All members of the Rebel Alliance always have a place to rest. Make yourself at home

Jin-ho looked around herself as she walked down the ship's ramp. She seemed to be doing that a lot lately. Still, the size of the base more than surprised her, especially since she could hardly see any of it from the transport window right up until the moment they touched down. Upon closer inspection, she noticed the Landing Pad itself was partially camouflaged as well, and would be again as soon as the transport would be transported elsewhere within the base.

Taking a deep breath, she coughed for a bit, still needing to get used to Yavin IV's atmosphere. It wasn't that much different from the other planets, generally speaking, but considering the base itself was right in the middle of a jungle, the air tended to be much richer that in a city in comparison.

After some time, Jin-Ho's chamber doors opened and a middle aged woman with red hair walked through. It was non other than Mon Mothma. Along with Bail Organa, they created the Rebel Alliance from nothing. She walked over slowly and sat in one of the chairs.

"Jin-Ho..... We have never met before, but I have certainly heard of you...... Princess Leia Organa has kept me informed..... I'm sorry for all that you have suffered....... I'm hear to speak about your future career with the Alliance, but before I speak, I would like to know what you see for yourself in the future? What do you hope to achieve...."

Jin-ho watched the woman give her a small explanation of sorts. To be honest, she didn't recognise who she was, though she carried a certain dignity around her that reminded her of Bail Organa, so she assumed her to be a high rank. Still, there was one thing that was bothering her...

- "Umm... Miss? Everything that has happened to me so far is because of things i chose to do. I chose to become a Handmaiden, i chose to do that sabotage mission, i chose to follow my instincts and approach that Sith. So please, don't act like i was an innocent bystander that got dragged into this... All this talk about me suffering is making me feel uncomfortable for the amount of concern i must have caused you." ^^;

She looked more relieved after saying what was on her mind. She didn't want to tell Leia what she had just told the woman, since, well, she was a Princess and everything, but she wasn't looking forward to recieving the same apologies everywhere she went... No offense intended, of course.

- "As for your question... I don't really know. I tend to follow what i feel is the right thing to do, and even though that gets me into trouble at times, being able to smile while looking at myself in the mirror makes it all worth it in the end."

During her speech, she had walked over to the window, overlooking the semi-hidden base from her vantage point under the camouflage. A number of people were training -- she could see that much -- and she noticed a fair amount of people in pilot uniforms walking through the paths between the buildings.

- "Still, since i don't have access to the support i had on Alderaan, i was thinking that maybe i could try to join one of the training programs you have here... After all, whoever heard of a Corporal of the Royal Guard that couldn't fight?" ^_^

"If you wish, you can train to be a rebel soldier..... Or something else perhaps, we have places where you can train..... In the end it is your choice......."

She stood and walked over to the door,

"The base is completely open to you, you can train in anything you desire..... If you need any assistance, then you can seek me out...."

She left the chamber

Jin-ho nodded, and unpacked the few things she had managed to pack in time. With her practically living at the castle, she had gathered some of her personal belongings in her former quarters as well, and they had been easily packed for the sudden trip. Of course, with her just returning from Dantooine everything was still packed, but that was beside the point.

After she'd finished unpacking, she'd look at the room before going out to see the training facilities a little. There would undoubtedly be some training going on, and she knew she'd be needing something to do during her stay here or potentially go crazy from boredom.

[First Impressions]

As Kalin was walking by the residences in search for Jin-Ho, he suddenly sensed that Ayanna had landed and that she was alright. That was a great relief to him. He took off his helmet cause he thought now that he walked around the residences it would have a backwards effect if he kept his helmet on. It would draw attention, but now that he took off his helmet, wouldn't this draw attention too?

And so it did, one other pilot stopped him by holding him by the shoulder.

"Hey, you're a pilot, I've not seen before here...did you just get here?!"

Kalin responded calm,

"Yes I've just joined the alliance and was assigned as a pilot, since my piloting skills were far better than my skills with a blaster."

