Fanfic / The Sith Resurgence

The Sith Resurgence is a Star Wars Sequel Trilogy rewrite written by Lily Orchard and Mikaila Turkleson.

A young Sith Lord living in exile lands on Jakku looking for a hyperdrive coil for her ship, which begins a cascade in the Force that will alter the course of galactic history forever.

This story features a discarding of most of the Sequel Trilogy's contentious content — such as most of the twists, the similarities to the Original Trilogy, much of the established romantic storylines, etc. — in favor of a more streamlined experience that differs as a result of the addition of new characters.

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The Sith Resurgence provides examples of:

• Affectionate Nickname:
  • On their way to Takodana, Rey starts calling Aliana "Alie" as a friendly nickname and continues to use it after they become a couple. After promising to keep no more secrets from Rey, Aliana has her droid 2V-R8 allow Rey full access to all classified info in his databanks and erase all her cover-stories, along with asking him to call her Alie from now on instead of Master or Miss Beniko.
  • In Chapter 30, Aliana gives Rey the pet name "Kitten". They both decide to use it around Leia to get under her skin.
• A Lesson Learned Too Well: Rey absorbed Aliana's philosophy a bit to well, leading to her getting captured by the ennemy.
• An Arm and a Leg: Kylo Ren cuts off Aliana's right leg below the knee after she throws her lightsaber at a Knight of Ren about to kill Rey.
• Armor-Piercing Question:
  • A furious Rey asks Luke one upon discovering that he was the Jedi Master who killed Aliana's mother nine years ago and scarred her for life:
    Rey: You went to so much effort to turn Darth Vader back from the Dark Side. And you've spent so long blaming yourself for Kylo Ren's fall. Do you really reserve your compassion only for the people you're related to?
  • Fed up with Leia insisting that Aliana is a pure evil, power-hungry Sith who will eventually stab the Resistance in the back, Holdo asks her:
    Holdo: If you're so certain that people who use the Dark Side are untrustworthy, then answer me this: Why are you so determined to bring Kylo Ren back to the Light?
• The Big Damn Kiss: After Aliana exhausts herself from using a Light Side technique to shield Rey from the Force Bond between her and Kylo Ren, Rey realises just how deep Aliana's care for her well-being is and that she loves her in return. So she leans forward and kisses her.◊
• Break the Cutie: When she lets Rey run off which leads to Kylo Ren capturing her on Takodana, Aliana is beyond devastated. The fear over what Kylo Ren might do to her along with the guilt over having left her unprotected completely unbalances her and leaves her a complete wreck. She finally breaks down crying when Han gives her a comforting hug.
• Canon Welding: Merging elements of the Disney Canon of Star Wars with Legends, such as the Beniko family and the Eternal Alliance (and thus all of Star Wars: The Old Republic)
• Continuity Nod:
  • Aliana's hatred of sand is very pronounced during the scenes on Jakku.
  • Aliana is the descendant of Lana Beniko.
  • Aliana shields Rey from the Force Bond using the Third Barsen'thor's shielding technique.
• Cool Starship: Aliana's ship, the Fury.
• Curb-Stomp Battle
  • The duel between Aliana and Kylo Ren. Aliana has prequel-trilogy level lightsaber training while Kylo Ren is said to "swing his lightsaber like it's an 80 foot club."
  • The subsequent duel between Rey and Kylo Ren on Ilum. Rey defeats him even faster than in the films predominately because she channels her hatred toward Kylo and uses the Dark Side.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Aliana has spent most of her life travelling the galaxy alone, avoiding the First Order and doing what she can to survive thanks to Luke Skywalker murdering her mother in front of her when she was fourteen. If not for her chance meeting with Rey on Jakku, she might have been alone for the rest of her life.
• Dark Is Not Evil: The entire story leans into this HARD.
  • From the moment Luke dies, "proper" Jedi cease to exist. Kylo Ren and Rey are Dark Jedi, Finn and Jannah are Force Sensitive marksmen, and Aliana and Talon are Sith Lords.
  • The Jedi are ostensibly the villains in this story, as the leader of the First Order is a Jedi and the big turning point for both Luke and Kylo Ren is the murder of Aliana's mother. Additionally the Republic Jedi are all but extinct, with Rey remarking that if she were to rebuild the Jedi she would rebuild it to be vastly different from the old Order.
