Adriff stood in front of the shuttle, stormtroopers lined up behind him.
The shuttle's ramp lowered, and four people walked down. Fel, a blond woman in a lieutenant colonel's uniform, a blue-skinned alien—Thrawn's species?— and...
Adriff frowned. "An alien, a woman, and a Jedi," he said. "Are you making a statement, General Fel?"
"No statement," Fel answered. "Just the most qualified people I found."
Adriff's executive officer scoffed, but he captain silenced him with a gesture.
"We have no time to argue this point, Commander. Head back up to the bridge."
"Yes, sir," the first officer said. Adriff led Fel's staff through several corridors into a conference room. He motioned them to sit down.
"I'll be blunt, General," he announced. "Technically, you have committed an act of war against the Empire. I can alert Bastion with one holocomm call."
"And how quick will they respond? Fel asked. "Your fleet may be otherwise occupied."
Adriff stirred. "How much do you know?" he demanded.
"Not much in the way of details. I do know that Sarim thinks he can fight the New Republic."
"That..." Adriff's anger swelled in him. "He'll ruin us all!"
"And then the Republic will sweep in." Adriff sighed. That was his exact thought.
"And how do you come into this?"
"The key is Sarim," the Chiss officer said. "All the intelligence points straight at him. That's whom we need to deal with."
"I don't understand," Adriff said.
"Sarim has a few loyal officers, and many he managed to intimidate," the woman said. "We need to strike at him, and the core of his supporters. And we need surprise."
"An attack?"
Fel nodded. "Sarim is a protege of Isard. He thinks his plan is flawless, and will brook no objection."
"I already learned that."
"But we can't strike him by surprise if he is alerted. We need to be able to evade sector patrols."
It suddenly dawned on Adriff what Fel was asking. "That's treason."
"Treason... to what?"
"The Empire."
"If Sarim has his way, the Empire will soon cease to exist. Who's the real traitor?"
Adriff had to consider that. "You call yourselves the 'Empire of the Hand'. What's that, and what's your stake here?"
Fel frowned. "Unfortunately, I am not allowed to tell you. Suffice it to say, we have a stake in avoiding war with you, or the New Republic... a very great stake. And the New Republic will not be able to conquer us the way they would you—we probably could hold out for years."
Adriff paused. "If I refuse to help you..."
"To completely avoid the charges of treason, you'd have to do more than that," Skywalker spoke up for the first time. "You'd have to notify Sarim of what transpired here."
Adriff glared at him. Damn, they were right. About everything.
"Does the Empire of the Hand have room for me?" he asked.
Fel gave a satisfied nod. "I think we'll think of something."
XXX
Luke twisted his fighter around, looking for his enemy. The craft wasn't entirely unfamiliar—he had flown TIEs on infiltration missions—but it has been awhile, and the fighter did have some new features. But he still had to process having TIEs designated 'friendly' and X-wings 'hostile' on his instruments. He ignored it as he fired off a burst of laser fire at an X-wing. The other fighter's shields flickered, but the pilot twisted away before Luke could finish him off.
He accelerated the Interceptor away from another attacking X-wing, employing the craft's speed to his advantage. The enemy's bolts flew around him, but Luke used the Force to avoid getting hit. He looped around, and sent several laser bolts straight into the X-wing's front viewpanel, blowing open its cockpit.
Then his view of space was replaced by a plain gray wall. The simulation was over.
Luke had to carefully consider his next move. The Imperial pilot, a young woman named Tennah Kuth, challenged him to this, and he accepted. Her commander, a captain who has been with the Chimaera since Endor, laughed when Ensign Kuth implied that Luke's legendary piloting skill was a product of Rebel propaganda. But he shrugged when Luke agreed.
They came out of the simulation rooms. "So, Ensign," Captain Lenaon drawled, "how much of it was Rebel propaganda?"
Kuth stood in front of him. "None, sir. However, a TIE interceptor is a better craft than an X-wing."
"You insisted on the arrangement that each of you fly an unfamiliar craft," Captain Lenaon pointed out.
"And what makes you think the TIE is better?"'
"Speed, maneuverability, smaller profile—that's what wins a dogfight."
Luke smiled. "Maybe so. What about the shields?"
"As you have just demonstrated, they are useless."
"Your selective memory has always been your greatest troublespot, Ensign," Lenaon corrected her. "You were on his tail more than he was on yours, and you would have shot down anyone but either a very good or a very lucky pilot."
"I still don't like the X-wing, sir. Maybe it works for an average pilot, but from what I know, even elite Rebel units use them instead of the A-wings they have."
Luke looked at her. "Would you like to know why?"
"It's not a state secret?"
"Hardly. Have you ever flown an X-wing on a combat mission?"
Ensign Kuth looked down. "No."
"I have flown TIEs in combat, and I know what they're like. So," he said, "here is an analogy. Have you ever seen the blasters used in marksmanship competitions?"
"You're looking at the Academy champion," Tennah replied.
"So you know them. Very light, accurate, well made—and expensive."
She smiled. "Don't remind me."
"However, no soldier, smuggler, bounty hunter, or anyone who can reasonably expect a firefight would dream of taking something like that with him."
"There's the price—"
Luke shook his head. "Even special forces like Imperial Assault troopers and New Republic commandos, while they use lots of other expensive equipment, usually carry only slightly modified versions of the standard combat blaster rifle."
"It's the maintenance," Kuth realized. "These blasters need to be either in static fields or cleaned daily, or they'll malfunction."
"Exactly. And that's what TIEs are. A-wings too, for that matter. They need a base or a ship to operate from, and return to for repairs. In addition, because of the way their inertial dampers are placed, flying them wears out the pilot much quicker."
"X-wings were designed with the ability to operate independently of capital ship support. That's why they're much easier to repair in the field—and they don't need to be repaired as often."
He smiled. "Just because something is better than another in one aspect, doesn't mean it's better, period." Kuth nodded.
"Now, Ensign," Luke said. "I have a suspicion, that I'd like to confirm. Would you consent to a mind probe?"
"You mean—"
"If you think I'll find out Imperial secrets, you should know that the Force doesn't work that way. True telepathy only exists between people who are very close—and even then it's shaky. At best, I will get a glimpse of your emotional state."
Kuth looked at Captain Lenaon, who shrugged. "What do I do?"
"Nothing. Just relax," Luke said. Then he began the probe. He quickly found the deep, primordial node that he was looking for. Here we go, he thought, and pushed.
He was thrown clear across the room, and nearly crashed into the wall. Shaking his head, he rose.
Ensign Kuth and Captain Lenaon both looked shocked. "What did I do?" Tennah asked.
"You didn't do anything. It was a reflex, not something you can control. But this confirms it. You are Force-sensitive."
"What? But no one in my family—"
"Do you really know that? And even if that's true, these things do happen."
"What am I supposed to do?"
He looked at her. "First, we've got to either prevent a battle, or barring that, win one. After that," he gave her a careful look, "it's up to you. You will certainly be welcome at the Jedi Academy on Yavin Four."
"Even though I'm an—"
"An Imperial? Unless we are at war—which we're here to prevent from happening—you will be treated like anyone else. We do not make students swear allegiance to the New Republic."
Tennah approached him, giving him careful scrutiny. "You're not what I expected, Commander Skywalker," she finally said. She shook his hand. "I'll think about it."