Chapter Eighteen

Luke, Sami, and Riekan followed Master Windu and Ahsoka up the ramp of a Mon Cal cruiser. They were part of a fleet of seven Mon Cal cruisers and two Venators heading to Earth. The Padawans were chattering amongst themselves.

"So what is the name of this planet we're headed to?" Riekan said.

"I dunno. It isn't in any of the maps." Luke said.

"Maybe it's an unknown planet we have just discovered." Sami suggested. Then, after they entered the ship, they took off and blasted into hyperspace.

-o0o-

Obi-wan watched from the bridge of the lead Venator as the Empire landed on the planet. But with no idea of how the ground battles were shaping up, Obi-wan turned to an officer.

"I need a scout to the planet. I need an idea of what's happening to the planet's military forces." Obi-wan said.

"We will send one right away." The officer said. A few minutes later, a lone ARC-170 fighter flew out of the Venator's hangar and made its way to Earth. The co-pilot of the starfighter connected their communications to the fleet.

"We're entering the atmosphere." The Rebel pilot reported. "Jek, activate the gun camera and the camera on the bottom of the ship." The co-pilot did as he was told and connected it to the fleet. It streamed to Obi-wan so that he gets an idea of the situation below. The pilot activated his guncam to survey the dogfights in the skies.

"Holy Force! The Empire has landed on the planet, but they are in big trouble. The sheer numbers of the planet's military forces are breaking through." The co-pilot reported. "If I knew any better, I say that within the next three to four hours, Imperial troops will be completely wiped out." This caused Obi-wan to raise an eyebrow.

"What about the air war?" He asked.

"The dogfight is all around us. It seems pretty even, but more TIE fighters are being shot down than the planet's air forces." The pilot reported. "Wait! Gordo! Get these TIEs off of us! I can't shake him!"

The ARC-170 came under attack from a TIE, but before Gordo, the rear gunner, could fire, the TIE exploded. The wreckage fell away and an F-22 Raptor flew next the Rebel fighter. The jet waggled its wings and flew off.

"You wouldn't believe it! We just got are asses saved by one of the planet's fighters!" The pilot cried. "Wait! I see a flash of light below. I'm going in!"

The pilot put his ARC-170 into a dive and pulled up just before the treetops. The light, or rather lights, were Desmond and all of the Jedi (except the children) fighting the stormtroopers in a suburb in Manchester, England, where it was home to the Jedi since Order 66.

"I found the Jedi. Here are the coordinates." The pilot said and relayed the latitude and longitude of the location to the fleet.

"This is excellent. Return to the ship immediately." Obi-wan ordered.

"Roger, wilco." The pilot said before pulling out of the sky and into space. After returning, the footage was shown to Obi-wan and Siri.

"This is interesting." Obi-wan said. "Even without a space fleet, the planet is able to hold back the Empire."

"And with our reinforcements, they will be forced to retreat." Siri said. "Everything is going better than expected."

"That's what I'm afraid of." Obi-wan said.

-o0o-

Darth Vader was frustrated as he paced around in the bridge.

"What is going on? We are in danger of losing the planet, and the Rebellion has not intervened yet." He demanded.

"Lord Vader, there are too many defenders on the ground. We will need to send more troops down to the surface." An officer said. "Their air force is also cutting our fighters to pieces. There's no way we can completely control the planet."

"This is not acceptable." Vader said. "We must send reinforcements."

Suddenly, an alarm sounded.

"Sir! Enemy projectiles heading right for us!" An officer shouted. In the distance, two nuclear missles were headed right for the Empire's fleet. Vader used the Force to divert the threat away. It intially worked, but the missles turned back on the fleet. They were guided missles, piloted by controllers on he ground.

"Sir, these are guided missles. We must shoot them down!" The officer said. The Star Destroyers opened fire on the missles. One was hit and it exploded brilliantly. The other made it through and hit one of the Star Destroyers right in the middle. The missle and the Destroyer were incinerated in a powerful and blinding explosion. Chunks of the ship flew in all directions, bombarding the other ship. More missiles soon appeared.

"Commander! Deploy the rest of our fighters against this threat! We will be cut to pieces if those reach us!" Vader commanded. Never in his life had he seen a planet put up such a fight, despite having primitive space technology and weapons. Lord Vader walked to his personal chambers and contacted the Emperor. The hologram of the Emperor appeared.

"What is it, Lord Vader?" The Emperor demanded.

"I require reinforcements to these coordinates. I am taking this planet in the name of the Empire, but the planet's forces are too strong. They have one billion troops active." Lord Vader reported.

"This is most displeasing, my apprentice. However, if you cannot take the planet by the next three rotations, then wipe them out. All of them." The Emperor sneered.

"Yes, my Master." Lord Vader said before cutting transmission.

TBC…

A/N: Hello. This is a rare author's note from me, but I want to thank you all of the reviews, even though it was long ago. Please keep reviewing, because I have a lot of interesting ideas that you may want to read. So, as I said earlier, please read and review and subscribe for more chapters of this and my other stories. (Hint: A new collab story will be coming out soon. Stay alert…)