Hey, everybody. Back with another chapter, and the longest one of the story so far.
So, this one will cover the battle in Los Angeles brought about by the crashed Star Destroyer. It was written more by one of my loyal readers, Sectrooper, than by me. So you have him to thank for this. It is based heavily on the movie Battle: Los Angeles, and the main characters of this chapter will in fact bear the same names. For that reason, I must say that I do not own these characters.
Let's get to it.
AJ: Grand General Dempsey is a real General (was never a Grand General in real life, obviously) who served as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from December 2011 to September 2015
Chapter 47- Battle: Los Angeles
(Camp Pendleton)
In one of the many briefing rooms at Camp Pendleton, 2nd Lieutenant William Martinez watches as the commander of the I Marine Expeditionary Force, Lt. Gen. Karsten Heckl begins the briefing for the assembly of Marine officers.
"All of you are aware that the Home Fleet has engaged the attacking Imperial fleet in orbit. According to the captain of one of our Star Destroyers, one Imperial Star Destroyer suffered severe damage that resulted in the destruction of its engines. Without its engines, the Star Destroyer was pulled into our atmosphere by Earth's gravity. Less than an hour ago, the Star Destroyer crashed in downtown Los Angeles, causing heavy civilian casualties and trapping thousands more. It suffered heavy damage in the crash and can no longer fly. Reports suggest it has few TIE fighters operational. However, it has enough forces left on board and enough of its weapons still operational to launch an attack on LA and defend itself. Now, the Air Force is planning to eliminate the ship with a mass bombing attack. However, they don't want to launch the attack while there are still civilians in the area. Therefore, your mission is to venture into the city and evacuate civilians from the areas surrounding the crash site so that the Air Force can launch their attack. You will be provided with maps of the city and recent reconnaissance photographs. Any questions?"
Silence reigns for several seconds before Heckl says, "Very good. Dismissed."
All of the officers stand up and file out of the room. Martinez files out with the rest and heads to find his platoon.
Heading out onto the field outside the building. Martinez has not been with his platoon long. He's only graduated from officer training recently. Some of his men have been in service for a long time. Two of them are even veterans of the Clone Wars.
As he approaches his men, the most senior of them, Master Sergeant Michael Nantz, walks over to him. Nantz is one of the two members of the platoon who served in the Clone Wars. Nantz had begun his service as a brand new Private in 1994. He had served in several battles, and had even served alongside Anakin Skywalker at one point.
"What's the news, sir?" Nantz asks.
"We've been assigned to evacuate civilians from Los Angeles. One of the Empire's Star Destroyers has crashed in downtown. The Air Force is planning to bomb that ship into oblivion, but we need to get the civilians out," Martinez responds.
"Sounds like a plan," Nantz says.
Martinez and Nantz walk over to the rest of the platoon. "Alright, men. We have orders from General Heckl. An Imperial Star Destroyer has crashed in downtown Los Angeles. The Air Force plans to bomb it, but they need the civilians evacuated out of the surrounding areas. That's where we come in," Martinez says.
"Sounds like a plan, Lieutenant," Corporal Jason Locket says.
"How are we getting there, Lieutenant?" Lance Corporal Kevin Harris asks.
"By helicopter. They're gonna deposit us about three miles from the crashed Destroyer, and we'll have to make the rest of the journey on foot," Martinez says.
The men of the platoon all nod in understanding and gather up their weapons. Martinez leads the men over to where a small fleet of helicopters and LAATs are parked, ready to take the Marines assigned to the evacuation mission into LA. Martinez' platoon boards a CH-47 Chinook along with another platoon. The helicopter quickly takes off and starts heading for LA.
In the helicopter, a Marine captain briefs the platoons on their individual missions. Martinez' platoon is assigned to make its way to an LAPD station where a group of civilians has been confirmed to be hiding. It's only about a mile away from the crashed Destroyer.
It doesn't take the Chinook long to reach the greater LA area. Descending to just above the ground to hide from Imperial sight, the Chinook makes its way through the streets of LA, heading towards the drop off point. Finally, after almost an hour in the air, the Chinook halts and slowly lowers to the ground. As soon as it touches down, the Chinook lowers its rear boarding ramp. Both platoons immediately stream out of the helicopter, which takes off again as soon as the Marines are off.
Martinez turns to the Lieutenant leading the other platoon. "Good luck," Martinez says.
"Same to you," the other Lieutenant says before leading his platoon off down a side street.
Martinez turns to his platoon and says, "Alright. Come on, men." He then turns and begins leading his platoon down the street.
