Hoth: The Side Job

[Jerec Asyr]

"...clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth..."

As starfighters went, the X-wing was dang near ubiquitous. Successions of Republics and the odd Alliance had churned out a dozen models and a million spaceframes. And though Jerec knew ships, he didn't have the first clue which model this particular X-wing was, or if it was even an Incom product. Fortunately they all handled pretty much the same. Jerec eased the snubfighter between snowy peaks.

"Coming into sight of the shipyard. Trying to get a decent angle around the mountain it's built into. Looks like half a dozen Ssi-Ruuvi transports landed on that friggin' huge plateau or in those star-destroyer-scale service bays. There's still some resistance from the leftover First Order garrison-" He yanked the controls and the snubfighter spiralled away behind a mountain ridge. "Hot dang, they are not glad to see me. Most of the place looks intact, just scorched and disputed. Come on in, the water's great."


OBJECTIVES:

• Take down the Ssi-Ruuk.
• Take down the leftover First Order.
• Take everything that isn't bolted down.

[member="Bryce Bantam"] [member="Coren Starchaser"] [member="Mad_Dog"]

 

[Jin]

X - Theme Music​

Objective - Get past the Ssi-Ruuk​

​

Jin roared with pleasure as he few past the the massive ship hangers just behind the mad pilot in the X-wing. Though his Assault fighter was not as fleet of foot as the stunt fighter ahead of him it was drawing most of the AA fire allowing his larger fighter to soak up the remaining shots without to much trouble.

"We need to find an entry point human, find us a back door before we get shot down. We don't get style points for flair, the Maxis family wants tech. Now do your job!"

Jin looked back at the Crown Tac teams strapped in the back. No words were needed, these were special forces, the finest money could buy. They could handle whatever was on the snowball of a planet, he just needed to get them down and lead them to the objective. Which was looking tougher by the minute if he was honest.

​

 

[Rayne Maxis]

Rayne sat in the Captain's chair of The Cloud, her personal Kad’ika-Class Light Cruiser, the Outer Rim Coalition members had just disembarked, heading for the planets surface. She was here mostly as a customer, and perhaps as potential back up. They had warned her of the existence of some left over First Order members, a grey area as far as she was concerned. As she sat watching the on screen scanners, her crew hard at work, she took a long drag of the death stick she'd held in her right hand. A cursory glance around the helm and Rayne sighed slightly, things had become so impersonal, she used to pilot a gunship with only a dozen or so crew, each one she knew and loved like family, now nearly three-thousand souls crewed her vessel, and she would struggle to remember a single name. Of course she had her favorites, and the few that she called friends, but other than that the men and women, and whatever that crewed her ship were nothing to her, she cared for them, but only in the general sense, nothing more.

Ma'am they've broken atmosphere.. Her nameless crewman informed her. Very good, keep the scanners up, remember they're here because we asked them to be, that makes them our liabilities.. Rayne issued back, this was sort of a try before you buy situation, the ORC up to perform and show Rayne they could conducted regular reliable work in exchange for payment. It was a big moment, one of the first steps in securing near permanent resource streams for the Maxis Drive Yards. On the side desk to her throne like captain's chair lay dossiers on each of them involved in today's efforts, atop the pile of archaic printed text lay the file on the cat-man, a Togorian, Trianii mix of a creature, if things boded well today, Clan Maxis and these ruffians may just find themselves in a mutually financial beneficial relationship. Still Rayne watched with jealousy, she longed for the days when she was a pirate, only for a moment as she then flashed her memory to her lovely wife, and co-Alor, a moment before a smile crossed her face.

Rayne had a single ear piece linked into the comm link between the ships below, they were unaware as of yet, and Rayne wanted to keep it that way so she could keep tabs on the conversations below, and maybe take part in them, plus if something went wrong down there she needed to know, and waiting for them to hail The Cloud would take too long.

