Star Wars - X-Wing - The Bacta War

by Michael A. Stackpole

  before Coruscant had fallen. Though he wished it otherwise, as his

  consciousness faded, Corran knew there was only one explanation for what he

  saw. I am dying because only the dead can see the dead. He knew that made little

  sense, but he was beyond caring as he realized the dead really have little use

  for logic as well.

  14

  Wedge shivered as he waited for the shuttle from the Twi'lek freighter dock at

  the Yag'Dhul station. His shiver had less to do with apprehension about the

  Twi'leks' arrival at the station than it did the temperature on the station.

  Lowering it by an average of five degrees was just one of the few changes

  Booster Terrik had made since he'd taken over.

  Wedge slowly shook his head. Booster had long been legendary for being

  tightfisted. He's left dermal ridge indentations on every credit that has

  passed through his hands. While Booster was more than generous with his friends,

  in business he was shrewd and capable of saving money in any situation where he

  found himself. By lowering the station temp, and by refusing to heat unoccupied

  portions of the station, he lowered its operating costs rather significantly.

  More important, by leaving the tapcafs and cantinas on the central levels warmer

  than any other place, he encouraged people to congregate there and patronize

  those establishments. Since the station's vendors were paying him a percentage

  of their profits and were funneling all their supply needs through Booster, the

  old man was making credits hand over fist.

  Credits that are going to get us the things we need. Booster had put the word

  out through his network of contacts that he'd taken over the station and deals

  were to be had and made there. Traffic to and from the station had begun to

  increase and while Booster told Wedge there were some suppliers he'd have to

  visit to make deals with, the vast majority of the items they needed would be

  delivered straight to them at Yag'Dhul.

  The Twi'lek shuttle, an octagonal tube that lacked all the elegance of the

  Imperial Lambda-class shuttle, looked as if it had been extruded from the

  freighter. It moved sluggishly onto the landing platform. It settled down onto a

  docking collar, which rose up to meet it and formed itself to the ship's hull.

  Lights on the exterior of the collar went from red to yellow and then green,

  signifying an atmospheric seal had been achieved.

  A lighted panel near the viewport through which Wedge was watching showed the

  progress of a personnel-mover heading out to the Twi'lek ship. Outside, slowly

  moving across the loading platform area, droid-driven grav-sleds approached the

  ship to begin to offload cargo. Wedge had no idea what Booster had asked the

  Twi'leks to bring, but he knew from his visits to Ryloth that an exchange of

  gifts was customary. He hoped the Twi'leks brought ryll so it could be shipped

  to the rylca production facility on Borleias and transformed into the medicine

  that was vital for curing the Krytos epidemic on Coruscant.

  The personnel-mover started its trip back to the station's hub. Wedge walked

  over to the doorway where it would arrive and positioned himself in front of

  it. He tugged at the sleeves and waist of his jumpsuit. He knew it might have

  been good form to wear the Twi'lek! warrior togs he'd worn on Ryloth, but they

  were designed as warm-weather clothes and Booster's habitat adjustments made it

  a bit too cool to wear them with comfort.

  The doorway opened to admit an obese Twi'lek wearing a robe made from a shiny

  gold fabric and held closed by a thick red sash. A coral ornament secured a gold

  cloak at his throat and the cloak's reflected light jaundiced his pink flesh,

  especially the flesh of his lekku, which he wore draped over his shoulders. He

  clasped his black-taloned hands before his belly and executed a short bow.

  Wedge returned it. "I am pleased to be able to greet you here, Koh'shak."

  "It is my pleasure to accept the invitation of Booster-ter'rik to visit you,

  Wedgan'tilles." The bulbous Twi'lek moved through the doorway. "You recall

  Tal'dira?"

  A second Twi'lek filled the doorway and had to bow his head to make it through.

  The black flightsuit he wore had been supplemented with a scarlet loincloth and

  cloak as well as a golden bandoleer running from right shoulder to left hip. The

  hugely muscled Twi'lek's lekku had been tattooed with a whole host of designs,

  the significance of which Wedge could only guess at. He wore a blaster on his

  right hip and Wedge knew from prior experience that the bandoleer concealed a

  pair of vibroblades.

  "It is an honor to see you again, Tal'dira."

  "And you, Wedgan'tilles." The Twi'lek warrior gave Wedge a smile full of sharp

  teeth. "Koh'shak will run off and find his trading partners, leaving warriors to

  speak among themselves."

  Wedge nodded in the fat merchant's direction and Koh'shak immediately headed off

  toward the lift-tubes to find Booster. While Wedge looked forward to spending

  time with Tal'dira and learning why the warrior had come to the station, he

  regretted not being able to sit in on the conversations Booster and Koh'shak

  would have together. They might not be warriors, but the battles they will wage

  to strike a bargain will be of epic proportions.

  Wedge waved a hand toward the threshold of the cantina on that level. "May I

  offer you the hospitality of the station?"

  The warrior nodded. "You honor me."

