Assault on Centerpoint
Scattered and divided! Whilst Luke Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano have been rescued by Alliance Intel Agent Jan Ors, the Rebel commando group has found itself separated; while Han finds himself in even more trouble, Corea Narth and Chewbacca the Wookiee find refuge with the local Mantellian Savrips and the mysterious Mechanic and the rest of the group, being led by the hard and tough Orrimaarko continues forward towards the next shield generator.
Meanwhile on the frontlines, General Rachi Sitra and her troops find themselves up against new and dangerous weapons of war that leave them on the run! But as both her group and General Heten Feless's group march forward towards the Imperial facility, no one is prepared for what General Tame Cronos has in store for any of them…
Ord Mantell
Feless looked out at the Imperial facility with a pair of electrobinoculars when a rebel trooper ran up to him from behind.
"General, we've gathered our forces" said the rebel trooper "We're ready for attack. What are your orders?"
"We'll proceed as planned" said Feless whilst lowering his electrobinoculars "We'll wait for the signal by Group A and move on their mark simultaneously. Until then, we stay here and stay on guard for any Imperial activity; we can't let them know of our positions or plan"
"Understood" said the rebel trooper. He turned to leave.
"Any news of Commander Skywalker and Tano?" asked Feless.
"Not yet" replied the rebel trooper "But General Sitra has informed us that she's sent out search parties. Why do you ask that?"
"I should have kept a better eye on them" replied Feless "I should have treated them better. It's just…"
"It's just what?" asked the rebel trooper.
"It's just something I regret" replied Feless
Meanwhile
"It seems quite crowded in here" said Ahsoka.
"It's built for one pilot and one co-pilot" said Jan "Usually I don't have to worry about this since I don't usually take passengers"
"I can see why" said Luke.
"Besides, I usually do intelligence missions; they don't usually require passengers" said Jan "You know, this one time…wait a second, is that smoke?" Thick black smoke simmered off in the distance.
"Better investigate" said Luke. Jan piloted the Moldy Crow over towards the smoke.
Meanwhile
Han breathed a sigh as he and Mugger desperately held onto the remains of the rope bridge over the misty abyss. There was a short and uncomfortable silence.
"This is all your fault, you know" said Han.
"And is it all my fault?" asked Mugger.
"Well, I was doing great until you showed up" said Han.
"You weren't doing great, there was nothing behind me so there was nothing ahead of you" said Mugger.
"Forget it then" said Han "Besides; if you had just stepped to the side, none of this would have happened"
"Same could be said for you" said Mugger "Besides, I was just trying to get away from them Imperials. Last time I checked, they don't like my kind around there"
"Tough, I don't like my kind either; they pretty much don't get along with anyone" said Han "Besides, there were plenty of Imperials where I just came from as well"
"Damn it!" snapped Mugger. It was then that they heard a loud snap which caused them to both look up.
"I think that was the bridge" said Han.
"I think so too" said Mugger.
"Well; I hate to state the obvious, but I think this withered old bridge is just too fragile to hold the both of us" said Han "It just isn't strong"
"Right" said Mugger "So you're implying that if one of us lets go, then the other one will be fine?"
"Sort of" replied Han "Compared to you, I don't weigh much; if I let go, it's not going to make much difference. However; if you let go, it will make a big difference"
"Good plan" said Mugger "But I have a question; why would I just willingly let go and willingly fall to my death? You're basically asking me to die. What living creature would willing choose to die for you?" It was then another snap was heard, this time causing them to jolt down a notch.
"We don't have a lot of options, that's for sure" said Han. Some small rocks were dislocated and fell down, disrupting a group of volants (black and green pterosaur-like creatures with dilophosaurus-like heads). They shrieked out and began soaring around.
"Or perhaps neither of us has to die" said Mugger "Them beasties' look big enough to hold both of us"
"You're right" said Han "But I've never known a wild beast that would willingly allow itself to be ridden. As soon as we get on, they'll try to shake us off"
"You're right" said Mugger "We'll have to hold on, won't we?"
"Of course" said Han "We'll go on three" There was a short silence.
"One two three!" said Han and Mugger simultaneously before they let go and landed on a volant, which screamed and swung around in response.
"Stay calm, beastie" said Mugger.
"Just hold on, remember" said Han. The volant began swinging around in an attempt to throw them off.
"She doesn't like that" said Han.
"Who would?" said Mugger. Suddenly, the volant took a dive down through the mist at an alarming speed. "Oh, this isn't good!"
"You got that RIGHHHHHT!" exclaimed Han as the volant began spinning around again, causing them both to fall off and land on something.
"Eh, we're not dead!" said Mugger. As the mist around them cleared, it was revealed that they were standing on a rocky plain covered in mist.
"Well whaddya' know, it really wasn't that far a fall after all" said Han
"So what now?" said Mugger.
"Well…I guess we just keep moving forward until something comes up" said Han.
"You know, I think I see the start of a jungle up ahead" said Mugger whilst pointing over in the distance.
"That's either a good sign or a bad sign" said Han.
Meanwhile
Corea picked up and examined a little trinket that the Mechanic had on a shelf.
"So what are you doing here, anyway?" asked the Rodian "Not many would venture into the Mantellian wilderness on their own"
"My companion and I are with the Alliance" replied Corea "We were just here to take out a shield generator that was protecting an Imperial facility"
"Any enemy of the Empire is a friend of mine" said the Rodian "Make yourself comfortable. But word of advice; next time you're on a special mission like this, bring much more company"
"We just got separated from our group" said Corea "We tried to find our way back, but we couldn't find any way back or any landmarks to compare with our map. So how long have you been here for?"
