"Just because you've won the battle doesn't mean you've won the war." - Michada Crasar, from Collected Wisdom of the Jedi Masters

When Patrick looked out the window, he instantly realized what was going on. He had sensed a disturbance in the Force earlier, but at first, he didn't know what it could mean. Something had gone wrong, something big enough to disrupt the energy field binding the galaxy together, but he couldn't imagine what it could be. Now, he knew. The Empire had returned after they'd decimated the Truwel Rebellion in their last battle. The Rebellion would need a miracle to win again.

Patrick looked toward Andy, who got up and sprinted out of the cantina as soon as he realized the Empire was back. Pete, Joe, and Patrick followed him as he ran toward the base, and soon, the other rebels stopped partying and started heading in that direction too. There were far fewer of them than there had been before their last battle, but if they were lucky, it would be enough. If they were lucky, they'd go down in history. If they were lucky, maybe they would stand a chance against the Empire.

"I want both Patrick and Mikey on the ground this time," Andy said as a squadron of TIE fighters flew overhead. "Everyone else can take a ship."

Mikey looked at Patrick nervously as the others climbed aboard their ships. Pete and Joe got into Y-wings, Ray got into an interceptor, and Frank and Gerard took the Black Mariah. Patrick sensed that something had changed between those two, although he couldn't say what. As they climbed onto the ship, Patrick glimpsed Gerard reaching for Frank's hand. Maybe Pete was right about them after all, he thought.

One by one, the ships launched into the air, but the Empire had five times as many, and they were already firing on the remains on Truwel City. He crossed his fingers that Pete would be okay, that all of them would make it out alive. He hoped that their ragtag army would be enough to take them down, but at the same time, he worried that they'd finally met their match.

He looked up, searching for Vader's TIE fighter, but he didn't find it. Maybe he just couldn't see it, or maybe Vader wasn't there at all. They could have sent an Inquisitor instead, or maybe there weren't any Force users here this time. Maybe he and Mikey were here for nothing.

Nevertheless, Patrick ignited his lightsaber. If Darth Vader was here, he'd be ready.

Far above Patrick and Mikey, Joe aimed his cannons at an enemy ship, hoping to deal some damage. He fired, causing the engine of the Imperial ship to explode. He smiled as he shot down two more ships with the help of his astromech droid. He knew he was serving the Rebellion well, and he couldn't wait until the Imperial fleet was gone for good and he could go back to celebrating with his friends, new and old.

As he dodged another bolt and fired at the Imperials once again, Joe dreamed of what things would be like after they defeated the Empire. Truwel would be free, and soon, the whole galaxy would be too. They could restore the Republic, or they could make a whole new government. Andy always told him that he hoped there wouldn't be a government at all after the Empire fell. Every person in the galaxy would be free to live however they wished. There would be no rules to follow. No one would tell them what they should or shouldn't do with their planet. There would be liberty for every being in the galaxy.

All they had to do was overthrow the Empire.

Joe shot down ship after ship, but it wasn't enough. There were too many of them, and he couldn't dodge them forever. His Y-wing, the Horseshoe Crab, had already taken some damage - the accelerator was broken, and one of the engines had blown out - but he could still shoot down a few more TIE fighters. He fired at another group of Imperial ships and then aimed his cannons at a Star Destroyer.

All of a sudden, the Star Destroyer fired, directly hitting Joe's only working engine. He tried to correct the Horseshoe Crab's course, but it was already plummeting. He pushed every button, pulled every letter, but there was nothing he could do. He was coming closer to the surface with every passing second. He could already see the trees, the grass, the rocks below him, where his ship would shatter into pieces.

No matter what he did, he was going to crash.

Back on the ground, Mikey turned to Patrick and asked, "Where did you get that?"

"The lightsaber?" Patrick said as he twirled his weapon. "I built it when I was younger." All of a sudden, he realized something important. "You don't have a lightsaber, do you?"

"No, I don't," Mikey said.

Patrick started to panic. "What if Darth Vader shows up?" he said. "You'll be unarmed!" He tried to think about what they could do. "Listen, we've got to find somewhere for you to hide," Patrick said. "I'll be okay, but the Empire can't find you, not when you have no way to defend yourself."

Patrick turned off his lightsaber and started heading back toward the rebel base, and Mikey reluctantly followed him. Mikey knew he'd be safer with a weapon, but he didn't understand why Patrick was freaking out so much. He had the Force to protect him, didn't he?

All of a sudden, Mikey looked up, and he saw Joe Trohman's ship falling toward the ground. "Patrick!" he shouted as he gestured toward the sky.

