Star Wars_ X-Wing 08_ Isard's Revenge - Michael A. Stackpole [64]
Gavin glanced over at Tycho Celchu and watched the other pilot’s arms cross tightly over his chest. “Colonel, is what he’s saying true?”
Tycho shook his head slowly, as if barely registering the question. “I don’t know. I don’t pay much attention to the Alderaanian refugee groups and they leave me alone for the most part. They’d see me as linked to the New Republic anyway, so if they were negotiating with Krennel, telling me about it would interfere with their plans.”
Krennel bowed his head for a moment. “What pains me the most about the New Republic’s tactics is that Mon Mothma has accused me of perpetuating the sort of terror weapons that destroyed Alderaan. She has painted me as an inhuman monster in doing so and has suggested that those who forget the horror of Alderaan will again allow such atrocities to be committed.
“The plain fact of the matter is that I have not forgotten the lessons of Alderaan. Captain Wynt Kepporra was from Alderaan and went to the Imperial Academy at Prefsbelt Four at the same time I did. We were friends, good and close friends. He had returned to Alderaan to see his family and was there when Grand Moff Tarkin …”
Krennel’s voice failed him and he brushed away a tear with his left hand. He set his face again, then nodded and continued. “Wynt was on Alderaan when it was destroyed. I’ve been to Alderaan. I’ve been to the Graveyard and I’ve left my offerings to him and his memory. It was in his name that I chose to negotiate with the Alderaanian refugees. It was in his memory that I sought a suitable world to give them. Now, to be accused of such cruel duplicity as to be negotiating with them on one hand and scheming to create a Death Star on the other, well, the Emperor was never so vicious in dealing with his enemies.”
“Besmirch their reputations, no.” Asyr snarled. “Blow up their planet, sure. I’m not certain I like Krennel’s definition of vicious.”
Gavin draped an arm around her shoulders and gave her a hug. “You’re reading my mind again.”
The Prince-Admiral raised his chin. “It is a sad fact that brutality often begets brutality. The New Republic, which in its infancy desired freedom from oppression for all, now has grown into a monster that oppresses those who oppose it, just as the Empire tried to do to them. To the New Republic there is no place for neutrality, there is no chance for others to find their own path to freedom. This has always been my desire.
“We have been through a savage civil war in this galaxy, with its horrors all fresh in our memories. There is not one of us who has not looked back and in perfect hindsight suggested that if I had acted here or there, perhaps, just perhaps, the pain and suffering of billions could have been averted. The brave act of standing up to tyranny could have smothered it at its birth instead of requiring its execution at the height of its power.”
The holocam closed in on Krennel’s face. “The New Republic’s tyranny is in its infancy. Oppose it now and we need not shed the blood of billions. The people of the Hegemony will fight to preserve our freedom. We invite all those who pledge themselves to liberty to make a stand and join with us, so the sacrifices made in overthrowing the Empire will not be tarnished by the rapacious predation of the New Republic.”
The image slowly faded and Gavin found his flesh puckering. He shook his head, then frowned. “Anyone else get the feeling, even for a second, that we’re on the wrong end of this war?”
“Sure,” offered Inyri Forge, “for about as long as it took me to remember the locals trying to shoot my X-wing down.”
The round-faced Myn Donos raked his fingers through his black hair. “I think Krennel would argue that they were