Hey, guys. Back with another chapter.
So, it's time for the Battle of Yavin. I hope you're ready.
Let's get to it.
RandomFanAuthor: Yes, they have developed space-only fighters. And I will name a Star Destroyer TAS Columbus.
Guest DCDGojira: Not sure about including Terran walkers in the Battle of Hoth.
CMac54: Yes, I'm working on a timeline page on the wiki, and I will include events that happened between the two stories on that timeline.
Guest: I've never read any of the expanded universe books, so I won't guarantee any of those strategies. But the Terrans will definitely use some strategies and the tactics that the Empire won't be able to competently deal with.
CT7567Rules: We will see Clone Force 5 soon enough.
Kommando Kronk: Both walkers and tanks have variants that are outfitted with normal cannons and variants that have heavy laser cannons.
Chapter 12- Battle of Yavin
Adams strolls through the hangar, walking among the fighters as ground crews work to get the X-Wings and Y-Wings ready to fly. As he slowly makes his way through them, he sees Hall, dressed in a rebel flight suit, inspecting his X-Wing. The rebellion had one spare X-Wing, and had asked Hall to fly it. He had been given the callsign Eagle 1.
"So, you up for this, Tyler?" Adams asks.
"Well, I already volunteered, so I kind of have to. Plus, I can still fly fighters. I'm not that old," Hall says, and the two share a chuckle.
"Solo leaving?" Hall asks.
"Yes. He says that he needs to pay off some old debts with his reward, and, in his words to me, 'ain't about to get myself killed on a suicide mission'," Adams says.
Hall sighs. "Well, we can't force him to stay and help, but I wish he had," he says. Adams just nods in response.
"You think our boys are gonna get here in time?" Hall asks.
"They should be here," Adams says.
"Well, let's hope so," Hall says before sliding his helmet onto his head.
Hall climbs up the ladder and jumps into the cockpit of the X-Wing. He then looks out of the cockpit at Adams and says, "When I get back, you better have a beer waiting for me."
Adams laughs and replies, "If you come back, I'll buy you drinks for a month."
"It's on, Sam" Hall says.
"Good luck," Adams says a little more seriously. Hall just nods.
Adams turns away and starts walking towards the command center as Hall familiarizes himself with the controls before lowering the canopy. He then powers up the fighter. Once the engines are fully powered up, Hall slowly lifts the X-Wing off the ground. He then follows the steady stream of X-Wings and Y-Wings out of the temple, heading up and out of the atmosphere.
On the ground, Adams walks into the command center with Leia and Dodonna. As they approach a large projector showing the position of the Death Star and the fighters, an automated voice says, "Standby alert! Death Star approaching! Estimated time to firing range: 15 minutes."
"Come on boys. You better get here soon," Adams says to the as of yet absent reinforcements.
Out in space, Hall glances around at the 30 other fighters of Red, Green, and Gold squadrons surrounding him as they fly around Yavin towards the incoming Death Star. Hall is flying above the main formation.
Up ahead, the Death Star is slowly growing bigger as the fighters approach. As they approach, Gold Leader calls for his men to report in. Once Gold Squadron has reported in, Green Squadron follows suit, followed by Red Squadron. Once Red Squadron has finished reporting in, Hall gets on the radio and says, "This is Eagle 1. Standing by."
"Lock S-foils in attack position," Red Leader orders, and Hall opens his S-foils along with the rest of the X-Wings.
The fighters shake a little bit, and Red Leader calls out, "We're passing through the magnetic field. Hold tight. Switch your deflectors on, double front." Hall follows the instructions for his deflector shields.
As they approach, Wedge says over the radio, "Look at the size of that thing."
"Cut the chatter, Red 2. Accelerate to attack speed," Red Leader says. The fighters throttle up and head down towards the Death Star.
"This is it, boys," Red Leader says.
"Red Leader, this is Gold Leader," Gold Leader calls out.
"I copy Gold Leader," Red Leader responds.
"We're starting for the target shaft, now," Gold Leader says.
