Hey, everybody. Back with another chapter. Today is actually my birthday, so what better way to celebrate it than posting a chapter I'm sure you've all been waiting for.
So, this one will begin the Battle of Coruscant. Now, I'm not going to be covering all the events of the battle in this chapter. Those details not in the chapter will be on the wiki page for the Battle of Coruscant, which I will get started on soon.
So, this will cover up to the defeat of Count Dooku, and Chapter 61 will cover the rest of the battle.
Let's get to it.
Chapter 60- Battle of Coruscant Pt. 1
(May 24, 1994)
Over Coruscant, a Venator class Star Destroyer slowly moves over the planet in a very high orbit. As it moves through space, two Eta-2 Interceptors, one red and one yellow, dive down towards the ship, with an Su-36 right behind them, with the symbol of the ASAT team painted on the fighter's back, and an American flag painted on the twin tails. The three fighters fly low over the Star Destroyer before pulling off to the side and diving towards the planet below, revealing a site of thousands of Republic and Separatist warships engaging each other at close range.
The Battle of Coruscant has been raging for over a day. It had begun with a Separatist attack that had destroyed most of the Coruscant Home Defense Fleet, then an attack against the planet proper that had resulted in the capture of Supreme Chancellor Palpatine. However, Terran reinforcements had arrived quickly, with their original 10 ships, plus two more they had captured during the war (their remaining 5 ships of the Terran Starfleet, all captured during the war, were protecting Terra), and had devastated the Separatist fleet with nuclear attacks. Republic reinforcements had then begun to arrive in waves, with the massive Open Circle Fleet have just recently arrived, bring with it famed Jedi Anakin Skywalker and Obi Wan Kenobi, as well as ASAT team commandos Tyler Hall and Vasily Stasevich.
Now, Anakin, Obi Wan, and Hall pilot their fighters through the midst of the battle, flying right down the side of several Republic and Separatist warships. As they continue to fly, a Venator destroys a small Separatist ship right in front of them, and the three fly right through the fireball. Emerging through it on the other side, they see a Venator fire a powerful laser out of its ventral bay, destroying a Munificent class frigate just ahead of them.
As the three fly over the wreckage of the frigate, R2 beeps several times. In the cockpit of his fighter, Anakin says, "Lock onto him, R2."
R2 beeps a few more times. Anakin gets on the commlink and says, "Master, Colonel, General Grievous' ship is directly ahead. The one crawling with vulture droids." As he says this, the Providence class dreadnought Invisible Hand is slowly growing bigger up ahead.
"Oh, I see it. Oh, this is going to be easy," Obi Wan says sarcastically.
"We're in it now," Hall says with a grin.
Ahead of them, Vulture droids on the Invisible Hand see the three approaching fighters and begin to lift off, flying to intercept them.
Hall gets on the commlink. "Colonel Ramon, do you copy?" he asks.
A moment later, the voice of Colonel Ilan Ramon responds, "Copy you, Colonel Hall."
"Mark our position and form your squadron up behind us. We're gonna need some help," Hall says.
"We're right behind you, Colonel," Ramon responds. Moments later, 16 SF-15 Space Eagles pull in behind Hall and the two Jedi.
As the Vulture droids approach, Hall smiles as he successfully locks one up. He calls on the commlink to say, "Clear to fire." He then pulls the trigger, sending a SIM-120 missile on its way. The Space Eagles behind him begin to fire their own missiles.
SIM-120s begin to find their targets, blasting Vulture droids apart. The remaining Vultures streak through the Terran formation, firing their laser cannons. The Space Eagles separate, letting the Vultures to pass by them. All but 2 of them then snap into hard turns to re-engage the Vultures and keep them off of the two Jedi and Hall. Each of the Terran pilots find their skills taxed to the limit as they weave through laser fire and attempt to destroy any Vulture droid or Tri-fighter in sight.
However, one Vulture droid manages to escape notice until it's close enough, and then fires four missiles, two aimed at Anakin, and two aimed at Obi Wan.
"Missiles! Pull up!" Anakin says. Both he and Obi Wan pull up to avoid the missiles.
"They overshot us!" Obi Wan says.
"They're coming around!" Anakin says.
