Stars of Glory

Chapter 2- Frozen Death



Down on the planet below, the battle was not faring as well. The beleaguered rebels were horribly out gunned by the advancing Imperial forces. The few snow speeders the base had available were dedicated to assaulting the walkers the Imperials had brought with them, but against the thick armor of the AT-ATs there was little they could do. Most of their laser bolts bounced harmlessly off, while a few managed to scorch the exteriors of the mechanical behemoths. Their attacks were more effective against the smaller AT-STs, but both sides knew it was a meaningless gesture, a simple way for the Rebels to feel effective at the cost of Imperial lives. Unless the larger assault transports were destroyed, the Rebel base on Hoth was doomed.



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Luke grimaced as he watched one of the other speeders crash in a fireball, liquefying the ice beneath it. The walker that had killed it continued its relentless advance towards its target. Circling around for another pass, an idea occurred to him. Reaching for his comlink, he signaled to the rest of Rogue squadron.



“Rogue group, use your harpoons and tow cables. Go for the legs. It might be our only chance for stopping them.” Turning in his seat, Luke glanced back at his gunner. “Alright, stand by Dack.” he instructed. Dack quickly scan his instruments, preparing for the run.

“Luke, we’ve got a malfunction in fire control. I’ll have to cut to auxiliary.” Dack informed Luke. Luke frowned at the news.

“Just hang on. Hang on Dack. Get ready to fire that tow cable.”



Behind them another snow speeder joined in formation. The gunner in the walker they were approaching noticed the advancing speeders, and began firing in their direction. Small bursts of steam erupted from the ice were the bolts hit, causing small amounts of turbulence under the speeders. Focused more on controlling the craft, Luke missed it when the next volley was fired. Unprepared, his efforts to dodge barely pulled his speeder away. As it was, several bolts of energy cascaded into the rear of the speeder. Turning around in his seat, Luke noticed Dack was slumped over.



“Dack? Dack!” he called. From his position, there was no way he could see the small trickle of blood flowing from beneath Dack’s helmet.



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Sixty kilometers away, technicians bustled around the various dropships. There had been numerous radar contacts while they had been descending, and after many years of bloody war the operators knew signs of a battle when they saw them. Already a scout star had been air dropped, a tricky feat due to the unknown conditions of the planet they were dropping on to. Even before the dropships had landed the technicians had begun readying the heavier mechs for cold climate combat, and now that the ships were on the ground, the last preparations were being made before they departed for the battle. No one knew whose side they were going to be fighting for, but it was their intent that all of the Clan warriors would survive. Who ever was over the range of hills they had landed behind was going to soon know the fear of facing the Clan Jade Falcon in combat.



While the last modifications to his Dire Wolf were being completed, Khan Karl Pryde was in the process of trying to establish contact with the ships he had left in orbit.



“Still no word from the Jade Falcon?” he asked the radio operator. The younger man just shook his head.

“I am sorry sir, but there appears to be some sort of radio interference in the atmosphere. It may be a result of a storm, or perhaps a field is being generated by one of the unknown armies. I shall continue to try and make contact with the ships, but as it is, I doubt I will have much success.” the operator reported. Karl nodded his head in response. He knew the hope was slim, but he had not gotten to his current rank by being a pessimist.

“Understood. Continue trying either way.” he ordered.

“Yes sir.” The radio man went back to his instruments, repeating the same call over and over.



“Sir, we have just received the initial report from the reconnaissance team.” A lieutenant hurried into the communications center from the adjoining Combat Information Center.

“What are we dealing with then?” Karl asked. The man glanced down at his report, and began to read off the report he had just been handed moments earlier.

“Initial reports are from one klick out. There are two forces, one consisting of ground troops and what have been described as four legged assault mechs, and two legged scout mechs of unknown types and abilities. Second force consists entirely infantry forces and some sort of low altitude aerospace fighter. Second force also seems to be defending a base. Large energy fluctuations have been detected, but are currently of an unknown source.” the lieutenant reported.

