Hoth: Blood and Ice

[C5-PT]

C5-PT was lingering around the Command Center, it had been quiet since the last revelations and there had been little activity or anything from the Gree during the two weeks of conflict with the pirates.

Maybe it was nothing.

[Baesal Zyn]

Chaos and war was not an excuse for pour maintenance. Any engineer knows that.

On her way to the command center she spotted C-5

[Zeno Thul]

Zeno was in the command center. Quite a lot in recent days. His improving understanding of battle meditation means that he has been somewhat useful in providing distant support during attacks. It was certainly tiring for him at times but if it helps him get back to Alderaan quicker then he was good with it.

He'd mostly taken to ignoring C5 because he was not very familiar with the speech patterns the strange droid used. But he had been overhearing in recent weeks.

[Nudimsu]

It's been a quiet few weeks since the Gree discussed their little test, and with everything going on, it didn't look like C5-PT was doing much of late.

"Suppose he's had no new orders from his Golden masters of late." He sits down and looks at Zeno and the...whatever she was. At least inside here he could avoid the dirty looks he's been getting of late. Not that he cared about it or anything; they were mostly from ungrateful cowards. "Either that, or the Eternal Empire taken them off the board."

[Zeno Thul]

The Duke-consort looks over at Nudimsu and nods a greeting. He was mostly observing comm channels and waiting on any notification of pirate fighting activity. He'd been spending as much time in here as the General.

"What? The rainbow spewing robot? Yeah, been pretty quiet. If the Gree were in immediate danger though, they would probably contact us out of desperation. So probably just staying quiet?"

[Nudimsu]

"Or they are formulating a plan to deal with everything, including getting their tech back from the pirates." He shrugs. "Suppose you aren't interested in taking a break for a moment and doing that game of Pazaak, then? I find that doing some recreational activity keeps the mind sharp, and I've been slipping of late in that regard."

He nodded and held out a deck. "Welcome to join as well...you." He raises his voice and looks at Baesal.

[Riss]

"Blue Boy!" Riss shouts shamelessly walking across the open walk. Breaking across the floor straight for Nudimsu between a few folk. Some folk happily stepping aside, and others not so much. "This that droid everyone is talking about?"

"Never.. actually cared to stop and look at it," she said, peering around Nudi's shoulder as of to shield herself from it.

[Nudimsu]

"Ahh, Riss. It's been quite a while since I've properly seen you, and in a place with much better circulation." He nodded, showing a small smile as she arrived. At least she could be confirmed not to be one of the ungrateful ones. "Yes, that's the Gree droid in question. Rather quiet, really." He nodded.

"Was going to start a few rounds of Pazaak, if you're interested." He looked behind her as she was peering at it. "The droid will not shoot you, I think. I am unsure how to feel about you using me as a humanoid shield, however, in case it did."

[Riss]

Riss doesn't even quite look back at him, just givies him a couple reassuring taps on the arm, "Pazaak sure. What if it exploded or something? We ever considered something like that?" she asks, looking back to him with a furrow in her brow. "Like ancient tech used to build the droid just goes bzzzt, and kerpsshhh?"

"Boom, or something? What if it's a secret kill-bot and just starts going whacko outta nowhere?"

[Baesal Zyn]

Baesal listened to the other's conversation while she was changing fuses in the nearby electrical pannel. Her attention returned to C-5 once more and curiosity moved her to go to it

''Hey there C-5...everything hum, green perpendicular?''

[Zeno Thul]

Zeno nods at the suggestion. Things were relatively quiet, and doing something like this was a nearly guaranteed means of getting interrupted for something pressing or dire.

"A couple rounds would be a welcome distraction and give the thoughts a good shake up," he agrees, patting the table he was listening to the comms at.

"If it blows then we did a bad job scanning it. Would suck but we'd probably deserve it."

[Nudimsu]

He looks at the...the not a Twi'lek Jedi get close to the droid. "It appears we have a volunteer to figure out just that." He keeps his face as neutral as always, and turned around to look at Riss once more. "I cannot rule out that possibility, no matter how unlikely it may be. My question still remains, however, as to why I am the one who needs to defend you against such a blast or attack. Zeno, for instance, is a former Sith, and much sturdier and you are no Countess of any planet I live on."

He reaches into his side bag and gets the deck out and starts to shuffle. "Suppose we'll forgo the betting and just play for the amusement of it. Fairly difficult to spend credits currently, anyways."

[Tethys Carrack]

Tethys has her datapad in one hand, open on a list of refugees with unique nutritional needs that have to be accounted for in supply management, when she runs into the small crowd gathering around her destination in the ops center.

"Good evening Riss, Captain Nudimsu." She pronounces Nudi's use-name quite precisely! "Baesal. Hello, Zeno." If there were Sith present she would use Zeno's proper Alderaanian title, but since there aren't and it doesn't otherwise seem to be a priority for him, she sticks with first names. "C-Five isn't bothering you, is he?"

[Riss]

"Because you're my friend and very willing to jump to my rescue?" she teases a little, before turning to offer a smile of a greeting to Tethys. Leaning in a little closer toward her, "Do you have any super neat Jedi powers where you can protect against something like an explosion Master Carrack?" she asks, totally innocently and not looking at the droid at all (totally looking at the droid.)

