Woohoo! Chaptah Ten! I'm honestly surprised I made it this far without dropping the project, and the continued support of you, the readers, helped with that.
So, some minor stuff goes down in this chapter, and the title "Battle of Grange, Part 2" doesn't really fit it. You'll see once you finish it, I suppose.
As the huge walkers lumbered forwards, firing again and again at the Rebels, Candace realized something. If she could do her life over again, she would definitely have stayed on Tatooine. Could've seen Phineas grow up, and gotten to know that Ferb guy. Beside her, entrenched behind some boxes, Liea shot again and again at the Stormtroopers marching towards them, apparently hoping to kill as many of them before she too was taken out. The AT-ACT turned its "head" towards them, and prepared to fire. Candace's body tensed up, while Liea closed her eyes, accepting her fate.
However, before the walker could fire, out of nowhere, several energy blasts collided with its hull and knocked the walker back.
Several X-Wings flew overhead, firing at the walkers intensely. The lead walker fell with a thud, and its counterpart turned to flee, but was soon brought down by Rebel fire as well.
Leia's com buzzed and she snatched it up, almost hugging it in relief.
"Hello?" Liea shouted. "This is Liea Organa to the squadron comm-"
"Hey Liea!" Interrupted Luke. "How you doing down there?"
"Oh, I'm fine!" said Liea. "How 'bout you?"
"Oh I'm great!" he replied. "Han however, well…" his voice trailed off.
"What?" shouted Liea. "Where is that scoundrel? Not that I care or anything, but where the hell is he?"
Half a kilometer from Grange's capital, and 4 kilometers above it.
Republic Dropships are an odd sight. With the same general shape as a regular LAAT, their major difference is that they have a longer wingspan, and the troop section is missing, replaced with two magnetic clamps.
During the Clone Wars, the clamps were designated for carrying Republic tanks and cargo. After the war ended, the Dropships were slowly phased out, along with the clones, Venator-class star destroyers, and other outdated equipment left over from the war. At least one modified Dropship was in the service of the alliance around the Battle of Grange.
That Dropship was carrying a small speeder. Roughly the size of a small cargo container, and modeled after the Gian Flash Speeders used by the Royal Naboo Security Force, it was the latest model produced by Rebel-leaning companies, and subsequent "stolen" by Rebel agents. It had one massive gun attached to the top, which could be controlled by a gunner standing at the rear of the speeder.
It could seat two, one seat inside the speeder for the driver, and a place for the gunner to stand.
All this was going through Han's mind as he stood in the doorway to the command cabin of the Dropship. He held for dear life onto a small handle protruding from the wall as he looked at the speeder, being held tightly by the clamps. He turned back into the cabin itself, shutting the door behind him. Chewie was standing right behind him, and Han honestly couldn't tell if he was nervous or not. A lieutenant was sitting at a console a foot away, underneath the ladder leading to the co- pilot's station. Something beeped, and the pilot's voice crackled over the com.
"Alright." he said. "The landing zone is hot, so we're gonna 'fly it'. Get ready, Solo."
"What does 'fly it' mean?" Han demanded.
"Oh, we're gonna drop you out into open air, and hope for the best." The lieutenant replied cheerily as he pressed a button and opened the door again. "Okay, Han!" he said over the roar of the wind. "You first!" Han gulped and climbed down the small, rickety, rusted ladder from the door to the speeder.
He slowly made his way over the speeder, and reached the seat, trying himself down with the seatbelt. Chewbacca went next, simply leaping to the gun platform, and fastening himself.
"Alright!" shouted the lieutenant. "We're still a good kilometer-and-a-half above the surface, so as soon as we drop you, you have to engage the altitude thrusters by flicking that red button."
"Got it!" shouted Han, putting on a flight helmet and goggles.
"As soon as you reach 500 meters, turn the antigravs on, and disengage the altitude thrusters!"
"'Kay!" replied Han. "Just a minute. I'm beginning to-" The lieutenant hit a button on the wall, and the clamps started moving apart. "-have second thoughts." he finished quietly. The speeder dropped and Han started screaming, as he frantically engaged the thrusters.
"I'm sorry?" Darthenshmirtz asked in surprise. "The Emperor wants me to do what?"
"You heard me." replied Orson. "The Emperor has personally selected you to redesign the Death Star."
"But why? Didn't I accidentally place a design flaw that caused us to lose the Battle of Yavin."
"I made sure that Tarkin took the blame for that."