“Acknowledged. Reply report received, and to hold position. Supporting forces will arrive in one quarter hour. Give the orders to deploy all stars. It seems we have a war to fight.”



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Realizing Dack was dead, Luke turned back to his comlink.



“Rogue Three.” he called into the microphone.

“Copy Rogue Leader.” Luke gave small grin at the voice of his old friend Wedge Antilles.

“Wedge, I’ve lost my gunner. You’ll have to make this shot. I’ll cover for you. Set your harpoon. Follow me on the next pass.” Luke commanded.

“Coming around Rogue Leader.” Wedge replied. The two speeders easily fell into formation with each other.

“Steady Rogue Three.” Luke urged as they passed through the legs of the walker. As they raced past one of the legs, Wedge gave the command to his gunner.

“Activate harpoon.”



The harpoon flashed out, colliding with the leg with a solid thunk. Wedge began to pilot the speeder around the legs of the walker, pulling the cable connected to the harpoon ever tighter. Wedge glanced down at his controls, making sure everything was alright.



“One more pass.” he instructed his gunner.

“Coming around. Once more.” the gunner replied. Wedge didn’t answer, focused on steering the craft.

“One more…” the gunner urged. He watched as the harpoon cable spun off the reel as quickly as it could. “Cable out! Let her go!” he called out to Wedge.

“Detach cable.” Wedge instructed. There was a small click as the cable anchor let go, falling away behind the walker.

“Cable detached.” the gunner replied.



The trapped walker tried to take its next step and found it couldn’t. On board the pilot urged his machine forward, trying to snap what ever was holding it back. Caught by the cable, the legs bent under the massive forces applying to them, causing the walker to begin to teeter. Finally the suspended structure gave a mighty groan, and the entire machine fell forward, snapping a brace as the neck was shove back and upwards by the collision with the ice.



Wedge gave a small cheer as he watched his target fall to the ground. Around him, the remaining speeders flew off to attempt the tactic themselves. Mean while, the rest of the walkers continued to advance, their slow ponderous gait showing contempt for the insignificant speeder pilots.



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From his view point in the head of his command walker, General Veers viewed the battle front with disdain. The pilot of the downed walker had gotten careless, and thus had lost his machine. As the fallen walker exploded, Veers sneered at it. The fool was lucky he had perished. Had Veers gotten a hold of him, his death would have been much longer and much, much more painful. Veers reached out for the comlink on the command board before him. He raised it to his lips, and barked out an order.



“All troops will debark for ground assault. Prepare to target the main generator.”



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Luke twisted his speeder around to avoid the barrage of flak being fired at him and Rogue Two. He grimaced as his ship shuddered around him, explosions erupting at all points. Glancing out his window, he saw Rogue Two was in similar shape.



“Rogue Two, are you all right?” Luke asked.

“Yeah. I’m with you Rogue Leader.” Luke nodded at Zev’s response.

“We’ll set harpoon. I’ll cover you.” Luke instructed. The two speeders headed for the nearest walker, intent on bring down another of their tormentors.

“Coming around.” Zev reported. Luke took up a flanking position, and fired a few distracting bursts at the enemy walker. The walker retaliated with a burst of laser fire of its own.

“Watch that crossfire, boys.” Luke warned.

“Set for position three.” Zev informed Luke. Turning back to his gunner, “Steady.”

“Stay tight and low.” Luke instructed.



It wasn’t to be. Zev’s speeder took a full salvo of laser fire from the walker, sending his speeder crashing into the ice in a firestorm of debris. Luke didn’t fare much better, and his own speeder fell to the ice directly in front of the advancing walker. The cockpit filled with smoke and sparks, as damaged bards exploded in flame. Dazed from the crash, Luke stumbled from the cockpit, just before a massive foot crushed the remains of his speeder, causing it explode on final time. Finding himself at the base of the mechanical monster, Luke fired his grappling hook into the bottom of the walker. Clipping it on to his belt, he let it reel him up to the belly of the Imperial weapon. Snatching an explosive device, he used his light saber to slice into the engine compartment of the walker. He chucked the device inside of he walker, then dropped off of the cable he was attached by.