"We're in position. I'm gonna cut across the axis and try and draw their fire," Red Leader says.
The X-Wings of Red Squadron wing over and dive towards the Death Star, with Green Squadron and Hall following close behind. The Death Star's gunners open fire on the approaching rebel fighters, which weave amidst the incoming turbolaser fire.
"Heavy fire, Red Leader! 23 degrees!" Hall calls over the radio, firing his laser cannons at a turbolaser tower and destroying it.
"I see it! Stay low, everyone!" Red Leader calls out.
The X-Wings streak low over the surface, evading Imperial fire. Luke swoops in with his X-Wing and says, "This is Red 5, I'm going in." He then dives in, firing his laser cannons away at the Death Star's surface.
"Luke, pull up!" Biggs Darklighter, Luke's friend and Red 3, calls over the radio. Luke pulls up out of his dive and flies through the smoke and flame before pulling out of the dive.
"Are you alright?" Biggs calls out.
"I got a little cooked, but I'm okay," Luke responds.
Hall snaps his X-Wing into a tight turn, banking almost 90 degrees. He sees another turbolaser tower up ahead, firing away at some X-Wings flying overhead. Hall fires his laser cannons, disabling the tower.
"Watch yourself! You've got a lot of fire coming from the right side of that deflection tower!" Red Leader says.
"I'm going in. Cover me, Porkins," Biggs says.
"I'm right with you, Red 3," Porkins says. The two X-Wings fly in, blasting the trouble spot and blowing it to pieces.
However, laser fire quickly converges on them. Porkins quickly says, "I've got a problem here."
"Eject," Biggs says.
"I can hold it," Porkins replies.
"Pull up!" Biggs says more urgently.
"No, I'm alright-" Porkins, but is cut off as his X-Wing blows apart.
Hall pulls up, scanning for any trouble spots. He sees an area below him with multiple turbolaser bolts coming from it and streaks in on a strafing run, blasting the area with his laser cannons and destroying a number of turbolasers.
Back at the base on Yavin 4, Adams is watching the screen showing the progress of the battle. Two X-Wings have already been lost to turbolaser fire, and they haven't even made their first attack run on the exhaust port yet.
Suddenly, more symbols appear on the screen. Adams feels a chill as he recognizes what they are.
"They've got incoming TIEs. Warn them," he says.
One of the controllers quickly gets on the radio. "Squad leaders. We've picked up some new signals. Enemy fighters coming your way," he says.
Out at the Death Star, Luke says "My scope's negative. I don't see anything."
"Pick up your visual scanning," Red Leader calls out.
"Here they come," the controller says. And right then, the rebel pilots see a massive formation of TIE fighters approaching them.
"Watch it! You've got one on your tail!" Red Leader calls out to one of the other pilots as a TIE fires at him.
Only moments later, the TIE's fire hits the X-Wing. "I'm hit!" the pilot is able to call out before his X-Wing explodes.
At the same time, Luke calls out to Biggs, "You've picked one up! Watch it!"
"I can't see it!" Biggs replies as he throws his fighter around, trying to avoid the TIE fighter.
Right then, one of the other pilots says, "I'm detecting multiple small ships emerging from hyperspace."
All the rebel pilots glance around, tyring to spot the incoming ships. Then, within the span of 2 seconds, all 42 of the Terran fighters sent by the New York City drop out of hyperspace very close to the Death Star.
In his cockpit, Commander Moga sees the TIE that is pursuing Biggs. Immediately he locks up the TIE fighter and fires a SIM-120 missile. The missile tracks smoothly to its target and blows the TIE to pieces.
"The Terrans are here!" one of Green Squadron's pilots calls out over the radio.
Moga scans the space ahead of him, analyzing the situation, and then calls on the radio, "All Terran pilots! I want all Black Widows and Flankers focused on keeping those TIE fighters on the rebels. Space Eagles, I want you focused on taking out as many of those turbolasers as you can!"
