Vacation at Home

[Opposition]

"Do not worry captain! I am sure that Mr. Schneider will be more than glad to visit. After all, we need an investor for our project, and as you well know he is very wealthy."

The Captain of the Freedom One starred at Ms. Opposition, furrowing his brow considering what all was said. A tall man in his late 60's with a dark brown complexion and graying hair, he had seen a large amount of the history of the cruiser, including the birth of Gabe Schneider on the vessel. "Very well my Lady... I will send out the letter."

"Good! Here then, send this." Opposition put her hands behind her back as the Captain prepared the holonote. It was curious, few had ever seen Opposition in person. Many suspected this was to keep the shroud of mystery around her, but her closest supporters knew it was to keep her race a secret, least the Galaxy know that her people had not died out years ago, and that now her homeworld was thriving in secret with her as their leader.

The Letter:

"Dear Gabe Schneider, this is Ms. Opposition of the Peace Corps. I would like to invite you to an all-expense paid trip to the Luxury Cruiser, Freedom One in the Bespin system. During your stay, there will be entertainment, lavish dinners, and stimulating meet and greet cocktail parties. While you are also here, I would like to discuss a potential business partnership. We would like to open a rehabilitation hospital for the victims of Force-Choking next to the Korriban system, and are wondering if you would be interested in investing in this worth-while endeavor. Even if you do not take our offer, we would still much like to have you visit. We hear you know this place very well.

Signed truly, Opposition."

[Schneider]

Sitting in his ready-room abord the carrier "Carbine's Hedge" and drinking his glass of corellian spiced ale Gabe Schneider pondered whether to give Lieutenant Talis,
Captain of the ISS Razor, the requested promotion. He started talking to himself:

"The man has courage and a lot of potential. Is he ready for this kind of responsibility yet though?
He did an outstanding job in the battle of Bespin and managed to destroy some of the best of those damned Sith Rebel Bombers.
I would love to give this person some more assets, but what if he can't take it? He's still very young and I don't know if he can take the pressure, especially the paperwork, oh the paperwork..."

Gabe Schneider was about to send a polite letter of decline when he noticed the sound of his holonet-reciever.
"If this is another bloody fund request, I swear I'm gonna kill myself."
Gabe Schneider started reading the message.

"Dear Gabe Schneider? Who in the blazes adresses me with my first name anymore?"

Immediatly Schneider's curiosity was taken. He read the rest of the message with great interest.

"Hmm. Opposition, Opposition, haven't I heard that name before? Isn't that the name of that wellfare organisation from Bespin?"
I didn't know it was named after a woman, but who does she think she is to invite me to my own place of birth?
I like her guts though. A hospital for force choke victims near Korriban? That sounds like one hell of an endeavor.
An intriguing offer. I have been really stressed out in the past couple of weeks and I was going to take shore leave anyway, so why not spend it there?"

Gabe Schneider found himself quite happy with the offer. He replied happily:

"Dear Ms. Opposition, I have recieved your letter in which you offer me a all-expenses paid trip to the Luxury Cruiser, "Freedom One".
While I am very flattered by your offer I must decline this kind invitation though, as It would be highly inappropriate for a man of my finacial wealth
to accept such an offer from a wellfare organisation of, pardon me, limited finacial power such as yours.
I will however gladly join you on the Freedom one on my own cost and listen to your intriguing offer.
I will therefore take two galactic standard weeks of shore leave starting in one galactic standard week.
Expect my arrival ten galactic standard days from now on.

Signed with deepest respect, Commodore Gabe Schneider."

[Opposition]

n/a

[Schneider]

Dear Admiral Proudmoore,

as you know I have been working tirelessly on restoring the imperial bomber force to its former glory in the past few days.
However, this work has taken its toll on my physical and mental health.
This is why I hereby formaly request two weeks of shore leave starting 6 galactic standard days from now on and lasting for a total of 2 galactic standard weeks.

Yours truly,
Commodore Gabe Schneider.

[Daelin]

Dear Admiral Proudmoore,

as you know I have been working tirelessly on restoring the imperial bomber force to its former glory in the past few days.
However, this work has taken its toll on my physical and mental health.
This is why I hereby formaly request two weeks of shore leave starting 6 galactic standard days from now on and lasting for a total of 2 galactic standard weeks.

Yours truly,
Commodore Gabe Schneider.

