Chapter 9: The Battle of Yavin

"Stay close to Yavin's atmosphere as long as you can, it should hide our approach for a while." Jaral instructed the air armada of the coalition.

Indeed, the magnetic distortion caused by the atmosphere of the gas giant was able to confuse the sensors of the Rebellion, meaning that the Empire would have the same problem, given they had the same technological level.

Soon enough, everybody could spot the Death Star even without sensors.

"Look at the size of that thing." one of the pilots commented.

"Cut the chatter, Vulture-3." his commander replied.

Then a turbulence rocked the fighters.

"We're passing through the magnetic field." Jaral announced. "Switch shields at double front. All fighters, accelerate to attack speed."

Soon enough, the majority of the fighters sprinted forward, heading toward the equator of the station.

"Rogue Leader, commence the attack." she then ordered.

"All wings, engage." Wedge said in response. "We'll cut across the axis and draw their fire."

The X-Wings locked the foils in attack position and the federal Tridents and Hunters loosened their formations, anticipating heavy fire from the surface of the station.

Jaral and Ezra led Red and Gold squadron in the rear, then the Falcon also appeared to join the formation.

"Nice of you to join us, Falcon." Luke quipped on the comlink.

"I couldn't leave you all the reward and the merit, kid." Han joked.

"Stay focused, gentlemen." Ezra said calmly. "Our allies have reached the surface."

Indeed, the shield fighters were already flying right above the surface, evading the turbolasers and hitting all the sensitive facilities they could spot around the objective. At the same time, they were forming a circular perimeter around the shaft that hosted the exhaust port, clearing the area for Gold Squadron to make the first attack run.

Jaral watched at estimated time before the Death Star could fire. 20 minutes.

Just as 'Dagger' group (Red and Gold) were approaching the trench, the turbolasers stopped firing and a communication arrived from Rebel Command.

"Attention, all squad leaders. We've picked up a new group of signals. Enemy fighters coming your way."

"Jinx?" Ezra asked.

Immediately, the AI increased the power of the scanners and the siblings immediately spotted the first squadron of TIEs flying to intercept the allied force.

"Here they come." Jaral announced. "Shield squadrons, move to intercept."

"Copy that, boss." Wedge replied before veering against the TIEs and leading his formation to start a very intense dogfight above the gray surface of durasteel.

As explosions and projectiles flew all around them, Dagger group stayed unfazed and moved closer to the surface, speeding as low as possible to avoid dragging the attention of the TIEs.

However, this also made them viable targets for the turbolaser turrets, which started to fire again.

The shields of their ships could hold a little, but then one of the pilots of Red Squadron, Porkins, noticed that he had a malfunction.

"Porkins, pull up." Biggs exhorted him.

"No, I still have it." the pilot insisted.

But just as he said it, another bolt hit his X-Wing straight in the face, and this time the fighter blew up in pieces.

"Warning," said Jinx. "10 TIE Fighters and Interceptors coming our way. All allied formations are already engaged."

"Red Squadron, Falcon, move to intercept. Gold Squadron, stay behind me and Specter-7." the Grand Marshall ordered.

"Copy, Blue Nova, we're going in." Red Leader replied.

The X-Wings and the Falcon pulled up and flew to battle the new enemies.

"I hope Luke gets out of there." Ezra said down the bond.

"He's skilled enough. Focus on the objective." Jaral thought back.

16 minutes left.

"I see the trench." Ezra announced on the comlink.

"Confirmed, Specter-7," Gold Leader replied. "We're starting our attack run."

"Specter-7, on me, we have to shield them from other fighters." Jaral instructed.

The siblings thus veered up, while letting the three Y-Wings dive into the trench, under the intense but imprecise fire of the turbolaser cannons protecting the surface and the interior of the trench.

"Switch all power to front deflector shields." Gold Leader instructed.

Ezra and Jaral kept avoiding AA fire, then the turrets stopped firing once again, and an unmistakable sensation of cold suddenly touched the siblings.

"It's him." Ezra thought.

The two turned their fighters toward the direction they were feeling the cold was coming from and they spotted the TIE Advanced of Vader, accompanied by four TIE Fighters and two Interceptors.

The latter and two of the former detached and attacked the siblings with a combined composition, forcing them to adopt evasive maneuvers.

"Damn it, I can't go after Vader." Ezra thought alarmed.

"Focus on surviving, we wouldn't be able to maneuver into that trench." Jaral thought back.

She then managed to get on the tail of the Fighter, but the Interceptor quickly got in a favorable position and fired against her, prompting her to break her chase.

"These guys are not messing around." she commented.

