Exar and Ephraim flew back into the hidden docking bay, quite nervous for the events to come.

Ephraim took a deep breath, then asked Exar, "So... what now?"

"Right now, we conform to the status quo. My plan will work, so don't worry about it."

"Alright." Ephraim replied, lowering the ramp. They exited the ship and met Jecht front and center.

"I'd normally assume the mission was a success, but the apparent uneasiness on your faces is beckoning me to question otherwise." Jecht said.

"Well, there may have been a slight setback, but we got it all covered." Exar said.

"Mhm, let's go on to make your report." Jecht said as he gestured them elsewhere.

Aren had the leaked image pulled up on a hologram, and showed it to the two once Exar's report was completed. "We received this image through a Resistance radio transmission. Who does that look like?" He asked sternly as he glared at Exar.

"Calm down, Aren. We know who it is, and it isn't a big deal. Exar is one of our most powerful students; he can overcome Resistance forces."

"What's going to happen with this?" Ephraim asked about the photo.

"We may be too late in making sure the Resistance never receives this, but we can still prevent them from releasing it."

"They always wait days, even weeks, before they release photos from attacks like this." Jecht said.

"Exactly." Aren said.

Exar and Ephraim shared a glance; Exar could feel Aren glaring at him again.

"You're the one in charge of missions. When should we strike?" Aren then asked Jecht.

"We're expecting new arrivals soon. Once they get settled, we'll make our move." Jecht replied.

"Good. Inform the others." Aren commanded.

Jecht nodded, then headed out the door. Ora then entered the room. "Ephraim, it's time. Come on."

"Ora, we're going on a mission soon. Be prepared." Aren said.

"Okay." She said simply as she guided Ephraim out into the hallway; Exar loosely followed. "What was that?" She asked Jecht, who hung around the hallway.

"An image of Exar in an attack was leaked to the Resistance. We have to destroy the base before they share the image publicly."

Exar stopped in his tracks and listened until they were out of earshot, then he entered his room.

Heceowa's group returned late from the mission. They were unharmed, but the same couldn't be said for their ships. They quickly powered down and exited their ships. Jecht arrived back in the docking bay a few late moments later.

"We took care of everything else. There are no remains of the Resistance base."

"Good to hear." Jecht said. 'Best news I've heard all day.'

Heceowa's report was completed, Ephraim was training, Exar was meditating; just another typical day for them, only with a small twist.

When the day ended, and everyone else was off to sleep, the leaders gathered in their secret cave room to formulate their plan.

Jecht pulled up a hologram of the Resistance base and enlarged it so it could be thoroughly seen by everyone from every angle.

"This base ain't like a holocron vault; it's not too heavily guarded. It'll be easy to get in, take everyone out, rig a charge and leave." Jecht summarized.

"There's a 'but' isn't there?" Dara asked.

"Unfortunately, all that will be the least of our worries. According to a spy report, we have reason to believe the Resistance has acquired an HK-47 droid to assist their work."

"That's a snag." Tover said.

"Ora and Dara will deal with him; I'll assist when my job is done." Aren said.

"Tover and I will secure the area and keep reinforcements away." Jecht said.

"Dara and I will go in and take care of everything inside. They will probably have called reinforcements by the time we're done. We'll need time to get away before the explosion. If they're smart, they'll immediately dispatch the droid. Ora and everyone else will hold it off. I will get to the ship and blow it to bits. Then we'll make our escape." Aren said.

"Normally I'd complain, but the craziest plans are ususally the only ones that work." Dara replied.

"Correct. We all know what we're doing?" Aren asked.

"Yes, sir." They all replied.

"Good. May the force be with us. We depart in two days; we will have time to fully prepare."

The Next Day

The small organization had prepared for their day, but had all been summoned to the docking bay to welcome the new arrivals.

Aren and Ora looked on with hope for the new possible elementeers.

"Today, the fulfillment begins." Aren mumbled.

The doors then began to open. It seemed like either it took forever for them to open, or they were too rusted to open quickly.

One moment or another, they opened, and the carrier transport entered the bay. Everyone started clapping for the new arrivals until the ship landed.

Aren and the other leaders approached the ship; the door opened, and the exhaust steam let out.

Two figures stepped out and stopped in front of the leaders.

"I am Aren Mastigar; I am the leader of this organization and overseer of everyone's daily lives. Who are you two?" He asked calmly. 'Why are there two?! There are supposed to be three!'

"I am Kaiyah Lomax; this is my friend-" Kaiyah gestured to the other one.

"Becky Feara." They both took a brief bow.

"We, uh, we don't do that here." Aren said, easing them.

Ora kneeled down to look at them in the eye. "I am Ora Tao-ni. I am the overseer of our students' force training. I sense a strong bond between you two. Your training here will strengthen your bond and open your mind to possibilities you never knew were there." Ora said, shaking their hands.

"Sounds good. Though I myself have seen a thing or two." Becky said.

"Oh, I like you." Ora said, making Becky chuckle slightly.

Jecht imposed and said, "Jecht Woodle. I handle all the missions and the plans." He shook their hands.

"That's right. It's becasue of his brains and strategies that we've survived this long. And this won't be changing anytime soon."

"You'll never know." Becky said, making Kaiyah laugh.

"My friend, Becky is one of the most experienced people you will have ever met. Just have her tell you her stories, and you'll understand." Kaiyah said.

"Now don't exclude youself." Becky told Kaiyah. "She has plenty of stories to tell, herself." She told the leaders, pointing to Kaiyah.

"I don't doubt it." Tover said. "I am Tover Chelchu. I am Aren's second-in-command. Whenever he's not around, I'm the one that sees everything."

