Hoth: Blood and Ice

[Remmington Balmung]

After spending the first thing in the morning trying to clean all the sludge from the hangar. Remmington goes to the barracks to secure a room on the Imperial side though closest to the Republic side to show some openness. He is definitely in need of the refresher to try to get this smell off.

[Breela Po]

Breela was lugging a lot of gear from the hangar all at once. She ended up knocking into a few people on accident, and was making a comical amount of noise as she shuffled along. "Sorry," BANG, "Ooof, I am so sorry." Scrape, scratch, "Hey, sorry!"

She found a common area with a few republic grunts hanging around. She shrugs off the larger pack and drops the rest. "Ooof, I think I over did it."

After spending the first thing in the morning trying to clean all the sludge from the hangar. Remmington goes to the barracks to secure a room on the Imperial side though closest to the Republic side to show some openness. He is definitely in need of the refresher to try to get this smell off.

"Hey!" This is as good a time as any to share all she knows with Remmington. "Good to see you again. Here give me a second."

[Remmington Balmung]

"Greetings Jedi Breela." Remmington greets Breela and notices her luggage and walks over. "Do you wish for some assistance?"

[Breela Po]

He's so sweet! Breela smiles, "I'll get it in a bit." She dives into one pack, "Was it in here? No..." She checks several zippers, several other over-stuffed compartments. "Hmmmm," she digs through the largest pack and several personal effects spill out. "Whoops," she prioritizes snatching up her clean undergarments over a few pictures of her family that float towards Remmington. "I'm sorry, could you grab those for me?" Well at least I'm in the right place. Where did I put that brief at? She digs around some more.

One picture shows Khaji and her with their faces mashed together. Zan'ja in front of Khaji, and Tor in front of her. All four grinning cheesy, toothy, grins in the park behind their home at the time.

The other two:

Larger version ^ in bio.


A hand drawn charcoal and parchment signed, Khaji Po

[Remmington Balmung]

Remmington assists with picking up the pictures and hands them back to Breela. "Old pictures of your family?" He asks. Not many people used photos like these anymore. He continues to help clean up and then bring in the luggage.

[Breela Po]

Remmington assists with picking up the pictures and hands them back to Breela. "Old pictures of your family?" He asks. Not many people used photos like these anymore. He continues to help clean up and then bring in the luggage.

She smiles at the memories in them, "Yeah, I lost the backups during the bombardment so I keep these with me." Her face darkens as she remembers who she is talking to. She stuffs them back in her pack and resumes the search. "Ah hah!" She pulls out the brief and checks to make sure nothing in there could get her court-martialed.

After a few moments pondering carefully, "Just to be on the safe side," she says to herself and pulls up her nav recorder. "This is the spot our reconnaissance teams captured: Junktown. There's a massive refuse pile extending a couple of clicks out from it and we believe that it's all broken down ships." She sends the nav data. "You know if you want, a couple of buddies of mine are planning to run us over there tomorrow if you're interested."

[Remmington Balmung]

"Those moments with family are important. Though I thought Jedi are supposed to have no attachments. Little better than droids." Remmington comments.

He nods. "I am certainly interested in checking out this Junktown. Do we know anything about it?"

[Breela Po]

"Droids, huh?" Her face goes from amiable to a dark grimace at that one.

[Remmington Balmung]

"Is there something I am misunderstanding there?" Remmington asks, more curious about the sudden change in the atmosphere.

[Breela Po]

She recovers with a tremor. "I've told you all I know about Junktown. It's a pirate stronghold, and judging by the size of it. I'd say it's capable of housing a small town. If not a massive armada that's masquerading as junk."

She packs her gear and papers back up.

"We'll know more after today's recci." She smiles, having reattached the cap on her emotions.

[Remmington Balmung]

Must be a touchy subject. "I guess we'll have to see for ourselves. Please let me know when we're heading out."

A pause for a moment. "I apologize for any thoughtless words that may have upset you."

[Breela Po]

A pause for a moment. "I apologize for any thoughtless words that may have upset you."

She pauses in her tracks. "I... hmmph," she sighs, "My husband was killed on Coruscant, my children disappeared in the fighting. I'm here searching for them." She finishes what she was doing. "And... no we don't typically form attachments as Jedi. Because nobody wants to end up like me."

[Remmington Balmung]

Remmington nods. "Ah, so you are more of an outlier. I am sorry for your loss. I will certain assist you in finding your children. As a parent myself, the bond of family is a strong and important one."

