Rocket was playing around with a ball inside the sphere before the nights games. He practiced his passing skills, by shooting the ball in all the different directions where a goal could be made. This was life. He didn't need a team for this. All he had to do, was rely on himself. As it turned out, he didn't need a girlfriend either. In Nether ball, he was the king of the sphere. Untouchable. Rocket thought of his rivalry with many of the galactik football players. He had beaten them all, one by one. Even angry Sinedd, whom he had challenged, had lost to him. Whom else was on the list of potensial players he could face off against? He saw several names pop up. There was the Xenons, that could be an interesting match, there was the Lightnings, even more interesting if you asked him. But what about his own team mates? Did any of them offer up a challenge for him? For a second, he thought of Tia, but discarded the thought. She would not face off against him in the sphere. He stood a better chance at D'Joks ego getting the better of him. That would be a worthy oponent. It was never spoken of, but there was rivalry that had been going on between them from the day the snow kids was formed. D'Jok had this need to prove he was the best. The Sphere would be a perfect place for him to do so. That was, if Aarch would let him. Deep down, Rocket felt sore that his own uncle had thrown him under the bus when he used the breath outside of competition. He was not even given a chance to explain himself and his actions. Or was this because of Aarchs contact with Addium? They all knew she got her information directly from the flux society. It was possible, his uncle still tried to fix things on that end, by going with what she told him. Well, now they had learned, to use flux outside of the pitch, would lead to being suspended, possibly for good. And during that time, he found a new home, where all he had to focus on, was his own playing. No rules, no team mates, just him, the ball and whomever the sucker was that wanted to make a go at his place for the night was. He didn't need any of them. He had all he needed, right here, in the sphere. Rocket grinned, as he upped the speed he was kicking the ball.

The tractor beams of the prison barge was powerful. Corso tried to keep The Black Manta on a steady course, as they were pulled closer to the structure. He engaged the auto pilot.

Sonny looked at him with a grin.

"No worries Corso. It will be fine" he assured his right hand man.

Corso was not convinced.

"Sonny, remember what happened last time you got too close with the droids? We don't know if Bleylock has any control here. Just to avoid a disaster,I want you to wear a body armour under your clothes. Another shot to the back could make any attempts of escape impossible. Technoid wants you locked up and they want it bad. Best to not take any chances" Corso suggested.

Sonny nodded.

He could understand Corsos worry. And he had a valid point.

"You are right Corso. I will put it on, just to put you at rest. You look tense with this" he said.

Corso nodded.

"You would be too if roles were reversed. I take it, you have some kind of idea of the booking process, and how to delay it till after we have freed the obia ambassadors?" he asked.

Sonny nodded, still with a sly grin on his face.

"No worries. I was once involved in creating these guidelines that the system follows. I know how the booking goes down. Who would have thought I would ever be able to use that knowledge to benefit my new family?" he mused.

They could feel The Black Manta being held in place as she landed. Corso turned off all the engines, while Artie and Bennett had sealed off all areas inside the the ship that contained things Technoid should not see. Sonny knew there was a chance the ship would be searched, them being pirates. That would not be easy for them at all to do. The pirates would hold on to their secrets for as long as they could.

As the ship was secured on the landing deck, Sonny gathered all the ones on board, and prepared them for the trip to the booking area.

D'Jok sat in the hotel room he shared with Micro Ice. While he was out, trying to flirt with Yuki, he never got his best friends taste, D'Jok found himself in thoughts. Rocket was not suspended any more, he was free to play at any given time. Infact, Aarch had not even said anything to the press about it. He was letting it hang there, in the air. They all hoped Rocket would return on his own volition, but he knew better. The cold, hard expression in his rivals eyes, when they, in a state of joy that they found him, after Mark had revealed where he was hiding, had received a less than thankful response from Rocket. Rocket had made it clear, in no uncertain terms, he wasn't coming back to the snow kids, or galactik football. He had changed so much, becoming a closed off, and cold young man. In all honesty, he could be compared to Sinedd, and that was a comparison D'Jok felt uncomfortable at best, to make. He also thought about his new role. Was he being too hard on his team? They were used to Rockets much milder approach. His way of doing things, was much harder. More focused on succeeding, in every way. Maybe there was sides to Rockets way of doing things that he should consider, at least giving a try? But how to get Rocket out of the sphere? As much as he hated to admit it, the whole shiny dome gave him the creeps. It was like he could sense the danger it represented. He could not explain why, but it felt as if this sphere would be a game changer, not only for the snow kids as a team, but perhaps many of their oponents too. To get Rocket out, there was only one way to do it. Someone had to go into the sphere, and defeat Rocket one on one. And as the teams captain, did that role fall on him? He hoped not. For reasons unknown, he felt like he should not play in the sphere. Like it was somehow dangerous. He had talked to Sonny about these kinds of thoughts popping up before. Sonny had listened attentively as his son explained himself to him. Then, without any doubts, Sonny gave him his advice.