"Even the future?" Becky asked with a raised eyebrow.

. . .

"Um... Well no one can see the future. Easily, that is. But no, Aren and I see what's happening presently."

"Again, you'll never know. For all you know, what you see is all the front. There could always be something much deeper going on than what meets the eye." Becky said.

. . .

"I see why she's your friend." Ora told Kaiyah, making her laugh again.

"And last but not least, I," Dara stepped forward, "Am Dara Tarask. I am the physical trainer of all the students, so one day they'll end up like strong beef cakes like me." She teased, flexing a muscle.

"Hmm." Becky hummed.

"That'll definitely be useful." Kaiyah said.

Aren then turned around and said to all the students. "Everyone! Give a hand to 'Kaiyah Lomax,' and 'Becky Feara.' Even though they each already have two." Everyone laughed, then cheered. Once the cheering died down, Aren guided the newcomers to Ephraim and Exar.

"These are our two strongest students. Exar," Aren gestured to Exar. "And Ephraim." He gestured to Ephraim. "They can fill you in on what goes on here. Once you get settled, your training will begin." Then the leaders and other students scrambled elsewhere.

"I am Ephraim."

"And I am Exar."

"Becky."

"Kaiyah."

"Word on the street is you're the most gifted student here." Kaiyah said to Ephraim.

"One of, at least. I'm no master or anything."

"So, tell me a little about yourself."

"Other than what you already know. . . Well, I like music; I know of all kinds. I do a little listening in my spare time. Other than that, I just study to become the best of what I can be."

"Hm. I'm impressed." Kaiyah hummed.

"What about you?"

"Well, I'm kinda the same. The reason I was brought here was because it was believed that I have the potential to become, what they call, an elementeer."

'Woah! Another?' Ephraim exclaimed to himself.

"I too am into music." Exar said to Becky. "I am kinda like Ephraim, only. . ." Exar shrugged, "Like, his, runnerup. I guess. So, how long have you and Kaiyah known each other?"

"A pretty long time; we're like sisters."

"Ah. I feel like a brother to Ephraim; I've known him almost my whole life. Though he doesn't let me in on anything personal in his life. I thought this was the kind of stuff close friends were supposed to share. We have our good times, though. Those are good times. You might like him."

"I see. Well, it seems like Kaiyah has already taken a shining to him." Becky averted her gaze to Kaiyah and Ephraim.

"-what they call, an elementeer."

"Yeah, I'm an elementeer too." Becky added.

'What the?!' Exar and Ephraim thought.

"Lucky. I'm not an elementeer; I wonder what it feels like, knowing you have a special gift to share." Exar said.

"You'll find out your thing soon enough." Ephraim condoled.

"I hope so." Exar said.

"Well, do we have places to stay?" Kaiyah asked.

"Uh, yes. Just follow me." Ephraim said, guiding Kaiyah along through the cave halls.

Exar and Becky shared a quick glance, then Exar said, "I think I ship them already."

"Me too." Becky said as they followed Ephraim.

As Becky and Kaiyah were getting settled, Exar and Ephraim went off to train more. They started out lifting big, heavy weights.

"So those new recruits are something aren't they? They just come in, and the next moment, you find out that they could be the best people to come into your life." Exar said.

"Yeah. Too bad you're leaving soon. They're probably going to wish you had stayed." Ephraim pointed out. "I can tell they already think you're a great guy. It'd be a shame for you to leave this soon."

Exar lowered the weights as that thought struck his mind. "Well... You know I have to. This life is not a good influence on a decent life. We're murdering the people who I think are trying to protect this galaxy. We're killing them in cold blood. Isn't that thought-provoking?"

"It is, but for you to leave just like that after we get new recruits is also thought-provoking. Can you think about how that feels?"

"I can, yes. But you know it's for the greater good. I will see you guys again."

"It will be hard without you." Ephraim said.

"I've still yet to receive an answer on 'how?' "

"Sometimes you don't need an answer, you just need to believe it."

"You know, I did sense an unusually strong bond forming between you and uh, Kaiyah. If you need any advice or anything, I could give you some. You know, before I go."

"That won't be necessary. If I need advice, I'll go to someone a little more experienced in relationships."

"Oh so you think I'm inexperienced? You think you know everything about me?"

"Well, no, I-"

"Did it ever occur to you why I want to help? It's just for the sake of being a good friend. When you reject it, I feel like I'm failing at it. I want to help you through what I couldn't help myself through."

"It's just better to get someone who knows how to deal with this sort of thing."

"Did you hear a word I just said? After I get a lot of time to think about what went wrong, I always think of how to make it better. Whether you believe it or not, I can help you."

. . .

"From a certain point of view, this conversation was taken a bit out of context." Ephraim noted.

"Yeah. But still, think about it. Ya know? I don't have that much time left here; I want to make the most of it."

Ephraim simply nodded, and they continued their exercises.

"So, tell me about Kaiyah. What have you found out?"

"Well, she has a great sense of humor, she has a family of many sisters and one brother -like mine- and overall, very easy to relate to; she has many common interests."

"Interesting. Becky too has a great sense of humor, and also has common interests; she's kinda quiet most of the time, which makes for some very awkward moments; she's so far the only child; her mother is expecting at the moment. That's all I was told."

"Sounds like we could make a great team if put together." Ephraim said.

"I don't think I'll be able to go on any more missions before I go. Did you notice the looks Aren was giving me?"

"I did; I had to quickly avert my gaze before he caught mine."

"Yeah, he's a toughie."

. . .

"What do you think he's gonna do to that base?"

"Same thing as usual."