Chapter 1- The Shipyards of Fondor

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…

STAR WARS

PATH OF A JEDI

It is a dark time for the Galaxy. The Evil Galactic Empire, ruled by Emperor Drago Bludvist, has overthrown the Galactic Republic, conquering thousands of star systems in less than two years.

The Jedi Order, who were once renowned as guardians of peace and justice in the galaxy, have been betrayed by the Jedi now known as Darth Insanus. Now, he leads the Great Jedi Purge and has hunted the remaining Jedi Knights to the verge of extinction.

But not all hope is lost. A Rebellion lead by Stoick and Valka Haddock of Berk oppose the Empire's oppressive regime and hope to one day restore freedom to the Galaxy. Now, they lead the Rebellion Fleet against The Imperial Shipyards of Fondor, with the hope to cripple the Empire's ship production in the region…

Over the Mid-Rim world of Fondor, the Rebellion Fleet was engaged with the Imperial Fleet, the largest conflict to date. The Rebellion, or Rebel Alliance as they called themselves, started immediately after the Galactic Empire was formed, but so far their raids have been small, barely an annoyance to the Empire. Now, they were making themselves known to the Empire that they were serious in their cause, to restore freedom to the galaxy...

Dozens of Rebel and Imperial ships were engaged in combat within the planet's atmosphere. Within the carnage, two X-Wings flew together side by side. Unlike other X-Wings that had red paint on them, these two were customized. One was painted a sky blue, the other a metallic grey, to replace the classic red. The two were neck and neck as they flew through the turbo laser fire being exchanged between an Assault Frigate and a Victory Cruiser, both ships pounding the shields of the other. An Acclamator was working its way over, its forward batteries opening fire along the way at the Assault Frigate. The two then had to do a quick barrel roll to avoid fire from a Tartan Cruiser, which was quickly destroyed by several concussion missiles that hit its port side, ripping the hull apart. They flew past a Star Destroyer that was in the process of destroying several Alliance ships, the debris of a Corellian Corvette and Gunship could be seen floating aimlessly. The Star Destroyer fired a volley of turbo-laser fire into the narrow middle section of a Nebulon Frigate that connects the front and rear of the ship, cracking it in two. However, the rear section fell towards the Start Destroyer and plunged into its hull, causing the ship to explode when its reactor went off.

Heather looked over her shoulder within the cockpit of her white and grey colored X-Wing, watching as the ship's debris crashed into nearby ships, including another Star Destroyer. "I hope Stoick knows what he is doing." She began, concern laced in her voice, "If this attack fails, this Rebellion will be over before it even begins."

"It won't fail." Astrid reassured her from her white and blue X-Wing, "As long as you can keep up with me." She finished an amused challenge in her voice.

All the concern Heather had was gone when she responded, "You're on!" With the challenge set, they focused on the mission they were assigned, leading the attack on the Shipyards, the command station to be precise, while the main fleet kept the larger ships occupied.

Astrid opened the comm channel, "Red Leader, Green Leader, and Blue Leader. This is Stormfly, do you copy? She asked over the comm, using her call sign that used to be her Air Racing name before the Empire came to Berk.

"Copy Stormfly." Was the response she received from three separate voices, one of them being feminine.

"Form your squads up behind Windshear and me." She began, using Heather's call sign and former Air Racing name, "The path to the shipyard is clear of larger ships, but there are still TIE Fighters patrolling the area. We'll have to take them out before the bombers can take the command station out."

"We're on your tail now Stormfly." She received in response from red leader, a female Zabrek named Jorya Sprax. She and Heather looked over their shoulder to see a squad of A-Wings, a squad of B-Wings, and a squad of X-Wings forming up behind them, bringing their total number of fighters attacking the shipyard from two up to seventeen.

"Lock S-Foils in attack positions," Heather ordered. Immediately, the wings of the X-Wings folded outwards, making their namesake X shape, while the Wings along the sides of the B-Wings folded outwards causing them to take a T shape. They all made a beeline for the shipyards, and the TIE Fighters patrolling noticed as more poured out from the Shipyard's hangers.

"This is where the fun begins," Astrid smirked.

"Fifty credits that I get more kills than you." Heather challenged.

