Wedge had finally fallen asleep and Luke left quietly, heading towards the newly opened bar. He heard the noise from the rec. area three corridors away. By the time he reached the door, the sound was almost deafening. The place was crammed with singing, shouting, laughing, mostly inebriated personnel single mindedly intent on enjoying themselves. Somewhere beneath the cacophony he could vaguely hear the thump of music, but no one else seemed to be aware of it. He scanned the room, familiar faces bobbing out of the throng, spying the group he was looking for at the far side of the room. Pushing his way into the mass he battled towards the pilots.

Alissha Downhigher saw him first. Rising rather indecorously to a standing position she tried to wave at him, to draw his attention. But landed in a crumpled heap in the laps of the two pilots beside her, both of who laughed uproariously as she lay across them, gazing uncomprehendingly at her now empty glass. The others joined the laughter, chipping in ribald comments. Luke grinned reaching the tables at the same time as the next round of drinks. A yell went up and the tray emptied of glasses. The patient waiter attempted to clear the table of empties, half succeeded and disappeared. Someone thrust a glass into Luke's hand, mouthing something at him. Luke looked at the pilot, "What?"

Janson lurched closer, yelling, "Isn'Tennan... withyou... Sir?"

Luke glanced round the table, reaching across to grab Zev, dragging him over, "Hasn't Tennan been here?" he bellowed.

Zev looked at him, shaking his head loosely, pointing to the collection of untouched glasses of spirit in the centre of the table, "Thas herss. Damn sshame. Damn... shame. Shouldnta done it... busting her..."

Luke swore, turning away. Then he turned back, draining the beer, handing the empty glass to Zev, "I'll find her!" he hollered before beginning to push his way back to the door.

In the end it was Leia who found her. Someone had cobbled together a makeshift punch bag in one of the empty areas and Leia stood watching as the pilot slammed at it, oblivious to the Princess' presence. No finesse, just pure raw energy, pounding through her emotion in a series of punches, blocks and kicks repeated again and again in differing combinations as she tried to rid herself of the anger and self recrimination by exhausting herself. Finally her muscles began to protest, her energy all but gone. But the feelings still remained. With a scream of frustration she slammed the bag one last time, then dropped to her knees, breathing hard, "Shit!"

"Remind me to fight on your side next time."

Karrik jumped, twisting round towards the quiet voice. Then reached up to catch the towel that Leia scooped off the floor and lobbed at her, "Ma'am," she greeted, rubbing the towel across her face, climbing to her feet.

"The boys were wondering where you were."

"Oh," Tennan said, looping the towel round her neck and walking towards Leia as the Princess sat on the bench by the door.

"It's not just the demotion, is it?"

Not quite understanding just to what Leia was referring, Karrik asked defensively, "I'm sorry?"

"The punch bag, or rather, the way you were laying into it. It's not just Rieekan or the demotion is it?"

"Does it matter?"

Leia gave her a disarming smile, "It does to me. Sit down," she continued, indicating the bench. Karrik regarded her warily, but sat down next to her. Leaning forward, elbows on her knees she pulled distractedly at the ends of the towel. "Rieekan said some pretty harsh things in there," Leia said, then paused, waiting for an answer, pushing a little harder when none was forthcoming, "Like the fact that people didn't trust you."

Karrik shifted uncomfortably on the bench, then stood up, "He also said that he thought I was a good officer! Now, if you'll excuse me Ma'am, I need to wash..."

"For what it's worth," Leia called after her, knowing that she had hit a nerve, "I trust you. And Commander Skywalker trusts you." Karrik stopped dead and turned to look at Organa, frowning slightly. She opened her mouth as if to say something, then looked away. "Luke told me exactly what happened," Leia continued, "And Solo filled me in on the rest of the story." She held up her hands as Karrik shot her an incredulous, defensive look, "Don't worry, I have no intention of telling anyone what really happened. But it seems to me that you only just got there in time. That if it wasn't for your actions Wedge Antilles would be dead and Luke Skywalker in an Imperial detention centre. And Hoth would have been compromised."

