Hey, everybody. Back with another chapter.

Let's get to it.

MatbeK01: Oh, yes. Don't worry about that. And we will see the return of Alsakan, the Torfan member of the Zulu Force from the Terran Alliance Strikes Back, in this story.

BlackWatcher1234: You'll see.

tristian5: They do use modified AT-TEs for very specific missions. But generally, they use a walker called the Leviathan, which I featured in The Terran Alliance Strikes Back, and there will be a new walker in this story I'll feature eventually.

GREAT CELESTIAL-DRAGON: I'm fairly familiar with the plot. I'll be using some elements of it in this story to make Palpatine's return make more sense.

Chapter 23- Battle for Bacta

(June 7, 2049)

On the bridge of his flagship, Vice Admiral Francesco Bianchi reviews over the most recent intelligence reports as he is also watching the display screen for the navicomputer, displaying his fleet's progress on its hyperspace journey. Bianchi is under no illusion about what's at stake.

Vice Admiral Bianchi was under orders from Grand Admiral Page himself to lead this fleet on a critical mission. That mission was to relieve and hold the planet of Thyferra in the Inner Rim, the main source of the all important bacta. Surviving detection systems in the Inner Rim had suggested that a First Order fleet was moving in Thyferra's direction. Right now, surviving Republic military units were holding Thyferra, although that was limited to a handful of ships and a few guards down on the ground.

The security of Thyferra was so important that Jonathan that he issued the clearance for Bianchi to take even more ships. This included the ship he is using as his flagship, the Torfa-class battleship Alfenon. He also has under his command a pair of Repulse-class battlecruisers, an Argus-class starfighter carrier, a pair of Baltimore class Star Destroyers, 15 Tokyo class Star Destroyers, 6 Naboo class heavy cruisers, and 8 Anzio class light cruisers. They were also accompanied by half a dozen Halsey class assault ships, carrying the Russian 58th Combined Arms Army, which included 3 motor rifle divisions, a tank brigade, a SAM brigade, and two artillery brigades. They were also bringing the Brazilian Army's Jungle Warfare Division, a consolidation of some of the previously independent Jungle Warfare Brigades. All in all, the ships were bringing almost 100,000 troops to reinforce Thyferra. They had also a store of nuclear warheads they were bringing to be permanently deployed on Thyferra to help protect the planet going forward.

"Admiral, sixty seconds to the end of hyperspace run," an officer calls out on the bridge.

"All ships to battlestations. Make ready to engage," Bianchi calls out. He looks out of the viewport and mutters to himself, "And now we see if we beat them there."

The seconds that pass are like an eternity as Bianchi and the rest of the bridge crew wait for the Alfenon to drop out of hyperspace. Finally, the blue of hyperspace lengthens out before the Alfenon drops out of hyperspace. Admiral Bianchi is immediately scanning everything in view. To his immense relief, in orbit above Thyferra, all he can see is a pair of MC80 cruisers and a pair of Nebulon-B frigates. No sign of ships employed by the First Order.

"Grazie a dio," Bianchi mutters before saying louder, "We beat the First Order here." He then turns around towards his communications officers. "Order all vessels to set up a defensive orbit over Thyferra and make contact with those defending vessels in orbit right now. Signal those assault ships to begin landing operations immediately. We need to get those troops down to the surface before the First Order arrives."

The fleet moves quickly to take up their defensive positions over Thyferra. As the warships begin setting up in orbit, the assault ships begin descending to the surface to deploy their troops. Meanwhile, all of the starfighters and bombers aboard the ships of the fleet are fully fueled, armed, and ready to go, engines running and ready for takeoff at a moment's notice.

It doesn't take long. Before the assault ships have even touched down on the surface to begin deploying their embarked troops, alarms begin to sound on the bridge of the Alfenon. "And here we go," Bianchi mutters before he calls out, "Scramble all fighters and bombers and ready all weapons batteries!"