Stunned from the height of the drop, he barely noticed as the clawed foot of the walker dropped down beside him. The walker took a few more steps, then paused. From deep inside came the sound of muffled explosions, followed by an series of explosions which emptied it of all its necessary mechanical parts.



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Veers scowled at the destruction of the second walker. The first he had dismissed as a fluke, but now the rebels had made him mad. He glanced down at the pilot of the walker.



“How long until the power generator is in range?” he demanded. The pilot glanced down at the various read outs, looking for the one he needed. After a few seconds he turned back to the general.

“The generator is in range sir.” he reported back.

“Very well then. F-” Veers was cut off as the third walker exploded next to him. “What was that?!?” Veers demanded.

“Sir, the scopes show new contacts bearing down over the ice hills. There seems to be twenty five large scale contacts, and a large number of infantry sized contacts. No vehicle sized contacts.” the pilot answered.

“On screen!” Veers commanded. The view instantly changed from that of the Rebel Generator to an external video feed. There on the crest of the hills was a line of machines Veers had never seen before. They stood on two legs, much like the scout walkers, but the larger ones rivaled the assault walkers in size. As he watched, the ten smaller ones formed into two groups of five each, and raced towards his battle line. The remaining fifteen broke into similar groups, with the two outside groups being of medium size, while the center group consisted of the larger machines. In the center of the formations was the largest one by far. It seemed to be hunched over, and its legs were bent back in the same manner as a scout walker’s. It seemed to carry no obvious weapons, though a series of small ports built into the shoulder were steaming in the frozen air. The upper portion of it’s body twisted slightly, as if it was scanning the battlefield. Veers suddenly felt his blood run cold.



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From the piloting couch of his Dire Wolf, Karl scanned the battle field. Of the larger machines there were at least three no longer in battle. Two of them, the one on the ground, and the one standing with smoke pouring out of it, had been stricken before the Clan warriors had arrived. Karl took this as a sign of the bravery of the defenders of this small out post. He did not know why they fought, but they did so with great courage. That alone was enough to convince him to aid their cause. The third machine had been a victim of his own missiles. It seemed that despite their enormous bulk these oddly shaped mechs were poorly armored.



He had already dispatched Delta and Gamma stars to deal with the smaller mechs. They looked pathetic, puny boxes attached to legs. The small lasers they fired were nothing compared to the blue lightening the Adders of Delta were unleashing upon them, and they seemed to have no point defenses to protect them from the missile salvoes fired by the Timber Wolves of Gamma. He watched as the larger mechs turned towards his forces, more worried about the larger threats his mechs posed. He waited a few more moments, allowing the various Elementals to run past his assembled forces. Though smaller then their Battlemech cousins, the powered armor suits worn by the Elemental warriors would give them a significant advantage over the open clothed infantry he could see. They charged towards the open trenches before them, broadcasting to the defenders their intent to aid. Once he was sure they were clear, he gave the order to his remaining forces to move out.



Alpha and Beta stars moved out at flank speed, their Mad Dogs easily moving out to the sides of the approaching behemoths. Even now his computer had yet to identify them, but this did not worry Karl. The enemy seemed ill prepared for battle hardened mechwarriors. He motioned for his own star to move forward at a walk, the massive Mad Dog Mk. II’s following behind his Dire Wolf.



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Veer watched as the enemy began to approach. He saw the opposing walkers begin to flank his forces, and there was nothing he could do about it. The cursed machines seemed to be capable of speeds unmatched by his own assault walkers. Instead, he would seek to cow the enemy into submission. And what better way to accomplish this then by destroying the supposed leadership?



