Star prodded at the campfire with a sturdy stick, churning up the coals and sending a curtain of sparks into the air. Behind her, Buff Frog slowly paced, commlink in hand, awaiting word from Rosado of the enemy's approach. Besides herself and the General, the camp was deserted. The freed prisoners, in no condition to fight, had been instructed to march toward the sea, some twenty-five klicks away, where they would be away from the battle. Everyone else had gone with Sir Lavabo to the gorge.

Buff Frog raised the commlink and keyed it on. He spoke softly. "Anything yet?"

"Not yet," came Rosado's quiet reply.

He switched the commlink off and looked back at Star. Buff Frog felt a pang in his chest. He had known the Princess since she was born. Having never had children of his own, he had always thought of himself as her muscular uncle. He knew she could take care of herself and had survived many harrowing situations, but he couldn't help himself. He was worried for her safety.

Star felt the log upon which she sat shift beneath her as Buff Frog took a seat beside her. For a moment, neither spoke.

"I can…stay with you…if you want," the General said slowly.

Star smiled. "I know you're worried about me, Buff Frog, but it's too dangerous. For me to be able to do my part of the plan, I have to be able to move as fast as possible, and that means I have to be alone. Besides, the troops need you to lead them."

Buff Frog nodded, returning the grin. "I know. But I would never forgive myself if something happened to you and I know I could have been there to protect you."

A few minutes later, Eddie returned with the explosives recovered from the Raventalon. He carried two packs with him, one over each shoulder, positively crammed to the brim, and had stuffed his clothes with even more small mines.

"This was all I could carry," he admitted.

"Yikes, Janna," Star muttered. "I know she likes to be prepared for anything, but this seems excessive."

Buff Frog pulled them back to reality. "You have done very well, Eddie. Find Lavabo at ravine right away."

Eddie snapped a salute. "Right away, General!" And he scampered away again.

Star returned to sitting by the campfire. Buff Frog resumed pacing. They hadn't long to wait. Buff Frog's commlink tweeted with an incoming transmission.

"Hovis? Is the enemy close?"

"Yup. The enemy is inbound from the north, still about four klicks from my position."

"How many?"

"A lot. It's hard to see through the trees, but it looks like a full battalion. Plus they have a pair of AT-ST walkers and…something else that isn't a walker, but it's too low to see through the trees."

"You had best get back here as quickly as you can."

"Agreed. Heading back now."

Star let out a long breath as Buff Frog pocketed the commlink. "So they're nearly here. Guess that means it's time." She looked up at Buff Frog. "Suddenly this is feeling much more…real."

"Are you…having second thoughts about plan?"

"Oh, no, nothing like that," Star said quickly. "I just…a whole battalion plus some walkers is a lot to face alone. Sure makes me wish Marco was here…or that I'd been able to convince Master Kenobi to come along."

"Who is this Kenobi?"

Star shook her head. "Doesn't really matter now, does it?"

"No, I suppose it does not."

"Um, Buff Frog, I feel like maybe it isn't fair to ask this, but can you please try to keep Hovis out of danger? He risked an awful lot betraying the Empire to help me and my friends, and he's got a family to get back to. Plus he…doesn't really know how to fight."

Buff Frog smiled. "Not to worry, I have very important job in mind for him that will keep him well out of danger."

"Thanks, Buff Frog."

Rosado arrived a few minutes later.

"Won't be long before the enemy reaches this position," he said. "I think they were gaining on me as I was getting back here."

"Then we must hurry to ambush site," replied Buff Frog. "Quickly!"

Rosado quickly turned to Star. "You got this, right?"

"Absolutely. I'm gonna try to buy you guys a couple extra minutes, so just make sure you're ready when I get there."

"We will be. May the Force be with you."

Buff Frog gave Star a hug. "Good luck, Star. Be safe."

Star returned the hug. "I don't think my position in this plan could possibly be more unsafe, but I'll try."

The General released the princess and saluted her, and then he and Rosado hurried away deeper into the woods.

Star looked around the empty camp. She was alone. Soon this location would be under siege, but at this moment it was very peaceful. Leaves rustled in the wind, and the calls of birds echoed through the trees.

From her belt, Star retrieved Marco's lightsaber, the weapon constructed by Kit Fisto, and clutched it tightly to her chest. "Be with me, Marco," she whispered. "Give me your courage and your skill. Master Fisto, lend me your wisdom and your knowledge."

