The Rebel Faction

“You need your eyes adjusted.” Asri said offhandedly, not looking up from the map. “The kids didn’t wear me out at all. If you are not going to be joining me, I’ll see you after the show on the fireworks field.” Not waiting for him to respond, she headed off.

Turned out the show was in the large tent a couple of the 'kid friendly' shows had been held and Asri easily refound it. Seemed this show was quite popular as there was a long line formed already outside the entrance and it was still a half hour before the show started. It was a good thing she didn’t allow Maskis to get her caught up in conversation.

"Looks like it's a good thing we came early." A man in front of her said as she joined the line. "I've heard this show is always filled to the brim."

Really? Asri thought, getting more intrigued as she looked around about at the other people in the line. They were of all different ages and species, there were even some kids n the line making Asri wonder if either she needed to reassess the shows perceived content or if their parents were being irresponsible. She decided to wait until after the show was over to decide that.

By the time the attendants started allowing people to come in the line had grown considerably and having seen how many seats the tent could hold before she doubted all these people in line would make it in: thank goodness she was closer to the front of the line! In only a couple of moments she was inside the tent and quickly found herself a seat somewhere in the middle. Not too close, not to far, that's how she liked it. One of the seats beside her was taken by a wookiee, which she found mildly surprising considering she doubted word of the new alliance between their two species have reached everyone yet. Maybe he recognizes that I'm an outcast... She thought with faint frown. She'd rather not ask though, in part because she didn't want to put any doubt in the wookiee's mind about how 'safe' he was sitting next to her.

The seats in the tent filled quickly and Asri was just settling in to enjoy the show when she heard the unmistakable sound of her people's native tongue right behind her, slurred in drunkenness as well. Great... She thought, resisting the urge to turn around to look at the two Trandoshan males that had chosen to sit behind her. They didn't seem to have spotted her yet and with the lighting in the tent being less then favorable maybe they never will notice they were sitting behind an Akisi: hopefully their drunken state will be to her advantage as well. They were being rather loud and obnoxious though annoying the audiance members around them, including the wookiee beside her.

~Damn lizards...~ The wookiee rumbled in annoyance.

"Now now..." Asri said softly, hoping not to attract the two male's attention. "Not all of us T'Doshok are drunken fools." She probably shouldn't have said it, but couldn't help herself, got a chuckle from the wookiee though.

~Who's...you calling a foool....~ One of the males said, suddenly planting his chin on Asri's shoulder. His breath reeked of alcohol and it was making her feel nauseous. Disgusted, Asri planted her hand on his snout and pushed him roughly away, causing him to topple over into the aisle and his drinking buddy started laughing at him. He took offense to that and a shouting match ensued between the two and Asri worried a fistfight would start up. Fortunately Security was on the ball and quickly escorted the two unruly Trandoshans outside to take their querl elsewhere: they didn't even notice Asri's coloration, much to her relief. Their now vacated seats were taken up by a pair of much more behaved gundans.

Finally what lighting there was dimmed and the crowd became silent. A spotlight appeared on the stage and out from between the curtains appeared a lilac skinned female Twi'lek in an extravagant, free flowing blue dress. "Good evening everyone!" She said with a wave to the crowed. "I am Kohee'ka and I welcome you to the show!" The crowd cheered and Kohee'ka waited for it to settle down before speaking again. "Before we begin the show I have an announcement to make. As some of you may already know, we have a traditional...ritual...if you like, we perform during the first showing after the carnival opens for business. What is this tradition? We give audience members a chance to win free lessons for the duration of the carnivals stay in this lovely city of Theed!"

Beside herself, Asri found herself listening intently as the Twi'lek continued. "Under everyone's seats is a special datapad. Up to five of these datapads are 'winners'. Take them out and turn them on to see if you won!"

Asri reached under her seat, more curious then anything else and seriously doubting she would win anyway. Around her other audience members were doing the same, though a good number of them weren't even going for them: they either didn't care to try or didn't want to learn how to dance in the first place. With a shrug Asri turned her's on.

~Ah darn it.~ The wookiee beside her said: apparently he didn't win. ~Oh well I never win at these lotto type things.~

Asri chuckled and studied the screen on the pad and her eyes widdened in surprise: her's was a winner.