"Oh?"
"Yeah." Krennic replied. "Didn't do much to tarnish his legacy though. Hero of the Empire, Order of Palpatine all that." Darthenshmirtz nodded. A stray platypus was flung by a commando droid over Krennic's head, but sprinted back to rejoin the staged fight.
"What do I have to do?"
"For the moment, just take the design and enlarge it, and get rid of that pesky exhaust port flaw." Darthenshmirtz considered this for a minute.
"I'll do it." he said at last. "I'll design a battlestation stronger and bigger than the first Death Star."
Han's descent slowed somewhat, as he watched the Dropship turn and head back to the base.
He turned to look back at Chewie, who was very clearly not enjoying himself. The unfortunate wookie was gripping the gun very tightly. Han could swear he was whimpering.
The controls beeped, and he disengaged the altitude thrusters, turning the antigravs on instead. The speeder slowed its descent a little bit, and Han began to make out features in the city street, seeing people, crates, and the remnants of the Imperial walkers. He spotted Liea, standing by a crashed AT-ST, staring at him in surprise. She looked beautiful, with her hair hanging loosely, not in its usual bun, or the double-bun she wore for formal occasions. Han shook his head. He was not attracted to Liea.
The speeder hit the ground with a thud, and skidded several meters before lifting back up into the air and flying another two, eventually coming to rest at one of the crashed AT-ACTs. He was immediately surrounded by Rebels, who parted when Liea stormed over. She was, as always, accompanied by her ever-present bodyguard, Sergeant Candace Flynn. She grabbed him by the shirt angrily.
"If you ever try something like that again…" she began. "Well, you better hope you die, because of the fall doesn't kill you, well I-" Candace coughed, as if to remind Liea to restrain herself. Liea nodded quietly, stepping back a bit.
"Well, your worship!" Han snarled back at her. "I will remember to tell General Rieekan it does not please your highness to see me in danger next time he assigns me to pilot a speeder!" Liea glared at him for a brief moment, before turning back to the assembled rebels.
"Let's move!" she shouted. "That factory ain't gonna destroy itself!" They cheered grimly.
3.5 HOURS LATER
The Imperial forces inside the factory had put up a fight, but the Alliance forces had been too strong, and the factory eventually fell. Candace, Buford, and Baljeet watched as the factory's overseer, a brutal Phidian, was being chained to Han's speeder.
"Oh, but I am innocent!" he protested in a voice that Candace recognized as the one she had heard over the AT-ST driver's com. "My superiors- the Empire-they gave me no choice! They forced me to overwork the slaves-I mean paid laborers- and ignore environmental regulations!"
"Oh, shut up." muttered Han.
"No, please, let him continue." said Liea, walking over. "At this rate, we'll have enough against him to put him away for life." The Phidian opened his mouth to protest, but thought better of it, and shut it again.
Liea turned away as Han and Chewie boarded the speeder, and sped off towards a waiting transport on the other side of town.
"Where's he going?" Candace asked, walking up to Liea.
"Han or the prisoner?"
" Prisoner."
"To face trial on Naboo for both war and humanitarian crimes."
"Huh." she replied. "And Han?" Liea chuckled.
"Don't know, and frankly, don't care."
"Are you sure about that?" Candace asked. Liea looked at her with a mixture of surprise and reproach.
"What? No!" she protested. "Why the hell would you even think tha-where did you get the idea? I hate him!" she finished. Candace eyed her suspiciously, but decided to drop the subject .
The two were joined by Buford and Baljeet, who, as usual, were arguing about something stupid.
"I am telling you," said Baljeet, gesturing angrily. "I don't care what you saw, it should not have been possible for Captain Solo to survive that drop."
"But he did!" retorted Buford. "And Buford want to try it too!" Baljeet groaned.
"This is just like the time you wanted to try gravity jumping on Selonias 7!"
"Gravity jumping?" Liea whispered to Candace.
"Don't ask." They turned back to the duo, who had ceased all verbal sparring, and were now physically slapping each other.
"Can!" shouted Buford, slapping Baljeet in the face.
"Can't!" shouted Baljeet, slapping the side of Buford's head.
"Can!" Slap!
"Can't!"Slap!
"Can!" Slap!
"Can't" Slap!
"Can!" Slap!
"Can't" Slap!
"Can!" Slap!
"Can't" Slap!
"Can!" Slap!
"Can't" Slap!
"Can!" Slap!
"Can't" Slap!