"Deal," Astrid responded, before looking back and seeing the fighters heading their way. The TIEs opened fire as they got close, and the Rebel fighters broke formation to avoid the fire. The scene became chaotic as individual dogfighting broke out, streaks of red and green laser fire going in every direction. Several TIE Fighters went after a single B-Wing. After a few missed shots, one of the TIEs landed a direct hit on the main section, causing the B-Wing to explode and shatter, the cockpit broke off and imploded from the depressurization in the vacuum of space. Two TIE fighters began to chase Jorya Sprax's X-Wing.

"There all over me!" Heather heard in her comm set, panic-laced in her voice. "I can't get them off my…" Was the last thing she heard before static took its place. She looked to her left and saw her fly by with the two TIEs still on her tail. Heather immediately chased after them. Once she had one lined up in her sights, she opened fire. With a few shots, one the TIEs exploded and the other broke off his chase. Before Heather could pursue, a series a laser fire broke off one of its wings and he spiraled out control before exploding. Heather looked up to see Astrid's X-Wing fly by her.

"That one was mine!" She yelled into her comm in frustration.

"You were too slow." Was the only response she got. She sighed before focusing back on task.

Meanwhile, a Mon Calamari Star Cruiser was in the thick of the battle. Its long cylindrical hull that was blue-gray in color, tapered nose, bulbous stern, and the image of a Rumblehorn on the side made it seem like it was flying into battle. This was The Skullcrusher, personal flagship to Rebel Alliance General and one of its founders, Stoick Haddock. From here, he could command the fleet while participating in the battle. The ship was one of three Mon Calamari Star Cruisers that the Mon Calamari people had brought with them when they first joined the Alliance. They were unable to bring any more or make them since their homeworld of Mon Calamari, where their shipyards were, was still under the control of the Empire.

From his command deck, Stoick was observing the battle as it was happening, wearing his brown and green uniform, his red beard was arranged in several braids, and his hair was in one braid behind his head, although there was some grey in his hair now, a clear sign of his age. The main cruiser force was doing its job; occupying the Imperial Fleet protecting the Shipyards and its command station so their fighters and bombers could destroy it, but they wouldn't last much longer. They needed to complete their objective quickly before reinforcements arrived and cut off their escape. They needed this victory, badly. If they could inflict a decisive blow against the Empire here, it would prove that the Empire wasn't invincible like people thought and could inspire other worlds to rebel against them. There was no other alternative, they had to win.

"Chief Stoick." Was called behind him, catching his attention. It was his old title for when he ruled the planet Berk, and people still called him that instead of giving him a military rank. If he had one, it would be either General or Admiral, since he was adept at commanding forces on the ground or in space, so they settled for Chief. He looked behind him to see his best friend and main advisor, Gobber, in his a grey jacket, a light yellow shirt that was marked with grease stains, a glove over his left hand, brown pants, and brown boots, looking up at him from his spot by a holographic display of the battle.

"What is it Gobber?" He asked as he walked over.

"Heather and Astrid have begun their attack on the shipyards. They're engaged with the TIE Fighters protecting it and clearing away for the bombers." Gobber replied. Stoick looked up to the Shipyards on the display. The Shipyards consisted of a single space station that controlled the automatic construction droids that were busy making new ships, ranging in size from individual TIE Fighters to Star Destroyers, at large space docks in the surrounding area. The space station was their main target. If they destroyed it, construction of Imperial Ships would cease. Stoick then saw that the fighter attack on the Shipyards had been noticed. A Victory-Class Star Destroyer had broken off from the battle and was heading over. While these vessels were half the size of a normal Star Destroyer, they could still be a threat. They are also more unique with their dagger-shaped design by stopping halfway down the vessel, going parallel to the engines for a section with turbo-lasers in it, then resuming the dagger-shaped design. It was launching TIEs to reinforce the fighters defending the station. Stoick had to make a decision and fast, or the attack would fail.

"Order The Salvation to engage that Imperial ship, and have The Liberator and The Runner reinforce Astrid and Heather's position." He ordered pointing to a Nebulon B Escort Frigate, then two Corellian Corvettes as he issued them.

