Jakku, for anyone unfamiliar with those remote parts of space, was a dreadful planet. Arid winds carried harsh sands across fruitless and inhospitable dunes. Nothing grew there, and what resources existed were too scant for the companies to bother sending surveyors. To rub salt in the wound, Jakku sat as far from the civilized parts of the galaxy as it could have been, sitting on the cusp of the Unknown Regions, a large expanse of the galaxy hitherto relatively unexplored.
The unpleasant and uninviting nature of Jakku, along with the proximity to the Unknown Regions, made the planet a perfect candidate for the Emperor's secret observatory. This observatory, made from ancient Numenorian technology, was specifically designed to oversee and chart the Unknown Regions. Deep below Jakku's sands, officers of the highest clearance, and scientists of suicidal devotion to the Empire, worked tirelessly to watch over those dark and mysterious regions.
The Numenorians were a civilization of ancient humans far older than the Old Republic itself, older than pre-history. So little was known about their interstellar kingdom, and yet, after the eons had eroded almost all evidence for their existence, as legend became myth, not all was lost. Palpatine, by his cunning and cruelty, found himself the newly-commissioned Emperor of the known galaxy, and as such, now held the largest collection of Numenorean records known to exist.
It wasn't their feudal culture or even their wondrous technology that interested the Emperor. What interested Palpatine was not them, but their enemies; particularly, their one enemy. For years, Palpatine had felt a strange growth of dark force energy in the Unknown Regions. To him, it was like a wall of great dark storm clouds in the sky, invisible to all other eyes but his, and it was growing, deep within those uncharted places, and for the first time in millennia, he felt uncertainty. Whatever power grew in those places, it had blocked even him from foreseeing the galaxy's future.
The Numenoreans spoke often of an alien species known as the Maiar, but spoke little of their nature. Among the Maiar was one in particular; Mairon, "The Deceiver," "Lord of Barad-Dur," and most curiously, "Ringlord." The last title intrigued Palpatine most. The Numenorean archives spoke of an artifact of great connection to the dark side; a ring, said to enhance the wearer's dark powers to godly proportions. This ring, in the hands of a potent adept, could wield power great enough to dominate the galaxy, and perhaps beyond. Surely, if this ring existed, and if it was indeed lost, its creator would covet its property to return. He could never allow this creature to reunite with its trinket.
Palpatine stood within his secret observatory, his eyes fixed on the great holomap of the Unknown Regions before him. This three-dimensional map, unfinished as it was, represented decades of work. So much still lay uncharted, and somewhere among those blank regions lay the Ringlord; 'Sauron,' as he was known by his enemies. Palpatine could feel it; Sauron was out there, gathering strength. He knew this enemy would come soon, and he would be coming with vast armies, led by terrible servants. He needed no foresight to predict this. The very stars themselves told him as much.
"My Lord."
The slick voice of Admiral Thrawn drew Palpatine from his thoughts. "Admiral. Is your fleet prepared to deploy?"
"It has, My Lord. We are ready to make the expedition."
"Good." Palpatine said, his sight never leaving the holomap. "Your expedition is of the utmost importance. Find a passage to Mordor. Return with the navigation data. Soon, my battlestation will be complete, and when it is, that is when we must know the location of our enemy. We cannot delay bringing him to heel."
"You can depend on my expediency, Lord, and if I cannot find the enemy world, I know a certain government that might."
"Do not allow yourself sympathy for the Chiss." Palpatine warned. "Exploit their expertise if you must, but do not forget the threat we all face, should you fail."
"Of course, my Lord."
"Then you are dismissed, Admiral."
Thrawn bowed, and with his flowing white cape trailing behind, took his leave. Palpatine turned away from the map and set his sights on another screen, which currently displayed the status of his secret weapon. Most fools under his charge believed the DS-1 Battle Station was designed to crush rebels, but the paltry rebellion was a red herring. Designing a planet-killer weapon to crush cockroaches? Hardly. Already, Palatine's Inquisition had begun the search for the One Ring, and galactic armies were readying themselves along the border. The galaxy was a fortress. Come what may, the Galactic Empire would soon be ready for it.