RowenaR: Well, here's another cliffie for you...
Ninjaturtle: Glad you like it...how about "Shades of the Past" for the title?
Banshee: I don't think this one makes it much deeper, but there's a little action, and a little reminiscing...
Nikki, Jet, Lady Sinistra: You guys still around? Just wondering...
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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 32: Fear
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"Was anyone injured?" Jesina asked as Leia waved for the military police to take Layfee away. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Pash and Wes step forward to hear the aide's reply. Surreptitiously, she dropped a hand to her side and squeezed Wes' briefly.
The woman watched as her boss was led out of the room, looking a little stunned. Not that Jesina could blame her. She'd been Cracken's aide for the last five years – until he'd been shot, and Layfee's for the last five hours. Then she shook her head and was suddenly all business again. "At this point, the Admiral's office has been unable to reach General Antilles or his squadron." Then she paused. "I did tell him that you were here, which is why they haven't tried to contact you. And we're trying to reach Agent Wessiri, but haven't been able to yet."
"Keep trying," Jesina said, easily slipping into the role she'd agreed to take over only hours earlier. "Let me know the moment you learn anything. And get someone from public relations up here. We need to release a statement about General Cracken and Agent Layfee, and about the shooting. The news organizations are going to get a hold of the story soon, and the last thing we need is to look like we aren't in control of the situation. And it'll be better coming from us rather than the Chief of State's office." She glanced at Leia, who nodded her approval.
The woman nodded, looking somewhat pleased with Jesina's take-charge attitude, and left.
Once the four of them were alone in the office, the new Intelligence Director's calm façade slipped. "They were shot at – they couldn't all have been killed."
Wes shook his head. "Not likely. But something's up. Wedge is expecting Hekrig to come knocking at our front door. He wouldn't ignore a comm call. Not now."
"Neither would Face," Jesina murmured. She took a few steps back and to the left, to the wall comm unit, and keyed in Wedge's comm code. She waited for a moment, but finally gave up. "Nothing. It's like he's turned it off."
"Or they're being jammed," Pash muttered, speaking up for the first time.
"Could be," Wes said slowly. Then his eyes narrowed. "They were heading to the hangar."
Jesina tapped her foot thoughtfully. "But Iella would still have been at the house," she said, reaching toward the comm unit once again. But after a few minutes, it became clear that Iella wasn't going to answer either.
She walked to the open door and stopped. Her aide – that was a strange thought – was just getting up from her desk. "I want to talk to someone at the Antilles' place."
"Not really necessary, ma'am. I was just about to tell you. Agent Wessiri was the only person in the house at the time of the attack, and she's all right aside from a few cuts and bruises and a blaster bolt that grazed her upper arm." She paused. "The Admiral's office has still not been able to reach the others, and we haven't been able to contact Commander Loran."
"Keep trying," was all Jesina said before retreating back into the office. She then turned to face Wes and Pash. "You two head to the hangar. As soon as you know anything, get in touch with Admiral Ackbar and with Leia and me. We'll be here. You can use this number." She wrote down the extension for the office, having memorized it back when this section of the Palace first became Intelligence headquarters.
Then, predicting Leia's protest, she turned to face the Chief of State – her boss – and said, "You have to stay here. Cracken's dead, they made a move on Tycho and Winter, and tried to kill Iella. Not to mention that the others are all out of contact, so we have no idea what their status is. You office may not be safe, and I can be almost positive that your home isn't."
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Wedge spun around, dropping into a crouch as he heard the whine of a blaster shot from nearby – too close by for his comfort. He could feel the sparks as the shot struck his x-wing, precisely where his head had been moments before. He spat out a course and reached for his comlink, at the same time looking around to see where his pilots were – and where the shot had come from.
He saw Inyri and Gavin on the ground behind a stack of crates near their fighters. He watched as they raised their heads slowly to look over the barrier, but duck back down as the hidden shooter fired in their direction.
Another glance around and he spotted Ooryl near them in a similar position, and remembered that Corran was already in his ship. He spoke into his comlink on an open frequency, one usually used for emergencies within the Palace and the base. "This is Rogue Squadron, Rogue Leader. We are under fire in the main hangar bay. Do you copy? Repeat. Rogue Squadron is under fire in the main hangar bay. Do you copy?" But he got no response. And it didn't take him long to figure out why.
