Well, it's back to school for me, chums, but not to worry, updates will continue every Sunday, unless I'm really busy revising for something. :)

This week I am truly over the moon to say that I have loads of shout-outs: Nanobot5770, SerenityMoonPrincess, Nyce, iloveashandquinn, djgirl911, Lywick, Taboo22 and Katyperry22 - that's eight reviews for one chapter! :D You guys are the best! Anyway, hope you enjoy this week's chapter - enough for it to get nine reviews? Pretty please?

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars or any of its characters. Only Alice is mine.


Hoth turned out to be just as cold as Han had promised. Alice was tremendously grateful for her warm clothes even in the hangar, where icy winds blasted their way through the tiniest cracks in the walls and doors. From what she could see, this rebel base aircraft hangar was much the same as the one they'd just left, apart from the slick layer of ice that coated the walls.

"I'm surprised we even managed to get the ship down without the engines freezing," Alice said to Leia, pointing out the layer of frost that was already forming on the hull of the ship. "God, I hate the cold. Give me a nice beach any day."

"I know exactly what you mean, miss."

"Engineer Bob!" Alice exclaimed cheerfully, giving the old engineer an unexpected hug, "How are you?"

"I'm sorry to cut the reunion short, Alice, but we should go and meet with the General…"

"Oh, yeah, of course. I'll catch you later, Bob."

Straightening his hat (which had come askew in the suddenness of the hug), he gave her a wave, "See you around, miss!"

"So," Alice said, turning back to Leia, "now that we're here, what exactly is the Rebel Alliance up to? I mean, we already blew up the Death Star…what's next on the list?"

"Well," Leia said, with a small sigh, "our top priority is getting all of our troops off Yavin and safely here. Then…well. I might have misled you if you think we're blowing up major Imperial weapons every other day. Mostly it's little things: intercepting communications, sabotaging vessels, stealing supplies and so on."

"Riiight…you know, it's quite comforting to hear that, actually."

"Really? How so?"

"Well, stuff like that sounds a lot more manageable than, 'Day after tomorrow, direct assault on the Emperor, nine o'clock'."

Leia laughed, "I don't think we're quite there yet."

"I'm sure you will be," Alice said cheerily, "I mean, how long a gap can there be between movies anyway?"

"…What?"

"Princess Leia!" They glanced up to see a fatherly looking man in a puffy jacket walking towards them.

"General Rieekan," Leia said, going directly into princess mode, "it's good to see you."

"Good to see you too, your highness. And your companion?"

"Miss Alice Miller. She's a friend."

"Hello. Alice Miller. Friend."

"Ah," he said, giving Alice a warm smile and a handshake, "welcome to Hoth, Miss Miller. Your chambers have already been prepared, your highness. I can, of course arrange some for Miss Miller as well."

"Thank you, General. That would be ideal."

"Thanks," Alice piped up, gratefully.

"Not at all. But I'm glad you've arrived, we have a lot to discuss…"

"General, perhaps Alice might be given a tour of the base while we talk?" She turned to Alice with a small smile, "Something to keep you occupied."

"Ooh," Alice said cheerfully, "that sounds good."

"Of course," Rieekan said, beckoning a young woman in a fluffy coat over, "Private Falern, would you give Miss Miller a brief tour of the base? Your shift is over, I assume?"

"Yes, sir."

"Very good. Miss Miller, I hope to see you again soon."

"Bye! It was nice to meet you!"

He nodded politely, and Leia waved as they rounded a corner and disappeared.

Alice turned to her new companion and found a pretty East Asian woman smiling at her, "Hi, welcome to Hoth. I'm Liana."

"Oh," Alice said, brightly, "hi! I'm Alice."

"Let's get started with this tour, then. What do you want to see?"

"Well…I've been to the main hangar, and I've been here. And that's about it. So…everywhere you think will be useful. You guys have a dining room-type thing, right?"

"Of course," Liana said, smiling, "this way."

