Hey, everybody. Back with another chapter. Hope you like this one.
So, this one will feature the next major attack by the Terran Alliance, and the first capture of a planet occupied by the Empire.
So, something to address real quick. I've kind of hinted at this in one of my wiki pages, but many of you probably wouldn't have noticed it. So, I am going to confirm this. In this universe, following the Terran campaign and before the end of the Clone Wars, North and South Korea united under a democratic government. I also mentioned this on the Timeline page on the Wiki. So, now, Korea is a single country.
Let's get to it.
Jayhawks: There will be smaller Jedi Temples built elsewhere on Terra and on other planets, but the main Jedi Temple will still be in West Virginia. These other temples will only be about the size of a large cathedral or something like that.
CT7567Rules: Vader using the Force to bring down an SFA-18 might have been similar to something from Force Unleashed, but is it was, it was unintentional, as I know next to nothing about that game.
Dalej0523: The Alliance is a unified government, and functions in a similar way to the Republic. However, the nations of Earth technically still retain their sovereignty.
plasma123fire: It was meant to be based on that. I may go into the details later, but in this, the story behind it all isn't exactly the same.
pervy sage: I kind of already went into it in my author's notes last chapter. When I actually show Thrawn, I'll kind of go over it again.
Chapter 17- Operation Amidala
(December 6, 2013)
Lieutenant General Harry Paton makes his way up to the bridge. Today is a day he's been waiting for for years.
Following the Terran declaration of war against the Empire, the Terran Joint Command had been planning out the plan for Terran offensives against the Empire. The attack to rescue the Vietnamese on Kashyyyk was the first blow meant to show the Empire that the Terran Alliance had the ability to attack the Empire. But a far more ambitious plan was in the works. From the beginning, several members of the Terran Joint Command, especially General Rommel, had advocated for the need to capture a planet in order to establish a firm base in the galaxy. After some serious consideration, they made the decision to target the world of Naboo. The Alliance felt the symbolic meaning of a capture of Naboo would cause demoralization among the Empire and increase recruitment for the Rebellion. It was also not quite as heavily defended as other planets that had been considered. And, the Terran Joint Command felt that, in a way, they owed it to the late Senator Amidala to free her world. It was for that reason that the mission was codenamed Operation Amidala. Plans were also made to target the planet Christophsis and the planet Ryloth in the coming months.
A powerful invasion fleet had been gathered to conduct the invasion. The fleet would be led by Fleet Admiral George Zambellas of Britain. The invasion fleet would be comprised of two Dreadnought class battleships, the TAS Yamato and TAS Bismarck, the battlecruiser TAS Repulse, the starfighter carrier TAS Langley, 2 Baltimore class Star Destroyers, 17 London class Star Destroyers, 3 Jutland class heavy cruisers, and 5 Anzio class light cruisers, as well as four Acclamator class troop transports and the former battleship TAS Tehran (now renamed the TAS Eagle), which would be carrying the troops meant to land on Christophsis, which included the American 101st Airborne Division, the 2nd Canadian Division, the Russian 4th Guards Tank Division, the Korean 9th Infantry Division, and the German 1st Panzer Division. A follow up force comprised of the battlecruiser TAS Indefatigable, 13 London class Star Destroyers, and 2 Anzio class light cruisers, carrying two additional divisions of soldiers, was being assembled to join the invasion fleet at Naboo once the planet was captured to reinforce them against an Imperial counterattack.
Paton had been selected to lead the ground forces. Paton had agreed, on the condition he be allowed to enter the battle, citing the oath he had sworn with the rest of the ASAT team in 1994. The Terran Joint Command, influenced by General Rommel, agreed, but had appointed Major General James McConville, the commander of the 101st, as Paton's second in command in case of Paton's death in battle.
As Paton walks onto the bridge of the flagship, the Bismarck, he finds Fleet Admiral Zambellas waiting for him.
"Admiral," he says respectfully as he approaches Zambellas.
"General," Zambellas returns.
"Are we ready?" Paton asks.
"Indeed we are," Zambellas says.
Paton grins before saying, "Well, then, what are we waiting for?"
Zambellas smiles slightly too, then turns to his officers. "All ships, standby for light speed," he orders.
The officers on the bridge transmit the message to the other ships of the invasion fleet. As the ships of the fleet begin responding that they are ready for the jump, officers on the Bismarck's bridge begin relaying the replies to Zambellas.
Once all the ships of the fleet have responded, Zambellas orders, "Make the jump."
The message is transmitted across the invasion fleet, and in rapid succession, all 36 ships of the fleet make the jump to hyperspace. From their position in Wild Space, it will take less than a day to arrive at Naboo.
