"I'm home."

Vice Fleet Commander Ookami stood at the door of his shuttle, admiring the cold, frozen landscape before him. He casually sipped a cup of coffee and shivered as a gust of wind hit him. His battle kimono wasn't designed to be used in temperatures this low.

I can still see it in my head: the attack, the battle, the evacuation, everything, I can still see all.

It had been several years since he first set foot on the frozen hell known as Hoth. He never thought the Empire would find them there, or even go to the trouble of rooting them out.

"But they did, they did find us. And they did go the trouble of rooting us out."

He can still remember the smell of those damned walkers.
He can still taste Imperial blood on his fangs.
He can still feel the cold alloy of his katana as it sliced through man and machine alike.

Starting now, I will make them pay. I will make them pay for everything they have done to me . . . to my parents, to my wife, my crew, everything.

"Jasaica?"

He turns around.

"Yuli, what are you doing up? You're supposed to be asleep."

"I couldn't sleep. I kept seeing you die on that frozen chunk of rock. I kept seeing . . . seeing myself all alone."

Ookami walks over, places his mug on a table, and embraces his mate.

"I would never let that happen, and you know it."

"I know. But I'm still scared. I don't want to lose you again."

Ookami looks into her eyes.

"You won't, I promise."

Damn war. It keeps tearing families apart. It destroyed my last family, I won't let it destroy this one.

"Yuli, when I take this world, I want you to be there."

"What?"

"I want you there, to remind me why I keep fighting."

She nods and Ookami sends her back to bed.

Tomorrow, those Imperial bastards will learn what happens when you cross a Wolf. Tomorrow, their blood will be spilled in a futile attempt to evacuate, only this time . . .

He pounds his fist on the table.

. . . They won't make it out alive.

He growls in anticipation, licking his fangs as he imagines the blood of hundreds, maybe even thousands of Imperial officers and men, staining the pristine white snow.

Tomorrow . . .

. . . I will have my revenge.


Having returned to the Angelus II the previous evening, he planned his assault on one of the most inhospitable planets in the galaxy.

They came at us with walkers, so I'll do the same to them

He looks down at the cargo manifest of the Pandora a commerce raider he owned. The Pandora's crew had "liberated" 12 Imperial landing barges from a new construction on Echo Base's south side. Among them were the three walkers that led the original assault on Echo Base.

This time, they'll know what it feels like to fight in vain against an unstoppable enemy

As he surveyed the manifest, he chuckles. Intelligence showed that the Imps had reinforced the original defenses, which now included heavy, armor-piercing cannons.

"Those cannons will tear your walkers to pieces!" the scouts had told him.

What they didn't know was these walkers had been modified. Not only were they painted over with a custom color schemes, they had thicker armor, and more weapons. More over, four skiffs could be deployed from their armored sides, and each skiff also had a scout bike. To top it off, they had installed racks on the walkers' spines, allowing for the launch of two snowspeeders each. A quick-deploy repulsor deck was also installed, allowing troops to be deployed without the walker having to kneel.

*Heh, heh*

Can't wait to see the look on their faces as their blaster bolts bounce right off, just like ours did

Twelve barges, two AT-AT's each - except for four which contained four AT-TE's each - two AT-ST's, four speeder bikes, and two skiffs.

They'll never know what hit 'em

Hiding the barges had been the tricky part. They didn't have access to a fleet of Imperial-class Star Destroyers, nor did they have any camouflage to hide them on the planet. Instead, they concealed them in the asteroid field. Several space slugs had tried to eat them as the "mercenaries" carefully hid their spoils. Now, they were ready to be deployed.

"Gunner, fire particle beams."

"Aye, aye sir."

The particle cannons on the Angelus's forward hull glowed white, then fired, sending triple beams of deadly coalesced energy surging into the sensor suite, vaporizing it.

"Target destroyed, sir."

"Excellent."

Ookami hit the comms.

"Begin the assault!"

Landing barges, fighters, bombers, Interceptors, and shuttles descended on the helpless facility. Soon the Republic would reclaim Hoth . . . not that they really wanted it. Still, Ookami Jasaica felt very, very satisfied with himself.

"Helm, take 'er down!"

"Aye, sir! Descent protocols initiated. Planet-side in twelve minutes!"

The ship shuddered as she descended through Hoth's fridged atmosphere. Finally, they were maneuvering several kilometers above the ground.

"Land to offload additional troops, vehicles, and supplies. Yuli, as soon as we're clear, get back into space and shoot down any ship that tries to get through."

