Galactic Conquest II: Rebel Rebound

[Niner_777]

Great chapter, RC. Was Anakin a Sentinel?

[Diego Varen]

Great chapter, RC. Was Anakin a Sentinel?

 

I believe he was a Jedi Guardian.

[Niner_777]

That makes sense.

[igyman]

Great dialogues in this chapter RC, keep it up. I only hope (I just had to find some flaw ) that you haven't introduced Revan only for appearance's sake, I hope he'll have a bigger purpose than just telling history.

[RC-1162]

he'll guide and teach. that's all i'll say, though i think i've practically explained it here

thank you all!

 

@ Niner: Anakin was a Guardian, i believe. given his blue lightsaber and his ready for action instincts.

[RC-1162]

“There is no emotion, there is peace.

There is no ignorance, there is knowledge.

There is no passion, there is serenity.

There is no chaos, there is harmony.

There is no death, there is the Force.”

 

Obi Wan listened intently to Jake’s recital of the millennia old Jedi code and nodded in a satisfied way.

 

“You have learned your studies well, Jake,” Obi Wan said. “But saying the words and understanding them are different altogether. So, answer true or false: An act of the Dark Side is justified if its overall result is one to strengthen the Light.”

 

Jake thought for a moment, then said, “False.”

 

“Why?” asked Obi Wan.

 

“Because an act of the Dark Side is evil, no matter what the end product be. It is not desirable to put oneself at risk by using the easy path of the Dark. Better is to think of a new way to achieve one’s goals.”

 

Obi Wan smiled and nodded.

 

“Excellent, Jake.” He congratulated. “You have understood the code fully. Now your last test is to construct your lightsaber. Only then will you be acknowledged as a member of the Jedi Order. What is your progress?”

 

“Like you said, Master,” Jake replied. “The Rebel engineers did provide me with parts and good tools, and I had memorized the Code in less than an hour, so I worked non-stop for the rest of the day and managed to complete 90% of it.”

 

“What is remaining?” Obi Wan asked.

 

“Apparently, a color crystal, two power crystals, tuning of the photoharmonics and encasing the circuitry in an outer shell. I’ve begun work on the shell, but I have no idea where to get a lightsaber crystal. Maybe I should make a synth-crystal?”

 

“No need, Jake,” said Obi Wan. He got up from the chair and walked to the chest of drawers in the corner of his quarters. He rummaged around in a small velvet bag and produced three crystals.

 

“Here are your crystals,” Obi Wan said. “How much time do you expect to take to finish it?”

 

“About two hours, Master,” the young boy replied.

 

“Fair enough,” said Obi Wan. “You can finish it up now and I’ll teach you some sparring after you’re done.”

 

Jake nodded and went to his room to finish up the lightsaber.

 

Obi Wan rose to leave the base. He was in the hangars when Dodonna came up to him.

 

“Obi Wan, feel like doing a mission, saving the Galaxy today?” he said half-jokingly. “It must be all in a day’s work for you.”

 

Obi Wan smiled.

 

“What is our target?”

 

“We have two, actually.” Dodonna said. “We need you to go on a diplomatic mission to Corellia to smooth down the rough edges.”

 

“What else?” Obi Wan asked.

 

“We’re sending a section of our fleet to Corellia. Local settlements have reported a sudden decrease in surface temperature and satellite recon scans show that the Imperials are harnessing the geothermal energy to power a factory of some type. Neutralizing it will be a key victory for the Rebel Alliance.”

 

“Who are you assigning for that?” Obi Wan asked.

 

“You can join the fray as soon as you are done on Corellia,” Dodonna replied. “But until then, we’re sending the best of our pilots because intelligence suggests that it may be a TIE Fighter plant.”

 

Obi Wan nodded and thought for a moment.

 

“Can you take an additional person along?” he asked.

 

“Depends,” Dodonna replied uncertainly. “Who have you got in mind?”