"Roger that, Commander," a number of Terran pilots reply before beginning to separate into their individual flights.
Right then, Biggs sees a TIE fighter coming up behind Luke. "Watch your back, Luke! Watch your back! Fighter above you, coming in!"
Luke glances back and sees a TIE fighter approaching, firing its laser cannons. One bolt hits just behind the cockpit. Luke immediately calls out, "I'm hit, but not bd! R2 see what you can do with it! Hang on back there!"
As R2 starts working to correct the damage, Red Leader calls out, "Red 10, can you see Red 5?"
"There's a heavy fire zone. Red Five, where are you?" Red 10 calls out.
"I can't shake him!" Luke calls out.
"Don't worry," another voice calls over the radio. Luke glances back just in time to see a pair of Su-36s come flying in as the leader fires his laser cannons, destroying the TIE fighter.
"Thanks," Luke says over the radio.
All across the battle site, the SF-23s and Su-36s, now split into pairs, begin firing their missiles and laser cannons at any TIE fighter they can. As they are engaging the TIEs, the SF-15s begin diving towards the Death Star, firing Mavericks missiles or their laser cannons and dropping bombs on any turbolaser turret they can find.
In the reprieve granted them by the arrival of the Terrans, Gold Leader lines up on the target trench and calls out on the radio, "Red Leader, this is Gold Leader. We're starting our attack run," as he and two other Y-Wings descend towards the trench.
"I copy Gold Leader, move into position," Red Leader calls back.
"The exhaust port is marked and locked in," Gold Leader says before he and the other two Y-Wings dive into the trench.
"Switch all power to front deflector screens. Switch all power to front deflector screens," Gold Leader calls over the radio to his two wingmen.
Turbolaser bolts fly all around the three Y-Wings as they make their way down the trench. Gold Leader calls out, "How many guns do you think, Gold Five?"
"Say about 20 guns. Some on the surface. Some on the towers," Gold Five calls out
Right then, two SF-15s dive down towards the trench and fire Mavericks, destroying several turbolaser turrets.
"Might want to check that count again, Gold Five," the lead SF-15 pilot calls out as he and his wingman pull out of their dives and head off to find other targets.
"Thank you," Gold Leader calls out. He then examines his sensors before saying, "Switch to targeting computer." He then activates his targeting computer.
"The computer's locked. Getting a signal," Gold 3 says.
Only a second later, the remaining turbolasers stop firing. "The guns, they've stopped!" he says.
"Stabilize your rear deflectors. Watch for enemy fighters," Gold Five says.
"They're coming in! Three marks at 2.10," Gold Leader calls out.
From above, Darth Vader and his two wingmen dive towards the trench. In his cockpit, Vader says, "I'll take them myself. Cover me!"
"Yes, sir," one of the TIE pilots says.
The three TIEs approach the three Y-Wings. Vader first targets Gold Three. After only moments, his targeting system locks, and he fires his laser cannons. The bolts hit Gold Three, and the Y-Wing explodes.
Gold Leader glances back behind him, then back at his targeting computer. "It's no good! I can't maneuver!" he calls out.
"Stay on target!" Gold Five urges.
"We're too close!" Gold Leader calls out.
"Stay on target!" Gold Five urges again.
"Loosen up!" Gold Leader yells, right before Vader opens fire on him and destroys his Y-Wing.
Gold Five pulls up out of the trench and calls out over the radio, "Gold Five to Red Leader! Lost Tiree! Lost Hutch!"
"I copy, Gold Leader!" Red Leader calls out.
"It came from behind!" Gold Five manages to get out before Vader fires on him and destroys his Y-Wing.
Two SF-23s that had been engaging TIE fighters that had been trying to attack some of Green Squadron's X-Wings change course and streak towards Vader and his two wingmen, firing their laser cannons. Vader dodges the incoming fire, but one of his wingmen is hit and explodes. More TIEs converge on them to protect the Sith Lord as the SF-23s loop back around for another attack.