"Sir" He heard a Sullustan officer say to him in his native language of Sullustese, "Those Ships protect our starboard flank. If you move them, we'll be vulnerable." He elaborated.

"I know that, but Astrid's fighter group cannot fail. Order Delta and Omega wing to cover our starboard flank." He countered, rather bluntly at that. The Sullustan's large, almond shaped black eyes widened and his large ears perked up in surprise, but he nodded in satisfaction. The orders we issued and the ships moved to their new positions. It was working, The Salvation was opening fire on the cruiser, and the Corvettes were shooting down the Fighters.

"Chief." Astrid's voice was heard over the comm, "We've broken through the Fighter defense, with some help." She started, adding the last part under her breath. "We're starting our attack on the station now. The bombers should be clear to make their run now." She added on.

"Alright." Stoick confirmed before opening a comm channel, "Grey leader, you are clear for your run." He spoke into it, getting an affirmative from the other end.

"Sir!" He heard over his shoulder coming from a male Zabrek seated at the radar station. "We have an Imperial Star Destroyer on our starboard side." Stoick looked up to see it was true. A single Star Destroyer was approaching them in the midst of the chaotic battle, running parallel to them, it's long dagger-like design cutting through space menacingly.

His response was immediate, "Divert power to the Starboard turbo-laser, ion cannons, and shields. Tell the gunners to fire at will." The orders were relayed and they waited. As the Star Destroyer flew alongside them, their cannons opened fire. The two ships exchanged fire, but The Skullcrusher's shields were holding, while the mix of ion cannons and turbo-laser fire pounded the Star Destroyer's shields and they began to fail, the hull was starting to take damage.

"Sir, we have over a dozen contacts heading straight for us, Starboard side!" Another voice called out. Stoick focused his sight away from the Star Destroyer and saw it, five Imperial Landing Shuttles and a dozen boarding pods. The Star Destroyer was a distraction!

"Omega Squad! Alter course to intercept." Stoick ordered into the comm. The squad of A-Wings headed to the group and opened fire once they were in range. A Shuttle was hit in the port side wing, it lost control and crashed into the Star Destroyer. The Star Destroyer was taking heavy damage and was now moving away from The Skullcrusher, its purpose had been fulfilled. The ships turbo-lasers now focused on their new targets but were only able to hit two pods and another shuttle. The remaining shuttles had landed in an open hanger and the boarding pods had implanted themselves along the ship's hull, the spike on the front plunging into the hull then magnetically sealing themselves onto the ship before the spike would open up, allowing the occupants to board.

"Sir, we've lost contact with Hanger One and security is reporting Stormtroopers all along the starboard halls. They're spreading out across the ship" one panicked technician called out.

"Ordered all marines to regroup and counter-attack. Seal off and isolate them where they're at." Stoick began, before looking to anther Berkian on the bridge, "Spitelout, you're in charge up here. Gobber, we're going to give our intruders a proper Berkian welcome." He finished, giving his friend a knowing smile.

Staring out the port side of The Skullcrusher through one of the ships windows was a set of identical twins, one male, and one female. They both wore identical clothing, brown vests, yellow shirts, fingerless gloves, brown pants, and brown boots. Both have blonde hair, but the male had his in dreads while the female has hers in two braids.

"This is amazing!" The male said as they watched the carnage outside.

"This is chaos on a level we've never seen." The female responded, her blue eyes focused on a squad of Y-Wings firing proton torpedoes at the bridge of a Star Destroyer. The torpedoes hit their mark. Within seconds, fire began to erupt from the ship's bridge and the tower that connected it to the main hull, and it began to plummet towards the planet, its engines losing power.

"Yeah, too bad Stoick wouldn't let us fly this battle." The male lamented, irritated that they were missing out on the fun.

"I know, it's not our fault they don't trust us." The female replied sharing her brother's irritation. Suddenly, alarms started to blare as a voice came over the ship's intercom.

"ATTENTION ALL HANDS, WE HAVE BEEN BOARDED, STARBOARD SIDE! THIS IS NOT A DRILL! I REPEAT, THIS IS NOT A DRILL!"