"That's not the point..."

"Then what is?" Leia pressed. "Why are you so down on yourself? What's the real problem here? Talk to me! Please?"

Karrik turned away from the door, walking across the room towards the punch bag. Leia watched her as she caught hold of the bag, thinking for a moment before beginning, "Rieekan was right. Everything he said today was right. I should have gone to see him, or you, or whoever... and all that rubbish I told him about thinking Solo would get there faster..." She sighed, "The truth is that it never once, never once, occurred to me that you would mount some sort of rescue attempt. All I could think of was that I had to get Skywalker and Antilles back before Command found out. My only concern was of getting off this base before someone noticed that the fighters hadn't logged in and stopped us going. Stopped, not delayed us, stopped us!"

"Why?" Leia asked her softly.

Karrik sank to her knees, "Because that's what my senior officers in the Empire would have done." She lifted her eyes, looking at Leia, "I had to fight hard, every inch of the way to get where I was in the Imperial Navy. All the back stabbing and scheming that goes on... and I was proud of what I had done, what I had achieved. Then, as I began to realise that things weren't as the Emperor wanted us to believe, from the first time I actually realised that the Rebel Alliance was the only thing that could stop what I saw happening.... I hated what I had become, loathed everything the Empire stood for. I spent all my time terrified that someone would discover my sympathies, or that Lord Vader would arrive and see right into my soul and destroy me before I had a chance to make things right." She pulled her gaze away, looking back at the ground, "Yet the first time things get rough, I immediately start thinking like the Imperial officer I was."

"But there are others here who have joined us from the ranks of the Empire. Some of those who died at Yavin, at Bramha and all the other run-ins that we’ve had with the Empire, they had defected from the ranks of the Imperial Navy."

Karrik sighed and Leia suddenly realised just how vulnerable this young woman felt beneath the co-ordinated, calm exterior, when she said, "But as Rieekan pointed out today, my story wasn't exactly credible. And now I've wrecked what little trust I had built."

"And if you can't trust yourself...." Leia began.

"No!" Tennan said, too quickly, then continued, "Not exactly... I know who I was, and I know who I am now..."

"And right at this moment you can't trust yourself not to lapse back into your Imperial thinking and destroy the life that you've made for yourself here?"

Karrik thought for a moment, then nodded, "This place," she held her hands out, palms upwards, indicating the base, "the Alliance, it's all built on trust. I trust the tech crew to look after the fighter. Every time we go out Command trusts us to do our duties to the best of our abilities. In the middle of a fire fight you have to have the confidence in your wingcontrol, or your wingman, to be there when you need him most, and vice versa... without that you're dead, the pairings are dead, the rest of the flight are dead..."

"And if people here no longer trust you, you become a liability? Is that what you mean?"

"Yes," Karrik concurred quietly.

"But I trust you. Commander Skywalker trusts you. General Rieekan obviously still trusts you. If your Imperial training hadn't kicked in, Wedge would be dead, Luke would be lost and this base would be under attack!"

"But that's not the point!" Tennan argued, "My actions left this base vulnerable. The Falcon could have been brought down..."

"In which case they would still have had Commander Skywalker whose actions in the first place left this base vulnerable. I'm sorry, but your arguments are complete supposition. What happened, happened. What didn't, didn't. And if you’re worried about having lost everyone's trust then explain to me why the other pilots in your flight and those in Lieutenant-Commander Antilles' are drowning your sorrows in the bar! And why the words "damn shame" or something similar keep cropping up! And why they've sent out a search party just incase the General has changed his mind and dumped you in the cells!" She paused for a moment to let the words sink in, "So really, I don't see any point in all this self pity and recrimination."

Karrik gave a silent laugh, grinning, "In other words, Ma'am, your telling me to get my act together."

