Xamusel: *phew* This is not exactly a common trend with me, releasing new chapters in short intervals like this, but it's happening. Honestly, though, I prefer my chapters to be longer than the previous amount I've released.

Anyway, enough about that. This is probably gonna be an interesting update for you guys, hopefully. With that said, we hope you enjoy, since a fair bit of effort went into making this story.

Now, one last thing I should ask… me crying out 'Henshin' should stay, yes or no?

Please enjoy the story. :)

Oh, right, I really need to say something else (in reply to a PM I got from someone on the subject)… we goofed big time in regards to Imperial High Command being nearly gutted at the Battle of Yavin. To quote the PM:

"Xam, just to note, NO one missed the fact that the Imperial High Command was nearly gutted. Almost all of the top big shots throughout the Empire, were on it when it went. Also, more than a million of the Empire's elite and best troops.

Something the Rebels haven't been quiet about, was the fact they achieved the feat with only 30 fighters and a single freighter.

Yeah, only a handful came back, but the Empire lost a hell of a LOT more!"

Yeah, that's what Takeshi and I have to be concerned about, messing up facts like that. Don't worry, we've got it fixed up by now, people.

Also, please note, this chapter took us about 11 days to finish up. This is primarily because I had so many other things distracting me from the chapter as a whole, things Takeshi noticed, among other things. I have other things I do need to do, things that will more than likely make this less of a priority, but I should be able to finish this up as soon as possible with Take as well.

Now, again, please enjoy the story. :)

EDIT 17:50 4/20/2017: Something was brought in a PM and resulted in a slight adjustment. We'll do what we can to keep better track of things like this in the future.


Star Wars: Unsung Heroes
by Xamusel and Takeshi Yamato


Group 1 Arc 1 Chapter 3: Home is under attack!


On the surface of Yavin XIII

Where Leila lives


"So, it was called the Death Star?" Leila asked.

The three had settled down to have a brief chat after the children had gone to sleep, and among the first topics was the Death Star and the recent fight at Yavin IV.

Katrina nodded. "You might not have heard of the name before due to not having a computer that accesses the Holonet on hand," she said, "but it was classified as a superweapon for a good reason."

"Yeah," Takeshi replied. "The thing had a 'superlaser' for a main gun that could blow up planets… and the Empire used it on Alderaan."

Leila frowned in concentration. "Alderaan… I know I've heard of the name before, but where?" she asked. "Where in the Galaxy was it?"

"It was one of the Core worlds," Takeshi replied. "The planet was totally pacifistic, even if some of its citizens supported the Rebellion, and had no weapons… and yet the Empire just blew it up as a demonstration of the Death Star's full power."

Leila felt herself ready to puke at the thought. "I don't feel so good," she admitted. "Is there anything else you can say about the Death Star that's not about how it destroyed a peaceful planet?"

"Not really," Takeshi replied. "It was meant to be a symbol of fear, a weapon so powerful that it could terrify the galaxy into submission. It's just lucky that it had one critical weakness, and the Rebels learned about it, and how to exploit it."


Meanwhile

In Palpatine's chambers…


All of a sudden, Sheev Palpatine sneezed in his sleep, waking him up. "Who's talking about something I owned behind my back?!" he roared. Reaching through the Force, he discovered what it was about… "Oh, the Death Star? It should've been around still, to keep the rebelling members down, plus to destroy the Invaders from beyond Sky River Galaxy."


Back on Yavin XIII


Leila nodded in understanding. "I see," she said. "In that case, I hope it doesn't have a sibling of its own for the Galaxy to worry about."

"Agreed," Takeshi replied. "Anyway… why exactly did you decide to live out here in seclusion? I assume there had to be a reason…"

Leila nodded, before she walked over to a chest in the room. "I can only assume you know about what the Empire would do to anyone that's sensitive to the Force and isn't one of their own, right?" she asked.

Takeshi nodded. "Considering what they did to my parents' ship when they found it on a planet with Jedi ruins, not to mention what they did to my entire clan, yeah, I pretty much know the drill," he said. "I take it you were escaping them?"

"Actually, not initially," Leila answered. "I was born into this tradition of learning how to tend to the earth around me from my father's side of the family. The eldest child had to live here on Yavin XIII for a score in years before they were allowed to have children of their own… and, incidentally, it was meant for one eldest child to pass on to their own eldest child." She sighed in fondness. "I still have seven years to go, give or take, unless something comes up."

Takeshi nodded. "I see," he said. "Well, I've heard of all sorts of family traditions, so it makes sense. Did something happen to turn it into an escape from the Empire?"

Leila nodded. "What happened was that I had discovered my connection with the Force at the unripe age of 11, which makes me 23," she answered. "I was trying to take care of my garden at the time, looking forward to the new crops, when I felt Nataku come from the woods… I calmed him down before he could try eating me, which was when I realized I was born Force Sensitive."

