-xoxo- The Empress of Death, 8 of 10 -oxox-

145 MDS Krannek Prison – Int. 145

The windowless cell is only lit by the dull blue light outside. There is nothing to see inside anyway: a metal bench to sleep on and a sunken woman in bright gold robes in a corner. Ephrath still wears her Princess garb because Cassariot finds it funny.

She counts her time left. And family left. Learning what it means to lose your entire world.

Sirens go off. Red lights flash outside. A fight outside, her cell walls shaking from the unseen action. Ephrath tries to see who it is, hoping it's her.

Static slides her door open. The surprised fear on her face seeing Finn instead.

FINN Ephrath, I take it?

EPHRATH Traitor!?

REY Ephie!

The disguised Rey rushes over to Ephrath. Ephrath hugs her instinctively to Rey's surprise. Finn continues freeing the prisoners.

EPHRATH Rey! Thank you thank you thank you…

Guilt builds in Rey

REY I'm so sorry Ephie, I—I should have been here. I've ruined it all—

EPHRATH No, I'm sorry Rey… I just… I love you Rey. I can't think of you as anything other than my family. We don't deserve you.

REY You'll have me as family, Ephie?

Backing up to look in her eyes:

EPHRATH Never talk like that! Never feel alone Rey! I'd have you and only you my entire life!

Their embrace binds them beyond blood and fate.

REY Thank you, Ephrath.

A hundred more members of the Imperial Family start walking out of their cells, flabbergasted. Ephrath returns to concern over The Great Traitor.

EPHRATH …why are you here?

FINN Save the galaxy.

EPHRATH …okay?

REY Finn's a friend Ephie. He brought me back here, and he has a plan.

EPHRATH Is that the reason for your …old getup?

REY I'm just happy this thing still fits.

Ephrath chuckles at that. It feels nostalgic.

EPHRATH Is there a second part to your plan, Traitor?

FINN Much more. Follow me!

Everyone is lead to the front of the jail. The troopers all knocked out, and the entrances caved in. Finn walks over to a computer terminal. He signals Rey. When she arrives, Finn addresses the Imperial Family.

FINN I am here to save the galaxy. That includes you. We have blocked off all the entrances, except the emergency elevator to the airlock. We will be bringing you up there to escape.

EPHRATH Skywalker, they would still have a chance to shoot our escape pods. Is this just your revenge?

Finn smiles at the thought but has other plans.

FINN No revenge for me, Princess Ephrath. And they won't notice you all. They will be too busy with a new development.

Finn turns to Rey. Grabs her hand and sets it on the terminal.

FINN (cont.) Use an Emperor-level code to start the Krannek.

Everyone stares, shocked at Finn.

FINN I don't think we need to vote on this one, right?

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146 DS Gammalann Headquarters – Int. 146

Prince Helena manages the chaos. The pressure has only increased between everyone inside.

The door opens with a patched-up Cassariot walking in on a robotic support brace for his leg along with a metal eye-patch. Behind him, a cleaned-up Kylo.

CASSARIOT Prince Helena, thank you for your patience. I will resume command.

PRINCE HELENA Thank you, Emperor.

CASSARIOT Were you able to find the inconsistencies insisted by Kylo?

PRINCE HELENA Yes. The Crownhunters planted a trap to critically overheat the West reactor. Every reading we have there is a lie.

CASSARIOT Well done, Knight of Ren.

KYLO Of course, Emperor Cassariot.

Cassariot loves the sound of that from HIM.

CASSARIOT Can we stop the overheating process?

PRINCE HELENA We have been working on it, sir. That is no longer the problem.

CASSARIOT Oh?

PRINCE HELENA The order was given to start MDS Krannek.

CASSARIOT By whom?

PRINCE HELENA The Empress of Death.

It sets in.

CASSARIOT I cannot sense her. A bluff by Finn Skywalker?

PRINCE HELENA We think he could have gotten specific codes when he killed Herod Zaltan.

CASSARIOT Possible. But what is his goal? The Krannek is still without a trigger. Even with his power… is it possible he could replace it?

KYLO He only wanted to bait you into firing the Gammalann.

PRINCE HELENA A shot at full power without knowing the trap would have pushed the overheated generator into a total station meltdown.

CASSARIOT Would it still now?

PRINCE HELENA Impossible to know. We still cannot tell if we are getting accurate readings.

CASSARIOT It would be best to cancel the order with my own Emperor codes. It will give Finn Skywalker and his pup time to escape, but we can win on defense with this position.

KYLO "Pup?"

PRINCE HELENA Ah, yes. Finn Skywalker returned with an old training partner.

KYLO Show me an image of this partner immediately.

They do so.

KYLO That is Empress Rey Sidious.

CASSARIOT What?

KYLO She and Finn trained under Luke together. That is what she wore at the time.

CASSARIOT Impossi—

KYLO When Rey rose to power, we changed many events to hide this fact. That is Rey Galencia. If I am right, the name of this person is "Shika," yes? That was the name of Rey's guardian as a child.

CASSARIOT Rey and Finn… knew each other?

KYLO And now Finn is using her to fire MDS Krannek. Here.

CASSARIOT …she would never do that to us. Even after everything.

KYLO You killed and kidnapped her family.

CASSARIOT They are not her family!

KYLO He convinced her they were.

PRINCE HELENA …What are the reports on planet LQ-2689?