"Exactly!" Leia smiled, "Because if you go out the next time feeling that everyone is edgy about you being there.... something will go wrong, because your concentration won't be on the mission. And General Rieekan won't let you go out if he knows your thinking like that. He'll ground you. I'll give him no other choice."

"Is this a private party, or can anyone join in?"

Both of them turned, seeing Luke lounging against the entrance. "Women talk," Leia told him as Karrik climbed to her feet, "We were comparing notes." She stood up, smiling at Karrik, "Interesting suggestion, I'll have to try it next time. Kaffin flavoured mousse, you said?"

Karrik kept her face straight, appreciating what Leia was trying to do, "Most definitely! But only on the interesting bits."

Luke looked from one to the other, opened his mouth to ask a question, then thought better of it, shaking his head instead in bewilderment. Leia winked conspiratorially at Karrik, brushing past Luke and into the corridor.

"Ma'am?" Karrik called. The Princess stopped, turning back. "Thank you," Karrik told her. Leia smiled, giving a quick nod of understanding, then disappeared.

"There was at least eight drinks waiting for you by the time they sent a search party out," Luke said finally, breaking an uncomfortable silence.

"The Princess did mention it."

"Then the conversation drifted towards kaffin mousse."

"Something like that," Karrik laughed.

Another uncomfortable silence descended for a moment, then Luke said quietly, "Karrik, I'm sorry..."

"For what? My own stupidity?" she replied, not wanting to embarrass him by pretending that she didn't know what he was talking about. She shook her head, "It wasn't your fault, Sir."

"That doesn't stop me feeling badly about what happened," he told her.

Karrik gave a short snap of laughter, then sighed, sitting down on the bench, "Look, Sir, don't cut yourself up over this. You know as well as I do that I’d set myself up for it the moment that I refused to give a debrief." There was no bitterness in her voice, it was simply a statement of what they both knew to be true. "Even Solo’s been punished for his part in it. And you didn’t exactly get off free and easy!"

"Yeh," he said, moving to the bench and sitting down beside her, "Tauntauns!"

She grimaced, then threw him a lopsided grin before continuing, "You are not to blame for my decision, Commander. The moment I went to Solo instead of going to Command I knew I was breaking the rules. Yet I was still prepared to put up one hell of a fight to get aboard the Falcon if Chewie hadn't let me on." Shaking her head, she laughed, "You should have seen Solo's face... it was worth it all, just for that..." She trailed off, "I just wish Janson hadn't had to suffer as well."

Luke opened his mouth to point out that Janson had gotten himself involved after Dack had offered to help. But he realised that saying it wasn't going to change how she felt. Despite what Tennan had said he still felt responsible for her situation. So he stayed quiet.

"I really need a wash," she said, standing up and walking past him to the door. She paused as she stepped into the corridor, turning back to give him a rueful smile, "Eight drinks, you said, Sir?"

"Probably ten by now," he grinned evilly.

"Don't let them start on mine before I get there!"

"Karrik!" Luke called, standing up, going after her.

She appeared back in the doorway, "Sir?"

"If you don't mind stopping off on the way, there's someone else who'd like to speak to you."

Karrik shifted her weight from one foot to the other as Skywalker talked to the head of the medsection. Finally he turned away, walking across to her, "We can have a few minutes," he told her, guiding her towards on one of the doors. She allowed herself to be shepherded, saying nothing. The door opened obediently at their approach, the room inside dimly lit, "They said he might still be asleep. If he is we can leave."

Karrik stepped inside, the lights brightening slightly as she entered, Skywalker behind her. The sleeping form of Antilles stirred slightly, but didn't waken.

"Commander Skywalker?" Both of them turned to the young man standing in the doorway, "I'm sorry to disturb you, but General Rieekan wishes to see you."

Skywalker held up a hand, "I'll be with you in a minute." He smiled, turning back to Karrik, "Stay for a while, I'll let them know.. And I'll see you later in the rec. room...."

"If there's anything left to drink!"

"Yeh," he grinned, "I'd better go."