"Ah, and you knew you would have problems if you came home," Takeshi replied. "That has to be rough."

"Indeed," Katrina added. "I wouldn't want that life on anyone, it's that rough."

Leila nodded. "I hope this doesn't bite us in the bums for talking about the Force…" she said lowly.

"I know," Takeshi replied. However, before the conversation could continue, Takeshi's comlink went off, and at the same time all three felt a deep chill, as if something was coming towards them.

{Master Takeshi! Incoming Imperial II-class Star Destroyer inbound for your position!} T7 exclaimed over the comlink. {You may have felt it by now, but please, evacuate everyone that you can there!}

Leila was about to ask something when Katrina asked, "Honey, what did T7 say?"

"Nothing good," Takeshi replied. "We've got an Imperial II-class Star Destroyer heading this way!" He turned to Leila. "It looks like we may have brought the Imperials to your doorstep, Miss Leila, and I apologize for that."

"Wait, what are you talking about?" Leila asked in confusion. "How did you get all that from those beeps and whistles?"

"It's Droidspeak," Takeshi replied. "All astromech droids have it, and it's how they communicate when not plugged into a ship. It takes training and practice to learn how to understand it, but if you can, it makes talking to them a whole lot easier."

Katrina nodded in agreement. "Granted, I never learned how to understand it," she admitted. "However, it's certainly saved our lives, especially when Takeshi relays what the problem is."

"Yeah," Takeshi replied. "Again, I deeply apologize for having brought the Imperials to you, Miss Leila."

Leila shook her head at that. "No need to apologize," she said. "I had a feeling that I was supposed to leave this moon today, which didn't make sense until now." Standing up, she continued, "I'll pack my things up for this trip out."

Takeshi nodded. "I understand," he replied. "Now, as much as it'd probably be more prudent to just run away as soon as we're onboard, I think I'd rather try taking that thing down. Might not be easy for a light freighter, even one modified like ours, but I believe we can do it."

Before Leila could say anything on that subject, even as she was opening her mouth to speak, Katrina looked at Takeshi and yelled, "Are you crazy?! We don't have the ability to pull that off, not unless we somehow had access to a master in Battle Meditation!"

"I've studied Star Destroyers in my spare time, Katrina," Takeshi replied. "If we take out the shield generators on the command tower, the ship will be defenseless, and we can then either take out the bridge, or take out the power core on the underside. Granted, I'd have to man the topside turret to take on enemy fighters, but-"

"But nothing, Takeshi," Katrina said firmly. "We don't have a single clue how to pull that off with our connection to the Force, and we'd be sitting ducks doing it otherwise, given the fact that the TIE Fighters are more than likely to swarm us while we attempt to power up the systems for overpowering the shield generators!"

"Uh…" Leila started to speak up, only to be interrupted by Takeshi.

"As I said, my love, I'd man the topside turret," Takeshi said. "I trust your piloting skills, and I'd keep the fighters off of us."

"Excuse me…" Leila tried speaking again, only for Katrina to speak over her.

"Takeshi, that might work in a place where we had a lot, and I mean a lot, of back-up, but that's what we don't have! How in the name of the Living Force are we supposed to kill off the Imperial TIE Fighters and the Star Destroyer at the same time?!" Katrina demanded.

"Hello?!" Leila raised her voice slightly, only for Takeshi to speak over her as well.

"Look, I know there are problems, but honestly, I don't see any other option!" he said. "If we just run, I know we can outrun them, but they might be able to ID us! While I know we're fighting the Empire secretly, the emphasis is on the secret part - getting ID'd would make it a lot harder for us to get around! Whereas, if we take it out, we can buy ourselves at least a little bit of time, hopefully a lot of time, before we start having problems!"

"Guys!" Leila shouted while Takeshi was speaking his last word.

"What?!" the two snapped back at her.

"I happen to be a master of Battle Meditation," Leila said assertively. "Before I discovered I was Force Sensitive, I could direct the flow of mock battles with friends and family that way."

"Really?" Takeshi asked. "Wow, that… this might just work, after all!"

Before Leila could agree with that, Katrina raised her eyebrow suspiciously and asked, "Did you just say 'mock battles'?"

"Um…" Leila started, feeling sweat all over her face. "Yes?" she asked instead of stating.

Katrina facepalmed. "Of course… this is not gonna end well," she muttered.

"Don't worry!" Takeshi replied. "We can do this, I just know it! So what if she doesn't have proper battle experience?"

Katrina removed her palm from her face before she sighed in defeat. "Okay, fine," she relented. "I suppose this would be as fine a place as any to fall in combat."

