For the next few days, Gara and Cheriss were still kept separated. Gara spent the days going over current Intelligence Data and meeting with both Myrlynda and Katja while Cheriss spent her time training, either alone or with Myrlynda.

During those sessions, Cheriss learned some of the basic techniques to heal the damage that would be done to her body and spirit by wielding Dark Side energy. She also learned Force techniques for a variety of different weapons. During those lessons, she was also introduced to wielding the Dark Side in combat. Cheriss still did not feel comfortable with the idea of touching the Dark Side, so Myrlynda did not push her.

Myrlynda felt that by showing Cheriss the path, when a situation presented itself she would have knowledge of the Dark Side technique that could be used. She also knew that Cheriss would not easily be swayed from Skywalker's Light Side teachings. However, she was confident that in due time, Cheriss would recognize the opportunities the Grey Way presented.

Cheriss' teacher also explained how Palpatine had perverted Master Jynnthias' teachings. Palpatine wanted to have the perfect foot soldiers. He also believed that the Dark Side was just more powerful than the Light. So, while he taught his Hands how to access the Light, they could only tap into the Dark Side when Palpatine was feeding them the power. They were not able to draw on the dark power themselves so if any of them ever challenged him, Palpatine would deny them the power of the Dark Side.

Myrlynda explained what she thought Palpatine's major failing had been. She believed that he underestimated the importance and power of the Light Side. If they were to succeed in walking the Grey Way successfully, they could not make the same mistake. They would need to work together to keep any of their fellows from leaning to heavily to one side or the other.

Cheriss had just emerged from the refresher when her comlink beeped. She quickly ran her towel through her hair before picking it up. When she answered it, Gerrard's voice came through. "Flight Officer, report to the main briefing room."

"Acknowledged," Cheriss replied. She quickly donned her flight suit and tied her hair back. She gathered her ID and papers, stuffing them into one of the many pockets. She then took the belt holding her blaster and lightsaber, clipped it around her waist and rapidly made her way to the briefing room. She adjusted her belt and straightened her flight suit as she reached the door.

The doors opened and she stepped in, hearing them quickly close behind her. The room was almost completely dark. She looked around and in the very upper seats of the auditorium she could faintly see the outline of a person sitting in a chair next to the stairs. She could not make out the person's features or identity, so she reached out with the Force.

Just as she did, a slightly husky female voice called down to her. Cheriss' heart skipped a beat. "I've been anxiously awaiting our next meeting," the voice rasped.

Cheriss quickly grabbed the lightsaber from her belt, brining the blade to life in her hands. Shadows danced around the room, brought to life by the purple light of her blade. "But…but you're dead," she stammered.

The figure stood and began to saunter down the stairs. "Obviously, I'm a little tougher than you thought." She gestured to the lightsaber saying, "Now put that thing away before you hurt somebody." She approached until she entered into the light of Cheriss' lightsaber. Her eyes seemed to glow in the soft light. She smiled at her provocatively, "And you wouldn't want to hurt me again, would you?"

"Don't come any closer!" Cheriss shouted, bringing her lightsaber to a fully ready position even though she was trembling. Feelings she had tried not to recall since that day on the catwalk, where she had first seen this woman, came flooding back.

Katja grinned at Cheriss as she spoke, "Raising your weapon at your new master. The first impression of my new student is not a glowing one. But I guess I'll forgive you since you were so striking in our first meeting."

"What?!" Cheriss said in shock. The world seemed to fade away around her and she was once again standing on the catwalk. As her blastsword clanged off the blade of the Sith's weapon, the thoughts of the unbridled passion and the way it made Cheriss feel seemed to fill her heart. Then the dreams she had not thought of in quite some time, replayed in her mind. Thoughts of the passionate cries of both herself and the Sith seemed to send a bolt of lightning through her abdomen.

"I am going to be your teacher along the path of the Grey Way," the familiar voice said as she motioned for Cheriss to lower her blade. Cheriss reluctantly disengaged the blade but she kept the weapon in her hand. The woman stepped forward and extended her hand. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Katja."

