A Call for Help

~Part Five~

Ezra’s stomach dropped. Emperor Palpatine? Alive? How? Luke had assured them that he was dead. Killed in front of his own eyes. He gritted his teeth. Why did the Sith have to be so resilient?

“From your lack of response I assume you’re shocked to the core and are coming with us.” Lando said grimly. “We have a few more systems to stop at before we regroup. We’re gonna need every able fighter we can find. Is there anyone else on the surface with a ship who might be willing to join us?”

Sabine was the first one to recover from the news. “Yes,” she said, “There are a few new republic soldiers who’ll come along, and if we put out a message I’m sure there’ll be others too.”

“Alright,” Lando replied, “Make it quick.”

Sooner than expected, 4 ships emerged from the planets surface, and they all jumped away. Jacen had added a few more systems to Lando’s list, and their first stop was Ryloth. He hoped Numa and her rebels were still alive and putting up a fight.

As they jumped from system to system, Lando explained everything to them, and they explained why they couldn’t make it to Crait, and how terribly sorry they were about it. The situation was far worse than they’d feared and they finally understood Lando’s urgency.

By the time they were ready to jump to Exegol they had acquired pretty much the biggest fleet ever. It wasn’t a Navy, it wasn’t even a coordinated group of fighters. It was just…people. All of them fed up tyranny and oppression. All of them ready to die to be free.

They’d had no word from Exegol for far too long and knew the situation must have been dire. Lando signalled to all the ships to set their navi-computers, prime their hyperdrives, and make the jump on his mark.

3…2…1…

And just like that they were hovering over the most devastating battleground they had ever seen. Jacen’s eyes were wide. Ezra swore. Over the comm they heard Poe say, “I’m sorry…I thought we had a shot. There’s just too many of them…”

He sounded so dejected it broke Jacen’s heart. He wanted to scream “We’re here!” But Lando beat him to it.

“But there are more of us Poe,” He said. “There are more of us.”

That’s when Poe spotted them. The Falcon, and the Ghost right beside them, leading their new-found forces into the fray.

“Hey! Spectre 8!”Jacen shouted over the comm. Giddy with glee. “You miss me?”

Poe’s face lit up like a summers day, and then he just started to laugh. “Let’s show these guys how real rebels fly,” he replied. “Hit those underbelly cannons,” he announced to the whole fleet. “Every one we knock out is a world saved.”

And that was all it took. Soon, Star destroyers were going down in flames all around them. They heard cheers as well as painful cries over the comm, but the battle raged on.

On and on and on. Until they won.

~The End~

A Call for Help

~Part Four~

Life on Lothal had started to become the way it had been in the early days of the Empire. Checkpoints, curfews, patrols, the whole deal. They had started out by deploying storm troopers, then the tanks had arrived, and soon the military encampments.

Sabine, Ezra, and Jacen had debated for hours with the Governor about what do do about the First Order’s little occupation. They had no way to drive them out alone and no way to call for help. And besides, the First Order wasn’t in control…yet.

They hadn’t attempted to capture the Old Republic building, which meant they weren’t trying to be legitimate. They just wanted to spread fear. But the crew of the Ghost had had their fill of fear, and they weren’t interested in feeling like that ever again.

They encouraged the citizens to follow the First Order’s rules and assured them that they were working to drive them out, and ensured that everyone was comfortable and safe. They excelled at stealing and undermining oppressive rule. They gave the First Order the illusion of control, while continuing to execute little acts of rebellion without leaving a trace.

It reminded them of the old days. A mixture of sadness and joy. They had been more carefree then, but the darkest years of their lives had just been beginning.

Ezra hated seeing his home this way, everyone could tell that the memories haunted him. It was almost worse than before. He had promised to protect this place, these people, but he’d failed. He felt helpless. Every time they won, they lost. And if they didn’t find a way to help the Resistance soon, this fight would have been for nothing.

They worked everyday on getting their communications back up and when all modifications to their long range transmitter failed, they suspected that the First Order’s powerful jamming signal was coming from their lead cruiser which they’d only be able to bypass by boarding the ship and disabling it. They plotted and planned, preparing to sneak aboard, but all the odds were against them. They even tried to relocate the Jedi temple, but it had closed itself off beneath the surface years ago, it’s secrets lost forever.

As days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months, the crew of the Ghost had almost begun to lose hope.

They were sitting in the command centre of the Old Republic building, feeling dejected after a long night, when their proximity alarm went off. There were ships emerging from hyperspace. They boarded the Ghost immediately, fearing the worst, to see who else had come to ravage their home.

But what they saw was nothing short of a miracle. When they arrived in the plant’s orbit, they were greeted by a small fleet of Resistance ships, led by none other than the Millenium Falcon. They nearly screamed with delight. How had they known to come?

It didn’t matter. They were attacking the lead destroyer and the Ghost sprung into action beside them.

