Battle of Gratha

The Battle of Gratha was a battle that took place early in the year 2003 between the forces of Earth and the Galactic Empire on and around the planet Gratha. Among the combatants on the side of the Earth were the Astro Rangers and the Citizens of Gratha. The battle itself was fought on two fronts, a ground front led by Red Astro Ranger Marcus Jacobs was sent to destroy a shield generating station that protected Death Star IV while Black Astro Ranger and United States Marine Colonel Bryan Khayman led a charge of starfighters, corvettes, and cruisers against the battle station and its accompanying fleet of Star Destroyers led by the Super Star Destroyer Knight Hammer II. Although Moff Tiaan Jerjerrod was able to use the station to destroy many of the ships in the Earth Fleet, the station was destroyed by Khayman using the Astro Megaship and U.S. Marine pilot Steven Laramie before it could carry out the destruction of Gratha itself. After the battle, with its forces in ruins and now losing two wars, The Empire signed a treaty with the Earth and then signed one with the New Republic reforming itself into what would become the modern Remnant and ending both the war with Earth and the Galactic Civil War. This brought The Galaxy into an era of peace that lasted until 2018 when the First Order made itself known by launching an attempted invasion of the planet Lothal.

Lead-up
In 2001, the Empire arrived at Earth and launched a coordinated attack with the help of a local terrorist group on New York City and Washington D.C. During the attack in New York, the Empire attracted the attention of the Astro Rangers then led by Andros Khayman. The Empire had also brought along its latest planet-destroying superweapon Death Star III and a much larger fleet of Star Destroyers then the Rangers now led by Bryan Khayman had been led to believe. After that Death Star had been used to destroy the Khaymans' homeworld of KO-35, it was destroyed by Khayman as it prepared to destroy the planet Eltar. During this time, the Empire also began construction on Death Star IV near the planet Gratha with the intention of using one of the weapons to force the New Republic to concede defeat in the Galactic Civil War to the Empire. Construction on the fourth Death Star continued despite the third one being destroyed and the declaration that such weapons were illegal by Grand Moff Wanda Houston soon after she took office. Many within the Empire's ranks such as Moff Tiaan Jerjerrod saw Houston as a weak leader and possibly insane as she began the slow transition of the Empire into a.

In 2002, as part of a coup attempt against Houston, General Maximilian Veers sent the Sergeant of Houston's guard detail Tevin Felth to Earth as part of an invasion force that was to take control of New York City during a citywide blackout. Veers had left explicit orders that Felth not return from New York except as a corpse fearing that he might contact his father Davin Felth and tell him about everything that had happened which would land Veers and Jerjerrod in serious trouble and possibly even facing charges of treason. Unfortunately for Veers, Felth not only survived but had taken shelter with a local woman who was able to put Felth in contact with Khayman as Khayman was a member of the New York City Police Department and frequently responded to her home to remove her unwanted ex-boyfriend from the home. After one of these calls, Khayman debriefed Felth about the goings on within the Empire and Felth mentioned that he had heard from his longtime friend Captain Michael Piett who was the son of Admiral Firmus Piett about a large construction project in the Gratha System and that it was bigger then the last one. Khayman contacted his one-time squad commander United States Marine Corps Major Steven Laramie who was involved with training pilots on the X-Wing Starfighters for future battles against the Empire. Felth later told Khayman of the coup against Houston and provided him with some other Imperial dirty laundry that he had been told by the younger Piett in reference to the Death Star IV project so that the Earth could plan an attack on the station so that other planets didn't suffer the same fates as KO-35 or.

Using the information provided by Felth and Piett, Khayman and Laramie began to plan their attack. The first thing they had to do was figure out how to work around the station's deflector shield asking each other if they knew someone gullible enough to command that operation. They eventually settled on Marcus Jacobs as it would ensure that one of the two Jedi Astro Rangers would survive if things went seriously wrong. Khayman also knowing details of the Battle of Endor suggested that the attack be planned on the presumption that the Earth would be entering a trap on both ends and that the battle station itself was operational enough to be able to fire its superlaser at the Earth Fleet. The final piece of the puzzle was supplied when Blue Astro Ranger Steven Porter and Silver Astro Ranger Nick Franklin were allowed to "steal" a shuttle off of the younger Piett's Star Destroyer the Avenger. It turned out that Porter and Franklin had actually taken Piett's own shuttle as Piett and his fellow captains had decided that they were on Houston's side even if it meant helping the Rangers and the Earth and Porter implied that Piett had in fact allowed them to take the shuttle.

