"Isard's Revenge": Book 8 in the X-Wing Series

[Jedi Cool]

chapter 1:

Rogue Squadron is pulled out of hyperspace by Interdictors before they reach the Bilbringi shipyards. Clearly, Grand Admiral Thrawn expected them. The Rogues do what they do best, fighting Interceptors and going after a Golan Defense Station until the Imperial fleet inexplicably starts pulling back and they are given the recall to return to Home One.

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• The time is 9 years ABY at the tail end of The Last Command.

[Jedi Cool]

chapter 2:

Admiral Ackbar explains to Wedge that the Imperials pulled back after receiving reports regarding Wayland where Grand Admiral Thrawn had been harboring the insane clone of a Jedi Master, as well as his secret cloning facility.

The Noghri species had been manipulated by the Empire to serve as assassins. After learning how they’d been duped, they changed sides and one of them stationed aboard the Chimaera, a bodyguard named Rukh, is thought to have killed Thrawn personally.

Since they haven’t heard from the assassin, it’s possible Thrawn could still be alive but the Noghri are very good assassins.

The Empire’s back is not broken, but the death of Thrawn is a big step toward finally ending the fighting. Wedge had never thought that he would live to see this day, considering all the friends he’s lost. Ackbar tells him that the time is right to consider a family, something he can do if he’s promoted to General.

It’s an old conflict between them. Wedge would prefer running the starfighter squadrons, but Ackbar points out that he’s setting a terrible example for his pilots. None of them will accept promotions either. If he accepts a promotion to general, it would pave the way for his pilots to get their well-deserved ones, too. As a concession, he will continue to command Rogue Squadron.

Wedge thinks there’s something more to this. Ackbar explains that there are still warlords out there who hold territory. System liberation is a delicate operation. They cannot go in full force lest there be comparisons to the Empire; they cannot be too undermanned or the New Republic gets hit with losses.

They are going to go after Admiral Delak Krennel, one of the quieter warlords, who has held sway over Ciutric after killing Sate Pestage. Wedge also notes that bringing in Krennel for killing Pestage, as well as his entire family, demonstrates that one cannot escape justice. Being a general has to give him the big picture, of course, but he’s more interested in the picture of keeping his men alive.

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• The chapter misspells Rukh’s name as Ruhk.

• Admiral Krennel appeared in Dark Horse Comics’ Rogue Squadron series.

• Ciutric was where Darth Bane had his estate in Dynasty of Evil and was mentioned in Darth Plagueis.

• The chapter mentioned several names from previous Rogue Squadron and Wraith Squadron books who have died, including Jesmin Ackbar, Grinder and Castin Donn.

[Jedi Cool]

chapter 3:

Corran’s wife, Mirax, greets him and Wedge upon returning. There’s a celebratory party set up for the Rogues.

Gavin Darklighter dances with Asyr Sei’lar, Tycho Celchu with Winter, while Hobbie and Janson chat with Nawara Ven and his wife, former Rogue Rhysati Ynr. Rogues Lyyr Zatoq and Khe-Jeen Slee are also here with Koyi Komad the mechanic.

Corran also spies someone who shouldn’t be here. The man approaches him and apologizes. He know who Corran is but not who he is. Corran tells him his name is Urlor Sette and he was imprisoned aboard the Lusankya with him.

Urlor remembers now and that he has a message for Corran. He screams, sprays blood and other bodily fluids, bones cracking, before dying.

Corran explains to the others who Urlor was and says he got the message.

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• Corran was imprisoned aboard the Lusankya, a Super Star Destroyer, on Coruscant during The Krytos Trap. Urlor was a fellow prisoner and friend of fellow inmate General Jan Dodonna.
• We ran into new Rogues in Solo Command with no mention of who they replaced or why. In the Thrawn trilogy, which was written before most of the X-Wing books, the Rogues went unnamed. Here, the roster appears to be:

1. General Wedge Antilles, Rogue Leader and One.

2. Tycho Celchu, Rogue 2

3. Lyyr Zatoq, Rogue 3

4. Derek “Hobbie” Klivian, Rogue 4

5. Wes Janson, Rogue 5

6. Gavin Darklighter, Rogue 6

7. Myn Donos, Rogue 7

8. Khe-Jeen Slee, Rogue 8

9. Corran Horn, Rogue 9

10. Ooryl Qyrrg, Rogue 10

11. Asyr Sei’lar, Rogue 11

12. Inyri Forge, Rogue 12

13. Nawara Ven, Executive Officer

[Jedi Cool]

chapter 4:

Prince-Admiral Krennel had hated serving under Thrawn in the Unknown Regions. He’d tried to point out how brute force surpassed artistic study any day but that had only gotten him and the Reckoning sent back to the Core in disgrace. Krennel would have expected to be chastised by the Emperor had the Battle of Endor not taken care of that problem.