• Destructive Romance: Rey and Aliana's relationship is this at first, with Rey holding Aliana's mistakes over her head and taking advantage of her guilt. Ceases to be so halfway through the story as Rey realizes how abusive she's been to Aliana and vows to herself that things will be better.
  • When Rey apologizes for her behavior aboard the Falcon, Aliana reveals that she hadn't really stopped thinking about that event and how much it had scared her. Rey then realizes that not only had she done something truly horrible to someone she had come to love so dearly, but that she'd bred a genuine fear of her in Aliana's eyes. It's the realization for Rey (and one Aliana knew early on) that their relationship is actually extremely unhealthy and codependant. This then follows through it's natural conclusion when Rey realizes that their relationship was built on the back of Aliana's emotional labor with Rey doing very little of it.
• Did I Just Say That Out Loud?: Rey instructs Aliana on how to clean the inside of a fuel converter. When Aliana asks how she can tell when she's finished due to the darkness inside, Rey promptly gives her a flashlight which she stares at for thirty seconds before taking. Rey snickers "It’s a good thing you’re pretty", before quickly realising what she just said and blushing. She tries to redirect Aliana's attention back to the fuel converter, who decides to playfully tease her instead.
  Aliana: Oh? You think I’m pretty?
  Rey: You're gorgeous, now focus on the fuel converter!
  Aliana: Oh, darling! Do go on!
  Rey: I'm not going to go on, clean the converter and stop mocking me for stating a fact!
  Aliana: So my beauty is a fact? How bold of you to proclaim something as indisputable truth!
• Does This Remind You of Anything?:
  • Kylo Ren's mind probe is described to be reckless, invasive and extremely painful to Rey as he aggressively dives into her brain. invokedThis only gets more blatant when Aliana uses the same technique to shield Rey's Force Bond and Rey experiences no pain because Aliana was being gentle and asked for consent.
  • Leia has an extreme amount of unwarranted distrust toward Aliana because of the fact that she's Sith. But toward Rey, she's almost immediately friendly and trusting despite Rey not actually choosing a Force discipline yet in the story and being stuck between the Light Side and the Dark Side. She even writes off the hatred she recieves from the Republic as pointless to question. Considering the way Aliana and Rey are designed, there might be other reasons why Leia is so biased toward Rey.
  • Aliana brings with her a new perception of the Republic, believing it to be a false vision of a unified galaxy, who's success was built on the bones of the people it exploited and murdered. When Rey goes to Coruscant, the first thing she sees is a security officer harassing a homeless alien woman at gunpoint. Additionally both Talon and Aliana have stories of being victimized by what is essentially police brutality.
• Easily Forgiven: Rey forgave Aliana for lying to her simply because she was, to quote the text: "Aliana was just too beautiful to maintain any kind of anger toward while in her proximity."
• Establishing Character Moment: Aliana trying to bargain with a junk dealer, before giving up and threatening to destroy all of his merchandise if he doesn't help her. She's a Sith who attempts to be nice with people, but she is still a Sith at her core.
• Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!: After 2V-R8 tells Rey that Luke and a young Ben Solo were the ones who attacked Aliana and her late mother when she was young, she confronts Luke and demands to know if that is true.
  Rey: Nine years ago, you and Kylo Ren killed a Sith Lord on Corellia. Is that true?
  Luke: What? Where did this come from?
  Rey: Answer the question!
  Luke: ...Yes. We received a tip that there was a place on Corellia that was touched with the Dark Side. As Ben and I went to investigate, we felt the Sith's presence almost immediately. I had deduced they were conspiring with the Imperial remnant on the planet. I knew decisive action had to be taken. Ben and I engaged the Sith and destroyed the master. The apprentice hasn't been seen si— [he slowly looks at Rey who's seething with anger] No...
• Fix Fic: For those who were unhappy with the Sequel Trilogy and the direction it took with the story and characters.
• Good Is Not Nice: Aliana is nice for a Sith Lord, but she's still Sith to the core. She has no problems punishing traitors and enemies, and when push comes to shove will advocate making sacrifices for the greater good.
• Good Is Not Soft: Aliana embodies this to a T. She ultimately has a strong moral center especially where her friends are involved, but is extremely ruthless toward her enemies and frequently employs extortion and terrorism against the First Order.
• Heel–Face Door-Slam: When Aliana is nearly killed during her coma, Luke uses his life energy to save her in an attempt to make up for killing her mother. When Aliana hears of this from Leia, she is unimpressed stating that Luke took more than a mother from her and that he owed her far more blood than one lifetime could ever repay.
