Title: War Tactics

Time Period: During the Thrawn trilogy, approximately 5 years after Return of the Jedi

Rating: PG

Disclaimer: Almost all of these characters, etc belong to Lord Lucas. I do not profit from this work.

Author's Note: I'm getting better. This one is shorter than my first, but I haven't had as much time for it. Once I finish up some standing projects, I'll definitely be expanding on this line.

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It was a fairly normal day in the office of Admiral Ackbar. As normal as it ever was with the threat of Grand Admiral Thrawn looming over the New Republic. A secretary was nonchalantly adding files to a database, while the Admiral himself was reviewing the latest reports from the front line. Then Wedge Antilles walked in, and the course of history changed.

Admiral Ackbar put down the report. "General Antilles. What can I do for you?"

            "Sorry to interrupt, Admiral," Wedge began.

            "It is nothing. These reports are depressing me; I could use a bit of young optimism."

            Wedge chuckled at this. He was hardly young but compared to the Admiral he was but a child. "I don't think what I have to say will bring any cheer to you, Admiral. In fact, I believe we've had a similar discussion once before. And as it turns out, I was right."

            "Let me guess; you want to form a new starfighter squadron." The Admiral laughed, a sound of water crashing against rocks in a storm.

            "Actually…yes." Wedge braced himself for the rebuke, but none came.

            "Since I know well enough by now not to doubt you, I will ask but one question: Why? Aren't Rogue and Wraith Squadrons enough?"

            "Well, sir, Wraith Squadron is now an Intelligence unit, and Captain Celchu is quite capable of handling the Rogues. But even still, the Republic needs this squadron and I want you to hear me out on this."

            Ackbar looked amused, yet gestured for Wedge to go on.

            "To start with, let's look at the facts. We are not winning this war against Thrawn. No offense intended to you or any of the other officers, but the tactics we keep employing are not going to get it done."

            "And you have the perfect strategy?" Ackbar studied Wedge with his large, amphibious eyes.

            "If I have to be a General, I am going to put my authority to good use."

            The Admiral sighed. "Proceed."

            "Anyway, this squadron is like a hybrid of Rogue and Wraith, and a bit of something different. I would establish a group of the best young strategists in the New Republic Starfighter Corps. who also 2have intrusion and piloting skills. Our primary function would be to predict what Thrawn is going to do, and find a way to stop him."

            "Sounds like an Intelligence unit. Perhaps you should see General Cracken."

            Wedge shook his head. "No, I want my people to be genuine pilots. Besides, we're going to have to work closely with Starfighter Command anyway. If you'd like, I could mix in some Intel and Fleet personnel to round out the unit."

            "It has possibilities." Ackbar thought for a moment. "Submit a formal request to me later. I will get back to you within the week."

            "Thank you, sir." Wedge's tone was disappointed, yet determined. "This could be the turning point in the war."

            The Admiral closed his eyes. "We shall see, we shall see."

            Wedge left Admiral Ackbar's office and headed to the tapcaf where Tycho was waiting.

            "What's with the dejected look?" Tycho asked. "He turned you down?"

            "Not yet," Wedge replied. "Said he'd think about it. I got the feeling he wasn't too enthusiastic. I don't know, Tycho, maybe I should give it up."

            "Give what up? Flying? Your idea? Beating yourself up?

            Wedge cracked a smile. "I think the humidity in there was getting to me."

            "That could do it. I don't know how he stands that, but then, I'm not from Mon Cal."

            Wedge sipped his drink. "I really appreciate you offering to take over Rogue Squadron, if this plan goes through."

            "Don't worry about it. As long as it's only temporary, or you might come back to a drunken mutiny."

            "Led by Wes and Hobbie?"

            "My money would be on them," said Tycho, grinning.

            Wedge tipped his glass up and finished the contents. "I think you'll do fine. It'll be just like when I left to form Wraith Squadron."

            Tycho glared. "Just substitute Thrawn for Zsinj and throw in Wes."