“All batteries, target the largest one. Let us see how well these worms fight without their head!” Veers cried out over the comlink. Various acknowledgements came back to him, as the surviving walkers reported in. As one the lead elements opened fire, their lasers scoring the armor of the hunched over machine. A few bolts missed, causing a large cloud of steam to blanket the area as they vaporized the ice. Veers grinned as he watched the cloud slowly begin to fade away. There was not a single force capable of standing against the combined fury of four assault walkers. Who ever had been in that machine was surely destroyed.



Veers grin slowly faded as the cloud finally dissipated. Though badly scored by the blasts it had taken, the machine was still standing there. As he watched, the ports on it’s hands began to glow.



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Karl scanned his read outs, trying to establish the extent of the damage his Dire Wolf had taken. It seemed the left torso and shoulder had taken the worst damage, and this was fortunate. It seemed he would be forced to forgo using the gauss rifle built into the shoulder, but the missile rack, his laser arrays, and the twenty centimeter auto cannon built into his right shoulder, as well as the remaining ballistic packages, seemed to be relatively unharmed.



Satisfied that was all, Karl triggered the radio in his helmet with a single command. Once he had received the affirming beep, he gave his commands.



“Alpha and Beta stars, you have the outside units. Omega star, provide covering fire. Salvage rules apply. I want at least one to examine later. I shall take the lead unit personally.” Karl instructed.

“Aff.”

“Aff.”

“Aff.” Once all the replies had come back, Karl began to move forward. The enemy mechs were dividing their fire now, all trying to protect themselves from their attackers. It didn’t seem to matter what they did though. The assorted battlemechs had easily adopted combat formations, and with their greater speed and superior fire power, they began to knock down the opposing machines as if they were made of balsa wood.



Karl began to advance at half of his top speed, a mere twenty five kilometers per hour. Not even enough to warrant a speeding ticket for his hover car back home, it seemed to be sufficient speed for evading his opponent’s aim. The main walker was backing away slowly, but much more slowly then he was advancing. Its laser cannons were blasting away as fast as they could, but were merely chipping away at the exterior armor on his mech. Now that he was a moving target, his opponent’s accuracy seemed to be suffering.



He began to fire when they had closed about half the distance to each other. First he let off a missile salvo. He gave it more then enough time to establish lock, and the twenty missiles easily smashed into the front leg he had been targeting. He was mildly surprised to see that every missile made it to the target, not a single one triggering point defense systems. He laughed at this development. Anything that size, it was necessary to have an antimissile system built in. Otherwise, you were a sitting duck.



It was really the first missile that destroyed the mechanism, already made brittle by the hostile atmosphere of Hoth. But there was no way to tell this in the midst of all the detonations, so it was not until the last missile cleared away that it became obvious that the leg he had been targeting was ruined. He targeted the next one with the twin extended range lasers mounted in his hips. Twin beams stabbed out at the target, but seemed to reflect harmlessly off the armor.



Karl frowned at the development, and switched to the cannon mounted in his right shoulder. One of the many auto cannons available, nothing was as devastating as the twenty centimeter sized one he carried. The largest of all the ballistic weapons, save for the snub nosed artillery piece known as the Long Tom, and the few capitol ship class rail guns that had been modified to be carried by a mech, the Clan Ultra AC 20 as it was known was also by far the most damaging. It sacrificed range in order to accomplish this, but that was negligible in a situation such as this. His finger graced the trigger for but a moment, and the shot rang out. The mech gave a small shudder from the recoil of the massive gun, and while the round smashed through the thin armor of the leg plates. Horribly deformed from the impact, the bullet caused extreme damage to the joint and its attached systems, before punching a hole through the other side and burying itself in the ice. Karl smiled at the result. The enemy mech had halted at this point.



Switching to the smaller caliber auto cannons in the arms of the Dire Wolf, Karl made swift work of the rear two legs. He smiled as the massive machine groaned slightly and collapsed to its knees. Walking back to the front end, he prepared to finish the job.



