Chapter Eleven – Blood, Sweat And Tears
General Obi-Wan Kenobi stood in front of an army of over thirty thousand soldiers on a planet he had not cared to remember the name of. His face was grim. His muscles were warm. He was ready to move at a split seconds notice. The Alliance's army were armed to the teeth with clone body armour and clone weapons they had salvaged from the wreckage. About two hundred metres across the plain stood the might of the now named Imperial Storm troopers. To someone who did not know better, it would look like the clones were turning on each other.
Obi-Wan allowed his robe to slip off his shoulders and fall to the ground. He unhooked his lightsabre from his belt and held it firmly in his right hand. It reminded him of the clone wars, a time when he had been in charge of a legion of the clones in the Outer Rim sieges. The clones had heard about the Alliance's attacks on thirteen Outer Rim planets beforehand, and their arrival on this planet, and had decided to abandon their bases and join forces to eliminate the threat this Alliance posed. They had an army as big and as strong as the Alliance. And they were ready to do battle, just as the Alliance was.
The clone commander of the Imperial storm troopers stood in front of his army in exactly the same fashion as Obi-Wan did. He held his DLT-20A blaster rifle in his left hand. In his right, he held a loudspeaker. He fiddled around with the loudspeaker for a few seconds, and then put it his mouth.
"General Kenobi!" There was an echo as the commander spoke. "Lay down your arms and come quietly. We do not wish to harm you. Surrender now or we will attack. You have thirty seconds in which to make your decision."
The clone commander looked on as Obi-Wan turned around to talk to one of the soldiers behind him. The soldier threw something into the air. It was a small rounded object, and it flew high into the air. The storm troopers kept eye contact with the object. They followed it up until their eyes were blinded by the sun. They all instinctively bowed their heads so they could see again.
The object began to dip, and it hit the ground about ten metres to the commanders left. As it hit the ground it exploded, causing the nearest storm troopers to scream as they were sent flying through the air. Some of the troopers had body parts ripped off them as the object exploded. Agonising screams died down as the soldiers lost their lives. The commander brought the loudspeaker to his mouth once more.
"So be it, General Kenobi!" Obi-Wan ignited his lightsabre and turned to his men.
"Alright soldiers! Now is our chance to show the Empire that we are a force to be reckoned with. Let's show them how strong we are. Let's show them how much we are willing to sacrifice for our comrades, our brothers! Give them hell!" Obi-Wan was greeted with the sounds of cheers and every single one of the Alliance soldiers raised the weapons in the air as a salute to their general. Obi-Wan turned around, light sabre in hand and started to run towards the Imperial army. The Alliance's army followed their general into battle and began firing shots at the enemy.
The Imperial army began to charge them. They were almost within touching distance. Obi-Wan raised his left hand, and ten Storm troopers in front of him were pushed back, causing them to crash into their comrades as they tried to advance. Obi-Wan leapt through the air gracefully, deflecting blaster bolts as he did. He kicked out with both legs just before he hit the ground. As he hit the ground he rolled to absorb the impact and swung his lightsabre around taking the lives of six storm troopers.
He hacked, slashed and plunged with his lightsabre gracefully. He deflected blaster bolt after blaster bolt. He used various Force powers, mostly Force push to his advantage. For a while Obi-Wan lost himself in the midst of battle. All around him he could see storm troopers dying, and he could feel his comrades becoming one with the Force. His breathing was steady. He could feel his heart beating against his chest. He could feel the storm troopers falling in their numbers.
He moved forward at a steady pace, attacking storm troopers as he did so. He could hear the war cries of the warriors around him, and the screams of anguish of the injured warriors. There was so much death around him, and the darkness began to form around the battlefield. The Dark Side of the Force was strong in the battlefield. Some soldiers fought with anger, some soldiers fought with hate, some fought with fear. But not Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan fought with the Force. He allowed the Force to guide his every step, his every move, his every attack.
Sweat poured down his face, and down his back. His tunic became damp and ripped in some parts. He was beginning to tire. But he refused to slow down. He kept on moving forward. He kept on fighting. He would not rest until the battle was over. And it would not take too long to end. The Force told him the battle was nearly over. The enemy were reduced in their numbers. The Alliance was beginning to stretch them. They were beginning to overwhelm the storm troopers.
Obi-Wan could sense the fear of the remaining storm troopers. He sensed their desire to retreat. He sensed their willingness to surrender. But they could not. They were forced to fight. It was their duty. And they knew it. The Alliance began to surround the storm troopers. The storm troopers were now a small enough army for the Alliance to begin to box them in. It was a tactic which would win them the battle.
The Alliance formed a circle around the remaining storm troopers. Obi-Wan could sense their fear. He sensed they knew they were going to die. He sensed their frustration and their anger. Obi-Wan stood in the front row or the circle. He extinguished his lightsabre. He would give the storm troopers the same opportunity of surrender that they had given him at the beginning of the battle.
"Cease fire!" The Alliance soldiers lowered their weapons. Some began to reload their weapons. The storm troopers did nothing.
