Subject: What's next? Here's what I'm thinking...
Author:
Posted on: 2017-10-28 15:54:00 UTC

Now that Palpatine has returned to his Galaxy, he sees his Empire is in some degree of disarray. And now the Empire must Strike Back...

Palpatine has now seen the power of the Warp. He is convinced that the Dark Side is stronger, but he needs more power. He has now also seen the "reborn" Vader. Palpatine would almost certainly see Vader's hybridization as a betrayal. So he will need to deal with his former apprentice, and he will need a new one. After all there must always be two. One to hold power, and one to seek it.

He could seek out a Force Sensitive child and train it, but this is in the middle of a war. No, it is more likely he needs someone with training. But first...He needs to see to his Empire.

With the Republic on Couruscant he needs a new seat. Given that he sees a need for stronger access to the Dark Side, he decides that the training ground for his acolytes will work. He arrives on Dromund Kaas, and takes up residence there, and operates out of the Dark Temple.

The war has not been going as expected. A change is needed. Palpatine calls the Seventh Fleet, now under the Command of Admiral Karyn Faro (as we are assuming Thrawn does not survive Rebels) While she is no Thrawn, she still served under him and was his second in command. The Empire could use that insight now. She is promoted to Grand Admiral to help create a more unified offense. Let us assume she takes her fleet and flanks the Imperium Forces fighting the Chiss.

Palpatine still needs a new apprentice. He does not have the time, at the moment, to train one from Birth. And unfortunately most of the strong Jedi are too far from his influence and too close to Yoda's to be turned. But there are other choices. He could attempt to train one of his Royal Guards. But that would be bad form. His Inquisitors have proven far to weak to be worth the effort. But one of his assassins, his hand Mara Jade, she has the limited training he provided for her, and she is strong. But first she needs to be tested to see if she is strong enough. He assigns her a series of tasks.

First the Empire needs a new weapon, and there have been some promising results from a secret installation. He dispatches her to the Maw Installation. Her task is to acquire a new weapon without the defenses finding out. After a time she returns with the designs for the TIE Phantom. A shielded, hyperdrive enabled, cloaked TIE Fighter. Palpatine contacts Admiral Daala in the Maw, berates her for failing to protect the plans, but then orders the Phantom put into production.

The Empire still needs more. So Mara Jade is tasked with recovering and deploying Project Blackwing from Dandoran. Project Blackwing is a weaponized Zombie Plague made canon as of Star Wars: Commander. After the plague has been recovered, Palpatine orders one of the new Phantoms to ensure it is delivered to the so-called Terra. Hoping the Imperium is forced to further split its forces.

With Palpatine now believing the Imperium threat will be resolved he turns to the threat of Vader and Chaos. While he gathers his strength on Dromand Kaas, he tasks Mara Jade with seeking out sources of Dark Side Power. Her task first brings her to Korriban, now currently at war with itself with the Rak-anids and Tyranids killing each other. She encounters the Spirit of the Long-Dead Naga Sadow which attempts to possess her. Her connection with Palpatine, and her own strengths prevent him from taking over her, and she recovers an ancient Star Map. She informs the Emperor and he tasks her with following it. She has quickly established herself as a viable candidate for training. Palpatine makes up his mind. Once she finishes this task, he will train her fully in the Dark Side.

She follows the Star Maps finding maps on Dantooine, Manaan, and Kashyyyk. After recovering them all it points to a planet in the Unknown Regions. She arrives at the Observatory on Jakuu to gain navigational assistance through the Unknown Regions, where she finds the Observatory destroyed. She is about to seek out the Ascendancy Fleet, when deep in the back of her mind she hears a call.

Use the Force

Reply Return to messages