"About two weeks, by my count" replied the Mechanic who was sitting at his workbench "Of course; without the proper equipment, I lose track of time"
"How did you get here?" asked Corea.
"I was travelling to Worlport to find business" replied the Mechanic "I have a particular strength in working with technology so I was hoping to find work outside of Rodia. Unfortunately, I got shot by pirates and crash-landed in the jungle nearby. When I finally managed to pull myself out, I found that I was stuck in an area filled with Imperials. I soon found myself presented with an option; either hide here in the Scraplands or face the Imperials. Given my…species, I knew the latter was a dangerous option so I hid here instead. I spent the first few days traversing the environment until I found the Savrip Village. I was wary at first, and so were they, but we eventually came to respect each other. After all, we had something in common"
"And what was that?" asked Corea.
"We were both on the run from the Imperials" replied the Mechanic "The Savrips are the natives of this planet but people like to view them as sentient like you or I. This at least enabled them to be left alone, which they much prefer; at least until the Imperials started using this area for their operations. They started cutting down the forests and burning the plains and whatnot, so the Savrips took refuge here. Good thing about the Scraplands, the Imperials avoid it at all costs; while it is inhospitable, it does at least provide a safe refuge from them"
"I noticed that the Savrips call you "the Mechanic"; is there a reason for that?" asked Corea.
"When I arrived here, I found communication to be difficult" replied the Mechanic "They have their own language but it's hard to understand and even harder to produce, I heard my throat a few times trying. So instead, I decided to teach some of them Basic so communication could at least be a bit easier. I made sure that the words they learned were at least simple so they could understand it easier. My real name is actually Krizei Tanwa, but they call me "the Mechanic" because it is easier and rather fitting. I think you would have noticed that some of the local Savrips have robotic appendages; when I got here, I lot of them were missing such appendages. Some of them had been injured by the Empire, some of them had lost them to the acid lakes around here, and some of them just got injured in general. I knew things were hard enough for them as it is, so I decided to make replacement limbs for them; I couldn't do anything too advanced with the resources I had, but I made sure they could at least walk and pick things up properly" At that moment, Chewbacca emerged from behind a pile of junk roaring.
"Really, you can do that?" asked Corea. Chewbacca roared in response. "That's amazing, Chewie"
"What is he talking about?" asked Krizei.
"He says he's found the pieces needed to make a radio device" replied Corea "We can call for help and be out of here in no time"
Meanwhile
Cronos sat at his desk looking at a holographic screen when an Imperial captain entered.
"General, our probe droids have detected that a possible rebel ship has landed around the remains of General Sitra's base" said the Imperial captain.
"Are the swarm droids in place?" asked Cronos.
"They are" replied the Imperial captain.
"Don't worry, captain" said Cronos "As I had planned, the area had been made a deathtrap for Rebels. The swarm droids will only occupy a certain area unless chasing a target"
"But sir, the swarm droids aren't ready" said the Imperial captain.
"They're ready enough for the moment, captain" said Cronos.
Meanwhile
A pair of Mantellian flutterplumes fought over the burnt remains of the drillers as Luke and Ahsoka looked at the damaged base.
"What happened here?" said Luke.
"It looks like the Imperials got here before us" said Ahsoka. She kneeled down and picked up the charred shard of a fuel canister. "This fuel must have got ignited and blown the whole place up"
"Hello?" said Jan into her comlink with no reply "Hello? General Sitra? Anyone? No one's responding via comlink. It's just static"
"That doesn't mean they're dead, it could be we're just within the perimeter of a communication jammer" said Luke.
"That's possible" said Jan "But given the environment around us, they may not have been lucky enough" It was then that a faint rustle was heard from within the base.
"Did you hear that?" asked Luke.
"I certainly did" replied Ahsoka "Better check it out" She turned to the entrance, which was blocked by rubble. "Better get this out of the way first" She and Luke began removing the rubble using the Force from the entrance until the entrance was clear.
"Now let's go in" said Luke.
"Be careful, this could be a trap; and even if it's not, the inside could still be unstable" said Jan "I'll stay guard here" Luke and Ahsoka entered through the entrance of the base.
Meanwhile
Acashto and Alarnaa searched had reached the area in the wilderness where Luke and Ga'llaa had fought and examined the surroundings.
"It looks as though there was a fight" said Acashto "But I think all parties got out alright"
"Do you think it was Ahsoka?" asked Alarnaa.
"Probably was" replied Acashto with a sigh.
"Are you alright, brother?" asked Alarnaa.
"I had chills when I left Shili; the thought of finally meeting the girl who they told us about" said Acashto "When we learned about her, it felt as though we were merely filling a void; I was initially upset about it. Do you think she knows?"
"I imagined our parents told her about us, but not to the full extent" replied Alarnaa "But she'll have to learn of it sooner or later"
Meanwhile
Luke and Ahsoka walked through the charred out base until they reached a communication jamming array.
"So that's why we can't communicate" said Luke. Ahsoka ignited her lightsaber and cut an X-shape into it.
"Now we can" said Ahsoka "But what was that rustle from before?" A small flicker of red light flashed past them.
"It was probably that" said Luke "Whatever that was" Suddenly, a large amount of bright red lights materialized one by one around them.
