Aftermath: Empire's End

A Dark Force from Unknown Regions was sending signals or calling to Palpatine, something only he could hear or so was believed (Vader couldn't). After his fall, some teenagers begin to be haunted by dreams and visions of Dark nature. They eventually join Acolytes of the Beyond who are Vader worshippers not Palpatine worshippers, even though Palpatine's #1 fanboy Yupe Tashu seems to be behind the Acolytes. At the same time, pregnant Leia experiences disturbing dreams of her own, and her unborn baby is troubled by something that even Leia doesn't sense and understand yet. She also senses flashes of Darkness piercing through her son's Light but comforts herself that it's normal cause Luke said so. Moreover, the book doesn't explicitly say (I have to see for myself cause that's what my friend surmised) but it seems that palpatine's idea to destroy the Empire for failing him and sending contingent to the Unknown Regions to rebuild a new one may not be entirely his idea but manipulation by the Dark Call or whatever that thing is. Cause why else he would send them to Unknown Regions where the Dark Thing communicating with him resides? It's as if someone manipulated the fall of his Empire so that the new Palpatine-free Empire could serve that manipulative source.

"The emperor was convinced that something waited for him out there-some origin of the Force, some dark presence formed of malevolent substance. He said he could feel the waves of it radiating out now that the way was clear. The emperor called it a signal-conveniently one that only he could hear. Even his greatest enforcer, Vader, seemed oblivious to it, and Vader also claimed mastery over the dark force, did he not? Rax believed palpatine had gone mad."

Ok, first off, the prelude is JUICY. Takes place right before RoTJ and it's Rax talking to Palpatine. Palpatine tells Rax that he must be prepared to face his destiny.

"I need you to be ready. It may be time for the contingency. You will go far away from here. My boy, my precious boy. Are you ready to be the Outcast? Are you prepared to become the Contingency?"

"I know I am ready. I am ready to go home. To the sands of Jakku. To the Observatory."

And yes, Observatory, Contingency, and Outcast are capitalized. Don't know what it means, but it seems important.

An "Observatory" on Jakku. This is extremely interesting!

An observatory is a room or building housing scientific equipment for the study of natural phenomena.

I have no doubts that this natural phenomena has to do with the Force, but the big question is... what exactly is it that they are observing?

Anyone here with Rey's Survival Guide? I don't have it, but from what I've heard there's mention of an old Imperial base. Is that most likely the observatory mentioned here?

http://imgur.com/a/Tv0Fc

Observatory definition from chapter 35:
"It is one of many scattered across the galaxy. All of them are laboratories, in a sense, and all of them look beyond the galaxy's margins in different directions." "Palpating began establishing the observatories before the start of the galactic empire, infusing each with purpose: some were meant to house ancient sith artifacts, others designed to host powerful weapon designs (or the weapons themselves), others still meant as prisons harnessing the life forces of those captured within for a variety of strange purposes"
"This one, the jakku Observatory, has its own function, It is part of the contingency "

The purpose of the Jakku observatory: contains a databank of computers "ancient computational mechanisms from an earlier civilization. From precisely when, Rax cannot say. The old republic? The fallen sith Empire?"
The computers contain a star chart from outside the known galaxy
The emperor had mapped out the unknown regions outside the galaxy because something called to him.

So, about 4 hours prior to this thread, I also shared the following here in the original EE thread:
That Rax doesn't end up Snoke.
That he's killed by an ally (Sloane)
That the secrets on Jakku relate to an Observatory focused on he Outer Region.
You can find that here: https://www.reddit.com/r/StarWarsLeaks/comments/5svff7/comment/ddo22wn
Only sharing because I think I was the first to post this on Reddit and did so in the original thread so it was barely seen and only liked twice.

Interesting notes in chapters 1-4:
Leia says Luke is off "searching the galaxy for old Jedi teachings"
Upon realizing that Sloane is off to Jakku on the Imperalis, Han says he has been to Jakku years ago. He mentions there isn't much there, but that "there is some hokey religion down in the south." This implies that the church of the force has been on Jakku for a decent bit of time.

