Star Wars AU Series

The Empire Strikes Back

A long time ago in a galaxy, far far away

(Theme: Star Wars opening theme)

It is a dark time for the New Republic. Although the Death Star has been destroyed, the Imperial Army have driven the Grand Army of the New Republic from their hidden bases and pursued them across the galaxy.

Evading the dreaded Imperial Starfleet, Luke Skywalker along with the 501st Legion and the 212th Attack Battalion regrouped with Commander Bacara of the 21st Nova Corps at a secret base on the remote ice world of Hoth.

The evil lord Darth Vader, obsessed with finding young Skywalker, has dispatched thousands of remote probes into the far reaches of space...

Chapter 1: Battle of Hoth

Outpost #1, Hoth moon, Hoth System

A clone trooper, in phase II armour, walked on the landing platform of the outpost and turned on his tactical visor to look for any Imperial star destroyers. After a careful look, he turned on his comm and said, "This is deck officer Dog. Nothing going on….as usual."

Dog wore the standard Phase II armour with small red circles with a white sword pointing downwards, marking his allegiance to the 91st Reconnaissance Corps. The 91st were charged with the outposts of each hidden bases. They were trained in sneaking behind enemy lines, a job which was originally done by the former Republic Commandos, as well as acting as spies in the Imperial Force. Just as Dog was about to turn, his visor picked something up. He turned around and saw something being sent down to the planet.

"This can't be good." Said Dog as he ran back into the base.

Inside the outpost

There were 15 clones inside the base. All of them were part of the 91st Reconnaissance Corps. They spent their time playing Dejarik games or arm wrestling. Most spent their time practising their combat skills in the combat room. They were having a peaceful time until Dog rushed inside.

"Sergeant Gut, please take a look at this image. I don't think its good news." Said Dog as we plugged his helmet to the computer. All of the clones looked at the screen and saw a black pod.

"Probe droids…..Contact the base. We've got trouble coming." Ordered the Sergeant.

Echo Base, Hoth, Hoth System

Various clone troopers walked about in their Phase II winter armour. Red signified the 21st Nova Corps, blue signified the 501st Legion and Orange signified the colour of the 212th Attack Battalion. As the clones went about their various duties, two groups consisting of five AT-RTs each, went out of the base and into the frozen wasteland of the planet Hoth. The two groups split up as they marched off to their objectives. One group consisted of four clones of the 501st Legion with Luke Skywalker, now promoted to Commander by the Council of Commanders. Luke wore a normal Phase II helmet with Phase II winter armour. On the helmet was a visor. Luke looked around and saw the probe droid impacting the planet.

"I see the probe droid, Cody. What should we do?" asked Luke as he spoke on his communicator that was attached to his arm.

Inside Echo Base

The Command centre was busy. Technicians were packing everything up to be taken aboard the Venators while the cloning equipments of the 21st Nova Corps was taken to a specialised Acclamator ship along with hundreds of untrained clones and Kaminoan scientists.

Cody looked at the image of the impact and said, "Go back to Echo base and help out with the preparations. A mixed company of the 21st, 212th and the 501st will stay behind to hold off enemy ground forces as long as possible. Commander Appo will lead the company. I need you to pilot one of modified LAAT/Is to take down the Imperial walkers when they send them down. We got a battle coming."

"Yes sir. Skywalker out. Alright, let's go!" shouted Luke as he turned his AT-RT around and started walking back with his group.

Echo Base Hangar

The clones prepared many LAAT/Is for battle as well as five AT-TE walkers. Han Solo, on the other hand, was trying to repair the Millennium Falcon with the help of clone technicians. Many clones were jogging to their various positions. Commander Bacara gave instructions for the 21st to ready a 'surprise' for the Empire.

"Remember boys, they may send down AT-ATs. Our AT-TEs won't stand so much a chance against them. But we have our secret weapon that can take down the AT-ATs. For our ships to get past the Imperial blockade, we must use the same ion cannon that was used on the Separatist's ship, the Malevolence. This will effectively knock out all the Imperial ships so that our Venators can destroy them and make way for Acclamators to go through. Remember, boys. This is it. This is our chance to get revenge for General Mundi. Dismissed!" commanded Bacara as he slipped his helmet on.