 

“Jake Ribbon,” Obi Wan said.

 

“You mean that young kid?” Dodonna asked incredulously. “You’re dooming and innocent teenager to death, Obi Wan!” he said.

 

“He’s no ordinary boy,” Obi Wan replied calmly. “Give him a fighter craft of his own and he’ll do the rest.”

 

“I won’t argue with a Jedi,” Dodonna said. “But please note that his death lies on your hands.”

 

“Agreed, Admiral,” Obi Wan said. “Provided there is one.”

 

Dodonna smiled weakly at that.

 

“We leave at 1800 hours.” He said, followed by a nod and him retreating to the Command Room.

[RC-1162]

ok, that was a comparatively small chapter, but its a preparation for a couple of looong ones so worry not!

[igyman]

Yes, here's your biggest criticizer, me( ), once again to comment on your latest work.

 

Let's begin. The latest chapter, as those before, shows your great writing skills, but unfortunately (don't be angry, I'm just trying to be constructive) lack of ideas. You've practically copy/pasted a dialogue from KoTOR, the one at the beginning, about the Jedi Code and about understanding it. The rest of the chapter is nicely done, but you should definitely avoid that kind of copy/pasting in the future. Try to be more original, after all it's your story, not a copy of somebody else's.

[RC-1162]

thanks, igyman, and no, i'm not angry at all. i like a person who had constructive criticism rather than a person who closes his eyes and says "GOOD!" not that im saying that anyone is like that

 

as an explaination for the Code bit: the code would remain same, that much is obvious, so i couldn't do much about that, but if you'll notice the question after the code was said by Jake, you'll see that Obi Wan makes sure that Jake has understood the code. whereas in KotOR, the Jedi don't do this at all, they just close their eyes and say "GOOD!"

but in the sith academy, Uthar makes sure that you've understood it. and asks the PC a question similar to Obi Wan's. Obi Wan's question was thought up by me, so the only word-to-word copying is the code itself

anyway, you did take the time and give me feedback, and i'm very grateful.

 

any more please?

[igyman]

No problem, you'll have the chance to return the favour, since I've decided to try to write a fanfic of my own, I'm currently writing chapter five and in a day or two, I'll start posting.

[RC-1162]

looking forward to it. is there HK in it?

[igyman]

Not yet, but who knows, if I can somehow put him to use in my story, I most certainly will.

[Diego Varen]

Good Chapter, though it was quiet short. Also igyman, the Code needs to be learnt, otherwise how can he be a Jedi?

 

Anyway I'm looking foward to your Fic igyman (Which I'll read, if you can read mine, which are located in my Sig) and RC, I'm looking foward to the next Chapter.

[Jae Onasi]

Pretty good, RC.

There were a couple of things that threw me off a bit. One was mentioning the hair that looked like 'a punk rocker's' Do they have punk rock in the SW universe? Personally, I hope not. The other thing I noticed was that Obi-wan didn't talk to Jake more before offering the training. I think he'd be more cautious and want to know the boy better before he took on another apprentice.

Obi-wan's failing in training wasn't because he told Anakin to do something that he wouldn't do himself. I think it was because he didn't deal with Anakin's strong feelings and pride.

I like a lot of the one-liners, and the Force spirits of Qui-Gon (one of my favs) and Revan are really cool. You have a good start on describing battle scenes, too. The story is interesting, and it'll be intriguing to see how Jake turns out.

[RC-1162]

thanks a million, Jae

you are officially awarded 50+ cool points, and not just any! check your fic to find out

 

actually, Obi Wan sensed a lot of Force potential in Jake, thats why he took him for training. he will get to know the boy more as the fic progresses. like in TPM, Obi Wan took on Anakin for training even though he barely knew the boy, and by AotC, they were best friends. so these kind of things take time thanks for replying, Jae.

 

and the punk rocker thing: while they might not be called the same thing, i noticed several guys with this hairstyle in the cantina that Anakin and Obi Wan go to in the beginning of AotC.

