I don't own Star Wars Rebels or it's characters
I own only Lisa Skywalker and my other OCs
Enjoy!
Sparks of Rebellion
Chapter 40: Zero Hour Part 2
At Chopper Base...
Hera studies a holographic projection of Thrawn's fleet and deduces that the Grand Admiral was preparing for orbital bombardment.
"Thrawn is preparing for a planetary bombardment."Hera stated. "How's the shield coming, Zeb?"
"We're about to fire it up now."Zeb replied. "Rex and I have done our best, but this is really Sabine's baby."
"Then it should work."Hera responded.
"Should, yes, but there are a lot of modifications and special fuses."Rex admitted. "We never got to test it while Sabine was still here, so if it overloads, I'm not sure we can fix it."
"Let's hope you don't have to."Hera replied. "Fire it up."
"Copy that."Zeb answered.
Zeb fired up the prototype shield generator, which forms a shield that envelops Chopper Base.
"It's working!"Zeb remarked. "The shield is stabilized!"
"Nice work, boys."Hera stated.
Gwen and R2-KT came out of the Defender Class Light Corvette as Ferus and Zack rushed up to them.
"Gwen, KT, you both made it."Ferus said with a hint of relief. "Thank the Force."
"Yeah, but I can't say the same with Commander Sato."Gwen complemented.
R2-KT let out a sad beep.
"Dad, what are we going to do?"Zack asked. "We have a shield, but it won't be strong enough against Thrawn's ships."
"Backup is coming, don't worry."Ferus assured with a firm look.
Hera contacted Kanan via comlink.
"Kanan, do you copy?"Hera asked.
"I read you, Hera."Kanan replied.
"Thrawn is planning an orbital bombardment."Hera warned. "You need to get back to base immediately."
"I'm moving as fast as I can."Kanan assured.
"Faster. Please."Hera instructed and ended the call. "All right, Thrawn. Your move."
In the Chimaera...
Governor Pryce informed Thrawn that their capital ships were in position and that the blockade is secured.
"Our capital ships are in position."Governor Pryce reported. "The blockade is secure."
"And the status of the rebel fleet?"Thrawn questioned.
"The remaining vessels have fled back to the surface and are taking shelter under a localized shield."Governor Pryce replied.
"Hmm, very good."Thrawn said. "Let's test their mettle. Commence the attack."
Back in Chopper Base...
"We have incoming fire!"General Dodonna stated.
"Kanan, find cover now!"Hera warned.
The Chimaera and her sister ships unleash a hail of fire on Chopper Base.
Kanan's speeder narrowly dodges several turbolaser blasts.
The Imperial bombardment began to fry the shield generator as Zeb and Rex try to keep it working.
"Come on, come on!"Zeb growled.
"The shield is overheating!"Rex warned.
Suddenly the bombardment ended and the shield remained on.
"It held!"Zeb chuckled. "It held!"
Rex laughed in relief.
"Why did they stop firing?"Gwen questioned.
Zack frowned. "Thrawn is up to something."
"Kanan?"Hera asked. "Kanan, do you copy?"
"I'm gettin' the feeling Thrawn's actually trying to kill us this time."Kanan muttered.
"Oh, that is only funny because you're still alive."Hera replied. "Now, please, come home, love."
Zack notice storm clouds gathering in the distance.
The group began to study the battle plan.
"Our shield generator's taken a beating."Zeb explained. "I doubt it'll survive another attack like the last one."
"I don't think it will have to."Hera replied. "Thrawn was trying to soften us up. He'll send in ground forces to do the dirty work."
"I agree, Captain."General Dodonna complemented. "My guess is he will most likely stage a direct assault from this position."
"If we mine these approaches here and here, we can slow 'em down."Rex suggested.
"Good."Hera answered. "You and Zeb take a squad down and get it done."
Ferus looked at Zack and Gwen.
"Kids, get ready."Ferus warned. "We're going into action."
Zack and Gwen nodded at their father while R2-KT let out a nervous beep.
"Scanners have picked up Imperial transports on the western quadrant."AP-5 reported.
"His launching the first wave."Hera admitted.
