Hoth: Blood and Ice

After the funnyphants' intervention into her ships coating, Moyr had decided to take it for another patrolling ride. She had called a few people to joining her, and waited to see who would respond.

Arriving first was a small pile of moving thermal cloak given Twi'lek form. Aphr really hoped the heat would start increasing in the base, she really didn't like wearing this cloak everywhere. She also mentally hoped that Moyrs ship had heating!

She wouldn't turn down her sisters call after all, and the thermal cloak being arrived with a smile. Tilting her hood back slightly.

"Hello sis. Been a long while since you last flew me around on your ship huh."

Moyr smirked and gestured inside. She carried her cloak over armour, like a cape.

"We have making up to do. Want some power tea?"

It was rather unexpected that, just shortly after he brought his own ship to be repaired, he would be immediately asked to go fly right back out in another one. Sith one too. Given who did ask him, though, it should be of no surprise. As he entered the ship, he looked around at the two Twi'lek sisters and stared at them for a few moments. Apparently, they came in more than one shade of red. Already, he was learning new things about the species.

"I've come as requested, Darth Bellious." He said, standing at attention as he entered the ship. "Hopefully your ship has been prepped for the weather already?"

"Oh tea sounds wonderful! I hope the base gets warmer quickly, I really do not like this cold" Aphr chuckled, before noticing another arriving. She gave him a nod of greeting but otherwise said nothing more, as it was Moyrs ship and she was the superior here.

"It has." Moyr nodded. "This is Aphr, apprentice to the High Arcanix. And this is Nudimsu, the captain of the Turtle. You may vaguely recall each other from the Smuggler's Moon." There was an uncanny physical resemblance between both women, but for Nudimsu to tell whether this was because all Twi'lek women were alike or because these two were closely related, he'd need a greater sampling probe.

"I want to take it for a trial run after the modifications and to make it a productive check on the surroundings at the same time. I thought of you as the most competent replacement in the driver's seat as I am likely to be otherwise occupied during the run." She poured whiskey-infused tea into three cups, offering it non-committally. For whatever Chiss reasons, Razzya avoided alcohol.

"Excellent. That is something I can handle. It will be the first time I've flown a ship that didn't have my mechanic's prowess in it in a long while, so do expect some small bumps at the start, but It should still be a relatively smooth flight as I adjust to the particular settings of the ship assuming." He turns his head over to Razzya and nods and stares at her. "Hah limn'ah vzipo Ch'ah viz baz ran's'arah k'ir ch'a hisbercir sir ch'a tovri ronlcukn sir csei s turccihcapi."

He nodded his head and sat down on the plane. It was time to make a comparison of the Sith engineering to his Hacha. He already assumed who would win, but it was always good to give a fair judgement of the circumstances. "A pleasure, Aphr. I must regret to tell you that I do not recall you on Nar Shaddaa, but I still look forward to working with you today."

[[Translation: It seems as if I have been unknowingly made a escort for a luxury line this afternoon.]]

"A pleasure also" Aphr said, giving the Chiss man a smile "there were many many faces on Nar Shaddaa, so it's easy to miss one especially one as small as mine. I don't believe we met though."

She looked to Moyr who was preparing whiskey, still hoping for tea but not questioning anything.

"What work did they do on the ship?"

"Vah ber it vzipo it cart ch'a ch'itnun'ah ei." Razzya replied taking his heat signature in passing.

"They somehow proofed it to withstand the icy weather. Let's get going." Moyr gulped some tea and moved to to the cockpit just in case Nudimsu needed any clarifications about technicalities.

/screen wipe

The great white desert had a stark beauty to it.

The great ice desert looked like everything Aphr wanted to avoid in life. It was cold and rough, and it was literally everywhere. However when they get out, it seemed Aphr knew what she was doing, and directed the two older and more experienced flyers pretty well.

(ooc:
D2 LA patrol - Leadership. 1 boost from advanced surveillance equipment. Hard dif +1dif from power level: 3eA+2eF+1eB+4eD 1 failure, 2 advantage, 2 Dark Side
using 2 dark side as 2 successes so roll 1 of 4 passed. 2 advantage turns into a boost for next player

The piloting of the ship was a bit heavy. Bellious, clearly, favored a lot less tighter control than he did. Allowed for less maneuvering and favorable to a more safe flight than one of tactical importance. After messing with the controls a bit and doing a few test manuvers, he hit the thrusters and really showed what the Bitch could really do in the right hands.

~~
[D2, LA] Let's see how this Bitch handles! (Piloting): 3eP+1eA+2eB+4eD 3 successes, 1 threat, 1 Triumph


((Whatcha doing with the Triumph?))

She still made suggestions about altitude and use of natural features to obscure their overflight. Effort to stay unnoticed created a challenge of its own...

LA2. Patrol. Stealth.: 4eP+1eB+4eD 3 successes, 3 threat


[Success, Threat as Setback]

But the wobbliness was soon addressed, just as Darth Bellious willed her ship to straighten course.

LA2. Patrol. Coordination.: 3eA+1eB+2eF+4eD+1eS 1 failure, 1 advantage, 2 Dark Side


[Dark Pips for Successes]

4 Steps Cleared

He continued to keep his eye out on things as he piloted, maybe something of interest would come of it. "So." He said with a long pause. "The Bitch handles quite well, Darth Bellious. A rather vulgar for the ship, though. I suppose the name holds some sort of significance to you?" It was his best attempt at small talk he could think of at the time. Probably not the best attempt, but it was all he could think about. In the meantime, he keeps an eye out for anything of interest as he flew the ship around. Maybe he could find some remnants of the ships he fought or something that would hold a interest to him right now.

