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 25: Engage

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Acting on the conversation he'd had with Corran immediately after the briefing, Wedge had put a call through to Leia. She'd been out of the office, so he'd tried, alternately, Admiral Ackbar, General Bel Iblis, and General Cracken. All three of them had been otherwise engaged. Figuring they were all probably in the same place, he only left a message with Leia's secretary to have her contact him the second she got a chance.

She got back to him not long after Wes had left. "What's wrong, Wedge?"

"Are Hekrig's forces still there?"

"Yes. They haven't done anything at all. They haven't moved, or attacked, or even tried to communicate with us."

"Corran and I have a theory that I want to run by you."

"He's up and around?"

Wedge nodded. "He'll be able to fly with us. Jesina might be able to, too. She's awake – well, she's sleeping now, but it's actual sleep as opposed to a coma."

Leia looked relieved. "I'm glad to hear it. Now, what's your theory?"

He briefly related the conversation with Corran, ending with, "So, you need to be prepared for them to launch an attack there almost immediately after we blow the lab."

"You don't think he'll wait until his forces at Zhar reach Coruscant?"

He shook his head emphatically. "No. Because his people here will arrive at Coruscant right around the time we would. And I would guess that a Super Star Destroyer and two Imperial-class are backup that he'd rather you didn't have." Which is why we're going to try to leave early."

"Early?" she repeated. "How early?"

"As soon as Elscol gets a positive location for the lab, she's going to send a communication to the Lusankya, hold off on blowing it as long as she can, and we'll jump to hyperspace. That means leaving some of the Wraiths behind, but at that point we don't expect they'll be facing much Imperial resistance. And it's worth it if we can get there sooner than Hekrig's planning on."

"You're still days away, though," Leia pointed out.

"Yes, but Hekrig doesn't like to stay until he's backed into a corner. I don't think we'll be of much help to you, honestly, but I think we can at least keep him from battering you as long as he might be planning."

"Wedge, forgive me for saying that you aren't being very reassuring."

"I know…"

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"Captain, they're deploying fighters."

Ackrand glanced over at the Ensign. "I want to speak to their captain."

After a moment the bridge communications officer said, "Go ahead, Captain."

"This is Captain Dehra Ackrand of the New Republic. You are in New Republic-held space and are ordered to recall all fighters and cease military action." It wasn't entirely true – Zhar was still a non-aligned world. But as far as she was concerned, the presence of Elscol Loro and several Wraiths on the ground and themselves in the system meant it was under New Republic jurisdiction.

"You have been misinformed, Captain," a clipped male voice replied. "Zhar is under Imperial control now. You are ordered to remove yourselves from Imperial space at once or we will engage."

She glanced quickly at her communications officer, motioning for him to end the transmission. Then, over the ship's intercom, she said, "This is Captain Ackrand. All pilots to your fighters. Standby to launch. Repeat, all pilots to your fighters. Standby to launch." She watched the communications officer flip the switch to transmit the order to the rest of the task force, and then commed Wedge herself. "General," she said when he answered, "they are engaging. Fighters are seven minutes to range."

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Wedge reached the hangar in less than a minute at a flat run, just as Jesina did, with Wes right behind her. He frowned. They could certainly use her – even if they'd had Tycho and Hobbie they could have used her. Without them, they needed her. But she'd only been released from the med center six hours ago. "Are you sure you're up to this?"

"I can fly."

He regarded her skeptically, but he really didn't have time to argue. "All right," he gave in. "But if you start feeling dizzy, sick – anything – you head back. Immediately. Understood?"

She saluted as she ran to her fighter. Janson went to follow, but Wedge caught his sleeve. "I'm switching her to six. I want you to keep an eye on her."

"You tell everyone else?" Janson asked, jogging beside him. This fight promised to be rough enough without any confusion about call signs.

"I will, once we're calling in. Tell Dia, though, will you?"

"All right. See you up there." They clasped hands before going their separate ways.

Jesina was already in her cockpit as he climbed up to his. "Jes, you're six for this party."

She frowned, knowing it was a protective maneuver on Wedge's part, but nodded. As she dropped into her cockpit, she saw the other members of her flight – Janson, Donos, and Passak – doing the same. Switching the comm unit to the frequency two flight generally used, she said, "All right, folks, there's been a slight change. Passak, you're flying seven with Donos. I'm six. Wedge wants Janson keeping an eye on me." She carefully injected a laugh into her voice.

Then she switched back to a squadron-wide frequency, knowing that Wedge was more than likely still in communication with the bridge. "All right, people, listen up. You all know the drill, but I want one thing clear. Any unnecessary heroics out there, and I'm the one you get to deal with." She paused. "That goes double for you, Horn," she added, eliciting laughter from the squadron.

"Alright people," Wedge's voice came over the comm. "One minute to launch. All Rogues report in."

"Rogue three, four lit." That was Ensa, who still blamed himself for Hobbie's death.

Face was next. There was an urgency to his voice that wasn't normally present. Jesina knew he wanted to be with his people on the ground. "Rogue four, good to go."

