Chapter 23: Anachronistic Assault

A few days had passed since most of Death Squadron departed, leaving just the Star Destroyers Devastator and Conquest in orbit above Earth. Their respective captains were disappointed that they couldn't participate in the fight against the rebel forces elsewhere, left behind to safeguard this backwater planet. They had the misfortune of being in the worst position for redeployment, the Devastator still carrying this world's recruits and the Conquest having the most stormtroopers on the surface, making them the clear choice to leave here.

Although the rebel attacks had been repelled, most of them simple raids that ended as quick as they began, considerable damage had been done across the Empire. Details hadn't reached this far out from the core worlds, leaving the two captains in dark about when the Executor or the Avenger would return. The Devastator and Conquest would have to make do without them, as there was still work to be done here. Fortifications to build, recruits to train, insurgents to slaughter, et cetera, and these two Star Destroyers would have to do it by themselves.

Standing on the bridge of the Devastator, Captain Montferrat overheard an officer responding to a transmission coming from the surface. He waited for the conversation to end before speaking up. "What is it?"

"Another insurgent attack, the garrison by Gaoling this time," the officer reported. There was another transmission, the officer responded to it, and then reported it to the captain. "Yu Dao garrison is reporting an attack too."

"At the same time," Montferrat commented, the implications being very obvious. "Have every garrison check in."

The officer carried out the order, sent out the command to all of the garrisons, and waited for responses. They came in short order. "Southern continent garrisons are reporting attacks in progress. Some are requesting additional troop deployments."

"Approve them," Montferrat ordered. He turned towards the crewman at the helm. "Ensign, position us over the southern part of the continent. Something is going on down there."

Across the southern third of the Earth Kingdom, the combined forces of resistance fighters and the White Lotus Society sprang into action.

Stealth no longer being important, they had used earthbending to spread across the countryside in a hurry. Upon arrival at their targets earthbenders worked together to hurl house sized boulders at imperial garrisons, breaching the first line of defense with sheer kinetic force. Metal walls were broken down and gates busted wide open, enabling the resistance fighters to rush into the garrisons. Earthbenders went through first and recycled the boulders, creating earthen barriers to block incoming blaster bolts, and firebenders followed to fill the air with flames.

The second wave of fighters arrived, using the blasters and armor taken from earlier raids. Earthbenders among them made tiny holes in the barriers, allowing blasters to be fired through and strike down many stormtroopers from behind cover. It worked until stormtroopers started throwing thermal detonators, the resulting explosion demolishing the barriers and killing those just behind them. In turn the earthbenders reformed their barriers in layers, one to take the explosions and the other to shield fighters from them.

At Gaoling's garrison a third wave arrived, led by Avatar Aang and Katara, with Luke Skywalker right behind them. On arrival Aang entered the Avatar State, unleashing a maelstrom of earth and fire and wind upon the stormtroopers, knocking down every one of them exposed to the elements. Those that tried to get back up were brought down by Katara's water-whips, and the way to the main building of the garrison was clear. Anyone they missed was promptly shot by Luke, and they quickly reached the sturdy front doors.

Built to imperial code, this building could withstand a lot of punishment. It would take too long to break down the door with earthbent boulders, hence why Luke was there to speed things up. He made a cursory attempt at the control panel, just in case it hadn't been properly locked, but he had no such luck there. So he turned on his lightsaber and stabbed the door with it, cutting into the metal and carving out a wide circle. When he finished he kicked in the door, and then Luke signaled the others that they could proceed.

"Door's open," Luke said. "Let's go."

The earthbenders brought as much rock and dirt as they could with them, expecting to find very little of it inside the building. Some wrapped the rock around their bodies, making suits of stone to bring their element inside. Once everyone was inside the last ones raised a mound of dirt over the entrance, which firebenders set aflame, expecting a need to hinder stormtrooper reinforcements. Luke and Aang were in front as they rushed through the building, heading for the stockpile of weapons kept deep inside. More stormtroopers inside the building arrived to intercept them, which Aang had expected sooner.

