The Retaliation

A small group of Star Destroyers dropped out of hyperspace, on course for Mygeeto. The five vessels formed an arrow, slowly approaching the crystalline planet. These five Star Destroyers were under the command of High Admiral Gideon, and not wanting to lose many of his fleet, had rallied five Star Destroyers to complete the task Lord Vader had given him. Five would have been enough to take out one rebellious captain and his crew.

Gideon stood in the bridge, staring out at the planet William Jaeger had ran to with his tail between his legs. Gideon had stopped by where that Inquisitor had encountered William before and saw how the Star Destroyer was barely recognizable. The captain of the Destroyer she had came on Informed Gideon's line of where William had fled, and now, they were closing in on their prey.

"Hold your ship back, High Admiral. You will not lead this charge. We have valuable cargo on board." Lord Vader's voice commanded Gideon. Some of the bridge officers fearfully took glances at the figure that held Vader's voice before quickly looking away. Lord Vader's dark presence would make even the most battle hardened trooper shudder. Gideon looked to an officer and giving him a nod, the officer sending orders to halt their Destroyer. Gideon returned his focus forward and watched as the other four continued forward.

The planet was still a far bit off, but there were close enough to make out the shape of an orbiting Star Destroyer. It had the same shape and outline of an Imperial Star Destroyer, but the color was off, and Gideon could tell that this was a fake Star Destroyer. A cheap imitation of the vehicles that the glorious Empire produced to secure the Empire.

Gideon's eyes widened when he saw the Star Destroyers taking fire from an unknown enemy. Small specks swarmed around the four Destroyers. "It was a trap?" Gideon muttered, hearing in the background as his officers scrambled TIE Fighter squadrons. The figure of Vader approached Gideon, the High Admiral looking to the Dark Lord.

"This was just the bait. Recall your ships." Gideon, collected himself and ordered the other Destroyers to fall back before a large explosion grabbed the entire crew's attention. Gideon turned to join his bridge officers to see what the cause of the disturbance was.

One of the four Star Destroyers had been hit, the remains of a large laser bolt fading into space as the Star Destroyer broke in two; the bow and aft sections of the ship separating like a broken bone, the point of impact shattering into pieces. The shockwave the explosion caused shook the other three Star Destroyers as they turned, attempting to avoid the same fate their former ally had. The hostiles that had been attacking the now destroyed Destroyer split off to pester the other three remaining ships, and Gideon could see what they were as his remaining ships retreated

Vulture Droids.

Gideon watched as the TIEs that once resided inside the hangar of the Star Destroyer he commanded directly flew out towards the three remaining Destroyers to try and destroy the swarm of Vulture droids that pestered them. The hull turrets began firing volley after volley as the other three grew closer, a few lucky shots making the obsolete droids explode. The other destroyers were not just sitting ducks, however, they had been fighting back as well, and the Vulture droids were almost wiped out as they began to take formation.

Unfortunately one of the Destroyers had their engines knocked out, and the ship began to lose momentum. Gideon watched as the other two left the damaged vessel behind and then as a large bolt struck the damaged Destroyer, securing the fate of the Imperials onboard as the ship split in two.

"Very interesting." Vader's voice brought Gideon back to reality, causing the High Admiral to look at the figure of Vader. "It appears the Imperial Army did not fully explore the surface of the planet." Gideon then looked to the planet in question.

"Send a TIE squadron to scout where those blasts originated from."

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The Command Center of the base was lively, if you can call a lot of B1 battle droids with high pitched cheering lively. TS-15, William and Derez were at the commanders position, with William standing in front of the chair since he didn't want to try and squeeze out of it while in his armor, Derez to the left of him, standing where TS-14 would normally have been and TS-15 to his right.

William looked over to a monitor, which projected a crude diagram of the current battle. Five Star Destroyers had arrived into the system, four of them had entered the cannon's range, or at least the range where it would be the most accurate, and they had managed to take out two of the Star Destroyers. Now the three remaining Destroyers had moved out of the range and firing at them now would risk the shot missing and wasting the energy that has been gathered over the years.

