Nothing says 'guerrilla fighter' more than using legumes in battle...
While this is a good fic, you have to keep in mind that this is science fiction. It's a known fact that sci-fi must use the metric system. ;)
You know, I nearly spewed Diet Pepsi all over my laptop at the legumes thing....
RC, your battle scenes continue to be uniformly good, I can 'see' all the action you describe. I caught a couple spelling things, but that's an easy fix. Looking forward to seeing where this goes next. :)
^
I'm with Jae. Your battles a very well done, and easy to follow. Kudos to you :D
:3pdance: Obi's back, Obi's back, Obi's back! :xp:
Keep up the good work, RC :D From what I can see, nothing except the occasional spelling or grammar error (lol, beans :lol: ) Great job!
You know, I nearly spewed Diet Pepsi all over my laptop at the legumes thing....
Thank you, that's what I'm here for. Soon I shall win the Funniest Ahtonaut of the Year Award... Muahahaha
^^^
not if i can help it :D
thanks for the comments ForceFight, and everyone else too, ill get the next chapter up tomorrow or the day after, i have to figure a few things out as yet.
TEN
Obi Wan waved his hand in front of the Imperial Pilot, reaching out with the Force and touching his mind.
“You want to tell me what the Empire will do next,” he said in a commanding tone.
“I…want…the Empire will call a full retreat and begin work on their new TIEs.” The pilot replied soberly.
“Which are…?” Obi Wan asked.
“The TIE Bomber. They will use them in an invasion of Corellia.”
“Where is the fleet positioned now?” Obi Wan demanded.
“I don’t know”
Obi Wan reached deeper into the Imperial’s mind.
“Where?”
“They…they are just outside the Hoth Asteroid Belt, using the resources found among the rocks to power their productions.”
“Thank you,” Obi Wan said cheerfully and let go of his prisoner’s mind. The trooper immediately slumped down onto the chair behind him, exhausted.
Obi Wan turned back to Wedge,
“Well, Wedge, you’ve got your target. I would suggest a swift hit-and-run mission.”
“Of course, Master Kenobi, I…”
“Please,” Obi Wan interrupted. “Call me Obi Wan.”
“Sure, Obi Wan,” said Wedge. “Anyway, as I was saying, I had already taken the opportunity to prepare our strike team. We would appreciate it if you joined us in the battle.”
“What? You mean like in a fighter? No thank you, Wedge, flying is for droids, and overly excited youth.”
“Well,” Wedge said, a bit disappointed. “If you change your mind, let me know.”
“Of course, in the meantime, I’ll supervise from the main base comm. room.”
Wedge nodded and departed to his fellow strike-mates to deliver the target and plan of action.
**********************************************
An asteroid hurtled past the automated mining apparatus, nearly smashing it to pieces. It crashed into another piece of rock the same size and fragmented instantly, leaving behind shards of sharp metal ore and rock. Admiral Ben Dylan of the Imperial fleet shook his head slightly.
*This is dangerous. I don’t know why the Emperor didn’t have these machines programmed with artificial intelligence.* he thought.
He heard dull footsteps approaching and instantly knew who it was; he turned,
“Lord Vader,” he greeted with his head bowed in respect.
“What is your progress, Admiral?” the deep voice replied.
“We have already begun construction of the TIE Bomber prototype,” the Admiral said confidently. “In three days, it shall be ready for testing. If it is a success, we hope to begin mass-production within the week.”
Vader was silent for a minute and then he replied with a tone of satisfaction,
“Good work, Admiral. Keep up the progress and the Emperor might commend you soon.”
“Thank you, my Lord,” was the reply.
Vader left the bridge of the Cruiser and went to his Chambers to meditate. As the Admiral turned back to the chaos outside, however, the milk curdled.
“Admiral, we are picking up a squadron of Rebel vehicles on our scanners,” a junior technician reported. “They are approaching fast.”
“What!?” the Admiral exclaimed. “How did they find us?”
“That is irrelevant at the moment, Admiral,” answered his aide. “Our goal now is to protect the Cruiser and the machinery.”
“Send out all available TIEs, immediately!” Dylan ordered.
*************************************
Sitting in his craft, hurtling along at Sublight 5, Wedge and his group cracked their knuckles with anticipation. About 3 dozen TIEs poured out of the Hangars on the Cruiser. Wedge’s group split up and half of them went in to deal with the TIEs.
Statement: The master requires feedback. Give it up or be terminated, meatbags!
ok, maybe i'll ask politely this time. Can i please have some good comments?
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ELEVEN
Wedge’s attack force consisting only of 20 ships, one would think that the TIEs would be having the advantage. However, the Rebels were throwing everything they had at the Imperials and gaining the edge.
“Red 19 and 20, destroy the mining machines, they are crucial to this setup, then try to do some damage to the Cruiser.” Wedge called. Two ships from the group headed for the Cruiser broke off and fired upon the mining apparatuses. They blew up in seconds and the X-Wings crossed back and proceeded with their second order. However, as they went along, a TIE which was hit by another X-Wing came careening out of control towards the duet. Red 20 managed to go into a suicide dive and pull up, but Red 19 strafed right instead. The TIE collided hard with the X-Wing and it was the strength of the new alloy on the hull that kept it from disintegrating. However, Red 19 lost control of his throttle and it zoomed ahead at maximum speed. He wrestled with the controls, trying to avoid hitting anything. The Hoth Asteroid Belt proved too much for him; as he jerked his ship hard to the left, a speeding piece of rock hit his ship head on. The Rebels were now one ship short.
“Red Lead,” Red 20 called into his mike. “Jake’s ship was hit by an asteroid. He’s…gone.”
Wedge, about to begin a strafing run on the Cruiser, aborted his run and shouted,
“WHAT?! He’s an excellent pilot. We all are. How did he just smash into a rock?”
“An out-of-control TIE immobilized his throttle controls.”
