TM 2020 Lucasfilm Ltd. All rights reserved Published by Disney Lucasfilm Press an imprint of Buena Vista Books Inc. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical including photocopying photocopying recording or by any information storage and retrieval system without written permission from the publisher For information address Disney Lucasfilm Press 1200 Grand Central Avenue Glendale California 91201 ISBN 978-1-368-05657-1 Visit the official Star Wars website at www.starwars.com
The dead speak The galaxy has heard a mysterious broadcast a threat of REVENGE in the sinister voice of the late EMPEROR PALPATINE GENERAL LEIA ORGANA dispatches secret agents to gather intelligence while REY the last hope of the Jedi trains for battle against the diabolical FIRST ORDER Meanwhile Supreme Leader KYLO REN rages in search of the phantom Emperor determined to destroy any threat to his power
PROLOGUE ONCE THERE WAS a woman who was born to lead Orphaned as a child she was adopted by royalty and became a princess of a peaceful planet She began a life of public service as an outspoken Imperial senator later becoming a commander in the Rebel Alliance a politician in the New Republic and then the head of the Resistance in the fight against the First Order When she was a young rebel she discovered the dark truth about her heritage Her name was Leia and by birth she was a Skywalker But she never took that name for her own In the galaxy she was always known as an Organa Once there was an old man who wanted never to die He came from the nobility of an affluent world and was elected to lead the Old Republic through its gravest crisis as its chancellor His name was Palpatine and he was often described as a thin kindly gentleman who harbored no ambition other than to bring stability to a war torn galaxy But another ambition he did have one so cunning and sinister sinister that few realized it until after he had turned the Republic into an Empire and declared himself Emperor By this title
