"There it is."
The major military base was on the other side of the system from Nirauan. And right now, it was full of activity. At the center was a warship unlike Luke has ever seen. It was clearly a Star Destroyer variant, but it was only about two and a half times longer than a standard Imperial-class mark II—not enough to be called a Super Star Destroyer.
Soontir Fel nodded. "Empire of the Hand Star Destroyer Redoubt. Flagship of the 3rd Fleet. What do you think?"
"That I'm glad we're on the same side here," Luke answered.
The shuttle maneuvered into the hangar bay. Luke and Fel stepped out, and were met by Admiral Taldine.
"Sir," the admiral said, "Welcome aboard."
Fel returned the admiral's salute. "Are we ready?"
"We'll depart in under an hour," Taldine answered, "As soon as they finish securing the 501st's equipment."
"Understood," Fel said. "I don't really think we'll need the AT-AT's, the AT-ST's, and other heavy stuff, but if we do... going back for them will definitely waste more time than we'll save here. Carry on. As soon as we jump, I want a staff meeting."
"Yes, sir," Taldine departed.
XX
Less than forty minutes later, the Empire of the Hand fleet was on its way towards the outer rim.
The fleet, as always, had smaller support ships—cruisers, frigates, corvettes... but at the core, there were five Star Destroyers and the carrier.
The Redoubt carried eight squadrons of clawcraft—a combination of a TIE fighter with some Chiss design, and a few inspirations from the X-wing. If it carried TIE's, there would be room for twice as many—sixteen squadrons.
The three Imperial-class Star Destroyers—Annihilator, Enforcer, and Firestorm carried three fighter squadrons each.
The Victory-class Star Destroyer Prowler carried two squadrons.
The carrier Triumphant had eighteen full squadrons.
Without counting the fighters on the smaller ships, the fleet had 444 starfighters.
Four hundred and forty-four.
"I can't believe that you'd be willing to do this," Luke said.
"Normally, I'd go myself. Since I'm in overall command, I can't do that."
"That's the problem with assembling forces so rapidly... service rivalry, ship rivalry, individual rivalry... I need someone who isn't a rival of someone else. The kind of people who become pilots are the same all over the galaxy... Imperial, Rebel, Chiss... they all have certain qualities. 'Easily controlled' is not among them."
Luke smiled. "I know that."
"That's the idea... I need someone who does."
Luke sighed. "Very well. I accept... on one condition."
"And that is?"
"If we're ever going to send any parties to planets, space stations, derelict ships—the like—I want to be with them."
Fel nodded. "Deal. May I ask why?"
"I'm looking for Mara. I may notice a clue no one else would."
Fel nodded, and actually smiled at him. "Congratulations, Commander Skywalker. You are now in command of the fighter forces of the Empire of the Hand First Expeditionary Fleet."
Luke saluted Fel. "Yes, sir."
Fel shook his head. "You better get a uniform. Those robes aren't suited for showing proper respect to superior officers."
Luke chuckled. "I was never really good at that." He understood Fel's argument, and he accepted his reasoning, but still...
I never thought I'd be putting on an Imperial uniform—for real, rather than a disguise.
A humorous thought rose in his mind. It's worse when it's a disguise. There's nowhere to hide a lightsaber on these things.
He looked at Fel. "Aren't you afraid that anyone will think I've used my Jedi mind tricks on you?"
Fel shrugged it off. "Let them think that, if they're stupid," he said. "Besides, those tricks don't work through hyperspace, do they?"
"You mean, can a person be tricked from light-years away? I don't think so. Feeling emotions, yes, communication, sometimes... but I've never tried to do that, and I've never encountered anyone who could." That wasn't strictly true. The influence Palpatine had on Mara... He felt it in Mara's memory when their bond was forged... and he knew that Mara still felt pain from that. But Palpatine had worked on Mara for years, bending her to his will. A short-term mind trick was something else entirely, and so Luke decided that it wasn't worth bothering Fel with that little detail.
