Title: Inner Demons, Outer Evils

Summary: A tragic event sets Rogue Squadron on the path to the truth...and sends one of the Rogues on a collision course with himself.

Disclaimer: Star Wars is, quite clearly, not mine, and no copyright infringement is intended. This story is not written for profit.

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Chapter 13: Under Fire

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"Wes!" Jesina whispered fiercely. "It's Corran Horn!"

Wes didn't have time to show his shock. Just as she spoke, the door Jesina had mentioned earlier was flung open and light flooded the room.

Wes yanked the goggles off his head and tossed them aside. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Jesina do the same. Then he dove to the opposite side of the room and came up firing.

His first shot took the first man in the chest; his second, the second. By the time the third man came in, they'd gotten smarter – he used the body of one of the dead men as a shield. It was cumbersome, but effective – especially since Wes, Jesina, and Corran – if he even was Corran – had nothing to hide behind.

In the midst of the frantic fire, Wes switched his comlink on. "We are under fire!" he yelled into it. "Repeat, we are under fire!"

"We're coming in," Hobbie returned. "Out."

Wes opened his mouth to shout across to Jesina, but his words changed to a cry of pain.

He'd known it was coming – without anything to shield himself with, the sheer volume of shots coming from the doorway practically guaranteed that he'd be hit. But, despite this being far from the first time he'd been shot, he had been unable to prepare himself for the pain.

The bolt caught him in the stomach, slamming him backward into the wall. He somehow remained conscious as he collapsed to the floor and continued to shoot for a few moments more, though he could hardly see through the blinding pain. Then he heard the explosion, and darkness claimed him almost instantly.

From his perch inside the crawlspace, Gavin watched Wes fall. He'd begun firing as soon as the door had opened, but now he left the relative safety of the small tunnel and dropped to the floor. Gavin heard a blaster fire above his head and added his own fire to the melee. Then the opposite wall exploded and he was thrown backward.

He hit his head hard but, thankfully, not hard enough to make him lose consciousness. He struggled to get into a standing position to no avail, his right knee giving out on him, and heard someone land beside him. Because the person was light on their feet, he guessed it was Inyri. He couldn't see to confirm his guess because of all the dust still in the air.

Inyri landed beside Gavin in a crouch, Kell right behind her. Cautiously, she shone her light in the direction of the door. As the dust cleared she could see bodies on the floor, but no one was standing where the doorway had been. Slowly, she swept the beam over the rest of the room, and then thumbed her comlink.

"Rogue Six, come in. This is Eleven."

"Read you, Eleven. We're on our way in, but we're under heavy fire."

"So are we. At least, we were. Did you catch that explosion?"

"Heard it, didn't see it," Hobbie replied. "You?"

"Got hit by it."

"What's your status?"

"Rogue five is down, Wraith five and I are all right. I don't know—"

She was interrupted by Jesina. "Give me that, Captain. Mine was damaged in the blast." Inyri handed it to her. "Go see how Wes is." The Rogue nodded and turned away.

"Hobbie, it's Jes," she said, dispensing with their designations. "Wes is down; I don't know how bad. Gavin and I will survive, and the prisoner is in rough shape, but he'll make it, too." She paused. "That is, provided someone gets us out of her."

"Uh, yeah, about that—"

She cursed Hobbie's inability to deliver bad news. "Spit it out, major."

"I haven't been able to raise Slane or the others. Don't know if they're going to be here or—" The rest of his sentence was drowned out by a yell from nearby and then a curse from Hobbie.

"Jes, I'm kind of busy. Just do your best to get to us, and we'll try to get to you. Six out."

Jesina swore as she pocketed Inyri's comlink. "We're on our own, boys and girls. Kell, you're okay?" He nodded. "Good, carry Wes. Gavin, can you manage Corran?"

He stared at her blankly, finally asking, "Did you hit your head, Colonel?"

She just shook her head. "See for yourself. I don't know how, but the prisoner is Horn."

Giving her one last dubious look, Gavin headed over to the corner where the unconscious man lay. "Sithspit! It is him!"

"Told you," Jesina muttered, shoving a new power pack into her blaster. "Inyri and I will go first; we'll clear the way for you." Jesina turned to the other woman. "Shoot anything that shoots at us."

"That's what I usually do, ma'am," Inyri replied, checking her own blaster. Then she looked up at Jesina. "I'm your wing, Colonel," she said, forcing a smile.

Nodding, Jesina headed toward what had been the doorway, and heard the others following behind. Again she praised the training Wedge had given these people. Inyri stayed close enough to her to cover her, but far enough back that they both had full range of motion. She moved when Jesina moved, and seemed to know by instinct when Jesina was going to stop.