The platoon advances slowly further into Los Angeles, heading towards the LAPD station identified by the captain on the helicopter. All of them keep their weapons at the ready, moving as quietly and stealthily as they can.
Being in top shape, it takes them a lot less time to cover the distance than it would most people. They're able to cover a mile and a half in 20 minutes.
They're now just about a half mile away from the police station. They have seen no sign of any civilians or Imperial forces since leaving the drop off point. Everyone in the platoon have been to LA many times before. They find the silence in the city rather eerie.
"Man, sure is creepy here," one of the Marines says.
"No kidding. Looks like a ghost town here," another Marine says.
"Less chatter, Marines. Keep your eyes pealed and head on a swivel," Martinez says firmly.
The second Marine that spoke is about to respond when he stops, frowning as he spots something in the distance. As he starts to realize what it is, he starts to open his mouth. However, before he can say anything, a blaster bolt flies towards him and hits him in the face, killing him instantly. Then, more blaster bolts start to fly around them as several stormtroopers appear in the distance.
"Take cover!" Corporal Nick Stavrou shouts before opening fire with his M4 carbine, laying down cover fire for the other Marines.
Three more Marines is hit and killed by fire from the stormtroopers. The other Marines dive for cover. However, Martinez freezes in the middle of the street, caught up in the action and unsure what to do. Seeing Martinez frozen, Nantz quickly takes charge and bellows, "Off the street now, men!" The Marines hurry to get off the street as Nantz grabs Martinez and hurries him off the street. The Marines fire back at the stormtroopers, killing several of them.
Once they get off the street, the Marines, now down several men, hurry down a side street. They soon see an abandoned store and hurry towards it. One of the Marines breaks down the glass door, and the platoon hurries inside.
The Marines scatter through the front part of the store, trying to recover from the shock of losing two of their friends and regain their bearings.
One of the Marines, Corporal Lee Imlay, the explosives expert on the platoon, goes to set down his carbine and break out his canteen, ready to take a drink. Then, out of the massive windows, he sees a lone female Marine hiding behind a car, scanning the street with her carbine raised, finger on the trigger.
"Chief, there's a Marine out there," Imlay says to Nantz. Though his rank is Master Sergeant, everyone in the platoon calls him Chief.
"Get 'em in here. Now," Nantz responds.
Imlay picks his carbine back up and hurries out of the front door of the store. He glances from side to side to make sure the coast is clear, then whistles to the Marine. She turns towards the sound, and Imlay can see relief flood through her face. She quickly stands up and hurries across the street. Imlay dashes back into the store, the lone Marine behind him.
Breathing a little heavily, though mainly from relief, the Marine says, "Boy am I glad you guys found me."
"Who are you? And where is the rest of your unit?" Nantz asks.
"Sergeant Elena Santos. My platoon was doing recon on that downed Star Destroyer for the Air Force, but when we were starting our egress, these stormies spotted us. I was the only survivor," she responds.
"Did you find anything that could be of use to us? Or do you have any intel on the positions of Imperial troops?" Nantz asks.
"That destroyer is more heavily defended than we thought. I don't think it'll be much more difficult for the Air Force, but any attempt to approach it from the ground would be suicidal. The Imps have stormtroopers patrolling the streets out this far. At least a thousand," Santos says.
"Well, s***," Nantz says.
"We need to get going. Those civilians need our help," Corporal Locket says.
"I agree. Let's go," Nantz says. The platoon, along with Santos, all gather their things and head back out of the store.
Nantz takes the lead as the platoon makes its way down the street. Each member of the platoon do their best to keep a lookout for more stormtroopers. Thankfully, they see none. And moving at a quick pace, it doesn't take much longer before they finally find the police station.
"Kerns, get on the radio and call for evac," Nantz says. The radioman, Master Sergeant Peter Kerns, the other Clone Wars veteran in the platoon, nods and hurries to get on the radio. Meanwhile, Corporal Stavrou starts setting up his M240G machine gun, ready to defend against stormtroopers that may show up.
Nantz walks into the station. After a moment, he calls out, "This is Master Sergeant Nantz of the United States Marine Corps. I'm here to get you to safety."
A moment later, a man and a little boy pop out from behind a desk, and woman leans out through a doorway.
"Oh, thank ***," the man says.
"Don't worry, we're here to you out of here. We're calling for evac right now. Don't worry, you're gonna be fine. Do any of you need medical assistance?" Nantz says.
"One of my nieces has a small wound on her leg," the woman says.