No way... She thought, her mind spinning. Asri almost laughed outloud at the thought: a Trandoshan? Learning to dance? The idea was laughable. She had heard of Trandoshan entertainers before, but they had always been sterile females from the lowest of the commoner stock from what she had heard. Quite simply dancing was one profession that was seen as 'weak' and severely frowned upon by her people.

"Of course we understand..." Kohee'ka's voice said, catching her attention. "That not everyone will be willing to take us up on our offer of free lessons. Don't worry we won't be insulted if you decide not to take us up on it. However if you are willing to give it a try you don't have to say so now! Come see me after the show is over. Speaking of the show...lets get it started!"

With a flambonet bow, Kohee'ka skipped off stage and the curtains opened. What followed next was the most impressive show Asri had ever seen....

At the end of the show Asri found herself cheering enthusiastically with the rest of the crowd. As the curtain slowly and teasingly closed, Kohee'ka again addressed the audience.

"Thank you all for attending and I hope you all enjoyed the show!" The Twi'lek said and the crowd cheered affirminately. "We have another show later tonight and two showings nightly all this week, just in case you just can't get enough of us! Don't forget! Those with winning datapads can come up and accept their prize of free lessons for the rest of the week! Thank you all and good night!" Kohee'ka bowed dramatically and the spotlight went out. Seconds later the main lights came back on and the crowd started filtering out.

Asri found herself staring at the datapad again, which she had forgotten about during the show. The show had been very impressive and to her surprise she found the offer of lessons more and more intriguing the more she thought about it, leaving her in a slight state of confusion. Why was she even considering taking them up on this? She was an outcast to many Trandoshan's still yes, but a part of her mind just couldn't picture herself doing those kinds of moves she witnessed on the show. Oh no...not this long in body, scaly frame she had, besides...there wasn't an 'entertainer' bone in her body. Or was there?

A distanct memory returned to the surface, one of Dresik, her deceased brother. Officially he had died on a hunt, but Asri knew better after months of looking into her family history. Dresik hadn't wanted to become a warrior like their father, Besk. Besk, in a rare moment willingness to compromise, conceded he could take a non-combatant profession as long as he mastered a combat art first. However what Dresik wanted to do as his main profession afterward nearly threw their father into a rage: Dresik wanted to a part of the arts, namely a musician and Besk didn't want his only son to have anything to do with those...'weak'...professions. It was a point of intense arguments between the two for months, until finally Besk snapped and killed Dresik in a burst of rage. It was the closest she had ever seen her father come to tears, but even then it was questionable of whether it was genuine grief for his loss or despair over the fact he had killed his only son.

Asri remembered researching the family lines after uncovering the true cause of her brother's death, discovering that males on her mother's side of the line had a thing for the arts, which must be where Dresik had gotten it from. Was it possible she had it too? Thinking back at how she behaved during the show, it seemed possible, but should she even attempt trying to follow a path her brother never got a chance to take knowing how her people viewed such individuals? She was just starting to get a foothold of true respect upon her people and something like this could bring her right down where she started as there was no telling how members of the K'Satikur Clan would react to a female warrior like her suddenly becoming a dancer. What would Trazu think? Wait...why the hell did she care what that shorty thought of her? It was at that thought of him the last words he said to her came back to haunt her yet again:

"if you keep locking yourself away like this you'll never see the doors of opportunity I know are out there for you, open and ready for you to take them. "

Trazu...I swear I'm going to smack you when you return. She thought, shaking her head. Lately whenever she had doubts about what to do those words of his would pop up in her head.

"Excuse me, did you need to see me?" A voice said suddenly, making Asri jump with a yelp, the datapad flying from her hands. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a flash of lilac catch the datapad. Finally looking at the speaker she realized it was Kohee'ka, the head dancer of the show and Asri suddenly felt the heat of embarrassment start to rise in her cheeks: she had been sitting here so long that the rest of the audience had completely vacated, leaving her completely alone with the performers. "Oh...." Kohee'ka said as she studied the pad. "You're one of the lucky ones, the only one that seems to have decided to linger."

"Not...intentionally...." Asri said, still blushing, feelng like she wanted to hide underneath the seats if she could.