Down below, in the Hangars of The Cloud lay six Mandalorian Gunships, part of the pocket navy this beast was capable of carrying, if needed she would dispatch them to aid the ORCs, she remembered what it was like to be the little person, and she swore to never treat anyone like their life was worthless, unless of course it was.. needless to say, if the men below working for Rayne befell some sort of peril, she would assist them in escaping it and escort them out of the area.

 

[Rexus Wenck]

Location: Hoth Naval Yard, Main Laboratory
Objective: Secure Research Data

​

Rexus Wenck looked at the snivelling welp as he quickly fiddled with the console. His taut grip on the blaster rifle tightened, his derisive glare shielded by golden visor. The naval lieutenant was dishevelled and ragged, one of the few navy men who had survived the mass gassing and then Ssi-Ruuk assault upon the mountain. Even then the lizards had been unrelenting in their offensive. Still, some relief had arrived. Even if it was not meant to properly evacuate them. "What's the go?" Rexus snarled from his sealed helm, "Do you have the data or not?"

The lieutenant nodded. "Sorry." His whole body was jittery and pale in the cold. "Sorry, it's just taking a while to securely transfer from the servers." Finally. "We're, we're gonna get to go right?" The lieutenant began, his voice a hushed stutter, "Get outta this place?" The Death Trooper cast a forlorn glance, and shrugged. He didn't need to know the details. Or what mission parameters had planned for them. All Rexus needed was the data.

He was going to oblige a cryptic reply when his earpiece buzzed. Reaching to his helm Wenck activated the receiver. "Alpha Three here. What is it?" The Death Trooper drawled.

"We got problems chief," The voice of Dergan Twigg barked, "Possible hostiles, comin' in." Wenck winced, and scowled. This was the last thing they needed right now.

"What the 'ell are you on about?" The senior soldier glowered, "The lizards breach?!"

There was a pause, "Negative sir, air support, not lizard based." Twigg replied, voice conveying the ponderous dullness which always followed him. "They're uh, strafin' the chit outta 'em though." Rexus didn't like it. Surely if this was First Order, they'd have been identified as such. No. This was something far stranger and sinister.

"Put all units on alert, and lock this puppy down." Wenck barked, "Don't want anything getting in Twigg." He commanded, pushing out of the lab. "Make sure to get the Menace back on the horn, and see if she can come back." Turning off the comms unit the Death Trooper gestured to the lieutenant, "How long till you manage to download all of that?" He briskly inquired.

"Ten minutes sir." The naval officer affirmed. That'd be long enough. Rexus cocked his rifle and extended its stock. Time to go see who was knocking on his door.

 

[Jerec Asyr]

[member="Jin"] [member="Rayne Maxis"] [member="Rexus Wenck"]

Jerec almost, almost, came back with a potentially racist line about not hacking up a hairball. Instead he decided to make Jin eat his words.

He switched fire modes and the X-Wing coughed a brace of proton torpedoes. The base was big; the snowy mountain around it was bigger. When the warheads popped, they looked like little blood drops on a polar bear.

"...like Lady Godiva, gonna go, go go go there's no stoppinmeeeee-"

Flak rattled the snubfighter and a couple of middling important lights went orange. And then a good chunk of the flak stopped, and Ssi-Ruuk stampeded out of the gun emplacements as an avalanche roared into town. Jumbled snow and mountainside crushed a landing ship and filled maybe a third of one of the huge docking bays at a slope. That left a slanted but workable space down at the bottom where the bay's vertical walls could offer some protection.

The X-Wing fit neatly on a patch of snowy floor, leaving plenty of room for other ships. Jerec cracked his canopy and hefted a blaster rifle.

"... like a tiger, defying the laws of graviteeeee..."

 

[Coren Starchaser]

The one thing without Jorus around is that the galaxy felt a bit less chaotic. Coren really respected his former mentor’s choice, but it still wasn’t keeping him from wondering just how he was. Checking the ship’spath again, he heard Porter tweeting from the astromech’s slot in Coren’s E-Wing. He had to have an Alliance ship for reasons that the Fleet Admiral had enforced, but it still was not his first choice. His Rasillon was off on the Dawn Treader that was moving between D’Qar and the Alliance-in-Exile’s combat arena, to help with re-supply.