"Let me get our corpsman," Nantz says. He then turns and walks out of the station. He quickly sees the platoon's corpsman, Sergeant Jibral Adukwu, and says, "Jibral. One of the civvies said her niece has a wound on her leg. Get in there and fix her up."
"On it, Chief," Jibral says, heading into the station.
Nantz looks around and sees Martinez sitting off by himself, his helmet off and laying next to him. Nantz is about to walk over to him, but before he can, Kerns turns to him and says, "Mike, I got same bad news. The Air Force won't be able to get the choppers in here. Turns out the Imps are doing a pretty good job at keeping them busy. They're not gonna be able to get evac in here until the Imperial defenses are whittled down, and that could take a while."
Nantz curses to himself. However, Kerns quickly says, "But, I think I have another idea. You see that bus over there? It's not damaged at all. I reckon if we can hotwire it, we can get it moving, and we can use that to evac the civvies."
"Alright, Peter. Get that bus running," Nantz says. Kerns nods and hurries over to the bus as Nantz walks over to Martinez.
"Lieutenant?" Nantz asks.
Not looking at Nantz, Martinez responds, "Top of my g****** class, first time leading a unit, and I LOSE FIVE OF MY MEN AND JUST F***** FREEZE!" He pauses for a moment before turning to Nantz and asking, "How do you do it, Nantz? What am I doing wrong?"
Nantz sits down beside Martinez. "Your not doing anything wrong, Lieutenant. There's no way that you could have known that those stormtroopers were going to be there. But I can tell you that these men will follow you to hell and back. It won't get easier losing men under your command. Believe me, I know. What matters is that you respect these men and they will respect you. Now, these men need you to compose yourself, put your training to work, and lead," Nantz says firmly.
Martinez sits there for a moment, just looking at Nantz. Then, he nods once and says, "Thanks, Sergeant." He then picks up his helmet and puts it back on before he and Nantz walk towards the station and head through the door while the rest of the platoon stands guard.
As they enter, the man, who looks to be in his 30s, walks over to Nantz and Martinez, the little boy following close behind him.
"Hi. My name is Joe Rincon. I just wanted to say thank you for coming here to rescue us. All of us are very grateful. And my little son Hector here wanted me to tell you that if you want any help, just ask," Joe says.
Hector gives a playful salute to the Marines, causing both of them to chuckle, and Martinez playfully returns the salute. Right then, Kerns, who had taken Harris out to help hotwire the bus, comes hurrying into the station. "Lieutenant! We got the bus hotwired! We're ready to move out."
"Alright. You head him, people. Let's move it. Everyone get on that bus!" Martinez orders.
Everyone hurries out of the police station and climbs aboard the bus. Martinez introduces himself to the woman, who says her name is Michelle, and the two girls are her nieces Kristen and Amy, who see was babysitting before the Star Destroyer crashed.
Stavrou settles behind the wheel and starts driving the bus away from the station. Rubble is blocking the street heading away from the Star Destroyer, so Stavrou starts heading down side streets trying to find a way out. He soon finds a major street that isn't blocked off, and turns down it, heading away from the Star Destroyer.
Harris is providing lookout, scanning the street and the skies. As the bus keeps driving up the street, Harris looks up at the sky, and his heart freezes as he sees several TIE fighters.
"Stop the bus! TIEs incoming!" Harris says.
"Everyone, down!" Martinez yells. Everyone, both Marines and civilians, get down as low as they can.
The TIEs pass overhead, heading in the direction of the Star Destroyer. However, one of the TIEs stops over the street, hovering in midair and slowly rotating in midair.
"What's it doing?" Santos asks, looking up at the TIE.
"The pilot knows something is up. He must have seen the bus moving before we stopped it. He knows something is here, and he's searching for it," Nantz says.
Nantz looks out of the window and up at the TIE. Then, an idea comes to him. He quickly leans over and grabs Imlay's bag from him, pulling out a few packs of C4 and a detonator from the pack before hurrying to the door.
"Chief, where are you going?" Jibral asks. However, Nantz ignores Jibral and hurries out of the doors of the bus.
"Is he crazy?" Stavrou asks.
"Nantz, get back here now!" Martinez yells, but Nantz ignores him and hurries a short distance down the street in the opposite direction the bus was travelling.
Nantz looks up at the TIE, waiting as he watches the TIE keep rotating. Finally, as the TIE rotates towards him, he pops up into full view and fires a burst from his M4. The bullets ricochet off the TIE, doing no damage but definitely catching the pilot's attention. Nantz then takes off down the street, running as fast as he can.
