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The Saga of the Chosen One, Chapter 20
By TVfan
Bespin
"Let me see if I get what you're saying," Lando spoke slowly as Yoda and Mara finished their report, "The Rebellion is about to be defeated in a major battle with the Empire…"
Mara nodded in agreement.
"And at least part of the Rebellion is going to flee here," Lando continued and waited for Mara to nod again, "and the Empire will follow them here, or will correctly predict that they will come here and will arrive here first."
"Correct," Yoda answered simply.
"And you expect me to fight the Empire?" Lando asked, "I have security men, but they can't outfight Imperial Stormtroopers, and I know that even if they did, the Empire could easily bombard Cloud City from space and not put a single man on the 'ground'."
"That is why a trap, we must lay," Yoda explained, "Give the Empire a sense of overconfidence, we will. Use that, we will."
"The Empire is less likely to use an orbital bombardment with troops already on the 'ground' and once here, the former Jedi Younglings should be able to provide your security men with strong points that the stormtroopers can not defeat," Mara added, "While the Imperials are being cut down here in confusion, the main Rebel fleet will likely arrive and will destroy the lone Imperial ship."
"You both seem to have really thought this through," Lando commented, "but suppose the Empire wins the space battle?"
Yoda closed his eyes and focused for a moment and then shook his head, "Flow that way, the Force does not."
"If you say so," Lando sighed, knowing that he couldn't convince the old Jedi Master of anything since there was little about the Force that he fully understood.
Hoth
The situation at the Rebellion's Echo Base was very different from the atmosphere on Bespin. While Lando was understandably nervous about the Empire being hostile to his mining colony, the Rebels were only just barely trying to hold back panic. The base's secondary squadron was assigned to escort the Rebel transports, which were already beginning depart the planet for the rendezvous point with the main Rebel fleet. Leia was there to give instructions to these pilots that had been given to her by General Dodonna.
"The Empire is likely to arrive here quickly, and we will have to raise the shield quickly," Leia said firmly, "While the area is clear we'll send the transports out without escort, but once the Imperial fleet arrives, you will need to stick close to the transports you're escorting."
"That doesn't sound like fair odds," one pilot commented, "two fighters against a Star Destroyer?"
"The base's ion cannon will fire several shots to make sure you have a clear escape path," Leia explained, "The ships shouldn't be a problem. Your job will be to make sure that Imperial fighters don't slow down the transports."
"Okay," the pilots nodded, knowing that if they protested too much, they might have to join Rogue Squadron in dealing with whatever force the Empire sent to take the planet.
As the pilots broke up their meeting and began to move closer to the evacuation groups, Leia then felt a familiar presence behind her and then felt a polite tap on the shoulder. She turned to find Luke standing there.
"Luke, shouldn't you be with Rogue Squadron?" Leia asked, slightly surprised.
"Our fighters have already been moved to their evacuation locations and until the Imperials arrive, there isn't much for us to do, other then prepare ourselves," Luke said with a sigh, "We'll be ready."
Leia nodded.
"Anyway, we're receiving a message from Obi Wan," Luke reported, "That's really why I came looking for you."
The two then hustled to the main communications center of Echo Base where they found a hologramatic image of Obi Wan waiting patiently for them. Both young knights bowed respectfully to the older Jedi.
"Greetings, Master," Leia spoke.
"Things seem awfully busy there on Hoth," Obi Wan commented, almost sounding humorous.
"We believe the Empire has found us, Master," Leia reported, "General Dodonna is beginning the evacuation as we speak."
Obi Wan's image sighed as he clearly didn't like the report, but knew that there was nothing to be done about it.
"On your way back to the fleet, there is a mission that is required of the two of you," Obi Wan spoke, trying to get to the point as quickly as possible.
"What sort of mission?" Luke asked, sounding curious.
"A recovery one," Obi Wan explained, "As you both know, when you were born, you were hidden from the Emperor to protect your identities, and I and your father stayed with you to insure that you would be trained and would be ready to lead the next generation of Jedi Knights."
Leia and Luke both nodded.
"The two of you were not the only Jedi children sent into hiding," Obi Wan continued, "The third is the child of one of Anakin's friends from when he, himself, was a Padawan learner. Her name is Mara Jade and she is the daughter of Kira Jade. To the best of my knowledge, Master Yoda has been training her and helping Kira restore her connection to the Force."
Luke and Leia nodded again.
"However, things are moving that all the Jedi must be brought together," Obi Wan sighed, "I don't think things can progress with us all spread out. Leia, once you and Captain Solo leave Hoth, I want you to go to Bespin and pick up Mara and Kira Jade."
"Of course Master," Leia answered.
"Luke, I want you to go to Dagobah and pick up Master Yoda," Obi Wan instructed, "And don't worry about passenger room inside your X-Wing, I'm sure the two of you will fit fine."
"Okay," Luke answered, "It make take awhile, considering that there is likely to be a fight here pretty soon."
"Understandable," Obi Wan nodded, "Just be safe, and may the Force be with you."