Karrik turned back towards Antilles, the door closing behind Skywalker. She stepped closer to the bed, standing for a moment, looking down at him. The respirator mask covered most of his face, his hair tousled, making him look for all the world like a little kid. She smiled, shaking her head, laughing at herself as she gave into the impulse to kiss him lightly on the forehead... just as her mother had done for....

Wedge felt the light touch brush against his forehead and reached up, catching hold of a uniform jacket as whoever it was pulled away. Opening his eyes he found himself looking into surprise blue ones... Or were they green, he thought, pulling the respirator away from his face with his other hand.

Feeling more than a little foolish, yet finding herself unable to break away, Karrik gazed into the brown depths... Then they eyes sparked as he grinned, his hand still gripping her jacket, "For one horrible moment I thought you might be Skywalker!" he told her, voice sounding raw and strained.

She swallowed, letting out a breath she hadn't realised that she'd been holding. Recovering quickly, she asked, "You've been kissed by the Commander before then?" Goddess, but that grin lit up his face...

The grin widened, "No... But I've never been kissed by you either. Although I admit that being kissed by you is much more preferable..."

"I thought you were asleep!" she defended.

He pulled a face of mock scorn, admonishing lightly, "Really! Taking advantage of a sleeping man!" Then the grin returned, "So are you going to sit down, or just loom over me?"

"Are you going to let go of my jacket?" she countered. He released his grip with a chuckle and she sat down, uneasily, on the edge of the bed, wishing that Skywalker was here. For some strange reason she was no longer comfortable being alone with Antilles.... and yet if Skywalker had been here, she wouldn't have kissed...

The slightly pregnant pause was broken as he thumped her on the shoulder, "You know, in some cultures my life belongs to you now!" He almost winced, realising how corny it sounded, instantly wishing that he'd said something else. But to his relief she was nodding slowly.

"Mmm," she agreed, "But what would I want with a hairless, dwarfed Wookiee? And besides, I promised my mother that I would never bond with a Corellian!"

"That's okay!" he told her wickedly, "I'm from Alderaan!" Behind the frivolity she heard the veiled sadness in his words. He must have lost damn near everything when Alderaan was destroyed. And scuttlebutt had it that his father, or was it his brother, had been the Captain of the ship Vader had boarded in his search for the Death Star plans, the ship Princess Leia Organa had been taken from. The fate of the crew was still unknown over three years later.... She frowned. How did someone stay sane after events like that: the devastation, the not knowing?

He had started to say something else, but it rasped in his chest, degenerating into a fit of coughing breathlessness. He dragged the respiration mask back onto his face, trying to sit up. Alarmed, Karrik moved to sit behind him, supporting his back, holding onto his shoulders until the attack subsided. He sank back against her, eyes closed, taking long, quavering breaths of the Bacta spray. She continued to hold him, feeling ill at ease now that her initial concern was fading, finding herself caught between the need to stay, to make sure that he was all right.... and the desire to get the hells out of the room - fast. The seconds dragged on towards a minute and finally he opened his eyes, pulling the mask away from his face. She moved to stand up. He captured her hand and she found herself on her feet, caught once again by his gaze.

"I'm sorry," she began, trying to apologise for causing the coughing fit, looking quickly away from him, suddenly struck by the strange notion that if she looked into those mahogany pools for any length of time she would reveal her very soul to them. He shook his head, a smile tugging at his lips as he pulled on her hand to make her sit down again.

"I've had worse offence thrown at me!" he rasped, deliberately misunderstanding her apology. She opened her mouth to explain that she hadn't meant the insult. Then saw the grin slowly spreading itself across his face again. With a sigh, she sank slowly back onto the bed. "Luke told me what you did," he informed her quietly after a moment, feeling a lot more comfortable on safer ground. A thank-you he definitely couldn't muck up, "And the Princess filled me in on what he left out. You saved our lives...."

"Anyone would have done..." she began. He silenced her with a touch of his fingers on her lips. And for some inexplicable reason, the touch caught her breath in her throat.