~~
Using Triumph to find something shiny along those lines in the snow.

"It is a provocation, Nudimsu, and usually a successful one. It has no other role or significance than playing with superficial perceptions." Moyr chuckled. "Tangentially, it may be an endorsement of what many eschew, unbridled passion."

She patted the pilot's chair. "I am glad it handles well in a skilled grip."

She looked back to see what her sister was doing.

Aphr had her datapad out, and was making notes on the flight. What they'd seen where they had gone, with coordinates. It felt useful to her to have a report to bring back to base.

"I prefer ships that don't throw me around the cockpit so this ship seems perfect to me" Aphr added to the conversation without looking up.

"It's going smooth here." Moyr said to Nudimsu. "I'll leave you two to talk in Cheunh and see to something else. Aphr, will you follow me?"

As he flew around Nudimsu noticed a fairly familiar sight on the ground. It had stopped smoking at this point, but it looked like the ship he fought earlier and managed to make it to the surface as well. However, they did not seem to survive the impact as well as Nudimsu did his own. "Gonna land for a moment and take a look at that ship. Have all the privacy you want, then." As he landed, he got out of the ship and began his salvaging what he could.

Pilot was a Rodian. Dead. Data from the ship was shot too. Maybe if he were Hacha, he could pull something from this, but it was beyond his skillset.

As he continued his search, the comm inside the pilot's suit began to make noise as he heard some chatter coming thru the helmet. Now that was more valuable than a ion blaster cannon right now. He quickly removed the helmet and walked away from the ship and then stopped. Turned his body around, picked up his strange blaster and fired off two shots which pierced the hull of the ship. The third shot did the trick as the ship exploded. Nudimsu walked away from it with helmet in hand and back to the ship, not looking back.

Darth Bellious wrote: ↑

Wed Aug 17, 2022 7:29 am

"It's going smooth here." Moyr said to Nudimsu. "I'll leave you two to talk in Cheunh and see to something else. Aphr, will you follow me?"

Aphr looked up from her datapad.

"Hm? Sure" she nodded, putting the pad away and following after Moyr

Razzya took the helm as Nudimsu went out to explore. Monitoring the situation via a small control screen, Moyr nevertheless sealed the door to her room.

"Let's talk visions, sister." She gave Aphr a moment to take a seat. "What they point to is that we are in the middle of the Emperor's plan B. He hasn't died entirely, calls himself Dragon now, and is relying on his progeny to carry the mantle in imposing his will on the galaxy. The path to it is by violent subjugation of both the Empire and the Republic. His twin sons just might have the power to pull it off. But there also may be one more child, a female, more rogue than the boys. My vision didn't show her, but I caught some others' remarks. Awful lot of people seem to have seen things through the Force, shreds of a bigger picture. In mine, he talked to me, speaking of sacrifice. I think this is all rather imminent."

Moyr turned silent for a moment, letting her sister digest it.

Aphr looked thoughtful, taking a few moments before shaking her head.

"I'd heard rumour of this too, but after looking more into the visions some more both last night and today I don't think it's the Emperor. Well, it's not the Emperor we know of. There is something else, something outside of either the Jedi or the Sith, maybe something nobody has known of before now."

She looked at Moyr.

"Do you know of the Eternal Empire? Have you heard of it before?"

"I have heard the name but I don't know much. It makes sense for the Dragon to have built a power base outside the view of the major players if his plan was to subjugate everything all along. It is not outside the realm of possibility, half of our galaxy is called the Unknown Regions for a reason. The Chiss are those few we know who live there, we may ask if this rings the bell. How has the name been revealed to you?"

"This doesn't feel like a power base. This is a whole nation, wanting to take over" Aphr commented, still a thoughtful expression "and it links to three children. One of light, one of dark, and one still in flux."

There was a pause though at the mention of the Chiss.

"They live where? In this Empire? Then why haven't they revealed more, why would they hide it?"

"Their planets lie in the enclave on the far side of the galaxy. If there's something like the Eternal Empire in the Unknown Regions, they would be the first to know something by virtue of relative proximity. It's just a wild guess."

"Light, dark, in flux?" Moyr repeated, asking for the context.

"I see..." Aphr sounded not entirely convinced, but there was some logic in it "I don't know either of them, are they trustworthy? I'm not sure this is something that should be widely shared Moyr. While many feel the ripples in the Force, to know an outside empire exists that may be causing all this...without something concrete coming from two Sith would look like stirring trouble."

She took out her datapad again.

"The repeating vision that started a few months ago. The capital worlds crushed, a great war, and three star above. One of the brightest light, one of the deepest dark, and one in flux. Shifting colours, unstable. The first two, light and dark, I believe refer to the twin songs. Two humans that I saw standing before an empty throne of an Emperor killed. Their emperor not ours. The third on in flux...I had a vision of a woman. A terrifyingly powerful woman that I could feel through a vision, something I've never had happen before. Between them, the Force in perfect balance."

Nudimsu returned to the ship. The other two were talking, and it was, for a moment, tempting to listen in on what it was they were saying. However, he had enough of force-strong women entering into his head for the day.

Instead, he entered into the cockpit and motioned to the helmet. "Are you any good at electronics, Razzya?"