"You guys evade the missiles! I've got the Vultures!" Hall says as he banks his Flanker towards the Vulture droids. He quickly gains lock on the Vulture that fired the missiles, and fires a missile of his own. The missile streaks in and destroys the Vulture.
The other Vultures turn around to try and run away. Hall throttles up and streaks after them, grinning to himself. He locks up two Vultures at the rear of the group and ripple fires his last two SIM-120s, destroying both Vultures.
Hall slashes through the formation, firing his laser cannons and destroying two more Vultures. The last two turn after him, but Hall pulls a modified version of the Pugachev's Cobra maneuver, and the Vulture pass by. He then levels off on their tails and gains lock on one of them, firing a SIM-9 Sidewinder. The missile tracks straight and true, blowing the Vulture apart. Hall then lines up the last one and fires his laser cannons, destroying it. Hall smiles as he watches his tenth kill for the day blow up.
Hall snaps his Flanker back around, looking for Anakin and Obi Wan. As he scans the area, he sees, the two of them flying in formation not fire away. As he heads to form up with them, he sees Anakin swing his fighter right in Obi Wan's fighter, which doesn't seem to be in the best shape.
Hall pulls up alongside Anakin, and sees a buzz droid on Anakin's fighter, with R2 trying to fight him off with an attachment deployed from his head. As he watches, R2 discharges a bolt of electricity, destroying the buzz droid's center eye and causing the droid to fall off the fighter.
"You got him!" Anakin says.
"Great, R2!" Obi Wan adds.
"Alright, Generals. Let's do this!" Hall says.
The three fighters streak towards the Invisible Hand, and Anakin says, "The General's command ship is dead ahead."
R2 whines loudly. Then, Obi Wan points out what R2 noticed, and says, "Well, have you noticed the shields are still up?!"
"Sorry, master," Anakin says, and barrel rolls his fighter over to the other side of Obi Wan's fighter, firing his laser cannons at the shield generator to the side of the hangar. After several hits, the generator explodes, and the shields drop. However, almost immediately, blast doors begin to close over the hangar entrance.
"Oh, I have a bad feeling about this!" Obi Wan says loudly over the commlink.
The three fighters streak forward, just managing to make it into the hangar before the blast doors close. Obi Wan and Anakin's fighters hit the floor of the hangar, skidding across it. Hall, who was the first one into the hangar, reigns in his Flanker, and rotates it around, firing his laser cannons at droids throughout the hangar, destroying most of them. Anakin and Obi Wan destroy the last few with their lightsabers.
Hall sets his fighter down. Once the fighter is shut down, he opens the canopy and leaps out, racing over to where Anakin, Obi Wan, and R2 are waiting. As Hall reaches them, R2 brings a diagram of the ship.
"The Chancellor's signal is coming from up there. The observation deck at the top of that spire," Obi Wan says.
Anakin looks around and says, "I sense Count Dooku."
"I sense a trap," Obi Wan says.
"I think the latter is a given," Hall says.
"Our next move?" Anakin asks.
"Spring the trap," Obi Wan says with a grin. He begins to walk towards the exit leading towards the stern of the ship, Anakin and Hall following him.
R2 starts to follow, but Anakin turns around and says, "R2, go back. I need you to stay with the ships."
"Here, take this. Wait for orders," Obi Wan says, pulling out a commlink and tossing it to R2, who grabs it with a robotic arm.
"Alright, my friends. Let's go rescue the Chancellor," Hall says. And together, the three race out of the hangar, heading for the stern and the observation spire.
About ten minutes later, they reach an elevator that will lead right up to the top of the spire. Hall presses a button to summon the elevator, and the three wait there patiently for the elevator to arrive.
As they are waiting, a distinct noise behind them draws their attention. Anakin turns around first, and confirms their identity, "Destroyers!"
Three droidekas roll up about twenty yards away and unfurl, activating their shields, and begin to fire. Anakin and Obi Wan draw their lightsabers and begin blocking the blaster bolts.
As they are doing so, the elevator arrives. Hall, who is being covered by Anakin and Obi Wan, starts to walk in, but sees about ten B1 battle droids standing in the elevator.
Hall stops short for a second, staring at the droids as they stare back at him. Then, Hall simply says, "Hi." As soon as the word is out of his mouth, he draws his lightsaber, ignites it, and hacks down all the droids in three quick strokes. He then steps into the elevator over the destroyed droids, letting Anakin and Obi Wan back into the elevator, allowing the doors to close and block fire from the droidekas.
