Chapter 3 up. Thanks to all who are reading.

The trip to Coruscant was uneventful. Traveling by Republic transport with Master Kiwiiks usually went fairly smoothly, mainly because she was an easily recognizable and highly respected member of the Jedi council. People still gave me less than friendly looks when I was with her, but they always refrained from pointing a weapon in my direction.

To be honest, I was not shown open hostility over my appearance often. If it did happen, it was usually a soldier or freedom fighter, who had seen too much war with the Empire, who felt the need to be hostile towards me. Everytime, the situation had been handled peacefully.

I was still thankful to be traveling with my master.

When we arrived on Coruscant, we were informed that the transport I was to take to Hoth was currently waiting on me to depart.

"So, what do I do while I wait for you to arrive?" I asked as we made our way to my next flight. The spaceport was relatively empty. I had only been in the Coruscant spaceport twice before and each time the place had been almost deserted. I figured it was a matter of security. The fewer people hanging around the area, the fewer security risks. After the attack by the Empire so many years ago, the senate wasn't taking any chances.

"I want you to get acclimated to the environment. You've never visited an ice planet. They are an entirely different animal that what you have seen before. Meditate on the mission to come and try to stay on the base. That being said, if something happens and your assistance as a Jedi is needed, do what you think is best. I wouldn't have you sitting in the base meditating if your time is best spent helping those in need. I trust your judgement. With any luck, I will join you in a week or two."

I nodded. "May the Force be with you, master."

"And with you, my padawan."

Master Kiwiiks left the hanger and I got on board the waiting transport. I was greeted by a friendly face on the ramp.

Captain Travis Jerrly stood at the top of the ramp, scowling, but I could tell the expression was forced. Captain Jerrly had been the commander of several transports I had taken in the past. He had never once looked at me as if I were the enemy. He often seemed to go out of his way to make sure I was respected on his ship and had made a special effort to befriend me during long trips.

"You do know I am holding up a whole shipload of supplies for our good men and women on Hoth because of you." He said, still fighting not to smile.

"Hey, don't blame me. I wasn't flying the transport." I replied. The Captain reached out and took my bag.

"Good thing. You'd probably have crashed it into a moon or some other planetary object." He joked, turned to enter the ship before this smile could come out. I followed, chuckling.

"I'm a Jedi, Captain, not a starpilot. If I were a starpilot, I could fly myself to Hoth and wouldn't need to be carted around by the likes of you."

"You're lucky I put up with you, ya know." He said, turning and smiling at me. His mustache was as bushy as ever, but was now starting to show signs of greying. He was also starting to sport a softer gut and had a few more lines around his eyes. You could tell the years of space travel were starting to age him, but the Captain still looked good for a man in his late forties. When I traveled with him, I liked to image that he was what my father would be like, only less blue with brown eyes instead of red.

"You love me, Cap, you know you do." I said, as we arrived at my cabin. The Captain opened the door for me, allowing me to enter, then followed me in, placing my bag on the bunk.

"Of course I love you, Zan. If you had been born twenty five years earlier and not a Jedi, I'd be all over you." He leaned in closer to me. "Don't tell my wife I said that."

I smiled up at him. The Cap really was a good guy. "Not to worry, your secret is safe with me. Thanks, Cap."

"Anything for you, Darlin. I only have one question for you. Why in the hell are you going to Hoth. You do know it's an ice planet, right? Snow, ice, cold and all that crap. I could think of a hundred better places to visit."

I shrugged. "Master Kiwiiks has a mission on the planet and she asked me along. I'm kinda excited to see Hoth, actually. I've never seen an ice planet before. I'm looking forward to the experience. How long will it take to get there?"

"Two days if we're lucky, three if we're not."

I groaned. I wasn't overly fond of space travel on larger transports. I could handle traveling in the smaller republic passenger ships, but the large bulk cruisers ment for cargo transport seemed to aggravate my stomach. I always seemed to get spacesick on the larger ships.

The Cap patted me on the shoulder knowingly. "You'll get use to the traveling, Master Jedi. I'll see you at six for dinner."

With a final reassuring smile he left me to settle in. Even though I had yet to adapt to space travel, I did enjoy traveling with Captain Jerrly and his crew. They were good people who didn't seem to notice or care about my species. I'd eaten all of my meals with them and I had begun to see them as friends. They made my trip bearable and I found myself looking forward to the days ahead.

Almost four days later, I exited a shuttle on the surface of the ice planet Hoth. There had been a meteor collision in our path, causing my trip to take longer than expected, but the trip was nice anyway. I even managed to only get minimally spacesick along the way.

At the end of the ramp waited a human male in his late fifties, possibly early sixties, standing at least six feet tall and wearing a cold weather enhanced military uniform. This had to be Colonel Strider Windborne, commander of Aurek base. He stood at full attention, obviously a man proud of his rank, regardless of where he was stationed. He gave me a welcoming smile, warm but not too personal.

"Welcome to Hoth, Master Jedi. I am Colonel Windborne. Am I correct in assuming you are Master Kiwiiks student?"

I chuckled. "Kinda obvious, I know. My name is Zanthia. It's nice to meet you, Colonel."

