Cheriss Ke Handi sat on the corner of her bed, looking around her room within the old Massassi Temple on Yavin IV. She glanced down again at the data pad Tionne had brought to her moments earlier and allowed her mind to drift.

The last two years had been a blur. Military service, intense instruction in both piloting and the ways of the Jedi had been her way of life. Her Jedi training had begun in earnest when she and Luke had arrived on Coruscant immediately following the campaign against Admiral Guffris. After arriving on the planet, they had begun to search for the perfect crystal to use as the focus for Cheriss' own lightsaber. Cheriss looked down and unclipped that very blade from her belt and held it out in front of her.

Cheriss smiled as she glanced over the smooth curves of the silver cylinder. She thumbed the control switch and the blade sprung to life with a snaphiss. She absently twirled the purple blade through the air listening to its hum with pleasure. Closing the blade, she clipped the lightsaber back onto her belt as she stood.

Cheriss walked over to her desk and opened the drawer, looking down on the leather-bound book sitting within. She put the data pad down on top of the desk and picked up the book, running her hand over the well-worn leather. Opening the diary that she had been keeping since she was ten years old, she flipped through the pages until she came to the section she was looking for and began to read to herself.

Dear Diary,

Luke and I arrived on Coruscant earlier this morning. The planet is amazing. IT'S A HUGE CITY! THE WHOLE PLANET! I can't believe it, this is so exciting. After docking our X-wings at Rogue base (The New Republic, pretty much because Wedge said we could, was nice enough to lets us keep them there since we are newly retired. Or reretired in Luke's case….hehe) Luke and I made our way to a hotel near his apartment. He had gone out of his way to arrange for me to stay someplace close. Maybe so I wouldn't have to feel so alone in this new place. What a gentleman!

Unfortunately, he doesn't seem anymore my type than Wedge was. They are both so much older than I am. (and boy did Wedge think that was a problem!) Oh well, maybe I can find someone my own age at the Academy. Only time will tell, I guess. I'll need to start looking around for possible candidates when I arrive.

I can't stop thinking about the Sith girl I killed. She seemed to have the right idea, at least in regard to passion. Sadly, she had turned to the Dark Side. I wish I could put my finger on it, but I just can't. There is something else there. Well, I'm sure the Force will guide me.

Cheriss paused for a moment, and brought up the image of the dark seductress she had battled on Tantrill III. The memories of killing the girl still unnerved her. Cheriss had killed quite a number of people in duels on her home planet of Adumar, but somehow this was different. With this girl, she felt as if she had killed a part of her own future. She did not know why she felt this way, or what it could possibly mean.

She wished there could have been another way to save herself without killing her. With help, she might have returned to the light. If she could have been saved, she probably would have been willing to teach Cheriss the lessons she whispered about on the catwalk. This especially saddened her, since the subject of passion and matters of the heart were such a taboo subject around the Academy.

I really hope the dreams go away. I have dreamt about her almost every night since she died. I always see her the way she was before the fight started. Her bright eyes staring at me with a passion I had never seen before. And a devilish grin splayed across her lips. Perhaps I should mention the dreams to Master Luke. I just don't know.

Cheriss still hadn't mentioned the dreams to Luke. Since arriving on Yavin IV, the frequency of the dreams had decreased drastically. However, they still plagued her occasionally. The start of the dream was always the same. However, the content did vary occasionally. Some of the dreams even made her question things about herself. However, she usually brushed away those thoughts as soon as they surfaced, afraid of what they might mean.

In addition to being in this great place, I am very excited to be searching for a gem to create my lightsaber. Luke said there are many places to look for one. He said that almost anything from anyplace in the Galaxy could be found here. I hope he's right.

My hotel room is beautiful. I have forgotten what it is like to be pampered. The last time I saw anyplace so beautiful was when I was still on Adumar.

Cheriss flipped a few more pages ahead in her diary and found the passage she was looking for.