"We have a knack for trouble, don't we?" said Ahsoka. Suddenly, countless large silver insect-like droids appeared out of the shadows and zoomed towards them.
"Let's get out of here!" exclaimed Luke. He and Ahsoka ran out of the base. "Jan, get to the ship!" Jan took one look at the swarm droids that raced after them and immediately sprinted off to the Moldy Crow. This frightened the flutterplumes and they flew away.
"Hurry!" said Jan. Luke and Ahsoka leapt aboard the loading ramp just as the ship was taking off and flew away with the swarm droids chasing after them.
"Close the ramp!" exclaimed Ahsoka.
"On it" said Jan as she closed the ramp. Suddenly, a swarm droid swooped in, snatched Luke, and pulled him out just as the ramp closed up.
"Luke!" exclaimed Ahsoka. As the swarm droids pulled Luke back, he ignited his lightsaber and began cutting them to pieces around him which soon caused him to fall. Fortunately, he was able to grab ahold of one of the droids which caused him to slowly descend and crash into the trees below. "We have to go back!"
"We can't" said Jan "These droids will tear us apart if we stay too long. I'll try to shake them off" She began flying through various rocky outcrops to shake off the swarm droids. "Hold on, I think I have an idea"
"And what would that be?" asked Ahsoka just before Jan pulled up the Moldy Crow towards the sky.
"Steady…" said Jan "Steady…" Suddenly, she pulled back down past the swarm droids towards the ground.
"Okay, this is quite a lot" said Ahsoka.
"Steady..." said Jan "Steady…" Suddenly, just before the ship could hit the ground, she pulled up again, causing all of the swarm droids to crash into the ground uncontrollably. "It was a long shot, but worth it. No matter how well made or lethal a droid can get, they'll never have the right creativity"
"That…actually wasn't a bad plan" said Ahsoka "So what now?"
"As you said, we have to find Commander Skywalker" said Jan "Time for some additional help" She pressed the comlink on the dashboard.
"This is Jan Ors to Acashto and Alarnaa Tano, are you there?" said Jan.
"Tano?" said Ahsoka.
"We hear you" said Acashto's voice through the comlink "Have you found Commander Skywalker and our…sister?"
"I have, but I've got bad news" said Jan "I've lost Commander Skywalker during an attack. Send up a flare so we can rendezvous and try to find him together"
"We'll do that" said Acashto "See you then"
"So you have a brother and sister" said Jan.
"Yeah, I do apparently" said Ahsoka.
"Have you met them before?" asked Jan.
"I haven't" replied Ahsoka "But my parents have told me about them"
"Well, I guess it's time for a family reunion" said Jan.
Meanwhile
Luke awoke entangled in vines. He looked up and saw that a swarm droid was crawling down towards him.
"Oh no you don't!" said Luke. Just as the droid leapt down to attack, Luke ignited his lightsaber and cut it in half, which inadvertently caused the vines around him to get cut. "That's not good!" The vines snapped and caused him to collapse onto the ground below, which was fortunately not that far. As he slowly got himself up, Ga'llaa leapt from the bushes, pinned him back down, and punched him out.
"You should've accepted your defeat with honor like a true warrior" said Ga'llaa "Instead, you have to be taken out like a coward. I thought the Jedi were capable of much more. General, I have news for you"
Meanwhile
Corea sat at the top of the remains of a starship when she heard Chewbacca roar. Immediately, she slid down the side and landed next to him.
"Have you finished it?" asked Corea. Chewbacca nodded and showed her the radio transmitter. "Great; now let's get it started"
"I've made radios from this scrap in the past and they usually short out easily so I'd advise you use it carefully" said Krizei "And this is coming from someone who once made a transmitter that could communicate from Vulpter to Teth"
"We will then" said Corea "We can't contact the commando group because they're busy and have to keep radio silence, so let's try Group A and Group B" Chewbacca groaned and typed into the radio transmitter.
Meanwhile
As Group A moved across the plains, Rachi Sitra stood inside an AT-TE.
"General, we're receiving a transmission from an unknown source" said Lucas. Rachi Sitra walked over and stroked her chin.
"Answer, but be cautious" said Sitra "It could be a trap set by the Imperials" Lucas answered the call.
"Hello, anywhere there?" said Corea through the communicator "This Corea Narth of the Rebel Alliance, respond"
"Corea, why are you communicating with us?" asked Sitra "You can't communicate with us whilst in the Imperial's zone"
"We're not in the Imperial's zone" replied Corea "We're in the Scraplands"
"Why in the Force are you in the Scraplands?" asked Sitra.
"We got separated from the group" replied Corea "Chewie was able to make a radio transmitter but we probably don't have long for it. We just need a transport to get us out of here. We were wondering if you could provide that"
"I'm afraid not" said Sitra "We got hit pretty hard by the Empire; all we have left is barely enough for guerilla warfare. And to make matters worse, we've only got under an hour until the attack commences; so I imagine Group B is unavailable as well"
"What about the fleet?" asked Corea "I'm sure Ackbar could spare something?"
"Last time I checked, the fleet was still engaged with the blockade" said Sitra "But I could check with them quickly"
"Hurry, we haven't got much—" said Corea before suddenly going silent.
"Hello?" said Sitra "Corea Narth, are you there?"
