//------------------------------// // A New Strategy // Story: Star Wars Episode IV, Rise of the Rebellion // by FourShadow //------------------------------// On An Isolated Moon In The Outer Rim… It was a dark and cold night on the outpost. Work was done for the day, and everyone was fast asleep… at least, they were supposed to be. A wide array of cabins, boxed in by a massive laser gate surrounded was being kept under watch. A Midnight trooper marched outside the camp with a massiff walking ahead. The animal’s eyes peered around as it tried to sniff for any one who was outside the fence when they shouldn’t have been. Not finding anyone in sight, the massiff and the Midnight watchman kept moving on their shift, patrolling outside the prison camp to keep an eye out. Without seeing, one of the people trapped inside the imprisonment was making their move. A black boot emerged from the shadows of one of the cabins. A woman in her early 40s peered from the side of the metallic barracks, one of her eyes blackened and bruised. Her baby blue skinned face covered in scars and recent cuts from the torture she had to endure. Her black, white, and gold jumpsuit that she frequently wore was now tearing with holes that exposed her skin underneath, and her purple hair was now tattered and disheveled from sweat and exhaustion. She watched as one of the Midnight troopers walked past the gate, leading their massiff around to sniff out anyone who was outside when they shouldn’t have been. Taking her chance, she quickly skipped over to one of the gate barriers, slamming her back against the pole. She waited, watching as the guard stopped momentarily, thinking they heard a sound. She stayed as quiet as she could, watching the guard stand there for a second, then kept walking on their path like normal. Taking her chance, she opened up one of the zipper pockets on her jumpsuit, pulling out a small reflector piece. She gripped it carefully, pushing it towards one of the laser bars. The laser’s coil started to sizzle as it hit the beam, and so it started to deflect against itself, facing up as the figure adjusted the beam’s setting. Checking behind her again, the guard was still patrolling and didn’t notice her handiwork. Once she had adjusted the beam enough, she got on her stomach and carefully crawled across the ground, sliding underneath the gate without being hurt in the process. Now that she was out in the open, she quickly darted across the path and threw her back against a piece of cargo, hidden from any watchful eyes. She waited some more, seeing another Midnight trooper just a couple of clicks ahead of her. The woman stayed hidden some more, covering herself in the shadows as the troopers went along their business. Now that the coast was clear, she looked at the camp again and made a hand gesture to a few eyes in the camp’s shadows, urging them to come hither. Five figures slowly emerged from the dark; a Lurmen, a gray Wookiee, a Togruta, a Mikkian, and a Patrollian. The group looked at their comrade who had stayed hidden thus far, and watched as her hand gestured for them to come forward. All at once, they dashed across their massive entrapment and lined up against the laser gated walls, not touching the beams out of safety, and trying to hide. First was the Wookiee who kept his gurgling noises down as he crawled underneath the open line, thankfully not singeing his fur in the process. The Mikkian was encouraged to move next, but didn’t, out of fear of her floating tentrils possibly touching. The Togruta reached for her pocket, offering her a set of bands to tie her tendrils down. The Mikkian gave a resounding nod as the Togruta worked on her tendrils as fast as she could. In the meantime, the Patrollian made it through next, dashing across the path and joining the woman and the Wookiee in the shadows. The Lurmen crawled next, then rolled across the path and hid with the others. And finally, the Mikkian was able to crawl across and make it to the other side without difficulty. Last of them all was the Togruta, who was ready to crawl until the woman raised her hand, telling her to not move. All of them turned their heads, seeing the guard pacing back to the same area he had paced before, on their left. The Togruta hid against the metal beam, and the others threw their backs against the cargo boxes to stay hidden. The woman kept her eyes peered to the guard, seeing him check the same spot again briefly, and then proceed to go back on the path they had walked before. They still had time before he would make the loop and come back their direction. The jumpsuited Equestrian looked at the Togruta some more, waving her hand to come towards them. Taking her chance, the Togruta woman crawled underneath the open fence and leapt across the path, scrawling to pull her feet out of the moonlight and into the shadows with the other escapees. "Okay, what do we do