ORIGINS 1 : TO JOIN, OR NOT TO JOIN?

By Alison Sky, with help of Sylvana Lorrdain

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Qwi Xux carefully closed the door behind her and walked down the velvet stairs of Rent a Rogue’s main stairwell. Waiting at the bottom, a very impatient Faace paced, his arms crossed in more of a worried stance than annoyance.

He heard her soft footsteps and looked up as the blue skinned female approached. “Well?”

She shook her head slowly. “I can’t do anything else. We have to call for help.”

Faace turned and shook his head hard. “No. I promised we wouldn’t contact anyone. We can’t.”

“We have to!” Qwi looked over her shoulder at the staircase. “Secrecy is not an option anymore.”

Faace sighed. Without a word, he pushed past Qwi and climbed up the stairs two by two. He reached the top and opened the third door on the left-hand side. There, he let the illumination from the hallway cast a rectangle of light across a face covered in bandages. Sleeping in a bed, her body a mess of burns, bacta patches and gauze, the steady beeping of her heart mixing with the hiss of an oxygen breather, was the body of Alison Sky.

Faace stared at her for a long time, until he felt Qwi Xux’s presence once again beside his. She stared at the figure in the room as well. “If we don’t get help, she will die.”

Faace stared at the prone form again. He watched as her chest rose and fell in time to the machine that forced the air, pure oxygen with a bacta mist, into her lungs. “I’ll call them,” he said after a moment. “I’d rather have her back to kill me than to let her die knowing I could have done something.”

*

Garik “Face” Loran turned over in his bed. His arm reached out to the table that was by his bedside. A tiny beeping noise was driving bullets into his skull, and he needed to crush it.

After hitting his alarm clock and datapad to the floor, he gave up and opened his eyes. The first thing he noted was the empty half of his bed. He ran a hand through his hair, remembering that Dia was off on a personal mission. She had been reevaluating herself since they had gotten back from Terra a month ago, and had yet to return.

In her place was the red blinking light of his comlink, the beeping now muffled from the tossed sheets. He dug through the white linen until he produced the slender white cylinder. “Loran here.”

“Captain Loran, sir, um… this is, well… Face… from Rent a Rogue.”

Through his cloudy, half hungover mind, the real Face was able to recall the clone of himself that was now in charge of Rent a Rogue. “Face, of course. How can I help you?”

“Well, you told me that I could call you if I ever needed help, and well… ummm… I need help with something.”

“Like what?”

There was a pause on the comlink. “Um, I really don’t think I should discuss this over the comlink, sir. It would be better if you just came here.”

“I’m sorry Face, but unless you tell me what’s wrong, I can’t just up and leave. I have to be able to justify myself and my absence to my superiors.”

Another pause. The real Face figured that where Alison had cloned the young man from his DNA, there was still some kinks in the personality. I was never this cautious, was I…?

“Sir, please, you must understand…”

“Face, I’m hung over. My girlfriend has gone on a soul searching mission without me. I lost my best friend in battle a little over a month ago and I still haven’t gotten over my own nightmares from my last visit to Terra. So, unless you have a reason that you explain to me in the next five minutes, I’m going back to bed so I can at least be sober when I go to a training mission with my new Wraiths in the morning.”

Pause. “Are you sitting down?”

“Of course. I’m still in bed.”

The voice on the comlink sighed. “What if I told you that your best friend was still alive? Barely, but alive.”

Now it was Face’s turn to hesitate. “A clone?” he stammered, unbelieving.

“No, the genuine article. But she’s not going to be around much longer unless we get some help.”

Face jumped out of his bed and groped for the light. “I’ll be there right away with some help.”

“No! Just you!”

Face grabbed his shirt. “I have to tell others about this. People need to know she’s alive!”

“Please, you can’t. I’m not even supposed to have told you, but she’s really in bad shape and we can’t do anything more for her at the Spaceport.”

“At least let me call her squad mates on Terra.”

“NO! She specifically didn’t want them to know. Out of the question.”

“Okay, I won’t call the Terrans… yet. But I have to tell Wedge and Cracken.”

“Can’t you just tell them you have to go out of town and come alone?”

“You want help, I need to get it. Now this is your choice, oh clone of mine. You want our help, you do it my way.”

There was a long pause. “Okay, but just Wedge.”

“And Cracken.”

“No. Not Cracken.”

“Tycho.”

“Fine.”

“And Wes.”

“Sith no! I have enough of them here to deal with on my own.”

“Hobbie then. Another one won’t hurt.”

“He’s not going to be flying, right?”

“Of course not. But he has the best medic training of the Rogues. I would bring Elassar but he’s on a mission.”

“Fine. Wedge, Tycho and Hobbie. That’s it.”

“Deal. We’ll be there sometime tomorrow night. You’ll hold out OK?”

“We’ve been doing good so far, we should last, but please hurry.”

“We will. Loran out.”

*

Faace turned to look at Qwi as he stuffed his comlink in his pant pocket. “Alison is so going to kill me,” he muttered mournfully.

~~~~~~~

Wedge sat across from Face as the corvette flew through hyperspace at it’s fastest speed. Tycho was at the controls while Hobbie was in the back, doing a final check of the medical supplies they had managed to sneak on board with them.

Officially, the four of them were on a goodwill mission to a local outpost. No one knew of their unofficial means.

“Are you sure you can trust him?” Wedge asked. “I mean, he is a clone after all.”

“Yeah, but he’s also part of me. And I trust him. Alison did.” Face lowered his head to his hands.

“Sometimes I wonder just how far we should trust HER… after all, we’re talking about a woman who started a factory of clones of us without permission! I don’t like the idea knowing there are clones of me in this galaxy.”

“She didn’t mean any harm from it. In fact, it increased our popularity among Terrans.”

“I’m talking ethically, Face.” Wedge stood up and went to get another cup of caf. “Why didn’t you ever tell us?”

“She asked me not to.” Face walked beside Wedge and leaned against the bulkhead, taking a cup from Wedge.

“And if she asked you to jump into a black hole, would you do that too?”

“Gladly,” Face replied without hesitation. Wedge looked at him over the rim of his caf cup. Face shrugged. “That’s how much I cared for her. We were best friends, Wedge. I would do anything for her, and I know she would do the same for me.”

“That’s why you both almost died two months back in Mendellia then, right? On those cliffs.”

Face coughed. “That was a moment of insanity.”

Wedge chuckled. “Damn Wraith. Always pulling the ‘moment of insanity’ plea.”

“As I always say, if it works, stick with it.”

Before they could continue on, Tycho’s voice came in over the ship’s com. “We’re about to revert from hyperspace. I’d suggest you guys strap in.”

“We’ll talk about this more when we’re back on Coruscant. For now, go help Hobbie.”

“Sure thing, General.”

~~~~~~~

Faace stood on the landing pad, the other clones of the Spaceport watching the events from the safety of the windows of Rent a Rogue. As the Corellian ship settled and the ramp lowered the young clone wished suddenly that he was anywhere else but there.

Face Loran walked down first, approaching the clone without hesitation. “Good to see you again,” the real Face told the clone.

“Same here.”

Wedge and Tycho walked down next, helping carry down a large trunk filled with supplies. Hobbie followed behind with a medpack slung over his shoulder. The three stopped at the bottom of the ramp and stared at the two identical men standing before them. Finally, Faace smiled. “Don’t tell me you’ve never seen a clone before,” he quipped.

Wedge recovered first. “I’m sorry, this is just new to all of us.”

Faace chuckled. “Don’t worry. I get it all the time. But come inside, we have much to discuss, and a friend who needs your help.”