[Breela Po]

Outlier? Yeah... that actually sounds right. She gives you a curious look. "You're not what I expected from a Sith Lord. But I would be grateful for your help." She looks around for a bunk to claim. "I'm sorry for earlier... Old grudges aside, I've been alone for so long I often don't know who I should trust."

As a parent myself, the bond of family is a strong and important one.

"Tell me about your family. Do you have any pictures you want to share?"

[Remmington Balmung]

Remmington nods. "Well its not like I am exactly standard either. You are right not to trust the Sith in general. We don't really trust each other in general either."

He smiles at the suggestion. "Well my family situation is a bit... complicated. Though to condense things into an easier to understand summary that doesn't drag into several seasons of a sitcom I'll try to keep it simple. I come from a formerly powerful House that was all but destroyed and am currently working at restoring my House that I used to be reluctant to do so. Started a branch family to help with that. Helped my childhood friend sire a Scion for her Fallen House. Have almost 2 dozen kids among wives, mistresses and aforementioned baby mama. My eldest is the Empress by the way. Oh, check out these pictures."

He takes out his datapad and starts showing the various family pictures that he has.

[Breela Po]

My eldest is the Empress by the way. Oh, check out these pictures."

...

At that Breela simply shut down. Breela.exe stopped working. Troubleshoot, or control alt delete. Those are your two choices.

Though her mouth did manage to move on its own, "Why yes, I will see those pictures."

At some point between little league and their first kill Breela will regain consciousness. "Wait... time out, did you just say your eldest is the Empress?"

[Remmington Balmung]

Remmington pauses and looks over to Breela. "Yeah, is there something weird about that?"

[Breela Po]

[Remmington Balmung]

"Oh you'll love this. Here is a pic of her commanding the death of a planet of 3 billion. Quelled any thoughts of dissonance or rebellion." Remmington gets a little teary when he shows the pic.

"Daddy is so proud."

[Breela Po]

THREE BILLION?! With a B??

She facepalms.

Yep, there's the Sith I know and loathe. "Riiiight," she shakes her head. "Well she definitely has your... ummm, deceptively malevolent gaze."

[Remmington Balmung]

Remmington waves that off. "Not at all. If anything she is probably embarrassed that I am too nice."

He sighs. "I don't see her as much these days. She just could just be in that rebellious age."

[Breela Po]

Her eyes were twitching. It was a grim reminder of what kind of people Sith are. In truth the more she thought about it the less fair she found it. Her children slept tonight as slaves. Her husband was dead. And this man's children were running around happy and content. His eldest had slaughtered three billion people. Here he sits doting on her. It was enough to make her sick. Her fists were clenched and she was ready to go off. Everything about this man was infuriating.

She gritted her teeth.

But he had offered to help her - which was enough to keep him alive for now. "Maybe," she managed, "but give her time. I'm sure she'll come around. With any luck some of her... old man's wisdom will rub off on her." She voiced the platitudes languidly.

[Remmington Balmung]

Remmington chuckles. "Somehow I doubt it. She says that she can't stand looking at me."

He looks a little sad at that. "Did your kids go through a rebellious ph..." He pauses for a second. "... scratch that if you don't want to answer. Tell me what they are like?"

[Breela Po]

Remmington chuckles. "Somehow I doubt it. She says that she can't stand looking at me."

He looks a little sad at that. "Did your kids go through a rebellious ph..." He pauses for a second. "... scratch that if you don't want to answer. Tell me what they are like?"

She winces in emotional and damn near physical pain. "Remmington... you need to understand that they only saw maybe a good three years without war. They were seven and six when they were taken from me. They didn't get the luxury of a rebellious phase. And I-" She chokes up a little but recovers, "I no longer know what they're like. But I suspect they're furry balls of trauma and hatred after enduring half their lives in slavery." She wipes away a couple of inconvenient tears.

[Remmington Balmung]

Remmington hesitantly reaches out to pat her on the shoulder. He stops short to make sure its okay first. "At least they are alive. When you find them, you can fill the rest of their lives with joy to wipe away the fear that they may have experienced." He tries to put in a reassuring smile.

"My family was mostly murdered off. My father and siblings before my eyes. I had to live most of my life in obscurity with my head down." He reminisces for a moment.

"So some of my House never got the chance to experience any happiness." He says on a sombre tone.

"I do not know if this is worth anything coming from me but in my experience, as long as you don't lose hope and keep doing what you can to make a difference, the winds will change. You will need to be ready to jump on it when it does."