The Avatar Strikes Back

by MegaBob452

A contaminated world, a menaced empire, brought together by mutual interference. A year has passed since the saiyans departed, their actions still leaving their mark on the galaxy at large and one little blue marble in particular. Earth is unprepared for the nightmares ahead, while the Empire finds wonders in an unexpected place.

59. Crossfire

Chapter 59: Crossfire

As the hours went by and turned into days, the three factions drew ever closer together.

The rebels stayed in orbit around Earth, assuming a defensive position once it was confirmed that the imperials knew they were present. A portion of the fleet was kept on the opposite side of the planet, so that their true numbers might be concealed for a time. Reinforcements were arriving periodically, mostly medium size frigates with accompanying fighter crafts, which the fleet needed more of after depleting their stock in the previous fight. The formations were adjusted with each new ship added, so that they could cover for one another in the best possible way.

The loyal imperials continued on their way toward Earth, passing within the orbit of the largest gas giant planet. The rest of the fleet from Endor had rendezvoused with the Death Star, what was left of it after the battle above the forest moon. Repairs continued on the Death Star for every meter of the journey, with damaged portions of the Star Destroyers being cannibalized for parts and shipped to the station. More ships and supplies were coming, but they were days away and wouldn't get here soon enough, despite the Emperor's demands to the contrary.

The renegade imperials had taken a more scenic route to Earth, passing around this solar system's sun to come around from behind the giant space station. The Reaper led the fleet through the maneuver, while every other ship kept their damaged portions turned away from the danger. It did reveal their presence to the enemy, both of them, but Vader believed they already knew anyway. There was no point in stealth, and the Death Star wasn't going to leave this system anytime soon, so he could have his fleet operate out in the open.

The inhabitants of Earth prepared for the worst that may happen, expecting another barrage of debris to fall from the pending battle in space. Every bit of leftover imperial tech was repurposed and put to use, everything that survived the latest battle and subsequent cleanup by the rebels. If either side of imperial infighting ended up on the surface they would be in for the fight of their lives, though everyone hoped it would not come to that. Everyone on the hemisphere facing the battle braced themselves for falling debris, while everyone on the far side was glad to have the planet as a shield.

Standing in the bridge of Home One, watching the enemy fleets approach her own, Leia waited until the last possible second to give the order. "Attack."

In the command center of the near-ruined Death Star, Emperor Palpatine had his gaze on the rebel flagship, where he sensed the presence of a Jedi and Jedi-in-training. "Destroy them."

Watching from the big window on the bridge of the Reaper, Darth Vader saw his former master's precious battle station, and the planet that changed his life behind it. "Fire everything."

Looking up at the night sky above Ba Sing Se, Aang saw the myriad of lights moving around, giving away the fact that they were not stars. "Good luck up there."

Countless blaster bolts shot through the void, their paths crossing at every conceivable angle between the three fleets. Every fighter craft the fleets still had were deployed, though their numbers were nowhere near full capacity for any side. The shields of every ship took a beating immediately, and it was a considerable power drain to keep them up for long. Shots that missed either flew off into the void of space, or fell into the gravity well of Earth, dispersing in the atmosphere long before reaching the ground.

The Death Star was a common target for the other two factions, wanting the space station destroyed but for different reasons, taking advantage of its lack of shielding. Loyal Star Destroyers had positioned themselves around the space station to cover as many vulnerable sections as possible, using their shields to protect the Death Star. X-Wings and renegade TIE Fighters flew around the Star Destroyers to attack the Death Star anyway, even though their shots didn't do much damage to the massive space station.

Some of the tiny ships flew into the Death Star, since there were numerous holes large enough for them to enter. However, between all the collapsed sections and battle damage many possible routes through the station were closed off, and the fighters were either forced to turn back or crashed into misshapen piles of metal. If there was a path to the core of the Death Star it was obscured by battle damage, and the pilots of fighters reported the blocked passages whenever they could, so that others would not repeat their mistakes.

All the while the Death Star was turning, bringing the massive superweapon to bear. Granted, only a single reactor was functioning, and the weapon ports were heavily damaged, so the operators had to carefully pick their targets. A single green beam of light shot from the center of the big dish, only a tiny fraction of the power needed to destroy a planet. It was more than enough to destroy a rebel cruiser, and the explosion sent debris into the rebel fleet. A second shot destroyed a rebel carrier, and the rest of the fleet scrambled to escape the line of fire.

