Lord Darth Yoda - You can assume that Coren either a) tortured the information out of someone in the resistance or b) was able to figure it out using those pesky cameras that all Ubrorans are wearing. It's a solid question though.

Speechbubbleme - It was the first episode of Rebels that I immediately re-watched. I've probably seen the ending scene with Sabine like 10 times since. Great, great episode.

caveydude - Thanks! Wasn't sure if they were going to be of use, but I think it's a good way to, as you said, tug at the heartstrings.

thejoker122 - All will be made clear in this chapter (I hope)

A/N -We're on the homestretch now (finally). The conclusion will be in several parts, which should all hopefully keep you all in suspense. Looking forward to concluding this one!

Anyways, all reviews, follows, and favourites are deeply appreciated as always.

Please enjoy the next chapter

Chapter 54: Setting the Stage

They say that a bond between a parent and their child cannot be broken.

I am not looking forward to finding out if that is true.

-Excerpt from 'My Son, the Jedi' by Donah and Robry Whitestar

Pravin Ecalt paced pensively in his command centre, well behind the front lines. Though he was an experienced military officer, he had never quite gotten used to the calm before the battle. He doubted that he was the only person that felt similarly. There nerves that he was feeling made him feel like he was always dancing on a bed of needles and he could never get his brain to calm down for more than one moment at a time. There was just so much to process, so much to be nervous about.

The plan that he and the Jedi had put into place was almost ready to be put into action and he was increasingly apprehensive about it. Not that it wasn't a good plan, because it was, but because there were so many variables in play and he would have to be the one that adapted to them. The fate of Ubrora may end up in his hands, and not in the way he would have expected it to be a few weeks ago.

Pravin turned and leaned over the table which displayed a readout of the current tactical situation. The Ubroran army, his forces, had chosen to make a stand just outside of the last city that they controlled, Wingke. The droid army had been in something of a holding pattern since he had left, but was now marching towards Koza Base where President Mollek had been hiding since the start of the war. It would arrive within a day. It was a fortunate break, really, because the decision had finally been made. The Uboran army was going to fight. Terrain was in their favour at least. The Aqir river ran wide and deep just before the Koza Base and it was the perfect spot to stand and fight because the river crossing would make the droids vulnerable to attack.

Even better for the defenders was that because Coren Vox was turning out to be a rather a naive commander, he had ignored his flanks. So Pravin had snuck in two sizeable flanking forces into the forests on either side of the droid army, each of which would be led by a Jedi Knight. So once the droid army got stuck in, trying to dislodge the defenders of the Aqir river and the two bridges that led across it, the flanking forces would be unleashed on the droid army, hopefully taking it unawares and giving the Ubroran army the best possible terms to fight on. It was going to be an upward struggle by any definition, but it might work. It would have to work.

A lot of their success hinged on his father bringing a fleet in to keep the Reprisal and its droid fighters busy. The Ubroran Starfighters had gradually been worn down, and were operating at less than half of their usual strength. If, for whatever reason, his father did not show up at the appointed time, then he doubted if the Sarkiss class fighters of the Uborans could keep the droid fighters from wrecking havoc on the Ubroran army.

But they were going to roll the dice, because there wasn't really a better option. There was simply not going to be a better time to fight.

Pravin, for the first time in his life, really wished that he was on the front lines with his troops, but that was a job for a Colonel, not someone who had overall command of an entire battle. The fate of Ubrora laid in his hands, and not for the first time, he considered the irony of that fact.

Pravin looked at his table again. Like his childhood, he had arrayed his toys for battle, using markers to outline the position of the armies. Only this time, he wished for a magical way to take the piece off the table peacefully, instead of engaging them in battle. "The difference between a man and a child," he muttered to himself. Before he had defected, he'd been a child, afraid to take control of his own life, bowing to whatever person with a higher rank gave him an order. Now he was a man, finally making his own decisions. His life as a man may end up being rather short, but he was glad to have experienced this evolution in his life.

