Teen Titans / Star Wars Crossover

Chapter 19: Casualties

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Don't own, you know the drill.

A short chapter, but an important one.

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Chapter 19: Casualties

It was a happy Garfield who was heading back to Hoth when, quite naturally, the universe just had to go and spoil it. The outlying sensors relayed straight into his comps…

Blips. 'Way out on the outskirts of the system. Not the Death Star, thank God, but big ships nonetheless. Troops carriers, at least. His heart sank, the good news he'd been about to relay a sodden mess on his soul. It didn't matter now. The Empire had arrived, and they were headed straight for Hoth like darts towards a bulls-eye. Dammit, dammit, dammit. In his mind's eye, he saw all those X-wings, turning end over end, still glowing from the heat of Imperial firepower, the kids inside long dead, bits and pieces of them scattered across space, and there was nothing he could do about it.

Or was there?

He flicked on his communicator. No point in hiding; they knew exactly where they were. "Ground? We got company, and the dinner table isn't halfway set."

"Uh, sir?" The officer in charge of communications had, of course, no idea what Garfield was talking about.

"Get me Victor. Stone, I mean." There was more than one "Victor" in the rebel base. "I'm coming in hot, and I need a refuel. So, quick, man. Get me Vic."

Shortly, "Hey, grass stain. They're here, aren't they?"

Garfield sighed. "They sure are. Look, Vic. Get ready for some ground action. And scramble the guys. All of 'em. And pull Jasper out of the kitchen. I need everybody I can get."

"Hey, I'm tech support."

"I know. That's why I need you to cram those 'wings full of nucleonics. And send me up a mid-flight refuel. I won't be able to land."

"What have you got up your sleeve?" Victor's voice was heavy with suspicion. He knew his "little buddy" altogether too well.

"Tell you later. The main party of those bastards are nearly to the asteroid belt and we need to be there first for my plan to work. If they land them all, we're history. So send me up that refuel, and tell the guys to come packin.' Stuff as many nukes as you can into 'em. Fill the cockpits if you have to. Time's running out, Vic. I'm heading that way soon's I get refueled; I need the squad behind me. And tell Jasper don't monkey around with his acell comp this time." He thought quick, before Cyborg could reply. "And tell Leia to expect a heavy ground assault. They've probably already landed some ground forces. Maybe not many, but some. Probably AT-ATs. You, Starfire, Raven and Robin are gonna be needed to fight them off." He hoped his flurry of orders would keep Victor from asking uncomfortable questions. Into the brief silence, "Come on, Vic, move it."

On the ground: The hanger resembled an Earthly ant hill poked with a stick. The members were practically falling over each other to reach their 'wings. Yunion was nearly to her fighter when she felt someone grab her arm; Jasper. "Yu, I…" he was trying to remember what it was all the actors on the tri-Vee's said when she pulled him into a clumsy but electrifying kiss. She let him go, a shy smile on her face. "Get back here. There's more where that came from," she whispered in his ear. "Now get to your fighter, dummy." And turned and ran towards her own X-wing.

I can die happy now, he thought, running towards his ship.

….

Garfield reached the asteroid belt as the main body of Imperial TIE fighters pulled back, to guard the carriers still beyond it. The squad was right behind him. "Okay, people. They'll be coming in straight through the belt; probably intended to throw us off. Don't target the fighters themselves; there's too many of 'em. Set your sights on those largest asteroids and empty your nukes at 'em. Re-arrange the map for 'em, give 'em something unexpected to fly through. Maneuver X-23 Garfield. But keep your distance from those carriers. When, not if, your sensors tell you you're being targeted, pull away and draw back. Lead 'em inwards, but not towards Hoth." Not that it'll do much good; they know where we are. "Draw their fire away from the planet. And Vic," he spoke into his comm, to Cyborg on the ground, "… use those new sensor scramblers we developed. Try and direct 'em around the moon. Actually, anywhere else, just not Hoth." Pause. "You did tell Leia to be ready for a ground assault, right?"

"Didn't have to; some are already here. You've got something up your sleeve, grass stain. What is it?"

"You'll see. Now let's get to work."

Garfield led the squadron straight into the asteroid belt, their own star charts showing them the orbiting asteroids. "Jas? I'm about to be very uncivil to 'em; after all, they are uninvited guests. But I'm gonna need you to lead the rest of the squad in that maneuver. Don't deviate and don't fool around with your acceleration compensator. Got it?"