We finally did it!! Luke and I were just about to give up when I got a stroke of luck. ( Maybe not luck exactly. As Luke would say: There is no luck, only the Force). We were walking through a market towards the top of the city, within the corporate district where a lot of exotic items can be found. The market was bustling. We had gone to several carts and stores with no success. We were just about to give up and return to the hotel when I accidentally bumped into someone.

There was an old woman wearing a large black cloak with a deep hood pulled up over her head. She turned her weathered face to look at me. When she apologized for bumping into me, I looked up into the sharpest, brightest green eyes I had ever seen. There was something familiar about them, but I couldn't quite place it. She asked me what I was looking for in the market. When I told her, she smiled a toothless grin and pointed me to a cart I had not seen before. I turned back to thank her, but she was nowhere to be found.

I went off to find Luke and show him the cart. We wandered over to it just as the man was about to close up for the day. Luckily, we convinced him (with a little help from the Force) to stay open for just a few more minutes. I started to look at the crystals and gems, almost immediately finding the perfect one. It was a large piece of the darkest purple, clearest amethyst I had ever seen, sitting there on a white velvet pillow as if it was just waiting for me.

I pointed it out to Luke trying to hide my excitement. He picked it up and inspected it closely. When he closed his eyes, I could feel the Force flowing from him through the gem. He smiled at me and I knew it was the one. Luckily, I hadn't had time to spend the money I had earned while in the New Republic Military, so I had plenty saved. Buying the gem was no problem even though it was a little expensive.

We are going to start working on my lightsaber tomorrow. Luke said the gem is large enough to create at least two lightsabers, if not three. That way if mine is ever lost I can recreate it or I can have a matching one made for a friend or some one special…

I can't wait until tomorrow. I will finally start to make my own lightsaber.

Luke and I will also be discussing what we will do on Coruscant and how long we will stay before I return with him to Yavin IV.

Cheriss smiled to herself as she closed her diary and set it gently upon her desk. Next, she reached back into the desk drawer and took out an item wrapped in white velvet. She unwrapped it carefully to look upon the remnants of the very crystal she had written about in her diary. She could see where it had been cut to supply the focus for her lightsaber and there was still more than enough left to create two more focus stones.

She rewrapped the crystal and set it on top of her diary, allowing her thoughts to drift back. She had learned so much about the Force and more importantly her unique gifts during the past two years. During the course of her many training exercises and a few near accidents, she and Luke had learned that she had the ability to hide within the Force.

Even though she was untrained while she was living on Adumar, she had still used her abilities subconsciously. She was able to manipulate the Force is such a way as to hide her intents and disguise the true direction of her movements, attacks and thoughts. Her talents could fool even Jedi who had foresight into the immediate future. Her gift had almost led to injuries of some other students while practicing dueling when she had first arrived at the Academy. It also explained her great degree of success in the blastsword duel she had with Luke when they had first met.

To some degree she had managed to learn to manipulate this gift consciously. However, she had not done so completely. This was still how she lived everyday, with the Force hiding her true thoughts and intentions, even among the Jedi.

She plucked the data pad off the desk and wandered over to the window, laying the data pad on the sill. She looked down again at it somewhat confused, as the information the pad contained was quite strange. It held orders from the New Republic Military, requiring her return to active duty.

She had just finished rereading the orders when she felt a presence approaching her room. She turned to look at the doorway as Luke Skywalker turned the corner. She smiled as he stood at the entrance to her room. She had left the door open, like most other students did during the day. "May I come in?" Luke asked.

"Of course, Master Skywalker," Cheriss said, gesturing him in.

"Tionne mentioned that you wanted to see me," Luke said. "She told me that you had received a message from the New Republic Armed Forces."

Cheriss nodded, "It appears that I am being recalled to active duty though I am not sure why."

"Well, the timing is right at least." Luke smiled then sat down on the edge of her bed drawing his brown Jedi robes up as he did. "I have come to tell you a few things about what the immediate future holds for many people, as well as the academy as a whole."

