Chapter 59

Epilogue

The ancient chamber of the Coruscant senate was in a state of chaos, but for once it was not the senators of the Galactic Alliance who were causing all of the commotion. The senate had been temporarily handed too the Imperium for a meeting. Across the hover platforms stood officials from the Imperial Guard, Eccelstriarch, the Imperial Navy, the Space Marines and the Adeptus Mechanicus. Admirals, commanders, colonels, generals, captains, priests, magi, commissars, all gathered in one place to await a historical moment.

Rumours had already spread in the three months since the conclusion of the battle of Sluis Van and the Chaos Wars. These rumours were so insane many members of the colonial fleets had taken them as badly put together jokes. The High Lords losing their powers as heads of the Imperial state, two Primarchs returning from exile after such a long time and the most surreal rumour of all was the emperor, they're beloved god-emperor had been resurrected and was even now building forces for several monolithic crusades.

The voices were suddenly hushed as the great double doors on the senate floor opened with a loud hiss. All in attendance stopped their arguments and conversations too look down at the figures entering the senate chambers. First to come through was two squads of Space Marines, their grey armour gleaming in the dim light and their bolters polished to a parade ground shine. The Marines of the Space Wolves legion marched through the senate floor and came too a stop in two lines.

Another being walked into the chamber and immediately all snippets of prolonged conversation silenced. The man who was stalking towards the central spire of the Alliance chief of states pulpit was large, standing a head taller than a space marine. His armour was grey like the Space Wolves and a long cloak, made of some type of animal fur, billowed in the wind behind him. He did not wear the helm of the honour guard who were standing at attention either side of him. His face was bald and showed the scars of several hundred lifetimes of warfare.

He jumped with superhuman ability and landed squarely on the chief of states pulpit before turning, catching the eye of all the military leaders in attendance. He took a deep breath and began too speak. His voice bellowed through the chamber, his audience caught on every word.

"Brothers of the Imperium" Leman Russ, Primarch of the first founding Space Wolves Legion began "I come before you with great news, news which will shake the Imperium of Man to its very foundations" he stopped for a moment, the senate was silent, a pin drop could easily be heard "The God-Emperor of Mankind, my father, has been resurrected"

Nothing happened for a moment as those in attendance let it sink in. Then it began, the whole senate erupted in near deafening cheers. The most dignified of admirals and generals screamed in joy until their lungs burned, even the space marines who were usually so stoic and expressionless broke out in cheers of celebration. A raised hand from the Space Wolves Primarch didn't silence them at first, but eventually the senate floor quietened and the leaders of the Imperial Colonial force gave the Primarch their undivided attention once again.

"Now" Lemon Russ began again "Let us discuss the creation of this Coalition Crusade and the final pushes which will bring the Arch-enemy too its knees!"

--

Across the one hundred thousand worlds of the Galactic Alliance there was celebration for the near crushing victory against the Arch-enemy, but on many worlds there was also mourning. Millions of innocent beings had been massacred by the Chaos invasion, hundreds of thousands of soldiers had been killed. A dozen worlds had been raped and made lifeless.

On Ossus the Jedi had erected a great stone wall with the names of those Jedi killed in action etched onto its polished and flat surface. An entire section of the temple had been set aside for holographic memorials showing those killed in the war, the names and ranks of those beings etched into a golden plaque on the base of each memorial.

Luke Skywalker stood at the first memorial, watching the holographic image of his father, standing proud and tall in his white armour, an un-ignited lightsabre hilt in his hand. The plaque below stated 'For Anakin Skywalker. Jedi Master. Hero with no fear'.

There were over a hundred names etched into the wall at the back and exactly as many memorials stretched out in four lines along the courtyard. Luke looked down over the memorials of the slain and made a promise too them that the new Jedi Order would shine brighter than ever before.

Foot steps made him turn. A Jedi Master walked through the doors which led to the corridors of the main temple. Luke recognised him. He looked older, more rugged than what he remembered, but he knew one of his students when he saw them, the one who had gained the nickname as the Lost Master.

"Gabriel Sabbath" Luke greeted with a slight bow.

"Grand Master Skywalker" Gabriel replied, his bow deeper and more respectful.

"How does it feel too be back?"

"It will take a while to get used to the silence again Master" Gabriel replied with a slight grin.

Luke knew exactly what he meant, Gabriel had been lost in the other galaxy for nearly four years, and in that time he had fought many battles alongside Revan and his ragtag army of Jedi and Imperials. He had seen things, horrid things, worlds burning, men being ripped limb from limb, entire dynasties falling.

"How does your apprentice like life in a Jedi temple" Luke asked as the two started walking down the memorial pathways, glimpsing at each holographic tomb as they went and gave their respects.

"She is very…curious"

"I know" Luke replied "She has her fellow apprentices in an uproar. They have been crowding around her since she got here. And your Eldar friend as well"

"Ishta seems to be enjoying herself" Gabriel replied carefully, remembering how she went through several knights at once on the training mats. She had walked up to him afterwards, kissed him on the check and whispered as much.