He’d rejoined the Imperial Navy later and carved out a niche for himself here on Ciutric after getting rid of Sate Pestage. Then Thrawn had come back. Krennel had helped where he saw fit but tried to avoid the whole situation. It’s just as well that Thrawn’s gotten himself killed.

Which is nearly what happens to Krennel when he runs into a monofilament wire on the way into his office that he has to use his artificial hand to rid himself of. The would-be assassin turns out to be long-thought dead Director of Imperial Intelligence Ysanne Isard.

She uses the opportunity to point out that, if she wanted him dead, he would be, so he will have to take her word for it that this is not her intent. Krennel reminds himself not to fall for that trick.

They discuss the affairs of the Empire, now weakened due to the Thrawn’s death, but even Isard acknowledges the limitations of aliens like Thrawn who seek to work with other non-humans rather than act as their superiors.

This is why the New Republic will never work. It’s been demonstrated how fragile the alliances between species in that government is. Most recently, the Bothans and Mon Calamari were at each others’ throats. It would be catastrophic if those responsible for the Caamasi genocide were exposed, for example.

Though parts of her memory have been damaged due to the slight head injury she suffered during her escape, she is still the same resourceful, brutal Isard. She tells Krennel that her sources have indicated the New Repubic is targeting him next.

They will counter this effort by having Krennel declare his Ciutric Hegemony to be a welcoming area for humans and other species who wish to to make a life for themselves free of endless sacrifices the New Republic constantly requires of its human and near-human population to make up for the mistreatment of aliens under the Empire.

Eventually, the humans will tire of endless reparations for past injustices and take him up on the offer. In the meantime, he will also explain that he killed Sate Pestage because the New Republic was going to do it anyway and he just saved them the work.

If the New Republic attacks, it will look like the aliens on the Council are opposed to individuals building better lives for themselves based on merit. In the mix, she also would like to eliminate Rogue Squadron and has sent them a message that will confuse and distract them.

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• Isard’s past scheme was to turn aliens against humans. This time, it’s to turn humans against aliens.

• Speaking of Isard, she was presumed dead at the end of the The Bacta War while fleeing Thyferra. There was some speculation that she might have survived but never any evidence that she had done so.

[Jedi Cool]

chapter 5:

In the morgue, Wedge and Iella Wessiri comfort Corran and assure him that he is not responsible for Urlor’s death. The man had been implanted with a device that would trigger his death upon Corran saying his name. Intellectually, he knows that the person who implanted the device is responsible, but he also blames himself for not being able to rescue the inmates aboard Lusankya as he’d promised.

Rogue Squadron had tried but Isard had scattered the hundreds of inmates across the galaxy and it’s nearly impossible to find them all. The secret of their locations died with her. Corran couldn’t have known that she had done that before her shuttle was destroyed.

They analyze the device and trigger a mechanism which essentially started a massive stroke. While it’s possible that they’d used a voiceprint of Corran from his time in the prison, it is more likely that someone has access to classified New Republic material.

Evidence of this is that Urlor showed up at a party for the Rogues that no one really knew about until this afternoon.

They will have to investigate where the device and the toxin that triggered the stroke came from. For now, Iella urges them both to get some sleep. Someone out there obviously wants Rogue Squadron to get a message.

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[Jedi Cool]

chapter 6:

Corran decides to take a walk but runs into a gang of kids led by a Rodian and gets a bit beat up. He does, however, find he is able to anticipate moves and things like that which get Mirax teasing him about his Force connection.

She doesn’t want him beating himself up over Urlor Sette. He reminds her that somebody sent Urlor to him because they know he’d vowed to free the Lusankya prisoners. As long as they are still held by the Empire, they are in danger, especially since it would appear that someone close to Isard is using them to lure Rogue Squadron into what is probably a trap.

Gavin feels the same way. He knows that the others will want to go after whoever is responsible for that man’s death. He and Asyr talk about the perils of war and how to make life better.

