Ratnena was sure she looked like an idiot, sitting there with her mouth open and her sweet stick in her hand stopped half way to her mouth, she knew this little fact but she didn't care. I'm staying behind! She sat there furious, her best friend is number one on the Scar Heads' hit parade and they want her to sit here on her butt while Tahiri ran around dodging bugs! She looked at the others, as they made good on their escape, most sent her looks of understanding and support. Of course, they can be understanding they have a mission while I stay here and baby-sit an empty base! After sitting in an empty room for a few minutes, she jumped up and went on a hunt for Poster Boy. She had been somewhat good for the past 3 months, she hadn't really caused that much trouble, and in fact, if it weren't for her they would have never found the two spies. That had to count for something, didn't it?

She was half way to his office when Explosion Boy stepped out from nowhere to block her path.

"Good I was looking for you, follow me."

"Sir request permission to speak to the commanding officer!" She answered, not aware of the look of murder in her eyes, as she tried to push past him.

"You will have plenty of time to kill him later; I need to show you something first." Explosion Boy grabbed her arm and literally pulled her down the hallway. She argued the whole way to Science Boy's lab that she wasn't going to kill anyone just talk to him. Explosion Boy of course didn't believe her.

When he showed her the way through the door, pushed her really, she saw Science Boy talking to a young man who looked to be around her age and about her height, he had an unruly mope of sandy brown hair and a wicked looking scar across his throat. As she looked around for Tahiri, she could feel his green eyes traveling up and down her body.

"So what do want to show me?" She asked ignoring the strange.

"I see the Wraiths entertaining girls standards have fallen drastically." He said with a horse voice, which suggested some serious damage to his vocal cords and a sneer on his lips.

"Trust me little man, I am more woman then you could handle." She said giving him a praetor grin, she was surprise by his comments usually she had to beat guys away from her not have them dismiss her. However, she had no time for games she had a commander to talk to, just talk. "Sir, permission to go kill … err I mean, talk to Commander Loran."

"I doubt that missy I know your kind." He said walking towards her.

"Oh and what kind is that?" She gave him her best and sweetest, 'touch me and you bleed' look.

"The kind that expects men to go to pieces when they met you." He said scratching his nose. Ratnena was about to make another comment when she saw his face split open! She watched in horror as his … her … Tahiri's face was reveled as the fake skin peeled away and stopping when it reached her collar. Still talking in that ruined voice, but with her bright smile on her face, she said, "See I am just like putty in your hands."

"What, … how, … I mean wow that is like totally astro!"

"This is our latest piece of equipment; just like the fake skin the Yuuzhan Vong wears to imitate us." Science Boy said walking over to the pair. "We have several Yuuzhan Vong models. Those were just head coverings where this is a full body suit. I designed it so Tahiri could travel easier without worrying about getting recognized."

"I wished we could offer all the Wraiths these, it would make intrusions much easier, but there are problems with these suits." Explosion Boy said joining them.

"What is the problem? Can I try on one?" Ratnena said walking around Tahiri feeling her 'skin'. She couldn't help but be amazed at how real it felt or warm, she would have thought it would feel more like fabric then real skin. "How did you get your voice to sound like that?"

"Remember the translator worm I told you about last night? This is a variation of that, this creature is lodge in my throat and constricts my voice box until the desire sound and tone is achieved."

"Astro hey let me try a suit on please." She said turning to Science Boy

"You shouldn't Rat …"

"Why not? Did it hurt you?"

"I have a training piece here Prankster, just roll up your sleeve." Science boy said grabbing a piece of green something from the table.

"Rat, trust me you …"

"Come on Vong if it didn't hurt you, why should it hurt me." Ratnena said rolling up her right sleeve. "What does it feel like?"

"Now stand still please."

"Rat, look to me it is a tickling sensation but …"

"See, how could it hurt if it tickles you and … AAAHHHHHH! Get it off! Get it off!"

"… to you it will be painful, especially since …" She could barely hear Tahiri as she tried to rip this thing off her arm

"Stop screaming you are scaring it!"

"It's trying to eat my arm and stop laughing Kell!"

"I'm not laughing at you but with you and …"

"Get it off, it hurts!"

"… more you move the tighter of a grip it will get on your arm!"

"It is not eating your arm, stop running around and I get … Explosion Boy grab her!"

