Thanks for all the feedback.

Nikki – thanks for the suggestions. We think alike. Here's a section on what's happening on the ground, and there's more to come on that.

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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 18: Not Much Time Left

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Elscol walked into the main area of the warehouse that was serving as their ground HQ, the area she'd taken to calling the command center. They'd been chafing at the delay since they'd received Wedge's message that Jesina had Face had gone missing. From the look on Hobbie's face as she walked up to him, his pessimism was running on overload. "We got another communication from Wedge."

"How's it going up there?" Hobbie asked. His eyes betrayed his worry. Not that she was surprised by that. A very old friend of his was missing, held prisoner by either a traitor or a total wacko – or both.

"They found Loran. He'd taken a pretty bad stun blast, but he's pretty well recovered. Dreis is still missing, and Janson and Qrygg are searching for her. They have an idea as to where Lonciez is hiding her."

"So it is him."

Elscol shrugged. "That's the consensus, though Loran didn't actually see who shot him. Long story short, there's every possibility that we've been sold out."

"How long does Wedge plan on waiting before he sends people down?"

"He's not waiting anymore. Forge, Loran, Sarkin, and the air support crew from your last op are headed down now. Wedge is staying behind until Dreis is found, and Janson and Qrygg are staying too, obviously."

"There goes the diplomatic visit thing."

"Oh, Wedge is still going to make the diplomatic visit, to try to get the outright support of the planetary government. But that's going to wait until Dreis is found – whatever her condition at the time. I get the impression that Wedge is operating under the assumption that everything about your mission has been exposed."

"Sounds like a pretty valid assumption," Kell said, approaching with three cups of caf, two of which he proceeded to hand off to Elscol and Hobbie. "Face and Inyri are leading the flight group down?"

Elscol nodded. "They're designated as Rogue. I'm having them land not far from here. There's a hangar that used to be part of the spaceport but was abandoned. It's not going to be a secret landing by any stretch of the imagination, but it's close, so it's convenient."

"How close are they?"

"Not far. They'll be here soon."

"Unless Hekrig intercepts them," Hobbie interrupted.

Kell, feeling the need to be optimistic, if only to balance out Hobbie, shook his head. "They'll be fine." He paused. "She'll be fine."

Hobbie gave him a quizzical look, but realization dawned when he caught the knowing glint in Kell's eye. "I hope so." He sipped the caf in his hand and turned his attention back to the bank of monitors that lined the wall.

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Elscol had been right about the area she'd told Wedge to have the "Rogues" land. It was close, and there was an added benefit. They'd learned that the tunnel network that Kirney had found for their previous mission wasn't unique. The sweltering tropical heat they were dealing with now was nothing compared to what the weather was like during the summer months, and it was common practice across the planet to build underground tunnels as a way of getting from place to place while avoiding the heat and torrential summer storms. They area they were in was no exception and Hobbie, leading the group sent to retrieve their visitors, was glad for the brief foray into the cool underground. Their command center offered little respite from the mid-afternoon heat.

Their trip both ways, though he was fairly certain the Imps knew every move they made, was uneventful. The most that happened was that he spent the latter half of the walk back with his arm around Inyri, supporting her. Her leg, thought mostly healed, was still sore and she was clearly favoring it. Running around Lusankya after Jesina's disappearance, combined with the flight down, had put a significant strain on it. When he'd noticed her pronounced limp and insisted on helping her, she'd protested vocally. But when he told her that he'd carry her if she wouldn't cooperate, she'd grudgingly given in.

Once they'd reached their destination, he'd shown her to one of the areas Elscol had designated for sleeping and ordered her to rest – an order that was met with staunch resistance. "What you pulled on the walk over was bad enough," she said, her voice edged with either frustration or anger – he couldn't tell which and wasn't sure he really wanted to know which it was. "But I'll be damned if I'm going to let you baby me."

