Hey, everybody. Back with another chapter. This one will also introduce another new species.
Let's get to it.
pervy sage: I'm not sure I'm gonna get into the Roswell incident, just because I still don't know what I believe about that.
Guest: My current plan is still for the throne room duel to be just between Luke and Vader.
Guest: YOu have a fair point, but remember that Anakin didn't know Padme was pregnant until she actually told him, so not totally sure about that.
Guest: I don't have plans to include Dogma again. I'll leave what happened to him up to readers imaginations.
Guest: If you haven't noticed, I mix Legends and Canon a lot. I'm still not 100 percent sure if I'll do anything with the Yuuzhan Vong, but possibly. I'm still trying to figure out how I'll do the next major story, and how much I'll follow the sequel trilogy.
GREAT CELESTAIL-DRAGON: Still open to OCs and celebrity roles. There have been some minor colonisation efforts, but nothing major. And I will do a story set shortly after the Clone Wars that will cover many of those kinds of topics of how Earth has changed and public opinion on Earht begin involved on the intergalactic playing field.
Chapter 56- Fall of Onderon
(October 25, 2016)
On the bridge of his flagship, the Hood, Thrawn studies further intelligence images gained from an SR-71D reconnaissance run. There is only about a parsec to go until they reach their target. This is one of the most important operations so far in the war, but Thrawn is confident in his ability to lead it to success.
Three months earlier, when Colonel Alexander Gates was killed by Darth Vader on Korriban, it was a terrible blow to the Terran Alliance. Most of the Terran Alliance had grown into the assumption that the ASAT team were nearly invincible in combat. Learning that Vader had killed such an experienced member of the team had devastated morale across the Alliance. At the same time, when the news began to spread around the Empire, it caused widespread jubilation and a great increase in morale that helped make up a bit for the demoralization following Operation Nightshade.
In the three months since, the Empire had attempted two assaults to retake planets captured by the Alliance. One was an attack on Malastare that was beaten off quickly. However, the second assault, which was launched against Kashyyyk, was nearly successful, and only stopped thanks to last second reinforcements.
The Joint Command recognized that they needed to strike a blow to the Empire that would recover the lost morale and work on demoralizing the Empire again. Therefore they decided to strike even further into the galaxy. The planet they decided to target was Onderon.
The Joint Command recognized the danger of attacking Onderon. It was heavily defended, and was well into Imperial territory. Onderon was well into the Inner Rim, compared to the other 9 worlds currently held by the Alliance, which were all in the Outer Rim or outer parts of the Mid Rim. It would be easy for the Empire to cut off Onderon from the Alliance and try to retake it. However, they felt that seizing such an important planet, as well as one in the Inner Rim, would be a blow that would raise morale among the Alliance.
Thrawn was ordered to plan an invasion of Onderon. He took his time, making sure he knew every extent of Onderon's defenses, then taking the time to make sure the chosen units were fully prepared and trained for the invasion. Now, finally, the operation was underway.
Thrawn had taken quite a fleet to attack the planet. He had sent ahead two interdiction cruisers and a Baltimore class Star Destroyer ahead to carry out the tactic that had become known as the Thrawn Pincer, and had also sent the Hammer Squadron to knock out Onderon's shield generators before they could be activated. His fleet was comprised of the Hood, two more battlecruisers, three battleships, two starfighter carriers, 5 Baltimore class Star Destroyers, 28 London class Star Destroyers, 8 heavy cruisers, 6 light cruisers, and 30 transport ships carrying 250,000 troops and all of their equipment. The troops were chosen from the armies of the United States, Britain, Brazil, Venezuela, India, Vietnam, and Myanmar, and a division of Lortirians. All of them except the American and British troops were chosen because they were used to jungle environments.
"Grand Admiral."
Thrawn turns to face the Hood's captain. "Yes, captain?" he asks.
"We're about a minute from the end of hyperspace run," the captain says.
Thrawn nods simply before he follows the captain out to the main bridge.
As walks up to the viewport, Thrawn raises his wrist and looks down at his watch, counting down the seconds. Finally, right on time, one of the bridge officers calls out, "Dropping out of hyperspace now."
The blue of hyperspace lengthens out, and the ship drops out of hyperspace. Within seconds, the rest of Thrawn's fleet, arranged into two different task forces coming from slightly different directions, drops out of hyperspace.
