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“This I know very well, Chief Councilor Mothma, but you face me with an impossible task.” Ackbar pointed a hand at the floating hologram of Coruscant. “You want the world taken, but the means that will deliver it to us with the minimum of bloodshed is one that is unacceptable. It is possible to batter our way in there. I cannot say there will not be a significant amount of collateral damage—damage that may harm people as much as any blockade. Yet, even if that sort of damage is more acceptable from a diplomatic and political point of view, it leaves us with a reality that is militarily unacceptable: the world we take will be a world we cannot hold.”

Wedge nodded. To bring the shields down on a planet, standard doctrine dictated that the shields were to be probed for weaknesses, such as places where an atmospheric anomaly was causing a disruption. That weakened sector would be targeted and a hole would be punched through it. The gap would then be used as a hole through which shield projectors would be destroyed by bombardment or laser fire. While that would bring the shields down and allow for a planetary assault, it would leave the planet defenseless until the shield generators could be repaired or, most likely, replaced.

“What you ask of me and my troops is not possible.” Ackbar shook his head. “Coruscant, if taken in haste, will fall to another just as quickly, and all we have fought for in this Rebellion will be for naught.”

5

Wedge opened his arms wide and stretched. Standing on the patio of the Noquivzor facility’s only aboveground building, he looked out over rolling hills carpeted with golden grasses. The breezes that stirred eddies and currents into them warmed him and began to take the chill out of his clothes. He pulled off his jacket and slung it over his shoulder. I need an hour or two of sun and warmth before I head back in there.

After the morning Council session had adjourned, Wedge and Salm had returned to Admiral Ackbar’s quarters and discussed the problems with conquering Coruscant. Because of Noquivzo’s arid climate, Ackbar’s quarters had been fitted with a humidification system that made the environment more comfortable for the Mon Calamari. For Wedge and General Salm, the humidity thickened the air to the point where it seemed to drag on them and tire them out.

Wedge smiled as he watched a herd of wilder-nerfs spread out and over a far hill like an inky black stain on the golden carpet. He recalled a promise he had previously made to himself to return to Noquivzor and take some time to relax. He had wanted to remember what he was fighting for, and this world had seemed the sort of place where he could find some peace. Now I’m back, but there’s no peace to be had.

“Would that some of this tranquillity would sneak into our deliberations.”

Wedge spun around. “Highness.”

Leia smiled at him. “Wedge, please, not so formal. We’ve known each other for too long to stand on ceremony.”

He nodded sheepishly. “I know that, but things have changed. Look at you. I can still see the Leia Organa who waited anxiously for Luke’s return from the Death Star at Yavin, but the others, they all see you as Alderaan’s representative to the Provisional Council. I have no intention of seeming familiar or disrespectful.”

“Things may have changed, Wedge, but not us.”

“I don’t think I can agree with that idea entirely.” Wedge hung his jacket over the back of a metal chair and leaned heavily upon it. “Yavin was over seven years ago. I’ve gone from being a pilot who thought he was very good to someone who leads a squadron of hotshots and aids an Admiral in planning assaults on the Imperial capital.”

Leia nodded and drew a chair up beside the one upon which Wedge leaned. “Back at Yavin we didn’t have any Admirals.”

“We barely had any ships at Yavin. We had General Dodonna, but he’s gone.” Wedge seated himself beside her. “You’ve gone from being the youngest person ever to be elected to the Imperial Senate to the fusion