Jedi Cool Posted September 10, 2014 Share Posted September 10, 2014 chapter 1: Wedge had wanted a small, personal memorial service for the late pilot Corran Horn, but the bureaucrats have insisted on transforming it into a service for all victims of the Empire at which Rogue Squadron will be presented as heroes of the New Republic. They have all been given uniforms based on the green flightsuit Corran wore and political pressure has added additional members to the Squadron: Asyr Sei’lar and Inyri Forge are both reasonably good pilots, but Portha the Trandoshan doesn’t fly at all. Holographic images are displayed everywhere and the stands are packed despite fears of the Krytos virus. The difficulties on Coruscant are made worse by the spread of this virus among the non-human population of the planet which is causing some resentment among the aliens. This ceremony, to illustrate how diverse Rogue Squadron is and how they’ve come together to mourn the loss of a human pilot who gave his life to free them is supposed to be symbolic. Wedge’s eulogy reminds them that the fight is not over and cautions the citizens of Coruscant not to let the current problems cause them to look back on the Empire with rose-colored glasses. He reminds them that they may have known less deprivation, but it came at the cost of living in fear. Borsk Fey’lya compliments him on his eloquence. But it’s not going to prevent Captain Celchu from being tried. Wedges's petition to the Provisional Council will fail because it has to. His eloquence would be better used to try to engineer a merciful sentence.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I realize that some appointments are political because of the need to show more aliens in the Alliance, but some of these appointments are silly. Asyr Sei'lar may be reasonable because she went through the Bothan Martial Academy and has some undisclosed connection to their military. But Inyri Forge was recently the girlfriend of a Black Sun thug and Portha the Trandoshan can't even fly!The time is 7 years ABY. 3 years after Return of the Jedi. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jedi Cool Posted September 11, 2014 Author Share Posted September 11, 2014 chapter 2: Kirtan Loor looks down upon the memorial service and marvels at how he has risen in the last few months. His instructions have been to impede the New Republic’s attempts to rule this world by using special operatives under the Palpatine Counterinsurgency Front. He is almost sorry that his nemesis, Corran Horn, is dead, but he has so many other enemies. From Airen Cracken, Intelligence Director for the Alliance, to the members of Rogue Squadron, to Iella Wessiri, he has so many who have caused trouble for him. In fact, he could destroy them all right now with a remote detonator of explosives that have been placed around the memorial site. However, Isard had taught him to be more subtle. The Emperor had dismissed the Rebellion while he focused on the Jedi Knights. Yet, the Rebellion had outlived the Jedi. The Rebellion has to die for the Empire to assert itself and it cannot die through the use of huge explosions. Rogue Squadron has to live for Tycho Celchu’s trial. Loor had made sure more evidence was found by Cracken’s agents, but the Rogues will still protest this treatment of their comrade. If the liberators of Coruscant do not trust the politicians who follow them, why should the citizenry? The Krytos virus is continuing to work through the population. The rebels cannot keep up with the bacta requirements which is causing resentment from the non-humans who do not feel that humans are motivated enough to cure the sickness because of their immunity. Further, hoarding of bacta and rumors of humans coming down with the virus is causing panic which is further driving the price up. Other worlds are quarantining ships from Imperial Center which is weakening the economy of the New Republic as well. For now, he just has to manipulate the population of this world. He blows up the grandstand after nearly all of the people have gone. This will make beings think twice about congregating in large public spaces. He might blow up a bacta treatment center to keep beings on edge about possibly dying of a terrible disease versus being exploded into bits. He will target any official who the public tries to blame and make the situation worse. He appreciates the difficulty of a government having to respond to those trying to bring it down.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jedi Cool Posted September 12, 2014 Author Share Posted September 12, 2014 chapter 3: The Provisional Council meets in the rooms formerly used by senators, such as Mon Mothma, before the Rebellion. The lights are dim as a concession to Senator Sian Tevv who has been exposed to the Krytos virus. Bacta treatments are keeping the full-blown virus from ravaging him, but it’s left his eyes weak. Wedge is here, knowing that he is only allowed to petition the Council because of his role as a liberator of the planet. Mon Mothma, Corellia’s councilor Doman Beruss, Ackbar, Fey’lya, Princess Leia and Tevv are here. Mon Mothma reminds them all that sensitive information may be discussed here so it must be kept confidential. Wedge explains to the Council how Tycho Celchu has served with distinction for years and had many opportunities to kill Corran Horn if that’s what he was intending to do. General Airen Cracken provides more information on his case. Tycho served as a TIE fighter pilot before defecting to the Rebel Alliance after his family was killed during the destruction of Alderaan. He served through to the Battle of Endor and escaped the Death Star before its explosion. He volunteered for a covert mission to Coruscant six months later that resulted in his capture and detainment at Ysanne Isard’s Lusankya prison facility. A great many inmates there are brainwashed into becoming Imperial agents, but do not remember their time there until after they’ve committed whatever acts they were programmed to do and are in Alliance custody. Celchu seems to be the exception to the rule as he remembers being there. After being transferred from Lusankya to a penal colony, Celchu escaped. His debriefing revealed almost no details about Lusankya and they found nothing to indicate he’d been brainwashed. That doesn’t mean anything because that had been the case with others, too. Commander Antilles, believing the best about Celchu, arranged for him to serve as Rogue Squadron’s executive officer under strict supervision. They believe that Celchu betrayed the New Republic by tampering with Horn’s Z-95 Headhunter, which he had access to before the mission began. Horn had believed Celchu was an Imperial agent and threatened to expose him. Intelligence believes that Isard wanted the Alliance to take the planet so as to inherit the Krytos virus problem. It makes sense then that Horn’s death would take place after the planet’s shields were down. Further, the defection of the Black Asp crew sheds new light on the death of Bror Jace. Captain Iillor confirms that she was ordered to that area of space to wait for Jace whose leave was arranged and course plotted by Captain Celchu. Cracken also points out that Horn claimed that he spotted Celchu meeting with a known Imperial agent named Kirtan Loor who Horn knew very well. The chances of him being mistaken are slim. They’ve also uncovered a huge amount of credits transferred into Celchu’s accounts recently, totaling 15 million. Wedge objects that Isard would not need to pay a brainwashed agent. Cracken has given up trying to understand Isard’s mind. She may have decided to expose him as a traitor. They cannot assume that means he’s innocent because she may have hoped that they would interpret the credit transfer as a frame up attempt and continue to put Celchu in positions of trust until he could betray them again. Wedge still considered the evidence flimsy and urges them not to rush into this as he fears it will damage the New Republic. He threatens to take his objections to the public and to resign if it means that he will violate his oath by doing so. Princess Leia asks the Council to recess for an hour so she can speak with Commander Antilles alone. Privately, she explains to him that she believes that Tycho is innocent if only because Winter believes he is. However, she feels he’s wasting his time with this type of posturing. The Council will indulge his intreaties for a short time before telling him there’s nothing they can do. They cannot interfere with a military trial. There isn’t even a New Republic judiciary set up to handle normal trials, much less an appeals process. That will take time that they cannot spare right now. The Krytos virus has caused anti-human sentiment to run wild among the alien populations of this world. The non-humans believe that the rebels knew about the virus and encouraged populations to move back to their home planets so it would spread there, too. They also accuse the rebels of not trying very hard to treat the virus. In fact, the rebels are draining military supplies which is causing the price of bacta to go up. This will bankrupt the New Republic even if the Ashern rebels on Thyferra weren’t constantly causing bacta production problems. In fact, she is preparing to negotiate with the Hapans and that’s top secret. Wedge had no idea things were going this badly. She goes on to tell him that saving 95% of those affected will still result in millions of non-human casualties that will doubtless split the Alliance and make it easy for Isard or Zsinj to show up and pick up the pieces. Tycho has to be put on trial because he is human and is being accused of killing another human. If he isn’t tried speedily, the non-humans will complain that the Alliance is favoring a human suspect where they would have already executed an alien one. It’s a baseless charge, but one that will resonate with many species. The obvious preference would be to put Isard, who is nowhere to be found, on trial for creating the virus in the first place. For better or for worse, Imperial bureaucrats are needed to continue administrating the government. Arresting some of them as an example would cause the rest to go into hiding. She needs him to reconsider his resignation because Rogue Squadron is needed. Zsinj has attacked a convoy of Thyferran bacta and has it hold up at a space platform. One of the Ashern rebels got the location to the Alliance. Rogue Squadron needs to liberate that convoy and get the much-needed bacta here. If he resigns in support of his friend, he may doom millions to die.