Wedge swore loudly. Things were becoming too real.
“Keep going,” he announced. “Give them hell for Jake.”
The Rebels now began fighting with a new life. They coordinated strategy and worked in pairs or groups of 3 and destroyed several components of the Cruiser. As they were preparing to deal the fatal blow, however, another Imperial Cruiser materialized in front of them and a new wave of TIEs burst forth.
************************************************** *************
Admiral Dylan was seriously contemplating suicide when good news, or so he thought, came from one of his techs:
“Admiral, a new Imperial-class Cruiser has appeared in Sector Alpha-Two-Gamma. They are sending reinforcements.”
For a moment, Dylan joined in the cheers of the crew, then suspicion hit him.
“How did they know we were under attack? We never sent out any distress signal.” He wondered aloud. Just then, the ship rocked with the force of another explosion.
“What's going on?” Dylan yelled. “The Rebel ships are all on our visual field.”
“It seems you were right, Admiral,” replied his Aide. “The new TIEs are attacking us.”
“What?! Treachery! Murder! Who dared betray the Emperor?”
“They are the ships captured above Bespin, Admiral.”
Dylan really wanted to throw himself out of an airlock now. The very fact that Vader had not come charging to the deck for an explanation was a wonder to behold.
“We’ve no choice, send all available power to the engines and make a jump, NOW!” The Admiral ordered.
The lights went out as all the power was rerouted to the hyperdrive and sublight engines. The only illumination was from the flickering computer panels. Slowly, the ship began to move. It charged ahead, out of the Asteroid Field, straining its engines to the limit. As soon as they were clear, the Cruiser shot ahead into Hyperspace.
************************************************** **************
The moment the new Cruiser popped up, Wedge’s heart suck, but it rose up again immediately when his comm. cracked to life.
“Hello, Wedge. Enjoying the party?”
“Obi Wan!” Wedge replied, half-awed. “How did you get one of those?”
“Later, Wedge, We’ve a bigger problem here. I’ve sent out the TIEs we captured to help you out.”
“Call them back, Master Kenobi,” came a voice. It was Red 3. “They’ve started their engines. If I’m right about them wanting to jump to Hyperspace, we’d better stand clear.”
“You’re right,” agreed Obi Wan.
There was a brief silence as he gave the order through a separate comm. and the Rebel-TIEs pulled up and returned to their ship. Sure enough, Red 3’s hunch was right, the Cruiser had just enough power left and they had used it to flee. If there were any ships next to it at the time, they would have been torn apart.
“Let them go, we don’t have time to waste,” ordered Obi Wan. The Rebel X-Wings obediently docked on the captured Imperial Cruiser and it too jumped into Hyperspace, leaving behind a vast amount of wreckage to join the Hoth Asteroid Belt.
Really good solid chapters RC! Very well written and easy to visualize. Also very fun to read. :) Just too short. :( Keep up the great work anyway though!
ah, well, im in 9th grade and the workload for the CBSE syllabus is like...man! i hardly have enough time to spare, but ill keep updating, thanks for the comments.
^I thought you were in grade eight.
ninth started on April 4th :D
I WANT COMMENTS!!!
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TWELVE
“Okay,” Wedge said as he descended from his starfighter. “Can you explain now how you got this ship?”
“Obviously, we…” began Obi Wan.
“…Captured it, I know. My question is *how* you managed to do that.”
“As you know, the Alliance is engaged on a broad scale; we received a distress message from New Agamar just as you left for Hoth, so we hightailed it there and slapped then hard.” Obi Wan explained as the rest of Wedge’s squad fell in step behind them. “Though, I won’t say it was easy. We took heavy losses on our side and unfortunately, lost Agamar in the process.”
“What?” Wedge said.
“The Imperials pulled a trick on us. Just as we arrived, they had another ship join them from the other side of the planet and transports carried Infantry units to the surface. By the time our battle’s tide had turned, we received a transmission demanding our immediate withdrawal or else one of the Agamar colonies would be vaporized.”
“Right, so you lost the planet.” Wedge confirmed. “How did you get the ship then?”
“We paid them back,” Obi Wan replied with a grin. “Just as we were about to leave, I ordered the captured TIEs out. They embarked from the port bay so that nobody could see them and doubled back after flying towards the planet’s atmosphere to make it appear as if they were a relief force. They stormed the Cruiser by force and captured the Bridge. Once done, the ship was ours, though, once again with heavy losses.”
“Right, do what’s our next plan of action?” Wedge asked.
“Right now we’ll lick our wounds and catch our breaths. If the Imperials strike again, we have to be at full alert.”
Wedge nodded and they parted ways as the pilots headed for their quarters.
************************************************** *******************
“You may rise,” said Darth Vader. Ben Dylan rose, relieved that Vader did not dispose of him as he had done with others.
“I am terribly sorry once again, My Lord, but we were not prepared for such an assault.” He explained once again.
“You have learned your lesson, Admiral, do not fail me again.”
Dylan suddenly felt a sort of seizure in his chest. For a second, he could not draw breath, but it suddenly passed just as it descended.
“Yes, My Lord. Do I have any further orders?”
“As a matter of fact, you do.” Vader replied. “You will go to Sullust and set up a base among the volcanic plateaus.”
Vader handed Dylan a datapad.
“All the information you need is in there. You are dismissed, Admiral.”
Dylan bowed and said,
“Yes, My Lord.”
************************************************** *******************
Space rippled and the Crusher, Dylan’s new command ship, appeared in front of the blue-red planet of Sullust. He gave the order and thousands of Lambda-class and cargo shuttles erupted from the bay. 5 hours after touchdown, work began on the Imperial transponders required to power such a base.
************************************************** *******************
The hologram vanished and Mon Mothma turned to Dodonna.
“They have begun work on a new base on Sullust,” she reported.
“Let them be, Sullust is a far out planet and building the base itself will take a long time. Once it is active, we will place it under scrutiny of the Bothans.”
