Chapter 124

Ari was sitting in a small room, similar to the ones she had stayed in since joining the Rebellion. The bed was connected to the floor and it was regulation size with the familiar thick blankets.

However, she was not sitting on the bed. Instead, she was situated on the cold metal floor, legs folded beneath her, hands resting palm down on her legs. Usually, it would not be a comfortable position at all. Yet, she was not focusing on her physical discomfort.

Instead, she was focusing on other things, things that were internal. All of her thoughts had been running through her mind like a herd of banthas, untamable and unstoppable.

The disks were on the desk, though Ari was not looking at them. In fact, her blue eyes were shut, her face relaxed. It had taken some time until her body relaxed enough so that she could concentrate on the Force.

She had not received instruction to do so, but she was worried about Luke and the others going to Bakura. She also missed Siri, and that, in turn, made her think of her own family. Tied into the feelings of sadness were feelings of joy from their triumph over the Empire. They were going to rebuild the Republic and the Jedi Order. They all knew that the road would be long and difficult. Yet that thought was not a disheartening one.

Slowly, all the worries and thoughts that Ari was plagued with started to settle, like sand settling back to the ground after a strong wind. She knew there was not much she could do about the circumstances that had occurred except to accept them and move on. That did not mean she had to forget. She never could, and she knew it would be difficult to move on like some thought. Ari would never completely move on, but she would not let the memories keep her from her duty or from living her life.

As for what had yet to occur, the blonde haired young woman knew she could only do the will of the Force. She did not know the future and knew that even if she saw a vision of the future, it could change. The future was always changing, always in motion. Nothing was certain except in the past. Even then, the truth was not always clear.

While Ari was withdrawn in a state of meditation, it did not mean that she was completely disconnected from the outside world. Especially not want a blaring sound was heard, so loud it brought her out of her state of relaxation with her hands pressed over her ears.

R4 was beeping and Ari glanced at the translator. "I don't know what it is," she answered as she got to her feet. She was surprised at how stiff her legs felt. She must have stayed in meditation longer than she had thought.

Her gaze fell on her desk, where the disks were, and she sighed. These would have to wait.

She pulled on her boots, which had been resting beside her. She had taken them off for comfort since it was uncomfortable to wear them for long hours. It was especially true after days of falling asleep still fully dressed.

"Come on, R4, let's go see what is going on," she had to speak loudly over the blaring alarms.

It had not taken them long to enter the hallway and Ari saw a few others hurrying out of their rooms. Some of them had a dazed look, as if they had just woken up, which was possible. A number of Rebels had said they planned on sleeping more now that the fighting was over. It was clear that some of those under Imperial control did not take defeat well.

Ari and R4 got onto one of the lifts, which would soon be a lot more crowded. She pushed the button that would take her and the droid to the correct level. They stopped only once to pick up two others. One was a male human and the other was an alien that Ari could not identify right away. Even though she traveled to various places, there were still many alien races that she had never come across.

"I got a comm. They told me that there are some TIEs out there causing trouble," the man remarked to them.

The alien replied in a strange language, which was made up of clicks.

The man nodded in response. "Yes, it does not sound bad, but I heard it was a whole squad. They were returning to the Death Star and saw it was no longer there. They must have tracked one of our ships to here."

"You think that is the case?" Ari asked.

The man glanced over at her and a moment later, a flash of recognition came over his features. "Well, that is just a theory I had, Lieutenant."

Ari nodded in reply as the lift doors opened, allowing them to exit on the main floor, all of them heading to the bridge. The young woman was more used to being called by her rank, yet she found it still a bit odd to be recognized. Yes, she was friends with some of the heroes of the Rebellion, yet she was not one of them, was she?

Upon entering the bridge, Ari saw a lot of activity. The pilots were getting their assignments and others were calling to one another in a number of different languages. While some might find it chaotic, she found it familiar, though she wished it was not. They had all be in so many battles, she knew everyone wished there would never be a need for any fighting on land, in space, or any other location.

Such thoughts were just wishful thinking though, and Ari knew they could not waste time on such things. She walked with purpose up to the man who seemed to be in charge. "I am ready for my assignment."

The man raised an eyebrow in surprise. "I don't have you assigned to anything, Lieutenant."

"Is there an available ship?" Ari asked. She could not just stand by and not do anything. She knew more ships would appear once they learned of this location. They had to end this battle as quickly as possible.

"Many are still being repaired, so we have a very limited amount of ships. More pilots than ships if you can believe that."

Ari glanced at the monitors that showed the hanger bay and the ships there. "What about those?" she pointed to a group of ships of various makes and models. "Are those repaired?"

"They are, but they are not part of the Alliance's fleet. They belong to individuals who are a part of the Alliance."

"Surely they won't mind if we borrow a ship," Ari insisted as she glanced out the viewport, seeing TIES sweeping past the conjoined ships, shooting at everything they could.

"I have not had a chance to contact any of them. We would need permission," the man explained.

Ari sighed, frustrated. She felt like she was just going in a circle. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly to control herself. They had handled issues much larger than this. Due to her mind being clearer, she was now more connected to the Force. Almost immediately, a thought came to her.

"Does one of them belong to a Siri Kenobi? Or it could be under the name Siri Tachi," she added, remembering her maiden name.

The man paused and pulled up the registry from the computer terminal next to him. He entered the names and looked a bit surprised. "It appears there is one. But Lieutenant, I-"

Ari cut him off. "She would allow me use of it. She is now one with the Force, so it will be hard to ask permission, but I can assure you, there would be no objections."

The man sighed then showed her to listing for Siri's ship so she could take note of the model and number. She had never seen a ship like this, but she was fairly certain that it would be at least similar to the Y-Wing and X-wing.

She gave a nod then hurried out of the bridge, hearing R4 beep as the droid rushed after her to keep up. The droid was asking her a question and she checked the translator, not even pausing.

"No, but how hard could it be to handle it?" she repeated.

R4 gave another beep and Ari couldn't help but smile as they got onto the lift. "You are starting to sound as worried as Threepio," she teased. Then, when R4 gave her an electronic raspberry, she laughed as the doors closed and they descended to the hanger bay.