Hoth: Blood and Ice

[Jo'ren Rath]

He had never really liked the name, but it felt wrong to change it. Terror Star. Classic Vengean. The man was a force of nature, battering ram of Dark power. Just don't let him name things.

Jo'ren sat on the on ramp to his ship nursing a big mug of bloodwine. It had been another one of those days. It was the ritual. He had gone into it expecting the usual disappointment, but Zhorrid had sparked something he hadn't known was there. He really did feel like he had touched something bigger than himself. Weird. Oddly comfortable. He shook his head.

Layne had seemed similarly affected. Layne. His old...were they friends? He kinda thought of her that way. She probably had other ideas. Whatever. He had sent her a message anyway asking if she wanted to talk. There was even another mug of bloodwine waiting. So he waited. Thinking of the Darkness, but also of Thy..

[Layne Hoshin]

Layne would've been heading back to her ship; which by now also sat in the base's hangar. It was still beat-up from the crash yesterday, and frost probably still clinged to it, having only finally arrived here just a few hours ago. She supposed the barracks would be more comfortable to sleep in tonight; but Layne had never cared about being comfortable in the first place; she had spent more time out in the wastes than in this base after all.

Besides, she could not be in the barracks; where her fellow Jedi might decide to take the opportunity to do what they did best. Tomorrow...

...tomorrow she would offer them that opportunity; because they were owed that much. Because there was a small chance they might actually understand. And because, if fate would be kind, she might do *another* some good by it.

The message had come through not long ago. Jo'ren, wanting to talk. A detour so slight it barely even qualified as one.

It was funny, in a way. Before this morning, she imagined any encounter with him would involve a lot of angry yelling at him for betraying her hopes for him. Once, she believed that he was one of the few people in their class that could maybe become a force for good. He had *cared* about Gerald after all.

But then he had led the attack on Coruscant. An attack she knew about years before it actually came to pass. An attack she had warned the council of, only to see her warnings go unheeded like other warnings of hers had been before. An attack she had not been there to resist. It was yet another one of those many failures the vergence had her relive.

The funny part, was that now that she was well and truly *angry* like she had been back when she was still known as the Little Wrath...

...she didn't care to yell at him anymore.

Instead, she sauntered up to his ship; her eyes darkened by lack of sleep, or perhaps the dark side itself... though she had yet to fall over to it.

"What do you want, Jo'ren..." she asked, simply. Too tired to yell at him in moral indignation, still far too angry to give any friendly banter.

But then, perhaps that was the Layne he would remember, instead of the Jedi she had been all these years and that he had never known .

[Jo'ren Rath]

Bright golden eyes shone back at her. There was no evidence of that sickly Dark Side taint that seemed to infect the eyes of those who were truly gone. Maybe that meant something?

Slowly he reached for an object on the ramp beside him. As one warrior's respect for another he didn't make any sudden moves. The object came into sight. It was a...a mug. He lifted it and offered it to her.

"How about a drink with an old friend? I guess..." There was the questioning shrug. "...you looked like you needed it."

The mug remained raised in his hand. Waiting for her to accept or walk away. He wouldn't blame her for turning around and leaving. Since they last met it had seemed the galaxy filled up with death and destruction, but then also renewal, and hope.

"We can talk, or not."

[Layne Hoshin]

"*Now* you want to talk?" She scoffed at that, that urge to yell at him popping back up to let her know it hadn't entirely gone away.

She looked down at the mug for a few moments, before snatching it from his hand and finding somewhere to sit.

"...Then talk. The way you didn't on Coruscant. Though..." Layne gripped the mug more tightly "...maybe I'm being a hypocrit."

[Jo'ren Rath]

For a second his eyes were piercing into her. "There you are." The mug was raised slightly in welcome. "Well I'm easy. I can can sit here in silence and drink my bloodwine. Sounds like you want to talk though."

