Chapter 7-The Icy Flames of War
Darth Vader was not a very patient man whether it was when he was Anakin Skywalker as a Jedi Knight or now as Darth Vader Lord of the Sith. In fact he found himself very impatient on more then one occasion not because of his troopers on the battlefield. No they did nothing wrong because they did what was trained for them to do, which was fighting and taking orders. No...his Imperia officers that sniveled and whimpered to get ahead in rank were always what made him impatient. In fact it was his belief that some Imperial officers made better Bureaucrats and politicians then they did officers. It was the reason he punished them with death for their failures as officers because they defied him like spineless vermin rather then act as the competent men that they should. It was one of those days were he wanted to kill his officers on one of the other Star Destroyers, but he was in the middle of siege of a campaign and couldn't afford it till later. "Captain Chase," said Vader addressing the officer closest to him that he had met several times before in the past.
"Yes Lord Vader," said Captain Chase who stood at attention and snapped is back straight so face had he done it any harder it would have snapped.
"Prepare a shuttle of ground troops of the 501st in Snowtrooper uniforms to accompany me down to the surface when the Rebel's Shield Generator is destroyed. I want to go down to the surface immediately to take care of this battle personally," said Vader knowing that it the people aboard his Super Star Destroyer that were competent both in officer and trooper form.
"Yes sir I will have some men ready to go right now," said Captain Chase who ran down to the barracks area of the Destroyer to find the most qualified troopers to assist Lord Vader.
Vader smiled behind his mask knowing there was a future for that Captain. 'I must remember to promote that Captain after this is done,' thought Vader as he headed for the hanger to see the transport shuttle get ready knowing his presence would make the crew their work faster.
(Hoth)
The alarms blared and the warning went out to everyone in the base that the Imperial fleet had just landed ground forces. It happened just after they had temporarily disengaged the Shield Generator to fire the Ion Cannon to cover the fleeing transport ships that would meet up with the Rebel fleet still gathering in space somewhere in space. Out of everyone running, moving, and yelling out order only Master Yoda stayed calm as he made his way to the trench with cane in hand and Lightsaber in the other. 'Vader is in space I sense. Stronger he has become since been with his son he has. Most difficult he will be to defeat he will,' thought Yoda as he and the other Rebels awaited the onslaught that was to come.
Han was making last minute fixings on the Falcon with Chewie as Leia came along with a discouraged C3PO. The protocol droid had been depressed (if droids could be) without R2 around to talk to and had been throughout their journey less talkative then they were sure he could be with the domed astromech droid by his side. "Han hurry up before the Imperial ground forces get here. We have to leave with one of the transports now before its too late," said Leia as if talking to him would help speed things up.
"Look your Worshipfulness I'm trying to do this the best I can, but the fuzz ball here put in the wrong stabilizer unit to the wrong section of the Falcon. Meaning now I got to try to rewire and redo the entire system or will blow up before we get halfway planet side," said Han who received a snarl and woofs from Chewie as a sign it wasn't his entire fault.
"Princess Leia!" said a voice from behind Leia who turned around to find out it was none other then Wedge in his pilot gear.
"Hello Wedge how have you been? What are you doing here shouldn't you get into your Snow Speeder and get ready for take off?" said Leia who was without question slightly confused as to Wedge's actions.
"Yeah I know listen I just came from the COM room and learned that Vader's son is on his way to join his father in this siege," said Wedge with a worried look on his face.
"Luke! Luke is on his way here?" said Leia in disbelief.
"Yeah except he's not called Luke anymore since he's been with Vader and now the Emperor from what I heard in the COM's. Luke has been given the Sith name...Darth Vicious," said Wedge shuddering after mentioning the name as did Leia as if it were a snow storm unto itself.
"How did COM's get such information?" said Leia as she wondered to herself that very question.
"One of our Bothan friends on the outside in Corusant sliced through the Imperial port holding ships for those of prestige class like Vader and Vicious (shudders). He then relayed to the others in the network who made contact with COM's that Vader's son plotted a course for Hoth and he's taken the quickest route to get here. In fact after he to us he found out Vicious was coming here we calculated that Vader's pride and joy will be here in less then two standard hours," said Wedge seriously seeing Leia's face pale.
"That means we have to hurry even faster before Vader's son comes down on us," said Leia as Wedge nodded at her statement and ran off to his Snow Speeder.
"And you said you would have to see it to believe it," said Han only to have himself get shocked for not paying attention to the circuitry causing him to swear several times in the Hutt's tongue.
Outside the ground was silent till the rumbling of something loud came towards them ring all Rebel soldiers to the front of the trench weapons raised. "Wait till you see the enemy you must. Fire wildly makes you the target it will," said Yoda as he ignited his Lightsaber knowing something big was coming there way.