“I agree,” Mon Mothma said. “However, we must not be flippant about this, I suggest we keep an eye on them just to be safe.”
“Done and done,” Dodonna replied.
Good chapter RC. Here is a comment for ya! If Obi and Vader don't have a duel in this one, then I am going to kick your butt! How's that for a comment? Anyway, keep up the solid work.
yeah, you and what army? :xp:
ok, RP, ill try to get Obi Wan in somewhere, but i wasnt planning on it, so ill give it to ya in the next story :D. but ill try.
okay, my longest chapter yet: 1178 words, so please give me some decent comments.
--------------------------------
THIRTEEN
Dylan gathered his commanding officers in the already completed control room, a week after the main landing, to discuss strategy.
“Our tactics have been too predictable and open in the past few campaigns,” he said. “The Rebels have superior tacticians and the Bothan Spy network on their side. I have put forth this point to Emperor Palpatine and he has agreed to train his best recon troopers for the same job on our side.
“We will divide our attack into three divisions. The four Victory class Star Destroyers that are completed will depart carrying how much ever TIEs they can hold. They will be closely followed by two Imperial Star Destroyers moving in on a separate target. These fleets will be a diversionary two-pronged attack. While the Rebels deal with them, we will make a main assault on Kuat, the engineering colony. Once Kuat is secured, the factories on the planet will churn out TIEs and Star Destroyers by the numbers.
“The diversionary forces’ main objective will be to keep the Rebels occupied long enough for us to secure Kuat.”
“Admiral Dylan,” called out a senior officer from the back.
“Yes, Commander Janus?”
“What’s to keep the Rebels from abandoning the diversionary forces while the main attack is in progress?”
“We have jamming satellites that will prevent all but Imperial-encrypted messages to be received or delivered by the planet.” Dylan said.
He looked around, expecting further hands to come up in doubt. When none came, he proceeded,
“Any more questions?” he asked; none came.
“Very well, we shall proceed with the battle plan…”
************************************************** *********************
“Dodonna paced up and down on the bridge of the Mon Calamari star cruiser donated to them by the Calamarians to aid in the war effort. His aide, a calm and cool Twilek, named Jalen, came up to him and spoke in perfect Basic.
“What’s troubling you, sir?” he asked softly.
“The Imps have been quiet for too long,” said Dodonna. “The Bothans cannot come up with anything other than the fact that they seem to be retreating and consolidating their forces. We know full well that the Imperials have always used brute force instead of advanced strategy. They never consolidate their forces. It is unnerving.”
“There is a first time for everything, sir” Jalen replied. “The best we can do is to keep our eyes and ears open and be prepared.”
Dodonna nodded and allowed Jalen to usher him to his quarters.
************************************************** *********************
Rain fell heavily on the cooler parts of Sullust, that is, on the wide open plains. And that was where the forward flank of the Imperial base was established. And that was also where Tard’orm’aonas, a Chiss native, was headed. On paper and to public knowledge, the Bothans were strictly consisting only of the natives of Bothawui. However, they were glad to use whatever resources were available to them and the glowing-eyed Chiss was one of their elites.
Slowly, he sneaked up to the outer perimeter. He took a glance at the fence, which was hissing and glowing in the rain. He drew closer cautiously and scrutinized the mesh. It was a laser fence, crisscrossing to appear like a standard force-field fence and superheating the drops of rain falling on it, causing the hisses and the erratic glowing of the fence. He shook his head softly, the Chiss race was more than prepared for things like this. He looked up and estimated the height of the fence to be around 5 meters. He took a few steps back and suddenly ran up to the fence. At the last possible moment, he jumped up and did a subtle somersault gracefully and landed with a soft splash on the other side. The fence cleared, he carefully made his way to the main building, staying aware for any mines or trip lasers. He reached the wall of the flank without any complications. Drawing his blaster, he popped the hatch and jumped into the control room. The Stormtrooper Sergeant inside was clearly not expecting any assault as his blaster sat in the wall mount across the room and he was lounging on his seat.
Two shots later, Tard’orm’aonas, or Dorma, to give his core-name, was hacking into the Imperial Information Grid. Several unimportant personnel logs flashed by; Dorma skipped them and executed the command to call up the battle action sequences. He inserted a data cylinder into the receptacle and downloaded all the Imperial logistics. Digging deeper, he reached the strategy analysis of the next battle. He realized the Imperials were much more organized this time around and that unnerved him a bit. He drew out his comlink and, after making sure that the scrambler was on, spoke into it.
“R5,” he began, referring to his astromech droid that he had left on his shuttle. “Prep the ship for take off.”
He received a beep in affirmation and switched off his comlink, satisfied. He carefully went back to the fence and, using the same tactic that he had used to get in, jumped out. He plodded through the heavy rain to where his shuttle was parked. He walked up the entry ramp, shivering slightly. He made his way to the cockpit and received a shock. His R5 unit lay in pieces on the floor; seeing this, he immediately knew that he had been compromised. He opened his shuttle comlink to make his report to the Bothans.
Behind him, in the cargo hold, two Stormtroopers quietly made their way to the cockpit. Dorma whirled around in the middle of his recital. He raised his blaster but the Imperials were too fast for him. He hoped the Rebels would figure out that they had to remain alert 110%. His last thought was that he had given his best to the Army he believed in.
************************************************** *********************
Commander Tryan, the Commander in charge of the base on Sullust, listened to his troops attentively. A good Commander always listened to each and every thing his units told him, and evaluated it seriously, and Tryan was far better than just good. He glanced at the Chiss corpse lying in the wet body bag and shuddered slightly.
“What did he manage to reveal?” he asked the Troopers
“Nothing much, sir,” one of them replied, his synthesized voice seemingly loud in the small debriefing room. “We believe that nothing about the plan was revealed.”
He slipped his fingers into his supply belt and produced a small data cylinder.
