Title: The Haunting of Rogue Squadron
Genre: Horror, humor
Rating: PG
Timeframe: During Wraith Squadron, directly after Rogue Squadron returns to Coruscant.
Characters: Wedge, Tycho, Luke, Wes, Inyri, Gavin, Rhysati, Asyr
Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own Star Wars or the characters.
Summary: Wedge and Tycho have been hiding a terrible secret. Rogue Squadron is expecting a visitor from beyond the grave, and it's looking to claim one of them.
Notes: A response for the TFN DownTime Pilot Index challenge for the month of October: Tell a ghost story with one or more pilots.

This fic is an explanation for a retcon appearing in EU material. In issue 78 of Marvel Star Wars, Wes Janson was shown to have died on Hoth. This was later retconned and fixed in "Hoth: Under the Ice, Part 3: The Merchants of Death" as a horror story that Wedge tells new recruits.

This is that horror story muahahahahahahaha *cough*

~*~

Inyri Forge took her customary seat in the back of the briefing room. She was nestled in between Rhysati Ynr and the Bothan Asyr Sei'lar, both looking just as haggard and tired as she felt. Inyri doubted that she was alone in feeling surprised that a debriefing had been called for so quickly after setting down on Coruscant, but she was in no position to argue. At the very least, the briefing room chairs were a great deal more comfortable than the ejector seat of her X-Wing. She was also out of her stuffy flightsuit, another pleasant bonus.

Several minutes after Inyri had settled in, the door behind her hissed open. Commander Antilles and Captain Celchu strode in with a third man clad in black bringing up the rear. The three took their places at the front of the briefing room. Inyri's eyes locked onto the stranger in the room for a moment before an identity finally clicked in her mind. That was Luke Skywalker, Rebellion hero, Jedi Knight, and founding member of Rogue Squadron. She wondered idly what he was doing here. Certainly the last of the Jedi had more important business to attend to than sitting in on a post-operation debriefing.

Then she noticed the stern, serious looks the three men wore. A pit formed in Inyri's stomach. This wasn't going to be a standard debriefing where everyone patted themselves on the back for a job well done.

"I appreciate all of you holding off on drinking yourselves into a stupor for a while," Wedge said. "We've got some business to tend to. I know you're all probably under the impression that we're here to talk about our operations on Thyferra, but there's a more urgent issue we're facing."

Gavin Darklighter, the sandy-haired Tatooine native, spoke up. "More urgent than cleaning up after Isard?"

The three men at the front nervously looked at each other before all nodding a confirmation. Tycho said, "You're all going to want to brace yourselves for this." He gestured to his left, "I'm sure Commander Skywalker needs no introduction. Or would you prefer Jedi Knight? Master?"

The Jedi shrugged. "I'd prefer Luke, but given the setting I'll accept Commander."

Inyri frowned. "What gives? The three of you look like you're getting ready to drop a proton bomb on us."

Before the three of them could respond the briefing room was suddenly plunged into darkness. Rhysati let out a brief, surprised yelp. Inyri heard Wedge ask for Tycho to scrounge for the emergency glowrods behind the podium. Several long moments later, three glowrods flickered to life, casting the faces of Wedge, Tycho, and Skywalker in an eerie artificial light.

"Everyone okay?" Wedge asked.

Murmers of agreement filled the room. Tycho stood from his seat and carefully walked towards the back of the briefing room, depressing the keypad. Inyri heard him curse under her breath.

"Controls are locked, we're stuck in here." Tycho said as he made his way back to the front of the room. "Looks like it's starting already."

Wedge nodded. "I was hoping we'd have more time. How long do you figure we have, Luke?"

"Six, maybe seven hours tops," Skywalker responded with a shrug.

An uncomfortable silence filled the room that lingered for what felt like a large percentage of an eternity. Asyr broke the hush. "I mean no offense, but you're beginning to scare me. What's going on?"

"We can't put off telling them any longer," Wedge said somberly. "Commander, I believe this story starts with you."

Skywalker looked to the ground for a moment before speaking. "The escape of Hoth could be described as nothing short of chaotic. By the time we had arrived to abandon our speeders for our X-Wings we were on the verge of being caught in a firefight with stormtroopers on the ground.

"Since I had been shot down in the firefight I came in on foot," Skywalker continued. "The rest of the surviving squadron had already departed save for myself, Wedge, and his wingman, one Lieutenant Wes Janson. Of the three of us, Wedge was assigned to cover the last crew transport so he left first. That left myself and Lieutenant Janson to prep our own ships for departure.

