Star Wars - X-Wing - The Bacta War

  back up, and I sincerely doubt it could be made operational again. Running as

  fast as possible to Coruscant we couldn't get anything back here in time to

  save it."

  Wedge knew the run to Corellia would be shorter, but he expected no help from

  his homeworld and the Diktat. "The Corrupter is gone."

  "I copy, Antilles. I'll give the order to my people, and we'll wait to be

  rescued."

  Wedge switched over to the escape pod frequency and repeated his offer of

  rescue, then arranged with Quelev Tapper for his ships to pick up as many pods

  as they could and exact whatever ransom they wanted from the passengers. Tapper

  sounded more interested in getting the TIEs and their pilots, but Wedge declared

  them "prisoners of war" and refused to let Tapper have them.

  "Okay, Antilles, I'll let it go, but only because I know you'll be buying spare

  parts for those TIEs from us before too long."

  "That's probably truer than I'd like to admit, Tapper. Have a safe trip home."

  Tycho's voice broke through on the comm frequency. "Wedge, I have a situation."

  "Yes?"

  "Remember that cruiser that took a piece out of the Corrupter?"

  "Kind of hard to forget it, isn't it?"

  "Well, it was the source of the IFF queries earlier on. It appears to think I'm

  the Another Chance. It has identified itself as the Valiant, and now it wants to

  know where we're going to go from here."

  Wedge brought his X-wing around so he could see the light cruiser again. There

  it hung in space, three hundred meters of lethal Starship. Having it as part of

  our fleet would be very good, but how can we convince it to join us? "Tycho, any

  sign of intelligent life on board?"

  "Ah, Wedge, it thinks I'm an Alderaanian war frigate, so I think we can rule out

  intelligence. If I had to guess, I'd assume this cruiser was slaved to Another

  Chance as an escort. They got separated and it returned here to wait for

  Another Chance to show up. I arrived with the IFF code, started broadcasting

  targeting information, and it did its job."

  Wedge nodded. "I copy. I think I need you to take it back

  to our base. Emtrey, if I recall his introductory monologue, is supposed to know

  the rules, regs, and procedures of over six million military organizations past

  and present. Perhaps he can figure out a way to communicate with the Valiant so

  we can make full use of it."

  "Got it. Do I leave now, or wait and escort the rest of you back?"

  "We'll go together." Wedge smiled. "Victory like this deserves a parade, and

  I'd be happy to have you and your cruiser in the lead."

  25

  Corran Horn dropped into the seat beside Mirax at the black round table in the

  briefing room. He felt bone weary from the fight at Alderaan, which surprised

  him because he'd actually not shot down any of the eyeballs. Because he had been

  waiting for fire orders to send proton torpedoes at the larger ships, all he

  could do was evade their attacks. While the pilots had been clearly greena fact

  that 66 percent losses on their part made abundantly cleartheir lasers still

  burned hot and could have vaped him had he not outflown them.

  He took Mirax's left hand in his right beneath the edge of the table. "Sorry I

  couldn't cover the Skate out there."

  Mirax gave him a smile that helped energize him. "I'd have felt safer, but that

  would have spoiled Booster 'One-Man-Army' Terrik's fun. He manned the laser

  cannon and was a general hazard to any eyeball peeking at us. He says he winged

  a couple of them."

  Corran gave her hand a squeeze, then looked up and saw Booster glowering at him

  from the other side of the table. If looks were lasers, he'd be more than

  winging me right now. "I'm glad there weren't more in the way of complications.

  Your father looks ready to rip something apart with his bare handslike me."

  "Being ambushed by Imps has him in a bad mood. We'll be heading out soon for a

  meeting with Talon Karrde concerning security."

  "The leak came from his people?"

  Mirax nodded. "My father thinks so. I want you to look over some stuff on it for

  megive me your professional opinion about this spy thing."

  "Ah, sure, Mirax, glad to, but you should remember from the Erisi thing, I'm not

  that sharp on spotting spies."

  "This one isn't that good." Mirax gave him a wink. "Let me know what you think.

  We'll see if Karrde concurs."

  Wedge and Winter entered the room, followed closely by Tal'dira, Aril Nunb, and

  Tycho. Winter sat down at the datapad built in at the far end of the table and

  hit some keys. A holographic image of the Yag'Dhul station hovered over the

  holopad in the center of the oval table. Wedge took a position at the head of

  the table, Tycho sat between him and Booster, and Tal'dira took the seat at

  Booster's left hand. The Sullustan seated herself to Mirax's right, facing

  Tal'dira.

  Wedge covered a yawn, then leaned forward on the end of the table. "I apologize

  for asking you here to this debriefing so quickly after your return, but I want

  to talk about what happened in the Graveyard while details are still fresh in

  our minds. We have two issues to discuss the arrival of the Imps and what to do

  with the Valiant.

  "Before that, however, I want to thank each of you for your action and the

  action of your people at Alderaan. There is no question about itwe got very

  lucky at Alderaan. The Valiant's appearance and action hurt both the Corrupter

  and the Aggregator. Even so, it was the discipline of our people that provided

  us the opportunity for such luck to come into play. If it weren't for your

  Chir'daki pilots covering Tycho and me on our runs, we wouldn't have been able

  to do what we did to either Imp ship."