Among their topics is the possibility of getting married and starting a family. They are unable to have children together, but they could adopt. Asyr tells him she wants to adopt at least one Bothan child and warns him that her family would see any grandchildren, though loving them, as a means to form alliances with others.

In addition, one of them would have to leave the squadron in order to keep their children from losing both both parents again. Gavin thinks this is a decision that doesn’t have to be made now.

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[Jedi Cool]

chapter 7:

Corran waits impatiently for the green light to begin the mission. The implant and the toxin have been traced to an old facility on Commenor. Rogue Squadron would ordinarily go in and destroy the place but cannot risk killing any prisoners being held there, losing intel on who owns the place or riling up the government of Commenor which has declared itself an independent world.

Leia Organa Solo had managed to convince them that the Imperial assassination attempt on Dodonna on the moon of Brelor was a violation of Commenorian law and that sanctioning a New Republic strike on the facility would both rescue Dodonna and any other inmates there and keep Commenor safe from Imperial reprisals that they would risk by carrying out the attack themselves.

Two commando teams have already been inserted on Commenor – one is led by Kapp Dendo and the other by Captain Page. The X-Wings have been painted black for this assignment.

Wedge gives the all-clear signal and they head out from the city of Munto toward the facility when they are attacked by four TIE Interceptors.

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• I realize the government of Commenor fears that the Empire will retaliate if they themselves attack the facility, but what does that say for an independent world? If the Empire can hold prisoners, presumably without the consent of an independent world, on that world and retaliate if that world takes steps to free such prisoners, I’m not convinced Commenor is actually independent.

[Jedi Cool]

chapter 8:

After getting rid of the Interceptors and taking down the minimal ground resistance, Wedge lands and is taken to Kapp Dendo who wants him to see where the prisoners were kept. A few are still here, uncared for. One of them is Lag Mettier who was captured on Hoth. He explains they won’t find any data left. Ysanne Isard made sure to clean everything out before taking the rest of the prisoners with her.

She had left a few behind in the hopes they’d be dead by the time the Rogues got here.

Krennel goes to Isard to protest her plan. It’s one thing for her to allow the Rogues to hit the facility on Commenor and lose a few useless prisoners, it’s another for her to risk one of his worlds.

She reminds him that the New Republic is now in a position that doomed Grand Admiral Thrawn, thinking they are invincible. They will make mistakes. She has chosen a small world for him to lose to them anyway, however, she does agree to allow him to at least face them in an even fight.

He must indulge her political maneuvering which includes offering a world to the expatriates from Alderaan, including an apology if necessary. They will make overtures to the survivors, learning what they want in a world while trying to find a suitable one for them. When the New Republic attacks him, he will simply reveal that the attacked world was the one he’d planned to offer the Alderaanians, affecting their support of the New Republic.

They agree to each play on their own strengths, but Isard does ask him to leave Rogue Squadron to her if his forces fail to destroy them at their next encounter.

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• We first learned of the survivors of Alderaan actively looking for a world to settle on in The Courtship of Princess Leia.

[Jedi Cool]

chapter 9:

Wedge learns more about the privileges of rank when he attends a briefing. While he enjoys the comforts of his seat, he makes the acquaintances of several high-ranking officers, such as Admiral Areta Bell and reaquaints himself with Commander Sair Yonka.

Admiral Ackbar arrives and begins the briefing, telling them that most do not realize how much of a beating Grand Admiral Thrawn gave their forces. Their next target is Admiral Krennel who is headquartered on Ciutric and has several worlds at his disposal. He is currently marketing his Ciutric Hegemony as a peaceful, stable place where beings can live free and prosper. The New Republic is considering hitting Liinade III which is largely agricultural but also produces some consumer goods.

If Krennel loses Liinade III, it could further destablish weaker worlds, such as Corvis Minor or Vrosynri Eight while also leading those living in the Ciutric Hegemony reason to question the stability of the whole area.

They will be moving reinforcements surreptiously and onto separate patrol ships. Admiral Bell is concerned that Krennel will still know something is up. Ackbar explains that General bel Iblis will be conducting exercises on Borleias to lead Krennel to believe that they are planning an attack on Ciutric itself instead.

This will leave Liinade III relatively undefended, but they should be able to divert forces to Ciutric if Krennel doesn’t buy the charade and leaves it too vulnerable. Wedge, however knows that the New Republic does not have the resources to attack both worlds. Wherever they go, they will not have much backup.

