[X-Wing] - 03 - Krytos Trap (Michael Stackpole), Star Wars - Books And Short Stories
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Star WarsX-WingBook 2Krytos Trapby Michael A. Stackpol###############################################################################DRAMATIS PERSONAEROGUE SQUADRONCOMMANDER WEDGE ANTILLES (human male from Corellia)CAPTAIN Tvcno CELCHU (human male from Alderaan)CAPTAIN ARIL NUNB (human male from Sullust)LIEUTENANT CORRAN HORN (human male from Corellia)LIEUTENANT PASH CRACKEN (human male from Contruum)OORYL QRYGG (Gand male from Gand)NAWARA VEN (Twi'lek male from Ryloth)RHYSATI YNR (human female from Bespin)ERISI DLARIT (human female from Thyferra)GAVIN DARKLIGHTER (human male frons Tatooine)RIV SHIEL (Shistavanen male from Uvena III)ASYR SEI'LAR (Bothan female from Bothawui)INYRI FORGE (human female from Kessel)M-3PO (Emtrey; protocol and regulations druid)WHISTLER (Corran's R2 astromech)MYNOCK (Wedge's R5 astromech)ALLIANCE MILITARYADMIRAL ACKBAR (Mon Calamari male from Mon Calamari)ALLIANCE INTELLIGENCEGENERAL AIREN CRACKEN (human male from Contruum)IELLA WESSIRI (human female from CoreUia)WINTER (human female from Alderaan)DRAMATIS PERSONAECITIZENS ON CORUSCANTFLIRY VORRU (human male from CoreIlia)Dmic WESSIRI (human male from CoreIlia)BORSK FEY'LYA (Bothan male from Bothawui)HALLA ETrYK (human female from Alderaan)QLAERN HIRV (Vratix from Thyferra)CREW OF THE PULSAR SKATEMIRAX TERR1K (human female from CoreIlia)LIAT TSAYV (Sullustan male from Sullust)IMPERIAl. FORCESYSANNE ISARD, DIRECTOR OF IMPERIAl. INTELLIGENCE (human female from Coruscant)KIRTAN LOOR, INTELLIGENCE AGENT (human male from Churba)GENERAL Evm DERRICOTE (human male from Kalla)Commander Wedge Antilles would have preferred the cere-mony to be private. Rogue Squadron had come to mourn the passing of one of its own on the week anniversary of his death. Wedge wanted the gathering to be small and intimate, with Corran Horn's friends all being able to share remem-brances of him, but that was not possible. Corran's death had come during the liberation of Coruscant. That made him a hero from a company of heroes, and while a small memo-rial might have been what Corran himself would have wanted, it was not heroic enough for a figure of his posthu-mous stature.Even though Wedge had known things would not go quite the way he wanted, he had not anticipated how out of control they would get when he requested permission to hold the ceremony. He had expected a number of dignitaries would come to the pseudogranite barrow that marked where Corran had died when a building collapsed on top of him. He even anticipated people lining the balconies and walk-ways of nearby towers. At the very Worst he imagined people might gawk from the beds of hovertrucks.His imagination paled beside that exercised by the bu-reaucrats who organized the memorial service. They took a ceremony based on heartfelt grief and made it into the focal point of mourning for the entire New Republic. Corran Horn was a hero--this they proclaimed loudly--but he was also a victim. As such he represented all the victims of the Empire. It didn't matter to them that Corran would have rejected being labeled a victim. He had been transformed into a symbol--a symbol the New Republic needed badly.Rogue Squadron likewise underwent iconization. The unit's pilots had always worn orange flightsuits in the past, or, as supplies became harder and harder to find, whatever had been handy. Corran's flightsuit had been green, black, and grey, since he'd brought it with him from the Corellian Security Force. In homage to him, that color scheme was used to create new uniforms for the squadron: evergreen overall, with dark grey flank panels, black sleeves, leg stripes, and trim. On the left sleeve and breast rode the Rogue Squadron crest. It had also appeared on the evergreen hawkbilled caps designed by a Kuati, but Wedge had vetoed their addition to the uniform.The makeup of the Squadron had also been adjusted. Asyr Sei'lar, a Bothan pilot, and Inyri Forge, the sister of a dead squadron member, had both been added to the squad-ron. Wedge would have gladly welcomed them, and they had been crucial to the success of the mission to liberate Corus-cant, but they had been pressed upon him for political rea-sons. Likewise, Portha, a Trandoshan, had been made a member of the squadron despite his inability to fly. He was attached to the unit as part of a previously nonexistent secu-rity detail. Each of them was appointed by bureaucrats as a reward to various constituencies in the New Republic, and Wedge hated their objectification.The ceremony grew out of all proportion until special grandstands had to be grafted to the nearby buildings and color-coded for the various levels of access people were to be accorded. Holocams had been stationed at various positions so the ceremony could be recorded and replayed on countless worlds. Despite the very