Hoth: Blood and Ice

Jan had been enjoying a few quiet minutes on the base's perimeter sighting her rifle and generally stretching her legs. But inevitably with little to shoot (at least outside of the camp) she'd looked around for some stimulation and spotted another woman with an equally large rifle.

"Oh my dear, that's a rather impressive weapon, may I?"
She extends her hand with a polite questioning look.

Aurilie was feeling rather antsy about the search operation that she found herself meandering about. They weren't fortunate enough to escape the ship unscathed but their landing was a lucky one. The others out in the snow weren't so lucky and it was far too easy to get lost in Hoth.

The voice who spoke to her perhaps yanked her from her brooding thoughts and she blinked before looking at the other woman. She looked at her with a measure of suspicion, if she wasn't an Imperial then she might be an opportunist. If she was paranoid enough, she might be to think about the possibility of pirates walking among them. The meeting of Republic and Empire was enough to stir a little chaos in an already whirling tornado of uncertainty.

"...Perhaps introductions are in order first?" She said on a cautious note before presenting her own introductions. "I'm Prince Aurilie Alde of Mount Joral, a representative from Alderaan."

"Oh a Prince, sometimes I feel like every Alderaanian has a noble title. You must be with the...Countess?"
Jan bows elaborately.

"I'm Jan, Jan Melmoar. No noble title but I was nominated for Czerka's top 40 under 40 last month."
She flashes a sharp smile.

"I'm looking to win that one. But in my day to day I'm one of the company's directors."
She looks Aurilie up and down with interest.
"So, what brings you all these way to Hoth of all places. And with a long arm as well?" Gently teasing. "No sword and shield?"

"That may seem like the case...I suppose we might have packed out the mission with a few important people from the Houses. It seemed all too easy to sit back at home and merely wish peace would come to the galaxy by sanctions alone. Obviously, they do little to the lawless." She gave a shake of her head on that note. "If you miss Countess Riss Lanar, yes. She's a good friend of mine."

Riss did have the advantage of being one of the few Countesses on this mission, as opposed to the many prince and princesses here.

"Pleased to make your acquaintance, Director Melmoar." She would offer a formal hand at that. "A bit peculiar that you'd find yourself here but I suppose the demand for arms sales are great in touch times, especially when you have a captive customer base here. That is, if that's your purpose here."

"Swords and shields might be more of my wife's forte, at least one of her hobbies," she said with a momentary smile. "I was just...doing some patrolling. You might recognize my rifle anyway, a model 28...modded to my specifics, of course."

"Ahhh, yes, we are acquainted."

She shakes Aurilie's hand with practiced grace, not too hard, not too soft, just long enough for the hand to understand it was well shock.
"I assure you, sweet prince, I did not journey all the way to Hoth to sell weapons...although if you're in the market..."
She pauses just long enough to wink before continuing on.

"A 28? Good model, reasonable blast, and extremely durable, heavy though. The weapon of someone who travels perhaps? But someone not afraid to use their hands as well. Would you mind terribly speaking to the mods? You can tell a lot about someone by how they like their gear. And naturally if you show me yours I'll show you mine."

Aurilie gave a nod after her hand was shaken. The other woman seemed to display enough good mannerisms to seem like a director of the company or someone who was a very adept con-woman. However, she supposed there were many things that could be stolen that would be worth her while. There were dozens of ships stuck in the snow and likely anyone with a ship capable of doing salvage would have field day right about now.

She nodded with a bit of pride. "Yes, it's served me well over the years. I've tried a number of rifles over the years, especially the blaster sort. Perhaps it's a bit of tradition or just the old-fashioned sentiments among House Alde that makes me favour 'slugthrowers' at the end of the day. I just prefer to call them guns, if I may be frank on the matter. It's a weapon that has many weaknesses, obviously, but I compare it to the Trandoshans longbow to the Wookie crossbow. Master it and the results will reward you tenfold. That said, even among its kind, I found the 28s superior to the 29 and 30."

Pretending her weapon, she allowed the woman to take a better look and she could take it if she wished. "Telescopic sight, that should go without saying. The stock sights are good for the range but not enough when it comes to the game and past the first 100 yards. I embellished on the optics so I switch between heat and nighttime, which helps in thick foliage. Many parts are custom and handmade. A bit of a pain for the replacement but feel that it does make the balance better and reduces the gas venting. Finally, the forearm grip. It's a bit of a corner case but sometimes my hunt partners like to bring the game closer and this allows me to adapt to the situation. Much faster than trying to pull a sidearm."

