Fresh Intel [7.102 BBY]

[Hadrian Distorith]

Intelligence Academy of Carida

7 BBY

Third year. It was third year already. Two years down and two to go before everyone in her group who made it to graduation would begin their first work as fully certified agents of IMPINTEL. Everyone was returning from break, some having gone home to visit families, others attending advancement sessions and lastly, a unhappy percentage had been sent for remedial courses, whether they had plans for vacationing or not. At the top of her class and the youngest of it by a full two years, Yasmin had been afforded the option of taking advancement sessions in a fast track that also allowed her time to go home and visit with her parents, which she had gladly accepted. Her brother had just left the flight academy at the end of the previous instructional cycle for a posting on a Star Destroyer with a squadron and she had barely two days with him amongst everything prior to his departure. On one hand this made her somewhat sad, but all in all she was proud of him. Other girls in her courses for the entirety of her two years so far at Carida had swooned over her older sibling and rolling her eyes and concentrating on something else was all she could do to resist the urge to knock their heads together. Doubtless that would not go over well in any case - they were mostly two years her senior or older in chronological age, after all and mostly full-grown.

The sixteen-year-old Alderaanian girl had just arrived back on-planet some six hours ago and was laying in her bunk, flipping through messages after having spent her time post-unpack going over some review, utterly unable to catch a post-transit nap. As a third year, her responsibilities within the academy would only grow and her opportunities would be greater and that made her excited, apprehensive and nervous all at once. The missive that sat on the datapad in front of her eyes in that very moment detailed one of the more important responsibilities the upper half of the four year program was given.

The Mentor Initiative. She read, within. The faculty has granted me an initiate to guide? Dieux, that makes me nervous. I wonder who I’m to be assigned…

One slender finger slid the information up onto the portable touchscreen. The missive continued. Quietly, her eyes went from one side of the electronic page to the other, moving downward and her eyes settled on the last sentence just before the name when the door to her bunkroom hissed open and caused her to bolt upright from her reclined position and her eyes darted to the entranceway, the datapad and its contents temporarily forgotten. A relieved smile crept up onto her face when recognition of the figure in the doorway came to her.

“Oh, for the emperor’s sake, it’s just you, Ana.”

She breathed out, shaking her head and laughing. Maybe she was more tired than she thought if the opening of the door made her jolt. The door whooshed shut behind her roommate and friend and Yasmin set the datapad aside, rising to cross the room and welcome the older, taller woman back with a hug, breaking the embrace off after a few moments and stepping aside to allow her roommate to take care of her things.

“So good to see you again. How was your break? Are you ready for another cycle?”

[Ana'Sera Beliq]

Breaks were never long enough, the woman mused, gathering her bags as she exited the shuttlecraft. Especially the ones that were always more work than vacation. This had been one of those breaks, where she’d had a grand total of twelve hours to herself, while the rest was given to the glory of the Empire. Not that she begrudged a moment spent in service to the Emperor, but the occasional day or two off, wouldn’t be amiss.

Now however, it was back to classes, lectures, and the routine of the Academy. She entered a waiting taxi and gave instructions to the driver before settling into the backseat. A small mirror was withdrawn from her purse, and a quick gray-eyed glance was cast over her carefully cultivated appearance (http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=49461685). It would not do to be seen out of form, as the saying went among her kind. The face she wore was the one she considered herself – delicate features, soft gray eyes, waves of blonde - oops.

A moment later, her long curls were their proper shade of chestnut, still pinned up neatly as they had been. Ana tucked the mirror away and sighed softly, refusing to look at the datapad that chimed merrily with incoming messages. Whatever it was could wait another twenty minutes until she was comfortably in her room. For the time being, she simply remained silent and watched the traffic and scenery slip by outside the windows.

All too soon however, the speeder joined the queue of others disgorging students at the Academy’s main entrance. She deposited the proper credits into the receptacle and exited when her turn came, gathered her bags together and made her way inside. Her ID was updated and her prints verified at the security desk within the main doors, as was customary, before Ana was finally free to return to her usual room.

“Oh, for the emperor’s sake, it’s just you, Ana.”

“Terribly sorry I’m not someone more interesting, Yasmin.” Ana replied with her usual wink, while a bright, sunny smile lit her features. Setting her things down just inside the door, she returned Yasmin’s embrace with an equal amount of warmth. Paired together since their first cycle at the Academy, they’d quickly become very good friends, and roomed together ever since.

“So good to see you again. How was your break? Are you ready for another cycle?”

“It’s wonderful to see you again as well! I didn’t have much of a break this time…I was sent to Coruscant for some work.” She said carefully, knowing that Yasmin would understand just what kind of work she meant. “But I did spend my few personal hours in the Skydome Botanical Gardens…if you haven’t been there, you simply must visit next time. It was beautiful.”

Her smile remained as Yasmin stepped aside and gave her the space to put away her things. With a care bordering on some form of disorder, Ana neatly put away her clothing and returned her personal items to their accustomed spots. As she did, she cast a glance over her shoulder to her roommate “I am definitely ready for the cycle to start. Have we gotten schedules yet? I must admit I didn’t bother looking at my messages when I landed earlier.”

She nodded to herself as she finished, kicking off her high heels in favor of a pair of comfortable fuzzy slippers. Fingers retrieved her datapad before she sat down on her bunk, across from where Yasmin had perched. “How was your break? I presume you outdid everyone as usual, took several dozen courses in record time and then still had time to spare to spend with your family? I do hope everyone is well.”

[Hadrian Distorith]

Yasmin offered only a blank stare to her roommate and friend, though the light blush creeping up her cheeks betrayed her and her thumbs worked up and down the thin sides of the datapad. Finally, a smile made its way to the top of her expression, shattering the blankness it previously had assumed.

"Oh, please, Ana. It's just simple efficiency and intelligence. The way I go about things isn't to be lauded. I..."

She sighed, closed her eyes, then breathed in and out.

"...I'm sorry. My parents, they are always so proud of me and the exuberance of their pride is wearing after a while. The visit went well, my parents are well and my brother is now posted away from the gossiping, prying eyes of... well, nearly every other girl in the academy, so far as I am aware. He got accepted to the Shadows, you know."

As she wearied of speaking about her famille, her attention was drawn back to the datapad that had rested ignored in her lap since Ana had arrived.

"So, we do have our schedules and..." She made a face "...I got Skiris for AP Psychological Interrogation Techniques for Nonhuman Psyches. Oh! Oh, right!"

She looked up again, across to her roomie.

"I've been selected to mentor an initiate. How about that?"