Hey. Everybody. Back with another chapter.
So, this is the final chapter of the Battle of Endor. Hope you guys are excited for it.
Let's get to it.
GREAT CELESTIAL DRAGON: I may have just missed your message, although I don't check messages on the wiki as often as PMs on here. But feel free to send me any messages you want to.
Snitchpogi12: No worries. I understand wanting to put in your own ideas. However, I have some different ideas for how the Army is organized, as well as fighters. Plus, the Alliance already has so many fighters, so I'm gonna stick with the fighters they have so far.
Guest DCDGojira: Not sure when the fourth story will take place.
Chapter 68- Victory at Endor
(Death Star)
Kelly watches with a small amount of anxiety as Luke and Vader's sabers clash again and again, their duel taking them closer to the stairs.
As Kelly watches them, she feels nervous as she can both see and sense Luke starting to use some of his anger. As she watches, Luke deflects one of Vader's blows, then gets under his guard and kicks him in the chest, knocking Vader tumbling through the air to land at the base of the stairs.
The Emperor laughs as he watches this. "Good! Use your aggressive feelings, boy. Let the hate flow through you," he declares.
"Don't give in, sweetie!" Kelly calls to her husband, but is cut off as the Emperor temporarily restricts her airways with the Force. Luke, however, seems to listen to her, deactivating his lightsaber.
Vader slowly walks back towards the stairs, saying as he goes, "Obi-Wan has taught you well. As has my apprentice, I suspect."
"I will not fight you, father," Luke says simply, trying to appeal to the light he still believes is within Vader.
Vader slowly walks up the stairs towards Luke. Reaching the top of the stairs, he says, "You are unwise to lower your defenses!" As he finishes, he swings his saber at Luke's head, but Luke quickly reignites his saber and blocks it. They hold their sabers against each other for a moment before they continue their duel, striking and parrying several times before their sabers clash again.
The two struggle against each other, and Luke realizes he can't match Vader's pure strength. He pushes Vader's saber aside with his own. As Vader tries to turn towards him, Luke leaps into the middle of a circle of consoles. Then, as Vader tries get close to Luke, Luke backflips up onto the walkway behind him.
"Your thoughts betray you, Father. I feel the good in you, the conflict," Luke says.
"There is no conflict," Vader replies curtly.
Walking slowly along the walkway, Luke says, "You couldn't bring yourself to kill me before, and I don't believe you'll destroy me now."
"You underestimate the power of the dark side. If you will not fight, then you will meet your destiny," Vader says. Vader then throws his lightsaber, which cuts through the supports of the walkway, causing it to fall from the ceiling. Luke falls with it, disappearing behind a bank of equipment.
The Emperor laughs as he stands up from his throne and walks a few steps towards Vader. "Good. Good," he says as Vader walks down the stairs and reignites his lightsaber to again search for Luke.
Seeing this, Kelly feels anger rising in her, but she quickly quells it. At the same time, she decides it's time to end this. Summoning the Force around you, immersing herself as much as she can in the light side. Then, drawing on her strength in the Force and her lessons under Plo Koon on how to harness this power, she slowly raises her hand and points it at the Emperor as best she can, and with a deep breath, she unleashes a bolt of Force judgement at the Emperor.
The Emperor cries out in pain and falls to his knees as the bolt hits him, breaking his hold on Kelly and causing her to fall to the ground. Kelly then quickly regains her feet. She watches as the Emperor pulls himself back to his feet. And as he slowly turns to her, Kelly reaches out with one hand. From yards away, her lightsaber flies through the air and into her hand, its blade springing to life.
"Your rule ends today, my lord," she says, pouring sarcasm into the last two words.
"You think to challenge me? You can stand by my side and have all that this universe has to give. Or you can stand and die," the Emperor demands.
"I will never fall," she says simply. After a moment, she says with a smirk, "You've tried to stop me with the Force. Are you too scared to face me with a lightsaber?"
The Emperor stands there for a moment, then smirks. A moment later, from within the folds of his robes, he produces a lightsaber, a moment later igniting its crimson blade.
Kelly twirls her lightsaber once as she says, "I'm going to end this once and for all." She then charges at the Emperor. A second later, their blades clash, and once again, an Adams clashes blades with a Sith.
