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Counter Attack

Damian stepped around a corner and launched himself forward, extending one of his lightsaber blades before slashing his way through a group of stormtroopers. As he landed, another stepped out of a doorway behind him, only for Ahsoka to launch herself forward as well, slashing him down the back and killing him. They paused for Maris to catch up before continuing to run. Finally, they reached the door to the command center and Damian glanced at the other two, who both nodded. He pressed the button to open the door and it hissed open. Everyone turned toward the door and the commanding officer, Admiral Konstantine, swore harshly.

"The Wraith Squad!" Konstantine gasped.

Several of the Stormtroopers and officers in the room drew blasters, but the three Jedi took off, deflecting blaster bolts as they spread out through the room, slaughtering everyone. Finally, only Konstantine was left and Damian held his lightsaber to his throat.

"Status?" Damian asked.

"The Gravity Well is down," Shaeeah reported.

"The hangar is secure," Barriss reported. "There weren't any new Tie Fighters, so we rigged everything to explode and disabled their engines."

"Good," Damian said. "Abandon ship. Jump into space and radio Katie and R3 to pick you up. General Sato, General Dodonna, you're clear to jump."

"Negative, Wraith!" Sato responded. "They have another Gravity Well!"

"How?" Konstantine asked. "How did your squad take our ship so easily?"

"Doesn't matter," Damian said. "We'll try and deal with the other Gravity Well. Return to the planet for now."

"Understood," Sato replied. "All ships, return to base!"

"Did anyone get through?" Damian asked.

"Ezra did," Hera said. "We're heading back. Try to dissuade them from using an orbital bombardment, won't you?"

"Gladly," Damian said, lifting a hand toward Konstantine and focusing. "The Rebels have taken control of Grand Admiral Thrawn's Star Destroyer."

"The Rebels have taken control of Grand Admiral Thrawn's Star Destroyer," Konstantine repeated.

"You will attain the highest glory by stopping them," Damian said.

"I will attain the highest glory by stopping them," Konstantine said.

"You will ram their Star Destroyer with yours and kill them all in one strike," Damian said.

"I will ram their Star Destroyer with mine and kill them all in one strike," Konstantine said.

Damian lowered his hand and Konstantine ran to the ship's controls. Damian and the others ran from the room, heading to an exterior corridor and cutting their way out of the ship. As soon as they were in space, the ship began to move, accelerating toward Thrawn's quickly as the Wraith swung around and sped toward them, all of the others in the cargo bay. As soon as they were inside, the door closed and the room pressurized, artificial gravity activating. Everyone ran to the cockpit, Ahsoka and Barriss taking the guns as Damian took the controls, Shaeeah copiloting and Jek monitoring the status of the ship's shields and systems. R3 and Katie were both jacked in and ready to control any systems necessary.

"Enjoy the fireworks, everyone," Damian said.

As Konstantine's cruiser slammed into Thrawn's, everyone in the Wraith cheered. Then, Damian turned the ship and flew toward the planet.

"Thrawn's deployed all of his fighters to take us out while his shuttles head to another cruiser," Shaeeah reported.

"Bring it on," Damian said, opening fire on the cloud of fighters.

The entire swarm turned toward them instantly, opening fire on the Wraith, Barriss and Ahsoka opening fire as well. TIE fighters exploded rapidly, as did several shuttles, though Damian doubted that they were lucky enough to destroy the one with Thrawn on it, but they caused enough of a distraction. As they began to pass through the cloud of TIE fighters, their deflector shields began to deflect their lasers rapidly as the three guns ripped into the fighters, destroying them and sending several exploding against the Wraith or bouncing off of it.

"Shields are at eighty five percent," Jek reported after they'd passed out the far side of the swarm of fighters.

"She'll hold," Shaeeah said calmly.

"Are we fighting an entire squadron of fighters ourselves?" Shia asked.

"About ten squadrons," Damian said as they and the TIE fighters all pulled around for another pass.

"About eight now," Ahsoka said as they began to fly toward them again.

"Try to remember who's onboard," Riyo said.

"Trust me, we know," Damian said.

"Brace for another pass!" Shaeeah said.

As they neared the fighters, the lasers became much more focused, slamming into them a lot more frequently, destroyed fighters crashing into them, as they had the first pass. As they broke free again, the remaining cruisers began an orbital bombardment.

"Seventy five percent," Jek reported.

"Wraith, can you take some of the heat off of us from the bombardment?" Hera asked.

"We'll try," Damian said, steering toward the cruisers.

All three guns ripped into a separate cruiser, Ahsoka managing to take out a command deck, but the bombardment continued for several more seconds before ending.

"Everyone still alive?" Damian asked.

"Our shield held," Hera said. "Barely. Can you get back?"

"That'll be difficult," Damian said as the fighters began to fire at them again. "We've attracted quite a crowd of hangers-on up here."

"Wish we could help," Hera said as Damian flipped the ship backward and opened fire as they quickly raced toward the fighters again.

