Hi guys! I hope you're doing okay! I'm sorry for not posting a chapter last week, I had so much work at school that I couldn't find the time to write the new chapter. But now, I'm almost done with school for the semester and at the beginning of 2018 it should be easier for me to write these chapters because I'll be mostly doing academic research and writing some kind of equivalent of memoir. I don't know if you guys have those or how they're called.

So anyway, I'm back in the game, finished this new chapter today and I was able to see Star Wars 8 yesterday evening, so I'm in full SW mode now. This chapter is really short though, but I'll try to write longer ones next time. Enjoy!

Starwarshobbitfics: Yeah, I thought it would be kind of cool to have them work as bodyguards for a while. Although, I didn't want them to secretly plan on killing their employer, I just wanted them to have a "normal" job and just do their work like everybody should. I'm glad you liked it and thanks for the review!

Johnt12345: I really do love Eeveen, so she'll definitely be back and (not to spoil) Myra did promise to be back so... It's interesting that you brought Steela, I think that undirectly Ahsoka might try to live up to her name, in a way. Well, Max has been casually sleeping with Taiilyrra, but she's not exactly his girlfriend, mostly because Taii is nobody's girlfriend, ever. And for Luuulla, I really wanted to introduce her quite early in the story (It's weird to say early at this stage, because we've been at it for what, the better part of two years now? But compared to everything that I have in plan, it's just the beginning).

17 years before the Battle of Yavin / 2 years, 7 months and 3 weeks after leaving the Jedi Order / 2 years, 4 months and 3 weeks on Nar Shaddaa / a year, 10 months and 3 weeks after Order 66 / a year, a month and 3 weeks after adopting Myra (Year +3,1)

Two weeks had happened since their little stay on Circumtore. They hadn't directly heard from Luuulla, but received a note through a secret channel that Ahsoka had set up. She had been working with Softness lately on a secret code that Rebel sympathizers could use to get in touch with her team if they ever needed help, or if they had interesting intel about the Empire or even if they wanted to officially join them. It wasn't entirely set up yet, but so far it was innocent and remote enough so it didn't attract the Empire's attention. Luuulla's message didn't tell them anything new but proved that the code worked.

The team split in two at that moment. Max was sent to Hutta Town to start digging around Grakkus with R2-KT and Jynna. He was looking for information about the Hutt, trying to find patterns in the rounds of his guards, trying to learn more about his habits, his defenses, who was his ally and who hated him and would be willing to stab him in the back. He was also looking for a strategy to act. They had decided to keep their base of operation in the house in the village on Nar Shaddaa, also using Taii's Saloon as a gathering place, but they couldn't just act in Nal Hutta and right after come back to the village, it would endanger everybody. So Max was thinking how to do it and was looking at different places in Hutta Town to set safe houses.

Meanwhile, Ahsoka stayed in the village and worked on the Sneaky and sometimes on the Stella upgrading them as much as she could. Myra occasionally helped, but she mostly spent her time building her disguises and trying to train Little Max. So far, it wasn't working. Ahsoka knew that she couldn't make miracles, that their ships could be upgraded to a certain point. She had also asked Softness to help her with those upgrades, because, as good as she was with machinery and stuff, she wouldn't say no to a second pair of steady hands.

As it turned out, Softness spent a lot of time helping Ahsoka out, mostly because business wasn't that great anymore at Taiilyrra's bar. The Chagrian still ran the saloon but there were less and less clients due to the recent events. Taiilyrra was trying to get things running again, but more and more people left the village and less and less travelers were stopping by, preferring to stop a few clicks closer to Hutta Town to refuel. The village slowly turned into a ghost town.

Ahsoka didn't mind the calm and emptiness that slowly crept into the village, but she knew that Jynna would suffer greatly from it for she loved to be surrounded by happy and joyful people, despite her spy predispositions. Myra was too young to understand everything that was going on, but she didn't really care about other people as long as she was with her family. As for Little Max, no one knew what he thought. Max on the other hand, was a little bit like Myra, not really needing people when he had his own group he cared about.

As Ahsoka was lying under the belly of the Sneaky, she heard Softness humming. The Wookie was working on one of the guns that had jammed when they tested them earlier to get a feeling of the power and accuracy so they could look for better guns and compare in the next few days. Once again, Ahsoka insisted they get better shields for the Sneaky but Max refused to do the same for the Stella, saying that the best offense remained offense. There were other times when both adults argued like an old couple, much to Myra's sadness, but Max had his own way of seeing things and Ahsoka had her own. They couldn't get along all the kriffing time after all.

Softness suddenly stopped humming and roared gently, something really close to a friendly greeting. The next thing she knew, Ahsoka was joined under the Sneaky by a very familiar fur ball.

"Hey you!" she said as Little Max came brushing his head against her bare shoulder before plopping next to her and rolling on its back, purring softly. "Is Myra giving you a hard time again?" Little Max only mewed in response.

