Star Wars_ The New Jedi Order 21_ The Unifying Force - James Luceno [213]
Separate conversations among the tactical officers surrounding the holoprojector table made it impossible for Wedge to hear Lando clearly, so he moved to a corner of the vast room and slipped a headset over his ears.
“The battle at Muscave was nothing more than a diversion,” Lando was saying. “Nas Choka was hoping to keep us too occupied to notice the poisoned vessel he’s trying to get to the surface of Zonama Sekot.” He snorted. “One small ship, slipping past all the defenses. Does that sound familiar?”
“Vaguely,” Wedge lied. “Do you have information on why the Jedi fighters have gone to ground?”
“Negative.”
“Could the Vong have already delivered the Alpha Red?”
“That’s as good a guess as any,” Lando said. “Unless Sekot’s decided to surrender.”
“If that’s the case, then it’s grown weaker over the past fifty years.”
“Or the Vong have gotten stronger,” Lando paused, then said: “Booster’s going to take Errant Venture as close to Zonama Sekot as possible. We’ll evacuate as many of the Jedi and the Ferroans as we can.”
Wedge grimaced. “Lando, you can’t do that if the planet’s already been poisoned. I realize Alpha Red probably doesn’t pose a threat to humans or Bothans, but, after Caluula, we can’t be sure that it can’t be spread by other species.”
Lando was silent for a long moment. “Understood, Wedge,” he said in a resigned voice. “We’ll check with Kyp and Corran before we lift anyone up the well. What do you hear from Coruscant?”
“Tooth and nail. Shimrra is apparently dead—Luke saw to that. But Shimrra’s death hasn’t slowed Nas Choka. Even if we can eventually defeat his forces, there’s not much chance of forcing a surrender.”
“What’s the answer?”
“I’m worried that Kre’fey and Sovv are looking hard at Alpha Red.”
Lando exhaled audibly. “Seems to be everybody’s solution just now.”
Wedge signed off and removed the headset. He spent a long moment regarding the rotating holoimage of Zonama Sekot. He refused to accept that the poisoned ship had gotten through. Starfighters could prevent it from reaching the surface. He thought back almost five years to the decision he had made to come out of retirement. He hadn’t a notion then that he would end up piloting a starfighter at Sernpidal, be charged with holding Borleias, or attacking Corulag. But that was the way of war. You did whatever you could, hoping that even the smallest contributions affected the end result.
He moved to the nearest duty station and asked to be patched through to the senior mission officer.
“I want you to ready a starfighter,” he said when the female officer answered.
“For any particular squadron?” she asked. “They’re all so shot up the pilot can have his pick.”
“Who’s been tasked with protecting Zonama Sekot?”
“That would be Red Squadron, General.”
Perfect, Wedge thought. “Alert Red Leader to expect a reinforcement.”
“What’s the pilot’s call sign, sir?”
Wedge considered it, then said, “Vader.”
“Impossible,” Nas Choka told his tactician. “The Supreme Overlord is a ward of the gods. Should we fail in our task, he will be the last of us to die—and our success is assured.” He gestured toward Coruscant, readily visible through the blister transparency. “Zonama Sekot will die, and the battle here will turn as soon as I recall the rest of our forces from Muscave. We will chase the Alliance back to the Outer Rim, where they will spend the next ten years licking their wounds and dreaming of the day they will be strong enough to mount a second counteroffensive.”
The tactician inclined his head in respect. “But the announcement was made by Eminence Harrar