• Heroic Sacrifice:
  • When fighting Kylo Ren aboard the Supremacy, Aliana sees Rey being overwhelmed by one of the Knights of Ren and, without hesitation, throws her lightsaber to deflect the Knight's killing blow. Kylo Ren then slices off her right leg and runs her through with his lightsaber. Thankfully she survives long enough for Rey to carry her back to the Fury for medical attention.
  • While Aliana's in a coma as a result of Kylo Ren injuring her, the Force starts draining her life with a Dark Side Burst for defying its will and shielding Rey's Force Bond with him. So Rey tries to use a Sith technique of transferring some of her life energy into her so she can finish recovering. She realises, however, that she can't give Aliana enough without killing herself. But Luke appears inside the base as a Force projection, having felt her agony from being wounded by Kylo Ren, and willingly transfers all his life energy into her.
• Hopeless with Tech:
  • For all her power and skill as a Sith Lord, Aliana is completely tech-illiterate. As such, she relies on her droid 2V-R8 to take care of maintenance on her ship. On Takodana, Rey tries to teach her about maintenance on basic ship parts. She tries not to laugh as Aliana fumbles around with trying to open a fuel converter, not realizing that the lock is still on. Rey finally takes it from her and flips open the lock easily.
  Aliana: You let me struggle with that for a half hour?!
  Rey: [laughing] You put on too good a show. Besides, now you won't forget about the lock.
  • When she and Poe take a Resistance shuttle to Canto Bight in Chapter 19, she sheepishly asks for his help getting it to lift off, admitting she barely knows how to pilot her own ship and mainly uses the Force or 2V to fly it.
• Humble Goal: Rey's character arc, like in the films, is about wanting to belong somewhere. Over the course of the story she becomes disillusioned with both the Force and the Jedi and begins to treasure her wife and friends more and more. It reaches a head when she realizes she'd rather plan a life together with Aliana and their friends than seek a grand destiny.
• Hurt/Comfort Fic: Both Aliana and Rey get put through life threatening and deeply traumatizing situations several times throughout the fic and comfort each other afterwards. Both of them processing their past trauma together and healing from it is also a recurring theme.
• Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: Chapters are named for throwaway lines of dialogue, thus leading to a Title Drop as well.
• Idiot Ball: Rey and Aliana have plenty of opportunities to kill Kylo Ren across the story. Why they don't do it, it's never explained. Not only does this senseless sparing come to bite them in the rear many times, but they also talk multiple times about how they need to kill him.
• If It's You, It's Okay: Played with. During the mission to Nathema, Vicrul monologues about technology that Kylo Ren intends to use to turn Aliana and Rey into his concubines. While Rey is disgusted, Aliana is simply too jaded to be surprised and takes the wind out of Vicrul's sails by joking about how if she had been mind-controlled to be straight, Ren's plan would ultimately still fail because Poe is "right there." Rey then gets in on the joke and argues with her that Finn is a better choice.
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: After cutting off Aliana's right leg, Kylo Ren then stabs her through the gut with his lightsaber onboard the Supremacy, critically wounding her.
• It's All My Fault: Aliana blames herself for leaving Rey alone on Takadana, resulting in her being taken prisoner by Kylo Ren.
• Liar Revealed: Afraid of losing the first friend she's made after evading the First Order for so long, Aliana keeps her Sith heritage a secret from Rey for over a week. Before Aliana has a chance to break the truth to her, Rey sees Aliana fighting Stormtroopers from a distance with her lightsaber when they get separated on Takodana. Rey is hurt and angry, wondering if anything Aliana said to her was true. When Finn, Han and Chewie and Aliana sneak into Starkiller Base, Rey is furious at her, even calling her Sith, but agrees to put her anger aside so they can all escape.
• Love Confession:
  • After destroying Starkiller Base, Aliana explains her Sith heritage to Rey and how she never bothered to hide it until she met Rey. When she demands to know why she is so concerned about her safety, Aliana finally confesses she loves Rey and how she couldn't bear the thought of Kylo Ren torturing her. Though she believes her, Rey firmly tells Aliana that she will have to earn back her trust over time and not keep any more secrets.
  • After Aliana shields the Force Bond between Rey and Kylo Ren and exhausts herself in the process, it all clicks with Rey just how much Aliana loves her and values her safety. So she plants a passionate kiss on Aliana and confesses that she loves her in return.
