Star Wars_ X-Wing 04_ The Bacta War - Michael A. Stackpole [94]
Corran smiled. “So you’ll order Zraii to pull the kill from your X-wing?”
Wedge hesitated, then smiled sheepishly. “Let’s not go too far—it was a good pair of shots.” His eyes narrowed. “Convarion got what he deserved, especially in getting the tables turned on him. The fact that he was able to show up, and had an Interdictor Cruiser with him is most disturbing. Winter, any idea where the Aggregator came from?”
Winter tucked a lock of white hair back behind her left ear, then hit several keys on the datapad. The image floating above the table shifted from that of the station to the triangular form of an Interdictor Cruiser. “The Aggregator was last noted as part of an anti-Rebel taskforce led by High Admiral Teradoc. Intelligence on him—at least the intel I’m able to access from here—is sketchy. Most of his duty stations were Rimward. He was diligent in his duties and virulently anti-Rebel, but beyond that unremarkable. He was not at Endor and remained nominally loyal to the Empire until Coruscant fell.”
As nearly as Corran knew, Teradoc’s history was not unique. A few brave individuals declared themselves Warlords as soon as they heard of the Emperor’s death, but many of the others—especially those in the military—remained loyal to the Empire. Sate Pestage, an Imperial Advisor, held power for six months until a cabal of Imperial Advisors ousted him from power. Most of the military backed this group because it seemed disposed to taking action. It was only after Ysanne Isard supplanted them that members of the military began to grab for power themselves. Even so, a fair number of military leaders and politicians proclaimed their loyalty to the Empire until Coruscant fell.
At which point they had to fend for themselves, since they no longer had access to the bureaucracy that made the Empire run. While there were administrative areas and sectors that held themselves together—a tribute to the resourcefulness of their Grand Moffs—Corran expected that within two years nearly three-quarters of what had once been the Empire would be under the New Republic’s control.
Winter looked up from the datapad. “If I had to guess how Isard got her hands on the Aggregator, I would guess she traded bacta for it. The fact that the Aggregator’s TIEs were being flown by Thyferran Home Defense Corps pilots suggests that Teradoc is running low on trained personnel. With a supply of bacta he can keep them alive a bit longer. Without unlimited Imperial resources, he’s having to conserve people the way we did.”
Booster narrowed his eyes, both electronic and natural. “I’d also read into the pilot change a lack of confidence by Teradoc in Isard. Right now you have to figure that Teradoc is getting gigabytes of stories from the Aggregator’s crew about how we ambushed the ambushers. I think if I have my people start asking around what someone is willing to pay for a slightly used Interdictor Cruiser, word will get back to Teradoc. He’ll assume we’re suggesting we’re planning on capturing the next one he loans to Isard, so he won’t be free with his ship.”
Wedge nodded. “That’s worth a try. From this point forward we’re going to have to assume, however, that it is possible another Interdictor Cruiser could jump us. Actually, we have to assume it is probable that we might be jumped again. We’ll continue hit-and-run attacks and will just have to make our exchanges more covert. We can do that by having the incoming freighters guided to a location of our choosing, which means they won’t know where they’re going until the last minute.”
Mirax raised her right hand. “Perhaps you can’t remember back when you were hauling cargo, but I’d never go to a rendezvous without knowing where it was.”
“Good point, but I suspect Quelev Tapper can convince Karrde that we’re trustworthy.”
Booster laughed. “Continue paying in advance, and Karrde will believe it.”
“That