The Colonel nodded his head, then turned and led me out of the hanger bay. I looked around in wonder. This place was huge and seemed to be made entirely of ice, the metal framework of the structure being almost totally hidden by layers of ice and snow. It was actually fairly beautiful, sparkling when the lights hit the wall just right. I could see my breath as I step in line with the Colonel, having to take two steps for every one of his, to compensate for our difference in height. At only five five, he towered over me easily.

"I wasn't surprised when your Master decided to oversee the excavation of the ship personally. She sounded excited over the holo, it was the most excited I had even seen a Jedi."

I nodded. "Yes, Master Kiwiiks has had a fascination with the Gossamer for years. It's exciting to finally find it, though I hear we might not be the only ones interested."

The Colonel scoffed "That's an understatement. Local scavengers are always trying to raid dig sites for valuables and, unfortunately, we are the only ones interested in this ship's academic value. So far, we've only had a few skirmishes with one of the smaller groups of pirates, but every time we unearth another ship, it always brings out the scavengers. Sometimes even the Empire, though there has been no sign of them yet. We hope to get the ship out of here before they get wind of our discovery. If there is ancient knowledge of the Force onboard, I'd hate to have it fall into Sith hands. In any event, it'll be nice to have a couple of Jedi watching our men's backs. Working on this blasted planet is hard enough without having to constantly look over your shoulder for fear of being shot in the back."

"That is why I'm here. Master Kiwiiks told me to stay on the base and meditate on our mission, if possible, but if there is anything I can do to help you, I am at your disposal. I will not just sit idle if there is something I can do to help."

"Well, I certainly won't turn down the assistance of a Jedi. Let me give you a tour of the facility, then we'll talk about what you can do."

"Sounds like a plan."

"Is this your first time to Hoth?" He asked.

"This is my first time on any ice planet. I can't wait to go outside." I said, perhaps a little too excited.

"Trust me, you do not want to got outside any sooner than you have to. It is a frozen hell out there. It's cold inside, too, but at least we are out of the elements. The wind can be brutal. I can safely say I have lost more men to this planet than to enemy attacks. Between sudden blizzards, subzero temperatures and the local wildlife, this planet posses one hazzard after another."

As we walked around the base, the colonel pointing out various areas, the armory, the mess hall, my sleeping quarters, I noticed that even though I could see my breath, I wasn't actually cold. If anything, the long walk and my double steps to keep up with the colonel were actually keeping me warm. I took a mental note to share my observations when Master Kiwiiks arrived.

"I hear your species is well adapted to the cold."

I nodded. "So I hear. I can't really tell you for sure, since I really have no point of reference on the subject. I've never met another of my kind before."

"Really? So you didn't defect?" He asked, continuing our stroll through the facility, but slowing his pace. I didn't' have to work so hard to keep up.

"No, I was found as an infant by republic troops. I grew up on Coruscant until it was discovered that I was Force sensitive. From about the age of five on, I was raised on Tython. I'm afraid I know about as much about the Chiss as Republic intelligence."

"That explains your lack of an accent." The colonel said as we entered a particularly large and busy area.

"And finally, this is the command center." We approached a younger man, probably near his mid thirties, with a slight build and who only stood a few inches taller than me, though I had to outweigh him by at least ten pounds. He stood at attention upon our approach. "This is my second in command, Captain Lanus Kooper. Captain, this is Zanthia, one of the Jedi here to oversee the excavation of the most recent find out in the graveyard."

The Captain bowed slightly. "It's an honor, Master Jedi."

"How's it look out there, Captain?" The Colonel asked, taking his place at the focal point of the room. I could tell this was the place where he felt the most comfortable.

The Captain turned away from me to one of the many monitors. "Everything's quiet, for the moment, Sir. Beta team had to make an emergency stop on the way to the graveyard on account of a sudden blizzard, but they reported in that everyone has hunkered down to wait it out. They'll only be delayed a half a day or so."

"Excellent. Beta team is on its way to your dig site. The team is mostly backup troops and a handful of excavation experts. They should be able to keep the site secure until you and your Master arrive with Gamma team in a couple of weeks. You'll find nothing happens very quickly on this planet. It takes forever to get anywhere."

"Thank you for the tour, Colonel. I think I will retire to my quarters, for the time being. I wish meditate on what I have learned so far about this place."

"Very good, Master Jedi. I will alert you if anything comes up which requires your assistance. Perhaps later I can arrange a little guided tour outside, if you would like."

"That would be most agreeable. I thank you for your hospitality."

I left the control center, feeling almost comfortable with my surroundings. The Colonel had taken me around the entire base, not just to get me acclimated, but also so more of his men would see me with him. The plan seem to have worked, since I received only polite nods on my way to my quarters, no looks of confusion or fear at my presence.

I found my quarters to be simple, but comfortable, considering the environment. The air temperature was still relatively cold, but I didn't mind. Either my kind had a natural affinity to the cold or my Jedi training had made me particularly adaptive. Probably a little of each.

I sat on my bunk, folding my legs under me and I began to open my senses to my surroundings. The base was humming with life, but as I let my mind wander farther out, I found that the area around the base was just as alive. I could sense many life forms besides those of the republic, mainly larger animals. They all seemed to sense my gentle probe, but didn't seem to mind the intrusion. This made me smile. This was going to be an exciting mission. I could feel it.

To Be Continued...