They didn't need to bother, for the Death Star kept on turning. Soon the dish was facing the renegade Star Destroyers, and the weapon powered up to fire again. It targeted one of the Super Star Destroyers, but both of them had several regular ones in front of them for exactly this attack. So when the Death Star fired it struck one of those Star Destroyers instead of the Reaper, obliterating half of that ship but not hitting the real target. The other Star Destroyers adjusted their positions to compensate, though only the bridge officers aboard were aware of what they were doing, keeping their crews ignorant.

Watching the Death Star fire on the other faction, Leia sent a transmission to the hangar of Home One. "Luke, Han, now's the time get out there."

Standing in the hangar outside of an old junker of a ship, Luke relayed the message to the others going on this little escapade. "Han, Chewie, Lando, R2, we've got the green light."

Once all five of them were aboard, Lando hit the throttle. "Hold on!"

A sudden flare of the engines launched the tiny ship into space, and once outside Home One the engines were cut and all nonessential systems powered down. The old junker was in such disrepair that it looked like a crumpled hunk of scrap metal with engines, meant to be mistaken for a fragment of a much larger ship. It was launched as the wreckage of the destroyed rebel carrier passed by Home One, to look like it was a part of the debris field. From there Luke guided its trajectory with the Force, ensuring that it would not be hit by debris or give away their position by use of thrusters.

Han could only watch as debris passed by the cockpit window. "No going back from here."

Chewbacca grumbled something encouraging.

R2-D2 made some pessimistic beeps.

"This will work," Luke promised. "I'm sure of it."

Meanwhile, an unassuming TIE Fighter was launched from the Reaper, with Darth Vader in a fully armored space suit piloting it. "Do not wait for me. Destroy that station by any means necessary."

Even if he was still aboard, though that went unsaid. Vader was flying that TIE Fighter straight to the Death Star, ignoring the deficiencies in the standard model. He hadn't bothered to use one of the customized fighters normally preferred, since using one now would have given him away to everyone in the battle. Not willing to leave anything to chance, Vader wanted to board the Death Star and make sure his former master did not escape a third time. Even if the station was destroyed before he could leave, as long as the Emperor went down with it.

Overlooking the battlefield from his position in the Death Star's command center, Emperor Palpatine felt the danger on its way. "Intensify the anti-fighter barrage. Do not let him board."

Thousands of blaster turrets were mounted across the outer hull of the Death Star, and those that had survived all the damage so far were firing at anything that came within range. They concentrated their firepower on the latest incoming TIE fighter, which should have obliterated it down to the atoms. But Palpatine sensed the Force at work, shielding the fighter from the barrage despite the overwhelming firepower. It lasted until the fighter got too close for the turrets to target at all, and they were forced to turn back to more appropriate targets.

Vader didn't bother trying to fly into one of the many holes in the Death Star, unlike all the foolish Rebellion pilots trying to get inside the station. Instead he fired proton torpedoes, which detonated on a patch of heavily damaged hull, blowing open a new hole large enough for his ship to enter. It was near the Death Star's command center, and Vader flew his ship straight into the new hole. Vader used the Force to shield his ship from falling debris, and to keep the emergency bulkheads open long enough for him to pass through.

The flight path aligned with a corridor inside the station, and Vader abruptly had to fight the pull of artificial gravity. But the corridor was a bit too narrow for Vader's ship, but he wouldn't let that stop him. The wings snapped off instantly, and the remaining sphere was thoroughly mangled, but Vader made sure the cockpit did not compact. The emergency bulkheads finally slammed shut behind him, stopping the venting of atmosphere into space. The tiny ship was lodged in there tight, and Vader ignited his lightsaber to cut his way out.

When a big circle of warped and twisted metal fell away, Vader set foot within the Death Star and removed his helmet. "You can't escape me now."

Stormtroopers responded to the intrusion and marched to oppose him, and the poor fools didn't recognize him without his old armor and helmet. Igniting his lightsaber was a quick reminder, before he reflected the blaster bolts fired at him. Vader didn't bother to slow down, and when he got bored with deflecting bolts he simply reached forward and pulled his hand back, yanking the blasters from the stormtroopers' hands. When he reached the stormtroopers he cut them down one by one, and to their credit they fought to the last man, no doubt on the Emperor's orders.

When the last one fell Vader continued on his way.

Sensing the presence of his former apprentice, Emperor Palpatine was quick to act. "He's here. Vader must be kept away from the main reactor. Mara, you will go around and get behind Vader while I confront him directly."

Mara nodded in understanding, suppressing her fear of having to fight Vader again. "As you command, my Master."

Both of them left the command center through the main door, but then their paths diverged as they hurried through the station. For Mara it was a relief to get away from the madness in the command center, even if it was to face a threat that she was not ready to fight. She didn't have to care about the space battle anymore, and so it wouldn't be her fault when it all went to hell. The station may be shaking with every impact and debris fell around her, but she kept calm as she took a route to get around and behind Vader.

