Tahiri looked around the dorm room one more time to make sure it was neat and clean for her new roommate. Tahiri never had to share a room before, when she was a child in the deserts of Tatooine she would sleep in the deserts snuggled up against her bantha; Bangor. As a only child in the cramped World ship traveling thru the dark skies between galaxies she has vague memories of being in a dorm setting but they were more hazy then most of her memories. At Yavin 4, she had her own room and refresher and she had her own cabin when she was a squadron commander. So having to share a small room, as this one would be a different sort of challenge to her and one she was not sure she really wants to deal with.

First the room was kind of small, the room its self was 9.14 meters wide 6.09 meters long, it had two small bunks, two small desk and a refresher off to one side. All their clothes, uniforms, footwear, flight suits, flight gear and other items were stored under the bunks. The desk had three drawers and a flat area to work on. She kept her clock on the desk but that was about it. She knew that some people keep pictures and other reminders of their love ones on their desk but she couldn't.

The holos she had of the Solos' and Skywalkers' she had to leave them back on the Double Trouble since they would be a dead give away as to her real identity. She also had to keep her pendent of Yum-Yammka back on her ship also. The only thing that she could bring along with her that anyone could use to identify her was her light saber. However, it is stored in Little Brother and was only allow to be used in a life and death situation. She did practice her Jedi, Yuuzhan Vong and Tuskin Raider self-defense moves since they necessary for her to keep up her practice and it can be explain away as something else.

Little Brother beeped and whistled at her from his position at the foot of her bunk. She had to bring up her wrist comm that she wore on her left arm to see the translation. That was something else that she had to leave behind, her supply of tizowyrm so she had to rely on computers to do the translations for her. It was slower and more annoying then letting the tizowyrm do the job.

TAHIRI, ARE YOU OK?

"Yea why?"

TAHIRI, YOUR VITAL SIGNS ARE ELEVATED.

"Oh that, well I guess I'm just nervous about meeting our new roommate." She commented while smoothing out her bunk for the fifth time.

WHY?

"Well, it's just … uh … well it hard to explain I mean we will be spending several weeks together in this small room and … um … look lets just say it is complicated human thing."

THEREFORE, YOU DON'T KNOW WHY YOU ARE NERVOUS AND YOU ARE JUST TELLING ME THAT EXCUSE SO I WILL DROP THE SUBJECT.

"Where would you get an idea like that?" She said glaring at the droid; she hated being figured out by anyone.

R2-D2 HAD WARNED ME ABOUT SEVERAL HUMAN TRAITS WHEN WE WERE AT DENON LAST MONTH. HE FELT SINCE WE WILL BE WORKING TOGETHER PERMANENTLY THAT HE SHOULD WARN ME ABOUT THE ILLOGICAL ACTIONS OF HUMANS.

"Oh he did, did he? How do you know he knows what he is talking about?"

R2-D2 HAS OVER 50 YEARS EXPERIENCE DEALING WITH ILLOGICAL HUMANS, ESPECIALLY JEDI HUMANS. HE HAS THOUSANDS OF HOURS OF HOLOS AND TEXT RECORDING OUTLINE AND PROVING HIS POINT. I FOUND IT TO BE VERY INFORMATIVE AND DOES EXPLAIN A LOT ABOUT YOUR BEHAVIOR, ALTHOUGH YOUR YUUZHAN VONG PRESONIALITY DOES AFFECT YOUR THOUGHT PATTERNS, THEY ARE STILL WITHIN THE HUMAN NORM.

"Oh really!" She said sitting down on her bed; she crossed her arms and continued to glare at her friend. "And what behavior had you been able to understand now after chatting with Artoo?"

AFTER YOU HAD YOUR DOMAIN MARKS REMOVED, YOU CHANGED YOUR HAIR STYLE SO THAT THE FRONT PART OF YOUR HAIR IS NOW BLOCKING THAT AREA OF YOUR FOREHEAD SO THAT SOMEONE LOOKING AT YOU CANNOT NOTICE THEY ARE MISSING. IT IS NORMAL FOR HUMANS TO COVER UP AREAS OF THEIR BODIES THAT THEY ARE EMBARRASSED TO SHOW.

"Is that all?" Tahiri said trying to sound casual about it, but she was not happy that he figured out why she had change her hairstyle. If he noticed then she was sure other had noticed also, she was starting to wonder if she was as smart as she thought she had been.