But when a Corellian put out a call? You followed. And instead of going with the privately owned fighter, he messed up the frame on his E-Wing a bit and followed suit in a Republic/Alliance style fighter.

“I hear him, Porter.” Coren shook his head and muted the droid for a second.

“Got you on the radar, comin’ your way, chief.” And then he heard the cat.

“You’re in a starfighter…” He saw the torpedos launch from Jerec’s fighter. “Yeah, make an entrance!” He pushed the throttle up a bit and hurried his fighter into the hold, slamming on the repulsors and coming down fairly hard, but touching soft. The canopy popped open as he got himself up.

His pistol hung at his hip, his lightsaber hidden under the jacket, not that he had any plans to use the big guns, not here.

[member="Jerec Asyr"]
[member="Rexus Wenck"]
[member="Rayne Maxis"]
[member="Jin"]

 

[Jin]

X - Theme Music​

Objective - Get past the Ssi-Ruuk​

​

"What the Feth are you doing you stupid pink skin, two torpedos aren't..." Jin was about to continue berating a man he viewed as his lesser when he saw the results of the impact. Snow ran down the mountain side plowing over the area's defenses burying both machine and man alike. As the avalanche continued to roll down the mountain side it ripped through the hanger doors opening a wide landing pad for them to enter.

"Well, decent job, crude but effective, approaching landing zone." Jin gworled in annoyance as he prepaired his ship for landing.

"Madam [member="Rayne Maxis"] this is the assault team, we are on final approach. LZ is hot and we may need artillery support. That hot headed corellian you hired broken down the door, we will be entering shorty and will report on status of targets you have requested. Primary out."

After landing two team dispatched to hold the EZ and protect the ships. The remainder followed Jin into the complex, weapons drawn and hot.

[member="Coren Starchaser"] | [member="Jerec Asyr"] | [member="Rexus Wenck"]

 

[Ty Zashal]

The hum of electronics came out of the black console, a series of flashing lights and little knobs indicating everything about the ship's condition to atmospheric pressure, all of which were fine. A gloved hand would calmly turn a knob, picking up a headset with a wire jacked into the console. All sorts of voices emitted from the headset, possibly different languages, accents, from different species and peoples- it all blurred together in a cacophony of white noise that filled the ears like the hum of the electronics, it was soothing, people going about their plans on a busy operation in the depths of space where at any turn there was something to get involved in, like a crowded bazaar you could turn the ship in any direction and find tons of ships moving together in a line...

With a lethal dose of explosions.

Ty placed his hand back on the knob and turned it some more, the explosion lighting up his freighter's cockpit for as long as the flash lasted while the reflection appeared in his eyes, the entire cockpit of his YT-1300 feeling like it just got hit by a earthquake, shaking around and nearly knocking over his second headset off the console. His gloved hands darted for the controls, holding onto the handles firmly while giving a stressed breath, then breathing in deeply while rotating the wheel of the controls slowly to the left. His ship followed in motion, shields lighting up and blocking the shrapnel while his vessel flew fast by the mountain and it's dangerous airspace, rotating the ship so his cockpit to get a good view of the planet's surface below and the mountain naval base, all while avoiding all those lethal explosions.

"Ah, by the...Friggin' freighter not holding up too well, and its getting a bit crazy down there...hrm...gonna find some other place to land or just keep circling around." He spoke, to himself or into the mic of his headset it didn't matter, it was out loud thinking when seeing the conditions and how crazy it was getting down below. Someone had knocked out some gun emplacements of the Ssi-ruuk, so it became just a bit easier to keep the old freighter in the air a bit longer.

