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“Add the four from Venjagga to Ord Mirit and we have sixteen hours at the very least to take Borleias.” Wedge nodded solemnly. “The beginning of the raid on Borleias will be very simple. Rogue Squadron goes in and blows the conduit. Going in and coming out we expect to attract a lot of attention because while we’re fighting, Lieutenant Page and his commandos, as well as a number of similar units, are going to use the conduit to get into the Borleias base and disable it. They’ll also hit the Biotic station’s spaceport. If they do it right, the TIE pilots sent up to engage us won’t know there’s been a change in ownership until they come home. Once the commandos are down and in, my people head out home.”

“The arrival of my Defender Wing and the other fighters from Venjagga will provide the Borleias base with enough of a distraction that Page’s people can take things down in short order, without having to damage anything we’ll need to use to defend the base.”

Ackbar’s barbels twitched. “Security will need to be very tight for this return to Blackmoon.”

“Yes, sir, but we have some advantages here. Derricote won’t think we’ll be coming back because the moon is in position to block our escape route. We are preparing a simulator package that hides the identity of our target. The run across the lunar surface will be disguised as a run through an asteroid belt, leading our people to believe we’re moving against a ringed planet.” Wedge smiled. “This time our pilots will not know where they’re going, but they won’t be in the dark about that they will face when they get there.”

The Mon Calamari nodded. “You will have to hide your location from your XO.”

“I know, so does he. He’s not part of the operation, so he accepts not knowing.”

The Mon Calamari stood slowly. “I think this plan is a good one, and can be made better. I do have one concern, however. It concerns your Rogue Squadron, Commander Antilles, and the commandos.”

“Sir?”

“If the operations are launched simultaneously—and I must assume they will be so an alarm raised by the Eviscerator will not put Borleias in a heightened state of alert in time to disrupt your effort—there will be at least four hours before we have more forces arriving at Borleias. Flight suit life support lasts for three hours. Anyone left behind will die.”

“I know that, sir.”

“Do your people know that?”

Wedge shook his head. “They will before they go. I’ve got six operational ships. This will be a volunteer mission.”

“And a very bold one.” Admiral Ackbar nodded solemnly. “Let us go over it again and guarantee the gain will be worth the likely cost. Right now I believe I could sell it to the Provisional Council, but some modifications will make this a certainty. And if things go well, the way to Coruscant will finally lie open to us.”

29

Corran half hid his face behind his left hand, daring only to stare that the floating hologram of the mythical world of Phenaru Prime with his left eye. Aside from the addition of an asteroid ring, an ocean where the southern continent was, and some adjustments to the coastlines, it looked exactly like Borleias. The computer-projected world slowly spun above the cylinder in the well of the pilots’ briefing room. It looked calm and almost peaceful, especially without the air-current overlays Whistler used to project onto it.

As peaceful as it looks, it’s not where I want to die.

Wedge continued his briefing. “Our objective is a ferrocrete pipe roughly four meters in diameter and forty meters long. It’s reinforced and has suspension cables helping to support the weight. A single proton torpedo should be able to destroy it, but we’re not sure how well it’s going to show up on the targeting computers. If we get a lock, it’s likely to be at point-blank range.”

Nawara Ven stroked the tip of one of his brain tails. “Run up this rift valley and hit something the third of the size of an X-wing, without the benefit of a targeting computer? That’s impossible.”

Gavin