Out of the viewport, Thrawn quickly sees the three ships sent ahead, fighting the Imperial fleet over Onderon. Although Thrawn can see at least 30 Imperial ships, the three ships are holding their own for the time being, especially given they're only within range of a few at the moment.
"Scramble all aircraft. Send in the space superiority fighters and multirole fights first, and the heavy bombers in next. Send in the battleships and battlecruisers first, and target the smaller Imperial ships first with ion cannons and cruise missiles to clear the way for our fighters. Order the Yamato and Prince of Wales to move forward and engage that Bellator. I want its heavy firepower eliminated," Thrawn orders.
Within a minute, fighters begin to scramble from the ships of the fleet, leading the way as the battlecruisers and battleships move ahead of the rest of the fleet. The battlecruisers, as well as the battleship Missouri, begin to open fire on the handful of smaller ships, namely cruisers, corvettes and frigates, with their ion cannons and Starhawk missiles. Their goal is to take out the ships and be rid of their point defense weapons to make it easier for their fighters.
Ion cannon blasts begin to strike the smaller ships. The blasts from the ion cannons begin to shut down their systems and shields. As the ion cannon blasts are striking the ships, the long range Starhawks home in relentlessly on their targets. Finally, as the ships' shields are almost gone, the Starhawks begin striking their targets. The missiles tear through the weaker armor of the smaller ships, destroying their weapons, damaging their bridges, and starting fires throughout the ships. Within a few minutes, every one of the smaller ships of the Imperial fleet has been destroyed or seriously damaged.
At the same time, the Yamato and Prince of Wales have moved forward to engage the Bellator class dreadnought at the center of the Imperial fleet. Finally, the two battleships manage to get a good firing angle on the dreadnought. With the bombardment cannons fully charged, the captains of the two ships order them to open fire. Both battleships fire their cannons simultaneously. Two of the blasts barely miss, but the other six blasts make impact, tearing the front of the ship apart. The two battleships move closer and open fire on the damaged dreadnought with their turbolaser batteries.
As the two battleships open fire, streams of SF-23s, Su-36s, some SF-20s, and some SF-15s streak towards the Imperial fleet. Squadrons of TIE fighters turn to meet them, but well before the TIE fighters are in range of their laser cannons, volleys of SIM-120 missiles begin blasting them to pieces. The TIE fighters try desperately to avoid the incoming missiles while still trying to close the range with the incoming Terran fighters.
Throttling up, the Terran fighters continue to close the range, closing to close range. Now, they begin to fire their short range missiles and laser cannons, blasting more TIE fighters to pieces. The remaining TIEs move to engage the Terran fighters. However, the Terran fighters lead or chase them far enough to create an opening for the next wave.
As the space superiority fighters get the TIEs out of the way, a massive attack wave of SF-15s, SFA-18s, Su-49s, X-Wings, and Mirage 5000s streaks towards the Imperial fleet. Arming their missiles, they streak in towards the Star Destroyers.
The Star Destroyers quickly open fire with their turbolasers. However, the Terran Alliance pilots have trained extensively in simulators on avoiding turbolaser fire, and easily roll their fighters out of the way of the incoming fire.
The pilots dive their fighters towards the Star Destroyers. Some begin to launch their missiles at the Star Destroyers as others streak low of the ships' hulls, firing their laser cannons at any turbolaser battery or ion cannon they see. One battery after another explodes as they are hit by either a missile or laser fire.
As the fighters continue their attack, the final attack wave streaks in. Squadrons of SB-1Bs, Tu-800s, and B-3s streak in to drop their ordnance on the Imperial ships.
With many of their weapons destroyed, the Star Destroyers try to open fire on the incoming bombers with what turbolasers they still have. Several bombers are shot down, but the others weave their way through the turbolaser fire.
Several of the bombers launch cruise missiles at the Star Destroyers as the others fly in to drop their bombs. As the missiles begin to hit their targets, the remaining bombers fly over the Star Destroyers as they open the bomb bays. Within moments, the bombers begin electromagnetically ejecting their payloads. The bombs are ejected out of the bombers, and within second, begin striking the Star Destroyers, tearing through their armor and blasting parts of the ships away. Several Star Destroyers succumb to the unrelenting bombings, leaving just 16 left, all damaged.
