Written by Steeler, Meister P, Amber and Fjap.

Rookie went to his bed and sat down. Staring out of the small window didn’t help him, he wanted to return so much to his squadron that it hurt really bad. But on the other hand he knew it would be impossible. Then the door opened and a man came in, a man Rookie didn’t see for ages, Navy Captain Piett. Piett, one of the Phoenixians years ago, then a Falconer and now one of the highest ranking officers in the TFA.

The Navy Captain smiled: " Hi there Rooks. Nice things you did in the past days. "

Rookie smiled back: " Welcome in the home of the insane Rookie. Nice to see you Piett but why you are here? "

Piett took a seat next to Rookie on the bed and lowered the voice: " Well Amber sent me... I have a special present and I have to say you the Phoenixians stand behind you like one man. "

Rookie sighed: " I hope they stay out of trouble, you know that the Jag’s would like it to execute me as offer to avoid a war with the rebellion. Personal I think it’s already to late to avoid a war with them. "

Piett nodded: " That’s my opinion too. " Then he grabbed under his uniform jacket and took out a water bottle. With a smile he said: " Some of Amber’s special tea and I also have some cakes. Don’t ask me but she really thinks the food here is even worse then the one at the El Pollo Diablo. "

Rookie: " Hey, that’s nice. I hope she used enough of the special thing inside. But Piett, she’s right. I always thought the food on board of the Diablo would be bad but this one here is awful. "

" I’m sure she had... " Answered Piett. The Commodore took the bottle and emptied it in one time.

Piett was impressed: " Wow. "

Rookie yawned: " Oh damn.... I’m sooo tired... " then he fell in powerlessness. Piett grinned: " Oh Amber used a lot of the narcotics, let’s hope it wasn’t too much. " Then he took away the bottle and hit the alert button. The door opened and a guard came in.

Piett: " This man is ill, heck man are you blind. Call the medi droids fast! "

The guard: " Maybe he simulates... "

Piett: " He doesn’t breath anymore, check it! " The guard touched Rookie and really he didn’t feel breathing.

Piett took the Commodore: " Well I bring him to the medic station! We have no time anymore for the droids, he already gets blue. Call the lift! " As the lift came Piett didn’t drive it to the highest level but to the ground level where Desmo already waited for him.

The Wookie smiled: " Ah you have him... great. Hey Piett this is like in the good old times! " The Wookie organised a cart with dirty clothes for the laundry to get Rookie out of the high security prison.

Piett asked surprised: " Are you sure? He will smell like a Tauntaun afterwards... "

Desmo: " This way or no one. We haven’t much time and well he can take a bath afterwards. "

" True. " with these words Piett placed Rookie under the dirty clothes: " Oh dear, he weights more then I expected. "

The Wookie smiled back: " Seems the food was better then we thought. Now to the Wanderer of Ginyard, I can imagine he awaits us without much patience. "

And really Ginyard walked in his Corellian Transport around like an imprisoned tiger: " Finally, I thought you would never arrive. What’s that? Dirty Clothes?! Does my ship look like a laundry? "

Piett nodded: " Of course and you are the master of washing clothes. "

Desmo grabbed into the dirty things and took out the Commodore: " The opposite medicine Gin. "

" You have him, here it is. " With these words Ginyard handed over a injection: " Time for us to leave that place. Heck I disliked Coruscant the whole time, I’m always happy when I don’t stay here for long. "

" Don’t talk... start! " was Piett’s comment.

Some hours later on board of the El Pollo Diablo Amber was in charge of the frigate. She enjoyed her job a lot even when she wished that Rookie or Desmo would be here.

Suddenly The Duke stood next to her: " Amber our spy reported in... "

Amber smiled: " Then let’s hear what Bob told you. "

The Chief Pilot took out a piece of paper and started to read: " Senior Pilot Meister P is in the miners prison Bikkev. I found already out that they want to execute him in the next two days. Act quick! "

Amber sighed: " I still don’t understand why P didn’t try to defend himself. I really don’t understand those Jedi. "

Duke nodded: " Where is Katarn btw? "

The Lieutenant smiled: " In the medic station... "

" What happened? "

Amber giggled: " Our casanova Katarn had a nice meeting with Ginyard’s girlfriend and now he has a broken nose and a black eye. "

The Duke smiled back: " This had to happen sometime. Katarn always overdoes it when a girl doesn’t react like he wants it. "

At this moment Chief Pilot Cobra came to the bridge: " Our little rescue team is nearly here. The Wanderer will land in maybe 2 minutes, then we have the Commodore back. "

Amber seemed disheartened: " I hope they will not search him here on the Diablo, but well I think they will do. Then we are in trouble. "

