Victory had changed the galaxy.
For weeks after the great battle at the edge of known space, every holonet station, news network, and military broadcast replayed the same images over and over again.
Yuuzhan Vong worldships emerging from the darkness beyond the galactic rim.
Thousands of living vessels advancing toward Imperial territory.
Then came the arrival of the Xeyon-class Star Destroyers.
The footage had become legendary almost overnight.
Citizens gathered in public squares to watch recordings of the battle. Children collected miniature holos of Imperial warships. Military academies studied the engagement frame by frame. Across countless worlds, beings who had never seen combat watched Grand Admiral Thrawn dismantle an invading fleet with cold precision.
The commentators called it the greatest naval victory since the formation of the Empire.
Military analysts disagreed.
They called it something else.
A warning.
The Yuuzhan Vong had arrived expecting conquest.
Instead, they had encountered an Empire prepared for war.
Aboard the Judicator, Grand Admiral Thrawn stood before a tactical display.
The blue-skinned Chiss studied hundreds of battle recordings simultaneously.
Every maneuver.
Every casualty.
Every weapon discharge.
Every mistake.
The battle had been a victory.
That did not make it perfect.
Thrawn zoomed in on a formation of Xeyon-class destroyers.
"Pause."
The image froze.
An officer complied immediately.
Thrawn folded his hands behind his back.
"Their gravitic weapons responded slower than anticipated."
The officer nodded.
"A delay of point three seconds."
"Correct."
He enlarged another section.
"The Vong attempted to exploit it."
"They failed."
"They failed because they lacked information."
The officer remained silent.
Thrawn's crimson eyes narrowed.
"The next fleet will not."
Weeks had passed since the battle.
Weeks spent refining doctrine.
Testing formations.
Improving fleet coordination.
Learning.
The Xeyon-class destroyers were unlike anything the galaxy had ever fielded.
Their graviton projectors, adaptive shield matrices, interdiction systems, and reality-anchor technologies made them extraordinarily powerful.
Now Thrawn finally understood how to use them properly.
The next battle would be deadlier.
For the enemy.
Across the galaxy, another image dominated the holonet.
The Prima Superiors.
Millions watched recordings of giant armored warriors descending from orbit into battle.
Three-meter-tall figures clad in dark armor inscribed with glowing Force sigils.
Heavy laser cannons reduce Yuuzhan Vong warforms to ash.
Lightsabers igniting.
Sith lightning ripping through enemy formations.
Entire invasions are collapsing beneath disciplined counterattacks.
To many citizens, the Prima Superiors had already become symbols.
Proof that the Empire possessed defenders capable of facing horrors from beyond the galaxy.
Military enlistment numbers skyrocketed.
Support for the war effort rose even higher.
And support for the Emperor reached levels unseen since the end of the Clone Wars.
The Imperial Senate was full.
Every seat is occupied.
Every observation platform is crowded.
Thousands of representatives watched as Emperor Palpatine entered the chamber.
The applause began immediately.
It lasted nearly a minute.
Palpatine allowed it.
Then he raised a hand.
Silence followed.
"My fellow citizens."
His voice echoed throughout the chamber and across every holonet channel in the galaxy.
"We stand today at a crossroads in history."
Behind him appeared images of the recent battles.
Destroyed Yuuzhan Vong ships.
Victorious Imperial fleets.
Liberated colonies.
"The invaders from beyond our galaxy sought to bring destruction."
The images changed.
Burning worlds.
Destroyed settlements.
Dead civilians.
"They came not as conquerors seeking territory."
Palpatine's voice hardened.
"They came seeking extermination."
Murmurs spread throughout the Senate.
The Emperor continued.
"They failed."
Applause erupted.
This time it was louder.
Longer.
More confident.
Palpatine waited patiently.
"Our fleets have held the line."
Images of Thrawn appeared.
"The courage of our military has prevented catastrophe."
Images of the Prima Superiors followed.
"Our soldiers have shown the galaxy that civilization will not surrender."
Another round of applause shook the chamber.
Palpatine smiled faintly.
"But victory does not mean the war is over."
The room quieted immediately.
The Emperor gestured.
A map of the galaxy appeared.
Beyond its borders glowed the regions from which the Yuuzhan Vong had emerged.
"They will return."
His voice carried absolute certainty.
