| Author |
Topic:
The Rookie, a vignette for the Professor Literati’s Sci-Fi Roulette Challenge
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earlybird-obi-wan
Registered:
Aug '06
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Date Posted:
7/4 12:57am
Subject:
The Rookie, a vignette for the Professor Literati’s Sci-Fi Roulette Challenge
- Date Edited:
7/4 11:36pm (2 edits total)
Edited By:
earlybird-obi-wan
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The Rookie
Author: Earlybird-obi-wan
Timeframe: ROTS-ROTJ
Characters: my OC Ben Henny from USJS.
Genre: vignette
Keywords: fireships
Summary: Events during ROTS change a young firefighter.
Disclaimer: Lucas = Star Wars
The quote I got was from David Gerrold's The Middle of Nowhere: The rookie had arrived at Stardock so recently, his eyebrows still hadn't had time to come back down to their normal position.
The Rookie
The rookie had arrived at Stardock so recently, his eyebrows still hadn't had time to come back down to their normal position.
He was a fire fighter from the Coruscant fire department and assigned to one of the firefighting ships and had graduated only one day ago from the academy.
He was Ben Henny; a lanky boy with brown hair and smiling green eyes, who was the son of the famous Tad Henny. Tad Henny had been fire chief at the Jedi Temple and had recently moved to the planet Lingala to live with his brother.
Ben had stayed behind and he wanted to become assigned to the Jedi Temple firehouse. He had visited the Jedi Temple many times and even had taken part in the student exchange program. He had fond memories of that stay and wanted to go as soon as possible to the temple. But first he had to take a tour of duty at Stardock.
The evening of his graduation, he had a party with his friends, and the next thing he knew was waking up on a transport headed for the Stardock situated at one of the Coruscant moons.
He was introduced to his new chief, a short and balding man named Kleno and his mates and had been assigned a bunk.
---
Blaring sirens interrupted his sleep and he jumped out of his bed and donned his boots and coveralls and grabbed the helmet laying on the shelf before running out of the dorm.
“Hey ‘Padawan’ you are with me”
Ben grinned ‘even here they used his nickname’ and he hopped inside the ship taking his place at the rear nozzle.
Ad ‘foam’ North was his mate and their captain ‘little’ Kleno was commanding the ship. Two clones formed their security detail and manned the turrets. Another clone soldier was their pilot.
Taking off and rounding the surface of the moon Ben saw where they were headed.
“Ooh nooh look at that.”
“Yeah kid, the war has come to Coruscant. But we are winning. Look most ships are preparing to get away.”
“Yeah only got us now to join the fray. We were on standby.”
“Look that SEP cruiser is diving.”
“Take us there. Our mission is to help that thing land safely.”
Ben saw pieces breaking from the cruiser. Hatches, flaps and drag fins were opened and the thing was glowing. A large rip was spreading and the aft end of the cruiser broke sending the forward piece tumbling down. It righted and resumed its path.
“Hey now they are flying half a ship. Must be some wizard of a pilot.”
“Yeah, I heard he is a Jedi Knight and he can fly anything.”
“Anakin?”
“No more guesses, Padawan.”
Ben Henny smiled despite the situation. ‘If someone could pull this thing it would be Anakin Skywalker. I met him during that program and he was a nice kid, a bit arrogant to his master and getting him into trouble. Yeah but I have seen him many times on the holonews accomplishing great feats.’
“Pilot bring us near.”
“Yes sir.”
“Douse the flames.”
Ben activated his gear and saw that the cruiser was headed for an industrial landing platform.
Four more Fireships came to their aid and sprayed the smoking cruiser with foam.
Ben saw the cruiser screeching to a halt after clipping a tower and some odds and ends and gave a relieved smile. “Another happy landing.”
Foam said “what? More a wrecking landing.”
Ben said “Anakin says that every time he lands a craft. Look the passengers are safe.”
He saw a transport coming in and hovering near the wrecked command module. Through the transparisteel windows of the transport he could see the passengers entering it.
“Hey that is Palpatine and Obi-Wan Kenobi.”
Foam said “great.”
Chief Kleno said “take us back. We need to stock our ship with new foam.”
“Yes sir”
- - - -
No more calls came that day and Ben Henny saw the holonews and the news-catcher bragging about the hero with no fear.
And in the days that followed Ben took his training runs with his mates and saw one day swooping through the Coruscant skies that a large building was on fire.
He asked “captain. Shouldn’t we come to the aid of those firefighters?”
Chief Kleno said with a curt nod of his head “no. Pilot head back to Stardock”
That evening Ben saw Palpatine declaring himself emperor and tears escaped his eyes when he heard that the Jedi were being treated as traitors.
Chief Kleno visited him that evening, and said “Ben, get your gear.”
Ben packed his meagre belongings in a bag and followed chief Kleno to a transport. Ad North was already on board and waved them inside and closed the hatch.
“Geez this ship has a hyperdrive.”
“Yeah kid and it will get us to safety.”
Chief Kleno said “I have no love for Palpatine at all now that he declared the Jedi to be traitors of the republic. We will go to some place where it is still safe.”
Ben said “I know one of those places. Lingala, it is quite near and not that much in the picture.”
Ad said “I know, it was my homeplanet before I moved to Coruscant to become a firefighter.”
Chief Kleno said “go before someone misses this transport.”
Ad engaged the hyperdrive and the small transport vanished from the Coruscant space.
- - - - -
Many years later Ben Henny was sitting with his friends on the terrace of the farm of his grandfather and looking towards the small village of Ingal on the planet Lingala.
With him was his wife and two children named after their grandparents Don and Tara.
Ben had joined the fire department of Ingal with his chief and Ad North.
All had remained on Lingala found new friends, helped the rebellion when they could and waited for the downfall of the empire.
Ben had been sure of it when he heard about the destruction of the Death-Star by a young kid with amazing piloting skills.
He smiled when he saw the fireworks lighting up the evening sky.
They did it, the rebels had defeated the emperor and the empire was no more.
FIN
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DaenaBenjen42
Registered:
May '05
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Date Posted:
7/4 9:41pm
Subject:
RE: The Rookie, a vignette for the Professor Literati’s Sci-Fi Roulette Challenge
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Good and interesting story of a firefighter on Coruscant. I liked it.
Well done. 
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"Say it with me now. Postcard. Zoo. Not. Shopping."
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AzureAngel2
Registered:
Jun '05
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Date Posted:
7/5 5:46am
Subject:
RE: The Rookie, a vignette for the Professor Literati’s Sci-Fi Roulette Challenge
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It amazes me how small events and people in common add to big events.
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"There is good in him. I felt it." "Y a-t-il un coeur sous ton armure? Le mien est pur comme l'azure." My be  darlings DU & Chilla: http://img428.imageshack.us/img428/1433/theemperorlivescopy0pv.jpg e-mom of DG
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earlybird-obi-wan
Registered:
Aug '06
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Date Posted:
7/11 8:57pm
Subject:
RE: The Rookie, a vignette for the Professor Literati’s Sci-Fi Roulette Challenge
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DaenaBenjen42 posted:
Good and interesting story of a firefighter on Coruscant. I liked it.
Well done.
Thank you for reading 
AzureAngel2 It amazes me how small events and people in common add to big events.
Thanks 
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writer and Star Wars fan
FANART [link=http://boards.theforce.net/fan_art/b10020/25793899]fanart[/link]
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