Why the old smuggler had joined up with the ORC was money, plain and simple. But today was becoming a bit difficult, it wasn't just the ORC and Ssi-Ruuk down there- the remnants of the First Order also were in that base doing what they could, or so the old man assumed. He didn't care two bits about the factions involved, not as much as others in this fight with their loyalties and higher objective with bigger paychecks and better weaponry. But, he was getting paid, so its a lot harder to sympathize with those that aren't paying him. Nonetheless he still had a bit of frustration over how crazy this whole fight was getting, with so many explosions and people...

The huge YT-1300 Freighter flew about, exposed in the air and making a show as it swung around the mountain, engines loudly blaring while all the action occurred without interruption, explosions, orders, movement, all so much to take in it was giving him a headache...His ship then stopped circling the base, heading off in a single direction away from the mountain. Once it seemed he was leaving the combat zone, he'd circle about, ship now facing the naval base directly. "Blast it, I'll slow this thing down on the approach." He grumbled, flicking a few switches while the engines began to cool, freighter still moving fast but the overall speed began to slow steadily.

 

[Rayne Maxis]

"Madam Rayne Maxis this is the assault team, we are on final approach. LZ is hot and we may need artillery support. That hot headed corellian you hired broken down the door, we will be entering shorty and will report on status of targets you have requested. Primary out."

Rayne's comms lit up as the Togorian man spoke directly to her, his tone and his addressing of her was formally appropriate, and Rayne immediately respected it, the idea of a hot head on the team was not at all unexpected, in fact, Rayne used to be quite a hot head herself, having once leveled an entire tower with proton torpedo to eliminate one target, overkill? Probably.. Information received.. Rayne replied as she nodded to the Helmsman nearby, resulting in The Cloud lowering into the atmosphere as it's ten Assault Concussion Launchers, and the Dual Heavy Long Range Mass-Driver Cannon began to warm up, she liked the group she'd sent in, and was more than hoping they would be successful in their endeavor, but if not, there could be no loose ends.. Cloud to ground force, check in every five minutes once you've breached, I don't want any surprises.. Rayne called to the team.

The Helm was quiet, the idea of leveling this mountain was floating around the helm, and only short quiet conversations were going on. Rayne was now standing, her death stick pressed to her lips, taking a long drag.. Rayne was watching the onscreen cameras, the field far below alive with combat, the miss-matched team of smugglers/pirates below blowing holes in the mountain, and just landing their ships. Rayne smiled a smile of victory, they hadn't even engaged the enemy yet and Rayne felt confident in the team below.

 

[Rexus Wenck]

Allies: ALPHA Four [x] | First Order Stormtroopers | First Order Security Bureau Defence Force | First Imperial Army Regulars
Enemies: Scavenger Scum | [member="Ty Zashal"] | [member="Jin"] | [member="Coren Starchaser"] | [member="Jerec Asyr"]
Objective: Hold the line.
Location: Hoth Naval Yard, Entrance Tunnel
Kit: DH-52 Maser Cannon [x] | G-12A Rifle [x] | G6-E Sidearm [x] | Darksaber VII Armour [x] | 6x Vee-Exx Grenades [x] | Blackwing Sword [x] | Lightsaber | 4x Thermal Detonators
ALPHA Four Kit: DH-52 Maser Cannon | G-12A Rifle | G6-E Sidearm | Darksaber VII Armour | 12x Vee-Exx Grenades | 6x Thermal Detonators | Blackwing Sword

"Move it jagoffs! I want movement!" The clatter of plastoid boots against frosty metal resonated through the complex. "Opfor, I want a reinforcing platoon waiting to support us!" Wenck snarled into his comms unit. "I want everything we 'ave there!" The Death Trooper set off after the squad of stormtroopers attached to him. The plan was simple, overwhelming firepower. Blow everything to hell in sight. Already a group mixed of stormtroopers and FOSB professionals had begun setting up cover, overturning old cruiser components and supply crates to support them. The stormtrooper force was concentrated in and around the gate control. Roughly fifty meters or so away from the main entrance. The massive, reinforced structure of the door had sustained a lot of pounding, large dents now sat scattered around its structure. The machines servo motors had also been knocked offline by the shear amount of force applied to it.

