The Farmer's Adventure: Return of the Jedi

by The Time Lord Oracle

A year after the revelations on Bespin, Luke Skywalker and Malia Lars have returned to their old home planet of Tatooine to rescue Han Solo from the clutches of Jabba the Hutt. Meanwhile, the Empire is building a new Death Star and Emperor Palpatine has plans for Luke. Soon, Darth Vader will have to choose where his loyalties lie.

7. The Battle of Endor

The Battle of Endor

Thanks to kanna-yamamoto and NightCrow1917 for favouriting this story

The Rebel strike team were forced out of the bunker at gunpoint. Outside, they found themselves surrounded by an entire legion of Stormtroopers and several AT-ST walkers. "Alright, move it!" a Stormtrooper demanded, pushing the Rebels forward.

Suddenly, Threepio called out from some bushes nearby, "Hello! I say, over there! Where you looking for me?"

"Bring those two down here." an Imperial officer ordered several Stormtroopers, who rushed off to round up the droids.

"Well, they're on their way." Threepio said to Artoo, "Artoo, are you sure this is a good idea?"

At that point, the Stormtroopers reached them. "Freeze!" one demanded, aiming his blaster rifle at the Protocol droid, "Don't move!"

"Oh! We surrender!" Threepio blustered, putting his hands up.

Suddenly, several Ewoks leapt out of hiding behind the bushes and pounced on the Stormtroopers, managing to overpower them. It turned out that Wicket had gone back to the tribe to fetch help, and they hadn't disappointed. Two more Ewoks climbed onto trees and sounded bugle horns, giving the signal to the rest of the tribe, who all came out of hiding and started firing arrows at the Imperials surrounding the Rebels. It turned out that the Ewok archers were outstanding marksmen, for their arrows struck home in several Scout Troopers' backs.

The Rebels took advantage of the distraction to leap into action. Chewbacca tossed several Stormtroopers aside like rag dolls, while Han knocked out another one and retrieved his confiscated blaster. Leia meanwhile retrieved her pistol, slammed her boot down on a Stormtrooper's helmet to knock him out and shot an AT-ST pilot who was peering out of his walker's top hatch. The Imperials were taken completely by surprise by all the chaos and most of them rushed into the forest to deal with the Ewoks, while the cowardly officers fled back into their bunker and sealed the doors behind them. Han and Leia saw them and rushed over to the doors.

~8~

The Ewoks led the Imperials into the forest where they had the advantage. Two of them swung on vines from the trees and managed to knock two Stormtroopers over, then the Ewoks jumped on them and pummelled them with sharp rocks until they were knocked out cold. The AT-STs went into the forest after the Ewoks and started shooting at them with their powerful laser cannons. One Ewok used a glider to pelt Imperials with rocks. One rock landed on a Stormtrooper's head, causing him to fall over and fire his blaster in the process. The shot hit the Ewok's glider, forcing him to crash in some bushes. Unhurt, he climbed out from glider and joined some of his colleagues, who were standing behind some trees with a rope. As an AT-ST approached, they pulled the rope tight and it wrapped around the walker's legs, slowing it down. Meanwhile, several Ewoks hid in the bushes until some Stormtroopers approached, then they hurled rocks at them, knocking them over.

~8~

At the bunker, Leia was trying to work the control panel for the door, while Han provided cover fire. "The code's changed." Leia groaned, "We need Artoo."

"Here's the terminal." Han said, noticing an access port for an Astromech droid's datalink.

"Artoo, where are you?" Leia said into her comlink, "We need you at the bunker right away!"

Artoo got Leia's message and told Threepio that he had to go.

"Going? What do you mean you're going?" Threepio asked

Artoo told Threepio that he needed to go to the bunker and rolled off in that direction.

"Going where are you? No, wait! This is no time for heroics! Come back!" Threepio hollered as he clanked after him.