As the bombers begin to pull away and return to their ships, the fighters continue their attacks, and the Terran ships begin to open fire with their turbolasers. As the Terran fleet continues firing, the Imperial ships shudder under the unrelenting fire. Several ships begin to pull back, hoping to find a way to escape. A few brave captains try to turn their ships towards the Terran fleet and charge, but are quickly subjected to heavy fire, which begins to tear their ships apart.
The rest of the Imperial fleet holds their position, but the fierce Terran fire is slowly forcing them apart.
On board the Hood, Thrawn is watching all of this unfold. Now, as he sees the Imperial fleet beginning to crumble, he orders, "Begin the landing operation."
As the Terran warships move to better protect the transports, the transports move into position and begin descending into the atmosphere to begin landing the troops. The ships separate, moving towards five separate landing zones on the planet's surface.
One of the transport ships is carrying 20,000 men of the American 101st Airborne Division. This would be the second time the 101st would be fighting to liberate Onderon. They would be assaulting the capitol along with two British units: the Royal Regiment of Scotland and the 1st Armored Infantry Brigade. At the same time, the Indian 5th Infantry Division would be assaulting the city from another direction. In all, a total of 50,000 troops would be assaulting the capitol, with almost two hundred tanks and walkers and heavy air support.
As the landing ships land on the surface, they begin to open up and begin deploying their troops.
As the men of the 101st are disembarking from their landing ship, Hall makes his way out of the ship as well. Hall, recently promoted to a full General, had asked to lead this attack himself, and Thrawn had granted his request.
Hall looks out over the landscape of Onderon. He had only visited the planet once before for two short days during the American occupation of the planet during the Clone Wars. However, he had extensively studied the records of the American invasion, and also studied Wilson's and Mofaz' journal entries from when they led the invasion. He feels confident in his ability to lead this invasion.
Construction crews hurry to begin constructing a small field headquarters for Hall and his staff to run the invasion. Although he wishes otherwise, Hall will not be spending much time on the front lines, but will be leading from his headquarters. However, Hall has insisted on joining the forces at the front lines when it comes time for the final push into the capitol.
"What's our status?" Hall asks one of his aides.
"Reports say 80,000 troops have been landed. Forces near the north pole are already engaging the enemy," the major says.
"Understood," Hall says, continuing to scan the landscape. In the distance, he can see a few explosions from a flight of SF-15s bombing an Imperial position.
As Hall's forces near the Capitol are continuing to disembark from their landing ships, other forces elsewhere are beginning to engage Imperial forces. Another American division landed at near the north pole is engaging a force of stormtroopers and a few AT-AT walkers.
In another location, in the western hemisphere, an Indian division and a Brazilian division are engaging almost 20,000 stormtroopers and a number of walkers in a large jungle. The stormtroopers are being pushed back, unable to stand against a Terran force twice their size. Indian tanks and Sentinel walkers are engaging the Imperial walkers, which are quickly finding themselves unable to stop the advancing tanks and walkers.
As reports begin to come in from the various landing sites, Hall monitors the situation from his field HQ. Things are going well so far, although they still have yet to engage the bulk of the Imperial forces. This is going to be one tough battle.
(Hours later)
A series of explosions rack the capitol city of Iziz. The 50,000 troops assigned to assault the city have finally reached the city after hours of fighting their way towards the city. The Imperial defenders of the city actually outnumbered the Terran forces, but after the Imperial fleet was defeated, the Terran warships in orbit were able to allocate more fighters to support them, and were also able to provide orbital bombardment support to help make up for the numbers disadvantage.
Now, the Terran forces are surrounding the city, and Indian and British tanks, as well as some American artillery pieces, have begun shelling Imperial positions outside the city. The shelling has been going for about 40 minutes, supported on and off by attack helicopters and fighter bombers.
From the midst of the American troops surrounding the city, Hall watches as a volley of shells fired by several nearby howitzers hit their targets, destroying an Imperial artillery piece in the process.
"Continue the bombardment, and order troops to begin the advance on the city," Hall orders.
To the west, British Challenger tanks are continuing to shell Imperial positions as a number of Warrior fighting vehicles with the 1st Armored Infantry Brigade are preparing for their charge, under the command of Colonel Charles Paton, the nephew of Lieutenant General Harry Paton. However, the Scots of the Royal Regiment aren't about to wait.