"They must be their best and brightest on this station." Ezra replied as he, too, struggled to land a hit.

The dogfight went on for around two minutes. The imperial pilots were skilled, but they found difficult to land a hit on the siblings, who could use the Force to predict the trajectory of the bolts and their super-human reflexes to enact the maneuvers necessary to avoid even a crossfire.

"Enough of this." Jaral thought in the end. "Let's try a flying switch."

"I'm in." Ezra thought back.

To enact this trick, the two veered away from each other, baiting the respective aggressors to follow them while they made a large half-circle in the air.

Then the siblings dashed toward each other. The imperials still chased them, not understanding that they were falling into a trap. Fair enough, only two people with a connection like the siblings could even think of pulling it off.

The two X-Wings crossed paths, with their bellies facing each other and dangerously close. They shot each at the chasers of the other.

They took out a Fighter and an Interceptor, thus evening the odds.

From there on, it was a piece of cake for the two Jedi to take out the remaining foes in a matter of seconds.

However, that triumph was not going to last, as a communication from Gold Five reported a very bad news.

"This is Gold Five. Lost Tiree, lost Hutch. They came from behind…" then an explosion and statics followed.

10 minutes left.

The only Y-Wings still flying were Gold Three and Gold Seven, who had to wait at a distance because at most three fighters could enter the trench. And those who had just gone in had been destroyed by Vader and his escort while the siblings were distracted.

"Ezra, do you see him?"

"Not yet."

Jaral then called Red Squadron.

"Red Leader, this is Blue Nova. Take two wingmen and start your attack run."

"Copy that, Blue Nova. Luke, take Red Two and Three. Hold up here and wait for my signal to start your run."

"Acknowledged, Red Leader." Luke said.

Then she called Rogue. "Rogue Leader, how's the situation on you?"

Even from the comlink, the faint sound of Wedge's X-Wing firing could be heard. After a burst was shot, the Captain replied.

"We're taking heavy losses, ma'am, but we are keeping them at bay, for now." he replied calmly, despite his tone being unable to hide a certain urgency.

"Understood, restrict the perimeter." she ordered, hoping that a more compact defense would allow her allies to assist each other better.

"Red Five, there's a TIE Advanced in the area. If you spot him, signal it immediately."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Imperial Command has approved our request, sir." Krybos reported. "Two fleets are en route here and will arrive in 20 hours."

"Too late. By then we will be reduced to dust." Iulius calmly observed as he watched the projection on the holotable.

The allied fleet had by now reorganized and was clearly preparing an attack to hit the 101st with everything they got, including the Protector, now surrounded by a turian battle group.

Analyzing the situation with Krybos, Qathora, Ciena and the hologram of Admiral Versio, Iulius pointed a finger at the frontline.

"They will send their forces to attack us on the flanks while a smaller one will try to get through the asteroids and the debris to cut our formation and pick us out separately."

"Through that field?" Versio asked surprised. "Impossible. It's too dense for ships to pass through it."

"These kind of fields are not impossible to cross, Admiral. Especially considering that our enemies have had months to study this."

"We should also consider that the destruction of the Adjudicator and the rebel space station has left that cloud of chemicals that blocks everybody's sensors." Qathora noted, pointing at the anomaly that had formed between the asteroids.

"At the moment, our best defense is the Fire-Star platform." Ciena added.

"Exactly, Lieutenant." Iulius replied. "But we will need it to keep the federation vessels at bay. Remember: their advantages are the better quality of their starfighters and the superior range of the federal ships. So, how do we prevent them from using the asteroid field?" he asked calmly, trying to stimulate his officers to think autonomously.

"Well, we could always let them come at the center and then hit them with a reserve force." Ciena suggested.

Iulius hummed with interest.

"We are probably going to need all of our ships on the frontline to halt the enemy advance." Krybos objected. "If the enemy goes on an all-out attack, we won't be able to stop it without committing all of our forces."

"Not necessarily." Version pointed out. "The asteroid field works for us, too. If we assume a defensive formation and point the guns at the few passages that they can use, we could use the Lancers to keep even their fighters at bay."

"Good point, Admiral." Iulius said calmly. "But perhaps we can go further with this idea. We can't fight their fleet all at once, but perhaps we can mine the passages and detonate them when the enemy will bring enough forces beyond them, so we can pick them out and slow down the rest."

"Makes sense." Ciena agreed. "If we plant the charges on the smaller asteroids, they will be sent flying around, reshuffling the formation and forcing them to find another way."

"They could also bounce toward us, though." Qathora noted.

"Yes, but we would have time to blast them or simply dodge them." Krybos said.

