Andrew Markos: A New War Begins

Chapter 5: Return to Christophsis

Upon returning to Christophsis, he was surprised to see how well the imperials had dug themselves in the planet and returned to trench warfare in some parts. It was already in the midst of a civil war. Andrew’s forces would aid the rebels on the planet in an attempt to liberate them from the empire. Luckily for the Warhammer, the rebels on the planet still had plenty of supplies for their cause and cut long-range transmissions so they couldn’t call for imperial reinforcements. They would occasionally send fake transmissions so the high command wouldn’t become suspicious. When he arrived, he was greeted by another protocol droid and a tall Besalisk. He was once a senator that offered Andrew a place as his bodyguard for him and his family. 

Andrew Markos: Senator Kellon, it’s a pleasure to see you again. I wish it was under more peaceful circumstances. {Sees markings on his clothes} Oh I see you’re a captain now. 

Captain Kellon: Good to see you too and I agree. Now let’s get to work.

[Walks inside] 

Andrew was amazed to see they had converted an old warehouse into a military compound and war room. Kellon pointed to a large hologram of the planet. 

Captain Kellon: There are currently 32 active fronts on the planet. We currently are winning 15 of them and one to the north is close to falling into our win count. With the arrival of your battalion, we could bring a quick end to the war here and aid other planets. 

Andrew Markos: We’ll head there immediately. 

The Moff leading the charge against the rebels was informed about the recent reinforcements after learning that his forces were quickly outnumbered and outgunned but refused to surrender. Captain Anthony led a commando raid behind enemy lines to destroy the ships and ties in the area. 

Captain Anthony:[Comn link] Does everyone have their detonators? On my signal, throw them towards the hangars and run. I’ll fire three shots in the air as the sign. 

Voice: Stand down traitor! 

Anthony turned around to see a much older Commander Cody of the 212th. He served under Obi-Wan Kenobi until the battle of Utapu where he was given the call for order 66. For many years, he was stationed on Kamino to train the new imperial stormtrooper corps until he was reassigned to help put down the rebel attacks on Christophsis. 

Captain Anthony: Cody listen to me! We are not the enemies; don’t you see what the empire is capable of here? The Jedi weren’t the ones who betrayed the republic; Palpatine was behind everything! Andrew left the Jedi behind and think about Obi-Wan! You knew General Kenobi just as good as General Skywalker or Commander Tano. Would they even be capable of betraying the republic? 

Commander Cody: Even if what you’re saying is true, which is probably some rebel lies, how would General Kenobi even forgive me? {Starts to cry and begins to shout} I nearly killed him and I didn’t even hesitate … like all those battles, we fought together were for nothing! 

Captain Anthony: We’ll find a way and help you, Cody. You can walk away and help us restore peace. What do you say, old friend? 

Cody was in shock for a bit. He didn’t know what else to say and dropped his imperial armor and walked into the hangar bay. After a few minutes, he was wearing his old clone armor. He was no longer an imperial and was once again a clone trooper. Anthony fired three shots to signal to bomb the hangar. The rebels led by Anthony and Cody destroyed several imperial tie hangars and factories. Once Cody was cleared by the rebel high command and had his inhibitor chip removed, he was once again promoted to the rank of  Marshall Commander but this time of the 305th battalion. Instead of the orange color, it was repainted in a sky-blue shine to match the rest of the battalion. Unfortunately for the imperials, the rebels had won more supporters after files were released about an incident where imperial stormtroopers executed a large group of people who wouldn’t bow to the emperor. Rumors were spreading around that a large superweapon was nearly completed.

Andrew Markos: You don’t think these rumors are true, do you? I mean where would the empire get that type of firepower to create such a massive weapon?

Captain Kellon: Reports suggest they used old Separatist plans that they would’ve used on the republic. 

Commander Cody: I heard reports of this superweapon being assembled at various planets in the galaxy. 

Commander Oliver: Let’s just hope these rumors aren’t true and just imperial propaganda nonsense. Either way though, nothing is better than fighting clankers. 

Rebel Officer: General Markos, one of our units was overrun and the clone leading the assault was severely injured. They surprisingly allowed us to retrieve our dead and wounded. We did likewise for them as well. 

As Andrew went to identify the rebel soldiers, he saw Sergeant Briggs lying on a stretcher being attended to by a medical droid. He knelt beside the very clone who probably would’ve killed him 19 years ago.

Medical Droid: I’m afraid he doesn’t have much longer to live. It’s a miracle he’s still alive now.

Andrew Markos: Briggs, it’s good to see you again. I just wish it wasn’t like this. 

Sergeant Briggs: {Coughs a bit of blood} It was an honor sir {Coughs} to fight alongside you for one {Coughs even more} last battle. 

Andrew Markos: You’ve fought valiantly by my side over the years. May the force be with you old friend. 

With those final words, Andrew felt the life slowly fade out of the old clone. After he said a brief farewell over his body, he covered him and many of the other fallen rebels with a sheet. He returned to the frontlines to continue leading the charge against the empire.

A few months had passed since Andrew and the 305th battalion were stationed on Christophsis. Across the galaxy, many planets were siding with the rebel alliance and funding their war effort. The rebels constantly feared that Thrawn would be sent to Christophsis to put down their rebellion and force them to surrender. Fortunately, that day would never come. News of his efforts being concentrated on the planet of Lothal was being transmitted to Captain Kellon by an unknown source with the codename fulcrum.  Out of the 32 battlefronts that were active when he arrived on the planet, there was one final district that was being held. 

Unfortunately for them, the route to get there was very narrow and could easily hide snipers. To get a better understanding of what they were facing, Commander Oliver and Captain Anthony were leading a commando raid on their weapons factories. Thankfully most of the mission went well till several tie bombers began flattening the area so the rebels wouldn’t have any cover to hide. The imperial unit had dug themselves in and surrounded the district. This resulted in what would be known as the Second Siege of Christophsis and forced Andrew to contract the Rebel High Command to see if they could send more men. 

General Andrew Markos: Mon Mothma, you must have some soldiers to spare. The imperials here have dug themselves into the main district and I’d like to avoid using the Warhammer for bombing the city into ruin. 

Mon Mothma: It is very risky for your attack right now. We are still recovering from the Phoenix Squadron’s defeat at Atallon. However, there is one unit but it’s only five men. Their designation is force 99. 

General Andrew Markos: Do you mean clone force 99? 

Mon Mothma: Indeed I do Andrew Markos. They will arrive by the next rotation. 

Andrew was surprised that the clone force 99 was being sent to reinforce the siege of the main city. He had heard about their many heroics during the clone war and especially at the battle of Anaxes and Skato Minor. They fought alongside Anakin Skywalker and Captain Rex. Anakin Skywalker… that name stood out among the rest of the Jedi for many reasons but one very odd reason in particular. Out of all the Jedi killed by Order 66, the fate of Anakin Skywalker was the only fate either unknown or multiple stories were discussed. They ranged from him defending the younglings at the temple on Coruscant to hunting a Separatist council to bring them for trial. One thing was certain: If Skywalker was here, the war would be going much differently. The mystery of Skywalker would have to wait. For now, he would need to focus on sieging the main district.