"She's not some damsel in distress type of character. That's what I like about her", Ahsoka added, having admired the Princess since the first holovid.
A nearby NCO clapped his hands together. "Ok. Everybody, to your stations. Let's go!"
...
About a mile outside the base, the ground forces were putting what finishing touches they could on their make-shift fortifications, which mostly consisted of trenches in the snow with scattered heavy weapon emplacements and the odd artillery piece up and down the line.
Against any force like them, they would stand a good chance, but they weren't dealing with an equivalent force. They were dealing with the Empire, a vastly superior force in all respects. They knew the best they could do was delay for as long as possible.
No one wanted to say it, but they had signed up for a suicide mission.
"I don't think this'll be a succesful defense", Anakin said with a sigh.
"Considering they are under-equipped outside space, I have to say yes", Saesee Tiin agreed.
The situation in the command center was tense. Everyone remained silent, all eyes on the General and Leia stood in the center of the room."Their primary target will be the power generators." The General said.
"Prepare to open shield."A larger space cruiser shot up from the planet, escorted by a pair of X-Wings as per the plan, while a Star Destroyer moved into intercept position
"Whatever the cannon does, it had better be good." Rex muttered.
"Sir, rebel ships are coming into our sector." A junior officer on the ship told his captain."Good. Our first catch of the day." The captain replied firmly."Stand by, ion control." The operator sat before Leia and the General said before pausing. "Fire."
Outside the base, a massive round structure built into the side of the ice shelf fired several red bolts from the cannon sticking out of it. The bolts rocketed past the transport convoy directly at the Star Destroyer. The first bolt hit them amidships, while the second impacted on the bridge.
The Star Destroyer began to list downward at the back as its engines died out, red electricity crackling over its surface as the convoy breezed past them.
"The plan makes sense now." Ahsoka said. "That ion cannon can disable the enemy ships, letting them make a run for it."
"And if the Empire want to avoid having their ships disabled, they have to break their formation." Plo Koon added. "Very impressive."
"The first transport is away." A voice said over the intercom, filling the hangar bay with cheers. Luke cheered internally as he climbed into his speeder. So far so good. Just a few more times and they would be golden.
"Feeling alright, sir?" his co-plot asked as he took the seat behind him."Just like new, Dack." Luke said, "How about you?"
"Heh. Right now I feel like I could take on the whole Empire myself."
"I know what you mean." Luke chuckled as the ship began to hover and the canopy closed. Out on the line, the soldiers ran to position with their weapons trained on the loud stomping sounds they heard in the distance.
An officer looked into his macrobinoculars only to see a squat metal foot. he followed up the long metal pillar attached to it to meet a rectangular face with cannons on either side. Zooming back somewhat, he saw that it had a few friends with it.
...
"By a Bantha's breath" Ki-Adi said. "What are those?"
"They're at least three times the size of an AT-TE, if not more." Rex marveled.
"Whatever it does, I can tell it delivers quite a payload", Obi-Wan mused.
"Echo Station, 3-T-8." He said into his communicator, "We've spotted Imperial walkers. Repeat, Imperial walkers on the north ridge."
As the speeders exited the hangar as quickly as safely possible, the men and women in the trenches took cover as the walkers began firing on their positions. As they began returning fire, they felt the speeders fly overhead, Luke at their head.
"All right, boys, keep it tight now." Luke said.
"Luke, I have no approach vector." Dack said angrily as he quickly tried to correct his aim, "I'm not set."
"Easy, Dack. Set up for Attack Pattern Delta." He led the speeders past the walkers and swung around to the right. "All right, we're going in." He dived at the walker high from the side and flew between its legs, blasters firing the whole time.
Obi-Wan looked at his former apprentice "What do you think, Anakin?"
"Those Walkers are obviously slow and is made for attacking defensive positions or fortresses. But we'll have to see what it can do on-screen", Anakin replied.
The Walkers marched on, ignoring the fire they were taking from the speeders. The men in the trenches tried to return fire, but it was difficult with the amount of fire they were taking from the walkers.
The damn things were essentially mobile, fully-automatic artillery. From the bridge of the lead walker, General Veers watched the battle unfold.
"That armor's too strong for blasters." Luke cursed after another failed fire run.
He decided it was time to get creative. "Rogue Group, use your harpoons and tow cables. Go for the legs, it might be the only way we can stop 'em." He threw his speeder to the deck and lined himself up to enact his plan. "Dack, stand by."