"What about the wounded and dying?"

"If they don't stop, shoot 'em down."

Yuli sighs, she never really liked the military life . . . or killing.

"Alright."

Ookami left the bridge, looked back, and kept on walking.

"Here we go," he thought "for old time's sake."

To be continued . . .

"All units, advance!"

Ookami gave the order that would start the battle for Hoth. Even though the Empire no longer controlled it, Ookami Jasaica would wrestle it from the hands of those who did, namely the Galactic Coalition. He watched as dropships, shuttles, and skiffs made for the front lines. Walkers, speeders, and tanks slowly advanced. A scream over head caught his attention as four LAATc's flew overhead, carrying their deadly cargo of AT-TE's toward the battleline. The AT-TE's would hold the line, destroying anti-armor batteries and gun positions, until the AT-AT's arrived. Then the battle would become a slaughter. Ookami had twice the number of walkers that Veers did, and he planned to use them just as effectively.

"The Empire used walkers as weapons of terror. I'll use them as weapons of war."

He climbed into a LAATi and it flew straight for the battle ahead. Soon, explosions could be heard all around, and the sounds of blasters pierced the cold air. Soon, he saw the red and green flashes of Republic and Imperial blasters. E-11's and A280's exchanged merciless volleys. Ookami had managed to recruit a substantial force from the remnants of the New Republic, but those he did recruit lacked combat experience. Alpha-17, Commander Bly, and several other Clones helped train them, but they still weren't ready.

"They never will be. No-one can ever be ready for war. This will be a learning experience for them."

The arrival of the dropships signaled the arrrival of Ookami's 1st Marine division. They were among the best trained troops in the galaxy. Many were veterans of the Galactic Civil war, and several, such as Alpha and Commander Bly, were veterans of the Clone War. Even though his best were descending on the ground, however, didn't mean that many weren't already there. The group being flown in was actually the second wave, the first being incorporated in the initial ground assault, and the third in the armor group bearing down on them.

He shivered again, but this time in anticipation. His cold weather gear, the same gear he wore at the Battle of Hoth, made him indistinguishable from his allies.

"This is going to be fun." he thought, smiling. "Pilot, take us down!"

"Aye, aye sir!"

The dropship descended, her guns, turrets, and missiles tearing into the trenchline.

Ookami grabbed his blaster and jumped off.

"Let's go!"

The rest followed. Suddenly, an enemy rocket streaked up from the battlefield and struck the dropship, tearing her apart in a fiery explosion.

"Jadaica!" those were costly

Jasaica picked himself up, grabbed his A280, and charged into the fray.

"For the Republic!" he shouted as his men continued their fight.

To be continued . . .

"No!"

InuYasha Sanyo sat up in bed, sweat running down his face. His mate stirred on the right.

"Mmmm. What is it? What's going on?"

"Nothing, Yuli, go back to bed. It was just a bad dream."

"Not the Hoth one again?"

"No, don't worry, everything's fine."

Yeah, right, keep telling yourself that Jasaica. One day, you might just believe it.

Sanyo gets out of bed, dons a kimono, and heads for the balcony of their home on Atlantia.

Thank gods the pups are still asleep.

As he steps onto the balcony, a cold blast of morning air threatens to awaken his family. He quickly shuts the door and looks out across the immense metropolis.

This place could put even Coruscant to shame. . .

A formation of three Atlantean Air Corps fighers streaks by.

Coruscant. It's been awhile since I've been there.

He looks down at the bustling streets several kilometers below him.

We don't have towers as high as Coruscant, but our streets are still functional, and we have clean, clear, beautiful air.

Sanyo inhales deeply, and the cold air bites at his nostrils, reminding him of that day on Hoth. His mate brings out a cup of coffee, hands it to him, then turns to leave. He catches her with his free hand.

"Can't you stay, just for a little while?"

"The pups are waking up, and they'll need breakfast."

*sigh*

He releases Yuli and she re-enters their "apartment." As the door opens, then closes again, Sanyo can catch the faint, dog-like whimpering of their youngest son.

I've always liked it here; no wars, no blood-covered battlefields, no tanks in the streets.

He looks down and sees three Atlantean hover-tanks at an intersection far below.

Thanks, you just made a liar out of me.

*sigh*

Six months. Six months since Hoth. Six months since we tried to take it from the Galactic Coalition.

And six months since we found ourselves defending a planet instead of taking it.

*sigh*

I really like it here . . .

To be continued . . .