(Endor, Orbit)
On board the Salt Lake City, Admiral Kott smiles a bit as he watches the Devastator explode. The Salt Lake City had been in a duel with the Devastator for much of the battle so far. The duel had left the Salt Lake City with moderate damage, though most of her weapons were still intact. The only thing that had stopped her from being crippled by the amount of fire she'd taken was her more advanced shielding.
Looking back out of the viewport, Kott takes a moment to analyze the current situation. Even despite Admiral Jones' reinforcements, the Imperial fleet still vastly outnumbers them. The Rebel fleet has lost a number of ships, and one of the heavy cruisers in Jones' task force has been destroyed. The situation is still tense. Even the destruction of the Pride of Tarlandia hadn't bought them much of an advantage.
Suddenly, one of the bridge officers calls out, "Admiral, more ships dropping out of hyperspace."
"Hostile?" Kott asks cautiously.
There's a few moments of silence, then the officer says cheerfully, "No, Admiral. Friendly. In fact, very friendly."
Kott smiles a bit as he looks back out of the viewport. Then, just moments later, a small task force drops out of hyperspace near the Imperial fleet. Three Star Destroyers, one heavy cruiser, one light cruiser, and at the center, the Freedom.
On the bridge of the Freedom, Thrawn looks out at the view before him, taking a moment to anaylyze the current battle situation and gain situational awareness. After several moments, he orders, "Detach the escorts and order them to attack in wedge formation. As for us, set course point 75. Engage the Executor."
The escorting Star Destroyers and cruisers move away from the Freedom and arrange into a wedge formation before moving to engage the van of the Imperial fleet. As they do, the Freedom's engines throttle up to full power as it moves to engage the Executor.
On board the Executor, one of the Imperial officers shouts, "Admiral! The Terran Super Star Destroyer has dropped out of hyperspace and is moving to engage us!"
"Prepare to engage that ship!" Piett orders.
(Endor, Surface)
Inside the shield generator facility's command center, several Imperial personnel are monitoring their systems when their comms screen comes to life, showing an AT-ST pilot that, unknown to them, is a Marine in disguise.
"It's over, commander. The Rebels and Terran have been routed and they're fleeing into the woods. We need reinforcements to continue the pursuit," he says.
The Imperial commander, with a smile on his face, turns to one of his officers and says, "Send three squads to help!" He then turns to another officer and orders, "Open the back door!"
The squads of stormtroopers and Imperial officers are quickly assembled and sent towards the back door. As the doors open, they hurry out of the bunker.
Then, in an instant, at least a hundred Ewoks and dozens of Marines pop out of the brush surrounding the bunker, the Ewoks whooping as the Marines aim their assault rifles at the Imperials. Only a second later, twenty Indian cavalrymen ride up on their horses, weapons aimed at the Imperials as Calvin strides out of the trees, lightsabers in hand.
The Imperial men turn around to see Han standing in front of the entrance with several of the Rangers standing beside him. The Rangers keep their assault rifles aimed at the Imperials, while Han just smirks at them.
Recognizing that they are severely outnumbered, the stormtroopers and officers quickly surrender to their enemies. Marines move forward to take the Imperials into custody, while Rex and a number of Rangers follow Han and Chewie into the bunker.
The team moves swiftly down the corridors towards the control room. As they go, they hear thundering bootsteps, and seconds later, see a squad of about a dozen stormtroopers come around the corner towards them.
The Rangers instantly aim their assault rifles and pull the triggers, sending a spray of bullets towards the stormtroopers. Bullets tear through the forward ranks, killing four stormtroopers instantly. Two more stormtroopers are killed before the remaining stormtroopers are able to raise their blasters to fire.
The team scatters to either side of the hall. The Rangers pop their rifles out and fire off more rounds, killing four more stormtroopers rather quickly. Then, two Rangers charge the last two stormtroopers, attacking them with their fighting knives. One Ranger slashes his opponent's throat with his knife, while the other Ranger ducks under a punch from the last stormtrooper, grabs the trooper's arm to keep it spread, then drives his knife into the trooper's armpit.
The two Rangers drop the bodies of their two opponents. They quickly clean their knives before turning to the rest of the team and saying, "Come on."
Han and Chewie exchange a glance before they and the rest of the team follow the two Rangers.
