Thrask shakes his head at the ending result. He looks back at the female and raises a brow ridge "We could possibly set up half the cargo space as a range, it'd be short but not like most of this crew can carry anything that would hit for range." he stated as he thought about the space down from his quarters.
He brought a claw up to his chin and tapped "For that matter, we could get some stun weapons and use the cargo as a space for simulated combat." he began to chuckle a bit thinking how stun rounds always bring out the most comical of screams and injuries.
"Sure.", retorts Juviest, walking in the cargo hold with a cup in his hand. "Can't hurt to do some training. Training's almost as good as experience, after all.", he says, lighting up a cigar. "Though if you kids are using stunners, I'd need to borrow one of yours. Mine are made for bigger fish.", he grins. "Like you, Trandoshan."
Djebelle scowls from where she has been sitting, curled up in a corner reading what information she has been able to dig up about Hoth from the computer system. "If you're going to make a racket with those blasters, I'll go somewhere else."
The sound of blaster fire makes her jumpy; ever since the firefight that almost got her - and the others - killed, she's been getting flashbacks. Kara's meaningful look doesn't help any, either. Thanks for the reminder, hon. Just what I needed. Not.
She gets up, intending to go continue her reading from her bunk.
Aneira shrugs her shoulders as the others devour the exotic food packs, returning to the warm glow of her computer screen as the facade of her smuggler's guise slips away like a discarded jacket.
As the others talk to Aristi about how best to act in a fight, she listens too. Finally, when they have all offered advice she hops down from her perch on top of a stack of crates and wanders over.
I've always found positioning to be the best form of both defence and attack. In my case, and I daresay your own, our best position is to ensure that sharp and scaly or our ex-commando there is in between us and the enemy
She offers a grin to the Bothan.
Other than that...
she pats the holster strapped to her thigh, the gun inside nearly the same length and width as her forearm
...it's best to invest in decent tech. Get yourself as much gun as you can handle!
Aristi eyes up the sidearm strapped to Aneira's thigh. "Right. Duck, cover, pack a mean punch, got it thanks!"
Thrask snorts at the others recommendation before walking over to Aristi and towering over him. He stares down at him for a few seconds before a big four clawed hand comes down on his shoulder and he squats down a bit "Or...you could always use me for what I was hired for, when you can't do yourself, bring someone who can." he said before standing up straight and laughing as he walks away.
He finds a bit of space on his makeshift mound and lays one of the blades across his lap. He pulls out a bit of oil and a stone and goes to work on keeping the maintenance up on his weapons. Cleaning away any signs of combat and wear and tear.
Kara grins. You can always count on Thrask to throw his prodigious bulk around to make his point. No denying he was good at what he did: drawing fire and eating damage.
'...makes life easier for those of us who don't want to get shot...'
A few weeks later a buzzer goes off as you near the exit point of your hyperspace lane. The streaking light stops as you come to relative stop in the Hoth system. A large white globe fills the view port.
A quick look at the order on the data chip says the delivery destination is "echo".
Juviest puts his hat down and scratches his scalp. "Alright, kid, see if you can find me some place to land. Or get that place's coordinates. Either works.", he says to Aristi, lifting up his cup of (mostly) java juice. "Don't like the cold. Or the snow. Hell on the eyes for us, and I'm not getting any younger...", he rambles on. "And I don't think we negotiated danger pay."
Djebelle shivers as she looks out the view port. "Brrrr." She is swathed in her concealing robes, which - unlike the fine clothing underneath - is faded and drab, patched many times over. Even under the warmth of that, she can feel the chill that seems to radiate off the planet.
Juviest reaches to look for the coordinates on the map. "G!*$$#n map consoles... Why'd they go and change the old navcomputers... Bloody model was only a few centuries old. That means reliable.", he mumbles to himself as he fiddles with the buttons.
