Ahsoka followed Jako and Dubs deep into the forest, by now she was starting to wish she had her lightsaber with her. For an hour she was riding with Dubs on a speederbike while Jako followed them close behind. The lush green canopy for the most part blocked the sun from view leaving the forest below illuminated in a greenish tint. the whole place felt wild, untamed and unfit for civilized people, who where they looking for out here?

soon a clearing came into view with a one room building that looked like a large shed ordered off the holonet and behind her was a old rusty starship affectionately named the womp rat that reminded her of the twilight when she and her master first found her. Before they reached the clearing they stopped and the two dismounted their bikes, upon closer inspection she saw a sign

"Trespassers will be shot" she read aloud

"then its a good thing we are all friends here" Jako said

they made their way to the small shack and Dubs knocked loudly on the door

"Flintan? you still kicking?"

after the first knock the door slid partway open revealing a empty cot and a crate with a data pad on top but nothing else.

"Whatever you do, make no sudden movements" Dubs whispered hastily

Ahsoka went on high alert and using the force she tried to sense anything, when she thought she felt something she realized it was too late as she heard a blaster fire and she could only help but watch as a bolt flew out of the canopy and contacted with Jako's helmet sending the headgear flying off and sent the large cathar landing on his rump. she used the force to locate the sniper and was about to use the force to pull his sorry carcass out of his perch in the trees when Dubs yelled at her to stop.

she managed to refrain and after a moment she realized nothing happened, except for Jako getting off his rump and started yelling.

"You ungrateful lout! we came here in the middle of blasted nowhere to make a business offer for you and this is how you greet us? why I still tolerate you is beyond me."

a rope dangled down the tree and a man slid down it landing hard on his feet. he was human she gathered, he was covered from head to toe. he wore a tanned bantha hide long coat that almost touched his boots and finger-less gloves as well as a brown wide brimmed hat and a scarf that covered his face. what skin was showing was weathered and looked about as tough as leather with forest green eyes that never left her own. strapped to his shoulder was a DC-15 blaster rifle with a sniper scope mod. but while he had no weapons in his hands he was cagey and never let his guard down.

"I don't remember giving anyone an invitation to waltz right into my home, you didn't even bother to message me otherwise" a husky voice drawled out.

Dubs manged to separate the two and pleaded their case.

"our fault, this kind of thing was a once in a lifetime chance that we couldn't let slip through our hands. This is former Jedi Ahsoka Tano, and she is expressing interest in our little community so we where hoping you could show her the ropes?" he tried hopefully

the weary marksman took off his scarf to to reveal is weathered face with an old scar on his chin, he was perhaps only a few years older than her. he held out his hand and she firmly shook it and offered her a warm smile.

"the names Flintan"

"Ahsoka will do fine"

he didn't take much note as he turned back to Dubs again "are you sure this is the best idea you could come up with?"

Dubs gave him an exasperated look "the only time you seem to be happy about any of my ideas is if it includes you spending time secluded in your damned forest it seems. she is an experienced in space combat but she needs to learn the finer details, on top of the fact that a republic cruiser won't be coming to her rescue every time she's in over her head we need someone to teach her how to thrive as a loner. so sorry we decided to go to the expert first."

the two men glared at each other and Jako folded his arms across his chest as the two watched.

finally Flintan relented "i suppose i was going to be out and about soon anyways. I'll do some searching and see if i can get her a ship and a crew."

Dubs sighed in relief and Jako's comlik started ringing. he re-donned his helmet and said

"Got a new lead, I'm heading out. you coming Dubs?"

"Ya right behind, you. remember Flintan, play nice.

the man rolled his eyes as the two captains took to their bikes and sped off. he started heading to the shack and she followed suit, once they were inside he shut the door behind them and latched it shut. he powered on his data pad and took a seat on the crate, he gestured to the cot

"gonna be here a while, might as well make yourself comfortable."

she did and soon all was quiet, she thought about making idle conversation but by the look of how engrossed he was with his work she decided against it. the sun started to set on the horizon and the man never stopped pulling up endless pages of data and scanning them quickly. since she decided he might very well go at this all night she decided to let herself fall asleep.

when her mind woke up again she felt something nudge her waking her from her slumber, she tried to shoo it off and tried to sink deeper into the pleasant warmth. but that idea didn't last long as she felt the warmth torn away from her, she opened her eyes sleepy to see Flintan towering over her blaster rifle in arms in the night.

"get up, we're leaving"

she sat up and began stretching and he made his way outside and she heard his old starship fire up, deciding that she didn't want to be left behind she got up and made her way to the ship and closed the door behind her. Flintan sat in the pilots and she took the only remaining seat but dared not touch anything as he got the womp rat out of orbit and set in the coordinates before entering hyperspace.