"Shut up and listen!" he ordered, his voice sounding laboured and painful, "I'm trying to thank you for saving our lives, damn it! And I refuse to be put off by your modesty! The point is, not everyone did the same. Sure Luke risked getting his butt roasted for coming after me, but you risked... a lot more... and..." His voice grated into silence and he closed his eyes, sinking back against the pillows, reaching for the respirator. But it was already being placed gently against his face. He covered her hand with his.

She felt his grip tighten, briefly. His eyes slid open as he pulled the mask, and her hand, away. He tried to say something, but his chest clogged round the words and he almost started coughing again. Smiling, she placed a finger against his lips. He watched the smile brighten her eyes, swearing that it changed the colour subtly... Funny how he'd never realised before this that Luke had such a gorgeous Flight Second....

"Your appreciation of my.... efforts," she told him, "is gratefully accepted, Lieutenant-Commander."

He beckoned her towards him and she leaned closer, thinking that he wanted to say something. And suddenly found her lips against his as he caught hold of her jacket again, pulling her to him.

Luke followed the young aide to where Rieekan waited at the intersection of the corridors near the rec. hall, Leia standing at his side with an amused expression on her face. The General greeted him with a sardonic smile and a quirk of his eyebrows, "I know that we all have to unwind, Commander, but I'd like to stop things before they go too far." As if on cue, a raucous yell, followed by gales of hysterical laughter, punched through the general hubbub and all three turned to look towards the rec. hall door. Two ground technicians tumbled into the corridor landing in a heap on the floor. Then flayed around, trying to get up, giggling hilariously.

"I see what you mean, Sir," Luke said, trying hard not to grin.

Leia gazed at their efforts, shaking her head, as the bundle of techs finally made it to their feet. Rieekan turned back to Luke, a ghost of a smile on his lips, "Commander, I am well aware of how these people feel about me right at this moment. If I go in there and try to break up the party... well..." he shrugged his shoulders, letting the thought hang in the air.

Luke nodded, "I understand, General."

"So we have scheduled an Attack Drill!" Rieekan noted the incredulous look on Skywalker's face, but ignored it, moving down the corridor, hands behind his back. Luke and Leia fell into step beside him, "All other Duty Commanders have already been advised. This will be a Condition Beta simulation. You will be in charge of inspecting the X-wing flights after readiness. I want each ship checked before either the ground crews or the pilots are dismissed. Ensure that everything has been done by the book. Any deviation from protocol, any mistakes.... I want to know about them. They will give us an exact indication of our state of readiness."

"Understood, Sir."

"Good." He stopped, turning to them, "They needed some fun. Gods, we all did. We've had a hard time of it lately.... Unfortunately this is exactly the sort of time that we're likely to be attacked for real!" He grinned, "And as long as they've remembered that, I'll be a happy man! Princess," he acknowledged, "Commander."

"General."

"Sir."

They watched him walk down the corridor. "Any injuries from irate personnel won't stop you from Tauntaun duty!" Leia told Luke with a wicked grin.

Luke pulled a face, rolling his eyes, "Where's Han when I need him?"

"Solo? Probably in there!" she told him, indicating the rec. hall with the jerk of a thumb over her shoulder. She took his arm, "I'll walk with you to the hangar."

Karrik pulled away as if she'd been burnt, looking at Antilles aghast. He looked back at her, equally bewildered, wondering if he had misread everything... and made a complete fool of himself. He tried to say something, anything. But his chest closed up again, dragging him into another fit of coughing.

Karrik saw the confusion on his face, saw him start to speak. Then he was trying to get a breath, coughing instead, the colour draining from his face. He groped for the mask and she placed it against his face. Then moved behind him, helping him to sit upright, supporting him as she had done before, hands against his shoulders.

The door swished open, a medical droid moving towards them with another respirator in its grasp, "We have increased the medication in this spray," it told Wedge, exchanging the new mask for old. Wedge took a welcome lungful of air, coughing it out before dragging in another. The droid turned to Karrik, "Officer Tennan, I must ask you to leave."