YOU WEAR YOUR COMBAT SUIT OR FLIGHT SUIT SO THAT YOU HAVE MAXIMUM COVERAGE OF YOUR BODY AT ALL TIMES. YOU ONLY ALLOW OTHERS TO SEE YOUR FACE AND HANDS. YOU DO THIS SO YOU DO NOT HAVE TO EXPOSE THAT FACT THAT YOU HAVE NO BATTLE TATTOOS ON YOUR BODY AS PER YUUZHAN VONG CUSTOM.

"And how do you know I have no tattoos on me?" She replied angrily.

TAHIRI I VISITED YOU DAILY WHILE YOU WERE IN THE BACTA HEALING TANK, I OBSERVED NO TATTOOS ON YOUR PERSON.

She tried to think of a come back for that one but was unable too. It was annoying just how right Little Brother was, that is why she does what she does. Not only did her upbringing, all three of them, instilled a strong sense of modesty in her but the fact she had no battle tattoos or scars was very embarrassing to her. Nevertheless, she will never wear any because of who she was. The Yuuzhan Vong wore them so that gods and others could see the history of the lives. By reading the different tattoos, you can see all the bearers' highs and lows in life, if they were a good person or a bad person and their devotion to the gods. However, since she helped disprove the old thinking about the gods, she was sure that the tattoos would fall out of favor with the surviving Yuuzhan Vong. Even if they didn't, no Yuuzhan Vong leader would ever grant her the honor of wearing them. Since so many of them wishes, she had never been shaped in the first place. One solution could be for her to just go ahead and have them placed on her without official consent but that seemed wrong, dishonorable. Therefore, she felt that she was stuck like a scherkil hla in the jaws of a qhal. Although there were some common grounds in her duel heritage, some times the differences were glaring and unsolvable.

TAHIRI DID I MAKE YOU SAD?

"Uh? Oh no, not really. It's just I was thinking about what you were saying that is all. I guess I didn't like hearing that I'm not as clever as I thought I was. I guess if you figured out then other must have figured it out too." She scooted back against the wall and hugged her legs as she looked over at Little Brother. "Battle tattoos are very important to a warrior and they show them off proudly for all to see. However, since I don't have any or will ever get any, I wanted to hide the fact that I don't have them. I don't want anyone to think I'm an unworthy warrior but as a Jedi, I know that I should not be interested in that kind of thinking. It is one of the few confusing parts left over from my merging. Now I'm wondering if Master Skywalker and Master Horn know why I wear what I wear."

MASTER SKYWALKER AND MASTER JADE-SKYWALKER DID NOT EXPRESS ANY CONCERNS OVER YOUR WARDROBE. THEY WERE MORE CONCERN WITH THE CONDITIONS OF YOUR TRAINING WITH THE WRAITH SQUADRON. SINCE YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO CONTACT THEM FOR HELP AND TO TALK ABOUT YOUR PROBLEMS WHILE YOU ARE HERE FOR TRAINING.

"Well that was sweet of them," she said with a knowing smile. She could see them both wondering whom Tahiri was going to be able to turn to when the going got tough. She couldn't talk about her Jedi background or her Yuuzhan Vong background with anyone on base. Not only was it against the rules but also she had hard enough time trusting people as is. Only with the Solo and Skywalker did she feel enough trust for her could be completely honest with them. Moreover, being cut off, as she was, she had decided earlier, that she would have to just learn not to talk about her problems. When she told this to Little Brother, he surprised her again.

"You would be surprise at the power of just knowing that there is someone who you can talk to, knowing there is someone you can trust even if they can't fix all the problems." The voice of Master Skywalker came from the speaker in Little Brother.

She sat there with her mouth hanging open then she started laughing.

"Is that your subtle hint that I should talk to you when I need to talk out my problems?" She asked Little Brother.

YES.

"Did you get a medical upgrade when I wasn't looking?" She asked in jest. Nevertheless, the more she thought about it the more sense it made. After all, he would keep everything she told him to himself. In addition, it would look bad if she spent a lot of time alone with Commander Loran or Major Tainer or the other Wraiths. "Ok as crazy as it sounds I think you are right."

I AM PLEASED THAT I WILL BE ABLE TO ASSIST YOU.

Tahiri was going to reply when the door to the room opened. Standing outside was a woman who was about 1.70 meters tall, about 3 centimeters taller then Tahiri was, and about the same build as her. She had blond hair that was piled on top of her head but fluffed out like a waterspout and one long lock that had a whole range of colored beads woven in. Tahiri guessed you could call her pretty, not that she was much of a judge on such things, but she did have very striking light blue eyes with a sprinkling of freckles across her nose. She was wearing the dress uniform of the Fighter Command and had a duty bag slung over her right shoulder. Her very light blue eyes scanned the room before she walked in, as if looking for some hidden trap.

