More thunderous cheers, and a chant of “Ma-ko! Han! Mako! Han!”
sprang up.
Han waved at the crowd, feeling his cheeks grow warm. He’d never before had thousands of people cheering just for him before. When he’d been Xaverri’s assistant, he’d shared the spotlight, but it wasn’t the same as this.
Hearing all these people applauding him was a weird—but pleasant—experience.
“Okay, folks,” Mako said, waving again for quiet. “I’m gonna ask my combat veterans down there”—he indicated the little crowd—”to stay in close touch and check in here at The Chance Castle each morning. We’ll post notice of meetings or drills outside the auditorium, okay? Now let’s have a round of applause for our brave volunteers here!”
Cheers resounded. It was obvious that the crowd of sentients felt tremendously better, just knowing they were going to do something, instead of tamely waiting to be slaughtered.
Once the main crowd had left, Mako addressed the combat veterans.
“Okay, Han and me are gonna put together a plan for our defense over the next day or so, and then we’ll brief you on it, and begin battle drills. By the time those Imps get here, everyone is going to know just what to do, and that’s a promise. If you folks know any other sentients with combat experience, bring ‘em along to the briefing. Got that?”
The veterans all indicated that they did. “Good,” Mako said. “Over the next couple of days, get your ships in prime fighting condition.
Shields fully charged, armor reinforced, all lasers charged … you know the drill. We need all our ships working at full capacity. So let’s get started, right?”
“Right!” they shouted.
After Mako dismissed the combat veterans, he and Han headed for one of the meeting rooms in the back of the casino, where they were joined by the rest of the smuggler “High Command”—as Mako and Han had jokingly dubbed their group. Chewbacca, Roa, Shug Ninx, Salla Zend, Lando Calrissian, Rik Duel, and Sinewy Ana Blue made up Mako’s elite group of experienced smugglers.
Mako and Han didn’t plan to tell anyone but the High Command that they were in possession of the Imperial battle plan. They figured that might make the smugglers overconfident, and that would be disastrous for their side. Also, some smugglers would sell their grandmothers for enough credits, and they couldn’t afford a security leak.
As Han sat beside him, Mako called up a holographic schematic on his datapad, and projected it above the tabletop. All those present leaned forward to study the plan.
“Look here.” Mako used a laser pointer to indicate the small, holographic representations of the ships in question. “We’ve got the Imp capital ships coming out of hyperspace here, and advancing on Nar Shaddaa. And sixteen skirmish line ships, Guardian-class Customs light cruisers, they’ll be coming out of hyperspace in a shell formation to surround Nar Shaddaa.
Then we’ve got two recon line vessels, that’ll be these Carrackclass cruisers, one on each side … here and here. Everyone got that?”
“Got it,” Rik Duel said.
“And then, back here in a wedge formation, are the three Dreadnaughts and the four bulk cruisers … the heavy stuff. Remember that these Dreadnaughts each carry twelve TIE fighters, and the Carrackclass light cruisers each carry four recon TIEs. That’s at least forty-four TIEs we’re going to have to deal with.”
The members of Mako’s “High Command” looked at each other with worried expressions. “Smuggler’s Run is beginning to look better and better,” Sinewy Ana Blue said. “The Imps would never be crazy enough to send a fleet into an asteroid field.”
Han was quick to reassure them. “Hey, we can handle these TIEs,” he insisted. “No shielding, don’t forget. They’re fast little suckers, true, but even a brush with a quad or turbolaser beam and …” He opened both hands and mouthed “boom.”
Mako nodded. “Han used to fly TIE fighters in combat situations, and while I was in the Academy I trained in them. The only reason we’re still here is that we’re not still doing it. TIE fighter pilots are really, really good … but that doesn’t keep most of ‘em from winding up really, really dead.”
“Okay,” Lando spoke up, “so we know what the Imperial force is, and how they’re going to approach us. How do we fight back against them, using freighters and a few one-man fighters like the one Roa’s been building?”
Everyone turned to look at the senior smuggler. “Yeah, I’ve almost finished work on her,” Roa said. “She’s gonna be a sweet little ship to handle.”