Turning to the side, Faace motioned to the doorway. Instantly, a clone of Wes and one of Corran came running out. They grabbed the trunk for the Rogues and carried it inside. The twins followed, leaving Wedge, Tycho and Hobbie behind to join them.

Wedge shook his head. “I can’t believe it.”

“Believe what?” Tycho asked.

“Alison actually made a Wes that listened to orders.”

Tycho smiled. “Yeah, I wondered where we could get one. Maybe we can arrange a trade?”

~~~~~~~

Face opened the door first, the clone of himself standing back. The lights were on in the room, and Qwi Xux stood observing the monitors. She turned and looked at the new face standing in the doorway, offering a soft small. “Captain,” she said, nodding her head.

“Doctor Xux, so this is where you disappeared to,” Face said, walking into the room. He looked around, and his eyes settled on the dark form on the bed. Forgetting Qwi’s presence, he walked to the bed and stood beside it.

Her eyes were shut almost peacefully, or as peaceful as they could be on a face that was burnt into a black and red mess. A plastic tube ran from her nose off to a tank, a very faint pink gas pumping in. A sheet covered the rest of her body. Slowly he sank down onto the chair near her bed. He reached under the sheet to grab her left hand gently, then jerked back.

“It’s not there,” Qwi whispered, having silently come to stand beside Face. “It was burnt beyond use. We had to take it off.”

“Take what off?” Hobbie asked as he stepped into the room. He gasped at the sight of Alison on the bed.

“Her left hand,” Faace said from the window. He came around to the other side of Alison. “Everything else is still there, though.”

Wedge and Tycho entered, then gulped. “My gods… she survived this,” Wedge muttered.

“If she wasn’t Terran, I’d swear she was Corellian,” Tycho stated.

Faace nodded. “Whatever she is, she’s held on this long. I hope you guys can make her battle worthwhile.”

“I’ll try.” Hobbie stated. He walked towards the bed, putting the pack down on a table. “I’d do better if I had a real medic here to help me.”

“Someone call for a medic?”

Wedge turned to the doorway, then jumped and held his heart for a moment. Face also turned, then shook his head and a young, non-metallic Ton Phaanan stood in the doorway. He shrugged his shoulders and walked in further. “Sorry to scare you, General, but I couldn’t help but overhear.”

“Phaanan, you can come help Major Klivian,” Faace stated. “The rest of us will leave you alone.”

“Do you mind if I stay?” Face asked.

Hobbie nodded, his eyes gazing still at Phaanan. The clone doctor came over to help him while Faace ushered the rest out of the room, closing the door behind him.

~~~~~~~

“How was she able to escape?” Tycho asked, sitting in the kitchen downstairs. Faace brought the Colonel a drink and sat beside him, while Wedge leaned against the wall behind them.

“I’m not too sure on that past what Soontiir has told me.”

“Soontiir? You mean as in Fel?” Wedge asked, choking on his drink.

“Yes,” Faace stated. “It seems that after her incident with the stormtroopers, there was a Fel clone, not our stock I assure you, who was assigned to take her away. Alison was able to convince the young man that she would give him sanctuary and a place to live in peace if he helped her escape from the Admonitor. He accepted, and brought her back here in his TIE bomber.”

Face thought for a moment. “You mean that bomber I saw on the landing bay when I brought the sword…”

Faace nodded. “That was him.”

Wedge pushed away from the wall, sighing. “I need to go take a walk. This is just too much.”

“Want company?” Tycho asked, standing up.

“No, that’s ok. I just need a few minutes to absorb this.” He walked out of the kitchen, leaving the group to continue chatting.

As he walked into the main room, he saw Qwi Xux sitting behind a computer, typing. Wedge thought about ducking out of the room, but couldn’t as Qwi’s gentle eyes looked up at him. “Hello again, Wedge.”

“I hope I don’t sound rude in asking if you’re real or a clone,” Wedge stated.

Qwi chuckled. “Not at all. I’m one of the few genetic originals on this spaceport.”

Wedge smiled. “You can’t stay out of trouble, can you?”

“What do you mean?”

He ticked the items off on his fingers. “Death stars, sun crusher… clones? How did you get mixed up with clones?”

“Well…. I was kinda brought into the business.”

“What do you mean ‘kinda brought into it’?”

“I was… how would you say… well, kidnapped.”

“You what?! They kidnapped you?!”

Qwi chuckled. “It’s funny, actually. Alison made me make the clones as a way of redeeming myself after I supposedly ruined your life.”

Wedge looked at her in confusion. Qwi continued. “She told me I could redeem myself in the eyes of your Terran fans by helping achieve this dream. And in the end, she was right.

Wedge nodded. “Well, I guess that would explain the lack of life day presents.”

Qwi smiled. “Yes, well, having a large group of young men upstairs kind of makes for a tight budget when it comes to gifts.”

“I see. Well, are you happy here?”

“At first I wasn’t. I didn’t like the fact I was being forced to do what I did. But after I got into the business, I enjoyed the company. Then when Alison told me I was free to go… I just hung around.”

“Well, it looks like you found your niche in life. I’m glad for you.”

“Thanks. I heard you found a wife, by the way.”

Wedge blushed. “Yeah, I did. She’s really wonderful.” He chuckled. “I guess I should thank you for setting my head straight.”

“And thanks for unknowingly donating your DNA. You’re clones are wonderful.” Wedge looked up in horror, and Qwi laughed. “Just kidding.”

“You know, I really hope I don’t meet any of them while I’m here,” Wedge stated. “This is freaky enough as it is.”

“This is Rent a Rogue, Wedge. We don’t make promises, only clones.”

“So I’ve heard.”

~~~~~~~

It was about an hour later when Hobbie walked out of the door and down the stairs to the kitchen. There, the small group were sitting at the table, exchanging stories about the battle of Terra and other little things that had happened on the long mission.

As he entered the room, all four heads turned to look at him. Hobbie sighed. “She needs a good month in a bacta tank…”

“That’s going to be fun,” Face muttered, getting raised eyebrows from Wedge and Tycho.

“I’ve given her enough meds that she’ll sleep for probably a good two months… long enough for the dunk plus whatever time is needed to work on her hand.”

“Does she know?” Face asked.

“She never woke up,” Hobbie stated. The group turned to look at Faace. He shrugged, not knowing either.

“We’ll worry about that when it comes up. First thing looks like we need to transport her back to Coruscant.”

Faace bit his lip. “I don’t know what she would do if she woke up there. When she was last awake, she figured she would just sleep it off and wake up when she was ready to.”

Wedge shook his head. “Still stubborn.”

“To the core,” Face said. He put a hand on his twin’s shoulder. “Don’t worry. I’ll explain everything to her when she wakes up. You just take care of the business, ok?”

Faace nodded. “Just make sure she doesn’t come back after me to kill me, alright?”

“I promise.”

*

So, in the darkness of the artificial night on the Spaceport, the group of men took the unconscious form of Alison Sky onto their Corellian corvette, strapped her down into the back bunk, and prepared for takeoff. Farewells and promises exchanged, the group flew away back to the city world to help their friend live again.

~~~~~~~

One Month Later…

Face slept on a cot beside Alison’s bacta tank. Though he knew that she was on enough meds to keep a wampa unconscious, habit and old fears kept him from leaving her side.

Not that he had anywhere to go. Cracken had assigned him personally as a bodyguard to the healing Terran. After hearing all the details of her escape, he had made it known that until she was awake, they would not inform any of the Terra Group members of her existence. If she was only going to end up dead or a vegetable, better not to re-open painful emotional wounds. If and when she woke up and returned to a normal status, then he would inform Sci personally.