Liana, it turned out, was quite the chatterbox. She took Alice to all the major locations around the base: canteen, main hangar, main control room, and living quarters. As she guided Alice around, she told her all about herself; her home planet, her family, and her work in the rebellion as a communications officer. Her job sounded to Alice a bit like a telephone operator from back on Earth in the forties, she was in charge of making sure the right messages got through to the right people.

"That sounds really cool," Alice said, enviously, "you have a position of responsibility and purpose and you contribute to the rebellion…I wonder if Leia will give me a job…wow, look at me, actively seeking employment. That doesn't sound like me at all."

Liana frowned, "Don't you have a job already?"

"What? Nooo. Unless you count following Luke Skywalker around as a job. I'm not even part of the Rebel army technically, just a civilian attaché, if you will-"

"Hang on, I remember you!" Liana's eyes lit up, "You're the one everyone was talking about on Yavin."

"Um, were they? That can't be-"

"You're dating Commander Skywalker, right?"

Alice nearly choked on her own saliva in her shock. "What?" She yelped, coughing, "Who told you that?"

"Someone saw you kissing him before the Battle of Yavin and…" Liana paused, looking disappointed, "So you're not together?"

Trying to regain some of her composure Alice said, "No, no we're not. We're just friends. And we've only known each other for like…a week, max. Probably even less, but I've lost count. Have you noticed that it's really hard to keep track of time in space?"

Liana hummed, still looking a little bummed out that the rumours about Luke's love life weren't true, "Guess it must just have been gossip then. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked in the first place. Anyway, here we are back in the main hangar. Do you need anything else before I go?"

"Nope," Alice said, catching a tell-tale glimpse of blue engineer suit from across the hangar, "I'm good. See you around, Liana! And thanks for the tour."

"Bye, Alice."

As Liana moved away, Alice skipped off towards the wrinkly little figure of Engineer Bob, "Hey, old chum! Told you I'd come back. Whatcha doing?"

"Hello, miss. I'm trying to fix the heating in this hangar so we can start defrosting the ships. The speeders that came in a couple of days ago with the first of us are already useless, and I expect her highness's ship will be likewise inoperable in a matter of hours."

Spotting an opportunity to get some work experience so that maybe Leia would offer her a job so she actually had something to do all day, Alice said casually, "Oh…d'you need some help? I mean, I can't actually fix things, but I can carry tools and stuff."

"Don't put yourself down, miss," Bob said, apparently not recognising Alice as the technology repelling creature she was.

"I'm serious. But honestly, I'd be happy to help. I feel pretty useless most of the time around here, so…"

"Well, then of course, miss, and thank you. If you could please fetch a laser soldering gun from my toolbox over there…"

Teehee…toolbox. "No problem."

This more or less set the tone for the rest of Alice's afternoon – Bob described things for her and she hurried off to get them, some times more successfully than others.

As evening began to set in however, Alice decided it was getting pretty cold in the hangar, and waving Bob a cheerful goodbye, set off to try and find the main control room and Leia. Right, mustn't let Liana down. She was very specific with her directions, so finding my way shouldn't be too hard…

Turns out it was too hard. Not too long after starting out, Alice found herself in a completely unfamiliar stretch of corridor – even worse, she couldn't spot anyone to ask for directions. …Oh, yay. This is like my Bronze Duke of Edinburgh expedition all over again. Well, at least it's not raining.

She wandered on a bit further and was just about to turn a corner when she heard an odd sound halfway between a baa and a quack. What the…?

She retraced her steps, following the source of the noise until she found a doorway into a large, brightly lit room full of…creatures. Whatever they were, they were odd looking things, a weird fusion of camel, dinosaur and giraffe with thick, coarse fur, tiny little t-rex arms and long necks. The one that stood closest to Alice was being brushed by a young woman with pale skin and dark brown hair, and as she rubbed down its neck, it let out that odd honking, quacking noise again.

Er…has someone been running some really twisted experiments?

A young soldier turned round suddenly, caught her staring and asked, "Can I help you?"