"Very well, Master," Cheriss said as she sat down in the chair in front of her desk. She rested her elbows on her knees and her chin in her hands. She leaned forward, listening intently.

Luke sighed as he sat up straight, composing his thoughts. "First, I would like you to know that your first steps of training here are complete. I was going to tell you this regardless, since I had other plans for you before you received that," Luke said gesturing to the data pad she held in her hand. "I am conferring upon you the Rank of Jedi Knight."

Cheriss' heart soared and she smiled brightly. "Thank you, Master," she stammered.

Luke nodded. "No Cheriss, it is I who should be thanking you. As I had said when we first began your training, you and the other students here are the future of the Jedi Knights. I have helped you achieve your destiny within the Force, but you have also helped me. With each new student comes a new teaching experience and I have learned a lot from you. Many students will benefit from those lessons."

Cheriss sat in stunned silence, smiling happily. Luke continued, "Second, I was planning on asking you to aid Streen since he will be taking over the administrative duties, as well as most of the teaching, at the Academy. However, it appears that my plan will not come about."

"What? You are you leaving?" Cheriss gasped.

Luke nodded and began slowly. "There are many things I still have to learn about the Force and about myself. It is time for me to do some personal exploration."

Cheriss could not keep the look of confusion from her face. Luke noticed it, but for reasons unknown to her expounded no further. After a few seconds of uncomfortable silence she nodded, "I am not sure I understand, Master. However, I wish you luck."

"Thank you," Luke said. "When do you have to leave?"

Cheriss looked down at her data pad. "It doesn't really say so I assume it should be as soon as possible."

Luke stood. "Well, you should pack then. We will hold the ceremony for your ascension tomorrow morning at dawn. I would recommend you meditate as much as possible between now and then. The Force will have much to tell you."

Cheriss stood and walked Luke to the door. When he smiled and left, she eased the door closed behind him and turned to move to the center of the room. She lowered herself to the floor, sat cross-legged, closed her eyes and took a deep breath, allowing the Force to flow through her.

Gara Pethetrol sat in her room aboard the New Republic Star Destroyer Sentinel. She had recently transferred to the ship after years of traveling the galaxy under many different assumed names and aliases. Immediately after her desertion from the New Republic forces following the defeat of Warlord Zsinj, she assumed the identity of a freighter pilot, Kirney Slane. Soon after establishing that identity, she tried to get a message to Myn Donos.

It frustrated her to this day when she thought about it. That she had been so naïve to think that Myn would have gotten the message without forwarding it to his superiors. That he could ever forgive her for what she had done. Her hope that he could love her again only led New Republic Intelligence agents to her new home on Corellia. Gara had only narrowly escaped and she had begun to move about trying to evade the attempts to capture her.

After about six years of running, she was ready to try and make a difference again. Gara constructed a new identity for herself, Hetlia Jettite. In that identity, Hetlia was born to a lower middle class family on Coruscant who had higher aspirations. The Jettite's moved in very lofty circles before the fall of the empire. The entire family was killed at a party raided by Imperial stormtroopers right before the fall of Coruscant. Gara sliced into the records to create a daughter they never had and give her a background.

With a lot of effort to cover her tracks, she was ready to start new. She applied to Starfighter Command Training and was accepted. There she assumed her new role; that of a reserved, sheltered little girl, with little self-confidence and even less leadership ability.

In order to prevent attention from being drawn to her, Gara made sure her scores sat in the dead middle of the pack in pilot training. Her flying scores were a bit higher than normal to make up for her lack of leadership ability. She graduated flight training with good marks, but nothing to write home about.

She had arrived aboard the Sentinel yesterday and had a meeting scheduled for today with the Squadron Commander, Colonel Ti'vay. Ti'vay commanded Lightflash squadron. She knew very little about him save that he led the squadron for about a year now and he was a Bothan.