Home One
"You certainly have been busy with things," Sola commented as she looked around the quarters that Padme and Anakin shared, "And it is good that you do not have to hide anymore."
"I don't know if you're right," Padme sighed, "Anakin and I don't have to hide our marriage, but it is fairly obvious that we're in hiding."
"But surely this is different from a bunch of old rules," Ryoo commented.
Anakin gave a slight chuckle, remembering happier times, "It is different now that the Code has been corrected to remove the things that Palpatine manipulated to put himself in his present position, but the fact that we're forced to run between outer rim systems does not make matters easy."
"So long as you're happy together, I don't think you'll have too much to worry about," Jobal said hopefully.
"I guess so," Anakin shrugged, sounding slightly embarrassed, "Although with our schedules, we haven't had much time to be 'romantic' with each other."
"We understand," Sola told her sister, "We had much time for things other then survival while we were looking for the Rebellion."
"I'm glad that you founds, and that you're all safe," Padme said serious, overjoyed that her family hadn't been killed as a result of the upheaval surrounding Palpatine's rise to power and the violence currently surrounding the Rebellion.
"What can we do to help?" Pooja asked curiously.
"For the time being, we will need some help in keeping the 'government' running," Padme spoke, hoping her nieces weren't wanting to join the Rebellion's 'soldiers', as dealing with Leia being near the front lines was more then hard enough on her, "although there is no requirement that you really participate if you do not wish to. Home One is also the home to several hundred refugees who have been displaced by the struggle against the Empire."
"That can wait until we're all settled," Jobal told Padme, "It's been so long since we've seen you, I am content to have a few moments with you."
Padme nodded, when the door buzzer sounded to indicate that there was a person at the door. Anakin stood up, letting his wife converse with her family.
"I'll get it," Anakin told her, "You enjoy the moment."
It was Obi Wan who was at the door, and Anakin slowly moved out into the hallway.
"Luke and Leia understand their mission," Obi Wan told him, sensing his former apprentice's nervousness.
"That's good," Anakin sighed, "We might need Yoda's help."
"You admitting that you can't do it all on your own?" Obi Wan asked with a slight grin, "Whatever happened to the arrogant padawan I had who insisted on either showing off or biting off more then he could chew?"
"He lost part of his arm and had his master's master show him how dangerously close he was to doing the stupidest thing possible," Anakin sighed back, "and was forced to hide for nearly twenty years in a desert for it."
There was quiet moment between the two as they walked down the hallway before Anakin spoke again.
"Besides, we need Yoda's wisdom, something I never bragged about having," Anakin said with some humor.
Obi Wan then chuckled and then became serious, "I will also warn you that the Empire has found Echo base."
"Hopefully they make it out in time," Anakin sighed, "Padme is already nervous that they have been so close to the 'front' so much."
Obi Wan could only nod.
Hoth
Han meanwhile struggled to try and get the Falcon ready for take off. It had taken a few shots escaping an Imperial trap at Ord Mantell and the hyperdrive had been acting up ever since. He had been trying to repair it, but with the parts that were available to the Rebellion, which were not designed to work with the many customized facets of the Millennium Falcon, Han was beginning to wonder if he might have to replace the hyperdrive altogether, and he didn't want to do that. He then turned to a small repair droid that was trying to help.
"No, that one goes there," Han instructed, pointing to one part the droid was using and another part of the ship and then pointing to another part of the ship and a different part, "that one goes there."
Han then went to a different part of the top of the ship, hoping to get things together.
"Things about ready to go?" came Leia's voice from floor below him.
"I have no idea," Han commented, "The Falcon isn't like all your fighters and ships. Very little of it is interchangeable with anything else. I need a real 'garage' to really fix her, and the Rebellion's system of interchangeable parts are hard to deal with."
"You might be in luck then," Leia commented, "Once we evacuate the base we need to make a run to Bespin, which isn't too far away."
"Bespin?" Han asked.
"Yes," Leia nodded, "To pick up two Jedi knights, a Mara and Kira Jade."
"You Jedi seem to hide in strange places," Han commented, "The only place on Bespin where people live is Cloud City. I got a friend who runs it."
"You have respectable friends?" Leia asked.
"Respectable? Lando? Hardly," Han answered, "He's a gambler, card player. Scoundrel, you'd like him."
Leia rolled her eyes, "Will the Falcon be able to reach Bespin?"
"Yeah, but it might take awhile if I can't get the hyperdrive ready for at least one small jump," Han told her.
"So long as we get there," Leia said with a sigh.
Meanwhile, in the main command center of Echo Base General Dodonna and Colonel Rieekan were monitoring the Rebellion's efforts to evacuate Hoth before the Empire arrived. So far they had managed to get two transports off of Hoth without the arrival of any Imperial ships, then as Dodonna moved to scratch his beard for a moment, a technician suddenly jumped in alarm.
"Sir, a fleet of Star Destroyers in sector twelve," the technician said urgently, "They're right on top of us."
