As if I didn't have enough ongoing writing projects at the moment....
This is a rewrite of The New Republic, the first installment of the Destiny Universe that I wrote back in 2011/2012. I've been wanting to do a rewrite for a while, and I've already been retconning events and details in my more recent stories. This is the culmination of those changes, just one year too late of Destiny's ten year anniversary.
PROLOGUE
The second Death Star lit up like a miniature sun, true to its name. Its light nearly engulfed the vision of those who witnessed it with their own eyes from the bridges of their Star Destroyers. The destruction of the massive space station sent shockwaves across the galaxy, sending ripples through the Force to those regardless of whether they felt it or not.
On the bridge of the Vigilance, Admiral Rae Sloane’s heart sunk as she watched the Empire she had devoted her four decades of life to slowly crumble into ashes. She could barely force herself to accept that the Emperor was dead. Regardless of what happened now, even if by some miracle they were able to regroup and crush the treasonous Rebels for the heinous act they had just committed, there was no going back now. The Empire would never be the same without His Imperial Majesty. The galaxy would never be the same.
Lightyears away from Endor, deep in the core of the galaxy, Mas Amedda lifted his head up from his studies as he felt a sudden void in the Force. For so long he had been blind to it, but ever since his master had awakened it in him, its silence was now deafening. He took in a sharp breath as he realized what had happen before hastily shutting the ancient book he had been perusing and swiftly departing from his study room. He had to fix things before it was too late. Otherwise, all of the work that had been done for the past twenty years would have been for nothing.
On Coruscant, Grand Vizier Sate Pestage had already received the news well before the secret transmission from Byss came in. He already knew what had to be done. It was a contingency that had been prepared for quite some time, even if he had hoped that it would have never come to it. He silently thanked the stars that both he and Ars Dangor had had the wherewithal to leave the space station before the battle that their Emperor had foreseen broke out. Regardless of how sure Palpatine had been of his plan, Pestage had the foresight to at least remember why they had contingencies in the first place.
After ordering for the preparation of a shuttle to Byss, Pestage retreated into the dark recesses of a chamber hidden well beneath the Imperial Palace’s throne room. Awaiting him there was a human-sized vat of fluids, and floating within it was a figure that bore his face. With a grimace etched onto his own face, Pestage entered the access code into the vat and it began to drain of fluids as the clone awakened.
Further out still, in a distant nebula, the Super Star Destroyer Ravager traversed among the stars. Aboard the massive ship, its commander regarded his reflection in the thick transparisteel of the viewport that overlooked the black void of space. At his command, scarlet-robed machines activated and dispersed themselves across the galaxy, heading out to carry his master’s final message from beyond the grave.
One of these droids arrived on a distant world that straddled the invisible border between charted and uncharted space. Sweeping across the desert landscape, it reached its destination among the ruins of an ancient temple. It did not take long to find the forgotten oubliette that laid amongst the rubble, and at the droid’s command, the stasis pod hissed open to release the ancient evil it contained.
And on the Forest Moon of Endor, the heroes of the Rebellion celebrated their victory against the Empire, none of them aware that the head they had cut off was soon to be replaced by countless more.
Their struggles had only just begun.
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