Cheriss warily extended her right hand after transferring her lightsaber to her left. Katja quickly snatched her hand and brought it to her lips, kissing it softly and allowing her lips to linger there for just a moment. Cheriss felt her cheeks flush. After a moment she drew her hand back.

"As I said, Cheriss. I have really been looking forward to this day. I have never been very good at rudimentary instruction so Master Skywalker was good for you in that regard. Sadly, that kept you away from me for much longer than I would have preferred. But now it is time for you to take the next step in your training." Katja grinned devilishly. "Plus, I have a few other things that I'd like to teach you." She eased closer to Cheriss.

Cheriss slowly backed up until she contacted the wall. She tensed as Katja approached. Katja stopped when their faces were mere inches apart. Cheriss trembled slightly as Katja leaned in even closer. Their lips touched as Katja kissed her softly. Much to her own surprise, Cheriss yielded easily to her. A moment later Katja leapt back as the Force warned her of danger. She jumped to her left as the snaphiss of Cheriss' lightsaber echoed through the room and the blade emerged narrowly missing Katja's abdomen.

Katja's eyes flashed with anger. "Stang! You almost killed me!"

Cheriss trembled as she let go of the lightsaber's trigger. The blade retreated into the hilt as Cheriss stood bewildered. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…"

Katja quickly swept her right hand out and used the Force to knock the lightsaber from her hand. Cheriss' mind spun in confusion. The dreams and thoughts she had never spoken aloud and only entertained in the deepest of night now seemed to be coming into reality. She began to sob in confusion as the thought that her careless control of her lightsaber had almost taken Katja away from her a second time. This time, for real.

Katja straightened up and after forcing herself to calm down, she sighed. "Come with me," she said as she gently placed her arm around Cheriss. She was guiding the younger woman towards the door when, almost as an afterthought, Katja looked back to see Cheriss' lightsaber still sitting on the floor. Before the doors snapped fully shut, she reached her right had towards the lightsaber and called it to her hand.

The two women walked down the halls until they reached the door to Katja's quarters. When the door opened, Katja lead her into the living area where she sat on the couch and patted the cushion next to her. Cheriss slowly sat down, absently rubbing her hand as she did.

Katja smiled softly. "Aw…I'm sorry," she said taking her hand and kissing it softly.

Cheriss blushed as she turned her shoulders into a light shrug. "I'm sorry too…I should have been more careful." Her blush deepened as she moved her eyes to the floor. "I guess I was lost in the moment." Cheriss shifted uncomfortably as she studied the floor. 'Lost in the moment,' she thought to herself in disgust. 'I sound like a first year courtier. Get a hold of yourself…'

"Well, let's just forget it. I have much more to tell you about," Katja said softly. Cheriss nodded, waiting for her to continue. "When we met during the Admiral Guffris crisis, I was working for the Republic at the time. So was Myrlynda. We both were on planet working for Alpha Blue to aid in the campaign against him and to recruit possible new members of our team from the Dark Force Adepts serving him."

Cheriss nodded. "Then why did you fight me?"

Katja smiled softly. "To be honest, at that point in your training I knew that you couldn't defeat me once I disabled you lightsaber. So, I let you win. Even though I intentionally let the first shot from your blastsword through, the second was a complete surprise. If you had wanted to kill me while you were standing over me, I could have done nothing to stop you." The smile faded as she asked, "Why didn't you strike?"

Cheriss sat there for a moment quietly. "I don't know… I just felt that I shouldn't. Like I didn't want to desecrate your body since I thought you were dead." 'Plus, you were so beautiful,' Cheriss thought to herself, keeping her mental barriers as tight as she could.

Katja's smile returned. "I think that you didn't look any closer because subconsciously you hoped that I might still be alive. I for one am glad that you didn't. We would be missing out on this fun to come if you had."