Editor's Note:
The Author would like to formally apologize for his aggressive portrayal of Buford and Baljeet's back-and-forth manner. We now return to the story, already in progress.
This dialogue continued for another minute as the two boys slapped each other, before finally stopping. The two of them collapsed on the ground, exhausted.
"Why...huh...were we fighting?" asked Baljeet
"I...huh...dunno." huffed Buford. The two exchanged apologies as Liea, Candace following, walked away. They walked towards a Nu-class attack shuttle as rebel transports, full of mechanical supplies stolen from the factory and freed slaves, lifted off, bound for alliance shipyards deep in the Western Reaches. Buford and Baljeet, realizing they were being abandoned, quickly followed.
As they crossed the threshold, the landing ramp lifted up, and the shuttle blasted off, the wings unfolding. It joined the other transports and gunships leaving orbit, escorted by two A-Wings.
As the shuttle left the atmosphere, the Alliance fleet assigned to the Grange Campaign became visible. It was split into two distinct groups, the Freedom, with two blockade runners and a Nebulon-B frigate surrounding it, and the transports, escorted by several snubfighters and another Nebulon-B frigate.
The Freedom had recovered from the Battle of Naboo quite nicely, considering the damages that had been inflicted upon it by Luke and the Y-Wings. Parts scavenged from the remnants of the Death Star around Yavin and wreckage of other destroyed Imperial ships provided replacement hull plating, and additional gun emplacements were installed were playing could not fit or was not found. Unfortunately, the missing turret could not be replaced, so a spare logistics hangar was inserted instead.
The shuttle headed towards the Freedom's hangar, the lone opening in the underside of the wedge-shaped hull. It passed the docked Tantive V, still docked in the hangar, landed in one of the bays, and come to rest with a thud. The landing door unfolded, and the passengers discharged, Liea exiting last.
They were greeted by Luke, whose X-Wing was already aboard.
"Where's Riekann?" Luke asked.
"Still on the surface." Liea replied. "He's staying to evacuate the populace for when the Empire returns."
"Ah." The two of them turned down a hallway, empty save for a labor droid carrying a crate. They said nothing, but she simply slipped her hand into his.
After walking for awhile, they stopped in front of a small room. A plaque read "Rogue Squadron Commander: Luke Skywalker."
"Well, I'll meet you on the bridge in an hour. I have a lot of paperwork to finish." he said Liea nodded and sighed as he stepped inside and closed the door.
The party exited the facility, walking towards Krennic's shuttle. In the lead was Krennic, followed by Darthenshmirtz, and their respective aides, Captain Pterro, and Lieutenant Yaami. They in turn were followed by Krennic's Death Troopers. Colonel Crefet, with his ever-present duo of Stormtroopers, lagged behind, a bit put out by being left out of the discussions.
Standing by the shuttle were a couple of Imperial ground crew technicians running checks on the exterior of the ship, and NORM-3P0, holding a datapad and a digi-pen.
"Oh lord." whispered Yaami.
"GREETINGS DIRECTOR KRENNIC!" shouted the droid. "DID YOU ENJOY YOUR STAY?" Krennic turned back to Darthenshmirtz, who was looking slightly embarrassed.
"Heinz," Krennic began, pinching the bridge of his nose in disappointment.
"I thought you got rid of that droid."
"I tried!" Darthenshmirtz said. "I just couldn't bring myself to do it."
"You're being sentimental, Heinz." Orson cautioned him. "Sentiment might destroy the Empire some day, and I bet you seven credits we'll be there to witness it." Darthenshmirtz rolled his eyes.
4 YEARS LATER, ENDOR SYSTEM, SECOND DEATH STAR.
The force lightning shot again and again from Emperor Palpatine's fingertips, hitting Luke Skywalker in the chest.
"FATHER, PLEASE!" Luke shouted at Vader, who was standing a few meters away. The Emperor cackled like a maniac, hitting Skywalker again and again.
Something snapped in Vader and he grabbed the Emperor, thrusting Palpatine into an empty elevator shaft, before collapsing.
Off in the shadows on a catwalk, Darthenshmirtz, Krennic and Yaami were standing, shocked at what they had just witnessed.
"Orson." Heinz said quietly. "Remember all those years ago on Kamino when you said-"
"Just hand me the stupid credits." Krennic said emotionlessly.
The Present
"That is not likely at all." Darthenshmirtz replied. "I accept your bet." Krennic shook his head, exasperated. As he turned back to the shuttle, he found his path blocked by NORM.