Grand Admiral Proudmoore was reading through the commodore's request at his console.
Altough he had done outstanding work on the Broadaxe-Squad, requesting vacation for such a long time was out of the question.
Especially since the rebels had now taken the ISD Predator and seemed to be getting supplys from one of the planets in Corellia.

On the other hand it would be good to have somebody in Bespin to watch out if the rebels were up to something there.
Proudmoore was not sure he always got the full information about the rebel actions and plans from Imperial-Intelligence-Headquaters.

He made his decision, the commodore would be allowed a one week leave and would have to report to the garrison at Hoth every day.
If something was to happen to Schneider, the Hoth garrison would have to send in a team to get him out.
The Grand Admiral just hoped this precaution would be unnecessary.

Commodore,

you request has been assessed. You are granted one standard week leave. You have to report in to Hoth garrison once every day.

Signed,

Grand Admiral Daelin Proudmoore
Commander of the Imperial Fleet

[Opposition]

Though it was now the central administrative headquarters of the Peace Corps, the luxury cruiser lacked adequate defense systems for anything larger than what might be in a squadron of starfighters. The Task Force was continually scouting whatever area the Freedom One was currently in, all arranged in a pattern that could quickly converge on the ship's position should enemies be discovered.

However, Unlike most days the Satanas was present along with the entirety of battlegroup Epsilon and Sierra. This was not in response to any threat or impending battle, but rather to impress the visiting Imperial Officer due to land at any moment. Epsilon and Sierra were the two largest and battlegroups, having seen more action than the rest of the Task Force combined. Each consisting of 10 wings of 5 squadrons, the combined numbers of the fleet totaled at slightly over twelve-hundred. Though impressive and definitely the majority of OPC's military might, Opposition still had a large amount of firepower elsewhere in the Galaxy.

The Freedom One was for the most part typical for a C-3 passenger liner, with what few modifications it had (such as the point-defense system). Her crew numbered at just 233, but she could carry up to excess 650 passengers. The remaining room was reserved for OPC officials and guards.

The Dinning Room was the largest by far, able to hold the entire ship's occupants. The dinning hall's carpeting and walling was a light amber color that was complimented by the light shining from 3 large chandeliers hanging above the central dining table. The hall always had activity, and at any one time men and women of wealth could be seen chatting at any of the 16 other tables, spread out in 4 quadrants adjacent to the very large central table.

-----

It was at one of these tables, tucked away in the bottom-most starboard section that several important OPC employees and investors were discussing the arrival of Commander Schneider.

"I don't care what they say or what connections the man might have to this place... he is an Imperial Officer and ever since the Empire moved to take Solonia I have cared not to have such a person in my presence." Steven remained standing drink in hand, as if a sign of superiority to the others who were sitting down.

"Steven your opinion me'za think is best kept to yourself should you meet him, just friendly advice." said Kana'She, a Gungan aristocrat from the Y'toub sector.

"Settle down dear, I have no intentions on causing a stir." Steven replied.

"Miss Kana'sHe and Steven both have points, but let's lay this aside, shall we?" Said Gary as he searched through his hololog Garry was short, even for a human. "Now back to where we were before... both of you wanted estimates on the return of your investments, but so far as I can see, there is no projected amount yet for Steven's investment, we are generating income from the AA metting hall on Fannier Station through adverts, and we are just now getting word back on the Corellian companies we have made offers to. As for Kana'He's funding, you can expect a 10% increase over last time's returns."

"Yez, more money for me'za! Haha!" Kana'She threw her arms into the air triumphantly.

"Hmm... I guess a week is a bit too early to tell. Very well Gary." Steven paused. "Say, where is that cook? David his name? The big hairy Chiss. I wanted to talk to him personally about... last night. No more sending that hostess over to him."

"You mean me?" Said a female voice from behind Steven. Steven quickly turned around.

"Oh hello there Christal, I did not see you sweetie."

"Cut it out. Now someone wanted me here?"

"Yes," said Gary, "While I'm going through to update the investors I need someone to check on Nik. For an E'wok he gets in quite a lot of mischief."

"Sigh, Gary, why me of all people?"

Gary looks up at her and smiles "because your the only person I knew would do it."

-----

Back on the bridge, the Captain was preparing a greeting party for his guest.

"Captain Darison, you asked for me?" Asked the guard as he saluted the Captain.

"Yes Leroy. The Imperial will be here shortly. I want you to take some of your subordinates and to greet and salute Commander Schneider as he enters the ship. Then I want you to personally show him to his room. Also keep an eye on him, we don't want any harm to come to him on his visit here."

