Star Wars - X-Wing - Krytos Trap

by Michael A. Stackpole

  nents. We feared they might be planning to produce some

  new planetary assault vehicles with them, but could never

  trace the shipments. Now we know where they went."

  He looked over at Ackbar. "Can you stop it?"

  "Most of the fleet is staging at . . . elsewhere in prepa-

  ration for the operation against Zsinj--to hunt down his

  Super Star Destroyer. The rest of the fleet is on an assignment

  for you. Can you get them here?"

  Cracken shook his head. "From Borleias? Not in time."

  "The Golan stations don't have enough power to bring

  Lusankya down, but they can hurt it."

  Emtrey's eyes dimmed. "We're defenseless."

  General Crix Madine shook his head. "The Lusankya

  started inside our defense shields--the point assault forces

  usually see as a goal. The fact that the ship is headed out

  means escape, not conquest, is its goal."

  A Quarren aide slipped through the crowd to Admiral

  Ackbar's side and handed him a comlink. The Mon Calamari

  flicked it on. "Ackbar here."

  "Antilles here, Admiral. We've broken off our pursuit of

  the TIEs and are returning to base to refuel and get ready to

  go out again."

  Hearing Wedge's voice again sent a thrill through Cor-

  ran. He smiled and saw Tycho mirror his expression. "Are

  you thinking what I'm thinking?"

  Tycho nodded. "If I had Rogue Squadron on my tail, I'd

  be running, too, even in a Super Star Destroyer."

  Ackbar gave them a wall-eyed stare. "I concur with your

  plan, Commander, but you needn't have informed me of it at

  this time."

  "No sir, I know that." A cold edge crept into Wedge's

  voice. "The reason I called is to tell you to let Tycho go. He

  wasn't the traitor. I know who is and I can prove it."

  "What?" Ackbar's mouth hung open. "Who?"

  Corran smiled. "Erisi Dlarit."

  "I was asking Commander Antilles."

  "Who was that?" Wedge asked remotely. "How did he

  know?"

  Cracken made a quick adjustment to his own comlink.

  "Commander, this is General Cracken. Use no more names

  on this opchan--it might not be secure."

  Ackbar shook his head. "How do you know who the

  traitor is?"

  Corran pointed at himself. "Are you asking me?"

  "No. Commander Antilles, please answer me."

  "Simple. Because of Horn's death I had a subroutine

  added to the unit's astromech droids allowing me to pull

  diagnostic data from them. She reported damage over the

  comm unit that her R5 didn't report. She claimed the

  Lusankya had a tractor beam on her and pulled her aboard

  against her will. Work back from there and it's obvious."

  Corran nodded. "Right. She was in a position to fore-

  warn the Imps about Bror Jace's return to Thyferra--and

  there was no love lost between them. I told her that when

  we'd taken Coruscant I was going to search out the traitor in

  our midst. She'd helped me check out my Headhunter so she

  knew the codes, the same as Captain Celchu. She cornlinked

  the data to Isard and I was taken."

  General Salm shook his head. "Why would she do that?

  Why work against us?"

  Wedge provided an explanation. "The bacta cartels were

  formed under the Empire. She and her people might have

  figured their monopoly would end if the New Republic suc-

  ceeded in destroying the Empire."

  Tycho pointed toward the sky. "It's through the second

  shield and outbound."

  Barely visible above them, the Lusankya exchanged fire

  with a Golan Space Defense Station. Gouts of green energy

  passed back and forth between them. The station's fire buck-

  led the Lusankya's shield, collapsing the energy sphere that

  had kept the big ship safe. Explosions played along the huge

  ship's hull, but in their light Corran saw the Lusankya begin

  to pull away from the station.

  The Golan Station continued to blaze away at the Super

  Star Destroyer, causing more explosions, but they seemed to

  form a wall between the station and the ship itself. It took

  Corran a moment to realize what was happening.

  "They jettisoned the lift-cradle, sacrificing it so they

  could escape."

  Cracken nodded. "Nothing to lose by doing that--the

  Lusankya isn't going to be trapped on a planet again."

  "But it will be trapped again." Corran nodded solemnly,

  recalling his promise to Jan to return and free him and the

  others. He glanced at Whistler. "Can you determine the

  damage to the Lusankya?"

  Whistler blatted negatively and retracted his sensor dish.

  Corran squinted but couldn't see the Super Star De-

  stroyer anymore. "Gone to lightspeed. I wouldn't like to be

  where that ship ends its journey."

  "Being where it started from was bad enough." Cracken

  shivered. "Isard was here all along, and now she's gone."

  Haila Ettyk folded her arms across her chest. "I take it I

  should assume the evidence against Captain Celchu was

  largely manufactured by her?"

  "I'd say that's a safe bet." Corran nodded assuredly. "If

  Captain Celchu had been convicted and executed, she would

  have revealed the truth and made the New Republic look as

  bad as the Empire ever did. It probably wasn't the most

  brilliant of her plans, but it didn't take much effort, either."