"I will give you the opportunity to surrender commander. If you do not, then we will be forced to carry on fighting. What do you say?" The commander gazed into Obi-Wan's cerulean eyes. Obi-Wan returned the gaze. The commander raised his weapon, and his troopers followed suite.
"We will never surrender General Kenobi. Death is better than being a prisoner." The Alliance soldiers raised their weapons and began firing. Obi-Wan could do nothing other than watch as the storm troopers fell, one by one. He felt every death through the Force, and some part of him felt guilty that he had done nothing to prevent the remaining storm troopers from dying. The firing ceased.
The storm troopers were all dead. The Alliance had won the first battle of many. Obi-Wan clipped his lightsabre to his belt, and signalled for one of the higher ranking soldiers to come to him. The soldier lowered his weapon and walked towards Obi-Wan at a quick pace.
"You called for me General?"
"Yes. Gather twenty of your best men, and count up the number of allies dead. If you come across any wounded soldiers, get them medical help immediately. I must contact Master Yoda."
"Yes General!" The soldier turned around and began to shout some orders. Obi-Wan walked away from the army to make his communication with Master Yoda. He unhooked his comlink from his belt.
"Master Yoda, this is Obi-Wan Kenobi, do you copy?" Obi-Wan waited a few seconds before he got an answer.
"Hear you I do, Master Kenobi. A status report you have?"
"The battle was a success. We proceeded with the plan we discussed, and it worked perfectly."
"Any prisoners you have?"
"No Master. When the battle was coming to a close, we gave them the opportunity to surrender, but they refused."
"Hmm. A number of dead you have?"
"Not yet Master. I have assigned that task to a group of soldiers. It should not take too long before we come to a number."
"Fought well your army did Master Kenobi. When finished you are there, come to Telos. Our base of operations we have decided it will be. Your military expertise we will need to draw up a plan of action to attack more planets."
"Yes Master. I will be there as soon as I can." Obi-Wan ended the communication and clipped the comlink back on to his belt.
The Emperor was growing tired of waiting. He wanted a status report and he wanted it now. Kenobi was a worthy adversary. He knew what the man was capable of. He wanted him dealt with immediately. He could not afford to have Kenobi running around the galaxy leaving a trail of death and destruction. Kenobi had already turned his apprentice back to the Light Side, no doubt with help from that insufferable little troll.
The Emperor vacated his chair and approached the window. He looked out into the night sky over Coruscant. Two years ago, the sky would have been filled with various vehicles travelling in every direction. Now travel on Coruscant had been greatly reduced around the senate building. It seemed citizens were scared of travelling near the old senate building. They were scared of the Emperor, and that was just how he liked it.
"My Lord?" The Emperor turned around to see one of his Admirals standing in the doorway.
"What is it Admiral?"
"I have news of the battle."
"Well? Spit it out Admiral!" The Admiral gulped silently and took a deep breath.
"W-we have, uh, lost communication with the commander in charge, my Lord" The Emperor formed two fists with his hands and smashed them against the window. His eyes burned a sickly yellow. He turned around to face the Admiral.
"You listen to me, and you listen carefully. I want Obi-Wan Kenobi dead. I want Anakin Skywalker dead. I want Yoda dead. I want that pathetic Alliance crushed. And I want it done now! Do you hear me?!" The Admiral looked down at the red carpet. This enraged the Emperor even more.
"Don't stare at the carpet Admiral! Get to work!"
"Yes my Lord." The Admiral turned on his heels as fast as he could and hurried away. The Emperor walked over to his desk. He drew his lightsabre and ignited it. He held it high over his head and brought it down with incredibly speed through the middle of the desk. The desk collapsed to the floor.
"Yes. That is what I am going to do with you Kenobi. I am going to make you pay. I am going to make you suffer. I am going to wish you had never been born!"
Authors' Note: So, what did you think of that? Phase three is underway. We have a war on our hands.
I must say thanks to everyone who has taken time out of their schedule to read Redemption. I must also thank all of you who have added this story to your favourites list or your alerts list. I must thank everyone who has added my to your author alerts list. And finally, a massive thank you to everyone who has submitted a review. It really is appreciated. Please keep reading, please keep adding this story or me to your lists and please keep the reviews coming.
And now I will reply to all the reviews I received from that last chapter.
general-joseph-dickson: Yeah, I probably would too. I love my sleep. Thanks for your comments.
chucknotsteve: Yeah, I wanted to progress the story pretty quickly so I could get down to the action. There wasn't really a lot I could do without repeating myself all the time. Plus, Anakin saying sorry to Obi-Wan would get really boring after a while. Haha. Thanks for your comments.
Anakin T Skywalker: Hehe, meditation is something that I thought Anakin didn't do enough of so I thought it would be a fitting part of his return to the light. Thanks for your comments.
AliuIce0814: That's true, but give it time. There is plenty of time for something to go wrong. And believe me, something will go wrong. Thanks for your comments.
DarthKenObi-Wan: I hope that's enough death and destruction for you. Haha. Thanks for your comments.