Star Wars_ X-Wing 08_ Isard's Revenge - Michael A. Stackpole [137]
Corran frowned. “Those are all the men you brought?”
Kapp laughed aloud. “They’re Noghri, Corran, a half dozen is all I needed.”
“Those are Noghri?! I’m glad they’re on our side.” Corran glanced more closely at one and got a broad, tooth-studded smile in return. “They are on our side, right?”
“They worked for the Empire because Vader had tricked them. Princess Leia managed to turn them to our side. They’re a peaceful people, but they’re willing to act for us to atone for some of the things the Empire had them do.” Kapp offered Dodonna his arm and the older man took it to steady himself. “General, if you’ll come with me, we’ll get you off this rock.”
Corran pointed to the sky. “What happened up there?”
“Bel Iblis’s battle group blasted Reckoning and Emperor’s Wisdom. Reckoning’s bridge is gone, and Krennel along with it. The crews of Binder and Decisive found themselves outgunned and decided accepting a New Republic amnesty was preferable to being reduced to scrap.” Kapp shrugged easily. “I think the pols intend for the Hegemony to enter the New Republic as a unit, and these guys would get stationed here to maintain order. They still protect their homes and we don’t have to kill them.”
“Win, win.” Corran nodded, then waved Kapp on toward the freighters. “I’ll catch up with you—I need to get air between me and dirt.”
Corran jogged over to where he’d landed his Defender and smiled as Wedge’s ship set down easily. He waited for Wedge to exit the ball cockpit and offered him his hand. “Thanks for the warning, Wedge. Air got a tad warm there, but no serious damage done.”
“Good.” Wedge surveyed the prison and the line of men heading toward the freighters. “Got them all?”
“As nearly as we can tell, yes. Did you get Isard’s clone?”
Wedge smiled. “She had Colonel Lorrir flying a shuttle by remote—I recognized his love of sideslips. Myn and Gavin brought the shuttle down, I triangulated back to the point of origin of the control and comm broadcasts and laced it with two concussion missiles. Brought the whole training center down.”
Corran arched an eyebrow at him. “Great, now I’ll never get my deposit back for locker rental in the recreation area.”
“Don’t worry about it, Corran. If the New Republic ever comes through with our pay, I’ll cover it.”
“Works for me.” The younger man looked around, then shifted his shoulders uneasily. “Kapp says our fleet took Krennel down and, without their leader, the others surrendered. Everything turned out very nicely.”
“It did, so why the shiver there?”
“We did better than expected, muddling through without Isard’s help.” Corran’s green eyes narrowed. “So, where is she, and just how good a day is she having?”
37
The daggerish hull of the Lusankya hung in the middle of the Bilbringi shipyard like a vibroblade waiting to be plucked up and used to kill an enemy. The eight kilometers of its length had been restored fully, with running lights burning around its edges, the prow returned to needle-sharpness, the armor restored, and the ship painted an even gray tone. Two bloody Rebel crests graced the ship toward the aft, both on top and bottom—marred it really—and destroyed any chance of the gray hull vanishing against the backdrop of space.
But then, she thought, hiding a Super Star Destroyer has always been impossible. Isard laughed lightly. The New Republic had tried to hide Lusankya from her. They had circulated rumors that it had been taken apart for scrap or cannibalized to repair countless smaller ships, but she had known from the start that all such stories were deceptions. The Lusankya was a prize they had sought to deny her. Such a ship could lay waste to fleets and project political power to the furthest reaches of the galaxy.
She pressed her right hand against the transparisteel viewport on the incoming freighter Swift. Behind her she heard the