Patrick raised his right hand, the one that Darth Vader hadn't cut off, into the air, and just as the Horseshoe Crab was about to crash, he lifted it into the air with the Force. The Y-wing hovered in the air, just above the ground. However, the seconds kept on ticking, and the Empire kept on firing on the Horseshoe Crab. Patrick held the ship up, but when Mikey looked at his face, it was clear that the effort was wearing him out.

Mikey looked into the distance, and he spotted the Black Mariah, maneuvering back and forth in hopes of dodging the Empire's cannons. It seemed like Frank and Gerard were getting a few good shots in, but that didn't change the fact that the Black Mariah was one of the last rebel ships still in the air. The Imperial ships were doing everything they could to destroy Frank's brightly painted TIE fighter.

Suddenly, one of the Empire's cruisers hit the Black Mariah. The engine caught fire, causing the whole ship to come crashing down in a ball of flames. As soon as Patrick realized what was going on, he extended his left arm, using the Force to keep the Black Mariah from smashing into the ground. Now, he was holding two ships in the air - Joe's and Frank's - but the effort was nearly killing him.

As the Black Mariah burned, Mikey desperately hoped Gerard was okay. Gerard could be a pain sometimes, but he was his brother. They had always been there for each other. Gerard's whole life flashed before his younger brother's eyes, from the days they'd spent reading comic books together when they were young to the time when Gerard had taken Mikey to see their favorite band to the weeks they'd spent traveling through space with Frank and Ray. Mikey couldn't imagine life without his older brother. He was the one constant in his life, and now, he might be gone forever.

Mikey blinked back tears as he thought of Gerard and Frank turning to ashes inside the Black Mariah, but Patrick was doing everything he could to keep his friends alive. However, it wasn't enough. Patrick collapsed, and both the Black Mariah and the Horseshoe Crab fell to the ground.

"Are you okay?" Mikey asked.

Patrick's breathing was heavy and labored, and he looked exhausted. "I can't do it anymore, Mikey," he said. "I'm not strong enough."

Mikey helped him up, and he said, "No, you're not. You did everything you could. I never could have lifted up those ships."

He looked up again, but now that the rebel ships were gone, the Imperial fleet was free to land on Truwel. The Imperial ships slowly drifted toward the surface of the planet, and Mikey and Patrick exchanged a look. Other than Andy, they were the only rebels on the ground. They were the only ones with the power to stop the Empire.

Mikey and Patrick both sprinted toward the rebel base, and when they got there, Patrick ignited his lightsaber, Mikey grabbed the largest blaster he could find, and the two of them stood outside, ready to face the onslaught of stormtroopers. The Empire was better prepared, better equipped, and they by far outnumbered the rebels, but Patrick and Mikey had the Force on their side. They could win.

Meanwhile, Joe frantically tried to turn on the Horseshoe Crab's radio, hoping to get a hold of Andy. He'd survived the crash, but it seemed like the Rebellion was in deep trouble. The Empire had shot down all of their ships, and now, they'd landed on Truwel. There were AT-AT walkers coming past his window and squadrons of stormtroopers running by, with hardly anyone there to stop them. Joe just wanted to know what he was supposed to do next.

All of a sudden, the radio turned on. "Andy?" Joe said.

"Yes?" Andy answered.

"This is Joe Trohman."

"Joe? Thank goodness you're alive!"

"The Empire's landed," Joe said nervously.

"I know," Andy said. "Just hold on."

"But they're heading toward the rebel base!"

Andy took a deep breath. "Don't worry about me," he said. "Save yourself."

Joe grabbed his blaster, ran out of the Horseshoe Crab, and started shooting at the stormtroopers. He kept the radio on, and as long as he heard Andy's voice, he knew everything would be okay. The Truwel Rebellion was still alive, and someday, they would take down the Empire.

He fired again and again, and as he made his way across the battlefield, he found Patrick and Mikey, fighting like their lives depended on it. Over and over again, Joe and Mikey fired at the stormtroopers, and Patrick slashed at them with his lightsaber, but as the battle went on, it felt like they were barely surviving, much less truly attacking the Empire.

Just as Joe was aiming toward one of the AT-ATs, the radio went silent. Joe panicked, but there wasn't much he could do. He hoped Andy was okay, but even if he wasn't, he had to keep fighting. He had to carry on.

Joe fired, but as the blaster bolt hit the AT-AT's leg, the radio turned back on. However, it wasn't Andy on the other end. It was someone else, someone with heavy breathing and a deep menacing voice.

"It's over, rebels," he said. "Surrender or die."