Gara had taken one small risk on her way to her new assignment. She had discovered that her astromech Tonin had been assigned to another pilot after helping the imprisoned aliens escape the Iron Fist. Luckily, that pilot had just retired and with a little creative slicing, she had gotten her old astromech assigned to her. The R2 unit's memory had been wiped when he was reassigned. However, due to the modifications she had made to him while serving about the Iron Fist she was able to restore all of his memories. Gara was ecstatic that she was able to reunite with her old friend. Things were looking up for once.

As Gara got dressed, she looked at herself in the mirror. She had changed her appearance drastically to assume the identity of Hetlia. She had allowed her hair to grow out long and straight, dying it blonde and had her eyes altered so that they were a deep, soft blue. She had lost even more weight so that she was borderline too thin. She had changed her posture to that of a shy and self-conscious girl with her shoulders slightly stooped and her eyes always cast down.

She had just finished getting dressed when her door buzzer rang. She shuffled over to the door and opened it. Standing outside was a tall, thin human man. He had straight black hair that was all one length and came down to about his chin. He had piercing blue eyes and pale skin. He stood there in an orange Starfighter Command flight suit with Colonel rank epaulets on his shoulders.

'This is obviously not my new squadron commander,' she thought to herself trying to hide her surprise. 'Who is this guy?'

"Flight Officer Jettite?" he asked as he looked at Hetlia.

Gara made sure to affect her cover identity. "Yes...sir…Colonel…" she stammered, standing at a weird form of attention with her eyes still cast somewhat down.

"If you would follow me. It is time." The Colonel smiled as he motioned towards the hallway.

"Yes, sir," she answered and stepped out into the hallway. She followed the Colonel as he made his way to the lift. They entered, and he sent it heading down towards the hanger area. Gara knew that this was not the way to her Squadron's area. However, Hetlia never would have known that. So she stood in silence as the lift brought them to on of the lower decks in the aft section of the ship.

When the lift came to rest, the two exited and walked down a long hallway that was completely devoid of people. They stopped at an office door about fifty meters from the lift. The doors slid open and the Colonel led the way into the room. As the doors slid shut behind her, Hetlia kept her eyes averted while she scanned the room. She was obviously in an office that had not been used in sometime. The furniture was scattered about and a thin layer of dust covered everything. As she continued to scan, she saw two more figures standing in the room. One wore the same flight suit that she and the Colonel were wearing while the second wore a tight fitting black jump suit.

As Hetlia brought her eyes up, she could see that the figure in the black jump suit was obviously a woman. As she looked further up she saw that she wore a belt with a blaster and a silver cylinder hanging off it. A lightsaber! She looked closer to see that the woman was about her own age, maybe a little younger and had long, slightly wavy red hair. She recognized her immediately. The woman was Mara Jade. Her heart skipped a beat. Mara sat chatting idly with the person sitting next to her. When Heltia turned to look, her heart nearly beat its way out of her chest. She was talking to Wedge Antilles.

Mara and Wedge turned to look at the newcomers. Hetlia immediately returned her eyes to the floor. Her mind spun. `How did they find me?' she screamed to herself.

"General Antilles." The Colonel called to him.

Wedge, still sitting, turned to face the Colonel. He paused for a quick look at Hetlia then turned his attention back to the Colonel. "Yes."

The Colonel stood blocking the door. "Does this woman look familiar to you at all."

Wedge tilted his head around to get a better look. "Could you raise your head, Flight Officer," Wedge said to Hetlia. Her head swam as she tried to think of something, anything she could do. She resigned herself to her fate and raised her head.

Wedge looked for a moment, then gasped. "Yes. In fact, she does, Colonel."

"Could you identify her, General?" The Colonel asked.

Wedge sighed heavily. It was obvious that he was not happy about what he was about to do. "I knew her as Lara Notsil, a member of Wraith Squadron when I commanded it. I later learned her to be Gara Petothel a former Imperial Agent." He turned to face Gara. "I'm sorry."

