Chapter 99

AN: Sorry it took so long, but thank you to everyone for all your wonderful reviews and interest in the story!

Hair past her shoulders, in need of being cut a few inches. Skin dry from the heat and gritty sand. These were things that Ari noticed when she looked in the mirror that hung above the sink. However, her eyes were sparkling and she was smiling. She was dressed now in a comfortable tunic and pants. Her belt hung comfortably around her waist, and she could feel her lightsaber resting against the side of her leg. She had gotten it back from Lando and even went through a few of the drills on board the Falcon. However, she was very tired and she ended up sleeping for a few hours in the small quarters. She awoke feeling much more refreshed and ready for whatever they were needed for at the rendezvous point.

Once arriving however, she was thankful to be given a small room aboard the largest Star Cruiser. In her room there was a simple bed, dresser and desk. The second doorway in the room led to a small refresher. While the shower was only a sonic shower, she was thankful to get all the sand off of her. She was also happy to learn that her clothes were there. While she was grateful that Leia had lent her some clothes, she was much happier wearing her own. The detested blue dancing outfit had been put in one of the drawers of the dresser, pushed far back. While she never planned on wearing it again, something had stopped her from destroying it.

A beeping sound came from next to her as she worked on braiding her hair so it would stay out of the way. Out of the corner of her eye she saw R4. "Yes, I know the meeting is soon. I will be there," she assured the droid. She had received two messages in the short time she had been at the rendezvous point. The first was of a meeting which all rebels were to attend. The second was more personalized from General Madine who wanted to meet with her and a few others. Ari assumed that Lando, Han, Leia and Chewie would be the others he had referred to.

Once she was done with her hair, she splashed some cold water onto her face, which helped refresh her and was a welcome relief to her dry skin. She patted her face with a towel before nodding to R4. "Alright, now we can go."

The droid beeped in reply, clearly ready for the meeting. Ari felt bad for her mechanical companion, not liking how often she had left the droid behind. However, it was for the best each time. She wondered if this would be a time when she would once again have to leave R4.

Getting to the main briefing room, she saw that a handful of people were already there, including Han, Lando, Leia, Chewie, Threepio, Wedge, General Madine, an elegant woman who appeared to be in her fifties and a salmon colored Mon Calamari.

Ari moved toward General Madine, R4 at her side. "General," she gave a small nod to him as she approached him. The General gave her a tight smile. It was clear that he had a lot of pressure weighing down on him.

"It is good to see you, Lieutenant," he held out his hand, shaking hers.

"You as well," she replied.

"I am sure you know why I have called this meeting," he started then paused, looking down at R4, who was still at Ari's side.

"Oh, General, this is my co-pilot," she gave a small smile. "R4. You can say whatever you would like, he would never betray us." R4 beeped in response and Ari showed the translator to Madine. The droid had said it was programmed to destroy itself if captured by the Empire. Ari knew that losing the droid would be hard if that ever did happen, since R4 was a friend to her.

Madine gave a nod, showing that he accepted that before speaking again. "We have found that the Empire has not been slow in attempting to crush the Rebellion. In fact, we have heard through our spies that there was at least one Imperial spy whom was hired by Jabba under false information. General Calrissian said there were many who would trade sides depending on monetary rewards, but none that he could think of that worked for the Empire. Do you have any thoughts of who it could be?"

Ari was about to shake her head, but then a thought came to her in a flash. It all made sense now. Everything fit together. How could she not of seen it before? "Arica," she muttered. The other woman had to be the spy. She had arrived very shortly after Ari, and the change in the Force around her was intense. If she was Force sensitive, like Ari had thought, then she could be even more of a danger than first suspected. First a Force sensitive person and now she was also an Imperial spy.

"Arica?" the General asked after a moment, realizing that Ari would not say more without prompting.

"She was another dancer there. She arrived after me and nothing seemed right about her. She must have been the spy."

"But it could have been anyone?"

Ari shook her head. "I know that, but I just sensed something from her that I did not get from anyone else. Not even Boba Fett or Jabba himself."

The General looked at her for another moment then nodded. He knew that she, like Luke, was Force sensitive, and if she said she had felt something, he would believe her. "Was that her real name?"

Ari shook her head. "I doubt it. I never gave them my real name either. It would be too risky to give a real name."

Madine sighed. It would be nearly impossible to track someone among the billions in the galaxy. "Well, thank you Lieutenant." With that the topic of conversation changed and his tone became a bit more friendly and conversational. "Now, I would like to introduce you to two very important beings."

He led Ari to where the woman and Mon Calamari were standing. "Lieutenant, this is Admiral Ackbar," he introduced the alien who held out his hand to shake hers.

"It is good to meet you," he said, voice gravely, yet held an edge of authority. He was dressed in a white uniform along with insignia which showed his rank.

"You as well," Ari replied. She had heard a little about Ackbar from others, noting many of his accomplishments. He had been with the Rebellion since the Empire had formed, taking over the democratic government.

"And this is Mon Mothma." The woman's stern expression disappeared slightly as she also shook Ari's hand, a small smile gracing her features for a moment.

"Good to meet you, Lieutenant," Mon Mothma greeted her.

"It is good to meet you too," Ari smiled. While both leaders seemed to have the weight of the universe on their shoulders, they were still very kind people, and she could tell that even though they had just met.

"We have read some of your reports. They have been helpful," Mon Mothma remarked and Ari felt a slight heat in her cheeks at the compliment.

"Thank you, ma'am."

"That is part of the reason we requested your presence," General Madine added. "You have proven yourself often. We could use your skills on this next mission."

"How so?" Ari asked. She felt somewhat touched because of how highly they thought of her, but knew that whatever they would ask of her would be very important.

"We need a strike team leader to go the forest moon of Endor. General Solo is leading the operation, but he suggested you as the leader of the main group," Madine explained.

"Would you be willing to do that? We will explain more about at this meeting," Mon Mothma spoke up in her calm manner, nodding to the door where numerous Rebels were filing into the room, talking amongst themselves.

Ari nodded after a moment of thinking it over. She did not know much about the mission, but she could not turn down such a chance. Not only had Han thought she was good for the position, but so had the others. "I am honored," she told them all and got at least faint smiles in return.

"We will discuss more of this after the meeting," Madine added as he moved away to take his place with Ackbar and Mon Mothma in the front of the room.

Ari noted that the seats were quickly filling so she took a seat about halfway up the stairs and slid into a seat to await the start of the meeting.