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• We met Sair Yonka in The Bacta War when he converted from the Imperial Navy to the New Republic and took his ship, renamed Freedom, with him.

[Jedi Cool]

chapter 10:

Mirax Horn appears at Iella Wessiri’s with a strong cup of caf that she was able to brew based upon the settings Whistler still has in his system plus the cooperation of a local café.

They talk about how there is nothing to lead them to Isard, but the word of a few prisoners who were starving and many of whom were deranged by the time of their rescue.

However, in looking at the records, there is no indication that Isard could fly a shuttle or anything else for that matter. There was someone aboard the shuttle, but it might not have been her. The prisoners claim to have been long hyperspace journeys, but Isard has been known to trick prisoners about their surroundings and the lengths of time involved. There might also be someone who knew her well that is carrying out her orders.

One thing is certain that she would not have tried to help Thrawn due to her anti-alien bias. If she’s alive, she would have smuggled herself off Thyferra and laid low.

They decide to do a little unofficial snooping on Commenor to see if they can prove the site was faked to make the New Republic think they’d found a trail to follow. Likely, whatever they’ve already found is designed to make them think they’ve come across valuable information when all they are doing is following bait.

Whistler will be given the data just in case, but they aren’t telling Corran about this while he’s got other things on his mind.

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[Jedi Cool]

chapter 11:

Gavin meets Corran and Khe-Jeen Slee for drinks where he asks Corran about parenthood. He explains that he and Asyr want to be married and adopt children. Khe tells them all about Issori reproduction and Gavin asks if Corran and Mirax can be references when the adoption authorities come around.

In the meantime, Borsk Fey’lya meets with Asyr and explains he wants her to withdraw her application for adoption. Her infatuation with Gavin Darklighter has been indulged, but she is a symbol of the Bothan people. Young Bothans follow her example.

The Empire held up humans as the highest ideal. By taking up with a human, she is giving the message that non-humans are not her equal. This is unfair, but she has a responsibility to her people.

Asyr understands very well that to marry Gavin anyway and not play Fey’lya’s game would result in her being unable to adopt any Bothan child. She warns him how very Bothan she can be.

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[Jedi Cool]

chapter 12:

As Rogue Squadron prepares to exit hyperspace, Commander Vict Darron of the Direption hopes he will have enough to hold off the attack. He is responsible for safeguarding Liinade III, a world he’s already protected once before when Krennel had ordered a village razed after an assassin from said village attacked him. Darron had gone down and told the villagers exactly what would happen and when, giving them all time to evacuate before the place was destroyed. Krennel hadn’t liked it but it saved all of those lives that went to other villages and warned them about Imperial reprisals.

It’s not that Darron opposes Imperial policy, but he is one of those officers who doesn’t necessarily think that brute force is how one should handle every difficult situation. The anarchy of the New Republic is, of course, unacceptable as he cannot force his children to be raised alongside aliens.

When he’s told the New Republic forces have arrived, he orders shields up and TIEs launched. The Rogues and B-Wings engage in battle. An Imperial Dreadnought arrives and Wedge warns his pilots to stick to the starfighters and let the big ships slug it out.

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[Jedi Cool]

chapter 13:

Between Bell’s Swift Liberty and Yonka’s Freedom, the Dreadnought is blasted in two and the Direption makes a move for deeper in the system. Control orders the Rogues to head to their ground targets.

Over the ground at the targeted dam, Corran gets hit by a missle during a vulnerable moment which takes out on of his engines and damages an S-foil. The extra weaponry does indicate that there’s something else down here the Imperials are protecting. He is forced to land after reporting his dilemma to Ooryl.

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chapter 14:

Wedge and his flight head toward a spaceport where AT-ATs are taken down and the stormtroopers give up quickly. Tycho questions the ease of this attack, wondering where the crack troopers are that Intell said were here.

It’s possible they were moved to where Corran went down which would indicate something more valuable that way. Wedge gets thanks from Dendo on the ground and asks if his commandos can keep an eye out for Corran who may be running into some better trained troopers on his end.

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[Jedi Cool]

chapter 15:

Corran looks over the ravine at an access tunnel to a facility that Intel didn’t know was here, obviously. He waits until one of the two troopers guarding the area slips and signs off to fix his problem and then stuns both of them, tying them together and setting their comms to max.