"What are these…things?"

He grinned, "They're called tauntauns – they're indigenous to the planet."

"They stink," Alice commented, cupping her hand over her mouth.

"That's true," he said, "but since our speeders aren't working, we're using them to run patrols outside. They move well on the snow and can withstand cold temperatures long enough for us to get our job done."

"I see," she said, and was about to leave, when suddenly, the man peered at her, and said, "Hey, you're that friend of Luke Skywalker, the guy that blew up the Death Star, right?"

"Um, yeah," she said, slightly put out that it seemed everyone knew her simply as Luke Skywalker's friend, but knowing in her heart of hearts that it was a completely valid assessment. At least this guy didn't seem to think that she and Luke were dating. "Alice Miller, good to meet you."

"Well, next time you see Commander Skywalker, could you just tell him that all of us are really grateful to him? He saved all of our lives back there on Yavin."

Alice saw he was sincere and softened towards him slightly. "Sure. Of course, I'll tell him. First chance I get. Hey, listen, what's your name?"

"I'm Tal."

"Good to meet you, Tal," she said, smiling, "have fun with your…tomtoms…"

"Tauntauns," he corrected, smiling.

"Tauntauns," she repeated, "got it."

Alice left the room and started to walk, only realising when she was halfway down the corridor that she still had no idea where she was going. Good one, Alice, forgetting to ask for directions…

"Alice!"

She blinked, and grinned, "Leia! Your timing is perfect, mon petit choufleur!"

"...What?"

Alice frowned, "I think I just called you my little cauliflower. Funny what you remember, isn't it. I was coming to ask you, do you know where my bedroom is?"

"Oh, yes, of course. I'll take you there. Come on."

They started to walk, Alice skipping every other step to keep herself warm.

"So, Alice, I noticed that you seemed to have struck up quite a friendship with that engineer fellow. Did you enjoy working with him today?"

"Bob? Yeah, he's great. I had fun."

"Good," she said, beaming. Alice blinked, a little taken aback by her enthusiasm as she continued, "It would be a great help to us if you kept working with the engineers, and with our salvagers, perhaps as a kind of go-between to let them know what parts they need to be looking out for on their supply runs? Most of our administrative officers are still back on Yavin Four, overseeing the move."

Alice could only stare at Leia, feeling a wave of gratitude warm enough to make her forget the chill of the icy corridor was over her. This woman, who was already so incredibly brilliant and clever and important, was also kind enough to see that Alice, inept though she was, wanted to help. I think she might just be the best friend I've ever had. Sorry Emi.

The princess raised her eyebrows, looking faintly amused by Alice's dumbfounded expression. Finding her voice, Alice managed to stutter out, "Leia, you're literally a mind reader. Yes, I would love to help, that would be amazing."

Leia nodded once, evidently satisfied. She led the two of them round a corner and paused suddenly, gesturing at a door to her right, "This is your room. I hope you'll find it comfortable. I had your clothes from earlier cleaned and sent a few new suits. Standard uniform, but they should fit and keep you warm."

"Thanks, that's brilliant," Alice said, still feeling humbled by the fact that Leia had found time to think of her amongst all the other million things she had to think about.

"There's something else, before I go," Leia said, her eyes darting down to the floor briefly, then back to Alice's face, "before you can start in the position I've proposed, you'll have to go through a brief series of examinations. Just to officially induct you into the army."

Alice frowned, "What kind of examinations? Like…written ones?"

"No, no," said Leia, waving a hand in a perfect show of dismissal, "just to check your physical health."

"Oh." She considered, "Well, I guess that's fine."

"Excellent." For some reason, Leia looked relieved, "Well then, someone will be around to take you through the tests first thing in the morning. Thank you, Alice, the Rebellion welcomes your support."

"Happy to give it," Alice said, feeling distinctly bemused, "see you tomorrow."

With one last nod and a brilliant smile, the princess departed, leaving a slightly uneasy Alice behind her.