(Early morning, Naboo, December 7, 2013)
Paton smiles as he watches Naboo come into view out of the front viewport. As he takes a closer look at Naboo, Paton sees the Imperial fleet over Naboo. Taking a quick count of the ships, he counts fifteen Imperial class Star Destroyers, three Arquitens class light cruisers, 2 Tector class Star Destroyers, a Gozanti class cruiser, and, most worrying, a Bellator class dreadnought.
Beside him, Fleet Admiral Zambellas says, "Hmm. Nothing too difficult except for that dreadnought."
"I agree. We need to take out that dreadnought as soon as possible," Paton says.
"Charge the bombardment cannons! Radio the same order to the Yamato! And scramble all fighters and bombers!" Zambellas orders.
Across the fleet, men already at their battlestations prepare for action as pilots begin powering up their fighters and flying out of the hangar bays. At the same time, the weapons officers on the Bismarck and Yamato begin to charge the bombardment cannons.
On board the Imperial ships, the Imperials are shocked to see a Terran fleet drop out of hyperspace, let alone one bigger than their fleet. The Imperial admiral orders all ships to close the range with the Terrans and open fire as soon as they're in range.
As the Imperial ships turn to engage the Terrans, the Yamato and Bismarck orient their bottoms towards the Imperials and accelerate their engines, "climbing" so that their bombardment cannons have a better angle on the one Bellator class ship.
Zambellas waits, watching as the targeted dreadnought disappears from view as the Bismarck's angle increases. Finally, one of the bridge officers, an Elf, shouts, "Sir, weapons reports cannons are charged and aimed!"
"Fire!" Zambellas orders. The order is relayed, and seconds later, the Bismarck fires her four bombardment cannons. The Yamato follows suit seconds later.
The eight blasts from the cannons streak out towards the Imperial dreadnought. Unfortunately, one of the Yamato's shots barely misses. However, the other three shots, and the Bismarck's four shots hit the ship, shredding the forward part of the ship and destroying a number of the ship's weapons.
The two Terran battleship begin re-orienting themselves into "level flight". As they do, Zambellas, seeing flights of fighters and bombers streaking away from the task force and heading for the Imperials, shouts, "Send this out. All units attack! Concentrate on that dreadnought and those Imperial class Star Destroyers first!"
The Terran ships add more power from their engines and begin to close the range more rapidly. As they do, the fighters and bombers, now numbering in the hundreds and growing in number as more launch from their ships, arm their weapons and prepare to engage.
The Imperial admiral, still alive as the dreadnought's bridge has not been damaged yet, orders all TIE fighters to be scrambled immediately. The TIEs of the fleet, which had already started to be prepped when the Terran vessels came out of hyperspace, begin to take off and fly out to engage the Terrans.
As the TIE fighters streak out to engage them, leading Terran fighters begin to lock them up and fire missiles at them. Dozens of TIE fighters are destroyed before they ever get in range of their laser cannons.
When the TIE fighters get too close, the Terran pilots switch over to their laser cannons. The two sides merge, firing their laser cannons. Many more TIE fighters and several Terran fighters are destroyed. Terran Su-36s, SF-23s, and Su-49s begin engaging the remaining TIE fighters while SF-15s, SFA-18s, SB-1Bs, and Mirage 5000s streak past the sprawling dogfights and begin their attack runs on the Imperial ships.
The Imperials turn a number of their turbolasers on the incoming Terran fighters and bombers. Terran pilots wave their way through the hail of fire, continuing to close in on the Imperial ships.
As the Terran fighters and bombers begin their attack runs, firing proton torpedoes and missiles and dropping proton bombs, the Terran warships open fire with their turbolasers. Bolts begin to slam into the Imperial warships, focusing on the dreadnought and Imperial class ships, hammering away at their shields as the starfighters and bombers continue their runs.
As the Imperial ships are hammered, and their shields begin to falter, a squadron of TIE bombers break through the screen of Terran fighters and bear down on the Repulse to make their attack runs.
On the bridge, the captain watches as the bombers approach. "Incoming bombers. All point defense batteries, kill 'em!" he orders.
Across the front part of the battlecruiser, the ship's CIWS elevate and train towards the incoming TIE bombers. These weapons look exactly like the Vulcan Phalanx guns on all US Navy warships, and are fitted with a laser cannon capable of a similar rate of fire. They are controlled by advanced tracking systems that automatically aim the weapons and incoming targets and track the outgoing laser bolts in order to alter the aim to make the bolts find their targets. And the Repulse has 120 of these weapons.