She glanced around one last time. The far off sound of marching stormtroopers and the metallic clanking of a walker reached her ears. She took a deep breath and retrieved her own lightsaber, gripping it in her left hand, and Marco's in her right. "It's time."

The AT-ST walkers clanked noisily as they walked, crushing saplings underfoot and snapping limbs from large trees as they pushed past. They burst into the camp and halted as stormtroopers swarmed in from behind them by the dozens, marching in perfect formation. From her hiding spot amongst the highest branches of the tallest tree in the camp, Star tried to count them, but eventually lost track. A full battalion consisted of eight-hundred stormtroopers. She wasn't sure if exactly that many troopers had just entered the clearing, but she would not have been surprised if there were.

Oh, boy. This may be a little over my head.

When the last trooper had emerged from the woods, the last piece of heavy artillery crashed its way out from the tree line: a TX-130 Saber-class fighter tank, a yet-to-be-decommissioned holdover from the Clone War. A tall being clad in the uniform of an Imperial Officer rather than the stark white armor of a stormtrooper rode in the open top turret atop the tank. At such a distance, Star could only barely make out the gray reptilian skin and long snout, but that was all she needed to see to know exactly who it was.

Alright, Toffee…time for us to finally meet.

Mina examined her datapad as the tank came to a halt. "This is it, boss! This is the exact location the probe transmitted from!"

Toffee nodded. "Clearly they have had enough time to vacate the area, but they cannot have gotten far." He turned his attention to the stormtroopers. "Fan out and search the area." He slowly advanced the tank further into the clearing beside the walkers as the stormtroopers broke formation and began to spread out. The Moff's reptilian eyes shifted back and forth, scanning for clues as to the whereabouts of his quarry.

Star, meanwhile, was working her way down the tree, moving down through the branches as silently as a lothcat. She alighted upon the lowest sturdy branch well before any of the Imperials reached her position, but they were well within earshot. "Hello there!"

Several hundred blaster rifles suddenly pointed in her direction. The walkers and tank turned to bear on the tree as well.

"Hold your fire," Toffee commanded. He stepped up out of the turret, standing atop its armored cladding, hands clasped behind his back, and looked up at Star. "Hello…Princess." His mouth curled into a smug grin.

"I don't believe we've met!" Star called as the stormtroopers began to converge, congregating around the base of the tree. "Who are you?"

"My name is Toffee. Moff Toffee."

"Okay, first off, that is the dumbest name I've ever heard. Second, what the heck kind of title is 'Moff'?"

"It designates that I am the governor of this sector."

Star frowned. "Well, then it's an even dumber title because Mewni is the only system in this sector."

"Correct. Which effectively makes me the lone sanctioning political leader of Mewni."

"Hmm, except that there's one small problem with your logic."

"That being?"

Up until this point, Star's tone had been sarcastic, sing-songy, goading Toffee on. But now she turned serious. "When you murdered my family, I became the rightful ruler of Mewni."

Toffee's smile grew eviler. He opened his mouth to speak, but Mina beat him to it. "And then you proceeded to flee like the coward you are!"

Star gave an amused chuckle. "It's not cowardice to retreat from a battle that you know you can't win…especially when you get knocked unconscious and your parents order your friends to get you off-world, but that's besides the point."

"You've been gone for so long," Toffee mocked. "Surely you could have returned sooner."

"Well, I could have come back way sooner, but some nerf hearder set up a stupid blockade and I had to spend weeks trying to find a way to get past it. But obviously I wasn't going to come back until I was sure I could kick your stupid. Scaley. Butt."

Toffee laughed. "And I suppose you think that you can best me now."

Star smirked. "Sure do."

"All alone?" Toffee asked, turning up his palms. "Come now, I know you have met up with the survivors and workers freed from my factory."

"They're all gone! Moved somewhere they'll be safe! Come on, Toffee," Star said, turning serious once again. "We both know this isn't about the Empire or the Jedi or anything else going on in the galaxy. This is about you and me, the Septarian's feud with the Butterflies. You're the only Septarian here and I'm the last member of the Butterfly family. So what do you say you and I settle this ourselves, huh? One on one."