The 'old Tahiri Veila' was always a friendly, outgoing person before the shaping who had no trouble making people feel at easy in her presence. Tahiri knew she was not that open of a person but was willing to give it a shot; there was no harm in trying to be nice.

"Hello, I'm flight officer Sara Sandblaster." Tahiri said getting up from her bunk and walking over to the other woman, holding out her left hand. "And that is my partner Little Brother."

The woman finished looking around the room; she locked gazes with Tahiri and then looked down at her extended hand. Without another word, she pushed past Tahiri and went to her bunk.

Well that was rude! Tahiri thought to herself as she stood there with her hand sticking out waiting for the shake that wasn't coming. She decided that the woman must be tired from her flight in and since she just was done with Face and Kell, she would just want a nap. Yea, I am sure that is the reason. She will be friendlier later when she has had a chance to relax some. Tahiri gave Little Brother the hand signal to remain silent and sat back on her bunk. She opened her data pad looking for something to occupy her time until 1800 hours. She watched, out of the corner of her eyes, her new roommate unpack her duty bag. The woman was very quick about it and before she closed the bunk, she had grabbed what looked like a sweet stick from one of the pockets. She then took off her socks and shoes and her dress uniform, which is when Tahiri noticed her first problem. The woman was naked under her uniform! Tahiri could feel her face turn 15 shades of red as she quickly turn on her bunk so she was facing Little Brother, who was watching Tahiri and making the same noise he used to communicate laugher. Great, he is noticing how embarrassed I'm!

Tahiri busied herself with her pad, assuming the woman would either make herself decent or head into the refresher. However, the woman didn't do either she just sat down on her bunk. Tahiri had no idea how to handle this development; she was not use to seeing anyone just sitting around naked. At the academy everyone was required to wear what ever species they belong to had felt was conservative clothing, the Sand People would have to be insane to strip bare in the deserts of Tatooine and the Yuuzhan Vong only saw someone naked if it for the propose of mating. Tahiri kept sneaking glances as the woman sat cross-legged on her bunk, her back against the wall at the head of the bed, eating that sweet stick. She was acting as if this was the most natural thing in the world.

"Problem?" The other woman said.

Tahiri, naturally, looked over at the woman, who was now seated facing her.

"Problem? No, no problem." Tahiri said blushing again and looking away. Oh look, this should be fascinating 'The care and cleaning of the refresher', how did I miss this before! Tahiri thought trying hard to ignore her new roommate and the droid who was laughing again.

"Are you sure?"

"Yea I'm sure," she stuttered out lamely, Never knew cleaning was such a detailed process, "Why would there be a problem?"

"I don't know why would there be a problem?"

"Well no problem here, yep everything is astro on this end. No problems what so ever." Oh you should use cleaning product AW-009 not AW-007, have to remember that the next time I clean! "Why would you think there was a problem? Do you see anything wrong? Not me everything is just fine!" Tahiri cringed as she heard her own voice crack at the end of that sentence.

"Ok." The woman said still eating the sweet stick. "I just thought something was bothering you that is all."

"Why would you think that?" She said trying hard to match the casual tone the other woman was using and failing. Ah, the proper way to disposing trash, this book is so informative! Tahiri thought wishing it were time to go eat, go on duty; anything would happened to get her out of this conversation.

"Oh nothing really, I just never seen anyone blush so hard her hair was starting to turn red."

Tahiri's head shot up to look at the woman, her expression one of horror and then turned away, remembering why she was blushing in the first place.

"Um yea sorry it just … well it like this," Tahiri tried to get out while trying getting her blushing and embarrassment under some kind of control. "It just where I come from we don't get naked."

"Oh I see. Where you from?"

"Tatooine."

"Ah." That was all she said and went back to eating her sweet stick.

Tahiri was glad for the slight change in the subject, it gave her time to control her blushing and start a relaxation breathing exercise.

"So you people on Tatooine must really stink."

"WHAT!" She asked whipping her head around to look at the other woman, only to start blushing and looking away again. I have to break that habit of looking at the person I'm talking to! Tahiri thought angrily. "We don't stink!"

"So you do take showers?"

"Of course we take showers!"

"So you do get naked."

