Alright, back with another chapter. We're on Chapter 70! After this, we have just five more chapters. I can't believe we're almost to the end of this first story!
So, this will feature the retaking of the Temple, and Obi Wan, Yoda, Rommel, and Hall finding out about Anakin's betrayal.
Let's get to it.
agentflash18462: Yes, I will create my own species found in the Milky Way.
BlackWatcher1234: Sorry, but the ASAT member who'll help fight Anakin is not British. That would be a good idea though. As for your questions: 1) I'm not sure yet myself how many survived. But you'll find out by the end of the story. 2) I plan to include them at least briefly in the second story. 3) There will be some outposts in the asteroid belt, on Pluto, and on some further bodies. Mainly as warning posts to pick up incoming ships. 4) The Empire may try, but the Terrans will have space traffic in the solar system monitored so carefully the Empire wouldn't be able to get any agents to Earth.
Chapter 70- Retaking the Temple
(July 26, 1994)
On board the TAS Sentinel, all is quiet. The entire crew knows what has happened, and what they are on their way to do. The gravity of the situation is well aware to everyone on the ship.
In the hangar bay, Major General William Garrison, the head of JSOC, stands before 200 of the Terran Alliances best warriors. 200 men drawn from the Zulu Force, SEAL Team 6, the Sayeret Matkal, and the SAS. Hall is standing beside him.
Garrison looks out over the men. "You all know the situation. The Clone Army has turned against the Jedi. According to reports from our intelligence agents, the order to do so came from Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, and that Palpatine is the Sith Master we and the Republic have been searching for. It is clear, if this is true, that Palpatine has manipulated this whole thing, and the Clone Army was created specifically to wipe out the Jedi," he says.
He pauses for several moments, then says, "In any case, it is clear that the Republic is no longer the government we allied with. As of now, we can consider our alliance with the Republic to be dead. However, our alliance with the Jedi, until further notice, remains. It is for this reason that this mission has been ordered."
"Intelligence shows that a clone division, the 501st, attacked the Jedi Temple and slaughtered the Jedi there. The clones are still occupying the Temple, and a signal has been detected summoning all Jedi back to the Temple. Your mission has several main objectives. First of all, you will liberate the Temple from the Clones holding it. You will then gather any intelligence you can from the Temple, and disable the beacon summoning the Jedi back. You will recover anything of note that you can from the Temple. Then, once the mission has been accomplished, you will return to the ship, and we will join the rest of our forces in retreating back home," General Garrison says.
The men all nod. General Garrison looks around at them. "You have all been given information packets containing floor maps of the Jedi Temple, information on the forces you can expect, and design schematics for the beacon. For now, you are dismissed. We will be arriving at Coruscant in a matter of hours," Garrison says.
The men all snap to attention, then begin to file out. As General Garrison watches them go, he realizes the risk they are sailing into. They are sailing into the heart of Republic space, and risking so many of their greatest soldiers in this mission.
Garrison turns to Hall. "If we are discovered before we can finish this and escape, we are doomed. This mission cannot fail, Colonel," he says.
Hall nods. "We won't let you, or the Alliance, down, General," he says before walking away.
(Hours later)
"General. Fives minutes to end of hyperspace run," an officer on the deck says.
"Copy that," General Garrison says.
Give more minutes pass, and then the ship drops out of hyperspace. Before them, Coruscant looms.
The Sentinel moves closer to the planet and establishes an orbit over Coruscant, camouflaging itself among the hundreds of other Venators.
In the hangar bay, the strike force gets ready. The Sayeret Matkal and SAS troops are all dressed in captured clone trooper armor left behind after the Terran campaign. Their job is to trick the clones guarding the Temple and get behind their lines, so they can trap the clones. All 200 men are geared up and ready in every way for the mission ahead.
As the time to leave the ship nears, the soldiers board their dropships. These are modified ships given to them from the Republic that are equipped with tech designed to help them hide in plain sight.
At midnight down below at the Temple, General Garrison orders, "Send 'em out. Godspeed, men."
The hangar bay opens, and one by one, at intervals of a few minutes, the ships slip out, heading down towards the planet, avoiding Republic scanners. With the darkness, they are able to evade being spotted and set down in a darker section of Coruscant, not too far from the Temple. The ships deposit the SEALs, then retreat back to the Sentinel.
The men wait overnight. Scouts survey the Temple, then return to the rest of the strike force. The strike force coordinate their assault plans, and wait for the time to strike. The attack is planned for mid morning.