The team soon reaches the control center. Six of the Rangers spread out in pairs to make sure no stormtroopers get near the control center as Han and the rest of the team start setting the charges.
(Death Star)
As Vader continues his search for Luke, Kelly sneers as she again slashes at the Emperor, only for him to block her strike. Kelly is privately surprised that the Emperor is still so good with a lightsaber at his current age.
"You'll never win, Palpatine," she says before pulling back and slashing at his waist, which he easily blocks. She slashes at him several more times, but the Emperor blocks each strike without hardly even moving.
"You are gravely mistaken, my dear," the Emperor says. He then pushes Kelly back before slashing at Kelly several times, forcing her off balance, before letting out a wave with the Force so strong it sends her flying across the throne room, landing on the walkway overlooking the deep pit leading down to the reactor.
The Emperor cackles. Vader, who had just gleaned from Luke's thoughts that he also has a daughter, sees Kelly land, and sees a perfect opportunity to draw Luke out of hiding.
"You have fought bravely, Kelly Adams. Now, you will die," Vader says as he stalks towards Kelly, slowly raising his saber in preparation.
"No!" Luke yells as he pops out of hiding, igniting his lightsaber. He charges at Vader, who quickly turns to face him.
The two clash, Luke pressing his attack fiercely as Vader tries to defend himself. Luke pushes Vader back further and further, slashing again and again, determined to protect his wife.
In a matter of moments, Luke has pushed Vader onto the walkway over the pit. Luke slashes at Vader several times so hard he pushes Vader onto his knees and up against the railing. He then slashes wildly at Vader a few times, Vader just managing to block them all, before Luke brings his saber down on Vader's wrist, severing his hand and sending it and his saber falling into the pit.
Luke raises his saber, ready to strike again, but then pauses as he sees Vader's hand stump. Then, Kelly says weakly, "No, honey. Don't give in." Luke looks at her, then down at Vader.
Then, from behind him, he hears the Emperor cackling. Looking behind him, he sees the Emperor slowly walking down the stairs, laughing and slowly clapping his hands. "Good. Good! Your hate has made you powerful. Now, fulfill your destiny, and take your father's place at my side," the Emperor says.
Luke stands there, looking down at his hand, then at the stump of Vader's hand, then over at Kelly, who is now on her feet and looking at him pleadingly.
Finally, Luke sighs and says, "No." He deactivates his lightsaber and slowly turns to the Emperor, saying simply, "Never." Luke then throws his saber away as he says, "I'll never turn to the dark side." Kelly slowly walks up to Luke's side as Luke says, "You have failed, your Highness. I am a Jedi, like my father before me."
The Emperor stares at the two of them for several moments before he says, "So be it. Jedi," he says in a scary tone.
(Orbit)
Jonathan barrel rolls through a storm of laser fire as he streaks past an Imperial cruiser. He quickly cuts his speed and barrel rolls up, allowing the TIE fighter on his tail to pass him, then quickly descends on its tail. He quickly centers the TIE in his gunsight and fires his laser cannons, blowing the TIE apart for his 20th kill for the day.
As Jonathan snaps into a hard right turn to look for another target, all of a sudden, Admiral Ackbar's voice comes over the radio, saying, "The shield is down! Commence attack on the Death Star's main reactor!"
Lando then comes over the radio, calling out, "We're on our way! Red Squadron! Gold Squadron! Hammer Squadron! All fighters follow me!"
"Abigail! On me!" Jonathan calls over the radio with a smile. Abigail quickly pulls up alongside his left wing, and together, the two follow Lando towards the Death Star.
(Death Star)
"If you will not be turned," the Emperor says, pausing as he raises his hands, then saying, "You will be destroyed!" As he finishes, he lets out a powerful bolt of Force lightning from each hand, one bolt striking Luke and the other striking Kelly.
The two fall to the ground, crying out in pain. The Emperor smiles a grim smile and says, "Young fools. Only now, at the end, do you understand." He then raises his hands again and sends another brief bolt at them. After a moment, he sends another pair of bolts at them, holding them for several seconds before he starts walking towards them.
"Your feeble skills are no match for the power of the dark side," he says. Luke and Kelly try to get back on their feet, but the Emperor briefly shocks them again, causing them to fall back to the ground in pain.