Landing on Gratha
The first wave of the battle was a squad of U.S. Marines led by Jacobs and Porter along with Porter's wife Tina landing on Gratha to take out the shield generator on the surface while Khayman, his wife Jennifer Khayman, and Franklin would be on the Astro Megaship under the callsign Knight One.

Using Piett's security clearance code and the Jedi Mind Trick, Jacobs and Porter convinced the traffic controller above the planet to allow them through. Also along with Jacobs and Porter were the droids C-3PO and R2-D2. Soon after landing, the squad found itself tangling with Imperial Scout Troopers before encountering the local population who were unsure about the visitors at first, but eased up a bit after discovering that Jacobs and the Porters were Power Rangers. The locals agreed to help the Earthlings evict the Empire from their planet after hearing reports of the destruction of KO-35 and the devastating Imperial attack on Mirinoi from the Rangers and still remembering how the Aquitar Rangers fought for their world in 1998.

The locals eventually led the Earthlings to a ridge overlooking the shield generator and mentioned that it was heavily secured from that end, but had very little security at the back door which Jacobs decided to use finding that the security at the rear consisted of only four Scout Troopers who were easily distracted when the locals tampered with their Speeder Bikes and took off after them leaving the entrance unguarded. Despite having a code to enter the bunker, Jacobs instead cut his way in using his Lightsaber and left the droids outside with a couple of locals. Once inside the bunker, Jacobs and his team overpowered the crew working behind the controls of the generator and prepared to plant charges unaware that the large garrison at the front had been moved to the back after hearing that the locals had become hostile towards the Imperials and that Imperial Stormtroopers were hiding in secret rooms waiting to spring their trap.

"You Jedi Ranger Scum!"

- An Imperial Officer to Marcus Jacobs after springing the Imperial trap inside the bunker.

After receiving word that reinforcements had entered the bunker from the outside, the Stormtroopers sprung their trap with an officer calling Jacobs "Jedi Ranger Scum" and marched them outside unaware that the locals and R2-D2 had come up with their own plan and trap for the Imperials. Using C-3PO to summon a group of Stormtroopers to their location, the droids faked a surrender when the locals attacked the Imperials sending out their battle calls and springing a much larger army on the Imperials.

The Fleet Arrives
As the ground battle began, Khayman and the Earth Fleet arrived in the system to find that there was no signal coming from Jacobs and that they were being jammed by the Empire. With the battle station's shields still up, Khayman ordered the fighters to pull away from the station and towards the waiting Imperial Fleet where they engaged a number of TIE Fighters and TIE Interceptors. During this part of the battle, Admiral Grimes told the crew of the Knight Hammer II that he had been given direct orders from Moff Jerjerrod himself to prevent the Earthlings from leaving the system as Jerjerrod intended to use the Death Star's Superlaser to take out the Earthlings ship-by-ship. His first target was a German cruiser followed by a Russian Corvette. After this, Khayman executed the second part of his plan which was to engage the Star Destroyers at point-blank range adding that these were the smaller Victory-Class Star Destroyers and not the Imperial Class Star Destroyers that were currently near the Earth.

This move shifted a number of the smaller Star Destroyers out of position so that Jerjerrod couldn't fire the Death Star's superlaser without the possibility of hitting one of his own ships. This also meant that the Imperial pilots had to be careful not to hit their own ships. At least two of the Victory Class Star Destroyers were destroyed when they crashed into each other trying to turn around a chase after the Astro Megaship and a third was destroyed under fire from British Corvettes and fighters. A fourth Star Destroyer was destroyed when it was hit by a badly damaged German ship. A fifth was destroyed when it inadvertently got between the Death Star's superlaser and an American cruiser. At this point, Jerjerrod was furious. He couldn't fire his superlaser without risking the possibility of hitting one of his own ships and Grimes appeared to have no control over his fleet.

Battle for the Bunker
On the surface, Jacobs, his team, and the locals had begun to turn the battle in their favor. The locals had managed to take out numerous Stormtroopers along with the Scout Troopers and a couple of AT-ST walkers. Jacobs began to attempt to reopen the doors to the bunker first by using their code which had been changed, then by using R2-D2 until the droid had been hit by blaster fire, and finally by Jacobs attempting to cut a second hole through the blast doors with his Lightsaber as the Imperials had closed them after realizing that Jacobs had cut a gaping hole in the main doors to the bunker.