“We found this on him. I don’t believe it was uploaded to the Bothans after he copied it from out Info Grid.”
“Bothans?” Tryan asked, confused. “What do you mean?”
One of the Troopers pointed at a small insignia beside the Rebel Alliance logo: The Bothan Spynet.
Tryan cursed softly. If the Bothans were here, that meant that the Alliance also knew that they were here.
“No matter,” he said. “You have done well, keep this up and a promotion will be heading your way for sure.”
The troopers acknowledged his compliment with a nod, turned in unison and marched out of the room.
I've read the first two Chapters and they're good. Once I read all of it (Which I will), I shall read your next two parts.
On another note, when you click the link for Galactic Conquest, it always shows a Happy New Year Thread.
[BEEEEP]! thanks pottsie. i put p=(blah blah) instead of t=(blah blah) and thanks for the comments
A great chapter RC. It was a bit longer, so I enjoyed it that much more. Your story is starting to get a little bit deeper, so I like that also. You write things so that they are very easy to read and visualize. I can only wish I could do the same in my fic. Sometimes I feel that I can't write what I am thinking or trying to say. You however seem to have a real nack for it. Keep up the wonderful work.
thanks, RP, sometimes what i do if such a thing happens is that i take a sheet of paper and list all the points that come to my head, then i improvise in word. try it and you'll get it. it helps a lot.
im still working on the Obi-Vader duel, but dont kill me if i dont put it in this story, k?
I won't kill you for not having a vader-obi duel in this story. But I might have to sick Linduu on you. Hmmm... or even worse, Jasra!
Anway, hope to see more soon. :)
you mean you will sic someone on me :D. what you said means you'll make someone puke on me :D
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FOURTEEN
Dodonna shook his head again. The darkness of the bridge just made him sleepy and he could hear the strong temptation calling from his quarters. Part of him just wanted to fall in the nearest chair and drop off, but he kept going with his will power, and the occasional cup of Stimcaf. He filled another cup and sipped the steaming liquid silently. The other crew members were also on full alert, but with their flashing consoles, sleep was hard to come their way. For a moment, Dodonna envied them, not responsible for anything other than observing the radar, or sending communication signals, or controlling the engines. But the moment passed, and he realized every person was useful to the army. If a soldier quit, the Army was one short, and that one soldier could have made a difference. He was still in the middle of his revere when the klaxon went off. He was so startled; he spilled half his cup of Stimcaf onto himself.
“What’s going on?” he asked the comm. officer as he pressed a towel to his soaked shirt.
“We’ve received an emergency signal from Corellia. They’re under attack.”
“Right, give the signal for the crew to get ready. We leave in 30 minutes.” He turned to walk out of the bridge to find a change of clothes when the comm. officer called him back.
“Sir!” he called. “There’s another transmission incoming: the Imperials are attacking Bothawui too.”
Dodonna cursed. The Imperials were causing far too much trouble.
“Get Commander Jalen.” He ordered one of his guards.
“There is no need, Admiral,” Jalen said softly from behind. “I am here.”
Dodonna turned to him and spoke urgently.
“We have to organize ASAP. The Imperials are hitting two targets at once. Divide the fleet into two and take one unit to Corellia.”
Jalen nodded and brought up a logistics annex.
“Get more firepower to Bothawui. It is a key system as is its Spynet. Cause no damage whatsoever to the civilians.” Dodonna ordered.
Five minutes later, the troops were all reassigned and there was a hustle of activity. Dodonna took this time to excuse himself to his quarters and change.
Forty minutes after the first transmission was received, the Rebel fleet was whirring into gear.
Across half the Galaxy, so was the Imperial fleet.
************************************************** *******************
The Commander in Chief of the Kuat Defense Forces was not prepared for the Star Destroyers that suddenly loomed in the sky above them. Because of this, by the time the fighters were finally scrambled, the fast and agile Kuat Drives Mach III ships, the TIE Bomber Squadron had already destroyed half of the city.
“Send a distress signal and put everyone on alert,” ordered the Commander, forcing his voice to remain calm with much effort.
“Red Alert signal has been issued, Commander,” replied the officer. “But the Imperials have a jamming net in place.”
The Commander lost his patience and stomped his feet.
“Send a quarter of the Fighters to knock that piece of wampa dung out of the sky.” He growled in annoyance.
“Signal sent, Commander,” replied the officer after a few minutes at the comm.
************************************************** *******************
High above the planet of Kuat, the Mach IIIs were engaged in a full dogfight-only type of battle. TIEs and Mach IIIs blew up by the second. Amidst this carnage, nobody noticed the slick group of ships slipping away from the main fleet. They headed towards the moderately-sized, sharp-edge designed jamming satellite put out of harms way. It would not be that way for long. Hundreds of laser cannon blasts and three concussion missiles later, it really wasn’t that way.
“This is K15 Squad,” called the leader of the attack force. “The Jamming Sat is down, repeat, the Sat is down.”
************************************************** *******************
Back on solid ground, the officer got to work transmitting the distress signal at least once every minute.
“This is the planet of Kuat, we are under Imperial attack, require emergency assistance immediately!”
Even though I hadn't read many Chapters, that was a good Chapter.
thanks dude. maybe you'd like to read the rest?
thanks dude. maybe you'd like to read the rest?
Sometime yeah.
i have changed to format of my chapters to make them easier to read, hope you enjoy it.
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FIFTEEN
Dodonna was appalled. He had never seen such a weak attack force. Especially with which the Imperials were hoping to capture Corellia. He gave the order to scramble the fighters and sat in his seat on the bridge of his command ship. The Imperials were holding their own, but were steadily losing. He shook his head. Again, poor planning had lost a war for the Empire. As he sat, however, a nervous looking officer came up to him and spoke to him urgently.