Mara and the Colonel drew their blasters simultaneously and pointed them at Hetlia. "Are you Gara Petothel?" The Colonel asked her.

She sighed. "Yes." She hung her head low. `Well, time to face the music,' she thought.

Mara and the Colonel quickly turned their blasters in line with Wedge. A shocked look crossed his face as they fired. Blue lightning of stun bolts slammed into Wedge sending him careening off the desk and slamming into the floor.

They quickly turned their blasters back towards Gara. "Don't move." The Colonel kept his blaster trained on her while Mara turned and walked towards Wedge's crumpled body. Mara knelt next to him and turned him over so he lay flat on his back.

Mara knelt over Wedge's prone form and placed her cupped right hand over his eyes and duplicated the motion bringing her cupped left hand to rest just above her eyes. She breathed, taking strong but controlled breaths. After a few moments, she stood and nodded to the Colonel. He motioned to the door and turned back to Gara.

"Now Lieutenant Petothel, you have a choice. You can come with us quietly and live happily ever after. Or we can say we shot you dead to prevent the murder of General Antilles. Which would you prefer?" The Colonel asked Gara.

Gara's head swam as she tried to think of any way out of this. However, with a gun trained on her and a Jedi nearby, she knew she had little choice. In the strongest voice she could muster, she said. "Where to, Colonel?"

He smirked. "Just walk in front of me to the aft hanger. And don't get any funny ideas."

Gara nodded and walked out of the room, looking over her shoulder to get a last look at Wedge. She knew she would never see him again. Mara Jade and the Colonel followed close behind. They weaved their way through corridors and lifts until they finally arrived at the flight deck.

The hanger was bustling with activity and her two captors put their weapons back in their holsters. However, Gara knew that flanked by a Jedi, she still had no chance of escape. She followed Mara to a nearby shuttle and watched as Mara keyed in an access code. The ramp cracked open with a hiss of air and lowered.

The Colonel motioned her up the ramp. She ascended and took a seat in the passenger compartment. The Colonel sat down across from her while Mara sat down on the pilot's couch. Gara remained silent as she heard the engines come to life and felt the shuttle rise on its repulsor lifts. She leaned forward to look out the front view screen to see the shuttle exit the hanger. It flew for a few moments into the darkness of space before Mara pulled the lever sending them into hyperspace.

"What is it you want with me?" Gara asked the Colonel.

He turned towards her, regarding her intently. The corners of his mouth turned up in a smirk. "I am not at liberty to discuss that with you at this time. However, I can see that you are somewhat worried so I will put your mind at ease, at least a little."

Gara shrugged trying to play it off, but she could not deny it. Her eyes betrayed that fact she was terrified to the mysterious Colonel sitting across from her.

"If you were being placed under arrest, it would not have been handled this way. And if you were to be, shall we say, removed, you would already be dead," he explained. "Your services are needed. You will have the chance to serve the New Republic, despite being robbed of your first opportunity."

Gara nodded, not knowing what to say. She sat quietly for the rest of the flight trying to imagine what could possibly be in store for her.

Cheriss stood at the bottom of the ladder leading to the cockpit of her T-65XF fighter which sat in the hanger within the main Temple of Yavin IV. Luke had departed quickly and quietly after the semi- private ceremony held at dawn at which he had been conferred upon Cheriss the rank of Jedi Knight.

After the ceremony she had quickly donned her flight suit and packed her belongings. Grabbing her bags from the floor, she risked one glance back around her room. Tears began to well up in her eyes as she thought of how much she would miss the academy.

She had felt a continuous lump in her throat from the moment she left her room, all the time at breakfast and as she carried her possessions to the hanger. A procession of Jedi and Apprentices had followed her and they gathered at the nose of the fighter.

Sabre, her R5 astromech droid, was already in the fighter as when she arrived at it. She gazed at the sleek fighter that had been repainted right after she had become a civilian while she and Luke were still on Coruscant. The fighter had been painted a sleek, glossy black with a deep purple trim. The Wraith Squadron crest remained emblazoned on the tail.