now?", the Patrollian man asked. "We need to stay hidden in the shadows. Stay out of the spotlights, we'll sneak behind the crates and boxes. We'll take one of the landspeeders, get far away from them as best as we can. Just one signal should be enough to help us. I hope," the woman said, keeping her group together. They crept out from their cover, checking for any signs of passing guards or lights. Especially for any probe droids that were on patrol, they knew plenty of those would have been employed to do any monitoring. When the coast was clear, they quickly dashed out and hid behind cover again. The second guard was making his next turn, and passed by their covering spot, luckily he wasn't the one who had a massiff. As the group got ready to move again, they froze when they heard the sounds of whirring machines. The group almost had a heart attack, luckily the sound was just a door moving from the inside of the base, nothing to worry about. They got ready to creep again-- Grrrrrrrr... A massiff had smelled their scent. Their eyes lingered to their left where they had escaped from. One of them peaked, seeing one massiff sniffing the ground that they ran on. But then, they heard the sounds of barking. Not from the one they saw, but one that was halfway across the camp, on their other side. The animal had seen them, with a bit of a light shining on them when they peaked out, and started to charge. "You gotta be--everyone run!" No other options, everyone ran from their hiding spot and joined Mint as they booked it. The other massiff that was sniffing soon saw them, and chased them, barking its head off. And unfortunately, that was the moment when other night watchmen were alerted, as a Death Watch guard from a tower quickly whipped out a sniper rifle, firing a shot straight into the Togruta woman's back, ending her life quickly. Mint and the others were horrified, but they couldn't stop. They had to run now! The sniper kept firing, trying to shoot at them, but luckily this time the group were able to evade the shots. Sadly, their plan to escape had been cut short. The two massiffs were blocking both paths, and the two guards also prevented them from leaving. They had one way to escape, but that too was cut off. A Death Watch soldier slowly marched out, eyeing the prisoners who were now terrified. Mint on the other hand, was glaring intensely, trying to save face. "What are they doing outside of their pen?" "They almost escaped but we got them," one of the troopers replied. "And what makes you so sure they won't escape again? It won't matter how many pockets you empty, or how many resources they find, they will always find a way. Hope, isn't it?" The Mandalorian asked, looking at Mint. "But I think I have a suitable punishment lined up... kill them." The four remaining prisoners were panicking, whimpering in fear. "If you want someone to kill, kill me!" Mystery Mint demanded. "But leave them alone, they aren't the ones who came up with this plan. I did." "Oh, did you now? Well in that case... kill two of them, and put the other two back in their cage," the Mandalorian concluded. That order sent chills down Mystery Mint's spine. "No... no, please, leave---" The Mandalorian didn't care. He grabbed her by the neck and forced her away from her group. Mint tried to fight, but it was useless, she had been broken and beaten so much that it hurt trying to fight back. He held her in place, standing there, and keeping a blaster pointed at the back of her head, forcing her to watch what was next to come. Two cries of absolute horror shrilled in the night sky, and Mystery Mint's pleading face went ignored. She watched as two of the prisoners, the Mikkian and the Wookiee, collapsed onto the ground, shot straight through the chests. The other two prisoners were forced away by the guards, while Mint was forced to walk with the Mandalorian. She knew what was coming next, as the Mandalorian led her to where she was going to be staying for the night. He turned her around, and slapped her in the face. She yelped from the pain, but she couldn’t bring herself to fight back. Her eyes were weary, and she had enough energy siphoned from her that made her unwilling to fight back. “I’ll teach you to make a fool out of me,” he growled. And with a shove, Mystery Mint fell down and landed smack dab in the middle of the square pit with a thud. She didn’t have the energy to try and pull herself up on her feet to look out, the guard just scoffed and walked away from her, knowing she wouldn’t be getting out of there. The Mandalorian's attention then diverted to the remaining prisoners who were spared; the Patrollian and the Lurmen who had been tossed back into their prison wall, both cowering as the Death Watch soldier yelled at them. “Now let that be a lesson to the lot of you! No Rebels escape from the servitude of the Empire!” She barked like a drill sergeant. “And if you value