"Well. That was over quick," Hall says with a slight grin.
The elevator begins going up. As Hall and the two Jedi are waiting patiently for the elevator to reach its destination, the elevator comes to a sudden and abrupt stop.
"Did you press the stop button?" Obi Wan asks Anakin and Hall.
"No," Hall says.
"No. Did you?" Anakin asks.
"No," Obi Wan responds.
"Well, there's more than one way out of here," Anakin says, igniting his lightsaber and starting to cut a hole in the ceiling.
"We don't want to get out. We want to get moving," Obi Wan says. He then lifts up his commlink and says into it, "R2. Activate elevator 31174."
R2 doesn't respond, so Obi Wan repeats his order several times. Then, Anakin finishes cutting, and a circle falls down from the ceiling. Anakin then jumps up through the hole it left behind and lands on the top of the elevator car.
Obi Wan sighs and says, "Always on the move."
A split second later, the elevator suddenly snaps into motion, heading down at high speed. The sudden acceleration downwards throws Obi Wan and Hall off their feet.
As they get back to their feet, Obi Wan sees on the panel beside the door that they're going down. "No. No, R2, we need to be going up."
A few moments later, the elevator comes to an abrupt stop, again throwing the two off their feet. The elevator then starts moving upwards again.
Obi Wan and Hall get back on their feet, and Obi Wan says into his commlink, "Now, that's better."
A few moments later, something falls through the hole in the ceiling. Obi Wan and Hall ignite their lightsabers, only to recognize it's Anakin.
"Oh, it's you," Obi Wan as the two deactivate their lightsabers.
"What just happened?" Anakin asks.
"Well, R2 has been-" Obi-Wan starts.
Anakin interrupts him and says, "Hey, no loose wire jokes."
"Did I say anything?" Obi Wan asks.
"He's trying," Anakin assures his master.
"I didn't say anything!" Obi Wan says in slight exasperation as Hall just laughs at their antics.
A minute later, the elevator finally comes to a stop at the top of the spire. The door opens, and the three of them make their way out of the elevator. They walk up to some railing at the edge of the platform they're on, and they can see a chair placed right in front of the viewport turning towards them. Sitting in it is a man they can tell is Palpatine.
The three of them make their way down the stairs from the platform, walking towards Palpatine. They stop several feet from him. Anakin and Obi Wan bow slightly, and Hall salutes him.
"Chancellor. Are you alright?" Anakin asks.
Rather than answering, Palpatine says, "Count Dooku."
The three turn around, and see Count Dooku walking up to the railing on the platform, with two B2 battle droids behind him.
"This time, we will take him together," Obi Wan says.
"I was about to say that," Anakin mutters.
Dooku flips over the railing and lands upright, drawing his lightsaber.
"Get help. You're no match for him. He's a Sith Lord," Palpatine says.
Hall turns to the Chancellor and says, "Chancellor. I'm a member of the Anti-Sith Assault Team. By the very name, Sith Lords are who I'm trained to kill. And these two are Jedi. I think we'll be fine." Anakin and Obi Wan then remove their outer robes as Hall cracks his knuckles, and the three pull out their lightsabers.
"Your swords, please. We don't want to make a mess of things in front of the Chancellor," Dooku says with false politeness.
"You won't get away this time, Dooku," Obi Wan says as he and Anakin walk forward, with Hall staying a few steps behind him. Obi Wan, Anakin, and Hall then ignite their lightsabers, followed by Dooku.
Obi Wan and Anakin dash forward, striking at Dooku with their sabers. Dooku easily blocks their blows, stepping back from them after a few seconds. He grins as he says, "I've been looking forward to this."
"My powers have doubled since the last time we met, Count," Anakin says.
"Good. Twice the pride, double the fall," Dooku says again before the duel continues.
Hall steps closer towards them, not wanting to let them get too far away. As he does, Dooku kicks Obi Wan aside, knocking him flying over by the other staircase. Anakin then presses his attack, forcing Dooku back up the stairs.
Seeing the B2 droids starting to move towards Obi Wan, Hall pulls out his blaster pistol and fires, gunning down both droids, allowing Obi Wan to hurry up the stairs and run to re-engage Dooku.