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Veers was yelling at the pilot of the walker to do something. Neither man had any idea of what to do, besides to brace themselves for each impact. A panel exploded as the walker collapsed to the ground, revealing a large number of exposed wires. The pilot had the misfortune of bouncing into one, and the surge of electrical current through his body ended any hopes and dreams he might have had for his future life.



Veers looked down at the slightly charred corpse and cursed the dead man. It was then that he noticed that the shaking had stopped. Looking about the wreckage of the cockpit, he realized it seemed the firing had stopped. It occurred to him that perhaps reinforcements had arrived. After all, Lord Vader had been known to protect promising commanders such as himself…



Stepping up to the blast proof view port, he began to look around thee field to see if he could spot some sign of his rescuers. He noticed a looming shadow block out the sun, and began to silently thank which ever walker crew had saved him. He would be sure to promote each one himself.



His praise for his rescuers was short lived, however, when he saw the shadow materialize into the form of the demonic walker that had already caused so mach damage. He could see the scorch marks the various laser blasts had burned onto the fearsome machine, and it made the view all the more terrifying. For something to have taken so much punishment, and still have kept going…



He never had the chance to finish the though. As he watched, the enemy machine raised a single blockish arm up to the level of the main window. He stared down the barrels of the guns that were there, and knew that death had some for him. There was a brief flash, then the world exploded.



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Alea Miraon was prepared to die. She had been there when the Empire had nearly exterminated the Rebellion at Yavin IV, and now she would see it all come crashing down around her on Hoth. She regretted that it would end that way, with her never having the chance to free her father and brother from the spice mines of Kessel. All because a greedy business man had accused them of being traitors against the Emperor, of harboring feelings for the Rebellion. Well, now there was a family loyalty to the Rebellion. Her mother would shelter those in need, while the daughter had gone off to war against the tyrants that had allowed it all to happen.



Being in the trenches had not been as glorious as she might have thought. It had been cold the entire time, and while she had cheered when the speeders had flown by, she, like many of her compatriots, had recognized it as an empty gesture. The advancing walkers had already eliminated most of the heavy lasers that had been set up, and scout walkers had killed scores of fighters already. The storm troopers had arrived moments ago, and though the fighting had yet to reach her section of the trenches, she knew it was going to happen soon. She could hear the cries of the dying from her place in the battle line, and from the sounds of things, the Empire had unleashed some new weapon to be used against them.



She noticed a large shadow over her shoulder and whirled around, only to be confronted with her worst nightmare. Not only was it a storm trooper, but he was massive, standing well over eight feet tall. His armor was not the typical white armor they had become familiar with, but was a nightmarish array of weapons. The face was hidden by a black face plate, which was just as dark as the rest of the armor. She stood frozen as he lifted his arm to fire what looked like some sort of blaster, and closed her eyes as she waited for the inevitable. She heard the hiss of blaster fire and waited. It was several more moments before she realized she wasn’t dead. Opening her eyes slightly, she found herself standing in front of no one. Turning, she saw the armored figure in the midst of several figures in deep white armor. She realized, then, that the creature she had been dealing with had been no storm trooper, but had in fact been on her side. Snatching at her blaster, she quickly shot down the storm trooper sneaking up behind the armored figure. She fired several more times, taking down another trooper. Finally, the sounds of silence returned to the immediate area, the only noise coming from the battles further along the trenches.



The dark figure turned around towards her, and she realized the hands on the armor were splattered with blood. She glanced down at the corpses dressed in white, and realized the heads of several had been crushed. The face plate on the helmet of the armored figure slid back with a whoosh, revealing a startingly handsome man beneath. He looked her up and down before speaking.



“Are you alright?” he asked. Alea nodded, then realized she should probably say something.

“Yeah, yeah I’m fine. Who are you?” she asked.