A quiet voice from behind him interrupted his musings. "General? It's five minutes until the check-in time."

Five minutes until his father came. Or didn't. Only the fate of a planet was in the balance. Just your average day. "I'll be right there."

There was silence for a few seconds before the same voice spoke, "General?"

Pravin turned, the voice belonged to Hatir, a Ubroran that had been wounded in one of the first forays against the army but was determined to play his part in the effort started contacting the various teams in the field. The fact that he had been in charge of the forces that had wounded his current adjutant was not lost on him. "Yes, Hatir?"

The Ubroran looked downward, "I just wanted to say thank you, for all the hard work you've put in recently. It...wasn't easy to trust you at first, even though you were endorsed by both Jedi Knights. But these past few days, I don't think I've seen you leave the command centre, let alone sleep. You're totally committed to this, to our planet."

Pravin nodded solemnly, "I am. I cannot do anything but do my best with the assignment I am given. And freeing Ubrora is my assignment. So I devote my whole mind body and spirit to this assignment." He laid a hand softly on Hatir's shoulder. "I may have been your enemy at first. But now I am your staunchest ally. And I can prove it only by giving it my all."

"Will it be enough? To win?"

"A good General will never make a prediction about a battle. Not because they aren't confident in their battle plan or their troops, but because it implies they have control over a battle."

"You don't have control?"

"I can give orders. I cannot control my troops. And even if I could I would not want to. Each man, or Ubroran will have their own role story to write, and I would not deny them that."

Hatir seemed vaguely convinced. "We should go and get things started."

"Yes. It's time to check in with the teams."

Pravin and Hatir went back to the command station. Pravin stood behind Hatir's chair, "Hatir, confirm that all teams are in position."

The Ubroran hit a couple of buttons on his control panel and spoke into the microphone, "Team Unyielding report in."

"Unyielding lead here, we are ready to go," reported Aurine Brynar. She looked around at her troops all around her. The mood was tense but expectant. After weeks of feinting and raiding, there was finally going to be a battle and the soldiers were up for it. Aurine wasn't as thrilled about going into battle. For one, she had seen the simulations and what the expected results of this battle were. If everything went right, they apparently had a 15% chance of victory. But even such a victory would come at a heavy, heavy cost in terms of lives. Including her own, she was rational enough to admit. She was going to lead from the front and be in the thick of the battle. Unfortunately, that meant that she'd be a priority target, especially for the Mandalorians that were currently with the army.

But she wouldn't have it any other way. She would lead by example, just as she always had.

The plan for her detachment of the Ubroran army was to sweep out of the forest that was currently keeping them hidden and into the right flank of the droid army. With the droids hopefully preoccupied with breaking down the defences of the Aqir River, they would hopefully be vulnerable to a surprise attack. Their advantage wouldn't last for long, but it might last long enough.

"Implacable team here," said Tiplee. "We are in position."

Tiplee wasn't quite sure when she had slept last, it was certainly before she had left for Bontha, so at least several days. But there had been no time for sleep, between making plans, fighting Mandalorians and traveling across this planet. But there would be time to sleep after the battle was over.

Tiplee turned to her second in command, Tras Guertas, a grizzled veteran of the campaign, which made him vastly experienced as things went on Ubrora, "Prepare the troops. We are awaiting the signal from HQ that we are go."

Tiplee's unit was now the unnoficial '1st Ubroran motorized division.' A more apt name might have been the 1st Ubroran speeder division. Over the past month, the Ubroran army had appropriated speeders from the civilian population to give them more tools to raid with. Eventually the Ubroran army had acquired enough speeders that they had formed a unit that had become used to fighting with these civilian speeders, as imperfect as they were for combat. But that was something easily rectified. Ubroran engineers had done an impressive job of jury rigging the speeders with mounted weaponry – nothing special, just blasters that were inaccurate. As tools of war, they were pretty laughable, but it was better than having tons of infantry. Besides, some of the family-sized speeders could fit four Uborans, all of which could fire at the enemy. It was a weapon from previous millennium, but it was the best they could do. They would have to substitute top of the line technology for ingenuity.