He ducked as blaster bolts flew over his head – going toward the door rather than toward his pilots. He risked a glance over his shoulder and saw Donos, mostly hidden by a partition near the wall, fire a few more shots. Gavin and Inyri joined in, aiming in the general direction of the door.
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Myn Donos watched his CO raise his head slowly and held his fire. Wedge would be caught in the middle if he made a move, and that wasn't a good thing. At all. A quick glance at Darklighter told him that he and Forge had drawn the same conclusion. Gavin waved his blaster and then opened fire toward the doorway. Myn waited until Forge added her own fire to the mix, and then did the same. Between them, they lay down a haphazard field of blaster bolts, making it impossible for the shooter to get a clear shot off without getting hit himself.
He fired a few shots in rapid succession that were better aimed than Gavin and Inyri's – not that he had a choice. If he wasn't careful, he'd take out Wedge's head.
He watched his CO turn and waved for him to run. This would be so much easier with him out of the direction line of fire. He watched Wedge shift position, getting ready to moved. Then he saw him start to run, still bent over, trying to make himself as small a target as fire. Then he saw the flash of blaster fire. Then he watched Wedge fall.
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Jesina sat down at the large desk after the PR person had gone. For the first time the reality of her new position, temporary as it was, had begun to sink in.
She'd been with Intelligence for the vast majority of her time with the Alliance and the Republic. She'd dealt with Cracken on a regular basis over the course of that time, and had come to know him well. She'd respected him, admired him, feared him – but never, ever trusted him. She'd known better than that from before she'd even started.
He'd known that, too. He'd known, and he hadn't cared in the least. He'd actually talked to her about it on one of the handful of occasions she'd lost her cool with him. It had been early on in her Intel career, but his words had remained with her because they seemed to apply to so much else in her life.
He'd said to her, My ability to get things done doesn't come from people cooperating me because they trust me. It comes from people being afraid of what I can do if they don't cooperate. At the time, she'd given him a scornful look and walked away. But she'd thought about it later. It was so true.
Palpatine, Iceheart, Vader, Zsinj, Tarkin – they'd all learned that. People like Booster Terrik and Talon Karrde had, too. They'd earned their reputations by dealing with those who were willing to deal and making those who weren't pay for their mistakes.
There were, of course, the handful of people who managed to have both sides of the credcoin – people like Wedge and Mara Jade – though they were the exceptions to the rule.
And, she had to admit, for all they'd all disliked Cracken, he could have done a lot worse than he had with the amount of power he'd achieved. His job hadn't been an easy one, full of impossible negotiations and decisions about acceptable losses and unacceptable risks. There were many decisions he'd handed down over the years that had infuriated her. But now, sitting in this chair and thinking back on everything, she wasn't sure he'd have done things any differently.
The aide – Jesina made a mental note to learn her name before the end of the day – appearing in the doorway dragged her out of her reverie. "Admiral Ackbar and General Bel Iblis would like to meet with you both immediately. Admiral Hekrig's fleet has just reverted from hyperspace."
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Wes led Pash around to the hangar's rear entrance. They'd initially headed for the main connector, but changed plans when they heard the first blaster shots.
As they approached the door, Wes drew his blaster and heard his companion do the same. He peered inside and saw Gavin and Inyri not far from him, their attention focused on the main entrance. He watched as Inyri dropped one power pack and grabbed another one from the pocket of her flightsuit, and then continue shooting.
He motioned for Pash to go past him. The A-wing pilot nodded silently and slipped into the hangar, crouching as he ran behind the fighters.
Wes hung back as he went, wondering exactly how he was going to get them out of this. He remembered what Jesina had said about contacting them when they knew what was going on, but he wasn't about to leave while the rest of his squadron was being shot at.
He dropped down to all fours, crawling over to Inyri and Gavin. To their credit, neither seemed to be startled by his arrival. Gavin tossed a quick glance over his shoulder, muttering something that sounded like, "It's about time you got here," but kept firing.
Wes raised his blaster but never got a chance to fire. He could see Wedge start to run away from them and toward Donos. Then he saw more blaster fire from the direction of the doorway, and he watched helplessly as Wedge stumbled and fell.