Chapter 13: The Siege of Coruscant (Part I)
After several hours of rearming and regrouping, the Freedom Fighter's fleet, led by the Mon Calamari Cruiser Liberator, entered hyperspace to join up in the blockade of the Planet Coruscant with the rest of the Republic Fleet. In the briefing room of the Freedom Star, Kaylor began briefing the Freedom Fighters first. "Freedom Fighters, it looks like Rogue Squadron and General Tantor have done it! They've taken down the planetary shield and created a gap in the sensor net for our forces to land safely."
"That's good. Glad to hear that." said Sally. "So what are we gonna do?"
"General Tantor and General Talor's forces are now moving into position to begin the siege of Coruscant city, our primary target being the Imperial Palace. But first we have to lead all of our troops into the city and establish a stable stronghold within the city. That's where you guys come in. There are two Fixed Artillery guns on the city wall near the gates, one on the north side, the other on the south side of the battle zone. Our forces will have a very difficult time breaking through the defenses if those guns remain."
"So, you want us to infiltrate the city defenses and destroy the guns?" asked Sonic.
"No. They're more valuable to us intact. We need you to clear out the Imperials from the guns so that the Infiltrators can capture them for later use in the siege." said Kaylor.
"Hold on." said Rotor. "Which one do we take down first?"
"You guys are the ones who are doing this job! You choose!" insisted Kaylor.
"All right." replied Rotor. "I guess the North one would seem viable to go first."
"Just like old times." said Sonic. "Right Tails?"
"Right Sonic!" replied Tails giving a hi-5 to Sonic.
"All right, Freedom Fighters, you know your mission, now it's time for the Chaotix to learn theirs." said Kaylor calling the Chaotix over. "Now, as for you guys, you are to aid in weakening the wall defenses. There are two turret control buildings behind the wall which provide remote power to the guns, and we need to take them out to ease up the pressure on our forces."
"Easier said than done, how are we supposed to get to them?" asked Knuckles.
"Airdrop." said Kaylor. "We'll use deployment pods to get you guys behind the wall very quickly and as to not endanger you to the AA Guns below."
"That sounds like a big adrenaline rusher." said Vector.
"But once you're on the ground, you're on your own. Don't expect any aid from us until we begin the siege. If your missions are successful, rendezvous at the gates and fire off the flares to signal our troops to begin the attack on the gates, and from there, we will receive new instructions from the ground troops." said Kaylor. "Understood?"
"Yes sir." said the Freedom Fighters and Chaotix as they grabbed their weapons and equipment and headed for the drop pods. As soon as the Freedom Star was in orbit above Coruscant, the Freedom Fighters and the Chaotix were ready to begin the drop. Soon, they were launched out of the ship and headed straight for their targets below.
After a very rough ride down, the Freedom Fighters touched down a few kilometers away from the first gun, and soon, they exited the pods feeling a bit woozy. "Man! Now I know what a meteor feels like!" groaned Sonic.
"You're still in one piece, Sonic. Let's go." said Sally. "NICOLE, can you locate the first gun?"
"Scanning, Sally." said NICOLE as she scanned the immediate area. "The gun is 5 kilometers north of our present position."
"Then let's do it to it!" said Sonic as he led the charge.
The Chaotix landed not far from the first turret control building, and immediately attracted the attention of a squad of Stormtroopers on patrol nearby, forcing them into a prolonged blaster fight with the troopers, the Chaotix managing to take them all out before heading towards the generator.
Meanwhile, the Freedom Fighters were making their way towards the first artillery gun, with Sonic "on point", and they saw that the gun was guarded by Stormtroopers and an E-Web blaster cannon. "We'll have to find a way past that cannon." said Sonic.
"Leave it to me, sugah-hog." said Bunnie. She and Antoine had a plan for action figured out. She grabbed Antoine's hand and then, using her foot thrusters, flew towards the Imperial Defense position and took them off guard. She and Antoine came down blasters blazing, and took out several Stormtroopers before they even knew what hit them. Antoine then produced a vibro sword and cut down the remaining troopers.