Karrik didn't move, "I'm staying."

"Officer Tennan, Lieutenant-Commander Antilles is in a great deal of distress. It..."

"I can see that! And I'm staying!"

"Officer Tennan," the droid began again valiantly. But Karrik cut him off, Antilles' convulsions lessening in strength as the new Bacta began to work, "I'm staying. Commander Skywalker has given me permission!" she lied.

The unit looked at her for a moment longer then, deciding that short of bodily removing her, it wasn't going to win, it turned shuffling back out of the door towards its diagnostic screens.

Karrik held on to Antilles until the fit finally subsided. Cautiously, she dropped her hands from his shoulders, trailing her palms gently down his arms. And he relaxed against her, head against her shoulder, a ghost of a smile teasing his lips when he reached out, taking hold of her hand and she didn’t resist. Eyes closed he took deep, shuddering breaths that gradually shallowed, growing more even. Karrik said nothing, simply holding him, caressing his hair until, slowly his hand dropped away from his face, the mask falling to the covers. She picked it up, slipping the strap over his head, placing it carefully over his nose and mouth. Then she kissed his hair softly, resting her cheek against his head as he slept.

The klaxon whooped its warning through the base. A woman's voice began to demand, calmly, "All personnel to Battle Stations, this is a drill! All personnel to Battle Stations, condition Beta! This is a drill, condition Beta! All personnel to battle stations!" For a split second the revelry in the recreation hall stopped, everyone looking at each other. Then ninety percent of the occupants; suddenly, nauseatingly sober; dropped their drinks and dashed for the exits, the other ten percent stumbling after them.

In the Medsection, Karrik tensed. Then gently slipped out from behind Antilles, easing him back onto the pillows. The cacophony hadn't woken him and for a moment she suspected that the Bacta had contained a sedative. Then the thought was gone as she rushed out of the door towards the X-wing bays.

The klaxon blared into the open hatch of the Millennium Falcon. Han Solo dropped his feet from the console, swinging slowly round towards Chewbacca, his whole body alert for action as the Wookiee growled. "Dunno, Chewie," he replied, standing and dumping the half empty glass on the table before starting to move along the corridor towards the hangar.

"All personnel to Battle Stations, this is a drill! All personnel to Battle Stations, condition Beta! This is a drill, condition Beta! All personnel to battle stations!"

Both of them relaxed, Han throwing Chewie a look as he continued along the corridor towards the hangar. Strolling down the ramp he stood, hands on his hips, watching the skeleton ground crews rushing across from the snowspeeders towards their respective machines, starting to ready them for the pilot.

Chewbacca moved down the ramp to stand behind him, rumbling something deep in his throat, laughing softly. Han turned, grinning up at him, before returning his attention to the flurry of activity. Then, at one of the exits, he saw two familiar faces. He lifted his hand in greeting to Luke, but the Kid didn't see him, turning away. Her Royal Princess-ship, however, was heading this way. He sighed, pulling a face and turned back towards the Falcon, deciding that he couldn't be bothered with the hassle. Chewbacca watched his partner retreat up the ramp, saying nothing, then turned his attention to the Princess. She smiled as she reached the Falcon, then her face grew serious, "Chewbacca, I'm sorry. I've just been told that you weren't informed of this drill. That shouldn't have happened. Please accept my apologies." The Wookiee rumbled at her, placing a hand lightly on her shoulder and she smiled, touching his arm, "Thanks, Chewbacca."

She turned, walking back across the hangar as the off duty personnel began to appear, running towards their ships. Slowly, one by one, the canopies hissed open. Solo clumped down the ramp again to join him, "What did she want?" he asked, too casually, watching as Leia was swallowed by the crowd. Chewie suppressed another laugh, this time at Han's expense, growling the answer.

"Oh," Han said, as if he didn't care. Then after a moment he asked, "That all?"