Tiplee stared outward for a moment, all she could see was the forest and the small clearing that they had made so that the speeders could be unleashed onto the open plains of the battlefield. She had thought that she would be contemplating her own mortality, but her thoughts instead were focused on her sister, Tiplar. She hoped that she would get to see her sister again. She hoped that even if she didn't that she grew to be the Jedi that she knew that she could be.

She returned her attention to the present, seeking out her second in command. She found Tras Guertas conversing with some of the more senior members of the detachment. Their conversation died as she approached. "Any last words of inspiration for the troops, General?" asked Tras.

"I am not the most inspirational of speakers," Tiplee admitted. "And they don't need a big speech," she said. "They know what they are fighting for. Their homes. Their family. Their future. They do not need to be reminded."

"What will you be fighting for, Master Jedi?"

The question surprised her. But she gave him an honest answer. "Hope. Family. A better tomorrow."

"All teams report ready, General Ecalt," said Hatir.

Pravin nodded. "Thank you. Can you advise me as to the position of the droid army relative to our traps?"

"They're just about to approach the first layer of traps, General."

That was good, at least. Over the past week, the Ubroran army had laid out a set of improvised traps in a couple of area that it was likely that the droid army would pass by. Pravin would have loved to have laid mines or something more standard, but the Ubroran army simply didn't have them. So they improvised. While the term 'improvised explosive devices' had a poor connotation in military terms, they had to use what they had available.

"Can we get any of the tanks with our traps?" he asked.

"Scouts report that is doubtful. Might get lucky with some ancillary damage on them."

Pravin decided that would have to be good enough. It was better to make sure that the traps would do some damage than have them go to waste. "Activate the traps."

It was arguably one of the most anticlimactic moments in his life. All the build up of the traps, and all the work that had been put into preparing them he couldn't even see what had happened! "Do we have any way to tell how effective our traps were?" he asked, his hands gripping the back of Hatir's chair.

"Getting in contact with our forces beyond the Aqir river," said Hatir. "Observers report moderate damage to opponent's forces. But the best part is, apparently they got one of the Mandalorians."

"Coren Vox?"

Hatir spoke into his microphone for a moment, and then turned around to speak to him, a slight grimace on his face, "It appears not."

"Well, that would have been too lucky, I suppose."

Hair turned around and started listening. Once he was done he turned back to face him, a look of surprise on his face, "The droid army has pushed forward and is engaging our forces beyond the Aqir River," reported Hatir.

Pravin straightened. He hadn't quite expected the droid army to rush forward into what was a prepared defensive position. A capable general would have launched a probing attack first and then decided on a plan of action. But Coren Vox was not a General and he clearly had no concept of macro level tactics. All he saw was an enemy ahead of him and that he wanted to fight.

That suited Pravin Ecalt just fine. Because Pravin Ecalt had a trump card.

"Contact the Emerald Dream. Tell them we might need to move up the timeline."

"Emerald Dream here," said Sascha Whitestar from the familiar seat in the cockpit of the Emerald Dream. "We'll be ready whenever you need us."

Sascha couldn't believe he was here. When Tiplee had dropped him and Nara off, the Jedi Knight had explained that although the roof had caved in Aurine had felt that it was at least worth exploring the chance to see if the Emerald Dream had came through unscathed. Aurine had spoken to Arslan and had the organizer of the resistance have engineers start digging a tunnel from one of the nearby buildings to see if they could make it through to the spaceport itself. Progress had apparently been slow, due to the fact that they couldn't use heavy machinery to dig, lest the droids be alerted. Eventually though, they had managed to get through the rubble, only to find that the Emerald Dream was structurally intact underneath the ruins. Just buried.