  The Twi'lek's braintails twitched strongly. "Your praise is most appreciated,

  Wedgan'tilles. The loss of two of my pilots is grave, but nothing in comparison

  to what all of us would have lost were our leadership not so clear thinking in a

  time of trouble."

  Tycho nodded in agreement. "It was your torps that vaped the Corrupter, Wedge.

  Zraii's going to waste a lot of paint adding it to your display of kills."

  Wedge shook his head. "Look, your shots hurt it, I was just in a position to

  pinpoint a target. Imps have forever dismissed the threat our torps are to

  their ships. You'd think, after losing two Death Stars to X-wings they'd learn,

  but their ignorance is our margin of safety."

  Corran smiled. "So you'll order Zraii to pull the kill from your X-wing?"

  Wedge hesitated, then smiled sheepishly. "Let's not go too farit was a good

  pair of shots." His eyes narrowed. "Convarion got what he deserved, especially

  in getting the tables turned on him. The fact that he was able to show up, and

  had an Interdictor Cruiser with him is most disturbing. Winter, any idea where

  the Aggregator came from?"

  Winter tucked a lock of white hair back behind her left ear, then hit several

  keys on the datapad. The image floating above the table shifted from that of the

  station to the triangular form of an Interdictor Cruiser. "The Aggregator was

  last noted as part of an anti-Rebel taskforce led by High Admiral Teradoc.

  Intell
igence on himat least the intel I'm able to access from hereis sketchy.

  Most of his duty stations were Rimward. He was diligent in his duties and

  virulently anti-Rebel, but beyond that unremarkable. He was not at Endor and

  remained nominally loyal to the Empire until Coruscant fell."

  As nearly as Corran knew, Teradoc's history was not unique. A few brave

  individuals declared themselves Warlords as soon as they heard of the Emperor's

  death, but many of the othersespecially those in the militaryremained loyal to

  the Empire. Sate Pestage, an Imperial Advisor, held power for six months until a

  cabal of Imperial Advisors ousted him from power. Most of the military backed

  this group because it seemed disposed to taking action. It was only after Ysanne

  Isard supplanted them that members of the military began to grab for power

  themselves. Even so, a fair number of military leaders and politicians

  proclaimed their loyalty to the Empire until Coruscant fell.

  At which point they had to fend for themselves, since they no longer had access

  to the bureaucracy that made the Empire run. While there were administrative

  areas and sectors that held themselves togethera tribute to the

  resourcefulness of their Grand MoffsCorran expected that within two years

  nearly three-quarters of what had once been the Empire would be under the New

  Republic's control.

  Winter looked up from the datapad. "If I had to guess how Isard got her hands on

  the Aggregator, I would guess she traded bacta for it. The fact that the

  Aggregator's TIEs were being flown by Thyferran Home Defense Corps pilots

  suggests that Teradoc is running low on trained personnel. With a supply of

  bacta he can keep them alive a bit longer. Without unlimited Imperial resources,

  he's having to conserve people the way we did."

  Booster narrowed his eyes, both electronic and natural. "I'd also read into the

  pilot change a lack of confidence by Teradoc in Isard. Right now you have to

  figure that Teradoc is getting gigabytes of stories from the Aggregator's crew

  about how we ambushed the ambushers. I think if I have my people start asking

  around what someone is willing to pay for a slightly used Interdictor Cruiser,

  word will get back to Teradoc. He'll assume we're suggesting we're planning on

  capturing the next one he loans to Isard, so he won't be free with his ship."

  Wedge nodded. "That's worth a try. From this point forward we're going to have

  to assume, however, that it is possible another Interdictor Cruiser could jump

  us. Actually, we have to assume it is probable that we might be jumped again.

  We'll continue hit-and-run attacks and will just have to make our exchanges more

  covert. We can do that by having the incoming freighters guided to a location of

  our choosing, which means they won't know where they're going until the last

  minute."

  Mirax raised her right hand. "Perhaps you can't remember back when you were

  hauling cargo, but I'd never go to a rendezvous without knowing where it was."

  "Good point, but I suspect Quelev Tapper can convince Karrde that we're

  trustworthy."

  Booster laughed. "Continue paying in advance, and Karrde will believe it."

  "That we'll do." Wedge straightened up. "Remember, we've now eliminated one of

  Isard's four ships."

  "Sure," Corran sighed, "but it was the smallest of them all."

  "Agreed, but Ait Convarion was probably the most aggressive of the commanders

  Isard had working for her. He knew how to fight a Star Destroyerwhat chances

  you could take with it and what chances you couldn't. He expected us to scatter

  and we didn't, which is why he died. The commanders of the larger ships are

  likely to be more conservative." Wedge smiled. "The Empire's boldest Admirals

  died at Yavin. Regardless, both Avarice and Virulence are the newer-model

  Imperial-class Star Destroyers, deucesso they carry six squadrons of TIEs. No

  matter how good or bad their commanders are, they can overwhelm us."