So for days he stayed there. Cracken had set up a tiny office for the Wraith leader in the next room. He was still in charge of the squadron after all. Kell had taken over doing training excersizes with the new recruits while Face did paperwork during his vigil.

But right now, the Wraith was focused on only one thing… sleep. And so focused was he on his sleep that never heard the person approaching from behind.

“Face?” a soft voice called out. Face’s ears instantly recognized the voice, and he opened his eyes to slits as so he could observe without looking as if he had woken up. He watched as a graceful form walked around his cot, her eyes watching carefully. Dia Passik checked to see if Face was awake, and when he showed no signs, she turned her attention to the batca tank.

Dia placed her hand onto the glass tank and silently watched as Alison Sky bobbed up and down in the pink liquid. After a few moments, she started to speak. “I wish you could hear me, Alison. I want you to know that I’m not angry at you. Neither is kirney. After we got back home, we all talked. We came to realize the truth about what had happened, and why, and I don’t blame you.

“You also got me to thinking. After everything that happened on Terra, I realized that all of you Terrans were finally living out your dreams. And I got to thinking about my own dreams and I wondered just what they were or had they become something different. When did I put them on hold?”

“When you met me,” Face muttered. Dia turned around quickly and saw Face sitting up on his cot, his arms in his lap.

“That’s not true,” Dia spoke. She walked to Face and held out her hands, taking his into her own. She knelt down in front of him and smiled. “You’re one of the best things that ever happened to me, Garik.”

Face smiled. He leaned down and kissed Dia’s forehead. “Same here.”

“But…” she stood again, holding Face’s hand but staring back at the bacta tank. “But I can’t keep up this life, anymore. I need to…I need to…”

Face stood up beside her. “Need to what?”

“Do you want to know what I did while I was away?” Face nodded. “I got to hunt pirates! I met a few friends from my childhood. They have dedicated their lives to hunting down the pirates who enslave Twi’leks and other species. My skills, everything that you, Craken, Wedge taught me… Face! I had so much fun!”

“Fun?” Face looked at her confused.

“Don’t you see? I finally remembered what my dreams were. I was going to help prevent anyone else from getting hurt by the slave life like I had. This is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time, and I finally got a taste of it and Face… Face, I can’t go back to my old life now. I need to do this… to follow this path the Force has opened up to me.”

“And what about us? The Wraiths?”

Dia lowered her eyes. “I wanted you to be the first to know. I’m going to resign my commission. I’m joining with my new group next week, giving me enough time to pack and say goodbye.”

Face dropped her hands and shook his head. “So you’re just going to abandon us?”

Dia sighed. “I knew you wouldn’t understand.”

“I understand the reason, but not the timing.”

“If I don’t seize the moment now, when will I get the chance again to follow my heart?” Dia crossed her arms, staring at Face with all the defiance she could muster at him.

“I’m sorry,” Face said after a moment, letting his hand rest on the back of his neck. “I just don’t think I realize how much this means to you, that’s all. You’re going to be giving up everything, you know.”

“I’m not giving up everything,” she whispered, walking close to Face. “I’m gaining everything. What I’m giving up will be sweet memories for the rest of my life.”

Face nodded and walked to the tank. He looked up at Alison, then back at Dia. “And what about us?”

Dia gave Face a soft smile and walked to him. “I will always love you, Garik Loran. But I think deep down in our hearts we knew that this could not be. We come from two different worlds, and while our paths have crossed for this time, the fork in the road has come. I know my path, and you know yours.”

She kissed him on the cheek, then pulled the Wraith lead into a tight hug. “Thank you, Face.”

Face closed his eyes and hugged Dia back. “No, thank you… for everything we had.”

~~~~~~~

Three days later, the medics pulled Alison from the bacta tank to do the operation on her hand. Face was very thankful that she slept through the operation. He didn’t want to have to explain to her just quiet yet what had happened. Nor would he like to see any of the medics beheaded with the sword that lay nearby in his “office”.

The operation was supposed to be pretty simple in the end. They were to take about another two inches off her forearm, as so they would be able to connect the living nerves to the circuitry of the hand socket. Then they would attach a metal ring to her wrist, the inside holding the new electronic sensors as well as a grooved inner ring to twist the cybernetic hand into place correctly.

But things did not go as planned. As they went to work on her wrist, they realized that the bone had not healed, as it should have during her bacta dip. Perhaps it was because she had started to heal before the bacta treatment, or they had misdiagnosed exactly how she had lost the hand. Description of how she had received her injuries was very limited until Alison would actually wake up, which didn’t help them at the time.

As the doctors described the situation to Face, they came to the conclusion that they would have best results by grafting some bone marrow from a donor and using it to help fix the damage on her forearm enough for the ring to be placed. But, seeing that Alison was from Terra, the odds of finding a donor were slim to none.

Face, not knowing what to do with this, went to seek advice from Wedge Antilles. Wedge, in turn, went to the rest of his Rogues and ordered them all to get tested to see if they would be able to donate. Face, in turn, ordered his Wraiths. Not surprisingly, no one complained.

The initial blood results came back quickly. Out of the Rogues and Wraiths, only Corran Horn, Myn Donos, and Wedge himself could be possible donors. When further results on tissue samples came back from the three, Wedge was chosen as the most suitable donor.

So, with a tiny piece of Wedge’s forearm bone taken from him, he and Face watched as it was grafted onto the warrior woman’s arm. The rest of the operation went like clockwork, and back into the bacta tank she went. She had another 5 days of floating before she was released from the bacta, and then they would find out just how much of Alison had really survived.

~~~~~~~

The day after Dia left Coruscant for the last time, Alison was also released from her tank. The medics made sure she was still sleeping when they pulled her out, under very strict orders from Face and Hobbie.

So now Face sat beside her bed. Alison lay on her left side, her hand hidden under her pillow that she had unconsciously cuddled up to. The doctors said that the cuddling was a good sign. It was automatic, a comfourt reflex which meant that some parts of her brain were still operational.

The night passed without her waking up. The doctors had advised Face that because of the amount of meds they had pumped into her, she might sleep for another few days.

During the early morning hours, Wedge came in to check on Face and Alison. He brought the young captain a cup of caf and sat down beside him. “Any news?” Wedge asked.

“Same old thing,” Face sighed, then took a sip of the strong caf. “Just have to wait and see.”

Wedge nodded. “The waiting game is never fun.”

“No, it’s not. And if I knew we had to wait this long, I think I would have relented on the meds a bit.”

“Really? And have a replay of the last time she was in bacta.”

Face thought for a moment. “Then again…”

They sat in silence for a moment, both drinking from their cups. Then Face spoke. “It was lucky that you matched her bone type. I was sure at that moment she was going to not be able to get a new hand. That would have totally destroyed her.”

“Not being able to handle a sword? Sometimes I wonder if that’s a good thing.” Wedge sipped again. “I’m still curious as to why I was a match. I thought our biology and Terrans were too dissimilar to allow that to happen.”

“Maybe there is more to Terran biology than we thought,” Face mused.

“Maybe she’s not telling us the truth,” Wedge spoke his thoughts. “There seems to be a lot of things that we don’t know about her. Have you thought that maybe she is not all that she seems.”

“Wedge, I’ve known Alison for years now. If there was something about her that I didn’t know, I would be very surprised.”

At that moment, a tiny groan came from the sleeping woman. Both men turned to look at her, and smiled softly as her eyes fluttered open. She gazed at them for a moment, her eyes obviously not focusing. Finally, they came to rest on Wedge, and a small smile of recognition came to her lips. “Grandpa…” she muttered, then promptly fell unconscious once more.

