It was inevitable. You couldn’t believe it at first. The best minds trained you at the academy on Taris. Yet, the sight was bestowed upon you, durosteel crumbling over the forest moon.
The Empire fell.
Despite the gunnery crew's best efforts, your star destroyer’s turbolasers couldn’t deafen the disbelief. It wasn’t till the ensign shouting that you were brought back to reality.
“What shall we do, sir?!” She begged. Similar sentiments across the comms network chaotically echoed. You were only a fleet captain. Granted, you were quite an experienced one. Yes, you were on track to being promoted thanks to your help in the expansion campaigns., but you had no complete authority. You were obedient! Perhaps you should have seen the signs since the original Death Star’s destruction, but a plan must still be followed through even with a great demise!
At least, that's what you thought at the time.
Rear Admiral Macron’s voice echoed across the net. “All imperial forces! I have assumed command as per protocol. Your orders are clear: Crush the rebel scum. Avenge our emperor!”
As you were about to tell the gunnery officer to commence fire, three Starhawk-class battleships jumped out of hyperspace upon your left flank. The rebel ships unleashed brimstone on the Victory-class frigates before focusing on the star destroyers. You watched as the rebel fleet capitalized on the opportunity that was set forth. The admiral's words and cries of terror from the fleet rang in your head like a whaling banshee.
‘Good soldiers follow orders.’
‘Good soldiers are forgotten.’
‘Good soldiers follow orders.’
They are tossed into the void!’
Good soldiers foll-!’
“What are your orders, sir!?” The comms officer’s yelling brought you back to reality.
You shake your head and tell them to open the channel to all imperial forces. “All imperial forces, this is Captain Anonymous. We are outnumbered and outmaneuvered by the rebel forces. You are ordered to initiate the Starfall Protocol. We shall regroup at Sector Veta.”
A scowl roared through the comms as you told the helmsman to about-face. “Anonymous! You are committing an act of treason! You will obey my orders and stand your ground!”
You quickly opened a secure channel, “Rolling Thunder, have your wing target the Decimator’s engines and dock with the ship. Lightning Dust, your wing will escort her in. You have five minutes.”
“As you wish, sir!” “Aye, aye, captain!” They said simultaneously.
“Helmsman, take us 180 degrees and prepare the jump to hyperspace.”
You pivoted from the windows and walked towards the holotable. You accounted for any ships that followed you. Amongst those that remained, you convinced a plethora of cruisers and frigates, a handful of carriers, and three ISD-Mark I’s to join you. Thunder launched her payload at one of the star destroyer’s engines. The massive structure exploded in one bombing run. As Thunder set up for another attack, a group of fighters emerged from the rear and fired upon her flight, destroying three bombers.
Lightning Dust immediately throttled her fighter to max speed before sharply pivoting. The overwhelming G’s would knock out a normal pilot, but Lightning lived to push herself to her limits. As her interceptor came to a full 180, she activated her booster module and fired upon the TIE Fighters with the rest of her wing following suit. Green bolts of plasma melted through the hulls, igniting the ion reactors. Some fighters met with a quick end while the others spiraled into the grey behemoth.
“Thanks, Lightning. I’ll buy you a round,” said Thunder.
“You’re gonna be buying more than that after today,” smirked Lightning.
Thunder gave a light chuckle before commencing another attack run. Once her reticle screamed, waves of proton torpedoes hailed down the remaining engines.
The Decimator’s bridge shook as the last engines were eviscerated.” The older brunette opened the comms net once more. “You are a traitor and coward, Anonymous!” Yelled Macron.
“No, Macron. I am mitigating our losses,”
“Have all squadrons fire upon that ship!” Macron ordered.
“Sir, rebel Starhawks are closing in on our position!” Yelled the helmsman.
“Evasive maneuvers! Have all bombers and turbolasers engage!”
“No use, sir! We lost our last wing and carriers!”
The hull shook violently as the Starhawks engaged their tractor beams and fired upon the lasers. Each battery erupted into a ball of fire one by one, allowing a school of boarding craft to move towards the ship.
You watched as the Starhawks’ tractor beams held Macron in place, a smirk forming on your face.
“Captain, the last of our craft have finished docking,” Informed one of the ensigns.
“Take us out!”
The helmsman nodded and ordered his staff to jump. Soon, streaks of blue began to reflect your eyes before morphing into a tunnel of relief.
You sat in your chair as you stared at your table’s holographic display of your fleet. It’s been roughly a week since Endor and during that time you’ve been rounding up as many allies as you could find. You managed to recruit the 142nd Task Force into your ranks. Their frigates helped patch the frontline into decent standing, but your primary concern was the fleet’s lack of anti-starfighter support. The auxiliary ships helped conduct repairs and refueling while the carriers provided plenty of fighters and bombers, but you noticed the might of the Rebel starfighters. After you checked your fleet’s inventory, you were disappointed to see no Tie Defenders, but not surprised since what has happened on Lothal.