Outside the wall, a formation of stormtroopers takes shelter as the shells from the Challengers hits nearby. Shrapnel goes flying in all directions, cutting down a few troopers who don't take cover quickly enough.
Suddenly, they hear something. After a few seconds, they register it. It sounds almost like some nasally sounding musical instrument. Several of them, in fact.
Then, they can see figures coming over a slight ridge about a quarter mile away. More and more keep coming, moving rather quickly.
One stormtrooper raises a set of binocks and is stunned by what he sees. Three men of the Royal Regiment are marching frimly towards the city, each playing Scotland the Brave on the Bagpipes. Around them, hundreds more men of the Regiment are charging towards the city, accompanied by two Warriors.
The stormtrooper stares at the Scots, wondering if they've gone completely mad. However, he's forced to duck down when a flight of SA-10s flies in on a strafing run.
The two Warriors begin firing their mounted 30mm cannons at the Imperial positions. The Scottish troops charge towards the Imperial lines, firing their weapons as soon as they get within close range. The stormtroopers try to return fire, but most of their blaster bolts miss, and Scottish fire and cannon rounds from the supporting SA-10s cut down dozens of stormtroopers.
Over a mile away, Hall is watching American troops beginning their charge. Suddenly, one of his officers calls out, "General! We just got word from Colonel Paton! A large portion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland has already charged ahead and is engaging Imperial forces near the wall."
Hall facepalms and sighs. "Those d*** Scots," he mutters. He then looks up and sees, "Order Paton to get more forces up there immediately. And send more CAS forces there immediately. They're crazy, but those Scots may give us the advantage we need."
The order is transmitted, and Colonel Paton quickly orders the rest of the Royal Regiment forward, as well as some of his men and Warriors from the 1st Armored. At the same time, two Apache helicopters and two more Warthogs are ordered to go support the Scots.
Meanwhile, at the walls, Imperial forces are scrambling to find cover or retreat back towards the city as the Scots continue their attack. The stormtroopers are surprised with the ferocity the Scots are fighting with, and even more shocked that the three bagpipers are still playing. Many of the stormtroopers are convinced that the Scots have gone completely insane.
Inside the city, the Imperial general orders reinforcements towards the area the Scots are attacking. However, in his haste to get the forces there, the general orders them to take a rather open path there. As they are moving to reinforce the troopers being attacked by the Scots, they are spotted by the two SA-10s sent by Hall to lend more help. The two Warthogs dive to the attack, dropping cluster bombs and strafing with their cannons. After just a few attack runs, the reinforcements have been shattered, and the remaining stormtroopers scatter.
At the same time, Paton's reinforcements begin to reach the Scots as, simultaneously, on the northern side of the city, the Indian 5th Division begins a concentrated push, supported by heavy fire from tanks and an AW-1 walker, towards the walls of the city.
The Imperial general decides to dispatch a large force of stormtroopers, numbering about 5,000, to swing around and attack the Indian division from the side while the forces currently engaging the Indians hold their postion.
However, the move takes the stormtroopers beyond the walls of the city, and beyond area where there is risk for collateral damage. Hall is watching the entire progress of the battle from aerial footage taken by the cameras of several Global Hawk drones, all of which is being beamed to his HQ in real time, which is in turn beaming it to a tablet he's holding.
Hall gets on the radio back to his field HQ. "Contact the fleet. Tell them to lay down some fire on that force coming out of the city in the north," he orders.
In the field HQ, officers radio the fleet, passing on the coordinates of the Imperial forces. Thrawn immediately orders the Yamato to fire on them. The Yamato, with her cannons already fully charged, shifts position to get a better firing angle, trains her cannons, and fires. The blasts streak down through the atmosphere and hit in the middle of the Imperial force, killing several thousand stormtroopers and wounding more. In seconds, the attempted Imperial counterattack has been crushed.
At almost the same time, a formation of SB-1B bombers arrives from orbit. The bombers begin dropping 1,000 pound bombs on targets within Iziz. The city rocks as bomb after bomb hits their targets.
From his position, the Imperial general watches as a bomb destroys an artillery position just outside his headquarters. Any TIE fighters stationed on Onderon have long since been destroyed by Terran fighters, and they have no ground based air defenses left. These bombers are free to attack any target they choose with no fear of being attacked.
