during the Rebel attack."
Truly spoken. Kirtan nodded slowly. "I accept your gift in the spirit in which
it is given." But I will have it tested before I drink.
"I hope, also, you will view this invitation in the spirit in which it is
given." Derricote spread his arms wide to encompass the planet. "The Empire is
dead. What will rise to replace it, I don't know, but the Core will be heating
up and Imperial Center is going to be roasted alive. Rebels, warlords, either
could do the job. Old Borleias here, it's been through its time of fire. I'll be
here when Imperial Center isn't. If you need a haven when things break apart,
remember that I'm here."
Kirtan brought his head up. "Thank you, General. I shall remember you. I hope I
won't have to avail myself of your invitation, but if I do, I know where to find
you."
"Have a good trip to Imperial Center, Agent Loor."
Kirtan raised the bottle in a salute. "Until we meet again."
Wedge felt a giddy anticipation in his belly the like of which he'd not known
since Endor. He glanced over at General Salm. The man sat on the other side of
the briefing table with his eyes closed, nodding to himself as he rehearsed what
he would say to Admiral Ackbar. The plan they'd concocted over the last week
could work, but it was risky and highly time-dependent.
The door to the briefing room opened and Ackbar entered the room. He nodded to
both men, then settled down in the chair at the head of the oval table. "What
have you woven together?"
Salm smiled and punched keys on his datapad. The small device fed information to
the holographic projection disk in the center of the table and a starfield began
to sparkle and slowly spin above it. "We have found a way to take Blackmoon."
The Mon Calamari sat back. "I do not recall your having been told which world
Blackmoon was."
Wedge shook his head. "We weren't. As per orders, coordinates were downloaded
to and erased from all of our astromechs and navigational computers before and
after the operation. Unfortunately for operational security, one of my unit's
astromechs has a special criminal investigation and forensics circuitry
package. It gathers evidence and, in this case, included a star chart of the
area in it."
Ackbar's barbels quivered. "Something will have to be done to correct that
situation."
"Agreed, Admiral, but this droid in Commander Antilles's squadron has provided
us with invaluable information that points out why we lost the fight and how we
can take Borleias."
"And more, sir." Wedge pointed at the starfield. "Computer, isolate the triad."
The starfield grew and stars bled out of the edges of the image. In the center
three stars intensified in radiance and faint green lines stretched out to link
them. A small arrow pointed down and away from the lowest point of the triangle
indicating the direction of the Core and Coruscant.
"These three systems are, in descending order, Mirit, Venjagga, and Pyria. The
center one, Venjag-ga, is home to the Eviscerator. It is using Jagga-Two as a
base and is there to protect the concussion missile production facilities.
While the output is considered small by Imperial standards, the fact that the
world is actually producing missiles makes it worth protecting."
Salm indicated the uppermost system, the one on a virtual straight line with
Borleias. "The Mirit system is home to Ord Mirit. The Empire abandoned that
base shortly after Endor and shifted the garrison all the way over to Corellia
to help hold the shipyards there. Ord Mirit is really too far away from anything
substantial for us to use it as a base, as we have done with Ord Pardron. Still,
it is part of the sector the Eviscerator is tasked to defend."
"Finally we have Borleias." Salm hit a button on his datapad and the starfield
dissolved into the image of the planet. "When we were there before we
discovered the estimates of power generation for the planet were low by at least
half and two squadrons of fightersInterceptors no lessshowed up with-
out warning. All of the data we had about the planet had been stolen from
Imperial files by Bothan slic-ers. Unfortunately for us, that information was
incomplete."
Wedge nodded. "We went back and pulled old data files on Borleias and they've
provided the answers to questions that were never asked before the first
operation. Back before the Empire existed, Alderaan Biotics set up a research
facility on the far side of the planet. It included a geothermal generation
station and a local spaceport. Because everything was located in the northern
part of the planet, the facilities were built underground to avoid
complications from the harsh winters. A series of scan surveys of the planet
would be required to locate the sites from space."
"What Commander Antilles says is true, sir and the effort to locate these bases
from space would have revealed our interest in the planet to the Empire."
The Mon Calamari acknowledged Salm's comment with a nod. "Why was there no
information about this place in the Imperial files, General?"
"The facility was shut down years ago. We suspect that the current base
commander, Evir Derri-cote, refurbished it and has it operating to produce
goodsfoodstuffs mostlythat are sold to the refugee Alderaanan population via
the black market. At the very least his Imperial superiors would see this as
giving aid and comfort to the enemy, so hiding knowledge of it from them makes
sense."
"So you suspect this facility and its generator was the source of the power used
to reinforce the base's shields?"