He would have been able to slip past the guards if he’d taken up Luke Skywalker on his offer of Jedi training. Seeing that Skywalker must live his life alone is too much for Corran to sacrifice, so he’s put off listening to his father’s encrypted message, safeguarded by Whistler.

That means, for the time being, he has to just be a Rogue. He waits until four troopers pull off their helmets in pain due to the feedback from the others’ comms and shoots them before heading into the hole he cuts with his lightsaber.

He has to shoot his way through, taking one wound to the back, before entering a secure area. Waving his lightsaber around, he persuades the technicians to cooperate with him. Their data shows them working on something that looks like a Death Star.

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• Corran’s Jedi heritage, Skywalker’s offer and his father’s message was related in the previous X-Wing books.

[Jedi Cool]

chapter 16:

 

After Dendo’s commandoes moved in, hustled the workers and dismantled the facility to move off-world, the securing of Liinade III took three more weeks before Wedge and Corran were ordered back to Coruscant.

 

The high-level briefing begins with Mon Mothma swearing both of them to silence. This version of the Death Star appears to be a scaled-down one, designed to be used as the Emperor used the one at Endor and attack capital ships. The team was on Liinade III to analyze data and look for flaws.

 

There is no exhaust port, for example. And the pacing of construction means its primary defensive capabilities for a long time will be just to run.

 

The Rogues have started calling it a Pulsar Station because it’s not really a duplicate of a Death Star.

 

They just know know where to look for one if, in fact, there’s actually a prototype. The Rogues are willing to search through the Ciutric Hegemony and keep chasing it to slow down construction.

 

Wedge suggests that they also release word that Krennel is working on such a weapon.

 

For one, it is the only ethical thing to do to make sure New Republic forces know what they are taking on. Secondly, it strikes a blow against Krennel’s propaganda campaign. Only the most fanatical Imperials believe the Death Star was used appropriately on Alderaan. Those who prefer to think that it was Tarkin’s or the Emperor’s fault that things got out of hand will be hard-pressed to justify Krennel’s building of a similar station. So, besides, making his Imperial colleagues question his motivations, those who are being swayed by his invitation to come live in a peaceful Ciutric Hegemony will think twice.

 

Borsk Fey’lya fears that releasing this information will start a panic. Mon Mothma promises to take both concerns under advisement.

 

Krennel accuses Isard of putting that facility there behind his back, but she doesn’t have the resources to do such a thing. If she did, she wouldn’t need him. Since neither of them put the thing there, it follows that this is just a sham by New Republic Intelligence to rally support for action out here.

 

Already the citizens of the New Republic believe that Sate Pestage was such a butcher that he deserved to be killed. They are not going to want to support an action that seems more like toppling a government than anything else, so Cracken has resorted to this scheme.

 

By some careful slicing of records, she is going to have spread the message that he does not have the resources to take on a project of this type. Further, he is now going to pretend that a fellow classmate at the Academy – Wynt Kepporra from Alderaan – was his best friend who was killed at home while on leave when the Death Star destroyed the planet and he would never repeat such a terrible tragedy by building a weapon like it.

 

The information will be planted at Corvis Minor which the New Republic will hit, giving Krennel the opportunity to attack Liinade III and insert dissidents there which will make holding the world more difficult.

 

Once he is seen as someone who can hold off the New Republic, it is reasonable that a position as Palpatine’s successor will be forthcoming.
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[Jedi Cool]

chapter 17:

Several of the Rogues watch Krennel’s rebuttal of the accusations against him. He explains that he had been so moved by the death of his friend from Alderaan,Wynt Kepporra, that he was in the process of offering the southern continent of Liinade III as a haven for the refugees of Alderaan.

He is disgusted that someone would accuse him of the same barbarism as the Emperor with no proof provided that he even knew about such a facility. He still offers stability to anyone who wishes to come and escape the oppression of the New Republic.

Myn, Asyr, Gavin and Tycho debate the issue. Myn explains that, while they know that Krennel is up to something, many in the Republic will wonder who is telling them the truth. There also, they may start speculating as to why the New Republic isn’t helping people reduced to slavery on Topwara as opposed to hitting worlds that haven’t asked for their help.

Tycho doesn’t know anything about negotiations with Alderaanian refugees, but he’s viewed as too New Republic to be confided in anyway. He didn’t know either Krennel or Kepporra at the Academy, but what he knows about their interests leads him to believe that the chance of them being really good friends is slim. The fact that he didn’t leave the Empire proper until after Endor demonstrates that the loss of his friend at Alderaan didn’t upset him nearly as much as he claims.

