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 7: Cover Up

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Inyri, Corran and Gavin were walking with Wes, Hobbie, Myn Donos and Teril Seylien as they headed to the hangar for patrol. Inyri glanced outside. "I can't get over how everything is such pure white." She glanced back at the pilots in their orange New Republic flight suits and laughed. "You guys will certainly stand out." She paused, seeing a strange look on Hobbie's face. He was looking in the same direction she had been, but he didn't seem to actually be looking AT anything. "Hobbie?" she asked, touching his arm. His breathing was shallow, and he didn't appear to notice her. "Hobbie?" she asked again. Getting no response, she called to Wes. "Janson!"

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Hobbie stared out at the snow. He could see the walkers coming at them as if it was happening now rather than a decade ago. He heard Luke's voice saying that he'd lost his gunner, and telling Wedge to take the shot. He heard Janson's voice, and Luke's shout as he went down. He heard more comm chatter, bits and pieces from the base that slipped through as the Imperials entered.

He heard people talking around him, thought he heard his name once or twice, but none of it seemed to register. He saw again the walkers and the speeders, saw the hit that Luke took that cost Dack his life, saw Luke go down, heard Luke yell his name...

Everything came to him in flashes. No actual scenes played out in his mind. Sentences were cut off, his mind skipping on to something else before the memory came to an end. He could almost feel the hands on his arms pulling him out of the downed speeder. But he hadn't been awake to feel that the first time around...

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Wes, who'd started to walk on toward his fighter, stopped when he heard the urgency in her voice. "What—" he turned back and saw the others clustered around the Raltiirian. "What happened?"

"I don't know. He looked outside, and went practically catatonic."

Corran's eyes were closed and his hand was on Hobbie's shoulder. He opened his eyes and glanced at Wes. "I can sense fear, but nothing solid."

Wes gently moved Teril out of the way. Hobbie had done this earlier, but he hadn't seemed to be this bad. He faced Hobbie, placing his hands on his friend's shoulders. He shook him lightly, then more firmly. "Hobbs, come on. Snap out of it."

After a moment, Hobbie slowly blinked and seemed to focus on Wes' face. "I...what happened?"

"You pretty much blacked out standing up. You all right?"

"Uh, yeah. I'm fine. I just, I was remembering is all. Kind of hit me all of a sudden. I'm all right. Let's go." He shifted his helmet to his other hand and started to walk, anxious to forget the episode, but stopped when Inyri grabbed him. He turned back to her, frowning.

"The hell you're fine!" she exclaimed, exasperated. "You aren't, and you're not flying like this."

"Inyri, I am fine. It's just strange being back."

She scowled. Sure he was. He'd be fine until he froze up again and went through a repeat of his last stay on Hoth. "Looking out at the snow made you freeze. How do you know the same thing won't happen once you're in the air?"

He shivered involuntarily. He was probably thinking the same thing she just had been. Good, she thought, as he said, "It won't."

"Hobbs, I think she's right. Why don't you sit this one out?" Wes suggested.

"And give Wedge and Tycho one more thing to worry about? No thanks." The last thing he wanted was for them to be watching him constantly. As it was, he'd caught the look Wedge had shot him during the briefing, when he'd told them all not to get drunk.

Donos nudged Wes and something passed, unsaid, between them. "They don't have to know," he said.

Janson nodded and pointed at Gavin and Corran. "One of you two can fly for him, and the other can talk to the rest of the Rogues about keeping Wedge and Tycho away from the hangar, and away from the command station."

"I don't know..." Gavin said slowly. He didn't like the sound of this.

Donos shook his head. "Don't worry about it, Gavin. We did it in the Wraiths. At least, the Wraiths did it for me." He shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot. "I was having a few problems, and they hid it from Wedge and Janson. And Wedge and Janson hid from them that they knew about it, though they kept the secret for a while."

Hobbie shook his head vehemently. "No. I don't need anyone covering for me." Wedge would give them so much hell if he found out.

"Yes, you do," Inyri said, sighing. "Come on, Hobbie. You can't fly like this. Not only is it dangerous for you, but it's dangerous to Wes, Donos and Teril too."

"I'm fine!" he exclaimed. "I was just remembering what happened. You can't tell me that you haven't been thinking about it." Even through the pleading look his friend shot him, Janson could see that he was starting to get angry, and decided he needed to make a decision.

"Yes, I've thought about it. And I guarantee Wedge and Tycho have too, and Je—Keyra. But none of us has reacted like you have. I'm not saying you don't have a good reason to be freaked out, but still, you need to calm down before you get in a cockpit. You're going back to your quarters with Inyri, or I go to Wedge and Tycho right now." He didn't want to have this discussion in front of the others – namely Teril and, to a lesser extent, Donos and Corran, but he didn't have much choice. He was comforted slightly when he saw out of the corner of his eye that Teril had backed away from the group slightly, sensing that this was somewhat of an internal conflict that she wasn't a part of. Corran and Donos were, however, watching closely.

"You can't order me around," Hobbie countered angrily.

"No, but I can go to Wedge and Tycho," he said again, "and they can order you around. Take your pick." He knew he and Hobbie would have it out over this later, but he didn't care. Inyri was right. Something was seriously, and letting him fly before they figured out how to deal with it wasn't a good idea.