your life, stop trying to escape, or you’ll end up like your friends!” With that final word of the night screamed, she walked away and let the two Rebels stand there in terrified silence. The next morning came. Needless to say, Mystery Mint was in pain. Forced to sleep on a cold, hard, metallic floor in a pit didn’t do her good, and she was covering up her arms to cover her bare spots that were ripped from her bodysuit. This was her ‘punishment’ for escaping, something she never got used to. But this time, she felt like she really had it coming. She got three innocent Rebels murdered because she was trying to break them free. She was cold. Hungry. Hurt. She wondered if her fellow Rebels were going to just finish her off instead of the Imperial guards; she did get friends killed. Soon enough one of the Death Watch guards flew down into the pit pointing a weapon at her. “Get up.” Eyes still weary, she forced herself to stand, knowing she was just going to get beaten more if she didn’t stand. She looked at the Mandalorian with a sour demeanor but didn’t speak. The floor underneath them started to rise up to allow them to walk towards the camp again. One of the guards by the gate opened up, and Mint shambled towards the camp walls again. Once she finally crossed inside, the Mandalorian kicked her in the foot, pushing her to get further inside to close the gate behind her. She sneered at the men behind her, and she shambled back to her cabin where she was placed. Twenty Minutes Later Somehow against all odds, none of the Rebels had intention of killing her. They weren’t happy that some of their friends were murdered, but they were glad that some of them were spared. And besides; Mint was the closest thing they had to a captain or some leader to follow. The rest of their generals and higher ups in charge had been killed during the Coruscant escape; she was all they had. And almost immediately, there was a rough sketch made out for another escape attempt; using cargo crates. Some of the Rebels looked at her doubtfully, but agreed to go along regardless. -- Later that day, after the Rebels had been accounted for and were off to work in their assigned stations (along with the rest of the enslaved Yakyakiees), Mint prepared her next plan. She and a few other Rebels, while the guards had went off on their break, they quickly jumped for the first phase of their plan. Taking some empty cargo crates, a few Rebels snuck underneath a few of them and covered their bodies in them, acting as the cargo themselves. Tempting fate, some of the Rebels snuck out of the working environment with the crates over them, slipping out into the outside with the open holes in the crates to provide vision. And to keep up the act, they waited for Imperial guards to come by and pass, taking their chance to slip again. Sadly this plan was shortlived, as some watchful eyes saw random pieces of cargo moving on their own, which got a bunch of men to act on instinct. Their cover was blown, and immediately Mystery Mint was thrown back into her pit of a solitary confinement. -- The very next day, Mint gathered the Rebels for another escape attempt. With everyone's attention, she pointed to a particular member; a Clawdite. The Clawdite woman looked confused, and worried when she saw just what Mint had planned. But not seeing any other options, she chose to go along with their plan. The Clawdite sat down on a chair, while some of the other prisoners gathered around her to help get ready for the next attempt. A few other civilians who were bunked in their barracks kept eyes out the windows, making sure the Imperial guards weren't coming to their cabin just yet. Their attention was drawn to the shock collar that was connected to the Clawdite's neck, preventing her from changing form. The prisoners knew they could just simply grab it and rip it off since they weren't wearing any, but the problem came from trying to figure out how to get it off without hurting the woman wearing it. Just then, the doors opened up, showing some prisoners pushing in carts full of clean laundry. One of them pushed a cart over to where Mint and some of the prisoners near the Clawdite were, putting the fresh clothes on the beds for them. And deep in the cart were several pieces of defunct droids that had been fished out from the smelting lines. Mystery grinned to see the parts, she knew just what to do. After assembling a small device, she turned it on, ready to give it a test. Two of the prisoners grabbed the sides of the collar, ready to pull it off. Mint gave them the nod, and the prisoners yanked it off as swiftly as possible, thankfuly not hurting the Clawdite in the process. Mint turned on the device, and within seconds, the tracker chip that was in the collar started to blink again. No one would be checking them now. Now that the shape-shifter was free, she stood back up, feeling the small teeth marks