Once again Aang and earthbenders created a stone barrier, using most of their available earth and making the barrier stretch from floor to ceiling and from wall to wall. Then they made the barrier move own the hallway, ramming it into a squad of stormtroopers, pushing them all the way to the end and pinning them there. The earthbenders recovered the stone and moved on, reusing the same tactic when more stormtroopers showed up ahead of the group. There was no stopping them from reaching their destination, and they quickly arrived at the armory.

"Five minutes people!" Luke yelled. He got to work setting up explosives brought from the Falcon, and everyone else got to work taking more weapons and equipment for later use. "After that we get out of here!"

"You heard him!" Aang yelled, ushering in everyone else and encouraging them to hurry up. "You don't want to miss the fireworks! Or be part of the fireworks!"

Five minutes passed by very quickly, and everyone with free hands and a strong back was carrying an assortment of blasters and small explosives. Armor and large equipment was left untouched, for it would slow them down too much on the way out. At the five minute mark Luke was finished and set the timer, ten minutes being sufficient to leave yet short enough to prevent imperials from disarming it. After that everyone ran for the exit as quickly as they could, reaching it with some time to spare. The blocked entrance was reopened with earthbending, and everyone quickly passed through.

They were running through the broken down wall when Luke's timer went off. "Cover your ears! This is going to be loud!"

Explosions detonated inside the barracks, blowing the entire building to kingdom come. Debris rained down all around the place, including the fighters fleeing the scene. Earthen domes came up around earthbenders, shielding everyone from chunks of burning metal. After the rain ended the domes came down, and everyone saw the burning pit in the ground that used to be a building. Stormtroopers that remained outside rushed in to deal with the flames, and to salvage whatever could be saved from the burning heap.

"Mission accomplished," Aang said. As everyone quickly left the area, Aang stayed close to Katara. "How do you think the others are doing?"

The raid on Yu Dao opened with a volley of blaster bolts.

As the farthest target of them all, only the stolen speeder bikes could reach the former colony in time for the attack. The speeder bikes had built in blasters, which opened fire on an imperial gatehouse upon arrival. The imperials on duty had not been expecting such an attack, and in the moment of surprise every stormtrooper at the gatehouse was struck down. Earthbender passengers struck the gatehouse as the speeder bikes passed by, ripping up slabs of rock that tore the structure asunder, and they kept on going into the city itself.

Leading the charge were Haru and Kori, the former driving while the latter gave directions. Kori provided the shortest route to the recently finished imperial barracks in the city, and Haru drove the lead speeder bike down that path, shooting at the stormtroopers that happened to be in their way. The other speeder bikes were right behind them, and their earthbender passengers raised walls of rock down the streets, blocking pursuers from getting behind them. Civilians in the streets quickly got out of the way, a few almost getting hit by accident.

After one last turn Kori saw the barracks directly ahead, and she pointed it out for Haru and the others. "There it is."

The big white building took up several blocks and cut off the street, though to Haru all it looked like was a very big target. "Alright, here we go, just like we planned."

Haru maxed out the throttle, and Kori got ready to do a lot of earthbending. The speeder bike accelerated to its maximum speed, and the barracks was getting closer very quickly. The other speeder bikes accelerated as well, and it was an alarming sight to the stormtroopers on guard duty. At the last second Haru and Kori jumped off their speeder bike, earthbending the street into soft dirt to catch their fall, and the speeder bike crashed into the barracks. Everyone else did the same, and several collisions punched a big hole in the side of the building.

Slightly bruised from the rough landing, despite the earthbending used to soften it, Haru quickly got up and surveyed the damage. "I'm going to miss those things."

Kori was up right behind him, and she looked at the big hole in the wall. "Yeah well, we all have to make sacrifices. Live with it."

With a dozen people now on foot, each wielding a stolen blaster in addition to earthbending, they hurried through the hole and into the barracks. The last few speeder bike collisions had knocked down a few more walls inside, each hole smaller than the one before it. At the end they had to take normal routes through hallways, but were still far closer to the barracks armory than the front entrance. The stormtroopers that got in their way were quickly shot or struck down, and in only a minute Haru and Kori found their way to their destination.