[Niner_777]

^I think that I remember them too.

 

Anyways, great chapter. It was very enjoyable to read. However, since everyone else made some point, I dug a little deeper to find this:

 

“We have two, actually.” Dodonna said. “We need you to go on a diplomatic mission to Corellia to smooth down the rough edges.”

 

“What else?” Obi Wan asked.

 

“We’re sending a section of our fleet to Rhen Var. Local settlements have reported a sudden decrease in surface temperature and satellite recon scans show that the Imperials are harnessing the geothermal energy to power a factory of some type. Neutralizing it will be a key victory for the Rebel Alliance.”

 

“Who are you assigning for that?” Obi Wan asked.

 

“You can join the fray as soon as you are done on Rhen Var,” Dodonna replied. “But until then, we’re sending the best of our pilots because intelligence suggests that it may be a TIE Fighter plant.”

 

I'm not sure about this, but when it says "'You can join the fray as soon as you are done on Rhen Var," should it be 'as soon as you are done on Corellia?'

[RC-1162]

oh yeah! i was just thinking too fast, thanks, Niner. i'll correct that now

[RC-1162]

“And this is the air-brake,” the starfighter Technician said, continuing his long ramble for what felt to Jake like 10 minutes. “In atmospheric combat, deploying it will cause flaps to open to slow your speed. In space, there will be retro rockets firing from several points in and around the nose cone.

“This is the throttle, pull up to-“

 

“Rise,” interrupted Jake. He had just about had it with this guy. “And push it down to descend, pull it left to roll left and pull it right to roll right.

“Push this button,” Jake indicated the laser cannon trigger set into the throttle, “to fire the cannons and push this button to fire the torpedoes.” Jake indicated another button set into the panel.

 

“Yes, umm…” the tech began, flustered. “It appears you know what to do, so I’ll leave you to it.”

 

‘Yes, please do,’ thought Jake with relief. He had read extensively about the Incom T-65 X-Wings while he was home on Corellia with his parents as a pastime.

 

His parents.

 

‘No,’ thought Jake, pushing the thought of the pair into the back of his head. He didn’t want to think about them now. “I've got to focus,” he said aloud and took a deep breath. When he let it out, he had calmed down a lot.

 

“Green Squadron, report in,” commanded a voice from his comm. unit. The unit numbers rose one by one, reported in by different voices, all touched with a hint of fear, gushing with confidence, and overflowing with cockiness. It seemed to be a trait in all fighter pilots, Jake thought. Finally, it was his turn,

 

“Green Nine, standing by,” he reported. The numbers rose up to twelve, then stopped.

 

Green Leader, a somewhat young man, commanded them to start their engines and wait for Dodonna’s signal. Green Lead was the type of person who Jake admired just because of his ability to lead. He seemed to know his work and was very patient in explaining to Jake the battle plans and some useful tactics to employ in the upcoming battle.

 

The X-Wing pilots in the hangar started their engines one by one, raising the noise to a deafening level that caused the non-essential personnel to retreat behind a sound-proof barrier and the technical staff to wear a muffler headpiece to block the brunt of the sound. At 190 decibels, the noise could only be reduced, not completely blocked. Still, the techs were happy with something on rather than nothing. Even Jake began to feel uneasy as the noise increased and vibrated its way through his helmet and into his eardrums, which were pounding away for dear life. He flipped a switch and the canopy hinged shut and Jake smiled quietly at the silence that greeted him.

 

Green Squadron’s twelve ships revved their engines in one of the many hangars on board the Relief. The fleet was comprised of several capital ships with the Relief leading the pack. They were about 300 klicks away from the ice covered planet of Rhen Var and the fleet was temporarily stationary, waiting for Dodonna’s signal to attack.

 

It came soon enough, though Jake thought that all his fuel must have gone just sitting there.

 

“All fighter Squadrons, move out!” Dodonna’s voice ordered through the comm.