"Well of course we get naked sometimes … it just we don't … you know get naked around other people." Tahiri was getting more and more flustered by this woman. All the horror stories Master Skywalker and Horn told her about the strange people that the Wraiths attract started running through her mind.

"Ah," The older woman said again, Tahiri braced herself for the next question. Now matter what she says Tahiri would answer it in a control and adult manner. "So you guys lay eggs in the sand or something?"

"WHAT!" Tahiri looked at her in shock; Ok maybe I was not as prepared as I thought. "No! We are human; we have kids just like any other humans!"

"So you do get naked around other people?"

"Yes, I mean no, I mean …" Tahiri stopped and closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "We have very strict rules about mating and such. We do not walk around naked in view of other persons unless we are engaged in mating rituals with that person."

"It's a religious thing?"

"Yes," Tahiri said quickly jumping on any excuse that she could use to stop this conversation and get this crazy woman to get dressed without being too rude. She is, from a certain point of view, following a religious tent of the Yuuzhan Vong and has heard of other religions that also had similar prohibition involving the improper manner of dress while in view of others. "We can only view another if we are engaged in mating rituals, in the past one could be killed for viewing at any other time then mating." Again, not a complete lie since those practices had stopped with the defeat of the Yuuzhan Vong.

"Oh so you have to mate with me now?"

"WHAT?"

"You said if you see someone naked you have to mate with them or else, right? So you have to mate with me now, right?"

"Yes, I mean no …"

"What don't you think I'm cute enough to mate with?"

"No … I mean yes … I mean …"

"So you do want to mate with me."

"Yes … I mean no … I … I …" Tahiri had no idea what she was saying or doing. I can sense Yuuzhan Vong in the Force, I can fly Yuuzhan Vong ships, X-wings, even the Millennium Falcon; I can do many things that no other Jedi can do, except this deal with this strange woman! Without even looking at her clock Tahiri, closed down her data pad and did the only thing she could think of, retreat! "Oh look at the time, I have to go somewhere and um do um you know something." She got up from her bunk and quickly headed for the door; on the way, she dropped her data pad. When she bent over to pick it up, she tripped over her own feet and almost took a header into the wall. Catching her self she opened the door and turn to her roommate. "I see you at evening meal." She saw the naked woman staring at her with a confused look on her face and of course the rest of her. Tahiri spun around and slammed her left shoulder in the doorframe. After she finally made it out the door and down the hallway, she was thinking about what just happened. I would rather have someone stick me in an Embrace of Pain for a week then go through that again!

Ratnena waited until Sara left the room and was certain that she was gone, and then she burst out laughing. She had thought that Sara would be the shy and the easily fluster type from reading her personal file and from the way she was dressed. The poor girl, Ratnena had never seen anyone actually turn purple from blushing so hard. I'll apologies later to Sara but that was too funny. Ratnena though as she pulled out a data pad from behind her.

"Hey droid is she always so skittish?" She asked the R2 unit watching the whole thing. As he beeped and whistled, she watches the translation scroll across her screen.

FLIGHT OFFICER SANDBLASTER IS A FINE PILOT AND IS QUITE CAPABLE OF HANDLING HER SELF IN MOST SITUATIONS. IN ADDITION, MY NAME IS NOT DROID IT IS 'LITTLE BROTHER'. WHAT IS YOUR NAME?

"She maybe a good pilot but she can't deal with the unexpected very well." Ratnena said giggling, "And sorry Little Brother, my name is Ratnena Bora. Pleased to meet you. You guys come fresh from training?"

CORRECT, WE HAVE BEEN ON THIS BASE FOR TWO DAYS WAITING FOR THE REST OF THE POTENTIAL RECRUITS TO ARRIVE. YOU AND THE GROUP THAT ARRIVED TODAY IS THE FIRST OF THREE GROUPS SCHEDULED TO ARRIVE.

"So what is it like here? They keep you hopping?"

YES, THEY HAVE AWAKENED FLIGHT OFFICER SANDBLASTER AT 0430 AND ORDERED LIGHTS OUT AT 2200 HOURS.

"Ewe, sounds like boot camp all over again." She said making a face, she knew from Loran and Tainer that this training period would be tough but she thought they meant mentally tough. If they get them up that early, that could only mean lots and many exercises.

THAT IS A COMMENT THAT FLIGHT OFFICER SANDBLASTER HAS MADE EARLIER.

"Oh joy." Ratnena said with a sour face and sticking the sweet stick back in her mouth.