The two looked at each other before smile overtook their faces. This was a chance for action. They grabbed their blaster rifles and headed to where the action was. It didn't take long as they came across a group of marines opening fire down the hallway at a group of Stormtroopers, their white armor and closed helmets with T-shaped designs making them look identical to each other. The two groups exchanged fire, their shots occasionally hitting their mark, The Rebels were outnumbered and being pushed back. Among the marines was a woman in her forties in a dark brown uniform with a yellowish green undershirt. She had auburn colored hair that has some grey in it fashioned in three braids down her back. Her green eyes were lit with determination as she aimed down the sight of her customized bo-rifle and shot a Stormtrooper between the eyes. This was Valka Haddock, one of the Alliance's leaders and one of its fiercest fighters, and it was easy to see why.

As a trio of Stormtroopers took advantage of the cover fire that had the Rebels pinned down and moved to her position, she took cover and clicked a button on her rifle. In an instance, two long metal tubes extended from the front and end of the rifle, turning it into and electro-staff as the ends crackled to life with electricity. One of the troopers came to her position, only to be greeted by a strike to the chest and a lethal dose of electricity, killing him instantly. With one down, she advanced onto the others. She used her staff to knock one trooper's blaster out of his hand. She then swept his legs out from under him before stabbing him in the chest while he was one the ground. The third trooper attempted to wrestle her to the ground, but she threw him off, transformed her staff back into a rifle and shot him in the chest. With that threat dealt with, she rolled to avoid enemy fire and took cover behind one of the hallway's pillars. She looked down the hall to see the twins opening fire at the troopers with the rest of the marines.

"Ruffnut, Tuffnut!" She yelled, getting their attention, "If you have any thermal detonators, and I know you do, use them now." She ordered.

Ruff and Tuff looked at each other, sharing an excited look and smile. They each pulled out a detonator, primed it, and threw them down the hall within the lines of the intruders. Within seconds, the detonators exploded, killing the troopers instantly and throwing their bodies away from the blast while shaking the hall. Once it had settled, the Rebels peaked from their positions to see that the Stormtroopers had been wiped out.

"Good work everyone!" Valka offered in praise to those who were present, "Now let's move, there are still more throughout the ship."

Meanwhile, Stoick and Goober had just arrived at Hanger One, where the three Imperial shuttles had landed. The area around the shuttles had dozens of Stormtroopers around them, using crates, barrels, and ships as cover, as the Rebels held their ground near the main entrance. The Rebels were unable to prevent the Stormtroopers from going through the side doors on each side of the hanger, one was connected to an adjacent hanger and the other lead to out of the hanger and into the ship. Stoick knelt down next to his nephew his nephew, Snotlout Jorgenson, who was wearing a black shirt, grey jacket, grey pants, and brown boots. He was hiding behind cover and had a heavy blaster in his hands.

"Snotlout, what's the situation?" Stoick asked.

"They got us pinned down sir, we weren't able to stop them from landing," Snotlout replied, quickly ducking his head as another stray shot flew by his head.

Stoick looked back up, pulled out his blaster pistol from a holster on his right hip and fired at a Stormtrooper, striking him in the chest and killing him. "We need to counter attack." He stated. He began to assess the situation, looking for an opportunity, and quickly found it.

"There, we can use those ships and crates as cover for out advance." He called out, pointing to unoccupied ships and the crates around them on their right flank. "C'mon Goober." He said. The two then began their advance, ducking behind a crates or ships before opening fire at the enemy. Meanwhile, Snotlout was providing covering fire for their advance, keeping the enemy pinned down. From the door on the left side of the hanger looking out into space, Valka and her group, including the Twins, emerged and began firing at the invaders. Valka clicked the button on her bo-rifle and charged into enemy lines. They were trained well, but nothing could prepare for a Berkian Rebel wielding an electro-staff. From across the hanger, Stoick observed her in battle. She could somehow look both terrifying and beautiful in battle.

