Hoth: Blood and Ice

[Nudimsu]

It was a interesting ride up here to Junk Town. The weather had been fine to travel. Fine for the planet, at least. It wasn't the frozen hell it was when they arrived yesterday, at least. He was in his armor, with his other stuff in hand, and waited in line to enter. Wouldn't have expected. He was with someone else, of course. Bringing Lana was a small risk; she was stationed here a long while back with the Empire. Always a chance someone would have seen her and remember her. Know who she was and that she shouldn't be here. Then again, it was well past a decade since that happened. Memories fade, things change, other problems occur. Unless it was someone she had a direct dealing with, the only chance of it happening was sure dumb luck. Or, as Durasay put it, "The Will of the Force."

So why introduce a small, unnecessary risk in this reconnaissance mission that could potentially tip their hand too early and was something that could be easily avoided?

Well, he had his reasons.

As their turn arrived, he greeted the guardsman with the White Maw handshake that he had picked up one time in a indiscriminate bar somewhere off world thru completely happenstance and innocent means, indicating he was a friend to them. He motioned to Lana and spoke, favoring his Cheunhian accent in his voice. "She's with me."

~~
Black Market Contacts 2 used

Can bring in 3 more players via vehicle

[Breela Po]

Knowing she would reek of gunk anyway she used a little bit of it to paint over the Jedi symbol on her armor before joining Nudi on the turtle. It probably wouldn't be an issue anyway with her concealing robe. Still she'd rather take the necessary precautions and not need them rather than vise versa.

Lana travelling with them was a strange twist. But then he had been friendly with Bitchious. But on the ride over, I don't know, they seemed waaaay more familiar. I felt like a 3rd wheel the whole time. But there's no way right? Lana and Nudi?

The hike was a little less than 15 minutes for her, but then rough terrain didn't bother her. She still somehow managed to spot Lana and Nudi as they entered. If he's friends with Lana,she mused as she pulled her robe in tighter, then maybe I should be tighter lipped around Nudi. She steps in line, debating on whether or not she should cough up money or bluff.

[Dapper Dog]

Lana just gives her patented stare glare as they pass through.

[Nudimsu]

With that in line, Nudimsu passed thru and into the infamy of Junktown. Aptly named too; the surroundings were quite junky and structurally unsound. How desperate these people must have been to escape their lives in order to live on a planet such as this.

As he began, he quickly looked around for a moment and, when he was sure. "I cannot seem to recall right now, beloved, but are you familiar with the concept of windows dressing?" He kept his accent thick, but chose to speak in Basic for the moment. Still, he moved in close to her and reached out his hand close to her own. "Need to follow those footsteps in the snoe. Check out the places they congregate. Just...don't want to lose you as we move."

[Dapper Dog]

Lana nodded.

Even in the early morning the place was lively, and chaotic. Violence was common and every now and then one could hear the crack of a electro-whip or blaster bolt. One area that drew attention was what looked like a landing area for ships, most were junks or cobbled together freighters but one seemed overly clean, advanced and had a single guard in gleaming silver armor standing by.

It had a designation but the letters were alien, not Basic.

[Jub'Lub]

Jub'lub was glad to get out of the commons, even if it was going to the White Maw controlled Junktown. Jub'lub spent the ride over meditating.

being light in the pockets was nothing new to him, but he knew he'd have to owe a favor to the White Maw. Hopefully they'd never get a chance to call in the favor.

[Nudimsu]

Lana nodded.

Even in the early morning the place was lively, and chaotic. Violence was common and every now and then one could hear the crack of a electro-whip or blaster bolt. One area that drew attention was what looked like a landing area for ships, most were junks or cobbled together freighters but one seemed overly clean, advanced and had a single guard in gleaming silver armor standing by.

It had a designation but the letters were alien, not Basic.

He kept his hand on her as he moved thru the area, stopping by the building well maintained. He could not read the sign, but it might as well have said. 'Something important inside'..

"Lana, can you read that?" He said while passing by the building casually. Part of being window dressing was not stopping without good reason. "Tuzir vah vizehn ch'a ran'si bah veo tuz ch'tra ror en'casn'ah."

[[Translation: Or get a sense of what is going on inside.]]

[Dapper Dog]

“It’s not easy to read,” she admitted and took her time and then said, “This is a royal shuttle… someone of importance is nearby.”

KnightZ.jpg (27.62 KiB) Viewed 4948 times

The guard seems to notice the scrutiny and glanced in their direction but does not yet act, but the feeling of their gaze is unmistakable.

[Nudimsu]

He got the cue from the guard, made some apolgetic motion with his head, and kept on walking, keeping his hand with her. He had kind of forgot he was doing it at this point. He had that guard's attention now, which just meant he needed to come at this from a different angle.

"Royality? Judging by the armor, I would not think they were from Alderaan. May be worth getting a peek inside, then."

He turned the corner and tried to find a spot nearby where he could prepare that was private. "Were you able to get a feel of a headcount in there?" He took off his helmet and started to to slowly depressurize his armor.

[Dapper Dog]

Lana said, “The guard outside, believe six more inside, perhaps pilot and other crew.”

OOC: She is able to utilize Sense and upgrades.

Lana Sense: 3eF 4 Dark Side

[Nudimsu]

"Perfect." The airflow of the armor ejected out and there Nudimsu stood there before her in his very form fitting stealth suit, doing his best to keep his teeth from chattering. His armor was sealed and warmed: now there only thin material and him in the cold. Grabbing his thermal cloak and two earpieces from his bag and handed one to her, placing the other one in his ear. The thermal cloak helped a little, but it was just a band-aid on a open wound. "Just keep a eye on my armor, please. Brand new and I'll likely get hypothermia if I don't get into it sometime soon. Also don't forget, click your teeth to get it working; you don't need to actually speak if you don't want to, just mouth the words. I won't go deep in there, just enough to try to get some sort of confirmation of identity. If it looks good, I'll take take the chance and get on the ship in there. If not, I'll head back. 5 minutes. 10 minutes tops."