"HOW WOULD YOU RATE YOUR STAY?" the droid asked, handing Krennic the datapad and pen. "PLEASE REMEMBER TO RATE US ON YELP AND TELL ALL YOU FRIENDS!"
Krennic forced the pad and pen back into the droid's hand, walking past it. "HOW RUDE!" NORM remarked, his usual enthusiasm still there. Pterro and the Death Troopers followed, heading up the ramp while Krennic stopped, and turned back to Darthenshmirtz, who was harshly reprimanding NORM for his idiocy.
"How many times do I have to tell you?" he was shouting. "We are not a hotel!"
"I WAS JUST TRYING TO SEE IF HE ENJOYED SEEING YOUR CARNIVOROUS PLATYPUS CLONES FIGHT THE DROIDS SIR!"
"Do you know how weird you made that sound?" Darthenshmirtz asked the droid. "I mean, now it's just creepy that the platypuses are carnivores.
"YES SIR." the droid said sadly. Krennic smirked as Darthenshmirtz turned away from his droid.
"It was so good to see you again, Heinz." he said, embracing his friend. " I look forward to working with you on the new Death Star."
"Me too." Darthenshmirtz responded. Krennic turned and walked up the ramp as it lifted back into the hull, his cape billowing behind him. The shuttle lifted into the air, and flew away, escorted by a duo of TIE fighters. Darthenshmirtz sighed and walked away, Crefet, Yaami, and NORM following him.
Boba Fett sat up in the pilot seat of his ship, Slave I. He was expecting a call from an important client, one whom he had worked with many times before. They could call each other friends, if men of their demeanor and respective occupations even had "friends". The console beeped, and a light turned green, indicating that the transmission was ready. Fett pressed a button, and the figure flickered to life, about a meter tall, he still looked imposing, with his black cape hanging loosely off of his shoulder.
"Boba Fett." Lord Darth Vader announced. "I have another assignment for you regarding Luke Skywalker, the pilot who destroyed the Death Star."
Liea stood on the bridge gazing out of the transteel viewports. She was looking at nothing in particular, just thinking about a great deal of things.
Sergeant Flynn's recklessness, Luke, how much she like-hated Han, the sensitive and vital nature of Lieutenant Garcia-Sharpio's mission, and foremost on her mind, the refugee crisis the Alliance found themselves facing with Grange.
It was a serious problem. The populace feared reprisals for allowing the Rebels, and held in the hearts a fear that the Empire would one day return, so about third of the population was leaving the world.
That third was split into two groups. The first, comprising a fourth of it (rounding out to a twelfth of Grange's overall population), had decided to join the rebellion, as soldiers, technicians, pilots, or Intelligence officers. The majority of the group however, were simply refugees, fleeing hypothetical reprisals aimed at their homeworld.
Where to settle them however, was a problem the Alliance cabinet found themselves facing, and they had very nicely dumped it in Liea's lap. She had considered Naboo, but the planet was not suited to support that many refugees, and she had dropped it as well.
There were countless Outer Rim worlds that had treaties that, for the large part, kept the Empire offworld, but they were corrupt or ruled by despots, hardly a suitable place for refugees. Besides, they would notice if transports bearing Rebel insignias landed and discharged several thousand refugees. And, either fearing Imperial reprisals or hoping to reap large rewards, they would probably report it to the Empire.
Liea sighed as Luke walked up. She turned, surprised to see the bridge bizzarely empty. Apart from the two of them, it was just a few technicians in each pit, a bridge officer running checks on primary systems, and Candace standing off to one side, almost in the shadows.
"They're here." Luke said, confusing Liea.
"Who?"
"Lieutenant Garcia-Shapiro and Ensign Flynn. The Centennial Chihuahua just landed in hangar 7." Candace dropped her blaster rifle in surprise.
"Phineas is back!" she shouted excitedly, before regaining her composure. "Sorry, that was..wrong of me." Liea ignored her.
"Did they succeed in the extraction?" the Princess asked.
"The transmission they sent prior to docking indicated they did." he replied
"I suppose we should go down to greet them?" Liea asked. "I mean, given the nature of her mission.." Luke shrugged.
"I guess." Liea turned to Candace.
"Sergeant Flynn?"
"YESYESYESYES!" Candace shouted, before calming down a bit. "I...ahem..mean, um, I think it would be alright, your highness." Liea chuckled a bit, before turning to a technician in the pit.