Leila was about ready to retort to that when Nataku walked up to her and nudged her in the torso. "Hmm?" she let out. "What is it, Nataku?"

«You have always told me that the Force has a will, Mistress,» the Nexu growled. «Trust in that will, as you always seem to.»

Leila felt her heart warm up at that particular reminder. "Thanks, Nataku," she said. "I guess you're right. I'll trust in the Will of the Force."

Takeshi nodded. "Good advice for all of us," he said. "Now come on, we all need to get ready."

Katrina, Nataku, and Leila agreed with the message.


Meanwhile

Aboard the GES Havok

In one of the Pilot Ready Rooms…


"Alright, men," a portly Imperial pilot began his speech. "We have our orders, and we need to go over them again. We have discovered an unknown in the Yavin System, which means we need to determine whether or not the unknown is friend… or foe." Pointing at the door to the hangar bay, he said, "Due to the nature of this battle, some of us might not make it home to our families, even in mentions. Anyone that walks out that door can and will die out on the battlefield… are you all willing to face that risk?"

"SIR, YES, SIR!" came the replies of the other pilots in the squadron… well, almost.

The portly pilot looked at the one who was silent for a bit, before asking, "Anything you'd like to share, Ensign Fleming?"

The other pilots looked in the direction of the silent, blond-haired, blue-eyed pilot.

"Nothing much, Commander Nobblet," Ensign Io Fleming finally answered. "I was just wondering why we needed to keep this battle off the books."

"Wanting a chance to impress that lady of yours, Io?" one of the other pilots asked with a chuckle.

With a sigh of annoyance, Allen Nobblet gave off his best 'shut up or else' glare… which thankfully did the trick, getting everyone to focus on him. "It's a decision the captain of this ship decided on, ladies," the portly soldier snarked as he reprimanded them. "Honestly, I believe the battle would be a sign that the Rebels are on the loose, especially if the fight was on the books."

Before the other pilots could speak up, Io said, "Understood. I guess we need to keep this off the books, even though I would rather this weren't, given how dangerous the situation could very well be."

After a couple seconds, and before Allen had a chance to speak up again, the PA went off, "Attention, Nobblet Squad. You're first to launch when you get into your TIE Fighters. Just make it to your units in less than fifteen minutes to be first to sortie."

"Guess that's our cue," Io said, heading for the door. "Well, you coming, everyone?"

"We are, Io, we are."


Fourteen minutes later

On the Bridge of the GES Havok


The sensor officer turned to look up at his captain from the Crew Pit. "The unknown still seems to be on Yavin XIII, sir," he reported. "No change yet—correction, it seems to be taking off from the surface now, sir!"

"Don't allow it to leave the atmosphere!" the captain snarled as he gave the order. "Fire turbolasers at it if you have to, just wipe it off the face of the Galaxy!"

"Understood!" the gunnery control officer replied. "Firing!"

The Havok's guns opened fire, sending massive green bolts of energy into the atmosphere at their target…

And missing entirely.

"Sir!" the gunnery control officer called out. "We have a failure in the targeting system! It's unable to get a proper lock on the target!"

"Managed to get a partial ID, though," the sensor officer added. "No transponder ID yet, but it's a VCX-100 light freighter, sir!"

"Blast!" the captain pounded his fist into his armrest. "That means you need to do it all manually!" After a few moments of seething, he calmed down slightly. "Well, don't just sit there," he ordered, "use your manual training to shoot it down!"


Meanwhile

Onboard the Elsa


"That was easy," Katrina said, looking at the place that was shot at. "Who knew they had such crappy aim?"

Leila sighed, before saying, "So long, tea leaves… I'll miss your growing place, be sure of it."


Takeshi Yamato: And so the battle begins.

Now, Dice Rolls are in full effect here, the only volley from the Star Destroyer is a result of that. They were shooting at a ship three silhouette values smaller than them, meaning they had a Daunting Gunnery Check, and Gunnery Crew stats had only an Agility of 2 and just a basic Gunnery Skill, so already it's one Proficiency Dice and one Ability Dice against four Difficulty Dice. Add to that that the Elsa was moving, and in Atmosphere, and we decided to upgrade the difficulty twice. End result was four Failures, two Advantage, and a Despair. The Despair is the nasty one for the Star Destroyer - as the guns were powering up, the targeting systems suffered a catastrophic failure. This means any future gun volleys are going to be a lot harder. And the Advantage went into the sensors officer IDing the hull type.

Expect wacky results like this to continue, because the Dice run wicked. We will see epic fails. We will see incredible triumphs. We will even see canon character deaths. I will not say who, because it's mostly up to the Dice, but we're going to throw canon off the rails in spectacular fashion, and let the Butterfly Effect guide us from there.

See you in the next chapter, as we wrap up this introductory arc! :)