Rookie awoke in his bed on board of the El Pollo Diablo. Amber sat next to him and smiled: " Welcome at home. "

Rookie smiled back: " Hi Amber. That’s a great dream I’m at home. "

The Lieutenant sighed: " It’s not a dream you are really here on the Diablo. "

Rookie: " Don’t wake me up please. It’s wonderful. I want to dream on. " Amber had no other choice than pinching in the arm of Rookie. The Commodore jumped out of the bed with a loud: " Aua! " and rubbed the hurting place on his arm. With a surprised look in his eyes: " This hurted... so I can’t sleep... I’m really on board of the Diablo. What to hell... Tell me Amber what you have done? "

Amber stood up: " I will make some coffee then we will talk. "

Rookie answered: " No please make one of your special teas... "

Amber shook her head: " No special tea for you. You must wake up and coffee is better for it. "

The Commodore sighed: " Why you must be so cruel? I like your special tea so much and I hadn’t some of it for weeks. Btw, what smells here? "

Amber giggled: " This is your own smell. You travelled with some old dirty clothes. You should take a bath, back in 30 minutes, Sir. " With these words Amber left the bunk of Rookie. The Commodore decided it’s better to follow Amber’s tip.

Amber was really back after 30 minutes but Rookie was prepared this time: " Ok Amber brief me. " and took a cup of coffee.

The Lieutenant smiled: " Well we all were shocked as they took you in the prison like a traitor. All after all it wasn’t your fault that we ended in Ladron and Donnn, such fools. Anyway we started to search for a possibility to free you. "

Rookie sighed: " You are the fools... this could be the end of your careers. "

Amber shook her head: " You taught us something, remember. We are one team. We can only win when we stick together. We have a crisis right now, that’s true. But we can sort it out together. "

Somebody knocked at the door and Piett came in. He smiled: " Welcome Rooks, nice to see you in top form. "

The Commodore smiled back: " Piett you crazy guy. Why you risked that much? "

The Navy Captain answered serious: " I have a big concern about the TFA and about good friends. The TFA fight in too many places, our troops and pilots are exhausted. To be honest I saw the last lost reports and definitive when we have to fight in the unarmed zone too TFA will break down. "

Rookie sighed: " So bad it is already? Then the last reports were wrong... "

Piett nodded: " They were fake, true. It should be motivating and it should cause that our troops hold out. " Piett seemed very depressed as he continued: " I still remember the Pilot Rookie who joined Phoenix, as I was a FL here. And I remember the fine officer you became. And I know you would never ever make such an important mistake like it happened in Donnn without any explanation. I asked Amber and she told me the whole story. "

Rookie sighed: " Yes, it’s a bad story. I guess you know what the High Command planned for Steeler who caused all this here. "

Piett nodded: " Execution, when it’s possible. I don’t know what all can happen... I know Steel well and she knows all about the TFA and its forces. Also our situation and also the ground forces. This knowledge in the wrong hands and the Empire will be beaten. Steeler is now the most dangerous enemy of the Empire. You are one of the leaders of the fleet intelligence, you know how dangerous your ex XO is by now and we feel fear. We could lose all and we can’t protect ourselves. "

Rookie jumped on his feet: " It’s not possible to kill that Sith, we tried it and we failed. Our hope was the Jedi Meister P but you fools took him as a prisoner. "

Amber: " We know where he is. Somebody helps us, a spy I guess. "

Piett rubbed his skin: " A spy? "

Amber nodded: " Yes, his secret name is Bob, well we don’t know his real one. He informed us where you would be and now he found out where P is. Until now the informations were always correct. P is on the miners prison Bikkev. Sadly he should be executed in 2 days. "

Rookie got furious: " They want to kill him? Are they nuts? All after all he rescued the lives of the Phoenix crew more then one time. Damnit! "

Piett: " Stay cool! Calm down! We will free that Jedi before. "

Rookie answered: " How? From Bikkev nobody ever returned. "

The last words Desmo still heard as he entered the SL’s personal bunk: " Hey Rookie, people who end in the psychiatric ward of the high security prison at Coruscant normally never return either. But look at you, you are here. Have a little bit more faith in the Phoenixians. Until now we sorted out every situation. "

Rookie shook his head: " Not every situation. With Steeler we failed. "

" But we survived so we don’t failed completely. " was Desmo’s answer.