Krennel may or may not have known about the Death Star facility, but that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t use one if he had the chance. His penchant for cruelty is well known even if he hadn’t murdered Sate Pestage. This makes him someone they need to stop.

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• This issue of Alderaanian refugees has come up before. We have been told time and time again that the wealth of Alderaanians helped fund the Rebel Alliance. As late as X-Wing: Rogue Squadron, we were told that the Imperial General Derricote was reproducing Alderaanian goods at huge prices to appeal to the homesick refugees and divert funds from supporting the Alliance . Then, in the Courtship of Princess Leia, we are told that most of the survivors are very poor and they can’t afford to buy a planet. The question was raised then, are the survivors rich or poor? If it’s the latter, how can they fund the Alliance? Further, are they the type of people we believe would drop the New Republic to go live under a former Imperial Admiral just because he offers them haven on a planet? That doesn’t really speak well of the people of Alderaan about whom we have almost always been given positive things. Is this one of those deprivation things we saw happening in Rebel Force #2: Hostage?

[Jedi Cool]

chapter 18:

On Commenor, Mirax and Iella break into the law offices of one Mem Wooter who had been a minor defense counsel during the Imperial era and now is the trustee of the site where the research facility uncovered by the New Republic had been located.

They are hoping to find more details about the site itself here. Mirax’s father had provided the ship but she wouldn’t take anymore help than that and Iella admits she’s suspicious of any suggestion he gives anyway. They move past a couple of Verpine custodians and pose as electrical workers.

In the office, they find little surveillance and the type of fancy office that made them take a look at Wooter in the first place. They grab an encrypted data card; however, Imperial Special Intelligence has been monitoring the place and get the drop on both of them.

They are ushered out of the building past the Verpines and down the street where a derelict asks for money, slips Iella a holdout blaster and pushes one of the Ops men. Iella pulls the blaster and they escape into an alley where they are saved by Baz Korral, an associate of Booster Terrick’s, who was sent to keep an eye on them. The Verpine were his people, but he doesn’t know anything about the derelict.

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[Jedi Cool]

chapter 19:

Wedge briefs his pilots about Corvis Minor and its moon where they will be running a recon mission piloted by former Rogue Nirm Vakil.

The moon is Distna and there is a Star Destroyer there called Aspiration. There’s no telling what they will run into out there but there will be simulations to cover a variety of scenarios. The mission begins in two days and should last about six hours.

After the sims, Asyr lectures Gavin on coming back for her. She doesn’t want him risking his life that way. Nrim tells her not to exact such a promise. He had loved a fellow Rogue named Ibtisam who was killed over Ciutric. He would have been destroyed by a promise not to go after her. Everyone must do what is right in his heart and those who love must trust each other.

He had taken a leave of absence, training rather than battling so that he would not have to watch friends die, but he did see some combat during the Thrawn situation. Time has given him a perspective on the death of Ibtisam and he finds himself better able to handle missions now.

Wedge and Tycho discuss the losses in the worst-case scenario sims and Wedge wants them run again until the losses are reversed. In the meantime, he confirms his orders which run though the decryption system and is copied to other information services one of which belongs to Ysanne Isard.

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• Nrim Vakil appeared in Dark Horse Comics’ Rogue Squadron series.

• Ibtisam also appeared in the same series, her death taking place in “Mandatory Retirement”.

[Jedi Cool]

chapter 20:

Aboard the Errant Venture, Mirax lectures Booster for providing help they didn’t ask for. No one knows how the Imperials knew they were there, but it’s possible that Baz and the Verpines’ presences alerted them that something was up.

Booster hasn’t been able to get used to the fact that the girl he left behind when he was sent to Kessel has become a woman. He is very proud of her. She does get him to agree to leave them alone while they slice into the datacard they found.

The datacard gives them information on payments made to house the Lusankya’s prisoners. All evidence points to the moon of Distna but it would seem that this is just bait to lure Rogue Squadron into thinking there are prisoners there.

They need to warn the Rogues they are flying into a trap but they won’t have time. Booster calls them to the bridge and tells them that they will reach the moon shortly, the Venture making better time than it normally would have and having better firepower than a starfighter squadron.

They revert to real space to find the debris of TIEs and X-Wings, evac-suited pilots and the green-painted S-foil that clearly indicates Mirax’s husband’s ship. Booster orders all debris and bodies brought on board and offers a reward of 100, 000 for every survivor.