The pilot smiled, "Well welcome to red squadron, my friend...wow you got a lightsaber!"

The pilot spotted that Kalin had his lightsaber clipped on his belt.

'In the name of!!! How could I have been so stupid!!!" He thought.

"Can I take a look? I've never seen a lightsaber before...how does it work?" The pilot was very curious after it, but Kalin felt he was wasting time. Suddenly behind the pilot, he saw a girl with red hair passing.

'Damn it! That must be Jin-Ho and now I got this idiot right in front of me!!!'

The pilot ignited the lightsaber and noticed a red blade came out of the hilt.

"Wow...a red blade...that's rare too...."

Kalin gulped, "Well I found the thing when I was flying freighters on Kessel. I found it in the mines...seems it was laying there for a long time...I just picked it up...it looked neat."

"Yeah...be careful though, red blades aren't very favourable here..."

Kalin nodded, "I'll be careful."

The pilot handed back the lightsaber and Kalin hooked it back on his belt. "Sorry but I was guided here by a girl named Jin-Ho...I'm trying to find her again...do you know where she is?"

"Yeah, she's just a few metres ahead...you should find her quarters there, although I'm not sure if she's there now....if you see her, give her my greetings!"

'So she is here...she's still alive!' He though with enthousiasm.

"Thank you...and I will...I'll see you later, I guess" Kalin responded friendly to the pilot.

"No problem, man! Take care!" The pilot left and Kalin could finally continue his pursuit after Jin-Ho.

Ayanna began to creep through the halls despite the fact that she was in disguise. As she turned the corner, a young man stopped her,

"Hey you!"

She continued to walk hoping he would just get lost.

"Hey you, wait a minute...."

She heard the footsteps run up behind her, she clutched to her bag and turned around.

"C.... Can I help you?" She said in a delicate voice.

"Hey... I haven't seen you around here before..... What are you.... A Handmaiden?" The man asked while removing his cap.

"Eh.... yeah that's right.... Nice meeting you...." She said as she turned and tried to ignore him.

"Hey wait a minute, why in a hurry? I'm just being friendly....."

"That's nice.... I'm just busy...." She was ready to smack his guy in the mouth but she had to keep up the appearance.

"If you're a handmaiden.... Shouldn't you have gone back to Alderaan with Princess Leia?"

Ayanna stopped when she heard this name. The Princess and Senator of Alderaan no less was a part of the Rebellion! And no doubt she gave a generous amount of funding to the cause.

"Ah.... The princess..... No I was unable to return..... I am to complete my training..... Here for now....." she said as she batted her eyelids at him.

"Come.... You want to have a drink in the Common Room?" he asked.

"Of course....." She let him lead the way, her face then souring at having to accompany this pathetic fool. But he would help her blend in to the base more so.

Ayanna continued to rush through the halls. Her breath was racing and she was beginning to panic. She would not be able to run around the base forever. She walked back into one of the hallways, trying to open the doors as she went along. But all of them seemed to be locked. She was desperate to change her outfit once again, incase that idiot came stumbling after her. Luckily she still had a hold of her old clothes and lightsaber in the bag she carried.

A handmaiden without someone to serve? That excuse would last five minutes if she was lucky, but she was fortunate to some across someone gullable enough to have assumed something so silly for her to take up.

She stopped trying to break into one of the doors as some officers walked past, all giving her a pleasant smile which she returned.

"I've got to get out of here..... This is just crazy...." She thought to herself. However, she had no idea where the hangers were that she had come from. She had fled so quickly and then got involved with that idiot that she lost her way. And this place was a continous maze for her.

Suddenly, someone walked fast past her, as though in a hurry. Although most were in this place.

"Em.... Excu.... Excuse me? Could you direct me to the hangers?..... I'm a little lost..." She said in an innocent voice.

Kalin spoke in a loud voice, "Ayanna!!"

Then he whispered as he realised he was too loud and bowed his head to hers, "What are you doing here....you don't see handmaidens serving pilots much these days, you do know that?!"