around her neck, left behind by the tight-fitting metal. She looked at the device blinking again, not wanting to get near it ever again. But she had to focus, it was time to enact the plan. Mint extended a holo picture, showing an image of an Imperial officer. The Clawdite took one look at it, and closed her eyes. Her entire physical body began to change, and she no longer resembled the woman before; now she looked full blown human, with brown skin and dark black hair. Even her clothes changed to resemble the Imperial she took on. Taking her chance, she opened the doors and left the barracks, hoping the disguise would work to enact the rest of the plan. She looked at a nearby Imperial guard, and simply gave a nod to see if it would work. The guard just nodded back, allowing her to try and keep going. The paddocks opened up, with a small group of armed Death Watch soldiers who walked through behind an Imperial commander. The Clawdite's heart start racing, this wasn't in the plan! They weren't supposed to be here yet, they got a good handle on their schedule, didn't they? They walked right into Mint's barracks, and the Clawdite's eyes closed, bracing for whatever violent outrage was about to take place. She heard a blaster go off several times, accompanied by some shocked gasps from a few prisoners who were outside. Seconds later, one of the Death Watch members was seen walking out, dragging Mint's beat up body yet again to throw her into the solitary confinement. The changeling wanted to do something, but what? "Excuse me," one of the Death Watch members interrupted. The Clawdite turned her head to the Death Watch soldier. "Commander?" The Clawdite checked her ranking patch, recognizing the rank saying 'commander'. "Yes, trooper?" The Clawdite said, trying to stay in character. "It's almost time for lunch, may I request we end our shift early?" The Mandalorian requested. "O-Oh. Yes, permission is granted. You have any soldiers to take over?" "Yes ma'am," he replied. "Okay. You all may take your lunch break. And I would also request you take a shower," the Clawdite said, following them as she walked out of the paddock. "Understood ma'am. Thank you, commander," he said. The Clawdite couldn't believe this. They actually think she's a commander? Well, maybe this might be useful after all. I don't know how long it'll work, but if I can get something done out here while Mystery's in solitary confinement, I might be able to get them out. Yavin IV Lyra, Bon Bon, Rainbow, Applejack, and Flurry were all gathered near the ramp of the Sweetie Drop wearing pajamas. A few lawn chairs were set up next to the ramp for Applejack and Rainbow Dash to sit in, while others sat on the ramp. Lyra was reading through a newspaper, a subscription the family was still receiving even after the Empire’s takeover. “Oh, hey, check this out. Newest issue from Gabby Gums; Physics professor calls Doctor Whooves idiot, proclaims self much smarter,” Lyra read, getting a few snickers from Bon Bon and Flurry. “I don’t care what anyone says, when they’re not being a detriment to themselves, they’re funny,” Applejack giggled. “Hey, how’s your eye doing, kid?” Rainbow asked. “Didn’t want to pry, but, well…” “Still healing,” Flurry sighed, rubbing her hand over the bandage. “Hey, kiddo, your eye will get better in a few days, you just need to let it heal,” Lyra said, patting her shoulder. “Yeah, well how is that going to help me get better at fighting? I already flunked,” the teenager scowled, folding her arms. “Spitfire said yesterday you did great, Flurry,” Bon Bon said, passing the newspaper to Applejack. “… wait, I was actually right?” Flurry questioned with a wide eye. “I thought she was going to yell at me and say I was wrong.” “No, she said you passed that test you did,” Bon Bon replied. “Buuuut she did say you weren’t exactly… ready to go out into the field.” “That’s what I thought,” Flurry sulked, folding her arms. “Maybe this was a mistake. You didn’t see the other recruits, they didn’t screw up so hard like me. How can I catch up with them? I got my butt kicked by a Trandoshan, I got everyone staring at me weirdly during the test from yesterday, and I cost everyone a victory that would have gotten us all killed if it was real.” Lyra’s hopeful smile frowned. There was no way she was putting her daughter back in that kind of training, it wasn’t working. But if she wasn’t going to train there, then how could she get her battle-ready, at least strong enough so she could defend herself? How could she help her, or deal with the weird smell coming from the ship’s kitchen-wait. Lyra’s nose twitched and she sniffed the air. “Hey, what’s that smell?” “Oh, I hope none of you mind, but I’m using your oven to bake,” Rainbow asked, taking the newspaper that Applejack had handed to her. Nonchalantly, the former moisture farmer flipped the paper over to another section of columns. “What