Star Wars_ Death Star - Michael Reaves [114]
Rodo said, “I don’t believe I’m giving away any military secrets when I say it probably has to do with the battle we just fought.”
She looked at him. “What battle?”
Rodo shrugged. “Don’t know for sure, but a couple of things just happened that kind of hint at one. Several wings of TIE fighters suddenly decided to leave the station, more than a thousand ships, and shortly thereafter you might recall that the lights dimmed for a couple of seconds? My guess is the power capacitors that fill up a big chunk of this big metal ball got diverted to that big honkin’ gun.”
“How come you know stuff like this?” Nova said.
“How come you don’t?”
“I didn’t say I didn’t know it.”
Memah said, “So is Rodo right?”
Now it was Nova’s turn to shrug. “He’s not wrong. Word I got was that a Rebel carrier ship popped out of hyper a couple of thousand klicks away and kicked out a load of X-wings, presumably to come and shoot at us. According to my source, they turned the superlaser at the carrier and blew it all the way back to Imperial Center.”
She blinked in astonishment. “It’s that powerful?”
Nova said, “Oh, yeah. A ship is nothing. The power to the beam was only in the single digits—cranked up full, anything within half a million klicks isn’t safe, including asteroids, moons, even planets.”
“No!”
“Yes. Why else would they spend all that time and money on this”—he swung one arm to encompass the entirety of their surroundings—“if it couldn’t produce some major damage? Why else would they call it ‘the Death Star’?”
“It’s hard to imagine,” she said.
“For you. For me, even. Not for the Imperial high-level mucks who get paid to come up with such things. What I heard, this thing’s been in development, in one form or another, for years. And once it starts rampaging through the galaxy, the Rebellion’s crisp. If Tarkin even thinks there’s a Rebel base on a planet or a moon—” Nova moved both hands in a motion simulating the flowering of an explosion. “Boom. End of base, end of problem. Two or three worlds go up in a flash like that, and the war’s over. Who would risk losing billions or even trillions of people to hide a few insurrectionists? It’ll be all finished except for the bands and the medals.”
“You think?” Rodo asked.
“No question. Maybe when my tour is done, I’ll open up a school somewhere quiet, maybe out in one of the arms, settle down, even have a few kids, because war as we know it won’t happen with things like this”—he patted the bar top gently a couple of times—“flying around. Build a few more of ’em, you won’t need armies or navies or planet-bound military bases. You get a hot spot, some systems get cranky, you send a Death Star, and it’ll be game over.”
Memah thought about it. The sarge was right. Even with just one Death Star operational, the Rebellion wouldn’t stand a chance. Build a whole fleet of them, and the Empire would have the galaxy gripped in a durasteel hand forever.
She saw Nova wince. “You okay, Sarge?” she asked.
“Got a headache that won’t quit. Maybe I can kill it with this embalming fluid you sell here. Next round’s on me,” he said. “We can toast the end of the war.”
“It’s not over yet,” Rodo said.
“Only a matter of time,” Nova said.
COMMAND CENTER, OVERBRIDGE, DEATH STAR
“You’re confident of this?”
Motti nodded. “Yes, sir. The interior is not finished, but the hull is patent and the hyperdrives will be ready shortly. Enough for a partial shakedown.”
“Good. Since the Rebels know our location, we cannot risk staying in the same system until we are at full readiness.”
“Prudent.”
“And the superlaser?”
“Engineering tells me that we can manage thirty percent power and, after a fast capacitor recharge for an hour or two, that much again.”
“How strong will that beam be?”
Motti shrugged. “Theoretical. Nobody knows for sure.”
“Well, then we need to test it before we embark.”
“That would be wise. Do you have a target in mind?”
Tarkin smiled. “Yes. I do.”
Motti wanted