Staring at all the munitions stockpiled here, a small bit of Haru thought it would be a gigantic waste. "Alright, let's get to work."

Everyone was carrying some stolen thermal detonators, and they took more that they found in the armory. It had taken trial and error beforehand to figure out how they worked, time well spent in preparation to blow this place to kingdom come. The detonators were placed in as many places as possible, timers set for five minutes, and then everyone ran out of the armory as fast as they could run. They made it out of the barracks with time to spare, and they were a few blocks down when the detonators exploded, which in turn made all the munitions explode.

Kori turned her head in time to see the massive explosion, the building go up in flames, and the resulting burning pit in the ground. "It worked. Now let's get out of here."

"Better hustle," Haru insisted. He saw stormtroopers gathering in the distance, nearly ready to march onto the scene. "They'll be all over us in a minute."

Already running with all the others, Kori had only one more remark. "Hey, even if we get caught, it's still mission accomplished. Now we hope everyone else can do their missions."

Far to the south, in the middle of a large mountain range, another raid hit the imperial garrison at Omashu.

The city on a mountaintop had been hardly ideal for a garrison, but was the only suitable place in the region. Troops stationed here would have trouble deploying on foot, and would require air support to travel anywhere beyond the city. But it did make a good spot for TIE Fighters to stop and refuel, once the proper facilities had been completed. Everything at the peak of the mountain had been cleared away, including the palace that the missing ruler had once used, and scaffolding covered the place during construction.

Led by said missing ruler, the White Lotus and assorted resistance fighters attacked the city from below. King Bumi brought them into a special tunnel at the base of the mountain, connected to a vertical shaft that had carved by earthbending ages ago. Together all the earthbenders raised a stone platform to the top, ending where metal foundations of incomplete facilities barred the path. They emerged from the underground just above the middle part of the city, made the mountainside exploded outward, and rushed into the streets like a landslide.

Among them were Iroh and Mai, coming out in the middle of the group and just ahead of the returning king. Iroh pointed his finger at the mountain peak and gave the order. "Attack!"

Mai raised her alien blaster, taking aim at something above them. "Get them."

She opened fire and shot down a stormtrooper commander, the body falling down the slope and into a building. Mai saw other fighters raise and aim stolen imperial blasters, shooting at the stormtroopers responding to their attack. The high ground did little to aid the stormtroopers, not when earthbenders turned that ground against them. Earthen barricades rose and fell as needed, blocking imperial blasters one second before allowing resistance blasters to pass through. Stormtrooper bodies fell by the score, with next to no casualties on the resistance side.

After thinning the ranks considerably, the resistance fighters advanced up the mountain, passing over the first metal fortifications that had barred passage underground. Earthbenders brought their element over with them, some hurling large boulders further up for use later. Firebenders added their element to the mix, burning everyone they could. Iroh fired a few bolts of lightning, destroying fortifications that were in their way. They soon reached the first of several metal buildings atop the mountain, its front doors left open by stormtroopers leaving to battle, and now the resistance was passing through.

More stormtroopers were inside and heading for the entrance, only to be gunned down by the stolen blasters. Earthbenders brought their element into the building, formed earthen walls when needed, and attacked with propelled stone bricks when blasters weren't sufficient. Firebenders burned everything else, leaving only charred remains behind. There was no stopping them from passing through to the other side, where an unfinished complex stood at the peak of the mountain. The roof and upper levels weren't complete, and aside from scaffolding in the way everyone could see the sky above them.

"Okay everyone," Mai said, getting everyone's attention. "Rip it up."

"On his signal," Iroh said, pointing at Bumi.

"My pleasure," Bumi said. He stood in the middle, with all the earthbenders around him, ready to follow his lead. "It's time to take back my city."