NERVOUS OFFICER There was a surge of attacks five standard hours ago… but nothing since. They are waiting for permission to launch a search party, but we have been too busy here.

KYLO If Finn had a Jedi ship, that is precisely how much time they would have needed for this.

CASSARIOT We would have sensed Rey. You absolutely should have.

KYLO It's odd. Finn seems to be… distorting her. But I feel a presence of a power. Far more than Finn could ever possess.

CASSARIOT And now you, Kylo Ren, Jon Jax, a former main branch member of House Galencia, for me, are betraying your crowned Empress?

KYLO It would not be the first time.

Truth in the words is sensed.

CASSARIOT Then why did you hinder me for so long? Why stop all my attempts?

KYLO I never was against deposing the Empress. But I never wanted you to be the one to do it.

Truth in those words too.

CASSARIOT Three attacks then. If we missed the trap, we are destroyed. If we found the trap, Finn fires the Krannek with the Empress, and we are Destroyed. Or we counter with our Death Star and are both destroyed. We could not have gotten even past these without you, Kylo. I choose to believe you are on our side.

KYLO For a price.

CASSARIOT Paid, after we leave this battle victorious. And with all we know, I have our only winning move.

PRINCE HELENA Your recommendation, your grace?

CASSARIOT Continue undoing the Crownhunters' sabotage. I want Finn to believe he has to fire the Krannek. Have every Prince of Dawn on the station hide in the Trigger Room. When Rey goes to use it, that is our window. It takes all her focus, and it drains her completely. Would you agree, Kylo?

KYLO I would. This way is best, your grace.

That sounds delicious coming from Kylo.

CASSARIOT They will be pressured to fire the Krannek as it can't hold that much energy without overloading their own reactors and destroying themselves. Their attack traps them.

KYLO …and those else inside MDS Krannek?

CASSARIOT …of course, your "price." Evacuate non-essential personal, including the prisoners. This will be a battle between the Heavens, not for the dirt.

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147 Traps inside traps – Compilation 147

Imperial Star Destroyers take the advantage in the space-to-space warfare outside the two death stars. General Pushawn unwaveringly commands against the odds.

The Crownhunters inside the DS Gammalann continue to mount an admirable offensive in hangars. Never consider escaping.

Princes of Dawn stay in cracks of the Krannek, enshadowed, barely breathing, waiting for their chance.

Many ships evacuate off the MDS Krannek.

Cassariot makes commands as Kylo watches from behind.

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148 DS Gammalann Headquarters – Int. 148

Time has passed. Rey remains absent from the Trigger Room. The atmosphere of the room has calmed down. Everything is under control, under Cassariot's leadership.

CASSARIOT Prince Helena, how much longer can the Krannek last?

PRINCE HELENA No issues. All the readings are nominal. No redlining anywhere.

CASSARIOT They will have to challenge us eventually.

NERVOUS OFFICER We have a strange report, your grace… it may concern certain parties…

CASSARIOT Kylo is not an enemy. He has no place to go if he betrays us. Go ahead.

NERVOUS OFFICER The uh… 'residents' of Prison C, the uh Imperial Family members have broken free and are evacuating by escape pod… They are flying into nothing, sir.

Cassariot laughs.

CASSARIOT What a time to mount an escape! Perhaps the Empress told them to. Oh well, you will have to fish them out Kylo, the life support is quite long.

KYLO That will be no problem. They can be collected after our victory.

CASSARIOT Victory it will be. Where do you expect to go after you have your family?

KYLO Back to Coruscant.

CASSARIOT And wrestle that quagmire! Ha! If you so wish. I intended to award you a disposable planet.

KYLO And if I can control it?

CASSARIOT Then it is still yours. As Emperor, I only take fair tax and high M-count children.

KYLO …for your own army?

CASSARIOT The opposite. The next generation must grow stronger than I. They will go through what we did, the Zaltan tortures, gain our power, make them Knights. Then I, the Emperor, will teach them the depths beyond reality, making Princes. I will scatter them out, and once they take a planet, then they will be like us, Star Kings! And one day, when the worlds run out, and they will come for me. And that successor will truly be an Emperor worthy of this galaxy.

KYLO …a new era.

CASSARIOT A return to the natural order.

Without warning, the MDS Krannek explodes. Total shock in the headquarters, cheers from the Crownhunters, and hope seen in the eyes of the space-to-space Republic soldiers.

CASSARIOT …what happened?

An alert goes off.

NERVOUS OFFICER Sir, there is significant damage to the core reactor!

CASSARIOT It's her…

PRINCE HELENA They hid the actual readings of the MDS Krannek…

CASSARIOT The Crownhunters… it's all them. The same plan. She even snuck inside the same way the they did. The Empress is here.

PRINCE HELENA What are your orders, Cassariot?

CASSARIOT Before then… how many of our brothers were lost in the explosion?

PRINCE HELENA It would have been fifty-eight Princes of Dawn. And nearly a hundred thousand engineers and troopers.

CASSARIOT Fifty-eight Star Kings. Hundred thousand heroes.

Cassariot hangs his head, defeated. Silence dominates the crowd.

PRINCE HELENA Your orders, Cassariot?

CASSARIOT …If she is already near the core reactor, we cannot even send heavy artillery. We're losing now.

Cassariot considers everything. Impossible choices.

CASSARIOT Reinstate the Crownhunter's sabotage. I will make an announcement.

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