"You have both paid the price for your lack of vision," he says before letting out the most powerful bolts he has so far released.
Luke and Kelly scream in pain as the Emperor holds the lightning on them, both writhing on the floor in pain. Luke cries out for Vader to help them, but Vader simply looks on.
The Emperor smirks as he keeps up the lightning, taking dark pleasure in their screams. Finally, he stops the lightning for a few moments, smiling a dark smile. "Now, my young Skywalkers, you will die," he says.
The Emperor's smile grows even more. Kelly and Luke both look at each other, still wracked by the pain. The two slowly reach out with their hands towards each other, thinking that if this is it, they want to at least hold hands one last time.
However, before their fingers can touch, the Emperor raises his hands and lets loose with the most powerful lightning bolts yet. Luke and Kelly again begin screaming as the lightning arcs across their bodies, seemingly setting every nerve and pain receptor on fire. The two can't stop screaming, feeling as if the lightning is slowly burning the life out of them.
Beside the Emperor, Vader looks on, the conflict within him growing stronger and stronger. He looks back and forth between the Emperor and his son and daughter in law. Finally, as he looks down at his son being tortured by the lightning, at last, the bands of the dark side on his heart break.
Vader turns to the Emperor and lunges towards him, grabbing the Emperor and lifting him over his head. The Emperor cries out in surprise and a bit of fear, his lightning going all over the place.
Luke and Kelly feel relief flood their bodies as they are freed from the lightning. Both of them raise themselves up on their elbows and look behind them to see Vader holding the Emperor over his head, the Emperor's lightning going all over the place, with some of it running down Vader's body. As they watch, Vader walks up to the edge of the pit and throws the Emperor over the edge. Vader collapses against the railing as the Emperor falls down the shaft, eventually disappearing from sight before his body is vaporized by the reactor, sending a wave of energy up the shaft.
Luke and Kelly slowly get to their fleet and stumble over to Vader. As they approach him, they can hear that his artificial breathing sounds different, clearly damaged by the Emperor's lightning. Luke pulls him away from the railing, holding him as he examines Vader's suit. It's clear he's been badly hurt by the Emperor's lightning.
After several moment, Luke looks up at Kelly. "We need to get him out of here," he says. Kelly just nods. Summoning what strength they can, they ease Vader up and start helping him towards the elevator.
(Orbit)
Jonathan banks slightly to the left to avoid turbolaser fire from turbolaser mounts on the Death Star as he streaks low over the Death Star's surface. He's flying right behind Wedge, who is leading the pack. Several fighters are behind him, then the Millenium Falcon. Abigail is following directly behind the Falcon.
"I'm going in," Wedge calls over the radio. He pulls up and wings over, diving into a large opening in the Death Star's surface. Jonathan performs the same maneuver, diving through the hole and into the Death Star. The Falcon and a number of fighters from Red and Gold Squadrons follow them in, with the remaining fighters of Red and Gold Squadron, as well as the rest of the Hammer Squadron, continue attack against weapons emplacements on the Death Star's surface.
Jonathan quickly realizes this is going to be extremely difficult. His SF-15 is bigger than any of the other fighters, and is almost as big as the Falcon. While the tunnel through the Death Star is big enough for his Space Eagle to fit through, it's a very tight squeeze.
"Lock onto the strongest power source. It should be the power generator," Lando calls over the radio.
Wedge quickly follows that up with, "Form up! Stay alert! We could run out of space real fast."
"No kidding," Jonathan mutters to himself as he slowly barrel rolls to pass through a narrower section.
Behind them, several TIE fighters and TIE interceptors that followed them in are closing in on them. The lead TIE fighter finally gets firing angle on the rearmost Rebel fighter, an X-Wing, and fires. The laser bolts hit the X-Wing, which explodes in a fireball.
"Split up and head back to the surface! See if you can get a few of those TIE fighters to follow you," Lando calls over the radio.
"Copy Gold Leader," one of the pilots calls out. Most of the fighters, including Abigail, break off and head down another passage to head back up to the surface while Wedge, Jonathan, and Lando press on. The diversion works, as all of the normal TIE fighters and an interceptor follow the other fighters, with just two interceptors following the three leaders.
Meanwhile, outside, the Freedom has closed the range with the Executor. Thrawn cracks a small grin before he says, "Open fire."