Jan listens along with interest and even offers a suitably impressed nod at the forearm grip.
"You are a woman of taste. Most hunters quake at the knees at the very thought of their game approaching within 50 feet, but evidently not you."

The Director gently takes the weapon and checks the load before exploring the balance and weight.
"A classic piece indeed. Not something with a mass market unfortunately but that just makes it all the more precious, doesn't it?
She respectfully returns the weapon before unslinging her own.

"This is a mark 2 equalizer and..oh, you should know it is illegal entirely from the colonies coreward. But I hardly think restrictions on a little thing like 'atomization' apply somewhere like Hoth, do you? It's simply perfect for hunting, a good blast will disintegrate just about anything."
She points to an incredibly complicated array of scopes and sensors along the barrel.

"And of course as a former marksman I customised it a little. The telescopic sight there is very standard, much like your own. And the bantha eye sight is really more for flare than anything else. But the multi-optic sight and the sonic scope are quite useful, if you can't hit your target at night through a wall what's the point of a blaster at all, hmmm?"
She offers the rifle to Aurilie.

"If I could help it, I'd rather not have any game approach me within 50 feet. Never intentional. Not advisable in the slightest but I know that the galaxy is large enough that the galaxy can set the terms of engagement at any time. Thankfully, I've learned to tell about it when other hunters would either be without any story they would be proud of or their lives. I keep good company on such excursions, such as the best man at my wedding, Ser Keyhote." She nodded on the matter. That hunt with the wolf monstrosity might have been close calls for both of them but she needn't be bored with those details.

"It's my hope that it becomes something of an heirloom in the first, or even a piece of a museum if I were so bold."

Aurilie handled the weapon and gave a few nods of appreciation, although this was very well not a weapon for her. She did return it to her in short order. "A very impressive piece but I know I personally approve of the disintegration. When I do go hunting, I do collect trophies. Also, I've personally heard about some uncompromising aspects of such a weapon. In the situation you need to take someone alive, I think I would appreciate the option of remaining where possible. I suppose slugs aren't exactly elegant compared to a blaster, I'll agree there. This sonic scope, however...I imagine something like that would allow you to see through walls?"

"Yes indeed, it allows both tracking and targeting through structures. For when you're hunting in an urban environment."
Jan smiles fondly at her rifle and rubs it gently.

"Are you in the market for one? I'm sure we could do your highness an excellent deal." She raises an eyebrow. "The MK.7 model has an inbuilt kill counter for...those who hunt very often, that's quite popular on the rim."
The Director takes a moment to make sure the gun is still perfectly functional before slinging it back over her shoulder.

"So, what's the inside scoop on Alderaan these days? Last I heard there was some sort of coup attempt? Grand conspiracies and murder in the night and all that stuff? I'm very disappointed I missed it."

Aurilie narrowed her eyes momentarily and looked off with a sigh. "That seems like something best suited for military operations. My pursuits don't typically have my game hiding behind sandbags and plascrete. My kills are ceremonial, not a statistic. To some, not so different but I stand by my custom, Director Melmoar. I know there are a lot of sentiments of vengeance being thrown around but I wouldn't be so quick to assume that has the same meaning among the Empire and the Republic, especially when we've been brought here for a different reason. Albeit, I'll agree that we have the same problem. We have different tools for the job and approaches."

She gave a glance at her surroundings. "I would gather that a large bulk of the Empire's military assets have made the landing. Hard to ignore the amount of Sith around and their posturing."

"The coup was a few years ago," she said simply on the matter. "The audacious nature of it is still reverbing across the galaxy. The story is much different on Aldaraan itself, we've mended much of the divide among our houses and are working on reforms to heal the lingering wounds that have been left unattended for the last few decades. There's a hopeful prosperity in our world, especially with the ruling family's marriage of their children. Far from perfect but a few steps forward."

"I ah see, shame then."
Jan nods nods on the Alderaan news.

"As for the sith, well they do like to posture, don't they? They take new and often ridiculous names and then heroically spend as much time as possible murdering their assistants, janitors and eachother. It can be rather tiresome but it leads to an excellent weapons demand. There's one sith I know, bless them, who is something like 3% of the empire's rocket launcher demand, simply because he insists on executing his enemies in the most ridiculous fashion. I think they're making a holo about him..."

She was eagerly awaiting the premier of Rocket Man.

"Then again, are jedi any better? They always took about how wise they are, and then they lose all the time, then they preach about the wisdom in defeat."

