Hoth's Open Orbit

The 'Grinning Wampa,' a Kappa Class shuttle registered in the Eastern Rim, exited hyperspace and entered a low orbit of Hoth. On the flight deck sat three individuals: Isabelle Eoura, Trent Weston and Krayton Jantsk. In the crew compartment behind them sat several members of the Organization, sent to solve a problem at a research facility on this barren glacier. While Trent angled the ship on a path that would take them through the terminator with the least friction and turbulence possible, Kay activated shields and laid in their terrestrial course.

We'll be on target in five minutes. Coming in at night. Scanners aren't picking up any movement or any inordinate power fluctuations. Everything's quiet.

Isabelle nodded affirmation, and Kay turned from the sub-station back to the flight controls, aiding Trent as the big ship thundered down from the heavens. When they were at 10,000', Kay took the primary control surfaces, and slowed them to one-fifth atmo thrust, slowly descending to visual range. IR and Night-vision overlays on the HUD, and on the display screen beside Isabelle, showed them a medium-range view of the compound, getting closer and more defined by the second. Kay performed a slow circle of the compound, keeping a vigilant eye open for anything out of the ordinary, but all was silent. 

0300 by the local clock, nothing happening down there. 

Krayton and Trent exchanged a quick glance. No movement was either completely normal, which was to be expected at three in the morning, or else something was terribly wrong. Even at that time, there should have been an incoming hail from the surface, especially since this was an unscheduled drop. There was no need to check for approval from Isabelle -- the pilots knew she was seeing exactly what they saw, knew what they knew. Breaking off the circle of the compound, Kay headed for the LZ, flipping on the internal comm so that the troops being bounced around back there would know what was happening. 

Thirty seconds. 

It wasn't far from the compound, maybe 3000 yards. But in the minus-fifty winds and blowing snow outside, it might as well have been another continent. Visibility was next to nil on the ground, and flying by instrument, at an indicated 500 feet, Kay cut in the repulsors, and allowed the ship to come in at a relatively brisk pace, standard military spec, drop-ship style. As soon as they were down, he unhooked the neural link from the base of his skull, and slapped his buddy on the shoulder before going to gear up. 

She's all yours, T. Stay warm. 

A lone Victory II-class Destroyer resided above Hoth with a hanger full of TIE fighters. Now that his elites were off duty they were gone to the dining hall across from the barracks for a meal, Deyuss never joined his soldiers in social activities because not only was it awkward but it would change their views on the commander. Deyuss Grathan is nothing except their commander and that's all he intended on being, the life of a Grathan was lonely not to mention those of higher ranks. The moment he stepped into the room he felt a tremor in the force and their eyes locked, they knew one another felt this which they could easily feel there was a powerful connection here. They tell me you surrendered the moment you made contact. I knew our paths would one day cross but i never expected it to be any time soon...you saved my life and I don't even know who you are. 

He said to her just before motioning for the guard to leave. The way she looked at him was as if she knew something that he needed to know, but his gut feeling told him that she is a truthful person a powerful one nonetheless. That's exactly who i am, the woman who saved your life. Now it's time for you to return the favor, here i am asking for your help.

Not how he pictured this at all, in fact she was more like a Grathan then what the Jedi are. If you serve the Grathan Empire, it benefits your future. She definitely did her part by saving Deyuss Grathan's life. Though something had changed, as if the Angel who saved him from certain doom grew a set of horns. You need my help, I need to know who I'm helping. For all i know your a Republic spy on a mission to gain Intel on us Grathans. I help those who've gained my trust... He planted his hands down upon the cold surface of the interrogation table. He had become more cautious then welcoming over the past couple of minutes, he did remember that same graceful look she gave him when he had gained consciousness for a few seconds. Now it was that look but this time a look with concealed corruption. Something happened to you. You're not the Jedi who saved my life that day seven years ago. 

She smiled with a giggle behind her closed mouth. 
I am that same Jedi who saved you, but I'm no Angel. Nor a hero. Heck you have probably saved more lives then i have because it was never the front lines that interested me...until recently. I need your help Deyuss, I wouldn't of gotten myself arrested otherwise. I can tell you i am a Jedi and speak the truth but if i said I were a good person I would be lying, my name is Anna Wan.