A quick tap on his shoulder from Goober made him refocus on the battle. Goober then pointed to a large storage crate that was to their left and gave him a knowing look. Stoick responded to him with a nod, then they ran to the crate, firing on the way there. Once they got behind it, they began to push it. The crate slowly moved forward, making a loud scraping noise as it moved. On the way there, Stoick had put his blaster away and pulled out a specially made vibro-axe, a Berkian weapon that old legends have told could stand up to lightsabers, the legendary weapons of the Jedi and Sith. Gobber had pulled out a vibro-sword that was sheathed on his back, a weapon with similar qualities to Stoick's vibro-axe. Once the two men were within meters of enemy lines, they both pushed a button on the hilt of their weapons, the weapons began to glow and hum as energy flowed through the blades.

Once they reached enemy lines, they broke from their cover and charged at the shocked Stormtroopers. Stoick killed one with an upward slashed before bringing the axe down onto another. Gobber had run his blade through an unfortunate Stormtrooper when another tried to bring an energy baton upon his head. His response was to raise his left hand, the energy baton collided with the arm with an unexpected clang. If it wasn't for the helmet, Gobber would have seen the surprised look on the Stormtrooper's face. Gobber took advantage of this pause and slashed the trooper across the chest, killing him. Gobber then looked at his hand, which appeared to have locked up into a fist, but it cleared up and was back under his control.

"Prosthetic arm works every time." He joked, looking at his mechanical limb in pride. Stoick was finishing off the remaining troops. He had just thrown his axe to a distant trooper before pulling out his blaster and shooting the other two. He looked up to see Goober finishing off the last one by decapitating him, the Rebels that were previously near the door had finished off the troopers positioned in front of the middle shuttle, and Valka had just downed the last trooper on her side, with almost a dozen troopers showing signs of falling to her staff.

He was taken out of his thoughts by Gobber, "Reminds of the time those Corellians made that rude comment about her cooking." He joked, causing a smile to cross Stoick's face as he laughed at the memory. He looked around to admire their victory. The hanger was theirs again, and they now had three Imperial Shuttles they could use.

"Snotlout!" He called out, earning the attention of the young adult, "Fan out with security and find any stragglers. I want them off my ship!" He ordered. Snotlout nodded and gather a few other marines as they carried out their orders, while Stoick, Gobber, and Valka returned to the bridge.

Astrid had just pulled up from another strafing run, her X-Wing shaking from the shockwaves ripping through space from the explosions that were caused by the destruction of several gun emplacements. The space station had a discus design for the main hull, with a circumference equivalent to two Star Destroyers lined up in a row. There were four hangers on the station, each was perfectly lined up with another. At the hangers, towers shot out above and below the hull, with gun emplacements throughout them and communication antennas on top of them. In the center of the disc was another tower, this one was the command center. The stations defenses were tight, but they were made for a large scale assault. The fighters were having an easier time slipping through them thanks to their speed and maneuverability, but the slower bombers were less maneuverable and would be vulnerable to the station's anti-fighter defense. They had to clear a path for them if this attack was to succeed.

The hangers were currently in flames due to their attack and unable to launch any fighter, at several points across the station that were the blasted ruins of gun emplacements. The attack was going well, they had only lost two fighters, and A-Wing and a B-Wing, to the TIE Fighter on the way here. Thankfully, The Liberator and The Runner had helped them clear a path through the TIEs and were currently holding down their escape route, safely out of range of the station's defenses, while preventing any TIEs from the main battle joining in the defense of the station.

But this wouldn't last as an Imperial Broadside Cruiser was lining up its missile batteries towards The Liberator, its spherical main hull with its missile batteries flanked by two limbs running parallel to each other that were equipped with turbo-lasers slowly moving to position. Once it was in position, it launched six concussion missiles towards the target. The missiles sailed through space and found their target, punching straight through The Liberator's shields and rupturing its hull. The ship began to crack as it experienced sudden decompression in the vacuum of space and fell apart, leaving an opening for the TIEs to take advantage of.

"Wing leaders come in The Liberator down. I repeat, The Liberator is down! Enemy fighters coming your way." Was what Astrid heard in her headset. She looked over to see two squads of TIE Fighters, fourteen in total, join the fight.