Face looked at Wedge with a curious glance while the Corellian leaned back in his chair. After thinking for a moment, he turned to Face. “Maybe it’s time for you to get surprised,” he told the captain, then stood and left.

*

Wedge walked around the corner to the medical testing lab. There, he ran into the young woman who had taken his bone marrow. He smiled his Corellian grin, then leaned over her desk. “I was wondering, ma’am, if you could help me with something.”

The woman looked up and smiled shyly. “What do you need, General?”

“The Terran, Alison Sky… you said I was the most suitable donor. Could you explain to me in more detail what you meant by that?”

“I was just telling you the results of the test, general. If you want details, it would take me a day or two to get them.”

“Could you please? I would really appreciate it.”

“Sure thing.” She smiled. “Anything else?”

Wedge looked back in the room where Face sat in vigil. “Make sure no one lets her out of the room. I have a bad feeling about her, and I want to make sure she stays under wraps till I can figure this all out.”

The girl slanted her eyes. “Do you think she will be dangerous?”

Wedge shrugged. “As long as Captain Loran is there, she should be no problem.”

“OK. I will make sure that when he is not in the room, there are people around to restrain her if necessary.”

“Thank you.” Wedge nodded and walked away.

*

“General Antilles?”

Wedge looked up from his desk to see one of his aides standing just inside the door. “What is it, Lausac?”

“There is a doctor to see you about some test results?” The young man gave Wedge a curious look, almost as if he was sizing up the general for whatever disease he might be diagnosed with.

“Send her in,” Wedge stated. Lausac backed out of the doorway and the young medic walked in. She looked around the office, then came closer to Wedge. The general smiled and rose, extending his hand out to her. “Thank you for coming,” he told her.

“Not a problem,” she replied. Wedge waved to a seat and she sat down in it. “I have the results that you requested, and I have to tell you, they are a very interesting case study.”

“Really?” Wedge sat back in his chair. “How so?”

The doctor pulled out her datapad and sent a file to Wedge. As he stared at the images and charts on the screen, the doctor explained. “It seems that Lady Sky’s DNA typing is not as dissimilar to our galaxy’s human typing as we thought Terrans would be. In fact, her blood typing almost suggests that she is Corellian in origin.”

Wedge raised an eyebrow. “Corellian?”

“Yes, in fact, it’s almost a hundred percent match.”

Wedge thought for a moment. “Well, that explains why Corran, Myn and myself matched, but still not why I was the best choice.”

The doctor transferred another data file to Wedge’s pad. “If you look at this chart, general, you will see a comparison of your DNA to Lady Sky’s.”

Squinting his eyes, Wedge tried to interpret the data, but medical information was always hard for him to understand. “What does it mean?” he asked.

“Basically, you had a twenty percentile DNA matching to Lady Sky. That’s usually the percentile matching for a grandparent to their grandchild.”

“Grandchild?” Wedge thought back to where Alison had awoken for a moment and called him 'Grandpa'. It wasn’t possible… his children were only adolescents.

“Or…”

“Or what?” Wedge leaned over the desk.

“Manipulating the DNA a bit, the percentile could also reflect the children of any of your siblings. Do you have any siblings, general?”

Wedge sat back in his chair hard. It couldn’t be…. “I have an older sister.”

“Then that explains it,” the doctor noticed. “I would say that in all probability, Lady Sky is your sister’s child, probably her eldest from the age she is. Which makes her - “

“Corellian. Alison is not a Terran.” Wedge closed his eyes. This was too much to take in.

“General, are you ok? Does this news disturb you?”

Wedge shook his head. “It’s just a big shock, that’s all.”

“Should I inform Captain Loran?”

“No.” Wedge stood. “I will be doing that myself.”

*

Face was curled up half asleep in his chair when Wedge stormed into the room. He jumped, and a tingle of fear ran down his spine at the look of anger on Wedge’s face. “Is something…” he started to say, but Wedge cut him off with a wave of his hand.

“Sky.” He spoke, loud and sharp. He was able to catch Alison jump a bit in her sleep, and he set his face hard. “Sky, wake up.”

“General, what are you…”

“Can it, Face. She’s going to give me answers now before I rip them from her.”

Face backed away from Wedge and stood against the wall, not wanting to get between Wedge and the focus of his anger.

“I know you’re not sleep, Alison, and you can hear every blasted word I’m saying. Now wake up.”

Still no response. Face was about to go and intercede when Wedge crossed his arms over his chest and shouted, “Fel!”

Slowly, Alison’s eyes opened, complete lucidity in them. She gave Wedge a weak smile. “Um… hi Uncle Wedge?”

Face’s jaw dropped.

“So it is true.” Wedge stated. He stared down at Alison, still angry but now holding a satisfied grin on his face. “And you were never going to tell me?”

Alison pulled herself up into a sitting position, biting her lip in unease. “I didn’t want people to know.”

“Why not?”

“You tell me how I would explain to the other Terrans that I was your niece?”

“Niece?” Face spoke up from the place against the wall. He looked back and forth from Wedge and Alison with a confused look. “When did this all happen?”

“About twenty three years ago… Terran years that is,” Alison responded, smiling at Face.

“So Syal was hiding on Terra when Fel was looking for her?” Wedge sat down in the chair that Face had vacated.

Alison nodded. “Yeah. I was born there as well, and I took on the name of the Terran family as for a way of protection. If Isard found out that my dad had a wife AND child…”

Wedge lowered his head. “I’ve missed out on so much,” he muttered.

“I’m confused,” Face stated, walking forward. “How did this all happen?”

“Well, my mother and father really loved each other, and one night…”

“I don’t need to hear about my sister and brother in law’s recreational activities, Sky… Fel… err… whatever.” Wedge shook his head.

Alison nodded and looked at her wrist. The ring shined bright silver, her hand yet to be fitted into it. “You know, I never thought this would be the way you found out.”

“For years I’ve heard nothing from my sister, just little rumors and tidbits.” Wedge looked at Alison. “I never would have thought this possible. Not only do I know they are still alive somewhere out there, but they have a family too.”

“A large one at that,” Alison smirked. Wedge raised an eyebrow. “I have four younger siblings,” she continued. “Three younger brothers and a sister.”

“But where are they? Why, now that we’re at peace, have they not come out of hiding?”

“I wish I could tell you, but I promised my father that if I ever did run into you, not to reveal where they are. I wasn’t even supposed to tell you who I was… there may be peace, but there is still a remnant with a price on my father’s head.”

“Does anyone else know, besides the two of us?” Wedge wondered, looking at Face for a moment.

“Of course not. You think I could go up to one of the Terrans and say, ‘Hey, guess what? Soontir Fel’s my daddy!’ They’d have me committed.”

Face chuckled. “Oh, like you don’t have enough going on you to get you committed already.”

Alison tossed a glare at Face, and Wedge laughed. “Speaking of enough going on you, my darling niece… would you care to explain to me why you have clones of me and the other Rogues and Wraiths running around this galaxy.”

