Star Wars: Rebels!, a star wars fanfic

Prologue: Yavin

The shelling could be heard in the distance. The explosions were hidden in the jungle trees. Sgt. Reyé Hollis, walked quickly. He was looking forward to his new assigned squad. Their previous squad leader had been killed in one of the endless skirmishes. He followed the noise of the explosions. Yavin was an easy place to get lost, endless rows of trees cut down the line of sight. Hollis had just been out of basic training, a new 1 week wonder now sent to the front lines. All of a sudden it was quiet, Hollis was taught this meant that the "Imps" were going to attack. "Imps", Palp's boys, Vader's boys, Plastic boys, white terror, the slang for an Imperial Stormtrooper. It had been six months since the destruction of the Death Star. Since the tiny Rebel Alliance had taken on the Imperial Juggernaunt and had won. Now it seemed like a lie. The Empire came in force on Yavin determined to snuff out the Rebels in one blow. Now it seemed impossible for the Rebels to hold out. Hollis drew his weapon, a standard issue A-280. And slowly walked forward. He heard rustling to his left. "GET DOWN", a voice cried out. Hollis felt a kick drop him down to the forest floor. He saw and heard the shot wiz by his head. He turned his head to the right and saw another Rebel soldier aim a sniper rifle and fired. Hollis moved and saw an Imperial scout trooper fall from a tree. He turned back to his rescuer. It was then realized the soldier was a woman. "What the hell were you thinking soldier didn't they teach you never to stand up in an unknown area. It's sniper country out there, and they all got ichy trigger fingers and are all aiming to drill one through your pretty head yours, dammit!" Hollis was speechless. "New guys", she muttered under her breath. "Better give me your name soldier", she added, "It's going to be a long day." Hollis hesitated, but matter-of-factly stated, "Sergeant Reyé Hollis". The woman was stunned she had just dressed down a fellow non-com, "I'm sorry." "Don't worry I needed it." She flashed him a smile, despite the dirty uniform, it was the most beautiful smile Reyé Hollis had seen in his life. "And your name…?" he asked. "Sergeant Nori Sundrider." "And your unit?" "I really don't have one, I more or less independently", she explained. "Ah" "And yours?" "a squad with Echo company", he answered. She pointed in front of them, "Echo is somewhere over there. Good luck though, it's chaos out there." "Well I better get to them." Reyé started to walk, but was tapped on his shoulder. "Ah…I better escourt you, sir, in case we run…ah… into any more scout troopers." She meant it, and Reyé could use extra protection. Nori got a feel he was new to this. We walked for a while, when they finally got to the front lines. It was chaos. Rebel troops running around their trench lines trying to take cover from the shelling, medics working overtime to save the wounded, more soldiers and heavy blaster turrets waiting for the enemy. "Well I got to go", said Nori. Hollis found an NCO, "Soldier can you tell me where Echo company is." He pointed to a separate trench to his right. "Thank you" then as soon as he thanked him, the bombardment began. The shells dropped everywhere, tearing parts of trenches. Hollis hit the ground, crawling to the trench trying to find cover, he found Nori, hugging the earth. "I thought you had to go?" he asked. "Well the Imps had other plans." Then as soon as it began the shelling stopped. The two Rebels slowly got up and looked around. He saw where Echo company's position was destroyed no one alive. "My whole unit!" Hollis yelled. "Precision strike, destroy a whole section or unit to punch a hole to march through", Nori explained. "Damn" Hollis shook his head. "Is there any one else alive?" the Lieutenant asked. Slowly more bodies stood up. "Sir", one of them said, "Private Dax Olesa". Two more came toward the lieutenant, "Private Ben Pulustra", he pointed to the solider next to him, "this is my twin brother Nom Pulustra." "Ulen Orsalon" said another. "Fin Ulrand" said the last. "Alright" said Hollis, "you guys are with me." Sunrider approached Hollis, "We can't go back the way we came, we'll get cut down before we even reach the frontlines." "She has a point sir", Olesa said. "All right Sergeant, how do we get back to friendly territory?" he asked. Sunrider paused to think, she took off her helmet briefly and revealed her dark hair. "our lines are to the north, the Imps have the south", she stated, "now we can go through enemy lines but only going east or west. Preferably west, there's a jungle trail that leads to the temple which is where HQ is." "Okay will head west", Hollis said, "stay together, to survive we must work together." The soliders picked up any remaining supplies and ammo and moved to toward the afternoon sun.