The following morning, the strike force sets off for the Temple. They move in small teams of between 6 and 8 men, following various routes to reach the Temple to avoid drawing any attention. By the time they've reached the Temple, its mid morning.
The 200 men congregate out of sight of the clone guards. Colonel Hall looks out over his men and says, "This is it. This is going to be one of the most dangerous and important missions any of us have ever done. We cannot fail." He is met with nods.
"Advance team. Move out," he says. The 80 Israelis and British dressed in clone armor nod, put on their helmets, and advance towards the Temple.
As they approach the Temple, they see a phalanx of guards up ahead, and several hundred more clones outside the Temple. As the Israelis and British approach, the clones closest to them turn to them curiously.
"Who are you guys?" one of them asks.
A British captain answers, in a modulated voice to sound like a clone's, "We're from the 117th Legion. We received order to begin removing holocrons from the Temple."
"Understood," the clone responds, and he and his men move aside.
The disguised Israelis and British march past the clones. As they near the entrance to the Temple, there is a sudden burst of blaster fire. The clones are caught completely off guard, and several dozen fall dead as the SEALs storm towards the Temple, with the Zulus flying overhead.
"Hostiles!" one of the clones cries out, and he and the rest try and fire back at the SEALs and Zulus. The SEALs begin to duck for cover, still firing, as the Zulus fly over the clones, raining blaster fire down on them. One of the clones radioes for reinforcements.
Within moments, clones begin storming out of the Temple, ready to engage the SEALs and Zulus.
However, as the clones pass the disguised Matkal and SAS, the Israelis and British suddenly turn their blasters on the clones and open fire.
The clones are caught completely off guard. Trapped between SEALs on one side, Sayeret Matkal and SAS on the other, and Zulus overhead, they begin to fall like dominoes.
Meanwhile, Obi Wan, Yoda, and Rommel are moving towards the Temple. Bail had dropped them off using his speeder not long ago.
"We're closer, Master," Obi Wan says to Yoda as they approach the Temple.
"Perhaps now, find some answers, we can," Yoda responds.
Suddenly, Rommel stops short. "Wait. What's that?" he asks.
Both Obi Wan and Yoda go quiet. For a moment, neither is sure what Rommel meant. Then, they hear the faint sound of blaster fire and explosions up ahead.
The three start running. Soon, the Temple comes into view, and they can see the flying blaster bolts. As they get closer, they can see the clones of the 501st doing battle with a group that seems to be comprised of clones, soldiers dressed in camouflage, and Mandalorians.
Rommel smiles. "Well, well. Looks like we'll have Terran reinforcements after all," he says. He then notices a blue bladed lightsaber flashing in the midst of the fight, and his smile grows wider. "And one of my teammates, it looks like," he adds.
Within seconds, the last of the clones falls dead. In the midst of the mass of bodies, Hall looks down at the last clone he cut down with his lightsaber, then looks around. To his amazement, the Terran strike force took no losses. Two SEALs and one Sayeret Matkal were wounded, but none of the 200 men died.
Suddenly he hears, "You there!"
Everyone in the strike force whips around, aiming their weapons in the direction of the voice, and Hall readies his lightsaber. However, to his delight, he sees three people approaching, and recognizes them as Obi Wan, Yoda, and Rommel.
Hall grins like a madman as he deactivates his saber and runs to meet them. He runs up to Rommel, and the two teammates embrace while laughing.
"Dennis! I should've known you were too stubborn to let yourself be killed!" Hall says.
"It's good to see you alive, Tyler," Rommel says.
As they separate, Hall looks at Obi Wan and Yoda and says, "Generals. It's a relief to see you alive."
"Thank you, Tyler," Obi Wan says.
"Well, we just took out most of the clones here at the Temple. We estimate there will only be a few left," Hall says.
"Very good," Yoda says.
Hall nods, then says, "Let's go, Generals." He turns around, and the three follow him towards the Temple, along with the rest of the strike team.
As the strike force enters the Temple, they split into groups of 20. One of those groups follows Hall, Rommel, Obi Wan, and Yoda to search the Temple for survivors, while the others split up for various tasks. Three head for the library and archives to begin securing holocrons, important books and records, and other artifacts. Three other groups head off to find the remaining clones. Two more also head off to search for survivors. And the last one heads to go disable the beacon and send out a warning to the surviving Jedi. The group accompanying the two Jedi and two ASAT commandos is comprised of 10 Zulus and 10 SEALs.
As the men move through the halls of the Temple, they are stunned by the carnage before their eyes. Clones are occasionally interspersed between the bodies, but most of the bodies are Jedi and British soldiers who had been guarding the temple.