In Hyperspace...
A Consular-class space cruiser, a few CloakShape fighters, Ezra's Gauntlet ship and the Fang fighters were flying their way to Chopper Base.
Back on Atollon...
Zeb, Rex and Gwen were waiting in the pass for Thrawn's ground forces.
"I hope this plan of yours works."Zeb reminded.
"Yeah, me, too."Rex admitted.
"They can't be sending all the forces, right?"Gwen asked.
A whirring and clanking sound was heard in the distance.
Using their macrobinoculars, Rex, Zeb and Gwen spot a column of AT-DP walkers.
"Here they come."Zeb commented.
Rex sets off detonators which destroy five of the walkers, saving the last one for Zeb.
"I left one for you."Rex admitted.
Zeb destroyed the last walker with a rocket launcher.
"Nice shot."Gwen chuckled with a smirk.
Thrawn was studying the battle from his shuttle.
"They've revealed their meager defenses. Now we will crush them."Thrawn admitted. "Mark enemy mines and firing positions. Heavy battalions, advance."
Rex, Zeb, Gwen and their group hear distant clanking.
"I know that sound."Rex said grimly.
"Yeah and I hate that sound."Zeb muttered.
The team see a bunch of heavy AT-AT walkers heading their way.
"They look dangerous."Gwen retorted.
"Lousy four-leggers."Rex scowled.
"Hit 'em with the detonators."Zeb instructed.
Zeb and Rex try to detonate the remaining explosives, but they were ineffective against the large walkers.
"We need Sabine to invent a shield you can't walk through!"Zeb growled.
"Let's hope we get a chance to tell her!"Rex reminded.
"We need to take cover!"Gwen warned.
The AT-ATs began blasting the rebels just as the A-wings launch their attack.
After clearing the mines, stormtroopers charge into the fray.
Zeb, Rex and Gwen fired their blasters at the AT-ATs, but the blasts didn't give any damage.
TIE fighters attack the rebel A-wings and drive them away.
Gwen activated her lightsaber and rushed forward to slash the firing stormtroopers.
Then Kanan, arriving on foot, uses his lightsaber to slash through the two right legs of the walker, toppling it and crushing two approaching stormtroopers.
Kanan, Gwen, Zeb and Rex started running away.
"Kanan, glad you could join us."Zeb remarked. "Hera said you're bringing help?"
"Maybe."Kanan answered. "Maybe not."
Lightning started crackling up in the sky.
Gwen deflected the lasers from the stormtroopers using her lightsaber.
The rebels head into a cave, and Kanan pauses at the entrance, listening to the approaching storm.
Just after Kanan runs into the caves, Thrawn's shuttle lands outside.
Thrawn and six Death troopers disembark while stormtroopers advance into the cave.
"Armoured division, hold your position and destroy any rebel ships that attempt to flee."Thrawn ordered. "Debark all ground troops and storm the base. And if possible, capture the rebel officers."
Meanwhile...
Rebel troops exchange fire with Thrawn's stormtroopers while Ferus and Zack blocked the lasers with their lightsabers.
"Here they come!"General Dodonna warned.
"General Dodonna, prepare any remaining ships for takeoff."Hera ordered.
"What about the blockade?"General Dodonna asked.
"If I go out, it's gonna be on the Ghost!"Hera replied.
Kanan, Rex, Gwen and Zeb avoid Thrawn's Death troopers under the coral mesa.
In Space...
The Consular-class space cruiser, the CloakShape fighters, Ezra's Gauntlet ship and the Fang fighters appeared from hyperspace.
In the Chimaera...
"Governor, we have ships approaching."An imperial officer said.
"Rebel reinforcements?"Governor Pryce asked.
"Mandalorian, by the look of them."the imperial officer replied. "Though the others appeared to be Corellian."
"Sabine Wren and Garm Bel Iblis."Governor Pryce scowled. "Send fighters to intercept and move our capital ships to reinforce them."
Inside the Gauntlet...
"Chopper, patch in Hera."Ezra ordered.
Chopper beeped in respond.
In Chopper Base...
Kanan, Zeb, Gwen and Rex arrived just as Thrawn's walkers began destroying Chopper Base.