real fears about contracting the highly contagious Krytos virus, the stands were packed to overflowing.He looked up from his position on the reviewing stand and out at Rogue Squadron. His people were bearing up well despite the bright sunlight and unseasonably warm weather. The recent rains had raised the general level of humidity until clothing clung and the very air lay like a smothering blanket over everyone. The thick air seemed to deaden sounds and suppress emotions, and Wedge was tempted to allow himself to imagine that Coruscant somehow also mourned Corran's passing.In addition to the members of Rogue Squadron, Cor~ ran's other friends stood on the platform nearest the barrow. Iella Wessiri, a slender, brown-haired woman who had been Corran's CorSec partner, stood next to Mirax Terrik. De-spite being the daughter of a notorious Corellian smuggler, Mirax had managed to become friends with Corran. Mirax, who had known Wedge since they had both been kids, had tearfully confided in him that she and Corran had planned to celebrate the liberation of Coruscant together. He could see she'd fallen hard for Corran, and the lifeless expression on her face made his heart ache.The only one who is missing is Tycbo. Wedge frowned. Captain Tycho Celchu was a long-standing member of Rogue Squadron who had served as the squadron's executive officer. He'd surreptitiously joined the mission to Coruscant at Wedge's request and had been instrumental in bringing the planet's defenses down. His action was the latest in a string of heroic missions Tycho had carried off during his Rebel career.Unfortunately, Alliance Intelligence had developed evi-dence that indicated Tycho was working for the Empire. They blamed him directly not only for Corran's death, but for the death of Bror Jace, another Rogue Squadron pilot who had died early on in the Coruscant campaign. Wedge had not been fully apprised of what the evidence was that they had against Tycho, but he did not doubt the man's inno-cence for a second. Still, his innocence might mean nothing in the long run.In spite of the liberation, Coruscant was not a pleasant or stable world. A hideous epidemicrathe Krytos virus--was ravaging the non-human population of the planet. It had struck at the non-humans in the Rebellion and was hard enough on some species that even coming down to the planet was an act of extreme bravery. Bacta, as usual, could cure the virus, but the Rebellion's entire store of bacta was insuffi-cient to cure everyone. This resulted in panic, and resentment against humans for their apparent immunity to the disease.The memorial service had become an important event because Coruscant's population needed something to unite them and to get their minds off their suffering, even if only for a moment. The fact that Rogue Squadron had humans and non-humans working together in it showed the strength of unity that had allowed the Rebellion to prevail. Non-humans coming together along with dignitaries from various other worlds to mourn a dead human acknowledged the debt the Rebels owed humans. Speakers devoted themselves to exhorting their fellows to labor together in building a future that would justify the sacrifices made by Corran and others. Their words raised things to a philosophical or metaphysical level meant to soothe away the anxieties and worries of the citizens.Those were noble messages, to be certain, but Wedge felt they were not the right messages for Corran. He tugged on the sleeves of his uniform jacket as a Bothan protocol subal-tern waved him forward. Wedge stepped up to the podium and wanted to lean heavily upon it. Years of fighting and saying good-bye to friends and comrades weighed him down--but he refused to give in to fatigue. He let his pride in the squadron and his friendship with Corran keep him up-right.He looked around at the crowd, then focused on the mound of pseudogranite rubble before him. "Corran Horn does not rest easy in that grave." Wedge paused for a mo-ment, and then another, letting the silence remind everyone of the true purpose of the ceremony. "Corran Horn was never at ease except when he was fighting. He does not rest easy now because there is much fighting yet to be done. We have taken Coruscant, but anyone who assumes that means the Empire is dead is as mistaken as Grand Moff Tarkin was in his belief that Alderaan's destruction would somehow cripple the Rebellion."Wedge brought his head up. "Corran Horn was not a man who gave up, no matter what the odds. More than once he took upon himself the responsibility of dealing with a threat to the squadron and to the Rebellion. Heedless of his own safety, he engaged overwhelming forces and by sheer dint of will and spirit and courage he won through. Even here, on Coruscant, he flew alone into the heart of a storm that was ravaging a planet and risked his life so this world would be free. He...
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