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jedi Cool Posted September 13, 2014 Author Share Posted September 13, 2014 chapter 4: Wedge, Nawara and Whistler visit Tycho in prison. He admits that he’s angry, but there’s nothing he can do about it now. He’s just happy he’s in isolation lest a guard or another prisoner decide to do the New Republic and favor and save them the cost of a trial. As for right now, his freedom isn’t much more restricted than what it was when he was confined to quarters while not on duty with Rogue Squadron. The only way he’ll ever truly be free is if the Empire is destroyed. Somewhere, there is information that proves he is innocent. The breaking apart of the Empire may bring that evidence to light and then he will no longer have to deal with the shadows of suspicion following him. Nawara asks about Lai Nootka, the Duros supply ship captain Tycho claimed he was meeting with at the cantina when Corran thought he was meeting Kirtan Loor. Neither Nootka’s ship nor his person can be found anywhere. Part of the prosecution’s argument is Corran’s certainty that Tycho was meeting with Loor whom he would have recognized. Since there is an abundance of evidence that Loor was on Coruscant, finding this Nootka is important. Whistler reports 247 unidentified bodies of Duros found on Coruscant. The Empire could have killed Nootka and dropped off his body somewhere. This would mean they’d have to find the ship Star’s Delight and see if there’s a log there. Nawara isn’t convinced he’s the right being to defend Tycho. Wedge points out that, because the New Republic wants to prove it can be fair in trying humans, it’s important to have a non-human defending him. Nawara points out that he has little experience with military trials and the civil trials he’s participated in have not had stakes so high. As it is, Emtrey will have to help him with some things. He cannot be called as a witness in the murder since he was sick with the first stages of Krytos himself. He also points out that the prosecutor is Halla Ettyk from Alderaan who had been part of Cracken’s team. He hopes there is some way to prove a conflict of interest to get her off of the case as she’s very sharp. The judges will be Admiral Ackbar who has been neutral during this whole thing, General Salm who has openly expressed his distrust of Tycho and General Madine who set up covert operations for the Empire before he defected to the Rebel Alliance. Besides being Corellian himself, Madine should have insight into how Imperial Intelligence operates. They could try to have Salm removed but, if it doesn’t work, they may poison him against them. Their defense is going to be that Tycho was framed. They will have to slip in persons who can raise doubt about who was actually guilty of the crime. If the prosecution will bring up Loor and Lusankya, that opens the door for the defense to bring up Isard and her methods. The court of public opinion could be swayed to believe that a hero is being swept up in the evil machinations of an Empire that is well known for this type of intrigue. However, if Tycho is found guilty, there is, as yet, no appeals system set up to handle such a thing. He is likely, since the charges are treason and murder, to be executed.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I again have to question the fairness of executing a man believed to have been the victim of Imperial brainwashing. I know that part of their concern is that Tycho knowingly killed Corran to keep him from being exposed, but I'm still calling them on this.Nawara defended accused beings in civil trials under the Empire! And none of those beings were in the kind of danger Tycho is in? We know some of them were sentenced to Kessel, but I'm sure there had to be a few death sentences among them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jedi Cool Posted September 14, 2014 Author Share Posted September 14, 2014 chapter 5: The other pilots are having trouble celebrating their victory under the circumstances. Wedge tells them that it’s hard to measure their troubles against the suffering of hundreds of thousands of beings. Three of their own were infected with the Krytos virus and were saved because of bacta. A bacta shortage is emerging because of it. Erisi tells him that she’s sent a message to her grandfather impressing upon him the urgent need for more bacta. Wedge appreciates this, but goes on to say that Warlord Zsinj has attacked a convoy of bacta belonging to a Thyferran family other than Erisi’s. They have been provided the location of the seized shipments by a member of the Ashern resistance group, whom Erisi classifies as terrorists, who was aboard the convoy at the time. He goes over the specifics of the Empress-class station in the Yag’Duhl system. Part of Salm’s Defender wings will be replaced with B-Wings. For the time being, Rogue Squadron will fly cover while assault shuttles lead the way for freighters to haul the bacta away. There is no intelligence on the location of the Super-Star Destroyer Iron Fist, but they are doomed if it shows up. Gavin is concerned that having Nawara flying this mission will jeopardize Tycho’s defense. Nawara has Whistler and Emtrey doing data checking now. If they are successful in this mission, perhaps the political expediency that is moving this trial along will diminish. For the time being, though, the mission is more important than the trial. Wedge holds Asyr Sei’lar back after the briefing for two reasons. The first is his concern over her relationship with Gavin. He cautions her that Gavin is 17-years old and very idealistic. If she is really not interested in a long-term relationship with him, Wedge wants her to let him down early before he gets hurt. Secondly, he is still trying to work out where she actually fits in to this group. Her experience at the Bothan Martial Academy gives her training that she is apparently not using in the Bothan military. He believes she is being used in the Bothan Intelligence wing which would indicate that Bothan Intelligence had something going on at Coruscant before the Rogues landed. She obviously saw that they needed help in liberating the planet and determined it was worthwhile enough to help. Eventually, though, her Bothan superiors will want to use her and he expects that Borsk Fey’lya will try to exert his influence over her. He does not want her to make decisions now, but does caution her about making the right ones when it comes time to do so. She assures him that she finds Gavin’s bright outlook very attractive and accepts when he tells her she can walk away from the squadron if she finds that she must.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jedi Cool Posted September 15, 2014 Author Share Posted September 15, 2014 chapter 6: Corran Horn is happy to be flying again. He is flying a TIE fighter and using the call sign Nemesis One, taking out his enemies through impossible odds. He doesn’t know how he knows the things he does. For example, he knows he’s fought ships known as Uglies before, ships cobbled together from spare parts of other ships, but he doesn’t know where. When he is ambushed by X-Wings, though, he recognizes them as Rogue Squadron and cannot fire on them. The simulation ends and Ysanne Isard chastises him for his failure again. He begs her for another chance. She will allow for it, but he will suffer an agonizing death if he disappoints her.----------------------------------------------------------------------------chapter 7: Rogue Squadron hits the station in Yag’Duhl and pulls off the operation perfectly. Several Interceptors are dead so their pilots can be debriefed on what they know about Zsinj. Wedge finds some of the pilots of TIE Fighters are mercenaries hired to protect the station for reasons they were not apprised of. They do not want to lose their ships if they surrender lest they be unable to work, so Wedge hires them to protect the ships returning to Coruscant with the bacta they were defending. One of the ships coming to pick up the supplies is the Pulsar Skate. Wedge tells Mirax that no one should grieve alone and wants to see her when they all get back.--------------------------------------------------------------------------- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jedi Cool Posted September 16, 2014 Author Share Posted September 16, 2014 chapter 8: Corran knows he’s being manipulated. He is happy to be flying, even in a TIE Interceptor. When he’s told two ships are approaching and they are TIE fighters, his minds reminds him of Tycho Celchu who defected to the Rebellion and betrayed Rogue Squadron. He should want to shoot Tycho. Sure enough, X-Wings approach and one of them is listed as being flown by Tycho, but Corran knows that’s not how Tycho flies. Another X-Wing is shown to be flown by Kirtan Loor. Corran thinks it’s too much that, while flying a simulator, he comes across two enemies that he would very much like to be rid of. The manipulation makes him angry. He remembers that Isard told him she’d turn him into a tool so getting him to hit Rebel targets is something she would want. It’s not what he wants. He tells her he will not betray his people. She assures him that those who break easily find their experience here pleasant. As for him, he will be going through a level 4 narc interrogation that he knows will open all his secrets to her. Fortunately, there’s not much to know about his CorSec days that Loor wouldn’t have already told her. Bastra had made sure he did virtually nothing in the year-and-a-half after he fled Corellia of any significance, so he doubts she’ll get anything worthwhile.