He stood up again, "Well now that you are here, maybe you can help me, finding this Jin-Ho...I saw her earlier and her quarters should be nearby...but we must be very careful. Let's go...and keep your distance, but don't look like you're keeping your distance."

"Argh.... How'd you figure I do that!?! Geez.... I didn't make this outfit myself either Kalin...... I couldn't run around in my DARK JEDI robes could I..." She said through faked smiled teeth while trying not to look as though she was following him. Some soldiers walked passed them and continued down the corridor before she began to speak again,

"I tried breaking into one of these rooms to get another outfit, but this will have to do! At least I kinda blend in......" She sighed, "And it's nice to see you too by the way! Especially after you left me stuck in the jungle...." She said quietly while he walked ahead of her.

Kalin avoided her sneering at him, "Just walk casual....like any handmaiden does..."

"Anyway how did you get here, in the first place!?"

Kalin walked on further. He needed more clues on where Jin-Ho's residence was, so he stopped a passing soldier,

"Excuse me...do you know where Jin-Ho's quarters are? I have to speak to her about further orders, general Dodonna gave me..."

The soldier was very friendly and replied,
"Oh it's at the end of the left corridor, you should find it easily!"

"Thank you!", and Kalin walked further with Ayanna. They walked slow so they wouldn't draw any attention. Kalin thought he already drew too much attention with a handmaiden walking behind him.

"They sure are friendly here...what keeps them so optimistic here?! Do they drug them here or something?" He whispered to Ayanna.

"In answer to your question...... I got here in that damn transport you got us hidden behind..... I had to hide inside a medical supply crate! I could've ended up on Onderon! Just lucky that they came here....... And I got stuck with some moron soldier who was quite taken by my.... he he charms...... I got him so drunk he passed out.... But you'll never guess what he said...."

She stopped talking and smiled politely as more walked passed them. She waited, watching over her shoulder before she continued,

"Anyway, he asked if I was a handmaiden for Princess Leia..... And why I wasn't with her, so basically, summed up... Princess Leia of Alderaan is a secure member of the Rebellion..... That was enough for me to nearly jump off my feet..... But then he mentioned also Bail Organa and Mon Mothma...... They are also involved, although I'm not a hundred percent sure in what way.... I could barely keep a straight face when he told me...... The Rebellion has more influence than I had expected......"

She kicked a little on the back of his leg,

"At least I found out something useful.... You've just been playing pilot!" She said trying not to laugh, she was nerely trying to lighten the mood.

"Oh stop complaing you....there...that should be her quarters...from here, it looks there's some activity there...What do you think shall we pay her a visit...afteral...we don't have to kill her yet, she doesn't know who we are...and we are in perfect disguise...well me anyway..."

Kalin looked back at Ayanna's dress.

"I wonder how she would react on our little visit...hehe"

"Very funny Kalin! I'll manage...." She tried to neaten her hair and stand tall and straight,

"What are you planning on doing anyway? 'Hey there, we were just in the neighbourhood and we thought you'd like to hang with us fellow Rebels!'...... Gimme a break.... She'll be suspicious from the word go...." She began to smooth out her dress as she spoke.

Kalin looked back with a strong look...

"Always complaining..."

Kalin shook his head...

'sigh'..."Why did you come with me in the first place Ayanna...there is nothing for you here...or is there...?!" He spoke in a sarcastic manner.

"Common you wanted to stay with me because of the way you feel about me!" He said as he walked further in a fast way.

"Of course!" She said with a surprised voice, "You were my master, you got me into the Sith Academy! Of course I'd want to continue learning from you...." She in a strange voice.

Kalin turned back at her. Everybody in the corridor was watching as they were bickering. He pointed his finger at her head.

"NO! That's not it!"

He paused while she stared at him...

"Come on....aaah! Come on!!!" he grinned at her provoking her to answer...

"Oh that's rich!..... You're deluding yourself flyboy..." She said tapping at his pilot uniform.