In the cockpit of the TIE, the pilot smirks under his helmet. "One lone Terran soldier. I think I'll have some fun before I kill him," he says as he slowly takes the fighter after Nantz. He fires his laser cannons every few seconds, intentionally firing well behind Nantz. Nantz, however, keeps running, unfazed.
After a minute, Nantz reaches a gas station. Pulling out his pistol, he fires it several times, blowing holes in three of the pumps. He then reaches the pumps and fits the C4 charges in the holes, while also destroying the hoses and spilling gas over the ground.
The TIE pilot, of course, doesn't realize what the place is, and doesn't realize he's in danger. Instead, he activates the speaker on his fighter and says through it, "You know, I thought you Terran scum were supposed to be these amazing fighters, but it turns out you're just as pathetic as those Rebel scum."
Nantz, having climbed onto the roof of the gas station, holds up the detonator and shouts, "And I thought, given you weren't a droid piloting that fighter, that you'd be a little smarter."
The pilot is confused. Then, realizing that Nantz has lured him into some kind of trap, he starts to say, "Oh, son of a-"
Nantz presses down on the button on the detonator before leaping off the roof of the gas station. As he does, the C4 charges detonate, causing the gas station and its fuel to explode, destroying the TIE and killing the pilot.
Back on the bus, everyone is able to see the explosion as it takes out the TIE, and watch in shock as Nantz comes trotting back up the street and climbs back onto the bus.
"Nantz, you are a crazy bastard. Don't ever do that again," Martinez says.
Nantz grins at Martinez. "Sorry, Lieutenant, but when you work with someone like Anakin Skywalker, his recklessness kind of rubs off on you."
Everyone begins to recover from their shock, and some laugh while others congratulate Nantz on taking down the TIE fighter. Meanwhile, Stavrou starts the bus up again. As he drives the bus away, Stavrou smirks and says, "Who the hell's John Wayne?"
Stavrou takes the bus along the streets of LA before reaching a main freeway. Stavrou quickly gets on the freeway and starts heading south along the freeway, intending to head back to Camp Pendleton.
As Stavrou drives along the freeway, he quickly sees something in the distance. Concerned, he calls out, "Uh, Lieutenant, you might wanna see this."
Martinez makes his way to the front of the bys and sees a group of Marines, about 50 or 60, backed up by a tank, fighting a battalion of stormtroopers. Martinez is about to tell Stavrou to turn the bus around when laser bolts suddenly fly out of nowhere and hit the bus.
"Everyone get down!" Martinez yells. Everyone dives to the floor, and Michelle's two nieces scream in fear.
"Lieutenant! They hit the engine! It's gone! We're sitting ducks here!" Stavrou shouts.
Realizing they're in real trouble so long as they're on the bus, Martinez yells, "Everyone, off the bus now! Get to cover! That tank is drawing most of the fire!"
Everyone gets off the bus as quick as they can and dash for cover among some buildings off the side of the freeway. As they try and keep out of sight, Martinez says, "We need to get away from this freeway. It's a deathtrap."
Nantz nods in agreement, then spots something. A downed news helicopter. He points to it and says, "Lieutenant, look, that downed news chopper. If we can get to it, we can use it to keep the civilians covered while we rope down to the street below," Nantz says.
"Good idea, Nantz," Martinez says. He then turns to the rest of the group and shouts, "Locket, Imlay, Santos, get on that dump truck over there and lay down fire to help those Marines! Stavrou, find some cover and set up your machine gun! Harris, Adukwu, Kerns, you take the civvies over to that downed chopper and rope down to the street below. Nantz and I will cover you with Rogers and Miller. Understood?"
"Yes, sir!" all of the Marines yell.
"Alright. Go!" Martinez yells.
Martinez and Nantz pop up along with two of the other Marines, Rogers and Miller. Locket, Imlay, and Santos race towards an abandoned dump truck, hoping it can be turned into an effective gun nest. Stavrou heads over to an abandoned car, intending to use it as cover for his machine gun. As they all move towards the stormtroopers, Harris, Jabril, and Kerns all herd the five civilians over towards the downed chopper.
As they reach the truck, Locket climbs into the back and looks ahead at the battle, and sees a group of stormtroopers trying to come around the side of the Marines ahead, with an Imperial officer leading them.
"Aim for the officer!" Locket yells. He and the other two Marines open fire. Within a few seconds, they hit the officer twice, killing him. The stormtroopers double back and dive for cover.