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jedi Cool Posted September 17, 2014 Author Share Posted September 17, 2014 chapter 9: Wedge nervously chuckles at himself over being so anxious at Iella Wessiri’s door. He has to remind himself that he is here as a friend, not to ask her out. He hasn’t had much time to find the love of his life in the ten years since his parents died. But he finds Iella to be quite perceptive and very loyal to her friends. She’s certainly better to be around than Erisi Dlarit who spent a considerable amount of time trying to get him to find out where the Ashern terrorist who gave them the location of the space station is now. Wedge really doesn’t know, but promised to look into it if only to get rid of her. He suspects Erisi is taking Corran’s death personally and wants to avoid, in her mind, another tragedy by getting someone she perceives as dangerous out of the way. When Iella opens the door, Wedge explains that he was on his way to get something to eat and didn’t want to eat alone, so he is offering to take her with him. She thinks he should come inside and leads him into the main room where a man sits. She introduces him as her husband, Diric. Diric Wessiri had been captured in an Imperial sweep a year ago. After being interrogated, he was assigned to work as slave labor in the lab where the Krytos virus was developed. Cracken’s people liberated him and have been talking to him since then, only contacting Iella a few hours ago. Diric Wessiri is of a strong mind and he seems to understand that there is some attraction between the two. He assures them he holds no ill will had there been a romance while he was presumed dead. Wedge assures him that, though Iella is the type of person that might make a man such as himself happy, she is too loyal to her husband for such a romance to be possible. Diric mentions that the Empire controls the bodies, not the minds, so he knew he’d be free some day. When Wedge comments that Tycho says the same thing, Iella tells her husband that he is referring to the man who killed Corran. Iella is helping the prosecution, but she is trying to be fair-minded. Wedge explains that he believes Tycho has been framed as it is suspected that his escape from the Imperials was a ruse to get him accepted back into the rebel fold after being brainwashed. He believes the mere fact that they’ve uncovered only evidence that works against Tycho and not evidence that helps him is indicative of the Empire’s hand in setting him up. Diric thinks Tycho sounds fascinating which irritates his wife because Diric’s hobby is watching fascinating people and getting to know them. In fact, he once became interested in a defendant that she and Corran were investigating and determined she was innocent. He kept asking irritating questions until they got the men who were framing her. She points out this is not the same thing and he needs his rest. He agrees but gets her to acknowledge that a hobby will help him recuperate. She turns to the subject of food and Wedge offers to take them for some. Mirax Terrik contacts him at that moment and refuses a dinner invitation because she needs him to come see her at the Skate where she’s found something she thinks could be hazardous to the New Republic.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jedi Cool Posted September 18, 2014 Author Share Posted September 18, 2014 chapter 10: Gavin throws up while visiting the hovel of a Gamorrean family with Emtrey. The female is lamenting not speaking with her husband whom she said was last only sniffling. She’d left Coruscant a month before the liberation so she probably wasn’t infected with the Krytos, but he does urge her to have herself and her children tested. He tells Emtrey to tell her the husband’s prospects are not good, but they will do what they can. The truth is that the Gamorrean male had entombed himself in his quarters so he wouldn’t infect anyone else. He was probably lucid enough that bacta treatment would have saved him, but the black market prices on bacta are significant enough that many people don’t think it will be available. He sends for a clean-up crew and then heads into the locked room where the Gamorrean clings onto life until the last minute before dying. Gavin tells Asyr that he has become too accustomed to death if he can witness such a sight and wait for the place to be sterilized. Asyr points out that he’s just maturing, that’s all. After all, that’s what’s required for their primary mission to hunt down those responsible for this. They’ve volunteered to help out the public health crisis here because their species seem to be immune. They mustn’t forget what their real purpose is, though. Loor shows up at the hovel of a black market buyer named Nartlo who had kept some bacta to get himself some favors at a local brothel, but had also lost some. He has told Loor’s people that the bacta market has crashed and Loor wants to know why. Nartlo only knows that Rogue Squadron managed to get some, but the details are vague. Loor assigns him the task of finding out how much there is, where it is located and how long it will last. He is going to hit that storehouse as soon as he’s able to. To that effect, he is going to train small forces to hit such a facility. Isard’s missives to him have not waned in their criticisms of him. He knows that she will find fault with whatever he does so purposes to continue doing what he can to bring the New Republic down.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Interesting that Asyr refers to her and Gavin's species as immune. Asyr is a Bothan, right? I know Isard was quite interested in getting the Bothans infected. Was that not possible due to the speed at which they introduced the virus? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jedi Cool Posted September 19, 2014 Author Share Posted September 19, 2014 chapter 11: While a slave to Grand Moff Tarkin, Admiral Ackbar had learned how the governor viewed politics in terms of soft warfare. It is this same attitude he believes he sees in Borsk Fey’lya’s eyes. The Bothan believes they need to anticipate a retaliatory attack by Warlord Zsinj. Ackbar argues that they have some plans in force to deal with such an attack, but it is not their primary focus right now. They have to agree on the subject of bacta distribution. At this, Fey’lya suggests setting up preventive care facilities where beings can be treated with bacta mist therapy which he has been told kills the incubating virus. Neither Leia nor Ackbar has seen anything in Derricote’s notes which would indicate such a treatment is valid. She fears that this will waste more bacta than they have when already massive amounts are needed for demonstrated treatment. Fey’lya suggests that the humans on the Council would not oppose this idea if humans were dying of the illness. Doman Beruss points out that questioning this plan does not mean that the Princess or any other human is operating from an anti-human basis. Fey’lya points out that the humans use terms such as “aliens” and “non-humans” and rejects that they should be defined in comparison to them. He cannot overlook the possibility that they are unduly influenced by prejudicial feelings that the Empire encouraged. He believes that the issue of distribution should be left to those who are prey to the virus. Ackbar ably points out that this would remove Fey’lya himself from the decision as there has been no case reported of a Bothan being infected. There are many species who have and those related to those species are at risk, as well. Further, bacta therapy clinics will cause large numbers to congregate in areas where bodily fluid contamination cannot be controlled. Even if they thought bacta mist would do the trick, they also run the risk that a bacta-resistant strain will develop that will make it impossible to keep the virus from spreading across the galaxy. Ackbar suggests that they first secure the water supply since they know it was introduced there. They must also continue to concentrate treatment on those species they know for a fact are falling ill from it, pointing out that humans have worked tirelessly to help even though their seeming immunity from it does not obligate them to help. Finally, they have to stop the black market. Estimates of how much they got from Zsinj is exaggerated so prices have gone down. Once the real amount gets out, the prices will go up. If they can keep their supplies from being depleted by the black market, they can buy time until they can get more from Thyferra. They have to treat this virus like an enemy that they are all united in fighting. They must project the belief that it can be defeated. If people begin to think that there is not enough bacta, they will delay treatment until it’s too late and they either die or infect many others. They all know affluent members of society who have bought black market bacta for themselves. They’ve all probably been approached by someone hoping to procure some for themselves. This hoarding of bacta has to be stopped before it becomes a crisis. For this reason, General Cracken is forming a New Republic Security Force that will work as a law enforcement agency. Until that is established, however, he has another plan in mind. Fliry Vorru is shown in. He is eager to repay the debt he owes to them and acknowledges that his role in liberating Coruscant did not eliminate that debt. He does not feel that he was particularly helpful in that area, especially considering the operation did not go smoothly due to the betrayal by Zekka Thyne. His role was to reenergize Black Sun but he found, when he got here, that the Imperial forces had done a good job of picking the organization apart. There was virtually no leadership left and those vigos who are still operating, such as Durga the Hutt, resist unifying. He has no love lost for Black Sun as that was Xizor’s pet, not his. However, he explains to them that the Empire repressed criminals just as badly as it did the rebels. Criminals may not have become members of the Alliance, but not all of them are evil. Some are just trapped in a cycle of lawlessness that they could not escape because of how the Empire would treat them. He and others like him want the chance to live normal lives. Since the New Republic now represents legitimate authority on the planet, he looks to the Provisional Council to help gain people like him the opportunity to prove themselves. He and other criminals know the underworld of Coruscant well. They know how the black market works and how criminals think. He wants to form a security force that will operate in the underworld only. The Alliance already has enough trouble with security in the photogenic publicity-prone areas of the planet. Besides, many groups are forming militias of their own to help out and it’s not like there aren’t still beings who worked for the Empire still employed in the vast Coruscant bureaucracy. His argument is pragmatic, but Ackbar cannot help but see the cunning behind his eyes. He’d met Vorru before while serving Tarkin and both men were of the same temperament. Before Vorru had been sent to Kessel, Ackbar had hoped they’d both kill each other. When the rest of the Council agrees to extend the trust he is asking them for, Ackbar reminds him not to get out of line.