 

“You heard the man,” said Green Leader and the X-Wings in the hargar slowly rose and exited the Hangar, making their way towards the icy planet of Rhen Var.

 

“All units form up,” ordered Green Lead and Jake nudged his ship into position. They made it into the atmosphere without incident, but that was when the fun started.

 

“Marks on your 10, Green Lead,” warned the Leader of Blue Squad. “Heads up.”

 

“Copy, Blue Lead. Green Squad, engage!”

 

The twelve ships peeled of from the main formation and began firing indiscriminately at the incoming TIE Fighters. But at around 5 kilometers between them, neither group was causing any damage to the other. However the other ships also began to face resistance by TIEs and the comm. was filled with war cries and warnings.

 

“Blue Ten, marks coming in at four!”

 

“I got them, they’re going down.”

 

“I’m hit!”

 

“Red Three, patch the leak and return to base.”

 

“I’m going down! Aaargh!”

 

“Gold Lead, marks on your nine!”

 

“Got them, thanks.”

 

“Green Nine, duet on your six! Move it!”

 

By this time, even Green Squadron had reached the group of TIEs and the air was filled with TIEs and X-Wings flying and juking here and there, Blasting each other out of the sky. It took a second for Jake to realize that the last warning was aimed at him. He deployed his rear scanner and sure enough, there were two TIEs on his tail.

 

“I copy, thanks.” He said through his comm, then opened his throttle wide. The TIEs did the same to match his speed and began firing at him. No matter what Jake did, he couldn’t shake them. He was twisting around and trying to figure out a plan when something he had once seen in a holovid hit him. He took a deep breath to calm himself, then let it out.

Jake flipped a switch and killed his engines, but at the speed he was traveling, it didn’t matter because his inertia kept him going. He rolled his craft to the left and pulled the control stick. With the completion of this, he was now flying backwards, facing the still-firing TIEs. He now had a clear line of fire, but his engines had to be on to use the cannons. He pushed another button to deploy the air-brake, but overrode the flaps to give him retro-rocket thrust. The retros in his nose cone fired and the X-Wing flew on backwards. Jake let the Force guide his hand and pulled the trigger. Deadly bolts of red laser speared the oncoming TIEs and they exploded. Jake’s first ever kills in real time combat. He disengaged the retro-rockets and brought the main engines back online. In two minutes, he was shooting TIEs by the handful.

 

“Green Squad, break off and follow me,” commanded Green Leader.

 

The comm. was filled with acknowledgements and the available ships of Green Squadron formed up behind their leader. They flew away from the intense dogfight but toward what, Jake did not know. They had flown only for a few minutes when a spiked black sphere dropped from above in the sky.

 

“Heads up,” warned Green Lead, but he did not know what it really was.

 

Jake felt something in the Force, something that didn’t feel right. The sphere was still a couple of meters above them when his eyes widened in shock at the realization.

 

“Break off!” he yelled into the comm, putting his X-Wing into a steep climb. The sphere was now amongst the rest of Green Squadron and its proximity sensors went off. The mine exploded, wiping out the whole of Green Squadron, except for Jake, who was now concentrating on righting his starfighter from the buffeting he had received by the shock waves of the explosion.

 

“All fighter groups, this is Green Nine,” Jake said into the comm. “Keep an eye out for proximity mines dropping from over head. Green Squadron had been wiped out.”

 

“Copy that, Green Nine,” replied Red Leader. “You can join Red Squad for the rest of the fight, head back.”

 

“On my way, sir,” Jake replied and headed back to the dogfight.

 

Jake wondered what was it that caused Green Leader to break off the attack and head for another objective. He searched his memory and didn’t remember hearing any order given by the Base. He was so stunned by the loss of his Squad mates and partners, that he failed to hear the quiet nudges of the Force that were telling him to look behind him.