"Raise the shield," Rieekan shouted across the room and then turned to General Dodonna, "I'd better get everyone that will defend the base ready. They will figure out pretty quickly that they can't fire through the shield."
Dodonna nodded in agreement, "Have Leia come up here until it is her and Solo's time to evacuate is up. Perhaps she can use her Jedi powers to influence things."
Imperial Star Destroyer Devastator
Vader sat quietly meditating inside a meditation sphere in his private sector of the Devastator. It was cramped as the space available for it was not enough, and was another thing that infuriated Vader about Anakin and Luke Skywalker's destruction of the Executor before it could be completed at Fondor. He then felt a presence outside the sphere and realized someone had come to see him. He pressed a series of buttons which opened the sphere and rotated his chair to face the person who had arrived, who was General Veers.
"My Lord," Veers reported, "The fleet has moved out of lightspeed. Scans have located an energy field on the planet Hoth. It is strong enough to deflect or absorb any bombardment."
Vader boiled over with anger at the report as he sensed through Veers's report the reason for the shield to be raised.
"The Rebels have been alerted to our presence," Vader said in an obviously angry voice, "Admiral Ozzel came out of lightspeed too close to the system."
Veers was startled and immediately began to stutter an answer in defense of the Admiral, knowing that Vader would kill him if something wasn't said, "He felt surprise was…"
"He is as clumsy as he is stupid," Vader growled and moved to restrain his anger slightly, "General, prepare your troops for a surface attack."
"Yes, my Lord," Veers answered, quickly seeing that Vader wouldn't be persuaded to change his opinion and that Ozzel might as well have been dead already.
Vader then watched as Veers departed and once the doors shut, he turned his chair to a communications screen that linked him with the bridge. As it turned on, he saw Admiral Ozzel scolding the ship's captain about something that Vader didn't frankly care about. Once Ozzel noticed that the link was open, he turned to face the screen and talk with Vader directly.
"My Lord, the Fleet has moved out of lightspeed and we're preparing to…" Ozzel began before being silenced by Vader beginning to strangle him thought the Dark Side of the Force.
"You have failed me for the last time, Admiral," Vader said in a cold and angry voice while Ozzel desperately tried to breathe through windpipes that were being crushed beyond repair.
Ozzel then collapsed and lay dead on the floor at the feet of the ship's captain, Captain Piett. Piett looked down at the executed Admiral and then looked at the screen nervously.
"Captain Piett, prepare to land our troops beyond their energy field and deploy the fleet so that nothing gets off the system," Vader commanded, "You are in command now, Admiral Piett."
"Thank you, Lord Vader," Piett answered and quickly moved to begin landing troops.
Hoth, Echo Base
Luke calmly approached the rest of Rogue Squadron as they assembled around a group of T-47 airspeeders and prepared for the coming battle.
"They're really coming?" one pilot asked.
Luke nodded, "Our scanners just picked up Imperial Landing craft descending to he planet's surface just outside the shield."
"Any sign of fighters?" Wedge asked.
"No," Luke answered, "Strangely they're not sending in fighters. Maybe their T.I.E.s are like our X-Wings, they're not as effective in an atmosphere."
"No, Imperial T.I.E. fighters function well in atmospheres," Biggs warned, "Something about the way their ion engines are configured allows them to maintain their full speed an maneuverability while in an atmosphere. They never explained to me the details though."
"Then we'll have the advantage," one pilot said confidently, "We'll control the skies."
"They may not need to control the skies," Biggs warned, "Before me and most of my squadron could join the Rebellion, we were not only involved in making sure prisoners couldn't escape Geonosis, we were also involved in testing new Imperial weapons. Modern Imperial walkers have extremely tough armor, and our weapons may not be able to penetrate the armor."
"We might be able to trip their walkers with our tow cables," Luke suggested.
"That could work, but it's a dangerous maneuver," Biggs commented, "We'd lose all ability to dodge any fire directed toward us."
"It might be our only chance if their armor is as strong as you say it is," Wedge told him.
Biggs sighed and nodded as a loudspeaker came on to give them an announcement.
"Imperial walkers on the north ridge," a voice spoke in warning, "repeat, we've spotted Imperial walkers."
"Time to go to work," Luke spoke to the rest of Rogue Squadron and rushed to his snowspeeder.
As Luke arrived, his gunner was already getting into his seat.
"How are you, sir?" his gunner asked.
"Pretty good, Dax, how about you?" Luke replied.
"Right now, I feel like I could take on the whole Empire, myself," Dax answered confidently, "No T.I.E.s and we can trip the walkers before they reach the shield generator. We just might win."
Luke gave a slight chuckle, but something the force was already telling him that the coming battle would not go well for the Rebellion, and it would be up to them to make sure that the Rebellion was able to get off of the planet.
Meanwhile, ground troops were rushing to man trenches and placed weapons along the north ridge of Echo base. They could see several AT-AT walkers in the distance with several more AT-ST walkers escorting them.
"Walkers," one of the Rebel troops groaned as he made out the four legged AT-ATs, "We might as well run now."