Hours later, near a pool of water the ad hoc unit stopped to rest. "Interesting first day", Nori said. "Yeah" Hollis answered, "weeks of training, doesn't equal the real thing, does it?" "No it doesn't", Nori replied. She took off her helmet and filled it with water and began to wash her face. Hollis finally had the courage to ask, "So what's a girl like you doing in a jungle like this." Nori sighed, "personal vindication I quess, my parents died when I was young, I had to fend for myself." "Explains your tough nature", Hollis added. Nori smiled, "One day a squad of stormtroopers came to our home I was separated from my parents, my mother told me to run so I did, they were shot I was eight years old." "I'm…I'm sorry", Hollis said sympathetically. "I spent years just trying to survive, I…" tears started to form, "Sorry it's just hard to explain." "I understand, go on." "I went to Naboo, where I learned everything under the stars", she continued, "for the first time in my life I was happy, but then the war happened I volunteered into the army, they saw my skills in shooting so I was assigned as a sniper, so here I am." Sunrider took a deep breath "What about you?" "I from Naboo, always was taught about freedom, so I joined to fight for it." "More of an idealist type" Sunrider noted. Private Olesa approached the two, "sir", he addressed the Lieutenant, "I think we better get moving." "All right Private", Hollis changed his tone, "squad form up and move out!" he commanded. An hour later they came upon a group of imperial troops, These were different than ordinary stormtroopers, they wore light gray armor, "Dark Troopers", Nori explained as she saw them through her marcobinocluars. "Elite units intergrated into legions, I hear the Imps were trying to get droid stormtroopers, these guys are human." "What are they like?" Hollis asked. "They carry the worse weapons you'll find, flamethrowers, arc casters, incinerators, chain blasters, blast cannons and the usual standard E-11 blaster." She passed the binoculars to Hollis, "They are sometimes assault troops, most times they are used to take out strong points of resistance and with their weapons, they usual do. Oh One more thing they carry jet-packs, so if you hear DT of flying Imp, that means them." "Thanks for the lesson Sarge." "Anytime." "The next question is how do we get past them?" Hollis asked. "Diversion?" Olesa joined in the conversation. "Maybe, we need to get them busy shooting at nothing." "Sarge", Hollis interrupted, "we got more troops!" "He pointed to a group of Imp Stormtroopers that had joined the DT's. Nori aimed her sniper rifle and looked through the sight. "I think I can read the unit number…oh boy." "What is it?" "They're from the 501st, the best troops in the Imperial army." "That bad." "Yep, anyone got a TD", she asked. "Right here Sarge", it was one of the Pulustras Ben or Nom, Nori didn't care. "Thanks private", Sunrider activated the weapon, and hooked her arm and threw it toward an ammo stockpile. "Now if I wasn't worried about saving my skin or the rest of these men I actually would enjoy the fireworks. Sergeant time to go." The soldiers moved quickly just as the explosion went off. The Imps scattered, frantically searching for cover. Nori began to laugh as see saw the chaos she had caused, "I never though I see an Imp run like a chicken before." Hollis was as astounded as the other men to see the stormtroopers show fear. The lieutenant felt a tap on his shoulder. It was Sunrider. "We better get moving, sir."