            Wedge searched for the elusive last few drops. "Keep an eye out for Lieutenant Kettch. He's got a bad habit for turning up in the strangest places." Lieutenant Kettch had started as one of Wes's pranks, but eventually was used as a tactic to throw off Zsinj. Wedge smiled longingly at the memories. There was no time for fun these days, he thought to himself, not with Thrawn reeking chaos all over the galaxy.

            Tycho noticed his melancholy mood. "Don't worry," he said. "We'll get him one of these days."

            "Yeah, but how many lives will be ruined before we do?"

            "I can't answer that, Wedge. I can only do my part to help bring him down."

            Wedge thought about that. "I suppose you're right. Although, I know in my heart this squadron would speed up his decline considerably."

            "Go write your report. Make it convincing. Then hurry up and beat Thrawn. I'm getting tired of this." Tycho got up and stretched out his stiff muscles. "Oh man, I think it's time to retire."

            Wedge gave him a light punch on the shoulder. "You're too young to retire, Captain Celchu."

            "Yub, yub, General Antilles."

            Wedge laughed, then put a stern look on his face and headed back to write a convincing proposal.

***

REQUEST ACCEPTED. Those two seemingly simple words stared up at Wedge from his datapad. He let out a gigantic sigh of relief and scanned the attached message. Ackbar had reviewed his request and deemed it worthy of experimentation. He was on a short leash however, with a very small time table to get his project moving. The Admiral had reserved the right to call him back to Rogue Squadron if he, the Admiral, deemed the project a failure, which brought a smile to Wedge's face when he read that. "Glad to know I've got support," he said to no one in particular. He typed a quick message to Tycho informing him with the news, then began to pack his bags.

His apartment was surprisingly empty for someone of such high rank and achievement, but Wedge preferred it that way. From his point of view, he wasn't on the ground enough to warrant any fancy décor. He was poised to open the door to leave, when the computer terminal beeped an alert that he had a call. Grimly wondering if it was Admiral Ackbar calling him off, he hurried over and activated the transmitter. He almost dropped his bags when he saw who the caller was.

"Princess Leia!" he exclaimed, "What can I do for you?"

"I'm sorry, Wedge, I know you're on your way out, but I wanted to congratulate you and pass on some news. Admiral Ackbar told me that he's granted you permission to start a new fighter squadron."

"Yes, I just got the news myself. I'm hoping to build a unit of strategists to counter Thrawn."

            "I read the report you gave him. Looks like you've put a lot of thought into this."

            "I have. I think this could have a big effect on the outcome of the war."

            "I hope so. Everyone is becoming paranoid these days, which reminds me, I have some information for you that might give you something to do with your new unit." She smiled at him. "Not like you would have any trouble finding something to do on your own."

            He returned the smile. "You know us Corellians."

            "I certainly do. Anyway, someone or something is getting access to high-level information on Coruscant and sending it to Thrawn. Until we can isolate the source, all of your orders and briefings will be rerouted through other channels or given directly by Admiral Ackbar."

            "You said until you 'isolate' the source. I assume you'll attempt to feed it false information?"

            "That's one of our objectives, yes."

            "You might want to let my unit work on that, once we're established."

            "Not a bad idea. I'll keep that in mind. One other thing; we believe Grand Admiral Thrawn has access to cloning facilities."

            Wedge's blood went cold. "Cloning? You can't be serious. I thought all the cloning facilities were destroyed during the Clone Wars."

            "That's what we thought too. But several legitimate reports have surfaced recently with the sighting of clone soldiers under Thrawn's command. One of your objectives," Leia said grimly, "is going to be to find the facility, and if possible, eliminate it."

            "We'll get on it as soon as we get set up. And thank you, Princess."

            "The sooner this war is over, the sooner I can go back to boring, old politics." She winked at him. "Take care of yourself, Wedge. I'll be in touch. Leia out."

            Wedge watched the image fade to blackness then resumed his journey out the door, thinking about what he had just heard.

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More later. Reviews, as always, are greatly appreciated.

Yours,

Voltaire