NOTE: Please read parts I and II before continuing.
The fourth planet from the star Fala is a gas giant with an eerie green color. Not a pale bluish green, a bright vibrant green. Orbiting it are seven moons, the third one the only one capable of sustaining life. It was a very densely forested moon, with one large clearing in which the capital city of Derek was built. It also contained deep in it's woods a small tree hut that had a rope bridge connecting it to a hollow tree.
Faladak is normally peaceful, not much space traffic. This insignificant Outer Rim world mattered little to the New Empire, that is, until Gutarios took over. The Jedi Knight Dalitan was a native of Faladak III, and it is his hut in the woods. The planet remained undisturbed for nine months after Gutarios sent his best trainees to take care of the Jedi, but Eraas Flametounge disobeyed his order to help Harlechquinn, instead tried to take out his competition for Gutarios's right hand. The Jedi Dalitan defeated both, but Gutarios had sent both of them for that purpose. He knew only their combined strength could defeat the Jedi.
Gutarios was displeased by the incident. He decided that the only way to take out Dalitan was to take out the whole planet first. His plan was simple, destroy the planet from orbit, setting fire to the forests with the stardestroyer's turbolasers, that is, the parts that aren't instantly disintegrated. The Fear Star, the first super stardestroyer in decades, would easily be able to wipe out the surface in no time. And his top notch Alpha Squadron could take out any planetary defenses.
"Sir, all stardestroyers are ready for hyperspace, coordinates locked. We are waiting for your command." The navigator on the Fear Star said. He was young, but he had just as much experience as any other man on this ship.
Gutarios turned on the comlink built into his chair. "All vessels, jump on my mark. 3, 2, 1, engage hyperdrives. The Battle and destruction of Faladak's third moon will begin in three hours when we arrive." Gutarios smiled a cruel and wicked smile. He would destroy Dalitan. He had foreseen it.
"Members of the New Republic Senate. I am Jedi Knight Romnakin Evawaar. I have had a vision. I have seen an attack on the planet Faladak. I believe this attack will happen in a matter of hours. I request that any remaining ships here on Coruscant leave immediately to intercept any attacking force. I move for a vote of emergency." Romnakin said.
"Why should we trust your 'vision' Knight Evawaar?" one Senator asked,
"Must I remind you, Senator, that Jedi Knights have correctly warned us of danger for decades?" another Senator said. "I second the motion." Almost every Senator in the room gave a resounding 'Yes' to the vote. Only a couple gave a 'No'. "The motion passes. All combat ready fighters on Coruscant will be sent to Faladak to prevent an attack."
Dalitan. There will be an attack soon. You must get every available fighter in space as soon as possible. The thought came unbidden to Dalitan's mind. It was Romnakin. Dalitan arose from his sitting position. He had been meditating for hours and the only thought he had was Romnakin's. His legs ached. He decided Romnakin was probably right. He began walking to the door of his hut. On his way he clipped his lightsabers to his belt. Dalitan didn't think his legs would make it all the way to the spaceport. He decided to use his most powerful ally to get there. The Force. He could fly, but not nearly as well as Romnakin. He flew, awkwardly, slowly, but he flew. He arrived at the spaceport in half the time it would have took to walk. "You will let me use the intercom." He said to the man in the control tower.
"I will let you use the intercom." He repeated. Dalitan switched it on then announced to everybody in a four-mile radius "All pilots with combat worthy ships, the planet is about to be attacked. Get to your ships and help defend the planet. I repeat, the planet is about to be attacked." He switched off the intercom and said to the man "Thank you." Then he rushed to the Saber II.
In the spaceport he announced to all pilots "We will be joined shortly by New Republic forces. We will be designated Green Squadron."
One man in the crowd, wearing the orange flight suit of a New Republic pilot said "I will be Green Leader, my wing man will be Green 2. Dalitan will be Green 3, if he is joining us up there, of course."