"I know less about them than the Jedi, which I can't get a grasp on either. If the Force could be narrated, I'm sure it would tell us of a different tale in that room. The Jedi are reclusive enough that they don't much of a footprint. However, these Sith seem like something else. If the Sith are anything like the Empire as a whole, I imagine that they do love their posturing and constant exertion of dominance. A bit peculiar but considering how they rule, it seems akin to a beast scratching its claws on a tree. I'm sure their military operations here require decisive answers, surely they must also be disappointed in the outcome that brought us here."

Aurilie narrowed her eyes and quietly frowned in distaste regarding this Rocket Man's antics. "I see...I know there are some among the Alderaanian royalty who might be judged for their particular tastes and hobbies but nobody would be so ridiculous to find a gross hyperbole of violence enthralling. I might be so bold to say that sounds more like an affliction than a hobby, actually. It doesn't sound right, sickening."

"Ha! Yes, like a void-bear scratching its claws indeed. A display of dominance, but also comforting, in a way. Oh yes, I might use that at the next board meeting."
She grins at Aurilie before turning to look back across the frozen wastes.

"Sickening? Perhaps. Although I wonder...it's painless and instant. There are worse ways to be executed in the empire. Is he deranged? Well, probably. But it's hard to find sensibly minded folk amongst the sith."
With a friendly tone.

"You and I are hunters, Prince Alde. I personally take no pleasure in the infliction of suffering, and I assume you do not either. But yet...sometimes it is a byproduct of what we do. Could we stop?"
A slight shrug.
"I can't, not yet. You?"

Aurilie would follow the other woman's gaze to the wastes. That was where she was intending to be right now, if she could help it. While she was eager to find other survivors she knew that if she were to end up in trouble out there, she would likely cause even more trouble. No reason for this winter wolf to lone wolf it.

"I suppose it's one and the same at the end of the day. However, I suspect that if something like that was merely done for sensation spectacle, even for their own personal amusement. Executions aren't a way of life on Alderaan, which perhaps makes the practice something I find myself approving of regardless of what weapon may be used. Another tool of dominance and fear, although I'm sure there's a bit of fear and insecurities that a living captive would make them less of a person. I'm sure it makes you less of a person to take a life just because you can, even if they pose no further threat to you." She let out a scoff on that note.

"What I do is not entirely out of sustenance, obviously, especially considering that my kingdom is well provided for, even during the long winter months. Also, the clout that I've accumulated from hunting tops out somewhere. However, my kingdom is admitted rural enough that predators don't respect their boundaries. If I forgo the first two, the last is done by necessity."

"No I suppose they aren't, Alderaan has those assassins houses and the whole legalised murder model. People are killed but its all above board, controlled...and of course, the domain of the rich and powerful."
A quiet sigh.
"I really do wish to visit sometime. But I think I follow your point about hunting. Maybe you could stop, but there are benefits both personal and for your people. You let a sabre sloth live and it savages a farmer, everyone loses. But then let me ask this. Your lands, your people, are the victim of a beast who lairs on the land of one of your neighbours. You ask them to slay the creature but they refuse. Would you cross the border back to kill it? Or merely petition the royals to let them resolve the matter? Knowing that any delay might see more of your people harmed, of course."

"I cannot comment on their supposed purpose or how they manage their business, if that were the case," Aurilie said on the matter. It was correct, considering that her House was so distant from such affairs that she knew very little about them. Not enough to actually mention any details. It was a bit of willful ignorance on her part and perhaps a politician's move. That was a card she had to play from time to time as a ruler.

She frowned pensively on the matter. "To cross the border would be a disregard of the rules and would easily be considered vigilantism, not something that would be taken lightly under Alderaanian law. However, I do feel a bit inclined to do something about it considering that something so pressing and immediate has no business being drawn out in a court or litigation. It seems preposterous to overcomplicate an affair, especially when more damage is done if we stay idle."

"A quick resolution for the greater good. And if the owner of the land protested, what then? Would you pay compensation?"
Jan watches Aurilie for her response with some interest.

Aurilie raised a brow at this. "Compensation? I suppose so, I think money would be a bit trivial when it comes to serving the well-being of my people. They do live under my kingdom and provide that continued service so that I could keep them safe under my protectorate. I will gladly pay that price. However, I get the sense that this would be a situation where the owner is withholding from taking care of this problem for other reasons? For what? So that they could maintain their borders with feral predators rampaging about? So that they think of themselves as pet owners with no semblance of responsibility? Perhaps, that's a bit of the appeal to them...to cause harm and blame it on the animals. If that's the case, I'd say I have far greater problems with my neighbours."

