Hey, everybody. Back with another chapter.
Let's get to it.
Guest DCDGojira: I've never seen Star Wars Resistance, actually, so no confirmation on that.
Guest: I don't plan on having Vader survive, no
8Ball3: To answer your question, possibly.
Guest: Yes, Ahsoka will have grandkids by the third story.
Darker Evening: They will probably try.
Dalej0523: I couldn't tell you a more specific guess, but it is well into the tens of millions in ground troops alone, and tens of million in the Starfleet.
Chapter 66- Battle of Endor Begins
(June 26, 2016)
Han looks over a fallen tree at the landing pad down the ridge. As he watches, a Lambda class shuttle takes off from the landing pad and climbs off into the atmosphere.
Coming up beside him, Leia says, "The main entrance to the control bunker is on the far side of that landing platform. This isn't gonna be easy."
Turning away and hiding back behind the fallen tree, Han says, "Hey, don't worry about it. Chewie and I got into a lot of places a lot more heavily guarded than this."
Right then, the Ewok that found Leia, Wicket, begins to speak. 3PO responds in the Ewok tongue, and the two have a brief conversation.
"What's he saying?" asks Leia.
"He's saying there's a secret entrance on the other side of the ridge," 3PO says.
(Sullust system)
In the outer reaches of the Sullust system, the massed Rebel fleet is moving into position to make its jump to hyperspace. As the Rebel ships and three accompanying Terran ships are moving into position, the Millenium Falcon flies right down the middle of the formation. Following right behind the Falcon are the 18 SF-15 Space Eagles of the Hammer Squadron. Behind them follow the rest of the fighters of the Rebel fleet, as all 40 SF-23 Black Widows of the 352nd Starfighter Wing.
The Falcon leads all of the fighters ahead of the ships. In the cockpit, Lando calls out over the radio, "Admiral, we're in position. All fighters accounted for."
On the main bridge of the Home One, Admiral Ackbar calls out over the frequency, "Proceed with the countdown. All groups, assume attack coordinates."
As Lando is having a brief conversation in the cockpit of Falcon with his copilot, behind him, Colonel Sharvit calls over another frequency to the rest of his squadron, "Alright, Hammer Squadron. You ready for this?"
"Never been more, Colonel," Jonathan replies.
"We're gonna show them!" Abigail calls out over the radio, prompting a round of cheers from the rest of the squadron.
From the Home One, Admiral Ackbar calls out top the entire fleet, "All craft, prepare to jump into hyperspace on my mark."
"Alright, standby," Lando says. He then flips a switch before pushing the Falcon's hyperspace throttles forward, and the Falcon jumps into hyperspace along with the rest of the fighters. Moments later, the ships of the fleet follow the fighters into hyperspace.
(Endor)
Ahead of the rest of the strike team, the other Ewok guiding them, Paploo, looks over a log at the small bunker and its four guards. Paploo then turns around and whistles to tell the team to hurry up.
Han hurries over to Paploo and looks over the log at the bunker. "Back door, huh? Good idea," he says to the Ewok.
Han and Leia sneak a bit closer while Wicket and Paploo start conversing in their language.
Taking a look at the scout troopers standing guard, Han turns back to Leia and says, "It's only a few guards. This shouldn't be too much trouble."
As Han says this, Wicket turns to 3PO and starts talking with him in Ewokese. Tuning that out, Leia says to Han, "It only takes one to sound the alarm."
"Then we do it real quiet like," Han says with a smile.
"Give me a minute to my boys in position, and they can pick those four off from the trees, no problem," Lt. Col. Brown says.
Right then, 3PO suddenly says, "Oh my! Princess Leia-!" Leia quickly turns and gets him to quiet down. After a moment, 3PO says, in a quieter voice, "I'm afraid our furry companion has gone and done something rather rash."
Chewie then lets out a low growl, and Leia, seeing what 3PO was talking about, says with dread, "Oh no."
Paploo had sneaked out of the bushes and was now making his way over to the scout troopers' speeder bikes. As they watch him, Han sighs and says, "There goes our surprise attack."
As they watch, Paploo sneaks over to one of the speeder bikes and slowly climbs onto it. Looking over the controls, Paploo reaches up and pulls a lever that turns on the bike. The sound of the bike turning on draws the attention of the scout troopers, and one of them yells out, "Look! Over there! Stop him!"
