Star Wars_ X-Wing 04_ The Bacta War - Michael A. Stackpole [76]
They followed the large sauroid to a corner booth big enough for the entire squadron. Corran considered it wishful thinking on her part. The booth was far enough away from the other patrons that he felt he could talk with Mirax without surrendering privacy, so the Trandoshan’s choice suited him perfectly. A motley silver-and-gold 3PO droid came over to take their order, then bounced off to fill it.
Corran picked at a chipped area of the duraplast table’s edge with his thumbnail. “Wedge made some good points in there. I think he’s right that all of us had really stopped thinking about the seriousness of what we were doing. Face it, since Blackmoon, aside from me, the squadron had really lost no one. I showed back up and that helped reinforce our feeling that we were invincible. Tycho joined us, then Bror reappears, and we’re suddenly reinforced by some of the best pilots the Rebellion ever had.”
“The unit has felt more relaxed.” Mirax shrugged. “I think that’s only partly because of the successes you’ve had. You are good, but I think you’ve all underestimated your opposition. Sure, Isard had to run, and she’s trapped herself on Thyferra; but she’s still tough. Captain Convarion is very aggressive. Avarice’s Captain Sair Yonka is very smart and calculating—the antithesis of us Corellians because he does care what the odds are and does everything he can to maximize his chances of survival. He’s spent much of his career on ships in the Outer Rim chasing down pirates and protecting convoys, so he understands very well what Isard has him doing.
“The Virulence’s Joak Drysso is a stalwart Imperial. I think he’s working with Isard as much to strike back at the Rebellion as he is for any other reason. I was talking with my father, and it’s his guess that Drysso will move over to take command of the Lusanka—assuming, of course, Isard was in command of it to this point. Drysso’s Executive Officer is Captain Lakwii Varrscha, so she’ll be moved up in his place. I had to outrun her when she was commanding a Customs corvette. Tactics weren’t innovative—standard Imp, utterly by the book—but tactics for an Imperial Star Destroyer have never really been subtle anyway.”
Corran nodded as the serving droid put tumblers of Corellian whisky in front of them, then accompanied it with a steaming, tentacled mass of noodles and thin-sliced vegetables drenched in a green sauce. “Thanks, I think.” He glanced at Mirax as the droid retreated. “Is this what we ordered?”
“I think so.” She stabbed a fork into it, twirled it and lifted a dripping noodle coil to her mouth. She chewed for a moment, then swallowed. “Unrecognizable, but not inedible.”
“Your enthusiasm is underwhelming.” Corran poked around the food with his fork, speared something crunchy and popped it into his mouth. The sauce seemed a bit hot, but it was flavorful and cleared his sinuses, so he decided against complaining. “Not bad. I also think you’re right on in pointing out that we have been underestimating Isard and her people. Part of it is because Erisi joined them—I think we have a vested interest in seeing her in a negative light. That could easily be a fatal mistake. We need our edge back, and I think Wedge is going to beat that idea into our brains from this point forward.”
Corran looked up as Ooryl entered the tapcaf and waved him over. The Gand hesitated for a moment, looked back out into the concourse, then nodded. As he made his way through the jumble of tables, Corran saw three other Gands trailing in his wake, like mynock splitlings drafting off their parent. Only one of them equaled Ooryl’s size—the other two probably massed as much as Ooryl but wore most of it around their middles. I wonder how that works with an exoskeleton?
Ooryl stopped at the edge of the table. “Greetings Corran and Mirax. It is Qrygg’s honor to present to you three Gands from Qrygg’s homeworld of Gand. They are