<center><i>[Chorus:]

I ain't lookin for a steady thing
I ain't lookin for what love brings
I'm still young and I ain't ready babe
I'm still lookin for some better days
I don't wanna give you everything
I just wanna make you feel things
If you ain't down to give me everything
Just throw it away

Don't assume cuz I'm a woman
That I'll fall in love
Don't expect I'm young and need to be took care of
Don't wanna hear you got what I need
Cuz how would you know before we speak
You've gotta understand my side
I've had a crazy, crazy life
Nobody came along to open up my eyes
You've gotta take what you can get
Don't even bother with my heart
Cuz I get a feeling I won't let it start

[Repeat Chorus]

Please believe me
I've been down this road and back again
Learned my lesson and it was that love is not my friend
For the day I put my trust in you
Would be the day I say "I do"
Don't expect me just to open up
Maybe I'm just a little scared
Please don't tell me what you think I wanna hear
Oh baby save it, I've heard it all before
There ain't nothin you could say, whoa, to make me change my
ways

[Repeat Chorus]

So stop falling
Stop falling
You know you're falling....for me
Stop falling
Stop falling
Stop falling...for me
You've gotta understand my side
I've had a crazy, crazy life
Nobody came along to open up my eyes
Oh baby, take what you can get
Don't even bother with my heart
I get a feeling I won't let it start

[Repeat Chorus]

Stop falling...</center></i><hr>
She was a prisoner...

Not to the <i>Empire</i> or rogue pirates on a distant outer-rim planet, but to her emotions. She laid in silence carefully mapping out the intricate patterns on the tiles of her ceiling as she had done every day for nearly a week. So far she had outlined an <i>Imperator</i>-class Star Destroyer, her history professor Mr. Snife, a Bantha and a crack that strangely enough resembled <i>him</i>. Lorana rolled over and buried her head in the warm recessed of her pillow as a single salty tear rolled down her soft brown cheek. The thought of him ripped through her like the sizzling heat of a luminous lightsabre. She could almost feel <i>physical</i> pain growing inside of her as another stream of tears erupted. Lorana breathed deeply trying to savor the last of his scent on her pillows. It was <i>gone</i>, but not forgotten. The <i>crack-hiss</i> of her airlocked door interupted her thoughts as she quickly rolled over to face the opposite direction.

"Lorana..." the soft voice of her best friend accompanied a shift in the weight on the bed. Beth Retha had introducted Lorana to the academy when she had transfered from the Imperial Military Academy on Imperial Center. She had been her friend, mentor and confidant over the years and remained one of the few people that Lorana had not completely pushed away. Beth carefully put her arm around Lorana's shrinking torso and pulled her closer.

"Sweetheart, it's going to be alright. The pain will pass in time."

"I can't stop thinking about him Beth," Lorana wiped away the snot from her nose trying to catch her breath "I just can't. I <i>love</i> him."

Beth nodded her head casually and started to twirl her fingers through the dirty texture of Lorana's unwashed hair. She felt a strange sence of disgust in the woman that was once at the top of her graduating class. Beth could remember the days when Lorana was at the top of everything; the envy of every man woman and professor at the academy. She was a woman of great aspiration. A woman that had set high goals for herself and was actively pursueing her dreams. All of that had changed when she met <i>him</i>. She'd thrown her life away to be a man's lap-dog.

"Would you look at yourself, Lorana? You've been demoted. You've lost your position as Squad Leader and you still lay here wallowing in self pity. You disgust me. Now, you can either get up and take your final exams or you can lay here alone with no friends. No goals. No life. No one is worth what you've done to yourself."

Beth stood up and paused for a few seconds waiting for a reaction that she knew she wouldn't get. After a moment, she strode briskly out of Lorana's quarters. As the airlocked doors opened Beth paused for a moment but did not turn around.

"Goodbye, Lorana...."