They were able to get Ratnena to stop running around long enough for them to get that thing off her arm. When she looked down on her right arm she expected it to have a huge hunk taken out, but it was still perfectly fine.

"… my nervous system can handle more pain then human norm." Tahiri finished standing where she had been when the whole thing started. Ratnena walked over to her, slapped her in the shoulder and glared at her.

"You said it tickled!"

"No," Tahiri said letting a small smile cross her face and her eyes dancing with amusement. "I said it is tickling me. In fact, I'm getting the impression it is enjoying tickling me."

"It, it's alive!"

"Well of course …"

"Ewe!" Ratnena said not even trying to suppress the creepy feeling shooting thru her.

"Peacekeeper, why don't you go take him off for now. Moreover, remember both of you, this is not something you should talk about, even to the other Wraiths. We don't want to freak them all out in one day." Science Boy said when Kell and he walked over to the two women.

"Yes sir," Tahiri said, walking toward the other room to change into her normal clothes. Once inside they could hear her laughing and telling the suit to quit tickling her.

"Jedi are so weird."

"Wait till you are married to one Bora," Explosion Boy said with a snort, "anyways there is a reason you are not going out with the other. Do you want to know why or would you rather just go kill Face now?"

"I am all ears sir." Ratnena did listen closely and the more she heard the more she was willing to 'stay home'.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So there she was running around the lab, screaming and waving her arm around," Kell said from the co-pilot seat. Tahiri was piloting the shuttle to the first hyperspace jump point, Kell was having her do most of the flying, citing that he and the others already have enough hours logged in the pilot seat. Tahiri didn't mind one bit, as was the case when she was flying the Double Trouble, she had found a joy for flying she never knew existed. "She kept yelling it was trying to eat her arm off."

"It was kind of mean but the look on her face," Tahiri added as the others in the shuttle laugh at the visual picture Kell and she was painting for them.

"Oh tell me you have a holo of that." Elassar said from the passenger seat behind her.

"No we don't and somehow I don't think she will lets us get her to wear one of the 1st aid patches again any time soon." Tahiri said looking over the sensor board and controls like those that taught her had explained. Just as Jedi and Warrior training had drilled into her, maintain the basics and you won't have much to worry about, many times big problems were just little problems overlooked until it was too late. "I hope Little Brother and her will be ok while we are gone?"

"They will be fine don't worry about them, how much trouble could they get into on an empty base?" Piggy said dressed in his guard outfit.

They all were already in their disguises that Face had made up for them. Piggy was going as a Gamorrean guard uniform that was common sight in the Galaxy. Elassar was wearing a pirate uniform with scarred looking horns and fake missing teeth covering his real teeth. Kell was going in as the leader, wearing a mock spacer uniform with more ribbons and decoration usually seen on real uniforms. He also had a long ponytail blond wig and a fake scar that pulled his left lip up and back, giving his sneer a very demonic look to his face. Tahiri was wearing her 'skin' and had her throat creature already in place. She was also wearing a man's blouse and slacks that fit loosely on her and a flight jacket with her light saber hidden in a inside pocket.

"Those two could find trouble anywhere; if there was a pile of poo-doo within 500 kilometers of their position they would find it. And they would find it by falling in head first." Tahiri said looking over her shoulder giving Piggy a concern look, "Look at what they didn't do to the stiff twins."

"Peacekeeper, trust in your commander," Kell said practicing his body talk, "I am sure Face knows what he is doing. In addition, if they destroy the base while we are gone, well that will give them something to do and build some character. You need to keep your mind on your mission."

"Speaking of which, I have a small question that has been nagging me." Tahiri said off handedly.

"Ask away child, if you never ask you'll never learn anything." Kell replied in a lofty, condescension voice.

"Our mission is ..."

Kell opened his mouth but never said anything, he had a confused look on his face, and she closed her own eyes and dropped her head. She just knew she wouldn't get a straight answer now.

"Piggy, did Face tell you why he was sending us out?"

"You are the senior officer I thought you too care of it."

"Don't look at me, I came along for the scenery." She heard from Elassar say from behind her, he faked a large yawn as if he was getting ready for nap.

"Do I have to do everything around here!"