  "Say that after we get served. Our selections are rather limited here." Wedge

  led him into the darkened cantina and wove a serpentine path through small

  tables to an open booth in the back. The reserved hologram drifting above it

  proclaimed its glowing message in a multitude of scripts and stood almost as

  tall as a Jawa. Wedge held his hand over the

  holoprojector and let it do a quick scan of his palm. The message changed to one

  of welcome, then morphed into a bill of fare. Wedge sighed and slid into the

  booth. "Having a table held for me here is about the only benefit of command."

  "Warriors must take pleasure in even the slightest of benefits, because death

  is ever our companion." Tal'dira sat opposite Wedge, interlacing his fingers

  and placing his hands on the table. His lekku flopped over inside his elbows.

  "You deserve more than this for your great victory." Wedge raised an eyebrow.

  "Great victory?" The Twi'lek chuckled in a manner that seemed almost menacing.

  "You took from Iceheart a convoy of bacta." "It wasn't exactly defended very

  heavily." "It matters not. You did what no one would dare to do you struck at

  the Bacta Cartel. What you did is memorable and worthy of praise."

  "Thank you." Wedge glanced at the serving droid that approached the table.

  "Corellian whisky for me, Whyren's Reserve, if you have it. Tal'dira?"

  "This Whyr'rensreserve will suffice for me as well." The droid beeped an

  understanding of the order and rolled away. Wedge smiled at the Twi'lek. "You

  did not come here to tell me what you thought of the raid against Iceheart."

  "Ah, but I did." Tal'dira leaned forward and raised his hands so his chin could

  rest on his outstretched thumbs. "The galaxy is changing. I am not old enough to
/>
  remember the prior Republican era, but I have heard tales of the Clone Wars.

  Since its birth, the Empire sought to maintain peace, but there was much

  conflict that they ignored, conflict in which a warrior could find a career and

  build himself into a legend. And then there was the Rebellion . . ."

  The Twi'lek fell silent as the droid returned with their drinks. Wedge plucked

  the tumblers of the amber liquid from the serving tray and set one before his

  guest. Hoisting his own glass aloft he offered a toast. "To warriors and their

  legends." Tal'dira nodded and added, "And to those skilled enough to become

  living legends."

  Wedge touched his tumbler to Tal'dira's and drank. He let the whisky linger on

  his tongue for a moment, then let it

  trail fire down his throat and into his belly. He gave himself a moment to

  consider what Tal'dira had said and he thought he had a glimmering of where the

  Twi'lek meant the conversation to go. The thought that he might be right

  threatened to plant a smile on his face, so he deliberately narrowed his eyes.

  "The Rebellion was very much a place where warriors were able to build

  reputations. Too many of them have become posthumous legends, but that was one

  conflict that fav ored the courageous and devoured the weak." Wedge kept his

  voice even, but found his words surprising him. It felt natural to refer to the

  Rebellion in the past tense, as if it were over even before the last bits of the

  Empire had been smashed. He realized that this thought was not wholly wrong, for

  the conquest of Coruscant had elevated the Rebellion from being a movement to

  being a government almost overnight. That's a transformation I never thought I'd

  see.

  Tal'dira's black talons clicked gently against the duraplast tabletop. "It is my

  profound wish I had been possessed of the foresight to join the Rebellion."

  Wedge shrugged his shoulders. "You had responsibilities as a Twi'lek warrior. I

  had no such responsibilities and could therefore join the Rebellion."

  "True, but to acquit my duties to my people I should have opposed the Empire."

  Wedge frowned for a moment. The political makeup of the Empire had been such

  that the nonhuman populations always knew they existed at the sufferance of the

  Emperor. For many of them, remaining unnoticed by the Empire seemed the best way

  to make sure they were not destroyed. Historically, the Twi'leks found

  negotiation and deal making preferable to direct confrontation, and this

  preference had served them well during the time of the Rebellion. They seemed to

  view both the Empire and the Rebellion as rival heat storms that would

  annihilate each other, leaving the Twi'leks in a position to thrive afterward.

  The victory of one side over the other had not been predictedespecially not the

  Rebellion's victory. Tal'dira's lament is genuine, but the product of

  hindsight.

  "I would have been happy to have you fighting beside

  me, and Nawar'aven has been a boon to my squadron, but you did what was required

  of you." Wedge smiled. "Until you put together those fighters I saw on Ryloth, I

  know you had very little in the way of hyperspace-capable ships native to

  Ryloth. I have to imagine the Empire deliberately suppressed such technology on

  Ryloth so they would not have to deal with you as a force."

  "It is kind of you to say so."

  "To even think otherwise would be to do you a disservice. While many think of

  Twi'leks as traders, I know you have a proud warrior tradition."

  "But our warriors are unproven to the galaxy." Tal'dira waved a hand toward the

  half of the station above his head. "As you have said, to most of the galaxy

  Twi'leks are merchants like Koh'shak or criminals like Bib Fortuna. You have

  been to Ryloth. You know this is not true, but such is the impression that has

  been made on the galaxy. Thinking that sapient beings believe all of us to be

  merchants and thieves preys on my mind."