"You got Alina crying!" Sapphire shouted, Alina's screams echoing through the connection and the ship.

"Zera, go help calm her down," Damian said as he swung around at the fighters again. "Jek, how're the shields holding up?"

"Fifty eight percent," Jek reported as Zera hurried for Alina's room.

"R3, do we have any ordinance loaded?" Damian asked.

R3 reported two sonic charges and and a single proton torpedo.

"Ready a sonic charge," Damian said as they neared the fighters again. He waited as they began to blast their way through the noticeably smaller swarm of fighters. "Deploy!"

R3 jettisoned the charge backward and Ethan dove, smashing through a fighter completely just before the blast went off, a massive blue disk spreading outward for a thousand meters before fading, wiping out dozens of fighters.

"That worked!" Barriss grinned.

"The dive didn't," Jek said. "That fighter we hit dropped out shields to thirty percent."

"Ready the proton torpedo," Damian ordered, swinging around to the other Gravity Well cruiser, flying at it from behind. "Fire!"

R3 fired the torpedo and Damian steered away. After a moment, the torpedo exploded between the engines, explosions ripping through the cruiser rapidly.

"The other Gravity Well cruiser is down!" Ahsoka reported. "If we can force the blockade out of position, our ships can escape!"

"Incoming fighters!" Shaeeah warned.

"Where?" Damian asked.

"Behind us," Shaeeah said.

Damian slowed. "Divert all shields to the rear."

Katie did as instructed. Blasts began to bounce off it a moment later, and Damian grit his teeth. Finally, he gave R3 the order, and R3 deployed the last sonic charge. A moment later, it exploded, taking out most of the rest of the fighters.

"Jek?"

"Fifteen percent," Jek reported. "We can't take another path."

"Shit!" Damian swore. "We're heading planet side!"

He activated the Wraith's cloaking tech and piloted down, the TIE fighters all returning to their cruisers, since they didn't know where the Wraith had gone.

"Hera, we're coming in," Damian warned.

"You'll be able to pass through the shield," Hera said.

A few seconds later, they passed through the shield, the Wraith shuddering as it did, then landed on the landing platform. He shut down and sighed, resting his face in his hands for a second.

"You okay?" Ahsoka asked, resting a hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah," Damian said. "R3, Katie, see what you can do about the shields while we go check in with command."

The droids beeped out an affirmative and Damian and Ahsoka walked back to Alina's room sighing as he saw Zera had her calmed down and everyone was safe. Zera passed her to Ahsoka and they all left the ship, heading to the command center.

"What's the situation?" Damian asked.

"Thrawn's sending the first wave now," Hera said. "Rex and Zeb took troops to guard the approach and fend them off."

"Jek, Shaeeah, Enfys, take the Wraith as air support inside the shield," Damian ordered. "They'll have AT-ATs."

Jek, Shaeeah, and Enfys nodded and turned, running back to the Wraith. As they all watched the holographic feed of the battle, Rex and Zeb destroyed several AT-STs with mines and a rocket shot from Zeb, only for three AT-ATs to walk in through the shield and open fire, stormtroopers pouring in with them, along with two troop transports. Four Rebel Fighters did a fly-over, blasting a few stormtroopers and blasting the AT-ATs harmlessly, but Thrawn sent in five TIEs.

"In place," Jek said. "Stealth systems engaged and Katie and R3 have the shields back up to thirty percent."

"As soon as the TIEs enter the shield, shoot them down, then focus on the walkers," Damian said.

A moment later, he looked up just as five explosions went off in the air, then returned his gaze to the hologram as the walkers were quickly taken down, the Wraith's guns also mowing down the stormtroopers. The fallen walkers effectively blocked the approach just inside of the shield and Rex and Zeb sent rebels to boobytrap it instantly.

"Shaeeah, shift the Wraith's position so they can't target you," Damian said.

"I know how to fly," Shaeeah said. "You didn't train me to replace you as pilot for nothing."

"Stand-in, not replacement," Damian smiled.

"We've got Kanan," Zeb radioed suddenly.

"Thank God!" Hera sighed. "Bring him here."

"On our way," Kanan replied.

Damian looked outside as a storm began to roll in quickly. He frowned. He could sense something inside of it, but it was too angry to sense clearly. "Kanan, tell me you didn't piss off Bendu."

"No, I definitely did," Kanan said.

Finally, he, Rex, and Zeb all reached the control center.

"Phoenix Leader, do you read me?" Ezra suddenly radioed.

"Ezra!?" Hera shouted in surprise.

"I brought help," Ezra said. "We're going to cause a distraction."

"How much help did you bring?" Damian asked.

"Not enough to turn down help from the Wraith," Ezra said.

"Jek, Shaeeah, help where you can," Damian said. "Keep the stealth systems active this time."

"Understood," Shaeeah said.

"This could be our only chance," Kanan said. "Let's move!"

As they ran for the landing pad, stormtroopers finally made it past the fallen walkers and swarmed into the base, a shuttle managing a lucky shot on the shield generator before landing outside the base and offloading Thrawn.