In contrast, Emperor Palpatine was absolutely furious, and his foul mood wreaked havoc on everything around him. Metal walls twisted and warped as he passed, with showers of sparks as power conduits ruptured again and again. Anyone that didn't clear out of his way was torn apart, leaving bloody stains in his wake. He didn't go near the superweapon, not wanting to damage that as he passed through the station. And he didn't have to, for Vader was taking the most direct route to him, avoiding the weapon and all its support systems entirely.

One way or the other, there would be one fewer Sith by the end of this day.

Down on the planet below the battle in space, the people of Earth had a front row view in the night sky. The Death Star was large enough and close enough to look like a second moon, though thankfully without the necessary mass to significantly affect the tides. Each time the station fired a shot it lit up the sky with a green flash, and the people were glad it wasn't aimed at them. But with each shot one of the moving stars disappeared, and those that paid attention knew the fleets up there were being wiped out one ship at a time.

It was difficult to pay attention though, given all the wreckage from the battle falling down to Earth. The salvaged anti-orbital turrets meant to fire at TIE Fighters were targeting the falling debris instead, to blast them apart before they could hit the ground and kill someone. Firebenders were assisting the effort, since the infernos caused by falling debris had an effect similar to Sozin's Comet, sporadically making firebending powerful enough to destroy the debris. Despite their best efforts some of the debris made it through, creating impact craters wherever they hit.

Aang was going in and out of the Avatar State as needed, so that his airbending could keep him high in the air while he destroyed debris with firebending, being the first line of defense above Ba Sing Se. "Did they really need to do this so close?"

The space between the three factions was thinning of fighters and filling with debris, and several ships on each side had been destroyed. It made targeting the enemy more difficult for everyone, since the debris field was constantly moving and getting in the way of every shot. Some ships were deliberately shooting at the debris to break it up into smaller pieces, but that just made those pieces scatter everywhere and exacerbate the problem. The ships were going to have to get closer to get a target lock, and the shields were battered by the debris as they passed through.

The one exception was the old junker drifting across the battlefield, since the debris appeared to simply float away whenever they should have collided. Luke was keeping the ship intact and moving it without thrust, and by now it had passed through much of the debris field and was approaching a Star Destroyer now. It was very cramped inside this tough little ship, between the four people and a droid taking up all the limited space. Still, this old smuggler's trick was working perfectly, with all imperial observers being none the wiser.

Lando was eyeing the Star Destroyer from the pilot's seat. "This is as close as we're going to get."

In the co-pilot's seat, Han nodded in agreement. "Punch it."

Standing behind both of them, Chewbacca roared something encouraging.

"Your turn to do the work," Luke said.

R2-D2 made some excited beeps.

The tiny ship ignited its engines and surged forward, going straight for the Star Destroyer's command tower and approaching from behind. Its shields were all aimed forward to deal with the debris and rebel fire, while the Death Star guarded its rear flank from Vader's fleet, leaving a wide hole for the tiny ship to fly through. By the time the ship appeared on sensors it was too late, and Chewbacca fired proton torpedoes at the back of the command tower. It was enough to blast open a hole just beneath the bridge, and Lando flew the tiny ship straight in with a loud and violent crash.

Despite bracing himself for the impact, Han was left with a nasty bump on the head and bruises all over. "That could have gone better…"

"Yeah… that's a given…" Lando said, rubbing a welt above his ear. "But hey, we made it."

Chewbacca was roaring something loud as he forced the main hatch open.

"Right behind you," Han set, getting out of his seat and pulling a blaster. "Save some for the rest of us."

"It's us against the crew of a Star Destroyer," Lando said, his own blaster in hand. "There's plenty of targets to go around."

Luke climbed through the hatch and ignited his lightsaber. "Stay behind me. R2, plug in wherever you can and keep the blast doors from closing on us."

R2-D2 made an affirmative beep.

Han was the last one out of the ship. "Alright. Let's take our new ship."

Tracking the progress of his student and the dashing rogues the entire time, Yoda identified the particular Star Destroyer to the bridge crew of Home One. "Luke and Chewbacca's protégés have boarded the Visage. They need to be given time to sabotage it."

Standing next to him, Leia nodded in agreement. "Focus firepower on the two Star Destroyers beside the Visage. Another heavy barrage should be enough to cripple them."