While the battle for the bunker raged, Steven Porter and a couple of locals had taken control of an AT-ST by throwing one of the crewmembers off of the walker and subduing the other. Porter used the walker to blast not only another walker, but also to blast at Stormtroopers and began to make his way back to the bunker. At the bunker, Jacobs had stopped cutting his hole when his wife Lisa had been struck in the arm by a blaster bolt. Jacobs insisted on checking her as did Pink Astro Ranger Tina Porter who was a paramedic for the FDNY. This allowed a group of Stormtroopers to take them by surprise. With both Marcus and Tina covering her movements and their focus on Marcus who the Stormtroopers felt was the greater threat of the three humans, they were unable to see Lisa ready her blaster until Marcus moved and Lisa opened fire on the Stormtroopers, killing them. Just then, Porter arrived in his hijacked AT-ST which gave Marcus another idea.

"It's just about over Sir, the Earthlings and the locals have been rousted. They're fleeing into the woods. We need reinforcements to help us look for and capture them." "Send three squads to help. Open the back door." "Yes, Sir."

- Marcus Jacobs tricks the bunker commander into opening the back door by claiming that his team and the locals had retreated into the woods.

Using the walker, Jacobs faked a report that both his squad and the locals had fled into the woods and that more Imperial troops were needed to look for and capture both groups. The bunker commander unaware that it was a trick ordered three squads of troops sent to help via the back door. When the troops got outside they instead found Jacobs, his squad, and the locals waiting for them. Outnumbered and outgunned, the Imperials surrendered to Jacobs who insisted that their capture would only be temporary and that he would explain a few other things to their commander when he got a chance to do so. Jacobs and his team then set charges in the bunker that destroyed it and the dish that generated the shield. When the Imperial commander asked what was next for them, Jacobs said that the United States had rules regarding prisoners and explained the to the Imperials.

Death Star Attack
"B.J., my sensors indicate that the shield is no longer active." "Marcus did it. The shield is down, all fighters follow us. Steve, take the lead."

- DECA informs Bryan Khayman that the Death Star's shield is down.

"Sir, the deflector shield is down, and we've lost all contact with the generating station." "Position the station so that we can destroy the planet." "Commence rotation of the main batteries."

- Moff Tiaan Jerjerrod is informed of the loss of the shield and orders Death Star IV rotated to destroy Gratha.

Soon after, word reached Khayman that the shield was down and he ordered the fighters to begin their attack run on the station itself with Steven Laramie taking the lead mainly due to the Astro Megaship's size. Jerjerrod was also informed of the loss of the shield and ordered the station rotated so that its superlaser could fire on Gratha itself. As a small group of fighters and the Megaship entered the station's infrastructure looking for the power generator, the two fleet clashed outside. with more of the Star Destroyers going down under the heavy fire provided by the fighters and cruisers of the Earth Fleet. Khayman realizing that he had too many fighters in the structure of the station ordered the fighters to split up and head back to the surface leaving himself and Laramie in the structure. Jerjerrod being informed of the fighters within the structure ordered the pod discharge gates opened and sectors flooded in an attempt to slow the fighters down. He also assumed that the passage the fighters appeared to be using had a narrow spot that the Megaship might get stuck in or heavily damaged flying through unaware that Khayman had put Laramie's X-Wing in front of the Megaship and sent most of the fighters back to the surface. Despite this, the Megaship managed to lose its tailfins flying through the structure.

"Let's show these sons of bitches we mean business, concentrate all fire on that Super Star Destroyer."

- The American fleet commander orders all fire concentrated on the Knight Hammer II.

Outside, the American fleet commander ordered fire concentrated on the Knight Hammer II as the Super Star Destroyer wasn't damaged enough to do any good in disabling the larger ship and believed that an attack on the Imperial command ship would pull enough fighters away from attacking the Earth Fleet as well as preventing more Imperial fighters from going after Khayman and Laramie.

"Sir, we've lost our deflector shields. "Intensify forward batteries. Nothing is to get through." "Except that fighter spinning right for us!" "Intensify forward firepower!" "Too late!"

- A bridge officer, Admiral Grimes, and the Knight Hammer II's Captain as an A-Wing spins towards the bridge of the Super Star Destroyer and smashes into the bridge.

