Hey, everybody. Back with another chapter.

Let's get to it.

Chapter 78- A New Player

(February 3, 2053)

Above the planet of Mustafar, the First Order battlecruiser Steadfast hangs in low orbit over the planet. Following the capture of the Finalizer by the Terrans, the Steadfast had become Kylo Ren's main flagship, and had remained so throughout his tenure as Supreme Leader. Now, it had brought Kylo Ren to Mustafar for a special mission.

Several days earlier, a strange message had been sent to the command of the First Order, informing them that the time had come for them to answer to their true master, and that the Emperor was ready to reclaim his Empire. Kylo Ren had initially doubted that this was authentic, believing it to be a Terran attempt to split the First Order's leadership, which would not be the first time they had attempted to do so with propaganda and false messages.

However, the message had caused a division in some of the top leadership of the First Order. Some believed that if it was true, and Emperor Palpatine was truly still alive, that he was the rightful ruler of the First order and the galaxy. This had sent Kylo Ren into a rage, and he had set off to Mustafar. Following the end of the Galactic Civil War, the Terran Alliance had taken most of the artifacts from the Imperial Palace and records kept by Palpatine, and whatever the Republic had taken had been destroyed during the fall of Coruscant to stop the First Order from getting their hands on it. So, Kylo had decided to travel to Mustafar in the hopes that perhaps there might be something there left behind by his grandfather that could guide him in his quest to determine if this message was authentic.

However, this would not be an easy mission. Fortress Vader had been mostly destroyed by the old battleship Bismarck during its attack on Mustafar in 2014, and the ruins of the fortress had been badly damaged by the Hammer Squadron in 2026. Since then, a Sith cult had taken over what little remained of the ruins, turning it into a site of veneration and worship of Darth Vader.

This mattered little to Kylo Ren, however. And now, Kylo is leading a battalion of stormtroopers from his elite 501st Legion in a terrible assault on the cultists.

His rage unquenchable, Kylo Ren tears his way through the cultists. The cultists are woefully unprepared, and are mostly armed with primitive weapons. Kylo slices through a cultist charging, cutting him in half, before grabbing another and slicing its arm off. He then leaps forward and cuts down three cultists with a wide sweeping slash.

Kylo stops to take a few deep breaths before looking up and glancing around. All of the cultists have been slaughtered, with some casualties among his stormtroopers.

Suddenly, he's a noise of something approaching. Looking up, he sees a large, spider like approaching him.

"I am the Eye of Webbish Bog. I know what you seek, one of the Skywalker blood," the creature says.

Kylo Ren feels his rage swell at that name, and he levels his saber at it. "Stand aside, or I will destroy you," he growls.

"I am not here to stop you. I was entrusted with something by your grandfather, and you have proven yourself worthy of it,' the creature says. It then extends a leg towards a small monolith just short of the ruins of Fortress Vader. "What you seek lies in that monolith. Take it and continue your journey."

Kylo Ren looks at the creature with narrowed eyes for a moment before he turns towards the monolith and walks over to it. As soon as he reaches it, he sees that the top is not secured, and it bears the symbol of a hex charm, one of the symbols of Sith loyalists. Kylo immediately shoves the top of the monolith, revealing an object set in the stone interior. Kylo carefully reaches out and lifts it out of the monolith.

The object is pyramidal in shape. Its frame is made of some kind of metal, but the interior looks to be made of glass, with something visible inside. As he holds it, he can hear a faint, sinister whispering, but not from anywhere in particular. Seeing this object, he knows what it is. A wayfinder of some kind. If this is so important, it must lead wherever the person he is looking for is hiding.

(February 4, 2053)

Far in the Unknown Regions, a single one-man fighter streaks towards a large nebula. The fighter is a TIE Whisper Interceptor, with Kylo Ren himself sitting in the cockpit.

After his raid on Mustafar, he had set off immediately to follow the wayfinder to wherever it led to. The wayfinder had led him on a long journey through hyperspace, leading all the way into the depths of the Unknown Regions, into an area where even the First Order rarely ventured due to the lack of information. Finally, the wayfinder had led him to this nebula. Kylo knows he is close. Whatever he seeks lies beyond this nebula.