"Oh? Seriously considering taking the lessons?" The Twi'lek asked.

"That's certainly an improvement consider every other lizard that won: who at best, laughed, and at worse, threw the thing at the stage." Another one of the performers, a male Twi'lek, quipped, before Asri could respond.

"That...sounds about right." Asri said quietly. "Most us T'Doshok consider performance arts of any sort to be 'below' them."

"Figures, with the high and mighty attitude you guys tend to have." The male Twi'lek said with a shrug. "Thought the Old Empire would have beaten it out of you. Too hopeful I suppose..."

"Tath'ris, that's enough." Kohee'ka scolded, obviously not wanting Asri to end up ripping Tath'ris' throat out for the insult. Fortunately for him, Asri was still feeling too embarrassed at being caught out like this to acknowledge the insult. "I'll admit this much though: I've seen many a Trandoshan attend our show and I have never seen one with your coloration before."

"Well...it's extremely rare....unnatural even." Asri said hesitantly. "I'm...a bit of an outcast because of it too."

"I see." Kohee'ka said sympathically. "Do you think this..." She held up the datapad. "Could make your status even worse?"

"I...don't know." Asri said honestly. "I've gained some acceptance due to my fighting skills and the Clan I'm in is more open minded then most, but still...."

Kohee'ka tapped a finger on her chin in thought a moment. "If you took the lessons...would you tell anyone about it?" She finally asked.

"No!" Was Asri's immediate response.

"Then what's the harm in taking a lesson or two, for curiosities sake?" Kohee'ka said with a charming smile. "You won't be obligated to take them all if you find you don't like it."

Asri merred to herself, deep in through as Kohee'ka and Tath'ris waited patiently. Again Trazu's words bounced around in her head and she now she remembered what they said about the Force. Was this one of those 'opportunities' Trazu was alluding to? That the Force was guiding her too? Damn you Trazu...if I end up liking this but you hate it...you'll only have yourself to blame. "Alright." She said, standing up and making Tath'ris a little nervous at her towering height. "I'll give it a try. One lesson...at least."

Kohee'ka clapped her hands excitedly: the prospect of having a Trandoshan dancing apprentice for the first time obviously very exciting for her. After a moment of giddiness, her professionalism took over once again and she produced what looked liked a staff card. "Take this, this will let you onto the grounds without having you pay each time. Lessons are in the morning, starting at eight am, in the big tent behind this one. See you in the morning!" Kohee'ka skipped off, followed by a surprised Tath'ris, leaving Asri partly wondering just what she got herself into.

No time to really think about it now, as there was a fireworks show to watch. She stuffed the card into a pants pocket and headed out of the tent. Asri found Maskis easily, whom was by one of the decorative lamps on the field: in order to see the fireworks in their full glory, Trandoshans and other species that had alternative modes of vision needed just enough light to negate their night vision, but not glare out the brilliance of the fireworks at the same time. Putting her recent shocking decision in the back of her mind for the time being she lay down on her back on the grass. "You missed a good show." She remarked, then turned her gaze at him with a sly smirk. "I should drag you to the next showing just to prove it too."

Asri looked up at Maskis, slightly annoyed that he was trying to distract her from relaxing: there was little doubt in her mind that the pads contents dealt with the Prowler he was worrying about at lunch. She felt like telling him she would look at it after the show was over, just to spite him, but sighed and looked it over anyway. "Whoever wrote this did so in a hurry." She muttered observantly. "And was obviously fearing for his...or her life. Rogue cyborgs and a critter I've never heard of before...I'd be scared too if I was in that person situation and there's suspiciously large gaps between entries which I doubt is because the writer was too busy running for his life. Sounds like someone or thing wanted to keep us from knowing the full details of this take over." She tossed the datapad back to him. "Obviously you came to the same basic conclusion already and with your inside info on the Fleet likely figured out even more, so why bug me with this? I take it you want me to help you investigate eh? Well if so you'll have to wait until tomorrow afternoon...I have a...uh...appointment." She quickly added when he looked like he was about to question what that 'appointment' was. "And it's none of your business....just like what you guys do in the Fleet is none of mine."