"Wow! That was amazing, Bunnie and Antoine!" said Sally in surprise.
"Oui, mou princezz, we did our very finest." replied Antoine.
"Now let's check the gun, make sure it's safe." said Rotor as he breached the gun's access door open. He, along with Antoine and Bunnie checked the inside of the gun to make sure no Imperials were inside, and of course, there weren't.
"It's cleah, Sally-girl!" shouted Bunnie.
"See? Nothing to it. Let's go for the next one! Sonic and Tails, lead the way! Everyone, into that APC!" shouted Kaylor pointing to an Imperial Hover APC. The rest of the Freedom Fighters quickly climbed aboard, and with Sonic and Tails in the lead, they set off towards the second artillery gun.
The Chaotix were having a much tougher time, but it was nothing they couldn't handle, and as they got inside the generator, they made their way towards the power coupling, where Julie-Su would plant a sequencer charge and set it to destroy the generator. Of course, they had to take out many guards, Stormtroopers, and sentry droids while heading to the bottom of the generator. Eventually, they made it to the maintenance floor of the generator, where the coupling was. Julie-Su then got to work planting the sequencer charge.
"Will 'ya hurry it up! At the rate you're going, the battle will be over!" shouted Vector, blasting Stormtroopers with two blaster rifles.
"At the rate you're talking, you slow me down…" grumbled Julie-Su as she armed the charge. "Okay, now it's armed, Knuckles! 5 minutes and counting!"
"Right!" shouted Knuckles leading the charge with his Bullpup blaster rifle in hand. "C'mon Chaotix! Let's move!"
"We're with you, Knuckles!" shouted Charmy dumping Thermal Detonators on unsuspecting Stormtroopers. Knuckles led the charge straight out the door, leaving the generator to explode in a spectacular fireball.
"One down, one left!" shouted Espio killing any stragglers with shurikens and a blaster pistol. "Let's get to the next one!"
Meanwhile, the Freedom Fighters were closing in on the second gun, blasting AT-STs, TIE Maulers, AT-PTs, and Speeder Bikes who tried to stop them. But as they charged the defensive position, Sonic and Tails held arms, and Tails flew over the Imperials while Sonic got off hip shots from his blaster at the Imperial Troops below. Meanwhile, Antoine produced a rocket launcher to take down a pair of AT-STs that were sent to reinforce the gun's defenses. Finally, the Freedom Fighters charged the enemy position with blasters blazing, and they soon cleared the gun out just as the infiltrators arrived to take charge of the situation.
"Primary Objective completed! All guns secure. Now, let's head for the gate and give the go signal." said Kaylor. And the Freedom Fighters begun the half-as-long trek for the main gates.
The Chaotix used a bit of stealth to get to the second generator, and Espio then cloaked himself to deal with the guards.
"Boy, I hope we get to see some action in this siege." said one of the troopers guarding the door.
"We'd better, since nothing exciting ever happens on this rock….ack!" the second trooper fell dead to a shuriken to the neck, leaving his partner confused and frightened. But he fell in the blink of an eye to another shuriken. Then Espio appeared out of the shadows, and signaled the Chaotix to make their approach. Knuckles and Mighty then pried the door open, and then they got to work heading for the power coupling.
But the Imperials inside were unprepared this time, whereas the ones in the first generator were ready. Many surrendered rather than fight, as by then, Mighty was on crowd control with a chain gun, while Julie-Su, Ray, and Espio went down to plant the sequencer charge.
One the charge was set; they raced out the door, while the Imperials ran for their lives to avoid the blast. Soon the generator exploded like the other one, and was now nothing more than a smoldering ruin.
"That's all of 'em!" shouted Vector.
"Let's go meet Sonic and the others at the gate. And fast!" shouted Knuckles as he and the Chaotix raced for the gate. It was time for the great battle to begin.