The next day, Alice was abruptly awoken by a very loud banging on her door. With a groan of protest, she lifted her head from her warm pillow and shouted, "Who is it?"

She got no reply; but after a slight pause, the knocking started again. ...Why? Feeling grumpier than usual, Alice got slowly (very slowly) to her feet, yawned hugely, staggered over to the door and slammed the opening switch. The door slid smoothly back to reveal a short man with a bristly moustache and some rather excellent sideburns. ...What?

"Alice Miller?" His voice was sharp and very loud - far too loud, in Alice's opinion, for this early in the morning.

She stared at him, apprehensive. "Yes…?"

"Princess Leia has instructed me to oversee your training. I am Captain Starn. Hmm…a little small, but you look healthy enough."

"Um…thank you? Wait, what? What training?"

He frowned at her as if she were being deliberately dense. "Fitness, firearms and hand-to-hand combat training. Compulsory for all members of the Rebel Alliance."

"What? I thought-"

"Hurry up! Get dressed."

"…But-"

"Now, soldier!"

"Fine!"

What is happening?!

Utterly bewildered, Alice threw on her clothes as quickly as she could and went to the door to find Starn still standing there, looking as though he hadn't moved a muscle in all the time that she'd been getting ready.

"Uh…"

"Follow me," he said, cutting her off before she could even begin to formulate a question. What?! Still, completely clueless as to what was actually happening, all she could do was to follow Captain Starn, power-walking to keep up with his extremely quick marching. He led her across the entire base, including through what looked like a changing room packed with male rebel soldiers, who all stared at her as she passed. She felt heat building in her cheeks and kept her eyes firmly on the floor. Leia, I'm going to kill you…

Suddenly, Captain Bristly came to an abrupt halt, so abrupt, in fact, that she slammed into his back. It was quite muscly, so she sort of bounced back off again and tried to look innocent when he spun to face her. "We'll start with the basic physical checks."

Alice hadn't thought that a base that had been put together in a matter of days, by a tiny group of rebels, on an ice planet would have had a training room. Turned out it did. A very mean training room with an assault course, and sciencey treadmills and even a virtual shooting range. And Starn insisted on putting Alice through every single activity, just to make sure she was physically eligible to be a member of the rebel army.

By the end of the day, she felt like she'd run a marathon. Wearing steel toe-capped boots. And carrying a twenty kilo rucksack. In thirty degree heat. Blindfolded.

"Is that it? Did I pass?" She panted, feeling a slight and vaguely worrying trembling throughout all her muscles, that probably meant she was about to collapse.

He stared at her disapprovingly, as if he expected her to be able to exercise twice as much and still be able to actually walk back to her room.

"Pass? Miss Miller, those were simply aptitude tests to see what level you're already at. Judging from your performance, a great deal of work is going to be required before you take your final assessment to assure your entry into the rebel army."

"But all I'm supposed to be doing is helping the engineers organise tools and things," she said, in a small voice, "I didn't think I'd need to know how to fight anyone."

"Currently, that is your assignment, yes," Starn said, looking impatient, "but we do not know when or how the situation will change. I am here to prepare you today so you don't get killed tomorrow. Understood?"

Feeling more than a little miserable, Alice nodded.

"I can't hear you, cadet."

"Yes, sir."

"Meet me here tomorrow morning at 0600 hours. Dismissed."

She raised a wobbly arm in a salute, and spun on her heels, wincing at the pain in her muscles as soon as her face was turned away from him. Feeling distinctly sorry for herself, Alice limped her way through the base to the main control room, where she found Leia and several important people talking about important things. She lurked in the corner, eyeing the princess mutinously until finally, she turned away from her conversation to see Alice glaring at her.

"Alice. How are you?"

"I've been better. I had some tests today." She narrowed her eyes but tried to avoid doing anything else. Everywhere hurt when she moved.

"Ah." Leia took this information, pieced it together with the murderous look in Alice's eyes, and wisely took a step back, "And how were they?"