Alison put on her most innocent face. “Campaign funding?”

~~~~~~~

Alison sighed, trying to twist her new hand into the metal ring. The doctors had shown her how to work the limb, but something wasn’t right.

“Come on, Alison, if you can’t get your hand screwed on straight, how do you expect to be able to wield your sword without stabbing yourself?”

Alison looked up at her Wraith tormentor with an annoying glare. “You know, this could probably go better if you’d help instead of torturing me. It’s not like I’ve ever done this before, ya know.”

“Want me to go get Luke Skywalker to help you?”

The hand flew across the room and slapped Face in the nose. Alison laughed and stretched back out on her hospital bed, crossing her arms over her chest in a satisfied manner.

Face caught the hand as it fell and looked from it, to her, curiously. "If you can't get your hand screwed on straight, I don't think there's hope for your head...."

Alison smirked. "There was no hope for my head the moment we met."

"Me or the hand?" He looked at the prosthetic and made it bobb as he spoke in an ewokish voice. "*What did you do?*"

"I didn't do anything!"

"*Well, it wasn't me!*" Face continued with the voice and Alison just shook her head.

“Face…”

He turned the hand to face her. "*Yes?*"

He only grinned. "I'm trying to help here," he said in a patronizing manner before turning back to the hand. "Now, why aren't you working nicely for Lady Sky?"

"*Because I don't want to.*"

"Why?"

"*She's violent. I'm not a violent hand.*"

“I’m not violent!” Alison exclaimed.

The hand was turned to face her, and shook in 'fear'. "*You are too! You threw me!*"

"That's cause Face... wait a minute... why the hell am I talking to the hand!"

The Captain burst out laughing. "Because it's a great conversationalist, right Mister Right?"

The hand bobbed, "*Right!*"

"Oy vey," Alison muttered, hiding her head in her, well, hand. She realized this and just sighed again.

"Now, Mr. Right. Let's talk about this. Alison really needs your help right now."

"*But.... You're here, you can help her too!*"

"I'm sure I can help her, but I cannot actually... well, do the sort of things you can do, Mister Right left hand."

"*Why not?*"

"Well, for one thing, she'd probably skewer me with that sword of hers."

"*SWORD! See? I told you she was violent!*"

"Now now, Mister Right. Don't get all upset over nothing. There must be some way we can work this out."

Alison shook her head and looked back at the Wraith talking to her hand. She noticed a flash of red over his shoulder and strained to look past the Wraith at the door. There stood General Cracken, watching Face with a strange look on his face.

"Um... hello General..."

"*How about finding another hand....*" Face continued, then heard what Alison had said. He turned to see Cracken standing behind him. "*Hello sir!*" he bobbed the hand at him, then used it to salute.

Cracken raised his eyebrow at Face. "You seem to have found a new talent, Captain."

"*That we have, Sir.*" said the hand.

"We'll be going now, sir," said the captain.

The hand waved jauntily as he left the room.

He hadn't taken three steps from the room, when he ran into a familiar figure. He turned the hand around and made it bobb, "*Hello there, Fes!*"

His antics were met with a burst of baritone laughter as the door to the room closed behind them. Cracken stared at the door for a moment and just closed his eyes. “Sometimes I just wonder…”

“I gave up trying,” Alison stated.

Cracken nodded and looked around the room. Alison watched him with curious eyes. She had never met Cracken before, but she knew of his persona both through the books and from her antics with Terra Group. So for now, she would try to behave. “Can I help you with something, General?”

“I actually stopped by to check on your recovery, Lieutenant Sky.”

“Lieutenant?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

“So no one has told you, I assume.”

“Told me what?” Alison’s face grew hard, not liking the way the general was dancing around with his words.

“What do you recall from after your accident?” Cracken sat down in the only chair in the room, crossing his ankle to his opposite knee and staring at Alison with an observing look.

Alison thought for a moment. “No one has really mentioned too much about what happened on Terra after I ‘died’. I think it was more to avoid hurting me somehow, but I have no clue.”

“They won,” Cracken said. “They’re now working to form a base of operations on Mendellia. One agent short, of course. You’re the only one they lost in the whole mission.”

“Well, that’s a good thing,” Alison said. She lifted her arm and stared at the inner ring as if it held the answers to the galaxy. “So, I guess after I’m healed, you’re going to ship me back down to them.”

Cracken raised an eyebrow. “Should I? Technically, you never told anyone about your whereabouts, inadvertently faking your own death. That’s grounds for treason.”

“What?!” Alison jumped up off her bed. “We weren’t even a sanctioned group when I was still there. Important, yes, but not official!”

“They are now, and you were given the posthumous promotion to Lieutenant during your ‘funeral’. Therefore, you are an officer with a lot of explaining to do, otherwise you will find yourself moving from the med bay to the brig.”

“You know, I didn’t do this on purpose,” Alison pointed out. “I was unconscious you know…”

“Doesn’t matter to the eyes of the military.” Cracken crossed his arms. “Especially to a daughter of a known deserter.”

Alison slanted her eyes. “What are you talking about?”

“Don’t try to deny it, Sky, or should I say Fel. The same information that General Antilles requested from the medics had to go past my own agents first.”

Alison scowled. “So what, we going to revert back to ancient times where the child is responsible for the father’s crimes?”

“Not in this instance,” Cracken stated. “You have enough going against you as it is. What I’ve come for is to find out your intentions as to repaying us.”

“Repaying you? For what?”

“Medical facilities. Transportation. All the paperwork and strings I have to pull to be able to keep you from spending the rest of your natural born life in our prison system.”

“You wouldn’t dare…”

“Not even you uncle or any ties you have to this planet will be able to get you out of Kessel, Lieutenant. So I suggest that you explain yourself to me right now, or the two MP’s I have outside will be more than happy to escort you on your way.”

Alison stared at Cracken, and for a few silent minutes there was a staring contest between the two. Finally, Alison lowered her eyes and slouched back onto her bed. She began to explain, minus details, about how she had come to be born on Earth, then travelled with her family until settling down in the unknown regions. When she was 14, she took her own shuttle back to Earth to study there, only to decide to build her spaceport as a means of transportation between the two galaxies.

“And no one, outside of you, myself, Antilles and Loran know who you really are, right?”

Alison nodded.

Cracken sat back a bit, thinking. “Here’s my proposal, Fel. You’re still technically one of my soldiers, even if it’s originally through the Terran branch. The Terrans have their lives back under control and are working to build themselves up. I could send you back to them, but from what I recall, you were always a bit too headstrong for your Major.”

Alison snorted. “Sci’s ok, I guess.”

“How about this? We’ll continue to let them believe you’re dead. No use bringing back old memories and hard feelings that have by now healed. Instead, I’m going to make you an agent here. You’ll work directly under me, and I will use you to go on assignments to worlds that are less technological than Coruscant.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re knowledgeable in that field. Many of my agents, though they would not like to admit it, are spoiled from living on worlds that are high tech in comparison to worlds like Adumar, Agamar, and your own Terra. I only have one other agent that is able to work in this particular field, and it’d be easier on her having a partner.”

Alison tilted her head. “You want me to go from one organization that I didn’t want to be in to another?”

“That or Kessel.”

“Do I get time to think about this?”

Cracken nodded. “One week. That’s how much longer you’re due to stay in med bay. I’ll come back and get your decision then.

“And I wouldn’t think about trying to bolt, Lieutenant. I will have people watching you.” Cracken let the words hang as he turned to go. When he opened the door, Face stood there with now TWO prosthetic hands, one of which had a rubber glove on.... a bright orange rubber glove... with a Wraith squadron symbol quickly drawn on it.

“General Cracken, glad I could see you! I'd like for you to meet my newest Wraith, Flight Officer, Mister Right. Mister Right, meet General Cracken."

"*Hello there General!*"

"Loran, when was your last mental health evaluation?"

"Uhm, yesterday, sir?"

"I think you need a second opinion." Cracken pushed past Face and walked away without further comment.

Face looked at Alison, and smirked, then waved both hands goodbye at the doorway.

Alison chuckled, quickly letting her face turn back to normal. "So, who's your new friend?"

"This is Ms. Never-wrong. Ms. Never-wrong, please meet Lady Sky." Face had the 'naked' hand bobb as he moved closer, using a variation of the tone he'd used with the 'new wraith'. "~Pleased to meet you, Lady Sky. I do hope we can work well together. In fact, there was this time...~"

Face used the other hand to shut the first up. "We don't need your whole life story, Ms. Never-wrong. Now, see if you can't make Lady Sky happy." He had reached the bed by now, and leaned forward to hand Mrs. Never-wrong to her.

Alison just shook her hand and held out her arm with the metal ring. "You want to try?"

He looked at the hands, the hands looked back. "Sure, if you promise not to kill me later."

She smirked back at him. "I don't make promises."

"I know, I know. Just clones." He chuckled and moved forward, dropping Mister Right on her lap, and gently taking her wrist in that hand. "I have no idea how this'll feel...."

"Like I do?" Alison replied.

"Point. Alright hold still," he winced slightly as he put 'Ms. Never-wrong' against the ring, and gently twisted her in.

A surge of energy went along Alison's arm, and instantly she felt a tingling sensation in her hand. She bit her lip, and she watched as the hand started to twitch. Carefully, she willed her hand to open and closed, and smiled with a childish delight when it followed her commands.

Face pulled a stylus from a pocket and started poking her hand with it.

"Hey!" she cried out, pulling her hand back and protecting it with the other arm. "What the sith was that for!"

He pocketed the stylus and picked up Mister Right. "*Just making sure you had feeling, Lady Sky!*" he said in that ewokish voice he'd been using.for the hand.

Alison shook her head and stretched back out on her bed. She sighed and stared at her new hand, slowly opening and closing it while her thoughts started to drift. Her mind went back to what Cracken had told her, and her face settled into a hard look.

"*What is it?*"

"Nothing. Go talk to your hand." She turned over in the bed, her back facing the Wraith and the orange-clad hand.

"Uhm okay... we know when we're not wanted." Face looked at the hand and then back at Alison.

"*We'll be right outside if you need us.*"

Wishing he could do something to help her, he sighed, then quietly left the room to sit in a chair outside the door. Inside, Alison’s mind was going over her choices, and trying to figure out, ironically, what her father would do in this situation.