“Money is most trivial to those who happen to have collected a lot of it dear. But you sound like an exceptionally good ruler, if I may say so.”

Listing the points on her gloved fingers.
“Proactive, protective, powerful, caring and of course, effective. You make the aristocracy sound very attractive. Perhaps I should come see Alderaan for myself some time.”
Jan pauses and idly scans the horizon again.

“The Sith nobility does not have quite the same approach to rule.”

"I would boast about my handiwork but I'd rather the results speak for themselves on the matter, if you choose to visit. My land is a bit remote from the other Houses of Alderaans, especially the seat of power. We don't get many coincidental visitors. That said, my parents are still the heads of my kingdom but I suppose I do the fixing and micromanagement wear possible. I'm not particularly comfortable sitting at home all day and spending my waking hours lounging about."

She found herself giving a glance to the base and then the wilderness beyond. While she wasn't exactly lounging, she supposed she was chatting right now while people were freezing in the wilderness.

"I imagine not but I don't have much personal experience to draw my opinion from. Only hubris. I take it that you've done direct business with them more than a few times?"

"In a way they're our largest customers, both for their own private armies and of course, through the power they wield in the bureaucracy. Still, preferable to dealing with them from a position a little...removed as I do than when I had to serve under them in my old military days."

Mildly. "You would not believe how many of my fellow soldiers were massacred for this or that. It was a little off-putting on me as a younger woman. But what is one to do? You're either force-sensitive, or you're expendable."
More to herself than Aurilie.

"Until they need something because it turns out neither the Jedi nor Sith could make a hundred hydrospanners if they tried."

The director looks pensive for a few moments before shrugging, her usual smile falling back into place.
"We should go hunting at some point, Prince Alde. Get away from the base for a little while."

She gave an abrupt blink of surprise at that. "...then why bother to continue serving them if they consider you and your people less than people?"

There was a moment she reconsidered the woman once more, recalling the company she represented. She supposed there were many reasons. Those with a more peaceful inclination tend to have less of a demand for bodies to throw at a grinder or a disregard for human life.

"...Maybe, sometimes," she said with a tinge of no commitment on the matter. It wasn't that she was looking to turn down the offer directly, more that she had other things that were driving her than pursuing her honoured tradition of hunting. "Besides, I don't know if there will be an opportunity for it, depending on when this damnable blizzard lets up and the whole survival situation, not to mention the pirates, too."

She turned to look at her with narrowed eyes. "We are talking about hunting the local fauna and not people, right?"

"Why indeed? Patriotism perhaps? Fear? Complacency? There are many reasons people remain where they are. I decided early on that being eaten by some 8 legged carnivore on the rim was not for me."
She inspects her gloved hands in distaste at some past memory.

"Why, Prince Alde. You've already professed a belief that problems that threaten you and yours need to be dealt with quickly, and here we have all these pirates...Surely you wouldn't be against a simple patrol? Make sure none of those murderous fiends are anywhere near us? They're hunting us after all."

She places a hand over her heart.
"You can do it for duty and I can...also do it. I'd feel simply terrible if I let some villain wonder near the base and one of my people got hurt."

"I see..." she said, still not entirely clear but getting a sense of their situation. "I admit that I'm not well-versed on the complex relationship that a corporation might have with either their neighbours or their employers. That's a bit more of my wife's area of expertise. However, I grasp that a familiar harsh master is better than change to some."

Aurilie sighed on that point. "I never meant to say that these pirates should be left alone after what they've done. Actions do have consequences, especially for those who think of themselves as above the law. You'll have to excuse that we're still licking our proverbial wounds. It's been a long day, myself included. I suppose after some rescue operations are completed around here, getting people to safety and there is indeed safety in numbers...then perhaps I'd been open to the prospect of going on this particular hunt. If any of them are left by the Sith, I imagine."

"I knew you'd come around dear. I'll give you some time before I'm in touch. I'd simply consider it a grave failure on my part if I never saw your rifle in action. My people will be in contact with your people."

Jan bows with a flourish before turning to leave, pausing for a moment.
"I will add that, one has less wounds to lick on a comfortable Czerka cruiser than one of the many crashed freighters dotting the landscape. You're always welcome to come by for tea, and should you need access to warm water or changes of clothes, well, we are always here to help."