The Wookiee turned, giving his partner a long, level look, saying nothing. Suddenly aware of Chewie's stare, Han glanced up at him. Then grunted in disgust, throwing his hands up as he turned away, disappearing into the Falcon again. Chewbacca followed him, chuckling softly.

The corridors were a chaos of running bodies as she sprinted towards the lockers, peeling off her heavy over-jacket as she ran. A squad of white garbed ground troops pushed past in the opposite direction almost knocking her off her feet. One of them tossed her an apology as she stumbled on. Half the lockers were already open, the corresponding pilots struggling into their flight suits. Karrik punched in her code, the door rolling upwards as more pilots staggered into the room. She tossed her jacket on a hook, steadying herself against the locker as she reached down to pull off her boots. Hobbie sagged against the next locker, looking very pale. Closing his eyes, he groaned softly.

"You okay?" Karrik demanded.

The young man said nothing for a moment, then slowly nodded, fumbling with the strap buckle, keeping his eyes firmly close, "I'll be... fine," he said, unconvincingly.

Karrik didn't quite grin, shouldering her way into her suit, reaching for the fastener. There was nothing worse than having to fly with a hangover. Technically, of course, it was against the regs and you could get yourself grounded, but no one had been caught.... yet. There again, Hobbie hadn't exactly reached the hung-over stage. Karrik pulled on her boots as Dack, fully suited up, reached for his helmet. "Dack?" she asked, "Give Hobbie a hand, just until I'm ready."

He nodded, moving unsteadily across the floor and Karrik winced, suddenly remembering that Skywalker had mentioned something about them drowning their sorrows... She glanced quickly round the room at the other pilots, turning grimly back to her locker for the rest of her gear: fervently hoping that the wouldn't have to fly.

"Get that Artoo unit loaded into that bird now!" Ryinne Larne, Flight Commander Engineering of Alpha squadron, yelled at one of her X-wing crews.

Tarras, the Chief Tech waved his arms at her, shouting over the noise, "No can do, Flight. Main processor's gone! Replacement's on the way!"

Ryinne swore, skidding to a stop and running back to him, making a decision she hoped wouldn't backfire on her, "Don't worry!" she lied convincingly, "The environmental doors are closed, Chief. Command's never going to ask them to fly. Just get it loaded..." She placed a hand on his shoulder, assuring him, "If they do have to fly, I'll take the flack for this one being grounded!"

Tarras nodded, turning to the tech beside him, "Bry, get up top.."

Ryinne left them to it, fervently hoping that someone would change Rieekan's mind if he did want them to fly, rushing to the next crew. The Artoo unit was locked in, one of the techs scrambling down the side as the others hooked in the ground power unit, "Chief?"

"Running smooth and true, Flight," Yevl shouted back at her. She moved past them onto the next X-wing. Again, they had the Artoo unit locked and loaded, the Chief giving her the thumbs up. She acknowledged with a wave then raced on to the next crew.

"Get moving, Dack!" Karrik ordered, momentarily forgetting that she no longer out-ranked him. He nodded bleakly, then moved towards the door. Hobbie groaned softly again and Karrik dragged him upright, checking the flight suit before thrusting the helmet into his hands. The room was rapidly emptying of pilots and Karrik waited until the last one had gone before grabbing the other pilot's shoulders, shoving him up against the wall. His eyes flew open in surprise, Karrik hissing at him, "Listen up, Hobbie! You are Acting Commanding Officer of Alpha Flight! Do you understand? Acting Commander!"

"Yes..." the other pilot began, but Karrik cut him off.

"Then start acting like it! Don't you dare let Commander Skywalker down, or you'll answer to me! Understand?"

Hobbie nodded slowly, pulling himself up straight, "Yes, Sir..."