The state of the galaxy has changed. The Rebels got the victory they needed and Imperial Command is scrambling. Endor was the calm before the storm, but you know what will follow suit. Time was against you. Without a proper deterrent, you and your fleet would be swallowed up, used as pawns to someone else’s shortsightedness, or be put on trial by the Rebels. Fates that you know everyone under your command fears and wishes to avoid.
Luckily, you had something in mind. Opening a drawer, you retrieved a data stick that contained the next operation and stored it in your breast pocket. Looking at the time, you got up and made your way to the war room.
The halls echoed as you walked down the hall. As you turned the corner, you noticed two stormtroopers standing outside guarding the war room. You made your way there and stood before the troopers.
“Is everyone accounted for?”
“Yes, captain! All officers that you have requested are waiting for you,” sharply replied the trooper on the left.
“Good. Lock the door behind me.”
The door slid open as you approached followed by a brief series of beeps, confirming that it was locked. The war room was vast with only a quarter of the seats filled. You walked down the narrow passageway and toward the holotable, deafening those you walked passed.
“I appreciate you all coming on short notice. After spending the last few hours in hyperspace, I have calculated all possible outcomes from Endor’s fallout. With the Emperor dead, a power vacuum will form. All of the infighting beneath the surface will come to the forefront and the Empire will be further divided,” You pointed out.
“Are you expecting us to align with one of the splinter factions, captain?” Asked one of the officers.
“Don’t be naive. Most of the imperial hierarchy are incompetent brown-nosers. With those in charge, it is no wonder why Endor happened.” You retorted. “No, what I propose is that we carve a piece of the pie for ourselves. We shall let the Rebels fight amongst those who foolishly proclaim themselves as the true successor. That will allow us to bide our time as we rebuild our forces.”
“With due respect, our fleet is hardly intimidating, sir. Given the Rebel’s victory, they are deemed as a legitimate body of power and will be on the momentum, garnering more support and logistics for their cause.” Countered another voice.
You gave a respectful ‘hmm’. “Excellent point. What’s your name, officer?”
“Ensign Moondancer, sir.”
You nodded. “Ensign Moondancer has raised a sound point. We are still licking our wounds, but this wound can be terminal if not treated appropriately. That’s why I propose this…”
You inserted the data stick and pressed a button on the table, bringing up a large massive hologram of the shipyards and its crown jewel. ”An Assertor-class dreadnought. There’s one nearly constructed at Yaga Minor that we can take.”
Nearly everyone’s skin turned pale. “Sir, Yaga Minor is one of our heavily defended shipyards. There’s no way we can get out of that system alive!” Protested a lieutenant.
“He has a point, Captain Anonymous. With those Golan-III’s defending it, none of our ships will be able to take the beating.” Moondancer said in agreement.
“That’s where we come in,”
An artificially altered voice came from a death trooper, isolated with others of their kind, from the right side of the room. The trooper stood up and removed their helmet, revealing their orange skin and red-yellow ponytail.
“Lieutenant Shimmer of the Shadowstalker.”
“I have heard of your squad’s talents in a sting operation against a rebel cell on Cato Neimoidia…”
“Wouldn’t know, sir.” She cunningly replied.
“Of course,” You smirked. “Now tell me, what can you offer in this operation?”
“Sir, as Ensign Moondancer has stated, our fleet composition doesn’t stand a fair fight. What I propose is a more subtle approach. My squad and I will sneak you aboard the ship’s cargo hold via container. Inside you will be provided with stormtrooper gear, there we’ll make our way to the bridge while another team sabotages one of the Golans.”
Moondancer interjected, “Assuming this heist goes without a hitch we cannot take on that many ships.”
“We’re gonna ask for a little help.”
“Help?” Moondancer scoffed. “From who?”
Before Sunset can say a word, it dawned on you. “From the Rebels…”
A slight smirk formed on the death trooper’s face. “If we leak out the shipyard’s operations prior, then we can distract the defenses enough for us to take control of the ship.”
You rubbed your chin as Moondancer began to counter. “And what about after? Do you honestly think the stationed Imperials will just simply let us take it?”
“No, but with the assistance of the Rebel Starfleet, they will have no choice but to join us. War is not won on equal conditions, a commander must be able to create conditions that suit them.” You look away from the holotable and towards her. “Do remember that, Ensign Moondancer.”
The ensign straightened her posture before she spoke. “Yes, sir.”
“Any more concerns?” You asked the others, only to receive silence. “We will conduct the operation in three cycles. The battle plan will be sent to you by the end of today. You are all dismissed.”
Author's Note
With this, I now mark my return to MLP fanfiction. I haven't used this account in eons, but I look forward to getting back into the swing of things! As I said in the description, this story originated from my /mlp/ days in the Star Wars General threads. What a phase I went through. If any of you old-timers remember me or just the story in general, hello there!
What's funny what originally motivated me to write this was the Empire at War Remake mod and after recently playing Thrawn's Revenge I got back in the mood for this story. That and just ~~missing the old days~~ walking down memory lane of Star Wars and My Little Pony in general.
I hope you all enjoy reading these quick bite-size chapters!