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I'm amused by Fey'lya's argument that he and members of other species are referred to as non-humans or aliens. Does he have a more politically-correct term for referring to those species that are not human when conversation steers toward that grouping? The dismantling of Black Sun seems to have been very thorough in a relatively short amount of time. Remember that Prince Xizor was running it during Shadows of the Empire which takes place within six months of Empire Strikes Back and there’s enough evidence to believe it takes place right before Return of the Jedi. The dismantling of Black Sun, which had been operating for centuries, if not longer, would have had to have taken place after Xizor’s death at the end of Shadows of the Empire which really does not give the Empire much time to do this in the wake of the events of Jedi. I suppose one could argue that the Empire took the time to hobble the organization on Coruscant during the last three years but I would have thought they’d have other things on their mind!Ah, our old friend Durga the Hutt is still alive! We may remember how his zealousness at finding the murderer of his parent put him under Xizor’s thumb during the second “Han Solo trilogy”. By the end of Rebel Dawn, Durga was just a vigo. I can well imagine he is not interested in uniting with anyone else!So, it would appear that the Bothans, despite Isard’s clear interest in infecting them, have not yet fallen prey to the virus. Ackbar considers that Isard might have left it that way so that Bothan paranoia can further divide the Council. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jedi Cool Posted September 20, 2014 Author Share Posted September 20, 2014 chapter 12: On the way, Wedge hopes that the bad news doesn’t concern bad bacta. The Ashern rebels had once contaminated supplies of bacta that induced allergies to the medicine leaving the infected beings vulnerable to a host of illnesses that could not be treated. He knows that, if a similar situation has been found in the bacta liberated from Zsinj, it will spell disaster for the New Republic. Non-human populations will not believe that this was not the result of some human conspiracy. On the Skate, Mirax introduces him to Qlaern Hirf who is a member of the Ashern resistance and a Vratix which are an insectoid species. He was the one who tipped off the Alliance as to the location of Zsinj’s commandeered convoy. Wedge knows that Thyferrea is made up of a Vratix majority but the corporations that hold a monopoly on the bacta trade are run by the human families Zaltin and Xucphra which are rivals. Hirf explains that there used to be competition for bacta and the companies which now control it used to havesatellite locations with Vratix verachen overseeing processes. The idea was to produce a better product. Bacta became an obvious source of medical treatment during the Old Republic and was particularly helpful during the Clone Wars for treating wounded soldiers. However, Palpatine decided to make certain that only the military had a guaranteed supply of bacta so he directed all production in Zaltin’s and Xucphra’s favor. All small manufacturers were suppressed, causing the market to set the price for bacta. The Vratix verachen were returned home. The Vratix are used to combine two essential elements to create bacta so their skills are necessary. He tipped off the New Republic to the location of the bacta convoy because he wants someone to represent his people before the Provisional Council in the hopes of sponsoring New Republic membership. This is the problem. Thyferra has remained neutral but, since it is the sole source of bacta, the New Republic has to be careful. The human population of Thyferra considers the Ashern rebels to be terrorists. If the New Republic gives them some kind of status, Thyferra may cut off the supply of bacta and leave the population of Coruscant to suffer. He asks Qlaern if there’s anything wrong with the batch they rescued from Zsinj. The Vratix assures him there isn’t. In fact, he is aware that he is asking an awkward thing of Wedge. He is here to learn more about the virus and help them defeat it. This is risky as they do not know if they are immune to it. Wedge will have to go to General Cracken about this. Cracken can provide protection and discretion. They cannot allow Erisi to find out they are working with the Vratix or her family on Thyferra will hear of it.Besides, it might distract Cracken from prosecuting Tycho. If Qlaern really can help them with the virus, Wedge will be glad to represent his people even if it means going all the way to Thyferra.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------You know, a few chapters ago, Wedge was lecturing Asyr Sei’lar about dealing with multiple loyalties. Would she choose her Bothan superiors over her commitment to the squadron, etc? It seems to me that Wedge is very concerned about Erisi’s loyalties now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jedi Cool Posted September 21, 2014 Author Share Posted September 21, 2014 chapter 13: Nawara tries not to be nervous despite the fact that this tribunal is being staged in the Imperial Justice Court which was built to inspire fear. He had argued against the use of real-time news feeds of the trial which he believes only serves to inflame the masses. Fey’lya pointed out that conducting justice in the shadows only serves to remind beings of how the Empire did things. They were able to get news summaries only for the trial, in the end. Still, Nawara feels that his client is being tried in the court of public opinion. When Prosecutor Ettyk calls Pash Cracken to the stand, Nawara realizes how difficult this will be. He’d assumed she would start with establishing Tycho as being treasonous and show how that led to Corran’s murder. By calling Pash to the stand, she’s obviously starting with the stronger case of murder so that he will be assumed guilty of treason by default. Pash explains that he was on Coruscant at the time of Corran’s death, but had no information on where Captain Celchu was. Nawara objects when Ettyk asks where he thought Celchu would be. Continued questioning reveals that Pash and the other squadron members had been told about a raid on their base at Noquivzor which resulted in Celchu being classified as Missing in Action which most of them assumed to mean Dead. Ettyk questions Pash about what Corran said about Celchu the day of the raid. Nawara’s objections on grounds of hearsay are overruled. Pash states that Corran said he saw Celchu in a cantina speaking to Kirtan Loor. After he admits that he next saw Celchu on Coruscant rescuing them from stormtroopers, Ettyk finds it difficult to believe that Pash didn’t consider that a man believed to be dead turning up alive on Coruscant might lend some credence to Horn’s story. She mentions that Pash had to be subpoenaed to testify here and, since he obviously feels that he owes Celchu his life for saving him, she wants Pash treated as a hostile witness. They go over how Pash may not have considered Celchu a significant threat, but that he was more wary of him than the other members of the squadron, that Celchu had arranged for the Headhunters to be delivered to Rogue Squadron and that he’d overheard Corran telling Celchu that he planned to investigate him after the mission was over. All Nawara would be able to do on cross-examination is to get Pash to reveal Tycho’s explanation of meeting with Lai Nootka and not Kirtan Loor. To discuss that without having either Nootka here to confirm it or Loor to deny it is pointless, so he defers questioning the witness further. Erisi is called to the stand next.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jedi Cool Posted September 22, 2014 Author Share Posted September 22, 2014 chapter 14: Corran knows he’s been injected with an interrogation drug that would cause him to reveal a great deal of information. Still, he only goes back over and over his father’s death. Isard is irritated that he seems to be fixated on that. She’s also found that Gil Bastra obviously made sure Corran was set up with identities that were not useful in gaining information of any importance. Obviously, his time with the Rebel Alliance could be helpful if he were an agent of General Cracken’s. She suggests Corran might have been put into the Rogues to watch Capt. Celchu. He denies this, but she needs proof. So she straps him into a device modified from one similar to what Vader used on Solo at Bespin in order to determine the truth. All the Rogues are being treated as hostile witnesses which will make any statements they make as part of the defense seem hollow by the time they get to them. Erisi Dlarit explains that she and Corran were inserted into Coruscant for a week posing as a Kuati noblewoman and her telbun. She had gotten to know him well, shared confidences and noted his agitation at speaking with Captain Celchu right before the mission. The prosecution is unsuccessful at getting an exception to allow what Corran told her to be admissible, so they can only present that she assumed that something during Corran’s conversation with Tycho upset him. On cross-examination, Nawara gets her to admit she saw Corran speaking with Mirax Terrik after his conversation with Tycho so it may not necessarily have been Celchu who set him off. Isard is impressed with Corran’s resistance to pain. She wishes he had something to tell her after all of this. Unfortunately, it’s clear that his position with the Rebellion was not one that gave him access to information. She could just release him, but his former comrades will treat him the same way they treated Tycho Celchu. She thinks she can build on his reservations of the Rebellion being an unlawful organization and turn him into an Avenger for the Empire. She doesn’t think it’s impossible to turn his anger at her into anger toward the Alliance for not rescuing him.