"We have enough weapons to hold," another soldier said confidently, "Rogue Squadron has already volunteered to deal with the walkers."
Inside the main command center, Leia had arrived to help oversee the evacuation and see how well Obi Wan's teachings to her about 'battle meditation' would work for her.
"We're ready to send out the first transport," a technician reported spoke in an informative voice as Leia approached.
"Stand by Ion Control," Colonel Rieekan spoke, "Fire!"
Imperial Star Destroyer Tyrant
"Sir, we have ships coming into our sector," an officer reported to the ship's captain.
"Very good," the Captain smiled, "Our first catch of the day."
Before he could give the orders to attack, however, several energized shots passed the rising Rebel ships and hit the Tyrant directly, sending sparks flying throughout the ship.
"Ion beams!" a crewman in the right crew pit screamed, "We're losing electrical power!"
"Restore it!" the Captain screamed as he felt his ship begin to drift down into Hoth's gravitational field.
"I'm trying!" the crewman shouted as he frantically worked to jumpstart everything.
Imperial Star Destroyer Devastator
Vader and Admiral Piett stood silently watching the events of the battle so far. Vader was still furious over what Ozzel had done.
"They won't be able to evacuate everything," Admiral Piett informed, "and it's doubtful that they have anything that can match the AT-ATs."
"If Ozzel had slowly moved our fleet into the system, masking it to look like a ship on patrol, we could have done an orbital strike and obliterated the base," Vader growled, "and that planetary Ion Cannon would not have taken out the Tyrant."
Hoth
The men in the trenches cheered when they saw a massive shape, and Imperial Star Destroyer crash to the surface to the far west of the base. The cheering was short lived as the outer most trenches were now in range of the closest AT-ATs and the Imperial walkers wasted no time in firing. When Rogue Squadron arrived overhead, they found the AT-AT walkers already doing heavy damage to many of the Rebel trenches and placed weapons.
"Okay, this is it," Luke announced over the radio, "Move in and drive them out. Keep your eyes out for fighters."
Rogue Squadron then dove down and began to strike at the advancing Imperial walkers. They all tried to launch attacks against the larger AT-AT walkers, but they quickly found that just as Biggs warned, the AT-ATs were too heavily armored for their blasters to be effective.
"Blast," Luke growled, "Rogue group, we're going to have to divide into two groups. One group go after the AT-ATs, use your harpoons and tow cables. The other group needs to keep the AT-STs and ground troops busy. We need to make sure they don't get to the shield generator."
He heard the response given by each of the members, most of them announcing which set of targets they would go after. Luke dove into a tight turn and maneuvered to go after the closest AT-AT to him.
"Okay, Dax," Luke spoke to his gunner, "Get ready to fire that tow cable."
Ground fire, fired by stormtroopers who had begun climbing the ridge that the walkers were largely walking around then nicked the harpoon gun mounted behind the cabin of the T-47 that Luke was piloting. Luke quickly twisted his speeder around and strafed that position, driving the stormtroopers to retreat away from his speeder's line of fire.
Dax, meanwhile was struggling with the effects of the hits that the speeder had taken. The shot did no damage to the engines, but the firing mechanisms for the tow cable were damaged, and Dax had to fix it.
"Luke, that shot wrecked our fire control," Dax warned, "I'll have to cut into the auxiliary."
"Just hang on, Dax," Luke answered and piloted his speeder to target the lead AT-AT.
Luke piloted his speeder past the AT-AT, but as he began to circle it, so Dax could fire the tow cable, the AT-AT lowered its 'head' and unleashed a powerful blast of fire. Luke managed to avoid taking a direct hit, but one laser blast glanced off the back of the speeder, and Luke jumped when he heard Dax scream with pain.
"Dax!" Luke screamed back to the gunner's seat and looked back, and saw that Dax wasn't moving.
Luke then turned his speeder back to the fight, he came up alongside Wedge's speeder as he did so.
"How are you, Wedge?" Luke asked.
"As good as can be expected," Wedge answered, "I don't think we're doing much to slow their attack."
"It's the AT-ATs, once we take a few of them out, the Empire will lose momentum," Luke commented, "But I've lost my gunner. You take the shot, I'll cover for you."
Meanwhile in the lead AT-AT, General Veers was coordinating the attack on the Rebel base. He had found the main part of the base itself fairly well protected. The snow and ice was thick enough the weapons on the walkers couldn't do much damage to them and in areas where the snow was softer, the base did appear to have good reinforcement of metals and possibly even some form of concrete, but that was just his observation of the location.
The main base itself was also placed on a hill and ridge, making it difficult for even the AT-ATs to move up to close range and blast the openings to the interior parts of the base, and the smaller AT-STs had an even harder time climbing the slope, and the Rebels manning the trenches there were running a fairly stubborn defense.
Veers decided the best option would be to leave one or two AT-ATs to provide the stormtroopers with supporting fire and trust the training of Imperial Stormtroopers to triumph over misguided and likely untrained Rebels and force a way into the Rebel base that way.
