The Dark Engine Awakens
In the dark ruins of Malachor, a machine long silent came alive.
Ancient Sith runes pulsed with infernal light. At its heart stood Darth Maul drawn by a hunger not his own. His mechanical limbs trembled as the Dark Engine ignited, channeling raw Force energy through cracked crystal cores.
He saw a vision not of the Sith, nor the Jedi, but of a shadow cloaked in cosmic power.
"Serion…"
The name pulsed in his skull like a curse.
He wasn't part of Palpatine's grand game. He was something else. A variable Maul had never accounted for. And yet, the Dark Engine's resonance pointed toward one truth: Serion was interfering with the ancient balance.
Maul left Malachor in silence, his ship vanishing into hyperspace.
He would find this new shadow.
And either serve it…Or destroy it.
Ahsoka's Disappearance
Serion met Ahsoka beneath the stars of Zereth Prime, in a chamber shielded even from the Force.
"You've grown powerful," he said. "But strength alone won't decide what comes next."
Ahsoka looked uncertain. "You want me to go among them… the Rebels?"
He nodded. "The Alliance is forming. Bail Organa. Mon Mothma. And others who will rise. They think they are safe in the shadows. I need you to be their shadow."
"To spy?"
"To learn," Serion said. "To protect them from what's coming. And when the Vong come… to unite them."
She hesitated—then nodded.
Within hours, Ahsoka Tano vanished from all records. Disguised, renamed, cloaked in Force-dampening tech, she boarded a civilian freighter heading toward Chandrila.
Battle Over Daro: Serion vs Anakin
The Daro system—a critical junction in Imperial hyperspace lanes—became the site of the largest space battle since the Clone Wars.
Serion's fleets, composed of Zerethian dreadnoughts, Spartan carriers, and hybrid Halo-Star Wars designs, emerged from hyperspace like a storm.
Awaiting them—Anakin Skywalker, in his new black command armor, aboard the Eclipse-II, a prototype superdestroyer.
"This is your final warning," Anakin's voice echoed through the comms. "Turn back, or I'll burn you from the stars."
Serion stood aboard the bridge of the Eminence Ascendant, eyes narrowed.
"Anakin. Still fighting someone else's war."
"No. Now I fight for peace. You're the one dragging us all into chaos."
The battle began.
Thousands of starfighters screamed through the void. EMP missiles and gravitic warheads detonated in wild spirals. Star Destroyers and planetary-class destroyers collided in coordinated formations.
Serion and Anakin dueled across fleets—issuing commands, altering momentum, clashing through strategy and raw will.
But in the end—the field burned, and no victor emerged.
Serion's forces withdrew, hyperjumping before reinforcements could arrive.
Anakin stood amidst smoldering wreckage, heart pounding—not with victory, but with questions.
The Emperor's Secret: Exegol
Far beyond the galactic maps, cloaked in gravity storms and Sith incantations, Palpatine stood upon the dark soil of Exegol.
Massive construction fields hummed in silence.
Rows of Final Order-class Star Destroyers lined the void, each one armed with a planetary cannon.
Cloning chambers pulsed with life. Sith cultists chanted endlessly in forgotten tongues.
"The Vong are coming," he whispered to himself. "And the galaxy will fall into chaos."
"But I will stand upon the ruins…"
He gazed into the dark cauldron of possibilities.
"And I will be Emperor of everything."