Cheriss continued to fidget, here eyes still cast down. Even though she was able to begin examining her own feelings, she was quite taken aback by Katja's none-too-subtle innuendoes. Cheriss shifted uncomfortably as she tried to appear calm, but wrestled with her thoughts.

Katja sat there reveling in her companion's awkwardness for a moment before letting Cheriss off the hook and continuing. "You actually saw Myrlynda during the operation, you just don't remember it." Katja reached her hand out slowly. Cheriss looked up as she saw the movement. At first she shied away, then she leaned in to allow Katja to touch her cheek. Katja stroked Cheriss' cheek lightly before tightening her grip by pressing her fingers more firmly against the soft skin of Cheriss' face. Katja closed her eyes and concentrated.

Cheriss mind was suddenly filled with the events of that day in Admiral Guffris' control room. As her mind replayed the events, she was seeing everything exactly as it had happened. She watched Guffris hit the floor as two red blaster bolts slammed into his head from behind. She saw herself spin to see a woman diving towards a ventilation shaft. The woman was dressed in a non-descript black jumpsuit, her long red hair tied back in a loose ponytail and trailing behind her. She was young and thin. She recalled the shimmering green eyes turning to meet hers an instant before she felt a presence stab into her mind.

Cheriss recognized the woman in her memories. It was Mara Jade, Myrlynda's sister. 'What was she doing there?' Cheriss had thought.

Cheriss felt like she was watching a holoscreen, as Katja's mental presence helped to guide her thoughts. As the image of the red haired woman froze in mid-flight, her features seemed to melt away to show that it was Myrlynda. The other Jade had used the Force to disguise herself.

Finally the visions of that day slowly faded and she returned to the present. Cheriss looked to Katja, questions churned in her mind faster than she could express them. "Why was Myrlynda disguised? Why did she kill Guffris?"

"Myrlynda often uses her sister's visage as a disguise, sometimes using her sibling's notoriety to her advantage. As for Guffris, we could not allow him to be interrogated because he knew about us. He was a murderer and a criminal so it was merely quick and concise justice," Katja explained.

Cheriss nodded skeptically, "I see." She knew much of this style of justice from her home world. However, she had been in the New Republic long enough to know that was not how their laws worked.

Katja could see that she hadn't totally convinced her companion but that really didn't matter at this point. She smiled mischievously and leaned closer. "Enough lessons for one day. Well at least, this type of lesson." Katja hazel eyes flared mischievously and a crooked smile crossed her lips as she reached out and grabbed the zipper on Cheriss jumpsuit. In a swift motion, she pulled it down to about Cheriss' navel.

Cheriss froze as she looked into Katja's eyes, not knowing what to do. As she continued to gaze into Katja's eyes, her every inhibition seemed to melt away. Cheriss had wrestled with the dreams for far too long. She knew she had felt something for this woman on the catwalk and was now willing to admit her intense physical attraction to her.

Katja stood, pulling on the tab of Cheriss' zipper to bring her to her feet. She tugged her in the direction of the sleeping quarters and guided her to the bed. Katja pressed her against the soft surface of the bed before kneeling over her. She leaned down to plant a passionate kiss on Cheriss' soft, moist lips. Again Cheriss yielded easily, unable to resist the sheer sensuality of this woman.

Katja eventually broke the kiss, letting her face linger near her partner's. "Let the lessons begin…" Katja grinned as she moved down to kiss Cheriss' neck. She absently flipped her left hand, sending a nearby boot crashing into the light switch, turning them off.

During the next weeks, Katja and Cheriss were almost inseparable. Over that time, the team trained together in ground operations including melee, combat arms and unarmed combat, as well as flying simulations in a number of spacecraft. Their flight training centered on the Incom T-65 X-wing but encompassed all of the common Republic and Imperial fighters. They spent most of their free time together also, taking the opportunity to get to know each other on a more intimate level.