With the Death Star's weapon currently turned toward the renegade Imperial fleet, the loyal Star Destroyers were the focus of the rebel fleet. All of them had taken some degree of damage, and they were being picked off one by one. It was deemed more efficient than trying to destroy the Super Star Destroyers among that fleet, since their sheer mass made that a difficult task even in the best of circumstances. Fortunately any shots that missed would keep going to hit either the Death Star or the renegade imperials behind it, so every shot counted to one degree or another.

By now all three factions were as close to Earth as they were ever going to get, and it was time for Leia to make a call. "You're up Ackbar."

From behind the far side of Earth's moon, a smaller fleet of rebel ships emerged from the satellite's shadow. Those ships had arrived from Mon Cala yesterday, all with the distinctly aquatic design favored by the species. Having a few capital ships and couple dozen support craft, along with a fresh complement of fighters. They flew around the moon and turned toward the battle, approaching from above and slightly starboard relative to the imperials. It got them around much of the debris in between the three factions, and they opened fire on the Death Star and the Star Destroyers around it.

Leading this smaller fleet was Admiral Ackbar, eager to execute this phase of Leia's plan. "They fell for our trap!"

The initial volley inflicted severe damage on the Star Destroyers, since their shields were currently focused toward the threats they knew about. Two of them were crippled immediately, and the rest struggled to maneuver after adjusting their shields to block the next volley. Even then another pair of Star Destroyers were destroyed after their shields failed, and the wreckage was scattered across space to crash into other ships. The loyal imperial fleet was reduced to half its strength at the start of the battle, with its Super Star Destroyers as the bulk of what remained.

While the rebels were dealing with the loyal imperial fleet, the renegade fleet concentrated firepower on the Death Star. The shots were eating away at the hull of the space station, and several layers on one hemisphere were already gone. The superweapon was protected by the trio of Star Destroyers in the way, taking the barrage meant for that part of the station. The Death Star was firing as often as its severely damaged structure would allow, and the power output was reduced even further to avoid catastrophic failure, each hit only annihilating a third of a Star Destroyer now.

The bombardment was sending tremors throughout the Death Star, knocking people off their feet and shattering ceilings above their heads. Debris was falling in the remaining outer layers of the station, and the lights flickered more and more with each subsequent impact. Workers were retreating into the interior as quickly as they could, before the sections they fled from would rupture and vent them into space. Many of them did not get out in time, and their bodies soon joined the debris in orbit around the Death Star, if they weren't obliterated by enemy weapons fire.

Ignoring all the destruction, Darth Vader was cutting a swath of death and devastation through the station. Alternating between leaving piles of dead bodies behind him and shredding the halls around him, there was no mistaking where he had been and where he was going. One didn't need to be sensitive to the Force to know what was coming, and all but the most loyal stormtroopers fled the scene rather than get in the way. Vader only slowed down when the hall opened up into a large maintenance shaft, stopping at one end of a bridge that spanned the wide-open space.

At the other end was the Emperor, back in the guise of Darth Sidious, lightsaber drawn and ignited. "Your determination is admirable. And yet it has led you to your demise."

"Perhaps," Vader said, taking the first steps across the bridge. "Even then, you will not survive this day. There is no place left for you to run."

Sidious likewise moved toward his former apprentice. "I am exactly where I need to be."

"On that, we can agree," Vader admitted. His eyes glowed red, calling upon the Avatar State. "This is a fitting tomb."

Vader and Sidious rushed at each other, lightsabers clashing again and again, swinging every which way to slash at each other. Then Vader used the Force to push Sidious back, for he sensed another presence coming from behind, and turned to have his lightsaber intercept a purple blade. Mara struggled to push against Vader's weapon, staring at the grin on Vader's face, her ambush being thwarted. She swung her lightsaber more, but only did so twice before Vader pushed her away with the Force. Vader's free fist punched toward her, and the air above the bridge was filled with fire.

Mara backed away from the flames, keeping the heat away with the Force. "How did he do it?"

Down on the planet, a chill went down Aang's spine. "He's back."

The firebenders and turrets were dealing with falling debris well enough, so Aang landed outside Ba Sing Se and set up an earthbent shelter to conceal himself. There he sat in a meditative pose and cleared his mind, detaching his spirit from his body but keeping it in the physical world. Standing up and out of his own body, Aang took a look at himself before focusing on a spiritual connection. It took his spirit up and away from the ground at high speed, soaring through the heavens and into the void of space, heading straight for the mechanical monstrosity that was the Death Star.

Aang passed straight through the ravaged hull of the station, ignoring all the physical impediments to travel through the Death Star, including the explosion that obliterated a patch of hull he was passing through at the moment. He certainly appreciated the direct route as he followed the dark presence, and that he didn't have to exhaust himself in spirit form. Halfway through the station he passed through a very thick bulkhead, and on the other side was a massive central chamber, which had Aang wondering if this was the core of the Death Star.