"Right. Everyone get their warm pink socks and fluffy hats on.", he says, looking at the patched space suit next to him. "If you're feeling like it, there's a bottle of Admiral Xan'ti under one of the chairs. Put some fire in your bellies. I'll pick one up of whatever they're having here, probably fermented tauntaun piss or whatever." He grunts once again, throwing the shaders on the screen and frowning, more cranky than usual. I'll go blind by seventy-five if this keeps on. Should remember to check for lens prescription next time I see a doctor. Or I'll just drink the money away.
Not even glancing up at the vid screen as the ship lurches out of hyperspace, one hand going up to brace herself against the bulkhead as she continues to read her reports.
As there is mention of cold, she shivers
I'm not overly fond of the cold, and I didn't pack my bantha-fur socks either she laments
Anything on what we'll find at the landing co-ordinates? she asks Aristi
Thrask looks out the window and stares "I don't do well in the cold....this better be quick, I don't plan to hibernate."
"Wow, this looks like a real snowball of a place. Let's see if we can find where to set down. Sorry Aneira, no idea what we're going to find. Seems to be a building project of some kind, though. Something big, it's a lot of communications wiring we're hauling."
"Just set us down as close as possible. I don't feel like going out in that for longer than I have to."
"Layer up the clothing, cover exposed skin." Kara says, remembering past sub-zero ops. "It doesn't take long to freeze any skin that shows, then you're dead..."
She trails off. He was the team leader on her last op: a raid on a rebel base. Some forsaken moon near the Rim. She can feel her fingers clenching and unclenching with the stress of that memory. Kara turns to see some of the others looking at her: Aneira, always watching, that one; and Djebelle, with that - look - on her face. She gives them a feral grin and starts to get ready to go outside.
Your communicator begins to make noise "Freighter Kessel's Folly state your business in this system." Your sensors pick up two star fighters leaving atmosphere on an intercept course. The content of ice in the atmosphere make is impossible fir the sensors to figure out what kind of fighters.
"Fighters? Here? There aren't any Imperial bases here that I've heard of."
'...i hope...'
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Although she's not gifted in that direction, Djebelle can still sense particularly strong shifts in emotion; she turns her head sharply as she feels a spike of... what, exactly? A churn of anger, regret, more anger, and pain.
Unthinking, she looks around for the source - only to spot that Kara is glaring straight back. Djebelle flinches, her gaze instinctively lowering to the floor, aware that she's intruded and been caught. She bites her lip and proceeds to draw the Force in a swathe around her: the psychic equivalent of putting your hands over your ears.
Clutching at the hems of her concealing robes, the purple-haired girl withdraws into them as if she's trying to fold herself away.
I can't HELP it, it's like you were crying out and only I could hear...
The interruption of the comms comes as a blessed relief.
She looks around, her nose wrinkling. "So what's our story?"
Working with Juviest to keep the Folly on a casual course, Aristi plugs in the datachip given him by Auren Fallon. "Let's see, I don't recall any details about who we're meeting at the other end of this. I just figured they'd be the only folks on this rock!" He checks the chip for any details that might help them now.
Thrask snarls as he hears the warnings, taking the pelts that were his war trophies and lashing them to his body in an attempt to provide a thick enough layer to prevent his body heat from leaving him. He could do nothing in the bowls of a ship to deal with this situation.
He lashed his blades to his side, and shouldered his bow and arrows. Hopefully this day would see no hunt, for the cold is no place to hunt but if he should see any blood spilled this day, he prayed to the Scorekeeper that it be worthy of the cost. He walked up to his idol and spilled a small bit of his blood in offering to his prayer. He left the hand to heal on it's own time, a trail for the mouse droids to follow.
He made his way up to the deck and looked out the craft upon the world as he waited for their arrival proper.
Aneira scowls
So do we have any passcodes or phrases? If not I'd suggest we at least man the turbolaser turrets in case those fighters aren't friendlies or we can't prove we are...
Her weight shifts from foot to foot as she waits for the others to voice their opinion.