Meanwhile
"Hello?" said Corea as sparks flew out of the communication device "Answer me! Has it short out?" Chewbacca checked it and growled. "How could it; that wasn't even—
"The short-outs vary from device to device so there's no telling how long they'll last" replied Krizei "I did say to be cautious about that" Corea sighed and looked over into the distance. She then pulled off a hologram projector from her belt and brought up a holographic map of the area the commando group was traversing. "What's that?"
"Just the map of where we were trying to get to" said Corea "Wow; now that I think about it, the second shield generator isn't as far from the Scraplands as I thought" It was then that an idea popped into her head. "Hey Krizei, what if I told you there was a possible way to thin out the Imperials in this area?"
"And what would the plan be?" asked Krizei.
"We'll gather all the Savrips together and march off to the shield generator" said Corea "The Imperials will be caught off-guard and we'll bring it down in no time"
"Would this plan involve the deaths of a lot of Mantellian Savrips?" said Krizei.
"Not at all" replied Corea "It's only an isolated facility; they're prepared for intruders, but not such a large amount of intruders" Krizei sighed.
"I'll hold to your word and inform them about it" said Krizei.
Meanwhile
"There's the flare" said Jan whilst pointing over at the flare "Let's go down" Flying past a kakuona who was drinking peacefully at the river, she descended down towards the ground and landed in front of Acashto and Alarnaa. As Ahsoka got out of the ship, her attention was immediately drawn to the two of them.
"Hello Ahsoka" said Alarnaa.
"So your brother and sister" said Ahsoka "Mom and dad told me so much about you two whilst I was on Shili. It's nice to finally meet you"
"It's nice to meet you too, sister" said Acashto "My name is Acashto"
"I'm Alarnaa" said Alarnaa "We came out here in hopes of meeting. Our parents told us so much about you as well"
"I'd hate to interrupt the reunion, but we have pressing business" said Jan. Ahsoka looked off into the wilderness and walked towards it. "If Commander Skywalker is still alive, we have to find him quick; before someone else does"
"We haven't seen anything in particular so far" said Acashto "But searching for him out here could take some time. If he's alive and still conscious, it's unlikely he would stay in the same location for long"
"If he's conscious, he'll probably head to high ground" said Jan "We should start there"
"Wait, where's Ahsoka gone?" said Alarnaa.
Meanwhile
Ahsoka sat down crosslegged in a small clearing, closed her eyes, and cleared her mind, extending herself out through the Force. She searched desperately for Luke's presence. After several minutes, she opened her eyes and breathed.
"Ahsoka?" said Acashto as he, Alarnaa, and Jan entered the clearing.
"Commander Tano, what are you doing?" asked Jan.
"I know where Luke is" said Ahsoka.
Meanwhile
Luke slowly opened his eyes and was temporarily blinded by the sudden light.
"Good, you're awake" said a familiar voice "I hope that Ga'llaa didn't cause too much damage to your person" As Luke regained sight he saw that Cronos stood before him"
"General Cronos!" said Luke.
"I was wondering when we would meet again" said Cronos "Any change of thought on my offer?"
"There's nothing in the world you can offer me that could make me join the Empire" said Luke.
"Don't be so sure about that" said Cronos "I'm sure there's a good many things that I could use against you; you just don't want to admit it, like every Jedi"
"You know, it's a bad mistake keeping me in here without containment" said Luke.
"Really?" said Cronos "Did you notice that something's missing" Luke looked on his belt and realized that his lightsaber was missing.
"Where did you put my lightsaber?" asked Luke.
"That's what for you to know" replied Cronos "The point is, you can't escape; even if you kill me, you'll still be no closer to getting out"
"Why do you even want me for, anyway?" asked Luke "I thought the Empire had enough Force-users in it; one of them is even leading the army"
"You're no doubt referring to Darth Vader" said Cronos "But I've got no interest in him. At least the Jedi try not to sink into the dark side"
"You seem to know a lot about Force-users" said Luke "What's your problem with the dark side; I thought, if anything, the Empire would encourage it"
"I have been in this galaxy for more than three hundred years and I have seen much and learnt even more" replied Cronos "I've studied both the Jedi and the Sith, as well as many other Force-sensitive groups; the dark side merely clouds one's judgment"
"No kidding" said Luke.
"You don't even know the full extent, do you?" said Cronos "They follow a destructive path, leaving everyone else to suffer; they're essentially a cult who sees only their own beliefs. I've watched many organizations rise and fall and the only that has ever been logical is the Empire, it represents stability in a chaotic galaxy so I made the decision to join it; but even I admit that it's far from perfect. The treatment of Non-Humans was certainly high up the list, but not as high as the Emperor himself"
"Why don't you like the Emperor?" asked Luke.
"He's one of them, a Sith" replied Cronos.
"Tell me something I don't know" said Luke.
"That may be obvious from where you're standing; but to the rest of the Empire, he's as much a Sith as you or me" said Cronos "To them, he is still the same supreme chancellor who saved the Republic from the Separatist threat. Only a few individuals know of this; Darth Vader, General Krenin, every dark side Force-users in the Empire, possibly his inner-circle council, and even a grand admiral"
"So you don't like the Emperor because—" said Luke.
"Because to have a cult lead an organization like the Empire is to invite disaster" said Cronos "In my vision for the future, things are much different"
"You haven't exactly told this vision to anyone else, have you?" asked Luke.
"Only to a select few" replied Cronos "If I told it to just anyone, the Emperor would no doubt have me executed for it"
"And how does your vision include me?" asked Luke.