• Mercy Kill: Aliana beheads Lor San Tekka with her lightsaber to spare him a half hour of dying painfully from a chest wound.
• My God, What Have I Done?:
  • After Rey calls him out for murdering Darth Mayrik in front of her daughter Aliana when she was fourteen, Luke takes time to reflect on just how scarring it was for her, as well as his distrust of Aliana despite all she's doing to help the Resistance fight the First Order along with bringing Rey to him to train as a Jedi in the first place.
  • Leia gets a big reality check when Holdo leaves her alone with security footage from the Fury of her holo-conversation with Aliana, showing how her death wish to Aliana left her in tears and fearful that Rey might follow through on that. It's here that Leia's biased perception of Aliana having ulterior motives finally starts to waver.
  • Rey has one in Chapter 26 when it finally dawns on her that she held Aliana at gunpoint and threatened to kill her in anger when they were fleeing Ilum. And that after that she held Aliana's lying over her head and threw it back in her face whenever it was convinient for her, and expecting her to put in a disproportionate amount of effort in their relationship. Rey then realizes that she's been nothing short of abusive toward Aliana despite professing to love her. She vows things will change when Aliana wakes up that she won't take advantage of her anymore.
• No-Sell: On Crait, Kylo Ren charges at Rey and swings his lightsaber down at her with all his strength... only for her to block it with one arm and smirk◊, her eyes yellow with the power of the Dark Side.
• Not Afraid to Die: Aliana pragmatically offers a last resort to detonate a Thought Bomb to disable the First Order's ships and kill them, completely passive about the fact that doing so would kill her, much to Rey's horror. After Rey begs her not to do it, Aliana realises that she still has to get used to having friends that actually want her around and promises not to do it.
• Revenge is Sweet: Aliana's vengeance on the Skywalker family is portrayed extremely positively, largely because Aliana was making plans for what she would do with her life after she had it. As a result her vengeance brings out her natural eye color, eases her raw nerves, and gives her the peace she needs to allow Leia to grieve for her son. It also establishes that Aliana's mental health had improved dramatically in the following years.
• Scars Are Forever: Aliana has one on her shoulder from the day she and her mother Darth Mayrik were attacked by Luke and Ben Solo on Corellia when she was a child, resulting in her mother's death and Ben scarring her with his lightsaber.
• Screw Destiny: Both Rey and Aliana's reaction to the Force bridging Kylo Ren and Rey's minds in an attempt to make Rey bring him back to the light, regardless of how much she hates him and all the times he's manipulated and tried to kill her.
• Shut Up, Hannibal!: When he confronts her on Crait, Kylo Ren tries once again to gaslight Rey only to realise his words have no effect on her anymore.
  Kylo Ren: Do you think this matters? You’ve already failed. You tried to fulfill your destiny. You failed. You tried to save the Resistance from us. You failed. You sent the Sith to kill us all. You failed. You failed to prove yourself as a Jedi. You just keep failing! But I have not. I have taken over the First Order. I have become the most powerful man in all the galaxy! And I will destroy the Resistance, the Sith, and you, once and for all. Today, the past will die!
  Rey: [activates her lightsabers] You've been left humiliated and disgraced every time you’ve come into contact with me or Alie. She defeated you with her bare hands. I threw you out of the Raddus AND carved your face apart on Ilum. And striking Alie down isn't a victory for you. She LET you strike her down. Why do you think this time will be any different?
• Sleeps in the Nude: After Holdo promotes the two of them to Commander of their respective orders, Rey and Aliana discuss sharing sleeping quarters. When Aliana remarks on how she's not used to sleepwear, Rey realizes that she sleeps naked and immediately becomes flustered at the thought of that. Aliana assures her that they don't have to take the next step in their relationship yet and that she'll wear clothes to bed to make Rey feel comfortable.
• Spotlight-Stealing Squad: Aliana, by design, supplants Kylo Ren as the resident Dark Side Force user with a complicated past and Rey's love interest while Kylo Ren is pushed back to ineffectual villain who is routinely clowned on by the other characters.
• Suddenly Shouting:
  • When they're back on D'Qar, Rey starts to get on Aliana's case for not being able to prevent Han Solo's death despite stopping Starkiller Base's laser. Frustrated by the Resistance thinking that she can win the war for them as long as she's on their side, Aliana snaps at her "I AM NOT A GOD, REY!".