"Tiring," she said, "but more importantly, they were not, as I had understood them to be, little health checks, like shining a light in someone's eyes or testing their hearing."

Leia raised her hands apologetically, "I may have misrepresented the content of the tests…but they are necessary to enter the army, and I thought it would be good for you to know how to defend yourself. We're safe here for a little while, but we don't know when we'll be forced to leave. You should be ready."

Alice hmphed. She could see the sense in Leia's words, but didn't want to admit it. "Alright. But don't expect me to forgive you until after my body stops hurting."

Leia smiled slightly, "Very well. Now, perhaps you would like to retire to your rooms? Your clothes are a bit…damp."

Almost beyond caring, Alice glanced down at her rather sweaty clothes. "Fine. I'll see you in the morning. Some of us have an early start." She tried one more time to evil Leia, but the princess had already turned away, and thus escaped the death glare. Traitor…

The next morning, Alice woke up in even more pain than she'd been in the day before; all the aches and bruises from yesterday had apparently doubled in severity overnight, and she was incredibly stiff. Kill me now. She got to her feet with a groan, and very slowly made her way through the base to the canteen, then to the training room, where, as promised, Captain Starn was waiting for her.

"Today, Miss Miller," he said, at a volume she thought was inappropriately loud for six o'clock in the morning, "we will be teaching you to use a firearm. The princess informed me that you have never used one before. I do not find that difficult to believe."

"Correct," she said, trying for enthusiasm, "one hundred percent. Accurate. Spot on-"

"That's enough."

"Sorry."

"This is the standard issue blaster we give to our troops." He held out a large, rifle-esque gun, which looked really rather heavy.

Alice bit her lip, "Um…I don't think…"

He raised an eyebrow and looked pleased with her good sense, "No. Neither do I. This is the weapon you will be using." From a rack littered with similar weapons, he plucked a smaller blaster, more the size of a handgun. He displayed it to her, but when she reached out to take it, he snatched it away.

"Oh, no, not yet, Miller. Right. Here's the handle. Here's the trigger. Here's the safety catch. Even when the safety is on, you never point the weapon at someone outside of a battle environment. Do not drop it, keep it aimed at the floor while carrying it outside of a holster, and always keep your finger away from the trigger until the last possible moment. Got that?"

Alice tilted her head on one side. "So…it's a bit like carrying scissors?"

"…What?"

"You know…always cover the blades with your hand, point it at the floor, don't run with them…no?"

"No." Looking as though he would probably regret his decision, he held the blaster out towards her, handle-first.

Alice took it gingerly with two fingers, trying to touch as little of it as possible. True, she'd used the blaster Han had given her on board the Death Star, but only the sort of...clubbing end. And as much as she resented Starn for his ruthless 'testing' the day before, she really didn't want to accidentally shoot him.

Starn gave an exasperated huff and wrapped her fingers roughly around the handle of the gun, repositioning her grip. "Put your thumb here. No, not there, here. You'll drop it at the first sign of trouble if you hold it like that. And what did I say about keeping your fingers away from the trigger?"

Eventually, he was satisfied with how she was holding it, and got around to actually teaching her how to fire it and hit what she was aiming for. Alice hadn't seen many action films but in the few she had, the people with guns didn't seem to take that much time perfecting their technique. Apparently, that all went on behind the scenes: Starn spent hours correcting Alice's stance, right down to her foot placement before even letting her lift the gun, painstakingly transforming her approach from 'hanging on with both hands and keep blasting until you hit what you're aiming for' to 'actually attempting to aim'. Unfortunately, Alice's aim wasn't very good.

"Argh!" Alice complained, pulling off the simulation goggles, and chucking them dispiritedly to the floor, "It's so difficult! I'll never be able to hit anything, unless it's an accident."

"Agreed," Starn said, sounding, for once, more weary than she was, "perhaps it's time we take a break. You have twenty-five minutes to eat, then I want you straight back here. Understood?"

"Uh…yes?"

He sighed, and departed, shaking his head.


Thanks for reading, and please review!