"I told you before, my dream is for the Jedi to work for the Empire" said Cronos "Imagine; Force-using warriors who are expert in the ways of the Jedi and who do fall to the dark. That's why when you join me; I'd prefer it to be willingly"
"What makes you think I'll come willingly?" said Luke.
"You will" said Cronos "If not, I'll just have to strip past the layers of your mind until all you know is to follow my orders"
"I think I'm more than you could handle" smirked Luke.
"We'll see soon enough" said Cronos. He left the cell, where Ga'llaa stood outside.
"I don't like this" said Ga'llaa "Lord Vader would be most displeased if he found out you're holding a Jedi without his permission"
"Vader's not here so he doesn't make the rules" said Cronos "And may I ask where did the other Jedi go?"
"She got away" replied Ga'llaa "There was nothing I could do about it"
"I expected more from one of you" said Cronos "I guess your reputation was exaggerated" He walked off, with Ga'llaa snarling.
Meanwhile
All the Savrips gathered around the outskirts of the Scraplands, with Crusher at the front with Corea and Chewbacca. Chewbacca growled.
"I know; but it's our best shot, Chewie" said Corea "Besides, they've got as much as reason as us to dislike the Empire. You ready, Crusher?"
"Crusher ready to stop bad Imps!" said Crusher.
"That's the spirit" said Corea.
"Corea—" said Krizei as he walked up to her "I just want you to know that I'm coming with you"
"Well; firstly, you'll need a weap—" said Corea shortly before Krizei showed her a blaster in his hand "You really come prepared"
"Do you really think I'd be wandering through this planet and not find a way to defend myself?" said Krizei "But make no mistake though; if a single one of the Savrips gets killed, I'll hold you personally responsible. This isn't their war and I couldn't live with myself if they die for it"
"I understand" said Corea "I promise you it won't come to that" She climbed up Crusher's walking stick and onto his shoulder. "Alright; Crusher, let's get going" Crusher and the rest of the Savrips started walking towards the jungle.
Meanwhile
"General, you've been there all day" said a rebel trooper "Shouldn't you—"
"I am merely being vigilant in case of an attack" said Feless "If the Empire finds out we're here, everything we worked for could be lost"
"We've looked around and there's no sign of any stormtroopers anywhere" said the rebel trooper.
"I've learnt from the years I spent in hiding that there are other ways to be spied on" said Feless "More subtle ways that can catch you off-guard" Hiding inside the bushes was a black Prowler 1000 probe droid which watched their every move carefully.
Meanwhile
"General, we've sighted rebel forces near our facility" said the Imperial captain "What should we do?"
"Attack them on sight" said Cronos "Send the droideka dropships in first"
Meanwhile
A group of Imperial dropship transports armed with droideka deployers flew in towards Group B.
"Looks like they found us" said a rebel trooper.
"Get ready for the attack" said Feless whilst igniting his lightsaber "It seems we fighting sooner than expected" The dropships began deploying droidekas which dropped down and started attacking them.
Meanwhile
As the commando group ventured to the edge of the jungle, they finally reached the second shield generator.
"We finally found it" said Tani.
"Prepare your weapons, this is the one that really matters" said Orrimaarko.
"You got that right" said a voice. Countless stormtroopers surrounded them within in an instant.
"There's so many!" said Tani. She and the rest of the rebel troopers aimed their blasters at them.
"Don't bother" said a voice. A stormtrooper commander walked up to them.
"What is the meaning of this?" said Orrimaarko.
"Stupid rebels" said the stormtrooper commander "Did you really think the Empire would be foolish enough as to not make a distress call when they're base under attack; especially when another base is reliant upon it and would therefore need to amplify their security. You got this far, but there's no escaping this one. Ready…" The stormtroopers raised their blasters. "Fi—" Suddenly, a large boulder flew in and crushed every stormtrooper in its path. "What the!"
"Yeah, that's showing them!" said Corea who arrived in on the shoulder of Crusher. Following behind them were the rest of the Savrips and Chewbacca. The Savrips began crushing and smashing every stormtrooper in their path.
"Stormtroopers bad!" snarled Crusher as he wacked the stormtroopers out of the way with his staff.
"Don't just stand there, fight back!" snapped the stormtrooper commander.
"Take this, you stuck-up bucket-heads!" yelled Krizei as he fired his blaster at the stormtroopers. Eventually, the only stormtrooper left was the stormtrooper commander who held his blaster viciously towards the rebels.
"Give up" said Orrimaarko "You're outnumbered"
"I won't give up, you—" said the stormtrooper commander shortly before getting shot in the back by Han who arrived with Mugger.
"I don't think so" smirked Han. He looked around and noticed Corea and Chewbacca. "Corea, Chewie!"
"Han!" said Corea as she leapt off of Crusher's shoulder and flew down towards him.
"It's great to have you back, Captain Solo" said Tani.
"It's great to be back" said Han. Mugger cleared his throat. "Though you could give a bit of credit to Mugger; after all, I'd probably be lost if it wasn't for his intervention. Feel free to reward him in any way he'd like"
"I could use a ride back to Worlport" said Mugger "I mean, if you have the time
"We can discuss things later" said Orrimaarko "Our time limit is almost up and we have to destroy this base"
"Oh, so that's why you didn't go looking for us" said Corea.
