Hoth: Blood and Ice

Sylvain walked a few steps ahead of Layne through the frozen tundra back in the direction of the base. The pair of them began summiting a relatively steep incline requiring both hands and feet as well as Spindral's staff to be used to keep from sliding down the hill.

Sylvain had remained relatively quiet thus far... mostly reflecting in his own mind on the possibilities of what they had seen... and trying to press more startling images from his memory.

As they reached the apex of the hill he let out a deep breath as they stared out at the expanse of snow between them and the far off mountains that marked the closest visible sign of Echo Base....

Layne had been just as quiet as he had been; her mind awash with thoughts and questions. Sylvain could probably sense the turmoil inside her; nothing like what a Jedi Master ought to be like he might suppose... if he'd cared to think on it at all that was, they were both rather focused on their own thoughts, after all.

Sylvain pointed out towards the mountains, "Long ways to go yet... You gonna make it?"

"I'm a lot tougher than you, Torsin," she said, "That's why you got the walking stick. Wouldn't want you to fall over and break a hip."

"Good." Was all that Sylvain replied before leaning on the staff for a moment's rest.

Then, the horizon over the mountains changed by getting one two three black dots.

Sylvain spotted them in the distance, "Heads up..."

He pointed out at the growing dark silhouettes on the horizon. "There... company."

A signal blipped on their comms. A familiar melodic voice.

"Darth Bellious here. We've come to pick you up."

"Nice of you guys to drop by." Sylvain replied in his comm as he waved a hand towards the ships.

Zeno's ship followed along before beginning to keep a tight perimeter around the group while they all load up.

The Bitch landed smoothly on scanned ground and the ramp opened right after. Moyr's silhouette showed up in the opening, descending, to see them for herself.

Luth trotted down the ramp after her, all relief and irritation. "I'm glad you two are safe, but I also kind of want to knock your heads together."

Sylvain pointed his thumb over to Layne, “It was her idea.”

"Was it worthwhile at the very least?" Moyr didn't show much exasperation. Hardship was justifiable if it led to something.

Right. *Of course* there wasn't anyone from the Jedi or Republic there to come looking for them. For her. Zeno didn't count; if it was him on that ship. He was a darksider like the rest of them, after all. They were all just here for Sylvain.

Or maybe looking to make an easy kill. Kill a Jedi who went missing out in the wastes, nobody would have to know she didn't just die from exposure. Was she being paranoid? Maybe. But her hand went to the darksaber at her side regardless, her body language clearly displaying the fact she was ready to take them all with her if they tried anything.

"What is this?"

"A rescue mission. Are you all right?" She asked. There's some confusionin her voice, as though she thought it should be obvious. She didn't know Layne well, but she had offered her help once. Even if she hadn't been able to accept it, that wasn't nothing. "You both disappeared."

"We had a rough night... Layne's a bit frazzled is all." Sylvain said as he held a black-red staff in his hand.

"Visions... Impending doom... Not particularly enjoyable stuff."

"Ah, Layne." Moyr seemed amused. Her relationship with the turncoat was never too substantial. Whatever her shenanigans, they had operated on separate orbits, even when they had been sharing allies like Magara-sha. "If you feel threatened by this rescue mission, you're free to stay here. But there is a place for you on board of my ship. For auld lang syne."

She glanced at Syl. "On the contrary, you'll have my attention on all of this once you're tucked in with a cup of whiskey tea."

"Right. A rescue mission," she stared at them, her hand slowly retracting from the hilt of her blade. At which point she walked a little closer to Sylvain, to whisper to the extent the cold winds could allow.

"Trusting any of them with the whole of it would be a far bigger risk than me telling anyone on my side you're here."

Over the comms, the voice of Zeno chimes in. "We good to go? Anything in the area that we need to handle before heading back?"

He scans the horizon for anything that might stand out.

Layne Hoshin wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 15, 2022 11:32 am

"Right. A rescue mission," she stared at them, her hand slowly retracting from the hilt of her blade. At which point she walked a little closer to Sylvain, to whisper to the extent the cold winds could allow.

"Trusting any of them with the whole of it would be a far bigger risk than me telling anyone on my side you're here."

Sylvain nodded, silently asking Layne to trust him.

The two of them walked aboard and found a seat wherever it was most readily available.

After a moment he began, "We both had visions of some terrible calamity accompanied by a trip into the wastes... We fear that terrible calamity is on the immediate horizon... What exactly it is though... We do not yet understand fully."

Moyr shook her head slightly at the evasive language but said nothing. The insides were minimalist in decor but comfortable. With an exception. The all-too-familiar red gas giant was rotating slowly in its bloody menace on a high-res holovid in the common space, dousing the room in the carmine-coloured light.

Luth pulls a couple of thermoses out of storage as they strapped in offering them. "Alcoholic." She lifted one. "Just tea." She lifted the other. "Pick whichever you like. I'll leave them nearby." Looking to Syl she added. "I got into your tea supplies. Figured you could both use the warmth."

With those where they needed to be, she settled into her seat. "Worlds being destroyed and stuff?"

Lady Savagery just observes and listens as Zeno shadows the freighter. He keeps an easy pace by their side while keeping his eyes on the sensors to watch for threats.

Razzya took the pilot's seat for the way back, closing herself in the cockpit.