She stored her bags in the cargo compartment and turned to give a last wave before she climbed up the ladder. Streen stepped forward and looked up at her as she began her ascent up the ladder. "Good luck, Cheriss. I hope you can return to us soon. I am not sure how long I can do this before I'll need some more help." Streen said, his voice weighed down by worries about the future.

"I hope I can come back soon as well, Streen but I'm sure you'll do fine until then." Cheriss said, smiling warmly. She continued her climb up the ladder and hopped into the cockpit. She donned her helmet and brought the ships systems to life.

She glanced at her instruments and everything looked fine. "All set back there, Sabre?" she asked. Sabre tooted his consent and scrolled a message across her display conforming that all systems were operating normally. Cheriss waved one more time just before she engaged her repulsor lifts. She guided the fighter out of the hanger and engaged the main drive, rocketing skyward as the Jedi waved farewell.

She indulged herself in a few rolls, loops and steep turns as she ascended towards orbit. She had not flown for a little while and planned to enjoy it before she had to sit for hours in hyperspace on her way to Coruscant.

Cheriss finished her maneuvers and left the atmosphere of the moon. She turned the fighter towards the proper heading and pulled the lever, engaging the hyperdrive. The stars elongated, and she entered the twirling vortex of hyperspace.

The flight to Coruscant was long and boring and she spent almost all of the time either in a Jedi trance or meditating. Her mediations were calming, but whenever she tried to concentrate on her future or her new assignment it seemed elusive. She was jarred out of her meditation by Saber's alarm, indicating that they were five minutes from reemergence to realspace. She quickly scanned the instruments and saw nothing unusual. She consulted a data pad for the call sign she had been given.

Cheriss watched the counter instructing her when she should leave hyperspace. When it hit zero, she pulled the lever back and the stars returned to normal around her. Looking down at the planet of Coruscant, she keyed her comm unit and spoke. "Coruscant Traffic Control, this is Shade Four requesting landing instructions."

"Shade Four, make military approach to palace landing area." The controller answered her. She looked down at her screen and when she saw the approach data had been received, she began to fly her assigned approach.

"Roger control," she said. As she flew the fighter down, Cheriss spent all her time looking out at the city beneath her. It was still amazing, even having seen it a few times before. She continued to sight see all the way through the uneventful approach and landing. She guided her X-wing over to the assigned berthing area and lowered it gently onto its skids. When she had finished her post-flight and shut down procedures, she opened the canopy of her fighter. A ground crew member attached a ladder to the side of her craft. She climbed down the ladder to see the ground crew getting out the equipment to remove her astromech droid.

"That won't be necessary," Cheriss said stretching and yawning, working to get out the cricks from the long space flight. She reached out her arm towards Sabre with her hand open and her palm facing up. She closed her eyes and slowed her breathing as she concentrated then reached out with the Force, lifting the droid into the air. She lowered him softly to the duracrete. She smirked to herself as she felt the surprise of the nearby ground personnel.

She had just fished her bag out of the cargo compartment when she saw a man walking purposefully towards her after he exited a nearby building. He had black hair and blue eyes and his skin was pale. He wore his hair straight and about down to his chin, all one length. He wore an all black flight suit, with only Colonel rank markings and Starfighter Pilot wings.

"Greetings Flight Officer, I am Colonel Tetrault," he said extending his hand as he reached her.

Cheriss smiled at him and shook his hand. "Nice to meet you, Sir."

He reached to pick up her bag. "I will have your belongings and your droid taken to your new quarters. The rest of your belongings will be forwarded there when they arrive."

Cheriss blushed a bit. "These are all my belongings, sir. I didn't take much with me when I left my home world and I didn't collect much during my time at the Jedi Academy."

He nodded. "Very well then." He motioned for a ground crew member to take her bag and her droid. He also handed him a data pad. When the ground crewman left, he turned to Cheriss. "If you would follow me?"

