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❶ "The Battle of Crait"—The Last Jedi OST

❶ Admiral Ackbar positioned the fleet in a blockade around the entire planet. "Red and Gold Groups, take your fighters and start strafing runs at the Imperial base. Gray and Green Groups, hold up here for perimeter defense."

Soon, the Star Destroyer Inflictor arrived. Ackbar instinctively gazed over at the radio station and the technician manning it, his bulbous eyes darting like a pair of spooked fish. "Admiral, a star destroyer just jumped out of hyperspace. Quadrant 7927."

Ackbar said, "Frigate Defender, move in at point-blank range. Our survival is not the goal—destruction of the enemy is."

The frigate's captain said, "Aye-aye, Admiral."

As the TIE fighters streamed out of the destroyer's cavernous hangars, Ackbar said, "Green Group, Gray Group, engage those TIE fighters in quadrant 2551. CAG, launch the reserve groups to patrol the rest of the fleet. All craft, monitor scopes. If this facility is as important as I think it is, the rest of the Imperial fleet should be arriving soon."

Upon insertion, the Pulsars set up positions on a gigantic salt ridge. Soon, explosive mortars pelted their positions. The company lost a dozen soldiers during the first volley.

Captain Jaré commanded the retreat. "Fall back to the base of the dune. Fall back! I can't believe they still have mortars."

"Sometimes the old's better than the new, Cap," Sergeant Tor said.

Luke climbed to the top of the ridge and peered over using his macrobinoculars.

Captain Jaré pulled on the hem of his tunic. "Master Skywalker, get down. You're going to get hit by either them or us."

Shaking her off, the Jedi Master drew in a deep breath and closed his eyes. As he anticipated the mortar shells' trajectories, he flicked his hands, sending the shells skittering away from the company. "If I can keep the mortar fire off your troops, think you can manage a charge, Captain?"

Captain Jaré smiled with a nod of her head. "You just give the signal, Master Skywalker, and my troops will advance. What's the distance to the next dune?"

"Hundred meters or so."

Captain Jaré lifted her communicator to her mouth. "Company, on my mark, advance. Three, two, one, mark."

The Pulsars swarmed across the sand, surging forward despite the shifting grains under their feet.

Luke, sweating with both the heat and exertion, flung the mortars at the enemy without pause. Sand was everywhere—sticking to his flesh, jamming his boots, stinging his eyes.

Sergeant Tor said in the eerie silence, "The guns—they've stopped."

The captain turned her attention to the dune horizon line. "Watch for the enemy." A few tense moments passed as the Pulsars monitored the dunes to detect movement in the haze rising from the desert. Then, as if arising from the sand itself, a legion of sand troopers in beige armor approached, firing with deadly accuracy.

The Pulsars fired back. Soldiers from both sides fell, but the troopers kept coming.

Captain Jaré analyzed the situation. "Squads one through twenty, take the left flank. Twenty-one through forty, take the right. Attack pattern Beta. Divide and conquer, Wolves."

With a battle growl, the Pulsars advanced, taking heavy casualties as they engaged the enemy. Every attempt they made to dissect the legion was rebuffed with an even stronger defense.

Over the communicator, Tor said, "It's not working, Captain. We're getting slaughtered up here."

Master Skywalker ignited his lightsaber and charged into the fray. Attacking the center column of the Imperials, Luke deflected blaster bolts with his lightsaber until he reached a knot of troopers. A swipe to the left took down two troopers. Right, left, right. Soon, he had demolished the entire column.

The Pulsars flanked both groups, destroying the Imperials until the earth trembled and sand slipped out from under their feet. Republicans and Imperials crashed to the ground as an entire phalanx of AT-ATs approached the combat zone. The stormtroopers retreated as the walkers approached.

Captain Jaré ordered, "Pulsars, retreat. Retreat! Rendezvous a half-click south."

Luke joined in the hasty flight, forming up with the troops at the rendezvous point. He had never seen so many walkers in one place before, not even at Hoth. Intelligence was correct, for once—this research base was manufacturing the heavy armament.

About four dozen behemoth armored troop transports spread out across the desert floor. The cumbersome devices plodded forward while firing their laser cannons at the Republic troops.

Master Skywalker yelled over the artillery barrages at Captain Jaré, "We won't last long against that cannon fire, Captain."

Captain Jaré sounded the retreat. Her aide grabbed the comlink, "Home One, this is Pulsar Leader. We have four phalanxes of heavy walkers on the eastern prong. Send in those speeders."

Admiral Ackbar replied over a distorted signal. "Copy that, Pulsar Leader. Speeders deployed. ETA five minutes."

Captain Jaré reaction broke up over the comlink. "Five minutes? We'll all be dead in three. Pulsars, retreat another click. Retreat!"

As soon as Han had verified that the battle to the south was engaged, he duckwalked his squad across the salt ridges. After a half hour, they reached a rocky cliff about a hundred meters in front of the north entrance.

He said to Chewie, "Well, it looks like they've pulled a few of the guards off. We're down to four. What do you think?"

Chewbacca roared something that only Han understood.

"Good idea. You hide here, and I'll draw their fire. Think you can get them by the time I'm on the other side of that ridge?" Han pointed to the ridge.

Chewie roared an affirmation as he pulled his bowcaster off his shoulder and swapped out a charge from his bandoleer.

Did you know ...

● A typical Star Wars battle consists of two elements: diversion and conquer. In A New Hope, Han and Luke provided the diversion by rescuing Princess Leia while Obi-Wan deactivated the shield generator. In The Empire Strikes Back, the speeders provided the diversion while the transports escaped Hoth. In Return of the Jedi, the Ewoks provided the diversion while Han and his team blew the bunker.

Tell me what you think ...

● How was the Republic surprised in this battle?

● How could the Republic have changed their strategy to account for those surprises?