"Yes, sir." Wedge pointed to a faint red line linking the military base and the
Biotics facility. "A tunnel that runs about one and a quarter kilometers
beneath the surface of the planet links the two facilities. There is a rift
valley where a ferrocrete conduit links the tunnel one side to the other. This
is the weak linkthe generator is too deep to blow with proton torpedoes and
destroying it makes no sense if we intend to take the planet."
Ackbar nodded, then tapped his lower lip with a flipperlike hand. "If you sever
the connection with the military base, you bring us back to the original Bothan
estimates of the defenses. If we bring our ships back in, we should be able to
bring the shields down as we did before. We could take the base, but then the
Eviscerator would come and destroy it."
Salm shook his head. "Not if the Eviscerator arrives too late. Our plan in
thiswe stage a feint at Jagga-Two. The Emancipator and the Liberator arrive
in-system, just at the outer edge of the gravity well created by the seventh
planet, a gas giant. They deploy my Defender Wing and another wing of fighters,
matching the Eviscerator's complement of TIEs. The Eviscerator will deploy its
fighters and move out behind their screen to engage our ships.
"Even at full speed, it will require two hours for our ships to engage each
other. Our snubs won't be traveling at full speed, and our Star Destroyers will
be pulling back. It will appear to the Eviscerator that we're running from it
or, at the very least, are re
luctant to engage it. When the Eviscerator moves
into position within the system to engage us, our ships will go to light speed.
The Star Destroyers will head for Ord Mirit while the fighters will head for
Borleias. The Eviscerator will be unable to follow our Destroyers immediately
because of its position in the system and the presence of planets that act as
natural Interdictor cruisers."
Ackbar's eyes half shut. "Then the Eviscerator goes to Borleias."
"Without her fighters?" Salm shook his head. "The TIEs cannot enter hyperspace
by themselves the way our fighters can. They will have to be recovered and that
will take time. Borleias can take care of itself, and the feint at the Venjagga
system will be obviously intended to keep the Eviscerator away from Ord Mirit."
The Admiral gave Salm a wall-eyed stare. "Why would the captain of the
Eviscerator believe there was anything of value at Ord Mirit?"
Wedge smiled. "We were thinking that there are some Bothan slicers who seriously
want to redeem themselves. We want them to plant information in the Imperial
networks that suggest a newly discovered, previously secret facility on Ord
Mirit may possess the key to finding the Katana fleet."
He felt a shiver run down his spine as he saw the effect of his words on Ackbar.
The Katana fleet had once been real enough, but back before even the Clone Wars
it had passed into legend. Over a hundred ships that were slave-circuited
together, the fleet had jumped into hyperspace and had never been seen again.
With the Empire crumbling, possession of that fleet would make its owner the
power in the galaxy. If the Alliance found it, the New Republic would become
invincible. If an Imperial officer found it, a new Emperor would be born.
"No sane officer could truly believe the Katana fleet could be found." Ackbar's
mouth gaped open in a grin. "But no sane officer could refuse to take the chance
that it could be found. The Eviscerator would have to go to Ord Mirit and Ord
Mirit is, what, twelve hours at flank speed to Borleias?"
"Add the four from Venjagga to Ord Mirit and we have sixteen hours at the very
least to take Borleias." Wedge nodded solemnly. "The beginning of the raid on
Borleias will be very simple. Rogue
Squadron goes in and blows the conduit. Going in and coming out we expect to
attract a lot of attention because while we're fighting, Lieutenant Page and
his commandos, as well as a number of similar units, are going to use the
c onduit to get into the Borleias base and disable it. They'll also hit the
Biotic station's spaceport. If they do it right, the TIE pilots sent up to
engage us won't know there's been a change in ownership until they come home.
Once the commandos are down and in, my people head out home."
"The arrival of my Defender Wing and the other fighters from Venjagga will
provide the Borleias base with enough of a distraction that Page's people can
take things down in short order, without having to damage anything we'll need to
use to defend the base."
Ackbar's barbels twitched. "Security will need to be very tight for this return
to Blackmoon."
"Yes, sir, but we have some advantages here. Derricote won't think we'll be
coming back because the moon is in position to block our escape route. We are
preparing a simulator package that hides the identity of our target. The run
across the lunar surface will be disguised as a run through an asteroid belt,
leading our people to believe we're moving against a ringed planet." Wedge
smiled. "This time our pilots will not know where they're going, but they won't
be in the dark about that they will face when they get there."
The Mon Calamari nodded. "You will have to hide your location from your XO."
"I know, so does he. He's not part of the operation, so he accepts not
knowing."
The Mon Calamari stood slowly. "I think this plan is a good one, and can be made
better. I do have one concern, however. It concerns your
Rogue Squadron, Commander Antilles, and the commandos."