Meanwhile, Red Leader calls out, "Red boys, this is Red Leader. Rendezvous at mark 6.1."
"This is Red Two, flying toward you," Wedge calls out.
"Red Three, standing by," Biggs calls out.
Back at base, General Dodonna gets on the radio and says, "Red Leader this is Base One. Keep three of your group out of the way for the next run."
"Copy, Base One. Luke, take Reds Two and Three. Hold back and wait for my signal to start your run," Red Leader calls out.
Luke, Wedge, and Biggs form up well above the Death Star's surface as Red Leader, Red 8, and Red 10 form up and dive towards the trench.
As they enter the trench, Vader notices them enter the trench. Vader refocuses his attention on the SF-23 he's pursuing. He opens fire, and his laser bolts destroy the Black Widow. The other SF-23 pilot shoves the throttles forward and accelerates away from the mass of TIE fighters. Given his unique Terran built engines, he knows that none of the TIEs have any chance of catching him.
Vader lets the Terran fighter go. Instead, he radioes the other TIE fighters, "Four of you, on me, now!"
Four of the TIE fighters form up around Vader as he dives into the trench, pursuing Red Leader and his two wingmen. One of the Terran SF-15 pilots notices this from a distance and gets on the radio, "Red Leader, this is Terran SF-15, callsign Blade Three. I count five TIE fighters pursuing you into the trench."
"Copy that," Red Leader responds. He looks through his targeting computer before calling back to his wingmen, "I'm in range. Target's coming up. Just hold them off for a few seconds."
"Close up formation," Vader orders as he and his wingmen close in on the three X-Wings. He begins targeting Red 8, and his targeting system quickly locks in on the X-Wing. He fires his laser cannons, and the X-Wing explodes.
Hall sees this and dives into the trench, pursuing the five TIE fighters. He closes in, and manages to lock his targeting system on one of the rear TIE fighters. He fires, destroying the TIE fighter. However, at almost the same moment, one of the other TIEs fires its laser cannons, destroying Red 10.
However, Red Leader is now in range, and fires two proton torpedoes. "It's away!" he calls out as he climbs out of the trench. The four remaining TIE fighters climb out as well, as does Hall. Hall pursues the TIEs, two of whom break off to engage Hall and keep him away from Vader.
Vader closes in on Red Leader, firing his laser cannons. Commander Moga turns his SF-23 towards them as he says, "Red Leader, this is Terran Commander Paul Moga. Break hard right. I'm coming towards you now. Keep out of that TIE's range. We'll get him off you."
"Stay there! I just lost my starboard engine! Luke, get set up for your attack run!" Red Leader says.
Moga, ignoring what Red Leader said, continues towards him and Vader. However, before he can get in range, Vader fires his laser cannons and hits Red Leader's engines, sending him down into the Death Star's surface.
Moga streaks towards Vader, firing his laser cannons. Vader evades their fire, and as Moga and his wingman streak past him, Vader turns towards them.
"David, keep out of his firing range. Let's try and lead him away from the trench," Moga says. He and his wingman turn away from the trench. Vader pursues them briefly, but quickly turns away. Moga and his wingman don't notice it at first.
As they are trying to lead Vader away, Luke calls out over the radio, "Biggs, Wedge, we're going in. We're going in full throttle. That oughta keep those fighters off our back."
"Right with you, boss," Wedge says as he and Luke dive towards the surface.
"We're with you too," another voice calls out as two Su-36s pull in behind Luke.
"Thanks, Terrans," Luke says.
"Luke, at that speed, will you be able to pull out in time?" Biggs asks.
"It'll be just like Beggar's Canyon back home," Luke says. He then wings over and dives towards the trench, Wedge and Biggs following close behind, and the two Su-36s behind them. The five fighters dive into the trench and begin heading down the trench towards the exhaust port.
"We'll stay back far enough to cover you," Biggs says.
"My scope shows the tower, but I can't see the exhaust port. Are you sure the computer can hit it?" Wedge asks.