The warships maintain their positions as their fighters and bombers begin to scramble out of the hangar bays. From his position on the bridge, Admiral Bianchi watches as ships begin to drop out of hyperspace. Bianchi counts as ship after ship drop out of hyperspace. By the time the last one drops out of hyperspace, Bianchi has counted 7 Resurgents, 4 Imperial-IIs, 4 Maxima-A class heavy cruisers, and 3 Nebulon-K frigates.

Bianchi runs the scenario through his head. He knows he doesn't have as many heavy ships as the First Order's Resurgents, but overall has more ships, and he has the better air arm.

"So it begins," Bianchi mutters.

The battle begins with the Alliance's starfighters. Already launched by the time the First Order fleet arrived in the system, the starfighters now begin streaking to meet the enemy.

The First Order realize very quickly that the fighters are already heading for them, and realize that the Alliance had beaten them there and was ready for them. The First Order quickly begin scrambling TIE fighters to meet them as the capital ships prepare to engage the Terran fleet.

However, almost as soon as TIE fighters come flying out of the hangars of the capital ships, some of them begin to be blown apart by anti-starfighter missiles. The TIEs not blown apart begin to scatter a bit. As they do, some of the pilots look out ahead of them and are chilled to see that some of the Terran fighters have already reached them. All of which are F-3 Zeros.

The Zero was the Alliance's elite space superiority fighter, designed by Mitsubishi to replace the SF-23. Although the SF-23 was still in service with many starfighter units, the Zero had taken position as the Alliance's main space superiority fighter.

On the surface, the Zero didn't look anything too special. Visually, it looked a lot like a cross between the F-22 and SF-23. But, "under the hood", the Zero was the most advanced and powerful starfighter ever constructed. The Zero was equipped with the most advanced technology in either galaxy. It's navigation system was also the most advanced ever seen. It's radar could detect objects no other set could, and at ranges no other set could. The Zero's powerful engines could propel them in atmosphere to speeds of Mach 2.44, and in space to speeds of 170 MGLT, and it had the most capable hyperdrive of any starfighter in Alliance service. And yet, the advanced flight controls, thrust vectoring engines, and other systems made the Zero the second most agile fighter in the Alliance's service, surpassed only by the J-25 interceptor. And perhaps most important of all, the cloaking technology built into the airframe could keep the Zero hidden better than almost any other stealth technology. In addition, the Zero was heavily armed, with 2 powerful laser cannons and 10 air to air missiles.

As the TIE pilots see the incoming Zeros, they feel a sense of dread. Nothing in the First Order arsenal except for the highly rare TIE Silencer could hope to match the Zero in direct combat. They try to scatter, hoping to draw the Zeros in where they can try and surround them.

But it's no use. The Zeros slash through the TIEs, firing their laser cannons and downing dozens of TIEs. Surviving TIEs try desperately to avoid the marauding Zeros, but find out the hard way that they cannot outmanuever the Zero.

As the Zeros engage the TIE fighters, the other starfighters begin their attack runs on the First Order's warships. The ships quickly begin to open fire with turbolasers and point defense laser cannons as the Terran fighters weave their way from side to side to avoid being hit while firing their own laser cannons.

On board the Alfenon, Admiral Bianchi watches as the starfighter battle is beginning. He knows it won't be too long before he and his fleet are within weapons range. This is a battle that is going to be crucial in the progress of this war.

(Hours later)

The bridge of the Alfenon rocks as Admiral Bianchi tries to steady himself. The battle has been raging for hours now. So far, the Alliance is holding steady, but Bianchi is wondering how the rest of this battle is going to go.

The battle has been mostly in orbit. The First Order had managed to land a few troops with one of their heavy cruisers, but had been quickly defeated by the Brazilian jungle division. However, despite their success in mostly keeping the First Order off the planet surface, it had cost them a lot in orbit. They'd lost a pair of Tokyo-class Star Destroyers and 7 cruisers so far. However, they'd managed to also destroy most of the First Order's smaller warships, as well as a Resurgent and an ISD. However, the rest of both fleets have taken heavy damage.