  • Rey finds out that Luke and Ben Solo were the Jedi who killed Aliana's mother in front of her when she was fourteen and confronts him. She furiously interrupts him when he tries to defend himself.
  Luke: They were Si—
  Rey: SHE WAS A CHILD!
• Supernatural Gold Eyes: Aliana's eyes are a bright red, colored from their natural light brown by the Dark Side of the Force. After being mortally wounded by Kylo Ren, the Force grows weak in her which causes her eyes to fade back to brown.
• Take That!: When discussing how the galaxy fears the Sith so much that no kids are named Anakin anymore, Rey adds that she can't imagine the name Palpatine is very popular either, prompting Aliana to tell her that Palpatine's first name was Sheev. Rey nearly chokes on her own laughter.
• Trauma Conga Line: Aliana has spent most of her life traveling the galaxy alone, avoiding the First Order and doing what she can to survive thanks to Luke Skywalker murdering her mother in front of her when she was fourteen. If not for her chance meeting with Rey on Jakku, she might have been alone for the rest of her life.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech:
  • After finding out that Luke, without a second thought, attacked and killed Aliana's mother in front of her when she was a child, Rey delivers a brutal one to him.
    Rey: You said that the galaxy doesn’t need the Jedi anymore, and now I see why. Because Jedi like you are just a blight on the galaxy. But I won't be like you. I'’ll be the Jedi that the galaxy needs.
  • During their confrontation on Crait, Rey gives one hell of an epic one to Kylo Ren and the First Order:
    Rey: [pacing behind him as he kneels, injured] What was that you said about me failing to achieve my destiny?
    Kylo Ren: ...Y-You could have ruled the galaxy... with me. ...B-But you chose to die… with the rest of the r-rebel trash...
    Rey: [kneels] The only ones I see dying are your forces… and you. You haven't conquered the galaxy. You're going to die here. What deludes you to think you can rule the galaxy?
    Kylo Ren: [struggling to get to his feet] I-I carry the blood of Darth Vader in my veins! It is my birthright to claim what he never could! He was destined to rule the galaxy, and I will see that destiny fulfilled, as his successor. My blood is one of power! Of the Dark Side! You have no bloodline! You come from nothing! You're nothing!
    Rey: Darth Vader was a decrepit corpse walking around in a mobile iron lung. He was a pathetic excuse for a Jedi who let Darth Sidious manipulate him because he had a bad dream. And for all his power in the Force, that didn't stop another Jedi from cutting off all his limbs and setting him on fire. [stands and deactivates her lightsabers] You don't come from a mighty bloodline. Vader was the only powerful Force User in your family. And he came from a family of slaves who grew up with nothing. You come from nothing.
    [she stands up straight and looks up at all the First Order walkers and assault vehicles]
    Rey: You... ARE ALL... NOTHING!
• Tragic Keepsake: After her mother Darth Mayrik's death by the hands of Luke Skywalker when she was a child, Aliana previously had nothing but memories of her for nine years of her life. But after Rey calls Luke out for it, he reveals he kept her lightsaber and gives it back to Aliana.
• Unpleasant Parent Reveal: Rey learning about her parents count as this.
• Walking Spoiler: The narrative makes no attempt to hide Aliana's identity as a Sith Lord, and Aliana herself avoids keeping it from most people with the exception of Finn and Rey.
• Wham Line: While training with Luke on Ahch To, Rey notices that Aliana is extremely uneasy around him. Remembering that Aliana showed her a childhood lightsaber wound from when her mother Darth Mayrik was killed, Rey puts two and two together and asks Aliana's droid 2V-R8 who attacked her and her mother:
  2V-R8: Darth Mayrik and Darth Amorosa were attacked by Jedi Master Luke Skywalker and Jedi Padawan Benjamin Solo.
• What the Hell, Hero?:
  • Rey is livid upon learning that Aliana's fear of Luke stems from Luke killing her mother in front of her when she was just a child and how he only seems concerned with trying to negotiate with Sith when they're his own family (Anakin and Ben Solo).
  • Leia's deathwish to Aliana was heavily criticised not only by Rey, but by most of the squad and even some of the Resistance leadership.
  • When Leia's reaction to Rey's Force Bond with Kylo Ren is elation rather than horror, and she becomes mortified upon learning that it's been shielded and that Rey has begun a romantic relationship with Aliana, Rey lectures her for her clear and obvious family bias and threatens to leave the Resistance if Leia doesn't make things right with Aliana.

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