  Corran smiled. "With targets."

  "Yes, but targets that shoot back." Wedge shook his head. "Impstar deuces have a

  crew of nearly forty-six thousand people, if you count the troops they carry in

  the mix. They have a lot of fire power. Granted that it's not terribly well

  suited for use against snubfighter squadrons, but an Imp-star deuce will take a

  lot more pounding than a victim like the Corrupter before it goes away."

  Tycho nodded. "The one thing we have going for us in this regard is that a big

  ship has a lot more things that can go wrong with it than a smaller

  shipmaintaining our X-wings is easy compared to maintaining an Impstar deuce.

  Isard is going to have to be using them to run with convoys, and if we keep

  hitting them, the Impstars are going to have to be on a near constant state of

  alert. That will take its toll."

  "But will they wear out before you do?" Mirax looked from Wedge to Tycho,

  Tal'dira, and finally Corran. "Even before this last operation, you were pushing

  yourselves very hard. Tycho's right, repairing an X-wing is easier than

  repairing a Star Destroyer, and I don't doubt we can do things to spike the

  prices on crucial parts for Isard's ships by buying

  them up ourselves, but replacing any of you or your people is going to be

  impossible."

  Corran knew that she was asking the right question, but she was missing clues to

  the answer. "One advantage we have, Mirax, is that Isard's forces have to react

  to us. They always have to suppose we're out there, whereas we only have to deal

  with them when we are out there. It will be rougher on them than it is on us. We

  can't keep this up forever, but we won't have to." He looked at Wedge. "Right,

  Commander?"

  "I hope so, Corran." Wedge folded his arms across his chest. "I like the idea of

  buying up some critical parts. Turbolaser focal lenses, power couplers, and the

  like. Better yet if we can find junk and get it to the other side, that would

  help a lot."

  "I'll see what I can do on that count, Wedge."

  "Thanks, Booster." Wedge frowned. "I also gather you're going to speak to Karrde

  about how the Imps found us at Alderaan?"

  A braintail twitched its way toward the center of the table. "How do we know the

  information was not transmitted from our side to Isard's people?"

  Booster looked over at Tal'dira. "Our freighters were slaved for the jumps to

  the Skate. I didn't tell my people where we were going. Wedge told you fighte r

  jocks where we were going in your mission briefing, but that was only

  forty-eight hours before the run. The Aggregator was given over to Isard five

  days before the strike, and the pilots on it were run through mission-specific

  briefings about twelve hours after the ship arrived. Karrde had the information

  about our run a good two standard weeks before that, which means the data

  squirted from his people to the Imps."

  "Besides, if one of Booster's people betrayed us, Isard would have showed up

  here with the Lusankya.'" Corran tapped a finger against the tabletop.

  "Presumably, that's information Karrde doesn't have."

  "Nor information he'll get from me or my people." Booster snarled directly at

  Corran. "My people are good people, Horn. Decidedly t
rustworthy."

  Aril Nunb chittered in Sullustan for a second, then translated to Basic.

  "Booster, Corran did not mean to suggest your people are untrustworthyhe stated

  as much by noting we were not attacked here."

  "I know what he was implying, Captain Nunb." Booster's frown deepened. "He's

  CorSec, through and through, and a Horn on top of that. He assumes no one who's

  ever moved a little contraband can be trusted."

  Corran wanted to protest that he hadn't meant what Booster thought he did, but

  he had to admit to himself that, deep down, he was suspicious of the smugglers

  Booster had working on hauling supplies for them. In the past it would have been

  simply because they were smugglers, and anyone who has once crossed the border

  between lawful and lawless is likely to do it again and again. Because of that,

  they can't be trusted, at least they can't from the point of view of someone

  who is lawful. Now, because I'm an outlaw, I know that isn't exactly true, but I

  didn't suspect Erisi until too late, primarily because she was one of us.

  Because that fact made me blind to her treachery, I want to avoid falling into

  that same trap again.

  He looked over at Booster. Of course, he'll never believe that.

  Wedge rapped a knuckle on the table. "Enough, Booster. Aril's right, and no

  matter what Corran might or might not think about your people, I know it's

  nothing you've not already thought a dozen times over about each of them. We're

  in a tenuous situation here, and caution is vital for all of us. The fact is

  that the leak probably did come through Karrde's people. Booster, I want you to

  sort that out with him."

  "Consider it done."

  "Good. You'll let me know what Karrde says." Wedge looked up at Winter. "Last

  topic the Valiant. Any luck in learning anything about it?"

  "A lot of luck, actually." Winter smiled heartily. "The Valiant is an

  Alderaanian Thranta-class War Cruiser. All of them were supposed to have been

  destroyed when Alderaan disarmed, but it seems as if Valiant and two other War

  Cruis-

  ersCourage and Fidelitywere refitted with robotic controls and slaved to

  accept commands from Another Chance. They were its escorts. One of them would

  fly into the system before it, another would fly with it, and the third would