will have to do so after our conference with Younger and Cohen," Dempsey says.

Right then, the projector in the table they're sitting at begins to beep. "Speak of the devil," Dempsey says as he leans forward and presses a button to let the call begin.

Images of both Yonger and Cohen appear before them. Younger speaks up first, saying, "Good morning, General Dempsey."

"Good morning, Younger. Thank you both for being here for this conference call," Dempsey says.

"I must say I was intrigued when you asked for this morning. You said it was of great importance?" Cohen asks.

"Indeed. We have a task that comes from President Obama himself," Roughead says.

Dempsey then takes over and says, "In late December, we dispatched a team of Zulu Force commandos to Ansion to raid an Imperial communications archive and retrieve any intelligence they could on Imperial movements or special projects. Among the information they gathered was a report on an Imperial expedition some time ago to locate a planet in the Unknown Regions called Exegol."

"Exegol? I haven't heard of that planet before," Younger says.

Rommel now speaks up. "I'm not surprised, few people even in the Andromeda Galaxy have. The only information we have on it comes from Mace Windu and a holocron retrieved from the Jedi Temple during Operation Shoto at the end of the Clone Wars. According to legend, Exegol is the secret world of the Sith. Apparently, it was discovered thousands of years ago by the ancient Sith and turned into their hidden fortress world. While not often used, it was intended to be a secret hideaway and spot to retreat to in case of emergency. It is a world of great Dark side power, and the location remained unknown to all but a few within the Sith Empire. After the presumed destruction of the Sith a thousand years ago, the location was believed to be lost forever, and Exegol faded further into obscurity," he explains.

"So the Emperor is attempting to locate Exegol. How long ago were these expeditions mounted?" Younger asks.

"The first one we've found evidence for was about two years prior to the start of the war. However, the information we've uncovered show several others within the last year. All of them are generally small, however, the first one to be made by a Star Destroyer took place very recently. We want to know more about Exegol, as well as why the Emperor is mounting more expeditions to it. The Joint Command has discussed this with President Obama and the Council of Five, and we've decided to mount an expedition of our own to locate Exegol, as well as to discover why the Emperor has taken such an interest in the planet recently. President Obama wishes Mi6 and the Mossad to take control of the investigation," Dempsey says.

Both Younger and Cohen are quiet for several moments before Cohen says, "Sounds like a challenge. I like a challenge."

"Send us all the information you've gathered on Exegol and the Emperor's expeditions, and the two of us will coordinate and begin the investigation," Younger says.

"We'll send you that information as soon as possible. Thank you for taking this on," Dempsey says.

Younger and Cohen both nod before cutting off the transmission. The four officers look at each other before Dempsey says, "Alright. Time to contact President Obama."

And, I'll end the chapter there. Hope you liked that chapter.

So, the interesting information Lawrence found was about Imperial expeditions to find Exegol. The effort by MI6 and Mossad to find Exegol and the purpose of the Emperor's interest in Exegol will lead into a side story I'm rather excited for, and will play an important part of the next main story. Regardless of what I do with the story covering the sequel trilogy, Exegol will be involved, though it could be significantly different than what happened in the movies.

So, next chapter will be a chapter set on Earth, and will be completely devoid of military action. It'll kind of be a relaxation chapter, which is something a number of you have asked for. It'll be up soon. Until it is, please leave a review, and stay tuned.