Hoth: Blood and Ice

[Darth Bellious]

"You know, Aphr, I think we're in a situation in which we need to cast stones into darkness and see where they hit. If it results in upheaval, I couldn't care less. If the threat is great, the response has to be massive as well. That said, Razzya is my trusted lieutenant and Nudimsu already knows a lot about our predicament here on Hoth, and we're like-minded on how to operate. Hence him on this ship. I don't give out steering the Bitch to just anyone."

She paused.

"So three children form some Force tripod. Interesting. The sister interests me the most."

---

"I am good at anything I take up, I am a Chiss after all." Razzya responded. "What do you need?"

[Aphr Ahaya]

"Hmm...perhaps you're right. I would still prefer my part in this to not to be shared so widely if possible. I work better that way" Aphr said with a nod "however if you trust them, I trust you, so that's what matters to me. As for the children...the sister is the one I would be concerned about most. If she is the in flux star as I believe, that could symbolize instability and unpredictability. However we'd need to know more. I'll try to think on the visions more, see if there is any detail I missed while we ask the two Chiss what they know."

She began reviewing her datapad again.

[Nudimsu]

"I am good at anything I take up, I am a Chiss after all." Razzya responded. "What do you need?"

"Naturally. I just was not sure of what the Ascendency trained you to do." He nods and hands her the helmet. "I want to get the frequency of this comm in this helmet and get it up on the ship. We can listen into the enemy. More information after all is necessary for our success, not to mention our survival."

[Darth Bellious]

"Elementary."

She took the helmet, pulled out some wires, connected her datapad to the ship and to the helmet, then did some coding whizzing, and voila. A few more protocols to cut on the static.

LA2. Decrypting radio comms. Computers. Codebreaker.: 1eP+4eA+1eD 4 successes, 2 advantage


[2 Advantage to reduce static.]

"I hope they don't broadcast any unconscionable music."

[Darth Bellious]

"Hmm...perhaps you're right. I would still prefer my part in this to not to be shared so widely if possible. I work better that way" Aphr said with a nod "however if you trust them, I trust you, so that's what matters to me. As for the children...the sister is the one I would be concerned about most. If she is the in flux star as I believe, that could symbolize instability and unpredictability. However we'd need to know more. I'll try to think on the visions more, see if there is any detail I missed while we ask the two Chiss what they know."

She began reviewing her datapad again.

"Do you keep notes there, Aphr, or are you waiting for something?" Moyr teased, unsealing the door. She was not sure whether she got the most from this exchange, but she decided not to distrust her sister.

[Dapper Dog]

They get sporadic calls on this line, this group is out and about collecting protection from small settlements from the data they give back and forth.

[Aphr Ahaya]

"Every dream, every vision. Every detail, big or small. I note it down to reference and cross reference, to make sure every vision is fully understood" Aphr answered "the visions seem to focus heavily on the twin males. The only part of a vision from my references to the female...is coming to this planet. A frozen settlement and her conversing with another woman on a throne...but that vision was abruptly cut short."

There was a frown at that memory.

"I believe she's incredibly strong, and that's all from visions I've been able to get about her. The rest focuses on the Eternal Empire, what is happening there. If their Emperor is dead, or alive, or between. What the two twins will do. I think they're the bigger concern."

[Nudimsu]

They get sporadic calls on this line, this group is out and about collecting protection from small settlements from the data they give back and forth.

"Hmm. Nothing exciting." He nods, but then again, I believe no news for now is a good thing for now. Should keep a monitor on this for now, even if they play the occasional smooth jizz."

There is a small pause in his face as he looked at Razzya from his comment. "Tempted to go rob them of their ill-gotten gains, but not without a better plan."

[Darth Bellious]

"Every dream, every vision. Every detail, big or small. I note it down to reference and cross reference, to make sure every vision is fully understood" Aphr answered "the visions seem to focus heavily on the twin males. The only part of a vision from my references to the female...is coming to this planet. A frozen settlement and her conversing with another woman on a throne...but that vision was abruptly cut short."

