Chapter 16

They were almost there, according to the captain. It's been several days since Ezra and Sabine left the Milky Way and begun their trip back to their own galaxy and they were excited. Ezra was in pain again, however, as his injuries from the extreme hyperspace jump never fully healed. The anesthetics wore off on their second day and Sabine was non too comfortable either.

"How's that leg of yours?" she asked Ezra. They were in their quarters, trying to get some rest after exploring the ship a bit.

"Kriffing hurts," he replied.

"Well it won't be long until we get you into a bacta tank," Sabine said.

"What about your leg?" he asked her then.

"It's better but it's still sore. Remind me to pack some extra bacta patches with my equipment."

Ezra couldn't help but chuckle, "If I can remember I will."

The damage was intense. Most of the buildings on the outskirts of the city were turned into piles of rubble, some of them still burning or at least smoldering from the massive ground assault just two days before. Some of the buildings deeper in the Lothal city also had considerable damage, like corners missing, entire walls smashed to dust. The civilian casualties was too high for comfort as well, which didn't make anybody happy. Fortunately the citizens of the city still thanked the UNSC for liberating them; at least most of them did.

The clean up process began and the UNSC established a fort not far from the city limits to provide rapid military support if needed. As of now the only armed soldiers there were keeping an eye on things, making sure criminals and gangs didn't try anything stupid while the civilians and UNSC relief teams worked to clear the streets. Several Mantis were posted around the city, along with infantry and warthogs. Hornets and Cyclops units helped lift heavy pieces of rubble off the streets and other buildings. Occasionally you would see a Cyclops tearing down the rest of a destroyed building, the owners usually seen nearby, weeping as their home or business was destroyed.

Nevertheless they understood what had to be done to gain their independence.

"Captain Lasky, sir!" a marine exclaimed, snapping to attention. The rest of the marines around him did the same as their captain walked among the wreckage.

"At ease," he said. He was flanked by Spartan Blue team. He looked around at the destruction and sighed. "Hell of a mess we've made, isn't that right, corporal?"

"I'm afraid so, sir," the marine said. In that moment, there was a loud scream for help heard from the wreckage of a nearby building and several marines and corpsmen ran to assist. There was a man stuck under a large piece of roofing and he was losing blood fast; his consciousness began to slip.

"The horrors of war," Lasky stated grimly. "It's never going to change no matter what we do."

"Sir, I must advise you to be careful down here. There are criminal gangs about in what remains of the city," the corporal warned.

"I am aware of that, thank you," Lasky said.

As he looked about the destruction, he knew that when the time came to rebuild, the people of Lothal had to rebuild it as they see fit. The UNSC could not assist in that much. The people even explained that though they were grateful for their help, they wished to rebuild on their own.

"Don't you think you've seen enough, sir?" Palmer asked. She was wearing her Mjolnir armor, but she held her helmet.

"Yes but I should remain here to oversee our progress," Lasky said.

"It's alright, sir," the corporal began. "With all due respect you look tired. You should get some rest, sir."

"Very well," Lasky said. He knew the corporal wasn't a medic of any kind, but it was true. He hadn't slept in days.

The Imperial officer nervously approached Vader, who seemed calm for the moment. The officer knew very well that his relatively good mood was going to change drastically.

"Lord Vader," he began. "I have news from Lothal, sir."

"Is it the rebels again?" Vader asked.

"They were involved, yes, but there's more to it. We... seemed to have lost control of the system," the officer said, forcing out every word.

The air seemed to change in the room and Vader's mood did exactly as expected, though his tone was terrifyingly calm.

"What exactly do you mean, lieutenant?" Vader asked.

"The UNSC launched a massive offensive on the planet. The fleets and the troops on the ground tried their best to fight them off but it was too much..."

The officer was scared Vader was going to kill him, but much to his surprise, Vader spared his life. Vader stood up from his meditation chamber and approached the lieutenant.

"You are afraid," he said simply.

"I don't understand what you mean, my lord."

"There is no reason to fear. You are but a messenger at this moment. I appreciate you telling me all this. I must report this to the Emperor myself," Vader said.

"Yes lord Vader. Shall we establish communications?"

"No. Tell Captain Piett to set a course. I must report this to the Emperor in person," Vader said.

"Right away, lord Vader," the lieutenant said quickly, bowing before leaving the room.

The next day, in the Imperial Palace, Palpatine was in a full rage. Furniture was broken to pieces, the walls slashed by a lightsaber, and the pillars burned by lightning. Still, Darth Vader himself knelt in his spot before his master. Palpatine's personal guards stood a few meters farther to avoid being hit by stray lightning.

"How could this have happened?" the Emperor shouted in his rage.

"I know not, my master," Vader said.

"Dozens of Star Destroyers, even a couple Super Star Destroyers were destroyed by this UNSC fleet! My best strategist is dead!"

"Shall I gather the fleet for a counter attack, master?" Vader asked.

Though Palpatine was furious, he wasn't reckless.

"No. Let them enjoy their victory for now. There are hundreds of other worlds worth more than that worthless rock they call a planet."

"What is thy bidding, my master?"

"Continue your search for the Rebel base. We must make an example of them."

"As you wish, my master," Vader said, bowing one last time before standing tall and leaving.

"Will somebody clean up this mess?" Palpatine asked as his guards scrambled to call some cleaning droids.

"Sir, we have a slipspace rupture just off our starboard side," a nav officer reported to captain of UNSC Eternity.

"Do we know where they're coming from?" he asked.

"Scans indicate it's from the Milky Way," the officer said.

"Looks like our guys are here."

The captain looked out as the Stalwart-class light frigate Midsummer Night emerged from the rupture. When the ship was fully through, the captain sent a transmission to them.

"Eternity to Midsummer Night, welcome to Beta Alpha 6."