If he ever felt like he should not move forwards with something, no matter what it was, he should listen to that feeling. Sonny himself had that instinct well trained. And it had saved his hide, and his mens, several times over. It seemedt hat he, the son of the pirates infamous chief, had inherited that trait too. And Sonny had adviced him to practice using it, to his and others protection. This was a good time to put it to the test. D'Jok decided to hold off any such moves, until he could fill in his father on what they knew, and then, ask what Sonny saw as the wisest move. With that decision, D'Jok turned on the holo tv, to watch the match going on tonight.

The pirates as a group stayed together once they entered the booking area. It seemed, they had no need for the details on most of them. The guards focused on Sonny. Finally, they had him. He had come willingly, and on his own volition. All they needed to do now, was complete the booking process. All the pirates stayed close to Sonny, as he went through the process. This was a risky point. If any of the guards thought like a human, they could end up being put in separate cells, making their job and escape, all that much harder. Once they were done, The pirates were surrounded by droids. Sonny kept a stone faced expression. So far, all was going smoothly. It seemed the process had not been upgraded since his days, working on putting it together. If the locking mechanisms were the same, this should not be hard.

Sonny put the ladies in the middle of the group. He and Artie made the back, while Bennett and Corso walked in the front. The walk through the corridors was hard on Artie, whom didn't like the silence.

He looked around at the dark walls.

"Hey, Fellows. You should think about redecorating this place. Its not very inviting" he tried to joke.

No one paid attention to the droids behind them. It turned out, they should have. One of them opened a quick, but powerful blast, aimed at Arties back. Artie fell to the ground.

"Aouh, my back" he yelled.

"How is that for inviting?" The droid asked, while they laughed.

Corso and Sonny exchanged a look. This was the reason Sonny wore a protective body armour under his clothes. Corso did not want to risk this happening to him again. And Helena got why. Corso had told her off how sick Sonny got when he was hit in the back four years ago, by Bleylocks droids. As a matter of fact, his pulse dropped so low, they nearly lost him. And Corso was not having that happen to him again.

Tia was also worried about Artie, whom struggled to get up. Sonny was in the process of bending down, to help him to his feet, along with Tia, when the droid placed a laser to her back. Tia looked scared as she felt it.

"Dont move, or you will join him" the droid informed in its cold, metallic voice.

Corso made a small gesture to Sonny, not to continue the move he seemed to make. Sonny nodded vaguely. Artie would have to do it on his own this time.

Slowly, Artie rose to his feet.

"Yeah,very funny" he said as they continued their walk.

It felt like they had gone through half the prison already. They were lead as far away from the ship as possible.

Once they rounded a corner, Tia could see whom she was looking for.

"There they are" she said in disbelief.

The obia ambassador and his wife sat in a cell, looking confused as to why they were there. And Tia forgot where she was and why they were there. She started to break out of the group, to head towards her parents. A normal reaction, but this was not the time or place for it. Sonny noticed what she was in the process of doing. Helena saw him make two steps, and gently grab Tias arm.

"Tia, don't draw attention to yourself" he whispered.

Tia looked sad, as she looked at him.

"But, its my parents.." she tried.

Sonny nodded, he understood that. But this kind of move could jeopardize the entire plan. And it was important she realised, they had to do this the planned way, this was not a place to improvise.

"We must stick together, if we want our plan to work" he told her.

That seemed to get to her. Tia slowly returned to her place in the group. The Obia moon ambassador looked as if he had heard them, but there wasn't anything he could do at this point. Sonny made sure Tia walked next to him now, to make sure she was not distracted again. Soon after, they were led into a programmed cell. Sonny made sure all of them went in first,and he was the very last to enter. As soon as he was inside, laser beam bars was used to lock them up. Bennett was not impressed. Surely, the power current in the bars could not be all that strong?

Bennett, before anyone could tell him no, reached out, and touched the bars. The power coursed through his body, sending him flying backwards, and landing in the arms of a shocked Corso. This was not their plan. He hoped Sonny had a plan to escape this.

"We are in kind of a jam Sonny" Bennett concluded.

Sonny looked at them all. Maybe it looked bleak,but truly, he had a feeling security was not as tight as it should be, not if you wanted to hold down a pirate. And they had the tools to make this happen on them.

"I am not so sure about that" he said.

Aarch sat in his office. This whole mess with Rocket, was eating away at him. Here, he tried all he could, to follow the rules, set by the league and the flux society. He could not treat Rocket as his nephew in all this. With the snow kids,Rocket had been the captain. A good captain and an excellent strategist. He could go far, if he decided on a full time career in football. That was, if this career wasn't already over. Aarch could understand why Tia was upset, he was too, but he could not show it. His job, as their coach, was to be the voice that obeyed the rules, showing his players the ropes. And he felt like he had failed. He should have gone to see his nephew, but no one knew where he was hiding. At midnight, they knew where he would be, but aside from that, they had no clue. When his girlfriend and parents could not locate him, he could not ask his team mates to do it. Someone had to know where he hid.