Veers also decided to move most of the walkers toward the location of the shield generator. The ground there didn't have as many steep inclines, which allowed his walkers to advance on Rebel targets, and since the Rebel snow speeders seemed to be predominantly focusing on his walkers, they would likely follow him and remove the danger of them strafing and wiping out the bulk of his ground troops directly assaulting the base.
A comm.-button buzzed and he looked to see Lord Vader's image on the holo-communications system.
"What is your status, General?" Vader asked.
"Everything is going according to plan," General Veers answered, "The shield will be down in moments."
In the main command center, things were not going good. Leia had tried use what Obi Wan had taught her about 'battle meditation' to try and make the Imperials charge the teeth of Echo Base's defenses, but she was only partially successful. The fighting along the north ridge was tough, but the AT-ATs and their surviving AT-ST escorts were moving around the ridge and were overrunning Rebel defenses along the flatter ground to the east of the base, which would lead them to the shield generator.
"Come on, Luke," Leia sighed heavily, knowing that if the generator was hit, the Empire would be free to bombard Echo Base from orbit, and could potentially make the evacuation impossible.
As she thought of that she turned to General Dodonna and Colonel Rieekan who were watching the reports with the same amount of nervousness as she was. They, however, were trying to figure out a way to get more men and material off of Hoth, leaving less for the Empire to claim as a war prize.
"I don't think we can protect two transports at a time," Colonel Rieekan spoke, "Our ion cannon has forced the Imperial ships to back off, but they can still intercept any ship that doesn't immediately try to jump into hyperspace."
"I don't think we have a choice," Leia cut in, "Those AT-ATs will be at the shield generator soon. If we don't get more people evacuated, the Empire will destroy the base with us still in it."
Wedge Antilles piloted his T-47 at high speed toward an AT-AT that was advancing toward the shield generator. Luke was behind and slightly below him, firing on Imperial ground troops advancing with the walkers, making sure that they didn't fire on Wedge.
"Okay, get ready," Wedge said to his gunner as he came up on the AT-AT and began to circle it, "Fire cable."
Wedge's gunner fired the tow cable and pumped his fist when the cable hit the AT-AT in the leg. Wedge then began to run a tight circle, moving well below the walker's 'head' and moving fast enough that the walker couldn't just stick a leg out in front of his path.
"One more pass," Wedge commented as he completed his fifth pass around the AT-AT.
"Cable's out!" his gunner reported, indicating that that strand of tow cable had no more room, and they remained attached, the cable would pull them in and destroy the speeder along with the AT-AT.
"Detach cable," Wedge ordered.
"Cable detached," his gunner replied as he flipped a switch, detaching the tow cable from the harpoon gun.
Wedge then zoomed higher into the atmosphere to look back on the AT-AT he had hit. He watched out the window as the massive walker attempted to move forward and couldn't as the cable prevented its legs from moving forward. The walker then fell forward and landed hard with the head half buried in the hard ground. Luke meanwhile had turned around and began firing on the head and neck of the crashed AT-AT. As soon as a shot hit the 'neck' of the walker, the massive walker exploded, sending debris and metal fragments across the ice.
"Good shot, Wedge," Luke spoke over the radio, "That ought to show the Empire that those things aren't invulnerable."
"Maybe, but we're barely slowing them down," Wedge reminded Luke, "On the flat and gentle sloping ground, they're overrunning our trenches and weapons."
"We gotta keep it up," Luke urged, "The more we can slow them down, the more people who we can evacuate from the base."
Wedge nodded and turned his speeder to move after an AT-ST that was in front of him, hoping to hit its vulnerable rear stabilizers. Luke, meanwhile turned to try and move toward another Rogue Squadron pilot and cover him on a run at another AT-AT.
"Rogue Two, you alright?" Luke asked.
"I'm with ya, boss," Rogue Two answered.
"Set your harpoon, I'll cover for you," Luke ordered as both he and Rogue Two turned to speed toward an AT-AT directly in front of them.
The two moved forward until the AT-AT unleashed a heavy burst of fire at both of them. Luke managed to avoid taking a direct hit, but he was still clipped and his speeder was suddenly crashing hard into the ice. Rogue Two was not so fortunate, as the AT-ATs fire hit it dead on, and the speeder exploded into several pieces.
Luke quickly rolled back and tried to get the harpoon gun out through the smashed rear window, wincing as he had to reach over the body of his gunner, who had died earlier in the battle. He could feel the AT-AT that had shot him down approaching, and knew that if he didn't get it quickly, he would be crushed underneath the walker's massive feet. Once he had the harpoon gun, he quickly rolled out of his crashed T-47, barely avoiding being stepped on by the walker.