The Raltiirian stared at his best friend for a moment, before turning on his heel and stalking out of the hangar. Wes nodded at Inyri. "Go after him, will you? We've got to get out there or Wedge and Tycho are going to know something's wrong."

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Inyri slunk guiltily away from Hobbie's room. He'd been so agitated, pacing back and forth and venting about how angry he was at Janson – one time going so far as to put his fist into the wall – that she'd left briefly, coming back with a bottle of water that she'd spiked with a sedative with a little help from Gavin. She'd commed him and asked him to raid the medical kit in the hangar for her. After that, he'd gone to recruit Ooryl to help him occupy – distract, more like – Wedge and Tycho.

Now she was headed for the base commander's office. Wes had spoken about her with some disdain, but he'd said that they used to be friends. She was really worried about Hobbie, and didn't think that hiding whatever was going on – and she wasn't sure what, exactly, was going on – was going to be helpful. She knew Hobbie didn't want them to go to Wedge and Tycho, but she thought this other woman might be able to help.

The office door was open when Inyri approached. She knocked lightly. "Colonel Nitram?"

Keyra looked up. "What can I do for you, Captain?" She deliberately kept her tone aloof.

"I was wondering if I could speak to you for a moment. I think there's something wrong with one of the pilots in our squadron."

She studied Inyri as she thought about her response. She didn't know much about Forge, but she liked what she did know. The girl had grown up on Kessel, run with a crowd of Black Sun associates, and killed their leader – her lover. And she had, from what her record said, no qualms about going toe to toe with the seasoned Rogues – namely one Wes Janson. She doubted Inyri would have come to her rather than Wedge or Tycho without a damn good reason. "A concern over one of your squadron mates is best discussed with your commanding officers, Captain."

"I know it is, ma'am, but we don't want them to know."

Keyra frowned. Wedge's squadron had a reputation for being unconventional. But that didn't usually include going so far as to conceal matters of concern from the command staff – partly because Wedge didn't seem the type of CO who would make his subordinates feel as if they couldn't come to him with problems. "Why did you come to me?"

"Because even though Major Janson seems to dislike you, he said that the five of you used to be friends. I thought you might be willing to help us."

So, chances were, this involved Hobbie and Janson. If she had to put her credits on one of the two, she'd guess Janson was the problem. "What makes you think that I wont go to your commanding officers?"

"I'm hoping?" Inyri asked more than answered.

Keyra sighed. The young woman was clearly worried about something. Better to have someone know what was going on than leave it to the squadron to hide it. "All right. What's the problem? Or, rather, who?"

"Major Klivian. He...he froze up just by looking at the speeders earlier, and then he couldn't take his patrol. He had some kind of, well, I wouldn't call it a panic attack, but..." she trailed off. Keyra nodded at her sympathetically. "I took him back to his quarters and one of the other pilots took his place."

"Who knows about this?"

"Major Janson, Commander Horn, Captains Darklighter and Donos. Oh, and Captain Qrygg. And Flight Officer Seylien."

"So, just about everyone."

"Uh, yeah. Pretty much."

"How's he doing now?"

"Unconscious," Inyri replied, her face reddening.

"What?" Keyra exclaimed, her voice rising.

"I, um, I sort of drugged him."

Keyra buried her face in her hands. She didn't know whether to be shocked or amused. Amusement won out, though she smothered her grin. "You drugged a superior officer? You do realize that serious disciplinary action could be taken against you?"

Inyri nodded. "Yes, but after he nearly broke his hand when he punched the wall, I didn't much care."

"Hobbie did that?" With her incredulity, her intentional aloofness went out the window. Yes, they'd been out of touch for a long time, but she'd kept track of them over the years – over the years since she'd regained her memory, anyway. And they were, personality-wise more or less the same men they'd been. And displays of physical violence had never been in Hobbie's character.

Inyri nodded. She told Keyra about the argument in the hangar and about his agitation. "We were worried that someone would get hurt, but he was really angry at all of us. And he really doesn't want General Antilles and Colonel Celchu to know. He says that they have enough to worry about."

Keyra sighed. Had someone else come to her – with the exception of Wedge, Tycho or Janson – she'd not have dismissed their concern, but wouldn't have weighted it much. She'd learned long ago to trust her instincts about people, and her instincts were telling her that Inyri Forge was not someone give to frivolity or exaggeration. "All right. I'll see what I can do – as long as you understand that, if I think there's a serious problem, I'm obliged to go to General Antilles."

"I do." Inyri looked anxious. "Do you think something is really wrong?"

She thought for a moment, and then shook her head. "No. I think he went through a lot here and doesn't quite know how to deal with it now that he's being forced to face it head on. True, Hobbie's acting out of character, but everyone has rough days. And keep in mind that he's hardly used to being coddled, so it's not surprising that he's reacting badly to your interference." Inyri opened her mouth, probably to argue that they'd had no choice. "I'm not saying that you didn't do the right thing. You did. I'm just saying, don't be surprised that he doesn't seem to appreciate it."

"You really think he's all right?"

Keyra again hid her smile. Yes, her assessment had been correct. Forge's worry for Hobbie was more than that of a pilot for a squadron mate. "I do. He'll be al right." She glanced at her chrono. "How much longer until he wakes up?"

Inyri followed her eyes. "About half an hour or so."