Kara scowls back at Aniera. "I hear you RebInt."
...'nice of you to weigh in. ever man a turbolaser in your life?'...
She jogs over the ladder, placing both hands on the rails and sliding down into the laser cannon cupola. Working quickly, Kara straps herself and dons the comset. She runs the cannon through its warmup sequence, rotating the mechanisms back and forth.
"Ready." Is her terse response.
She knows the rest of the team doesn't deserve her anger, but she isn't the mood to play nice right now.
Juviest shakes his head. "How many groups big enough to buy cargo could there be in this place? Just tell them. We ain't got no codes, and I'm not in the mood for spy games.", he relays over the comms, flying as casual as possible.
He takes a long sip of his steaming cup, the smell of the liquor inside almost too much. "And ease on the turbolasers. Doubt we can even warm up the snow before they shoot us down."
Djebelle nods at Juviest's words, and moves over to the comm-link. "Hi there, Kessel's Folly, here on... business, I guess. These are the coordinates we were given for a drop-off. Can you ID yourselves, please?"
She takes care to sound as harmless - and friendly - as possible. She nibbles thoughtfully on a strand of her long purple hair while she waits for the answer.
Aneira stares after Kara as she disappears down the access tube to the turbolaser
Glad those Commando-trained ears are working well, ExImp...
Grinning to herself she grabs a headset and hops on to her favorite couch in the lounge, bringing her datapad gear online and syncing it to the ship's systems.
Let's see what we've got here
Aneira stares after Kara as she disappears down the access tube to the turbolaser
Glad those Commando-trained ears are working well, ExImp...
Grinning to herself she grabs a headset and hops on to her favorite couch in the lounge, bringing her datapad gear online and syncing it to the ship's systems.
Let's see what we've got here
"Kessel's Folly please relay freight bill and prepare for escort to the surface"
Djebelle nods eagerly - not that you can see it over the comms, but it's the thought that counts.
"OK, we're carrying, uh..." after frantically searching her notes, she lists the cargo manifest. She beams.
"Roger, uh, I mean, will do!" Using her best Don't argue look, she turns her head pointedly at Juviest.
Over to you, hotshot
Computers check: 1 success, 1 advantage, 1 Triumph
Fingers flying over her keyboard, Aneira's virtual hands reach out towards the fighters through the Folly's wide-band comms gear. Using the interference from the atmosphere as a smokescreen, she slices in to the onboard systems and glances over their payload and navcomp data.
Eyes widening at the readouts on her screen, Aneira immediately thumbs her Com
So looks like these are Alliance fighters...
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Taking a glance at the console, Juviest harumphs. "Not that I'm a downer like that," he says, taking a long sip. "But if it comes to that, unless they're top aces, we can take them down and run away. But don't tell them I said that. Fighter pilots can't handle anyone questioning their skill. Or the size of some parts.", he grins, putting a hand behind his head and keeping one on the controls.
He puts his hand on the console, then says in a business tone. "How do you do. We're carrying some heavy haul. Relaying the list to you know.", he says, sending the cargo manifest their way. "You got something warm to drink in this blinding fridge of a planet?", he asks, before hanging up. I wonder if it pisses LT I never say 'Copy', or 'Over'. It probably does.
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Kara, sitting in the gunner's seat, grinds her teeth. '...doesn't ANYONE have have ANY comms discipline? would a 'copy' or an 'over' kill anyone around here?...'
Old habits die hard, but some were just so ingrained in her that she couldn't let them go...
Aristi flicks a glance over at Juviest as he tries to help keep the ship on a steady course. "Take them down? I'm just happy no one's actually shooting at us. It makes for a change from what I've come to expect with you all." He's feeling colder already - couldn't be the atmosphere, at least not yet. Either it was his imagination or the environmental controls on this crate were out of whack.