As soon as the TIE bombers come into range, two dozen CIWS batteries open fire, sending hundreds of laser bolts towards the TIE bombers. One by one, the bombers are blown apart by the incoming laser fire. Not a single one of the bombers even makes it closer enough to hope to drop its proton bombs.
As the TIE bombers are destroyed, a formation of 8 SB-1B bombers bears down on the damaged Bellator class dreadnought, which has already been further damaged by turbolaser fire and attack by fighters. The repeated attacks have taken away most of the decks and armor covering the ship's reactor.
The eight bombers bear down on the dreadnought and open their bomb bays. They then eject their entire payload. Several hundred bombs strike the ship, blasting away at the ship's armor and finally destroying its reactor, causing the entire ship to explode. At the same time, a concentrated attack by SF-15s and Mirage 5000s destroys the bridges of two nearby Imperial class Star Destroyers as two more explode under concentrated turbolaser fire.
The fighters and bombers continue their attack as the Terran warships continue to fire their turbolasers, concentrating their fire on the remaining Star Destroyers.
However, the remaining Imperial ships are not going down without a fight. Several Terran ships have taken damage from Imperial turbolaser fire.
As the Terrans continue their attacks, two Imperial class Star Destroyers concentrate their fire on the Anzio class light cruiser TAS Belleau Wood. The Belleau Wood had already taken damage from turbolaser fire. Now, she begins to be hammered relentlessly by the turbolasers of two Star Destroyers.
As the Star Destroyers continue to fire, the Belleau Wood's shields begin to fail. Right at that moment, three TIE bombers manage to break through the fighter screen and attack, dropping several dozen proton bombs on the light cruiser. Along with turbolaser bolts, the bombs tear apart the Belleau Wood.
Officers and sailors on the other Terran ships watch in horror as the cruiser blows apart. Then, anger fills them, and a determination to avenge their brethren.
The Terran fleet doubles the ferocity of its attacks. The Bismarck and Yamato again orient their bottoms to the Imperial fleet, with the two battleships aiming their cannons at two different Star Destroyers. They fire their cannons again, destroying three Imperial class Star Destroyers and a Tector class Star Destroyer. At the same time, another Imperial class Star Destroyer breaks apart under the unrelenting attacks by starfighters.
The Imperials are beginning to genuinely panic, as they're now down to six Imperial class Star Destroyers, all four cruisers, and one more Tector class Star Destroyer, and all of the Star Destroyers are damaged.
The Terran bombers, out of weapons, begin returning back to their home ships, while the fighters continue to attack using their laser cannons, now focusing on the relatively undamaged cruisers.
The Terran Star Destroyers continue to close the range, firing their turbolasers and ion cannons. The Imperial Star Destroyers, whose shields have completely caved under the relentless bombardment, began to disintegrate under the unrelenting punishment. Some of the Terran Star Destroyers begin to turn their weapons on the Imperial cruisers.
In a matter of minutes, the remaining Imperial Star Destroyers are floating wrecks. Satisfied they no longer pose a threat, the Terran ships turn their fire completely on the four cruisers, blowing them to pieces bit by bit. Within five minutes, the four Imperial cruisers have been blown apart.
The Terrans finally allow themselves to breathe a sigh of relief. The battle had lasted almost 40 minutes. The Terrans had destroyed the entire Imperial fleet, at the cost of the Belleau Wood, damage to seven other ships, and the loss of 31 fighters and bombers.
On the bridge of the Bismarck, Fleet Admiral Zambellas feels relief, yet apprehension. The only three battles the Terran Starfleet has engaged in with the Empire have been huge victories with little loss. However, he knows that this luck will only last so long. While their ships and fighters are vastly superior to those of the Empire, they won't be able to maintain wins with such few losses for long, especially once the Empire begins to prepare for further attacks, and they lose some of their advantage of surprise.
However, he doesn't focus on that. Instead, he focuses on the beautiful planet below him, and on the operation they still have to carry out.
"Launch the reconnaissance flight. I want a full assessment of the Imperial garrison, as well as what our bombardment cannons should fire on first," Zambellas orders.
The order is relayed to the Langley. Just a minute later, a pair of SR-71Ds, detached from the 99th Reconaissance Squadron, take off from the carrier and streak down at high speeds towards Naboo.
The Blackbirds fly several passes over Theed and the surrounding areas, where most of the Imperial garrison is concentrated, and where the initial assault will take place. They then return to the fleet.
Once the two Blackbirds are back aboard the Langley, the reconnaissance data and photographs they gathered are uploaded to the carrier's systems and shared with the fleet. Zambellas and Paton begin going over the data and planning the specific strategy.
