Hoth: Blood and Ice

[Jub'Lub]

Not even the calming nature of ice fishing could sooth him, especially with how freezing cold it was here. At least he was able to catch a fish. Jub'lub couldn't sleep after the days events, so he decided a cup of caff would be the best possible solution. He poured himself some of the black gold and breathed it in. "Nothing like a hot beverage on a cold night," he said to himself. After taking a small sip he went to a table and sat, to finally enjoy some peace and quiet.

[Breela Po]

Breela walks into the kitchen a little bit later. "Jubbs? Where have you been?" She'll pour herself some caf and then join him. "Hmmmmhm warm." She says after taking a sip. "I've missed you, you soup crazed goof ball. You don't even know do you?" She beams, "I found my son!"

[Jub'Lub]

"The light shines on you, Breela! Im so happy for you, where is the little tyke?" Jub'lub looks around curiously. "And as for where I've been, I guess you could say I've been soul searching. After my trist with Tiss, I realized the situation here on Hoth has made me give in to base emotions. It may be the influence of so many dark side users, or possibly I'm in love. Force knows," he trails off.

[Nudimsu]

Nudimsu wandered in, still somewhat limping as he was before. After the Gree meeting, he needed some time to think. Even though he should still be resting to healing. A lot was still on his mind, though. Just hard to sleep when he knew that once again, everything was on the line. He gave a yawn and plopped himself in front of the two.

"Hello there. Jub'lub, I've barely seen you of late. Breela, you're still alive, that is good."

[Breela Po]

"The light shines on you, Breela! Im so happy for you, where is the little tyke?"

"Jubbs..." She laughed, "Tor was the eldest. They're both post puberty. And well that's kind of a long story." She turns more serious. "It turns out he's managed to become a Pirate King. Maybe in time he'll change vocations, but I can't force it. All I can do is take every inch he gives me and shed some light on his dark existence."

"As for Tiss... umm." She smiles nervously, "Jubbs, was that your first time?"

Whoo boi.

And then came Nudie. "Want me to get you some caf?"


(OOC Reminder: Her kids are basically 19 & 20 - Farghul reach maturity quickly.)

[Nudimsu]

He waves off the offer. "Tempting, but I do need to sleep at some point. I imagine that won't help me any."

He looked to her and nodded. "Well then, all present and accounted for; I am glad neither are dead. Well, yet, anyways. We're still not done here, after all." Then he turned to Jub'lub. "Yes, I had heard about your time in the goat pens from Pipka, Jub'lub. As I have learnt first hand, very little gets past his nose."

The pirate thing was a unexpected twist, but he did not recall seeing a Farghul among them; so it could be that he was the Immortal.

[Breela Po]

"Goat pens? Jubbs!" Breela face palms in second hand embarrassment.

She sips her caf, too exhausted to yell out Nudie for his tactlessness.

[Jub'Lub]

"Oh both of you be quiet, my entire time being here and I never settled into my own room, the goat pens seemed the warmest place to have a quiet time together, though I'll leave that to your imagination. Speaking of, have you ever cuddled a goat whilst naked? Most cozy I've been since we arrived at Echo Base." He turns to Nudimsu, "yes I have been aloof recently. Trying to sort out so many new...emotions."

"Breela, I guess I just assumed they both were young children, since you always talked about how helpless they must be on a cold world in a dark universe. But pirate king? Sounds like he's quite resourceful afterall. Glad you found them both! May your motherly instincts correct their paths and set their sights on the light." He hesitates a moment before a final thought, "just don't encourage any goat sacrifices and blood rituals, please. It would ease my conscious."

[Nudimsu]

"I..." He looked at Jub'lub silently for a long moment. "...Will just have to trust you on that. It's not like I haven't done anything like that before, just when I do, I keep it private." More recently than either of them could probably imagine. "Still, new emotions are good, but control of them is what is most important. You can't lose focus of them like Breela does, then she will have nothing to inspire to."

[Breela Po]

"I had my reasons for both Jubbs." She has nothing more to say on these matters

"As for you Nudimsu." She grins in triumph. "Well... a little bat told me something very interesting indeed regarding his nose."

[Nudimsu]

He stares at Breela for a very long moment, keeping his face neutral. "I have no idea what you are talking about."

[Breela Po]

She gives you a wink and chuckles. "I'll say no more. You like your privacy. I'm just happy for you is all." She goes back to sipping her caf.

[Nudimsu]

He continues to stare at her, reading her, trying to figure out if she was bluffing or not. Either way, it was simple enough to nod his head and say. "Thank you."

[Jub'Lub]

"Oh, Nudimsu, where was your scent picked up, you Chiss dog, you."

Jub'lub sipped his caf and then his eyes got big. "I almost forgot, I caught a fish!" He pulls a relatively large fish from his bag, unwraps it, and begins prepping it for cooking. "Fish soup, anyone?"

[Breela Po]

"You're welcome," She beams. "Despite our games I only wish the best for you."

She sips her caf with an amused smirk.

She turns to Jubbs. "That's his business, I only brought it up to pay him back for his own tactlessness." She purrs at the idea of homecooked fish soup, "Sure! I'll even help cook."

"Oh at any rate Jubbs. Try not to wander off tomorrow. Galen bought the pirates so the only thing keeping us here is us and whatever is coming for us." She puts a comforting hand on his arm. "I imagine this war is about to kick off with gusto, and I'm going to need you in the trenches."