“My name is Sergey. I am an Elemental warrior with Clan Jade Falcon. Now that I have answered that, who are you?” the man replied.

“I- I’m sorry. My Name is Alea Miraon. I am, well, was the sergeant of fourth platoon, until my unit got wiped out by a walker.” Alea replied.

“Congratulations Alea Miraon, on both surviving and having a blood name. There are not many who could survive a mech dressed as you are. You do your history proud.” Sergey complimented.

‘And what exactly is wrong with the way I dress?’ Alea thought to herself. Instead she asked, “What is blood name?”

“Are you a freebirth then? Ah, my mistake, I should not have assumed your customs are the same as ours. Well, it truly does not matter. We of the Clans have made it a point of no longer focusing on the circumstances of birth.” Sergey answered.

“What?” Sergey began to answer this new question, but Alea quickly cut him off. “No, you know what? It doesn’t matter. Let’s get you back to base, you cane explain it to the general.” she instructed.

“Aff. Let me just contact the rest of my comrades.” Sergey quickly closed his helmet, cutting off Alea from hearing anything he might say. After a few moments, his helmet opened again. “Lead on Comrade Alea. My friends will join us along the way.”



Alea nodded, and began to lead Sergey through the maze of trenches. As they walked, she heard a loud roaring sound, followed by the aerial arrival of four more men in similar suits of armor. Though it shocked her the first time it happened, by the time the third arrived this way she was used to it. Every so often they came across a storm trooper, but her new friends made sure no harm came to her, and they didn’t seem to be bothered at all by the blaster bolts that ricocheted off their armor.



Arriving at the main bunker doors, Alea was made to wait while the five of them cleared a group of storm troopers that were about to attempt to open the door forcibly. Of the eleven that had been there at the beginning, only three had been left intact enough identify by their body parts. It seemed a favorite way for the Elementals to kill their foes was by crushing their heads. Alea was tempted to ask why they did this, but decided they might take this as an invitation for a personal demonstration.



Once the door was cleared, Alea hurried up and typed her access code into the electronic lock. The door opened quickly and Alea hurried in, followed by Sergey and two more of the elementals.



“What about the other two?” she asked. Sergey just shrugged.

“They will stay behind and make sure no else attempts to use this door. At least no one wearing white armor that is.” He corrected himself when she gave him a horrified look. Satisfied, Alea nodded and led them deeper into the base.



The command center was in chaos. Aides were bustling about bringing in new reports from all over the battle. The arrival of the Clan warriors had upset the balance of immediate power, and no one was quite sure what to do about it. General Rieekan and Princess Leia were huddled over a holographic projection of the battle field. Above them, a dry board marked the electronic signatures coming off the battle field. Alliance signals were coded blue, while Imperial ones were marked as red. Those of the unknown forces were marked in purple, capable of going either way. Meanwhile the holographic board merely represented them as glowing bobbing Xs.



“General Rieekan, may I introduce Sergey.” Alea announced her guest to the general. Both he and Leia snapped up at the call. Both took a step back when they saw the armored giant.

“Alea, what is the meaning of this?” Rieekan demanded.

“I don’t know sir. I was in the trench expecting to make contact with the enemy, when I find him standing behind me. Next thing I know, there’s a bunch of storm troopers in the trench with us, and he’s having fun.” Alea explained.

“Having fun?” Leia asked.

“I have no better way to describe it ma’am.” Alea replied.

“Well, maybe we’ll get more information out of him.” Rieekan motioned towards Sergey and his compatriots. When he turned around he was surprised to find them all saluting him. “At ease boys. Now then. Where in the bloody wastes did you come from?” Rieekan demanded.