<b>R'alla Military Academy</b>

R'alla Military Academy stood as one of the most prominent and influential academy's in the entire Corporate Sector. The structure itself stood as a beacon above the inner-city. The soft white texture stood out gracefully against the blue-green of R'alla's afternoon sky. Probably the most wealthy academy in the sector, R'alla Military Academy had ed as an ivy league institute of higher learning for nearly two hundred years. At first glance, Lorana had carefully measured the structure with her memory of the Imperial Palace on Imperial Center and determined that it almost rivaled it in grandure and architectural perfection.

She paused for a moment and smoothed the wrinkles out of her metallic grey uniform. It wasn't quite as fasionable as her former Command Officer's Candidate uniform, but it still suited her quite well. The nervous feeling deep inside of her stomach twitched and grumbled as she strode forward adjusting her hat and carefully guiding a few rogue strands of hair into place.

"welcome Admiral, its an honour to have you with us. I must thank you again for giving up your time, you must be a busy man..."

Omar inclined his head in greeting and smiled warmly then shook hands with the Academy's Dean, Mr Zuldazar Dent, a tall and somewhat beanpole-like looking individual, with a neatly kept beard.

"Not at all, Mr Dent, its a pleasure to be here, after all, 'the youth of today are tomorrow's future'..." Omar replied with the subtle traces of a smile.

Dent raised an eyebrow and smiled in response...

"ah!...I see you have been reading our prospectus, Admiral..."

Omar, still standing , picked up a copy which had been lying on the Dean's desk and waved it slightly as he talked..."I always do my research before I go into battle..."

Dent chuckled in response..."...yes, I'd expect nothing less. Shall we?"..and gestured for the Admiral to follow him out of his office.

Placing the prospectus back upon the table, Omar grinned and gestured himself for the Dean to lead the way...

"after you..."






Exam Hall



"there they all are, this years best and brightest..." Quipped the Dean as he finished his guided tour for the Admiral, by showing him the last stop, the Exam hall.

Omar's eyes studied the many varied faces of the students as they sat their finals in silence all sat behind their individual desks.
Both he and the Dean where in a higher gallery which looked down upon the students below, a long corridor with vast thick windows in order to preserve silence for those engrossed in their studying.

The Admiral couldn't help but feel it couldn't be any more of a contrast to what it was they were all actually studying.

If only war was as peaceful.

Omar was here to give a talk , a 'Q and A' session they called it, to help them with their studies. His arrival had caused quite a stir, after all it wasn't everyday that an Admiral of the Commonwealth's Navy made an appearance, and a Veteran of the Caprician conflict at that.

Truth be told, Omar wasn't wholly comfortable with the minor celebrity status which had been thrusted upon him, but he found it flattering nonetheless.

A clatter of hurried footsteps made him look up from his thoughts...

A young woman, and an attractive one at that, had burst through the double doors ...

"Ms Isaria! This is an Exam Hall , NOT a racetrack..." Came the rather terse dressing down from the Dean as his eyes settled upon the woman.

Omar remained silent, simply a spectator.

"..You are too late this time I'm afraid, this is the third exam you have been late for, and it was delayed because of you. No more allowances...we have had no choice but to fail you...and you know what that means. I am sorry but there is no room at this Academy for those who do not pull their weight..."

The woman stared pleadingly at the Dean, as if dumbstruck, then at Omar, who remained silent...

"...I'm sorry Ms Isaria, but if you cannot organize yourself, what makes you think you could organize a fleet!..." Dent continued, his voice had lost its edge a little now, but it remained stern nonetheless.

Omar watched a little in sympathy as the Woman's eyes began to stream with water, and before either he or the Dean could do anything, she broke down in tears, before turning and running back where she had came from.

Her embarassment and her humiliation perhaps too much to bear.

Omar turned around to face the Dean with a raised eyebrow, his look one of puzzlement...

"...Ms Lorana Isaria" Dent answered in response to the inevitable query..." Failed all of her finals...a shame too, she had a promising start, lack of commitment..."

Omar simply nodded and turned his gaze back at the students below, with one arm across his chest, and the other resting a finger thoughtfully upon his lips.