Gara Petothel sat in front of the computer terminal in the control room. She had just finished eating her lunch and returned to reading the reports on the Yevethan crisis, at Colonel Tetrault's request. Things had just taken a turn for the worse. She was able to piece together what had occurred using Alpha Blue's resources. She knew more about what had occurred than many of the Senators.

Almost two weeks prior, for some unknown reason, the delegation had isolated themselves within their thrustship. Their vigil of non- communication and isolation lasted for several days with the group missing their scheduled diplomatic meetings. Multiple attempts were made to contact them by various people including the President herself, but all were ignored.

Then the Yevethan's blasted out of the spaceport, injuring several Alpha Blue agents disguised as maintenance personnel in the process, without any warning. Again, President Organa-Solo tried to contact them for nearly an hour. It was at that time that the Yevethan's plan began to become apparent.

The Yevethan's made an impassioned speech to the Senate with the aid of a former Imperial, who was now a member of the Senate. They accused President Organa-Solo of ignoring their requests and pleas to be allowed clearance to depart after she had made unreasonable demands of them to join the New Republic.

Leia Organa Solo immediately ordered the defense shield around Coruscant opened to allow them to exit. However, the damage had already been done. The Senate was buzzing with what should be done about their President's behavior. The former Imperials, who were now voting members of the Senate, did everything in their power to undermine the President at every turn. Their group had developed a small but loud opposition to Organa-Solo that was growing daily. They saw this latest event as their chance to oust the former rebel idealist who now led the New Republic.

Things hadn't gotten much better from there. The Fifth Fleet had been deployed to the Koornacht Cluster to look for the missing ships from the Black Fleet. They also were there in case the Yeventha decided to escalate diplomatic posturing into actual hostilities. Shortly after they arrived on station, a small astrological survey ship had been destroyed during a survey run. Gara knew that General A'baht had sent the ship out unofficially after a little convincing from Admiral Drayson. Just yesterday the Fleet had been ordered to return to Coruscant, General A'baht had been relieved and General Solo had been given command.

So now, the question that everyone who knew of the situation was asking was, `why'? Why would the Yevethan's set up a meeting with the President of the New Republic, only to lie about what had occurred? What could they possibly have to gain from doing such a thing? Gara knew that whatever it was probably wasn't good. She also knew that they would more than likely find out the reasons, sooner rather than later.

Gara had just finished going over the briefing sheets when her comlink buzzed. Colonel Tetrault was on the other end, informing her to report to the main briefing room. She gathered a few data pads and took off in the direction of the briefing room.

Gara entered to see Myrlynda and Tetrault standing at the front of the room. Katja and Cheriss were already there, seated in the front row laughing and talking to each other. Myrlynda stepped away to take a seat in the front row and Gara followed suit, sitting next to her.

Once the four women were settled in Tetrault began, "We have received our first mission. This is happening a little sooner than I had expected, but I believe that we are ready."

The women quickly looked around at each other but remained silent. Tetrault stepped away from the front of the room to retrieve something from a small bin next to the podium. He picked up a couple of small packets and handed one to Cheriss and one to Gara. They opened them and studied the contents. The packets contained an ID card, an Alpha Blue ID card and a security code for the Alpha Blue HQ. Unlike the ones they had received when they first arrived, these had their permanent codes and newly made changes.

Cheriss looked at her ID card, "Sir, my rank is incorrect."

"You will find that you both have been promoted to Captain. All Alpha Blue officers are given this rank when they are accepted into the program. This allows you a little more sway with New Republic Officers and Enlisted personnel," Tetrault said. The women smiled and applauded Gara and Cheriss for a moment.

"I am sure that all of you have been keeping up with the situation regarding the Yevethan delegation. By that, you should also know that those negotiations have soured. We are being sent to the region to act as a rapid strike force in the event of hostilities," Tetrault added.

Myrlynda asked, "How are we deploying?"

""We will be deploying aboard the Star Destroyer Shadower. This is a Victory class ship but it is rather special in several regards, including the fact that it has a cloaking device. This Star Destroyer was in the service of Grand Admiral Thrawn until it was captured by the New Republic," Gerrard said as he paced across the front of the room.