She looked around a little embarassed at those who were staring as they walked passed them.

Kalin quickly responded to her, he still wasn't convinced cause of her answer. She was shielding herself with sarcastic words, but he began to see the truth of all this.

"Then why did you follow me all the way to the Rebel Base....afraid I would leave you without giving you a goodbye kiss?!" He said in an angry tone.

"I'd just as soon kiss Chris!....... Is this your idea of going undercover?!!" She whispered with intensity, moving forward to him a little so others would not hear her words.

"That depends what you mean with 'undercover', sweetheart!" He grinned at her sarcastically.

"And if you want Chris...I can arrange that! You could use a good kiss!" He spoke louder at her.

He continued to walk further into the direction of Jin-Ho's quarters. All this bickering already distracted him too much.

"Listen...either you're with me...or against me...so it's your choice...you can leave now and wait in the Thranta...I'll bring you wherever you want and you'll never see me again...or you stay with me and change that attitude of yours...it's getting us nowhere!"

He looked back to see what was happening in her quarters. He had to walk closer. He looked at the other side of the corridor to see if someone spotted them...with all this bickering it surely must have caught some attention.

"My attitude?!......." She took a deep sigh of annoyance, "You know I'm with you on this! I won't back out on you now...... Flyboy...." She smiled a little, the tone had lightened as she continued a little with her humour to show him that she was in actuality serious.

She looked around to see if anyone had been listening or been alerted to their presence.

"Geez, you really know how to fire me up......." She said under her breath, "What is it you're looking for? Do you know where the quarters are?"

"Keep it quiet, she seems to be in her quarters...well good for us! Her quarters are right in the back of this corridor they told me...."

They slowly walked to end of the corridor. One more step and the door of Jin-Ho's quarters would likely open...but what would happen next?

"Maybe you should stay here....and guard the corridor in case any rebel soldiers appear here?"

"And if someone asks me why a handmaiden is walking around while Princess Leia is on another planet?!" She sighes, "Alright...... I'll say I'm a friend visiting her or something and waiting for her to come back........ Keep it quiet though.... And make it quick!" She said hitting his arm a little to make her point clear that she didn't want him running off on her again.

[Pathfinder Training]

Jin-ho looked at the small device in her hands, looking it over for what must have been the twentieth time that hour. She had been given nothing but a description of her target, and it would be up to her to not only identify him, but also manage to follow him unseen, somehow get into his apartment, tap his phone and then leave again.

She was looking forward to it already.

Suddenly, Jin-Ho's comlink sounded off.

"Jin-Ho, your presence is expected in the war room, Princess Leia is waiting there for you. Over and out" The transmission ended

Jin-ho was still looking for the target, a good couple of hours into her mission. The problem was, she was trying to act casual so as not to cause any suspicion from the person she was supposed to place the tap with, only there were only so many times one could casually keep walking all over the base without getting eyebrows raised at her. The comlink going off was a blessing in itself.

- "Right, i'll be over there in five."

She headed to her own room, resisting the urge to put her feet in a bucket of hot -- no, check that -- cold water to have them cool off a bit, instead grabbing a cookie to munch on on the way over there. It had been a while since she had last seen Leia, and she was wondering what could be the matter for the Alderaan Princess to come and visit her, of all people. Especially concerning what had happened to get her to leave Alderaan.

[War Room]

[Pathfinder Training]

Not for the first time since joining the Rebellion, Jin-ho wondered what she had gotten herself into this time. Though, she ironically noted, that seemed to have become a habit of hers before dangerous missions. Before her were the guys in her team: Coyl and Dash, the other humans in her team, were playing cards. Ress, his zabrakkian horns clear in her room's lighting, leaned against the wall, already concentrating on the mission.

Dak, a relatively small Kiffar was trying to see if she'd drop her guard long enough to let him slip pass -- all incidentally, of course -- with all the youthful enthousiasm of a boy his age close to where a woman was taking a shower. The woman in question was a Twi'lek named Shylo, and the only other female on her team.