Zack smiled, seeing that Gwen was safe and sound.
"Kanan, you made it."Hera said.
"What happened with your friend?"Ferus asked.
"Oh, don't worry."Kanan assured. "I think he's coming."
Ferus frowned. "You think?"
"Phoenix Leader, do you read me?"
"Ezra?"Hera asked.
"I brought help."Ezra assured. "We're taking out the Interdictor."
"Okay, this might be our only chance."Kanan warned. "Let's move!"
The rebels, along with General Dodonna and AP-5, head towards the airfield as other rebel ships began taking off.
"Looks like the family's together again."Kanan admitted.
"Let's try and keep it that way."Hera reminded.
A Hammerhead and a CR90 make it, but one of the AT-ATs shoots down a GR-75 medium transport, which crashed and burned.
The shield generator explodes after being shot by stormtroopers.
"There goes the shield."Zack said sarcastically.
The rebels find themselves surrounded by Thrawn's Death troopers.
"And now, Captain Syndulla, I will accept your formal surrender."Thrawn ordered. "Or you will watch your friends perish, one by one, beginning with the Jedi."
Kanan, Ferus, Zack and Gwen activated their lightsabers while glaring angrily at Thrawn.
"I require an answer, Captain."Thrawn ordered.
"You already know my answer."Hera reminded with a glare.
Then a storm clouds envelop Chopper Base.
"Do you fear the storm, Master Jedi?"Thrawn asked.
"Yeah."Kanan retorted. "And you should, too."
Just then, a bolt of lightning narrowly missed the Grand Admiral.
Kanan looked at his companions.
"Hang on to something!"Kanan warned.
"What Jedi devilry is this?"Thrawn questioned.
Bendu's glowing eyes appeared in the clouds and he announced his presence.
"I am the Bendu!"Bendu shouted.
Ferus, Zack and Gwen started at the sky with stunned expressions.
"What is that?"Zeb questioned.
"Uh, Kanan?"Hera asked.
"I told you my friend was coming."Kanan answered.
"I bring death!"Bendu called out.
The Bendu destroys two AT-ATs with bolts of lightning.
He also began to destroy the coral mesa housing Chopper Base as the rebels began to run away.
In Space...
Using deployment racks, Ezra, Sabine, Tristan and several Mandalorian warriors jumped on the interdictor's hull.
Ezra was wearing a spacesuit equipped with thrusters.
"Ready your jetpacks and target those gravity well projectors."Sabine ordered.
"Hey, I don't have a jetpack!"Ezra reminded.
"You have those little thrusters."Sabine admitted.
The Consular-class space cruiser fired it's cannons at the TIE fighters while surrounded in a deflector shield.
The CloakShape fighters eliminated the incoming TIE fighters.
The Mandalorians fire their blasters at the gravity wells.
In the Chimaera...
"Governor, the enemy fighters have deployed a strike team onto the hull of our Interdictor!"An imperial officer warned.
"Well, repel them!"Governor Pryce snapped. "We will not lose to this rabble!"
In Chopper Base...
"Leave this place! I am the light! I am the dark!"Bendu shouted. "I am the Bendu!"
"You heard him!"Kanan reminded. "Make for the ship!"
"Let's get out of here!"Ferus demanded.
Ferus, Zack, Gwen and R2-KT headed to the Defender Class Light Corvette while the others head to the Ghost.
"Kanan Jarrus!"Bendu shouted out. "Jedi Knight!"
Bendu strikes the Ghost with lightning.
"This is your friend?"Hera questioned.
"Uh...I might've made him angry."Kanan admitted.
"Yeah, I can relate!"Hers snapped.
"Leave this place!"Bendu ordered.
The Bendu strikes down one of the Rebel A-wings as the convoy flees into space.
"Concentrate fire on the center of the storm!"Thrawn ordered.
The AT-ATs began firing at the two eyes in the clouds.
The Bendu managed to strike down one of the walkers before falling out of the clouds.
Back in Space...
Ezra, Sabine and the Mandalorians clash with Imperial Jumptroopers.