The others were taking notes on their data pads as Tetrault spoke. "We will deploying in our fighters. All of you should be familiar now with the T-65XF. They are currently being painted with Shade Squadron heraldry. This will be one of the cover squadron names we will use when deploying on missions. It should be the only one we use for this one."

Cheriss smiled raising her hand, "So can I assume, Sir, that the New Republic is taking my fighter back?"

"Actually, no. We have all of the remaining prototypes except for yours and Luke Skywalker's. At some point we may need to take yours back, but we would need to lose a lot of fighters first. Hopefully, that won't happen." Tetrault explained. "Are there any questions?"

The gathered women shook their heads. Gerrard began again, "Captain Jade will be Shade Leader and Captain Petothel will be Shade Two, flying her wing. Captain Reinerk will be Shade Three with Captain Ke Handi flying her wing as Shade Four. If I am needed to fly, which I most likely won't, I will be Shade Five and fly as Lead of a three- ship element with Captains Jade and Petothel.

"We'll be deploying in support of the Fifth Fleet which is being deployed in a defensive position just outside the Koornacht Cluster."

"Well, we should get packed then. When do we leave, sir?" Gara asked.

"We should plan to deploy as soon as possible. Time estimate of earliest departure time?" Tetrault asked.

The four women looked at each other and shrugged. "I'd say within three hours is pretty realistic," Myrlynda said, speaking for the group.

When no one protested, Tetrault began to conclude the meeting. "Excellent. I also wanted to make you aware that we will not be alone of this mission. There is a squadron of X-wings and a squadron of B-Wings also assigned to this mission, plus one hundred commandos. So, we will have support if we need it. I'll handle all coordination with the other squadrons and ground forces," Gerrard added. "We'll meet in the hanger at 15:30."

The women nodded and stood, hurrying to their quarters. Gara and Myrlynda broke off from Cheriss and Katja as they arrived at their rooms. When Cheriss opened the door to hers, Katja followed her in.

Cheriss looked at her a bit nervously, "Do you think you should be doing this?"

Katja smirked at her. "Gara has no idea about us, not that I care if she does. Myrlynda has known for a while that I have quite the little crush on you." Katja said as she reached up and tapped Cheriss' nose with her index finger and grinned playfully. Cheriss smiled softly as Katja leaned in to kiss her lightly.

Cheriss smiled. "Ok. If you don't think it will be a problem."

Katja started to back up towards the door, "I need to pack and so do you. I'll see you in a bit." Katja blew Cheriss a kiss as she stepped through the door into the hall.

Katja turned and walked about a meter down the hall when Myrlynda came out from around the corner. Katja smirked at her, "Well, well. Were you spying on me? You jealous?"

"Hardly. My interest in this is purely professional with a touch of morbid curiosity," Myrlynda informed her.

"Yeah, sure," Katja pouted playfully, "Are you sure you're not a bit jealous?"

"I am quite sure. You aren't my type, wrong equipment," she chuckled.

Katja laughed lightly, "Well, if you change your mind let me know." Katja let the running joke between the two of them drop. Katja answered the unspoken question her Master had planned to ask prior to their joking exchange. Katja had known her friend long enough to know what was on her mind. "Things seem to be going well. She is quite receptive to my teachings. As I said originally, I think that she will excel traveling in the Grey."

Myrlynda nodded, "Excellent. I know I do not need to remind you of this, however Tetrault wanted me to bring it up. You know that relationships between people in the same unit can be difficult. And before you say it, I am well aware that this is not entirely a military unit. However, there are problems unique to our situation as well."

"I am well aware of the risks. However, I think Cheriss is worth it," Katja said with a resolute nod.

"Just thought I'd give you one last wake up call. You are a big girl and can make your own decisions," Myrlynda said. "When we arrive on the Shadower, we'll start training more together." Myrlynda's brow wrinkled a bit as if deeply thinking.