Toffee glanced around him. Several hundred stormtroopers stood awaiting his command, their blasters trained on Star, as were the barrels of the canons fitted to the AT-ST walkers. "Um…no."

Mina cackled with amusement.

Star shrugged. "Well, it was worth a try."

Toffee chuckled. "I suppose I must commend your bravery for trying. But it's time to die. FIRE!"

Several hundred stormtroopers as well as the pilots of the AT-ST's instantly obeyed the command, squeezing the triggers of their blaster rifles and sending a wall of laser fire streaking toward the tree branch upon which Star stood. Or at least, where she had been standing a microsecond earlier.

Star was already launching out of the tree, pushing off with the Force with all the power she could muster. She somersaulted over the entire battalion, landing on the ground behind them. The emerald blades of her lightsabers ignited in her hands. "Catch me if you can, Imperial dweebs!" And she bolted off into the forest as the troopers spun around to return fire and gave chase.

"After her!" Toffee commanded. "Do not let her escape!"

Master Yoda himself would have been proud of Star's technique as it very much mirrored his own. She launched herself toward the nearest tree, flipped in midair, and pushed off the trunk with the toe of her boot, redirecting herself toward a different tree. She repeated the process over and over and over again, allowing her to move with lightning speed. Only due to the sheer number of stormtroopers firing at her did any of the blaster bolts even come close to hitting her, and the ones that did she easily deflected away with her ceaselessly twirling lightsabers. High-powered canon blasts from the AT-ST's were not deflectable and more difficult to avoid, and the shots exploded on impact, but Star timed every jump with precision and utilized the shockwave of the explosion to help propel her through the trees with even greater speed.

And the path she took drew the horde toward the jaws of a trap.

Rosado had a hard time keeping up with General Bulgolyubov. The frog man's powerful legs had him bounding ahead of the human so far that Rosado nearly lost his way. When he realized the issue, Buff Frog scooped up the former Imperial Officer into his arms with the same ease with which he would hold Star and simply carried him until they reached the gorge.

They found Sir Lavabo and Eddie halfway up the steep and rocky north wall of the chasm. Buff Frog easily erased the distance with one powerful leap. A few Mewmans could be spotted on the south wall, positioning explosives in gaps between the rocks.

"Laundry Knight! Star will be engaging enemy any minute! Is everything ready?"

"Yes, the charges are nearly all placed."

Eddie handed Buff Frog the trigger. "Here's the detonator, General!"

Buff Frog immediately held it out to Rosado. "Hovis here will be trigger man."

"Me?!"

"You have no combat training, yes?"

"I mean…I know how to use a blaster, but I've never really…"

"Exactly. So you will be out, how you say…? 'eye in sky.'"

"You're sure?"

"Absolutely."

Rosado hesitantly accepted the detonator, and once he had, Buff Frog handed him his macrobinoculars. He pointed to the top of the rocky wall.

"Find a place up on ridge where you can see, as high as you can. Detonate charges when you can split the enemy's forces in half."

Rosado nodded. "Yes sir, General Buff Frog!" The frog man's features curled with amusement and confusion. "Sorry, I honestly can't remember your real name."

Buff Frog chuckled. "It is alright! Now get going!"

Rosado snapped a salute and started climbing.

Sir Lavabo eyed Buff Frog quizzically. "General…are you sure you trust him for this job? He is, after all, former Imperial."

Buff Frog nodded. "The princess trusts him. Therefore, I trust him, and you will trust him, as well." He turned. "Now, come. We must join the others and prepare for the attack."

By her sheer speed, Star was able to expand the gap between herself and the onslaught of stormtroopers. She all but disappeared into the trees, merely popping in and out of view as she bounced between tree trunks and making herself very difficult to hit. She always made sure not to completely vanish, though, keeping the stormtroopers pursuing in the direction she desired.

Approaching the gorge, she slowed, and allowed the stormtroopers to close in just a bit as the trees thinned and eventually disappeared as the ground sharply rose. Star burst from the tree line directly across the narrow pass which bisected the land, bouncing back and forth between the steep walls and drawing the Imperial force from the forest. As she'd hoped, they followed her into the gorge.

"Suckers," Star chuckled to herself.