An instant later, the Freedom's turbolasers, ion cannons, and railguns open fire on the Executor. The turbolaser bolts and ion cannon blasts quickly begin to wear down the Executor's shields as the projectiles from the railguns begin tearing into the Super Star Destroyer's hull.
The Executor quickly returns fire, firing every weapon that can aim at the Freedom. The fire from the Executor begins to wear down the Freedom's shields, but not nearly as fast as the Freedom is doing to the Executor.
On board the Home One, Admiral Ackbar says, "We have to give those fighters more time, and that Terran ship needs our help. Concentrate all fire on that Super Star Destroyer!"
A number of Rebel ships move into position, along with the Granite Mountain. All of the ships open fire with their turbolasers as starfighters make attack runs on the Executor, targeting the ship's weapons emplacements.
On the bridge of the Freedom, Thrawn is watching as thousands of turbolaser bolts continue to slam into the Executor. A volley of bolts from the Executor finally penetrates some of the Freedom's shields, blasting some crater in the hull not far from the bridge.
Thrawn grabs a railing to steady himself. He then turns his head and calls out, "Order our fighters to attack the Executor's engines."
As the communications officers try to send out Thrawn's order, A-Wings from Green Squadron make an attack run on the Executor's bridge. Several of the A-Wings successfully destroy the bridge deflector shield generator, while others manage to destroy one of the ship's sensor bulbs, lessening the ship's ability to detect incoming fighters.
On the bridge of the Executor, one of the bridge officers calls out to Admiral Piett, "Sir, we lost our bridge deflector shields!"
"Intensify the forward batteries. I don't want anything to get through," Admiral Piett responds.
As Green Leader leads several X-Wings in a trench run along the cityscape of the Super Star Destroyer, two full squadrons of Mirage 5000s streak in towards the Executor's engines. Avoiding a few TIE fighters, the Mirages begin launching proton torpedoes as the Executor begins a turn to get into a better position to allow for more of its weapons for fire on the Freedom.
Torpedo after torpedo streaks in and finds its mark. By the time the last torpedo finds its target, 6 of the ship's engines have been destroyed.
As the last torpedoes hit their mark, Green Leader's A-Wing is hit by turbolaser fire, damaging its wing. Knowing he's not gonna make it, but determined to finish off the ship, he aims his A-Wing right at the bridge. Yelling as he goes, Green Leader flies his A-Wing right into the Executor's bridge. Instantly, the A-Wing's fuel is set off in a large explosion that tears through the bridge, killing Admiral Piett and all of the bridge crew and destroying the ship's critical systems.
Fires quickly begin to tear through the bridge, destroying more and more systems and controls. At the same time, the loss of the six engines combined with the turn the Executor had just begun causes the ship to lose control as the Death Star's gravity overcomes the ship and its remaining engines, pulling the Executor towards it.
On board the ships of the fleet, everyone, both Rebels and terrans, begin to cheer as they watch the Executor "falling" towards the Death Star. As they watch, the Executor, trailing flames from the bridge and its engines, crashes into the surface of the Death Star. Just a moment later, a massive explosion tears the Super Star Destroyer apart and blasts a huge crater in the Death Star's surface.
(Death Star)
Throughout the Death Star, chaos reigns. It is now clear to the personnel aboard that the shield is gone and the station is virtually defenseless. Many personnel race for the hangars, trying to find shuttles or fighters that they can use to get off the battlestation.
Amidst all of this, Luke and Kelly are carrying Vader towards a Lambda class shuttle. As they near the shuttle, Vader says weakly, "Luke…"
"Don't waste any of your strength. Don't worry, we'll get you help," Kelly says.
Luke and Kelly carefully carry Vader aboard the shuttle and set him down in the back. While Kelly stays in the back to keep an eye on him, Luke quickly powers up the shuttle's engines and lifts it off the hangar floor, flying it out of the hangar.
As Luke flies the shuttle out of the hangar, deep inside the Death Star, Wedge, Jonathan, and Lando continue flying deeper into the battlestation. As they continue flying down a passage, Wedge calls out, "There it is!"
The two fighters and the Falcon fly into the main reactor chamber. As they enter, Lando calls out on the radio, "Wedge, hit the shield generator! Jonathan, go for the particle regulator on the north tower!"