Meanwhile, Stavrou reaches the car and sets up his machine gun. He loads his first ammunition belt into the gun, aims it towards the stormtroopers, and pulls the trigger, firing a burst from the machine gun and shredding a number of stormtroopers. Then, he sees an abandoned gasoline truck and turns the machine gun on it and fires it. The bullets tear through the tank and set off the gas, causing an explosion that kills a number of stormtroopers and sends more flying.
"Take that!" Stavrou yells.
As the bulk of the platoon is helping the other Marines, Harris, Jabril, and Kerns lead the civilians over to the downed helicopter. The five civilians hide behind the wreckage of the helicopter while the three Marines hurry to set up the ropes so they can climb down to the street below. One of the Marines from the company fighting the stormtroopers, who is a little far from the main company, sees them and hurries over.
"Need a hand?" he asks.
"Yeah, thanks," Harris responds.
The team hurries to set up the ropes and secure them as the fight with the stormtroopers continues. Then, right as they're about to send down Kristen, one of Michelle's two nieces, out of nowhere, the tank supporting the Marines explodes, killing the Marines close to it and sending the others scattering.
Stavrou gets on his commlink to the rest of the platoon, and shouts, "Tank is down! Tank is down! We've got no more heavy firepower!"
From her position on the dump truck, Santos spots something through the smoke. "What the hell is that?" she says.
Everyone looks in the direction. Then, from out of the smoke, an AT-ST appears, lumbering its way towards.
"S***! That's an AT-ST and it's aiming its gun right at us! We need to get out of here, now!" Locket yells.
Imlay grabs Santos and pulls her to her feet. Santos leaps out of the truck. Imlay follows right behind her, right as the AT-ST fires at the dump truck. The laser bolts strike the dump truck, engulfing the truck in a fireball.
Imlay stumbles from the force of the explosion. As he manages to get back to his feet, he sees the AT-ST still lumbering down the street, and the other Marines down the street scattering.
"Lockett!" Imlay yells.
Santos kneels down beside him to pull him back to his feet. "He's dead," Santos says.
Imlay looks at her in shock. She just nods. Imlay grabs a nearby piece of metal and throws it in anger.
Meanwhile, Stavrou is firing his machine gun at the AT-ST. Then, he sees the walker turns towards him, aiming it gun.
"S***!" Stavrou curses. He grabs his machine gun and leaps away before the AT-ST fires, blowing the car he was hiding behind to pieces.
The AT-ST continues its advance down the freeway, heading towards the group lowering the civilians to a street below the freeway. Just as the Marine that came to help them is lowering the little girl Kristen, the AT-ST fires at another group of Marines, and flying shrapnel hits the Marine lowering Kristen, killing him instantly. Kristen screams as she falls, but Harris, already on the street below her, catches her. "Don't worry. I got ya," he says.
As the Marines hurry to get more of the civilians down, the father, Joe Rincon, sees a stormtrooper advancing towards them. "Guys? Guys!" Joe says to try and catch the attention of the Marines, but they are otherwise occupied.
Seeing he needs to do something, Joe rushes the stormtrooper. Catching the trooper off guard, Joe slams into him, knocking them both to the ground. The two of them wrestle for several moments, trying to get the upper hand on each other before, finally, the stormtrooper manages to get his blaster untangled it and fires it into Joe's stomach. Joe falls back, landing on some shrapnel, which cuts into his back.
The stormtrooper gets to his feet, aiming his blaster at Joe. "You got some nerve thinking you could take us on, Terran scum," he says.
Joe groans from pain as he says, "Wasn't trying to kill you."
The stormtrooper freezes, then glances up right before bullets from Nantz' and Martinez' carbines rip through his armor, killing him.
Jabril runs over to Joe along with Michelle to try and stop the bleeding. Jabril looks up and sees the AT-ST is still advancing down the highway towards them. "That walker is still coming!" he yells.
Martinez looks at the AT-ST. "That AT-ST is tearing us apart. We need to take it down," he says. He then turns to Imlay and says, "Imlay give me some C-4 and a detonator. Nantz and I are going to try and take it down. Everyone else, stay out of sight and cover us."
Everyone nods as Imlay pulls out two charges of C-4 and a detonator, handing them to Martinez. Martinez and Nantz look at each other and nod once before they get up and charge down the street towards the AT-ST. The walker is currently focused on firing on the other, larger group of Marines as the men try to escape.