Rookie sighed: " I believe Savage here. We are toys in a game we don’t understand. Anyway we must try to free P. Anything else I should know? "

Amber nodded: " Chief Pilot Fjap asked for his return to us, we already agreed. "

" Hey, that’s great news. "

Amber continued: " Fjap and DuKaal are already on the way back to Matjua to find out what happened there. Sadly they don’t know where to start but I think they will visit that casino first DuKaal told about. "

Rookie smiled: " And they will end with a big hangover. "

Amber sighed: " Sadly nothing from Apo or Tobi, I fear the worst. Also nothing from Mav, I fear Apo was right. Mavaric went over to the rebels. Also we have two new pilots, Ani and Seung Nina, two survivors from Donnn Three. They will support us in future. But sadly we lost Goldthunder on a reckon patrol in the near of the unarmed zone. Personally I think the rebel alliance is already there and waits for us. "

The Commodore sighed: " This is bad news, I wished we could avoid such a war. "

In this moment Chief Pilot Cobra burst into the room: " I have terrible news! "

" Sit down and take a deep breath then tell us what happened. " ordered Amber.

But Cobra refused and spoke hurried: " They know that Rookie escaped and they will search him. The Wing commander himself will check our ship! When he find Rookie here then.... "

Desmo tried to calm down the young pilot: " We will hide our Commodore very good, he will not find him, believe me Cobra. "

Rookie smiled: " But he’s right, it was stupid to bring me to the Diablo. They will search me by my friends and so they will take a look at the Diablo. I think they will find me here. "

Desmo’s answer was short: " Not in the ex pink cabinet. Nobody knows that the room exist. "

Amber giggled: " Desmo that’s a great idea. "

But Cobra wasn’t done with his bad news: " The rebel alliance went into the unarmed zone and attacked our patrol ISD Black Hand. The war has just begun. "

Piett’s comment: " Oh dear... "

10 minutes later the Titan arrived by the El Pollo Diablo.

Rear Admiral Jodokast: " There the Diablo is. Flamey, do you think Rookie will be there? "

Flamey shook his head: " Nope, I don’t think they are that stupid anyway we will inspect the Diablo in 30 minutes. "

Jodo was confused: " Why in 30 minutes? Why not now? "

The Wing commander rubbed his skin: " I have to wait for an important transmission from the High Command. Only make sure nobody leave the El Pollo. "

" Yes, Sir. " As Jodokast left the room, Flamestrike smiled in a secret way.

A calm voice said:" Welcome Newbie, how do you like blindness?"

"Hey whoever you are, am I head-forward in the ass of an Hutt or what happened?" P said in the direction the voice came from.

The voice laughed, "Good description! You seem to be ok, almost anyone who gets in here first is running around like a beheaded chicken, before they notice that they can’t touch their noses any longer. Those helmets are some kind of imperial security device, DO NOT TRY TO REMOVE IT, if you don’t want to have your last hair-cut." Footsteps came closer, P felt a hand touching his helmet and another one putting his hand on the helmet of another person. "This is how we say hello down here, feel the lines on my helmet? This is my name. Could you read it?"

P concentrated and moved his fingers over the other helmet. They suddenly stopped, and P. stepped back, at least he tried, because there was a wall behind him.

"BINKY!?!? I only know one person stupid enough...hey who was the girl that kicked you in the fork after that race at Treyon Base?"

The other voice sounded confused too "P? You are here? I can’t believe it!

This only happens in cheap novels! And the girl was the daughter of the station owner..." P slapped on Binky’s shoulder, after the third try...and both stumbled to a place where they could have a seat.

"Binky, I don’t want to offend you, but you have been smeared on a wall the last time I saw you..."

"Do you remember the story I told you about the special things I was able to do with the bikes?" Binky said. " Jumping from it at high speed..."

"Oh no, don’t tell me...you have been weird enough to put the old meat on your bike?"

"Yep, and while they scraped it from the wall, I escaped together with Eryn."

"Well, then everything is clear now, but you should have told me this thing."

"No possible way buddy. The Syndicate was watching you..." Binky replied, "but let’s change the topic now. This is Bikkev-Prison, the Palace of the Blind how the prisoners call it. We are working in some kind of mine, but no one knows what ore we are digging for. Hey you are lucky, the working shift is changing and your hat will be activated." Just as Binky finished, some extreme loud alarm sounded, and lines and numbers appeared in Ps field of view, forming a simple view of the world outside the helmet.

"This is your world now, come on let’s hurry." They stood up and Meister followed Binky to an elevator, where other miners already waited.

P whispered" Aren’t there any guards here?"

"Not much, just a small garrison of troopers and the sadistic bastard who’s in charge of the installation."

"What’s his name?"

"The prisoners call him Fritz."

"Sounds somehow familiar. Why are you in here? And don’t tell me it wasn’t your fault, because it is ALWAYS your fault." P whispered as they walked into the elevator.

"OK OK, Eryn and me have been smuggling some "message" to a customer in imperial space, nothing dangerous, just an errand."

"And of course something went wrong..." P continued.