"It's not as simple as that" said Orrimaarko "The time limit prevented us from making an intervention. We had no choice"
"No choice, huh?" said Corea "Well, I have a choice right now on whether to bust or not"
"Corea, save it" said Han "It's not worth it. Let's just get the job done"
Meanwhile
Feless looked over at the facility and noticed that an Imperial army was assembling. At the front were AT-PTs and MTV-7 Multi-Terrain Vehicles whilst AT-STs, 2-M hover tanks, and Mobile Heavy Cannons supported them at the back. "Everyone, go down the hill and into the facility"
"But what if the shield's still on?" asked a rebel trooper.
"They're sending out reinforcements so they'll have to order the shield to be lowered; if we make it in time, we could get through" said Feless.
"But general—" said the rebel trooper.
"That is an order!" said Feless. As he and his troops charged downhill, Rachi Sitra's group arrived.
"Is he doing what I think's he doing?" said Rachi Sitra whilst looking through a pair of electrobinoculars "Feless, you're taking the Empire head on; are you crazy?"
"The shield will have to be taken down in order for them to get out" said Feless "This may be our one last chance!" Rachi Sitra sighed.
Meanwhile
Han and the rest of the commando group braced themselves just as the shield generator exploded from the detonators inside.
"Well; it's all been tough and complicated, but at least we got some fireworks out of it" said Corea. Suddenly, Han picked her up bride-like.
"I should have done this a long time ago" smirked Han.
"No kidding" smirked Corea. The two of them kissed passionately with Chewbacca grunting and rolling his eyes in response.
Meanwhile
"General, the shield generator has been destroyed" said the Imperial captain "Our shields are down"
"No, no; it's not the right time!" said Cronos.
"What are you talking about?" asked the Imperial captain.
"Nothing of your concern" said Cronos as he turned for the door "Keep the rebels busy, I'll be right back" He left the room and headed down the corridor. "Ga'llaa, take Skywalker down to my shuttle and prepare it for departure. Our time table has just been moved up. I'll make sure the Rebels stay as distracted as possible"
Meanwhile
Ga'llaa entered Luke's cell.
"What; how did you get out of your containment cell?" snapped Ga'llaa.
"I was never in a containment cell to begin with" said Luke.
"And you telling me that General Cronos was foolish enough as to not contain you?" snarled Ga'llaa. Luke cautiously looked to the wide open door behind Ga'llaa.
"I suppose he was" smirked Luke. He leapt over Ga'llaa and zoomed out of the door, closing it behind him.
"Let me out!" snarled Ga'llaa.
"Sorry; I can't do that" said Luke. He looked off to a stormtrooper who was walking down the hallway and summoned his blaster to his hands.
"Hey!" exclaimed the stormtrooper. Luke force-pushed him into the wall, knocking him out.
"Thank you" said Luke shortly before rushing off down the corridor. Meanwhile, Ga'llaa looked up at the roof, leapt up, and ripped the cover of the air vent off.
"We'll see about that soon enough!" snarled Ga'llaa.
Meanwhile
As the Moldy Crow approached the Imperial facility, Jan looked out at the battle and noticed that it was starting to get very close to the facility.
"Well, I guess that means the shield's down" said Jan.
"Descend down" said Ahsoka "We'll handle this"
"What about Commander Skywalker?" asked Jan.
"It's okay; I sense he's out" replied Ahsoka.
"What do you mean by that?" asked Jan.
"I don't know, but I can feel it" said Ahsoka "Except…it seems so real"
"Very well then" said Jan. She descended down and lowered the ramp, allowing the three Togrutas to leap out at the battle. Ahsoka ignited her lightsaber and began slashing down the stormtroopers in her path. Suddenly, a group of droidekas rolled up to her and began shooting at her.
"What are those things?" asked Alarnaa.
"They're destroyer droids" replied Ahsoka "They're an advanced battle droid designed to destroy everything in their path. The Empire, of course, was interested in that so they made sure the production kept going" Suddenly, Luke sped up on an Imperial speeder bike, leapt off it, and let it crash straight into the droidekas. "Skyguy, you're back!"
"I hope I didn't miss much" said Luke "Hey, who are—"
"It's a long story, I'll introduce you afterwards" said Ahsoka.
"Commander Skywalker, Commander Tano; thank the Force you're safe" said a Rachi Sitra as she and Feless ran up to them.
"Can you fill me in on the details?" asked Luke.
"The shield appears to be down but we've got hardly enough to take down the base" said Rachi Sitra.
"If we don't try, there may be nothing fighting for" said Feless "This is our last chance"
"And what if we fail?" asked Luke.
"I prefer to not to dwell on that" replied Feless.
"I try not to dwell on it either" said Luke "But we can't just go at them with everything we've got, it'll get everyone killed"
"Do you have a better plan?" asked Feless.
"Well, not exactly" said Luke.
"Then until you do, I'd suggest to go along with what we have" said Feless.
"But something just doesn't feel right" said Sitra "It's almost as if they're holding…back…" At that moment, a hanger door on the facility slowly opened a large black object leapt out of it and hovered to the ground. As it got closer to them, it revealed itself to be a large mech suit armed with various blasters and melee weapons.
"Hello Jedi" said the mech suit in Cronos's voice "Welcome to the next stage of galactic warfare"
"Cronos!" said Luke.
"Shoot it!" snarled Feless.
"Wait, don't!" exclaimed Sitra as the rebel troopers opened fire at Cronos, to little effect.
