Hey, guys. Back with another chapter. I know it's the second today, but I want to make up for the lack of updates lately. Plus, I literally just got back from seeing The Rise of Skywalker, which I thought was awesome, and I wanted to celebrate by posting this chapter! I can't wait to write the Rise of Skywalker section of one of my future stories.

Let's get to it.

Chapter 15- Battle of Tehran

A series of explosions rock the earth on the outskirts of Tehran, killing a number of Iranian soldiers.

When the Separatist forces coming down towards the Middle East had been detected by the US, the Americans assumed Saudi Arabia would be the likely place for them to try and land. Instead, 250,000 battle droids and about 2,500 heavy droid units landed in Iran, just 60 miles east of Tehran.

The Battle of Tehran has now been raging for almost 32 hours. The Iranians, despite their declared neutrality in the wider conflict, had immediately counterattacked, fighting back against the invasion with all they had.

However, the Iranians had been taking fierce losses. Almost 40 aircraft of the Iranian Air Force had been destroyed, and the Iranian Army had taken almost 50,000 casualties. In return, they had only destroyed about 40,000 battle droids and 500 heavy droid units.

Now, 32 hours into the Battle of Tehran, droid units were moving into the outer edges of eastern Tehran. Attacks from Hyena bombers had caused heavy damage to the Iranian capitol, and destroyed a large number of Iranian tanks in the city, weakening the Iranians' heavy firepower. The fact that Iran had also not been armed with blasters by the Republic made things far more difficult.

Iran's neighbors had so far remained quiet regarding the invasion. Given Iran had made it abundantly clear in the months leading up to the invasion that it would not send aid to other countries in the event of invasion, and would only fight if they themselves were invaded, made their neighbors reluctant to send aid. The Saudis, who had taken up occupation of Iraq in the aftermath of Operation Thunderstrike, had massed soldiers along the Iran-Iraq border, but those soldiers were still holding their positions inside Iraq.

As the droid army pushes further into Tehran, a formation of 33 Iranian T-72 tanks makes a sudden push against the droids' northern flank, firing their 125 mm guns into the oncoming droids. Several AATs return fire, and successfully destroy 5 T-72s before the Iranian tanks destroy them.

B2 battle droids fire at the T-72s as they approach. However, their blaster bolts have little effect on the armored tanks. Soon, the tanks are directly on the leading droid ranks and just keep moving, literally running over droids as they continue to fire.

More AATs come into view and open fire, destroying 5 more T-72s. Then, several Hyenas dive down and drop proton bombs on their positions, destroying all but two of the T-72s. The surviving tanks turn and retreat to regroup.

As the tanks pull back, from the south, a large Iranian airstrike approaches, comprised of 12 Su-24 attack jets, 16 F-4 Phantoms armed for ground attack, and 6 Su-25 attack jets, with 14 F-14 Tomcats providing escort.

Thirty Vulture droids turn to engage the incoming Iranian aircraft. The F-14s fire a volley of AIM-54 Phoenixes, bringing down 13 of them before they come within visual range.

The F-14s engage the Vulture droids in a furious dogfight, allowing the Su-24s, Su-25s, and F-4s to slip past them and continue on their path to attack. The Tomcats destroy the remaining Vultures while losing 4 Tomcats.

However, these Vultures had just been intended to keep the Tomcats busy. As the Iranian strike force nears its targets, more Vulture droids dive down from the sky, having just come down from orbit. Laser fire down three Su-24s and two F-4s before the Iranian pilots even realize what's happening.

The Iranian F-4s, which are each carrying some air to air missiles for self defense, jettison their weapons as soon as they're within range of the droids on the ground, then pull up to engage the Vultures. Unfortunately, the Vulture droids heavily outnumber the Phantoms, and some continue to chase the Su-24s and Su-25s while the rest engage the Phantoms.

The Su-24s and Su-25s press on, determined to destroy as many of the droids as they can. Ultimately, all of the Su-25s and all but two of the Su-24s are shot down. However, they are able to destroy 2,000 battle droids and 27 AATs.

Half an hour after the Iranian strike force fired its first shots, the surviving jets retreat. They had been badly mauled, with only 2 Su-24s, 5 F-4s, and 8 F-14s surviving out of the original strike force.

As the Iranian aircraft retreat, Iranian radars in Tehran pick up something chilling. Coming down from orbit is a strike force of 80 Hyena bombers and 50 Tri fighters. SAM launchers in Tehran begin engaging the droid fighters as soon as they come within range, but since they had already expended a number of missiles trying to protect the capitol, a number of Hyenas were able to slip through the missile defenses and drop their proton bombs on Tehran. The proton bombing caused extensive damage, killing over a thousand soldiers and over 5,000 civilians, and wounding 2,000 more soldiers and 5,000 more civilians.

In his command center in Tehran, the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ali Khamenei, is reviewing the situation with his commanders. Hyena strikes have caused damage not only to Tehran but also to four other cities in Iran. The defending force in Tehran is down to just 62,000 combat capable soldiers, compared to the 130,000 that had been in the city at the start of the battle.

"How much longer can we hold out?" Khamenei asks one of his generals.

"Supreme Leader, at the current rate of advance, as well as factoring in expenditures of ammunition…I estimate that the droids will be able to completely take the capitol in 12 hours," the man replies.

