Star Wars_ X-Wing 02_ Wedge's Gamble - Michael A. Stackpole [26]
The Bothan craned his neck around to look at Cracken. “That requisite being?”
“None of my available people are fighter pilots.” Cracken gestured in Wedge’s direction. “Admiral Ackbar has suggested, and I agree, that Rogue Squadron is a natural choice for the operation.”
“Rogue Squadron?” Borsk Fey’lya made no attempt to cover his surprise, and Wedge thought he might have been exaggerating it a bit for dramatic effect. “Here your analogy to the Death Star comes back to haunt you, Ackbar. Rogue Squadron may have worked miracles before, but they could not possibly succeed in rendering Coruscant defenseless.”
“Rendering the planet defenseless is not the purpose of the mission, Councilor Fey’lya.” Ackbar turned and pointed at Wedge. “In rebuilding the squadron care was taken to choose the best individuals possible—both in the area of their flying skills and for a host of other skills. Rogue Squadron is uniquely qualified for this mission.”
“Do you think this as well, General Cracken?”
“I do, Councilor Fey’lya.”
“You would risk your son’s life in this?”
“That is a question that has been answered many times over.”
The Bothan’s creamy fur rippled along his shoulders. He fixed Wedge with a violet stare. “You accept this mission, Commander Antilles?”
Wedge waited to answer until after he got a nod from Admiral Ackbar. “In principle, yes. The details are still being worked out.”
“Do you think you could be effective on the ground there?”
Wedge thought for a moment before answering. “Given the parameters of the operation, yes.”
Leia casually raised a hand. “Perhaps you could explain what you mean by that, Commander Antilles?”
“Of course, Councilor Organa.” Wedge gave her a smile in thanks for breaking up Fey’lya’s interrogation. “Because of the virtually total urbanization of the planet, Coruscant presents some unique problems for an incoming force. As we saw at Hoth, the Imperials correctly took our shield generators down first, then worked on other targets of military importance. On Coruscant we need to be able to pinpoint power plants, communications centers, and other sites that we can hit to disrupt Imperial command and control functions. We need to pull the shields down, then make them deaf and blind. If we give them no power to operate their defensive weapons, we further guarantee our success.”
Leia nodded thoughtfully. “You said you needed to pinpoint targets. In what way does your piloting skill enhance your ability to do this?”
Easy questions with important answers—hitting Coruscant should be this simple. “Councilor, it is one thing to identify the locations we need to hit, but hitting them is another thing entirely. As a pilot I can identify and evaluate the possible approaches to a target. I can also help determine how much in the way of firepower will be necessary to eliminate it.
“I should also point out that we really do need to be running a precision operation because we have to take into account the possibility of Warlord Zsinj or some other Imperial leader trying to take Coruscant from us while we are trying to bring its defenses back up. For example, hitting a power conduit is preferable to hitting the reactor creating the power it carries because the conduit is much easier to replace.”
The Bothan smoothed the fur on his chin with his left hand. “Bribing a custodian to shut the power down would be much easier, wouldn’t it?”
“Yes, sir, but handling that sort of thing is outside my area of expertise.”
“I see.” Borsk Fey’lya sat forward and clasped his hands together. “Despite my reservations about this mission, I do agree with my Mon Calamari compatriot that the gathering of information is necessary if the conquest of Coruscant is to happen. I would also vouchsafe that any interim disruption of normal Imperial functions on Coruscant by Rogue Squadron, or General Cracken’s people, would not be seen as a negative.”
Ackbar blinked once, slowly, then clasped his hands behind his