There was a frown at that memory.

"I believe she's incredibly strong, and that's all from visions I've been able to get about her. The rest focuses on the Eternal Empire, what is happening there. If their Emperor is dead, or alive, or between. What the two twins will do. I think they're the bigger concern."

"Ah, I forgot you've ever been the conscientious and methodical one." Moyr chuckled, despite the gravity of the issues broached. "You're suggesting an important observation, that we are given many contradictory visions of possible futures. Future is not a river, it's an ocean one can drown in, Dragon told me. We don't know which of these projections is actually unfolding. I didn't see the sister in mine. Maybe she's dead, or has never been born."

[Darth Bellious]

"Hmm. Nothing exciting." He nods, but then again, I believe no news for now is a good thing for now. Should keep a monitor on this for now, even if they play the occasional smooth jizz."

There is a small pause in his face as he looked at Razzya from his comment. "Tempted to go rob them of their ill-gotten gains, but not without a better plan."

"Tipping their hand is something worth planning for. Whatever their plan, we're falling straight into it by doing nothing." Razzya commented.

[Aphr Ahaya]

"Ah, I forgot you've ever been the conscientious and methodical one." Moyr chuckled, despite the gravity of the issues broached. "You're suggesting an important observation, that we are given many contradictory visions of possible futures. Future is not a river, it's an ocean one can drown in, Dragon told me. We don't know which of these projections is actually unfolding. I didn't see the sister in mine. Maybe she's dead, or has never been born."

There was a nod as she scrolled back up on the datapad.

"I heard that line too. I didn't associate it with a person as I wasn't sure, but if it was this...Dragon that said it, that would make sense. A lot of sense actually" a small frown appeared as she noted that "and I believe the sister isn't in any of the visions from their homelands because she isn't there. I think she's here, on Hoth. The Force doesn't seem to view her as what needs to be seen, which may mean she is too in flux to have a focus or these brothers are what will cause the greatest change. Or the visions are farther away, and what this sister is doing is more immediate."

[Darth Bellious]

"If she's here, we can look for her. And we have a likely culprit behind orchestrating the capital ships being shot down. It also means that while Coruscant or Ziost need to worry about the twins, our primary worry is her." Moyr's voice and gaze were focused. The plotting in her head could probably be noticed in infrared, what Nudimsu and Razzya could do after the sisters would go back. But not just yet.

[Nudimsu]

"Tipping their hand is something worth planning for. Whatever their plan, we're falling straight into it by doing nothing." Razzya commented.

"True, but there's more to it than that. I would rather be cautious than to fall victim to another trap like we did when we entered. The Empire and Republic were cocky on their intel, their data that led us to believe the forces we had were adequate. We see how that ended. Now we must be cautious to not fall for another trap."

He paused and look directly in the eyes. "After all, nah k'ir nah bicit vun'csiuh ch'a vocin ch'auh vatvo ch'atah rt'aseum vim etah g'ekt tecehn en'catehan'casi, rab neo tsut'r rt'asi."

[Darth Bellious]

Razzya looked back, infrared to infrared.

"Ton'vt tsan'ah." ("Point taken.")

[Aphr Ahaya]

"If she's here, we can look for her. And we have a likely culprit behind orchestrating the capital ships being shot down. It also means that while Coruscant or Ziost need to worry about the twins, our primary worry is her." Moyr's voice and gaze were focused. The plotting in her head could probably be noticed in infrared, what Nudimsu and Razzya could do after the sisters would go back. But not just yet.

"Hmm, the pirates are quite organized and taking down two ships like this would require a very coordinated effort" Aphr commented thoughtfully "however the vision I mentioned where I saw her only happened last night, when we were here already. Unless I had looked into the past again, but that seems unlikely. It didn't feel like a past vision to me, although it was all too brief to say for certain. A Force user from an unknown Empire controlling pirates to attack two ships approaching Hoth at once...well, if she was very strong with the Force it would explain how they knew exactly when and where both were arriving I suppose."

