The galaxy was at peace or at least, the kind of peace the Emperor allowed.Trade routes flowed freely again through the Core Worlds, secured by endless Imperial patrols. The Death Star loomed as an eternal deterrent, its silhouette haunting every world it passed. Palpatine's propaganda flooded the HoloNet: he had destroyed the "terrorist rebellion," executed traitors, and restored order.
Civilians enlisted in droves, hungry for the stability he promised. Even the neutral worlds bent the knee, knowing what awaited them otherwise.
But beneath the surface, whispers grew. Entire patrol fleets had begun vanishing on the edge of Wild Space. Colony worlds fell silent. Outposts near the Unknown Regions reported strange ships, living constructs of coral and bone. And then nothing.
The galaxy was holding its breath. Something was coming.
Deep within the throne chamber of Exegol, Palpatine meditated. Around him pulsed the unnatural energy of the Star Forge, bound now to his will and fed by his fleets. The chamber trembled as the Emperor's eyes rolled white, his mind plunging into the storm of the future.
He saw them again. The intruders. The Yuuzhan Vong. A people who rejected the Force itself, wielding organic weapons and ships that lived, grew, and bled. They were not bound by the currents of destiny. They would not bow to Sith or Jedi.
And they were coming in numbers beyond counting.
His lips curled into a cruel smile."So… the tide rises at last."
He summoned Grand Admiral Thrawn, the only mind he trusted to understand such an enemy.
"They will come through the edges of Wild Space," Palpatine said, voice cold as iron. "I will give you fleets, legions, resources beyond measure. You will study them. You will break them. And if you cannot…"
His yellow eyes burned."…I will show them what it means to challenge a god."
First Contact
The Outer Rim world of Belkadan died first.
Imperial scouts dispatched there found forests blackened, soil twisted into diseased growth, and skies thick with poisonous haze. Within days, the scouts themselves were infected, their lungs rupturing from alien spores. Their Star Destroyer, the Vigilant, was boarded by creatures clad in vonduun crab armor, wielding living weapons that shrieked when they struck.
The last transmission came from Captain Joros, voice broken by static."They… they're not machines… the ships, the weapons, they're alive… by the Force, they're carving through us"
The signal ended in screams.
Within a week, three more systems fell silent.
The Yuuzhan Vong had arrived.
The Imperial Senate chamber trembled as Palpatine's hologram towered over them. His voice boomed through every system's feed.
"An invasion has come. Not from rebels. Not from Separatists. But from beyond the galaxy itself. They are called the Yuuzhan Vong, and they are death incarnate. Entire worlds fall before them. They reject technology, the Force, even life itself. They seek nothing less than conquest and sacrifice of all we are."
His eyes flared with crimson fire."But fear not. For I, Emperor Palpatine, have foreseen this. My fleets are ready. My generals are prepared. And with your loyalty… with your strength… we shall not only resist them. We shall CRUSH them."
The chamber erupted in thunderous applause, but beneath the sound was fear. Senators whispered among themselves: If the Emperor is afraid… what chance do we have?
Aeloria – Shadows Stir
On the hidden world of Aeloria, the survivors of the Resistance watched the HoloNet in silence.
"They're real," Tyra Syndulla muttered. "The Vong."
General Madine frowned. "If Palpatine is turning his full military against them, that buys us time. He'll focus on them instead of rooting us out."
Bail Organa shook his head. "No. If he triumphs, his rule will grow unshakable. He will wield the fear of these invaders to bind the galaxy even tighter. We must act carefully. Strike where it weakens both him and them."
The council fell into hushed debate. For the first time, their fight was no longer against the Empire alone. The galaxy itself was under siege.
Grand Admiral Thrawn studied the Yuuzhan Vong with the precision of a surgeon. He dissected their tactics, recorded their ship formations, and ordered captured specimens dissected. Their hatred of machines fascinated him, as did their reliance on biotechnology.
"Their weakness is pride," Thrawn told his commanders. "They believe their gods protect them. We will prove otherwise."
The first great clash came at Dubrillion. Thrawn's fleets, supported by Vader's elite legions, engaged a Vong armada. The battle raged for days. Imperial Star Destroyers unleashed turbolaser storms, while Yuuzhan Vong worldships vomited swarms of living coralskippers.
Thrawn's genius nearly turned the tide, his formations cutting deep into the alien lines. But then the Vong unleashed dovin basals living gravity wells that tore ships from hyperspace and dragged Star Destroyers into collision. The Death Star itself arrived to obliterate the main worldship, annihilating millions of Vong warriors in one shot.
The battle was a stalemate. But for the first time in decades, the Empire bled.
Among the Resistance, hope flickered again. If the Vong could bleed the Empire, then perhaps they could survive in the shadows long enough to rebuild.
Tyra Syndulla proposed a daring idea: strike at both sides. Sabotage Vong movements where it hurt civilians, but also infiltrate Imperial supply lines, weakening Palpatine's fleets. The galaxy's future depended not on either tyrant or invader but on those willing to fight for freedom itself.
"Let them exhaust each other," Tyra said. "When the time is right, we'll strike. And the galaxy will remember who truly fought for it."
On Exegol, Palpatine stood before the reconstructed Mortis Dagger, its blade glowing with unnatural light. He had slain the Ones to claim it, but now he contemplated something far greater.
"The Vong do not feel the Force," he murmured, his voice echoing in the vast chamber. "But they will feel ME."
He envisioned not only defeating the Yuuzhan Vong but enslaving them, bending even their gods to his dominion. The galaxy would see him not as Emperor, not as Sith… but as the incarnation of power itself.
"No fate will bind me," he whispered, repeating the vision he had seen. "Not in this life. I will be power incarnate."
And in the distance, the Yuuzhan Vong armadas surged closer, countless as the stars.