As he passed through the vast open space, Aang looked around the station's core. The primary reactor hung from the ceiling, channeling power up through conduits and down into a grid along the floor. The reactor looked like it had seen better days, with scattered patches warped into nothing more than slag. The reactor pulsed periodically, and the damage spread with each pulse, stressing the reactor to its limit. Aang was no expert in technological engineering, but even he could tell it wouldn't hold up much longer.

At the other end Aang passed through a ton of rubble that blocked a large passage in and out of the central chamber, and was when passing through other sections of the station. He ended up in a large shaft, overlooking a bridge that crossed the gap. The whole place was illuminated with red light, which shifted and flared as the lightsabers swung and clashed and swung again. Aang saw the Emperor fighting for his life, alternating between the lightsaber and Force lightning and other dark powers. Then there was his foe, and although Aang didn't recognize the appearance there was no mistaking him.

"Vader…" Aang muttered. There was the same unsettling feeling he felt the first time he met Vader, along with something else. "And… why does that seem so familiar…"

Aang hovered there and watched the two fight it out, glad to let them ignore his presence. Vader's lightsaber clashed with the Emperor's, nearly pushing it back far enough to cut into wrinkled skin. The Emperor stepped back, the lightsabers pulled away, and he unleashed Force lightning, only for Vader to respond in kind. At close range the mixed lightning was brighter than a star, and Aang shielded his eyes out of habit more than anything else. A brilliant explosion followed, both Vader and the Emperor were pushed back across the bridge, only to charge back into battle.

Then Aang saw the woman maneuvering to attack Vader from behind. "Mara…"

About to leap across the bridge, Mara stopped when she heard her name. "You again."

"Oh, don't mind me," Aang said. He folded his arms and pointed a finger at the fight. "I'd rather not get in the way, even though there's nothing I can do about that."

"I'll deal with you later," Mara promised.

She turned back to the battle, with Vader and Sidious engaged in lightsaber combat again. The two red lightsabers were pressed together, too close for Vader to pull away as Mara closed in. Instead he grabbed the other lightsaber on his belt, the older one he kept for sentimental value, and ignited its blue blade to block Mara's lightsaber. Dual-wielding was not his specialty, but it didn't matter, since holding off Mara only required a small portion of his concentration. The rest was kept on his former master, pushing him back with every swing of the lightsaber.

Since he couldn't be harmed in spirit form, Aang decided to just lean back and watch. "If only the others could see this."

Everyone else was occupied at the moment, for a variety of reasons. The loyal imperial fleet was in disarray, most of the ships damaged or outright destroyed. The renegade fleet had been severely reduced in number by the Death Star, but the ships that remained were relatively intact. Leia's portion of the rebel fleet was heavily damage, with many of their ships destroyed, and even Home One had taken damage. Ackbar's reinforcements were picking up the slack, with several of the Mon Cala ships providing cover for their damaged counterparts.

"Concentrate fire on that Super Star Destroyer," Ackbar ordered.

On the loyal imperial side one Super Star Destroyer remained, and aside from the Death Star it was the greatest threat from that faction. The entire rebel fleet focused their weapons on that enormous ship, to the point of abandoning the Death Star as a target. The renegade imperials were dealing with that, still whittling away at the space station, as well as the meager handful of Star Destroyers shielding the superweapon. The other handful was supporting the Super Star Destroyer, also ignored by the rebels trying to destroy the largest ship.

Just when the bridge crew of the Visage were starting to wonder why the rebels weren't shooting at them, the main door behind them was blown open. Han and Lando threw every thermal detonator they had through the large hole, some rolling into the pits beneath the main level, exploding everywhere and killing half the bridge crew. Chewbacca was firing his large blaster at the survivors, roaring at the top of his lungs, deafening to anyone that wasn't expecting it. Luke was swinging his lightsaber into every blaster bolt fired at him and the others, reflecting them back at the officer that fired them.

Chewbacca charged past Luke into the bridge, shooting at the few officers still trying to fight back. Han and Lando followed close behind, shooting at the many cameras mounted on the ceiling, denying surveillance from elsewhere in the ship. Luke waited until everyone was inside before activating the emergency blast doors, and sliced through the controls once the doors were closed. Once they made sure the entire bridge was secure everyone went to one of the control terminals, each with a different function for them to make sense of.

Han hurried over to the main navigator's station. "Okay, has anyone here commandeered a Star Destroyer before?"