"Sir?"
"If the operations are launched simultaneouslyand I must assume they will be
so an alarm raised by the Eviscerator will not put Borleias in a heightened
state of alert in time to disrupt your effortthere will be at least four hours
before we have more forces arriving at Borleias. Flight suit life support lasts
for three hours. Anyone left behind will die."
"I know that, sir."
"Do your people know that?"
Wedge shook his head. "They will before they go. I've got six operational ships.
This will be a volunteer mission."
"And a very bold one." Admiral Ackbar nodded solemnly. "Let us go over it again
and guarantee the gain will be worth the likely cost. Right now I believe I
could sell it to the Provisional Council, but some modifications will make this
a certainty. And if things go well, the way to Coruscant will finally lie open
to us."
I
29
Corran half hid his face behind his left hand, daring only to stare that the
floating hologram of the mythical world of Phenaru Prime with his left eye.
Aside from the addition of an asteroid ring, an ocean where the southern
continent was, and some adjustments to the coastlines, it looked exactly like
Borleias. The computer-projected world slowly spun above the cylinder in the
well of the pilots' briefing room. It looked calm and almost peaceful,
especially without the air-current overlays Whistler used to project onto it.
As peaceful as it looks, it's not where I want to die.
meters in diameter and forty meters long. It's reinforced and has suspension
cables helping to support the weight. A single proton torpedo should be able to
destroy it, but we're not sure how well it's going to show up on the targeting
computers. If we get a lock, it's likely to be at point-blank range."
Nawara Ven stroked the tip of one of his brain
tails. "Run up this rift valley and hit something the third of the size of an
X-wing, without the benefit of a targeting computer? That's impossible."
Gavin shook his head. "That's nothing. Back home in Beggar's Canyon ..."
The youth's voice trailed off as Wedge raised an eyebrow in his direction. "I
don't think any pilot from Tatooine ever found a mission tough, especially when
it involves racing through a canyon."
"Well, the target's not really that small, sir."
Corran laughed. "It is the size of a reclining Hutt, give or take a couple of
meters. The conduit can probably move faster, too."
Even Wedge laughed at the comment, but Corran knew it wasn't because of the weak
humor in his statement. Everyone in the room, the nine surviving pilots from
Rogue Squadron and Tycho Celchu, knew the mission being presented to them was
difficult. Their laughter came from the nervous tension of staring death in the
face and knowing death was likely to win this one.
"The real sticking point on this mission, people, is time-over-target. We'll be
coming in and using a meteor shower as cover for our insertion to the
atmosphere. This means we'll have to maneuver th
rough the asteroids to get into
Phenaru and get out again. We also have a long run up to light speed so we can
make the jump out of the gravity well. All this means we've got a half hour over
the target. If we burn too much time and fuel fighting, we don't get out."
Bror Jace scratched at the pale stubble on his chin. "That's cutting it rather
fine, isn't it? The valley run should take a third of that. If only six of us
are going in, that's one pass per flight element."
"He's right, Commander." Rhysati frowned. "Can't we get auxiliary fuel pods for
our T-65s?"
Wedge glanced over to where Emtrey stood. "Last check of our inventory didn't
show we had any and a check of the Alliance requisition system shows a backlog
of requests. That's what you said, wasn't it, Emtrey?"
"Yes, sir." The droid raised a hand and tilted his head to the side. "However,
sir, we now have some."
"What?" Wedge frowned. "I thought you characterized requisitioning them as an
exercise in futility."
"I did, sir." The droid shrugged in a most un-mechanical manner by bobbing his
head up and down on his neck. "I saw we needed them, so I scrounged 'em."
"Scrounge?"
"They cost a couple suits of the stormtrooper armor we had left over from
Talasea, the cold weather gear we are not using here on Noquivzor, and some
spare parts for which we have little use."
The squadron's commander stared at the droid for a moment. "How many did you
get?"
"A half dozen."
Wedge shook his head. "All that only got you six auxiliary fuel pods?"
"Sir, when scrounging merchandise you can get it fast, in good condition, or
cheap pick two." The droid's clamshell head righted itself again. "They're here
and Zraii is ready to fit them on ships. He's fitting them with a quick release
so you can jettison them when they're empty. It'll kill the drag when you're
fighting the squints. These pods give you half again the time-over-target."
Forty-five minutes sounded like forever, and in some ways it was. In atmosphere
the engines gobbled a lot more fuel than they did in space because of the
friction and drag. X-wings were a better fighter in atmosphere than TIEs, but
the two squad-
rons on the ground outnumbered the rogues four to one. Long odds and we ran
through the last of our luck on the previous visit to Blackmoon.