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Corran did speak with Mirax before going on to Tycho in chapter 14 of Wedge's Gamble. However, she also kissed him. There is no mention of Erisi seeing any of that, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jedi Cool Posted September 23, 2014 Author Share Posted September 23, 2014 chapter 15: In a largely inhospitable region of the city, Loor is apprised by his special operations agent of the speeders that have been loaded with explosives. The bacta storehouses do not show any sign of defenses designed to stop flying bombs. Mon Mothma is scheduled to give a speech outlining the plan for bacta distribution. Loor hasn’t decided whether or not to have speeder-ferrys fly the explosive vehicles into the storehouses at the end of her speech or after a couple of days of excitement building up among the population. He informs his agent to assume the attack will happen during the speech until he apprises him otherwise. He also confirms that Nartlo has been taken care of. Loor relishes the feeling that he is winning against Cracken and his intelligence team. Isard had made it clear that their goal was not the reconstruction of the Empire, but the destruction of the Rebellion. He does know, however, that some form of Imperial rule will, by necessity, follow the elimination of the Rebellion. He may prove himself valuable enough to be a part of that government. And, in any event, Isard can’t live forever. He calls for his airspeeder to pick him up and is surprised when Fliry Vorru shows up and forces him in. As they speed off, Vorru explains that they had been keeping an eye on Nartlo when Loor’s people visited him last night, but getting Loor himself was just a lucky coincidence. Nartlo had already told his people that Loor was asking about the location of the bacta storehouses as if he thought Loor was just another bacta dealer. Vorru knows more and suspects that Loor plans to hit those storehouses. As the head of the Imperial Center’s People’s Militia, Vorru has been entrusted with dealing with the Palpatine Counter-Insurgency Front. Once that’s gone, the Provisional Council won’t really need him and he will be left as just another criminal. He has demands of Loor who will be turned over to General Cracken if he doesn’t comply. Cracken will surely take measures to protect the bacta supply, so it’s within Loor’s best interests to work with Vorru.Vorru has some Imperial sympathies, but he doesn’t necessarily want to see the Rebellion fail, just their leaders. The Rebellion forgot that he was once considered a threat to Palpatine. By freeing him and putting him on Coruscant, they have put him in a position to take over once the division among the leadership causes it to fracture. He wants Loor to only hit one repository tonight. It’s one that his people have already cleared out most of the bacta from anyway, but the spike in prices will benefit the black market. Loor agrees because, as he’s found with Ysanne Isard, Vorru won’t live forever either.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jedi Cool Posted September 24, 2014 Author Share Posted September 24, 2014 chapter 16: Iella is heartened to see Diric in court even though she’d really rather he be someplace that may be a target for the Palpatine Counter-Insurgency Front. The hit on one of the bacta repositories last night has got a lot of beings on edge. Iella is called to testify about her history working with Corran Horn in CorSec. She describes how she and their boss, Gil Bastra, helped Corran after his father was killed. She explains how Agent Loor was responsible for releasing the bounty hunter who’d killed Hal Horn and that Corran held a personal grudge against the man since. Iella goes through the history of working with Agent Loor who was not particularly sociable and who would have trumped up charges against all of them if they’d not taken off and used assumed identities arranged by Gil Bastra. When asked how well Corran knew Agent Loor, she freely admits that Loor is easily recognizable and that Corran knew him as well as she did. Her review of the evidence referenced by Ettyk: a report made by Corran leads her to believe that Corran was certain he’d seen Celchu meeting with Loor in the Cantina. Ettyk asks if there was nothing in the report to make her question Corran’s identification of Loor. Iella pauses and mentions she did have one question. Ettyk tries to have that statement struck from the record as being an unresponsive one, but Ackbar reminds her that she was the one who asked the question in the first place. Ettyk withdraws the question and Nawara begins his cross-examination. He asks if she’s ever investigated a treason charge. She hasn’t but has worked many murders. He gets her to admit that, even after an arrest, an investigation into a murder can take a lot of time if one wishes to do the job right. He asks her about the length of time between the actual incident and when Corran filed the report. She notes that he filed the report two weeks after the incident. Besides being busy, Corran had thought Tycho to be dead after initially discussing the incident with Antilles. Once he realized that Tycho was alive, he filed the report. Further cross-examination reveals that she does feel Corran was capable of making mistakes so, when Nawara asks what she thought was odd about his incident report, Iella states that he recognized Kirtan Loor by his height and his gait as he left the Cantina with Tycho. He never actually saw Loor’s face. Ackbar recesses the trial for a week while he handles Provisional Council business and, as he mentions, to give Nawara more time for a thorough investigation. Iella meets with Ettyk later who tells her that the Provisional Council business was an excuse to clear the court safely. The Palpatine Counter-Insurgency Front has called in a bomb threat. The Council wants a week to shore up the building. As for Iella’s testimony, Ettyk freely admits she erred in pressing how certain Corran was that he saw Loor. However, all it does it open the possibility of Corran being wrong. No mention was made of the Duros Captain Nootka Celchu claimed to be meeting with. And it won’t because of hearsay rules. The only person who can introduce that is Celchu himself if he’s put on the stand. Iella asks what happens if the Duros himself testifies. Ettyk admits that it’s highly unlikely since they’ve found no evidence he was ever on the planet to begin with. Further, it turns out that Corran had gotten him out of a scrape on Garqi so it doesn’t make sense that he would take off after Tycho instead. Assuming that this meeting was as innocent as Celchu claims it is, it doesn’t change the bribe data or the fact that Corran threatened to expose Tycho which gives the latter a motive for murder. Iella wonders why Tycho didn’t just produce Nootka if he was so certain he could prove his innocence. It’s easier than killing someone. Ettyk accepts that it’s possible that the meeting really took place. That’s hard to prove without the Duros. However, his disappearance could indicate that someone is trying to make Tycho being an Imperial agent obvious. She does give Iella her blessing to look into it.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------In fact, I did check the appropriate chapters in question in Wedge's Gamble and can confirm that, at no point, did Corran claim to have seen Loor's face. Even the chapter in which he "saw" Loor only mentioned a hooded and cloaked figure. And he never saw them leave the Cantina. He started to get up when he recognized them and ran into the Trandoshan. In fact, I do rather wonder why Tycho didn't see the altercation involving Corran and come to help. Unless, he actually did leave at that exact moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jedi Cool Posted September 25, 2014 Author Share Posted September 25, 2014 chapter 17: Corran is tossed into a prison where he is met by a man named Urlor Sette who brings him to the “Old Man”. The “Old Man” introduces himself as Jan and explains to Corran that they don’t use titles here. It differentiates them from the Imperial prisoners. He thinks Corran reminds him of someone he knew during the Clone Wars. He asks if he might have known Corran’s grandfather, but does not recognize the name Rostek Horn. Some of them have been here since Yavin. They’ve gotten enough rebels in here, though, to know about the death of the Emperor, the second Death Star and the Ssi-ruuk invasion, but not much else. Imperial prisoners told them that Rogue Squadron was destroyed at Borleias. Corran explains that there was bad intel at the first Borleias attack, but it was rectified a month later when the Rogues hit it again and took the planet. They’ve also presumably taken Coruscant. General Evir Derricote appears and tells him they’ve inherited a dying world and teases him about Borleias. They explain that Derricote is the ranking Imperial prisoner here. Corran moves to punch him but Urlor pulls him off, explaining that the guards will take out any violence against Imperials on Jan instead. Derricote goes on to mention how the rebels will be blamed by the dying on Coruscant. History will reflect this period much differently than how the rebels are portraying it. He tells Jan that the older man will be featured kindly in his memoirs and tells him the batch is almost ready. Then leaves the room. It appears that Derricote does very well at brewing an ale. The fact that he hasn’t died from the substantial amount he drinks means it’s safe for them all. The man, Jan explains, seems perplexed at why he’s here as he’d thought he’d done what Isard wanted him to do. Jan tells him that transfers are rare. He’s been here nearly seven years and no one has found him yet. The prisoners in this area believe they are held in the highest-security which may or may not be on the lowest level. They do hard meaningless labor designed to wear down morale. The food they are given is better than subsistence level, but not recognizable enough to determine where they may be. It’s possible that lower security prisoners help prepare it. There has not been a successful escape from the prison, but Jan won’t discount that it’s impossible. Which is good because Corran tells him that Rogue Squadron doesn’t believe in the impossible.