The Bothan’s fur rippled again, and Luke could sense it was from a combination of fear and anger at being rebuked. “Yes, Admiral,” the man said.
“In the future,” Niathal added, “try confining your remarks to useful ones.”
“Yes, Admiral.”
Luke suppressed a smile. He turned back to Pellaeon. “Their mission was an almost complete failure due to what appears to be foreknowledge on Corellia’s part. Saxan and Sal-Solo remain on Corellia.
“Womp Rat, which I commanded, had the task of retrieving Tauntaun and Purella, and was successful, though not without loss; we lost a shuttle and its two-person crew, and an X-wing with its Jedi pilot.
“Finally,” Luke said, “there’s Mynock. The most important of the operations, and the one for which the other operations, as significant as they might have been, were also to act as a diversion. Mynock was, from both a short-term and long-term perspective, spectacularly successful. Centerpoint Station was removed as a threat through the elimination of the control mechanisms the Corellians had designed to make it completely operational. But the station itself wasn’t destroyed, meaning that in the long run it can be further examined and investigated. There was some loss of life among Corellian Security Force members defending the installation, but neither of the Jedi involved in the mission was hurt-and this all despite the fact that the Corellians in charge of the station were fully aware that operatives were coming. That Jedi operatives were coming.”
Pellaeon fixed Luke with a stare that could most charitably be described as unhappy. “You’re certain they knew Jedi would be coming.”
Luke nodded. “Yes, sir. According to Mynock’s reports, they had developed tactics and brought in combat droids that were clearly optimized for action against Jedi. They used wide-effect weapons such as sonic attacks and explosives, very hard for Jedi to evade; they had fast-moving, very mobile units capable of sustaining action against powerful individual infiltrators; their holocam sensor network appeared to be set up to track individuals moving through the station. They even had a trap specifically designed to keep Jedi from using the Force. Also, a resource remaining in Corellia”-Luke didn’t name Dr. Seyah, since all those here who were authorized to know that name would already be familiar with it-“reports discussions among the CorSec troops about the relative effectiveness of their brief anti-Jedi training.”
“Ah.” Pellaeon looked not at all surprised by the allegation that the Corellians had had not just advance warning of the operation but of specific details about the operation’s composition. “I understand your own son was responsible for Mynock being a success.”
“That’s correct, sir.”
“Your thirteen-year-old son.”
Luke smiled. “Yes, sir.”
“You’re more ruthless than I realized, Master Skywalker.”
Luke shook his head. “I simply don’t swim against the currents of the Force.”
Niathal asked, “Could General Wedge Antilles have been the conduit for all the advance knowledge the Corellians received?”
Luke frowned, puzzled. “I don’t think so. Wedge is retired. I doubt he was involved at all, on either side.”
“Oh, he was involved,” Niathal said. “As an extension of the same governing principle that led to Operations Tauntaun and Purella, he was picked up and transported here prior to Operation Roundabout’s commencement. To keep him out of trouble.”
Luke covered his eyes with his hand.
“He escaped a short time later and apparently returned to Corellia,” Niathal continued. “It’s just been announced that Chief Sal-Solo has ousted the old Minister of War to assume the position himself, and Antilles has been assigned liaison between Sal-Solo and Prime Minister Saxan.
“I’m surprised,” Luke said. He looked up at the Mon Cal officer again. “Surprised that he’d take a position like that.”
“I’m not,” Pellaeon said. “If I’d been subjected to that sort of treatment, I might declare a personal war on the government that had authorized it. I suspect Antilles isn’t fighting for Corellia. He’s against us-us personally.” He indicated himself and Cal Omas, then turned to Niathal. “Find out the name of every officer who botched any portion of the operation against Antilles. Perhaps he’ll remove himself from the picture if we bust every one of them down to floor sweeper.”
“Admiral, it will be a pleasure.” Niathal turned to Luke. “I need you to be logical instead of sentimental when answering this: Could your sister have been the leak, informing the Corellians about the Jedi involvement?”