"Every available fighter must be up there, including mine." Dalitan said as he climbed into his cockpit. He pulled on his helmet and closed the cockpit. As always, his little astromech droid kept his ship prepped for flight, and he was the first one out of the atmosphere. "Three marks coming in from hyperspace. No wait, make that seven. One of them is huge." He said over the subspace radio. "3 new marks, they're holding back on the TIEs."
"Don't get to close to that super stardestroyer. And hold back from that Lancer Frigate too. I hope those forces arrive soon." Green Leader said. "Or we'll be in deep trouble." The ragtag group that made up Green Squadron was only eight fighters. Against three TIEs it would be easy. But against seven capitals and three TIEs is another story.
"I got one on my tail!" One pilot shouted. "Aaaaaggghhh!" He screamed as he exploded into a ball of flame. Dalitan winced. When the ship went up, there were ripples of pain and death in the Force.
"I have confirmed data here, those are TIE Avengers." Dalitan said. "Any time they want they can get out of here."
"Are you sure? They don't have the energy output of shields." Another pilot said.
"They do, but they're on low power, they're keeping their engines nice and powered up to out fly us. They seem to be good at maneuvering behind us. Keep them in your sites!" Dalitan explained. He put his ship in a tight roll. He lined up one of the Avengers in his sites and pulled the trigger. The TIE pulled up and the blast deflected off his shields. Dalitan pulled his ship to follow. "They're going to fast! I can't seem to get them in my sites long enough to shoot. My computer reads that all of them are still there, and we've lost two. This is not good."
Suddenly, the number of green dots on Dalitan's screen quadrupled. "Citizens of Faladak, this is the Hurricane we are here to offer our help." A voice piped over the intercom.
"Hurricane, this is Green 3, we're glad for your help." Dalitan said over the many shouts on the intercom. The stardestroyers released twenty more TIEs. "I knew they were holding back!" Dalitan yelled.
"Don't worry green group, were releasing the T-90's now." The T-90 was a new model of Incom's old X-Wing. They were the New Republic's main fighters. About twenty of the fighters appeared out of the Hurricane's launch bays, separated into groups of two and locked their S-Foils into an "X" position. They immediately began singling out TIE Fighters and swarming them. The match was pretty even. A large red dot disappeared as the Lancer Frigate was destroyed. "Yeah!" Someone shouted.
"Have we taken any of those Avengers out yet?" Dalitan asked as he went into a roll. He blasted at a TIE Fighter. "Damn it, with all these TIEs it would seem like Sienar Fleet Systems is still making them. But we put them out of business decades ago." He hit it dead on.
"I know. I think that someone set up shop. These TIEs would be rusting and shedding parts mid-flight if they were that old. Not dodging every shot we throw at them." Green 5 said. A group of re-modeled B-Wings dodged turbolaser blasts as it flew over a stardestroyer, bombing it. Another B-Wing flew past; hitting the massive wedge's bridge, making the thing burst into flames. Even if the auto systems sealed off the area, without a bridge the ship was doomed. A third B-Wing took out half the weapons systems. The first circled around for another pass and blasted out its engines. It exploded in a ball of flame as one of the TIEs flew up behind it.
"I'm surprised they're still making those B-Wings, they're just too slow for ship to ship combat." One pilot said. "I heard that they've been around for a long time though."
"You want around for a long time? Those X-Wings are based off a model that dates back over hundred years. And my ship was based off of corrupting data files from even further back." Dalitan said.
"I think the Republic should stick with the A-Wing, it's the most balanced ship they have." Yet a different pilot said. "Except those X-Wings take more of a beating."
"Cut the chatter green group, we have to stay on target." An X-Wing pilot said. "We've yet to take out any of those Avengers. The Fighters are dropping like flies though. Hey, Red 4, can you get that one off my back, I can't shake him!"