"Hardly in the job description to show him his room, but I will do it sir."

"You better, I didn't make you the head of security to sit in a room all day! Now go, he's about to arrive any minute and I need to discuss some matters with Miss Opposition. Tell the Commander that I apologist for not being able to greet him myself. I have a lot of work to do to get the ship ready for this party coming up in a couple of days."

[Schneider]

"Mrs, uuuh... Mr Swift, I must ask you once again for discretion in this matter. It is of course not of vital importance,
but if someone finds out about this trip I am going to be the subject of mockery in the fleet for months."

Gabe Schneider had gone to great lengths to ensure, that the Imperial Navy didn't learn of his trip.
He knew, that he couldn't use any of his imperial ships, because all of them were bound
to have some kind of tracking device installed on them.

That's why he had decided to hire Ashley Swift, a freelancer pilot of a YT-1300 that had just delivered supplies to the
carrier "Branched Siege" and was available for contract work.

"Don't worry Commander. You hand me the credits and I keep this a secret."
"It's Commo... uuaargh, never mind. Thank you once again Mr Swift."

Recently Gabe Schneider had been more and more enjoying working with mercenaries.
He wasn't really sure why, maybe it was the general incompetence
among the Imperial Officers, but he was probably just fed up with paperwork.

When he recieved Admiral Proudmoore's message, Gabe Schneider was slightly disappointed.
The shortened duration was not really a problem, but having to report in every day was.
He meant to use his shore leave to escape imperial protocol for a while, but it looked like it followed him even on his vacation.

Gabe was still looking forward to seeing the old luxury cruiser again though.
There were a few places in particular he wanted to visit.

"We're coming up on the "Freedom One", Commander. Prepare for the ship exiting Hyperspace."

Gabe Schneider still remembered the old docking port like it was yesterday that he had last seen it.
In a couple of seconds he was going to see the place where he was born and raised again.

He had expected to feel a little more nostalgic about everything he saw, but
he thought, that was probably only because his thoughts were still a little numbed from the office work he had been doing for Broadaxe.
Nevertheless he still felt a certain thrill as the transport entered the docking port and landed.

When he exited the ship he was surprised to see two dozens or so security officers standing in front of him, forming a path.
"Ah I knew it. I should have asked that lady for a little discretion as well."

Gabe Schneider had no time to regret his mistake however, as he was immediatly greeted by one of the security officers.
"Welcome, Commander Schneider. As you can surely see, we have been expecting you.
My name is Leeroy Parker and I have been tasked to bid you welcome on this fine ship of ours.

"Ah, I see. Say, what have I done to deserve this warm welcome?"
"The captain ordered it."
"If my arrival is so important to the captain, why didn't he come personally?"
"The captain said he has to work on getting the ship ready for your welcome party that will be held in a couple of days."

"Great, just great", Gabe Schneider thought.
"The last thing I wanted to do was to attract attention, but it looks like half the ship's gonna have thier eyes on me..."

"Wait, wait... what... what are you doing ?!"
Gabe Schneider was ripped out of his thoughts by the sight of Leeroy Parker searching his body for something.

"The captain ordered me to make sure you're not causing any trouble."
"Moron!"
Annoyed by the whole situation Gabe Schneider pushed the sucurity officer away, making him tumble onto the ground.
Immediatly all the other Guards pointed their wepons at him.
"Do you seriously think the Empire would use high ranking command staff for suicide bombing?!

"I am...", Leeroy coughed, "I'm sorry commander..."
"It's Commodore."
"I am sorry... Everyone, please there's no need to threaten the Commodore!"
Commodore Schneider sighed. "It's fine, is there anything else you want from me or can I go to my room now?"
"The captain asked me to take you to your room personally, Commodore Schneider."
"Very well, please do so."

Of course Gabe Schneider didn't need any guidance. But that security officer, although pretty green behind his ears,
seemed like a pretty nice person and he didn't want to emberass him too much.

Since he paid all the expenses himself, Gabe Schneider picked the room himself:
a small appartment with a living room, a small kitchen and a bathroom. There was no need to go overboard with luxury.
When he arrived, he immediatly gave his thanks to Leeroy Parker and locked the door.
This vacation had taken a sour turn with all the attention that Gabe was getting,
But he was confident, that that was nothing a good night of sleep couldn't fix.
That's why he quickly wrote his report to the Imperial Navy, stating that he arrived without incident, took a shower and went to bed shortly afterwards.