Not many of the missions Estelle had the honor of being a part of for the Rebel Alliance started out with as much tension as this trip to Obas had. In fact, she was not able to recollect a one. Even the nerves of her first few rookie assignments did not equal the stressballs rolling about her innards like the loose ends of spiked metal maces. And, the anxiety was not caused by the task set before her, but rather by the dynamic between the parties with whom she'd been sent to accomplish it.

Aurelias and Grace had achieved a tenuous truce since their departure from Dantooine, but it had no body fooled. The undercurrent was palpable, and Estelle was certain the strained civility would not last.

Not with Kazaar doing his darndest to provoke things, thats for sure.

Assistant Director Van Derveld was to be commended for her sheer command of will in not biting to Kazaar's relentless remarks and unveiled sneers. If you asked her, Russard felt her partner trod the precipice of insubordination on more than one occassion, and it was probably up to her to pull him into line since she had been given the designation of Senior Operative by Dasquian Belargic at the mission briefing. But that was a hat that had yet to sit well with the young rebel. Russard was more than comfortable in yanking her partner into line with a sharp rebuke or, more effectively, a jab in the ribs with a well-placed elbow. But to pull rank...well, that was another thing, and something she needed to build up her courage for. So far, it was something she had not been able to do.

And the stress spike-balls continued to roll.

"Obas should be coming up on the grid any moment" Estelle announced to no one in particular as their ship traversed the vast black of space.

Their mission was simple: Find out what the heck was going on at the Rebel Base there.

Alliance headquarters had received a priority transmission from the Base requesting help, and then...nothing. Not a peep. The Base Administrator, Ravenna Huber, was uncontactable, all that was out there was dead space. Extremely worrisome, given the importance of the site.

Obas, located in the Expansion Region, was valuable in that it was a central access point for relaying and co-ordinating information throughout the rebel network. The silence could just be a result of atmospheric interference, something not uncommon given the volcanic landscape and isolation of the planet. However, the urgent transmission seemed to preclude something as innocuous as the weather.

Estelle watched the screen, unconsciously biting on the end of her thumbnail. "Shall we try reaching Huber again?" she asked, knowing that it would be a longshot. Huber had not tried to contact them, that nothing had changed in the Admin's status was obvious. "We might just get lucky" she said, not really believing it.