(Space-Executor)
"Lord Vader! I have a message from Commander Veers. He says he is advancing on the base and engaging the enemy from long range," said Captain Chase running up to Lord Vader as the 501st units selected were already in the shuttle awaiting departure with the Sith Lord being the last to enter it.
"Send a message back telling him to hurry for I sense he will lose more then a few troops if he doesn't," said Vader in a threatening tone that Captain Chase understood all too well.
"Yes sir," said Captain Chase as he hurried off to the COM unit to send the message.
(Hoth)
The AT-AT walkers were constructed from the ground up using blueprints from the old AT-TE's from the Clone Wars. However, the AT-TE's were too close to the ground for armor piercing missile attacks making them destroyable if they were hit with just enough firepower. However, with new technology upgrades and after various designs by multiple engineers the AT-TE's successor that was the AT-AT was bigger, taller, more powerful, had longer range, and was slightly slower then its predecessor. However, the decrease in speed made it all the more deadly as the long range fire power that it dished out made up for it's sluggishness. Commander Veers took great pride in these walkers as they were the very thing that could destroy the entrenched Rebellion here in the frozen wasteland of Hoth. "Sir were almost in range of the Shield Generator!" said one of the two pilots of the mighty walker.
"Good. The minute were in range I want you to attack the Shield Generator with the main guns with everything we have," said Commander Veer as he began charging the walkers main guns to full.
"Sir! An incoming message from Captain Chase aboard the Executor with orders from Lord Vader," said the second pilot.
"What's the message say?" said Commander Veer who slightly paled at the mention of Darth Vader, but recovered quickly as to not make the pilots think he was ill.
"Captain Chase says: 'Lord Vader is getting impatient and that you should hurry up. He's ready to depart and wants that Shield Generator down now. Or else!'" said the second pilot.
"See if you can speed up the walker without tripping it. Then I want our gunners to fire the moment the tracking system is locked onto the target," said Commander Veers in a slightly hurried voice as the entire crew were working noticeably faster to ensure they avoided the wrath of Darth Vader.
The bombardment by the AT-AT's long range cannons did devastating work to the now bleeding and entrenched Rebel's as the AT-ST's moved in a quicker pace to destroy the stranglers. Only Yoda seemed to slow down their attacks with a few deflections, several redirections, and knocking back several of the Snowtroopers with the Force. "Retreat I must again. Unexpected this use of weapons this was. Must protect who I can I shall," said Yoda who did his best to shield the others slowly retreated from the attacks as he had not been in war for 20 years and had not anticipated this far of deadly advancement in the devastating weaponry.
It was at that moment the Shield Generator blew up from one of lead AT-AT's after just unleashing a deadly volley of blaster fire from its head turrets. "Send a communication to Lord Vader that the Shield Generator is destroyed," said Commander Veers quickly yet calmly knowing if he hesitated, Lord Vader may take it out of him in the future.
"Yes sir," said the COM officer in the AT-AT who immediately did so.
(Space-Moments later)
The TIE Special Advanced came out of hyperspace that was Darth Vicious special star fighter that he had custom designed using specs from the X-wings and TIE Advanced that his father had. With his modifications to this fighter it had twice the shield power as the TIE Advanced with three times the maneuverability, the fire power, and the ability to go into hyperspace with ease. Darth Vicious was hungry for battle and making the necessary last minute change in coordinates made it possible to get their ahead of schedule to get their before the fun was over. However...to Darth Vicious as he saw more transports with one holding his father being deployed his thoughts changed "Looks like I got here just in time," said Luke as he transmitted his ships ID Signature: The Sith's Pride to the four mighty Imperial ships before making his decent to the planet.
It was then Vader sensed his son's presence and smiled behind his mask at the fact his son had made it to the planet so fast. 'I am blessed with a young man I am proud to call my son,' thought Vader as he sensed his son descent into the planet ahead of him.
(Echo Base)
With the Shield Generator destroyed and the Ion Cannon soon after every Rebel soldier was trying to get to a ship without having debry falling on them. Yoda made his way inside to Echo Bases hanger and found the Falcon just about ready to launch. It was then as he made it to the ramp that he froze in fear at the presence that busted through the metal hanger wit the force of an A-Class Thermal Detonator. "Hello Yoda I've been waiting for this day," said a voice that was cold, dark, and what could only be described as...vicious.
"Darth Vicious I presume. Formerly known as Luke Skywalker you were," said Yoda as he ignited his Lightsaber.
"Correct. And you are the legendary Jedi Master Yoda who fought in the Clone Wars like my father did. The most influential member on the Jedi Council and the very same person who refused to help my father when he need your guidance the most," said Luke as his Lightsaber ignited showing its color that was a fiery orange. Like fire or lava that was contained all in a sword as it actually generated enough heat to melt the ice on the wall next to him.