"Have the security droids deployed to hangar 7 to await my orders." she ordered. The technician nodded. and she turned back to Candace.
"Come with us, Sergeant Flynn." The trio walked down the bridge and into a corridor, essentially retracing Luke's path from the hangar to the bridge, all those months ago, during the Battle of Naboo (see chapter five).
The eventually stepped off a turbolift near the mess hall, and after a good extra five minutes of walking, they arrived in the hangar. Sandwiched in between a Y-Wing, and a modified civilian transport, sat the Chihuahua. The squadron of battle droids Dengar had so nicely left for the Alliance were waiting, their blasters raised.
"Candace!" shouted Phineas, running up to hug his sister.
"Phineas!" she shouted. "How've you been? Oh, I missed you so much!" she said, hugging him tighter.
"Hey Candace!" he replied. "Ooh, you got promoted!" Candace chuckled.
"Yeah, I saved the Princess' life during a skirmish down on the surface." she replied. "Can you tell me about your mission now?" he stopped hugging her, and stepped back. When Phineas and Isabella had left a month prior, neither of them had been able to reveal the nature of the task Alliance Intelligence had assigned them. For the first week, Candace had been unable to sleep, lying awake with worry, both for her brother's safety, and the fact that Pilot Girl had him all to herself. She had then driven herself into her work; combat, to distract herself from her brother. Now, with their mission concluded, she hoped to finally learn both what they had done, and what Pilot Girl had tried to do to him.
"Well, you see…" Phineas began.
"Princess, Commander Skywalker, Sergeant Flynn." Interrupted Isabella, saying the last name in a particuly icy tone audible only to herself and Candace. "Allow me to introduce the Alliance's newest member: the recently defected Imperial Cargo Pilot, Ensign Bohdi Rook" A nervous, young man with black hair tied back in a bun wearing a cargo pilot's outfit emerged from the Chihuahua. "He has the Intel." she added as an afterthought
"Ensign Rook." Liea said warmly. "Welcome to the Rebellion." Tadena gave her a nervous smile.
So to start, you can obviously see that Krennic, Yaami, and Darthenshmirtz survive at least to Luke and Vader's climactic duel. As the story progresses following the planned 8 - 11 chapters focusing on Empire Strikes Back, it will become more and more apparent as to why they are there in the Emperor's throne room.
This added a lot of questions to the heap, didn't it?
What is the nature of the mission Vader has for Fett? What is so damn important about the Intel Bohdi is bringing the Alliance? How many more Rogue One characters can I drag into this thing? What will Krennic and Darthenshmirtz do to ensure the Second Death Star's beginning, let alone its completion?
What will either of them do once they learn Palpatine plans to risk it simply to destroy the Alliance? Will Ferb ever escape from Kamino? Will Phineas remain oblivious to Isabella and Candace's private war? Who the hell was Ferb's informant back in Chapter Three (yes, you all thought I had forgotten about that, hadn't you?) Why exactly are Lawrence and Linda being moved to Lola Sayu? Will Han sue the Alliance for that little stunt Riekann forced him to pull? How is Commander Garavle doing at his new posting? And will I ever clean up all those loose ends in the plot that provided me with so many questions to add to this already very long Author's Note ?
Tune in next time to Tales From the Rebellion, a Phineas and Ferb Star Wars Fanfiction, to find out the answers (to some)!
Glossary:
Grange - Homeworld of Galen Erso, the scientist from Rogue One.
Dropship- version of Republic Gunship with clamps replacing the troop hold.
Gian Flash Speeder - Speeder utilized by the Royal Naboo Security Force
Phidian - Reptilian species known for their cruelty.
Nebulon B frigate- a class of ship used by the Alliance. The medical ship at the end of empire was one of these.
Captain Pterro - Actually the name of Krennic's aide in Rogue One
Boba Fett - you should honestly know who this is. Seriously.
Slave 1 - Fett's ship.
Also, this is the last chapter in which I will be attempting to provide a full glossary. I'm going to drop planets and species. However, I will still provide definitions for certain characters and ships.
I encourage everyone to review this chapter. Very few people review, which is a problem when I go to write the next chapter. I value everyone's input, and a few ideas have sprung from some of the reviews I have received. Criticism is encouraged (not outright flames of my work, however). I cannot grow as a writer without your input.
So, remember to favorite and review! And, again, tell about any grammatical errors. As soon as I stop traveling so damn much, I plan to correct the aforementioned errors on my Mac.