They walked the better part of the day through the jungle. With the exception of the wildlife, they had not found a single soldier Imperial or Rebel. Hollis looked at his group of stragglers, like him they looked inexperienced, save the woman. The sergeant had looked every bit the veteran. As the men stopped to rest Hollis scouted ahead. Sunrider joined him as they looked over the next rise. "I'm guessing HQ is several clicks forward of our current position sir. We're going to half to fight our way through the main Imperial force." She spoke matter-of-factly of their situation. Hollis looked at her curiously. "Where did you learn to fight." The question was expected since Hollis was a green Sergeant. "My father taught to shoot when I was young, he told me he was a vet from the Clone Wars." Sunrider went back to her recon. Hollis was satisfied for now with this information. The area seemed empty, no Stormtroopers or vehicles. It seemed too easy. "You don't suppose what will happen if we get stuck here if the rest of our comrades jump into hyperspace without us." "The Imps won't stay long then, there's nothing here except the base." Her answer reassured him, but she looked as determined to get off Yavin as the rest of them. "You better have the men move out, we better get started", she advised. Hollis had the men march forward. They continued to march into the jungle. Soon they began to hear explosions in the distances, followed by blaster fire. Sunrider grabbed her rifle and looked through the scope. Both sides were engaged in a heavy engagement at the foot of the Temple that served as the Rebel base. She told Hollis and the rest of the squad what was ahead. "That's good news, now how do we expect to get ourselves across Imp lines without getting killed? Not to mention not tying to get killed by our own guys?" Olesa's comment made Sunrider look back at the battlefield. The Imps had set up their forward command post near the fountain. This is where most stormtrooper reinforcements came from. The Rebels and the Stormtroopers were fighting a deadlock battle at the large stone steps between the Temple and the fountain. The sergeant looked to her left at the viaduct. There was little contact between both forces and it seemed like a good place to flank the Imperials altogether. "We'll go around them." She pointed at the viaduct. "They're too busy fighting in the middle. If we're lucky they won't even know we exist." The men were told to move on. Sunrider went on first. She was quick and light on her feet. Behind her were Hollis and the rest of the men. Despite it not facing major action. A squad of troopers was closing in on the open area of the beginning of the viaduct. Sunrider saw them and crawled back to her comrades resting under one of the supports. "We've got a company of Imps. There using gated end as a rally point to flank our lines." Hollis recognized this. "Well they bar the way to our front lines." Ben Pulustra came forward, "What do we do now?" Sunrider thought for a second, "Well the stupid thing to do is charge them", she said sacasticlly, the smart thing would be sneak around them using the stone wall as cover. "Not a good idea sarge", Olesa pointed out, "we got a tank to out right." Nori looked to where the soldier had pointed. A TX-138 was parked outside the gate, apparently unoccupied. "No one's in the damn thing", Nori said. "Pulustra", she ordered, "go around and blow it up, with a rocket launcher. The Imps will get distracted and we can move on." "I'm on it." As soon as the shot rang out and the tank was in flames. The stormtroopers surprised by the sudden attack gathered at the right wall. Hollis, Sunrider and the rest of the stragglers began to open fire taking out a few Imps, and scurried over to the to where the main Rebel army was fighting, which gave them cover. "Glad to see you guys", Olesa shouted to them. "C'mon we have to get off before we're overrun", Sunrider shouted. Hollis heeded her words and followed the rest of the troops to one of the last transports off Yavin IV.

Hours later quietly resting in his seat, Hollis breathed a sigh of relief. He was lucky to be alive. He had lost his original intended squad, and had almost been nearly killed himself. He got up and went to the nearest officer he could find, Colonel Firest met him in the hallway. "Heard what you did out there, Hollis." "Yes sir", Hollis saluted. "You probably don't realize this but, your surprise attack threw off the Imps long enough for us to get our transports in position." Hollis was confused, "Sir?" Firest smiled, "Your action saved this Rebellion, boy! And for that I'm putting you in for a medal." With that the Colonel strode down the hallway. Hollis went back to his seat flabberghasted. Sunrider poked him. "You alright?" Hollis nervously smiled, "You're not going to believe this but what we did in the jungle saved the entire army." "No kidding" Nori said matter-of-factly. "Now what?" Hollis laughed, "Looks like we'll be put into different units now." "Looks like." Hollis put out his hand. "I haven;t been here long Sergeant, I already I've seen that you're the best soldier we've got." "Thank you" Sunrider said as she shook Hollis' hand. "If we never meet each other again Sergeant, I'll never forget you for this." Hollis watched as the ship vanished into Hyperspace.