“Yes, I see,” Thrawn said. “Interesting. I was right, Captain—our old Corellian adversary is indeed in command below. But he’s allowed us to lead him by the nose only so far.”
Pellaeon nodded as understanding suddenly came. “He’s trying to knock out the asteroid’s cloaking shield.”
“Hoping to take it intact.” Thrawn touched his control board. “Forward turbolaser batteries: track and target asteroid number one. Fire on my command only.” —The Last Command
---------------------------------------------------
“Administrator Calrissian?” the voice from the comm pinged. “I‘m sorry to bother you, sir, but we’ve got a message from the shieldship depot that requires you attention.”
Seated in the private command room he used as an office, Lando looked up from the data pad he’d been reading. “What is it?” he asked, flicking on the intercom at his desk.
“They’ve got a visitor who is requesting permission to come through,” the voice at the other end said. “He won’t identify himself, but he’s flying around in what looks like a pre-Clone Wars Dreadnaught, broadcasting as the Peregrine. Are you familiar with it, sir?”
Lando was familiar, all right. “And what does this unidentified individual have to say for himself?” he asked.
“He wanted us to tell you that an old friend is here, and that he thought you might, quote, play a hand of sabacc for his choice of stock, unquote.” There was a pause. “Should I tell the depot to kick his butt out of our system, sir?”
“On the contrary, instruct them to let him through,” Lando said. He thought for a moment. “Is a Dreadnaught even small enough to fit behind a shieldship umbrella?”
“It should be,” the other said. “If he’s got a slave circuit rigged, they should be able to link him up without any problem.”
“Oh, he’s got a slave circuit, all right,” Lando promised.
“Sir?”
“That’s one of the Katana fleet Dreadnaughts out there,” Lando explained, setting aside the data pad. “And our mysterious friend is none other than General Garm Bel Iblis himself.”
* * *
Lando had watched from his window as the shieldship came out of hyperspace, a tiny flicker of pseudomotion above the Nkllon skyline. He’d watched as the Peregrine emerged from behind the curved safety of the shieldship’s umbrella and headed across the planet’s scarred surface toward Nomad City; and he’d watched as the small shuttle exited the Peregrine’s hangar and soared towards the city's landing platform.
So Lando was waiting as the pressurization coupling sealed shut and the door to the docking tube slid open. “General Bel Iblis,” Lando greeted the figure that appeared at the other end of the tube. “It’s good to see you again. Welcome to Nomad City.”
“Thank you,” Bel Iblis said, casting an admiring look around. “It’s an impressive operation. Another Rendili Dreadnaught, if I’m not mistaken?”
“Mostly,” Lando confirmed. “We also have forty of those Imperial AT-AT walkers attached underneath to provide mobility. Nkllon is so close to its sun that a couple minutes of direct sunlight is enough to melt through most starship hulls, so we have to keep moving to stay on the planetary night side.”
“Yes, they explained that at the shieldship depot. As I said, an impressive operation.”
“Thank you, General.” His eyes drifted past Bel Iblis’s shoulder. “Hello, Irenez,” he nodded at the gray-haired woman standing behind Bel Iblis. “I’m surprised Sena isn’t with you, too.”
“Sena, unfortunately, couldn’t make it,” Bel Iblis said. “She’s overseeing the integration of our intelligence networks with the New Republic's.” He waved down the tube. “But I did bring along another familiar face.”
Lando looked further past Bel Iblis, just as Wedge Antilles emerged out of the blackness. “Wedge!” he exclaimed, giving the other a quick embrace. “What are you doing here?”
“Rogue Squadron’s been assigned to the Peregrine task force for the next two weeks,” Wedge explained. But there was something not quite right; an oddly embarrassed look on his face… “And the General asked me to come along as back-up.”
“Back-up?” Lando repeated, glancing at Bel Iblis.
“I’m afraid this isn’t just a social call,” the other admitted, taking another, more careful look around the docking bay. “Is there someplace we can talk? ”
“Sure,” Lando said carefully. “We can speak in my private office.” But he felt a lump starting to grow in his throat. The last time someone had come here asking for his help, he’d almost been killed a couple of times.
Hopefully, this time would be different.
* * *
“So,” Bel Iblis said once they were alone, settling into one of the couches in the office lounge. “How’s business these days?”
“You mean ever since Grand Admiral Thrawn unveiled his new clones?” Lando asked bitterly. “Not good. The market price for hfredium was already dropping before the Katana skirmish. The events since then haven’t done anything to restore consumer confidence.”
“Hfredium is Nomad City’s main product?”
“One of them,” Lando confirmed. “We also mine for kammris and dolovite. But yes, hfredium is our biggest seller.” He glanced past Bel Iblis, where Irenez was pulling guard duty by the door. “But I take it you didn’t come here to discuss the mining business.”
Bel Iblis sighed. “No,” he admitted, waving at the other side of the couch. “Antilles?”
Wedge leaned over the table between them and handed Lando a data pad. “What is this?” Lando asked.
“The flight recorder data from one of our Y-wings,” Bel Iblis identified it. “Anything look familiar?”
“It looks like the Imperial shipyards at Ord Trasi,” Lando said, studying it. “I recognize the setup from my days as a general.”
“That’s exactly right,” Bel Iblis said. “Notice anything out of the ordinary?”
Lando frowned as he gave the data pad a closer look. Now that Bel Iblis mentioned it, he did see something. “Those four Dreadnaughts off the far platforms,” he said. “It looks like they’re getting some kind of special retrofitting.”
On the other couch, Wedge nodded. “Good catch. At first we didn’t know what to make of them, so we cross-checked our information with Bothan intelligence. Turns out the Empire has chosen those four Dreadnaughts as the newest recipients of its cloaking shield.”
