The Remnants of Emperor Palpatine

Emperor Palpatine's Last Breath

Picture taken from The Last Jedi.

Rey Palpatine POV-

I feel the Force everywhere. I feel it in the water dripping from the stalagmites above my head. I feel it flowing around me in particles of air. I feel it deep underneath me, below layers and layers of earth. There is no growth here on this barren planet. All I feel is decay and death.

Wait. What is that? I tentatively search straight in front of me with my mind and what I find scares me. There is a pocket of the Force that slithers like smoke. It is dark, the darkest thing I've ever seen. It makes the darkness that was inside Ben look like a shadow on Jakku, almost nonexistant. I feel the hatred of a thousand souls, all directed towards me. For betraying them. For denying them an empress. The Sith.

They're too powerful, I can't possibly fight them by myself. I reach out to Ben, but I don't feel him anywhere near me. In fact, I don't feel him at all. I start to breathe faster and faster, soon I'm hyperventilating. Where is he? My stomach drops to my toes, did he abandon me? I can't fight Emperor Palpatine on my own!

One thing at a time, I tell myself. I need to relax and feel the Force again. I breathe deeply and my heartbeat slows down. I stop thinking and silence all of my anxiety ridden thoughts. I start feeling instead. The world becomes clear around me and once again I can feel everything, including Emperor Palpatine. He hasn't moved from the throne.

The odds are not in my favor. Me against Emperor Palpatine and all the Sith. I start to freak out again, but I catch myself before I lose sight of the Force. I will not give in to the Dark Side. I refuse to. I am part of the Resistance. I will not let the spark die because I am a Jedi. I am a Jed-

I got it! I just have to connect to the Force and all the Jedi who have become one with it. They should be able to help me! They might know a way to kill Emperor Palpatine for real this time. I think back General Leia's lessons and I reach out into the Force.

Be with me. I wait in the drowning darkness all alone, straining to hear anything. Even just the slightest sound to signify that one of them heard me calling. I say it again a couple more times, getting more frustrated every time I say it again. I run Leia's words through my head, telling myself that this time I will be successful.

Relax...

Focus...

Be one with the Force....

"Be with me." (-Rey Palpatine)

My voice echoes out into the Force and I know I did something right. But I don't know if anyone will answer. As seconds fly by, I start to lose hope that anyone is there. That I really am all alone. Darkness starts consuming my sight and the flow of the Force starts to disappear behind a curtain of shadows.

"These are your final steps, Rey. Rise and take them." (-Obi-Wan Kenobi)

But the darkness... it's calling to me.

"Alone, never have you been." (-Master Yoda)

So persuasive is it... the darkness.

"Rey." (-Anakin Skywalker)

I just want to let go... be free.

"Rey." (-Ahsoka Tano)

But...

"Rey!" (-Kanan Jarrus)

I faintly hear my name...