He did tell Fel the truth.
From a certain point of view.
XXX
The Wild Karrde emerged from hyperspace around the planet Adumar.
But none of the crew saw the planet in the viewport. That view was blocked by an enormous gray slab.
"Oh, my..." was all Shada could manage.
"We are receiving a transmission, Captain," a crew member said.
"Open a channel," Karrde said. "This is Talon Karrde aboard the freighter Wild Karrde," he said.
"This is General Wedge Antilles aboard the New Republic Star Destroyer Lusankya," the reply came in.
"Wedge?" Lando said, incredulous.
"Lando? What are you doing there?"
"Why don't you come aboard," Wedge said. "I'd rather talk where our conversation is not to be
intercepted."
Lando glanced at Karrde. The smuggler nodded. "We're coming in," he said.
"We're readying a tractor beam," Wedge said.
"Hey, wait a moment!" Karrde protested. "NOBODY tractors my ship!"
There was a pause, and four X-wing fighters popped out of the Lusankya's bay and headed towards them.
"If you're not going to be tractored, I have to give you an escort," Wedge said. "Regulations."
"I can live with that," Karrde said. He turned to Lando. "I hope Wedge didn't send out trigger-happy pilots."
"I doubt it. Not in this situation."
XX
When the Wild Karrde landed, Wedge came out to meet them. "Hi, Lando," he said. "Hello, Karrde."
"Hey, guys," Corran Horn greeted them.
"Come on," Wedge said. "Normally, I wouldn't be allowed to do this, but right now, we don't have to keep our presence secret. In fact, the whole point is so everyone knows we're here."
"Everyone," Karrde repeated. "Including the Imperials."
Corran smiled. "Especially the Imperials."
"Why Adumar?" Lando asked.
"The Adumari are going to be in the middle if war breaks out. So they're interested in preventing it, and if that's impossible, ending it as quickly as possible. So a few fighter squadrons from Adumar are going to be joining us. So what brought you here?"
"There was a big bounty on my second in command," Karrde answered.
"Mara Jade?" Corran cast a glance at him.
Karrde nodded. "Ten million credits for Mara. Alive. Lando says she left Coruscant with Skywalker, and vanished."
Wedge lifted his eyebrows. "You don't think Luke turned her in?"
"I'm not that stupid," Karrde said.
"Apparently," Lando said, "Leia sent Han to look for Luke, and then Han vanished as well."
Chewie seconded that with a sad growl.
"Han? This is... disturbing," Wedge mused.
"As far as we know," Karrde said, "Boba Fett captured Mara on Ord Mantell. Skywalker wasn't captured with her or killed—he might have been injured."
"He'll look for her," Corran said with certainty.
"I don't doubt it. But two searches are better than one, don't you think?"
"Agreed. So what do we do now?"
After a moment of silence, Karrde spoke up. "Most people don't know this, and after the collapse of the talks, the issue is moot anyway. There was a plan to use my network as an unofficial information exchange between the New Republic and the Imperial Remnant. The theory was that both governments could have some peace of mind that the other wasn't plotting against them."
"Your point?" Corran demanded.
"My point is, I didn't rescind my offer. I still think it could be useful. I can start now. Your objective is to prevent a war. You might find my intelligence useful."
Wedge appeared curious. "What's the catch?"
"If I need it, help in getting Mara back."
"What kind of help? You know I can't—"
"I won't ask you to divert the whole fleet—I know you can't do that. But I'm sure you can spare a squadron or two—or a small ground force."
Wedge thought for a moment, looked at Corran, who appeared skeptical. Lando smiled at that. He knew how extensive Karrde's network was, but Wedge might not, and Corran was distrustful of fringe elements due to his CorSec experience. But the general finally lifted his eyes and extended his hand to Karrde.
"I accept," he said. "Let's see what you've got."