Hoth: Blood and Ice

[Layne Hoshin]

"Great," she said, looking at that face she hadn't seen in a very long time. "I guess I don't have much choice then, do I?"

She really didn't. It could be a lie. A trap. But she had no way of knowing. Face her failures... might as well just be another attempt to get her to break down. And that aside, why was it always up to *her* to be the hero, anyway? But what choice did she have really?

Layne sighed. And headed down the hall.

[Dapper Dog]

She was on a ship… now when she passed down the hall it gave way to cramped and damaged vents and rustic old piping. Zash smiled and said, “We really have to stop meeting like this. You still can’t defeat me, no matter how strong you think you have become.”

[Sylvain Torsin]

The blades of light and energy clash, the air crackles, strike and counter strike. She or he is playing with him it seems as their weapons collide. Luth spoke in that same voice, “Your Empire is built on nothing, a flawed creation, I have long outgrown.”

“A relic of my misspent youth.”

“What a thing was is not what it is… You may have built it… but it has grown while you neglected its development.” He gave his all in the losing contest… Combatting with all he had for those which he wished to protect… His girls… his friends… his people… the Empire that symbolizes all of them.

[Luth Khalan]

“What a thing was is not what it is… You may have built it… but it has grown while you neglected its development.” He gave his all in the losing contest… Combatting with all he had for those which he wished to protect… His girls… his friends… his people… the Empire that symbolizes all of them.

"None of these things matter, not you, your girls, your friends... Sith... Jedi... all distractions," their blades clash once more as Luth spoke seriously, "Your legacy will be ashes. Mine will be Eternal."

She kicked him back and lowered her blade and spoke, "Join me, kneel before the Dragon."

[Layne Hoshin]

Yeah, she didn't see how it made sense... but somehow it *did* make sense that Zash would cross paths with her again here.

"So," she said with a wary voice, "This just another illusion like the others, or are you *actually* her? I mean, you do have a habit of showing up in the weirdest places."

Layne looked around at the ship for a moment, wondering if it was the same one she fought her on or not.

"But yeah? Probably can't defeat you, no. Besides, if I was going to try again, I would've done it back on Yavin. But if I had tried and been succesful, I guess... none of us would be here right now. Or anywhere, for that matter. And as far as I'm concerned, you stepping up like that earned you some reprieve. Even *if* I'd have preferred the other two to make it out instead of you. Kriff, three people supposed to be immortal of sorts, and you're the one that made it out alive."

[Dapper Dog]

“That’s it?” he said as the form changes back to Gerald.

“After everything she has done she gets to walk away clean? She turned me into a waking wound… probably ate countless students. Killed Jedi… nearly doomed the galaxy and she gets a pass?”

“I bet you Jedi will let anything slide… blow up a planet… well he helped a puppy, redeemed. Killed some younglings but oh no right before death he kills a bad man… redeemed… murdered an asassin in cold blood but it’s okay she felt sad about it later, redeemed.”

“You disappoint me, Layne,” he finished.

[Layne Hoshin]

She sighed. "Just another trick after all, then? Yeah, Zash is terrible. Baras is terrible. But like you pointed out, I used to be pretty terrible too. Besides, I said *reprieve*, not pass. If she still has some part to play in all this, well, who am I to deny the will of the Force without knowing all the facts."

She sighed, getting just a tad frustrated. "Now, *stop* playing games."

[Dapper Dog]

She sighed. "Just another trick after all, then? Yeah, Zash is terrible. Baras is terrible. But like you pointed out, I used to be pretty terrible too. Besides, I said *reprieve*, not pass. If she still has some part to play in all this, well, who am I to deny the will of the Force without knowing all the facts."

She sighed, getting just a tad frustrated. "Now, *stop* playing games."

"Fine."

"No more tricks... want to see what fate lies in store for you, Layne Hoshin?" Gerald replied his hand darting forward gripping her by the throat, lifting her up.

[Sylvain Torsin]

"None of these things matter, not you, your girls, your friends... Sith... Jedi... all distractions," their blades clash once more as Luth spoke seriously, "Your legacy will be ashes. Mine will be Eternal."

She kicked him back and lowered her blade and spoke, "Join me, kneel before the Dragon."

"Your legacy is nothing... Your destiny the blackness of void... We will outlast you." He stood to his feet... perhaps for the last time.