It took all the power at Bumi's disposal, both his personal earthbending and that of everyone around him, to bend the earth beneath the foundations, all of it. The mountain peak separated from the rest, lifting the foundations along with it, even if it was only by an inch at most. It also moved to the side by an inch, shifted the center of weight, and slightly tipped everything over. Gravity and the slope of the mountain handled the rest, pulling the off balance mountaintop down the slope, slowly at first but gradually picking up speed.

"Everyone out!" Iroh ordered.

"Get going while the going's good!" Mai added.

Not needed to be told twice, everyone hurried back the way they had come from. Now there was a slight incline to the floor, getting steeper by the second, with the exit being uphill from here. It took a minute to reach the exit, and by then the floor was at a forty degree angle, difficult to run uphill on a smooth surface. They leaped through the exit several at a time, fell several feet to hit the ground, and rolled down the slope a ways before stopping. Most of them made it out it time, before the mountaintop slide down the mountain.

Past the tipping point, the mountaintop slid down the slope, quickly picking up speed and demolishing everything in the way. The last few to leave barely made it out, hitting the groves that now scarred the mountainside, needing earthbending to stop their fall. They got to see the mountaintop fall off the side of the mountain, taking the unfinished imperial buildings along with it, and fall into the valley that surrounded Omashu. There was a very loud crash when it hit the bottom, along with a tremor that shook the entire city.

Near the top of what was left of the mountain, King Bumi stood tall and victorious, despite the collateral damage to his city. "I have been waiting months to do that!"

Closer to the new top of the mountain, Mai looked down at the mad king. "We just wrecked nearly a third of the city, and he's happy about it?"

Slightly higher up, Iroh was just as concerned about his colleague. "They do call him mad. Now we know why."

Mai sighed, and she gave the signal to withdraw. "Let's hope everyone else is doing better."

Elsewhere in the Earth Kingdom, outside a small town near the southern end of the Si Wong Desert, another raid had gone awry.

This barracks had AT-STs at its disposal, something the resistance fighters hadn't known beforehand. Their large blasters tore earthen barriers apart, thwarting the main defense earthbenders could create. This barracks also had thick metal roads surrounding the building, which the AT-STs stood on and did not venture past the edge, thwarting the tactic of attacking from underground. The smaller stolen blasters resistance fighters used couldn't penetrate the AT-STs' armor, leaving only shallow scorch marks in the tall machines.

However, now having a better understanding of what earthbenders can do, Han Solo got an idea. "Quickly, there's something I want you guys to try."

Han made his suggestion, which Sokka approved of, and Ty Lee got the earthbenders to put into practice. Working together the earthbenders raised a thick column of stone a dozen feet long, and hurled it into the air. Good aim had the stone column impacting the side of an AT-ST, and raw kinetic force knocked the mighty machine off its feet. The whole thing fell on its side, now with a large dent in it, and unable to get back upright. The stone column remained next to the fallen AT-ST, potential ammunition for when the earthbenders could get onto the metal road.

More stone columns were raised and thrown at the AT-STs, each having similar results as the first one. The AT-STs tried to dodge the attacks, but by then half of them had been knocked over. Better aim was enough to compensate, and within minutes the rest of the AT-STs were disabled. After that the resistance fighters rushed the barracks, earthbenders recovering the stone used in the pillars, and attacked the stormtroopers coming out to defend the place. It did not take long to clear a path and reach the front doors, and Han got to work trying to open them.

"Where are Luke and his lightsaber when you need them?" Han complained. He had a control panel removed and was fiddling with the wires inside, hotwiring the door in an attempt to make it open. "This might take a while."

A slight tremor reached them, worrisome for a number of reasons, and Ty Lee turned towards the source. "We might not have a while."

Another tremor came, followed by another and another. Everyone looked to the east and saw the much larger AT-ATs approaching, coming out of a large cavern nearby. Apparently the imperials had been storing them there temporarily, until proper storage facilities could be constructed. Now they were walking towards the barracks, even larger blasters taking aim at the fighters at the entrance. Earthbenders quickly made several layers of earthen barricades from their stone pillars, knowing it would only buy them a minute at the absolute most.

The first volley of blaster fire demolished half of the barricades, and Han immediately let go of the wires. "Yeah no, this is not happening."