“What does Thrawn want with a cloaked Dreadnaught?”
“We don’t know,” Bel Iblis said. “But for the purposes of this conversation, we don’t care. The Peregrine is going to try and steal one.”
For a moment Lando didn’t say anything, digesting the full impact of Bel Iblis’s words. “Really,” he said, trying to keep his voice neutral. “Steal one. From right out of the Imperial shipyard.”
“Can you think of a better place?” Irenez spoke up. “They won’t have a full crew complement during retrofitting, so it’ll be that much easier to sneak a team aboard.”
“And we need to get our hands on a working cloaking shield, if we’re ever going to figure out how they work,” Wedge added.
“And how exactly do you intend to accomplish this little sleight of hand?” Lando asked.
“We have a plan,” Bel Iblis assured him. “A small covert operations team will slip into the shipyards and hijack one of the Dreadnaughts, while the main bulk of the Peregrine’s task force launches a diversionary attack. We should be able to cause enough chaos to cover their escape.”
“Worked at Endor,” Wedge pointed out.
“At Endor we had the Tydirium, too,” Lando likewise pointed out. “The Imperials aren’t going to just let you fly up and dock in any old transport. How do you plan to get past their security?”
Wedge and Bel Iblis shared a look. “That’s where you come in, actually” the former said. “We need someone who has experience getting into and out of Imperial bases undetected. Possibly someone who works in the fringe community?”
“I don’t think Talon Karrde is keen to do us any favors at the moment,” Lando said.
There was that look again. “We agree,” Bel Iblis said. “That’s why we had someone other than Karrde in mind.”
“Luke mentioned you ran into an old acquaintance after the attack on Sluis Van,” Wedge added. “Someone with experience in this kind of thing?”
Lando stared at them for a long moment, only slightly aware that his mouth had fallen open in the meantime. “No,” he said, shaking his head. “No. You can’t be serious.”
“Can you name someone better for a mission like this?”
“No,” Lando repeated, stronger this time. “Not Niles Ferrier.”
“Ferrier has a long resume when it comes to spaceship theft,” Bel Iblis reminded him. “Just recently he swiped three Sienar patrol ships from the Cavrilhu pirates’ base in Amorris system. And he has people on his crew who can slice into the Imperial network.”
“He also recently helped Grand Admiral Thrawn find the Katana fleet,” Lando growled. “And almost got me killed, for what it’s worth.”
“Which makes it that much more likely he’ll be willing to make a deal.” Wedge grinned. “What, you’re not holding a grudge, are you?”
Lando sent a glare across the table. “You’ll need to make a deal, all right, if you want him to play along. Ferrier’s not going to do it just because I ask him to. Our last couple meetings haven’t exactly been friendly.”
“We know how to deal with Ferrier,” Bel Iblis said. “We just need you to make contact with him. You can do that, can’t you?”
Lando gritted his teeth. “Even if I wanted to,” he said finally, “I wouldn’t know where to find him. Or how. After his handiwork with the Katana fleet, my guess is Ferrier ’ll be hiding under a rock for the next month.”
“Actually, we already found him” Wedge said. “You ever heard of a ship called the Princess of Corellia?”
Lando had heard of it, all right. “It’s a luxury liner,” he identified it. “Does ten-day runs through the Trogan system. Used to be a popular vacation spot for Imperial officials, and a pretty high ticket, too—until Endor, obviously.” He leaned back, thinking. “It also had one of the best casinos in the Empire. Still does, as far as I know. Yeah, I’ve heard of it. Any self-respecting gambler has. What’s it got to do with Ferrier? He hasn’t stolen it, has he?”
Bel Iblis smiled. “Not yet. New Republic Intelligence picked up Ferrier boarding the Princess seven days ago. We think it’s a perfect spot for a fellow gambler to make contact.”
“I see,” Lando said neutrally. They had it all figured out, didn’t they? “And what’s in it for me if I go along with this little charade?”
“You mean other the chance to stick it back to Ferrier?” Wedge smiled.
“You mentioned before you were having trouble selling your hfredium stockpiles,” Bel Iblis observed. “What if I could guarantee the Republic would be interested in purchasing some at last month’s prices?”
“Make it two months, and you have a deal,” Lando said, but he was still studying the data pad. “How do we know this isn’t one of Thrawn’s setups?”
“The short answer? We don’t.” Bel Iblis shrugged. “The long answer is Admiral Ackbar and I have decided it’s worth the risk, even if it is. Like Antilles said, we’re going to need to get our hands on a cloaking shield eventually. This is as good a chance as we’re likely to see in some time.”
“Inspiring logic,” Lando said dryly, “but that’s not quite what I meant. This information leak coming from the Imperial Palace…”
“You mean Delta Source.”
“That’s the one. From what I’ve heard, Thrawn’s been getting intelligence practically out of the Inner Council. How can we be sure he won’t get wind of this, too?”
Bel Iblis smiled. “That’s sort of the reason I was selected for this little assignment, actually. You see, Delta Source started before my group even joined the Republic—”
“So we can be sure no one on the Peregrine is involved,” Lando finished for him. “Makes sense.”
“Just more inspiring logic for you. So what do you say?”
Lando sighed. “I just hope you know what you’re doing, General,” he said, holding out his hand. Bel Iblis took it. “All right. You’ve got yourself a deal.”
“Thank you, Calrissian,” Bel Iblis said. “Glad to have you aboard. You won‘t regret it.”
But Lando was thinking back again to the last time someone had come here asking for help. And wondered if Bel Iblis was right.
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