"Admiral, shields down to 30 percent! We're taking heavy damage!" a bridge officer calls out.

Bianchi curses under his breath. The Alfenon is currently engaged with a pair of Resurgents. With the damage the Alfenon and both battlecruisers have taken, Bianchi is not sure he'll be able to defeat both of them with taking crippling damage to his battleship.

"Alright. I don't care that we were supposed to hold these in reserve for future defense, but we don't have a choice right now. Pull all forces away from two of those Resurgents, and ready two of those nukes!" Bianchi orders.

Some of the officers on the bridge exchange glances, but they follow Biacnhi's orders without argument. Immediately, warships engaging two of the First Order's Resurgents while down in the Alfenon's hangar, hangar crews race to arm two of the battleship's embarked bombers with a nuclear missile each.

Within a matter of minutes, the bombers are ready. As soon as the plane crews give the thumbs up, both bomber pilots lift off and fly out of the hangar.

The Terran fleet is pulling back into a tighter formation. With a sigh of relief, Bianchi sees that the two Resurgents he had earmarked for destruction are not pressing the attack, but instead moving towards the surface to try and land more troops.

The two nuclear armed bombers streak towards their targets. With the wider battle going on, nobody is paying attention to just two bombers that aren't flying together. Even as the bombardiers aboard both bombers lock and then launch their missiles, nobody is paying attention.

That is, until two massive fireballs erupt and engulf the two Resurgents as the nukes hit home. Both battlecruisers are torn apart by the massive blasts, their armor and shields doing little to protect against the nuclear explosions.

Across the Terran warships, the crewmen who witnessed the explosions avert their eyes to avoid destroying their eyes from the flash, but begin to cheer in response to the sudden destruction of the two battlecruisers. With their destruction, maybe they have a chance of surviving this.

The Terran warships redouble their attack against the First Order's fleet. But, within minutes, they notice that the First Order's warships are beginning to turn away from the Terran warships. Then, one by one, as they get a little bit of distance, they begin jumping to hyperspace. It takes only moments before the rest of the First Order's ships have disappeared into hyperspace.

Aboard the Terran fleet, sailors and officers watch in surprise as the First Order's ships disappear into hyperspace. Then, one by one, they begin to cheer as they realize they've won the day.

On the Alfenon, Admiral Bianchi sighs with relief. He then turns to his communications officers and calls out, "Contact fleet HQ. Alert them that the First Order has been driven off. However, let them know we've taken heavy losses, and most of our ships will need repairs."

(Naboo, Andromeda Fleet HQ)

"What's the word from Thyferra?" Jonathan asks.

"Vice Admiral Bianchi reports they drove off the First Order's fleet with some heavy losses to the First Order. However, they suffered some heavy losses themselves. Most of their ships will need to be replaced to allow the current ships to be repaired," Admiral Jacobsen says.

"So, we've held Thyferra," Jonathan says with a bit of relief.

"Yes, but that's about the only good news. We have received word that Anaxes and Chandrila have both fallen to the First Order," Jacobsen responds.

Jonathan sighs as he runs a hand over his face. "Alright. I want constant communication with our intelligence lines. I want a constant stream of updates on the progress of the First Order. I want a constant update on the list of next possible targets of the First Order."

Jonathan looks out the window, his thoughts running a thousand miles an hour. This war is not going in their favor. And it's going to take everything the Alliance has to stop the First Order's advance across the galaxy.

And, I'll end there.

So, for those not familiar, Thyferra is the planet primarily responsible for the production of bacta. In Legends, there was a whole campaign for control of Thyferra between the New Republic and remnants of the Empire about 3 years after the Battle of Endor. So, I decided to make an allusion to it in this story.

So, the First Order won't be advancing much further "south" in the galaxy. Most of their expansion will be "north" and "east" in the galaxy. Before you ask, you'll have to wait and see to see how much territory the First Order will end up taking.

Alright. Next chapter will be up soon. Until it is, please leave a review, and stay tuned!