Grinning at Aristi's comment, Aneira shrugs
May as well, not a lot of other places to dock around here and I'm thinking ice planet or not, they're likely our best chance at a decent hot meal..
Kara tenses as the x-wings take up position alongside the Folly.
'...old habits...'
She eases her hands off of the grips - no sense in having an accidental discharge now. Then climbs the ladder back into the main cabin. She grabs her gear bag and opens it. Digging out her thermal bodysuit, she strips down and fits herself into the suit. Then she puts on the laminate armor she always wears. The green camo pigment was chipped and scarred in places, showing the Imperial white underneath.
'...should probably get that fixed at some point...' she muses.
The x wings escort you to the surface near an ice cliff face with several carved openings into the ice. You are directed to land inside one of the larger openings. Inside you see a crude, but fully functioning, landing dock. Several small transports as well as a large one are nestled about the cavern. Several alliance soldiers as well as the dock master approach your ship. With a smile and look of gratitude the dock master speaks, "Thank you, we have been waiting for your arrival. Welcome to echo outpost, the commander wishes to see you in his ready room as soon as we get you unloaded. See the quartermaster if you need some warmer clothes."
s-s-so cooooold...
Djebelle's teeth are chattering so loudly she's surprised they haven't hammered through her jaw and fallen to the ground.
At the mention of the quartermaster, she runs as fast as her frozen limbs will permit.
"All of it, everything warm, now! Please." She'd smile, but she's worried her cheeks will shatter.
Sporting some sort of FalseFur-lined poncho, Aneira steps out on to the icy landing bay and breathes out a long plume of misty air.
She grins at Djebelle's frantic efforts to find the quartermaster, striding off after her in boots that now seem to have a metal mesh of some sort wrapped around them to aid grip in the slippery conditions.
Hey Dej! They usually put the Q-store two corridors away from the landing bay, let's try this way!
She leads the shivering woman off as fast as they can go.
Aristi pulls his robes closer. "Yes, something warmer sounds like a great idea!" He checks to make sure the freighter's in good hands before following after Aneira and Djebelle.
The quartermaster happily gives you warm clothing and asks "Do you have access to any adult beverages or you know, non ration pack food. I am dying to get something with a little flavor if you know what I mean."
Upon entering the commander's ready room you are greeted with some warmth from the heating machines as well as the first real comfort you have had since landing on Hoth. The steward droid asks if you would like some food or drink while you wait the commanders return.
...'always take care of the supply guy'...
Kara pulls a packet of the jerky out of her belt pouch and slips it to the quartermaster. "Here. The real deal...Tonitran." She says with a wink.
Thrask shudders as he moves off the ship. He made his way to lean against one of the heating machines. He waved off the droid when it came to him and he rubbed his clawed hands together waiting for the Commander to arrive. He hoped this foolish quest was quick.
"Heh, Fambaa Delight and Nuna Gumbo as well. Good stuff. Would you happen to have any parts for droid repairs? We're looking for a new motivator for our astromech unit." Aristi smiles winningly at the quartermaster.
Juviest nods at the quartermaster, then reaches in his pocket, handing over a bottle. "It's just the one. Keep it nice and safe.", he says, before leaning in, conspiratively. "You know, you're sure to got some power and extra nutritional food in this place. Store some away, and you can make some 'shine pretty easily."
He leans back, taking off the cap of his canteen and taking a long sip. He takes out a datapad from his pocket, and hands it over to the quartermaster. "Pft. Hell of a place. Now, here's the manifest, gimme a signature here, here, here, full name and digi-print here. If you're worried about security, don't be.", he says in a bored voice, implying that he's done that before. "We'll pop by later to get some things for the old rustbucket, but now we're needing to meet your boss. Pleasure."
Nodding in appreciation that the rest of the crew are sharing their bounty with the undoubtedly beleaguered QM, Aneira devotes her attention to standing as close to the heating machines as she can get without her clothes actually catching on fire.
She nods to the steward droid
Tea please...