"My turn!" said Cronos. He raised his blaster weapons and began shooting rebel troopers down.
"Take cover, all of you!" said Sitra "We'll handle this"
"Good, I could use a challenge" said Cronos. He leapt over to the Jedi and began shooting at them, which they deflected with their lightsabers. Luke swiftly leapt towards Cronos and slashed past the mech's waist, to no effect.
"What!" exclaimed Luke "Not even—" Suddenly, Cronos with a swish of his hand bashed him into the remains of a damaged 2-M hover tank.
"Did you really think I would make such a weapon and allow it to be easily destroyed by the Jedi?" said Cronos "You of all people should know that, Skywalker"
"What are we supposed to do then?" asked Ahsoka quietly.
"The armor itself may be invulnerable, but I doubt the joints are" said Rachi Sitra quietly "We'll have to be precise; if he figures out what we're trying to do, he'll defend himself further" The two of them ran forward, only to find themselves blocked out by a pair of energy shields projected by the mech's forearms.
"Suit also contains advanced audio sensors, allowing me to hear almost anything within a mile radius" said Cronos. At that moment, Luke leapt forward and joined in.
"Energy shields don't last forever" said Luke "All we need to do is fight harder"
"True" said Cronos. Suddenly, he blasted them forward with an energy blast. He walked over to them, charged up his main cannon, and aimed it at Rachi Sitra. Suddenly, Feless leapt forward and cut the end of the cannon off.
"Stay back!" snarled Feless. Luke got himself up, ignited his lightsaber again, and rushed forward to join in. "Skywalker, fall back and help the others; I hold him off"
"Are you crazy?" said Luke "He'll kill you"
"And everyone else if you don't get some distance" said Feless.
"I can't do that" said Luke.
"Yes you can" said Feless "Fall back and help the rest of them; that's an order!" Luke looked back at Jat Chia, Ahsoka, and the others.
"Yes general" said Luke. He rushed back and started helping Ahsoka and the others up. Cronos leapt back and fired rockets at Feless, which he pushed aside with the Force. He then fired a fibercord whip at him which got cut by his lightsaber. Feless then charged at him and struck forward towards one of the leg joints, only to get blocked off by energy shields.
"This is just the beginning" said Cronos "Imagine, an army of these suits destroying every rebel in their path; soon enough, it would be the end of your Rebellion. You may as well surrender right now"
"Never!" snapped Feless "No matter what happens, the Jedi are my kin; and while they stand by the Alliance, I will too!"
"Very well" said Cronos. He retracted out a large blade with his forearm and struck forward, stabbing Feless in the stomach.
"Feless!" exclaimed Sitra. Cronos held the body of Feless up for all to see.
"And now, you die by them!" said Cronos. He pulled Feless off and threw him away.
"Medics, cover him!" said Sitra. A group of rebel troopers (including two medics) rushed over to Feless's side. "The rest of you, open fire; aim for the joints of the arms and legs!" The rebel troopers opened fire on Cronos, but Cronos made sure to put his shields up and keep his joints out of harm's way. He rushed forward, shooting and knocking down every rebel in his path. As Feless wearily opened his eyes, he looked off at the battle and began to pull himself up.
"Sir, you have to lay yourself down" said the rebel medic whilst gently pushing Feless down "You're wound is very severe; we have to act quickly if we're to fix it up" Feless looked over at a rebel trooper's belt and noticed a pair of thermal detonators hanging off it. He extended his arm out and began to tug at them through the Force until they finally flew towards him and landed in his hands. "What are you doing?" Feless got himself up and started limping towards Cronos. "Get back here, you'll bleed to death"
"CRONOS!" yelled Feless. Cronos turned towards him.
"So you came back to die" said Cronos "Very well" He raised his blaster weapons, charged them up, and shot at Feless. However, Feless leapt into the air with all of his might and landed on the back of his mech suit. He then pressed the trigger for both the thermal detonators and placed them around the arm sockets. "What are you doing?"
"Making one last move" said Feless as blood began dripping from his mouth.
"Feless!" exclaimed Luke shortly before the detonators ignited and blew the mech suit apart. "Feless!" He rushed over to the remains of the mech suit to find what appeared to be Feless's arm lying motionlessly from underneath the remains. He began pulling the remains upwards before pushing them to the side with a force-push. "Feless…" Feless's body lay motionless on the ground. "No…" Sitra walked up to the front of the mech suit and force-pulled it off to the pilot's seat.
"I don't believe it!" said Sitra. Sitting in the area where Cronos should be sitting was the damaged remains of a grey RA-7 protocol droid.
"The mech suit was still experimental and I wasn't stupid enough to risk myself in such a matter" said Cronos's voice through the protocol droid "Anyways, I would like to congratulate you on your victory against it; savor it, for it will not last forever"
Meanwhile
Cronos entered the hanger to find Ga'llaa standing by an Imperial shuttle for him.
"I'm very disappointed in your failure to collect Commander Skywalker" said Cronos.
"You're the one who didn't chain him up…" said Ga'llaa "Wait, how did you know that—"
"Let's just say that I know" said Cronos "And the containment wasn't the problem, you're the one who let him get away when you could've simply overpowered him"
"If you seriously want him that badly, I'll go collect him right now" said Ga'llaa.
"No, it will only be a waste of time now" said Cronos "Is the shuttle prepared for launch?"
"It is" replied Ga'llaa.