"Ezra, we're headed for the blockade."Hera stated. "Is the Interdictor disabled yet?"
"Working on it!"Ezra answered.
The Mandalorian Fang fighters destroy two TIEs trying to take out Ezra.
Ezra and the Mandalorians succeed in blowing up the gravity wells.
"Chopper, get us outta here!"Ezra ordered.
Chopper beeped in respond.
The group escape aboard the Gauntlet before the interdictor cruiser exploded.
In the Chimaera...
"Governor, we have a problem."An imperial officer admitted.
"I don't want to hear it!"Governor Pryce snapped. "Just stop them! Nothing gets through!"
"Thrawn's not going to be happy with you making a mess of his fleet."Kallus taunted.
"Throw this traitor out the airlock."Governor Pryce ordered coldly.
Two stormtroopers escort Kallus into a turbolift and the former agent smiled as the door close.
In the Defender Class Light Corvette...
Garm contacted Ferus, who was piloting the corvette.
"Ferus, they took out the Interdictor!"Garm stated. "You're all clear!"
Ferus smirked. "This turns things around for us."
Zack and Gwen high fived each other as R2-KT let out a beep.
Aboard the Chimaera...
The turbolift door opened to reveal Kallus taking off his binders with his stormtrooper guards unconscious behind him.
Kallus escapes aboard an escape pod and transmits his coordinates to the crew of the Ghost.
In the Ghost...
"We've got an incoming transmission?"Hera said.
The symbol of Fulcrum appeared.
"It's Kallus!"Zeb stated. "He's sending coordinates."
"There's an escape pod on my scope."Hera commented.
Hera sees Kallus escape pod on her scope and picked it up.
"Got him!"Hera announced. "I'm on your 6, Gauntlet. Phoenix Squadron, let's get outta here!"
"Roger, Phoenix Leader."Wedge answered. "We're right behind you."
The rebels break past the Imperial blockade while an unhappy Pryce watches.
Kallus, Rex and Dodonna joined the Spectres at the helm of the Ghost as what remains of the rebel fleet jumped into hyperspace.
Back on Atollon...
Thrawn and his stormtroopers surround the fallen Bendu.
"What manner of creature are you?"Thrawn questioned.
"One beyond your power to destroy."Bendu answered.
"It would not seem so."Thrawn denied. "You cannot see."
"But I can."Bendu said.
"What?"Thrawn asked. "What do you see?"
"I see your defeat, like many arms surrounding you in a cold embrace."Bendu admitted grimly.
Thrawn personally tried to end Bendu's life by shooting him with his blaster, but the powerful Force Wielder was quick enough to disappear before that can happen.
Thrawn and his troops hear the Bendu's laughter echoing around them, unnerving the Grand Admiral.
In Space...
The Ghost travelled with the tattered rebel fleet with their sum total being two Hammerheads, the CR90 corvette Liberator and a smattering of starfighters.
The Defender Class Light Corvette, the Consular-class space cruiser and the CloakShape fighters followed them closely.
In the Ghost...
"I'm sorry for your losses."Ursa apologised.
"We are just grateful for your aid in our time of need."Hera admitted.
"I want to return the favor, Hera."Sabine said. "My mother needs our help."
"Go."Hera ordered. "But I can't come with you. I have to get our survivors to rebel command."
Kanan walked out to see the medics treat the wounded.
Kallus thanks Kanan for taking him in.
"Kanan."Kallus said. "Thank you for taking me in."
"Thank you for risking everything."Kanan admitted.
In the Ghost's Cockpit...
"I would suggest a second hyperspace jump before heading to Yavin."AP-5 suggested.
"If we want to cover our tracks, we should make it three."Rex replied.
Chopper let out a beep.
Kanan walked up to Ezra.
"You and Sabine really saved the day."Kanan said.
"But, Kanan, we lost everything."Ezra stated with a hint of sadness.
"I understand you feel defeated, but I've learned to see things differently."Kanan complemented. "There's a future for us, one where we're all free. But it's up to us to make it happen."
In Space...
The Rebel Fleet jumped into hyperspace and disappeared from sight.
Season 3 completed!
Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter:)