Episode XIV - Most Magnificent Thing

"They have a word for what you did. It's called genocide." -Fenig Nabon



Date
Year: 2 ABY

Preceeded by: Omens

Succeeded by: Ar'krai

Resistance
Meanwhile, on Bothawui, Page's Commandos discovered that the Empire was well aware of their efforts, and had assigned the Cuis unit to hunt them down. Page called for assistance in the form of Jedi Knight X2. While Basso planted explosives in the Imperial base, Shara tracked down the Imperial base commander and captured him. While Page prepared the Bothan resistance for the upcoming insurrection, Deena Shan sabotaged the planet's communications so that the Imperials couldn't call for help until it was too late.

When Page sent the signal to General Bel Iblis, Deena Shan disabled the communications planet-wide, and the Rebel Dream and the Pulsar Skate arrived in-system. While the flagship's gravity well projectors kept the Imperial patrol ships from leaving, the Pulsar Skate picked them off one by one. Rogue Squadron deployed from the Rebel Dream and intercepted the numerous TIE squadrons in orbit. At the same time, Basso's explosives destroyed the Imperial base and the TIE squdrons stationed there. Without orders from the base commander, the Imperial response was sluggish at first, allowing the Bothan resistance to take the capital city.

Press the Advantage
The Cuis unit quickly whipped the Imperial survivors into shape and began a siege on the capital. Rogue Squadron sent Shira Brie and Dash Rendar down to bomb the Imperial ground forces, but this gap in starfighter interception allowed a TIE bomber to slip past and knock out the Rebel Dream's gravity well projectors. One Imperial patrol ship jumped to lightspeed, but the rest were destroyed.

X2 met the Cuis unit as they attempted to storm the capital building. In a vicious duel, X2 cut down two of them before he took a leg injury. Quick assistance from Shara allowed him to escape, while Page, Basso, and Deena Shan provided covering fire. The Cuis unit, having lost a third of their number, fell back.

Millions of Voices
That was when the Eclipse arrived in orbit. The Rebel fleet reformed, preparing to meet the massive ship head-on, while Garm Bel Iblis ordered Deena Shan to get the planetary shields online. Meanwhile, Page and Basso pressed the advantage, leading the remaining Bothan resistance in a charge that broke the Imperial formation. As the Imperial forces fell back to the spaceport in an attempt to retreat, Shira Brie and Dash Rendar bombed the Imperial transport. Even though they couldn't prevent the Cuis unit from escaping in a shuttle, Page and Basso accepted the Imperial survivors' surrender.

In orbit, just as the planetary shield came online, the Eclipse opened fire on the Rebel Dream. The Rebel flagship's shields barely held out through the first salvo, and the Pulsar Skate attempted to draw fire away by running at the Eclipse head-on. The Imperial flagship obliged, and crippled the Pulsar Skate with another salvo. As Mirax' ship drifted, Rebel Dream caught her in a tractor beam and pulled her out of the Eclipse' firing range.

Seeing how badly the space battle was going, Page ordered Basso, Deena Shan, Shara, and X2 onto the Bothan ship that was transporting Imperial prisoners to the Rebel Dream. As they all made a break for orbit, the planetary shield opened a window for them, and they escaped. Yet even as they made it to the Rebel Dream, the Eclipse powered up her main cannon, and fired on Bothawui. Unknown to the Rebels, the Eclipse was armed with a superlaser like the Death Star and the Errant Venture. When the new Imperial ship fired on Bothawui, the planet exploded. Dodging debris, Page's shuttle and Rogue Squadron made it to the Rebel Dream that tractored the escape pods from the Pulsar Skate, and made the jump to lightspeed.