A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away...

(play Main Title music and scroll down slowly)

STAR WARS

THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK

It is a dark time for the Rebellion. After the terrible defeat at The Battle of Yavin, the remaining cells have escaped to the ice planet of Hoth. There, they have constructed a new base of operations; Echo Base.

But the evil Sith lord Darth Vader is not far behind. He has dispatched thousands of probe droids to seek out the remaining members of the Alliance. One of them has discovered the new base and informed the Empire.

With little time left before their inevitable defeat, General Ahsoka Tano, leader of what's left of the Rebellion desperately seeks an alternative solution to turn the tide in their favour...

Echo Base, the 12th planet in the Hoth System...

On the ice caps that surrounded Echo Base, one of the last surviving Jedi Knights covered in thick winter protection gear led his men into battle against the Imperial offensive. "Fire back!" Kanan yelled, deflecting blaster bolts away with his lightsaber. All around him, soldiers fell as hot plasma shots entered their bodies. Against them, six Imperial AT-ATs firing mercilessly against the far inferior Rebel soldiers. Kanan charged forward and jumped high into the air, swinging his lightsaber into the legs of the nearest walker, just like he had done on Lothal sixteen years earlier. The huge metal machine fell on its side and exploded, killing all its occupants. Despite being blind, Kanan was still a powerful Jedi Knight.

The Empire wasn't just attacking from the ground. In the sky above the ice caps, a modified YT-2400 light freighter known as the Ghost led the Rebel pilots against the huge swarm of TIEs; and they were losing. X-Wings, Y-Wings and Snowspeeders were being shot down every minute. More Rebel ships than Imperial ships were being destroyed. With six Star Destroyers and one Super Star Destroyer blocking any and all ships attempting to leave the system, the Empire had successfully trapped its enemy on the icy planet.

On board the Super Star Destroyer Executor, Lord Vader watched the battle unfold from the bridge. All around him, starfighter and lasers flew pass and exploded on the deflector shield protecting the hull of Executor. The Sith Lord turned around and walked towards the holotable that was currently displaying the battle below them. "Admiral Piett, status report now" he demanded.

"Yes, my Lord. The battalions report that they're pushing the Rebels back on all fronts." the recently promoted Admiral reported. "And the Destroyers have the planet blockaded; we have them surrounded my Lord."

"Excellent. Prepare my TIE fighter, Admiral. And tell the troops to leave no survivors." Vader commanded before leaving the bridge for the Hangar Bay. Piett complied, ordering the technicians in the Hangar to prepare the TIE fighter.

Meanwhile...

Back on the ground, the Imperial troops had forced Kanan and his men to retreat, despite their best efforts. Now, they were in the Hangar, with the other surviving soldiers. Behind them, the main durasteel doors closed and the base's emergency rat shield was activated. The middle-aged Jedi found the Ghost parked in the middle of the Hangar, her pilot Hera Syndulla sitting on the ramp weeping. He ran towards her and did his best to comfort her. "I tried..." his wife mumbled, struggling to control her sobs. "And I failed... They all fell..." she finished, resting her head on his shoulder. Her resolve broke and tears spilt down her cheeks. Kanan wrapped his arms around her figure and hugged her.

"You did your best, dear. That's really all that we can do" he whispered. Suddenly, someone ran in front of the couple.

"Captain Jarrus, Captain Syndulla, Commander Tano has requested for you in the meeting room. It's urgent." The young man informed them. He was clearly panicking.

They met Ahsoka Tano on their way to the meeting room. But instead of leading them there, Ahsoka led them to another room. The Togruta keyed in a code into the security lock and the door slid open. Inside was a large machine of some sort. It consisted of a series of rings suspended above a platform. Above that was something else fixed to the roof of the chamber that appeared to be part of the machine.

"Kanan, Hera, I'll make this quick. The Empire has us in their grasp, there's no way we're getting out of this." The Togruta said, surprisingly calmly. "That, however, may give us a chance" she pointed at the contraption.

"What is it? A superweapon?" Kanan asked.

"Well, kinda. The engineers who found it say its some sort of time displacement machine. It can allow people to travel through time." Ahsoka replied.