Their comm crackled to life. “Hello there Rebels! How’s Lothal?”

“Lando!?” Sabine and Ezra said in unison.

“Is that the galaxy’s greatest artist and her Jedi friend I hear?” he replied.

They just laughed.

They brought the First Order’s ship down in a fiery blaze that all of Lothal must have been able to see. There were still fighters and light cruisers on their tail but they seemed to be pulling back.

“Sending coordinates for rendezvous with the rest of the fleet ” Lando said.

“What!?”, Jacen replied. “We can’t just leave! I thought you were here to help us!”

“I’m sorry, I came here because the Resistance needs you to help us. The First Order’s ships are leaving Lothal. They’re regrouping. Emperor Palpatine has returned and he’s launched a massive attack on the planet Exegol. We need all the help we can get. If we lose that fight it won’t matter what happens here. We need to get moving.”

To be continued…

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Photo Credits: Star Wars The Rise of Skywalker

Before a Battle

Alarms blared throughout the Rebel command ship as soldiers and pilots raced around screaming orders at one another. A message had just come in for Mon Mothma and she had ordered everyone to their stations and all ranking officers to the command centre.

On the Ghost, Hera was busy with Jacen, who was throwing a fit, so she had to send Rex to the briefing instead. Perhaps it was the alarms that had scared her little boy, or maybe he’d just sensed the coming conflict. Hera sighed, a warship was no place to raise a child, but there was nowhere safe left to leave him. Sabine had offered to take care of him on Lothal but she had her own problems to deal with there, and caring for a child was no easy task. Fortunately, Jacen was a joy to everyone around him. Everyone in the alliance loved him and were always ready to babysit when they had time off. He was a light in the darkness, and a constant reminder of what they were all fighting for.

Hera had just managed to calm him down when Rex burst onto the ship looking harrowed, followed by Kallus and Zeb. They hadn’t been at the briefing but Rex must have picked them up on his way back. Before Hera could say anything Rex said, “You’d all better sit down…I’ve got bad news…”

They sat in complete silence, with their eyes wide as Rex told them about the briefing and the coming attack on the new Death Star. Hera couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

“Another Death Star?”, Zeb muttered in disbelief, voicing Hera’s exact thoughts.

“How did they build another one so quickly?”, Kallus asked, “The first one took over 20 years.”

“Apparently it was easier the second time because they knew what they were doing…can’t believe this is happening all over again…We’re gonna have to contact everyone we’ve ever met for this one…”, rex replied, shaking his head. Hera understood how he felt. He’d been fighting longer than any of them, and he was getting tired of this. Every time they one, the Empire just kept coming back, it was getting easier by the day to lose hope.

Rex shook her out of her thoughts, “There’s more”, he said, “It’s not all bad. This could potentially be a great opportunity for us. The weapon’s not fully finished, and according to our intel the Emperor himself is overseeing the final stages of its construction. We also have the plans to the station and the analysts have found a weakness so if we can blow this thing up then…”

He didn’t dare finish, they didn’t dare hope for too much, but they all knew what he meant. “Karabast”, Zeb said, “This could be it.”

“This is going to be the riskiest, most dangerous operation we have ever attempted.”, Kallus replied.

Finally, Hera spoke, “This is our chance. Our last chance. We give it everything we’ve got, and when this is all over, we’ll either be free or our children will. Rex, are we prepped to fly?”

“Yes sir”

“Alright. Kallus, start the pre flight check while the rest of you contact everyone we know who could possibly help.”

“Sabine?”, Zeb asked.

“She’s too far away, this whole op will be over before she can even get here.”, Hera replied sullenly. “Send her a coded transmission and let her know what’s going on. If this goes sideways she can bring backup.” She paused for a minute, thinking. “Rex, I have a feeling we’re gonna need some more crew on this one. Bring Wolf, and see if anyone’s volunteering to be my co-pilot.”

“Sure thing General…um, also, I volunteered to go with General Solo’s strike team. I’m better at ground assault.”

Hera nodded, “Try to stay on comms and keep us updated. I’m going to talk to Lando…” She rolled her eyes and walked off the ship, unable to believe that he’d not only joined up with the rebellion, but had also been made a general…the smooth talking sleemo.

She and Lando talked over their attack plan and decided that the Falcon would enter the death star and take out the reactor while the Ghost covered the cruisers. The Death Star may not have been operational but they were sure the Empire would have left a fleet of ships to protect it.

When Hera returned to the Ghost, everyone was ready and Jacen was crying again. She hated the idea of taking him with them but they didn’t have a base anymore so the safest place for him to be was definitely with her. Zeb didn’t seem to like the idea, but he didn’t see a better option either.

As soon as Hera managed to calm Jacen down again, they were on their way. She smiled, hoping that tomorrow would be a better day for her son.

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Photo Credits: Star Wars Rebels