~~~~~~~

Almost a week later, Face stood in the room adjoining Alison’s med room, looking through the double sided mirror. Alison lay on her bed, her fingers slowly tracing the long metal tubes that now made up her hand instead of bone. Her mind was lost in thought, and Face sighed.

“How long has she been like that?” a voice asked from behind. Face turned to see Wedge standing behind him, watching Alison, his newfound niece, intently.

“Since Cracken came to talk with her. She hasn’t really spoken to anyone or tolerated company since.” Face shook his head. “I wish I knew what he had said to her.”

“I have an inkling, but it’s not good,” Wedge replied. “He wants her to join us.”

“Isn’t she technically already a member of Terra Group?”

“Technically, but she’s also listed as MIA.”

“MIA… oh wait… never found the body…” Face slapped his head. “We know why.”

“Definitely. But they don’t.”

Face looked at Wedge with astonishment. “They STILL don’t know?”

“And won’t.” Wedge shrugged. “It's in Cracken’s hands now, but he has a plan, and when Cracken has a plan…”

“…Don’t ask cause you’ll never find out. I know.” Face sighed again and looked into the room. “I just wish she’d cheer up.”

Wedge thought for a moment. “I think I know a way…”

He gave Face a lopsided grin, and the idea flew across the distance to Face’s brain without a single word exchanged. The two men nodded to each other, and left.

~~~~~~~

Alison stared at the ceiling. She had one day left. One more to decide whether she would go to one prison or another. Kessel seemed to be the worse of the two at the moment, but the rumors of Cracken’s agency… maybe she could convince Elassar that she was unlucky and have him kill her.

“I think you need a bacta dip. That frown doesn’t work well on your face… maybe bacta can help heal it.”

Alison raised her eyebrow and turned to look at her visitor… then stopped as her eyes fell upon Wes Janson. Wes. Her token Rogue. The idol of her fantasies and many fanfiction/fact stories she had written under her alias. She wasn’t sure if she should faint or kick Face for inviting him in when she was in her current mood.

Wes looked around, then sauntered into the room, dropping into a seat near the bed. “So you’re the infamous Alison Sky that Hobbie and Emily talked so much about.”

“And you’re the Wes Janson that I’ve read so much about.”

Wes flashed Alison his best playboy smile. “I hope that they got the stories right. Seems they spend too much time on Corran and Wedge and forgot to put in a lot of my heroic deeds.”

Alison smirked. “Like what? Seducing Bothans in the Coruscant underworld to get better human/alien relations?”

She grinned larger as she saw Wes’ smile falter a bit. “Perhaps.” His grin came back on full force. “So, happy to be alive again?”

“Better if I had my own hand…” Alison stared at the metal gears of her left hand.

“What? Think you’re not worth anything with only a single organic hand?” Wes laughed. “Look at Luke Skywalker!”

“I’d rather not.”

Wes raised an eyebrow. “You don’t like Luke? Have you even met him?”

“I’ve read enough to know about him.”

“Sometimes fact and fiction are two different things, my dear.” Wes stood and looked around the room. “And seeing that there’s nothing fun to do here, I say we go for a walk.”

“Not allowed to.”

Wes gave her a blank stare. “Why not?”

“Cracken has guards on me.”

Wes looked around the room, then peeked his head outside. “Well, unless Cracken has developed a personal cloaking device I’m unaware of, there are no guards here.”

Alison’s eyes lit up. “Really?”

“Would I jest?” Alison crossed her arms, and Wes chuckled. “I’m serious, there’s no guards around.”

“Well, what did you have in mind?” Alison asked, standing and walking to him.

“Well…” Wes thought for a moment. “I remember hearing you were a good combatant. Want to try and see if you can beat me?”

“You’re kidding?”

“Not in the least. I’ve yet to find someone who can match me in hand to hand… well, Shalla doesn’t count.”

Alison laughed. “You’re on, flyboy.”

*

They walked hand in hand along the walkways of the New Republic Military headquarters until they reached a small private workout room. A few boxing dummies lined a wall, and the rest of the room was matted with padded walls.

Alison grinned. “Preparing you for a padded cell?” she asked, looked around the room.

Wes chuckled and he pulled his shirt off. “More like they are protecting the walls from when I throw people into them.” He tossed his shirt onto a dummy and flexed his muscles for Alison. She rolled her eyes, but did take an admiring look. After all, I AM human…

“So, how do you want to start this. On guard or like wrestling in a grapple hook and try to get your way out?”

Alison chuckled as she tossed her sweatshirt aside. “Why do I have to be in the grapple?” Not that I’m complaining… “Cause I’m bigger than you.” Alison looked down at the smaller pilot. He smiled. “Overall.”

“You just want to get up close to a woman.”

Wes laughed. “You know me too well. Those books hit the mark.”

“More like I have inside information.” Alison grinned. “So, what’s the bet?”

“Bet?”

“You don’t think I’m going to go against Wes Janson in hand to hand combat without taking a bet.”

Wes smiled. “Strip battle? Point for clothing?”

“Don’t think so.” Alison grinned. “Creds?”

“Kisses?”

“Why don’t I just whip your butt now?”

“Ohh, promise?”

Alison burst out laughing. “How about this? Point per hit. First one to 50 buys dinner.”

“Deal. But you only get half a point for using your right hand.”

“What?!” Alison opened her eyes in shock.

“You need to learn to use your new hand, and I’m going to make sure that you work it. Half point for right hand hits. Two points for left hand.”

“And what about you?”

Wes gave her a feral grin. “I’m not going to give you anything.”

“Now that’s not fair.”

“Whoever said that life was fair?” Wes stated, and he swung out to strike Alison across her face gently. The swordswoman ducked and growled at the Rogue, who laughed in response.

She spun around and swept her leg under his, and Wes stumbled backwards. She then twisted around, aiming a fist at his face. He grabbed her hand before it struck… her right one. “No no, wrong hand,” he said disapprovingly.

Alison smiled, and she let her left hand slam into his gut. Wes released all the air in his lungs and doubled over while Alison spun around him and kicked his butt so that he fell to his knees. “Ever hear of a fake?” she replied, smiling down at him.

Wes stood up slowly and took a couple of deep breaths. “Ok, you got me there. Won’t happen again though.”

“We’ll see about that.”

The two went at it with each other. Blows exchanged but nothing to damaging. A few people would walk by the gym and peer into the open door, but the combatants did not notice. Points were won on both sides, Alison getting an upper hand as she learned to use her new mechanical hand better and better.

Finally, Alison got the best of him and they fell to the floor. Alison pinned Wes to the mat and grinned at him. “Come on, Janson, they write you better than this!”

Wes grinned. “In which ways?”

Alison blushed, and at that moment, Wes took advantage of her break in concentration to shift his weight, rolling over to get on top of her. He grinned down at her, his smile in a lopsided line that he must have learned from his Corellian friends.

“That was better,” she admitted, chuckling.

“I can do even better.” His eyes twinkled.