“Sir, we have received a transmission from Kuat. It doesn’t look good.” He said, and handed Dodonna a filmsiplast readout of the transmission. Dodonna read it and swore to himself. Kuat was under attack by a large Imperial fleet. He remembered the report he had gotten from the Bothans: ‘Keep on full alert, the Imperials may use decoy attacks while focusing on a main goal elsewhere.’
“Give the signal to the rest of the fleet to break off and head to Kuat,” he ordered.
“They have also been sent this transmission, Admiral. Any further orders?” asked the officer.
Dodonna looked at the planet of Corellia, which was still surrounded by a cloud of Imperials.
“Make two capital ships here hold their position and provide support to Corellia,” he said. “Tell Commander Jalen to do the same, then take the rest of his fleet and go to Kuat. We need the shipyards of that planet. If the Imperials get a hold of it, we’ll never get it back.”
The officer nodded and rushed to the comm. to transmit the Admiral’s orders. Fifteen minutes later, the Imperials on Corellia were being mopped up by only two capital ships, while the rest of them raced to Kuat.
************************************************** *********************
The Commander of the Kuat Defense Forces thought he had fought bravely. But when you looked at the end, he had lost, enough said. Hands on his head, he and the other security forces and army troopers were being herded into cells, in a large warehouse, built to accommodate engine parts.
“Secure the planet’s night side and maintain the TIEs on patrol duty.” Admiral Dylan ordered from the same command base that the Commander of the KDF had used.
“The jamming satellite was knocked out, thanks to your incompetence…” he said, looking at a Commander, who was the in-charge of the jamming satellite control. He was opening his mouth to protest, but Dylan carried on,
“…hence, we can assume that the Rebels were alerted and are on their way here.”
“Admiral,” said a young officer, “The Rebels have advanced military techniques. What’s to stop them from storming our TIE Squadrons and taking back Kuat?”
“Their big hearts and their soppy heads,” replied Dylan and laughed. The officer stood quiet, not understanding.
“Never mind,” said Dylan, still smiling. “You’ll see when the time comes.”
The officer nodded and headed off for his duty post. Dylan turned back to his other Generals and began discussing strategy.
************************************************** *********************
The portion of the Rebel fleet under Dodonna tore through Hyperspace and dropped into the system of Kuat. Cloaking devices full on, the ships waited, hovering in space, for the remaining part of the fleet. Ten minutes later, 6 other ships had joined them, to add to Dononna’s 5.
Moving in unison, the fleet made their way to the planet of Kuat. As they moved, the Hangars on board opened up and X- and Y-Wings churned out, flying cover for the bigger warships. As they drew nearer, Dodonna saw a thick cloud of TIEs and two Star Destroyers waiting for them. They were too late. But they had to try.
He was about to give the signal to the snub fighters to attack when his comm. crackled to life.
“Good day, Admiral Dodonna,” came a cold, slow voice. “This is Admiral Ben Dylan of the Imperial fleet.”
“Why don’t you leave Kuat and pick on someone your own size?” Dodonna asked.
“Like you, perhaps?” came the reply. “In two weeks time, your fleet will be far, far lesser than ‘my own size’, as you put it.”
“What do you want? I thought you Imperials were all action and no talk.”
“Ah, that is where we have changed. You see, I grow tired of all this senseless killing.” Dodonna scoffed over the comm. and Dylan knew what it meant. “Disbelieve me if you will, but I do have a conscience of my own.”
“And yet, you put the lives of three planets at stake just to build up your fleet.” Dodonna countered.
“I realize that was a ruthless move on my part, but now that I have control over Kuat, I will give the signal to my troops at Bothawui and Corellia to withdraw; on one condititon.”
*Here we go,* Dodonna thought. “Name your terms.” he said
“You will order your fleet to pull off and return to your base, wherever it may be. You have twenty minutes to decide, exceeding which, my TIE fighters will get rid of you.”
“Does your conscience approve of giving threats?” Dodonna asked, desperately trying to think up a plan, but his brain had fused and was only enabling him to speak.
“No, Admiral,” Dylan replied calmly. “But it does approve of me trying to preserve the lives of my TIE pilots. You have twenty minutes.” The comm. went dead.
Good Chapter. And no, I haven't read the other Chapters.
Great two chapters RC. Very exciting and well done. I can't wait to see what Dodonna decides to do. I hope he stays and kicks Dylan's butt. Cause the capital ships already took care of the threat on the other two planets.
And yes I meant "sic' Not "sick". ;) Keep up the great work.
thanks dude, but if you really want to spoil the suspense:
i wouldnt tell you anyway :D
SIXTEEN
“Commander Jalen,” said Dodonna into his comlink. “You’d better listen to him. Give the order to your troops to retreat.
He received an affirmation as a reply and the capital ships under Jalen’s command slowly revered direction.
Dodonna opened a channel with Dylan.
“You are a smart man, Dylan, some would say scheming.”
“Glad you think so,” replied the Imperial Admiral.
“But know this,” said Dodonna with a confident air. “The Rebel Alliance will not sit idly by as you conquer.”
“I don’t think that will make a difference, Admiral,” replied Dylan. “Within two months, the size of my fleet shall double, and the very sight of my Battleships will intimidate your leaders. Now get out of here, before I scramble my fighters.”
Dodonna’s capital ship finally turned around and jumped into hyperspace.
************************************************** *********************
“I am most pleased with your performance, Admiral Dylan,” said the man in front of him. He sat in his ornately designed chair, or some would say throne, facing away from Dylan, staring out the window, set 75 stories high in the Imperial Palace. The chair slowly swiveled and revealed:
Emperor Palpatine.
The Sith Lord stood up and walked forward a few steps.
“Your Spynet is now operational, Admiral,” said the mottled old man. He made the slightest of signs and one of his Royal Imperial Guards, dressed in full red armor, came forward, escorting a humanoid reptilian species. The figure had green skin and sharp, curved claws. Though it was an alien, its features were like those of a man, a handsome man.