"Just as we were preparing to board our starfighters we were jumped by a group of stormtroopers that had managed to push their way through Echo Base. They opened fire on us in a hurry. I managed to scramble into my X-Wing but Janson didn't quite make it to his Y-Wing on time. As I was lifting off I saw that the stormtroopers had shot him in the back and had fallen face first into the snow.

"We were the last two off Hoth, so there was no sending help for Lieutenant Janson. If the blaster wounds weren't what killed him, he was done in by the elements. Either way, he died on that barren ice world."

Tycho spoke next. "Almost a year to the day later some…" He paused for a moment as if he were formulating his thoughts, "strange things began to happen. Wherever Rogue Squadron went, things seemed to go wrong. At first it was innocent enough. Sometimes one of the inertial compensators in a new starfighter would stop working. Other times the power would cut out during one of our briefings."

"You mean kind of like now?" Gavin asked.

"Just like now," Wedge confirmed. "At this point I was commanding the Rogues. People were starting to get unnerved by all of the unexplained strangeness. Some went as far as claiming that the squadron was cursed. I thought it was absurd, until …" He trailed off.

Inyri felt a chill run down her spine. "Until?"

"I was in my office filing away some requisition paperwork," Wedge explained. "It was late, so I thought maybe it was sleep deprivation that was causing me to hear things, but out in the halls I could her a slow but steady drip. It sounded like one of the ceiling tiles had sprung a leak and drops of water were hitting the tile floor. For a while I managed to ignore it, but the steady drip…drip…drip became louder and louder as if it were coming closer.

"Suddenly like that the lights shut off in my office and it felt like the temperature plunged thirty degrees. When they came back on I was face to face with someone I thought I would never see again, Lieutenant Janson. He was pale as the snow of Hoth. Ice clung to his torn flightsuit, melting and hitting the floor with a slow, maddening drip…drip…drip."

Shivering, Inyri drew the collar of her jacket closer together. She was suddenly very cold. Certainly the temperature couldn't have fallen that quickly. Commander Antilles' story was simply playing games with her mind.

"Janson looked at me with those dead, sunken eyes and slowly raised an arm to point a bony finger," Wedge continued. "Before I could grab my service blaster he said 'I won't be left alone.' The lights shut off again for just the briefest of moments, but when they came back on Janson was gone."

"Commander," Inyri asked, "are you trying to tell me that the ghost of Lieutenant Janson visited you in the middle of the night? Sounds to me like you were just tired and seeing things."

Wedge shook his head. "Forge, I've tried to tell myself that I was just seeing things but believe me when I say that he was there. Worse, he wasn't some sort of ghost or apparition. That frozen corpse was corporeal."

"It wasn't just Wedge who saw it," Tycho said. "That same night I was in the room I was sharing with Hobbie Klivian, another member of the squadron at the time. We were hashing out astrogation plans for an assignment the next morning when all of the electronics and lights shut off. Out in the hall way we heard the same drip…drip…drip that Commander Antilles heard. When the lights came back on we saw Lieutenant Janson just as Wedge had described him, slowly thawing as if he had been frozen in ice.

"The ghost or whatever you wanted to call it pointed its finger at us and said the exact same thing it told Wedge," Tycho continued. "'I won't be left alone.' The lights went out again and when they came back on, Janson was gone."

Inyri frowned. "Could have been a prank by one of your pilots. The Rogues have historically been a … resourceful bunch."

"If this was a prank," Skywalker said, "it's the best prank the Galaxy has ever seen. I saw the very same thing on the very same night. The only difference was that I was in a shuttle heading towards Tatooine. One moment everything is fine, the next all of the lights and electronics in the passenger hold shut off. Lights come back on and there's Janson. He tells me the same thing he told Tycho, Wedge, and Hobbie. Just as quick as he arrives, he's gone."

Inyri Forge didn't believe in ghosts, specters, or any other sort of supernatural phenomenon. Still, she couldn't help but feel a seedling of uncertainty take root in the pit of her stomach. All three men had told their tale with such coldness that she could almost sense that they had been rattled. Was it possible? Had they really seen a ghost?

"None of us gave it much thought," Wedge said. "Partly because we had more important business to deal with, partly because we didn't want to reflect on the idea that one of our fallen comrades had returned from beyond the grave to haunt us. Five days later we realized that it had all been real."