He quickly ran past the corner of the building, taking cover from the AT-AT blaster fire. Sokka and Ty Lee were right behind him, along with most of their earthbenders and resistance fighters. Some didn't make it there, blown to bits along with the last of the earthen barricades. The AT-ATs kept firing despite the enemy getting behind cover, resulting in blaster bolts clipping the corner, and blowing open a hole in the building. There was no chance of getting through that hole, not when the AT-ATs were still shooting past it.

"Well now what do we do?" Ty Lee asked. An explosion went off nearby, and she had to shield her face from debris. "We're pinned down."

Han took out a small communicator. "We call in the cavalry."

The call was made, and a response was swift and without mercy. At the southern horizon the Millennium Falcon appeared, flying towards the barracks from behind the AT-ATs, main blasters taking aim at their weak points for massive damage. A few quick shots damaged the neck of an AT-AT, breaking off the head and letting it fall to the ground. The Falcon shot at and disabled two more AT-ATs, but then had to turn around to avoid flying in front of the targets, where it would be easy pickings for their large blasters.

The remaining AT-ATs stopped firing at the earthbenders and started turning around, their operators deeming the unexpected spaceship to be the greater threat. However the massive machines were not designed with maneuverability in mind, so it would take a while to get a target lock on the Falcon. This diversion cleared the way for Han and the others, who now had a way into the barracks through the hole in the building. Everyone got inside very quickly, and they hurried through the barracks with as much earth ammunition as they could carry.

As he ran through the corridors Han had his communicator out. "That's enough Chewy. Back off before you get shot down."

Several growls came through the communicator, and Sokka still had no idea how anyone could recognize that as speech. "Thanks for the save, big guy."

A happy roar was the answer, before Han put the communicator away. "Alright, in and out before those things come back for us."

Yet as they continued into the barracks, Sokka realized something bad. "Are you sure it was wise to reveal your ship like that? Now the Empire knows you're here."

"I wouldn't worry too much about that," Han said. He gave a wicked smile. "They were going to find out soon enough anyway."

Captain Montferrat heard the report, and the meaning of it was clear as day.

The rebels were coming.

A spaceship attacking an AT-AT squadron was proof enough, the only one in the area that wasn't under imperial control. The ship's design was quickly identified, and it matched a vessel that had become increasingly well known in the galaxy. It was clear that this was the Millennium Falcon, no amount of false identification codes could suggest otherwise after the blatant attack. And where the Millennium Falcon went, rebel forces were often not far behind. It was only a matter of time before they arrived, and Montferrat knew that he had to be ready.

However, there was not enough time.

One of the officers at the sensor stations made the confirmation. "Multiple hyperspace drops confirmed, just beyond the first gas giant's orbit. ETA: five minutes."

"The raids were a distraction," Montferrat realized. He turned toward the comm officer. "Send a message to Grand Admiral Thrawn immediately. We need the rest of Death Squadron back here now."

There wasn't enough time to summon reinforcements, for the rebel forces were already moving in for an attack. Two capital ships, three battlecruisers, five carriers were inbound, along with several dozen fighter ships kept in their hangars. They passed the orbit of the next planet out, closing in on Earth and the Star Destroyers in orbit. The Conquest ascended to a higher orbit, a better position to prepare for battle, and aimed its main guns toward the incoming rebel fleet. Currently over the opposite hemisphere, the Devastator accelerated to clear the planet and aid the Conquest.

Already the rebel ships were deploying their fighters, both the typical X-Wing and Y-Wing varieties in half-dozen squad formations. In response the Conquest deployed its entire contingent of TIE Fighters, all of them heading ahead of the Star Destroyer to intercept the rebel fighters. Over a hundred small ships occupied the space between, coming together like opposing waves crashing into one another. Both sides opened fire at the same time, blaster bolts crisscrossing in the void of space, many hitting the opposing fighters, some even hitting the larger ships behind them.

Meanwhile, it was the middle of night in the Fire Nation, and Fire Lord Zuko was looking up at the starlit sky.