“This is Prince Xizor,” said Palpatine. “He is the overlord of Black Sun and has a vast Spynet of his own, second to none, equal to the Bothans. Do doubt, what you hear may be received by the Rebel’s too, but if you need any other…services, he will help you.”
Xizor, a Falleen, bowed slightly to Dylan and the Admiral returned it.
“Pleased to make your acquaintance, Admiral,” said Xizor smoothly in perfect Basic. “My services are at your dispersal.”
Dylan nodded. “I’d like your men to give me the exact whereabouts of the Rebel fleet every three hours. Would that be possible?”
Before Xizor could reply, the Emperor cut in.
“Discuss your business elsewhere,” said the Emperor. “I don’t think my chambers are your briefing stations, Admiral.”
Dylan bowed low. “Forgive me, My Master.” He said and the two figures quickly left the room.
Outside, in the turbolift, Xizor turned to Dylan and said,
“I’ll give you all the recon, you need, Admiral, but I want a favour in return.”
“Name it, I’ll try to help.” Replied Dylan.
“I want authorization to have surveillance on Darth Vader.”
Dylan inhaled sharply. He thought about Vader for a second: tall, black armored, Force-user.
Killer.
Murderer.
“I…have to think about it,” said Dylan slowly.
“Take your time, Admiral,” replied Xizor, not looking at him. “I’m in no hurry.”
“May I ask why?” said Dylan.
The turbolift stopped and the duo stepped out.
“You may, Admiral,” said Xizor and looked at him. “But don’t expect an answer.”
is that chapter good? my brain clogged somewhat :D
A good SHORT SHORT chapter RC. I am very interested to see if Xizor is really working for the empire or not. Keep up the great work. BTW I was expecting Vader to be in the chair, not Palps, nice one!
and unclogged.
BTW, this fic is about to end. any climax suggestions?
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SEVENTEEN
Dylan knelt on one knee, head down, in front of the Dark Lord of the Sith.
“You have done well in bringing this to me first, Admiral,” rumbled Vader. “Had you given him access without me knowing of it, you would have been…dealt with.”
Dylan felt relief and fear at the same time, but managed to keep calm. “Should I deny him permission, My Lord?”
“While that would be the most logical answer, since we have our own Spynet, it would not be the correct course to take,” replied Vader.
Dylan was confused now. Here was Vader, telling him that the Empire had their own Spynet, and half an hour ago, the Emperor told him that Xizor’s Spynet was at his disposal. As if he could read the Admiral’s thoughts, Vader spoke.
“The Emperor thinks our Spynet is too…incapable.” said the Sith Lord. Dylan could hear the verbal sneer in his voice.
“What should I do about Xizor, My Lord?” Dylan asked, rising at Vader’s signal.
“Give him permission, but set our own recon on him,” said Vader. “Send our best commandos.”
Dylan bowed. “Yes, My Lord.”
Vader turned away from him and made his way to the exit. “You are dismissed, Admiral.”
************************************************** *********************
“The Admiral has given me his permission, Mystery Man,” said Xizor to the hologram in front of him. “No doubt Vader has his own surveillance on me now. You had better pay what I asked.”
“Don’t worry, Prince,” said the man. He wore a thick cloak with a hood that covered the top half of his face, but Xizor could make out a neat beard from under the shadows. The man’s voice was raspy, almost like a synthesized voice. “As long as you hold up your end of the bargain, I’ll hold up mine.”
Idle curiosity overcame Xizor. “May I know why you require these services?” he asked.
“I am sorry, but no,” replied the figure. “And I beg your pardon, but I have to leave, I have some pressing business to attend to.”
Xizor nodded. “I hope we can do more business together.”
“So do I, Prince,” replied the figure and the holocomm faded.
************************************************** **********************
Darth Vader smiled under his helmet. Xizor was no fool, he admitted. He liked to have a challenging adversary in this type of thing, since he had none who wielded a lightsaber.
“Can your technicians put a trace on that call?” he asked the Officer operating the comm. signal regulators.
“We’ll try, My Lord. But it will take a lot of time.” Replied the Officer.
“I am in no hurry. Go ahead, officer,” replied Vader.
He waited for what seemed like an eternity. He was sitting in his chambers, meditating in the Dark Side, when the officer came to him.
“My Lord, the voice was scrambled through a filter, but we managed to crack it and get a positive voiceprint on the person.”
Vader smiled again.
************************************************** *********************
And so did Xizor, at the report of his aide.So it was a Rebel officer that sent him the transmission. The Rebels were clever, yes; he would give them that, because they were able to hide the true identity of the officer from him, but not enough to match Xizor, who would do his best to uncover the secret.
“Good work, officer,” said Xizor and sat, contemplating his next move.
************************************************** *********************
Across half the galaxy, on a world known as Yavin 4, a certain someone cut his transmission with Xizor. The same someone opened another channel to Admiral Dodonna. Five minutes later, he was out of the great Massassi spire and into the dense jungle, on his way to the Great Temple. A polished tube hung at his side inconspicuously, and his long, flowing cloak billowed out behind him. He pulled back his hood, and there, in the filtered sunlight of Yavin 4, was Jedi Master Obi Wan Kenobi.
17 was a good Chapter. I have a suggestion for a climax. An explosive battle which ends in this one and begins in the next one.
ill take that in mind, but ill implement it later. thanks for the quick reply, Pottsie.
EIGHTEEN
The security cam’s automated systems were put on stand-by. Under manual control, its lens zoomed and swiveled to best capture the image.
The image of Darth Vader and the Emperor.
“What is thy bidding, my Master?” asked Vader, head down with respect.
“You will take the new fleet and capture Chandrila,” the Emperor replied. No niceties there, as usual. The Emperor was known for his to-the-point attitude. Even with his pet, Vader.
