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That such questions were best left to the Jedi was the reason Wedge, Keyan Farlander, certainly Tenel Ka, and many other Alliance commanders had implicit faith in Luke’s leadership. At Borleias, when Wedge himself had formed the secret resistance group known as the Insiders, he had essentially made a pact with the Force, and felt duty-bound to uphold it.

“You’ve ended a reign of evil, General Antilles,” Forridel was saying from the holofield. “You should be proud.”

Wedge cut the provisional governor off before he could continue. “Our scanners have picked up a squadron of TIE fighters launched from Curamelle.”

“Peace Brigaders,” Forridel explained. “The fighters were restored from parts warehoused at the old Imperial Academy. Hunt them down, General! Don’t leave a single ship unscathed!”

“That’s all the information I need at the moment, Governor.” Wedge waved for Lieutenant Cel to end the holotransmission with Curamelle, then said: “Alert General Celchu that those TIEs are not friendlies. Tell him that Harbinger has his back if he needs help dealing with them.”

The fighting above night-side Corulag was heating up. Coralskippers and snubfighters were engaged in a mad dance of mutual destruction, while the capital ships they flew from were attempting to pummel one another senseless with plasma missiles and energy bolts. Two globules of the cluster vessel had imploded, but judging by the performance of the swarming skips, the war coordinator was uninjured. On the moon, bombers were continuing to hammer the repair installation, but they were now taking fire from ground-based KDY turbolasers—probably refurbished by the same turncoat technicians who had resurrected the TIEs.

“Sir, Admiral Kre’fey,” Cel said from her duty station.

Wedge strode back to the holoprojector in time to see Kre’fey’s image take shape amid random bursts of diagonal static. “General Antilles,” the Bothan began, “on your say-so I’m prepared to move Ralroost and elements of the First Fleet to Corulag.”

Wedge shook his head. “We need more time here, Admiral. A couple of standard hours, at least.”

“You have one hour, General,” Kre’fey said evenly. “We’ve received word from Coruscant that our actions at Corulag have not gone unnoticed. Nas Choka’s armada is active. It’s not clear just yet whether the warmaster is repositioning his vessels to defend Coruscant, or if he intends to move the armada Rimward in advance of going to hyperspace. If it’s the latter, I doubt he’ll squander his forces by reinforcing Corulag. He may, however, elect to jump the armada to Contruum, and I want to be gone from here by then.”

“Where do you want us?” Wedge asked.

“Take Mon Adapyne and Elegos A’Kla and rally with the Second Fleet at Muscave. I realize I’m placing your battle group in harm’s way by sending you directly into the Coruscant system, but our objective is to accomplish the reverse of what we did at Mon Calamari, by drawing the enemy into engagements at outer-system worlds. Concurrently, I’ll be dispatching elements of the Third Fleet to Coruscant from the Shawken Spur of the Hydian, and elements of the Fourth by way of the Martial Cross. Regardless of whether the armada jumps for Contruum or advances to engage your forces at Muscave, the assault on Coruscant can commence.”

“Did I hear right that Vanguard Squadron has been attached to the Fourth Fleet?” Wedge asked.

“That’s correct.”

“That means that the Chiss will be directly involved in the assault on Coruscant.”

“Vanguard and Twin Suns have been folded into a single squadron, commanded by Group Commander Fel.”

Wedge was perplexed. “Jag is leading Twin Suns? Where’s Jaina?”

“Jedi Skywalker asked that we exempt her from the roster,” Kre’fey muttered. “I recognize that Coruscant is a long way from Chiss space, and I know that you’re concerned for the welfare of your nephew, Wedge. But Jag himself requested the mission.”

Wedge nodded. “I’ll just have to find a way to explain to my sister why I didn’t talk some sense into her son.”

Kre’fey gestured