It still unsettled Leia when Tag occasionally referred to Skywalker- he'd always be that to her- by that disquieting epithet, more commonly used in Imperial circles, but then the groups Tag moved in and the reports she read from Imperial spies often referred to him as such. Why exactly it bothered her so much Leia had no idea; she'd long since let him go and had no reason to change her mind. She narrowed her eyes, considering; if the Bothans withdrew support it would be a major setback.
"Why now, after all these years?" Ackbar murmured.
Massa didn't even hesitate, "As I said before, if you plan an assassination attempt on The Wolf, then make sure it's successful because Force help us if it isn't. I never met the man personally, but all of the psyche profiles indicate he's someone with his own set of morals no matter how skewed, and he adheres to them quite stringently. I think as far as he was concerned, this has long been a case of 'You don't bother me and I won't bother you'. He now believes we crossed the line- we made the declaration of war and now it's open season. He'll no doubt believe we only have ourselves to blame."
"So if we retaliate for the Bothans, the situation will escalate?" Leia asked.
"I would say yes," Massa replied, "Which doesn't mean I advocate just sitting here and taking it."
"But if we do anything, he'll go after the Bothans, not us." Leia said; very neat, very specific - if they reacted at all, then they made the Bothan's plight worse. If they didn't... probably he would continue to provoke until they had to. Either way, the Bothans were paying for their choices- who could blame them if they chose to distance themselves from the Alliance in an attempt to diffuse the situation?
"Your recommendation?" Mon asked.
Massa paused, considering. "If you choose to retaliate, then I would suggest keeping any campaign well outside his reach - outside of the Core and Colony Systems. I believe that's why we're still here; we're outside his jurisdiction so he has no way to get to us. But I would advise you to bear in mind his continued persecution of the Bothans. He's working hard to put a wedge between them and ourselves- to make them feel that they're paying the price for our actions. Any retaliation that we effect now may be at their expense and serve to further alienate them, which would be playing into The Wolf's hands."
Leia turned to Mon at this, "Do you think it could work?"
Mon more than any other, knew the Bothan's mind. It was she who'd first made contact with them over a decade ago and she who'd brokered the deal which both parties had held to since then. She remained their main contact and had worked hard to keep the deal in place. The Alliance relied perhaps a little too heavily on the Bothan's extensive spy network to supply information on a scale which they simply couldn't match. The thought of possibly losing that connection was enough to make everybody nervous.
"No it won't work, because I won't let it." Mon announced, fire and permasteel in her voice.
She turned to Ackbar, "Admiral, please make preparations for a small team to go to Bothawuii. I'll contact Olin'yaa and provide you with a time and location as soon as I'm able."
"Of course, Chief." Ackbar acknowledged, his deep, gravelly voice indicating concurrence with the decision. "Who will head up the team?"
"I will." Mon said simply.
"What?" Leia blurted out, before reining in her reaction, "I wonder whether that's wise, Mon."
"Bothawuii is outside of The Heir's reach, and a small contingent would easily be able to slip in and out of the system without being noticed." Mothma countered.
"Still... perhaps I could go..." Leia murmured, unsure.
"No, it should be me who attends in person," Mon insisted, "I've always maintained close ties with the Bothans and with Olin'yaa in person. For me to send someone else now would be politically unsound. We're seeking to reassure them."
"Olin'yaa would take this as a statement of supportive collaboration." Massa confirmed of the leader who represented the Bothan's interests in this. "And Bothawuii is in the Mid Rim - well outside of the Core Fleets' jurisdiction. However, perhaps we could suggest a more neutral ground than the planet itself; in view of The Wolf's actions, I'd imagine it will probably be under observation by Lord Vader's fleet. I'd be more comfortable if we could name the location ourselves, Chief Mothma - and as late as possible. I'm sure Olin'yaa would accept this as reasonable security measures."
"Within the system though, Tag. I don't want it to look like we're afraid to be near them when they're under fire because of our actions."
"How exactly are you going to reassure them?" Leia couldn't help but ask.
Mon turned, voice quiet, "I don't know, Leia- I really don't know."
.
.
.
"Sit." Luke invited without turning, and the tall dark-haired man set forward casually, collapsing into the memoryform chair in the private quarters of the man who was Imperial Heir and Commander of the Core Fleet. It was, Talon Karrde knew, a uniquely privileged position that he was in, though he'd yet to work out why exactly. He watched as the Commander poured two glasses of brandy, neither man feeling any need to fill the silence, both confident in their own position and respectful of each others.
Karrde sipped at the dark spirit, looking appreciatively at it as he swirled the heavy glass. It was a good vintage of course - very good in fact - but there were better out there, which prompted another question; why?
"Corellian?" he murmured, glancing up, "I never understand why you don't stock Ruusan."
"I like Corellian brandy." The Commander said conversationally as he settled into the chair opposite, glancing down at his own glass. "An... acquaintance introduced me to it. It was the only spirit he drank and he'd let you drink nothing else when you were with him."
"Then he must have been Corellian- they're always quick to sound their own praise." It was a test really - an attempt to dig a little deeper.
The Commander glanced up, a knowing half-smile on his face, and the smuggler chief knew that even this most casual of interests, spoken with no other motive than to answer his own private curiosity, was unpermissible.
"Do you have my bulk freighters?" The Commander said simply, and Karrde smiled just slightly beneath his dark handlebar moustache. He genuinely liked the Commander, much as he'd tried to convince himself otherwise. If he didn't, he would have extricated himself from this little 'business arrangement' long before now, profitable as it was. But despite all hearsay to the contrary, the young man who faced him now was no arrogant tyrant and no callous murderer. He had an edge to him yes, the smuggler didn't argue that, but Karrde had met more than his fair share of hardened killers and pitiless assassins in the circles he moved through and he prided himself on his ability to read a person quickly and accurately - it had kept him alive in a profession where longevity was the exception rather than the norm.
"Yes, three, all with credible ID's." Karrde said easily, "Do you have my dates?"
"Not yet. Bill me from one month from today."
"For how long?"
"Until I say otherwise." The Commander replied casually, refusing to be led.
Karrde had intended to push further, but The Commander moved the conversation on too quickly, "They need to be well-armed and shielded, and be able to give false readings to DER and lifeform sensors."
"What are they hiding, and from what?" Karrde asked, a more reasonable question than it sounded; hiding inactivate technology from passive sensor scans was a hell of a lot easier than hiding charged ion cannons or starfighters on warm-up, and hiding anything from a small fighters' broad-range sensors was a breeze compared to the full-spectrum data and analysis systems on a Frigate or a Destroyer. Still, The Commander wasn't in the habit of giving too much away, especially to Karrde, a self-professed information-dealer.
"They're hiding lifeforms, small-scale technology and TIE's, which will be on active pre-flight. As far as the mark, it could be anything from another freighter to a small Corvette or Cruiser, but I'd guess the scans will be passive; they won't want to be detected just as much as me."