 

Deadly lances of green energy raked Jake’s starfighter and two of his engines exploded. The other two flamed out and the X-Wing began to lose altitude. The two TIE fighters that had shot him followed in the wake of the craft, probably to make sure that Jake crashed, he thought.

Jake frantically tried to bring the engines back online, but they did not respond. Jake slammed a fist on the console and shouted at his R2 unit.

 

“R2, get those engines working again!”

 

He deployed both the airbrake flaps as well as the retro rockets. The flaps strained against the icy wind resistance and creaked threateningly but along with the retros, they slowed his descent somewhat. The R2 unit in the back of Jake’s fighter whistled non-stop as it worked on the remaining two engines of Jake’s fighter. It beeped at him to try again.

 

Jake flipped the switch and received a dull cough as a reply. He tried again and got the same response. By this time, the airbrake flaps were being severely strained. With one final metallic groan, the flaps fixed to his S-Foils snapped off. His speed now increased much more, with only a hint of resistance by the retro rockets. The R2 unit made one final adjustment and Jake flipped the switch again.

 

His remaining two engines roared to life and Jake leaned back on the throttle with all his strength, calling on the Force to aid him. Somehow, it seemed elusive of him, because he couldn’t concentrate, but suddenly, as if another pair of hands had grasped the stick, the X-Wing pulled out of its suicidal dive and brought the craft level. Jake’s anti-G couch prevented him from blacking out from the excessive G-Forces he had been experiencing. He did a quick check of his systems.

 

Two of his engines had been destroyed, but vital systems of the craft and the remaining two engines still functioned well enough. Only his starboard top engine and its diagonally opposite counterpart were functioning and to make matters worse, he had lost a lot of his fuel when the two dead engines exploded. He had to return to base and get a new ship ASAP. He pulled the X-Wing into a climb as gently as he could; to meet the TIEs that had tried to shoot him down. He switched to the guard channel and issued a distress call to the rest of the fighters, but he got no response.

 

“X-Wing pilot, stand down.” Was the order that came through. It wasn’t the voice of anybody he recognized and was very confused.

 

“X-Wing pilot, you are hereby a prisoner of the Empire. Any resistance or attempts to flee will be dealt with severely.” The voice continued.

 

Finally Jake realized what had happened: the guard channel had been compromised and the Rebels had switched to a different frequency.

 

“Alright,” Jake responded. He might have a better chance to get away if the TIEs weren’t bent on shooting him out of the sky. “I surrender,” he said.

 

“Good,” the Imperial pilot replied. One of the TIEs swooped down in front of Jake’s fighter and the other behind him.

 

“Follow me” the pilot ordered. “Do not deviate from your present course.”

 

Jake was tempted to unleash his blaster cannons and blow the TIE out of the air, but he remembered that there was another one behind him, and held his fire.

 

He followed the TIE to a hangar on the icy surface of Rhen Var. It seemed to be just an aerial reinforcement hangar, because there wasn’t any big building or anything of the sort nearby. The TIEs made him land and then flew off. A trio of Imperial Stormtroopers came up to the damaged X-Wing.

 

“Get out with your hands up.” The Stormtrooper ordered through a comlink.

[RC-1162]

1950 words. nuff said

 

happy reading! please leave some feedback.

[Darth Nexus]

Good chapter RC. It seemed like you wanted the battle to be quick, but you still described it well.

[Diego Varen]

Good Chapter. The beginning reminded me of Anakin with the Pilot on TPM.

[igyman]

Great action packed chapter, RC.

 

What? I bet you were expecting me to find something that's not quite there, well I'll have to disappoint you this time - this was one great chapter.

[RC-1162]

YAAY!

thanks all! i really appreciate the comments!

[Niner_777]

The beginning reminded me of Anakin with the Pilot on TPM.

 

Same here.

 

Great chapter, RC. You described the combat quite well. I wasn't expecting Jake to be captured.

[RC-1162]

you won't expect the next chapter either

hows that for suspense?

thank you all, i'll get the next chapter up soon.