  He turned and looked at Airen Cracken. "After all, the

  General here knew Tycho wasn't the spy all along."

  Ha!la blinked. "Excuse me, what?"

  Cracken slowly smiled. "Not bad for a man who's been

  in prison for the past month and a half."

  General Salm glowered at the Intelligence chief. "You

  mean you knew Tycho Celchu was not an Imperial agent and

  you let me put him through all sorts of difficulties?"

  Cracken shook his head. "Horn's right, I knew he

  wasn't the spy in Rogue Squadron, but 1 did not know

  whether or not Celchu was an Imperial agent."

  "General Cracken took precautions to guard against

  Tycho being a Lusankya-style agent." Corran patted Emtrey

  on the shoulder. "General Cracken had Emtrey assigned to

  Rogue Squadron to monitor Captain Celchu. Emtrey had

  some special circuitry and programming insta lled in him that

  transformed him into an invaluable tool for a spy. If Captain

  Celchu had used him in that manner, General Cracken

  would have known what was going on. For General Cracken

  to have done anything less would have been grossly irrespon-

  sible on his part.

  "Because of Emtrey, General Cracken knew Captain

  Celchu had not been meeting with Kirtan Loor the night I

  saw him at the Headquarters. I suspect Captain Celchu's

  prosecution was allowed to go forward to lull the real spy

  into a false sense of security."

  "And to distract Isard." Cracken smiled briefly. "She

  has always enjoyed these little games."

  Halla stared at General Cracken. "But you made Cap-

  tain Celchu into a pariah. People were likening him to Prince

  Xizor and Darth Vader. What you did was unforgivable."
/>   "No, it was precisely what had to be done." Cracken

  looked over at Tycho. "I needed to use you to find out who

  the spy in Rogue Squadron really was, true, but there was a

  side benefit to you in all this. The fact that lsard would set

  you up to be convicted and executed means that you were of

  no greater use to her. If you were one of her Lusankya

  agents, she would have framed someone else so you'd have

  been absolved of guilt and trusted with greater responsibili-

  ties. She would have fine-tuned you, not discarded you."

  He turned back toward Halla Ettyk. "As for the nega-

  tive image of Captain Celchu that has been created, I can

  undo what has been done."

  "Never." Salm shook his head adamantly. "Impossi-

  ble."

  "Though I am not a member of Rogue Squadron, I think

  it is quite possible." Cracken opened his hands. "We have a

  public ceremony rewarding the efforts of Rogue Squadron

  for their operations on behalf of the Republic. We let it be

  known that Captain Celchu was aware of the deception con-

  cerning his trial .... "

  Tycho smiled. "Things did seem arrayed rather well

  against me."

  "... And his rehabilitation will be complete." Cracken

  clasped his hands at the small of his back. "That is pretty

  much what I had intended all along the way. Lieutenant

  Horn's appearance here merely makes Captain Celchu's in-

  nocence that much more obvious."

  Halla looked over at Admiral Ackbar. "Sir, on behalf of

  the New Republic Armed Forces, I withdraw all charges

  against Captain Tycho Celchu."

  The Mon Calamari opened his mouth in a smile. "It is

  with great pleasure, Captain Celchu, that I say this case is

  dismissed. You are truly free to go."

  45

  Wedge Antilles kept his face impassive as Mon Mothma

  stepped up to the podium at the front of the dais on which

  they stood. The ten days since the Lusankya's escape from

  Coruscant had been grueling. Abandoned Palpatine Counter-

  insurgency Front cells had begun to strike out anywhere and

  everywhere. Rogue Squadron, reinforced by Corran and

  Tycho, had flown numerous pursuit and cover missions,

  which seriously curtailed the PCF's activity.

  Cracken's efforts to slice Loor's datacard had proven

  fruitless until its existence had been mentioned during one of

  Corran's debriefings. Corran noted that when Loor was

  working as the Imperial Intelligence Liaison with the Corel-

  lian Security Force, he'd had a trick for creating his encryp-

  tion keys he had memorized one day's listings of the

  Imperial Stock Exchange and used stock listings and prices as

  his keys. Corran had Whistler give Cracken the date of the

  listing Loor had used and they quickly discovered he'd keyed

  the encryption with Xucphra's listing on that day. The infor-

  mation on the decrypted datacard included a list of PCF

  safehouses and warehouse facilities, which Rogue Squadron

  and Cracken's people quickly destroyed.

  Diric Wessiri's funeral had been tougher on Wedge than

  any of the flight missions. He found himself going over ev-

  erything Diric had ever said to him, searching for any clue

  that would have revealed Diric's compelled service to the

  Empire. Wedge couldn't get Diric's kind words after his testi-

  mony at the trial out of his head. That much compassion

  should have earned him a different end.

  leila barely managed to hold herself together, and

  Wedge thought only Corran's reappearance allowed her to

  avoid a total emotional collapse. She'd mourned her husband

  once, then she got him back and had to kill him. Corran,

  having known her and Diric both, was able to recall for her

  the Diric of old. The pleasant memories seemed to soften the

  horror of what had happened, but only just a little and only

  occasionally.