Paploo keeps pressing buttons and flipping switches. Then, suddenly, the bike just takes off, almost sending Paploo flying off it from the acceleration as it takes off into the trees.
As the speeder bikes disappears into the trees, three of the scout troopers hop on their speeder bikes and immediately take off in pursuit, leaving the fourth trooper behind.
After a moment, Han turns back to Leia, Chewie, and Brown with a grin on his face. "Not bad for a little furball. There's only one left," he says. He then points at 3PO and says, "You stay here."
3PO walks back over to R2 and Wickett and says, "I have decided that we shall stay here."
Han slowly leads the team through the bushes around to the other side of the bunker. After making sure the team is set up on the right side of the bunker, Han sneaks back around to the left side. After making sure the scout trooper has his back to him, Han sneaks up behind the trooper and taps him on the shoulder before running off. The trooper sees him and yells, "Hey!"
The trooper follows Han around the side of the bunker. As he comes around the side of the bunker, he suddenly comes face to face with the rest of the strike team. Before he can react, one of the Rangers kills him with a blaster shot to the throat.
The strike team quickly hurries to remove the trooper's armor. Rex then dons the armor while a few Rangers hide the trooper's body. As they do, Han manages to get the door open. He quickly turns to Brown and says, "You and your Rangers stay out here with Rex. I'll take the others inside and we'll set the charges."
"Sounds like a plan," Brown says. He then turns to start issuing orders to the Rangers while Han, Leia, and Chewie lead the 9 remaining Rebel troops into the bunker.
(Death Star)
At the top of the Emperor's Spire on the second Death Star, lights on the elevator door suddenly light up. Only a moment later, the door opens, revealing Luke and Kelly, both with their hands still bound, and Darth Vader standing behind them.
Vader escorts the two out of the elevator. The three of them walk over to a set of stairs and slowly ascend the stairs. When they reach the top of the stairs, they stop several yards away from the throne sitting beside the viewport.
The throne slowly turns to face them, revealing the Emperor himself sitting in it. He looks at the two of them for a moment before saying, "Welcome, young Skywalkers. I have been expecting you. You no longer need those." With a motion of his finger, the Emperor releases their binders, which fall to the floor.
The Emperor then looks past them to his guards and says, "Guards, leave us." The guards silently turn away and slowly walk out of sight.
The Emperor smirks at the two of them. "I'm looking forward to completing your training. In time, you both will call me Master."
"You're gravely mistaken. You won't convert us like you did my father," Luke says.
The Emperor slowly stands up and walks over to them as he says, "Oh no, my young Jedi. You will find that it is you who are mistaken, about a great many things."
Vader then reaches out, holding their lightsabers, and says, "Their lightsabers."
"Ah yes. A Jedi's weapon. Much like the those of your fathers. By now, young Skywalker, you must know that your father can never be turned from the dark side. So will it be with you," the Emperor says.
"You're wrong. Soon I'll be dead, and you with me," Luke says.
The Emperor lets out a chilling chuckle before he says, "Perhaps you refer to the imminent attack of your Rebel fleet. Yes, I assure you, we are quite safe from your friends here." He finishes with disdain before he turns away from them.
"Your overconfidence is your weakness, My Lord," Kelly says, her voice dripping with disdain, especially on the last two words.
"Your faith in your friends is yours," the Emperor says, briefly turning to face them before turning back and walking back to his throne.
"It is pointless to resist," Vader says to the two.
The Emperor sits down on his throne, setting their lightsabers down, one on each arm of his throne, before he says confidently, "Everything that has transpired has done so according to my design. Your friends up there on the sanctuary moon are walking into the trap, as is your Rebel fleet. It was I who allowed the Rebellion to know the location of the shield generator. It is quite safe from your pitiful little band. An entire legion of my best troops awaits them. Oh, I'm afraid the deflector shield will be quite operational when your friends arrive." He then smiles wickedly at them, looking forward to breaking them and turning them to the darkness.
(Mandalore)
A series of massive explosions rock the plain around Sundari as a pair of SB-1s drop their entire load of Mk-82 500 lb bombs. Over 160 bombs impact the front line of an Imperial division, tearing through their formation and killing hundreds of troopers.