"Sir?"

"You heard me, I didn't stutter. Now, move." And he drove his own fighter straight at the oncoming TIE fighters, using his hyperdrive momentarily to slip behind them and began blasting every one he could from behind. Then he accelerated through the expanding clouds of debris, again hitting his hyperdrive. The TIE's couldn't match that, but he kept his velocity down to where they could sense him, even if they couldn't keep up. But several leading TIE's followed him. He smiled a predatory smile. He remembered Robin once saying that the best way to win a fight was to get your opponent to lose his temper while keeping yours. It seemed more than a few wanted some payback.

He drove inwards, towards the sun. He had to leave the squad to do this; he hoped Jasper was up for it. He didn't know if his plan would work, but it was worth a try. He only hoped Vic had prepared the ground defenses for what was likely to be a heavy assault. Starfire and Raven, he knew, could take out a ton of ground forces all by themselves.

In Starfire and Robin's room, Raven groaned, trying to wake up. That must've been some herbal tea. But now she was sensing attacks, both from space and on the ground. She had to get up; the others needed her.

But she was still in no shape to even stand up, let alone fight. Still, she tried. She knew Garfield would be out there; he'd need her help.

But it was no use. She was dizzy, nauseous, and had such a headache she couldn't even see straight, let alone work her magicks. With another groan, she collapsed back onto the bed, practically unconscious.

…

Garfield led the TIE's inward, towards the sun. If he could get close enough, the magnetic fields would scramble their sensors. His were adjusted for those fields; theirs weren't. That, and...something else.

He led them in, then hit his retros, and they shot past him. Prepared as he was, he was able to target three of them before they turned, the more experienced pilots targeting where his shots had come from. He zigged and zagged, but was unable to dodge all their fire, losing one wing, which threw him off balance. But as they closed in on him, he prepared his hyperdrive again, this time aiming for where he knew they'd have to be. "Hey, Jasper."

"Sir?"

"I'm leaving you in charge. Don't take stupid chances; get the rest of the squad back safely. Oh, and Jas?"

"S-sir?" He could hear the disbelief in the young cadet's voice. Him, in charge? Him, the screw-up?

"Treat her right, Jas. Or I swear I'll come back and kick your ass across no less than three star systems." He set his ship's power plant to overload.

"Grass stain, what'd are you plan—*"

The photosphere of the star was close. He could feel the heat. "Vic..tell Raven I love her."

"GARFIELD LOGAN, DON'T YOU DARE MAKE ME GO TO THAT GIRL AND TELL HER Y—*"

"G'bye, Vic." And he flicked the switch to blow his ship, while at the same time, hitting the "eject" button…

...sending himself into the cold but very bright void of space, so very close to the star…

The resulting explosion took out the remaining five TIE's

….

The ground: Starfire, Cyborg, and Robin, leading the rebels, had taken down most of the AT-AT's. "Star, tell me again where Raven is? We could sure use her."

"She is the sick, beloved. Something she drank disagreed with her."

…

"Garfield! Garfield! You better answer me…!" Even as he targeted two more Imperial tanks.

But there was no answer.

…

Meanwhile, Garfield's squadron had made serious inroads into the Imperial fighters, their plan having worked. There hadn't been that many TIE's, their primary duty having been to escort the troop carriers down to the ground, then deal with any fighters the rebels sent up. Their charts of the asteroid field having been drastically rearranged, the Imperials were flying into chunk-sized debris, doing as much damage to themselves as rebel fire. The leaders that remained tried to lead the remaining forces over the asteroid belt...only to encounter yet more shrapnel. The squad was prepared for that maneuver, however, and, in keeping with Garfield's plan, hyperdrived right into the thick of the expanding debris field, which, by that time, had thinned out. The Imperials, concentrating on moving outward, away from the asteroid belt, were turned the wrong way to avoid rebel firepower.

On board one of the main carriers: "Sir," said the sensor tech, "I'm getting a strange fluctuation in the remote sensors. Never seen anything like it."

"I have," said another. "That suicidal rebel pilot set off his ship close enough to the sun that it disturbed the star's magnetic field. It may have even caused some sunspot activity. We won't be getting any useful data until it dies down."