However, this doesn't go according to plan. As Obi Wan runs up to Dooku, Dooku forces Anakin away, then grips Obi Wan with the Force and sends him flying over the edge and into some railing. Dooku then uses the Force to bring part of the platform down onto Obi Wan's legs.
Anakin, determined to protect his master, runs up and kicks Dooku over the edge. As Dooku lands, hall rushes forward to engage Dooku.
For the first time, an ASAT commando engages in battle with a true Sith Lord as Hall's blue lightsaber clashes with Dooku's red one, the lightsabers crackling angrily.
Dooku scowls. "You and your world will regret taking up arms against us, Terran," he says angrily.
"We'll see, Dooku," Hall says, venom in his voice. He then forces Dooku back and slashes at his head, but Dooku blocks the strike.
Hall presses his attack, slashing at Dooku repeatedly, and Dooku blocking every strike. Privately, Dooku is surprised by Hall's ferocity.
Finally, Dooku manages to force Hall slightly off balance, then kick Hall's legs out from under him. He tries to bring his saber down on Hall, but Hall rolls out of the way.
As this happens, Anakin, who had been hanging back slightly, feels anger welling in him as he sees his friend in danger, and rushes towards Dooku. He attacks Dooku viciously, the two exchanging furious blows.
Finally, Dooku tries stabbing towards Anakin, but his strike is slightly off. Anakin blocks it, grabs Dooku's lightsaber with the other, then brings his lightsaber up the length of Dooku's lightsaber, cutting off Dooku's hands.
Dooku looks down in shock at the stumps where his hands used to be. Anakin catches Dooku's lightsaber, then holds it and his own in an X up to Dooku's neck.
"Good, Anakin, good. Kill him. Kill him now," Palpatine says.
Hall stares at Palpatine, shocked. Still on one knee, and his saber in hand, he looks back to Anakin, who looks conflicted, as Anakin says, "I shouldn't."
"Don't do it, Anakin," Hall says.
"Do it!" Palpatine counters.
"Don't!" Hall says. But, as he says that, Anakin slices the sabers and cuts off Dooku's head. Dooku's body falls to the ground, and Anakin deactivates the sabers.
"You did well, Anakin. He was too dangerous to be left alive," Palpatine says.
As he says this, Hall narrows his eyes. His suspicions of Palpatine is growing even more. He had already suspected that the theory that Palpatine could be the Sith Master was the truth, but now he feels it even more likely. He's tempted to attack Palpatine right now, but restrains himself, knowing that him attempting to kill Palpatine here and now could completely dismantle the alliance between the Republic and the Terran Alliance.
As he is thinking this, Anakin walks over to Palpatine and uses the Force to release Palpatine's bonds as he says, "Yes, but he was an unarmed prisoner. I shouldn't have done that. It's not the Jedi way."
Palpatine stands up and says, "It is only natural. He cut off your arm, and you wanted revenge. It wasn't the first time, Anakin. Remember what you told me about your mother and the Sand People?"
Hall raises an eyebrow as he stands up and deactivates his saber, wondering what Palpatine is talking about.
"Now we must leave before more security droids arrive," Palpatine says, starting to walk towards the exit. Anakin follows him for a moment, but stops as Hall runs past him towards Obi Wan, and Anakin follows Hall over to his former master.
Palpatine notices them and says, "Anakin, Colonel Hall, there's no time."
"He's alright. Just unconscious. He may need some medical attention, but he'll be fine," Hall says.
"Leave him, or we'll never make it!" Palpatine says urgently.
Anakin looks up at Palpatine and says firmly, "His fate will be the same as ours."
And, I'll end there.
I hope you liked this chapter. I also hope you liked how having Hall there changed the whole duel with and killing of Dooku. And yes, what Hall saw is going to kick the Kidon's planning for their assassination of Palpatine into high gear.
Also, to clarify what I confirmed about the composition of the Terran Starfleet. It has the original ten ships (8 Venators and two Lucrehulks), plus 7 more captured during the war (a Lucrehulk, a Providence, two Munificents, and three Resuscants).
Next chapter will wrap up the battle, and it'll be up soon. Until then, leave a review, and stay tuned!