Chapter Text
5 years in the desert of Jakku scrapping for parts to sell and feed herself, 10 year-old Rey gets rescued from the hell hole of despair and loneliness by her family. However, it’s nothing like she dreamed of; no loving parents rushing with hugs and kisses and past due apologies.
Military forces swept the old Niima outpost to escort her into an imperial command shuttle, the kind that she usually finds in the dunes behind the sinking fields, but this one was fully functional, grand and menacing with an insignia that she never came across on any of the imperial ships, she scavenged from.
The shuttle took her away to be reunited with the last living member of her family, her grandfather Emperor Palpatine.
The old man was cold and ominous. But he welcomed her home. Showered her with gifts, and promises to turn her into the princess of the sith, she apparently was supposed to be.
For years, she was trained in the court of Exegol’s Palace to be a successor for her predecessor, in the sith citadel below the surface in the ways of the force and in the base beyond the shipyards in military strategy, starship piloting and hand to hand combat.
Rey knew her life was drastically changed forever, but she didn’t know if it was for the better, and she had questions she needed answered.
The old man never told her about her parents. It was almost forbidden to speak of them in his presence or with the rest of his loyalists.
She was lonely, tired, striving to survive her days of brutal training and mind games. The force ran through her strong but poisonous. However she never lost herself. She held the desert in her heart, fought against injustice and helped the underdog, actions that were frowned upon by her kin but she learned how to hide them better through the years.
Meanwhile, the Galaxy was at war. The new republic seat of power was destroyed, her grandfather’s ally “Snoke” was leading the first order to dominate the galaxy, using the best of technologies sith loyalist could create “Star killer base” which was destroyed by the rebels just like its predecessors. Rey thought her fate would be just as doomed as that weapon, if she was to ascend to the throne and make the same mistakes.
So when the moment came and she was leading her own fleet of star destroyers to invade the worlds left unconquered by the first order, she made sure to appoint her own governors, people she trusted and knew would take orders from her rather than the emperor.
It wasn’t the same with Mandalore. The old war destroyed what’s left of their planet, the new one threatened to turn it into ash, but they wouldn’t surrender. So she negotiated a deal with the fierce and kind old man who was the great Mandalore. In order to keep him in the seat of power, spare his people from slaughter he had to put an end to the conflicts between the clans and reopen the Beskar mines on the surrounding moons. Under the protection of Rey’s forces, other trades flourished, the civil war was over, the warriors from all clans were reunited, and Rey gained faithful allies on Mandalore and its supporting systems. She also gained the infamous dark saber as a gift from the great Mandalore and Beskar armor with the insignia of her grandfather’s order on it.
But the time of peace didn’t last for long. The emperor was not satisfied with her foreign policy. He wanted her to rule with an iron fist and use fear to gain loyalty, especially when his ally was killed by his own apprentice who took his place. For months the leadership of the first order was not in accordance to the emperor’s orders and the court on Exegol began doubting the new supreme leader’s alliance with the final order.
Rey already considered him a traitor and an enemy, when he proved himself as such and moved his fleet to attack Mandalore.
The forces that were stationed for the protection of the planet were not enough against the might of the first order, but the emperor assigned Rey with a mission to Geonosis, and ordered her to step down and let the conflict end without her interference.
He claimed to know the intentions of the traitor and the planet was not something he would want to lose time and resources on.
But Rey gave her word to the people to protect them. They were part of the final order colonies after years of independence in exchange for protection. How can she be empress one day if she couldn’t protect her people?
By the time she regained power on Geonosis, and put an end to the rebellion of the workers in the shipyard factories, Mandalore fell.
A distress signal was sent to Rey’s command shuttle on a secret frequency. The great Mandalore and the rest of the clan’s leaders were hunted down by the new supreme leader and his group of outlaws; the knights of Ren.
Rey couldn’t delay interfering any longer; even without her fleet she knew she could make a difference.
The princess parted from her forces and ordered her generals to cover her absence.
She also sent her most trusted trooper FN2187, to the signal’s location. FN, she called him Finn. He was a deserter, a storm trooper who went to battle once and ran the other way. He was sentenced to death, but he managed another escape which earned him the attention of the princess who admired his perseverance and issued a pardon to save his life. He was her most loyal soldier, and only friend. So, she knew he will succeed in taking the refugees to safety especially when she was headed for the supreme leader to create a diversion and slow down his pursuit.