Cheriss nodded and followed him to a nearby walkway that led over to the Senate Chambers and other government buildings of the New Republic. She followed in silence as he led her from the catwalk through what seemed liked miles of corridors in the senate building. Eventually the corridor led to what looked like a freight lift and they entered it.

The doors closed and Colonel Tetrault said, "Authorization Tetrault, gamma-two-two-theta." As he finished speaking, a hidden control panel popped out of a space under the main controls. Tetrault took a card from his breast pocket and slid it into the slot below the keypad. He quickly imputed a code and the lift began to move.

Cheriss was a bit suspicious now. It seemed to her like something just wasn't right. However, she stood silently and waited. She sensed no danger or ill intent so she saw no reason to speak out yet. The lift continued downward for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, it came to a halt and the doors whooshed open.

She followed Tetrault into the corridor. It was a fairly short hallway leading to another door with a passkey entry. He imputed a long series of numbers into the keypad and inserted a card into the slot. The doors opened and admitted them to another corridor. This one had many doors off of it. They came to the first door on the left and Colonel Tetrault stopped. "I would like you to wait in here for the briefing to begin for our new arrivals. It should be no more than an hour."

"Yes, sir," she said, stepping through the door as it opened to admit her passage. She was looking around the briefing room as the doors slammed shut behind her. There was a podium on a small raised stage at the front of the room. The chairs were set up in an amphitheater style in a semi-circle around the room and rising up. There were enough chairs to sit about one hundred to one hundred and fifty people but there was only one other person in the room.

Sitting quietly in the front row of seats was a young woman. She sat with her arms crossed and her legs close to her body. She was very thin with straight blonde hair, dressed in the orange flightsuit of a starfighter pilot. She looked up as Cheriss entered, but quickly cast her eyes nervously back to the floor.

Cheriss walked over to the woman. "Hi, I am Cheriss Ke Handi," she said, extending her hand.

The woman stood and took her hand briefly, looking up to make eye contact. "I am Hetlia Jettie. Nice to meet you."

Cheriss smiled. "I wish I knew what I was doing here. Were you called away from inactive duty or were you assigned to a different part of the fleet?" she asked, trying to make converstion. Also hoping to garner a bit of information in the process.

"I…I…I was assigned to Lightflash Squadron prior to this." Hetlia stuttered.

Cheriss reached out a bit with the Force to trying to discover why she seemed so nervous. She sensed that she was very closed and keeping her feelings very close. Cheriss did not wish to pry into someone's private thoughts and instead smiled reassuringly. "Well Hetlia, I'm sure we'll find out very soon what this is all about."

Almost as if on cue, the door opened and Colonel Tetrault walked in. Cheriss stood at loose attention as he entered the room, and Heltia quickly joined her in a similar posture. They watched as he strode towards the podium and turned to face them.

&auot;Allow me to introduce the commander of Project Alpha Blue, Admiral Hiram Drayson," Colonel Tetrault said as another man walked through the door.

Admiral Hiram Drayson, the Old Ghost of Coruscant, entered the room. He was a man of medium height, beginning to widen a bit around the middle. He wore his gray hair short and in a very conservative style. Hiram Drayson would not stand out in a crowd, a quality that came in very handy in his line of work. He came to a stop in front of the podium and turned towards the two waiting officers, motioning for them to sit.

"Greetings, I am Admiral Hiram Drayson, the commander of Project Alpha Blue." Drayson looked at the two women searching for recognition in their eyes but he found none. Even though Drayson was not Force sensitive, he had an uncanny ability to read people. "Project Alpha Blue officially does not exist. We were created during the fledgling period when the Rebel Alliance was working towards becoming the New Republic."

Cheriss sat there in stunned silence while Gara's mind spun frantically. Gara could not believe her ears. She knew of many secret organizations within the Empire. However, she did not expect such things out of the New Republic. 'Maybe there is hope for them after all,' Gara thought allowing a thin grin to slip through her guise.