She silently pulled the hyper-drive levelers back and watched the stars stretched out before as the veterans argued behind her, knowing they would get around to explaining the mission eventually.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Remember our cover story people, we are here for two reason. One to get computer training in and to make back up copies of certain files due to Sandblaster accidentally wiped ours clean. Also get some needed entertainment files. Do not discuss anything about any of our personal or anything about our training." Face said as he watched Boom-boom bring the shuttle down through the atmosphere of Denon. Normally, in such a high traffic area such as Denon, he would have his hands on the stick but he had to allow the newbies strut their stuff. Sadly soon he would be stuck behind a desk and had to learn to trust the kids to handle their jobs without him watching over their shoulders. Something that he knew he would never get use to, he hated being left behind. "Long Shot you are in charge, hand out assignments."

"Right, Road Kill and Sparks will handle the computers, while Boom-boom takes care of supplies. I will over to the news central hub and do a search there; Boom-boom will join me after getting supplies. We will check into a non-military hotel. If Road Kill and Sparks finished early go to hotel and stand by. Boom-boom will run scans on the rooms every 4 hours."

"Any chance to get a drink while we are here?" Sparks asked listening to different communication bands.

"Not you Sparks, you can't handle you drinks." Road Kill said lazily.

"Sir? Poster Boy listen to channel ZS-009." Sparks said with a frown in his voice. Instantly all conversation ceased as everyone in the shuttle, except Boom-boom, listen to the channel Sparks mentioned.

"Is that code?" Long Shot asked Face.

"I don't know," Face said honestly, he thought it was a language but he had never heard before. "Sparks, Road Kill?"

"Sorry I never dealt with codes much before."

"Never heard anything like it before sir, that what caught my attention. It is not really directed at any one point, but that frequency is not used that much. I think you would have to be …sir, it is complete."

"Was it originating here or is this the end point?"

"It came in on the hypercomm. I don't have enough to do a back track with this equipment on this shuttle. I could check the logs when we get down to the central computer."

"Can you do that without compromising our mission?" Long Shot asked hanging up the headphones.

"No problem, I will be erasing some of our activities anyways." Road Kill responded.

"Sir, I say we go ahead and look into it, training if for no other reason." Long Shot suggested.

"Agreed, add it to the list but only after all the other activities are complete and you can do it without being observed. See if anyone else has noticed or logged any other transmitting. How much did you record?"

"About 30 seconds sir, not enough to work with."

"Still have Squeaky, Little Brother and our crazy geniuses listen to it when we get back."

"If there is a base when we get back." Boom-boom said from the pilot's seat.

"Well, this is interesting." Face said as the shuttle touched down at the spaceport.

"Is that Colonel Solo?" Boom-boom asked shutting down the shuttle.

"Yes it is, everyone get the gear and head out. I catch up with you later." He said standing up and heading out the hatch. He headed straight over to wear Colonel Jaina Solo waited alone. She was standing still, arms crossed, eyes blazing and a hard set to her face.

"Where is Tahiri!" She said without any preamble.

Face stood in front of her, waiting for her to get a clue. Face really used his rank, in fact, except during the training of the Wraiths, he never made it an issue when dealing with those of lesser rank. He expected any Wraith to follow his orders without question but all the spit and polish that accompany his rank he could do without. However, Jaina attitude right now and the fact she asked about Tahiri was rubbing him the wrong way.

"Well!" She snapped out.

"I am sorry Colonel," he said stressing her rank, "did you say something."

"Don't pull that with me Face, I want to know right now what you are doing with Tahiri."

"First thing Solo, it is Commander Loran; second what makes you think I would know anything about Tahiri. The last I heard she was on Zonama Sekot playing in the forest." He pushed past her, heading in to the crowd of people moving through the huge military spaceport.

"Fine, then how is 'Sara Sandblaster'!" Jaina said trying to keep up with his longer strides.

"Oh you know Flight Officer Sandblaster. I'm surprised, she never mentioned knowing any of you. I guess I shouldn't surprised, Tatooine is really a small community."

"Cute, what do you think you are doing with a Jedi in your squadron …"

"If I had one in my squadron, but Tyria hasn't paid her dues to rejoined the club in awhile if she does I let you know." He stopped at a bank of lifts to take him down to the commuter tubes. "Is there a reason you are wasting time asking me about something that isn't going on?"

