Chapter 14: The Siege of Coruscant (Part II)

The Freedom Fighters and the Chaotix regrouped at the gates to Imperial City, and soon they were ready to give the word to begin the attack. Kaylor then grabbed two very powerful flares out of his backpack and then, he set them off, and with a loud bang and flash, they flashed as bright as a spotlight.

The Freedom Fighters and the Chaotix looked into the fog in front of them, and then, they began to hear a faint sound in the distance. It sounded like screaming, and then, much to the shock of both groups, powerful laser cannon blasts shot out from the fog and blew open the gates. Then, they saw many Republic troops charging the wall and firing their weapons at the Imperial Defenders, who tried to restart the turrets, but to no avail. Then, came many Republic T1-B, T2-B, T3-B, and T4-B tanks firing their weapons at the startled Imperials, and following were two captured AT-AT walkers, destroying many turrets that managed to restart. But not far behind them were multiple MPTL-L and MPTL-2a artillery units deploying and unloading salvos of proton torpedoes at the Imperials, while Airspeeders, X-Wings, Y-Wings, A-Wings, and B-Wings moved to gain air superiority over the defenders. The Freedom Fighters and the Chaotix watched in awe as the New Republic forces slowly took territory away from the Imperial Defenders, who fought back with everything they had.

But their awe was soon broken by the arrival of a large command vehicle, and it looked like an important man was aboard. And they were right, for as soon as a squad of Republic soldiers exited the ship, there was General Brenn Tantor, standing at attention.

"General Tantor. The siege officially begins." said Kaylor.

"Good work out there, all of you. But the battle has only begun. We must break through the Imperial defensive lines and work towards our objective…" then the General turned and pointed to a very tall building that could be seen in the distance. "…there! The Imperial Palace!"

"When that building falls, Coruscant will be ours!" said Sally.

"That's correct. And with the help of great fighters such as yourselves, victory will be ours! I know it!" said General Tantor. "Now, I need you all to go to General Rand Talor, and meet up with his invasion force, and help lead the assault on the palace."

"Yes sir!" said the Freedom Fighters and Chaotix together.

"Good luck to you all. May the Force be with us all." said General Tantor as he got back into his command vehicle. Sonic led the charge of Freedom Fighters and Chaotix to where General Talor's assault force was fighting the Imperial Elite Force. They passed many battlezones, where the Imperial Defenders held on to positions like holy land. But for each and every fallen Republic Soldier, 10 more arrive to take their place. High up in the skies, Republic fighters did battle against Imperial TIE Fighters, and many Rebel troop ships flew down to replace every fallen man, tank, or fighter in the battle.

"Man! The whole city was become a war zone!" shouted Knuckles.

"Take a look around you guys! Never seen this much fighting since the Republic reclaimed Mobius!" shouted Sonic.

"Yeah! Now we're kinda returning the favor by helping them liberate their planet! Funny how things work out!" shouted Amy.

"Hey, you're right Amy! You got a point there!" said Tails. "I never imagined we'd see a real battle like this ever since we came to this galaxy!"

"Oui, Oui. And we'd never be working alongzide zez people, like Skywalker and Solo." said Antoine.

"And we now have met all kinds of folks to help us all liberate Mobius and now we're repayin' them by helpin' them." said Bunnie.

"And we will, and soon, we will help defend this galaxy from such evil with the help of people like Luke, Han, Lando, and Leia." said Sally.

"And now we can see the real action, cause there's the Republic Force!" shouted Sonic. And there was General Talor's force, which consisted of many soldiers, tanks, and mobile artillery. But suddenly, the Freedom Fighters and Chaotix were cut off by a squad of Imperial Soldiers.

"Freeze, Rebel Scum!" shouted the Stormtroopers. But then, they all fell to a green blade. It was Luke, fighting openly as a Jedi.

"Luke! I knew you'd show up!" shouted Sonic.

"Welcome to the front lines, Sonic!" said Luke. "Follow me, General Talor is expecting you." And with that said and done, the Freedom Fighters and the Chaotix followed the Jedi Master to the General, who was guarded by a squad of Republic Soldiers.

"Ah, it's the Freedom Fighters and the Chaotix!" shouted the General. "Good to see you're still with us! We're trying to break through the Imperial Defenses, but that roadblock ahead is blocking the main path to the Palace!"

Sally then grabbed NICOLE and said: "NICOLE, is there another way around that roadblock?"

"Yes, Sally. There appears to be a route through the buildings on the left side, and if we take some of the troops here, we can flank the Imperials there." said NICOLE.

"All right. If the computer says so. Freedom Fighters, take Skywalker and some of our men around that route and see if you can flank the Imperials. Sonic, you and your friend go around the right and cover our right flank. Once you reach the gate, plant a beacon for the Y-Wings! Chaotix, stay here and provide covering fire! We'll regroup there when you're done."

And with that, Sally and her group took the left flank, while Sonic and Tails took the right. But not before Sonic and Sally shared a kiss before they parted.

Sonic and Tails were able to easily defeat the Imperial Defenders, Sonic grabbing a Power Ring from his bag and using it, he swept the Imperial troops aside like children's toys. He and Tails were soon at the roadblock in no time.