Kylo streaks into the nebula, his mind entirely focused on his goal. The Force guides his movements as he manuevers his fighter through the nebula. There are so many more hazards than usually can be found in nebulae, but Kylo easily manuevers his fighter through the hazards, his natural skill at flying enhanced by the Force.

It doesn't long for him to make his way through the nebula. Making a quick hyperspace jump, he emerges, and a magnificent sight comes into view.

Just ahead of him is a planet, hued in red and covered in clouds. And in orbit above the planet is a massive fleet, comprised of many kinds of former Imperial warships. Thousands of ships moored over the planet in various formations. However, Kylo pays them little attention, since they seem to be doing the same as he approaches the planet. The mystery of where this fleet came from can be solved later, as Kylo has greater concerns. If they even have crews, they are clearly letting him approach.

Kylo enters the atmosphere, and as he descends through the clouds in the upper atmosphere, he gets his first look at the planet's surface. The surface of the planet can only be described as a hellscape. Jagged hills and mountains dot the surface of the planet, and in the distance, he can see a volcano erupting. Dust clouds blow over the surface, which is entirely a desert and is dotted with random outcroppings of rock, many of which are in very unnatural shapes. Deep canyons are carved through the surface in several places, along with many large fissures, some of which look natural, and others man made. Deep pits can be seen in several places, seemingly so deep that their bottoms cannot be seen, and gas plumes seem to be sifting out of the ground in several places. Several plateaus can be seen, with structures seemingly carved out of them, and hideous statues carved into cliff faces The entire planet is shaded in a reddish hue, partly from the planet's star, but primarily due to the dust, ash, and other things in the air reflecting light from the surface in a certain way. Kylo can also see enough smoke in the air that he guesses there must be fierce fires burning somewhere on the planet. Since he can see no vegetation on the planet, perhaps its minerals or gasses that are burning.

More than that, Kylo can feel the dark side of the Force more strongly than he ever has before. The very air is permeated with it. This is truly a place of darkness.

Kylo maintains his course over the planet's surface, determined to find his quarry. With the dark side feeling so strong here, it must be the place, and that message must have been truly authentic.

It doesn't take him long to find his target. A massive citadel, larger even than the former Jedi Temple on Coruscant, shaped like a pyramid flipped upside down.

Kylo flies up to the Citadel and sets his fighter down outside the Citadel. Without hesitation, he leaves his fighter and strides into the Citadel. As he reaches the Citadel, his lightsaber springs to life, crackling with its signature sound as he makes his way under the massive form of the citadel. He is determined to finally put an end to any threat to his rule.

Kylo finds a massive stone right in the middle of the citadel that seems to serve as some kind of lift. Kylo stands in the center of the stone, and with a shake, it begins to lower. As it does, Kylo realizes that underground, a massive space just as big as the citadel on the surface has been hollowed out of the planet. As the rock continues to lower, Kylo also realizes that he is surrounded by massive statues of individuals. Statues that are hundreds of feet tall. Looking at them, he guesses them to be statues of ancient Sith, especially since he recognizes one of them as being that of the ancient Dark Lord of the Sith Marka Ragnos.

"At last."

The voice pierces into the depths of Kylo Ren's mind and seems to grip his body, as if the voice itself is a sentient being, causing him to involuntarily shake. He knows that voice from recordings. The voice of Emperor Palpatine. But, it seems different somehow. Not only deeper, but more piercing. A voice that would leave almost anyone paralyzed with fear.

The stone finally reaches the ground, and Kylo immediately begins walking through the vast corridors, holding his lightsaber at the ready, moving very carefully, ready for a threat to reveal itself. But so far, he sees nothing except for more of the giant statues of ancient Sith Lords.

Several minutes pass before he hears the voice of Palpatine again in his head, "Snoke trained you well."

"I killed Snoke. I'll kill you," Kylo Ren replies out loud.

His tone shifting slightly with dark pleasure and satisfaction, the voice of Palpatine replies, "My boy, I bent Snoke to my will. He was my servant, without even knowing it. I am power like you have never dreamed."

Kylo stops in his tracks for a moment, a chill running down his spine a bit. There are certain things about Snoke that, if what he just head is true, makes sense. How he appeared from nowhere in the Unknown Regions, but seemed to have an unusual amount of knowledge about the Empire. His ability to sway people in the nascent First Order to his service with his words that so channeled the former Emperor. If Palpatine was strong enough to bend someone like Snoke to his will without Snoke realizing it…does he have a chance?

