In the days following her first night on Ryloth with her dashing commander, Alanja sought every moment she could steal away to be with Crosshair and Rov, even if it meant being trapped too closely with Senator Taa. The senator sent her more and more gifts and lavished her with fine gowns that she wore to every public event to show the Empire's peace with Ryloth. Rov approved of how distracting she was to Taa, seeming to not realize how much Taa had become truly enthralled with her.

"Be careful," Crosshair warned her, glaring at Taa as he approached Rov's office again in the guise of business with her brother for the third time that day.

"Hello there," she smiled at the fat senator when he waddled in. "So sorry," she consoled as she sat on the edge of Rov's desk. "Vice Admiral Rampart is out on an errand with Captain Howzer."

Taa's hungry expression emboldened at the news, closing the door to the office. "Just as well. It was you, Miss Rampart, that I came to speak with."

Crosshair's face darkened as the senator ignored him as if the commander was not even there.

Alanja shivered under her sassy grin. Something was very wrong.

"You look ravishing, Miss Rampart," crooned Taa as he shuffled closer. Before she knew it, she was pinned against the desk, her eyes wide. "I would like to know if you would join me again this evening for a private dinner." He leaned in a bit more, and his lazy right lekku tendril gave her arm a caress. "You and I have become so close these last days. I would like to discuss arrangements to move your ambassador post from Kamino to Ryloth."

Steeling herself against the panic, Her heart pounded, and she choked on her own breath. Taa's beady eyes glanced down at the rise and fall of her chest in the elaborate Rylothian gown. She bit her lips to keep her teeth from chattering. "Oh," she gasped, feigning humility. "You will have to speak with Rov. It is not in my power to change."

His fat left hand mimicked the movement of his tendril on her other arm. "We could do so much for Ryloth and the Empire together," he purred. "Even if we must still consult Vice Admiral Rampart, have dinner with me tonight."

Giving Taa a devilishly sly look, Alanja replied, glancing over at Crosshair. "I'm afraid I have already promised a quiet dinner to another friend this evening."

As if noticing the black-armored Crosshair for the first time, Taa took a step back from Alanja. The menacing glower on Crosshair's gaunt face was a fearful thing. It even unnerved her.

As soon as she was free of Taa, she glided away from him to Rov's liquor and spirits decanter cart. Ryloth was a dry place, making the liquor easy to down and dangerous to her wisdom, but she needed it right then. Any excuse to put space between her and Taa was paramount.

"Another evening, then," said Taa with feigned civility.

The Twi'lek glared at Crosshair as he waddled away. There was violence in the senator's gaze. Crosshair was right, even if her pride would never allow her to admit it to him. Taa was dangerous, and his parting sneer at Crosshair made clear that he would make a move to eliminate the clone commander.

Alanja shivered as the door closed behind the large, twi-lek, Senator Taa, locking her and Crosshair in alone. His dark eyes seethed as he kept them downcast, his fingers twitching over his sidearm. His chest rose and fell with deep breaths of rage. Clearly, he noticed the challenge Taa made towards him.

His hand slipped over the keypad beside the door, securing the bolts as his gaze rose to her. He put his toothpick in his mouth and ran his tongue over his teeth like they were fangs beneath his thin lips.

Alanja's glare shot back at Crosshair when his irreverent gaze bore through her. "Why are you looking at me like that?" But she knew the answer. He had come to bring her to dinner as he did every evening but was interrupted by the fat, Twi-lek senator's taste in pretty women.

Crosshair shrugged with a sneer, adjusting his toothpick. "No reason."

He was angry, but not just with her. His eyes squinted at the door the senator had waddled away through. Crosshair strode towards her—too close, but not as close as Taa had been. He pushed her liquor decanter away from the edge of Rov's desk out of her reach when Alanja moved to refill her fluted glass.

Sucking in her bottom lip to keep her infatuated smile hidden, Alanja brushed up against his arm as she took the tight path between Crosshair and the desk to reach for the decanter just to test his resolve. "Shall I pour you a drink?"

The sheer, billowing sleeve of her creamy-pink dress snagged on his armor above his elbow. Both of them looked down at it as she went rigid to keep it from ripping. She grabbed his gloved fingers when he reached up to free himself of her gown. When she wouldn't let go, he said, "stop resisting me." His voice was so cold and bitter. Did he somehow think she might hate Kamino enough to choose Senator Taa and Ryloth over him? Surely, he knew she had no intentions of abandoning him and Rov to handle Kamino alone.