~8~

An AT-ST strode through the forest picking off any Ewoks it came across. Several Ewoks were manning a catapult and used it to fire several large rocks at the walker, which ricocheted off the walker's armour plating and it promptly turned on the catapault and fired on the Ewoks, sending them running for cover.

~8~

In the space above Endor, the Rebel and Imperial ships faced off. "Watch yourself, Wedge. Three from above." Lando warned

"Red Three, Red Two, pull in." Wedge ordered two of his squadron

"Got it." Red Three acknowledged, and the three X-wings flew into formation. Suddenly, Red Three was picked off by laser fire from above.

"Three of 'em coming in, 20 degrees." Red Two warned

"Cut to the left, I'll take the leader." Wedge acknowledged, and piloted his X-wing in pursuit of the lead TIE Interceptor. He opened fire with his laser cannons and scored a direct hit, destroying the TIE. Red Two meanwhile as able to destroy the second TIE. That just left the third one to deal with. "It's heading for the medical frigate." Wedge realised

And indeed the third TIE Interceptor was making a beeline for the Rebel's medical frigate. The Millennium Falcon was on the case and was able to destroy it with it's quad laser cannons. Lando then noticed that the Star Destroyers were making no effort to engage them. "Only the fighters are attacking. I wonder what those Star Destroyers are waitin' for." he frowned.

~8~

On the bridge of the Executor, Admiral Piett and his first officer watched the battle unfolding outside. "We're in attack position now, sir." the ship's second officer reported

"Hold here." Piett ordered

"We're not going to attack?" the first officer questioned

"I have my orders from the Emperor himself." Piett told him, "He has something special planned for them. We only need to keep them from escaping."

~8~

"As you can see, my young apprentice... your friends have failed." Palpatine taunted Luke as they watched the battle outside, "Now witness the firepower of this fully armed and operational battle station." he grinned wickedly and switched on the comlink on his throne. "Fire at will, Commander." he ordered.

Luke felt his blood run cold as he realised what this meant. His friends were doomed and he was powerless to help them.

~8~

An enormous bolt of green energy formed in the Death Star's superlaser dish and lanced out at a Rebel cruiser, completely atomising the ship.

"Blue Leader to Gold Leader. Lando, did you see that?!" Malia hollered

"Yes, I did. That blast came from the Death Star. That thing's operational!" Lando realised, "Home One, this is Gold Leader."

"We saw it. All craft prepare to retreat." Ackbar ordered

"You won't get another chance at this, Admiral." Lando warned

"We have no choice, General Calrissian." Ackbar countered, "Our cruisers can't repel firepower of that magnitude."

"Han will have that shield down. We've gotta give him more time!" Lando persisted.

~8~

The battle on the surface of Endor continued to rage. Han and Leia were pinned down by Stormtroopers outside the bunker when a group of Ewoks intervened and managed to overpower the Stormtroopers. "We're coming!" Threepio hollered as he and Artoo hurried over to join the Humans.

"Come on! Come on!" Han urged Artoo as the Astromech droid reached the terminal and plugged in his datalink.

More Stormtroopers arrived and opened fire. "Oh, Artoo, hurry!" Threepio hollered as the laser blasts came too close for comfort. Suddenly, a blast hit Artoo, sending the little droid shooting backwards into the wall as his circuits overloaded. Han promptly blasted the Stormtrooper responsible, but the damage had already been done. "Artoo, why do you have to be so brave?" Threepio sighed as Artoo shut down.

Han and Leia shared grim looks. They knew that Artoo's self-repair system would reboot him after half-an-hour, but time wasn't on their side. "Well, I s'pose I could hotwire this thing." Han said.

"I'll cover you." Leia nodded, readying her blaster.

~8~

The Death Star's superlaser fired at another Rebel cruiser, completely destroying it. Lando had an idea to buy them some more time. "Yes, I said closer." he told the fleet, "Move as close as you can and engage those Star Destroyers at point-blank range."