are you baking?” “I’m making blueberry muffins,” Rainbow answered, not batting an eye. “Smells like they’re done,” Bon Bon sniffed. “No they’re not, the timer didn’t go off.” “Yes, but Rainbow—” Rainbow lowered the newspaper with a prideful demeanor. “Bon Bon, I’ve incinerated entire armies, I think I can handle an oven.” That comment did not help calm Bon Bon’s nerves. “Well, look kiddo, so you did bad—” “—Mom,” Flurry interrupted. “If you’re going to tell me that everyone does bad on their first day, or that I shouldn’t give up after just one bad day… then don’t,” the young girl sighed. Lyra was stumped. There had to be some way she could motivate her daughter to get back up, but how? Flurry sniffed the air again, nose wrinkling up from the powerful smell coming from inside the ship. “Um, Rainbow. I really think you should check on the muffins right now.” Rainbow let the newspaper droop, still looking confident. “The box said fifteen minutes, you don’t argue with the box.” “Yes, yes you do. Rainbow, if you turned the dial on maximum power, it’s going to catch on fire,” Flurry warned. The timer dinged inside of the ship, letting the rainbow-haired woman set the newspaper down. “Okay, now they’re done.” She ran inside the ship to take care of the muffins, leaving everyone else by themselves. “Okay, Flurry,” Bon Bon said, taking the initiative to step in. “If you don’t want to go through any more training under Spitfire’s command, then fine. But that doesn’t mean you’re just going to sit here and sulk all day, you understand?” Flurry’s one eye looked back to her mama, giving her an understanding nod. “I’ll talk to those new friends of yours, maybe until we figure out how to get you strong enough, you do shifts with them just so you stay occupied? Fair enough?” Flurry had no reason to argue, it sounded like a fair trade to her. Working with her new friends was way better than being beaten up again. “That sounds fair to me.” “Lyra, thoughts?” Bon Bon asked. Lyra thought for a second, but the small smile on her face told her wife it all. “Okay, then it’s settled. We’ll check in with your friends, see if there’s something you can do, and I am going to rant and rave at Rainbow Dash for destroying my oven,” Bon Bon finished nonchalantly. Applejack scoffed at the other mom’s response. “Look, I know Rainbow Dash, she's not gonna destroy your oven. I kept an eye on her every time she tried to cook, nothin’ went wrong.” “Yeaaaah about that…” Lyra interjected. “I lived with you girls at the Jedi Temple. Yes, she didn’t destroy anything when she wasn’t alone… but really think about that.” Applejack didn’t understand. “I mean… reaaallly think about that.” “… Okay, did you bump your head against a crate of cider or somethin’?” Lyra facepalmed. “Applejack! Do you not understand the concept of don’t leave Rainbow Dash alone by herself in the kitchen?” “Well, I…” Applejack paused. Within seconds, she swore she heard glass shattering. And coming from inside the ship was a high-powered smoke detector that echoed outside of the ship onto the hangar bay. “… Uh oh.” Smoke began to billow out of the ship, giving the family members brief scares. And speak of the devil, Rainbow Dash ran down the ramp, face covered in black ash (most likely from something blowing up), still looking confident. “Okay, they're done, they're just going to be a little burnt!” Bon Bon grit her teeth and pulled out her blaster. “That it! That’s it!” She ran right inside the ship. “Get back here!” “Bon Bon, wait!” “YOU SET MY OVEN ON FIRE!” “I can fix it!” “No, I can fix it… WITH ME KICKING YOUR BLUE BUTT OUT OF MY HOUSE!!” After settling her dispute with Rainbow over the destroyed oven, Flurry met up with one of the Team Six members for some work. Starting with Ocellus, she followed her to the droid workshop; assigned to simple repair and patch jobs. Nothing too cryptic, but nothing too easy either. Flurry adjusted the bolts on the foot, securing the armored plating into place. And another bit of loose wiring was patched back into the port it needed to be connected to. “Okay, your foot should be back to working normal,” Flurry said to the droid, sitting on the examination table. “Now we just need to fix the pieces on your chest, and you should be good to go.” The droid in question had a protocol-droid torso, but her legs and arms were of a different design overall; looking much more like they were built for more advanced missions. It wore a bit of a poncho top that was resting on her left shoulder, the face was black with two golden eyes that glowed, and it wore a metallic visor in the shape of a hat. “Must we pry at my torso?” the droid questioned. “I do not trust strangers to pry at my body.” Ocellus’s wings buzzed. “It’ll be okay, Allie. I trust her. She’s great with repairs.” “Ohhh… okay,” the droid bemoaned. Flurry pried the chest-plate open, exposing the inner wiring and circuitry. She