Luke quickly chased after the walker, and fired the harpoon so that he could climb up the rope. He climbed up the rope to find the walker's drive motors within easy striking range and he lashed out at it with his lightsaber's emerald green blade. He was rewarded by watching sparks and flame soon jump out of the motor and he let go of the rope. He landed in the snow to watch the AT-AT struggle to move forward, but without the help of its rear legs walking with the rest of it. After a few moments, the rear legs lost all ability to hold it up, and the rear of the massive walker crashed down and forward into the front legs, knocking them off balance and into the snow and ice. The walker then exploded from within as grenades, rockets, the AT-AT's own ammunition stores exploded upon impact with the ground. Luke calmly began to move back toward Echo base and the landing strip behind it were his X-Wing was.
General Veers, meanwhile was fairly pleased with his progress. On the flatter ground, his AT-ATs were easily overwhelming the Rebel trenches and their placed anti-vehicle blasters did little damage to the walkers and with the walkers moving, those had very few chances to hit the same target. The Rebel's airspeeders were beginning to become a bit of a problem and he was concerned that if they had more, they might manage to topple all of his AT-AT walkers, which were the only ones that could handle the massive Rebel shield generator easily.
"Keep your eyes peeled for their airspeeders," Veers ordered his gunner, "I don't want to be tripped up."
"Yes, sir," the gunner answered.
"We are approaching the shield generator now, sir," the pilot spoke.
"Good," Veers answered and contacted the Devastator, still in high orbit, when Darth Vader's image appeared on the holo-projector, Veers began speaking again, "The shield will be down soon, Lord Vader. You may start your landing."
Veers then watched calmly as his crew aimed the AT-AT's weapons at the exposed shield generator. He watched an airspeeder attempt to attack, but his gunner kept his eye out and turned the head to hit the craft with a full blast of the AT-AT's immense firepower. The gunner then turned his firepower on the shield generator, which after two barrages, exploded.
Imperial Star Destroyer Devastator
Darth Vader had already left the bridge when the Devastator's sensors had picked up the fact that the Rebel shield had been disabled. On the bridge Admiral Piett noticed the situation and immediately decided to take action and aide in an Imperial victory.
"Move the ship into a strike position and fire all possible batteries on the main Rebel base," Admiral Piett ordered, "Be careful not to hit our troops, but bombard their base and destroy that ion cannon."
"Yes sir," a crewman answered.
Hoth
Rebel troops along the north ridge were only just barely holding on. They had managed to take out one of the two AT-ATs that were bombarding their positions with anti-vehicle blasters and rocket launchers, but the ammunition needed for those weapons had been completely expended in doing so. The other AT-AT continued to fire at them from a distance, while a few AT-STs attempted to try and climb up the steep ridge and fire into the openings of Echo base. The Rebels continued to hold because the Imperial stormtroopers had a hard time charging the trenches that the Rebels were using and the attempt to drive them into the base was costing a lot of stormtrooper lives. Meanwhile a couple of Rebel airspeeders continued to strafe the area and kept both the stormtroopers and the AT-STs distracted from making concerted efforts to move up the steep ridge and attack the base directly.
Things changed in an instant. Several beams of green energy descended from space and impacted the base behind them. What followed was a tremendous explosion that shook the ground and threw snow, ice, and some metal fragments high into the air. All of this practically buried the Rebel troops, who lost the majority of their senses for a moment in the explosion, which allowed the stormtroopers to finally break through their trenches along the outer most part of the ridge, and since the AT-ATs had already taken out most of their anti-personnel and anti-vehicle blasters, there was no way for the Rebels to recover outside the interior of the base.
"Retreat! Retreat!" a field officer commanded as the Rebel troops began to sprint for the openings to Echo base, hoping to escape off the planet before they were caught.
Inside Echo Base there was considerable panic. Although the surviving pilots of Rogue Squadron had left the battle when the shield generator had been destroyed, there was no confirmation that all of the had made it to their starfighters yet, and things would now be close if all of the surviving ground troops were to get off the planet. The bombardment of the base from space, however, made escape a greater concern. Several tunnels had collapsed and were now filled with snow, and a few ground staff members had been killed when some equipment short circuited as a result of the bombardment.
The command center was filled with smoke and floating bits of loosened snow as Han made his way into it.
"Leia!" Han yelled into the room, "Leia!"
"I'm here," Leia groaned as she pulled herself up, "Things aren't going well."
"I know the command center's been hit," Han answered, "You okay?"
"I'm fine," Leia answered.
General Dodonna and Colonel Rieekan then picked themselves up behind Leia. Each of them looked like they had seen better days.
"General, Colonel, I think it's time to get out," Han told them, "The shield is down, and our guys are getting routed."
"Yes," Colonel Rieekan nodded, "Sound the final evacuation alert and get to your ship, Solo."
Han then turned to leave and Leia slowly followed. Rieekan turned and headed out a different corridor. Both he and Leia stopped when they noticed that General Dodonna hadn't moved.
"General?" Leia asked.
"I intend to stay here," Dodonna answered, "I'm getting old anyway, and I can't make these mad dashes any more. You all go, and I'll cover you. A salute from an old soldier to the young soldiers."
Colonel Rieekan sighed heavily, nodded, and then left. Leia found it hard to go as the general had made arguments that she had tried to keep Obi Wan from making over the years, and a good part of her mind wouldn't let her abandon a good man.
