Star Wars IX- The Rise of Skywalker

Chapter 1- Exogol

Exogol was a cold, dead celestial rock. Orbiting no sun, you couldn't call it a planet; it hung in the black vastness of the unknown regions, solitary and alone. Exogol was not a spherical orb. It was a cluster of ice shards peaking into mountains, floating in mirror-like darkness. No clouds, no discernible atmosphere. Like a vast floating iceberg, the dips and peaks thrust into the starlit space that surrounded it. You'd be forgiven if observing from afar for thinking that the icicles were floating in an expanse of still water, that the frozen rock below was, in fact, a reflection, but it wasn't. The mountains of ice and rock reached as far beneath the centre of Exogol as they did above. As Exogol orbited no sun, it was always shrouded in eerie darkness, yet the ice and rock shimmered hues of blue from icy blue to black. Letan Nex had searched for Exogol, for the resting place of the greatest Sith that had ever lived- Emperor Palpatine, Darth Sidious. Finally, at this location, his search was over. Letan Nex was a follower of the dark side of the Sith. At this most pressing time, the Contingency had chosen him to aid Palpatine's return.

Letan Nex made his way from his tie fighter towards a break within the ice, a long, dark narrow slit that stretched the length of the rocky mountainscape. Letan Nex stalked towards that split and disappeared into its depths. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he could see the outlines of a vast cave that reached the peaks of the mountains. As Letan cautiously stepped his way further within the cave, the ground below him shifted, and he was lowered into the depth of the rock on a platform. The lower section of the cave was pitch black but for an eerie blue shaft of light. Occasionally, blue lightning erupted, lighting up immense statues from a long-dead ancient civilisation. The sculptures were robed and immense, reaching from the floor to the ceiling of the cave. Cave didn't encapsulate this place; it was more an underground temple, a palace though long abandoned to fester and rot. Letan Nex knew well from his teachings what this place was, what the enormous effigies represented- the D'warti. Palpatine was here; he couldn't be anywhere else. The platform on which Letan Nex stood finally stopped at the base of the cavernous underground sanctuary. He stepped off the platform and surveyed the gigantic ominous stone figures that seemed to tower above him. He watched as blue electricity surged through the darkness. He was not a Sith, but someone at least within whom the Force flowed. He stood and closed his eyes, attempting to sense where he should head, where his master was, the one he'd been commanded to find.

Letan Nex felt where he should go and headed in that direction towards where the electricity seemed to come from, where the darkness within the Force was strongest. He walked past machines and more stone figures. Before him, a sinister throne appeared. Like everything carved in this place, the throne was cut from black obsidian and engraved with Dwartii symbols and ancient Sith languages. The throne was an explosion of rock, like an arachnid monster's body. The throne was empty, but that was of little consequence. Darth Sidious was here. His shadowy presence within the Force was strong.

"Long have I waited."

The voice scrapes like metal on stone, crackling with age but dripping with power.

"I am your humble servant, here to restore you," Letan Nex said as he knelt before the empty throne.

A cloaked figure stumbled from the shadows towards the throne, fragile and weak but only in body. It practically fell onto the throne, and the seat within the rock face detached; propelled on silent thrusters, it floated towards Letan Nex. He dared not raise his head to look upon his master, but within the Force, he felt his master reach out to sense him.

"Young, strong. Yes, you will do nicely, my servant."

Suddenly, pain coursed through Letan Nex, his consciousness overrun. An internal burning in his veins, as though his skin was being torn apart from the inside. He arched back and screamed in agony until it stopped as abruptly as the screaming started. Letan Nex stared down at his arms. His veins shone dark purple under his skin. He looked down as though he had never seen his muscled arms, surveying his long, strong fingers flexing them as he'd never used them before.