"Copy, Gold Leader. I'm already on my way up," Wedge says.
Wedge pulls up into a climb and fires a pair of proton torpedoes at a shield generator that is generating a protective shield over the reactor. The generator explodes, lowering the shield.
Wedge banks away as Jonathan heads for the particle regulator. In the backseat, Alex locks up the SF-15s last two Mavericks, and Jonathan squeezes the trigger. The two missiles hit the regulator, blowing it apart.
Finally, Lando flies in on the Falcon, firing a pair of ST2 concussion missiles at the reactor itself. The missiles impact directly on target, critically damaging the reactor.
Wedge and Lando quickly loop around and fly back into the passage they just entered from, the last TIE interceptor that had been pursuing them that is still intact right on their tails. However, Jonathan, who had hung back briefly, pulls in right on the TIE's tail and fires his laser cannons, destroying it and scoring his 21st kill of the day.
Outside, Admiral Ackbar, aware of the successful attack, orders, "Move the fleet away from the Death Star." Much of the Rebel fleet disengages from the battle and heads towards Endor, while the Terran ships continue engaging the Imperial ships as they move further away from the Death Star.
Inside the Death Star, Wedge, Lando, and Jonathan continue racing for the surface, trying desperately to outrun the cloud of flame chasing them as the explosion of the reactor is radiating outwards through the battlestation.
Wedge reaches the surface first, streaking out of the hole in the surface and towards the retreating Rebel fleet. Moments later, Lando streaks out of the hole, cheering.
Jonathan holds the SF-15, pushing the throttles as high as he can. "Come on baby. Come on, old girl, you got this," he says to his fighter.
The flames are quickly catching up with the SF-15, licking at the tail of the fighter. Outside of the cockpit, he can see the vapor from the blast outrunning him. However, Jonathan holds the fighter steady. Finally, right as the flames reach the opening, the Space Eagle shoots out of the opening amidst the flames, streaking away to safety.
"Yee-haw!" Jonathan yells at the top of his lungs as the SF-15 streaks away from the Death Star. As the fighter reaches a safe distance, Jonathan looks behind him, right as the Death Star explodes in a gigantic explosion.
"Yes! We did it!" Jonathan yells as Alex cheers from the backseat.
Across the fleet, sailors and officers cheer as they watch the Death Star explode. Recognizing the devastating morale blow this will be for the Empire, the Terran warships press their attack against the Imperial fleet, which slowly begins to retreat, and some of them begin to retreat.
As the Terran ships press their attack, Luke continues flying the shuttle, now headed straight for the Freedom. He had called ahead to the ship, letting him know he was coming in and needed a medical crew as soon as he arrived.
Luke guides the shuttle underneath the Freedom and flies right into the massive hangar bay before setting it down and lowering the boarding ramp. He and Kelly then both hurry into the back and pick Vader up. They stumble down the ramp before their strength fails them and they collapse.
"Medic!" Kelly yells. Hangar crews quickly echo this call.
Luke tries to get Vader into a more comfortable position. As he does, Vader looks up at Luke and says, "Luke, help me take this mask off."
"But you'll die," Luke protests.
"Nothing can stop that now. Just once, let me look on you with my own eyes," Vader says.
Kelly slowly reaches out and squeezes Luke's hand to give him a little boost. Luke looks at her gratefully, then reaches out with both hands and lifts away the back part of Vader's helmet. Then, he grabs the mask itself and pulls it away, revealing the a heavily scarred and burned face of a man. His face looks hard and ironed, but even in his eyes, which are still a bit hardened, there is a shine that neither of them can fully place.
After several moments, Vader, now Anakin Skywalker once again, "You have grown into a great man. I am proud of who you have become." This makes Luke smile a bit.
Anakin then turns his head a bit and looks at Kelly. He smiles the smallest of smiles, "You are wonderful young woman, Kelly Adams. You have your father's strength and kindness in you." He pauses, then says, "I suppose I could not ask for a better woman for my son."
Kelly smiles, a tear coming to her eye, feeling that he has, in his final moments, become the father in law she wished he could be. "Thank you. I'll do my best to be the best companion for Luke that I can," she says.
"Luke!"