"Come on," Han urged from behind her, "We gotta go. They'll get us if we don't."
"But, Threepio…" Leia spoke, trying to buy time to let her try and convince Dodonna to come with them.
"Is waiting on the Falcon with Chewie," Han answered, "Now, let's go before we can't take off at all."
"Go on, Leia," General Dodonna said, "I've fought the good fight. Now, it is my turn to do what so many have done for me under my command… and that is sacrifice myself for the greater good."
At that moment an intercom buzzed an a voice was heard screaming, "Imperial troops have entered the base. Imperial troops have entered the… urk."
Leia sighed and turned and followed Han out for the main hanger.
Vader found the Rebels in total confusion an found that they were in complete panic as his shuttle landed along the north ridge. He was pleased by that, although he also felt the presence of two powerful force users on the planet which concerned Vader. It made him nervous that the Rebels might be able to win the shootout inside Echo base. As he felt that the Rebels were hastily retreating, Vader felt confident that the battle was won, he ignored that and hoped that Piett was moving against the fleeing Rebels.
The remnants of the battle on the north ridge was completely ignored by Vader and he quickly made his way into the base to deal with any remaining resistance inside the base. He hoped that both force sensitives would try to fight him directly. As he entered Echo base, Vader found that Piett's bombardment had done serious damage to the Rebel structure. He found several hallways had been blocked by fallen snow and debris, and Vader decided not to cut through it with his lightsaber to avoid a larger cave in.
It took Vader a fairly long trek to find the command center of the base, and he was forced to step back as a series of blaster bolts came flying out of the main entrance to it and killed two of the stormtroopers that were with him.
"Your villainy ends here, Vader!" General Dodonna screamed from inside the room and then pressed a button on a small remote he was holding.
Vader had already sensed the trap and was trying to move back, but the bomb blast blew the wall Vader was standing near and he we was knocked senseless as a result.
Han found Threepio nervously pacing outside the Falcon muttering the phrase 'oh dear' over and over.
"Get back on the Falcon, Goldenrod, we're getting out of here," Han ordered and ran up the Falcon's main ramp.
Leia ran after him, not really in the mood to lecture him about being nice to Threepio, while Han was greeted by Chewbacca who seemed to be very upset as he growled a long list of complaints to Han. When Chewie finished, Han screamed some curse that Leia didn't recognize and slammed his fist into one of the Falcon's walls.
"What is it?" Leia asked.
"That stanging barrage that the Imperials fired from space sent a ton of stuff onto the Falcon," Han growled, "Half of what Chewie and I spent fixing could be broken again."
Leia decided not to comment. She was privately certain that Han loved his ship as much as he loved her, and she decided that since they were trying to escape a rather tight situation, the last thing the situation needed was an argument about the qualities of the Millennium Falcon.
"Anything you need?" Leia asked, offering to help.
"A whole lot of luck," Han answered and pressed a button that pulled up the ramp and made sure that no stormtrooper could just walk in.
Han then moved to the Falcon's cockpit and began trying to start the engines. He found that while they did start, it was close, and he had to hid the paneling above the door to get the engines stable. While doing this, a team of stormtroopers entered the hanger and began setting up a heavy mounted laser cannon. Chewie noticed this and activated the Falcon's own concealed auto-blasters to keep the stormtroopers busy while Han readied their escape. Once the engines were both on and stabilized, Han immediately took off and zoomed forward, intent on getting off of Hoth quickly.
As the Falcon zoomed off into the air, and headed directly for outer space, Luke, walked over the top of where Echo base's main hanger was on his way to the rendezvous point with the rest of Rogue Squadron. It took him a few moments, but he arrived to find the rest of Rogue Squadron getting ready to escort the last transport off Hoth.
"You made it!" Biggs said in an excited tone and betraying a lot of relief, "We thought you were a goner when you got shot down."
"Too stubborn to die I guess," Luke joked back, "You'll have to put up with me for awhile longer. It is good that you and Wedge made it through though."
Wedge nodded, "And now, it's back to the fleet."
"I have side mission to Dagobah to complete first," Luke informed them, "I'll meet you at the fleet once it's completed."
"Right," Biggs answered, "See you then."
Luke then made his way to his X-Wing, which was waiting for him with Artoo already in 'his' droid socket.
"Okay, Artoo," Luke called to the droid, "Get her ready for takeoff, I think we've overstayed our welcome."
The Millennium Falcon
Getting off of Hoth was the easy part of the escape for Han as he tried to get the Falcon on course for Bespin, but he quickly found the hyperdrive wouldn't even make a small jump, and that allowed the Star Destroyers orbiting Hoth to close in on him. Leia offered to man one of the quad-laser cannons, but Han dismissed that. He needed Chewie to help him navigate, especially since the hyperdrive appeared to be busted, and without someone manning the other quad-laser cannon, the Imperial fighters would fly in the area that couldn't be covered. Han decided skilled maneuvering was his only real defense.