[Luth Khalan]

"Your legacy is nothing... Your destiny the blackness of void... We will outlast you." He stood to his feet... perhaps for the last time.

“You know nothing, Sylvain. Even now your thoughts betray you. No matter,” she drops the lightsaber to the ground.

“You follow a child into the darkness, your Empire descends into witchcraft and savagery. Blood spattered abattoirs to what end? None. It has no future.”

“Why adhere to it?”

She spread her arms wide and the base blew apart revealing a vast expanse. They stood on a long thin walkway overlooking a glimmering city world. Behind her sat a mighty throne.

“There is a greater destiny for the galaxy, under an Eternal Throne.”

[Sylvain Torsin]

"Why? Because the people deserve better... They deserve better than you... than the Republic... than the Farro Empire... They deserve real peace and stability... Not the faux external appearance of such that only fattens the wyrms at the top. They deserve leaders that sacrifice for them... rather than the other way around." He panted in a hostile tone.

“With you at its head no empire can be ‘Eternal’. Your glorious city and its throne… You will be their undoing. They deserve better than you too.” He stared defiantly at the visage of friend and ultimate foe in front of him.

“You are a cancer… A rot that tears at others to try and feed itself. The same rot that eats at my Empire and the Republic...” He attempted to gather what strength he had in him for one last blast. His fingertips crackled with energy.

“Be gone… You are a waste. With you at its head… your new Empire shall waste away into nothing. Eaten from the inside… A faux Dragon… A faux ruler.”

[Layne Hoshin]

"No more tricks... want to see what fate lies in store for you, Layne Hoshin?" Gerald replied his hand darting forward gripping her by the throat, lifting her up.

She'd grab the hand in a no doubt futile attempt to release the hold.

"Fine," she grunted through the grip, "show me then."

[Luth Khalan]

"Why? Because the people deserve better... They deserve better than you... than the Republic... than the Farro Empire... They deserve real peace and stability... Not the faux external appearance of such that only fattens the wyrms at the top. They deserve leaders that sacrifice for them... rather than the other way around." He panted in a hostile tone.

“With you at its head no empire can be ‘Eternal’. Your glorious city and its throne… You will be their undoing. They deserve better than you too.” He stared defiantly at the visage of friend and ultimate foe in front of him.

“You are a cancer… A rot that tears at others to try and feed itself. The same rot that eats at my Empire and the Republic...” He attempted to gather what strength he had in him for one last blast. His fingertips crackled with energy.

“Be gone… You are a waste. With you at its head… your new Empire shall waste away into nothing. Eaten from the inside… A faux Dragon… A faux ruler.”

“You have learned nothing, so remain in the nothing… “

Luth turned and walked away and the vision all around turns into a gray void filled with screams of his children, his loved ones. But there is no where to go.. No escape or reprieve from the pain and suffering.

OOC: Conflict gained is 5 from the terrifying visions. Player will remain in the cave to start of Day 2 in the EM.

[Dapper Dog]

She'd grab the hand in a no doubt futile attempt to release the hold.

"Fine," she grunted through the grip, "show me then."

Gerald nodded and let her go and she fell, fell forever through all of her terrible memories, from her days as a slave to the momen she arrived on Korriban, her service under Baras to her so-called death… all the years in between every painful moment in perfect detail and it never ends.

It feels like forever… and she can’t wake up or escape.

OOC: Player suffers 2 Conflict and is left in the cave till the start of Day 2 in the EM.

[Dapper Dog]

The Snow Man sighed and looked down at the two almost corpses and scattered the creatures gnawing at the flesh. He licked his lips, protein was hard to come by but no, they had come all this way for some reason. He dragged the woman, which was an ordeal and then the man to a safer place.

Using them as bait he captured some grubs and vermin and made a stew and waited.

They stirred and shook, he knew the dark had them now. It would be some time till it let them go, if at all.

So he sat and waited with their weapons sitting on the ground before him.

OOC: Both Layne and Shyyyo suffer 8 strain from the ordeal and will be exhausted when or if they recover as if they did not get any sleep.

[Dapper Dog]

OOC: They can have a chat in the darkness on Day 1 in LN they can't move or use their Force powers from the psychic drain of the ordeal they are just laying on the floor.

Snow Man will be sleeping.