Almost immediately after my meeting was over, I returned to my ship to contact and speak with Organa. He has been able to allocate resources for my initial request. Now, I got to explain my plans.
“First off, I need to be absolutely sure of what you just told me. Are you positive, after viewing the information I just sent you, that the ships you are sending will be able to hide in the corona of our Sun, because if they are detected, they will have to get out of there really fast, and Earth will be toast.”
“Yes. I have Alderaan’s top scientists telling me that right now.” Bail responded.
“Alright then. Plan A is if the ambassadors do come as they are expected to. If this happens, your ships will have to stay where they are until they leave. At that time, I will fly my ship to them, and tell you the specifics of the agreement. In both plans B and C, I speculate the Empire will use an Imperator-class Star Destroyer. Plan B is the longest, so I will leave that for last. Plan C is if they come and decimate our planet from orbit. Under those circumstances, when the Empire leaves, come and scan the planet for life. There is no sense risking your own lives to save us. No matter what happens, I plan to be off world in the beginning, so I will survive. Plan B is for if they attack us on the ground. I see them doing this if they plan to garrison the planet or subjugate us.”
I paused, to make sure I did not forget anything.
“In plan B, I will wait until the landing of Imperial ground troops has begun, then I will come around our sun and contact the ships there. Step one is the launch of your Y-Wings. Their goal is to disable the ship’s communications, sensors and shields. They must move swiftly. Step two is where the docking-capable ship, and a payload of troops, both Rebellion and from my world, move in, land in the massive launch bay, and attempt to capture the Star Destroyer. My YT-2400 would run point for them, first to make sure that they made it to the attacker intact, and second because I could lay down cover fire while troops were unloaded. I figure that between your advanced weaponry and my planets vast number of people, we should be able to do the trick, even if it means that the transport ship has to return to either your ship or the surface to gather reinforcements. I have already spoken with my superiors, and they are willing to offer as many infantry troops as they can. Depending on what time your ships arrive, I would like it if we could get the two groups together and train.”
Bail saw a few flaws in this plan. I did remind him, though, that no plan was foolproof, and that there were always risks involved. The flaws would be minimized if the plan was executed quickly enough, and if what was planned on the planet worked.
Bail agreed to the plan and informed me that the ships I requested would arrive within one standard week. This worked fine for me.
During that week, I had many tasks. First, I had the Pentagon search through their armed forces database to get me the, as the movie Men In Black had put it, the best of the best of the best. At the same time, the President was asking governments around the world to undergo a similar process. Great Britain, Germany, Japan, Israel, Russia and more all were able to pledge some support to the campaign. I soon had a top-flight fighting force pulled together.
As this collecting of military talent was going on, I spent time briefing the U.S. military, telling them the best ways to defeat the troops they might face. Everything I said was videotaped, translated, and sent to the militaries around the world.
I also was given access to the Army laboratories, where the scientists were carefully analyzing the blasters I had brought for them. They had not been successful in finding a defense against the weapons, and had very, very limited success replicating it. I had to doubt that we would be able to arm our own troops with blasters for the mission. They had made several very helpful discoveries, though. They found that the batteries used in the weapons were DC-based. This made me happy, because I knew I would then be able to recharge the packs for my weapons.
I also took the time to ready myself for the future. I added two scope systems to my Flash 4 blaster. One was a laser scope, mounted below the barrel, and the other was a ‘high-tech’ (these words meant so little to me now) camera system that was attached to a glasses-based viewing system. A similar camera system was adapted for the E-11 I had bought. It already had the camera built-in, as some had speculated on the Internet, and the scientists I took it to found a way to link it to the same glasses.
When all the troops we had expected arrived, each was screened. The most important aspect was that they had to speak and understand English. Second to that was a loyalty to command. They had to be able to follow orders, and follow them to the letter. Third, was the ability to adapt to a situation. If something went wrong on board the ISD, they need to be able to quickly assess what was going on and change to survive. The combined force after everything was done came to about 1500 troops. Not as much as I had hoped, but the President assured me that if more were needed the day of the attack, then I would have them.
By this time, five days had gone by. I was impressed with how quickly everything had gone. I got in my ship, and took off for a set of prearranged coordinates that Bail and I had agreed upon. I waited for a few hours, and was soon greeted by the Rendilli Stardrive Dreadnaught I had requested. I had them follow me to Earth, and upon arriving, I docked and boarded their ship. I was surprised to find myself greeted by a younger version of Carlist Rieekan, the soon-to-be General that will be in charge of the Alliance base on Hoth in a number of years. He had already been informed of the plan that I had discussed with Organa.
Now that the whole fighting force was together, I felt the first important thing to do would be to train. There were about 500 Rebel troops, giving us a total of 2000 men to capture the ship with. The rebels were brought to the surface, to where we had built barracks for the fighting force, in the American Midwest. Training scenario’s were designed and used, very often involving working in corridors and rooms. Combat strategies were put together, making sure we had the maximum effectiveness. Since it was very likely that stormtrooper armor would deflect bullets, all personnel were told to pick their targets well. Earth troops to target uniformed Navy officers and enlisted, unless they found a discarded blaster. Rebels were to shoot at armored attackers. We trained, myself included, for more than 4 Imperial weeks.
I soon learned that Organa went above and beyond my request. He had also sent engineers and scientists to help our people ‘catch up’ with the rest of the galaxy. A ship repairman was assigned to make modifications to my YT-2400. He was able to boost the speed, increase the shield strength, and he installed a small quick-fire blaster cannon, similar to the one that the Millennium Falcon used against the snowtroopers in The Empire Strike Back.
I spent the remainder of the time before the Empire showed up continuing to refine the possible attack. Using the two Y-Wing squadrons, we timed how long it would take them to engage the enemy. Since we would be out of radio contact (caused by the same interference that would prevent the Imperials from detecting the Rebel fleet), we were forced to base our actions almost entirely on timing. Since I would be flying point for the transport ship, it was key that for me to watch my sensors and communications to make sure we didn’t arrive too early or too late.
The Y-Wing pilots were also briefed on their objectiv