Chewbacca muttered something condescending as he accessed the tactical station, putting in commands that prompted blast doors to slam down over their entry hole.

"Served on a Republic Cruiser?" Lando repeated. He had taken position at an internal security station, where he could monitor the crew still unaware of their presence. "Is there anything you haven't done?"

The wookie paused for a moment, mumbled something and shrugged before getting back to work.

Luke had taken position at the comms, inputting rebellion frequencies to establish contact. "Well I hope the control schemes haven't changed much since the Clone Wars."

Chewbacca grunted and waved a hand in a 'close enough' fashion.

By now Han had figured out how to steer the ship, and got it to turn toward the other imperial ships. "Well then let's put your experience to good use."

R2-D2 beeped something about making progress.

"Good, keep engineering out of core systems," Luke said. "Last thing we need is for someone to secure remote control."

"Every minute counts," Lando said. "Let's get in on the big battle."

Watching the Visage suddenly turn and open fire on its fellow Star Destroyers, Leia knew that the smugglers had succeeded. "Alright everyone, deploy the boarding parties. Secure that ship before it's crew can take it back."

Armored transports were deployed from the remaining rebel ships, and Ackbar's fleet provided cover as those ships made the voyage across the battlefield. Normally the transports would have been destroyed by the Star Destroyer long before reaching it, but with its firepower diverted elsewhere the transports could safely reach it. The transports docked with a variety of airlocks across the Star Destroyer, forced them open, and the rebel soldiers rushed through to storm the ship. It would take time for them to secure the Visage, but in the meantime they would draw attention away from the smugglers.

That ship was already joining the barrage against the Super Star Destroyer, much to the shock of the loyal imperials. The shields were down and the hull was taking damage, to the point where it was listing off to one side. Earth's gravity well was pulling on that ship, like everything else in this battle, and damaged thrusters weakened its ability to stay in orbit. Eventually the ship lost control altogether, and it drifted out of formation, subject to the whims of gravitational force. And directly in its path was the Death Star, and the Super Star Destroyer crashed into it.

The impact shook the station down to its core, and the impacting ship tore a massive gash into the equator of the Death Star. Entire new paths for ships were created by the destruction, and rebel ships flew into them for a desperate bid to reach the main reactor. Still no luck in actually getting to the Death Star's core, but at this point success would only accelerate the inevitable. The space station was going down, one way or another, and it was going to bring down as many enemy ships as it could before its destruction.

One more shot struck the Reaper, obliterating the starboard half of the Super Star Destroyer. That was the Death Star's last hurrah, for the superweapon succumbed to damage and the next surge of power made the dish explode. A giant gaping hole appeared in its place, with a stream of debris flying out in the wake of the explosion, leaving a hazardous path directly to the core. Between the collision and the explosion the Death Star was nearly torn in two, and yet structural integrity managed to hold the station together.

While the exterior was being torn apart, the interior was similarly torn asunder by the battle within. Vader had pushed Sidious back all the way to the enormous central chamber, with the Emperor's back up against the thick armored door that guarded internal access. Mara was still swinging her lightsaber at Vader, but she was little more than an annoyance to Vader. With a wave of his hand Vader used the Force to hurl Mara away, and another wave sent a plume of flame at her, keeping her from returning right away.

Aang was watching the entire time, certain all of them knew he was there but to focused on the fight to acknowledge his presence. He got to see Vader employ firebending in addition to the Force, and it was a combination of the two that enabled him to drive the Emperor back at every step of this battle. More flames followed, most diverted by the Force, only for a lightsaber to nearly take the Emperor's head off. He retaliated with Force Lightning, but the two lightsabers Vader wielded were more than enough to hold that attack at bay.

Vader closed in and their lightsabers clashed again, until Vader pushed with the Force to launch Sidious back toward the door. Sidious in turn applied the Force behind him, tearing apart the door so that he would not crash into it. On the other side was a catwalk stretched across the enormous central chamber, leading to the primary reactor that hung from the ceiling. Sidious was flung through the demolished door, landing on his feet and sliding down the catwalk. He had his lightsaber raised to catch Force Lightning aimed at him, keeping at bay for a moment.

Vader strolled through the rubble of the destroyed door, Force Lightning in one hand and charging firebender lightning in the other. He combined the two into an enormous burst of electricity, all of it channeled directly into Darth Sidious's lightsaber. It was too much for the weapon to handle, and the hilt exploded in a large ball of electricity and plasma. Sidious was flung away to the far end of the catwalk, his hands charred black from the explosion, and this pain was too much for even a Sith Lord to channel into power.