"Midsummer Night to Eternity, thanks for having us. We have our packages safe and secured, over."

"Clear copy. Ships scans are good, clear to proceed to these coordinates."

"Coordinates received."

Another slipspace rupture opened and Midsummer Night disappeared once again, course set to Lothal.

Minutes later, the Stalwart-class light frigate was on approach to the UNSC blockade around Lothal. The captain of the frigate opened comms with the Infinity and was granted permission to deploy a Pelican to the surface under tight security. Once they landed and the bay doors opened, Ezra and Sabine got a good look of the area around them and was surprised to see they were in a UNSC camp. Even more of a surprise, Lasky was there to greet them.

"Welcome to the recently liberated Lothal, Commanders," he said cheerfully, though his eyes were saying it wasn't something to be cheery about. The actual liberation yes, but the cost of it... not so much.

"I don't think a simple thank you is enough..." Ezra stated.

"It's understandable, Ezra," Lasky said. He then noticed he was hurting a bit. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," he replied.

"No he's not," Sabine objected. "His arm was messed up and his leg isn't any better."

"You're one to talk," Ezra muttered, but Sabine ignored it.

"Is there anything I can do?" Lasky asked.

"Bacta patches would be very nice right now," Sabine said.

"Bacta patches?" Lasky asked, confused at first. He then remembered the substance used for most of their medical treatments. "Oh that. I'm afraid we don't have that but the city... or what's left of it anyway, might have something."

"Can I see my city?" Ezra asked.

"Not right now, I'm afraid. There's almost no law enforcement their right now. The civilians are badly shaken up so I have my men there to provide security while the relief teams do their jobs."

"I could get into contact with Rebel Command," Hera said, walking up. "We have medical supplies to spare for everybody here."

"General Syndulla, I had no idea you were here," Lasky said.

"I just arrived. Ezra, Sabine, it's good to see you're both alright," Hera said, giving them both a hug.

"As much as we are, yes. The UNSC treated our injuries best they could, but it's not much compared to bacta," Sabine said.

Lasky chuckled, "I suppose that's something you guys have over us then."

"We'll be happy to see how bacta affects your people, but we can't guarantee it will work since you're from another galaxy and all," Hera explained.

"It wouldn't be a surprise if it does more harm than good for us, but we'll have to see," Lasky agreed.

"We can provide a canister for your people to study. For us it has little to no side effects but it could be different for you," Hera said.

Lasky nodded.

A couple hours later, Ezra, Sabine, and the rest of the rebels toured the ruined city. The sight was hard for everyone, especially Ezra, but he was happy to see most of the civilians were celebrating anyway.

The UNSC allowed the people of Lothal to bury their people in their own ways, while the UNSC gathered the fallen soldiers from both sides. Instead of piling them up like many species do in this galaxy, the UNSC lined them up; the fallen UNSC troops covered with the UNSC flag while they fabricated the Imperial flag and covered the fallen stormtroopers and officers.

After the UNSC and Imperial bodies were cleaned and covered, they were loaded onto Infinity to be ceremonially launched into space... or at least the Imperial caskets would. The Rebel Alliance were happy to provide Imperial beacon channel frequencies so the Imperials could recover their fallen and be given the proper rewards for their service to their Empire. As for the UNSC troops, they would be loaded onto a transport and be sent back to the Milky Way and returned to their respective families for proper burial.

"This is Captain Lasky, we are in position on the edge of Imperial space. Launch is green," he said.

Moments later, hundreds of caskets bearing the Imperial flag were launched into space, towards Imperial space, their recovery beacons active.

"Let's just hope the Empire understands what this is," Palmer said.

"I had Roland program a message into each of the beacons explaining why we did this," Lasky said. "Even though they are the enemy, they deserve as much respect as our own. These people are human after all."

Palmer nodded with agreement.

"Captain Piett, we're picking up several beacons in wild space, sir," a nav officer reported. "They're on Imperial frequency."

"Send a single Star Destroyer to investigate," Piett ordered.

"Yes sir!"

Vader entered the bridge, "Captain?"

"Lord Vader. We've picked up several beacons in wild space and I've dispatched a star destroyer to investigate," Piett reported.

"And these beacons were on our frequency?"

"Yes, my lord. What exactly they are we don't know."

"Very well. Proceed with caution, Captain," Vader said.

"Yes, my lord."

The star destroyer dispatched by Piett arrived at the beacons and the crew was surprised at the sight. Floating before them in open space, were hundreds of boxes covered by Imperial flags.

"Captain, there's a transmission programmed into these beacons," a comm officer reported.

"Play the transmission," the captain ordered.

Moments passed before Roland's voice filled the bridge.

"Greetings! My name is Roland, I am the artificial intelligence of the UNSC starship Infinity. These boxes you see before you, are the hundreds of your people that have died for your great Empire in their fight to defend Lothal. We are truly sorry that this had to happen. We wish that you would return these valiant soldiers to their families and be given their proper respects and awards for their services."

The message just repeats from there and the dumbfounded crew of the star destroyer just froze.

"W-What are your orders?" an officer asked.

A lump formed in the captain's throat as he spoke. "Send our shuttles to recover all these boxes. We're bringing them home."

Word about what everybody dubbed the "Graveyard" spread like wildfire. This act took the Empire completely by surprise to the point where they didn't know what to do. Any story they tried to come up with was known to be fake by the citizens. Roland's message was replayed all throughout the galaxy by rebel hackers. They infiltrated their comms and found the message, playing it to the entire galaxy so the Empire couldn't create some story to blacken the UNSC or the Rebellion.

Overall the operation was a major success in the UNSC and Rebellion's favor, but the war was far from over and there was sure to be hundreds upon thousands, if not millions, of lives lost in this intergalactic conflict.