As he thinks this over, he hears Palpatine's voice again, saying, "I have been every voice." Suddenly, the voice shifts to that of Snoke, "You have ever heard." Then it shifts once more, this time to the voice of Darth Vader, "Inside your head." All the while, the voices seem to echo within his mind.

A small sliver of fear runs through Kylo as the sheer scale of Palpatine's power begins to become apparent to him. However, he quickly shakes this off as he refocuses on his task. He resumes walking, and soon finds himself rounding a corner into a space with the first signs of life.

Kylo pauses for a brief moment to take stock of what he is seeing. He seems to have walked into some kind of laboratory. Machines of all kinds are spread around the chamber. And walking among them are various people, completely covered in dark, ritual clothing as they attend to their machines and experiments. Several large tanks stand amidst it all, and in one of them, Kylo sees what looks like a body of the Emperor that looks like him in his younger days, but badly deformed, as if the growth process has failed.

"The First Order was just the beginning. I will give you so much more," the voice of the Emperor says in his mind.

"You'll die first," Kylo Ren responds, trying to still confident.

"You will see that death holds no strength over me," the voice of Palpatine responds. This time, it sounds as if it's no longer just speaking in his mind, but as if it is speaking from just around the corner.

Kylo hefts his saber as he rounds a large bank of research devices, as he hears the voice again, "The dark side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities some would consider to be…" And as Kylo comes around the devices, he spots an alcove in the rock. An alcove that is cut deep enough into the rock that what is in it is not visible immediately, concealed by shadows. More than that, darkness seems to have taken on a physical form surrounding the alcove, with tendrils of shadows seeming to creep out of it. An unnatural chill settles over Kylo. Not just from without, but from within, as if his surroundings is sucking his body heat away from him.

"Unnatural."

And as that word is said, echoing around him, one of the frequent bursts of lightning on the planet illuminates Kylo and his surroundings. And within the alcove lies Palpatine himself.

Kylo is frozen for a moment, completely locked in on the sight of the former Emperor before him. The sight of the former Emperor is truly terrifying. His body is broken, decaying, and looks as if barely clinging to life. His face, though recognizable as that of the Emperor, is sunken in and grey as if it has been dead and decaying for a long time. His eye sockets are sunken in, and his eyes are purely white, with no iris or pupil. Most of his teeth are broken and jagged. Most of the rest of his body is hidden beneath his cloak and hood, but his hands, which are visible, look like they came from a mutilated corpse. Flesh is falling off the bones, several fingers are missing, and what skin is there is shrivelled and decomposing. The Emperor's body is hooked up to several machines, seemingly keeping him alive, and he seems to be resting so far into the alcove that it almost looks like the back of his body could be fused with the rock, as if he is spawning from the rock. Wires are leading down into the rockl seemingly funneling energy from the planet into Palpatine's body.

Kylo is frozen in place. He wants to raise his saber to threaten or strike the former Emperor, but finds himself unable to move, as if his body is not responding. Despite his strength and training, even he finds himself feeling fear at the sight of the Emperor. He is not able move for several seconds before he is finally able to regain control of his senses and raise his saber in the direction of the Emperor, though more in a defensive move than to actually threaten the Emperor.

"What could you give me?" Kylo demands.

The Emperor is now mostly hidden again, but as he opens his mouth again, another burst of lightning illuminates him again, bathing him in both a blue and red hues, as he says one word, "Everything." This word echoes through the surroundings, his voice seemingly echoing several times. He then raises his hands, and what remains of his hands begin to spark with Force lightning as he says, "A new Empire."

Almost as if this was a signal, up on the surface, the surface of the planet in a section of the planet known as the Forbidden District begins to crack before erupting upwards. All across the Forbidden District, spanning thousands of square miles, were vast underground shipyards, used by the Sith Empire of eons past, and now having been used over the last 40 years to construct the most powerful fleet the galaxy had ever known. From under the planet's surface, thousands of ships rise into the atmosphere, ascending to an altitude a few hundred feet above the ground. The fleet was the most advanced ships ever built in the galaxy, made of several new classes of warships that had been designed by Palpatine's followers, as well as the standard Imperial class Star Destroyers. Some of these ships were of incredible sizes, up to 10 kilometers in length, and some even wielded new superweapons developed by the former Emperor's followers.