Captain Ivry, one of the Zulus, kneels down beside a young boy. Hoping against hope, he puts his fingers to his throat, but feels no pulse. "Palpatine will pay for this," he growls.
"Not even the younglings survived," Obi Wan mutters.
"Not everyone here was killed by the clones. I can already see that several of these Padawans were killed by a lightsaber. You can see the marks," Hall says.
"I agree," Yoda says.
"Who? Who could've done this?" Obi Wan says in horror.
"I don't know," Hall says in a low voice.
Suddenly, Hall's commlink comes to life. "Colonel Hall, this is Lieutenant Pratt, SEAL Team 6. We've reached the security room. Some of my men are working to recalibrate the code and send out the warning to the surviving Jedi. But, we discovered something rather disturbing. You might want to bring General Kenobi and General Yoda here. They're gonna want to see this."
"Copy that. We're on our way," Hall responds. He looks at Obi Wan and Yoda and says, "You heard that, Generals. Let's get down there." Obi and Yoda nod, and Obi Wan starts leading the team down to the security room. The SEALs and Zulus keep their weapons at the ready, keeping every direction covered. As they move down through the Temple, they spot two of the other 20 man teams, but the other teams remain focused on their jobs.
Finally, they reach the security room. They can see the bodies of several Temple Guards, and a few clones. Several SEALs are standing at the entrance of the room, extremely alert, continually scanning their surroundings with assault blasters at the ready.
They enter the room. They can see several SEALS working to recalibrate the code. Several more SEALs, including Lieutenant Pratt, are standing around the main console.
"Lieutenant," Hall says in greeting.
"Thank you for coming, Colonel," he says. He then looks at Obi Wan and Yoda and says, "We found a recording from the security cameras. You two are gonna want to see this."
A little hesitantly, Yoda and Obi Wan approach the Lieutenant. When they are close enough to see the recording, Lieutenant Pratt plays the recording. And, to Obi-Wan's utter shock, the recording shows Anakin cutting down three Jedi.
"It cant be. It can't be," Obi Wan says.
"Anakin?!" Rommel says in shock.
Then, the recording shifts, and it shows the hooded Darth Sidious, with Anakin kneeling before him. "Well done, my new apprentice. Now, Lord Vader, go and bring peace to the Empire," Sidious says.
Pratt turns off the recording. As he does, Hall finds himself shaking with rage. "I can't believe this. We trusted him! I trusted him! I thought of him as a brother! And he betrayed us like this! That SOB!" he shouts angrily.
"Oh, I want to kill that SOB," one of the other SEALs named Lieutenant Walker says.
"In less rude language, agree with Lieutenant Walker, I do. Destroy the Sith, we must," Yoda says.
Obi Wan turns to Yoda. "Send me to kill the Emperor. I will not kill Anakin," Obi Wan says.
"Obi Wan. I understand your hesitation. But, we can't afford to be burdened by attachments right now. Skywalker has turned to the Sith. With his power, he has the potential to be incredibly dangerous. And it's already clear that Sidious is incredibly dangerous. We can't allow them to live. We have to kill them," Rommel says.
"Correct, you are, Colonel. Kill the Sith, we must. Strong enough to fight this Lord Sidious, you are not," Yoda says.
"He is like my brother. I cannot do it," Obi Wan says.
"You can. You have to. You know him better than anyone. That means you have th best chance of beating him," Brown says.
Everyone is quiet for a few moments before Hall says, "I've got an idea. Yoda will go to kill the Emperor. Obi Wan, you go to kill Anakin. I will accompany you, along with two or three men, while Rommel and a few men will accompany Yoda. The rest of our men will evacuate back to the ship with everything recovered and commence a search for surviving Jedi."
Yoda nods. "I agree," he says.
"Alright. I need three volunteers to accompany me, and three to go with Colonel Rommel," Hall says.
"I'll go with you, Colonel," Lieutenant Commander Woods, Captain Allen, and Lieutenant Walker say almost simultaneously.
"I'll go with Colonel Rommel," Lieutenant Pratt says. A moment later, two more SEALs volunteer.
Hall nods. "Alright, men. Let's move out," he says.
And, I'll end there. I hope you guys liked this chapter.
So, the Temple has been retaken, and they finally know about Anakin's betrayal. I hope you liked Hall briefly losing it after learning it.
So, next chapter will cover the duels in the Senate building and on Mustafar. I hope you're excited for it! It'll be up tomorrow. Until then, leave a review, and stay tuned!