“Yes, My Master”
************************************************** *********************
For once, Dylan was wrong. And for once, being wrong was a good thing. He has confidently said to Dodonna that in two months, the Imperial fleet would double. Well, it only took the massive factories of Kuat half that time to make the ships.
It was one month after Dodonna was threatened away from Kuat space. The Imperial fleet had increased at an alarming pace and there was nothing that could stand against it. No doubt the Rebels must have worried themselves silly trying to figure out which planet the Imperials were going to attack next. Dylan had scrapped the attack plan that the Rebels had managed to steal and was targeting planets at random; useful planets that is.
On receiving orders from Vader to attack Chandrila, he felt a new surge of excitement, something he had not felt in a long time.
************************************************** *********************
*This is too easy,* thought Dylan, as his TIE Bombers eradicated opposition and the drop-off shuttles transported groups of Stormtroopers to the surface to strengthen the hold. He was lounging in his chair when a transmission came through.
“…der att……need hel……possible,” was all he heard.
“Where did that come from?” he demanded.
The tech worked a few keys and replied, “Kuat, sir.”
Dylan felt his exhilaration draining from him to be replaced by a feeling of utmost dread. He sincerely hoped that what he thought had happened had not happened.
Call back the fighters and set a course back to Kuat,” said Dylan.
The tech gave the signal and 15 minutes late, when all the fighters were in the hangars, the Imperial fleet jumped back into hyperspace
************************************************** *********************
The planet looked peaceful enough, no Rebel capital ships, just as he had hoped. But there was something that did not feel right to him. Like the full contingent of Star Destroyers waiting right in front of them. Dylan had never ordered them to stand guard. And the warships were aligned in a way Dylan had never seen before. That wasn’t an Imperial Academy position.
“What’s going on?” Dylan heard a voice behind him. He turned to reply.
“My Lord, we received a distress transmission from Kuat while we were above Chandrila,” explained Dylan.
The Dark Lord remained silent. Dylan could not know for sure, but he was positive that Vader was searching the area with the mystic ‘Force’ that he commanded.
And sure enough, he was. He felt a powerful surge in the Force. His eyes jerked towards one of the Star Destroyers before them, and realized, it was time for another skirmish with his old Master.
************************************************** *********************
Obi Wan Kenobi stood in the bridge of the captured Imperial Star Destroyer. As soon as he had received Xizor’s transmission, he had taken his stolen Star Destroyer from the previous campaign and raided Kuat. The ground forces were easily disposed of, seeing that they were not expecting a full assault, not when the Imperial Fleet was at its maximum. Once in control, they had taken the Star Destroyers which were just finished and sent a false message to the fleet over Chandrila.
“Fire,” said Obi Wan casually through the comm. The 15 Star Destroyers under his command fired at the fleet in front of them in unison. In 10 seconds, the Star Destroyer behind Dylan’s exploded. The other warships tried to evade, but the Rebel-Destroyers were on them in no time. Dylan’s ship was under heavy fire for three of the the Rebel ships. Suddenly, just before it exploded, a Command-Level escape pod burst through and streaked for the surface of Kuat.
Obi wan went to the Hangar Bays of the upper level. The only personnel of the ship were those on the bridge and this place was resultantly deserted. He got into his shuttle and zoomed out toward the crash site of the escape pod. He had another chance to redeem his protйgй. He would try his best to do so.
Awesome awesome chapters RC. I can't wait for the duel. :) And a nice trick by the rebels to capture the Imperial's ships and turn them on them.
Good as always RC. Can't wait to see what happens in the next Chapter.
as promised to Renegade Puma, a :duel:, with some... extras. you had better like it, i didnt write 1500 words for nothing. :D
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NINETEEN
The escape pod streaked down into the uninhabited, thin forest of Kuat. With a resounding thud, it crashed, uprooting several trees and setting dry leaves aglow with temporary fire because of the red-hot friction-burned outer skin of the pod. As the skin cooled enough for the occupant to exit, a light transport craft landed outside the forest, which was not far off.
The LED inside the pod set near the door blinked, and Darth Vader popped the hatch and emerged, obsidian sheen mask gleaming in the sun. He could not remember being so angry before, other than the time Obi Wan left him for dead near the lava river.
Obi Wan. Vader clenched his fists in increased rage. The next time he saw Kenobi, the Jedi would wish he had never messed with him, the Dark Lord of the Sith.
“You don’t have to wait long, Anakin,” said a voice behind him. Vader turned, his rage increasing with the usage of his old name. It seemed impossible that the burning hatred inside him didn’t swallow up the whole universe in a giant flash of flame.
“What do you want, Kenobi?” Vader said, through gritted teeth.
“My old friend,” Obi Wan replied simply.
“You and the other Jedi were never my friends. You just used me; used my power. With the Dark Side, I have no restrictions, save this armor. The armor which you made me wear, Obi Wan. If you were my friend, you would have pulled me away from the lava.”
“I came to Mustafar to help you; to turn you away from the Dark path that you strode, but you tried to take my life instead. I had no choice.”
“Don’t give me that, Obi Wan. You turned Padme against me! I lost all the people that I loved: my mother, my wife, my child. All because of YOU!”
Vader yelled the last word with the absolute apitome of hatred and lunged at Obi Wan, lightsaber in hand. Obi Wan ignited his own blade in the blink of an eye and blocked the cut; just barely. Vader swiped at Obi Wan’s knees, putting all his power in the cut. Obi Wan leapt backward a few feet and spoke again.
“You lost your mother to the Tuskens, Anakin. And even then, instead of helping your mother through the Force, you took revenge on them. You killed their women and children. The same fate has been dealt to you.”
“ENOUGH!”
Vader threw his lightsaber at Obi Wan, directed by the Force. Obi Wan slapped it away with his blade and it returned to Vader. The Dark Lord of the Sith jumped up in an aerial leap with his lightsaber in front of him. Had Obi Wan no side-stepped in time, the cut would have chopped him in half.