  Wedge glanced down at his tumbler of whisky. "I thought the fighters you have

  created were impressive." The Twi'leks had taken a TIE fighter's ball cockpit

  and married to it the S-foils of an X-wing fighter. The S-foils were connected

  to a collar that allowed them to rotate independently of the cockpit, much in

  the way the cruciform stabilizers on the B-wing rotated around its cockpit. The

  design provided stability for the pilot and had proved very effective with the

  B-wing. "Their maneuverability, I would imagine, makes them very formidable."

  Tal'dira straightened up and smiled with genuine pleasure. "The Twi'leki

  designation for them is Chir'daki. In your Basic it would be Deathseed. It

  recalls the spores of a parasitic fungus that invades a larger creature and

  destroys it. Most unpleasant, as would be facing our Chir'daki in combat."

  Wedge sipped a bit more whisky. "They are hyperspace capable?"

  "Indeed. The twin-ion engines are used for main propulsion. The engines on the

  S-foils are smaller than those in your X-wings, but they provide power for the

  hyperdrive mo-

  tivators and shield generators. We have quad lasers for our weaponryno proton

  torpedoes because we decided obtaining supplies of them might be difficult."

  "Wise decisionproton torps and concussion missiles are the only things we're

  having trouble finding. Booster is using up a lot of favors to get them." Wedge

  gave Tal'dira a curt nod. "I envy you your ships."

  "And I envy you your ability to win victories." Tal'dira played with his tumbler

  of whisky in a most unwarriorly fashion. "You have proven yourself time and

  again a most dangerous enemy."

  Wedge glanced down for a moment and stroked his chin with his right hand. "It

  occurs to me, Tal'dira, that it would be a waste for your ships to go untested."

  A light sparked deep in the Twi'lek's dark eyes. "Indeed, a great waste."

  "Perhaps it would be possible for you and some of your pilots to join us." Wedge

  spread his hands open. "The work is dangerous, and we will find ourselves

  outcasts everywhere if we fail."

  Tal'dira's lekku twitched nonchalantly. "Twi'leks have been outcasts before."

  "Can you give me a squadron?"

  The warrior nodded. "Fearful that pirates might prey upon Koh'shak's freighter,

  we shipped with a dozen Death-seeds and pilots. We would be honored to join your

  battle against Iceheart."

  Which is what you wanted the instant you heard we were fighting her, but you

  could never have asked. You wanted to be invited. Wedge sat back. "I know you

  are aware of how serious this is, but there really are fairly grand problems

  here. If you join us, Iceheart could cut the bacta supply to Ryloth."

  "Ryll may not be bacta, but it suffices for many of our needs." Tal'dira

  shrugged. "Twi'leks pride themselves on being hearty, and bacta is seen in some

  quarters as a means for the weak to survive. If we are deprived of it we will

  lose people, but if we do not oppose Iceheart and take our place in the galaxy,

  what is the reason for living?"

  "And you know Iceheart isn't going to forgive you if we lose."

  The Twi'lek smiled easily. "The implacable foe is the only one worth facing. If

  we know we have lost everything we will fight that much harder. S
uch are the

  battles worth winning and worth taking pride in."

  Wedge raised his tumbler again and clinked it against Tal'dira's. "Welcome to

  the Bacta War, Tal'dira. Here's hoping Iceheart and her people choke on your

  Deathseeds."

  15

  The thing Corran hated the most about floating in the bacta tank was that he

  could see blurred figures outside the tank, but he couldn't communicate with

  them. Even when one or more got close enough to press a hand to the

  transparisteel window into the tank, he couldn't make out who was at the far end

  of the arm. He could guess, but since the room outside the tank was kept dim

  and lit mostly by a yellow-green glow from within the tank itself, confirming

  his guesses was impossible.

  He had no way of knowing how long he'd been in the tank, but he found the

  duration of his stay both too long and too short. Pain in his back and guts had

  been overwhelming at first, but it subsided after a while. In its wake came a

  tingling in his legs, which was good since he'd not felt anything in them at

  first. Only after feeling returned to them did Corran allow himself to think

  about how badly he had been hurt and how close he'd come to death.

  / probably broke my pelvis in the fall, then when the stormtroopers landed on me

  I broke my back and probably ruptured internal organs. Had bacta not been

  available, those injuries would have been fatal.

  That realization sobered Corran and gave him a clarity of mind that allowed him

  to go back over what he had done at the spaceport. His two mistakes were very

  clear and gnawed at him. / should have known better. I am not a Jedi. Trying to

  use Jedi methods without proper training is stupid, as I found out. I'm as bad

  as wannabe policea Jedi vigilante. If Jedi techniques were just parlor tricks

  and illusions, the Emperor wouldn't have hunted all the Jedi down and had them

  destroyed. If these abilities are that dangerous, they shouldn't be used without

  proper training.

  While that line of thought made certain he'd never again try to warp the brain

  of a stormtrooper, Corran was not as harsh in his self-judgment concerning the

  fight on the catwalk. Lacking a blaster and pinned down by crossfire, to do

  nothing would have meant both he and Mirax would be dead. Escaping that trap

  required action and he'd taken action. His mistake in the fight had been the