"What's wrong?" Katja asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm not sure. I have a bad feeling about this," Myrlynda confessed. "This is not going to be like our mission against Guffris. It's going to be much harder."

Katja nodded. "Well, I'll see you at the hanger," she said. She opened the door to her quarters and entered leaving Myrlynda behind. Once inside she took out a couple carrying cases and bags to begin packing the belongings she planned to bring with her. As she tucked her combat webbing into a bag, she looked up at her sword hanging on the wall. She stared at it for a moment before taking it down. She laid it on her bed before kneeling down and sliding a long wooden case from under her bed.

She opened the box, revealing a nearly identical sword lying within. There was also an empty space next to it, so she reached up and took her blade from the bed and laid in the vacant slot. She was well aware of the history and tradition of these weapons. One was for the Master. One was for the Apprentice. If Cheriss continued to excel in her studies, she would soon be trusted with the one that had lain in the case for so long while Katja searched for a worthy apprentice.

She closed the case and carefully picked it up. Moving to place it near the door, she looked at it lost in thought for a moment. She shook the thoughts from her head and turned her attention back to packing. She did not have much time to get organized.

Cheriss had packed her few belongings and was ready to close the lid of the cargo container when she looked up and saw her blastsword hanging on the wall. She reached for it then hesitated. She was torn whether she should take it or not. It was, after all, the weapon she had almost killed Katja with. She stood there pondering for few moments then made a decision.

"I am a duelist. This is my weapon. I am not leaving it here," she said to the air. She took it down and inserted it into its scabbard, which lay attached to a belt on her dresser. The same belt also held her blocking dagger. She carefully placed the belt and sword in the container before closing the lid. Walking over to her console, she keyed the code to have the container picked and brought aboard the freighter.

After checking to make sure she had all her documents, she looked down at her belt to make sure her blaster, lightsaber and powerpacks were all secure. Then she walked over to Sabre and unplugged his recharger, "Wake up Sabre. Time to fly."

The little droid beeped and whistled as he came on-line. Finally, she picked up her helmet and flight bag and walked out the door. Sabre was close behind her as she made her way to the flight deck.

When she arrived, she found that the hanger was nearly empty. Their four X-wings and a YT-2100 freighter occupied the hanger. The only other ship was her personal fighter, which was still painted as it had been, was tucked away in the far back corner of the hanger. Since there were only five XF's present, Cheriss assumed Tetrault's was being ferried to the Shadower.

The other ladies were already doing their preflights when she arrived. Cheriss walked over to her assigned fighter. "Here ya go, Sabre," she said as she gestured with her hand.

She closed her eyes and concentrated as Sabre slowly rose into the air. Cheriss guided him into his slot behind the cockpit. She looked over the fighter, finding it odd to be flying a white fighter again. The X-Wing XF was painted with the normal New Republic scheme, white with black stripes. The symbol of Shade squadron was also painted on the fighter; a black ghost with a white X-wing silhouetted over it.

She quickly did a walk-around of the fighter to make sure there were no obvious problems. When she found none she made her way over to Gara, Katja and Myrlynda who were standing in the open area at the center of the hanger.

As she walked over, Myrlynda handed her a data pad. "Here is the nav route that we'll be taking. We will be making a long series of jumps to meet up with the Shadower," she said. Myrlynda pointed over at the YT-2100. "Colonel Tetrault will be flying aboard the Blue Dwarf. We will be escorting the freighter to the rendezvous."

The three other women nodded and broke away from the group towards their fighters. Cheriss climbed the ladder and jumped in the cockpit. She was pulling her helmet on as a crew chief pulled away the entry ladder. She closed her canopy as she set about to bring her fighter on-line.

She had just finished and the engines were started when a voice came over the comunit. "Shade Check," Myrlynda said.

"Shade Two ready," Gara answered in a crisp voice.

"Shade Three ready," Katja responded.

"Shade Four ready," Cheriss said, concluding the check.