“You were the one who turned Padme away from you,” continued Obi Wan. “Your actions became unbearable to her. You choked her when you knew, full well, that she had nothing to do with me being there.”
“You made me distrust her, Obi Wan,” said Vader. “You were the one who endangered her life.”
“No Anakin! Had I not stopped you, you would have killed her on the spot.”
“I had no inclination to do that. I want to know from you how she died.”
“She died because of you, not for you, but by your hand, Anakin.”
“DON’T CALL ME THAT!” Vader screamed and lunged again.
This time, they fought longer. Lightsabers flashed as the changing weather brought on rain clouds to cover the forest. A light shower washed down on them as they fought, lightsabers sizzling in the rain. They feinted, cut, lunged and jumped, Vader fighting to kill and Obi Wan to defend. Finally, they caught themselves in a saber lock and the blades sparked and spurred as they fought a battle of their own, to overcome the other.
“I did not kill her,” said Vader, the anger still apparent in his voice. “I want to know how.”
Obi Wan pushed harder and Vader matched it, keeping them in the lock.
“She lost the will to live, Anakin. She lost it because you lost yourself to her; because you turned to the Dark Side, away from her.”
Vader pushed with all his might and Obi Wan was knocked off his feet. The Jedi Master’s lightsaber clattered at Vader’s feet. The Sith Lord kicked it away into the bushes and raised his blade.
“I will avenge her death by killing you, Obi Wan.”
Vader jumped up and brought the blade down on Obi Wan.
And the Jedi Master had a blade to meet it. Vader stepped back, stunned. The hilt looked very familiar; then it struck him. He remembered the last image of Obi Wan he had seen with his unaided eyes: one of the Jedi picking up his lightsaber and walking away. That lightsaber now lay in his hands. Obi Wan got to his feet and called his own saber from where it lay and ignited it, and he stood, lightsaber in each hand, hissing in the rain.
“I vowed never to give up on you, Anakin,” he said. “I swore to myself never to let you die consumed by the Dark.”
“You will have to break that promise, Obi Wan,” said Vader, his mask covered with tiny rivulets of water, his cape soaked and clinging to his body armor. “I serve the Dark Side and the Emperor now.”
“Padme’s dying words were that there is good in you, and I know it too. I will bring you back if it is the last thing I do. I will do anything to bring you back, my old friend,” said Obi wan, trying to be sympathetic.
“I will never return to the Jedi, Obi Wan. Anakin Skywalker is now dead. I am Darth Vader and in this alias, I have realized my greatest dreams. I will not let you take it away from me.”
“I won’t take your dreams away from you or you away from your dreams, Anakin. I will just take you away from the Dark Side.”
“The blood of many Jedi rests on my hands, Obi Wan. I will never be able to come back even if I wanted to.”
“The Jedi are willing to forgive and forget. You need to give it a chance. You were the strongest Jedi ever, the one who would bring balance to the Force, the one destined to destroy the Sith.”
“I was. I am no longer. The prophecy did not speak of me in particular. It can be anybody, but it is not me.”
“How would you know?” Obi Wan asked in desperation. “You never-”
“How would you know? Vader countered. “How would you know that the prophecy spoke of me?”
“Forget the prophecy!” Obi Wan finally yelled. “Forget everything else. I want you to be my friend again. There is no more Jedi Council, thanks to you. No more Younglings, thanks to you. No more Mace Windu, thanks to you. No more Tara, thanks to you. But you are still dear as a brother to me and I am begging you, for the sake of your friend, renounce the Dark Side.”
Vader turned to where Obi Wan’s shuttle lay and he used the Force to shove Obi Wan down.
“I am done speaking, Obi Wan. I will never join the Jedi again.”
Obi Wan got to his feet and extinguished both his blades.
“Then leave, I won’t stop you.”
Vader looked at Obi Wan, lightsabers off and hanging loosely at his sides. The darkness in him pushed at him. He could end Obi Wan’s life with one careless swipe of his lightsaber, and he wanted to. But something stopped him, and he realized, however much he disliked it, that Obi Wan was speaking the truth: there was still good in him. But Vader would do everything to extinguish it. Only then could he master the Dark Side as the Emperor had done. He turned and walked to the shuttle.
“There is still good in you, Anakin,” called Obi Wan from behind. “I have felt it.”
Vader continued to walk, and 15 minutes later, the rain-drenched Dark Lord of the Sith was en route to Coruscant in Hyperspace.
************************************************** **********************
An equally soaked Obi Wan Kenobi was the only one who looked somber at the celebrations in the big warehouse. Everywhere around him, Rebels: men, women, aliens alike, rejoiced at their victory over the Imperials; at their success in thwarting the Emperor’s plans. But Obi Wan’s battle was not over. He looked up into the sky through the open top of the warehouse. His protйgй was lost; again. But he would not give up. Whatever else he did, Obi Wan Kenobi would not give up, and that thought cheered him up a bit. Finally, he calmed down enough to pluck a glass of juma juice from the nearest table and begin sipping it.
************************************************** **********************
THE END
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It was quite a bit of reading, but I was able to skim through it and notice its good quality. Nice fic. You're a good writer. I can't wait for part two.
A great ending. Suprised Vader didn't know about his kids. I would have thought Obi-Wan would have told him. Other than that, it was good. There was great description in Vader and Obi-Wan's words. Like Niner, can't wait for Part Two.
Don't worry, part two will be out in 2 days hopefully
Wow, that was good and a really great ending. I like it that your chapters are short. I can read through them real fast, that way unlike mine :D
Waiting for Part Two...
hehe, i though ppl like long chapters more :D thanks for replying, Sabre, ill get part two up soon
Great great stuff RC. Thanks for the duel. Your conversation between Obi and Anakin was perfectly written. Can't wait for part two. Keep up the great work.
actually, i have put up part two already. check my sig, or scroll down in the CEC main page. its name is "Rebel Rebound"