"Tell the pilots to set course for Kuat" said Cronos "Make sure we're not followed or shot down" Ga'llaa nodded and entered the shuttle. Cronos was about to enter the shuttle himself when the Imperial captain ran up to him.
"General, the rebels are flanking our forces" said the Imperial captain "What should we…wait, are you going somewhere?"
"I am merely leaving" replied Cronos.
"But you can't leave now" said the Imperial officer "Not when—"
"You're in charge now, captain" said Cronos.
"I'm in charge?" said the Imperial captain "Then…what should I do?"
"Merely hold the base in my absence" replied Cronos "I have full faith in you, captain; don't disappoint me"
"Well…thank you, sir" said the Imperial captain "I'll hold the base" Cronos smiled and entered his shuttle which flew off.
"Are we away from the blast radius?" asked Cronos. Ga'llaa nodded. "Good; then hand me the detonator" Ga'llaa handed him a detonator which he pushed the trigger, causing the entire Imperial facility to blow up suddenly.
"What the heck was that?" said Ahsoka.
"Did we plant any bombs or chargers?" asked Luke.
"No, not as far as I know" said Sitra "It seems that they blew up their own facility"
Later
Luke and Ahsoka sat aboard the Rogue Shadow chatting.
"Brother and sister, huh?" said Luke "You know; I hadn't thought about it before, but it would be nice to have siblings"
"I barely even know them yet so I wouldn't know" said Ahsoka.
"Right, right" said Luke.
"But yeah, I want to know what it feels like" said Ahsoka "But I'll be honest; ever since my parents first told me about them…I couldn't help but feel something off"
"What do you mean?" asked Luke.
"There's just something not right about it all" said Ahsoka "I can't put my finger on it, but I can…I can just feel something wrong"
"Ahsoka, listen; you shouldn't have to worry" said Luke whilst grabbing her hands "Just be thankful for what you have and try not to see the downsides too much; unless you truly believe it to be actually dangerous"
"Thanks Luke" said Ahsoka.
"Commander Skywalker, you are needed on the bridge" said Ackbar's voice through Luke's comlink.
"I've got to go, see you soon" said Luke as he got up and left.
"See you soon" said Ahsoka. She looked around the room for several moments before heaving a slight sigh. "Well; may as well get to know them better" She stood up and walked out of the ship in search of Acashto and Alarnaa. As she walked through the hanger behind crates, it wasn't long until she heard their voices.
"I'm just not sure how long we can keep this up" said Acashto "We're going to have to tell her sooner or later" Ahsoka peered out behind a crate and watched the two of them talk.
"True" said Alarnaa "And I would prefer sooner over later, but she's only just met us and it would be too much of a shock for her all at once. Believe me, I'm not fond on this either. Believe me, lying to her is too much; but we have to take it gently, we can't just tell her that we're not what she thinks we are—" At this, Ahsoka was so shocked that she sprinted off into the hallway, not wanting to hear anymore. She would've stayed for longer to find out the rest of the conversation; but after her conversation with Luke, she felt like she couldn't bear to hear anything that could hurt her family. She wanted to know the truth but at the same time didn't. Confused on what she should do, she heaved a sigh and slouched against the wall.
Meanwhile in the bridge
Luke, Sitra, and Ackbar stood in front of a hologram of Kota and Lei Sarke.
"Master Feless's loss is tragic for us all" said Kota "He may have been headstrong and occasionally reckless, but he was a true Jedi nonetheless"
"It saddens me to have lost yet another Jedi" said Sarke "It seems that the Jedi are lessening in numbers despite Order 66 and the Great Jedi Purge having ended long ago"
"Don't talk to us about the Jedi Purge" said Sitra "I lost almost everyone I ever knew to it and I had to survive on Orto Plutonia for years in order to hide from the Empire"
"Of course, no offense intended" said Sarke "On that note; I am still confused on why the Imperials destroyed their own facility"
"Perhaps they didn't want us to get ahold of their secret weapons" said Luke.
"That is a possibility; but despite you pushing back, they still held some advantage over you" said Sarke "Retreating would be rather unnecessary"
"Whatever the reasons, I feel there was something behind the battle that we didn't know about that was at work" said Sitra "Something that was always at work"
Meanwhile in hyperspace
As the Imperial shuttle rushed towards Kuat, Cronos stood in the passenger area and brought up a hologram of the Emperor.
"Emperor Palpatine, your highness; you'll be pleased to know that my plan was a success" said Cronos whilst kneeling "With the base on Ord Mantell destroyed, the Alliance now believes the operation to have been halted and eliminated as a threat; when in actuality, the real base of the operation is still running safely on Kuat. And, as a bonus, we were able to test out some of our new weapons to record their strengths and their weaknesses. I have it here" He held out a holodisk in his hands.
"Good work, general" said the Emperor "Per your request, you are hereby promoted to high general"
"Thank you, your highness" said Cronos whilst bowing his head.
"With your help, the rebels shall experience a threat unlike ever before" said the Emperor. The hologram turned off.
"And in return, I'll remember to thank you again on the day I become galactic emperor" said Cronos.
Hellman76: I'll see if I can fit a chapter about Ahsoka leading Rogue Squadron somewhere in the series.
Just a Crazy Man: I'm glad you're enjoying the story, thanks.
Martin: There are lots of twists yet to come. In answer to your question before: in my headcanon; after Jar Jar finished being a senator for the Imperial Senate he ran away with Queen Julia to Bardotta and became her consort.