Jo'ren took a long swig of the liquid. "You really gonna be mad at me for kicking down the Jedi Temple? They tried to assassinate the Empress. They had it coming. 'It' being me."

"I'd been dreaming about leading that attack since I was a kid."

[Layne Hoshin]

"Of course you have," she said, "Raised by imperial and Sith propaganda. But justifying it as a response to the attempted assassination of the Empress is quite rich. How many children and innocents did you kill during the battle, or fell under the blades of others?"

She was quiet for a moment. Layne *had* been quite upset with the council for that attempt. There she was, emperor dead, time to walk into the light fully, only to discover that the people who were supposed to have been *better* than her all that time, decided to order something like that.

Now? Now she'd have done the same.

"...whatever. Let's not pretend like the child was the excuse. That attack was in the planning long before she came to be in the picture as Vitiate's replacement. Your master was planning it even when we were still on Nar Shaddaa."

She took a sip.

"...I warned them more than once, and yet they did *nothing* to stop it. I can't say that anyone there deserved what you did, but the council at least... did let it happen."

[Jo'ren Rath]

"See, I knew you needed a drink." The comment was accentuated with a tip of the mug towards her. "You really haven't changed you know. Who are you trying to convince? I'd say: Someone whose name rhymes with Dwayne Loshin." The damnable smirk returned as he took a swig of his own bloodwine.

"Aaah, that's the stuff. Can't beat Massassi original. Anyway, I'm not talking about Republic bad, Empire good. I meant I have literally had a dream about leading an assault on the Jedi Temple since I was a kid. Over and over. Now I know it was a Force vision, or something like that."

Jo'ren licked his lips before talking another draught. "Of course we were planning an attack. The Jedi tried to exterminate us, remember? That's the kind of thing that's hard to let lie. But we didn't expect..." He shook his head. "Honestly, I thought the Jedi were supposed to be better than that."

Memories of Ziost swirled.

"I fought the kriffing Emperor Layne. The most evil son of a bantha in the whole damn galaxy. Nearly died so someone else could stick a special blade in what passed for his heart. Did the galaxy a big one killing him. He was going to kill everyone." Even the people I give a kriff about. "Shame you missed it."

Another swig followed. "And yeah, I wrecked your Jedi Temple and killed your grandmaster. No kids though, might want to check your own propaganda there."

[Layne Hoshin]

Of course he would've been there.

"Yes," she said, not at all surprised at his talk of fighting the emperor...

...which might be his first clue that she knew more about it than she should've been able to, given how quick Baras and the empire had been to surpress the truth of what happened that day.

"Shame I missed it," she said, her voice cold and unforgiving, "given that *I* was the one who made that happen in the first place. You all would've happily let yourselves get consumed in ignorance if I hadn't learned the truth and set things in motion that would see you fight the emperor. Shame I missed it. Because unlike all of you, I would not have *failed*."

Of course, she still might've. But she would never know for sure now; all she knew was that the plan had failed. And it was so easy to imagine it was because she wasn't there.

[Jo'ren Rath]

Only pure willpower stopped him from a spit-take that would have left Layne covered in bloodwine. There was a long deliberate swallow. Then a pause before...

...laughter echoed up the boarding ramp and out into the hanger bay.

It was joyous. The kind of laugher Jo'ren hadn't released for years. There were tears in his eyes. It took a full minute before he could speak.

"You...hahaha...you still think...you think it's all about you!" He slapped his armoured thighs. "Damn Layne. I missed your hubris, it's epic, even for a Sith. I guess that's why the Darkness keeps dragging you back huh?" He shook his head in amusement and took a long swig.

Gesticulating with his right hand he added: "This is all a big lead up to asking me to help you kill something isn't it?"

[Layne Hoshin]

"Yes. Sure," she said, hate welling up inside. He might've had a point, somewhere lost in his own ego; but she could hardly see it just yet. "*my* hubris..."

