Resistance

[Kuroji]

But is it over? There is much here that could still continue, of course, though it reached a point that could work naturally as an ending.

Of course, if everyone else thinks Vader has gone insane and had something to do with Palpatine's death and Palpatine has issued orders for Vader's arrest... well, knowing him, he'll just end up pissed off enough to cut through just about everyone and fight his way to his fighter. On the other hand, well, he is Vader. He could order the bridge crew to take him to Coruscant, and things would get very, very interesting from there. Especially if he meets the fake Palpatine.

On the other hand... despite everything, the Terrans do not have any information on the Sith or that Palpatine was Lord Sidious, do they?

[Stuart Mackey]

That was great. I wonder if Vader made it? Something tells me he survived.

Of course! Vader is too cool to die like a chump...

[Stuart Mackey]

On the other hand... despite everything, the Terrans do not have any information on the Sith or that Palpatine was Lord Sidious, do they?

I am sure Yoda etc will fill them in, asap.

[Kuroji]

I don't know, Vader would probably end up having to kill his way through ANYONE on the ship that can hold a blaster, except for the ones who see him do it and are too frightened of their assured death to do so. I don't see him dying here unless the ship is scuttled along with every single fighter and escape pod.

This completely changes the political climate, but not the structure. It would take a long time to undo the changes that were introduced, but starting from essentially losing everything as the republic gives the rebels two things that they never had, even once they won and the Empire was crushed: absolute legitimacy, and the ability to clean house of the corruption that they had endured. No one is going to want to let that happen again. I foresee a number of senators quietly deciding not to come back to the senate and being replaced by people whose records were as clear as a charcoal briquette, or having convenient accidents between then and now, though.

On the other hand... what happens when any number of Imperial black projects come to fruition? The Palpatine clones and any potential usurpers, if nothing else? Could create quite a crisis.

[Edward Yee]

Having just read this... holy CRAP what an ending. As for Kuroji's question, I think the reaction would be: "Renounce FASTER!"

[White Haven]

...Bloody hell. It appears I decided to start reading about two days before a shitstorm. I give it the White Haven Thumb of Approval, with the slight caveat that the ending felt a little rushed and shoehorned into one chapter. Still, great stuff!

[phongn]

I've enjoyed the story but the ending did feel rather rushed!

[jegs2]

Thanks for the reviews. Felt I could have fit in another chapter or so, but liked the idea of leaving the situation slightly unsettled. As you can see, a few players are still running about trying to figure out what to do, so your own imagination can run wild. As some have already indicated, not all players in the story will be happy with the new situation, but then life is often like that. In the future, I might be tempted to write a sequel.

[kilopi505]

Hurrah for Earth!

What would happen when the Star Wars Galaxy finds out how Earth, a technologically primitive planet, brought down the most powerful dictatorship in recent galactic history, or in the galaxy's whole history, and destroyed several ships and a freaking superweapon (I'm assuming the Death Star blew up and took with it it's escorting fleet and the fleet guarding the...portal to the Milky Way Galaxy) in an spy operation not seen...anywhere except Earth?

Does Earth's...street cred rise up dramatically?

What happens next? Do we see an Earth Alliance? Will Earth have a fleet, ready in time for when the Vong attacks?

[Darksider]

I'm guessing that without the Emperor protecting the planet due to his desire for force-nulls, some pissed off Palpatine worshipper with an ISD melts the crust inside of an hour, and everyone on earth dies. with all the chaos in the Galaxy proper, it'd be easy for someone to pull of a drive-by BDZ

[Kuroji]

What chaos? Everyone thinks the Emperor is still alive. Only Vader knows otherwise.

[GrandMasterTerwynn]

What chaos? Everyone thinks the Emperor is still alive. Only Vader knows otherwise.

Ha. Vader doing a drive-by. What an image.

"Yo Earth! You killed my O.G.! So have a taste of my BDZ!" Of course, since a man from Earth now effectively rules the galaxy (or at least, has quite a bit of pull with the newly-reformed Senate on account of having saved their asses,) you can bet patrolling the Maw and is going to be one of the Imperial Navy's top priorities.

[Kuroji]

I don't know, one of the things I'm wondering is how long the impostor can keep it all together. He's going to need to be able to placate a LOT of people, because otherwise there'll be a good jump in the number of assassination attempts, and honestly how many projects are there that Palpatine started that virtually no one else that is alive knows about, thanks to basically liquidating the intelligence people in the wake of the assassination?

[Edward Yee]

Here's wondering how the "Force afterlife" thing works in this case? I dunno whether there's any actual Palpatine clones around -- though at least if they were started at the same time as OTL it should still be years before they can be safely decanted -- but I just had a mental image of Palpatine not waiting for that and force himself into Moheb... thus "Becoming The Mask."

[White Haven]

Two things. First, the Emperor was killed while accepting a hand up from a person who projects a zone of Force void around him. That may well prevent him from bodyhopping in the first place. Even if he managed it, however, I'd love to see an entity that exists solely in the Force (Bodyless Palpy) attempt to occupy a hole in the force (Moheb). Nice way to commit suicide, that.