"I agree. Our goal is to delay the enemy until reinforcements arrive. This is our best course of action."

"All in favor?" Iulius asked, and nobody posed further objections.

"Good. Admiral, the Corvus is the only ship we have that can hide from the enemy radars. Have them load up the explosives and the engineers, I'll signal where they have to lay them."

Versio made the salute. "Yes, sir." then his hologram disappeared.

"Commander, return to your post and keep an eye on the outside." the Grand Admiral ordered with his usual tranquil demeanor.

The officer clacked his heel and walked away, back into the command bridge.

As Iulius was still contemplating the position of both his fleet and what he could see of the enemy fleet, Ciena went through a report that confused her.

"Uh...sir?" she asked with a bit of reticence.

"Yes, Lieutenant?" Iulius asked without diverting his gaze from the holotable.

"It appears like Captain Bolo and his squadron have left their post. They're attacking toward Felucia."

Iulius was confused, too, for a moment. However, after pondering on it for a few seconds, he guessed why.

"The Captain knows what he's doing. For now, let's focus on our own problem." he said in a conciliatory tone.

"Yes, sir." the young Lieutenant said as she went through other reports.

In the span of a minute, Iulius ordered the deployment of the fleet. The Star Destroyers, covered by the Lancers,would cover the flanks, leaving only some cruisers and frigates to guard the passages between the asteroids. Meanwhile, the Corvus was loaded up and Iulius signaled them where they had to escort the engineers, all while the UACT fleet was also assuming an offensive asset and soon a squadron of frigates and light cruisers moved forward, aiming to probe the imperial defenses.

8 minutes left.

As Ezra chased and blew up another TIE, the radar indicated that other two were on vector to intercept him.

"I got their attention." he said in the comlink to his sister.

"Then keep at it." she replied while she, too, was being chased by three TIEs.

Those in particular were coming from other sections of the Death Star, which by now had had the time to mobilize and fly all the way there. The allied fighters had now suffered losses equal to 60%, and while they still inflicted heavy casualties on the imperials, the latter just kept spamming TIEs all around.

They needed to finish this quickly. And worst of all, they still couldn't see where Vader went. By now, the siblings realized that he was hiding his Force signature exactly to avoid being detected by them.

Red Leader and his wingmen were halfway across the trench. The siblings hadn't noticed yet that the static batteries had stopped firing, which could only mean one thing.

"Red Squadron, watch your back for enemy fighter." Ezra promptly warned as he tried to spot the TIEs he was interested in among the countless signals pinging on his sensors.

"I see him." Red Two reported. "Coming at point 35."

Ezra turned his head in that direction and used his visor's scanner, powered up by Jinx, to finally spot Vader and the remaining two fighters of his escort.

But just as he was about to veer in that direction, another group of TIEs fell on him, with Ezra dodging the first burst for a hair's breadth and still getting hit by a couple of bolts, but the shields of the X-Wing held on.

Unfortunately, everybody else was already occupied. The allied fighters were shrinking in numbers and even the Falcon was chased by many TIEs, since it was a bigger target.

Ezra had to evade for two minutes. He managed to shot down one of his chasers, but still the others wouldn't let him go. Until his sister finally arrived from behind and quickly shot down the remaining imperials.

"Thanks, sis."

"Nobody touches you under my watch. Now, let's check on Red…"

"It's away!" the voice of Red Leader suddenly said through the comlink.

Quickly turning their heads toward the end of the trench, the siblings saw an explosion at the end of it, where the exhaust port was supposed to be. However, the fact that they could see such explosion made them suspicious.

"Was it a hit?" Jaral asked.

"Negative...negative." said Red Leader. "It didn't go in. It just impacted on the surface."

There was no time to be discomforted, though, because Vader's TIE, who had already killed the other two wingmen, was now chasing Red Leader.

"Red Leader, we're right above you." Luke said. "Turn to point 05, we'll cover for you."

"Stay there." the man ordered. "I just lost my starboard engine. Get set up for your attack run."

Just as he said that, Vader shot another burst and hit the X-Wing again, this time deactivating.

In a few seconds, the rebel fighter fell toward the surface and impacted, exploding with violence.

5 minutes left.

"Sis, let Luke be the only one to go, we will all stand here and protect the trench." Ezra thought.

"Are you sure?"

"He's the best shot we have. Let the two of handle Vader while the others keep the fighters at bay."

As this conversation happened in the span of a few milliseconds, Jaral agreed and immediately got on the comlink.

"Red Five, start your attack run. All remaining forces form up on me, we have to shield him from the imperials."