Ahsoka wasn't actually surprised to see the Tooka come to hide under the ship. Myra's constant tries to train him some tricks for missions must really be annoying to the little guy. Ahsoka didn't blame him as she scratched him under the chin before pulling at the wires under the ship to change a power converter in the underbelly. Maybe she should talk to the younger Togruta, to give her some advice. She was no animal trainer herself, but she knew a thing or two about the Force.

After a while, she came out from under the ship when Softness finished with the jammed gun and together they rearranged the space next to the hyperdrive, throwing away everything that was useless to them and that was only taking space, both in the ship and inside the consoles (where no one was supposed to go but where Ahsoka had once found grey fur). Working with Softness was nice even though Ahsoka couldn't really practice her Shyriiwook. As she had explained to her team before, she could understand that language perfectly, but couldn't make the right sounds to tell exactly what she wanted. Which was why she was so proud of Myra's improving language skills and Jynna's already more than incredible ones.

Besides being really good at what he was doing, Softness was also very kind as his name suggested. He also had a solid cultural background and knew about navigation in more ways than just a simple owner of a ship did. Because you could fly a ship without knowing navigation, as long as your coordinates were right. But Softness knew about star clusters, trading routes and had even managed to find his way out of a green nebula. Ahsoka was impressed to say the least and, as they worked on the Sneaky, they compared their knowledge of the Outer Rim.

Sometime during the afternoon someone yelled something in Shyrriwook at Softness from under the ship. As they were fixing a glass panel on the top and had masks on to protect them from the sparks, they couldn't really see who that was. All Ahsoka saw was a tall furry and dark figure. Almost as tall as Softness himself, the individual was a Wookie with dark black fur that had brown patches on the face and chest. He was asking if a certain Softness was there and if so, if he could help him take a look at a broken transmitter.

Softness took his mask off and looked curiously at the new Wookie as if he was remembering him from somewhere but couldn't quite guess from where. Ahsoka put her tools aside to better look at the individual with her own eyes. She could feel him through the Force and she smiled when she recognized the signature. She then didn't say anything as Softness climbed down the ship, certain that he would recognize one of his own.

As it turned out, Softness had only been fooled during the first few seconds when he heard the question in Shyriiwook. Because where Ahsoka could tell the identity of someone through the Force, Softness could smell and just tell if someone truly was a Wookie or not. That's why, despite how good Myra's disguise looked, Softness could not be fooled for very long. He came to the new Wookie, patted him on the head before asking Myra to take her head off. The girl's smiled appeared when she took the mask off, the same mask she had been working on during the last weeks. She had painted her skin dark in case holes appeared in her disguise and had even glued some fake fur around her eyes and mouth. To make herself look buff, she had added foam pads to her suit and had made tall legs out of plastic pipes to be as tall as a Wookie on some kind of makeshift stilts. The only thing that she would have trouble to conceal, where her montrals and lekku, but for now they were too small to be a bother.

It's only during dinner later that day that Ahsoka learned why Myra was going to so much trouble with her disguises. Max and Jynna were still out there and were not due to return before at least two more days. But Ahsoka had invited Softness and Taiilyrra for dinner.

"I want to blend in," Myra said. She pushed her food a little on her plate, looking at it rather than at everybody else. Taillyrra was watching her with a curious expression on her face, waiting for the girl to explain. "I have pink lekku stripes. And my skin is too pale. And my face markings are not the most natural so I would have a hard time surviving in the wild."

"Who told you that?" Ahsoka asked after refilling her glass with water.

"My daddy. A long time ago. He was an Akula hunter. He spent his days hiding in the bushes, tracking the beasts. He knew how to survive in the wild." She turned to Softness. "He told me that we Togrutas have those stripes and face markings to hide in the jungle, to blend in with the nature in order to hide from predators. Like the Akula. But me? I have the most exotic face markings and color stripes of my entire family. It's not dull yet not dark enough. It's just bright. And I have a strange eye color."

She took off her goggles and squinted at the light, even though it wasn't that bright for everyone else. It had been a while since Ahsoka saw Myra's purple eyes. "And I'm really small. In the wild, I would not have survived."

"Don't say that!" Softness cried in Shyriiwook, putting down something that looked like the small bone of an animal.

Myra smiled. "It's okay, I know that. Which is why I'm happy to be with you guys. I'm glad I don't have to be alone in the wild. But I also know that my colors are not common among Togrutas. That I would stick out in a crowd. Especially with my abilities. So I want to be able to become anybody. To hide, to be sneaky, to use my small size to do what I want to do, to become who I want to be."

Although this kind of action was unusual, Ahsoka could only approve the girl's plan. Her first disguise, although not perfect, was an excellent start and if she really managed one day to fool people, then it was worth supporting her idea, however crazy it may seem.