The Renegade Emperor

Several years ago, before the Battle of Yavin, the Emperor was coming to end of his life in his current body.  As he always did, Emperor Palpatine, through his mastery of the Dark Side of the Force, performed the agonising, yet essential mind transfer into a new clone body.  Occasionally, very rarely, something could go wrong.  The clone rejected the emperors essence.  In that instance the Emperor was nearly destroyed, but he managed to transfer his spirit into the body of another clone.  When the Emperor regained his senses he discovered that the clone that had rejected his spirit was still alive, and had absorbed all of his knowledge, memory and power.  Emperor Palpatine was intrigued by such an occurrence, but did not have the time for further examination, his Death Star plans were waiting for his approval, and there were other matter of importance.  The clone, Palpatinne, was placed in Cryogenic Stasis, but even this would not contain a being of the Emperors power.  Therefore the Stasis chamber was surrounded with rare Strata Gems that could, in large quantities, absorb the Force from a user, making them mundane.

Palpatinne was to be transferred to Mount Tanis, the emperors secret keep on the remote world of Gar.  However, the transfer of a large quantity of Strata Gems could not go unnoticed, and a small pirate group planned to hit the Imperial shipment, unaware of the dangerous cargo.  The Pirates were led by Captain Durrell, a rebel privateer with the rouge Lady Savant Mattherson, of the Tapani Sector, serving as his second-in-command.  The initial attack was successful.  However, an Imperial Star Destroyer arrived and destroyed Durrells' pirate Frigate.  A couple of pirates escaped with enough Strata Gems to make them rich for life, not that Lady Savant really needed any more money.  But even the loss of a couple of the small gems was enough to upset the balance of Palpatinne's tomb.  The rouge clone escaped.

Sovereign Palpatinne

With all of the Emperors power and knowledge, the clone Palpatinne also inherited another trait from his creator, the unrequited desire for total galactic conquest and domination.

 However, this desire for evil does not go unquestioned by Sovereign Palpatinne.  He knows that his evil acts are nothing more than the will of the Dark Side.  Or more precisely the Emperor's will.  Palpatinne tries constantly to break the hold that the Dark Side has over him, but his manipulation of the Dark Side of the Force only bind him more tightly into the downward spiral of darkness.

With the Dark Side guiding him the Sovereign now has an agenda, to replace Emperor Palpatine and become Emperor himself.  The Sovereign has created his own army of Clone Stormtroopers.  He has enlisted the aid of high ranking Imperial Officers as well as the Imperial Inquisition and of other races such as the dreaded Skull.  Sovereign Palaptinne has also built an astoundingly large space fleet in a very short amount of time, contracting several shipyards Beyond the Blood Drift.  He has a couple of Imperial Class Star Destroyers, many Victory Class Star Destroyers and a Super Star Destroyer at his command.  The pride of his fleet however is his Sovereign Class Star Destroyer, built with prototype plans stolen from the Emperors own starship designers on Coruscant.  This vessel he keeps secretly hidden Beyond the Blood Drift, waiting until the time to strike comes.

The Sovereigns first move was to obtain a Cloning Facility, which he did, and set up base on the planet Berea in the Elrood Sector.  His first target is to be the rich Tapani Sector.  He has already replaced millions of Imperial Stormtroopers with his own clones.  By triggering Imperial descent within the Tapani Sector the Imperial War Machine will move in to maintain order.  Unwittingly sending the Sovereigns own troops into the Sector, where he would then take control.  There would be opposition from the House's of tapani.  From the Imperial loyal Mercetti and from the Rebel sympathizers Pelagia, and the original plan was to wipe out both of these House's, and build a new House from the remenants of them. 

But plans change...

There is a light in Sovereign Palpatinne's dark heart, in the form of Lady Savant Mattherson of House Pelagia in the Tapani Sector.  She was the one that The Sovereign credits with releasing him from his tomb at the hands of the Emperor.  So, against the recommendation of Grand Admiral Kaine, the House's of Tapani are to remain.  Not only that, but the Sovereign wishes to make Lady Savant head of the Sector.  A move that could cause much descent from all directions.  Even the great powers of The sovereign may not be able to pull off such a feat.

To be continued...