Before long, the two have formulated their plan, and issue the orders. Three of the Acclamator class assault ships, as well as the Eagle, carrying the four divisions meant to assault Theed, descend into the atmosphere, with the Star Destroyer TAS Honolulu going with them. At the same time, the Bismarck and Yamato target and fire their bombardment cannons. The Bismarck fires at the main camp of the Imperial garrison, obliterating it and killing thousands of stormtroopers. The Yamato fires at a starfighter base outside Theed, destroying it and all its TIE fighters and bombers.
The three Acclamators and Eagle descend towards Theed. The three Acclamators land miles outside Theed and begin to deposit the 2nd Canadian Division, 4th Russian Guards Tank Division, and 9th Korean Division. The plan calls for the 4th and 9th to assault Theed head on, and for the 2nd to swing in from the west. Their attack is meant to draw out the Imperial garrison, allowing the 101st to deploy into the city itself from transport craft behind Imperial lines.
At the same time, the last Acclamator is heading for the less heavily defended city Keren, carrying the 1st Panzer Division. The 1st will assault Keren and take out its much smaller garrison.
Paton watches from the Eagle as the three divisions land on the ground. Once the divisions have assembled, the Russian T-80 tanks of the 4th begin their procession towards Theed, with the Russian troops and Korean troops of the 9th following behind them, while the men of the 2nd make their swing to the west.
Inside Theed, the remaining Imperial garrison is marshalling to the outskirts of the city. Unfortunately for them, many of their walkers were destroyed by the fire from the Bismarck and Yamato, leaving just two AT-ATs and a five AT-STs. These walkers, along with 40,000 of the 57,000 remaining stormtroopers in the city, head south to meet the 4th and 9th.
As the walkers head south out of the city, the advancing T-80s aim their main guns at the advancing walkers as the AT-ATs open fire with their laser cannons. Of the 240 tanks on the ground right now, 160 aim their weapons at the advancing AT-ATs. The tanks open fire on the AT-ATs, alternating their fire in groups of 20, with 10 of each group firing at a single walker. Each AT-AT is hit by ten 125mm HEAT rounds at a time. Despite the faith of the Empire in the AT-AT, each walker takes only a few dozen shells in various spots before their armor finally fails them and they're destroyed. More tanks target the AT-STs, destroying them with only one or two shots each.
Stormtroopers following behind the walkers are surprised that the Terran tanks destroyed their walkers while losing only 3 tanks. Then, they hear a chilling sound, and look up to see two squadrons of SA-10s descending towards Theed.
SA-10s begins strafing runs with their 30mm cannons as the T-80s continue firing their main guns into the ranks of the incoming stormtroopers. The stormtroopers, not really trained to handle such an unrelenting, coordinated assault by superior numbers, fall like dominoes and are slowly pushed back into the city. At the same time, the men of the 2nd make their attack from the west, pushing relentlessly against the stormtroopers in the western part of the city.
As the stormtroopers are being stretched to their limit, the men of the 101st, led by Paton, make their move. Outside Theed, transports stream out of the Eagle's hangar bays and head towards the city. As the transports fly over the city, soldiers of the 101st begin leaping out of the transports and parachuting down into the city. Other transports take the risk and land to deposit their troops.
In a matter of minutes, over 5,000 men of the 101st are on the ground, with more being shuttled to the city by transports. About 1,000 men of the 101st head for the palace, while the remaining 4,000 head to attack the main Imperial force from behind.
When the men of the 101st begin firing on the stormtroopers from behind, the stormtrooper formation is thrown into chaos. Temporarily losing their situational awareness, the stormtroopers are unable to adequately fight back against either side, and begin to fall in droves.
The Terran divisions press their attack, sandwiching the stormtroopers between them as the troops of the 101st that headed for the palace easily kill all Imperial forces inside the palace.
Within a matter of a few hours, the battle is over, and Theed has been taken. At the same time, the 1st Panzer Division has wiped out all resistance in Keren and placed the city under their control. While some pockets of Imperial forces still remain elsewhere on the planet, Naboo is now under the control of the Terran Alliance.
News of the victory is transmitted back to the Terran Joint Command, who immediately conduct a press conference that is broadcast to all ten member worlds of the Alliance, announcing that Naboo has fallen. Morale swells across the Alliance.
On Naboo, the celebrations have begun. The people of Naboo have welcomed their liberators with open arms, and celebrations have begun in the streets of Theed.
However, as the celebrations begin, Paton is not with the Terran troops. Instead, he has made his way to a very special place in Theed.