The five fighters press on as turbolasers in the trench continue to fire. Luke calls out, "Watch yourself! Increase speed, full power!"
"What about that tower?" Wedge asks.
Almost as soon as the words are out of his mouth, an SF-15 dives down and drops a bomb that destroys the tower in question.
"Never mind," Wedge says.
Only seconds later, the turbolasers stop firing. Everyone looks around, knowing what this has to mean. Then, Wedge, as he glances behind them, finally sees Vader and four escorting TIE fighters coming up behind them.
"Fighters coming in point 3," Wedge calls out.
"On it!" Lieutenant Commander Aleksander Illich, the lead Su-36 pilot, calls out on the radio. He and his wingman, Lieutenant junior grade Basshar Atta, simultaneously pull back on their throttles and reing in their fighters, while simultaneously popping their noses up. The result is a near copy of the Cobra maneuver, as the two Flankers pop their noses up and come to an almost complete stop, while only rising a little bit. Caught off guard, Vader and his four escorts fly right past them. Illich and Atta then push their noses back down and shove the throttles forward, pursuing the five TIE fighters.
One of Vader's escorts fires on Wedge, scoring a single hit. Wedge calls out, "I'm hit! I can't stay with you!"
"Get clear, Wedge! You can't do anymore good back there!" Luke calls out.
"Sorry!" Wedge replies before pulling his X-Wing out of the trench.
Right then, Illich locks his targeting system on one of the trailing TIE fighters and fires, destroying the TIE. A few seconds later, Atta fires his laser cannons, destroying another TIE.
Suddenly, laser fire streaks past their canopies. The two Terran pilots look up to see more TIE fighters diving towards them. Before they can react, laser fire from one of them hits Atta's Flanker, and the fighter disintegrates.
Illich pulls his Flanker out of the trench so he can have room to maneuver. As he does, he calls out, "All Terran pilots! Red Five needs help!"
"I'm on my way," Hall calls out as he streaks towards the trench.
As Hall heads towards the trench, Biggs calls out, "Hurry, Luke. They're coming in much fatser this time. I can't hold 'em!"
Only seconds later, Vader gets lock on Biggs' fighter. Biggs calls out, "Hurry up, Luke!...Wait. Wait!" And right then, Vader fires his laser cannons, and Biggs' X-Wing bursts into a shower of flame and debris.
Luke glances back, then pushes his sorrow out of his mind and refocuses on the run. At the same time, Hall dives into the trench and throttles up, slowly closing on Vader and his two remaining escorts.
Luke activates his targeting computer, and looks through it as the exhaust port slowly approaches. Then, out of nowhere, he hears the voice of Obi Wan say, "Use the Force, Luke. Let go, Luke."
In the cockpit of his TIE fighter, Vader says to himself, "The Force is strong with this one."
"Luke, trust me," Luke hears Obi-Wan's voice say again. Luke hesitates only a second longer before turning off his targeting computer.
Back on the base, Adams is still watching the progress of the battle on the projector. As he watches, he hears one of the controllers say, "His computer's off. Luke, you switched off your targeting computer. What's wrong?"
"Nothing, I'm alright," Luke responds.
Adams smiles, recognizing what's happening. "That's it, Luke," he says.
Only a second later, he hears Luke call out, "I've lost R2!"
Adams' face falls slightly, worried about the little droid he's grown fond of over the years.
Right then, an automated voice calls out, "The Death Star has cleared the planet. The Death Star has cleared the planet."
Adams exchanges a look with Leia and the other leaders around him. Come on, Skywalker, he thinks.
Out at the Death Star, Hall grits his teeth a bit as he closes in on Vader and his escorts. As he gets within laser cannon range, he sees Vader start firing his laser cannons at Luke. Hall quickly fires his laser cannons, spraying fire in hope of getting a lucky hit. Then, without warning, more laser bolts fly down, destroying one of the escorting TIEs.
"What the-?" Hall says.