"Huh…" Zuko muttered, seeing many new lights in the sky, coming and going at a frequent pace. They created quite a spectacle for the insomniac eye, even if he didn't know the true source of the lights. "I don't remember asking for fireworks."

Home One served as this fleet's flagship, leading the attack on the imperials at Earth.

Leia personally gave the order. "Hit them with everything we've got."

Main guns at the ready, Home One opened fire on the closer Star Destroyer. The other large ships in this fleet did the same, firing past the assorted fighters to strike the main target. From this angle they struck the Star Destroyer's dorsal side, lighting up the shields and quickly draining their power. The Star Destroyer fired back, and its companion opened fire from further away, impacting the rebel ships' shields just as hard. Some of the shots missed the mark, imperial shots heading off into space and rebel shots unfortunately hitting the planet, certainly ruining someone's day.

"Focus on the closer Star Destroyer," Leia ordered. She watched the Home One bridge crew relay the order to the rest of the fleet. "Bring it down before its buddy gets too close."

The X-Wings broke through the TIE Fighter formation, flying past the enemy and swarming around the Star Destroyer, leaving the Y-Wings behind to deal with fighters trying to follow. The X-Wings attacked from the sides while the fleet continued to shoot the top, depleting the Star Destroyer's shields even faster. When the shields failed all those blasters struck the hull, eating into the armor and quickly blowing open holes and exposing the interior to space. Targeting shifted to the Star Destroyer's command tower, to destroy the vital systems located there and cripple the ship.

Knowing the present danger, the captain of the Conquest reacted swiftly. Thrusters ignited to change the ship's orientation, putting the bottom of the ship toward the rebel fleet. The sheer mass of the ship's lower decks swallowed the rebel attacks, shielding the command tower and the bridge from major damage. X-Wings continued to attack from the sides, but their smaller shots were insufficient for the task. Ventral cannons were deployed and opened fire, even as the ventral hull around them was blasted away into scrap metal.

The Devastator was still on approach to the battle, Captain Montferrat observing the beating the rebels were inflicting on the Conquest. His ship's shields were still holding, fortunate that the rebels were focusing on the other ship instead of his. Two of the rebel ship's shields were starting to fail, but not soon enough to destroy either one. Even if reinforcements were on the way they would take too long to get here, and at this rate the rebels would destroy the Conquest in less than five minutes. After that the rebels could concentrate on the Devastator, and Montferrat wasn't willing to lose his ship here.

"Withdraw," Montferrat ordered, much to the surprise of his crew. "We're not going to lose a third Star Destroyer over this backwater planet."

"What about our forces on the planet?" one officer asked.

"They can hold out until Death Squadron returns in full force," Montferrat said.

And so the Devastator turned back towards imperial space, aiming for a hyperspace jump around the rebel fleet. By then the lower half of the Conquest had been consumed by blaster impacts, thrusters offline and the ship tipping towards the rebels, enabling the larger ships to target the command tower again. After that it only took a few minutes to blow apart the tower, destroy the bridge, and leave the Star Destroyer as a wreck in space. Rebel ships shifted their focus to the sole remaining Star Destroyer, but could not inflict any damage before it made the jump to hyperspace.

Only the TIE Fighters remained to fight the rebels, destroying a good number of Y-Wings before their numbers drastically declined. Eventually they were wiped out by the rebel fighters, unable to escape thanks to their lack of individual hyperdrives. Meanwhile every transport vessel that could fly was abandoning the wreck of the Conquest, most heading toward the planet to reach imperial facilities there. The wreck itself continued forward on its own inertia, settling into a high elliptical orbit that was doomed to decay.

And yet, despite her forces winning the battle, Leia was in no mood to celebrate. "Contact the Falcon. I want to know what's going on down there. We won't have much time before the imperials return."

Just beyond the orbit of the planet's moon, above the side shrouded in night, the personal TIE Fighter of Darth Vader emerged from hyperspace.

Ignoring the rebel fleet, Vader kept his gaze on the planet, drawn to its northern pole. "There."