"Correct you are Darth Vicious. Look like your father you do with those robes. Look like your father before he was put in the black armor of Darth Vader that he became. Same fate will befall you it will one day," said Yoda as he carefully walked down the ramp.
"Master Yoda we don't have time for this we've got to get away now!" said a female voice that the two warriors recognized as Leia's.
"Don't worry Princess this won't take long," said Luke smiling evilly as his left hand had Force Lightning sparks coming out of it before he held his Lightsaber with two hands.
"Luke?" said Leia as she now made her way down the ramp only to see another presence behind Luke that was Darth Vader.
Darth Vader with his blood red Lightsaber in hand and the sound of his respirator making itself clearly known to everyone in the area with his personal army division of the 501st Stormtrooper division right behind him. "Now Master Yoda we see just how skilled of Jedi Master you are," said Vader as Vader went right and Luke or rather Darth Vicious went left.
"Overconfident you are Lord Vader. Same were you when younger I saw. Same it is with your son I see. Like father like son they say," said Yoda as he readied himself to fight.
"Enough talk lets fight," said Darth Vicious as he struck first with speed and agility that made Yoda move quicker then he was expected to as he dodged and blocked his attacks before delivering his own, which Luke countered with ease.
"You're powers and skill have gotten rusty since you were in exile old dwarf," said Vader who took his shot when Luke moved out of the way to let Vader have his turn.
Yoda was surprised this time by Vader as he had never expected Vader to move with nearly the same amount of agility as his son despite the heavy cybernetic implants. "Unnatural you're agility is Vader. Crippled you were by Obi-wan on Mustafar you were," said Yoda as he swooped his blade down at Vader's leg only for Vader to flip out of the way in a spin surprising everyone who saw it except Luke.
"How can he do that? He couldn't do that before so what's changed?" said Leia in a surprised voice.
"My son of course Princess. Being the master mechanic he is he studied my cybernetic limb designs and had them...upgraded along with my cybernetic arms. Each limb now has less then half the weight in them making me able to more efficiently. All the while they are providing me with almost the same amount of agility and maneuverability I had during the Clone Wars. Impressive isn't it master Yoda?" said Vader as he watched his son take a crack at Yoda again tearing some of the old Jedi Masters clothing when he swung at an opening that Yoda left unchecked.
"Indeed it is Darth Vader as is your son's skills. This I will not deny. However, much to learn you do about taking on a wise Jedi Master you should," said Yoda after seeing his moment of opportunity Force Pushed Luke into a group of the 501st Stormtroopers before creating a small ice avalanche in front of him to block Vader's advancement on him.
Before Vader could knock the blockade of fallen ice away Yoda was already on board the Falcon and it was now off the ground and had escaped. "You can run old dwarf, but you can't hide...from the Sith," said Vader as his son got up from the ground and looked at his father before looking at the far away ship that had eluded them both.
"The Emperor will not be pleased with this father and we will most likely punish us for our failure here in capturing them," said Darth Vicious as he turned off his Lightsaber as did Vader.
"We don't have to report back to Emperor just yet so before we do have some technicians slice into their still operational computers and see what they can dig up," said Vader who saw Luke nod and already give the order to some troopers who were also techs when they weren't in armor.
"What about Yoda, Leia, and the others on board the Falcon father. We can't let them try to rest even for a single moment even if we can't be there to do it ourselves," said Luke who was furious over the fact their enemies got away.
"What do you suggest my son?" said Vader looking over at his son curiously wondering what he could be thinking.
"I seem to recall a bounty on Han Solo by one Jabba the Hutt on Tatooine for money he owes for a certain shipment of Kessel spice and cargo he dumped when he got near an Imperial Star Destroyer. I say we back up the Hutt's bounty with our own and call in a few known Bounty Hunters that we know and trust. That way while we pursue and trap them on one level, the Bounty Hunters will get them for us on another. Then we sell them off to Jabba for a fee and will compensated for paying the Bounty Hunters," said Darth Vicious smiling.
"Brilliant thinking my son you are thinking like a true Sith. Get to your star fighter and head up to the Executor and make contact with Boba Fett as well as several other Bounty Hunters I have used in the past. Tell them of the names and the prices on each of that ships crew's heads and make sure they are several times higher then what Jabba has to motivate them. Also tell them one is a Jedi Master who is to be taken alive if possible and will be paid twice as much if they succeed," said Vader coming up with his half of the plan on how to capture the Rebels on the ship.
"Yes father I will. After that I will see that we locate Han Solo's old friends if he has any and then make sure they are under our control before he reaches them should he try to seek refuge," said Luke before bowing and then ran off to his star fighter.
'Soon it won't be long my son. Soon we will take down the Emperor and then we will become the leaders of the Empire as are the rules of the Sith,' thought Vader smiling behind his mask.