Summary: Rogue Squadron heads back to Hoth to defend an Intelligence Unit. But they get more than they bargained for.

Disclaimer: Star Wars, Rogue Squadron, and the rest are not mine. I write this
for my own amusement. Jesina is my own, original creation.

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Chapter 3: A Long Story

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"How you doing?" Inyri asked Hobbie as he sat down at her table at breakfast.

He groaned. "I feel like there are Ewoks tap dancing on my skull." He sipped his caf and shuddered, pushing away the plate he'd just brought over with him.

She shook her head. "Don't say that to Wes. The last thing we need is for him to get any more ideas involving Ewoks."

"Speaking of Wes, was he in the corridor last night? I seem to remember seeing him at some point."

"Yes." Inyri finished her cup of caf and took a bite of toast. "I told him why I was helping you." She hesitated, unsure how much to tell him. "He said he was going to talk to Wedge. He promised not to tell him you were drunk, but to say that you weren't okay."

"Terrific," Hobbie sighed. "This is going to be bad enough for all of us without them constantly keeping an eye on me."

She frowned at his comment. There was definitely something more to Hoth than what she'd been able to find through her research. "What's so significant about Hoth? I mean, I know the battle was bad – everyone in the New Republic military knows that – but I don't understand why you and Wes, and Tycho and Wedge are acting like this."

"It's a long story, Inyri."

"Fine." She stood to go throw out her trash. She was getting tired of being brushed aside. She wasn't normally a nosy person, but when something had one of her squadron mates – one of her friends, though she admittedly wasn't that close with the older members of the squadron – drowning himself in a bottle of ale, she wanted to know about it.

"Sit down, Inyri," Hobbie said wearily. "Or rather, come with me." He rose slowly, trying to ignore the pounding in his head and failing. "Sithspit," he groaned.

"Your head?" she asked.

He nodded. "Funny how every time you go to pick up a bottle of something you forget how bad it felt last time."

Inyri had to laugh. "Come on, you're a pilot, you can handle it."

"Ten years ago I could. It felt like all we did on Hoth – before the battle anyway – was go on patrol, drink, and play sabacc."

"That's not so bad." Inyri enjoyed playing sabacc with the boys. She could hold her own, and hold her liquor as well.

"No," he agreed. "But the rest of it – from a few days before the battle, really – pretty much obliterates any of the good parts. Not to mention the fact that we were drinking all the time because it was the easiest way to keep warm." They stopped walking to discard their cold caf and Hobbie's uneaten breakfast, and then left the cafeteria.

Inyri followed him back to his quarters and waited as he let her inside. "I know you want to know what's going on, and I remember something along the line of being really short with you last night, though my brain is still kind of foggy, and I'm hoping that Wes'll take pity on me for that and doesn't try to make my head explode."

"He seemed pretty concerned last night, so I don't think you have much to worry about. Unless he decides it's his duty to cheer you up, in which case you might want to hide in here all day."

"Yeah." He paused. "I owe you for last night."

She was on her feet quickly. "I don't want you talking to me just because you feel indebted to me. No thanks." She headed for the door, but he caught her arm, despite the fact that the quick movement made his head spin.

Inyri saw him sway as he reached for her and stepped toward him to steady him. "Sit down, Hobbie. I'm not exactly used to men falling at my feet. Other than Wes. But I'm not sure I should label him as a man. Child is more appropriate."

"Don't be so hard on Wes," Hobbie defended the other man. "It's just his way of dealing with things. If he didn't joke around, he'd probably go crazy."

"So instead of him going crazy, he drives all of us crazy?"

"Exactly." Hobbie managed a wan smile. They were both quiet for a minute. Finally, Hobbie brought their conversation back to where they'd been before she'd tried to leave. "How much do you know about Hoth?"

"I know that the Alliance was hit hard, and that Rogue Squadron especially took heavy losses." She shrugged. "I know the basics. Probably as much as the average officer."