"Tell her she shouldn't overexert herself in her condition" Luke replied "A baby isn't something too take on lightly"

"Just the very fact that she has been so close to humans for so long has been enough too have her exiled from her Craftworld" Gabriel muttered angrily, angry at how she had been treated. He quelled it quickly. Ishta would have chided him if she found out "She has nowhere else to go but here"

Luke nodded "What news do you have from the immortal?"

"Revan is more than happy to merge his order with ours" Gabriel began "But he wants his faction too have a voice on the new Jedi Council, and he still wishes his side to wander the space ways"

"Many Jedi are doing that these days" Luke replied. Indeed a good number of Jedi were now becoming wanderers or Ronin, travelling across the galaxy to gain a better understanding of the force.

"What about the worlds still under Chaos control" Gabriel asked.

"The Alliance and the Imperium are gathering the necessary forces too take back those planets even as we speak" Luke replied "Master Windu is keeping us filled in on the situation"

"It could take years of bloody war to reacquire those territories"

"Undoubtedly" Luke answered "But it will be done, by the force it will be done"

--

There are dark places within this galaxy which few know of or even dare to tread, ancient centres of learning, of knowledge.

These places were once numerous, key planets within the ancient Sith Empires from many ages. Back in the eras when force users were so powerful that entire armies fell before them. When the presence of a single Jedi, or Sith meant total victory, or crushing defeat.

There are few places in this age which hold such knowledge anymore. Many have been plundered by thieves and slowly forgotten.

But such places still exist.

The Sith Lord grinned as he walked down the ancient corridors, remembering those ancient words from a famous lord who was wandering the catacombs of this ancient place beside him. This place was a maze of dusty, dank tunnels and corridors, dim red lamps flickered to life as they passed, only to fizzle out again when they were no longer required. Occasionally they would come across a chamber which could have once been a training ground, a meditation chamber or sleeping quarters. But these places were not what they were looking for.

The forests of this world had obviously retaken control of this ancient place over the several thousand years since it had been abandoned. Several times now they had too climb over the roots of trees which had broken through the ancient stone walls, or cut through growths of vines which covered entrances and doors which they needed to move through. Even though he couldn't hear them the Sith lord felt them, ancient creatures, defiled and changed through prolonged exposure too this places dark energy prowled the corridors. At least twice now they had been forced to draw their lightsabres and take these creatures down.

"To the left" the old woman muttered as they walked, and shuffled down that corridor as she came to it "We are getting closer"

"Are you sure the power source for this place is still intact?" the other lord muttered.

"I am sure" she replied "Do you question me?"

"Of course" he replied, as if any other way was useless.

They continued walking, eventually coming too a set of double doors, engraved with Sith markings and glyphs. The old woman raised her hand and the doors swung open with a great hiss of rusted joints, following by a bang as the old entry ways smacked off the dark stone walls. Beyond the doors were a set of ancient basalt stairs. They began to ascend them, feeling through the force and their own instincts that they were nearing their goal. They could hear the squeaking of vermin, the tapping of water from a crack on the walls, sometimes the old lord thought he could hear voices of tortured beings, perhaps it was his imagination.

"We are here" she said, coming to the top of the stairs and an old rusted sliding door. She raised her palm again and the doors were forced to slide aside for them, their unusable forms grinding off the floor as they moved aside, granting them entrance.

Through the doors was a chamber, its dark stone walls covered by rows of ancient and arcane consoles and machines. She continued onward through the chamber until she reached a computer console and began gingerly playing with runes and levers. Pulling aside growths and weeds which had grown over the arcane devices. The console flickered for a moment, then surged to life, runes lit up in eerie yellows and reds adorned its surface and the computer screen lit up in static. She peered down at the console, twisting knobs and playing with dials until the screen cleared.

A map of the complex was lit up before them, showing the masses of power cables as lines of different colours, each mustering at different power generators buried deep beneath the surface of the planet, beneath the underground temple they were currently on.

"Primary power, secondary power, backup generators, weapon systems, cryo-chambers…yes we can activate it all here" the old woman listed off, a small smile creeping onto her wrinkled lips "The Sith Empire will rise again, our armies will ravage our enemies and send them in flight"

Ignoring the curious stare of the lord beside her she flipped a few more switches and, extracting an ancient key from her robes slid it into an arcane lock at the consoles centre. She turned it, and then reached out to a large rune, protected by a glass case. She opened the case and pushed the rune, and the entire temple flickered too life.

Ancient weapon batteries began to swivel on their positions on the crevices and crests of the mountain it was built in, straining against the rust. Lights flickered too life across all the corridors and chambers, and deep beneath the surface, the inhabitants of over twenty five thousand years of slumber began too stir.

Just to say that this is not the end, but I am postponing the continuation for a little while. Just to try out a few new ideas for different stories and to get an idea of the new plot I will be taking with this one. So until then Sayonara