"YES! Something went wrong, we popped out of the hyperspace and almost ripped the antennas of some weird dreadnought...from this moment there is nothing i can remember."

"Do you mean Eryn is here too?"

"Yes, she is on the other shift. When Fritz found out that we are married, he assigned her to the other shift."

"MARRIED?!?" P tried to lower his voice again.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you, we married after the accident."

"Do we meet her?"

"Probably, when we are lucky she is waiting for the second elevator."

"If you see her, then grab her as fast as you can, I have a plan." P smiled under his helmet.

The elevator stopped and the doors opened. The group walked out of it and Binky moved towards the other line that approached the other elevator. When P spotted Binky’s plan he faked a stumbling movement and pulled the whole line down with him. The guards went towards them to get them back on their feet. And exactly in this moment Binky dashed to a miner of the other shift, grabbed the miners hand and both managed to line up in the 2nd shift before one of the few guards noticed anything. The group split and the three went down one of the tunnels. The other miner shouted something after they reached the mining machines.

"Hey Bink, if this is not important you will remember Treyon more lively than you like it."

"HO! Wait a second, do you know who arrived in the Palace today? Our old friend P."

Eryn looked at P. "Your old friend, not mine...Ok what do you want from us?"

P walked over to the mining machines. "Hi Eryn, I really missed your polite way...here is my plan...I already thought that they use the standard mining lasers -".

Eryn interrupted him, "Ha! A great plan. In the few weeks we have been here, two buddies tried to cut the helmets off. They call it Brain-Ventilation. The resolution of the helmet’s view is too low to let someone make a clean cut."

P kept calm "I don’t want that someone else is making it, I’ll do it myself..."

"ARE YOU INSANE?" the others shouted, but P jumped over the controls and knelt next to the laser beam cutting through the stone. Binky tried to stop his friend, but Eryn was holding his wrists.

"Stop! It’s too late, you won’t be able stop him anymore..."

Meister bend forward and focussed all thoughts on the force, everything in his view slowed down, and then he saw the thing he hoped for, his head moved towards the laser, it cut it’s way through the helmet, but suddenly the laser died away. P moved his head forward, the laser reappeared, cut through the material again and stopped again.

For Eryn and Binky it looked like P was moving his head through the beam at high-speed, and then the helmet splitted and slid from P’s head. He backed away from the machine and went towards the amazed pair.

"Imperial Pulse-Mining-Lasers...Ok, I’ll reprogram it now...have your seat please."

"Bu..Bu..But what happened?" Eryn was still amazed, and Binky’s mouth was still open.

"No time for explanations.Get in front of the thing now."

Unable to say something against it, they took their position in front of the laser and two minutes later they removed the fragments of their helmets too.

After a long kiss between Eryn and Binky, P forced them to stop their asking about the happened things, but Binky was too embarrassed to shut up, so he shouted:

"I know what this was, this was the Force in action. Eryn!" But his wife was wise enough to put her hand on his mouth.

They sneaked back to the point where the group split, but there was a guard. P stepped into the light of the spare lamps. The guard noticed him immediately.

"STOP! Who are you?" the guard shouted.

"I’m nobody..." Binky was just able to see Meister’s back, but something happened. The guard dropped the blaster, unhitched and dropped the trooper armour, laid down on the ground and started to snore.

"Phew that was close." Binky said when he grabbed the blaster.

"Come on, and be silent, he’s just sleeping."

They proceed to some kind of storage facility that was full of crates with no sign on them. They walked between two lines of crates, when two guards went around the corner in front of them. One was hit by a blaster shot from Binky’s blaster, and the other one got a kick between the legs from Eryn, that threw him against the next crate. The two men looked at each other and just said "Treyon". The impact of the guard ripped the container open, and some kind of metal bars slid through the opening. P stumbled, grabbed Binky’s shoulder and whispered "Retreat!" before he got unconscious.

The pair grabbed Meister’s shoulders and dragged him through the next door.

"What was that?" Eryn asked.

"Dunno, just let’s get out of here!" Binky replied, they turned around and it seemed that they luckily stepped into some kind of hangar. But instead of a freighter suitable for the containers, the hangar was the home of a lone missile boat. And even the holds for the missiles have been removed and replaced by container clamps.

"Bink" Eryn said, "how ‘bout pulling out with a hyperspace-tug?"

Back on the Diablo Amber had retreated to her office to get away from the craziness of the bridge and the cantina.

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 7

Authors: NCp Steeler, Ltn Amber, SP Meister_P, CP Fjap

Editor: Ltn Amber

The Authors and Editor have done their best to ensure the accuracy and currency of all information in this story. All information is current to 24/06/2000 and we can accept no responsibility for any loss or inconvenience sustained by any reader as a result of its information or advice.