"Both of you have been selected to become members of Alpha Blue. The organization has many layers and you will be but one of them. You will have no knowledge of any other Alpha Blue projects and operatives unless absolutely necessary. Your commander will be Colonel Gerrad Tetrault, who reports to me as the Project Commander," Drayson said.

Helia raised her hand. "Sssir?" she stuttered. Drayson nodded to her. She continued, "Are we all the members?"

Drayson shook his head. "No. There are five members of this team in all, including Colonel Tetrault. He will be briefing you more about them later."

Drayson looked at the two seated women for further questions. When he received none, he continued. "Alpha Blue has but one mission: to protect the New Republic in ways that it can not normally protect itself. What that means is that the President and Senate are bound by certain rules, laws, policies and politics. We are bound by nothing save our mission and our conscience."

Cheriss was still shocked by what she was hearing. "Sir?" she asked, raising her hand. Drayson nodded to her and she continued, "How can we not be bound by the laws?"

"That is a tough question to answer. It's multi-faceted and too long to get into now but will be covered more later. For the moment, just take my word for it," Drayson said.

"Well sir, does that mean that we will be expected to do things that are against the law?" Cheriss asked.

"In a word, yes. Your job is to defend the New Republic by whatever means necessary. You can not be tied down while trying to perform that duty," Drayson answered.

Cheriss nodded. She would need to think about this. Cheriss was having a lot of trouble taking what Admiral Drayson had to say at face value.

Admiral Drayson continued on for the next several hours explaining Alpha Blue, some specifics of their mission and a bit of history giving examples of past missions. Cheriss listened intently but struggled with the implications of the job. Meanwhile, Gara sat pondering where she would fit into all this.

Admiral Drayson concluded the briefing by giving them a data pad with more details on the information given during the briefing then turned things over to Colonel Tetrault before departing.

" At this time, I will escort you to your quarters. I encourage you to review the data pad the Admiral has given you, you both have a lot to think about. Because of the sensitive nature of this project, you will be confined to quarters until your next briefing," Gerrard said.

The two women nodded and Gerrard continued, "I will come to get you in a few hours for the next briefing." He motioned to the door. "This way, ladies."

A wall of console screens supplied the only illumination in the room and two women stood in front of the screens. They were dressed almost identically, wearing tall leather boots with black combat pants and black tank tops. They also both wore black utility belts with a blaster and a lightsaber hanging from it. They watched as Cheriss and Hetlia exited the briefing room and entered the hallway.

The first woman had straight, shoulder length auburn hair. She was slight of build but her muscles were strong and toned. A tattoo of a circle with jagged branches of thorns running through it was engraved on her left shoulder. Her hazel eyes reflected the light of the consoles almost seeming to glow.

The second woman was built very similarly. She was a bit more muscular and her shoulders and arms were slightly larger. Her slightly wavy hair was dyed jet black and ran down over her shoulders. Her emerald green eyes showed brightly. Her pale skin glowed under the harsh lights of the consoles adding to the unnatural look of her black hair.

The black haired one turned to the other. "Thoughts?"

She shrugged, scratching the area of her shoulder with the tattoo. "Cheriss is obviously suspicious at the moment. However, I am sure she will see things our way once I get the opportunity to work with her." She grinned devilishly.

The other woman shook her head, smirking while she twirled a length of her ebony hair. "I am sure that you can't wait for that opportunity to work with her." She chuckled thinking about how obvious it was that her friend had quite the little crush on Cheriss.

They both started towards the door. "At least you get to have dinner with her tonight," the auburn haired one said. "I have to go out and brief the other one," she pouted.

Black hair swayed around the shaking head of the taller woman. She tried to think of a response but could only chuckle and shake her head. She turned away from the consoles and exited the room with the second woman following. They went their separate ways after a long length of corridor to prepare themselves for the evening's activities.

Continued in Part Two