Then, there was the other reason he was so hesitant to defend him. Addium sat as president of the league. If he went against her, he risked loosing her. He had already done that once, and needed to redeem himself even to her. Aarch found himself in a jam, and right now, he saw no way out.

In the cell at the prison barge, Sonny gathered them around him. It was time for the next step of the plan. Just how they were going to do it, was a bit unclear, but they needed to get out of the cell. To do that, they needed a key card. All droids had one. And they needed to get one. Sonny now focused on what to do, once they had gotten out.

"Once we are out of this cell, Helena, you take Tia, and head towards the control room with Artie. Bennett, Corso and I will form the back, securing that no one gets to you" Sonny said.

Helena nodded, but she also had a question.

"That is fine Sonny, we got it. But, before we can even get to the control room, we need to get out of this cell" she pointed out.

Sonny smiled.

"I had a feeling you would ask Helena. The plan to make that happen is very simple. The droids on guard pass by this cell every half hour. That is standard Technoid protocol. The rules of the prison is, we all are entitled to being treated like humans. That means, we get to go to the rest room to take care of basic human needs. We will use this, to have someone go, and then, snatch a card from the droids, so we can get going" Sonny explained.

Corso looked at him.

"Who do you plan to send Sonny?They are sure to give us guys a harder time than the ladies" Corso pointed out.

Tia smiled.

"I think..I should go" she said.

That caused all of them to look at knew she had to explain things further.

"Aarch always tells us to strike your oponent in the least expected way. As I see it, that would be me" she said.

True, what she said sounded logical. But Sonny was not all convinced.

The droids could have taken notice of her almost heading towards the cell of her parents earlier. They would still have that stored in their memory. He agreed that a woman should do this, as that was less likely to draw suspicion, but he would not send in Tia.

"Its a good idea Tia, but I suspect that you walking towards your parents cell, is something they might remember. Its too risky to send you to do this. However, we have another option" he said.

Helena felt all eyes on her.

This made her smirk. Sonny was finally letting her take part in the action.

"Thank you for trusting in me Sonny. I wont let you down. Infact, I already have a plan made ready for this" she said.

Sonny smiled.

"Thats my brave wife. Now, tell us what you plan. We will be ready to assist you".

Duke Maddox looked at the report he had on his computer from the prison barge. Sonny had surrendered willingly and was now locked up with his men? Something did not sound right with that. He needed to get going, to see this for himself. Sonny was up to something, and he had to be stopped, before he could initiate a new attack elsewhere.

In the cell, Corso was keeping an eye out for the droids. Helena was resting comfortably in Sonnys arms on the bunk bed in the prison. Sonny held her gently, but his hand lay protectively around her belly. Keeping their unborn daughter calm. Helena felt ever so slightly on the sleepy side. Being pregnant was a strain on the body, and now, she felt it. Sonny holding her, also felt very safe. She was with him, and he had some kind of plan ready in case this one failed. Sonny kissed her softly on the temple.

"Rest while you can honey, it will be action soon enough" he whispered.

Helena closed her eyes, and drifted into sleep, as they continued their wait for the right moment.

Duke Maddox had done all the searches he could to establish wheter it was true or not that they had Sonny cornered. The last thing he had, was the video file from the cell. There he was, surrounded by his closest men, and two ladies. There was, to his dismay, Helena, resting in her husbands arms. But when he looked at the other one, the girl, it dawned on Duke Maddox what Sonny was planning. He knew something was not right about the obia ambassadors explanation, and he had clearly allowed himself to be captured, in an attempt to free them. Duke Maddox had the deal he had prepared especially for Sonny, printed. He was in a hurry. Sonny would not wait long to strike. He too knew it was only a matter of time before he would arrive to place him away from his men. This would be a race to see whom got there first. Duke Maddox ordered his ship made ready, with enough staff to handle Sonny.

The pirates had changed places. Corso was now resting, while Sonny was on look out duty. Helena was mentally preparing herself for what she had to do. This would hopefully correct things for Sonny, and if it didn't, he would not let that stop him. She looked over at Sonny, whom kept a close eye out.

"Here it comes Helena. Get ready!" he ordered, and gently led her to the wall.

"Hey, I need your help. Mr Robot, I am speaking to you" she tried.

The droid approached them.

"No talking, its against the rules human" it said.

Sonny decided to help her.

"She needs to go to the rest room, and since she is pregnant, you need to show her some respect. We pirates never act disrespectful towards women" he said.

The droid called an extra droid over to help.

"Hey, help me take this lady to the restroom. You Blackbones, keep your distance, or we will shoot without warning" it warned him.

Sonny carefully let go of Helena, and raised his hands above his head as he backed a few steps.

Helena excited the cell and the wall was back up. Sonny now walked over to the bunk bed and sat down between Corso and Tia.

Artie took out a small device from his pocket.

"I set the demagnetizer to eleven pm sharp. If we don't get out by then, we can kiss our escape goodbye" he said.

Sonny nodded. Now the clock was ticking, and he was hoping Helena would prove herself the pirate wife she was..