Khamenei looks back at the charts showing the current situation, and sighs. He is now regretting having taken his position of neutrality. He fears that action may now be the cause of Iran's downfall.

Above ground, Iranian radar operators are monitoring the progress of the air battle. Another Iranian strike force of 20 Su-22 and F-5s had arrived to try and make a close air support strike, but had been driven off by Vulture droids with relatively little success.

Suddenly, on the edge of their radar screens, far to the west, several blips appear of their screens. Then, more and more blips appear. Within a minute, their screens are showing a massive formation of several hundred aircraft.

"Sir!" one of the operators calls out to his superior. The officer makes his way over, and his eyes widen at the sight of the massive formation approaching.

Suddenly, their radioes crackle to life, with a voice, speaking Arabic in a distinct Saudi accent, says, "This is Colonel Mohammed Mandili, calling an all channels to any Iranian facility that can hear me. Don't worry, Iranian friends. We are coming to help."

In the hours after the landings in Iran, the various Middle Eastern countries had debated what to do, given Iran's position. About 25 hours into the battle, the Saudis had decided that they weren't going to sit by. If Iran fell, the Separatists would continue to invade more Middle Eastern countries. So, the Saudis had sent out messages to other Middle Eastern countries, requesting aid from their air forces in launching a massive air strike against the droid forces surrounding Tehran. Kuwait, the UAE, Syria, Egypt, Jordan, Bahrain, and Turkey had all responded. The Iraqis, under pressure from the Saudis, had also agreed to commit some aircraft to the battle. And, to the surprise of everyone, the Israelis had agreed to commit aircraft as well, though it was motivated by self preservation rather than any real desire to save the Iranians.

Aircraft had been armed, then been sent to airbases in Iraq and Saudi Arabia to refuel. Then, once all the aircraft had been fully fueled and armed, they all took off and assembled over Baghdad.

The strike force that had been put together was truly massive. Fighter escort was provided by 64 F-15s (24 Israeli and 40 Saudi) and 24 Syrian MiG-29s. The strike force was comprised of 46 Saudi Tornados, 62 F-4 Phantoms (20 Israeli, 28 Turkish, and 14 Egyptian), 24 Mirage Vs (16 from Egypt, 8 from the UAE), 10 Egyptian Tu-16s, 38 Su-20/22s (12 Egyptian, 8 Iraqi, and 18 Syrian), 16 Israeli Kfirs, 14 Su-24s (10 Syrian, 4 Iraqi), 16 A-4 Skyhawks (8 Kuwaiti, 8 Israeli), 16 Mirage 2000s (12 from the UAE, 4 Egyptian), and 132 F-16s (4 from Bahrain, 8 from Egypt, 60 from Israel, 60 from Turkey). Together, they form an armada of 88 fighter escorts and 374 strikers. A total of 462 aircraft.

As the armada approaches Tehran, the escorting F-15s and MiG-29s begin to fire radar guided missiles at all Separatist fighters and bombers over the city. Vultures, Hyenas, and Tri fighters begin to fall out of the sky one after the other.

More Vultures and Tri fighters are directed down from orbit. However, the Eagles and Fulcrums easily shift their attention to the incoming threat, and begin to shoot the Separatist fighters out of the sky with ease.

As the Eagles and Fulcrums keep the Separatist fighters busy, the strikers head for their targets. The planes start diving down towards the droid armies. The more lighter armed fighters start providing close air support for the Iranian troops inside the city, while the more heavier armed fighters start attacking the bulk of the droid army.

The Tornados, Phantoms, and Fighting Falcons carry the bulk of the action, as each fighter is capable of carrying over 8 tons of ordnance. With the Eagles and Fulcrums keeping the Vulturea and Tri fighters off of them, and Iranian air strikes having luckily destroyed most of the Separatist anti aircraft weapons, the coalition of fighters has virtually free reign.

After almost a half hour, the fighters turn around and start heading for airbases in Iraq and Saudi Arabia to re-arm. Behind them, they leave the shattered remains of some 120,000 battle droids and 1,800 heavy droid units.

As the fighters retreat, further relief comes to the Iranians as 80,000 Saudi troops cross the border into Iran, heading straight for Tehran.

In orbit, Separatist commanders, seeing the damage done by the massive airstrike, and the 80,000 Saudi troops heading to reinforce Tehran, decide to cut their losses. C-9979s begin evacuating what is left of the droid army.

Finally, the last droids are pulled out of Iran. The Battle of Tehran had lasted 37 hours. It had resulted in heavy damage to Tehran and the deaths of 61,000 Iranian troops and almost 50,000 civilians, along with the destruction of about half of the Iranian Air Force and heavy damage to Tehran itself. However, it had seen the destruction of about 2/3 of the droid army landed.

Several hours after the droid armies retreat, the Saudi troops arrive in Tehran. In a dramatic change in Iran-Saudi relations, the Saudi troops are welcomed with open arms. Khamenei himself comes to thank their commanders for their country coming to Iran's aid.

Although the Battle of Tehran would be remembered as one of the most devastating in the Terran campaign for Earth, it was also a devastating defeat for the Separatists.

And, there we go. I hope you liked this chapter.

Next chapter will take us to Russia. I'll keep the details to myself for now, but I'll try and have it up tomorrow as a Christmas present to my loyal readers.

As always, leave a review, and stay tuned!