"TS-15, prepare the base turrets. I have a feeling we're going to have some fighters coming down to poke at us. It's what I would do." William orders. The tactical droid nods, the B1 droids slowly quieting down and returning to their terminals. William tapped his metal foot on the floor, watching as the large barrel readjusted itself to try and take a low power shot at the three Destroyers. This shot would most likely just destroy their shields, or maybe scar the hull.

"Sir, the remaining troopers are forming up into squads to command the different droid platoons. If I'm reading this properly, there are two companies worth of droids left to use when they send down ground forces." Derez informs William, who was typing away at the terminal. "We also have a few Spider droids and three squads worth of droidekas."

William turned to focus on the Sergeant. "What are the platoons made up of?"

"Each Platoon is made up of three squads of B1 battle droids and one squad of B2 battle droids. The B1 droids would take the front three lines as they march and the B2 would bring up the rear. I was thinking that our added trooper squad would make a fifth line and use the B2s as a moving shield." Derez explained.

As William was about to reply, the shrill scream of a familiar fighter came into earshot. William looked forward and saw five TIE fighters approaching through the mist. The turrets began opening fire, to which the TIEs replied similarly. The command center shook as a few of the turrets had been destroyed and one of the fighters crashed on the base. William grabbed onto the chair as the center shook, and once it settled down, he pointed to Derez. "Do it. Go down there and spread the formation plan." The Sergeant nodded, running to the lift and leaving the command center. William turned to TS-15, straightening back up. "TS-15, prepare any vehicles that we have available. We're going to need to set up some defenses. What are we working with?"

TS-15 looks to William, its computer processing the available information. "Sir, we have ten AATs available, as well as two unidentified Imperial Vehicles." William did not need to inquire on these vehicles; he knew what they were. The 1-H Repulsor tank and the AT-ST. He was going to have to find four troops to try and pilot the tank because he did not particularly trust the B1 droids. His concern only grew when he heard one of the droids question which button to press to activate the base comms. "Sir, I have a possible strategy for fending off a ground assault." TS-15 spoke up, bringing William's focus to the tactical droid's terminal.

"Alright, let's hear it."

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Gideon had taken a pose that signaled to his crew that he had a plan; hands clasped behind his back, standing tall, a slight smirk spread on his face. He watched as bomber squad after bomber squad flew towards the planet, the fallen TIE resonating a beacon to telegraph the base's position. Now that pesky weapon that could destroy their ships would be no more. Vader's figure stood behind Gideon, focused on the floating debris. He was reminded of the many type of devastating weapons the Separatists made back during the Clone Wars. This was just a loose end he would be tying up. "High Admiral, are your ground forces ready to assault this pest's base?" Vader asked, looking back to Gideon. The High Admiral turned, nodding.

"Yes, Lord Vader. We have three AT-ATs and the appropriate support units ready to approach the surface once that cannon is disabled." Vader gave no response, which enticed Gideon to continue. "The prototype Dark Troopers are ready as well, prepared to deploy along side you." Vader nodded, walking away from Gideon and leaving the bridge.

"Let us hope your robots will prove more efficient than the previous droids I've encountered." Was all he said before the door closed, leaving Gideon in the bridge alone with the soft tapping of the officers imputing commands in their consoles.

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William watched as another TIE bomber group flew past the command center, the cannon barely looking like a cannon and more like a melted pole. Their ace had just been burnt, and they were gonna send the ground troops now. "TS-15, give the order. Have them take positions." The droid nodded as William gave the command, and William could hear the loud marching of the battle droid groups and the soft humming of the AATs moving out of their own hangar. "This was it. The beginning of the end. So much for giving it to the Empire." William said to himself. Well, he was not gonna go down standing in this command center. He recollected himself and patted TS-15 on the back of its chassis. "You command the ground units. I'll be down in the hangar preparing our last two vehicle crews." The droid nodded and William walked out of the command center.