But Sally's group was another story. Luke, who was leading the charge, began to notice something unusual about the Republic Soldiers. They seemed to be fighting harder than they were, and that they seemed to have the courage and determination that they had been somewhat lacking for years. The Imperial troops seemed a bit less than confident in their abilities and looked a bit less coordinated than usual. But he was even more intrigued by how strong the Force was guiding the Republic forces. But it wasn't his own power; he began to sense that Sally's Force aura was enhancing the strength of everyone around her, which Luke found very surprising. But by then, they had reached the roadblock, where two mobile artillery platforms and a few turrets were firing at General Talor's forces. Luke then saw Sonic and Tails waiting on the other side, and then, when the Republic troops on Luke's side caught up, they made their attack, and caught the Imperials off-guard, and easily overcame them with few casualties.

"Quick! Plant the beacon! Fast!" shouted Luke. Tails then reached into his backpack and grabbed a targeting beacon and planted it on the gate, and then activated it. Everyone then quickly ran for cover as the Y-Wings swooped down from the sky and dumped a huge load of bombs on the Imperial troops.

"Yeah! One roadblock, served up hot!" shouted Vector atop a T-4B tank with the rest of the Chaotix.

"Climb on, Freedom Fighters!" shouted General Talor. "Enjoy the ride, let us take the offensive to the Palace grounds!"

The Freedom Fighters soon climbed atop the tank, and simply watched as the Republic Soldiers punched through the Imperial defensive lines with a great deal of difficulty, but still pushed on.

"So Sonic, I thought you hated going slow. I thought you craved action." said Sally.

"I do. I'm just letting these guys take care of the hard part. Besides, there'll still be plenty of Imperials left to fight once we reach the palace grounds." replied Sonic.

"He's got a point." added Knuckles.

"Once we reach the palace, I want you all to be very careful. The Elite Force will fight to the last man to defend this place. Then there's the Royal Guard, the Emperor's elite bodyguards, who still watch over this terrible place. They are fierce warriors, and will fight to the death." said Kaylor.

"I agree. Be very careful, and may the Force be with us all." said Luke.

Soon, they were at the Palace grounds, where many Imperial troops and walkers defended the palace with everything they had. Soon, the Freedom Fighters saw the Millennium Falcon doing battle in the skies above, but that wasn't their concern, for soon, they dismounted the tank and joined in the fight towards the top of the hill where the palace entrance was. The Imperials were slowly being overwhelmed by the Republic attackers, but still held on vigilantly.

Sonic, the Freedom Fighters, and the Chaotix joined in the final push on the palace, and after almost 15 minutes of fierce fighting, they broke through the Imperial defenses and managed to overwhelm the defenders of the grounds and then, the Republic troops were able to storm the palace. But once inside, many Stormtroopers and then Royal Guards joined the fight, and when one charged Sonic, Sonic used a power ring to attack the guard, and then he took the force pike off the guard and killed him with it. Sonic then used it, as did Sally, Tails, Knuckles, and Kaylor, who killed several guards and Stormtroopers.

The fighting continued for another hour, and then at last, the Republic troops were able to secure the Palace and raise the New Republic flag over the city. Coruscant was theirs now, and the Imperials could do little more than watch their planet fall into Republic hands.

Soon, Sonic watched from a high balcony of the Palace as he watched the smoke clear, and see many Imperials either executed on the spot or taken prisoner. He even saw General Talor reunited with his wife below, as well as General Tantor reunited with his brother. But then Sally called him in, for Julie-Su had something to tell everyone.

"Hey, Knuckles. How would you feel about being a father soon?"

Knuckles said: "Well, I…what? You mean?"

Julie-Su then said: "Two weeks, Knuckles. We're going to be parents soon."

Knuckles didn't know what to say, but he said: "That's…that's great! It's a blessing. There will be peace and harmony in our future."

"I'm proud of you, Knuckles. You're a lucky man." said Sonic.

"Thanks. To top off this victory by learning something special…" but then, Knuckles noticed a guard slumped against the wall in front of him. He noticed something unusual about the guard, but before he realized it, the guard produced a blaster and fired directly at Knuckles, hitting him and making him fall to the ground, wounded. The Freedom Fighters and the Chaotix quickly fired back and killed the guard with many blaster shots, and then tended to Knuckles.

"MEDIC!! OVER HERE NOW!!" shouted Kaylor before Knuckles passed out.

Meanwhile, deep within the farthest regions of the Outer Rim, aboard the Apocalypse, Admiral Forell went into the same dark room to meet with the "Grand Admiral": "Grand Admiral. We've received word that…"

"Coruscant has fallen? Yes. My through sources have informed me of the Republic victory. That is not relevant. We mustn't let a setback like this interfere with our plans. Contact Grandmaster Dimitri of the Dark Legion and tell him the instructions that I have given you. Now is our opportunity to begin gathering the technology we need. Go now, but remember, do not mention me. And tell #3 that he must bring back that technology I need, or we shall have problems. My plans are not to be delayed. Am I clear, Admiral?"

"Yes of course, sir." said Forell. "I will see to it." And then, Forell exited the room, and headed to his ready room to make communication.