"So why did you call us here?" Hera asked.

"Your friends Ezra and Sabine have volunteered for this mission. I thought you'll want to say goodbye." Ahsoka said, gesturing to the two young adults behind her. "We're going to send them back in time to the Clone Wars era. Their mission is to kill the leader of the Republic; Chancellor Palpatine, before he can establish the Empire. Without the Emperor, the Empire cannot rise, and we can win this war by making sure it never happens, to begin with."

Kanan and Hera felt that it was a good plan, given the grim ending that was approaching. But Hera was still concerned. "Did you test it, Ahsoka?" she asked.

Ahsoka's smile disappeared and she couldn't look Hera in the eye. "We... We only have enough power to run the machine for one shot. And there's no time for tests, that's why I thought you would want to see them one last time before they leave."

"WHAT?! NO! YOU CAN'T DO THIS! WHAT ARE THEY, LAB LOTHCATS?!" Hera yelled, enraged at the low prospects of success. She raised her hand to slap Ahsoka, only for a gloved hand to grab her wrist.

"Hera, we volunteered for this, we understand the dangers, but it has to be done," Sabine said, trying to calm her mentor and mother-figure. "If we don't do this, we'll all die."

"But why you?!" Hera shouted furiously.

"Hera, if all you do is fight for your life, then your life is worth nothing," Ezra said, walking towards them. "We sacrifice for each other, no matter the cost. Becuase that's worth fighting for."

Hera broke down again and hugged her 'children' that she had grown to love. "Take care, both of you," she whispered. Kanan joined in the big group hug, followed by Zeb.

"I don't mean to break this up, but we have to get going, guys." Ahsoka interrupted their farewell. They reluctantly broke away, Hera now in control of her tears again.

"The machine will tear apart anything not encased in living tissue. So you'll have to take your clothes off," the engineer at the control panel informed Ezra and Sabine. Nervously, the two undressed, tossing their clothes on to the floor. As they walked up to the platform, both Rebels were covering their private areas.

"May The Force Be With You," Kanan said, saluting them. Ezra and Sabine nodded. They both crouched on the platform, holding each other close.

Suddenly, the base shook and Ahsoka's communicator started beeping. When she answered it, she could hear a terrified man on the other end. "Commander, the Imperials have breached the energy shield and have entered the Hangar Bay. They're slaughtering us out here! There's a -" the man started to gag and choke. Then a humming sound could be heard, accompanied by screams of terror. Sounds of mechanical breathing could also be heard.

"He's here," Ahsoka stated. "Men, get that machine going yesterday. Kanan, you're with me. Vader has arrived." she ordered before turning to leave the room, her lightsabers in hand. Kanan followed her, his weapon also drawn.

As the technicians got to work, powering up the machine, it started to glow and the rings started to spin. Within minutes, Ezra and Sabine were surrounded by a ball of electricity. They started to float above the platform. Then, everything went white as the ball of electricity disappeared with them. The machine emitted sparks and the whole base went dark as the lights went out.

When Ahsoka and Kanan reached the Hangar Bay, the durasteel doors had been blasted open and bodies were strewn all across the icy floor. Darth Vader was strangling one of the soldiers with the Force. "Let him go!" Ahsoka yelled. The Sith Lord turned to face his new adversary.

"Ahsoka Tano," he said, crushing the soldier's throat and throwing him against the wall. The snowtroopers raised their rifles to shoot at the Jedi. Ahsoka and Kanan nodded to each other and used their combined Force powers to throw the snowtroopers out of the Hangar. Darth Vader was pushed back only a small distance. The Sith Lord pulled out his lightsaber and activated it, the crimson blade emerging from the hilt. His opponents activated theirs as well and charged at him.

A/N: Hi guys. Thanks for reading the prologue. So yeah, I've been watching a lot of Terminator recently. That's how I was inspired to write this story. This will be more of an action story with the romance in the background. Also, in this story, Leia and Luke were both killed at the Battle of Yavin, Han Solo and Chewie didn't come back to help the Rebellion. Oh, by the way, Sabine and Ezra are already a couple in this story. Anyway, thanks again and May The Force Be With You!

Also, I'll Be Back.

~Paul