Some of the 21st Nova Corps clones now wore a new kind of armour. It was called the Phase III armour. The helmet design took on the hybrid of Phase I and II just like Captain Rex's helmet and the armour was as well a hybrid of the two previous armours while adding more protection from fires and laser bolts. It was, however, in its prototype stage. Some clones received the Phase III as field test while others still retained the standard Phase II armour.

Outskirts of Echo Base

A clone lieutenant of the 501st Legion looked around with his binoculars and saw four shapes. He quickly tuned the image and saw four AT-ATs heading toward the base. The All Terrain –Armoured Transports were bigger than the All Terrain – Tactical Enforcers the rebels use. The tall walkers was truly monolithic and has the power to end a skirmish in just 10 minutes. However, the rebels were not ready to give up without a fight. They opened fire at the walkers in order to stymie their advance. Several Arc-170s joined in the fray, where they harassed the enemy with cannon fire and proton torpedoes. Y-Wings were launched to bomb the walker's positions, where three of the walkers were put out of commission. However, one walker continued on and proved that it could be stopped. Many of the rebel clones tried to terminate the walker forthwith but their lasers continued to be deflected by the armour. Some of Arc-170s reverted back to their S-foils mode in order to bring the walker down. However, the commander of the walker was cognizant of the rebel fighters' strategy and ordered ground soldiers to oust the fighters so they may continue unhindered. Many Arc-170s had to maneuverer their way around the walker so that they may end this turbulent battle. One clone pilot called Beacon made a nose dive towards the walker's head and fired his obsolescent laser cannons in the hopes of placing a tinge of damage to the walker. Surprisingly, Beacon managed to take the walker down. The first wave was beaten back but the rebels could not afford to waste any time as they knew that the Empire would send the second wave abound with even more devastating walkers.

Echo Base

The commanders noticed a surge in energy levels from the enemy destroyers that continued to ascend. Their only hope was the ion cannon which could inflicta massive damage to the enemy's electrical systems, stranding them in remote corners of the planet so that their own destroyers to make their escape. Bacara gave the order to fire the ion cannon, where a massive purple sphere shot out and the sound of the cannon blast reverberated through the icy surface of Hoth. Out in space, the Imperial class destroyers were hit by the ion pulse and began to fail. The respite gave the Venator class destroyers time to go through hyperdrive to one of the rebellion's hidden sanctuary. The ion cannon posed a threat to the Imperials and Vader ordered the immediate landing of the second wave in order to thwart the ion cannon and besiege the planet's base. Knowing what Vader would do, Bacara ordered the immediate evacuation of the base. The evacuation was excruciatingly slow with troopers involved in the first battle receiving malignant wounds and had to be transported out first.

"This is not good. At this rate, we will be ineffectual in evacuating the rest of the men to other outposts!" said Cody as he scrutinized the evacuation from the command center. Suddenly, the command center shook and all of the remaining personnel tried to keep their footing. They had realised that there was aerial bombardment. "We have no choice! We must evacuate forthwith! I want a full tactical withdrawal now!" Cody yelled out as he went to join Leia at the hanger bay.

Enter: Anakin's Betrayal (Star Wars Episode III OST)

The clones, outside the base, started to enter the base while carrying their wounded. A few brave troopers decided to hold off the enemy as long as possible to get their brothers to safety. With the exception of two Arc-170s and a squadron of Y-Wing bombers, much of the air support were shot down. Luke in his aircraft, looked on at the carnage. His eyes were filled with sadness of his fellow brothers in arms falling to enemy fire. Contrail, who was behind him, tapped his shoulders to get his attention back to the evacuation.

Meanwhile, just as Cody went into the final Venator-Class Destroyer, the Negotiator, Han said.

"I will take the princess. That way, we will draw less attention to the fleet!"

Cody nodded and went in. Ordering the destroyer to set off, he walked to the bridge to communicate with the rest of the New Republic forces.

'It's a dark day for us all.' Cody thought as he took off his helmet and watched the Negotiator go through hyperspace.

Next Chapter: Luke's journey! Dagobah, home to the Jedi Guards and the New Jedi Temple.