A group of American X-Wings took out the ship's deflector shields causing Admiral Grimes to order the forward batteries increased so that nothing got through. Soon after, a TIE Fighter destroyed a Russian X-Wing and sent an Israeli A-Wing spinning out of control towards the bridge. Grimes and the ship's captain barely got out of the way as the fighter smashed through the bridge windows and exploded from all the damage. This combined with all the other damage caused the massive Star Destroyer to go out of control and crash into the surface of the Death Star and explode in a ball of fire killing Grimes and everyone else aboard. Inside, Jerjerrod's Executive Officer ordered the station evacuated of all non-essential personnel. Jerjerrod himself used the chaos to sneak away to his own shuttle and escape the station leaving orders to destroy the planet as soon as it was in range.

"There it is. I've got tone." "Okay Steve, the power regulator is all yours." "Roger that. Eagle One, Fox Two."

- Khayman and Laramie arrive at their target location where Laramie disables to station's power regulator by firing a at it.

Upon reaching their target, Khayman had Laramie destroy the station's power regulator by firing a missile at it while Khayman used the Megaship's heavy cannons to destroy the station's reactor core causing an explosion that took out a TIE Interceptor. With the station now unstable, the remaining crew had finally reached their target and began the firing sequence while both the Earth Fleet and the remaining Imperial ships moved away from the station. Laramie's X-Wing managed to exit the structure of the station and catch up with the Earth Fleet while a fireball consumed the lone TIE Interceptor chasing the Megaship and nearly got the Megaship which escaped just in time. The station's firing sequence was interrupted by the sudden loss of power and the station soon exploded.

Immediate Aftermath
On Gratha, Jacobs and the Imperial commander formally discussed the terms of an Imperial surrender while Lisa's wound was tended to properly by Tina. The commander mentioned to Jacobs the "Contingency Plan" that had the Death Star destroying Gratha if the shield went down. Jacobs simply shook his head and asked what that would prove to everyone. Khayman soon landed the Megaship on the planet where his half of the Rangers joined with Jacobs' half of the Rangers. Jacobs then presented the Imperial Commander to Khayman and asked if Khayman wanted to do the formal reading of rights to the captured Imperials which Khayman decided to do just to make sure there were no misunderstandings between the two men.

As word of the Imperial defeat spread throughout The Galaxy, parties began to break out in various cities including New York, London, England, and Tel Aviv among others. The response to the parties by the local authorities was mixed as some cities had more reason to celebrate then others. In particular, the New York City Police Department was willing to allow the parties to continue as long as people did not get too out of control and handled their liquor responsibly by taking a taxi or public transportation if they felt they were too drunk to drive safely although some members of the NYPD expressed concern about the free-flowing liquor and that there was the possibility that some might be served to a minor by mistake.

Jedi Knight Kyp Durron reported to Bryan Khayman that a number of Imperial troops remained in New York and that he was going to ask Coruscant for instructions on what to do with them. Among these troops was Tevin Felth and other members of Wanda Houston's staff who had remained on Earth after she departed for an unknown location. Khayman believed that most of what was left in the city were Stormtroopers and others who were either loyal to Houston or completely disillusioned with the Empire that they simply walked away, but that the successor state to the Empire could deal with that. He added that he believed that some of these troops had been born on Earth and could be repatriated to their home countries if they desired that. He also added that Tevin Felth was a special case as he believed that Maximilian Veers had escaped the Death Star and may still have an order issued to kill Felth as a potential witness to a treason trial against Veers and Jerjerrod who Khayman also believed escaped the Death Star.

A number of Imperial Navy Officers and Crewmembers from various Star Destroyers including Captain Auler were captured by Israeli forces and later interrogated by agents of Mossad including the agency's then-Deputy Director Eli David. The fates of these prisoners after their interrogations is unknown although Christopher Felth is investigating the fate of Auler.

Long-term Aftermath
Shortly before leaving her hideout on Earth, as her final acts as Grand Moff, Wanda Houston promoted the four members of her staff that chose to remain on Earth which included Tevin Felth. She also gave an Kelly Rivers the rank of Lieutenant. She then appointed former Avenger Captain James Rommel as the Acting Head of State while placing the remains of the Imperial Navy under the command of Admiral Gilad Pellaeon and the remains of the Imperial Army under the command of General Davin Felth. One of Rommel's first decisions was to issue pardons to anyone who had deserted or supplied information to Khayman or his people (of which Rommel was considered one) after the coup attempt had taken place. This included the younger Felth and Michael Piett. Pellaeon went on to sign a treaty with the New Republic to end the Galactic Civil War while Davin Felth intended to the Council of Moffs to find out what they knew about the coup or the two superweapons.