[Nudimsu]

He nods. "I will explain to you some of which I have seen while unknown eyes are away. If the Darth wishes to discuss it with Aphr, she may do so in her own time. I saw one of some of the leaders this morning. A Chiss, though I do not know his name; he is former Imperial, however. The second one is the Immortal. The third I know is named Syrian. If there are more, it is beyond my knowledge. Right now, we working on the means to provoke the Immortal, as he seems to be the one who can be more easily manipulated. The Chiss seems calm and calculated, as one should be, and he seems content to play the long game. Syrian is the one who planned the attack on the day we arrived, but I will have to look into more details about if he can be manipulated."

Of course he left out the 4th player in all of this; no good spy told all of their details. Besides, that was Lana's call who to inform. He wanted to help her carry her weight, not add to it. "We move tomorrow to properly make contact. Once there, if we find any relevant information about the attackers, I will be sure to inform you two about it when we return"

[Darth Bellious]

Razzya absorbed it. She was not one to intercede with commentary. She nodded at the end.

"If you learn something more on the Chiss, I may be able to complete the picture."

[Darth Bellious]

"Hmm, the pirates are quite organized and taking down two ships like this would require a very coordinated effort" Aphr commented thoughtfully "however the vision I mentioned where I saw her only happened last night, when we were here already. Unless I had looked into the past again, but that seems unlikely. It didn't feel like a past vision to me, although it was all too brief to say for certain. A Force user from an unknown Empire controlling pirates to attack two ships approaching Hoth at once...well, if she was very strong with the Force it would explain how they knew exactly when and where both were arriving I suppose."

"This is one of the scenarios that seems plausible. Let's rejoin our Chiss and discuss the issue in terms of those probabilities."

When both Twi'leks returned, it was as if they had never left.

"Does Eternal Empire ring a bell for either of you?" Moyr asked the Chiss.

[Nudimsu]

He gave a long shrug and thought about it for a few moments. "Cannot say it does. Sounds rather presumptuous of themselves, if you ask me."

[Darth Bellious]

"I don't disagree. Then let me reformulate the question. How plausible is that an empire with a name so presumptuous could have been formed in the Unknown Regions of the galaxy, overshadowing the Republic and the Empire in power projection capacity, while remaining hidden from both the Ascendancy and everyone else?"

[Nudimsu]

"Very plausible." Nudimsu nods firmly. "Have you ever navigated in the Unknown Regions before?"

[Darth Bellious]

"Once or twice, but not too deep into them. What I know mostly comes from the astrographic charts and what the Chiss can tell me." Moyr smiled faintly.

[Nudimsu]

He nods and thinks for a small moment. "You know those because my people have spent time and wading thru the Unknown Regions to find the correct path to take. We spend months preparing to go and expect to be gone for an even more extended period of time. If we're lucky, maybe we will find a planet that is willing to join the Ascendency. More often than not, we find nothing. If we are unfortunate, we die trying. Because it is the Unknown Regions. Navigating thru it without proper coordinates is, to put in a term you will appreciate, a bitch."

[Darth Bellious]

And for that, Moyr had deep admiration of the Chiss. They were people of relentless drive to go beyond the safe confines.The fact that a half of the galaxy was mostly dark to recognised sentience was an abhorrent lenience which could have long been its doom. And that doom might be just substantiating. Instead of feeling schadenfreude, however, she felt vindicated in how she wanted to exercise her freedom.

Sentience must be left with no other choice but to scatter, to seek, to spread, to become so dispersed and varied that no damn power-hungry planet-eater can have it all before their belly bursts.

"I very much appreciate the term. You've discovered yet another layer to the naming."

[Aphr Ahaya]

That was a wash. Aphr had stayed quiet, and respectfully listened. It was nice that someone was exploring the unknown but it seemed this Empire was still well hidden.

"I assume you don't track ships leaving the Unknown regions then, just going through them finding paths to take?"