"Affirmative, Marshall." the voice of Wedge came in. "All Shield fighters, converge on Blue Nova."

Soon, while Luke dived into the trench, the siblings spotted Vader, coming after him with a large number of TIEs. The allied fighters and the Falcon finally converged together and assembled for an all-or-nothing confrontation.

"This is Red Five, I'm going in full throttle." Luke reported as the fight above the skies started.

Jaral and Ezra went straight toward Vader.

"I'll take the fighters." Ezra thought.

"Understood." Jaral replied as she aimed at the Sith Lord.

"Jinx, disengage all security measures on the craft."

"Disengaging." the AI reported.

So the X-Wings of the siblings suddenly became faster and more agile than before. The surprise was such for the imperials that Ezra immediately took out one of the TIEs, then immediately engaged the other wingman of Vader while his sister forced the Sith Lord to face her and leave Luke alone.

Two TIEs tried to go help Vader, but with a daring maneuver, Ezra took them out.

3 minutes left.

As Vader and Jaral were still trying to outmaneuver each other, Ezra's senses were as high as they ever were. With the single objective in mind to protect his sister and Luke, he mercilessly took out all the fighters who were trying to to reach for the trench. But they just kept coming.

Wedge and his subordinates were giving their all, but they had been reduced to just 14 fighters. Most had been already shut down or had been forced to leave because they had been badly damaged and return to the Newton. Meanwhile, the TIEs numbered around 90, because of the reinforcements arrived from other sections.

Just as Ezra took out another Interceptor, a total of five fighters came toward him, both from his left and from behind. He maneuvered to keep them off, but they just followed him, assuming a formation that could quickly trap him on every side.

Just as he struggled to find a solution, a burst of red blasters took out three of those fighters and the Falcon passed above him.

"Thanks, Han."

"You're welcome, but I don't know how long we can do this."

"Luke is almost there, just hold on a few seconds." Ezra replied, being able to sense Luke through the Force.

2 minutes left.

Luke was still approaching, as a weird transmission from Base One arrived.

"Luke, you switched off your targeting computer. What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I'm all right." Luke replied confidently, and Ezra could clearly sense that he was telling the truth.

Still, outside of the trench, the situation was desperate. The TIEs were still swarming around and now Vader had used that opportunity to get on the tail of Jaral.

Just as Ezra noticed that, a blue laser suddenly cut the air and took out one of the fighters escorting the Sith Lord.

"What the…?" Han said on the comlink.

The sensors beeped, and just a second after, above Ezra's cockpit, out of her cloaking device, appeared nothing less than the Constantinople.

Speeding around, the frigate unleashed her GUARDIAN batteries against the imperial fighters, taking a dozen down in the span of a few seconds.

"This is the Constantinople to all allied forces. Clear the area, we'll thin the enemy fighters out."

The frigate passed so near to Vader's fighter than the TIE Advanced lost control because of the pull of the ship mixed to the own gravitational pull of the Death Star and was sent spinning away into the void.

"Dad?!" Ezra exclaimed with joy and surprise.

The Captain couldn't answer because he was too busy directing the ship, but the Jedi could clearly recognize his father's aura, and the small spark it did when Jordan heard his son's voice.

Caught completely by surprise, the imperial fighters had to scatter and reorganize, but the quick bolts of the Constantinople took out many of them. The batteries on the ground, after a moment of disbelief, turned their cannons toward the newly arrived ship, but they still had to limit their fire because their allies were still up there.

Other than that, the Constantinople fired some torpedoes toward a couple of generators exposed on the surface and turned off the batteries. Clearly, she had been hiding and observing the situation for a while, coming up with a plan to maximize the damage she could deliver.

"Luke, take the shot, now!" Jaral exclaimed in the comlink.

On the sensors, two proton torpedoes were detected leaving Luke's X-Wing. This time, there was no explosion on the surface.

"Bullseye confirmed." Jinx said. "The torpedoes have impacted against the reactor."

"All forces, disengage immediately." the Grand Marshall ordered.

Not needing to hear it twice, all fighters immediately veered upward, away from the station and toward Yavin, while the Constantinople still provided covering fire.

The allied ships dashed away from the station and gathered around the frigate.

Just as only few seconds were left before the Death Star could fire, it exploded in a massive blast. The shockwave was probably going to hurt mostly against the gas giant, but a part of it went toward the allied forces.

"All power to rear deflector, people." Jaral immediately ordered and everybody eagerly complied.

The blast finally passed above them, rocking the ships, but nobody else got destroyed.

"Did...did we do it?" a federal pilot asked almost in disbelief.