Tycho said, "We had a briefing scheduled for that morning. All but one member of the squadron made it, Captain Ru-Murleen Coriton. Initially we weren't concerned, but when Captain Coriton's bunkmate returned to their quarters we discovered just what Janson meant when he said 'I won't be left alone.'"

"Captain Coriton was found dead in her bunk," Wedge said. "Medical examiners said the cause was severe hypothermia. It was as if she had frozen to death despite the fact that we were stationed on Mon Calamari. Apparently the late Lieutenant Janson had decided that he had enough of wandering the afterlife alone and chose to wander back into our plane of existence to drag another Rogue into death with him."

"It didn't end there either," Skywalker said. "Every year since the same thing happens. Wedge, Tycho, Hobbie, and I are visited by the corporeal spirit of Wes Janson. Five days later another Rogue freezes to death in their sleep."

"But that doesn't make any sense!" Inyri objected. "I may not have been here for a year, but some of us have been. Why has no one heard of this before?"

"Do any of you remember Flight Officer Scrabor?" Tycho asked.

Nawara raised a hand. "Of course. She was on the initial candidate roster. You told us that she was removed because of low test scores and sent back to the fleet."

"Flight Officer Scrabor probably wishes that was true," Tycho said. "That alternative beats freezing to death in your sleep."

Rhysati looked pale. "Are you saying that Scrabor …"

Wedge nodded. "We're not telling you this to scare you, but to warn you. Five days ago we were visited by Lieutenant Janson. At any moment he could return to claim one of you."

Before anyone could say a word or ask a question the glowrods held by Wedge, Tycho, and Skywalker suddenly shut off. The hair on the back of Inyri's neck stood on end as the briefing room was plunged back into darkness. The other Rogues began to murmur as the seconds in the pitch black turned into long, torturous minutes. She wanted out of the briefing room but remained firmly planted in her seat.

Drip…drip…drip…

"What was that!" Inyri asked.

"What was what?" Nawara Ven responded. "I don't-"

"Shut up!" Inyri snapped.

Drip…drip…drip…

Inyri fumbled for her blaster but realized that she and the others had been forced to check their sidearms with security before reporting for their debriefing. Her heart began to race.

Drip…drip…drip…

Suddenly she felt an icy cold hand clamp down on her shoulder. Inyri tensed, grabbing the bottom of her chair with both hands and holding on for dear life. Without warning the lights came back on. Slowly, she looked over her shoulder. Standing behind her was a pale man with blue tinged skin clad in a torn flightsuit that was covered with rapidly melting ice. The hand squeezed harder as their eyes made contact.

"I won't be left alone," the mysterious newcomer said in a low, gravelly voice.

The briefing room was suddenly filled with screams and shrieks of terror, none more piercing than Inyri's. She pulled away from the corpse's grasp and fall out of her seat, scrambling on her hands and feet away from the reanimated Lieutenant Janson. Inyri let loose with another scream of fright as he took another step towards her.

An odd thing happened at that point. Through the cacophony of chaos a very faint sound of laughter was heard. The lone voice was joined by two more. Inyri jumped to her feet and looked towards the front of the briefing room slack-jawed. Wedge, Tycho, and Skywalker were doubled over in fits of laughter. Commander Antilles and Skywalker had braced themselves against the podium to keep from falling over. Captain Celchu clutched at his sides as he continued to howl.

"You-" Inyri pointed angrily at the three of them, "You tricked us!"

Wedge straightened and took a deep breath. "Yes, Flight Officer Forge, we tricked you."

"So, he's not Janson?" Inyri asked, gesturing towards the stranger who was busy rubbing makeup off his face.

"Oh no," the man said. "I'm most certainly Wes Janson, noted wit and conqueror of women's bunks. Speaking of which, I really don't want to be left alone in my bunk tonight. Care to join me, Flight Officer?"

Inyri's jaw dropped again, this time out of disgust rather than shock.

"But …" Gavin shook his head as he held out his arms in confusion. "Why?"

"Tradition," Skywalker said, patting Wedge on the shoulder. "Whenever there's a new batch of pilots brought in it's the squadron commander's responsibility to scare the living daylights out of them."

Rhysati said, "Then why are you here?"

"We invited him," Tycho said. "Figured a ghost story would carry more weight if he was involved."

Luke nodded. "Of course, I'm required to say that this act of deception was morally reprehensible and beneath all of you."

"Same time next year, then?" Wedge asked.

"Same time next year."

Finis