"Yahoo!" a familiar voice calls over the radio. Hall glances up and sees, to his surprise, the Millenium Falcon diving towards the trench. From another direction, he sees a pair of SF-23s and a pair of Su-36s diving towards the trench as well.
The other escorting TIE fighter pilot throws his fighter in the way of laser fire coming from one of the SF-23s. In the process, he hits Vader's TIE, sending Vader's fighter flying out of the trench and away from the Death Star. One of the diving Su-36s tries to fire its laser cannons at Vader's TIE, but the bolts miss as the TIE careens away.
Han pulls the Falcon out of its dive before saying over the radio, "You're all clear, kid. Now, let's blow this thing and go home!"
Luke takes a deep breath before firing two proton torpedoes. The torpedoes streak ahead and smoothly fly into the exhaust port, causing Luke to let out a deep breath of relief.
Luke pulls his X-Wing out of the trench, with Hall doing so as well and forming up behind him. Han then turns the Falcon away from the Death Star and starts heading back towards Yavin 4, with the surviving fighters flying behind him. Only a single Y-Wing and 8 X-Wings, not counting Hall's X-Wing, out of the original rebel force are still intact. Of the Terran strike force, they've lost 3 SF-23s and two Su-36s.
As the fighters make their way back towards Yavin 4, the pilots glance back, and beam to themselves as they watch as the Death Star explodes in a massive explosion, sending debris and a large shockwave of energy flying out.
"Great shot, kid! That was one in a million!" Han calls out over the radio.
"You did it, Skywalker!" Moga shouts over the radio.
The rebel fighters, escorted by the terrans, head back to Yavin 4. As they descend into the atmosphere and towards the temples that make up the base, the Terran fighters mainly land outside the temples on the various landing pads, while the rebel fighters, the Falcon, and Commander Moga land in the temple.
As Luke raises the canopy of his X-Wing, members of the Rebellion come running into the hangar and up to his fighter, cheering and clapping.
As Luke climbs down the ladder and jumps to the ground, he hears, "Luke!" He turns and sees Leia running up to him.
The two throw their arms around each other, laughing as they spin around. As they separate, they hear, "Skywalker!" Luke looks up and sees Adams running up to him, a big smile on his face. To Luke's surprise, he pulls Luke in for a hug as well.
Adams laughs, as does Luke. "You did it! You crazy SOB, you did it!" he says amidst laughter.
"Hey!" They all turn and see Han running towards them.
"Hey! I knew you'd come back! I just knew it!" Luke says as they briefly embrace.
"Well, I wasn't gonna let you get all the credit and take all the reward!" Han says with a huge smile on his face.
Right then, Hall runs up, thumping Han on the shoulder. "You crazy b*****d!" he says.
"Hey, I knew there was more to you than money!" Leia says with delight, putting an arm around Han.
Right then, Luke looks up and says, "Oh no," as a heavily damaged R2 is lowered from the X-Wing.
"Oh my. R2. Can you hear me? Say something," 3PO says, but to no response from R2.
"Can you repair him?" 3PO asks.
"We'll get to work on him right away," a technician says.
"You must repair him!" 3PO says before turning to Luke and saying, "Sir, if any of my circuits or gears will help, I'll gladly donate them!"
"He'll be alright," Luke says before again throwing his arms around his friends, and together, he, Leia, Han, Adams, and Hall walk out of the hangar, laughing together and hardly able to believe what they've just experienced.
And, I'll end there. Hope you liked this chapter.
So, I hope I did a good job with the Battle of Yavin, and you liked how I included the Terrans. I know I didn't save some of the pilots who died, but I felt like Luke still had to be the one to destroy the Death Star, and Vader really is too good for him not to have claimed that many kills.
So, next chapter will one I'm sure you've all been waiting for. The Terran declaration of war. I originally planned for the next chapter to be the evacuation from Yavin 4, and then do the chapter surrounding the declaration of war, but after thinking about it, I decided to switch the order. So, I hope you're excited for it. It'll be up soon. Until it is up, please leave a review, have a Happy Easter if you celebrate it, and stay tuned!