"I want you to get her out of the Wraiths, now! I won't stand by while you twister her and abuse her like this." She said in a low voice and close enough to him that no one around them could hear what she was saying. "She is the first Yuuzhan Vong Jedi and should be around her own kind on Zonama Sekot. All you and your idea of the perfect roommate can do is hurt her and I won't let that happened, Commander."

When the lift doors open he allowed the crowd to guild him in, Jaina made no move to follow but locked gazes with him as the doors closed. As the lift headed down to the sub floors, he wondered how she knew so much about the Wraiths.

"Hello Face, I am surprised to see you." Luke said getting up from behind his desk as Face walked into Luke's office. After checking in with the various commands that the squadron must answer to, from Intel to supply, you would think they personally paid for each X-wing, he wanted to pay a visit to Luke before he went back to the hotel. He had planned to see Luke while he was here anyways but the reception he got from Jaina just made him push up the appointment. "How are things on Borleias these days?"

"Boring compared to the last time we were there," he said sitting down in the chair Luke had waved him into as he sat back down in his chair. Face looked at Luke's office, it was plain and homely at the same time with only pictures hanging in the office was of his family and friends he had made over there years. It was the unassuming kind of office he would expect from Luke. "But Bora and Tahiri is keeping thing interesting."

"Interesting how?" Luke asked looking concerned.

"Never knew a Jedi could be so fun to have around." Face went on to explain some of the practical jokes that Tahiri and Ratnena had pulled on each other. Even Luke had laugh at a few of the pranks. "Like I thought, Ratnena and Tahiri work well together, they push each other to improve and they keep each other on their toes. But we have a had a problem developed in the past few days." Face went to explain the security leaks they had found. "As a result we had to suspend training until we find out who is after Tahiri and why. The rest of the Wraiths, for the most part, had accepted Tahiri and her past. Ratnena adjusted really well and is excited about having a new chain to pull on Tahiri."

"So they haven't held her unique history against her, I am very pleased to hear that and," Luke said with a grin, "as silly as this sound I am very pleased to hear Tahiri found someone like Ratnena. I was worried since she has been merged she has not been very good at trusting people. But the spies and bomb does have me concerned, any ideas on those?"

"We think it might have to do with what Tahiri is. Our theory is the Yuuzhan Vong seeing her as a first step to regaining their gods' favor."

"Regain in how?"

"As long as Tahiri is alive they can't be redeemed for their failure, at least that is our working theory."

"That is a disturbing …" Luke leaned back in his chair and had a concern look on his face, "disturbing but it does make some sense."

"That is the general consensus, I have people out tracking down our two corpuscles. Unfortunately, some things I can't skip over in the training. Which is why I am here not out there."

"Well I have to have our security at the hanger rechecked as well as get a hold of Jaina and let her know about it too. I want her to check out her X-wing before she gets back."

"Jaina isn't here." Face knew that it was Jaina he talked to just a couple hours ago.

"No, she is out with the Supreme Commander at the Imperial summit."

"Ah, still you are right. Tell them they have to tear apart the engines to get to the bomb if she has one."

"Right, I wish there was a way to get a hold of Jacen, the twins are very important to the Yuuzhan Vong, he maybe in danger also." Luke looked off in to space, "Jacen is running out on his own and rarely checks in. Maybe Jaina knows something."

"I keep you informed if anything that we find out."

"Thank you Face, oh one more thing." He said getting up from his desk and went over to a cabinet. "This came in from Zonama Sekot last week for Tahiri." Luke pulled out something that looked like a clams shell.

"What is it?"

"Well they claim that this is something only Tahiri can use," he stroked the shell and it opened reviling a slug-like creature that was about the size of a light saber. "Sekot had this made for her, it is a living light saber bio-tuned only to her. Several of us have tried to activate it with no success."

"You sure it came from Sekot." Face asked as he picked up the strange creature, it was heavier then a regular light saber. He could see that it had a mouth and eyes but no limbs or anyway to turn it on. "How do you feed it?"

"It eats meat, there are care instruction that came along with it." Luke said handing him a piece of flimsy with both Basic and Yuuzhan Vong on it, "and yea I sure it came from Zonama Sekot, there was a message from Danni attached to this gift. She wants Tahiri to know she was free to come back any time she wishes."

"I will pass on both messages when I get back."