Understanding her point but bordering on exasperation just the same – not so much with her but with the feeling of helplessness he had about this whole strange situation – he sat down next to the cot she was sitting on and squeezed her hand. "I'm not babying you. You have an injury that, I'm guessing, you didn't give enough time to heal." He held up his free hand to quiet her before she spoke. "Bacta's one thing – trust me, I know – but you needed to let it rest and I doubt you did that. And I don't know how much longer Hekrig is going to wait. He's got to know where we are. I'm going to talk to Elscol now about what her evac plan is, but if it involves running – and it probably does – you need to be able to do that."

Unable to argue with his logic, and unable to ignore the slight throbbing in her leg, she nodded. "All right. But don't order me around like that again."

"Fair enough." He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and left.

Elscol was nursing her fourth – or was it fifth? – cup of caf when he rejoined her. "Lot of activity on the perimeter of the system. It's a good bet that Hekrig knows there's more than just a little resistance going on." She took a sip and swallowed. "How long?"

"Huh?"

"You and Forge. How long?"

His face reddened slightly. "How did you know?"

"Between what Tainer said earlier and the way you were with her when you got back – not to mention that I happened to walk by there a minute ago and saw you." She repeated her question. "How long?"

"About six months."

"I take it no one else knows?"

"Except Kell, apparently. We've been trying to keep it quiet."

"And deprive Wedge of paying you back for the harassment you gave him over Iella and just about every other female he so much as glanced at?" She arched an eyebrow at him.

"That, and avoid Wes tormenting us. And any payback from Tycho, too."

"I won't say anything. But I wouldn't bet on Tainer keeping his mouth shut." She drained the cup of the last drops of caf and tossed it in a trash receptacle. "Look. There's every possibility we may have to run quickly, and you and your people need to know where to go if that happens. Grab Loran, Tainer, and either Forge or Darklighter and we'll go over it."

They walked toward a table in the back, collecting Face, Kell and Gavin on the way, Hobbie electing to let Inyri rest and fill her in later. "Time to talk about our escape plan, boys," Elscol said, reaching for a bottle of water this time instead of more caf.

"If Hekrig makes a move on us – and my bet is he will, and soon – we have a few ways out. All of which come down to the same thing."

"That doesn't sound good."

"It's not as bad as you think. First off, most of these people here are locals. If we're raided, they'll just scatter. Which is pretty much what we're going to have to do."

"That really doesn't sound good, Elscol," Hobbie echoed Face.

"Would you be quiet for a second?" she admonished him, but smiled. Met with silence, she went on. "There are three back ways out of here. One is the tunnel you used earlier, that leads back to your fighters – the limited number of them that are there. My advice on that is to get as many people in the air as possible, and have them cover the rest of you while you try to make it to the jungle to find a place to hide. I have people who can come in and pick you up, but it'll take some time."

"A second is a branch off of that tunnel, about two-thirds of the way to the hangar. It leads out closer to the tree line, so there'll be less open ground to cover to get to the relative safety of the tree cover."

"The third option is what I'm planning on using. About twenty meters away from the first tunnel entrance is a second one, which leads pretty close to a jungle clearing where I have my ship – I decided to move it closer to us the last time I came back. I left a lot of my equipment on board the Lusankya to make sure I could take as many as possible. I can manage – though it'll weigh me down – all of you that don't have your fighters here."

"Elscol, I don't mind telling you that none if this is very appealing," Hobbie muttered darkly.

"I don't mind telling you that I know that, and I'm not too thrilled about it myself. I'm having to change everything as I go along." She sighed. "I hate this."

"I know."

"I'm doing all I can. I never wanted you people involved."

Wanting to change the subject back to the matter of escape, Kell asked Elscol, "How will your people be able to find us, or you, for that matter, if we can't all make it to your ship?"

"Thanks for the reminder." She stood. "Be right back."

She returned a moment later, carrying a small box. "Locator beacons, three for each group. As soon as you activate it, my guys will know that something happened, and they'll start to move, unless I contact them and tell them I've got you all."

That said, she straightened up. "Tell your people what's going to happen. I doubt we've got much time left."