He takes a deep breath and looks her over, his body slowly getting adjusted, but his teeth still chattering. "If it goes well, maybe we can start to get some answers. If it goes bad...I couldn't think of anyone else I'd rather have rescue me." There is a moment when a smile comes on his face as he stares at her face, but it quickly goes away as a shiver comes thru it.

[Dapper Dog]

OOC: Is he stealthing up to the shuttle? Just trying to clarify actions.

[Nudimsu]

OOC: Is he stealthing up to the shuttle? Just trying to clarify actions.

((At least into the Hangar to inspect. Sneaking onto the shuttle itself will depend on how it looks.))

[Dapper Dog]

OOC: Hard stealth check.

[Nudimsu]

With that, he switched on the suit and left. As he approached the hangar itself, he flipped on the stealth mode of the suit itself and completely disappeared from view. At least, it seemed like it. He took his time, following previously traveled footsteps as to not make new ones, he silently went past the one guard and into the hangar itself, holding his breath as he passed by the guard who had given him a dirty look before as to not create a visible trail.

At least inside the hangar was warmer than it was outside.

~~
[D2, LM] Cold Hard Stealth Logic: 4eP+3eD 2 successes, 1 advantage

[Dapper Dog]

He sees several more ships once inside, and it is warmer with large open fires in metal fire pits used as a primitive heating system dotted throughout the hangar. What draws his eye is another Chiss speaking with a group of people but too far away currently to hear them.

[Nudimsu]

That was unexpected. This kingdom had brought on a Chiss to help run things. If that was the case, he could not fault this force for their lack of standards. It did still beg the question whether or not he was another implant from the Ascendency or if the Chiss was on his own. Both were equally possible. Hopefully, the Ascendency was making moves with this force to finally, stealthy remove the Empire's clutch on his people. But all that was just optimism; He needed to confirm his intentions for now. So, getting close was the best play.

"[Lana, I have eyes on several ships. Seem to be taking orders from some other Chiss. Will move in closer to confirm identity and possible allegiance.]" He mouthed the words thru his comm, looking around for any symbol of allegiance he could tell on the ships or hanging up on the walls. Something to indicate who it was these people worked for.

[Captain Syrian]

Inside the Hangar

Captain Syrian closed his eyes as he listened to the conversation and then said in practiced Basic, with an Imperial twinge, “I understand you think we should attack but they don’t want that and if we anger them we stand to lose a great deal of our advantage.”

“They are not going anywhere for the time being, so be patient, Immortal,” he finished.

[Immortal]

Inside the Hangar

“We have them, my forces can find them and have them dead to rights. We have no reason to listen to these aliens, we are pirates, we take what we want. At least I remember how things used to be,” the holo of the Immortal responded held by a droid.

[Captain Syrian]

Inside the Hangar

“Yes and living off scraps in these wastes has done so much for you,” Syrian responded with mild sarcasm.

“Act if you wish but you won’t have my support.”

He was done and had more important business. The good Captain and his entourage walked onto a shuttle and it started to lift off shortly afterwards.

[Dapper Dog]

Inside the Hangar

The group started to disperse at that point, leaving behind only a human woman in dark clothing, a cloak it looked like to protect against the cold you surmise. Her hood was up and the pirates seemed to pay her no mind as they went back to work.

[Nudimsu]

Immortal. Rather strange title for a pirate.

"[Lana, during your time here, did you happen to deal with anyone calling themselves a Immortal among the White Maw?]" He mouthed the words once again on the mic. "[Either way, they seem to be at odds with each other about what to do with us. The Chiss seeks to bide his time and wait, while the Immortal wants to end it quickly and be done with it. Chiss also appears to have some Imperial connection, unsure of if it is current or former.]" He was, of course, completely in agreement with the Chiss' assessment. Ignoring the obvious benefit of him living longer because of it, of course; it was the smarter play. Either way, this did showcase that they were not a unified front. This could be one of their key advantages in defeat the trap laid; Immortal seemed he was greedy and quick to action. Sparking the response from him too early before they had time to prepare could allow a chance to strike hard against them, stalling for time. They just needed to find a way to agitate him enough to act before they were ready to act upon it. Then, most importantly, survive the coming assault shortly thereafter.

He was not a strategist, however. Just a plain, simple pilot; someone had to come up with something to act upon this idea.

Granted, this also led into the problem that the Republic and the Empire were also not a unified front. Maybe there was some passing unified response, but they were one Jedi being noble and good, slashing down a Sith trying to kick a small puppy from everything turning into shit. There was a third woman name to the list. He tried to quietly shift his body to see if he could get a better look at her. "[Chiss took off. Only left with barebones units and a woman in a cloak. Going to try to at least see if I can get a some sort of description on her.]

[Dapper Dog]

OOC: Stealth versus 2eC+2eD

[Nudimsu]

He kept his calm and moved around the building. Nearly stepping on a small alarm wire, he went around to get a better look. His nerves were sweating, it was rather, but he managed to get into a good view of the area.

~~
[D2, LM] Sneaking Suspicion: 4eP+1eA+2eD+2eC 3 successes, 1 threat, 1 Triumph


Destiny Flipped for that. Triumph used to get some more juicy deets.

[Dapper Dog]

OOC: Who is he spying on now?