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I guess I can see why Derricote is here as his tinkering with the Krytos virus caused Isard a lot of delays. She might have shoved him here for that reason or because she just wanted to take over his Borleias operation once she kicked the rebels off of it. However, what kind of Imperial prisoners are here? Rivals?The Clone Wars generation question pops up again! In considering the Clone Wars, Jan asks if he might have known Corran’s grandfather and not father. This is another vague implication that the writer believed that the Clone Wars took place a generation earlier than the prequel trilogy tells us it did. Of course, we know that this book was written after the original trilogy and prior to the prequel trilogy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jedi Cool Posted September 26, 2014 Author Share Posted September 26, 2014 chapter 18: Wedge takes the stand and recounts that he and the Squadron were inserted on Coruscant to determine if the planet could be taken and, if so, how. He has to admit that General Cracken did not include Captain Celchu on the mission, but that Wedge, because he knows covert operations can have any number of things go wrong, wanted someone on the planet who’d been there before and could help them out. He denies ever suspecting that Tycho was a spy despite the fact that there was some concern that someone had betrayed them before their first disastrous mission to Borleias. Ettyk also brings up the death of Bror Jace as being suspicious. Een though Wedge issued orders that allowed Jace to go home, it was Captain Celchu who plotted the flight plan. The only way the Black Asp could have found Jace was if someone gave them that information. She reminds Wedge that Captain Iillor has testified to her being ordered to a specific place to intercept Jace. When Corran insisted he saw Tycho meeting with Kirtan Loor, she questions whether or not Wedge did not, even for a moment, consider that Cracken’s concerns about Tycho were correct. Wedge admits that the thought occurred to him but only for a moment. She presses him about his opinion of Corran Horn’s judgment, especially as it related to Zekka Thyne who was working for the Empire without Wedge’s knowledge. Wedge acknowledges that Corran didn’t trust Thyne, but there were other factors involved such as Thyne’s general attitude and demeanor that made Wedge feel that Corran’s judgment was correct. There were too many things going on at the time of Thyne’s betrayal for him to sit and consider whether Corran’s correct judgment of Thyne meant that he could be counted on for an accurate assessment of Tycho, too. In fact, Tycho was the one who passed on the order to bring the shields down. He could have sat on that. Ettyk points out that there are reasons to believe that Ysanne Isard wanted the Alliance to take this world in order to stick them with the Krytos virus. The fact that Tycho passed along orders that allowed the New Republic to do just that doesn’t mean he wasn’t working for her. In fact, only one man didn’t trust either Thyne or Celchu and that man is now dead. Outside the courtroom, Wedge is attacked by press people who want to know how he feels knowing that his testimony may condemn his friend. Diric Wessiri rescues him with a pat statement and leads him away. He assures Wedge that he didn’t do as badly as he thought. All he did was confirm that he ordered Tycho to Coruscant and had briefly considered the possibility that the man was a spy. He knows Wedge wanted to kill the prosecution’s case right then, but this trial is not a Death Star that he can put a torpedo into and destroy with one shot. Wedge reminds himself how he felt when he had to pull out of the first Death Star, leaving Luke to do it himself. And Biggs Darklighter dying. Diric tells him that he might have accomplished nothing more than dying himself. It is not his place to determine who the spies are and not his place to take his friends’ spots when they meet their untimely deaths. Everyone has survivor’s guilt. He himself often wonders why he lives when so many others die. Iella handles her guilt by doing her best to try to get Corran some justice. He also points out that Corran was not always right. He has spent a lot of time with Tycho and believes the man is innocent. Diric offers to take Wedge somewhere to eat, but Wedge asks about other testimony. Winter has been called after him and he knows that will be hard on Iella. He urges his new friend to go support his wife. Wedge himself is going to visit the images of old friends in the Criminals Gallery at the Galactic Museum. He’ll join them later for dinner so Iella will know that he still considers her a friend.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jedi Cool Posted September 27, 2014 Author Share Posted September 27, 2014 chapter 19: Asyr takes Gavin to a party her friend, Liska, is holding in which a number of Bothans are present, including Borsk Fey’lya. Gavin feels nervous about this. She reminds him that she doesn’t think he’s bigoted, but his background on Tatooine has given him little exposure to aliens. He is probably nervous about being outnumbered as she often does when around a large group of humans. He apologizes and she understands. She mingles with her friends while he gets a drink at the bar. A human named Herrit Gordon introduces himself as the Ministry of State. He brings Gavin up to speed on how Asyr’s family had wanted more from her than the life she has. She applied for the Bothan Martial Academy without their knowledge. They are proud of her accomplishments. Still, they do wonder when she’s going to get on with her life. Herrit mentions the tight-knit family groups that Bothans have. This precipitates an incident in which a Bothan named Karka Kre’fey approaches and demands to know if Gavin agrees that his grandfather, the late General Laryn Kre’fey, was guilty of making foolish decisions at the Borleias mission. Gavin does agree with those assessments. Karka slaps him. Herrit tries to step in to calm things down. Gavin holds his own and even turns down the duel Karka challenges him to. Gavin explains that Karka is not his enemy. The Empire is. It seems to him that Karka best honors his grandfather’s memory by continuing his quest to defeat the Empire rather than fixating on any mistakes he may have made. Admiral Ackbar meets with General Cracken and Mon Mothma in the latter’s quarters. She discusses how running a Rebellion is easier than a government. She can almost see why the Emperor dissolved the Senate, though she would never suggest that action herself. She just hates to see necessary action delayed because interested parties need to have time to reap benefits. Cracken explains that the terrorist attacks on Coruscant’s bacta supply were ten days ago but it’s still frightened people who do not want to risk their lives getting treatment from New Republic facilities that might be attacked. This is causing the black market bacta to increase in price again. Vorru says his people are doing everything they can, but Cracken isn’t convinced of that. Still, the man is keeping stable an area the Alliance could not hope to do themselves. General Cracken's team is working on studying the Krytos virus, but they will need a quantity of ryll which is going to require a trip to Ryloth. This will allow them to open up negotiations with the Twi'leks. Since they are quite fond of Commander Antilles and Nawara Ven is a prominent member of the New Republic forces, Rogue Squadron will be sent to handle this. Ackbar asks if they really want him to delay the trial again by sending Rogue Squadron out on a mission. Not that he objects. He can actually come up with any number of reasons as he, like Nawara, believes the defense has been given a woefully inadequate amount of time to prepare. He does, however, wonder if they should risk sending Erisi Dlarit on this mission since she is instrumental right now in petitioning her family to send more bacta. If something should happen to her, that could make dealing with Thyferra more difficult. Cracken doesn't think there's much risk. However, there's the chance that there could be more leaks. Mon Mothma agrees with Ackbar that the Thyferrans are quite proud of Erisi flying with Rogue Squadron and would not be happy if she were held back. They all agree that, for diplomatic reasons, she must fly with them and must stay alive.