What annoyed him the most was the fact that Threepio insisted on sitting in the cockpit and promptly panicking the moment anything happened, and Han didn't need that.
"Shut him up or shut him down!" Han growled as Threepio complained about something else as a Star Destroyer moved to cut them off, "Thank goodness these Star Destroyers can't maneuver."
Leia then watched as Han speed up to the fastest possible sublight speed that the Falcon could attain twisted through Imperial fire so that the Star Destroyer in front of them and the Star Destroyer in back of them were on a collision course. The sound of the two Star Destroyers colliding was audible even in the Falcon and made all of them look back, hoping to see the two wrecked warships.
"Look out!" Threepio screamed hysterically, as he hadn't looked toward the back windows.
Han turned around to see a massive asteroid field in front of them. Knowing that there were other Star Destroyers coming after his ship, his best hope for escape was to go through it, and he pushed forward.
"What are you doing?" Leia demanded in a surprised voice, "You're not actually going into an asteroid field?"
"They'd be crazy to follow us, wouldn't they?" Han asked back, "Besides, this is a short cut. Without the hyperdrive, we'll be destroyed before we make it to Bespin if we go the normal way."
Leia was quiet. She knew Han was right there. The Star Destroyers had tried to pounce on anything that didn't immediately jump into hyperspace, and since the Falcon couldn't go into hyperspace, it was a very easy target. Chewie was nervous about the situation as well, but said nothing. Threepio, however, was a different matter.
"You can't do this," Threepio insisted, "The odds of successfully navigating an asteroid field are approximately one thousand seven hundred twenty to one."
"Never tell me the odds!" Han growled back at the droid.
Imperial Star Destroyer Devastator
Vader awoke to find himself in the medical bay of the Devastator. Admiral Piett and General Veers were both present.
"Are you alright, My Lord?" Admiral Piett asked.
"The situation?" Vader demanded, ignoring the question.
"The Battle of Hoth was a complete victory," General Veers reported, "Of the five hundred thousand troops of the Five hundred first Legion, fifty thousand are dead and one hundred thousand are wounded, we also counted up to seventy five thousand dead Rebels and took a further fifty thousand prisoner. Their airspeeders have tactics that can easily deal with our AT-ATs, but they posses no other weapon that can deal with them easily, and their airspeeders can only employ those tactics in areas of open terrain."
"I could see that the battle on Hoth was a success," Vader answered, "What of the blockade?"
"Most of the Rebel ships jumped into hyperspace as soon as they were out of the atmosphere," Admiral Piett answered, "One ship didn't, and that was the Millennium Falcon, my Lord."
"The Falcon?" Vader asked.
Piett nodded, "Something appears to be wrong with its hyperdrive and I immediately ordered the fleet to try and destroy the vessel, which has created problems on its own."
Vader looked at the Admiral with a murderous look in his eyes, although Piett couldn't see that through Vader's helmet.
"As you know, the Rebels forced the Tyrant to crash onto Hoth's surface," Piett began to explain, "And it will have to be disassembled and transported to a shipyard to be rebuilt, piece by piece, which means that half our fleet will be remaining at Hoth for the foreseeable future."
"Understandable, how has a damaged Millennium Falcon caused us more trouble?" Vader demanded.
"Mostly because it is still far more maneuverable then any ship in our fleet," Admiral Piett answered, "As it escaped Hoth, the Destruction and the Vengeance pursued the ship from opposing directions. The Falcon managed to avoid taking critical hits and the two Star Destroyers collided and are now adrift. The Falcon, meanwhile has fled into an asteroid field. I've sent much of the fleet to try and go around it and take up positions where the Falcon will be most likely to emerge from the asteroid field, but I do not know if they will get there in time."
"Asteroids do not concern me, Admiral," Vader answered, "Send the fleet in after the Millennium Falcon."
"My Lord, I must advise against that," Admiral Piett spoke, "the asteroids could do serious damage to the fleet and limit our ability to deal with the Rebel Fleet when it is found and cornered. I can send T.I.E. fighters in, as they are more expendable, and far more maneuverable, but sending the whole fleet in would risk unnecessary damage. Since the Falcon's hyperdrive is damaged, it can not go far."
"And if its hyperdrive is not damaged, it could be on the other side of the galaxy by now," Vader answered.
"If their hyperdrive worked they would have used it by now and not gone into the asteroid field in the first place," Admiral Piett informed him, "Besides, if it makes it through the asteroid field, there are only two possible locations that it could get to easily. One is Anoat and the other is Bespin. There is little on Anoat, which means that it is unlikely that they will stop there, as the Millennium Falcon's own registry indicates that it has been modified and customized by its owners before the Rebels acquired it, and place like Anoat will not carry the customized parts that the Falcon will need to be repaired. Therefore, Bespin is the most likely destination."
Vader thought for a moment and then sensed the opportunity to set a trap. One of the two force sensitives that had been on Hoth was on the Falcon, and the other certainly couldn't be too far away.
"Very well," Vader spoke in a calmed voice, "Set course for Bespin, immediately."
To Be Continued…