could see the spot where the blaster bolt had gone through, black scorch marks visible with a few electric sparks fizzing. “I think I see the damage. You’re lucky, if it was just a few more centimeters to the right, it would have hit your main processing unit,” Flurry observed. “Ocellus, do you think you can apply the macro-resistor?” “I think so,” Ocellus nodded. She grabbed a small pair of pliers and pulled the macro-resistor out of the spare parts bin. Flurry, using another set of pliers, pulled the fried resistor out without difficulty. And so, keeping it carefully clutched in her fingers, Ocellus pushed in the new resistor. Reaching for a soldering gun, Flurry connected the resistor to the rest of the circuits, patching it. Now that they were fixed, Flurry put the panel back on the droid’s chest, sealing it. “Okay, um… Allie, is it? You should be repaired now.” The droid turned its head towards the young teenager. With a small gesture of the hands, tipping the metallic hat with a small nod. “I thank you for your help.” Backing away, Ocellus and Flurry allowed ‘Allie’ to jump off the examination table. Next to come was another protocol droid in needing of repairs, and so the two quickly got to work. None of them noticed Lyra walking past the place, and her stopping briefly to look inside. She watched Flurry and Ocellus working together without difficulty, and Flurry didn't look stressed out. Sure, dealing with droids was natural stuff to her since her mama was a droidsmith, but still. Working with Ocellus and she didn't have difficulty? -- Later on, Flurry went over to assist Sandbar and Yona. Together, the three of them were unloading pieces of delivered mail in a small mailroom. While there was a handful of various employees and refugees living among them, Yavin IV had become more like home away from home, and the inclusion of a mailroom was something Sunset had suggested. Using private channels the Empire couldn't identify, their co-workers could pick up pieces of mail and packages from friends, relatives, and whatnot without worry or difficulty. The regular mailman was off-duty today, so Sandbar and Yona, and the volunteering Flurry were taking over for the shift. Soon enough, someone came up to the front desk. A Nautolan woman with purple skin, wearing a black sleeveless jacket with patches. "Saba!" Yona squeaked in delight. The young woman smiled back. "Good to see you, Yona. How you've been holding up?" "Yona doing well!" The Yakyakiee smiled. "How can Yona assist?" "I was informed I have some mail today?" Saba said, holding a small slip that informed her. "I'll go get it. Flurry! We have a package for Saba Tudari!" "Got it!" Flurry answered. She reached up on a shelf, grabbing the package and placed it on the counter for the woman to pick up. Just like that, the Nautolan signed a form to keep the record of her pickup, and she took her mail with her. It wasn't long before another Rebel came up to the desk; a Gungan with an officer's jacket. "Hello Wuvo," Sandbar waved, pushing another piece of mail into a shelf for pickup. "Tis good to see yousa doen well today, Sandbar," the Gungan man responded. "Me have some mail to picken tup, do yousa have it?" "You got it," Sandbar nodded. "Flurry! We need the letters for Wuvo Loo." "Coming!" Flurry didn't take long, putting the piece of mail on the countertop. Like before, the Gungan signed the form and was able to pick up his mail freely. And another man came forward; this time an Ithorian with a translator. "Makk! It's good to see you!" Yona smiled. "It's good--stccckk-rrrrr-aaaaa--" Yona frowned. "Makk, is something wrong with your translator?" The Ithorian sighed in annoyance, eyes trying to look behind at it's neck but failing. Yona placed a sign saying she'd be back later and walked out of the mail room with Sandbar to see the man. "Oh dear. Is it broken again?" Sandbar asked. "Rrrrggg rrrrrrr," the Ithorian grumbled. He hated it when this happened. Just then, Flurry came around the corner, curious about the issue. "What's going on?" "His translator broke again," Sandbar rubbed his head. "Want me to fix it?" Flurry offered. The Ithorian looked terrified at that suggestion, putting his hands up to protest. He did not want anybody going near his neck to fix the translator. "Wait, Makk! It's okay, Flurry's a friend. She can fix it... you can fix it, right?" Sandbar asked, wanting reassurance. "Yes, I can. They're not hard to understand, I know I can fix it. Please, sir? I promise I will be gentle," Flurry pleaded. The Ithorian didn't want to, but he needed to be clear if he was going to get his mail. There weren't that many people around here that understood Ithorian dialect, and trying to communicate on paper would take too long. Sighing in defeat, he lowered himself onto a bench so Flurry could work. Flurry carefully opened a panel on the top of the translator to take a look. She looked