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Of course, Mon Mothma had been a member of the Republic Senate so she surely remembers the difficulties of getting things done. By the time the Emperor dissolved it, it was little more than a rubber-stamp body. After all, Palpatine had mentioned in Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader that the Senate could still discuss legislation but he would make the final decision in order to avoid endless debate about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jedi Cool Posted September 28, 2014 Author Share Posted September 28, 2014 chapter 20: Loor is angry that Vorru thinks he can veto a strike against Rogue Squadron which Loor has been put here to do and has the X-Wings ready to strike at their base. Vorru points out that such a strike would make Cracken think he leaked their impending mission. Loor counters that someone in the medical corps is marketing patent medicine based on ryll. Since Rogue Squadron will be bringing a supply back, Vorru can just accuse her of being leak. Vorru refuses because it doesn’t fit into his plans right now. Loor finds he’s more frightened of the light tone Vorru uses than any menace he could have put behind his words. Vorru does have an assignment for Loor’s people to hit: a school. Not a training school or one for the children of the rebel leaders, but just an ordinary school. Threatening someone’s child unites parents against you, but killing one causes mourning. They will keep their children home where the rebels cannot indoctrinate them. They will see the New Republic as weak and turn to people like him to protect them. Loor objects to this, but Vorru lectures him on thinking that he’s more noble just because he’s hitting military targets. Loor knows, however, that this just strengthens Vorru’s position rather than the Empire’s. Vorru does allow for him to pick half a dozen targets from which he will choose one or two for a strike. He has some irritants he has to get rid of himself in an airspeeder crash using a chemical composition similar to what will be used at the school. That will be enough to send Cracken’s men off in the wrong direction. In the meantime, Cracken escorts Wedge into the Imperial Palace to see Qlaern prior to his mission to Ryloth. Ten of the X-Wings will be held in the transport Courage of Sullust while Wedge will travel with Mirax Terrik in the Pulsar Skate. The X-Wings will fly escort off of Ryloth before being loaded onto another transport back to Coruscant. Qlaern explains that the ryll is working to a certain extent but there are variations. Ryll is cut into different grades with the Twi’leks keeping the best grades for themselves. Ryll kor is the rarest grade and absorbs light except in ultraviolent range. They need as much kor as they can get. Wedge promises he will do what he can.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jedi Cool Posted September 29, 2014 Author Share Posted September 29, 2014 chapter 21: Corran hopes the guards believe the dull look in his eyes is real and not see the anger behind them. He has been talking with Jan about his escape plans. The man has wonderful insight, but tries to discourage him from trying. Corran has a hunch he won’t die. He thinks that they would all be dead now if they were of no use to Isard. All he has to do is not be too much of a bother to her. Secondly, it appears that those who try to escape and fail are returned to the prison as blackened skeletons which the prisoners then bury. Corran wonders if they really are the actual escapees or if Isard just has someone in a lower tier of security fried so they can toss a body in and make the prisoners think escape is impossible. Jan holds on to hope that the Alliance will free them. It’s the responsibility that he has for the prisoners here that moves Corran and angers him, but it means that it’s another way Isard controls the older man. He takes personally every dead prisoner. When they are led into the mines for work, he notices the ancient machinery and tools. There are rumors that the prison was cobbled together from old Clone Wars ships and it’s easy to believe that. Because it’s something Isard probably wants them to believe, Corran will not. The guards’ weapons are set to stun and there are plenty of things to note if one is alert enough. He starts formulating an escape plan during their make-work when a guard decides that the new prisoner needs to learn a lesson first and hits him with his blaster muzzle. Corran tosses a bucket of gravel at him, knowing that he has enough time to grab the man’s blaster. A blue bolt sends all of the prisoners diving for cover except Jan who gives him a look. Corran takes a stun bolt to the chest and is taken several floors up to medical care. In a modern-day medical facility, he gets the distinct impression of actual disciplined stormtroopers marching over his head. Since that is not possible, he wonders how messed up he is.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jedi Cool Posted September 30, 2014 Author Share Posted September 30, 2014 chapter 22: Approaching Ryloth, Mirax invites Wedge up to the cockpit for a look at the extremely hot planet. She tells him that she’s getting better about Corran, but doesn’t understand why his death upset her so much. They hadn’t dated and weren’t really involved. Wedge points out that they have similar personalities and have strong relationships with their fathers. It’s no surprise that they found each other and bonded. Booster and Hal might have been friends under other circumstances. She keeps hoping that she’ll see him again. She knows the crash was bad, but they never found a body, after all. Wedge feels the same way. Because most of his friends were killed and left no body, he always expects to see them walk through a door. She mentions how you think you see them in a crowd or on the street. After landing, Wedge and Nawara are greeted by members of two clans. Koh’shak of the Shak Clan and Cazne’olan of the Olan Clan. They welcome Wedge back to Ryloth. Wedge explains to Nawara that Rogue Squadron had an adventure here before the Twi’lek joined the squadron. Wedge mentions that they have brought things from the New Republic he hopes the Twi’leks will enjoy. When Koh’shak offers to get down to business, Wedge notes that Nawara seems surprised. The lawyer tells Koh’shak that Wedge would like to invoke twi’janii. Koh’shak offers that he would have volunteered to do just that had he thought that Wedge wouldn’t find their climate very oppressive. However, he will arrange for twi’janii. Pleasure before business, after all. Wedge, however, is certain that Koh’shak is all business.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------I believe that Wedge's first visit to Ryloth was in the Rogue Squadron comics Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jedi Cool Posted October 1, 2014 Author Share Posted October 1, 2014 chapter 23: Iella continues her search for Lai Nootka and his ship. She finds, from Imperial records, that he’d been imprisoned on Garqi where he’d met Corran. Alliance records show that, while not leaning favorably toward them, Nootka did do business with them which could explain him possibly dealing with Tycho. She finds that he enjoys a series of young-adult novels and often picks aliases for himself and his ship based on combinations of names from the stories. She begins plugging in various names herself to find him and does find a log entry by a Lt. Virar Needa of an orbital mirror station of a ship called Novachild commanded by a Duros named Hes Glillto entering the Coruscant system. Orbital mirror station crews are not expected to keep these types of logs, but Needa seems to be obsessed about it. There is no entry of the ship leaving the system, though. In fact, it appears that no other Imperial records mention him at all which leads her to believe they’ve been deleted. And, if they’ve been deleted, it could be because someone is hoping to frame Tycho…or that Tycho deleted them in the hopes that he could claim he’d been framed. But none of this proves that Tycho is telling the truth. They have no evidence that Lai Nootka was on Coruscant the day Tycho says he was speaking with him or that Nootka and Glillto are the same person. Diric, however, thinks Tycho is innocent. Iella isn’t sure she wants him to be as she wants someone to pay for Corran’s death. Whistler and Emtrey come in and Emtrey tells her the little droid has some information to give her. They show her graphs of the path the disease has taken on Coruscant. The evidence shows that, had the Alliance taken Coruscant a week later, the virus would have spread so rapidly that it would have decimated huge populations of non-humans. The Alliance’s vaporizing of a huge reservoir in order to cause the atmospheric storms seems to have rid a large part of the water supply in which the virus was contained. Many of them would have fled the planet and spread it on their own homeworlds. They’d assume that Ysanne Isard wanted them to have the planet so they’d be stuck with a disease-ridden world that would consume their resources. While that may be true, it would appear that the Alliance struck earlier than what she would have wanted in order for the disease to have incubated to the point where it would have been impossible to stop the eradication of species galaxy-wide. In other words, she knew they would take the planet eventually, but wanted it to be on her schedule. The fact that Tycho helped with the liberation of the planet that occurred sooner than Isard would have wanted may indicate that he was not working for her. Or it could mean that it’s what Isard wants them to think. She thanks them for it, but it’s about as helpful as her research on Lai Nootka. She doesn’t think that Isard would devote that many resources to bring down one man. Emtrey tells her that Whistler thinks that, if Tycho is convicted, besides distracting Commander Antilles, it will discredit Rogue Squadron. The first attack on Borleias may be revisited. The bad intel could be blamed on Tycho rather than on General Kre’fey which may cause the Bothans to make a grab for additional power. Whistler also points out that Isard could just be doing it because she’s a cruel person.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------It appears that Lai Nootka's first appearance was in Star Wars Adventure Journals #7: "Missed Chance". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jedi Cool Posted October 2, 2014 Author Share Posted October 2, 2014 chapter 24: Corran insists that his experiment will work. Urlor and Jan are not so sure. Corran thinks that the guard singled him out because someone must have tipped him off that he’d planned to escape. He’d told only Jan and Urlor, but had asked enough questions of the others that one might have assumed what he was going to do. Secondly…he thinks they are upside down. It makes sense that gravity could be switched here so that any prisoner who escaped would try to go up instead of down, thinking he was on his way to freedom. It also explains why he thought he heard stormtroopers walking on the ceiling above him. He wants to prove it to them and asks if they will come. Urlor won’t because his hand is crippled and he thinks he will impede Corran. Jan will not because, just as the other inmates protect him by not fighting the Imperials, he protects them by being here. He fears that, if he escapes, Isard will take it out on the others. Corran understands that there might be spies among the prisoners here and, if he himself is a spy, he won’t get the chance to take others with him. He assures them he is not like Tycho Celchu. Jan recognizes the name as someone who was here for a few months before being removed. Corran explains that Tycho gave Isard the override codes to his ship which resulted in him being brought here. Isard told him that Tycho is now on trial for his murder which means justice is being done. The other men note that Celchu was a sleeper – the term used for those prisoners who are so affected by their interrogation that they are in severe shock. Ambulatory a lot of the time. Some of them get better but have problems with short term memory. Jan notes that, if Tycho was really an Imperial agent, being a sleeper would have been an ideal cover as people would have spoken in front of him without concern. The Imperials might have pulled him out after a suitable period passed in which most sleepers get better in order to debrief him. He certainly had Jan fooled. Wedge is treated to food and music and dancing. He has no illusions about the questions that are asked of him, though, knowing that he is being interrogated even in these pleasant surroundings.The beautiful dancing girls certainly produce a reaction in him, but he notes how easy it is to objectify a living being. The Imperials interrupted their animal instincts being provoked by such beings as meaning that the objects of their lusts were just animals themselves. When Cazne’olan offers a private session with a dancing girl named Sienn’rha, he politely refuses. Cazne’olan explains that she was taught to dance by Bib Fortuna who thought to present her as a gift to Jabba the Hutt. Luke Skywalker saved her from that fate, so her dancing tonight is in gratitude to the Alliance to which she recognizes Wedge as being a great hero. Wedge asks why Bib Fortuna’s name is split whereas all other Twi’lek names are run together. The other explains that names and clan names are symbolic of belonging. Because Fortuna preyed on his own people, he was cast out so his name was split so he would not longer belong to Ryloth. They discuss the way the names are run together help convey the meaning of the name which should be interpreted as an attribute of the person. For example, the way he has chosen to pronounce Wedge’s name can be interpreted as “Slayer of Stars” rather than something so foul it can produce vomiting in a rancor”. Wedge appreciates the better pronunciation. They are interrupted by the arrival of three Uglies. A Twi’lek with tattooed lekku appears from one of them wearing an Imperial uniform. He calls himself Tal’dira and confronts Wedge. He knows Wedge has come for the ryll, but insists he must fight warrior to warrior for it. Wedge can probably wipe out Tal’dira in a space battle. Vibroblades may be more challenging. Still, he agrees. Then he discovers that Tal’dira will not be his opponent. He fears that the Twi’lek will pick one of his comrades instead, but Tal’dira tosses a vibroblade at Koh’shak. Then he grabs the blade and cuts the broach holding the Twi’lek’s cloak shut and it falls down. Grasping Koh’shak, Tal’dira explains that the other one knew what Wedge was coming for and yet hid that knowledge from him so that he could profit from the gifts Wedge was bringing. These are the actions of a merchant, not a warrior. He gives Wedge the blade as a gift, telling him that he can have all the kor he wants in the hopes that the disease formed by cowards to kill can be stopped. Wedge accepts the offer and, in return, indicates the gifts on board their ships for Tal’dira’s warriors. The latter assigns the merchants for the loading and unloading while asking Wedge to join him in the twi’janii.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------I'm confused now. In the epilogue for the last book, Isard indicated that she would be glad to let the moral consciences of the Alliance be troubled for executing Tycho for murder wrongfully. Corran told her he would tell them the truth when he got back. This indicated to me that she was admitting that Tycho wasn’t really an agent and that Corran was threatening to reveal the truth. However, it does appear, in this book that Corran still believes that Tycho is an Imperial agent. Then what was that conversation between him and Isard about? Was it just that they would execute him for killing a man who didn’t turn out to be dead? Corran wouldn’t have to tell them anything if he just showed up living and breathing, right? And the fact that Corran still isn’t accounting for Tycho possibly being brainwashed is still troubling me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jedi Cool Posted October 3, 2014 Author Share Posted October 3, 2014 chapter 25: Corran feels nervous, having planned this experiment for two days. Jan and Urlor are the only ones who know anything about it, but the other prisoners who have been talked into causing a distraction are a bit anxious. When Corran finds the right stone, he signals. Then two prisoners get into an altercation about a falling tool that causes the others to begin clamoring for a fight. Corran tosses the stone into the air, believing that the gravity generators generators underneath his feet are strong enough to hold him to the floor but will be less effective with more distance. Thus the stone should be pulled automatically toward the core of the planet they were on and stay in the air. As guards stun the prisoners to quell the turmoil, he watches the stone lift up toward a stalactite and stay there. Then he’s stunned and falls down…or, in this case, up. Derricote just happens to be watching Horn at the time and wonders what he’s up to just throwing a rock in the air. The fact that the other prisoners are staging this charade for something stupid is even more confusing. Then he notices the stone sticking between the stalactites and realizes what Horn has learned: they are upside down. He could turn Horn into the guards but Isard doesn’t reward informants. He will have to keep an eye on Horn who could be the key to his redemption.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jedi Cool Posted October 4, 2014 Author Share Posted October 4, 2014 chapter 26: On cross-examination, back on Coruscant after his mission to Ryloth, Nawara questions an Intelligence financial auditer who admits that the protection that the Empire normally affords around accounts set up for Imperial agents was minimal in Celchu’s case. This would ordinarily indicate that Celchu was not a particularly important agent for them. Additionally, most agents with so little protection on their accounts are paid much less than the 15 million credits they have found under Tycho’s name in six different accounts. There is no evidence that Captain Celchu knew about the accounts and he’s never accessed them. The expert also testifies that she has uncovered at least one case in the past of the Empire setting up fake accounts to implicate an innocent Alliance officer: General Crix Madine who is currently sitting as part of this tribunal. Nawara ends this line of questioning clearly implying that the Empire is not above framing an innocent person and that the ease at which the accounts under Tycho’s name were found and the amount of funds in them are cause for suspicion. Later, he discusses their prospects with Tycho. While he believes that he’s certainly put some doubt in Madine’s mind as to whether or not Tycho is being paid off, that still leaves some question as to how the Tribunal will treat the case. If they assume that Tycho was acting of his own accord, then it would be relatively easy for them to convict him of treason and murder and have him executed. If, however, they think he was acting as a result of Imperial brainwashing, they would have to have him committed to a hospital for care until he is cured. This might be never which would be Tycho’s nightmare. The Tribunal’s nightmare is that a droid will declare him cured in a couple of weeks and release him, making the justice system look inept. The cards are stacked against him. Further, while Rogue Squadron was on Ryloth, the Palpatine Counter-Insurgency Front blew up a school. They claim that it was done to protest the sham of a trial that is being held and demand that Tycho be released or they will continue these acts. Tycho doesn’t understand why they would plant evidence to frame him and then claim he was framed. Nawara explains how divisive the trial is. The New Republic has to prove they are different from the Empire so they do everything openly. By claiming Tycho is being framed, the Imperials are causing division between humans and aliens. The humans will believe Tycho is innocent while the aliens think that Tycho is not only guilty of this crime, but also of releasing the Krytos virus. Tycho wants to testify as he knows he can convince them he is innocent. Nawara knows he’s been listening to Diric Wessiri and reminds Tycho that Diric obviously feels a bond with Tycho because they were both Imperial prisoners. Tycho asks if Nawara didn’t feel like a prisoner when he was enduring prejudice. He didn’t eliminate fear from his life when he joined the Rebellion but he could control it. He admits that he did experience a freeing of himself when he joined the Alliance, but does not mean that translates into Tycho testifying. Ettyk will twist every detail of his life from attending the Imperial academy on to make it look like he has always been in the hands of Imperial Intelligence. She will have him saying things he doesn’t mean and make preposterous conclusions. People will believe her. Tycho has been to the Galactic Museum. He knows how facts are twisted into lies. The fact that there are people who believe that the Emperor died destroying a rebel superweapon is proof enough of that. They will introduce data showing that the attack on Coruscant with Tycho’s help make the virus much milder than it could have been and, of course, the search is still on for Lai Nootka. But it will take a miracle at this point.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Well, after all this, there is finally some legal acknowledgement that Tycho may not have been in his right mind when he allegedly betrayed and killed Corran! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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