[Bounty Hunter Wars] - 03(69)
A spark of anger showed in Rozhdenst’s eyes, amusing Kuat even more. He knew that his comment had struck home. The only reason that this particular collection of Rebel Alliance craft was here rather than on their way to Sullust to join up with the others preparing for the imminent confrontation with the Imperial Navy was that they were too beat-up or outmoded to represent much of a tactical threat against a well-armed and prepared enemy. Most of them were old Y-wings, representing the
previous-generation technology that the Imperial Navy’s advanced TIE fighters and Interceptors would be capable of chewing up and dispersing into flaming shards within the first seconds of a tactical encounter.
“I have to wonder,” Kuat continued maliciously, “whether the Rebel Alliance command sent you and your squadron here to accomplish anything at all, or whether patrolling Kuat Drive Yards is just a convenient excuse for getting you all safely out of the way, so you won’t needlessly interfere with the actual fighters, once the battle starts.” The felinx sensed its master’s amusement and purred in happy agreement. “I imagine that Mon Mothma has more important things to worry about than how to deploy a so-called squadron that’s really little more than laser-cannon fodder.”
The glower on Gennad Rozhdenst’s face was nearly as deep as the disfiguring scar. “My men and their craft can take care of themselves.”
“I have little doubt of that, Commander. It’s just a question of whether they can accomplish anything else.
Your loyalty to them is impressive, if not unexpected. And of course, the reasons that the Rebel Alliance command put you in charge of them are perfectly understandable. It speaks volumes about the advanced moral nature of the Rebel leaders that they would be concerned to find an assignment suitable for someone whose military career has not been crowned, so to speak, with conspicuous amounts of glory.”
In Rozhdenst’s eyes, the spark turned darker and smoldering. He made no reply.
“Bad luck can happen to anyone, Commander. I can attest that often that which makes one a hero is a simple matter of chance and fortune-though some would say that the true hero makes his own chances. But that’s a lot to be asked of anyone. So your own history-your failures, the crashes and the dogfights that the other creature won-are certainly excusable.”
Kuat saw that he had succeeded, though; it was clear that he had managed to goad the Alliance commander into a barely controlled fury. Just what I wanted, he thought with satisfaction. He had never been overly impressed with hoary old Jedi blather, but he did believe in the time-tested negotiator’s maxim that to anger someone was to own him.
That anger manifested itself in the form of Commander Gennad Rozhdenst striding right up to Kuat and jabbing a blunt forefinger into his chest. “Let’s get something straight, Kuat. I got my orders to come here straight from Mon Mothma herself, after I had rounded up this squadron that you think so little of-and that was on her direct orders as well. I scoured every system in this galaxy for every operational remnant, every shot-down fighter and support craft we could lay our hands on, and every orphaned Alliance pilot who’d had to be left behind by his previous outfit. We got our Scavenger Squadron up and flying without any help from technicians like you, since your chasing after your own profits kept you just a little too busy for something like that.”
The forefinger poked harder into the front of Kuat’s regulation KDY coveralls. “My squadron and I were already on our way to Sullust-on Admiral Ackbar’s orders-when he was overruled by Mothma and the rest of the Alliance high command and instructed to send us here.”
“So I’ve already heard.” Kuat pushed the other man’s hand to one side and away from himself. “It seems that there are others inside your Alliance who have a more discerning analysis, shall we say, of the strategic value of your squadron.”
“What they have, Kuat, is a pretty keen idea of what they can expect from somebody like you. They know exactly how much business that your corporation has done with the Empire.” Rozhdenst made a dismissive gesture toward the construction docks visible through the arching panels of transparisteel. “This whole place would’ve probably gone broke and been dismantled for scrap if it hadn’t been for Palpatine and Vader steering so many procurement contracts your way. You’ve got a lot to be grateful to them for, don’t you? That entire fleet that’s nearing completion in your docks is a commission for the Imperial Navy-and the payment for it will put a nice pile of credits in your world’s accounts. And that’s all that concerns you, right? You’ve said as much yourself, just now.”