Karrik gave a short, cold laugh, letting him go. "You outrank me!" she snapped angrily, grabbing her helmet and striding out into the hangar. Breaking into a run, she headed for her X-wing. Yevl, looking slightly the worse for wear, was standing at the foot of the ladder, a droid already sitting in the niche, the fighter obviously ready for action. The Chief shot her a grin, following her as she scrambled up to the cockpit, swinging her legs over the side and dropping into the seat, "Yevl," she warned, logging onto the flight computer, "Hobbie's in a bad way."

"I'm on it!" he said, sliding to the ground, ordering one of the other techs to strap Tennan in. He sprinted towards Hobbie's crew, but before he reached it Ryinne appeared. He changed direction, grabbing hold of her, "Flight! Lusin's pilot won't get airborne under his own power!"

She swore, turning towards the locker area, seeing Hobbie moving carefully across the hangar. Yevl had already turned back to his own concern. She threw him a, "Thanks!" running across to the pilot, grabbing him and hustling him towards the X-wing.

Karrik glanced at Saskin as he appeared at her side, leaning into the cockpit and checking the straps: locking the restraints home as she punched in a greeting to the new Artoo unit. The hangar began to fill with the chromatic whine of starting engines, spooling upwards towards idle. Saskin rapped on her helmet and she shot him a smile as he disappeared from the side of the fighter. The canopy swung closed, locking forward with a hiss as she finished the pre-flights, the thrum of the engines vibrating through the X-wing, making it feel almost alive around her. The Artoo unit fed data onto her screen telling her that the power output and core temperature of the engines were within limits and that they were ready to go. Below her, the ground crew were scattering to their safe distances, ear protection firmly in place.

For several minutes, nothing more happened. The rush of adrenaline began to fade and she found her thoughts drifting back to the Medical bay and Wedge Antilles.... and realised that she was grinning. She laughed softly, shaking her head, remembering Dack's deep groan of disappointment as Antilles had strolled into the mess, yet another girl on his arm - the girl that Dack had been lusting after since he'd first seen her on the day he joined up... Karrik's smile disappeared as she found herself wondering if she was just another conquest to add to the list. But then her mind began to replay the scene on Taspin, when she'd found him lying on the gravel, deathly pale.... and then she smiled again as she remembered the expression on his face when she'd pulled away, so abruptly, from his kiss...

Skywalker's voice jarred through her ear piece, bringing her back to the present, "Alpha Flight, check in!"

There was a moment's silence, then Hobbie transmitted, "Alpha Four, standing by."

Karrik's thumb moved to key the mike. And suddenly she remembered that she was no longer Second in Command and had not yet been allocated her new place on the Flight. Swearing quietly, cursing her own stupidity, she sat in embarrassing awareness, waiting as one by one the others checked in. Finally she was the only one left and taking a quick breath she pressed the mike, "Tennan, standing by."

"Alpha Flight, stand down," Skywalker told them, "Stay in your fighters, await debrief." Then he was addressing Antilles' flight, the pilots starting to check in.

Tennan busied herself with the shutdown procedures, aware of the tech crew moving back in towards the fighter. The engines wound down, the canopy opening slowly to the frigid air, Yevl climbing up beside her. He waited as she flipped the last of the switches, the hum of the electrics dying in her earpiece, then leant in, unlocking the straps. She pulled the helmet off, dropping it into her lap, running her fingers through her hair, "How'd we do?"

He grinned at her, "All by the book, Ma'am. All by the book. Saskin and Veld volunteered for extra duty to get the snowspeeders up," he explained as her posture relaxed, "and this little baby," he continued, sliding his hand lovingly across the fighter's outer skin, "was just about ready to go by the time I arrived!" Then his face grew serious and he leant closer, "None of the seasoned ground guys got that drunk, no matter how bad we looked, Ma'am. Just the rookies... and," he pulled a look of disgust, "the pilots." Despite herself Karrik grinned as he made a show of sighing heavily, finishing, "Well at least the rookies'll learn."

"Chief!"

Yevl looked down at the tech then glanced in the direction of Saskin's quick nod. He looked back at Tennan, "Skywalker's on his way with Larne," he warned, then disappeared down the ladder.