closely at the wiring, making sure nothing was out of place. But she did quickly find the issue; just some pieces of the insides not connected properly. Reaching for small tool she kept in her pocket for emergencies, she screwed in the pieces that were loose to prevent them from falling out again, and keeping the wiring in place. She set the panel back down, and backed away. "Okay, try now. "... Testing. Testing. Not dead, not... you fixed it," the Ithorian said with wide eyes. "H-How? How did you fix that?" "It was just a simple fix," Flurry shrugged off. "I don't know who you go see to get that repaired, but the last guy who looked at it didn't double check to make sure some of the bolts were locked in tight. So hopefully now you won't have that issue anymore." "I... we... thank you, young one," the Ithorian said, graciously, nodding his head. "I don't know how to repay you." "Don't," Flurry said, keeping a hand up. "I'm just here to help, and I'm glad I could fix it. Anyways, um... mail?" "Wh... oh, right! I was alerted you have some mail for me? It should be under the name Makk Toogan." And just like that, Flurry, Sandbar, and Yona were back on schedule. The man got his mail without difficulty, and they kept moving right along. Just like before, Lyra passed by to make sure Flurry was adjusted to whatever shift she volunteered for, and she could see her daughter was fine. And seeing her work with them without difficulty also put a smile on her face. Hmm. She did solid at the workshop, and she's doing fine here... maybe, just maybe... -- It was close to lunch time as Flurry joined up with Gallus for her next volunteering assignment. This time, her assignment was taking her and Gallus to a hangar bay area, on one of the upper levels of the main temple. "So what are we working on?" Flurry asked, eager to get started. "You'll see, just wait," Gallus said, wanting her to see for herself. They made a turn around a corner, and saw the ship in question. A fighter with faded blue paint, along with a scratched out Republic logo on the side of the engines. "What kind of ship is this?" Flurry asked. "It looks like a Y-Wing." "It is," Gallus confirmed. "It's a BTL-B class. These were used by clone troopers back in the Clone Wars. Apparently it was just sitting in some parking garage on Batuu. Owner basically gave it away, he didn't want to be caught with any Clone Wars junk. But as you can see--" he lightly tapped the side of the left engine. "--it needs fixing." This was emphasized by the metal plating that just peeled off the hull of the ship. "We just need to patch what we can during our shift. Underside." Two small creepers were rolled out from the side for them to lay on. Flurry just naturally laid her back down on her board, but didn't roll under the ship until she remembered something. "Wait, Gallus, you have wings. How are you going to--" Gallus eased down on all fours and was about to lay on his back, until his wings just folded to his sides wrapping around himself like a blanket, but leaving his arms exposed. And without difficulty, he used his talons to push himself underneath the part of the ship that needed repairs. "--I stand corrected," Flurry said, rolling underneath to where Gallus was. A small light was set up to shine at the area they needed to work on, so they weren't lost as to where they needed to work. "How long have you worked on ships?" "A long time. Maybe five, ten? I don't know," Gallus shrugged off. "I learned to do this stuff in the Imperial Navy." Flurry's eyes blanked. "You worked with the Empire?" "Not for long. I tried to apply for their royal guards, but they wouldn't let me because... because. So I had to work in engineering; only because I needed money and food. But I couldn't stand their policies," Gallus scoffed, reaching for the toolbox with his tail. "No loud music. No snacking on duty. No pouncing the staff members." Flurry snickered at that last remark. "I see." "Hand me the hydrospanner," Gallus asked. Flurry reached for the tool in the box, handing it to Gallus. "Thank you." Flurry grabbed one of the pliers and began to untwist one of the bolts that held a power-unit to the engine piece; luckily there was no power connected so chances of her getting herself killed were less than likely. Besides, she still had her arm-guards on to protect her, and goggles on her head. "Hey where'd you get the arm-guards anyway? Those don't look Imperial," Gallus asked as he pushed in another loose part. "My mother found them. She said they belonged to some clone trooper who had died a long time ago, but she didn't say the name. She just thought they would be good for protection, and honestly, I kinda love them," she said as she looked down at her arms, seeing the clone trooper armor covering her from wrist to shoulder. "The shoulder pieces were customized by Mama, but I was thinking about giving them a new paint; white's