She saw one go after another X-Wing, "Watch it, you got one on your tail!" She called out to the pilot over to comm. The Tie was close on his tail as he tried to lose it. Astrid attempted to help out, but she was too late. A few volleys of fire from the TIE Fighter and he was hit, his X-Wing caught fire before it exploded when his fuel tank was exposed to the flames. She didn't have time to mourn for this failure as she noticed another TIE Fighter pursuing a B-Wing. She responded quickly and pursued them. She positioned herself behind the TIE Fighter, who was too busy firing at the B-Wing to notice her. She lined up the shot, her targeting system beeping as she lined up the shot. Once it started beeping confirming it was in perfect position, she opened fire. After a few shots, the TIE fighter was hit and exploded.

"Thanks Stormfly" The pilot offered in thanks.

She was about to respond when her comm come back up with, "Windshear, you got two fighters after you." Sure enough, Heather had two TIE Fighters chasing at her, firing volleys of laser fire at her when they had a shot, but kept missing. Heather flew around one of the station's towers and as she did, an A-Wing flew perpendicular to them and fired at the TIEs, taking one of them out.

"I got one of them, but the other one is still after you." The pilot called out.

"I can't shake him," Heather shouted into her comm, trying to remain calm. This pilot was good, and he wasn't giving up on the chase. She flew through the Shipyards, the droids working on the ships there would look up for a moment to watch her fly by before resuming their work. The TIE was firing at her from above, just barely missing the shots as she maneuvered out of the way of them.

"Heather, prepare to bank right, I'll cover you." She heard Jorya Sprax say in the comm. She did as she was told and banked right and out of the Shipyard, the TIE close on her tail. The TIE followed her the entire way, trying to keep her in his sights. Once they finished the turn, he saw an X-Wing flying towards him, firing at him. It was too late for him to avoid the fire, and the shots hit his Fighter, causing it to explode. Jorya's X-Wing flew through the explosion, only earning a few scorch marks.

"Thanks, Jorya," Heather said once she caught her breath, not realizing she was short of it.

"Just returning the favor." Jorya offered in response.

"Wing leaders, this is Grey Leader." Was called over the comm, it was the bombers. They had finally arrived. "We're are in visual range of the station and are making our attack run now."

"We copy you." Astrid began, "Be advised, there are fighters in the area, but we'll keep them off of you. You are clear to make your run.

"Copy that." Was the response she earned.

The three squads of Y-Wings, fifteen in total, began their approach to the station, avoiding fire along the way. Within one of these Y-Wings was a husky Berkian make with blonde hair, blue eyes, chubby features, and dressed in a grey pilot's jumpsuit. This was Fishlegs Ingerman and this was his first combat mission. He was nervous, he had never flown in combat before. His palms were sweating, and sticking to insides of the black gloves on his hand. They were coming up on their target, the main spire of the space station. If they destroyed it at the base, it would cripple the whole station, maybe destroy if they did enough damage. But first, they had to get past the Fighters and avoid the station's defenses that were still operational.

Fishlegs focused on the path in front of them, tuning out the world around him. He ignored the dog fights around him, maneuvered his way around the turbo laser fire coming their way. The station was almost in firing range. His targeting computer began to beep, indicating it was in range. He pulled down on the trigger and launched his payload of proton torpedoes. The torpedoes travelled on their path before impacting the Command Tower's base, exploding on impact. The combined explosion from the multiple torpedoes hit the base caused massive damage as the explosion travel throughout the tower.

"Direct hit! I repeat, we have a direct hit!" Grey leader called out, "Scans show that the reactor's cooling system has been compromised. It's going to blow."

` "Understood, all ships clear the station. We've done our job." Astrid ordered. All the fighters cleared the area. Within moments, the Station exploded, sending debris everywhere. The droids at the shipyards constructing ships shut down, their control center destroyed.

"Chief Stoick, The Station has been destroyed. I repeat the Station has been destroyed. The shipyard's production has stopped." Astrid informed Stoick.

"I hear you. All ships, make the jump to hyperspace. Rendezvous at the designated coordinates." Stoick responded. Astrid immediately began to input the coordinates in her Nava computer. Within seconds, the stars blurred as she entered hyperspace.

Author's Note:

I really should be working on How to Become an Assassin, the Hard Way, but this idea would not leave my head.

Please leave any constructive criticisms in your reviews, and I hope you have enjoyed this chapter.