About a mile away, an American Colonel watches through his binoculars. He's one of several officers directing the US Army's 1st Armored Division as it is helping in the attack on the city of Sundari. As the smoke and flames from the bombs fade, the Colonel turns to some of his officers. "They're hit bad. Send the M1s from the 37th and the 70th in on a straight in approach, and order the Leviathans from the 1st to swing around and come in from the west," he orders.
The officers hurry to send out the orders. The tanks and walkers of the various regiments of the division begin moving towards the Imperial lines.
A few miles away, an Indonesian division, the 1st Kostrad Infantry Division, is also making its push towards Sundari. A dozen Indonesian tanks fire their main guns to take out a trio of AT-ST walkers. A pair of AT-ATs start moving in the direction of the Indonesian division. An Indonesian Colonel quickly calls for close air support.
Within seconds, a flight of four Mirage 5000s dives towards the ground. Each Mirage fires a pair of proton torpedoes. The torpedoes streak down and strike the massive walkers, tearing them apart in giant explosions. The Indonesian troops, which had stopped their advance momentarily, continue moving and double their rate of advance.
Up in orbit, Korolyov is watching feeds of the battle around Sundari from a series of drones flying over the battlefield. He smiles a bit as he watches the Terran forces slowly tightening their circle around Sundari. It won't be long before Mandalore is fully in Terran hands.
(Endor, Shield Generator)
Inside the shield generator's main control room, several Imperial officers and technicians are monitoring the systems when all of sudden there's a small blast and the door into the room slides open, revealing Han, Leia, and Chewie, as well as the Pathfinders.
"Up! Move! Come on! Quickly! Quickly!" Han shouts. The Imperials quickly get up and hurry into the corner, as Chewie and two of the Pathfinders keep them under the gun.
Leia hurries over to the control panel. She then looks back at Han and says, "Han, hurry. The fleet will be here any moment."
"Charges! Come on!" Han calls. One of the Pathfinders tosses him a box full of explosive charges.
Meanwhile, outside, things are starting to go wrong. Brown and the Rangers had been surprised when what seemed like hundreds of stormtroopers and a number of AT-ST walkers had just appeared out of the trees. They had tried to fight at first, but after one of the Rangers was killed and it became clear how badly they were outnumbered, they and Rex all surrendered. Now, stormtroopers are hurrying into the bunker.
In the bushes, 3PO, who has somehow escaped notice, says, "Oh my, they'll be captured."
At this, Wicket says something before hurrying off. "Wait! Where are you going?" 3PO asks, but Wicket just chatters as he hurries off.
"R2, stay with me," 3PO says.
Meanwhile, inside the control room, an Imperial officer comes into the room, yelling, "Freeze!" Han responds by throwing the box of charges and knocking him over the railing with a yelp.
Only a second later, more Imperial troops and officers come rushing into the control center. One of the officers holds a blaster in Han's face and says with venom in his tone, "You rebel scum!" The other troopers hurry to disarm the rest of the rebels.
(Endor, orbit)
In the cockpit of his SF-15, Jonathan runs a final check of his systems and all his weapons. They've almost reached the end of their hyperspace run. Once they emerge from hyperspace, the Hammer Squadron will be at the head of the strike force, ready to clear the way for the rest of the fleet.
"Ready for this, Alex?" Jonathan asks.
"You bet," Alex responds from the backseat.
A few moments later, Jonathan reaches forward and pulls back on the hyperspace throttles. The SF-15 drops out of hyperspace behind Captain Sharvit's SF-15 and the Millenium Falcon. Behind him, the rest of the fighters and the ships of the fleet drop out of hyperspace.
Up ahead, Endor and the Death Star come into view. Jonathan's face grows very serious, realizing the magnitude of this. This is an even more important mission than the attack on Coruscant.
In the Millenium Falcon's cockpit, Lando looks over his systems before getting on the radio and says, "All units report in."
"Red Leader, standy by," Wedge says from his cockpit.
"Grey Leader, standing by," Grey Leader, Horton Salm, replies.
"green Leader, standing by," Green Leader, Arvel Crynyd, replies.
"Blade Leader, standing by," Blade Leader, Adon Fox, replies.
"Hammer Squadron, standing by," Captain Sharvit calls out.