With the enemy now moving into the trap and no trees to give her cover, she bounded to the far end of the gorge and ceased her rapid movement. Instead, she walked backwards, rapidly twirling her lightsabers to deflect away the shots, carefully drawing the enemy further into the gauntlet. Before long, Star had drawn over a hundred stormtroopers into the gorge, with the ones in the lead now passing the point at which the explosives had been planted.

From his hiding spot atop the highest part of the gorge lying prostrate behind a low rock, Rosado kept watch, his thumb resting on the detonator trigger. He trembled with anxiety. The fate of this battle lay with him. Blow the explosives too soon or too late, and the number of stormtroopers cut off or not cut off could be too great for the tiny force of thirty-five or so Mewmans to defeat. The timing of the blast was critical.

And then a clanking noise reached his ears which altered his plans entirely: the pair of AT-ST walkers had finally extricated themselves from the woods and were stomping toward the gorge.

"Dank Ferrik."

His back pressed up against the rear of the largest tree he could find on the far side of the gorge, Buff Frog listened to the cacophony of blaster fire grow louder as the stormtroopers drew nearer, the occasional hum of Star's lightsabers sporadically reaching his ears through the noise. Before long, he could hear energy bolts impacting the other side of the tree. Looking to his left, he could see Lavabo, Eddie, and some of the other thirty or so Mewmans standing just as he was, each hidden from view behind a tree, blasters at the ready.

He risked a peak around the trunk. He could see Star, steadily walking backwards, keeping pace with the stormtroopers' march, maintaining the distance between them.

He peered around the other side of the tree, looking toward the top of the gorge. He could not see Rosado, but he knew he was up there.

The lead stormtroopers had nearly reached the end of the chasm, and Star was nearing the tree line. If the Imperials advanced too far, the Mewman's position would be overrun before they ever had a chance to fire a shot.

"Come on, Hovis…it is time…"

Buff Frog expected that any second now, the explosion would rip the gorge apart, but still, it did not come.

"Come on! Come on! What is he waiting for?"

But then the loud, mechanical clanking reached his amphibian ears, and the General understood.

As the AT-ST's stomped their way up the gorge single file, the stormtroopers packing the chasm floor parted like water, standing aside to give the walkers space to pass. Rosado's trembling thumb hovered over the detonator, hoping that he correctly remembered the exact spot where the explosive charges had been set. He only had one shot at this.

"Little more…little more…c'mon…c'mon…almost there…"

The lead walker was nearly to point of the furtherest charges, while he wasn't sure if the rear one had even reached the first explosives. He didn't have a choice. He had to blow it now.

But just as his thumb was about to press the button, the lead walker came to a halt. The gorge narrowed toward the end, and the stormtroopers were so numerous that they could not stand aside far enough to allow the AT-ST passage. The momentary pause allowed the rear walker to close the gap, placing it squarely in the center of the explosive gauntlet.

"Gotcha now, Imperial scum."

Rosado mashed the detonator button.

The walls of the gorge were violently shattered in an ear-rending explosion of fire and rock, boulders propelled into the air sent sailing into the gorge. In seconds, simultaneous landslides had almost completely buried the trailing AT-ST and a few hundred stormtroopers in rock. The landslide collided with the lead walker, knocking its legs out and sending it toppling forward to the ground, crushing nearly a dozen unlucky stormtroopers who were unable to evade. Dozens more scrambled to get out of the way of the flowing, converging wall of rocks.

The sounds of battle ceased, replaced by the roar of cascading rock. Star lowered her weapons to her sides, taking a moment to rest as she watched the rockslide devour a huge chunk of the enemy. When it was over, roughly three dozen stormtroopers were all that remained, along with the toppled AT-ST. The Imperial troops froze in surprise and confusion, unsure of how to proceed.

When they recovered their senses and turned back to once again face their formerly singular opponent, they were met with the sight of Mewmans emerging from the trees behind the young Jedi girl, weapons at the ready.

Star raised Marco's lightsaber straight above her head, then brought it down to point at the very surprised stormtroopers.

"FOR MEWNI!"

And the battle commenced.

In January of this year, 2024, I told a good friend of mine (the friend whom the character of Hovis Rosado is based on) that I was going to finish this fanfic this year, estimating that the story would take another ten chapters or so to finish.

Yeah…about that…

This is the first chapter I've posted in five months, and probably only the third or fourth chapter I've posted this year.

So, uh…maybe it'll be done in 2025?