"Dammit," muttered the commander, "Recall the fighters, and alert the ground forces, such as remain." The rebels had the "home field advantage," as Robin would have called it, while the reports the Imperials received had told them of three—a minimum of three—enhanced power adversaries. Right now, without proper intel, the rebels had the upper hand. He glared at the star as though it were personally responsible for his misery, which, in a way, it was. "We may have to pull back." The rebels, as things stood, were matching the Imperials shot-for-shot. They might still be able to outgun the rebels, but they'd lost the advantage of surprise the commander had counted on. Well, he hadn't logged this mission with high command, so there should be no serious repercussions.

He hoped.

…

Hoth: Yunion found Jasper sitting on a bench in the hanger, looking as though he'd been struck by lightning. She sat down beside him. He didn't look around, didn't even seem to notice her. "Jas?" she said, rubbing his arm.

It worked, a little. A small bit of consciousness swam back into his eyes. "He's gone. I don't believe it." Although all the rebels had lost people on Yavin, neither of these two had lost anyone close to them...no family, no close friends. They'd only made close contacts when they'd joined the rebel squad on Hoth. "I...can't believe it. He's gone." It was the first time either of them had lost someone they really felt close to.

She rubbed his arm some more. "He...he did it to save us, Jas. His sacrifice took out enough of the Imps that we had a chance." The squad themselves had been able to reduce the number of TIE fighters that the Imperials no longer had the numerical / tactical advantage. Lacking that, they'd retreated. The carriers themselves weren't heavily armed, and they'd brought no Star Destroyers. The ground forces had met with a resounding defeat at the hands of the rebels, with the help of Starfire, Robin, and especially Cyborg, who'd been able to hack into their computer systems, causing them to literally run in circles.

"But…but why put me in charge? I'm the, the—*"

"Don't say it. Don't even think it. He obviously saw something in you; you need to see that same something in yourself."

He still looked shell-shocked. Decision making time. She got up, pulling him to his feet. "C'mon, Jas."

"Huh? What? What is it?"

"I seem to recall somebody saying there was 'more where that came from.'" She pulled him up and kissed him, then led him down the hallway towards the crew quarters. "Let's go see about that 'more,' shall we?"

….

Victor moved down the hallway, not rapidly, but not slowly, either. There was, he figured, no point in putting this off.

"Devastated" didn't begin to describe how Raven was going to feel. "Annihilated" came closer, but even that wasn't strong enough.

Starfire had told him that she'd left Raven in her and Robin's room, and why. Now he understood why Raven hadn't joined them on the battlefield.

But when he got there, he found a puzzled-looking Starfire gazing about an empty room. Oh, crap, he thought, I guess we don't have to tell her, after all.

….

Starfire flew in an outward-spiral pattern, starting at the rebel base. She could see the remains of the AT-AT's down below, but those weren't the wreckage she was looking for. She was looking for a different kind of wreckage.

She estimated she'd covered at least fifty kilometers in radius from the rebel base when she spotted a small, dark spot on the ice below.

She landed right by Raven, who was sitting, cross-legged, on the ice plain. Of them all, Starfire and Raven were the only two who could venture outside without protective clothing.

Raven was sitting quietly, rocking slightly back and forth. "Friend Raven?"

There was no response. For all the notice the sorceress gave her, Starfire might as well have not been there. So Starfire just sat there, her feet drawn up underneath her. She guessed when Raven felt like talking, she'd talk.

"Why did the Klingon cross the road?"

"Huh? What?" Of all the things Koriand'r was expecting Raven to say, that wasn't it.

"To conquer the other side." Raven's back-and-forth motion increased. "Knock, knock."

"Uhm…."

"Candice."

"Er...Candice who?"

"Candice door open or am I stuck out here?" There was a strange sheen in Raven's eyes. Her rocking motion increased. "Guy walks into a cheap downtown bar with a duck. 'Hey,' says the bartender, 'You can't bring that duck in here!

'You don't understand,' says the guy, 'this is—*'"

"Shush, Raven." Starfire turned and gathered the sorceress into her arms, pulling her into a gentle embrace. She laid the dark girl's head on her shoulder. Raven's arms automatically went around the Tameranean princess. "Now cry, Raven. Cry."

Raven cried.

To be continued…