"And the 352nd is standing by," Captain Paul Moga, new CO of the 352nd, calls out.
"Lock S-Foils in attack position," Wedge calls out over the radio. Across the strike force, X-Wings and B-Wings let out their S-Foils.
As Jonathan approaches the Death Star, Alex powers up the weapons systems and starts trying to lock onto the battlestation. However, even though he's at the very edge of his weapons range, he finds he can't gain any kind of lock.
"Jonathan, I can't lock onto the station. I think something is interfering with the targeting system," Alex says.
Jonathan feels confused. His mind runs through what could be causing this. Maybe he's still too far. But he seems too close. Then, a chill runs over his body. "They knew we're coming," he says.
Right then, Lando calls out over the frequency, "Break off the attack! The shield is still up!"
"I got no reading. Are you sure?" Wedge asks.
"Pull up! All craft, pull up!" Lando yells over the frequency. Jonathan yanks back on the stick immediately, he and the rest of the squadron missing hitting the shield by mere feet. Admiral Ackbar quickly echoes the order to the rest of the fleet.
On board the Star Destroyer Salt Lake City, Rear Admiral Kott looks at the battlestation, then down at Endor, recognizing that something must have held up the ground team. A moment later, he orders, "Send down the landing force. And tell Captain Adams I want him to go with the team."
The order is quickly relayed down to the hangar. Calvin, hearing the order, quickly gets out of his SF-23, sprinting over to one of the shuttles carrying elements of the US 1st Marine Division and the Indian Army's 61st Cavalry Regiment. Kott had ordered that the force be prepared ahead of time in case the strike team needed reinforcements.
As the shuttles prepare to leave the ship, on board the Home One, a Mon Calamari officer calls out to Admiral Ackbar, "Admiral, we have enemy ships in Sector 47."
"It's a trap!" Ackbar declares.
As Jonathan continues his turn, he sees the enemy fleet up ahead. He can see about 40 ships, mainly Star Destroyers, but at least two battlecruisers, several cruisers and frigates, and at the center of the fleet, the Executor.
Then, Jonathan sees something. A horde of TIE fighters and interceptors heading straight for them. "We have TIE fighters incoming!" he yells over the radio.
"All fighters, cleared to engage!" Captain Moga yells over the radio.
Jonathan switches over to his laser cannons and squeezes the trigger as the two fighter forces merge, spraying laser fire into the midst of the TIE fighters, blowing apart a pair of TIE interceptors.
"Accelerate to attack speed! Draw their fire away from the cruisers!" Lando calls over the radio.
"Copy that, Gold Leader!" Wedge replies.
Both fighter forces merge into a massive furball around the Rebel fleet, twisting and turning in a series of massive dogfights. As they engage in this massive fight, more fighters launch from the three Terran ships, and several landing ships pull away from the Salt Lake City and start heading planetside.
(Death Star)
"Come, young Skywalkers. See for yourself," the Emperor says. Luke and Kelly together walk up to the window, looking out at the Rebel fleet as the TIEs are engaging, and the Imperial fleet is it is moving into position.
"From here you will witness the final destruction of the Alliance, the end of your insignificant Rebellion, and the defeat that will force the Terran Alliance's surrender," the Emperor says confidently.
"If you think it's so easy to discourage the Terran Alliance, you don't know us at all. We will fight until we have no fight left in us," Kelly says firmly.
Luke looks at the Emperor, then glances down at his lightsaber. The Emperor smiles slightly as he pats the lightsaber while saying, "You want this, don't you? The hate is swelling in you now. Take your Jedi weapon. Use it. I am unarmed. Strike me down with it. Give in to your anger. With each passing moment, you make yourself more my servant," the Emperor says
Luke looks firmly at the Emperor as he squeezes Kelly's hand. "No," he says in an iron tone.
"It is unavoidable. It is your destiny. You, like your father, are now mine," the Emperor says evilly.
And, I'll end there.
I was seriously debating where to end this chapter. Finally, I decided this is where to do it. Originally, I'd planned for the battle to take two chapters, but now, I'm starting to think it may have to be three chapters. I'll see when I start writing the next chapter whether or not I need to split the next chapter up into two. Probably, but not guaranteed.
Alright. Next chapter will be up this week. Until then, please leave a review, and stay tuned!