"Faster!" Maris said.

"Calm down," Damian said. "We have time."

A bombing run began and Damian began to use the Force to hurl debris and abandoned crates of ammo or supplies into the fighters as they ran, slowing the tide of TIE bombers. The Rebel fleet began to take off and their fighters began to clear the skies. However, as they neared the Ghost, a dozen Purge Troopers suddenly ran out from behind it armed with electrostaffs, electrobatons, or heavy blaster rifles, and walking behind the was Thrawn.

"And now, Hera Syndulla, I will accept your formal surrender," Thrawn said. "Or, you will watch your friends die, one by one, starting with the Jedi. Or perhaps, the Jedi's child."

Damian narrowed his eyes. "You'll die before you harm her."

"Will I?" Thrawn asked calmly.

Just then, the storm began to close in rapidly, thunder rumbling loudly as lightning struck the ground a short distance away. Kanan looked around nervously, shifting on his feet.

"Do you fear the storm, Master Jedi?" Thrawn asked.

"Yeah," Kanan nodded. "And you should too."

Just then, a lightning bolt struck the ground just outside the base, the thunder exploding over them deafeningly and making them all flinch and look up. More and more lightning began to strike around them as a powerful wind began to kick up, rapidly growing strong enough to threaten to blow them away.

"Grab onto something!" Kanan warned.

"What Jedi Sorcery is this!?" Thrawn demanded.

Suddenly, a pair of spots in the clouds began to shine bright yellow, growing upward into a set of eyes. "I am the Bendu!"

"What is that?" Zeb asked.

"Uh, Kanan?" Hera called over the wind worriedly.

"That is the Force Sensitive creature from the desert," Damian said. "You just had to piss him off, huh, Kanan?"

"Had to do something," Kanan said.

"I bring death!" Bendu declared, just as a pair of lightning bolts struck two AT-ATs in front of the base, ripping completely through both of them and setting off an explosion inside them.

Lightning bolts began to blast the base rapidly, explosions lighting the area over and over. Everyone turned, sprinting for the Ghost as Thrawn and the rest of the Imperials scattering. However, Thrawn chased them a soon as he realized they were running and chased them, only for them all to stop as lightning struck the ground before them.

"Leave this place," Bendu thundered. "I am the light! I am the dark!" His voice dropped to a growl. "I am the Bendu!"

Lightning bolts exploded into the ground, blasting several stormtroopers. Thrawn fled for cover as Damian and the others headed for the ghost at a sprint. As they ran onto it, the stormtroopers began to fire up at Bendu.

"Kanan Jarrus!" Bendu roared as they took off along with the last of the cruisers. "Jedi Knight!"

Just then, a bolt of lightning hit the top of the ship.

"This is your friend!?" Hera demanded.

"I might have made him angry," Kanan said.

"Yeah, I can relate!" Hera said, just as Bendu's eyes appeared in front of them.

Lightning began to flash down at them faster and faster, blasting one of the fighters flying escort. Damian swore and ran out of the cockpit, pulling his helmet on, then up to the top of the ship. Just as he arrived, a bolt of lightning shot down toward one of the cruisers and his hand snapped up. The bolt arced around at Damian, crashing into his palm, only for its energy to be instantly dispersed on contact, neutralizing the bolt. Bendu roared in rage, sending several more lightning bolts at him, Damian dispersing them all quickly. Then, finally, they cleared Bendu's storm. Damian headed back inside and strapped in as they began to leave the atmosphere. At the same time as he returned tot he cockpit, the Wraith appeared beside the Ghost.

"Did the family make it?" Shaeeah asked.

"All still kicking," Damian reassured her.

"We've got an incoming transmission," Hera said, surprised.

The Fulcrum crest appeared over the holotank.

"It's Kallus!" Zeb said. "He's sending coordinates!"

"There's an escape pod on my scope," Hera said.

"Wraith, cover that escape pod," Ahsoka said. "We'll handle the pickup."

"Copy," Shaeeah said, the Wraith pulling ahead.

They sped up, flying through the scrambled blockade quickly before catching the escape pod with the maglock on the bottom of the Ghost. Then, they and the Wraith fell in behind Ezra's Mandalorian Fighter and all of the cruisers and fighters fell in behind them. Then, they all jumped together and everyone relaxed, slumping in their chairs or against the walls.

"It's over," Damian sighed, accepting Alina from Ahsoka, who lay on his shoulder, smiling.

"Thanks in no small part to the Wraith and its crew," Hera said. "You all did well."

Everyone smiled gratefully and Shaak Ti turned to Maris.

"She is right," Shaak Ti said. "You did well."

"I barely did anything," Maris said.

"You did enough to count," Shaak Ti said. "I am proud of you."

Maris smiled and hugged Shaak Ti, who hugged her back, smiling. Damian remained where he was for another few minutes before standing and heading to the common area to sit with Ahsoka and their child more comfortably.


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