"At that close range we won't last long against those Star Destroyers." Ackbar pointed out

"We'll last longer than we will against that Death Star!" Lando countered, "And we might just take a few of 'em with us."

"And the Death Star won't be able to fire at us cos' they risk hitting their own ships." Malia realised, "Good idea, Lando. Alright, Blue group, you heard the General, engage those Star Destroyers." she ordered her squadron, "Watch out for the dorsal batteries. Attack 'em from underneath!"

"Copy, Blue Leader." the Sullustan Blue Five acknowledged

"I copy. Moving into position." the Mon Calamari Blue Three added

And so, the Rebel fighters began engaging the Star Destroyers. The robust B-wings managed to stand their ground, but other fighters weren't so lucky. "She's gonna blow!" Red Five yelled as his X-wing was caught in the blast from an exploding shield generator.

"I'm hit!" Grey Four cried as his Y-wing was shot down by two TIE Fighters and crashed into a Star Destroyer's hull.

~8~

"Your fleet is lost... and your friends on the Endor moon will not survive." Palpatine continued to goad Luke, then he switched his throne comlink on again.

"Yes, your Highness?" Moff Jerjerrod's voice asked

"Commander, should the Rebels manage to blow up the shield generator, you will turn this battle station onto the Endor moon and destroy it." Palpatine ordered him

"But we have several battalions stationed on the moon." Jerjerrod protested

"You will destory it!" Palpatine said firmly

"Yes, your Highness." Jerjerrod conceded

Palpatine turned back to Luke. "There is no escape... my young apprentice." he taunted, "The Alliance will die... as will your friends and cousin."

Luke felt his blood boil in fury and his eyes shifted to his lightsabre by Palpatine's side.

"Gooood." Palpatine droned, "I can feel your anger. I am defenceless. Take your weapon. Strike me down with all of your hatred... and your journey towards the Dark Side will be complete." he egged Luke on.

Luke turned round to look out of the window at the carnage outside, then he abruptly swung round and used the Force to retrieve his lightsabre. He ignited the blade and made a swing at Palpatine, but Vader ignited his own lightsabre and blocked the blow. Palpatine cackled in delight as the green and red blades clashed in front of him, delighted that he had gotten under Luke's skin.

~8~

As the battle on the surface of Endor continued to rage, Chewbacca and two Ewoks agreed on a plan to deal with the AT-STs that were giving the Ewoks grief. They climbed up a tree and swung over the top of the walker on a vine. The walker's pilots heard a clatter from above, then they saw an Ewok poke his head in one of the front viewports. "Look!" the co-pilot pointed

"Get him off of there!" the pilot ordered, and so the co-pilot opened the top hatch and climbed out, only to be grabbed by Chewbacca and tossed overboard. The two Ewoks then jumped into the open hatch and bludgeoned the pilot into unconsciousness. Chewbacca then climbed in and took over the walker's controls. With the walker under control, Chewbacca was able to turn the tables on the Empire and used the walker's lasers to destroy another AT-ST that was hounding several Ewoks, then he picked off Stormtroopers like shooting Gundarks in a barrel.

Inspired by this development, the Ewoks resumed the fight with a will. One of them threw a lasso of rope around the steering vanes of a passing speeder bike, causing it to wrap around a tree before slamming into it and exploding, taking out the Scout Trooper riding it. Several other Ewoks stopped another bike by stringing a rope between two trees, which knocked the Scout off his bike as he tried to pass. Another Ewok led a pursuing AT-ST in-between two trees, where two Ewoks were lying in wait. As the walker passed, they cut the ropes holding two severed tree trunks up and the trunks went slamming into the walker's head, crushing it completly. Meanwhile, another walker was dealt with by releasing a pile logs down a hill as it passed, tripping it up.

~8~

At the shield bunker, Han was trying to hotwire the doors open. "I think I got it. I got it!" Han said, only to close the blast doors instead.

Suddenly, a laser blast caught Leia in the arm, causing her to yell out and fall back. "Princess Leia, are you alright?" Threepio fussed as Han knelt down to tend to the Princess.