kind of bland." "Makes sense," Gallus nodded. "Hand me the wrench?" Flurry reached for the wrench, passing it to her friend's claw. Together, Flurry and Gallus continued to work without difficulty, only a few hiccups here and there, but nothing worth getting upset about. The underside of the ship was getting the repairs it needs, and they were making good time. Just then, a small buzzer noise went off on Gallus's wrist, signalling a small alert system. "What's that?" Flurry asked. "Break time," Gallus grinned, rolling out from the underside of the ship. "Come on, let's go get lunch." That idea instantly made Flurry perk up. "Oooh..." And just like that, Flurry and Gallus had vanished from the hangar bay to go to the mess hall for a much needed lunch. After lunch, Flurry dashed across the base to a pathway that led to a group of workers by a nearby stream. A Felucian man was awaiting near a personnel carrier turned cart for his last assistant; this being the girl with the eyepatch wearing the Clone Wars arm guards. "Sorry I'm late!" Flurry apologized as she slowed down. "You're right on time kid," the man nodded. "You volunteered for the haul?" "Yeah, that's me," Flurry confirmed. "You are Murr-Nonk?" "Yep," the Felucian farmer nodded. "Alright, here's what you're gonna do. Silverstream's finishing her swim, so she'll be back up. You two just need to help load up the carrier so I can take the fish over to the freezer unit. I'm the only one on duty, the others are trying to hunt for bigger fish right now." And speaking of, Silverstream waddled out of the river like a cute little sea animal, showing her wings and legs had now vanished; now she was crawling up with a massive tail, and flippers instead of claws. But then, the gem around her neck began to glow, and with a quick flash of light, she was back to the normal form Flurry had met. "Flurry, you made it!" Silverstream squeed. Flurry was too busy blanking out to pay attention to her friend's comment. "Um... how did you...?" "Ohhh, that? It's an Arisian thing," Silverstream shrugged off. "See this gem?" she said, lifting up the piece around her neck. "It helps us transform to adapt to the water." "... huh," Flurry said, not sure how to follow that question. Either way, she stood by as some aquatic Rebels started to climb out of the stream with nets of fish. The people were general species that Flurry recognized; Mon Calamari, Karkarodon, Quarren, Patrollian, Selkath, Nautolan, to name a few. "Hey Silver," the dark orange Quarren asked. "Who's your new friend?" "Krask, this is Flurry," Silverstream introduced. "She saved me on Tatooine!" The Quarren chuckled. "Did she now?" He looked over to Flurry and offered a hand to express greetings. Flurry, politely shook his hand with a warm smile. "Nice to meet you, young lady." "Nice to meet you too," Flurry greeted back. One by one, Flurry and Silverstream began to grab several carts that were filled with the fish that the fishermen had captured and load them onto the carrier. They were very heavy, but it didn't stop Flurry, this was just another day for her. She wasn't a fan of the smell though. Eventually the last of the crates were loaded up into the personnel carrier, and the Felucian farmer climbed in to haul them to the kitchen. He gave a single wave to the group, and drove off, leaving Flurry and the others alone again. -- Still questioning why she was needed when the job could have been finished with just that group, Flurry was called over to her last shift for the day. She was brought over to another hangar, where Smolder was standing and waiting for her. Her assignment was essentially helping out and fueling up the spare containers they had around so the bigger ships could take on more fuel if they ran out. Just like the fish job with Silverstream, it wasn't too arduous but not easy either. And nearby, Lyra was watching Flurry continue to work without difficulty. Bon Bon eventually turned around the corner, and gave her wife a surprise kiss on her cheek. "Are you going to continue to stalk Flurry without her knowing?" "I'm just checking on her, that's all," Lyra protested. "Just like that time you walked into her room without knocking and--" "--Okay, okay, I'll admit, I'm a bit protective," the ex-Jedi groaned. She folded her arms as she saw Smolder and Flurry continuing to fill up the fuel tanks. "But after today, I'm not sure I had any reason to worry. All the jobs she had working with those Team Six members, she didn't have any difficulty." "Well it's not like it's hard to make sure people get their mail or fix a droid," Bon Bon pointed out, wrapping an arm around her side. "Maybe not, but I noticed she seems to handle these jobs much easier when she's around them, or at least talking to them. It's almost like..." and Lyra froze. At that moment, she squeed with a big smile. "Hon, I think we just figured out how we can help train Flurry."