"I'll be right there boss!" Another pilot, Red 4, said. But he was too late. The X-Wing exploded into a flower of fire. Enraged, Red 4 blasted the TIE. "YOU KILLED MY BROTHER!" He yelled as a bolt struck the TIE dead on. A piece of shrapnel from the exploding TIE hit Red 4's cockpit, puncturing the transparisteel and depressurizizing the ship.
"Oh, crap, were losing them too fast." Another pilot said as a blaster bolt streaked past. He dodged to the side, unknowingly into the path of one of the Avenger's deadly blast. A pair of T-90's came up behind the Avenger and blasted at it. The first shot deflected off its shields, but a second would destroy it. They fired… and another Avenger came up and took the entire attack. Then a trio of Fighters blasted the T-90's to smithereens. The Avengers lost most of their shields, but the X-Wings lost their hulls.
Over a desolate world in the Unknown Regions of the Galaxy there were construction yards. There they built every second of the Standard day for three months now TIE Fighters. The planet was called Siejafer'd. Gigantic automated mines reminiscent of World Devastators stripped the planet constantly. A nearby planet was devoted entirely to capital star-ships. Both factories worked efficiently and quickly. The factory in charge of the capital ships had forked out a super class stardestroyer in a mere year. The entire system was composed mainly of construction materials and fuel sources, making it ideal for the two large factories. The system's star was in a cluster called C649487, just a number on a star chart. In another system of the cluster waited four huge Imperial VII stardestroyers, seven mid-sized Lancer IX Frigates, and countless other ships of varying shapes and sizes. The New Imperial Shipyards made all of these ships in the past decade. Most of which was spent on construction of the yards themselves. Five years ago there were ten planets in the Siejafer system, now there were eight. The factories were still working even after more than a thousand TIE Fighters were produced…
Dalitan dodged a laser blast. He put his ship into a tight turn and swiveled the top mounted Ion Cannon. He squeezed the trigger and watched as the TIE rolled out of his line of fire. A blast struck his ship, knocking out all but emergency power. He was dead in space. He double-checked the seals of his vacuum suit, sealed on his helmet on, and switched on his homing beacon. He kept his finger on the EJECT button, just in case he needed to bail. He would stay with his ship until then if possible. A Corellian ship came by first. Dalitan felt a jolt as the tractor beams sucked him in. A TIE came up in front of him. He squeezed the triggers uselessly, same with the button to activate the shields. Just as he saw the enemy ship's laser cannons flare to life he hit the EJECT button. A bolt came from nowhere, destroying the TIE before its cannons released the built up energy. Dalitan went into a Force hibernation and waited until he was safely aboard before he woke up.
Three hours later, Dalitan woke up in a bed with a 5-1B unit over him. He groaned. "Congratulations sir, you are completely free of any permanent injury. Any pain you may be experiencing is from the harsh treatment of your body as you were brought on board. The tractor beams on this ship were not designed to maneuver such small objects." The droid said.
"Where is the bridge?" Dalitan asked as he winced from pain in his jaw.
I need to ask the captain something.
He added to himself."Three floors up." The droid answered in its usual mechanical voice. Dalitan said 'thank you' quick and headed for the nearest lift tube. When he got to the bridge he found the captain, recognizing only his insignia.
"What's our status?" Dalitan asked the captain.
"In hyperspace headed for Coruscant. The battle is over; we drove away the Super stardestroyer after we took out most of the smaller vessels. We sent a decoy TIE with a homing beacon aboard the super class. We wanted to be sure we know where that thing is hiding. Of course, the beacon is useless if it is found out… but by the time they figure they even possibly had been fooled the spy we sent aboard will have planted a dozen micro transmitters all over the ship." The captain said.
"Good thinking. How's my ship?" Dalitan asked.
"As for the thinking, it was General Hkrl's idea. And your ship is just fine. Our top mechanics got to it right away."
"Good. I'm going to need it if I'm going to take out that super stardestroyer." Dalitan said.
"You can't be serious! That thing's shields didn't even waver after being pounded by our bombers!" The captain exclaimed.
"Who said anything about a direct assault?" Dalitan asked.