"Let me see." Han said

"It's not bad." Leia reassured him

Then, the Stormtrooper responsible for shooting Leia stormed up to the group. "Freeze!" he demanded

"Oh, dear." Threepio whimpered

"Don't move!" the Stormtrooper ordered

Leia simply readied her blaster pistol. "I love you." Han smirked

"I know." Leia grinned back cockily

"Hands up! Stand up!" the Stormtrooper continued to order.

Han put his hands up and got to his feet, buying Leia the necessary time she needed. Leia then made her move, shooting the Stormtrooper square in the stomach. Han grinned, but then he suddenly saw an AT-ST emerge from the woods. "Stay back." he warned Leia. Suddenly, the walker's hatch opened and a familiar Wookie poked his head out. "Chewie!" Han exclaimed in relief.

Chewbacca gave a growl, asking Han how things were going.

"Get down here, she's wounded." Han called, but then had a brainwave. "No, wait! I've got an idea."

~8~

Luke and Vader's lightsabre blades crackled and sparked as they clashed against each other. Since their previous dual on Bespin the year before, Luke had enhanced his swordsmanship skills considerably and Vader was kept on his feet to counter Luke's strikes. Luke managed to get the upper hand and kicked Vader down the stairs, the Sith Lord landing with a grunt on the floor below.

Palpatine laughed with delight at the duel. "Good. Use your aggressive feelings, boy." he egged Luke on, "Let the hate flow through you."

Luke snapped out of his anger and deactivated his lightsabre. "Obi-Wan has taught you well." Vader remarked as he got to his feet.

"I will not fight you, father." Luke said calmly

Vader strode up the stairs to Luke. "You are unwise to lower your defences." he said, and swung a blow at Luke, who re-ignited his own lightsabre and blocked the attack. The two lightsabres exchanged several more blows as Vader was the one on the offensive this time.

Luke managed to disengage and Force-jumped onto an overhead gantry. "Your thoughts betray you, father." he said, "I feel the good in you, the conflict."

"There is no conflict." Vader retorted

"You couldn't bring yourself to kill me before and I don't believe you'll destroy me now." Luke said confidently

"You underestimate the power of the Dark Side." Vader replied, "If you will not fight, then you will meet your destiny." And with that, he threw his lightsabre at the gantry's supports, severing them and causing the gantry to collapse, sending Luke tumbling down.

Palpatine sniggered in amusement at all this. "Good. Good." he smirked as he watched Vader retrieve his lightsabre and search for Luke, who had disappeared beneath the throne's platform.

~8~

The Falcon chased down and destroyed a TIE Fighter, then the ship's sensors beeped in warning. "Watch out, Malia! Squad at .06." Lando warned

"I'm on it, Lando." Malia acknowledged, and pulled her B-wing into a sharp U-turn so that she was now facing the squad of TIE Interceptors that had tried to sneak up behind her. Malia then opened fire with her repeating blasters, which ripped through the TIEs as if they were toys.

Wedge had seen everything. "Nice one, 'Lia." he praised

"I thank yow!" Malia grinned, then became serious, "But we can't keep doing this forever."

Lando shared her thoughts. "We're sure in the middle of it now." he muttered, "Come on, Han, old buddy, don't let me down!"

~8~

Han had climbed aboard the stolen AT-ST and put on the pilot's helmet. "It's over, Commander." he said into the radio, "The Rebels have been routed, they're fleeing into the woods. We need reinforcements to continue the pursuit."

Han's idea worked and the bunker's officers opened the doors to allow a squad of Stormtroopers out, which were swiftly overpowered by the Rebels and Ewoks.

With the coast now clear, Han and the Rebels were soon busy planting explosive charges in the bunker, their mission almost complete.