OMG JAR JAR IS REAL!!!!!!!!!!!


interlude number 2, Naboo. P 94
Refugee boy at orphanage. Decides to talk to a gungan. This gungan does tricks for the kids at the orphanage.
"Sometimes he doesn't different things, things you've never seen, things you'll never see again. Just a few days ago, he splashed into the fountain's centre, then pretended to have the streams shoot him way up in the air.
The clown, they called him. Bring the clown. We want to see the clown. We like it how he juggles glombo shells, or spits fish up in the air and catches them, or how he dances around and falls on his butt
That's what the kids say. The adults though. They don't say much about him. Or to him. And no other gungan come to see him either. Nobody even says his name.
My names Mapo, says the boy.
MESA JAR JAR"

Also, when this boy talks to Jar Jar, he asks why no one talks to him. He replies "my no so sure. Mess thinkin it's cause jar jar making some uh oh mistakens. Big mistakens. And desa hisen Naboo think I help the uh-oh Empire"
"I don't think you helped the empire, mapo says that without being sure of anything, but he doesn't get the feeling this strange fellow would've done anything like that. Not on purpose. He's just a sweet old clown."
After some discussion..."bein clownin is bombad too. My teachin yousa, pallo. Weesa making the whole galaxy smilin, huh?"
O_O

Gallius Rax in the observatory:
He is in there with Tashu, he sees a gift that Palpatine left for him, a "broken Shah-tezh board. It lies shattered on the floor in halves. All around it are the pieces, also broken. Only two pieces remain: the imperator and the outcast. He wonders, is that how Palpatine saw him? As the outcast? This is new. Gallius never knew that. It hits him like a slap to the face."
"His role was never to preserve the empire but to destroy it."
"Whatever Palpatine thought of him before, he is no longer the outcast. Rax has become the imperator"
Then they continue to walk until they come to a well.
"The well is a channel bored through the schist and mantle of jakku, drilled so deep it touches the center of the world. The well flows with wisps of blue must winding up through orange firelight. The light pulses and throbs like a living thing."
Palpatine told him that jakku was overgrown with green and home to oceans. "He said that though the surface e of the world no longer shows it, the core still has that vital spark of like essence (and he added "that essence disgusts me"
Tashu starts admiring the artifacts in the observatory.
Rax lies to Tashu telling him that they are there to reincarclnate Palpatine. So Rax helps Tashu put on a mask that has eyes of blood red kyber crystals and a Lance. And then he hands Tashu a holocron.
Tashu then feels the dark side of the force "all the death and disoair of the world is filtering through me. I can feel it on the back of my tongue. Captured there like a struggling moth"
Rax then brings Tashu by the well and throws him into "the most and the light" of the well. Causing a "fierce growl" as the world shudders. And adds that "Palpatine was right. The artifacts contain a great deal of energy.".
"And now they have dropped into the core of this world. With the well open, that energy will vent. So begins the chain reaction that will destroy everything. The planet will soon begin to crack. It shall break apart. It'll swallow the empire and the new Republic feets and soldiers while. When it does it will leave this galaxy to the scavengers and the scum, rotting like a fruit lying forgotten in the dirt. Though an idle thought troubles him: all fruit, no matter how rotten, can leave behind seeds.
Then enters Sloane

k. Just finished part one. Overall, this part of the book focuses a lot on politics. To summarize, Norra and the team find out that Sloane is on Jakku, go to Jakku and arrive to see the entire Imperial fleet is there. Norra and Jas take an escape pod down, while the rest of the team go back to Chandrilla to tell Leia. Sloane and Brentin are trying to figure out where Rax is from/who he is. Ends up that "Niima" (Niima outpost) is a Hutt. They are working with her to find Rax. There is a shady senator, Wartol, who wants to be chancellor and is ahead of Mon Mothma in the polls. Mon Mothma seems very insecure about everything, particularly after the events of Liberation Day (in Life Debt). Ends up that he wired Leia's protocol droid, found out about the Imperial fleet, and decided to tell the NR via HoloNet News. Mon gives a speech saying she's going to bring it to the senate to get the NR fleet to Jakku. Part one ends with Ackbar telling her that the vote did not pass and the fleet will not go to Jakku.
More to come...

