Project Boussh
by Scifantasy

ROGUE SQUADRON
WRAITH INTELLIGENCE UNIT
MISSION BRIEFING

FOR YOUR EYES ONLY

PROJECT BOUSSH
DO NOT OPEN UNTIL INSTRUCTED

"Project Boussh?" Wes Janson turned to Derek "Hobbie" Klivian, one of
his oldest friends in Rogue Squadron, as the two were eating
breakfast. "Wasn't Boussh the name Councilor Organa Solo used on that
suicide rescue mission to Jabba's palace?"
Hobbie, looking as mournful as ever, nodded. "Actually, she originally
used the name to sneak onto Coruscant with Black Sun. Don't know what
that has to do with us, however."
Tycho leaned in. "The plot sickens. Look." He held up the large
envelope that had been slipped under the door of each Rogue's
quarters. "It's flimsy, not data. And, this requires us to work with
the Wraiths. Not that I mind, but if someone managed to attack this
mission, and win, the NRAF would be out some of its best pilots, and
agents. And, we're not in a briefing room, we're in the galley; but no
one else is, not even chefs." As Hobbie and Wes let that sink in,
Corran was explaining much of the same information to Ooryl, who was
asking questions that made it clear he was confused.
"Qyyrg does not understand, Corran. How do you know that the lack of
chefs is significant?"
"No chefs means absolutely no leaks--no one will know of this except
us."
"Ooryl understands. Thank you, Corran."
Inyri Forge walked into the galley. "I ran into the Wraiths on my way.
They'll be here..." The door opened. "Now."
First in was Garik "Face" Loran, leader of the Wraiths, with his
fiancee, Dia Passik, right behind him. Next came Kell Tainer and his
wife, Tyria. Soon, all the Wraiths were in the galley. There were even
a few surprises. Near the end, Myn Donos, who the Rogues hadn't seen
since he had unexpectedly retired from Starfighter Command, walked in,
with a young redhead on his arm. Wes recognized her immediately, and
ran over.
"You're alive!" he shouted. "I thought..."
Kirney Slane smiled. "I know what you thought. Don't worry. And don't
worry about the legality of this, either. I worked with Face and the
Wraiths for a few years, even helping General Antilles with a mission,
unofficially. After that one, General Cracken called the Wraiths to
Coruscant, and had me brought there as well. I thought we were all
dead, but he offered me, my copilot, and even Tonin full amnesty and a
place with the Wraiths. I've been there ever since." She half turned.
"Oh, here's my copilot now."
Wes looked over, and his jaw hit the floor. Kolot walked over to him,
and looked up. "Yub, yub, Major." It took about five minutes until Wes
could speak coherently.
Wedge walked in shortly after the laughing fit, followed by a young
man about two meters in height, wearing a black shirt and dark blue
pants, with brown hair, brown eyes and an unreadable expression. "This
is an extremely secret mission, almost entirely unofficial. Not a word
of this is to leave this room." Tycho glanced at Wes and Hobbie. That
explained it. Wedge touched a control on his datapad, and one wall
came to life, with an image of a blue-green planet. "Please open your
envelopes. This is Terra. It does not have a unified world government,
it has an extremely low technology level, and it does not have any
official contact with either the New Republic or the Empire."
Hobbie groaned. "Adumar all over again."
Wedge smiled. "We're not making THAT mistake again. About twenty Terra
years--which, coincidentally, is also about twenty Galactic Standard
years--ago, the Rebel Alliance made contact with Terra. It was decided
to leave Terra well enough alone, but the person who we met--a student
of film..."
"Film?" Dia Passik was surprised. "They don't have holo?"
"Nope, they haven't figured the technology out yet. Anyway, this film
student, by the name of George Lucas, wanted to turn Terra to our
side. His idea was to create a massive story, based on the adventures
of the Alliance. We loved the idea, but he had provisos. No matter how
classified, he wanted information. Now, this story, called "Star Wars"
for reasons I can't explain, has become part of culture. I've asked a
Terran here, to help explain the culture. This is Sci."
Sci stood up. By New Republic standards, he would have been considered
a young man, barely out of his teens. "Thank you, General. On Terra,
and specifically on the one of the largest and most powerful nations,
by the name of America, Star Wars has quite a following. The influence
spreads worldwide, but it's concentrated in America. This worldwide
knowledge is exactly what Lucas intended. He figured that eventually,
the world would be fully in support of the New Republic, and we could
join without effort. Anyway, there are many groups that are at the
level Lucas intended. These groups are unofficial ambassadors to the
New Republic. One such group wants to...Well, it wants to have General
Antilles and Colonel Celchu elected president and vice-president of
America." Over the laughter, he yelled, "Some of this is explained on
the flimsy, so I'll get to the point.
"The Campaign Manager of the Antilles/Celchu campaign, by the name of
Quiara--" Wedge touched another button, and the picture of Terra was
replaced by one of Quiara-- "has gone missing. It is our opinion, as
well as that of the New Republic, that Quiara has been captured by
forces who stumbled onto the truth of the "Star Wars" story, and who
are opposed to Terran membership in the New Republic. Quiara is just
the beginning."
Wedge took the talking up again. "The New Republic feels responsible
for what happened to Quiara, and what might happen to others. More
importantly, I feel responsible. I had Luke pull some strings for me,
and got us the mission. The full list of personnel we're taking is in
your briefing." He heard rustling, some whistles of surprise, and some
noises of aggrivation. Corran, unsurprisingly, looked like he'd
swallowed a mouthful of engine lubricant. Wedge knew how he felt, but
they needed Mirax.
*And Iella*, he reminded himself. He got back to the point. "We're set
to depart today. Upon arrival, Sci will introduce us to our guides.
All of you have been assigned a native Terran, a member of the
ambassadorial group that Quiara was a member of. There's a full list
of members of this group, as well as group history and background
information, in your briefings." More rustling.
Wes looked up. "I don't have any Terran relatives--who's Emily
Janson?"
Corran also looked up. "Kelly, keeper of things Halcyon?"
Sci laughed. "Many of us have never met face to face. We meet
electronically--it's in your briefings. We also don't use our real
names. Sci, for example, isn't my real name--it's a handle."
Kell stood up. "Prophet Kristy, Prophet of Wedge." He looked pointedly
at Sci.
Sci looked at his feet, slightly abashed. "Um, yes, well...Many people
in our collective consider General Antilles to be a kind of god. It's
mostly in jest." Wedge waved down the laughter.
"We leave in twelve hours. May the Force be with you."
"Yes, oh Great One."
"Shut up, Face."