"They will adapt."
The projection expanded.
New fleets under construction.
Shipyards are operating around the clock.
Millions of soldiers are training.
"And so shall we."
The applause returned instantly.
"Our objective is simple."
Palpatine pointed toward the galactic rim.
"We will not merely defend our worlds."
The room fell silent.
"We will push the invaders back."
A pause.
"Then we will destroy their ability to threaten our galaxy forever."
The Senate exploded into cheers.
Representatives rose from their seats.
Applause thundered through the chamber.
Palpatine watched calmly.
The reaction was expected.
The galaxy had tasted victory.
Now it wanted triumph.
When the emergency funding proposal was introduced, the result was unsurprising.
Additional military spending.
Expanded ship construction.
New fortress worlds.
Additional Prima Superior production facilities.
Fleet expansion.
Research funding.
The vote passed overwhelmingly.
Only a handful opposed it.
Their objections were drowned beneath the roar of approval.
The Empire's war machine accelerated once again.
Far away on Exegol, Darth Palpatine paid little attention to politics.
His focus remained elsewhere.
Deep beneath the planet's storms, hidden inside a fortress complex protected by layers of Sith wards and advanced technology, the trap for Abeloth continued taking shape.
Massive reactors hummed.
Containment arrays pulsed.
Ancient Sith runes glowed across kilometer-long walls.
At the center stood the Vitae Extractor.
Even incomplete, it was terrifying.
Energy moved through the structure in controlled rivers of light and darkness.
Machines and Sith alchemy intertwined seamlessly.
Palpus stood upon an observation platform overlooking the project.
A technician approached cautiously.
"My Lord."
"Report."
"The containment systems have reached seventy-five percent completion."
Palpus nodded.
Good.
Not enough.
But good.
The trap was progressing exactly according to schedule.
Abeloth remained the greatest threat.
More dangerous than the Yuuzhan Vong.
More dangerous than any fleet.
A being capable of corrupting worlds merely through her existence.
She would require precision.
Not brute force.
Elsewhere on Exegol, construction continued on another project.
The Dimensional Gate.
Its colossal rings stretched across orbit like the skeleton of some impossible machine.
The structure itself was complete.
Functionally complete.
Technically perfect.
Yet inactive.
Because powering it presented a problem unlike any encountered before.
Palpus studied the latest energy projections.
The requirements were absurd.
Three suns.
Not metaphorically.
Literally.
The gate required energy equivalent to the output of three stars merely to initiate activation.
Maintaining it would require even more.
It could be done.
But not quickly.
Even the Empire's industrial might needed time.
A hologram appeared before him.
The image of Emperor Palpatine materialized.
The communication was heavily encrypted.
Unknown to everyone except father and son.
"My son."
"Father."
Palpatine studied the reports floating nearby.
"The Senate approved additional funding."
"As expected."
"And your progress?"
Palpus gestured.
Images of the Vitae Extractor appeared.
"Seventy-five percent complete."
The Emperor nodded.
"The Dimensional Gate?"
"Finished."
That earned Palpatine's attention.
"Finished?"
"The structure."
Palpus folded his arms.
"The energy requirements remain the problem."
He displayed the calculations.
For several moments, even Palpatine remained silent.
"Three stars."
"Approximately."
The Emperor laughed softly.
"Only you would consider such a requirement acceptable."
"It is necessary."
Palpatine nodded.
He could not argue with that.
The silence lingered briefly.
Then the Emperor's expression grew more serious.
"And Abeloth?"
Palpus looked toward the distant construction site.
"Her trap advances."
"Will it work?"
The question carried unusual weight.
No doubt.
Caution.
Palpus answered without hesitation.
"Yes."
Lightning flashed outside the fortress.
The hologram flickered.
Father and son regarded one another.
Both understood the truth.
The Yuuzhan Vong were dangerous.
The war would continue.
Worlds would burn.
Fleets would clash.
But eventually
That conflict would end.
Abeloth was different.
She represented something older.
Something closer to a force of nature than an enemy.
When she emerged, everything would change.
Which was why the trap had to be perfect.
Nothing less would suffice.
As the communication ended, Palpus returned his attention to the immense structure growing beneath Exegol's storms.
Seventy-five percent complete.
Not much longer now.
Not much longer at all.