Martinez runs underneath the walker, attaching the charges to the walker's leg. However, as he and Nantz race out from underneath it, the walker pilot spots them and fires. The bolts explode close to them, knocking the two of them flying. Nantz scrambles back to his feet, and sees that Martinez is wounded. He pulls Martinez over to a damaged and abandoned Humvee.
Martinez curses. "I lost the detonator," he says. Nantz quickly sees that Martinez' hands are indeed empty, and curses.
Nantz quickly starts to examine Martinez' wound. However, Martinez grabs his arm and says, "You need to get out of here."
"What?!" Nantz responds.
"There's grenades in this Humvee. I'll detonate them when the AT-ST passes and take it out," Martinez says.
"No, I'm not leaving you here!" Nantz says.
"That's an order, Master Sergeant!" Martinez yells.
"No, not again!" Nantz yells back, memories flooding through his mind of his time in the Clone Wars, and hearing the screams of dying comrades.
Martinez pulls a letter out of his pocket and presses it into Nantz' hands. "Give this to my wife, and give my little girl a hug from me. Get those civilians off this d*** freeway. And make sure the Empire pays for everything. Now go!"
Nantz looks at Martinez for a moment later before he finally gives in and rushes off to rejoin what's left of the group. Meanwhile, Martinez reaches into the Humvee and manages to grab three grenades. He waits as the AT-ST gets closer. At the right moment, he pulls the pins from the grenades.
"This is what you get for messing with the United States Marine Corps! OORAH!" he yells before the grenades explode, blowing the legs off the walker and causing what's left of it to topple to the ground and explode.
Nantz looks behind him sadly. As he does, Michelle places a hand on his shoulder and says, "Come on. Don't let his sacrifice be in vain." Nantz just nods before turning back to the ropes.
It doesn't take long before what's left of the group is down on the road below them. They quickly foud a large van that has been abandoned. Again, they are able to hotwire it, and everyone climbs in. Stavrou again drives, and they soon find a large restaurant that they can take cover in. Kerns is hoping that they're now far away enough from the Star Destroyer that they might be able to call in evac helicopters.
Stavrou parks the van outside the restaurant, and everyone makes their way inside. Jabril takes Joe inside and settles him into a comfortable spot and gets to work on him.
Nantz helps Kerns set up his radio, and Kerns gets to work on trying to call again for rescue. Nantz then makes his way over to where Jabril is tending to Joe.
"How is he?" Nantz asks.
"There's nothing I can do. The wounds are fatal. He's not going to make it," Jabril says.
Joe coughs a bit as he says, "You know, when I heard the order to evacuate, I should have taken my son and ran. But I didn't. I just stayed in the house, and when I realized it was too dangerous, we ran. I don't know where we were going, we just ran. That's when we met Michelle and her nieces, and we just hid in the police station while Michelle used the police radio to send out a signal." He stops as he chokes a bit, then continues, "I should have gotten us both out at the first chance, but I was scared. I tried to act brave for my son, but he could tell I was scared like him."
"All of us were. The Empire aren't like the Separatists. They're more dangerous than the Seps ever were. You only did what you thought was right," Nantz says.
Joe reaches up and grabs Nantz' arm. "Sir, do you promise to protect my son?"
"I promise," Nantz responds.
"Thank you," Joe says. He then looks at Hector one more time before his eyes close and he goes limp.
Hector begins to cry as he realizes his father is dead. Nantz rests hand on the boy's shoulder until Michelle walks over and takes Hector to comfort him.
Jabril covers Joe's body with a sheet as Nantz walks over to Kerns.
"Any luck, Kerns?" he asks.
"Command says that a chopper is on the way and they have our location, but there's a bigger problem. The Air Force tried to launch an air strike, but it turns out that Star Destroyer isn't as helpless as we thought, and there's a lot more TIEs than we thought. They can't find a safe approach," Kerns says.
Nantz is quiet for several moments. Then, remembering his sight of the Star Destroyer, and his knowledge of the schematics of an Imperial class ship, he gets an idea.
"Contact Command. Let them know most of us are gonna head out there and find a way for the Air Force to attack the Star Destroyer," Nantz says. Kerns nods and hurries to relay the message to command.
Nantz looks around at everyone. "Alright, everyone. Here's the deal. The Air Force can't find a safe approach through the Star Destroyer's defenses. So we're gonna find a safe path for them. Here's what's gonna happen. Santos, Imlay, Harris, Stavrou, Kerns, and Adukwu, you're all coming with me. Everyone else will stay here and wait for the rescue chopper," he says. He pauses, then says, "Understood?"