Thousands of ships rise into the atmosphere, soon ready to join the thousands more ships in orbit above the planet. "For generations, my disciples have labored," the Emperor says, and through an opening to view the planet above, Kylo can see ships rising into the sky. His heart races as he realizes the extent of the force that Palpatine controls.

"Behold, the might of the Dark Empire. Soon, it will be ready to be unleashed upon the galaxy. It will be yours if you do as I ask," Palpatine says. His voice then takes on a darker and sharper tone as he snarls, "Kill the girl and your cousin. End the Jedi. And become what your grandfather Vader could not."

Kylo Ren continues to stare at the form of the Emperor for a moment before he finally lowers his saber and deactivates, conceding to Palpatine. He recognizes that Palpatine is far beyond his ability to destroy right now, and perhaps, if he agrees, he can learn under the Sith Lord and gain the strength needed to destroy him.

The Sith Lord's sunken face takes on a new, terrifying expression as a terrible smile crosses his face, and his voice takes on a new, deeper tone, far deeper than anything he has ever heard from Palpatine, either in person or in recordings, as he says, "You will rule all the galaxy as the new Emperor, and take your place as the heir to the Sith. Learn under me, and you will become invincible. And once you have learned from me, you will be christened as the newest Dark Lord of the Sith. And you will be known as Darth Caedus."

His face then takes on a more serious look, and he continues, "But beware. Your cousin is strong, and the girl is not who you think she is."

Kylo is a little confused, and he presses the Sith Lord, "Who is she?"

A crooked smile crosses Palpatine's face as he says, "She is the heir to a legacy of power." As he explains more, shock runs through Kylo, yet he does not get the feeling that Palpatine is lying to him.

"Destroy them, and you will inherit the strength of the Dark Empire, and this new Empire will take its rightful place in the galaxy," the Emperor says. He lets out a single terrifying laugh, a sound as if a deep voiced demon is cackling, and says, "I have waited for this moment for longer than you could imagine. Now, the galaxy will truly belong to darkness."

Kylo feels a chill as he hears the Emperor speak. And there is something about what the Emperor said, something that just makes Kylo feel like there is more to his words than meets the eye.

And, I'll end the chapter yet.

First of all, in case it wasn't yet obvious, the broadcast has not yet gone out to all the galaxy. That will happen in the next chapter.

I hope you liked the changes I made to Exegol in terms of what it looks like. I liked the idea of Exegol in the films as a hidden Sith fortress world, but I think they could've done better with the design of the planet. I would've liked to have seen something that looked more like a hellscape. I actually watched a video by the Youtuber EckhartsLadder about this exact subject, and I liked the points he made in that video, so I've taken heavy inspiration from that video for my design of Exegol. In fact, the only real thing about Exegol's design that hasn't changed at all is the fact that it is a desert planet, and the Citadel itself.

And, for the big man himself. I hope you liked how introduced Palpatine, and the changes I made to him. As EckhartsLadder also said in his video, I would've liked an even more terrifying Palpatine in the movie to really show him for the embodiment of evil that he is. And while from a filmmaking standpoint I can understand why they didn't, given it's supposed to be for younger audiences as well, but I still would've liked an even more terrifying Palpatine. So I tried to show that here, with him really shown as an embodiment of pure evil.

As you must have noticed, there are more types of ships in the fleet than just the Xyston class we saw in the film, because that really didn't make much sense to me. I'll explain them later on.

Also, I hope you liked me instead giving Palpatine's forces the name of The Dark Empire, after his new empire from Legends when he returned. I never really liked the name "Final Order", so I decided to go with this instead. Of course, it will be different from the Dark Empire in the book, with my own unique twists.

Next chapter will take us back to our main characters, and also show the broadcast going out through the galaxy. Also, I will confirm that their will be a greater timeline between the broadcast and the intended date of the Final Order's attack, because the idea of everything that we saw in the Rise of Skywalker happening in 16 hours, especially assembling a massive fleet from across the galaxy to travel to Exegol, is ludicrous. Plus, if you remember from my story about the Hood, we have until March for the final showdown.

Alright. Next chapter will be up soon. Until it is, please leave a review, and stay tuned!