However, Kamino would soon be nothing more than the nightmare of a watery grave. Though she despised Taa, Alanja needed a place to shelter in comfort when Kamino fell. When that day came, she could continue her respite here on Ryloth with Crosshair at her side.

She unfurled her grip, and Crosshair gently pulled the silky fabric loose from where it was pinched under his pauldron, but he kept a hold of the sleeve. "Don't let that Twi'lek touch you."

Honored and irritated by his demand, Alanja squared her shoulders, forcing him to turn fully towards her, too.

"What could I do?" she hissed. "You just stood there. You and Rov do nothing about his increasing advances. What if he comes here when I am alone? What then? Do not speak to me as if I am unaware of the senator's plans for me should I move you and me to Ryloth."

He bit down hard on the toothpick before spitting it out on the floor. "Toughen up, Miss Rampart." He patted his sidearm in an obvious threat that he would kill him if she let the senator get that fresh with her again.

Her breath caught. "You don't have permission to speak to me like that!"

He sneered. That was not true, and Alanja knew it, and he knew it. There was an unspoken bond between them that she had allowed and fostered recklessly.

Crosshair had never dared to touch Alanja like what he had just witnessed Taa do. Rov needed her to play it cool until he had Ryloth completely under his control. However, the senator had pinned her to Rov's desk right in front of Crosshair as if he wasn't even there.

Her mind raced. Alanja had to calm this down before that fat fool's mistake resulted in violent repercussions.

As if hearing her misgivings like she had spoken them aloud, Crosshair said, "I should make you do it," he growled, admitting he wanted to kill Senator Taa. "Trash like him should be thrown out an airlock."

Alanja grabbed his gloved hand, still holding her sleeve, in a pathetic attempt to loosen his grip. When it was obvious she could do nothing to free herself, he sneered and let go.

Huffing mad, Alanja sauntered behind the desk and eased herself into her brother's chair like a queen.

Crosshair leaned on both palms over the desk. "Friend," he called her, and she shivered. She was more than his friend, but that was the most he allowed himself to call her. "Friends don't make friends watch."

Alanja swallowed hard. "Is that all that we are, Crosshair? Friends?"

He snorted and pushed off the desk, his thin smile almost a sneer. "I have no other 'friend' like you, Alanja Rampart."

She put on a fake grin and batted her lashes at him. "This is true." She steepled her fingers before her face. "And I…" she hesitated, clenching her jaw. "I have no other 'friend' like you." The admission of her feelings towards him was exhilarating and horrifying.

He sucked on his lips as if the toothpick was still in his mouth and said nothing else. Alanja's affection for Crosshair was dizzying. She hadn't felt so close to anyone other than her brother since the war first started when she was left alone in hiding on Naboo.

Her eyes burned, and she blinked at the ceiling. This thing between Alanja and Crosshair was insanity. Unable to hold it in longer, she blurted out what had been on her mind since she demanded Nala Se remove his inhibitor chip after he was nearly burned alive on Bracca. "You could have gone with them, you know. I wouldn't have blamed you."

His shoulders sank a little, clearly understanding that she meant he could have left with his old squad. "Good soldiers follow orders, friend."

The tears spilled down her cheeks, and she slammed her fist on the desk. "Don't you get it," she practically screamed. Her calmness was gone. Feeling Taa's swollen hands on her had only made her think of Crosshair and how doing nothing to stop the Twi'lek was betraying her dear friend. When Taa had her pressed to the desk, fear overwhelmed her senses. She didn't know what to do. No man had ever done anything like that to her, not even her late husband. "I don't want you to just follow orders!" She was shaking. "I'm so alone, Crosshair. Don't you understand?"

His tone was cold. "I do."

"Are you my friend? Or do you just hang around because Rov has ordered you to?"

"What a cruel question."

"Answer me! I had the Kaminoans remove that blasted chip so you could answer."

"I chose you over them," he said, referring to his renegade brothers. "They begged me to come with them." He leaned forward on the desk and glowered down at her, making her shrink back in the chair. "Friend."

Crosshair shoved off the desk again and paced like a predator cornering his prey, but he said nothing else. Alanja waited in silence until Rov returned. She knew that if she did not tell Rov how Taa had put his hands on her, that Crosshair would. When Rov entered, Crosshair shot a warning glare at her, raising one of his silver brows as his scowl deepened at her reluctance, even going as far as to clear his throat.