Rommel later gave Bryan Khayman a position in the new government he was forming and placed him third in the line of succession he was creating. Khayman would issue warrants for the arrests of Jerjerrod, Veers, and Firmus Piett. Rommel later offered positions to Rivers' friends who would eventually accept them. He also tasked many of his people with finding unfunded or cancelled projects in the United States to keep his people out of trouble. This led to many Imperial-funded expansions of the including the  and the Conduit Avenue Subway. Eventually, Jerjerrod, Veers, and the older Piett would be found and stand trial for war crimes. Piett was found guilty at first, but the verdict was later overturned after new evidence was discovered that proved he was unable to form the intent to carry out the crimes charged. Jerjerrod and Veers were also found guilty and received the for their crimes. Tevin and Kelly were soon married and had three children. Lucy in 2004, Chris in 2006, and Justin in 2008. Kelly's brother Anthony later enlisted and eventually became a Captain in the 501st Legion. Rommel also introduced a number of other changes to the way the Empire would operate based largely on the and input from Khayman.

In 2010, Bryan Khayman was killed by the Sith Lord Darth Sidious. His duties were eventually taken over by Houston and former Haddonfield, Illinois Police Chief Michael Myers. In 2013, the Jedi Order of Earth was formally established by the resurrected Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker. The two were also joined by Skywalker's wife Padme who took up a role as the Remnant's Senator. The Rommels were killed in 2016 when their ship was attacked by a group of disgruntled Imperial loyalists that were led by General Brendol Hux and began calling themselves the First Order. Around this time, the term Remnant became the official name for the Rommel-formed government, although Houston was now serving as Acting President. The First Order eventually found itself in league with Sidious and revealed itself to The Galaxy after Jedi Knight Ezra Bridger arrived in New York by launching an attempted invasion of Bridger's homeworld Lothal that was stopped by combined Remnant, Earth, and New Republic forces which included Bridger's reformed Spectres, Tevin Felth, and the older Piett who served as commander of the fleet in what became known as Operation Lothal Freedom. Other members of the Spectres including Hera Syndulla and Sabine Wren eventually joined Bridger on Earth.

The year 2019 brought many changes to the Remnant as the First Order rebuilt its forces. Grand Admiral Thrawn eventually met up with members of the Spectres on the Astro Megaship after Thrawn helped them dispose of First Order Captain Moden Canady's ships. Canady would later kill Remnant General Joseph Rodgers and his wife Jessica by attacking their shuttle as well as attacking the planet Vica before his damaged Star Destroyer crashed on Gratha where he was captured by the Israelis who had also captured Armitage Hux at Lothal. Gilad Pellaeon died during the summer leaving a hole in the Naval command structure that was filled by Houston promoting the older Piett and reinstating Thrawn as the Remnant's new Grand Admirals. The First Order eventually began construction of its own Death Star, but construction stalled due to a lack of resources.

By 2030, Ezra Bridger had become President of the Remnant and the Felth Family had become much more prominent within the Remnant as Lucy had sometime in the 2020s married her first true boyfriend Darius Carpenter and joined the Remnant Military herself. Darius who was one of Ezra's high school students when he was introduced to Lucy and later joined the Spectres himself was revealed in 2020 to be a descendant of Jedi Master Mace Windu. The couple had their first child a son named Caleb as a homage to Bridger's own Jedi teacher Kanan Jarrus whose real name was Caleb Dume. At some point prior to this, Darius and Josh Myers confronted and defeated Sidious during a battle between the combined Earth/Remnant forces and the First Order forces.

In 2031, an that had been recovered from the wreckage of a Star Destroyer called the Persecutor on Gratha was seized from a pawn shop in the City of Philadelphia by Remnant Majors Christopher Felth and Jason Oliver who also arrested the shopkeeper who had admitted to Chris having more weapons recovered from the wreck on the planet Onyx. Chris, a member of the Remnant Security Bureau would later launch an investigation into the fate of Captain Auler who was last known to be in the custody of Mossad after being picked up in an escape pod by an Israeli ship.