There was no way in hell she would tell him she was taking a dancing lesson. She considered him a causal friend and seeing how she had so few actual friends she wasn't about to risk ruining a friendship by admitting to taking lessons in such a 'lowly' hobby in her peoples eyes, even if it was only going to be for one lesson for curiosities sake. Asri pushed the problems of the Fleet out of her mind and concentrated on watching the fireworks: if Maskis had said anything to her then she didn't hear him, partly due to the increased frequency of the fireworks going off.

After a few minutes she happened to glance to one side and spotted a couple not far away cuddling: she felt a familiar ache in her heart. As much as she wanted to look away, to tear her eyes away from the happiness those two were obviously experiencing, she could not. Instead she could only stare, wishing she was in the woman’s place and the man was a fellow Trandoshan. Oh how she wished she could experience that pleasure and a tear rolled down her cheek.

Her Trandoshan pride surfaced then, shocked that she would display such an emotion out in public like this. Hastily she wiped the tear from her cheek. "A bit of ash got into my eye." She lied when Maskis gave her a questioning look. "Guess it's the price you pay to lay on your back during a fireworks show eh?"

"Don't know about you, but I'm heading back to the Academy to go to bed." Asri said, glancing up at him. "Got that 'appointment' first thing in the morning after all."

The fireworks then started it's grand finalle sequence and Asri devoted her full attention to it. It went on for a full five minutes non-stop and when it finally ended the crowd gave a wild cheer. With the show now over, Asri stood up and brushed herself off. "Well, if you are still wanting my help with your Prowler problem, I'll see you in the courtyard after lunch." With that she started making her way to the exit, not even bothering to see if Maskis was following her or not.

Once back in her room at the Academy, she could only lay there for a time, her mind still trying to picture herself doing the same moves as Kohee'ka and the rest of the dancers. I'll probably be so clumsy they'll have to politely tell me I am hopeless... She thought with a sigh. Deep in her heart though she doubted it, as a lot of the moves she had to do during her training as an assassin wasn't that far off from dancing, so it may be that she stood a better chance then most. Oh well, guess I'll find out when I do it. With another sigh, she rolled over onto her side and put the thought of dancing out of her mind and worked on falling asleep.

Next morning Asri spent a considerable amount of time figuring out what to wear. Considering what she was going to be doing she felt she should wear something loose and unrestrictive, but all her loose fitting clothing didn't really 'go' with each other. She finally compromised by wearing a formfitting tank top and baggy lilac pants. After grabbing a quick breakfast she made her way back to the carnival grounds, where the security guard stopped her.

"Grounds won't open for another hour miss." He said.

Asri took out the car Kohee'ka gave her yesterday and showed it to him. "Special pass." She said. "From Kohee'Ka."

"Ah I see." The guard said. "Been a while since she had a taker. Never thought it'd be a lizard to take her up on it."

"First time for everything." Asri said with shrug.

"I suppose. Go on ahead in, but you are to go straight to Kohee'ka's tent. No mischief you hear?"

"Roger that." Asri said with a smile, putting the card away.

The grounds looked so different without all the masses of people milling about. Some attendants were still cleaning up after yesterday, while others were preparing their boothes for the busy day ahead. She saw that one Trandoshan that was rude to her yesterday helping with the cleaning process: apparently his booth had been destroyed during the fight with the Bounty Hunters and was currently slightly 'jobless'. He had a few bandages on his limbs and his snout was a lovely shade of black and blue from the ball Silonik had smashed into it via the Force. Not wanting to draw his attention, Asri wisely bit her tongue to keep it from making any snide remarks and drawing his attention and quickly made her way to the tent behind the show tent.

It was at the entrance of this tent that Asri hesitated, realising that once she went in, there was no turning back. If she was discovered now, she'd never hear the end of it. With a deep breath, Asri pushed aside the tent flap and went in. Inside was a dublicate of the stage in the show tent in the center. Around it were various stretching equipment, stacks of show props and various mini tents along the walls of the tent itself: those were most likely dressing rooms. There were a couple of folks practicing for the nights shows, one of them she recognized as Tath'ris, who was quick to notice her.

"Oh so you actually decided to show up." The Twi'lek said. "Damn, that means I owe Zakula'ee 10 credits..."

"Just goes to show that gambling is a bad thing." Asri said with a grin. "Is Kohee'ka in yet?"