Luke and Kelly turn their heads. To their surprise, they see Ahsoka and Hall running towards them. Ahsoka, who had been flying her fighter in support of the battle, had landed aboard the ship to refuel and re-arm, while Hall had been aboard the ship from the beginning.
"What happened?" Hall demands as he and Ahsoka hurry up.
"He saved us and killed the Emperor. But the Emperor hit him with Force lightning. He's been badly hurt," Kelly says.
After hearing that, Ahsoka kneels down next to Anakin. Anakin looks up at her. He smiles ever so slightly and says weakly, "Snips."
Ahsoka lets out a single laugh as tears start roll down her cheeks. "Master. It's good to have you back," she says.
"I am very sorry…for all the pain I've caused you," he says.
"I forgive you, Anakin," she says.
Anakin then looks at Hall. "Tyler," he says more weakly than ever.
Hall finally kneels down on one knee and rests a hand on his shoulder. "Anakin," he responds.
"I am sorry…for everything. I have hated you for so long…but you were right. I let myself be deceived," Anakin says.
"It's okay, Anakin. And…I'm sorry for all the pain I've caused you," Hall says.
"I am glad…that at the end…we can be brothers once more," Anakin says.
Hall smiles, a tear welling up in one eye, and he says, "of course. Brother."
Anakin smiles a bit, then looks at Luke. "Now, leave me, my son. Let me go," he says.
"No. I'm not going to let you go, I've got to save you," Luke says.
"You already have, Luke. You were right. You were right about me. Tell your sister, you were right," he says. He pauses, then looks at Kelly and says, "Take care of my son."
"Always," she says.
"Anakin," Ahsoka says to get his attention. As Anakin looks at her, she says, "I need to tell you something. A few months ago, I gave birth to my third child. A boy. And Dakota and I…we named him Anakin."
Anakin lies there for a moment, surprised, before he smiles and says, "I am honored. I hope…he will become a better man than I was."
"You were a great man," Ahsoka says, holding his hand in both of hers.
Anakin smiles a bit. He then looks around at everyone and says, "Farewell, my son. My friends." He then closes his eyes.
Everyone gathered around Anakin stares down at him, not wanting to believe that he's gone. Then, they hear someone shout, "Move! Out of the way!"
They look to the side and see a medic crew descending on them. They all step back, allowing the medics to swarm around Anakin.
"No breathing!" one of them yells. Another medic slides an oxygen mask onto Vader's face.
Another medic feels for a pulse and shouts, "No pulse!" The medic quickly plants his hands on Anakin's chest and begins pumping his chest in CPR.
The medics try desperately to get him breathing again and his heart beating. However, after a minute, the medics realize that it's useless. They slowly stand up, and one of them looks at his watch before saying, "Time of death: 1537 Zulu time."
Luke, Kelly, Ahsoka, and Hall all look down at Anakin's body, not wanting to believe that Anakin is gone. Finally, all of them turn to each other and embrace in a large group hug. They've won the Battle of Endor, but at terrible price.
(Mandalore)
On the bridge of the Tirpitz, Admiral Korolyov smiles as he looks down at the planet below. After extensive combat, Mandalore is now under Terran control. The Imperial fleet had lost several hundred ships trying to defend the planet and almost a million stormtroopers. Now, there are just a few small pockets of resistance left on the planet. Other than that, Mandalore is fully under Terran control.
"Admiral!" one of the bridge officers calls out.
"Yes, Commander?" he asks.
"Sir, we have a report from Grand Admiral Thrawn. Our forces at Endor have succeeded. They've destroyed the Death Star, and we have confirmation that the Emperor is dead," the man says.
Korolyov grins at that news. Looking back out of the viewport, he says, "The Empire is going to start crumbling. It won't be much longer now."
And, I'll end there.
I hope you liked how I did this chapter and the various scenes. I especially hope you liked how I changed the scene of Vader's death, and that I included a duel between the Freedom and the Executor.
So, the Battle of Endor is over, but the war is not. Next chapter will be dealing with the aftermath of the Battle of Endor, then we'll continue with the events of the war. While I'm not 100 percent sure, it may be 15 more chapters before the war finally ends.
Next chapter may not be up for a little while, as I'm gonna be busy with homework for most of the rest of the week. Until the next chapter is up, please leave a review, and stay tuned!