Ezra chuckled. "We did. The Death Star is destroyed." he announced, unable to hide the happiness in his voice.

A cheer erupted on the comlink.

The siblings then looked for Luke's X-Wing and went to fly next to him.

"Great shot, Luke." Ezra complimented.

"It was just a lucky shot." Luke said with modesty.

"No way, kid." the voice of Han erupted as the Falcon also appeared and got into the line formation. "That was one in a million."

"Nothing wrong to brag about it once, Luke." Jaral added jokingly.

Luke giggled, then all the other ships that survived the attack gathered around them. To Luke's great delight, the next one to speak was Biggs.

"Just like Beggar's Canyon, uh, Luke?" he asked excitedly.

"That's right, Biggs. I got other trick to tell you." Luke replied in tone.

Then the surviving starcrafts of the Systems Alliance, three Tridents and three Verrix interceptors, aligned on the right side of the formation, with the Constantinople waiting behind them.

"Regus Leader to Blue Nova, come in." the voice of a turian said.

"I read you, Regus Leader." Jaral replied on the comlink.

"We're heading back on the Newton for repairs. It's been an honor fighting with you all."

"Thanks, Regus. We couldn't have done this without you."

"Not just us, ma'am."

"We will remember them." Jaral said solemnly, referring to all those pilots who didn't come back alive from the battle, both from the Milky Way and from Andromeda.

The Alliance's fighters then veered slightly to align toward the Newton and her Task Force, still waiting in the orbit of Yavin. The Constantinople followed them to join the formation. Still, Jordan called his children privately.

"Kids, I'll park the ship then reach you on the surface. See you in a minute." he said happily.

The kids smiled. "Looking forward to it, Dad." Ezra said before the frigate disappeared in the distance.

The rebel ships headed toward Yavin, ready to be welcomed as the heroes they were.

The first attack of the coalition did very poorly. The trap set up by the 101st worked perfectly, and among other ships, it left an MC80 rebel cruiser that was now fighting for its life.

The passages between the asteroids had been closed, and the remaining ships had been forced to reorganize.

"I must say, I wasn't completely sure it would've worked. Congratulations, Grand Admiral." Krybos commented.

"It was a team effort, Commander." Iulius replied with modesty. "Now let's prepare for the next…"

He was interrupted by Ciena walking behind him and reporting urgently. "Sir, you're receiving an urgent call from Coruscant...I think it's the Emperor."

The bridge fell silent, as the surprise was great.

Iulius himself didn't understand what could be so urgent to have the Emperor call him in the middle of a very important operation.

"Send it in the comm room." he ordered as he walked past her, not daring to disrespect the Emperor.

Ciena jogged back at the console and applied the order while Iulius walked into the room with the holo-projector and locked it. He went at the end of the boardwalk and knelt down. Just a moment later, the hologram of Palpatine appeared.

"What is your wish, Your Majesty?" Iulius respectfully asked.

"Grand Admiral Tanis, you have to go to the Yavin system immediately." the Emperor said with his croaking tone.

Iulius was even more confused. "The Yavin system? Isn't that where the Death Star was…"

The realization hit him. Something had happened. Something really, really bad.

"This mission is of the utmost secrecy, Grand Admiral." Palpatine went on. "Bring Lord Vader back to Coruscant."

Iulius didn't dare to ask further questions. He simply replied "Yes, My Lord.", then the hologram of Palpatine disappeared.

Iulius stood up, the thought of what could've happened tormenting him.

Aside from the implications of the possible destruction of the Death Star, he remembered that Treye, his closest friend, was aboard.

He quickly walked out of the room and went to the holotable. Realizing that the enemy forces on their side of the asteroids had been finally destroyed, Iulius turned toward Krybos.

"Commander, announce the retreat." he ordered calmly.

Everybody in the bridge was stunned.

"Retreat?" Krybos asked in disbelief.

"Orders from the Emperor himself. We have to halt the offensive. There had been critical developments." Iulius replied.

Still confused, but nevertheless trusting his superior, Krybos transmitted the order, and the fleet pointed backward, toward Columex, probably leaving the UACT as confused as them.

Iulius took Qathora on the sideline and whispered. "Contact the Corvus and tell them they have to bring me to Yavin."

"Yavin?" Qathora asked with a murmur. "But it's well beyond the enemy lines."

"That's why I need the Corvus and her cloaking device. Go inform them. I'll board as soon as we reach Arcan."

The Togruta slightly bowed her head and went to the comm officer to relay the message.

Iulius walked back to the viewport, watching as the fleet made the jump into hyperspace. His mind full of the worst case scenarios we would encounter once he reached his new destination.