Hoth: Blood and Ice

[Aurilie Alde]

Aurilie managed to lead, a bit thanks to her survival skills and internal desperation, the crew of the Rimma Roundabout to Echo Base. Something was obviously off here. No, she wasn't exactly expecting a warm welcome. That would be impossible after their crash landing and their flight from pirates. However, there were ships of different make and personnel with opposing uniforms. This almost looked like an invasion.

Truth and understanding hadn't been brokered just yet and Aurilie was more than inclined to keep a low profile until then. She found an unattended entrance and hastily made her way inside. Her rifle was held at the ready in case anyone should get any funny ideas. She wasn't going to fire the first shot but she was going to make that clear that would be a bad idea.

[Ree-var Four]

An armored Gank caught sight of the woman with the readied weapon and moved toward her position, her pace even but deliberate.

"Are you intending to open fire?" She asks as she draws near, her voice raspy through her helmet's modulator.

[Aurilie Alde]

Aurilie raised her brows when the figure approached. She held her rifle on the defensive but didn't raise it to a firing position, which seems to show some intent to keep the safety on. Her peripheral vision would be better if she wasn't focusing on a scope too. Explosions hadn't happened yet and likely for a good reason. However, she can't be certain for sure yet.

Her gaze looked at the gank up and down as she seemed to consider her option. She didn't look like she wore Imperial colours but with a question like that, she likely didn't come with them either. If pirates were also wandering these halls, that would only add more sledge to these already murky waters.

"No, not at all," she said simply on the matter. "I'm trying to get my bearings and get a grasp of the situation. Please identify yourself."

[Ree-var Four]

"Ree-var Four." She looks at the rifle, then back to the woman. "Nobody knows what is happening. If you fire that weapon, everyone will kill everyone else out of confusion."

There was a pause. "I only wanted to know whether it was going to happen so I could step outside first."

[Aurilie Alde]

Aurilie blinked twice at that. "I don't intend to be that foolish, not in the slightest. I've gathered that we've found some sort of non-verbal understanding of the situation to not be at each other's throats. This is supposedly peace in the galaxy, so no reason to change that practice. We're just at this strange phase where we're just looking at each from across the room without saying anything, akin to an awkward first dance. There must be a misunderstanding or a reason this is all happening."

She gave a shake of her head as she looked off for a moment, slinging her hunting rifle on her shoulder once more. "I'm Prince Aurilie Alde of Mount Joral, a representative of Alderaan and here for a humanitarian mission. Well met, Ree-var Four."

[Ree-var Four]

Four positions herself with her back to the wall, allowing her to talk while still keeping an eye on everyone frantically moving around the large room.

"I work for Nakta the Hutt. I am hunting a Rodian. If you encounter one, it would be in the best interest of the Republic to inform me." A glance back to Aurilie. "You can make that happen, yes?"

[Aurilie Alde]

"Working for a Hutt? Did you just find yourself in the middle of all of this? Quite a strange place to be following a bounty," she said skeptically before looking about. "but I suppose there are only so many places you can run to after a while. You might have to tell me more about this Rodian before I agree to your request."

[Ree-var Four]

"Not a bounty, just someone that needs to die." She shrugs her shoulders. "Beezlediz. Stole a lot of credits, stole Nakta's ship, blew it up to kill the rest of my pack. Word is, now he is with the pirates on this planet."

[Aurilie Alde]

Aurilie narrowed her eyes on Four for a moment before nodding in acceptance. "I was going to say, you're going to be hard-pressed to think that Republic-leaning people are going to let you just kill someone in the open just because they need to die. It's not exactly how we do things around here. However, if he's with pirates, I suppose that perhaps is a bit more reasonable depending on what happens. Depending on what happens around here, he might just die in space. I don't know if I'm just going to casually wander around here and just happen upon pirates willing to have a casual conversation."

She gave another glance around before looking at Four for confirmation of that. It was strange enough to have the Empire wandering these halls. It almost was only slightly more strange if that was the case with pirates. Almost.

[Ree-var Four]

"Nakta likes to say, 'K'wanna uk-ala cheena everee oaee.' It means, 'five impossible things happen every day.'" There was a faint snort inside her helmet. "The Jedi on my ship believed the pirates were ready to talk. Now, we are here. I don't want to have to cut my Rodian out of a pack of Republic sympathizers."

[Aurilie Alde]

Aurilie frowned on that note. "Well, we weren't exactly expecting them to attack so aggressively...and actually succeed. We thought ourselves superior in a head-to-head space fight, which was obviously not the case. We weren't so foolish to offer negotiations without a force to back it up. Now, we're in a bit of an impossible situation."

[Ree-var Four]

"Now, we murder them," Four clarifies. "If we are lucky, there will be speeders or other ground transportation in this base. If we are unlucky... walking."

[Aurilie Alde]

"If only it were so simple, even if we wanted to and were going that direction," she frowned. "We're a bit of the backfoot when it comes to logistics. They've grounded us completely. I'm sure that help will come in some form eventually and we'll have to hope that they don't fall to the same tactics. If they control the skies, I'm sure they could wipe us out at any time."

[Ree-var Four]

"Which is why we should attack now, before they realize we are here." She motions to the people scurrying about, making repairs. "This is wasting time."

[Aurilie Alde]

Aurilie couldn't help but let out a small sigh over this topic. "I understand the need for expediency, I do. I'll confess that I'm not exactly a strategic nor a logical expert on this matter. See as there are at least two parties here, I imagine that expediency might be more complicated than you may think. Do you know how many able fighters we have? Versus how many of them? Are they expecting us and laying a trap to make the 'clean-up' easier? There are a lot of uncertainties. I just hope this urgency isn't over solely your bounty."

[Ree-var Four]

"It's not a bounty," she clarifies, before falling into silence for a few moments. "You make good points. Perhaps some time is needed."

[Aurilie Alde]

"My mistake on that, apologies," she said on the matter, realizing she had been corrected twice now regarding the nature of her stay. "I had assumed wrongly about your employer. That said, some of us are suffering from the effects of our rough landing to go charging retaliation. If there is going to be a counter-attack, it is best that we tend to any of our injuries first. Of course, we also need to seek order and find sense in the situation. I'd rather we don't have the threat of potentially shooting each in these hallways. Not that we have any reason to...but the tension is real."

"So," she said before regarding the Gank curiously. "Other than looking for rodians, is there more I should know about you?"

[Ree-var Four]

"Nothing else is relevant," she replies. "Do you know whether the Imperial capital ship was destroyed as the Republic ship was?"

[Aurilie Alde]

"I just got here, more or less, after circling the perimeter...in case it was a trap. I haven't had the opportunity to verify that with an Imperial. I didn't even know they were in the same orbit around Hoth, even. We were caught unawares on the Republic ship and were just told to evacuate. I'm sure the ones who likely have the whole story are either fighting in space, dead, or captured." She shook her head at that.