Arslan had quietly had engineers brought in to work on the Dream and tried to repair the damage that it had taken. They had done a decent job, and he and Nara had spent the last day trying to repair anything that the Ubrorans had missed. Realistically, it was a patchwork job at best. For one, the shields had been irrevocably damaged and were totally beyond repair. The hyperdrive, if used, was probably as likely to explode as it was to work. However, the engines seemed to be in decent enough shape and both the front mounted lasers and the topside turret were functional. He wasn't sure how long that they would last, but from he guessed that they would hold out.

He looked over at Nara, who was seated in the co-pilot's chair beside him. His Togruta friend was still extraordinarily tired, but there was something in her expression that had been missing for a long time. Hope.

"You ready for this, Nara?"

"Do you think the ship will survive takeoff?"

"Probably. There is a lot of rubble on top of the ship, but you forget this ship was made by the Sluissi, they didn't cheap out on the hull. It'll survive. Now, the repulsorlifts might give out and we might be in for a crash landing seconds after takeoff, but the ship itself will be fine."

"You're surprisingly confident in this ship, considering it seems to be constantly in need of repairs."

"It gets that from it's owner," he said, trying and failing to smile at the wry remark.

Nara glanced downwards, "What do you think the chances are, of...you know...us surviving this?"

Sascha had been thinking a lot about that over the past day. "Well, we'll be flying a shieldless ship into the middle of a huge land battle battle. On the negative side, one good hit will probably do us in, unfortunately. On the plus side, we'll have one of the best pilots in the galaxy at the controls."

Nara snorted, "Don't get cocky."

Sascha smiled and then got serious, "But seriously Nara, make sure your crash webbing is tight, because if we get hit, we are going down hard."

Nara took that in for a long moment, "Just keep us flying as long as you can. I'll make sure that the droid army gets chopped up real nice."

"Just like at the start of this war. I'll fly, you shoot."

The Togruta nodded and got up from her chair, Sascha followed suit. The two Padawans leaned into each other, letting their foreheads touch. It was another intimate moment between him and Nara. It was two friends saying their goodbyes without needing to say anything verbally. They'd simply said all that they'd ever need to say.

He pulled apart from the embrace, "Shoot straight," he said.

"Fly well," said Nara, completing the common mantra.

Sascha returned to his seat, and opened a channel back to Koza Base, "Emerald Dream is ready for launch on command." He deactivated the comm, "Just hope we get off the ground."

Pravin Ecalt heard the final team check in. Everything was in readiness. The calm before the storm was about to break. There was one more team that he'd love to check in with before he ordered the battle to begin…

He glanced at his chrono. If his father was going to show up with a fleet as he had requested, he had told him to show up in about a standard minute. Pravin paced nervously. While it was still possible that they could win the day without outside help, it improved the odds immeasurably if the Reprisal was distracted by an incoming fleet. Keeping the droid fighters in orbit and not able to support the droid army could end up being crucial.

"Come on dad, don't let me down now," he muttered.

Wisely, Hatir kept quiet.

Pravin turned and looked skyward, as if he could simply will his father into existence. The ceiling of his headquarters didn't exactly provide answers, unfortunately. He turned his attention back to his chrono. It had now passed the time at which he'd told his father to arrive.

Pravin's heart dropped. Instantly he started thinking up excuses. Maybe his father was late. Maybe he had tried his hardest to acquire ships and had failed. Maybe he hadn't even gotten the message.

"Uh, sir?"

Pravin shook out his daze, "Yes, Hatir?"

"I know the fleet missed their scheduled time. It's possible, perhaps even likely, that they are out there, but that we cannot get them on our scanners. The Reprisal may be jamming us from seeing them."

That was a very optimistic way of looking at things. But it was perhaps the outlook the he should adopt. "I agree. We have no way of knowing if they are out there or not." Pravin took a deep breath, "Our fate will rely on our own preparations. Order the attack"

The battle for Ubrora's fate was about to begin.