"Yes, sir!" the Marines all respond. Michelle, her nieces, and Hector all just nod.
"Alright, squad. Let's go!" Nantz says. The seven Marines make their way out of the restaurant and into the street.
Just outside the restaurant and a few yards down the street, they find a pack of abandoned motorcycles.
"This is perfect. These will do much better than a van. Everyone grab a bike and let's get moving," Nantz orders. Each of the 7 Marines grabs a motorcycle and starts it up. Then, all of them swing their motorcycles around and take off down the street, heading back towards downtown and the crashed Star Destroyer.
The seven Marines maneuver their motorcycles across the streets of Los Angeles, trying their best to keep out of sight and avoid rubble and other obstacles in their way. As they wind their way through the city, they can see smoke and fire and hear explosions as combat continues to wage between Marines and Army troops and the Imperial ground forces, and as the Star Destroyer fires into the city with its turbolasers that are still functional.
It takes the squad almost an hour of careful driving along the streets of LA, circling around so they can get behind the Star Destroyer. Finally, they are able to get a good view of the damaged stern of the massive ship.
Nantz leads the squad through the streets to get closer to the Star Destroyer. As they get closer, they see more and more stormtrooper patrols, and are forced to take further precautions to stay out of view of the stormtroopers.
Finally, they get to a spot that gives them a clear view of the rear half of the ship, and Nantz pulls to a stop, the rest of the Marines slowing to a stop as well.
Nantz pulls out his binoculars and puts them to his eyes, scanning the hull of the Star Destroyer, looking for the crucial sight that will make his plan possible.
It doesn't take long before he sees it. The dome on the bottom of the Star Destroyer that covers her reactor. Much of the dome is out of view, hidden beneath the Star Destroyer's bulk or buried beneath the ground from the force with which the Star Destroyer hit the ground. However, part of the rear part of the dome is visible, and to Nantz' joy, he can see signs of damage to the dome from the impact.
"Bingo," Nantz says.
"What is it, Chief?" Harris asks.
"Part of the dome that covers the ship's reactor is visible, and it's damaged. If the Air Force can hit it, they can destroy the ship. We just need to find a path for the bombers where they won't be spotted," Nantz says.
Santos looks ahead with her own binoculars, then says, "If we could find a street that aims right at the stern, it could give them a straight shot to the reactor."
"Sounds like a plan. Let's get over behind the ship and see if we can't find a straight shot," Nantz says. He guns the engine of his motorcycle and accelerates down the road. The rest of the Marines gun their motorcycles and follow Nantz.
The squad makes a large circle around the back of the Star Destroyer, keeping far enough away from the ship that hopefully they won't be spotted.
Finally, the squad pulls onto 9th Street in downtown. Turning north-west towards the Star Destroyer, they are very happy to see that the street gives them a straight shot towards the rear of the Star Destroyer.
"Perfect. Kerns, get on the radio and contact command. Let them know what we found," Nantz says.
The squad takes cover in a nearby building, and Kerns hurries to set up his radio. It takes less than a minute before Kerns is able to get the radio set up.
"This is Master Sergeant Peter Kerns, calling on any channel. Me and my squad have found a path for Air Force fighters to attack the Star Destroyer without being spotted. Can anyone hear me?" he calls over the radio.
"This is Camp Pendleton. We're patching you into an Air Force Sentry. Standby," a voice responds.
There are several seconds before there's another voice that calls over the radio, "This is Air Force Sentry Bravo 2-1."
"Sentry Bravo 2-1, this is Marine Corps Master Sergeant Peter Kerns. I'm currently on the south-eastern end of 9th Street in downtown Los Angeles. From my position, I have a clear line of sight to the stern of the Star Destroyer, and I have a visual on the dome underneath the hull of the ship that covers the reactor, and it appears to be damaged. If you can rustle a flight of fighter bombers, they might be able to fly up 9th Street at low altitude and hit the dome without being spotted," Kerns says.
"Copy that. Standby," the controller on the Sentry says.
The squad waits for a minute before the Sentry controller calls out, "Sergeant Kerns, we have a flight of F-15Es inbound. Is the flight path in clear?"
"Negative, Sentry Bravo 2-1. There are some stormtroopers on 9th Street. But we'll clear them out. How long do we have until the Strike Eagles get here?" Kerns asks.
"Eight minutes. Clear that road out before the Strike Eagles get there," the controller says.
"Copy that. We're on it," kerns says. He then starts packing up his radio and looks to Nantz. "You heard that, Chief. We need to clear out some of those stormtroopers so those Strike Eagles can get close enough," he says.