"...look at you. Justifying what you did on Coruscant by claiming you were *destined* to be the one to lead the attack. And then boasting about being there to kill the Emperor himself as if it makes you the big hero. And when I tell you that you were just a pawn, and that what you *think* you did is not what happened... you just laugh it off and deflect it all away by mocking me instead. But *I'm* the one with the hubris."

[Jo'ren Rath]

"Yep. Pretty much. See, you're finding a little insight at last." He raised the mug towards her. "Ever stop to wonder if other people are destined to do things too? I own everything I've done, do you?"

A big gulp to finish the mug.

"See, we... and by we I mean everyone else in the kriffin galaxy... aren't just bit part actors in your Holoshow Layne. You're right to be angry, and if it helps you find your edge again, feel free to hate me." Finger guns.

"But it doesn't take a genius to see who you're really mad at Layne."

[Layne Hoshin]

"The great kriffing doctor Rath," she spat, kicking the nearest piece of exposed bulkhead, railing, or other such metallic surface. It may even have buckled a little under the force of the sudden impact.

"Don't act like you're some pop-psychology hotshot with a holo-slot opposite Mr.Boobu!"

And she kicked the same spot she'd just kicked moments earlier. Maybe buckling it a little further.

"...are you *really* so sure you 'own' everything you've done? ...I saw you talk to Thy yesterday. In the hangar."

She had no idea of the things that had transpired between them of course, just saw there'd been *something* going on with that conversation. Which was enough to grab hold of it and *poke*. He was doing the same to her, after all.

[Jo'ren Rath]

His expression was pure confusion. "Mr What-now?" Golden eyes squinted a little. "Are you okay? You're sounding a little unhinged. More bloodwine?" Jo'ren tapped a code into his commlink.

At the mention of Thy he flashed her a kriff-eating grin. "You saw huh? Okay, cool. What did you see?"

[Layne Hoshin]

"Don't act like you don't know," she hissed.

It wasn't clear if she was talking about his conversation with Thy, or him not knowing who Mr.Boobu was; it was only the biggest variety holoshow in the galaxy, after all.

[Jo'ren Rath]

"Layne, you're not making any sense. Did you see me talking with Thy or not? Did you listen in, or not?" He really didn't seem bothered either way.

"What do you think of the bloodwine? Pretty good vintage huh?"

A woman in an Imperial uniform that had been snow-proifed came walking down the ramp. She had three mugs, one of which was kept for herself. She looked from Jo'ren to Layne and back.

"Layne, Ashley. Ashley, Layne." There was something in his eyes that was hard to read.

[Layne Hoshin]

"Fine, be like that, then," she said, giving one more kick for good measure.

It wasn't fair. People like them didn't deserve to just be okay with themselves.

She was staring at nothing more important than an unremarkable section of hullplating when the woman came along, and Jo'ren started introductions. Her gaze was pulled to her, then to Jo'ren and whatever that something in his eyes was.

"...Okay?"

Maybe there could be some vague sense of recognition she might have in regards to the woman, if she wasn't feeling the way she was feeling right now.

[Jo'ren Rath]

Jo'ren took the mug with thanks, made a gesture towards their guest, and then just watched Layne. Ashley could see there was tension but didn't comment on it, too much time around Sith.

Ashley Hin.jpg (49.14 KiB) Viewed 817 times

The woman looked her up and down before taking a sip of the bloodwine. "Layne Hoshin. I had imagined you would be taller. Captain Ashley Hin, Imperial Navy, Special Projects Division." There was something about her that was oddly familiar. She spoke with a perfectly enunciated Imperial accent but seemed a little more relaxed than most Imperial officers she had met.

[Layne Hoshin]

It took a few more moments to piece it all together. The familiar appearance, the reason why Jo'ren was *watching* Layne the way he was. The name 'Hin'. A conflicted look passed over Layne's features for a moment, before she turned back to Jo'ren, forcing anger back into her expression.

"This isn't fair, Jo'ren."