[Nudimsu]

"Yes, and I do you. I am happy that you have some closure now; it may not have been what you have wanted, but you got more than most ever do. We'll settle the bill later, as I said." He looked rather confused about what was untactful about what he said. It was a matter-of-fact statement that he was told that. Didn't matter, really."

"My scent is picked up in the ship, and everywhere else Pipka goes, but I will be happy with the scent of fish soup or anything else once we leave here. It was nice to feel like I was back home, but now I've had enough nostalgia and wish to leave it once more." There is a long pause. "Speaking of home, have I ever told you what I did to get kicked out of the Ascendancy, Breela?"

[Breela Po]

"I think you mentioned something back on Alderaan to that girl at the bar. The one that was stripped of her rank and summarily discharged for speaking her mind to a superior asshole." She shrugs. "I both like and dislike the Organas." She sighs. "Well Niall is a good guy, and Alysele is a beautiful elegant badass."

[Nudimsu]

He nods. "A good memory." He shrugs. "Suppose as a sign of gratitude and to help pass the time until I am finally tired. Now I spoke my mind to a superior officer, and for that I was removed from the Ascendancy. That alone should not make sense. I want to see if you can figure out the part I leave out before I leave here." There is a moment of staring at the two. "Test your ability to use rational thought. If you can figure out the missing piece of the story before I leave, not only will I only admit exactly what it is you are implying, but I will forgo what you owe me on your children's debt. Jub'lub may assist you, naturally, and you have my assurance I will not lie about any questions on the matter."

[Breela Po]

Breela does a double take. She made a move to argue, but then she thought some more. As she did her tail started to twitch. "Okay." She turns towards him with rapt attention. "Since I'm sure it'll make you feel all warm and fuzzy I'll even hammer this out loud."

"I've only ever encountered three Chiss in my life. All three of them were and are crass, curmudgeonly assholes on the surface. All of them looked down on me and everyone that wasn't them. Including you... but-" She smiles with no small amount of warmth. "The Nudimsu I've come to know, is a strong, family-centric, person with an uncompromising moral fiber that sometimes inconveniences an even stronger sense of logic and reason. You have strong beliefs that you hate to deviate from. If I were to guess - this superior officer did something, or said something, that flew in the face of everything you believe. So you, the emotionless, logical being that you are, probably went off on him in some way."

"How am I doing so far?"

[Nudimsu]

He stared at Breela for a moment. "Not bad. Thank you, by the way, it is nice to my conviction noticed" He nodded. "You are on the right track, but have yet to fathom something yet. Those actions would spoke would only have me disciplined, after all; exile is a thing only meant for extreme cases."

[Breela Po]

"I'm just getting started," She grinned thoroughly enjoying herself. "I would say it's political. I mean why else would someone get exiled for badmouthing? But this is where I hit a wall. I don't know anything about the Ascendency. Aside from the fact that they're kinda allied with the Sith?"

She stares for sometime. "Since you're in some sort of relationship with Lana- you don't have to say anything I'll await the confirmation." She continues, "Hmmm, but then you would have been younger right? Possibly a lad still wet behind the ears when you were exiled." She taps the table in thought. There's an occasional off rhythm *thunk* that happens when her tale smacks into a chair leg. "Your people strike me as the isolationist sort." She chews on her bottom lip in thought.

"When did the Chiss and the Sith enter into a treaty together? Was that ancient history? Or did it happen in your lifetime?"

[Nudimsu]

He nods. "One cannot escape politics, no matter where they are or who they are aligned with. Yes, it had something to do with politics, although not directly. As for my people, we prefer isolation, yes. My working with Lana has nothing to do with the alliance between the Sith and the Ascendancy, as I am a part of neither, I am not bound to honor it. As for the Ascendancy..." He stares at her. "The Ascendancy is currently a vassal state within the Empire and is considered their only ally. I cannot recall the exact date, but this was before I was born, although not by much. Not to mention, Chiss mature quickly; we reach our peak height and mannerisms by the age of 10. So youthful vigor would not be the case in this instance."

He looks at him. "I left the Ascendancy when I was 13."

[Breela Po]

Her head tilts to the side as he says that last part. "Chiss are like Farghul then? But that means you were post maturity. In my experience people tend to take another decade after reaching adulthood before they've got it all together." She snaps her fingers, "Oh but wait," She looks at him incredulously, "Chiss are smarter than the rest of us. How could I forget?"

"I get the feeling this squabble had something to do with either ideological differences, or it was family related. Perhaps both?"

"I would say that you committed some manner of treason, or voiced something that sidled to close to the line of treason. You were exiled because your sympathies were viewed as problematic. Which is why I asked. Could it have been something to do with the Sith treaty? Or is there something acerbic in your relationship with the upper echelon?"

[Nudimsu]

Why must it be so hard to get her thinking like this on a regular basis? A small sigh out of his mouth and he continued. "Family relationships are important, but no, nothing to do with family. Though political and family are usually one in the same, especially if you are a part of the Twenty Houses. Treason is also a good line to think, but it would be hard to sell out my people from so far away. Only ones I could have done that with would have been the Empire, to which I would have joined them properly after leaving. Ideological, in a sense, I suppose."

His eye raised as she spoke. "You are starting to piece this together a little. Though, I wonder if you have the same problem I often do."

[Breela Po]

"Wait," She paused, "you were away from home at the time? Did this happen when you were on assignment?" She raises an eyebrow, "Did you find it illogical that the supremacy, I mean Ascendency," she grins, "would ally itself with primitive, mouth breathing, emotional fools like the Sith? And that prompted you to take umbrage with your superior?"