“Can you?” she taunted.

Wes smiled and his head slowly leaned down. Then, at that moment, the sound of a slow, almost mocking, clapping floated over them from the doorway; emanating from a young looking tall man with shaggy, fire-like hair striped many shades in orange, blonde, and red. Wes looked up instantly and his face brightened. "Hey! It's the F.E.S.!"

Alison looked over and raised an eyebrow at the newcomer. The man grinned and moved back to lean against the wall, hands folded on the crown of his head. "Hello. Nice little sparring match you two had going there. Very entertaining," he smirked.

Wes jumped up, running a hand through his hair. "Yeah, well, it was just a little sparring. Nothing much." He reached down to help the young woman up. "Alison, this is Fes. Fes, this is Alison Sky."

He pushed away from the wall and moved toward them. "Pleased to meet you, Lady Sky. I believe I met your hand earlier?"

Alison smirked. "That was the rejected one. You've yet to meet the new one." She held her left, mechanical hand toward Fes.

He reached forward and took it in his, looking at the wires and rods intently. "Pleased to meet you, hand," he said politely.

Wes chuckled and nudged Alison, "He's a hand guy. Sooner or later he'll notice the whole body."

Fes chuckled, a sound low in his throat. He looked up from the hand to meet Alison's eyes. It was then that she noticed his own were a strange, golden colour. "Pleased to meet you, Lady Sky." He grinned, "And don't listen to this nerf for brains, though he does have the occasional good idea."

"Occasional?!" Wes exclaimed

Alison smiled, instantly at ease with the calmness that seemed to eminate from him, through his eyes. "And it's a pleasure to meet you too, Fes.... Is that your real name?"

"It's the only one I use, anymore," he smiled as he let go of her hand and stepped back, blushing slightly at sight of her lovely, enchanting, smile.

"I think he has a real name somewhere, but I'm pretty sure he lost it," Wes added, crossing his arms.

The tall man ran a hand through his wildfire hair, "Well, you know how it is. Some things just get up and walk away on their own, and you have to go to Hoth to find them. Hoth's too cold for the likes of me," he chuckled with a shrug.

"At least I've been there to know that one," Wes muttered. "You're all secretive and stuff about things, I tend not to believe the stuff you do tell us." Wes gave Fes a manic grin.

"And what's there not to believe? I'm a Farsighted Esoteric Safeguard... I'm supposed to be secretive," he grinned.

Wes shrugged as Alison shook her head, chuckling.

He brought a hand up to rub at the back of his neck nervously as he tried to think of something to start up the conversation again. "Uhm, well.... Any reasoning to your impromptu sparring match?"

Wes grinned. "Trying to get Alison back into using her hand. Face says she only uses it for slapping."

Alison's jaw dropped. "Hey!"

Wes shrugged. "That's what he told me!"

Fes chuckled. "Is that so? Hm..." he tilted his head seemingly in thought. "Now... what could we do about that, eh?" He started tapping his chin. "Was, was zu tun?" [1]

Alison slanted her eyes. "I didn't know German was spoken out here."

He dropped his hand and blinked. "Excuse me?"

"You just spoke in German... unless somehow one of the planets out this way was colonised by crazy Dutchmen in clogs who got hold of a spaceship."

At that, he burst out in laughter, slapping a palm to his forehead. "Jetzt, warum nicht ich an den, dachte?!" [2]

Wes looked at the taller man incredulously, then shook his head and went to the cooler for some water.

Fes shook his head, then looked back to her, "You're familiar with Terra, then?"

"Ja, been there a few times," she smiled and winked at Wes.

Wes chuckled. "Just a few."

"No joking?" Fes shook his head and chuckled again. "So, the exercise here is to get you to use that new hand of yours, ja?" he smirked.

"Ja." Alison looked at the contraption of gears and wires. "Still feels weird when I try to use it."

"It probably will for a little while, but you'll get used to it. Mind trying me on for a sparring partner? I could use the practice myself."

Wes spit a mouthful of water across the room, "Excuse me?!"

Alison raised an eyebrow and looked at Wes. "He doesn't know about me, does he?" she said, giving the Rogue a wicked grin.

Wes thought of the single time he'd walked in on one of Fes' training sessions... with Noghri. He smiled back, "You don't know him."

She shrugged. "Sure, why not? I could use a challenge."

Fes grinned, then shrugged. "Whenever you're ready, Lady Sky."

Wes stepped back and away, as much away as he could without actually leaving.

Alison shrugged and dropped into a fighting position. She waited for Fes to do the same, yet he didn't move.

"Any time, now..." he chuckled, not twitching a muscle. "By the bye, I never strike a lady first," he grinned.

"Oh, a gentleman... Wes could learn something from you," she stated.

"Oh! I'm wounded!" Wes grabbed at his heart with a free hand. "Get her Fes!"

She smiled sweetly, then instantly shot her organic right hand out in a fast jab at Fes' face, followed by a kick to his chest.

He stumbled back as her foot hit him solidly at sternum, and looked at her with a bit of surprise in his orichalcum eyes. "I'll have to be on my toes...."

Wes laughed, "I tried to warn you!"

Alison grinned and wiggled her fingers for him to come at her. With a bit of a resigned smirk, he stepped forward. Whirling around swiftly, he came down low in a Noghri style attack, to kick her legs from beneath her. She stumbled to the ground, then rolled away from him and jumped to her feet. "Nice," she said through gritted teeth.

She spun around, aiming a kick at his head. Almost before her foot left the ground, he ducked beneath the blow. A moment later, as her momentum swung her around, he shoved her shoulder, knocking her off balance. As his hands brushed her, she stumbled away a few steps.

She growled and turned around while faking a hit with her left at his shoulder, while aiming the real hit full on with her right, at his gut. He dodged out of the way with blinding speed as he spun around, aiming a kick just hard enough to knock her down, at her shoulder. She grabbed his foot and pushed it back at him roughly, working to knock him off balance.

He hopped back away from her, using his momentum of lost balance to drop and do a shoulder roll back to his feet, a metre and a half away from her. "You're good," he said admiringly.

"So are you. You learn this from the clog men?" she grinned.

"No, the short deadly alien ones," he chuckled back as he circled her, keeping his distance.

She got on the defensive, her hand automatically falling to her waist and then back up when she suddenly realised there was no sword there. Wes noticed this, and chuckled. "Be grateful she's not armed, Fes."

His eyes had followed the movement, and he stepped back slightly. "I believe you, Janson." He began moving back even further from her.

"Oh, scared now, aren't we?" she chuckled. "Come on, show me what you can do, little man...."

Wes chuckled and turned to cover his eyes, knowing exactly what was going to happen. "You asked for it," he said in a sing-song manner.

"Are you certain of that, Lady Sky?" He seemed to be speaking to one who was very young.

"Think before you answer!" Wes shouted to her.