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• I love how money works in the SW universe…or am confused…not sure which. Booster’s emotions may be running high here or he is stinking rich because rewards of 20 or 30 thousand by the Empire for Luke Skywalker and Talon Karrde in the last three books were thought to be considerable amounts.

• Of course, the Rogues went to Distna to look for this pseudo-Death Star, not Lusankya prisoners….

[Jedi Cool]

chapter 21:

The only thing Corran knows about Corvis Minor was finding a small hold-out blaster aboard the Lusankya’s library in a box supposed to contain datacards on the history of this world. Obviously, not much happens here.

When six squadrons of TIEs meet them, however, it is clear that this was just bait to lure them in and be wiped out. Corran’s flight tries to handle things on their end, but Corran’s engines are damaged and one of his S-foils is blown off. He tries to make repairs on the ship while watching Asyr’s ship collide with a TIE.

Several modified TIEs show up and help the remaining Rogues fight off Krennel’s ships.

Colonel Vessery of Interloper and Stranger TIE Defender squadrons sympathizes with Wedge’s desire to look for survivors but he insists sweeps have shown none left and they all have to get out of here before Krennel sends reinforcements.

Corran’s ship is being slaved to one Defender already for pulling out of the system.

Besides Asyr, they lost Slee, Zatoq and Janson. Corran isn’t sure they should be trusting these guys, but Wedge points out that they don’t have much of a choice as the TIEs helped them when they needed it.

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• Of course, Corran found the blaster in chapter 33 of The Krytos Trap and Mara got hers in The Last Command, chapter 3, from a set on Coruscant.

[Jedi Cool]

chapter 22:

Krennel watches the sad face of Mon Mothma as she defers any information on Rogue Squadron’s fate until more is known. To Isard, it is only confirmation that the squadron was wiped out.

The Aspiration had sent a shuttle out to the battle scene and found no debris, but there was a report of a Star Destroyer in the area prior to that. Since no pirate or smuggler operation has boasted of taking out the squadron, it is reasonable to assume that Booster Terrik’s Errant Venture came out for a look and pulled the debris. Any surviving Rogues would be plastered across the HoloNet for the good of morale if there were any.

It’s annoying to have to lose six squadrons of TIEs, but Isard assures him he will have replacements soon. Thrawn proved that the New Republic is not invulnerable and this battle has only demonstrated that further. Already, Imperial forces serving warlords are making inquiries about joining Krennel’s Hegemony. Once Krennel’s victory is sealed, even Pellaeon will come over to his side.

Krennel wants her to continue to investigate to make sure the Rogues are gone. Secretly, he knows that, with Rogue Squadron wiped out, she would start to work supplanting him. She needs a distraction right now while he makes plas to get rid of her once her usefulness is gone.

One thing Isard is very useful at is politicking. He hates dealing with the Alderaanian refugees but he cannot deny the help they’ve given him by their outcry against the New Republic government.

He sends his ships out to the route the New Republic must take to resupply Liinade III and wipes out the supply convoy headed there, making sure the survivors know that they are free to go so long as they do not fight or fly for the New Republic.

The resulting debris, to him, is worth any number of Thrawn’s pieces of art and he’s getting just as good at politics as Isard.

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[Jedi Cool]

chapter 23:

Colonel Vessery takes Wedge and his surviving pilots to his base and apologizes for not getting there in time to rescue all of them. He wants Wedge to know that the person responsible for sending Stranger and Interloper Squadrons, saving the Rogues, is in the office.

Wedge enters it to find Ysanne Isard there. The real Ysanne Isard.

She explains to him that she had wanted to escape from Thyferra so she put a clone of herself aboard the shuttle, thinking that she would be thought dead. It almost worked but the clone survived. Now the clone is working for Krennel and utilizing resources for his benefit.

Fortunately, Isard has some insight into the mind of the clone and has been using it to her advantage. She wants to be left alone. The Empire she fought for is dead. Krennel is dangerous, though he’s not really building another Death Star. She was responsible for the facility on Commenor that led Iella and Mirax to Distna. She also arranged for her TIE Defenders to come to the Rogues’ rescue when she determined her clone would bait and trap them there.

She wanted the galaxy to think the Rogues were dead because she has a specific mission for them. They are taking down Krennel, largely because he’s a loose cannon, he killed Sate Pestage against her wishes and she wants her clone dead. The remaining Lusankya prisoners are on Ciutric.