By the time they reached the main entrance to the building – without encountering anyone at all – Jesina had grown convinced that this whole thing had been a very elaborate trap. They waited silently just inside the entrance, listening intently for any sound, but heard nothing.

Just as she was switching on Inyri's comlink to ask Hobbie where he and his team were, the silence was shattered by blaster fire. And then Jesina heard a most welcome sound – the roar of engines. Their air support had arrived, probably called in by Hobbie.

The x-wings wouldn't get them to safety, but they would help keep them alive long enough for Slane and her team to reach them. Provided it wasn't already too late for Wes.

Hastily, she flipped the switch on her belt. It was essentially a locator beacon that would tell Wedge and the others where they were, so the pilots would know not to fire in their general area. It would also serve to tell the ground team where, exactly, they were.

She motioned urgently for her team to fall back and take advantage of what little cover the building offered. She dropped to her knees behind a stack of durasteel crates and was joined by Gavin with Corran in his arms. She saw Inyri and Kell, with a still-unconscious Wes, doing the same across the walk. They were hidden by a speeder.

Jesina met Kell's eyes and they both looked at the speeder at the same time. "Go!" she yelled. "Get them out of here!" She shifted her gaze to Gavin. "Go with him. Get Wes and Horn out of here. Tell Forge to move over here. We'll cover you as you take off."

"Where do you want us to go?"

"Back to the warehouse. If that's not safe..." she shrugged. "The two of you use your best judgment. And keep in contact."

Gavin saluted quickly and adjusted the way he was holding Corran before running across the open space to where Inyri, Kell, and Wes were. Jesina watched him pause to speak briefly to Inyri, who nodded curtly and crossed over to where Jesina still knelt. Dropping down beside her, Inyri asked, "Where are they going?"

"Somewhere relatively safe," Jesina replied. "I hope," she added softly, as three things happened at once. The speeder Kell had been fighting with came to life as another pulled up beside it. At the same time, the door that they'd come out of slid open, allowing more enemy soldiers – this time stormtroopers in full armor – to join the fight.

Jesina waved wildly at Kell and Gavin as Inyri turned her blasters on the newcomers. "Get out of here!" they yelled in unison, as one Imperial and then another fell to Inyri's lethal aim.

Deciding that Inyri had the door covered and hoping that this wouldn't end the way the scene inside had, Jesina turned her attention to the speeder that had pulled up. She raised her arm to fire but now that Kell and the first speeder were out of the way, she had a clear view of who was in it: Runt Ekwesh, a member of Slane's ground team. She gave him a quick wave to let him know she'd recognized him, and then returned her attention to the door. "Let's finish these guys and get out of here."

Inyri nodded as she fired at the next stormtrooper to come through the doorway. Jesina was again impressed by the young woman's concentration and focus.

Jesina looked quickly into the building and realized that if they hung around until they'd taken out all of these guys, they'd never leave. "On three," Jesina said, "Run for the speeder. And keep firing."

"Yes, Ma'am," Inyri stayed crouched low, but repositioned herself so that she was on her feet and ready to run, rather than on one knee. She kept shooting, as did Jesina.

I'll cover you," Jesina went on. "Then you cover me. One, two, three." Continuing to fire at the still-coming stormtroopers, Jesina watched Inyri begin to run.

Then she watched her fall, as a blaster bolt caught her in the thigh. Runt saw, too, and Jesina saw him preparing to go after the wounded Rogue. Taking a gamble, Jesina moved so she was no longer hidden, hoping to draw their fire away from Runt and Inyri.

As soon as Runt had Inyri in the speeder, Jesina made a run for it as Runt tried to cover her. Seconds before she reached the speeder, she felt a searing pain in her arm. Mentally, though, she pushed it aside, hauling herself into the passenger seat of the speeder.

As Runt sped away, Jesina took advantage of the moment of relative safety to look up to the sky. The fighters were no longer directly overhead, but she saw an explosion not far away. Still watching, she tore off part of her sleeve and wrapped it as best she could around her arm, all the while admonishing herself for losing track of the fight. She hadn't noticed when the fighters had left the immediate vicinity, she had no idea where Hobbie's team had ended up, and she had no idea where Gavin and Kell were right now. She also didn't know where the rest of Slane's team was, but she wasn't overly concerned about that – they'd been running their own show.

She reached over to get Runt's attention. "Where are we going?"

"To a safe house," the Wraith replied. "How is the Captain?"

"I'll live," Inyri answered from the back seat. Turning, Jesina saw that the woman had done the same to her leg that she herself had done with her arm. "Where are Kell and Gavin?"

"Heading for the warehouse in the complex," Jesina replied. "Runt, we have to—"

"They are safe. Kirney is meeting them there right now. It is fine, Colonel."