Hearing a soft tap on the shower doors, Jin-ho handed a dry towel through an opening at the top intended for ventilation. Dak rolled his eyes at her, and she shrugged back, a smirk on her face. When Shylo emerged a minute later wearing the bathrobe she had taken from her own room before moving to hers, the two women exchanged a silent nod and walked side by side to another room where the Twi'lek would be able to change.

- "Why all the heavy security there boss, we won't try anything."

- "I was a Handmaiden, Dak, i know you'll try to at least once." :lol:

Jin-ho laughed for a moment, before realising that she had just spoken in past tense. Was she still a Handmaiden now? It seemed somewhere along the way, the lines had started to blur, to the point where she was no longer sure where something ended and the next thing began. It felt... odd, in a way. Taking a deep breath -- earning an odd look from Shylo -- she stood guard again, most notably from Dak.

Her being a Handmaiden seemed to have broken the ice a bit more, and a while later -- after Shylo had gotten dressed, of course -- they were all talking about some of the stunts they pulled, or the close shaves they still managed to survive. They were taking turns, and eventually Jin-ho was up again.

Jin-ho - "...Let's see... Closest shave i ever made was when i unmasked a Sith back on Alderaan. Man, i seriously lucked out there, i really thought i was going to die when i saw him drawing his lightsaber on me." :ph43r:

The others had heard something similar already, though what they managed to catch was of course little more than rumors -- albeit persistant ones. Ress was the first to speak up, shortly followed by Dak as Jin-ho leaned back a bit against the wall.

Ress - "Yeah... Heard something about that. HoloNews mentioned a Jedi being captured on Alderaan of all places, yet our security level was upgraded shortly afterwards, and then you came here for the first time."

Dak - "Whoa... How'd you manage to beat him? Or survive, for that matter?" :blink:

Jin-ho - "Yeah... Heh, stall tactics Dak, stall tactics. That, and having a big red panic button in your coat pocket to call reinforcements. I hit him with a stun ray, but by then he had taken out three guys, and heavily wounded another. So, being a Sith, we calmly turned him over to the Empire while i slipped away to prevent retaliations."

Some people laughed, others simply grinned as the circle continued, and Shylo talked about when she was posing as a slave girl for the Hutts when her extraction plan failed. What was worse, a rivaling cartel had plans to assassinate him, and they generally didn't leave witnesses, especially slaves.

Talking continued, touching on missions having gone horribly wrong, others that were survived only through sheer luck, and more fortunate experiences were traded out amongst them. Dash looked on his watch, and noted that it was getting pretty late. Agreeing that they needed to be well rested, they all went to sleep. Shylo and Jin-ho shared the bed, where the men would sleep on the couch in the other room. Even sharing a room had its limits, of course.

[War Room]

Several Rebel personnel found something of a shock as they had to dodge around a Wookiee looking for his new room. Following behind was the trusty chrome droid, C-2D0.

Lugging a large bag over his shoulder the young spy-in-training finally located his room. "Here we go,2D." as the door slide open with a quiet hiss he found a sparse but cozy room that was large enough to accommodate his great size. He set the bag down and stretched and let out a loud howling yawn. "Well, it does seem to be well taken are of doesn't it,master Jikkata. Quiet too." 2D observed as he looked around the room. Jikkata found the credits for his mission reward and tucked them away in a pouch on his belt. He filed away the things he had brought with him, including a potted plant of some type that was native to Kashyyyk.

He sat down on the massive bed he had been provided and folded his hands behind his head. The last few days had been a whirl of excitement, he had contacted and joined the Rebellion and been sent out on his first mission. He had seen Coruscant and the Opera House, met Bail Organa and Mon Mothma, as well as 2D and Maxil, the pilot.
Now he was bound for training, he wondered what would be in store for him next...

His thoughts making him restless he jumped to his feet and headed out the door to explore the halls of his new home.