Supposedly, i could have taken a faster route that would have meant reaching Hoth in only a few hours as opposed to several days, as what this day felt like. however i was not the one programming the hyperdrive.

“…zzz….zzz…”

because the shuttle only had one quarters that had not been converted to one purpose or another, I elected to spend my sleep cycles in an observational chair in the cockpit. of course the chair was comfortable. but there was also something that ran through my blood from my Grandfather about being able to sleep better when i could see the motion of the stars.

I was awoken my a shaking by pixar to announce we were 5 mins from warp’s end. nodding i went into a pseudo meditative state to receive messages now stored in my head from Starnet. and seeing a note from one of my contacts, “Talyn” that a package was awaiting me at the landing site. as it was once more early in the morning, i decided to have some fun with my apprentice over open ship comms

::Merin, this is guest services with a kind reminder that we are 30 mins from touchdown on Hoth… so if you can get around you won’t have the honor of experiencing Sedimentary crystallization first hand. Reaver to cockpit for landing procedures.::

As Reaver got to the cockpit, a hailing transmission was sent out, even though i knew deep down that like many worlds in the galaxy, Hoth had a government that did not monitor its orbital traffic

“good morrow Merin.” i return, still facing the Bow windows. despite the 30 min warning i had giving my apprentice, it was a practice to wait a good hour of clear comms traffic before assuming that OTC didn’t care enough about their jobs to request any sort of Identification “Reaver, that is long enough waiting, take us down.”

I spin my chair around to face Merin and it become apparent that as much as i could be jovial in my manners with protocols, these missions i took deadly serious. where as Kronos had his gear on save his parka, I had donned my complete “project Go” armor. certain portions were not set, such as my cowel not being drawn, and my goggles were hanging around my neck, but my face mask was already drawn over my mouth and nose. “Have you eaten yet?” i don’t give him time to respond as I stand up and walk to the galley, wagging two fingers for him to follow.

breakfast was very simple, but at the same time complex as the omelets i prepared were a mixture of the powdered eggs that could last forever, and all the perishable cheeses meats, and veg that would have gone bad if this mission had gone Wibbly. (part of what was in the package was additional perishables for the next leg) setting the tray before him i return to fetch my own.

After saying grace over the food, we ate in silence for a few moments. then i piped up running over all the mission protocols. how there would be 4 Freeco swoops waiting for us at the echo base, how he needed to make sure he carried enough rations to last him 10 days, how it was his job to track out the caverns nearest to the deposits of these crystals(even though i had already done that, and this was more a test to gauge his skill at topography). how he needed to grab a laser drill that he would have to operate as a scalpel, and most importantly, how he needed to tune his transmitter brace to short range transmitter.

“…The most important thing to remember is that, how these missions are conducted, outside of the purview of the council means that we have a bit more leniency when it comes to conduct and methods available to us, as long as it cannot come back and reflect poorly on the jedi order by nature of our… my station. the downside is if something happens to us on one of these missions, the order has no the jurisdiction, nor the reason to mount a rescue party.”

any chance for Kronos to ask a question as to why i would bring something like this up was silenced by the slight jostling that came as the landing gear touched ground inside the Echo Base. standing up, i answered Kronos’ potential question and raised more with one small statement

“Have you ever tried to break a lightsaber crystal?”

No signs of intelligent life or activity on the surface. Negative at Echo Base location as well. If there were any signs of activity there, the planet has already hidden them.

Yes, Nekarian thought to himself. Nothing lasts on the frozen desert world.

We will do a fly by of the base. Do another scan for power sources. If we can get the base's old generators running, we will not have to set up our own.

Acknowledged.
How many years had passed since this planet last saw any sentient beings walk its surface? How many battles had Nekarian and the now defunct United Sith of Hoth fought across the tundra and glaciers? Gardigian, Eralam, Valodrakan....all had disappeared, just as Nekarian had. Time and the Force had slowly drawn each Dark-Sider away from their territory. While several of the others had moved on to a higher plane, Nekarian realizes that he alone has descended back to his former status. He was once a Dark Lord of Hoth with aspirations for greater control. Alas, it was not to be.