Grand Admiral Kaine

Grand Admiral Kaine is an enigma.  A charming and charismatic man with an unknown military history.  It is known that he is a noble, a Lord, of House Mercetti, but any record of his career has been erased.  Not only that, but Imperial Center have no record of him either, so why does the Emperor allow the recognition of this rouge Grand Admiral.  At last count there were twelve Grand Admirals, not including Thrawn.  Kaine is also not one of the twelve, yet his orders hold the greatest of power over the Imperial fleet.

Grand Admiral Kaine has had one failure recently, failing to anticipate the actions of a group of Rebels, led by Colonel Dax, during their escape from the planet Berea in the Elrood Sector.  The rebels took the Grand Admiral hostage, but their vehicle was attacked by the Sovereigns Imperial forces.  Mortally wounded the Grand Admiral has survived, but at a cost.  He now walks with a limp and the aid of a walking stick due to injuries to his right leg.  His lower right arm was also lost, the Grand Admiral now having to make do with a cyborg replacement.  These injuries have made him resentful towards the Rebel Alliance, whom he had no malice towards before.  Due the The Sovereigns lack of foresight Kaine also holds some doubt in his heart with regard to the Sovereigns master plan.

Admiral Xoth

Admiral Xoth is a military man through and through.  He has worked his way up through the Imperial ranks.  He has earned the right to be an Admiral.  Admiral Xoth does not fully understand the events regarding the Sovereign.  The truth being that the Sovereign has clouded Xoth's mind regarded his breakaway Empire.

Xoth was born on Chadrilla, and has always been loyal to the Emperors New Order.  He holds doubt in his mind with regard to matters of The Force.  He is a bit confused with a lot of the recent espionage work he has been called upon to perform, but the Emperor has ordered that he obey The Sovereign, or so he believes, so he will perform his duties to the utmost of his ability.

Of all of the Sovereigns commanders it is Admiral Xoth who could be the most valuable, but also the biggest threat to the Sovereigns plan.

Captain Orkon

Captain Orkon is totally oblivious to the Sovereigns grand plan.  A loyal servant of the New Order, Captain Orkon still lives in the hope of early retirement or promotion to Admiral, although he knows his career has not been strong enough to go beyond his current rank.  Orkon is not a strong man, and not a happy man.  He often comes across as grumpy and in a bad mood.  This is partly because he knows he is stuck in his current post patrolling the Rimma Trade Run.  Although he doesn't mind the trips out to the distant Tapani Sector.  He does mind the occasional forays where he is required to travel Beyond the Blood Drift.  He also has a disdain for the Tapani Sector who's nobles care not for ones rank below that of an Admiral.  To them he is but a commoner, so whenever in the Sector he will often remain aboard ship, finding excuses to avoid attending events, which will no doubt be attended by Grand Admiral Kaine anyway.

Inquisitor Nothos

One branch of the Empire that has declared loyalty to the Sovereign are the dreaded Inquisition.  The Imperial Inquisitors are now all under the command of the Sovereign.  Inquisitor Nothos has been very active in making sure that other Imperial branches, such as ISB do not suspect the Inquisition.

Nothos is a cold heartless man with no respect for life other than his own.  He has embraced the New Order of the Sovereign whom he believes a more capable man than the Emperor.   His torture techniques are from a nightmare.  The Sovereign has made Inquisitor Nothos a  more visible figure in his Empire, to instill fear and obedience into his army. 

Clone Stormtroopers

Every power mad dictator needs an army to do his evil bidding.  Without such and army the Sovereign decided to make his own with the aid of a long thought dead Clone Master.  The Sovereign is aware that his clones have been created quickly, and could become unstable.  This is a risk the Sovereign is willing to take.  If his plan goes to schedule he will have control of the Empire very shortly and will no longer require his clone army. 

The Clone Stormtroopers are the cornerstone of the Sovereigns plan.  The Sovereign has systematically been replacing Imperial troops with his own.  There are now already several million Stormtroopers loyal to the Sovereign within the Imperial forces, primarily within the ranks of Stormtroopers.  The two major infiltration points were at the Torpedo Sphere currently in the docks of the Tallan shipyards in the Tapani Sector, and on the Imperial held world of Derilyn in the Elrood Sector.  On Derilyn the Sovereign would eliminate the incoming Stormtroopers and have their equipment shipped to the planet Berea, the location of his primary Clone Facility, when the new clones would be equipped with the gear and identification of Stormtrooper in question.  In the Tapani Sector new squads of Stromtroopers brought in to guard the Torpedo sphere would come from the Sovereigns own Stromtrooper stock, with the released troopers being transported unknowingly to Derilyn to their demise.