"Rogue five, ready to fly." Wes, his voice betraying the lethal efficiency he was capable of when it was necessary.

Her turn now. "Rogue six, four lit and green."

"Rogue seven, in the green." Dia sounded nervous. She'd been air backup on their mission to free Corran, but this was her first dogfight in a long time.

Donos' voice was empty of emotion. "Rogue eight, four lit and in the green."

"Rogue nine, set to fly." There was a touch of eagerness in Corran's voice. He, too, had been out of the cockpit for a while. Unlike Dia, however, he seemed anxious to get into the thick of things. Jesina wondered idly if this wasn't a little about payback for him.

The always proper Ooryl. "Rogue ten, four lit and in the green."

"Rogue eleven, ready to fly." Where Corran had sounded eager and Dia nervous, Inyri had a dangerous tone. She wanted to see these people dead, if she had to do it all herself.

"Rogue twelve, four lit." Gavin sounded calm. No anger, nervousness, nothing at all. That was good. Jesina was glad to know that at least one of their pilots was going on brains rather than emotion.

Then the deck officer's voice came through. "Rogue squadron, go ahead for launch."

"Launch by wing pairs on my mark," Wedge said. "Three, two, one, mark."

Jesina throttled forward. Despite the circumstances, it felt good to be back in the cockpit. She could see the enemy fighters as soon as she left the sanctity of the hangar. "I'm your wing, five."

"Gotcha."

Glancing around, she saw other squadrons launching, both from the Lusankya and from the other ships in the task force. Wedge spoke over the comm. "Lock s-foils in attack position but do not engage until fired upon," he ordered.

Jesina keyed the comm. "Lead, I don't think waiting's such a good idea." Just then, she saw laser bolts glance off the shields of one of the A-wings from the Freedom. "Never mind, Lead. Two flight, on me."

She led the others around to the outskirts of the fight. At this point, only a few shots had been fired, but from the fighters pouring out of another Star Destroyer that had just appeared in system, it looked like it was about to get worse. Wedge had been joking when he'd asked Iline Jesmin if she wanted to lead twenty fighter squadrons into battle, but he hadn't been far off. They had something along the lines of twelve squadrons of fighter support, but she doubted it would be enough. "Lead, how long do we have to hang around?"

"Hopefully not too long." He broke off as he brought his fighter into a steep dive to evade an oncoming TIE-fighter. The TIE pilot overshot Wedge but made himself a perfect target for Face. A quick burst from his laser cannons sent the fighter, its pilot no longer among the living, spiraling away from them.

"You need a wing, Lead," she heard Face say.

"You worry about yourself, Four."

"Sure, Lead," Face replied.

"Six, you've got a tail," Donos told her.

"I don't—"

"On my mark, break hard to starboard," Janson interrupted. Despite lasting only a couple of seconds, it was one of the tensest moments in any battle – relying on a wingman and waiting while you really knew nothing about what was going on. "Now," Janson yelled. Jesina yanked the stick hard, bringing her fighter around in a dive to starboard. A moment later she felt her ship shake as the TIE that had been on her exploded. Janson's marksmanship at work.

"Thanks, five."

"No problem, six."

Just then Inyri cut in. "Two squadrons of defenders on approach, vector two-oh-nine."

"Sithspit," Wes muttered. "I hate these things. Can't we ban them or something?"

"Cut the chatter, five," Wedge broke in. "Defenders ninety seconds to range. Three flight, engage. Two, hang back. Three and Four on me."

He went into a dive, setting his fighter on a path to intercept the oncoming Destroyers. But just as quickly he broke off, leading a very confused Ensa and Face away from the fight. "What is he doing?" Jesina murmured.

She had her answer a moment later. "All fighters, prepare to make the jump to lightspeed."

Jesina gave a silent cheer. Elscol and the wraiths had found the base. That was good, but it meant Coruscant was in trouble. "Two flight, form up on me. And run!" She accelerated as much as she dared and copied Wedge's actions, leading Wes, Dia, and Donos away from the battle. She watched as the capital ships did the same, and saw them make the jump to hyperspace. "Lead?" she questioned Wedge on their private frequency.

"Lead them out, Six," Wedge told her. "I'm staying until everyone's out."

"Understood." She flipped to the task force frequency. "All Lusankya fighters, sixty seconds to hyperspace. Repeat. All Lusankya fighters, sixty seconds to hyperspace." Each capital ship was heading to slightly separate coordinates where their own squadrons would rendezvous with them. After picking up their fighters, the capital ships would rendezvous and they'd head back to Coruscant together.

"Key," she spoke to her astromech. Key was short for the name she'd used during her NRI tenure, Keyra. "Are those coordinates set?"

Yes, Jesina. Forty seconds to hyperspace.

Forty seconds. Then, "Thirty seconds, people." She paused. "Twenty…ten…Mark." She pulled the hyperspace lever, more than glad to leave that situation behind. But not looking forward to what they'd find at Coruscant.