Aboard the MC80 Star Cruiser Home One

Wedge Antilles gazed at the other Rogues - the ones that had survived the battle of Hoth at any rate. They were in strung out shape, having lost numerous pilots and gunners. Among them, five had been members of Rogue Squadron since before the expansion of the unit for the purpose of defending Echo Base. Zev Senesca, Kit Valent, Dak Ralter, Vekozev Kabir and Stax Mullawny were dead and Luke Skywalker, the Squadron's commanding officer had disappeared to parts unknown without a word or explanation. Now the Alliance was on the run again, with the majority of their fleet hiding inside nebula and back-rocket star systems and Rogue Squadron was all but leaderless. Wes Jansen looked to Wedge and said, "Well, what now, Wedge? Where did Luke go? What are we going to do?"

Wedge hated the fact that he didn't have any answers. Miserably, he shrugged and was about to respond when Agent Winter Retrac of Alliance Intelligence came in. "General Rieeken wants you to gather in one of the conference rooms off the hanger."

Even Winter, known for her ability to remain perfectly stoic and apathetic, seemed to be depressed. Slowly, all the Rogues stood and headed towards the conference room. As they walked, Wedge fell back beside Kasan Moore. Kasan had been Luke's less-than-secret girlfriend. Her eyes were red rimmed and her face was pinched. "How are you doing, Kasan?"

"I'm doing fine, Wedge; just exhausted and worried about Luke. I don't suppose he sent you anything before he disappeared."

Wedge shook his head. "I'm sorry. No. I was going to ask you the same thing."

Kasan's eyes filled with anger and she said, "Of course he didn't. Why would he? I'm only his girlfriend and the one who I thought he shared everything with. Why would he share such a minuscule detail like where he's just going to vanish to after a major engagement that we lost tons of equipment and hundreds of personnel during?"

She sounded close to tears again and Wedge squeezed her hand. "Hey, hey! I know how you feel, trust me. Next time I see him, I am going to absolutely wreck his sorry butt for this boneheaded, insensitive, thoughtless action. But we're making an assumption. He may have been captured on the way out of the Hoth system. We don't know and, in the mean time, we need to get our heads on straight."

Kasan wanted to snap at him that she knew that and that it was easy for him to say but she also knew that those comments wouldn't help. Not only that, they would be utterly irrational. Wedge had been Luke's Executive Officer since day one. He cared about the stupid farm boy every bit as much as Kasan did if not exactly in the same way.

When they entered the conference room, Generals Rieeken and Madine looked like they were at least a decade older apiece. The Rogues all sat down and Rieeken rubbed his temples and sighed, "I know we're in rough shape, Rogues. Commander Skywalker has disappeared and could be captured. We aren't sure and are sending out intelligence feelers to try and ascertain any intelligence on him. We lost another five pilots during the defense of the evacuation. You all have my condolences on your loses but we can't take the time to grieve or mourn. There is still work to do. As soon as all transports and units check in, we're going to start looking for names to fill your roster back out. I know that seems cold but we need our best squadron to be operating and peak efficiency. Any questions, Rogues?"

None were forthcoming. They all knew the single question and the answer and after a moment of silence, their suppositions were confirmed. General Rieeken cleared his throat and said, "In the absence of Commander Skywalker, it has become necessary to promote new leadership. Captain Antilles, you are being promoted to the rank of Commander until such a time as Skywalker has returned and his status has been assessed. Lieutenant Celchu, you are being promoted to the rank of Captain and are taking over as executive officer. Do I have any objections?"

Of course, no one objected. If they had been giving the choice, Wedge and Tycho would have been recommended as the most logical choices. They were the best as pilots and leaders and could handle it better than any of the other pilots. General Rieeken nodded. "Good. Get some rest, schedule some simulator time and stay sharp. Before you know it, we'll have you back to work and we'll need you ready."

They all stood and started to file out of the room after the Generals left. Wedge gently caught Winter's arm. "Can you hang back for a second, Winter?"

She seemed to be expecting this and waited until they were the only ones in the room. "I don't suppose you've heard from Luke, have you?"

Winter's mostly stoic expression fell ever so noticeably and she shook her head. "I'm afraid not Wedge."

"Can you keep me appraised with any information you get? I'm worried sick about him."

It would be a breach in protocol and operational security but she slowly nodded. "Yes, I can. Right now, all we know is that he made it to lightspeed but it was in a totally different direction than we had expected. We haven't heard from him since."

Wedge frowned. "So he wasn't captured on the way out of the system. That's good. We don't know anything from there then?"

Winter shook her head. Wedge rubbed his temples and said, "Well thank you, Winter. I appreciate it."

He turned to walk away but only made it a few steps before Winter called, "Commander Antilles;"

Wedge turned and saw that her face was both serious and determined. "I know that you are worried about Luke and I am to but we still have a war to fight and win. It is both your and my mission to forge ahead and continue to fight the Empire in despite of that. It's what Commander Skywalker would expect of us - to put our concern for him in the cargo hold and focus on what he thought was important."

Wedge nodded. "And that is what we'll do."

Winter gave a ghost of a smile before she turned and headed towards the command room. Wedge turned back and began to think hard, asking who Luke may have told his plans to. The only people who made sense were Princess Leia, Han Solo and Dak Ralter. They were the only people he had extended contact with after being pulled from his bacta tank and plopped into his air speeder's cockpit. Dak was dead and the thought tugged hard at Wedge's heart. The youngest member of the squadron had been like everyone's younger brother, always pulling pranks but one hell of a gunner and a great pilot in his own right. As for Captain Solo and Princess Leia, no one could seem to find them either. They knew that the Millennium Falcon had made it out but they did not know where they had gotten to. No one had seen them jump to lightspeed. When Wedge reached the pilot ready room that the Rogues occupied, he cleared his throat and squared his shoulders. "Alright, Rogues, we still have a war to fight and you all know that there is no way that Luke or the others would want us to mope. We can mourn, sure, but we need to honor their memories and their wishes. There's still an Empire to bring down."

He hoped he sounded more confident and upbeat than he felt and it seemed to work. One at a time, the lounging pilots stood and Tycho said, "Well what's first on the agenda - Boss?"

Wedge couldn't help but grin at that. "We freshen up on our starfighter piloting. It'll be back to the greatest ship ever made - the X-wing starfighter. Let's grab dinner and then it's to the sims. You rusty excuses for bush pilots need to get back in the swing."

They all chuckled and headed towards the mess. When Wedge saw that even Kasan was smiling a little, he decided that maybe, just maybe, everything would be okay.