"What is he-oh..." Ahsoka began before a smirk graced her lips. "Quick-thinking, Skyguy Jr!",
"I wouldn't mind following Luke's strategies", Rex added while the rest figured what Luke was planning with the cables.
"Luke, we've got a problem in fire control. Break off while I cut in the auxilliary."
"Too late! Get that tow cable ready." No sooner had he said so did the speeder get rocked by a blaster bolt going off near them and Luke heard a small explosion behind him. "Dack? Dack!" he received no answer. Dack was dead behind him.
On the ground, the walkers continued their advance while increasing their suppressing fire on the trenches. They had taken out many static artillery pieces and were nearly halfway to the base when Vader contacted them.
"That doesn't look good for the Rebels...", Obi-Wan grimly mused.
"Yes, Lord Vader." General Veers said confidently. "I've reached the main power generators. The shield will be down in moments, you may start your landing."
"They would have to to get out of there, otherwise they have a Sith Lord to deal with", Kit Fisto pointed out while Anakin frowned, not wanting Luke to be near Vader at all after what the Dark Lord did to Obi-Wan and Ahsoka.
Meanwhile, Luke was setting up for another run on her plan. He looked over his left wing and saw a familiar face.
"Rogue Three." He called out.
"Copy, Rogue Leader." Wedge said.
"Wedge, I've lost my gunner. You'll have to make the shot. I'll cover you. Set your harpoon and follow me on the next pass." Taking the lead, Luke lead Wedge on the same approach he had taken, keeping low to the ground and coming up under the walker.
"Fire!" Luke called out.
The magnetic harpoon shot out from the rear gun and attached to one of the walker's back legs.
"Good shot, Janson!" Wedge said as he brought the speeder into a hard turn. He circled the walker a few times, letting out more and more cable each time.
"Cable out, let her go!" Janson the Gunner shouted behind him.
"Cable detached." Wedge confirmed.
The walker tried to take another step but got caught up in the seven rings of high-strength cable wrapped around it. it physically tripped and fell forward onto it's face like a trapped animal. The rebels cheered as a pair of speeders flew at the incapacitated walker and blew up the head, which caused the whole thing to explode.
"Ho-ah!" Wedge cheered. "That got him!"
"I see it, Wedge. Good work." Luke agreed.
The audience were clearly astounded at Luke's coordination with his teammates and his impressive strategies, seeing that Anakin's side of him gave them some respite at the meantime.
In the command center, the Rieekan and Leia were in the middle of a debate.
"I don't think we can protect two transports at a time." Rieekan argued.
"It's risky," Leia agreed, "But we can't hold out much longer." An explosion rocked the base, making ice fall from the ceiling of the room. "We have no choice."
"You really don't, sir." Rex said, "Give the order"
Rieekan nodded grimly. "Do it."
"Evacuate remaining ground staff." Leia ordered.
Meanwhile, Han and Chewie were still working on the Falcon where the Wookie roared at the lack of progress. "No, no! No! This one goes there, that one goes there. Right?", Han argued with his first mate.
"There is a battle raging outside, and you're worried about your transport." Luminara commented.
"That's Solo for you." Shaak Ti added, having been too familiar with the smuggler.
Back at the front, the Walkers continued their advance. However, they continued to concentrate their fire on the artillery pieces, destroying them one at a time and taking their time in doing so.
"All troops will debark for ground assault." General Veers told one of the soldiers he was carrying, before turning back to the battle. "Prepare to target the main generator."
Luke brought hie speeder alongside another in preparation for another pass.
"Rogue Two, are you alright?" he called.
"Yeah." Replied Zev, the pilot who had found him and Han. "I'm with you Rogue Leader."
"Set your harpoon. I'll cover for you." Luke ordered, taking the lead position in the formation.
"Coming around." Rogue Two said as they made their approach.
"Watch that crossfire, guys." he could see the Walkers growing larger when she heard Rogue Two scream over the radio as his speeder exploded next to him. His own speeder soon rocked as he too was hit with a glancing blow.
He tried to pull up, but found that he has lost most of his control. Knowing that the only ending was a crash landing, he fought with the controls to make it one he could walk away from. He managed to land his speeder face first in the snow behind the lead walker.
"Luke!", called out Anakin and Ahsoka at the same time.
"What is he going to do now?", Asked Ki-Adi.
Windu shrugged. "Improvise."
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