"Michael Stackpole "The Bacta War"" - читать интересную книгу автора

The victory of one side over the other had not been predicted-especially not the
Rebellion's victory. Tal'dira's lament is genuine, but the prod-uct of
hindsight.
"I would have been happy to have you fighting beside
me, and Nawar'aven has been a boon to my squadron, but you did what was required
of you." Wedge smiled. "Until you put together those fighters I saw on Ryloth, I
know you had very little in the way of hyperspace-capable ships native to
Ryloth. I have to imagine the Empire deliberately sup-pressed such technology on
Ryloth so they would not have to deal with you as a force."
"It is kind of you to say so."
"To even think otherwise would be to do you a disser-vice. While many think of
Twi'leks as traders, I know you have a proud warrior tradition."
"But our warriors are unproven to the galaxy." Tal'dira waved a hand toward the
half of the station above his head. "As you have said, to most of the galaxy
Twi'leks are mer-chants like Koh'shak or criminals like Bib Fortuna. You have
been to Ryloth. You know this is not true, but such is the impression that has
been made on the galaxy. Thinking that sapient beings believe all of us to be
merchants and thieves preys on my mind."
Wedge glanced down at his tumbler of whisky. "I thought the fighters you have
created were impressive." The Twi'leks had taken a TIE fighter's ball cockpit
and married to it the S-foils of an X-wing fighter. The S-foils were connected
to a collar that allowed them to rotate independently of the cockpit, much in
the way the cruciform stabilizers on the B-wing rotated around its cockpit. The
design provided sta-bility for the pilot and had proved very effective with the
B-wing. "Their maneuverability, I would imagine, makes them very formidable."
Tal'dira straightened up and smiled with genuine plea-sure. "The Twi'leki
designation for them is Chir'daki. In your Basic it would be Deathseed. It
recalls the spores of a parasitic fungus that invades a larger creature and
destroys it. Most unpleasant, as would be facing our Chir'daki in combat."
Wedge sipped a bit more whisky. "They are hyperspace capable?"
"Indeed. The twin-ion engines are used for main propul-sion. The engines on the
S-foils are smaller than those in your X-wings, but they provide power for the
hyperdrive mo-
tivators and shield generators. We have quad lasers for our weaponry-no proton
torpedoes because we decided ob-taining supplies of them might be difficult."
"Wise decision-proton torps and concussion missiles are the only things we're
having trouble finding. Booster is using up a lot of favors to get them." Wedge
gave Tal'dira a curt nod. "I envy you your ships."
"And I envy you your ability to win victories." Tal'dira played with his tumbler
of whisky in a most unwarriorly fashion. "You have proven yourself time and
again a most dangerous enemy."
Wedge glanced down for a moment and stroked his chin with his right hand. "It
occurs to me, Tal'dira, that it would be a waste for your ships to go untested."
A light sparked deep in the Twi'lek's dark eyes. "Indeed, a great waste."
"Perhaps it would be possible for you and some of your pilots to join us." Wedge
spread his hands open. "The work is dangerous, and we will find ourselves
outcasts everywhere if we fail."
Tal'dira's lekku twitched nonchalantly. "Twi'leks have been outcasts before."
"Can you give me a squadron?"
The warrior nodded. "Fearful that pirates might prey upon Koh'shak's freighter,