After taking a moment to block another attack from Mara and force her away again, Vader approached his former master. "Is this how you foreseen your end. Struck down by one of many apprentices you planned to replace. Somehow, I doubt your powers of prescience are as great as you led me to believe."

Sidious stood up with his back to the outer wall of the reactor. "Go ahead. Strike me down, if you can."

Vader felt Sidious calling upon the Force, and so he tossed both lightsabers high into the air. Sidious channeled everything he had into this Force Lightning, creating a solid bolt of energy thicker than he was tall, fired a point-blank range. Vader held his hands forward, using the Force to hold the attack at bay, taking everything he had to prevent it from vaporizing him altogether. Until his eyes glowed red, channeling the power of the Avatar State, overpowering Sidious and turning his attack back on him, like Master Windu had done all those years ago.

All that power flowed backward, and Sidious's entire body was obliterated. A brilliant flash of light followed, and Aang found himself yanked from the physical world altogether. A vortex of swirling colors greeted him, as they often did when traveling through the spirit world. Sidious was there, his soul separated from his body, fleeing once again from his former apprentice in a way that Vader could not follow. Aang's spirit was simply pulled along for the ride, with Sidious none the wiser that his final resort was compromised.

But then dark red tendrils stretched past Aang, and one snared Sidious by the ankle. Startled, and then terrified, Sidious looked back at the ancient being that grabbed him. Aang turned back too, and he saw a single red and black eye at the center of the tendrils. They grabbed Sidious limb by limb, coiled around his flesh, and pierced his chest and back. Aang looked forward and saw red light spread throughout Sidious's spiritual form, and heard him scream in agony. A bright eruption followed, and Sidious was entirely obliterated, body, mind, and soul.

Then that single eye looked at Aang. "You're next."

In an instant Aang snapped back to his physical body, never being happier to leave the spirit world. He demolished his earthen shelter so he could look up at the night sky, and just in time to witness history. He saw the Death Star break apart as the core exploded, and several large fragments separated from one another. Then the fragments started getting larger, for they were getting closer, falling toward Earth and picking up speed. Aang leapt up into the air, flames igniting from his feet, the falling and burning debris still enhancing his firebending to soar into the sky.

"Crap-crap-crap…" Aang muttered, certain this was worse than it looked. "That's too big! That's too big! That's too big!"

The fleets in orbit saw the Death Star break apart, and some were disappointed that it wasn't the spectacular explosion they had expected. The core had been utterly destroyed, but the outer layers had split into five large chunks. The shredded interior sprayed out from the gaps and all the holes in the fragments, adding to the debris field from the battle. The large fragments fell toward Earth, still a significant threat to the people that lived there. It didn't matter where they would hit, the devastation would be worldwide.

Leia was already giving orders to deal with this. "Everyone fire on those fragments! Break them up before they hit the atmosphere!"

By now the loyal imperial fleet was in shambles, the few ships still intact were heavily damaged and out of the fight. The Rebellion fleet was in somewhat better shape, though it was Ackbar's ships doing most of the fighting now. All weapons at their disposal were turned on the fragments of the Death Star, and the heavy ordinance fragmented the station even further. Every tiny piece broken off would be another bit of mass burned up in atmosphere rather than impact the surface, and any reduction in the impact would lessen the cataclysm.

The renegade imperials, on the other hand, didn't care about the fate of one planet. And now that the loyal imperials had been neutralized, save for the captured Visage, the remaining Star Destroyers opened fire on the rebels. Ackbar's ships maneuvered to take the brunt of the barrage, though Home One and the other capital ships still took a beating. Even the half-crippled Reaper took part in the onslaught, and many rebel ships were destroyed, their shattered remains crashing into the fragmented Death Star.

Luke was still at the comms station of the Visage, having gotten a signal through to Home One. "Okay Leia, talk to me. What's the game plan?"

"Hit the Death Star with everything that ship has!" Leia ordered.

"Working on it!" Han said. He was having the Visage maneuver in between the two remaining fleets, ventral side oriented toward the planet. "Okay Chewie, open the bombay doors."

Chewbacca roared as he slammed a fist on a big red button.

The Visage deployed its entire complement of explosives, intended for the occasional orbital bombardment. Thrusters on every bomb ignited, and they dived through space to catch up with the falling space station. Thousands of them impacted and exploded on contact, coating the Death Star fragments in explosions, splitting them apart into a greater number of smaller pieces. It wasn't enough to eliminate them entirely, there was simply too much mass and not enough ordinance, but now the impacts would not be an extinction level event.

