Star Wars_ X-Wing 08_ Isard's Revenge - Michael A. Stackpole [89]
“I don’t believe it now.” Wedge’s eyes became slits. “You could have sent an embassy to the New Republic if you sought an alliance.”
She snorted a laugh. “They’d no more have believed it than you do, but you already know things that point to my sincerity.”
“Such as?”
“Such as my ability to build the lab on Liinade Three. That means I have thoroughly compromised Krennel’s security. How? My clone is using the procedures and codes I would have used. In this same way I knew she wanted to ambush you at Distna, so I arranged for you to be saved. As far as the New Republic and Krennel are concerned, however, both forces wiped each other out. This means no one knows you are alive, which is something I also desired.”
Wedge thought for a moment. Isard’s point about having compromised Krennel’s security was right, and she had sent Vessery and his people to spoil the clone’s ambush. Granted, Isard got us there, too, with the Pulsar Station decoy, but the clone’s clues would have been found and led us there in any event. Isard had put together an elaborate charade that had Rogue Squadron dead, and therefore, she had an ulterior motive in mind.
“What is it you want, Isard?”
She sighed heavily and let her head slump forward. “My battle with you, my ouster from Thyferra, and even Thrawn’s unsuccessful campaign to reestablish the Empire has shown me that the cause I held dear is dead. This does not mean I like the New Republic or consider it an improvement over the Empire. I just no longer have the will to oppose it. I want peace. I want to be left alone.”
She heaved her torso up and opened her arms. “After escaping Thyferra I made my way to this place, one of many hidden facilities within the Empire. A General Arnothian was in charge here. This facility is capable of producing TIE Defenders, and Arnothian saw himself as a warlord in training. He refused to relinquish control of the station to me, so he was dealt with. I watched events unfold throughout the Thrawn crisis but chose not to intervene. I realized this place could be a base from which I could continue a campaign of terror against the New Republic, but to do so would be to sully the commitment to the Empire made by Colonel Vessery and his men.
“I realized that for us to be sanctioned by the New Republic, I would have to offer them a grand prize, and offer it in a manner that would not cost them a lot of blood. I decided that prize would be Delak Krennel and his Hegemony. I decided I would put into position the forces that would allow the New Republic to take Ciutric and shatter his power, and I decided Rogue Squadron would be the key to that operation.”
Wedge frowned. “I don’t understand.”
“You will.” Isard smiled and touched a button on a datapad on her desk. An image of a man with a metal prosthesis covering the right side of his face, replacing that eye, and an artificial right forearm and hand burned to life in the middle of the room. “You will recall your posing as Colonel Antar Roat?”
A trickle of ice ran through Wedge’s guts. “I assumed the Roat identity when slipping onto Coruscant to liberate it.”
“I have taken the liberty of updating Roat’s profile to reflect his being in charge of an experimental unit—two full flights—of TIE Defenders. You are in the process of negotiating a deal with Krennel that will bring your force in as part of his troops. You are one of many Imperials offering their services to him. You’ll be able to slip into Ciutric and wreak havoc there. What you did on Imperial Center to free it, you can do on Ciutric.”
Wedge ran a hand over his stubbly chin. “You’ll give us Krennel to get the New Republic to leave you alone?”
“I do not expect public rehabilitation, just a quiet retirement.” Isard smiled coldly. “As for why Krennel, you know as well as I do that he defied my orders in the Pestage matter. I also want my clone eliminated. One of me is enough.”
“I heartily concur.”