"Rogue Squadron had only five survivors. It was almost four. I crashed, and was actually dead for four and a half minutes. The only reason I survived was because of the extreme cold. Needless to say, it wasn't the best experience of my life."

Inyri sat silently, watching him. He was looking in her direction, but not actually at her. He had kind of a vacant look in his eyes, as if he was actually seeing the battle all over again. He looked frightened, and resigned.

"It's not just the battle that makes going back hard, though." He was meeting her eyes now. "Have you ever heard the name Jesina Dreis?" She shook her head. "I didn't think so. No one really talks about her anymore."

"Who is she?"

"She and Tycho grew up together, on Alderaan. Her parents were killed and she left for Corellia, where her father was from. She got into smuggling, working with Booster, and met Wedge, and then started working with the Alliance because of Wedge. She's actually the one who helped Tycho go from the Empire to the Alliance."

Inyri had a feeling she knew where this conversation was going. "Did something happen to her?"

He nodded. "She was running cargo between us and Sullust and was ambushed near Belsavis when she dropped out of hyperspace for a course correction. We got word about it only three days before we had to evacuate. We'd all gotten to know her pretty well – Wedge and Tycho especially, of course – and it hit all of us pretty hard."

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Wes managed to catch Wedge and Tycho together the next morning, in Wedge's office. "So, Hobbie spent a few hours in Inyri's room last night," he said casually, after closing the door behind him.

"Oh?" Tycho raised an eyebrow at him.

"Wes—" Wedge began warningly. He could just envision what their stay on Hoth would be like if Inyri and Hobbie had become involved.

"Would you two give me a second?" Wes interrupted. "He was sleeping off a bottle of Corellian ale after she dragged him out of the bar." He felt marginally guilty about telling them he'd been drinking after promising Inyri that he wouldn't, but a few hours of thinking had made him decide that they ought to know, and that it was worth making Hobbie made at him.

"Because of Hoth, I'm assuming?" Wedge asked, sighing heavily. He'd known Hobbie wasn't going to take it well, and again wished he'd spoken to him and Wes privately before he'd told everyone else. Maybe if he had, Hobbie would have been in a better state of mind last night. Then again, maybe not. Of all of his pilots, Hobbie was likely the most difficult to read. He could always count on Hobbie's outward pessimism, but he rarely knew what the man was really thinking.

"Of course. Look, I promised Inyri I wouldn't tell you that he'd been drinking, so don't say anything to him."

"You promised Inyri?" Tycho repeated, unsure of how, exactly, she fit into this.

"Apparently, she was going to bring him back to his room but didn't know the code and he wasn't in any shape to tell her. She thought about comming you to let her in and get him in bed, but decided not to because she didn't think you'd want him to know. When he woke up, she told him that, and he told her he was glad she hadn't. So when I talked to her, and she told me what happened, and I told her I was going to talk to you, she made me promise not to tell you he'd been drinking, because he didn't want you to know." He exhaled as he finished.

Tycho shook his head to clear it. He'd lost Wes halfway through that circular explanation, but he figured he'd gotten the gist of it. "Why did you tell us?" he asked. Not to say he wasn't glad that Wes had told them.

"Because I thought about it and decided that you probably should know, in case it became a problem. He's more upset about it than I thought he was," he finished.

"Same here." Wedge frowned. "Do you think it'll become a problem?"

Wes shrugged. "Honestly? Not really. I think it just hit him pretty hard. He'll think about it for a few days, realize the whole thing isn't going to repeat itself, and come around. Besides, I got the feeling from Inyri that she wasn't going to let him get away without telling her what was wrong, and I think that'll be good."

"All right," Wedge said after a long moment. "Keep an eye on him, will you? And ask her to, too. And I want to know if this happens again," he said sternly. "No matter who you promise."

"Hey, I told you this time, didn't I?" he pointed out as he slipped out the door.