~8~

Vader stalked about the area underneath the Emperor's throne looking for Luke. "You cannot hide forever, Luke." he said

"I will not fight you." Luke's voice called out from somewhere

"Give yourself to the Dark Side." Vader encouraged, "It is the only way you can save Malia and your friends. Yes. Your thoughts betray you. Your feelings for them are strong. Especially for... sister." he said slowly as he sensed Luke's thoughts, "So... you have a twin sister. Your feelings have now betrayed her too. Obi-Wan was wise to hide her from me. Now his failure is complete. If you will not turn to the Dark Side, then perhaps she will."

That did the trick, for a furious Luke came out of hiding. "NEVER!" he roared, igniting his lightsabre. He then made a furious assault on Vader, forcing him back as their lightsabre blades bashed against each other fiercely, sparks flying from the fixtures and fittings around them as the lightsabres hit them. Overcome with anger and hatred, Luke continued his vicious frenzy, forcing his father back out of the area under the throne and onto the walkway leading to the lift. Vader did his best to block Luke's attacks, but the young Jedi was too strong and Vader soon lost his footing and fell back against the railings. Luke continued to hack away at him furiously until one blow got through and his lightsabre sliced through Vader's wrist, completely severing his right hand. Luke then stood over Vader, breathing heavily and aiming his lightsabre blade at his father's throat.

Palpatine had seen everything and was delighted. "Good!" he laughed as he came down the stairs, "Your hate has made you powerful. Now... fulfil your destiny and take your father's place at my side!"

Shaking, Luke looked down at his gloved cybernetic hand, then he looked at the stump of Vader's right hand. He could see wires poking out of the stump and realised that he was going the exact same way his father had. He took several deep calming breaths, remembering all his teachings about hate being the path to the Dark Side. "Never." he said, deactivating his lightsabre and hanging it on his belt, "I'll never turn to the Dark Side." He turned to face Palpatine. "You've failed, Sidious." he said defiantly, "I am a Jedi... like my father before me."

Palpatine was furious. "So be it... Jedi." he spat.

~8~

Han and the strike team had successfully planted the charges in the bunker and were now all running for cover. "Move! Move!" Han warned everyone, then he dived for cover behind some bushes.

The charges detonated, completely obliterating the shield generator. Han smiled at the destruction. Now it was up to the fleet to tie things up.

~8~

Home One's sensors detected the shield generator's destruction. "The shield is down." Ackbar announced, "Commence attack on the Death Star's main reactor."

"We're on our way." Lando acknowledged, "Red group, Gold group, all fighters follow me." he ordered, "Haha! Told ya they'd do it!" he told Nien Nunb.

"Good luck!" Malia called as she watched the Falcon and several fighters head for the Death Star, "Give 'em hell, boys! We'll tidy things up out here!"

And so the fighters headed towards the Death Star, ready to put the Emperor's new toy out of action for good.

~8~

It wasn't just the Rebels who were aware of the loss of the Death Star's deflector shield. In the battle station's control room, an officer was checking a monitor. "Sir, the deflector shield is down." he reported to Moff Jerjerrod, "And we've lost all contact with the generating station."

Jerjerrod steeled himself, remembering his orders from the Emperor. "Position the station to blow up the moon." he ordered

"Commence rotation of main batteries." the officer ordered a technician

"Sir." the technician acknowledged, and prepared to move the Death Star into firing position. In just a few minutes, the battle station would be in position and Endor would be no more.

Author's notes: A new week, a new chapter. Here's the awesome Battle of Endor. Hope I did it justice. Of the three simultaneous battles going on in this scene, my favourites all the space stuff, though the throne room scenes are equally enjoyable. Note that I included the deleted subplot of Palpatine ordering Endor to be destroyed. I remember reading the comic adaption of Return of the Jedi which included that subplot, then I saw the deleted scenes that featured it and I decided to include it in this story. I think it adds a bit more tension to proceedings. Note that I tried to give Malia some involvement in proceedings, with her piloting skills getting shown. So, hope you like this chapter and hope to see ya next time!