“I am Sergey, commander of the Three Star, also known as the Skull Crushers sir.” Sergey replied. “We are here on the orders of Khan Karl Pryde, of the Clan Jade Falcon. Our jumpship came under attack when we hit orbit, and the order was given to release dropships. We came down to the planet about sixty klicks away, and set out for the battle. It was detected on sensors during the drop. Initial scouting reports turned up this as a defending base, against hostile action from a superior force. The Khan decided to even up the odds a bit, as a way of evening up the odds a bit. We also see it as a way of getting back at the scum who shot us in space. Sir.” Sergey reported.

“Tell me, Sergey was it?” Sergey nodded at the princess’s question. “What sort of ships were shooting at you?”

“Unknown ma’am. They seemed to be triangular in shape though. They are not yours are they ma’am?” Sergey asked, slightly tense now.

“No, no the aren’t ours. Quite the opposite actually. Shame about your ship being shot down. We could have used the extra vessel.” Leia commented.

“Well, ma’am, I have good news and better news then. First, there are no confirmations of the Jade Falcon having been shot down. As of last report, we were still trying to make contact. As for needing extra ships, what about an entire fleet?” Sergey asked. Both Rieekan and Leia blinked at this. Most of the command room, which had slowed down to listen to the giant man give his report, froze at this last question.

“You have an entire fleet?” Leia asked.

“Yes ma’am. Terran Prime Expeditionary Fleet.” Sergey replied. He didn’t mind giving away this information. Judging from the circumstances, the people here didn’t pose much of a threat.

“Terran Prime Expeditionary Fleet?” Rieekan repeated. Sergey nodded.

“We departed from Terra five years ago. We recently exited into this galaxy, with the intent of starting new colonies, and possibly discovering new life. I believe we may have succeeded on the second objective.” Sergey answered.

“Do you always bring high quality military resources with you on these expeditions?” Leia asked.

“Yes ma’am. Many Clan traditions call for resolution of conflict by force of arms, either on a personal or greater scale.” Sergey replied.

“So does this mean that the walkers out there belong to you then?” Rieekan asked.

“No sir, those mechs belong to the personal Galaxy of Khan Karl Pryde. He is in fact out there right now as we speak.” Sergey replied.

“Well then son, I believe we owe you and yours a debt of gratitude.” Rieekan informed him. Sergey merely nodded.

“It is no problem. After five years aboard our ships, we were getting a little bit bored.”



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Luke stumbled amidst the wreckage littering the battle field. He had not seen the glows of engines kicking in from afterburners, and there had been no rescue pick up from the base. He had seen the new walkers striding across the battle field, and had come to fear the worse. It seemed the Empire had unleashed a new weapon to devastating effect, and the Rebellion had paid the ultimate price. He began to stumble back towards Hoth base, praying to the force that there were some survivors. Perhaps it wasn’t as bad as he thought. There was always a chance they could rebuild, especially if Leia and Han had survived.



Coming towards him, he could see a large group of armored people supported by one of the new walkers. They didn’t seem prepared for combat. He slowly slid his light saber off his belt, prepared to thumb it on at a moments notice. Even if he was not yet a Jedi Knight, he would not allow them to take him alive. For no reason would he serve Vader and the Emperor.



As they got closer he noticed the trailers behind them, already carrying several rebel pilots. Prisoners maybe? He began to form a plan to rescue them, when he noticed the lack of bonds being worn. In fact, they seemed to be joking around a bit. One of the armored suits pointed to him, and three of them broke into a run, followed by one of the carts. He saw Wedge sitting on the front, and became some what confused. Wedge was one of the last people he would could see celebrating being captured by the Empire.



The suits stopped a few feet away from him. The lead one stepped forward, while the other two kept a constant watch on the surrounding landscape. The white armor worn by the storm troopers had turned out to serve extremely well as camouflage, and the only way to spot them was to conduct constant thermal scans of the area.



“Luke Skywalker?” The lead suit called out.

“Who wishes to know?” Luke replied.

“General Rieekan sent us out to find you. You might wish to hurry, the party may end before you get back.”

“What party?”

“Didn’t you hear? We won.”



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A/N: Yes, this is not the end. Much more to come I hope.