  Bright lights flashed on as a dozen holocams began re-

  cording the New Republic's Chief Councilor. "Citizens of

  the New Republic, it is a great honor and privilege for me to

  be speaking to you from Coruscant--a Coruscant that is

  now safe and finally free of the Empire's direct and evil influ-

  ence. I am here, now, in the facility that is home to Rogue

  Squadron. You all have heard of this legendary unit--its pi-

  lots have ever been in the thick of the war with the Empire.

  Rogue Squadron won for us the opportunity to rescue Co-

  ruscant from the Empire, and since then they have been the

  bulwark that has preserved us from Imperial predation.

  "In recognition of their efforts to defend the New Re-

  public, the Provisional Council has created and is awarding

  to the unit and its members a medal intended to be the high-

  est award our government can bestow upon military person-

  nel. It is the Coruscant Star of Valor. The citation itself reads,

  'For service and bravery beyond the bounds of what can be

  asked of a citizen by a government, and a willful commit-

  ment to put the good of the many above their own personal

  welfare, the Provisional Council unanimously and joyfully

  awards to Rogue Squadron and its members, the Coruscant

  Star of Valor.'"

  As Mon Mothma turned and looked back at him,

  Wedge came forward and accepted a transparisteel plate into

  which the citation had been etched. A hologram of the medal

  itself had been embedded in the transparisteel above the

  words, and a ghostly hologram of the unit's members had

  been placed behind them.

  Mon Mothma shook Wedge's hand. "Congratulations,

  Commander. You and your people deserve this even more

  than I probably know." She then stepped back and waved

  him toward the podium.

  Wedge hesitated, then stepped up to the microphones.

  He had been warned he'd be asked to say something, and a

  number of people had made suggestions, but it was Admiral

  Ackbar's advice he decided to heed. Be brief, be said, and

  remember all those who need to be remembered.

  "This citation is not just for those of us who stand here

  behind me, but really for all those who fought in Rogue

  Squadron. None of them would have balked at making the

  sacrifices we have. All of us--everyone in Rogue Squadron

  and in the Alliance itself--have risked all we are to defeat a

  government that took joy in the sorrow and terror of its

  citizens. Winning this award, taking possession of Corus-

  cant, these things are not ends in and of themselves, but

  blazes marking the trail we must all tread if the galaxy is ever

  to be truly free."

  Gentle applause from the dignitaries and guests gathered

  beyond the dais accompanied Wedge's retreat back into line

  with the other pilots. As Mon Mothma walked past him, she

  let her left hand brush against his arm. He glanced at her and

  she gave him a smile. I guess I didn't do that badly.

  She resumed her place at the podium and began speak-

  ing again. "Of the events that have transpired over the last

  year, there are many ru
mors and far fewer facts. Those ru-

  mors could all be dispelled by having an exact chronology of

  events created, and perhaps, in another generation or two,

  such a chronology could be made public. While we were a

  covert force fighting against the Empire, there was no ques-

  tioning the need for stealth and secrecy. It was what kept us

  alive and allowed us to fight on against the Empire. Because

  of this secrecy we have defeated them in battle after battle."

  Mon Mothma nodded in the direction of the holocam to

  her right. "With the New Republic in possession of Corus-

  cant, it might seem that the time for such secrecy is past, but

  it is not. The Empire is not yet dead, and the dozens of petty

  warlords tearing at it have already and will continue to study

  us for signs of weakness. Their drive to restore the Empire,

  with themselves in Palpatine's place, means we cannot reveal

  all of our secrets.

  "We can, however, reveal some of them. Doing so is not

  only a vital necessity, for secrecy can breed arrogance and we

  have all seen where that can lead, but a pleasure. It provides

  me a chance to right a great wrong and prevent possible

  future tragedies."

  She turned and pointed toward Tycho. "This is Captain

  Tycho Celchu, as loyal a son of Alderaan and the New Re-

  public as ever lived. He willingly chose to subject himself to a

  surrendering of his basic freedoms in order to bring the Em-

  pire down. Because of suspicions about what the Empire

  might have done to him, it was felt he could not be trusted,

  yet this man refused to let those suspicions prevent him from

  doing all he could to destroy the Empire. On numerous occa-

  sions he put his own life in jeopardy, flying unarmed into

  combat zones to rescue pilots who otherwise would have

  died.

  "Most recently you have all seen him on trial for treason

  and murder of other members of Rogue Squadron. This trial,

  as public and as ugly as it was, played a crucial part in an

  Intelligence operation to uncover Imperial agents within the

  New Republic. Despite being held up as an object of revul-

  sion to the New Republic, Captain Celchu did not shirk his

  duty. He allowed himself to become such a target because it

  would mean that Imperial agents felt free to operate more