This was a new day, a new galaxy essentially, when compared to what he knew. Perhaps he could go visit his original home eventually. Entering any Chiss territory would be perilous and foolhardy if he did so without any support to validate his presence in the territory of those xenophobes. Here would be his new start, just as it was nearly four years ago.

Xeonon looked out into the belt, feeling infinitesimal compared to the size of this field. A month ago there had been nothing here, now there was a massive garrison of 1000 people. All of them crazy, looking to get rich quick and retire young. Some life long prospectors, others young kids who quested for the fabled asteroid of platinum. Turning around he faced them, as they to looked in the same direction of the crashing and floating debris. Closing his eyes he exhaled, he knew it would come to this yet he had not prepared for it. Public speaking. If everyone knew his weakness was this he would have been defeated long ago. Inhaling he pushed back his graying hair and began to speak from the heart.

Ladies and Gentlemen welcome. On this day we are entering the Aanoat asteroid field. I say we because I will be amoung all of you as we go out there to search out riches. I know some of you are here to search for the fabled platinum asteroid. Dont. There is a reason it is called Keranes Folly, we are here for tradional ores. That being said if we do come across it well, maybe there will a bonus. This was met with a chorus of cheers. In all seriousness though this is far more dangerous than most places you will be. Giant space slugs, pirates, smugglers, even the unstable belt itself. I dont want any of you taking risks. Do your job, come home and get paid.

It wasnt elegant. It was clunky and totally made up on the spot. Still it was better than nothing. Leading them down to the hanger he entered one of the scout ships and headed into the field.

Hours Earlier

The competition was scarce and the work pretty easy for any competent pilot. The pay well it was not what it was thought to be nor what he had been led to believe. The only downside was that he could hardly afford to leave. He could do it yes, but in doing so he would be in just as bad shape as if he had never started this venture. It seems that finding asteroids was easy but finding ones worth anything was a whole other thing. One major find and he was out of here. Cut ties with Solomon Mines and go try something else, something exciting. Something that pays.

Flying around a large planatoid he started to scan it from the space around it. It was large enough to have its own semblance of atmosphere, not enough to sustain life but it was there. He also detected some weak signal emissions and passages. Setting the ship down inside a large crater near one of those signals the crater penetrated a solid depth of the asteroid. It was so deep that unless you craned your neck up, like straight up there was no horizon. Just a wall of ice and stone. Of course that was not the only thing on the wall, in a small alcove was a durasteel door.

This is where our story really begins.

Entering into the airlock it was obvious that something had happened here. Besides the fact that the metal of the door was bent and blackened and the lighting not working every where, the artificial gravity was gone. Shit was floating through the air. Pencils, pens, paper but the first thing that grabbed Randys eyes was frozen floating blood. Something had happened here. Considering it was inside an asteroid in the ass end of space you could bet it was nefarious. Nefarious people always had good shit in their hidey holes. Despite the weak atmosphere it was clear there was nothing in here to breath and he kept on his Beskargam, and he proceeded past the airlock.

Pushing himself through a hallway he checked all the doors, and found the usual stuff. A barracks, with the beds bolted down and mattresses still neatly tucked and ready for people to never lay on them. The reason for them to never lay on them was that in the center of the room sat a half dozen figures all of them clearly dead. The tops of their skulls missing. Guns, real old school slugthrowers clutched in their hands. Why these people killed themselves was lost on Randolph, or at least until he came upon what was no doubt their hanger. Or rather what was left of it. Whatever their ship may have been was lost to him, it was old and hodgepodge made from several other ships, most of it lay buried under a fucktonne of rubble and rock. Something blew up in here and it fucked everyone in the hanger, condemning everyone inside.

What really interested the Mandalorian was the armoury, and a room that held two things. A female Bothan and a safe under her. Inside the armoury were the usual weapons you would find in a smugglers hole. Pistols, rifles, grenades, a few larger explosive weapons like rockets and shit. The thing that really interested Randolph was a wooden case. Using his Beskad as a pry bar he stood there dumbstruck for a solid minute. Inside the crate were three Baradium missiles. Giddy from the find he did not even bother putting down his signal device, instead he loaded up what he found on his ship filling it to the brim and took off heading back to the station. This was what he needed to solve his problems.