Alison gave Fes a wicked grin, her eyes twinkling with an enjoyment she hadn't felt since she had been on Terra. "Bring it on."

Wes groaned.

Fes shrugged, "Alright."

Without running into his jump, he sprang into the air, and extended his leg as he seemingly flew the three metres to Alison Sky. "Alae'i anor!" [3] he shouted just before he solidly connected with her shoulder, spinning her around and knocking her to the ground as he used the light touch upon her to spring himself in an airborne sommersault.

He landed lightly beside her as she jumped up angrily and spun around to face him. He grinned and waved her forward. She came at him, punching at the last second, while he ducked out of the way beneath her arm... and vanished.

He tapped one shoulder, and she spun to strike out at thin air. She felt a tap on her other shoulder, and the same occured. "Where'd you go, Coward!" she shouted in frustration as the taps began to come from all directions.

Finally, there was a slow tap to the back of her head, and she whirled around without going on the offensive. With a slight wavering of light, as though dimensions were parting, Fes appeared.

"Boo!" He stepped back slightly, chuckling at the shocked look on her face.

She jumped back, then instantly reacted and swung her fist around at his face.

He bent over backwards, barely in time to avoid her attack. "Hey! I thought it was funny!"

Wes burst out laughing, falling to the ground while holding his stomach. Alison turned toward him and growled.

Fes continued chuckling to himself, seeing humor in the entire situation. He stopped abruptly at her growl, worried. "If I've offended you, Lady Sky...."

"No," she replied, straightening. "I just don't like being taken by surprise, that's all." She glared again at the laughing Janson, "Or being laughed at."

He placed his left fist over his heart, as though saluting her with a sword, and bowed slightly. "I shall endeavor to remember that."

She nodded. "And I'll remember that last kick. HOW did you do that?"

"It's a family secret," he smiled and blushed slightly.

She sighed, "Everything is always classified around here." She held out her organic hand, "Think you can teach that to me one day?"

"I could try, but, uhm..." he rubbed at the back of his neck again. "I don't know as I could, Lady Sky."

"I'm a fast learner."

"Oh!" he dropped his hand. "That's not what I meant, not at all! I'm sure you are a very brilliant woman, it's just... well... uhm...."

She grinned at his discomfourture, and Wes came over to lay an arm across her shoulders. "There's some things that kid will never be able to teach you, Sky." He grinned, "Now, there are some interesting things I can show you over, say, a cup of caf?"

Fes sighed resignedly under his breath. "Uhm, I guess I'll be seeing you?" he rubbed at the back of his neck again.

Alison grinned and nodded. "Yes. Very nice meeting you, I hope to see you again soon."

Wes grinned and led Alison away. He then looked over his shoulder at Fes. "Don't even think about following."

Fes just shrugged, ostentatiously staying behind, standing with open palms to either side.

Once they left the room, he vanished from sight... and continued his mandatory watching.

*

Wes and Alison walked to the mess hall, talking the whole time. Wes had heard the rumors that Alison was some sort of mad scientist that raised clones of the Rogues and Wraiths to do sinister plots against people, but she laughed at that.

“Where did you hear this?” she asked, trying to keep herself from hyperventilating.

“Face.”

She shook her head. “Figures.”

They walked into the pilot mess hall that doubled as a simulator room. Inside, a group of people were surrounding a display screen, pointing and following the actions of two of the sims. Wes and Alison exchanged glances and walked over.

“What’s going on?” Wes asked.

“General Antilles and Colonel Celchu are having a contest!” one of the younger ensigns stated.

“Really?” Wes’ eyes glimmered. “Who’s taking bets?”

Alison smiled and looked around, seeing an empty sim pod a few feet away. She pulled on Wes’ arm. “Does that one link up to Wedge and Tycho’s?”

Wes followed her glance and saw the pod. “Yeah, but it’s for Imperial ship flying.”

“Even better.” She cracked her right knuckles in her left hand and walked to the ship.

“Wait, Alison, what are you doing?!” Wes ran after her and stopped beside the sim pod. “You don’t know how to work one of those?”

“Oh, it can’t be too hard.” She grinned. “Come on Wes, let me try!” She gave him a pleading look.

Wes sighed. “OK, but if you’re killed in less than ten seconds, I’m not putting you back in.”

“Deal.”

*

“Ha, got you Wedge.” Tycho Celchu flew along on Wedge’s aft, getting a solid target lock.

“Don’t count your clucks yet, Colonel.” Wedge pulled back and did a quick snapturn followed by a barrel roll. Tycho worked to keep up with him, but the distance between the two lengthened.

There was a click over the comlinks, and suddenly a new blip showed up on the screen. “Who’s out there?” Wedge asked over the com, hovering in flight a few klicks from Tycho, who had also stopped.

“General, this is Control,” Wes’ voice came over the com, a bit nasally. “We’ve detected a TIE scout ship headed in your direction.”

“And who’s in the scout ship, Wes?” Tycho asked.

“Can’t tell you, Tyc… that’ll ruin the game. Happy hunting.”

The TIE fighter flashed past the two veterans at an outrageous speed, then pulled in a tight turn to face the two, taunting them. Wedge chuckled as he set his weapons onto the new target. “Whoever it is, they just want to show off.”

“Then let’s crush their egos.” Tycho flew up onto Wedge’s wing and the two of them started off chasing the TIE. The TIE was instantly flying a set of maneuvers that neither veteran had ever seen before, and soon Tycho found the pilot on his tail with no way to break the lock.

“A little help here, Wedge!” Tycho shouted into his com as he twisted and dived his X-Wing.

“I’m trying, but he’s too quick! I can’t get a lock!”

There was the sound of a target lock, and then Tycho cursed under his breath as his screen went blank. The TIE speed through the electronic fireball and flipped around, still avoiding Wedge’s attempts at a target lock.

“Simulation End,” Wedge mouthed into his comlink. The screen instantly went blank, and the sounds of groans filled his cockpit as the seal automatically popped and the hatch opened.

Wes walked over to the pod and leaned against it. “Wanted to end it before she shot you down, huh?”

“She?”

Wedge looked over at the sim pod across the way. Alison smiled at him and gave a little wave from where she was perched on the side of the sim pod. Younger pilots were gathered around her, cheering and congratulating her. She looked completely at ease, and almost as if she was at home with the group.

All Wedge could do was smile.

*

It was late that evening when Alison was escorted to General Cracken’s office. She waited out in the hallway, two NRI agents who she had never met on either side of her. Finally, Cracken signaled for her to come inside.

“So, have you made your decision?” The General asked from behind his desk.

“I have.” Alison’s eyes twinkled. “You’ve got a deal.”

-------

[1] Was, was tun Sie (German) [1] What to do, what to do

[2]Jetzt, warum nicht ich an den, dachte (German) [2]Now, why didn't I think of that

[3]Alae'i anor (Sindar Elvish, [Elenari]) [3]Behold the sun