He's already called for reinforcements, but he has received no word from Coruscant. He knows that the chance of him getting reinforcements in time to stop the loss of the planet is diminishing.
Another bomb lands nearby, this time even closer, shaking his headquarters. The general ducks out of reflex, the straightens back up.
"Status report," the general says.
"Terran forces have entered the city in two locations and are moving further into the city. Our defenses are failing," an officer says.
The general thinks hard. He's already received word that his forces near the north pole have surrendered. And from what he's heard, forces elsewhere on the planet are also on the verge of defeat.
"Attempt to contact the Terran leaders. Let them know I am declaring my intention to surrender. Send orders to all troops and order them to stand down and surrender to Terran forces," the general says.
Outside, in the outer parts of the city, Hall leaps over a piece of rubble and cuts down a stormtrooper with his lightsaber. Finally, after nearly a day of combat, he's glad to be in the thick of the fighting.
As he continues leading a charge up the street, he suddenly sees stormtroopers start to throw down their weapons and get down on their knees with their hands raised. Then, just moments later, his commlink begins to buzz. Pulling it out, he activates it, and Thrawn appears.
"Thrawn," Hall says simply.
"General Hall, I have received word from the Imperial commander. He has declared his intention to surrender. The order to surrender is being sent out to Imperial troops. Begin taking custody of Imperial forces and organizing the occupation," Thrawn orders.
"Understood, Thrawn," Hall says.
Across the city, and in other combat zones across the planet, stormtroopers begin throwing down their weapons and surrendering. It takes less than half an hour for all of the Imperial forces to surrender.
(The next day)
Hall walks out onto a balcony on the outside of the palace in Iziz. It's been almost a day since the end of the battles on the planet's surface. The Empire had attempted to send a fleet to reinforce the planet, but it arrived too late, and was beaten off by Thrawn's fleet.
At last, Onderon is in Terran hands. It was a costly battle, costing four warships and almost 20,000 troops on the ground. But, the planet is in Terran hands, and the Alliance has taken almost 70,000 Imperial prisoners.
Hall reflects on the magnitude of this. This was a battle the Empire couldn't really afford to lose. After having lost so badly in their attempt to invade Earth, having lost so many forces and such a crucial planet will be a terrible blow to the Empire. Unless the Empire has forces and weapons they haven't yet revealed, or get a miracle victory, Hall believes at this point that the best the Empire can hope for is a settlement with the Alliance.
But Hall believes that will never happen. Looking out at the Onderon sky, he looks forward to the day that he will once again stand on Coruscant, celebrating victory over the Empire.
And, I'll end there. Hope you liked that chapter.
I decided to select Onderon because I wanted the Alliance to take a planet in the Inner Rim, but not too far into the Inner Rim. Plus, given Onderon's importance in the past, I considered it the perfect candidate. The fall of Onderon will definitely be a terrible loss for the Empire.
For those who noticed, I named a new member species of the Terran Alliance: The Lotirians. They are a species of my own creation. I imagine them to be humanoid lizards, in that they have a human like body, but completely scaly like a lizards, clawed hands and feet, a short tail, and a lizard's head. I also imagine them being larger than a human, with 7 feet being a normal height for Lortirians.
Now, for those wondering about the bagpipes leading the Scottish soldiers. I got the idea from the story of Bill Millin, a Scottish soldier who, on D-Day, marched ashore on Sword Beach playing the bagpipes. He marched all the way onto the beach and stood among his fellow British troops as bullets were flying around him, all while playing the bagpipes. Apparently, some captured German snipers later said they actually never tried to shoot at him because they thought he'd gone completely mad. I mean, if that's not badass, I don't know what is.
Now, for those who haven't yet seen, the first trailer for the next season of the Mandalorian is out. And boy, am I excited. I'm kinda disappointed they didn't show too much of the really new stuff or stuff everyone's most excited for, but I also kinda like that they did that. I don't want them to give up too much. Now, I've mentioned this before, but I'm gonna do a side story based on the Mandalorian, which will start at the very end of Season 1, and really get going in Season 2. I'll wait until Season 2 is over to start it. I won't spoil it too much, but I will say a major character from the Alliance will meet the Mandalorian.
Also, just a reminder that if you haven't already, please go check out my 9/11 side story titled When the World Stopped Turning.
Alright. Next chapter should be up sometime soon. Until then, please leave a review, and stay tuned!