"Yeah she's taking forever in her dressing room again." He turned and shouted. "Hey Kohee'ka! Your victim is here!"

"Be out in a sec!" Came a response from one of the mini tents.

"And one second means an hour..." Tath'ris said with a roll of his eyes. Suddenly a bottle of nail polish came flying out of that same tent, smacking Tath'ris in the back of the head. "Ow!"

"She has a good arm." Asri said with a giggle.

"Deadly...actually." Tath'ris said, rubbing the back of his head. "She does the knife throwing show on occasion."

"Really? Are you perhaps the target during the show?"

"Thankfully...no. I'm allergic to sharp things flying at me at high speed."

"He's allergic to anything that may cause him bodily harm." Kohee'ka said as she emerged from the tent.

"Wow..." Tath'ris said as he looked at his wrist, pretending to look at a watch. "That must be a record."

"Keep it up or I will use you for target practice." Tath'ris took the hint and shut up.

"How many times you have to threaten him like that each day?" Asri said, giggling at the whole exchange.

"I lose count." Kohee'ka said with grin. "I'm glad you came. It's been awhile since I had anyone to teach."

"So the guard told me when he let me in." Asri said. "'Business' been that tough eh?"

"With the way the New Order has been expanding the number of planets the headmaster is willing to go to has dropped dramatically." Kohee'ka said with a sigh.

"You don't travel to planets controlled by TNO?" Asri said with a raised brow.

"For our own protection mainly." Kohee'ka explained. "A lot of our themes poke fun at the old Empire, which we know the New Order would have objections too."

"Oh...so that explains the 'Dunk the Emperor' sign by the dunk tank I saw."

Kohee'ka giggled. "Yeah that one has been around since the Old Empire fell. Also though, it's to avoid the heavy taxes they would surely put on us since most of our employee's are not human."

"Bigotry at it's best..." Asri said sarcastically.

"Indeed. Well enough chatting about depressing things. You came here to learn to dance, so lets hop too it." She started to turn, but then stopped and looked at her again. "Oh...I didn't catch your name..."

"Asri."

"Ah, pretty name. Easier on the tongue then most Trandoshan names I've heard."

"Thank you." Asri said with a faint blush.

"Well Asri, lets start with the basics...."

To her surprise, Asri found todays lesson ending far too soon. Even though she was exhausted, she felt more relaxed and at ease then she had in years.

"I don't care what any one else says about you." Kohee'ka said as they sat on a bench, resting from the lesson. "You took to the lesson like a fish to water: you're a natural."

"I'm as surprised as you are." Asri said with a fain smile. "It seemed to come to me so easily. Here I was afraid I'd be clumsy and keep tripping over my own two feet."

Kohee'ka laughed. "Well you have a promising career as a performer if you ever wish to persue it. I for one wouldn't mind having you perform with us."

Asri smiled, but it was tinged with saddness. "I'm afraid I have other commitments to uphold. Perhaps in the future I can persue this as something more then a hobby. For the time being though, I would like to continue the lessons."

"That's great! I will enjoy our future lesson together Asri."

"As will I."

They said their farwells and Asri left the tent, feeling light hearted and giddy. Though she had only just learned the very basics of the dance, she felt a since of absolute freedom while performing the moves. It was like all her worries, all her problems, disappeared while in the dance. It seemed to act as a form of release for her, one that was better then any other method she had ever used before. For a girl like her that has a high stress life, this may be just what she needs to help chase away those bad thoughts about herself and her twisted past.

She barely acknowledged the trip back to the Academy, her mind replaying the sensation she felt while dancing over and over again. It was only after she had reached the Academy grounds that she snapped out of it enough to realize just how hungry she was. The workout the lesson gave had used up more energy thing she usually did and the nanos therefore were demanding her to refuel. Being it was lunch time anyway, she made her way to the cafeteria and order her usual two livers. After eating she went back outside into the courtyard, where she simply sat and basked in the sun.

Asri must have been out there for an hour when Maskis showed up, looking a little worse for the wear. It was then she remembered he had indirectly inquired about her assisting him with a Fleet related problem. "You look a bit worse for wear." She said as she looked up at him from the grass as she laid on her back. "Find out anything?"