Sloane kills him [Rax] and then he tells her to complete what palpatine wanted him to do

Deaths: Jom, Auxi, Brentin Wexley, Mr Bones, Gallius Rax and :_| crazy Tashu

Who got fat: Snap Wexley. It appears that his mom and Wedge are no more an item cause he returns home with Nora.

The baby: Ben Solo is born in Hanna City of Chandrilla planet. Yes, it's official that he takes his father's name while his mother keeps Organa.No explanation given why they chose Ben, meaning no reference to Kenobi. The exact moment of his conception (yes, Han determined it) is "a night under the stars in the canopy of Endor trees" which makes more sense than Bloodline's attempt to make Ben legal. So a little bit of contradiction unless Han and Leia were honeymooning on Endor too. Rumors have been swirling about the birth, some saying labor went for 3 days some that it was quick and easy due to Leia's meditation. Some say Luke made a brief appearance before running off, some say he was absent. What is known is that Leia was attending the signing of the Imerial Instrument of Surrender during the third hour of her labor, but she told Han about it after the ceremony. Chewie was absent cause he's on Kashyyk. Lando's gift is a tooka doll (that's Hello Kitty, apparently). Baby and Leia have a strong connection through the Force that even Han notices and is a bit jealous of. But when the baby was crying and he asked Leia to use the Force, she told him to hold the baby and they bonded and the baby stopped crying. :_|

The ending: My Empress Rae Sloane flies Imperialis to Unknown Regions! Yes! The FO was born in Unknown Regions. Aboard are Brendol Hux, whose ass My Empress kicks ^^ and his son Armitage Hux who has become the leader of orphans that will be trained to serve the new Empire. My Empress doesn't trust those kids so she makes a deal with young Hux to protect him from his father and he'll protect her from the kids in return. Thanks to maps, they "skirted superstorms and saw strange creatures out there in the blackness of the void. They lost power system when a magnetic burst of mysterious origin cascaded through space". They finally reach the destination and see The Eclipse. Sentinel droid programmed to serve Palpatine:" Take us in. It's time to rejoin those who came before". We don't find out who they are. The book ends before my Empress meets them. Last words in the book:

"It's time to start over" she says to Hux (Armitage) "That's our first order. To begin again. And to get it right, this time."

"Yes, of course, grand Admiral. Anything you need. Glory be to Grand Admiral Sloane."

"No" she says "Glory goes only to the Empire"

My Empire, she thinks.

üble Träume/Visionen und dass sie schon zu der Zeit Luke nicht erreichen kann.

Luke. She reaches for him but doesn't find him.
The dark, now lit with stars. One by one, like eyes opening. Comforting at first, then sinister as she worries, Who is out there, who is watching us? Hands reach for her, hands of shadow, lifting her up, reaching for her throat, her wrists, her stomach -
Inside, the child kicks. She feels her baby turning inside, right-side, up and down, struggling to find his bearings, trying so hard to find his way free of her. It's not time, she thinks. Just a little longer.
Leia.
Luke, she wants to cry out. But her words don't come. her mouth is sealed, a hand pressed over it. One by one, stars go dark again, winking out of existence as if by a hand slowly closing over them -
Leia!
She gasps and wakes. Han. It's just Han. he's by her side of the bed, rousing her, gently shaking her shoulder.
The dream recedes like a wave going back to sea.
Hi, she says, her mouth tacky, her eyes full of sleep. her middle twists too - it's not the baby. It's some unseen fear uncoiling. The remnants of the dream haunt her - but they break apart like a sand castle as she sits up and clears her head, doing as Luke thought her to do.
Breathe in breathe out. be mindful of the world, the galaxy, your place within it. Everything will be OK. The Force will be your guide.