"Yup," Nantz says. He then turns to everybody and says, "Let's go." Everyone makes their way out of the building and back into the street.
"Alright. Saddle up, everybody," Nantz says as he climbs back onto the motorcycle. Everyone else climbs back onto their motorcycles and gun the engines.
The seven Marines race down the street on their motorcycles. Each of them draws their blaster pistols, knowing that the greater shot capacity will be handy when they still have to control the motorcycles.
As they speed down the street, they spot a company of about 50 stormtroopers. On his motorcycle, Nantz smirks as he holds up his blaster pistol. "Hey, fellas!" he shouts loud enough for the stormtroopers to hear before he starts firing. On cue, the rest of the Marines start firing their blaster pistols as well.
The stormtroopers are caught slightly off guard, and a number are gunned down before they can even react. The other stormtroopers try to fire back, but fail to hit the Marines as they speed up on their motorcycles.
Nantz aims his motorcycle right at several of the stormtroopers. The troopers dive aside to avoid getting rammed. Nantz leaps off his motorcycle, drawing his normal P226 pistol and firing both it and his blaster pistol and killing the stormtroopers he nearly ran over.
The fight in the street quickly devolves into an all out brawl. Stavrou has managed to set up his machine gun, and is gunning down stormtrooper after stormtrooper. Imlay, Kerns, and Jabril are taking cover and firing their carbines at any stormtrooper they can take aim at, while Santos and Harris are engaging the stormtroopers hand to hand with their knives.
Nantz ducks behind a car. Looking down the street, he sees more stormtroopers running to reinforce their comrades. Nantz immediately turns his carbine towards them and pulls the trigger, sending a spray of bullets down the street and into the stormtroopers, killing a number of them. He keeps up the spray of fire, killing stormtrooper after stormtrooper.
For what seems like ages, Nantz keeps up his fire. Then, as he dashes to another car to get a better position, he hears something. The roar of jet engines.
Nantz looks up and back down the street, and sees a wonderful sight. Four F-15E Strike Eagles, flying in single file just 50 feet off the ground, heading straight for the Star Destroyer.
In the cockpit of the lead Strike Eagle, the pilot calls out, "Alright, lets light it up boys!" Seeing his six AGM-65 Mavericks are locked, he squeezes the trigger six times, rapid firing his six missiles. He immediately pulls up, giving the number two man in the flight a clear shot. The number two of the flight ripples fires his Mavericks and pulls away.
The first volley of Mavericks slam into the damaged dome. Each missile hammers its way through the thick armor protecting the reactor. However, thanks to the impaxt damage, the armor is heavily weakened.
The first volley of Mavericks fails to breach the dome. However, as the second volley hits, the third missile manages to break through the weakened armor. The remaining three missiles streak through the breach in the dome and impact the reactor.
The Strike Eagles, seeing their work is done, pull away and punch the afterburners. At the same time, Nantz yells, "Take cover!" All the Marines race into nearby buildings.
Aboard the bridge of the Star Destroyer, one of the officers calls out, "Captain, Terran fighters attacked us from the rear! Their weapons managed to hit the reactor!"
In an instant, the captain of the Star Destroyer, who had previously been very confident that he was going to lay waste to Los Angeles, now realizes his folly. As the ship shakes, he looks out over the cityscape of LA, just before he is incinerated as the entire Star Destroyer explodes in a gigantic explosion.
Inside the buildings they took shelter in, the Marines crouch down under whatever cover they can. The ground beneath them shakes from the force of the explosion. Several of them clutch at their ears in pain from the sound of the explosion.
Finally, right when it seems that the buildings are going to start collapsing around them, the shaking stops. After a minute, the Marines realize that its over, and slowly get up and walk outside.
As they leave their sanctuaries, they look in the direction of the crashed Star Destroyer, and see that almost nothing is left. Wreckage has been scattered over several square miles. The shattered hulk that is left is burning fiercely. Fires burn across LA, and they can see the heavy destruction done to the city. But, they know that they've saved countless thousands of lives.
The Marines all stare at the sight, looking out over Los Angeles. Finally, Nantz says simply, "We did it."
And, I'll end there. I hope you enjoyed this.
So, again, you have Sectrooper to thank for this. He actually wrote most of this. So, thank him too.
So, next chapter is going to cut over to the action on the East Coast. That will last for two or three chapters. The first of them will be up soon. Until it is, please leave a review, and stay tuned!