She is aware of how the Rogues brought down Coruscant’s defenses and wants them to do the same for Ciutric. In fact, she also knows Wedge posed as severely disabled Col. Antar Roat so she’s made arrangements for someone posing as Roat to make overtures to Krennel’s forces.

They cannot contact the New Republic until the attack is ready because the clone has access to some of her intelligence sources on Coruscant and they cannot risk a leak.

Knowing that she could have his men killed if he doesn’t agree to help, he concedes.

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• So, how did Isard get a hold of a clone of herself?

[Jedi Cool]

chapter 24:

Corran sits with Gavin and tells him how his mother, who should have outlived both his father and himself, was killed in a freak landspeeder accident. He knows Gavin doesn’t want to hear trite speeches, but he does want him to know that the pain is not inescapable.

Gavin tells him that Lujayne Forge was the first person he knew who died. Now she’s been joined by so many others. He’s upset that Asyr will never get the life she deserved. She flew better than she’d ever flown at Distna and Gavin thinks he knows why. She met with Borsk Fey’lya before the mission and Gavin is sure Fey’lya made trouble for her.

She’s just another Bothan martyr now who will be memorialized beyond who she actually was.

A tech comes to put a restraining bolt on Whistler which Corran strongly objects to. Wedge appears and tells him to stand down. He explains the situation is complicated but they will be trained to fly the TIE Defenders and given the means to take down Krennel by getting a backdoor into Ciutric. For now, the galaxy thinking they’re dead is best, but it does mean all their droids get locked down.

Borsk Fey’lya arrives on the Errant Venture, irritated that the Provisional Council ever let Terrik have this ship in the first place, insulted that Terrik would not provide assistance during the Thrawn crisis and thinking that he has a measure of the man.

He expresses his gratitude that Terrik was able to pull all the remaining debris and bodies out of the battlefield. By doing so, they’d been able to save Wes Janson who was put into bacta immediately and retrieve the body of Lyyr Zaltoq. Unfortunately, the grand example of Asyr Sei’lar cannot be interred because her body is likely gone. He wants to pay Terrik to go back to the moon and see if it can be found. Booster advises him that any bodies have probably burned up in the atmosphere by now.

After Fey’lya suggests that Booster just find a Bothan body of someone on the fringes of society to be interred as Asyr herself, Booster is offended, roughs him up and throws him off his ship.

Iella agrees that Fey’lya not a good enemy to make. He’ll likely go after all of Booster’s associates, as well as anyone Mirax or Corran knew, too. Booster thinks he’s made worse enemies and asks how Asyr is.

Iella confirms Mirax is with her while she undergoes bacta treatments. She doesn’t remember the events at Distna but she does remember the meeting with Fey’lya.

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• Now here I thought it was brave to kill two beloved Rogues along with the two newbies. Now, it appears that only the two newbies died.

[Jedi Cool]

chapter 25:

Corran shows up for training deliberately late, irking the trainer and explaining he’s checking out every piece of equipment with the knowledge that Iceheart is in charge of this.

The Rogues are familiarized with the advance TIE Defenders which contain better armaments and shields to protect pilots in battle. They are set for a simulation at Yag’Duhl station which Corran recognizes as one of their bases during the fight against Isard. Further, he notes that a lot of the freighters and ships in the simulations have been gleaned from his interrogations when he was Isard’s prisoner.

He knows she’s just trying to play games with them, but the Rogues do very well in the sims, working with the Imperial pilots to the point that, upon exiting, an Imp pilot offers him a hand and compliments him on his skill.

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[Jedi Cool]

chapter 26:

Corran has commed Whistler and provided the Imp scramble codes so that the droid can tap into their communications during training sessions. The droid has been able to track an alarming predicament involving the Rogues involved in a secret exercise on a hidden base with a very much alive Isard.

Then he pops off the restraining bolt that a droid involved in security would never have to deal with anyway and frees Wedge’s astromech, Gate, too. The two droids work on their escape plans with Whistler trying to find a way to pay for their passage off world without attracting attention of anyone who doesn’t need to know that Rogue Squadron is alive and jeopardize their mission. He finally accesses an old account of Booster Terrik’s that hasn’t been touched in years and then sends a message to someone he hopes will show up.

After dark, he and Gate will make their escape and get off-world to someone who can help the Rogues.

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