Paton enters the mausoleum that is the final resting place of Padme Amidala. He gets down on one knee before the sarcophagus, silent for the moment. Then he says, "I may not have known you well, Senator Amidala. However, you were one of the greatest people I have ever known. I am sorry that neither me, nor any of my teammates, nor the Terran Alliance were able to save you. But you will always be remembered, and we will continue to protect your children, and your memory."
After a moment, he stands up, then reaches out with one hand, and one of the soldiers who came with him holds out a wreath, which Paton lays on the sarcophagus. He then takes a step back, then raises his hand to his eyebrow and salutes the sarcophagus. Behind him, a bugler from the 101st raises his instrument to his lips and begins to play Taps.
As Paton stands there, rigidly at attention and saluting the sarcophagus, listening to the beautiful sound of the song, he feels a tear come to his eye. And, in the back of my mind, he feels like he can hear Padme's voice, saying something she said to him the last time he ever saw her, "So long as there is good in the universe, it's worth fighting for."
Paton hears the bugler stop playing, and lowers his salute. He then walks to the entrance of the mausolem before he turns around and looks back, scanning the entire mausoleum. While it's not a terribly big place, it's big enough for what the Joint Command had in mind.
Two soldiers of the 101st lay down a mat stretching across mausoleum, laying it down a few feet from the sarcophagus. The Terran Joint Command, at the suggestion of the United States government, had decided to place a ceremonial guard over Padme's tomb to honor everything she had done for the Republic and the galaxy as a whole.
Right at that moment, General Daniel Mofaz walks into the mausoleum. He had come with the task force specifically for this. Despite being a member of the Terran Joint Command, he wanted to pay his respects to Padme, and to do so by taking the first shift as a guard of her tomb.
Mofaz walks up to Paton, holding a US made M14 rifle, fitted with a ceremonial rifle stock. Mofaz looks at Paton, and nods once. He then walks over to the mat, stepping right next to one end of it and facing the other end, going to parade rest with his rifle in the parade rest position.
Paton walks up to the mat. Now speaking in his commanding voice, he says, "I now institute the Guard of the Tomb of Padme Amidala! From this moment onwards, until such a time as the guard be ordered to stand down, there will always be a guard to preside over this tomb, to protect the Senator and her honor!" He then does a left face in order to face Mofaz and calls, "Guard, atten-hut!"
Mofaz snaps to attention. Paton then calls, "Port Arms!" Mofaz brings his rifle up to position across his body, still at attention.
"Right shoulder, arms!" Paton calls. Mofaz, in clean, precise movements, moves the rifle to his right shoulder.
"Guard, post!" Paton calls. Mofaz does a left face and steps onto the mat before doing a right face to face down the mat. He then begins his slow march down the mat, crossing in front of the sarcophagus.
Paton watches as Mofaz makes one trip down the mat, then stops and begins the process of turning around and switching his rifle to the other shoulder. As he does do, Paton does an about face, and slowly walks out of the tomb with the other soldiers.
As Mofaz slowly marches back and forth in front of the sarcophagus, he thinks to himself, I am sorry I could not protect you from death, Senator. But now, I will protect you in death, so that you may rest peacefully. You've earned it.
And, I'll end there. Hope you liked that chapter.
So, the Terran Alliance has made its first real offensive move, and captured the planet Naboo. It will be one of the main bases for the Alliance's campaign against the Empire. Originally, I was going to do Christophsis, but I decided on Naboo instead for its symbolic meaning.
Also, I hope you noticed I introduced a new species in this. The Elves. I'm trying to come up with exactly how they look, as well as if I should give them a slightly better name, but imagine that they look similar to both Elves from Tolkien's works and Light Elves from Marvel. I know, not super original, but I have yet to go through suggestions of species from my reviewers, so that could take a while longer.
I also hope you liked how I had the Alliance institute a guard over Padme's tomb. I think, given who she was, the Alliance would want to give her that honor, especially with both Mofaz and Rommel on the Joint Command. I also hope you like how I had Mofaz be the first man to take up the position of guard. And yes, I based it off the Guards of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery. The whole procedure the guards follow for both patrols and the Changing of the Guard follow those of the Guards in Arlington.
So, next chapter may show the Empire reacting to the capture of Naboo. They will make an attempt to retake the planet, but that won't happen for a while yet.
I also hope that you guys don't think this was too fast. I considered breaking it into two chapters, but I wasn't sure I'd be able to make two good chapters, so I stuck with one.
Also, quick PSA. I got my COVID-19 test results back, and they're negative! So, I don't have coronavirus, but I am still sick. SO, I'll still be in quarantine for the next week just as a precaution, but at least I don't have coronavirus! Yay!
Next chapter will be up soon. Until it is, please leave a review, and stay tuned!