Within the shattered remains of the Death Star, his vengeance secured and basking in his triumph, Darth Vader turned his attention to surviving the station's destruction. He had used the Force to deflect the brunt of the explosion that destroyed the station's core, and let the rest push him back into the innermost intact section. Artificial gravity had failed, and Vader used the Force to move around, floating through the corridors to get further into this fragment of the space station. The sides exposed to space were being bombarded, and the explosions stripped layers away with each passing moment.

Vader wasn't the only one seeking shelter, though he ignored her entirely. Mara was in a different fragment of the Death Star, trying to get to the center of it before an explosion could vent her into space. There were bodies everywhere, all killed at some stage of the battle, from the blunt trauma of being thrown around when the station broke apart. Mara pushed the bodies aside as she drifted through the corridor, eventually reaching the most heavily reinforced section she could find. Once inside she braced herself against a pair of thick bulkheads, ready to ride it out all the way to the end.

Once there Mara could finally acknowledge what had happened, judging by the lack of a dark presence at the edges of her mind. She could not sense her master's presence, not even the residual link that had always been there since she first met him. There had been a burst in that feeling, like the Emperor had been giving one last command, but it had been silenced too quickly. The link was gone, those final words never got to her, and she was finally free to think without fear of him listening in. It was a strange feeling, but Mara was certain it wouldn't last very long, all things considered.

"He's gone…" Mara muttered. She hadn't thought it possible, but now she had to live with it. "Vader actually did it…"

A barrage of explosives fragmented the station even further, nearly splitting apart the improvised shelters within them. The pieces that remained fell into the planet's atmosphere, and the outermost layers burned away all the way down. Vader employed the Force to slow down his shelter's descent, in turn lessening the friction and the inferno that threatened to consume him. The heat still penetrated the Death Star fragment all the way through, and for a moment Vader thought he might be cooked alive before impact.

Watching the enormous fireballs from below, Aang and every other person on this hemisphere saw them set the night sky ablaze. Every firebender drew upon the power granted by the heat, and they would turn that power against the source. Enormous plumes of flame were shot from thousands of fists aimed straight up, desperate to destroy the threat that could wipe out the people of Earth. Three massive bolts of lightning joined the inferno, coming from different parts of Ba Sing Se, carrying the destructive might of all the flames combined.

Aang was riding the wind and flames high above the ground, and all the flames were rising up around him. Eyes and tattoos glowing with the Avatar State, he took control of all the flames and concentrated them into a towering cyclone of fire, and sent it up at the incoming space debris. The lightning bolts were jointed together and formed the core of the cyclone, and al that destructive power was focused into the smallest point possible. Aang aimed for the largest fireball, and the combined power of all the firebenders struck dead center.

The Death Star fragment split apart in a large explosion, and the resulting shockwave battered everything in the air and shook everything on the ground. The enormous lightning continued onward, with a third of the flames behind it, and Aang sent it at the next largest fragment. That one split apart instead of explode, and the halves burned faster after the split. Only the lightning remained, and it struck the next fragment, blasting open a hole that didn't quite reach the center. The splintered fragments kept on falling, but more mass was burned away before impact.

Scattered across the northeastern quarter of the continent, the shattered space station fragments struck the mountains and the deserts outside Ba Sing Se. Each one hit with the equivalent power of a orbital strike, unleashing enormous explosions that kicked up thousands of tons of earth, creating craters larger than the walled city. Vaporized rock and metal rose into the sky to choke the air in thick clouds of dust, already threatening to blot out the sun in the northern hemisphere and doom the world to a decade's long winter.

Aang called upon all the powers at his disposal to avert that fate, pushing the Avatar State to its absolute limit. He summoned an enormous wind to press down on the noxious clouds, condensed all the water in the air to create pouring rain that mixed with the dust and weigh it down, pulled on the earth in the falling mud to bring all of it closer together, and ignited a vast inferno to bake the falling mud into porous rocks that fell from the sky. A hail of rocks battered the landscape, damaging everything left out in the open, but Aang could settle for temporary devastation over the alternative.

And then two more Death Star fragments fell.

They were smaller than the ones that struck already, and falling slow enough that they merely glowed red-hot instead of catch fire. They came down to the northwest of Ba Sing Se, crashing into the desolate lands between the walled city and the northern mountains. Enormous mounds of dirt were ejected from the impact, forming the rims of large and shallow craters. These Death Star fragments survived the impact, albeit with their leading half compacted, leaving several decks worth of space station intact and sticking out of freshly upheaved dirt and rock.

Exhausted from using the Avatar State to save the world, again, Aang landed on the rim of one crater and looked at the wreckage. "Okay… one threat down. Two to go."