"Coruscant Control, Shade Flight, flight of four X-wings to depart Imperial Palace for filed hyperspace route." Cheriss heard Myrlynda say.

"Shade Flight, you are cleared to depart Imperial Palace. Cleared for Epsilon One military departure," the controlled informed them.

"Roger," Myrlynda said as she engaged the repulsor lifts of her fighter. The three other X-wings followed in unison.

The four X-wings exited the hanger and accelerated as they pulled back into a steep climb. Shortly after they cleared the bay, they formed into a tight diamond formation. Myrlynda was the front point, Gara at the right point, Katja on the left point and Cheriss in the slot position at the rear of the formation. The Blue Dwarf followed them in their climb toward the planetary shield.

The shield opened to allow their exit and the five starships turned onto their assigned outbound heading. After about five minutes on their outbound course, Myrlynda ordered the flight to separate into a looser formation. Cheriss watched her navacomputer. When they neared the jump point, Sabre began a countdown. When the time reached zero, she pulled the lever to engage the hyperdrive. The stars elongated around her and the X-wings disappeared in a flash, into the swirling vortex of hyperspace.

A series of jumps took them away from the Core systems of the galaxy as their ships made their way to the Hoth system. The ships emerged at their destination to find no other ships in system. Myrlynda led them in a turn to starboard and headed towards Hoth itself.

"Where's our date, Shade Leader?" Katja asked over the flight common frequency.

"Shades, we are a few minutes early. I don't think they're here yet," Myrlynda responded. "Assume standard patrol pattern."

The Blue Dwarf came to a full stop five thousand klicks from Hoth as the X-wings began to patrol the area. After a few moments, a strange distortion appeared directly in their line of sight to Hoth. It was almost like looking at the air directly over duracrete on a hot day. A Star Destroyer materialized from within the distortion.

"Shadower Control, Shade Leader. Flight of four X-wings requesting permission to come aboard," Cheriss heard Myrlynda say across her comunit.

After a brief pause a voice replied, "Shade Flight and Blue Dwarf are cleared to dock in hanger one. Welcome aboard."

Myrlynda double clicked her comunit to acknowledge that she understood and would comply and Blue Dwarf did the same. Myrlynda led the X-wings in a shallow turning decent to line them up with the hanger bay.

The four X-wings slowed as the broke through the magcon field of the bay. The fighters broke formation as deck hands guided them to their assigned berthing areas. Cheriss followed the directions of her guide and brought her fighter to a soft landing. The moment she had touched down, she peeled off her helmet.

She quickly ran through the abbreviated version of the shut down procedures. She opened the canopy, thankful to be out of her fighter. Even though she knew why they had made all those jumps before setting a course for the rendezvous, it didn't mean that she liked sitting in her fighter for that long.

The deck crew had just positioned the ladder as she swung her feet up onto the top rung. She skittered down the ladder to the deck. Her legs felt a bit stiff but Cheriss enjoyed standing there for a moment. Her sentiment was obviously shared by the other women since they were already heading down their ladders.

Cheriss quickly did a walk-around of her fighter and grabbed her bag from the storage compartment. "Almost ready, Sabre?" She called up to her R5 unit. He tooted in response, acknowledging that he was finished. Cheriss closed her eyes and reached out with her right hand. When she raised her arm, Sabre floated out of his socket and glided to the ground.

Cheriss was still walking like an eighty-year-old woman as she approached the rear of the hanger to wait for her fellow pilots. She didn't have to wait long. The three other women approached her with the very similar hunched walk of a pilot that had sat in a cramped X- wing cockpit for too long. Myrlynda was carrying a data pad in her left had with her helmet bag.

"Since there is a skeleton crew on board, we will be housed in the senior officers section on deck fifteen. I have our room assignments here. Our things should be sent up shortly," she informed them.

Colonel Tetrault quickly joined the four ladies and they headed off to the turbo lifts and their new homes. Or, at least their new homes, for at least the foreseeable future.

Continued in Part Four