Star Wars_ X-Wing 06_ Iron Fist - Aaron Allston [21]
Face nodded. “Correct. But Zsinj doesn’t admit anyone is his equal in military intelligence, so he thinks he can keep it intact. And I keep remembering that he, Zsinj, hinted that he was promoting Admiral Trigit to a better position. We all thought maybe he meant captain of the Iron Fist, but what if he meant another Super Star Destroyer?”
Phanan spoke up. “Don’t forget your goofy ideas that never made it into your final proposal.”
Face waved him away, but Wedge asked, “What goofy ideas?”
Face looked unhappy. “Just an idea. Ysanne Isard is alive.”
“What?” Wedge looked as stunned as if someone had picked up a chair and broken it over his head.
Ysanne Isard had been the head of Imperial Intelligence when Emperor Palpatine died years ago. She survived Palpatine’s successors, a consortium of Palpatine’s advisers, and gradually assumed control of the Empire herself—though not in name. Months ago, she had died, killed fleeing the planet Thyferra in a battle-equipped shuttle, shot down by Rogue Squadron’s Captain Tycho Celchu.
“Follow me on this,” Face said. “Months ago, Ysanne Isard is chased off the world of Coruscant. Actually, she abandons it voluntarily to let the Krytos Plague infect the nonhuman population and lock up all of the New Republic’s resources when we occupy Coruscant. But she actually stays on Coruscant for quite some time after she pretended to flee. Eventually she really does leave, goes to Thyferra, takes over there, and is finally wiped out by the Rogues.
“Except—she was never seen climbing into the shuttle she was supposed to be using for escape. Except—it was not particularly intelligent for her to run off in a vehicle slower than the X-wings she had to have suspected would follow her. Except—she’d already shown a tendency to hide out with her head down when she was supposed to have fled. It raises the question: What if she actually wasn’t on that shuttle, and was communicating with the Rogues ‘chasing’ her through a remote-control link?”
Wedge said, “You’ve got to be wrong. There was no lag time in her transmissions, nothing to suggest she wasn’t there.”
“A shuttle she’d personally fitted as an Emperor’s escape vehicle might have a miniaturized hypercomm system. With instantaneous transmission and reception, there wouldn’t be any lag time.”
“Face, do you believe she’s alive?”
Face shook his head. “Sometimes I hope she is. I’d still like to kill her myself. But I believe Captain Celchu actually killed her. Still …” He shrugged and resumed his seat.
Wedge gave him an exasperated stare. “Well, here’s your punishment for nearly giving me a heart attack. Write this theory up and I’ll route it on to the new Thyferran government and to General Cracken at Intelligence. Between them, they should be able to sniff out any other evidence for Iceheart’s survival … if there is any.”
His expression cleared. “All right. As I said, Admiral Ackbar has evaluated these theories and made a decision. He’s asking Intelligence to step up any operations involving Kuat Drive Yards to find out if, in fact, they are building a new Super Star Destroyer. But that’s low priority and not our concern. For us, he wants to combine both Runt’s and Piggy’s ideas. We’ll be founding our own pirate band, Wraiths, and then assaulting a planetary system that Zsinj is courting—or should be, if he isn’t. Officially, we’ll be assigned to the Mon Remonda with Rogue Squadron; funny, though, the other pilots will never see us in the ship’s corridors.
“We have a little reorganization to do to accommodate our new pilots. Flight Officer Donn, you’re now Wraith Two, and my wingman.”
The pilot with the unruly blond hair smiled. He couldn’t have known that the position of Wraith Two, by Wedge’s policy, usually went to a raw pilot, one in need of additional instruction or protection.
“Wes, you’re now Wraith Three, with Dia Passik, Wraith Four, your wing.” Janson waved at the Twi’lek female, who gave him a grave nod.
“Kell, Runt, you’re still Five and Six. Runt, incidentally, is in training to be our new communications