[Jo'ren Rath]

Jo'ren walked in to the command centre and paused to take stock of the assembled group. He had spent much of the last few weeks training and had been rather unavailable. But now it felt as though something was coming, again.

Old friends had been brought back together again. The Force had a sense of humour. He moved over to Zeno and Baesal.

"Zeno. Baes. It's too quiet."

[Nudimsu]

~~snip~~

He nods at Tethys. "Jedi Tethys. Good to see you. Excellent pronunciation, I appreciate it. With the proper mindset, you could say some Chiss words with some practice. Zeno here has gotten better of it, and it only took him 5 years of practicing." He began to pass out the cards to the other two. "That is the right attitude, Riss. Ask the Force users instead of the pilot. Jedi are always very willing to throw themselves into the blast to save a innocent."

He slid a card next to her. "Your innocence is rather questionable, however, but I suppose it could still qualify." He kept his face neutral as always as he looked up to the rather...muscled Sith, he nodded. "It is quiet, which is why we chose to practice our minds with Pazaak. Would you care to join us, Sith? I've not yet finished dealing the cards, after all. Invite is there for you as well, Tethys."

[Tethys Carrack]

"An... explosion?" Tethys looks from Riss to Nudi in some puzzlement, tucking her datapad under her arm. "I... no, not really." But Riss is so obviously, exaggeratedly innocent that it's clear there isn't a serious threat... probably. Tethys's lips twitch at the corners. "Why, are you expecting one? Does Captain Nudimsu know what he's gotten himself into here?"

She does smile at Nudi's compliment. "Ah, thank you. I've never had the chance to study your language, but I'd like to."

As for the card game... "Hm... why not? I've been told I'm no good at Pazaak, which probably means I ought to practice. I'll just be a moment uploading this list to the ops database, while you're dealing."

[Riss]

Don't flirt with him.

I'm not gonna flirt with him.

I mean it, don't flirt with him.

Seriously I'm not gonna flirt with- Kriff me, okay.

Taking her eyes away from the muscle-bound legend of a man, Riss focuses back on Nudi, "Sorry, what did you just say?"

[Nudimsu]

"I've known Riss long enough to know the dangers her appearance means." He gave a deep sigh and began to slide a few cards on the table. "It is good for the mind, keeping it fresh and open to many possibilities. Figuring out possible scenarios, calculating the odds and dealing with the randomness of chance, and most importantly, reading your adversaries. It would not hurt to learn from the experience."

He turned to Riss, obviously stunned by the appearance of the Sith, her heat on her face expressing some rather...well, not all that unusual emotions from her.

"Nothing worth repeating, Countess." Damn, and that quip was rather amusing, too.

[Baesal Zyn]

Jo'ren walked in to the command centre and paused to take stock of the assembled group. He had spent much of the last few weeks training and had been rather unavailable. But now it felt as though something was coming, again.

Old friends had been brought back together again. The Force had a sense of humour. He moved over to Zeno and Baesal.

"Zeno. Baes. It's too quiet."

She had nodded to Tethys when she entered but the large pureblood towering nearby warranted more attention since he addressed both her and her growing concern

''I was thinking the same thing Jo'ren.'' she waved in front of C-5 to get a reaction

[Remmington Balmung]

After all the pirate attacks Remmington has been busy with repairs all over the base. With a small reprieve, he decides to check up on their local Gree correspondent. He notices that there is already a gathering here. "Is there a party going on or something?"

[Zeno Thul]

"Speak for yourself," he says regarding the mention of it being too quiet. "This level of quiet is great after straining your mind as frequently as I've had to the past few week or so."

He chuckles at that as he takes up the cards that Nudimsu dealt out to him.

"He looks between Jo'ren and Nudimsu. In case anyone here is not familiar, this is Jo'ren Rath, wrath of the empress and all around swole guy," Zeno says of the pureblood. "A friend from way back."

He then looks to the folks that Jo'ren might not know. "Captain Prirnu'dim'suazzo or Nudimsu of the Turtle, and Countess Riss Lanar, and Jedi Master Tethys Carrack."

He then focuses on Tethys. "I can show you the exercises I've done to use the force to modify your vocalizations to make Cheunh a bit easier. Advantages of being a magical weirdo."

[Nudimsu]

He stares at Zeno as he looks at his cards before looking at the other doing the same thing. "Pleasure, Wrath." Zeno really had come a long way to say his name so well. His gaze went into Riss as well when she went for the cards.

It would take him less time to read her emotions; she was practically a open book of heat.

[Jo'ren Rath]

His golden eyes searched their faces briefly before he nodded. "Pleasure's mine I guess. Thanks for the intro Zeno. Sort of met the Countess here last time we caught up."

Rem received a brief grin before he returned his attention to the group and the Droid. "Petey's barely said a word since the big reveal. Time's moving on and we've still got pirates and this new threat to deal with. So yeah, it's too quiet."

Frankly he preferred a straight up fight to all this waiting around.

[Nudimsu]

"A warrior's life is often boring, with small moments of action. I remember such a thing myself during my short few years of military service in the CDEF. You must become a hunter of such things to break the monotonous cycle."

He nodded, keeping his eyes forward. "...As one should be cautious when an adversary appears before them, eager for battle, at a location they have selected. So it is wiser to wait and play a card game, rather than to become impatient and restless."