Upon his approach, the small chit chat which had gathered around the defenders dissipated. "Fan out!" Wenck snapped, waving around the rag tag force. "Take position and make ready," The Death Trooper snarled, slinging his blaster before him. "We're gonna have to hold this position to the last man!" Wenck warned "Every shot counts here people, and I'm gonna need you to dig in until back up arrives." He knew the risks, they all did. But if the First Order were to survive, this engagement was critical. "Alright, do we have-!" The door buckled, and crashed open. Exposing the darkened tunnel. There was a pause as the military force recovered, before the first waves of fire were instinctively exchanged. Heavy E-Web emplacements were the first. Large, lumbering bolts fired, followed by a smattering of high explosive warheads.

Rexus winced, but stood tall and with his partner, ALPHA Four, and revved up his weapon. The DH-52 Rotary Maser. The barrel whirred to life, followed by a deep howl as the weapon exploded into a wave of fire. But perhaps most menacingly was what echoed over this scene. The deep, menacing cackle of ALPHA Four over the sounds of battle.

 

[Jerec Asyr]

“... watching the tears rain down like a monSOON-”

Jerec put up a fist and stopped singing under his breath. Behind him, some of the ORC fighters-slash-salvagers pulled up too. Weapons fire rumbled ahead.

They'd all touched down inside a Star Destroyer-grade maintenance pit, and they hadn't been the first. This particular road across the mountainside looked to connect the bay to the rest of the facility, and dead folks dotted the ground: Ssi-Ruuk, P'w'eck grunts, and First Imperial personnel. By the sounds of things, the fanatical warm-blooded saurians were coming up against a hard position not too far ahead, where a tunnel led into the mountain facility. To Jerec's Umbaran eyes, the dead and the road had colours that humans couldn't see -- heat, cold, some kinds of mild radiation. He sacrificed a bit of that flexibility as he put on an eyepiece and sent out a tiny probe. The drone hummed away around ruined turbolaser towers and wrecked ships.

As [member="Coren Starchaser"], [member="Jin"], and the heavy team came up behind, Jerec flagged them down. Footage played out in the bottom corner of his field of vision.

“Big Ssi-Ruuk group ahead. They just broke through the mountain's big door with a whole lot of First Order on the other side. Looks like the Ssi-Ruuk are trapped between us and the First Order, though I don't think they know it yet. Hammer and anvil, or do we let it play out?” He twitched as, off ahead, a big clawed hand swatted his drone out of the air. So much for that.

“Ooh, paddle beamers!”

[member="Rexus Wenck"] [member="Ty Zashal"] [member="Rayne Maxis"]

 

[Sol Stazi]

"Alright listen up, should be a standard sweep and clear," Captain Stazi's voice could barely be heard over the tumult of atmospheric entry just outside their hull, "Advance teams are already on site, so that makes us the cavalry. Keep your comm lines open and stay frosty."

An Alliance U-Wing streaked across the frigid Hoth skyline, maneuvering into a landing course for the hotly contested First Order facility. Scattered autoturret fire forced their pilot to bank back and forth, sending Sol's mixed team of Twilight Company commandos and Pathfinder special forces jostling back and forth across a crowded passenger bay. Most of the shipyard's anti-air capacity had been neutralized by Ssi-ruuvi invaders already, so in the end the transport touched down with minimal risk.

"Fireteam Dusk, be advised," a feminine voice crackled over Sol's helmet comm. Up in orbit, the Corellian corvette Firebird was tracking their every move, "Mission update: Ssi-ruuvi and Imperial forces still active in your AO. Proceed with extreme caution."

"Change of plans," the duros captain announced after they had disembarked the U-Wing and rallied twenty meters away, "Dinos and bucketheads are still kicking, this is now a search and destroy. We stay dark for now, get a better read on where the hot spots are, and then we hunt."

Their dropship had settled down a few levels above Starchaser's team. Sol could already hear blaster fire ahead, coupled with the distinct sound of Imperial charric weapons and something more exotic that could only be paddle beamers. They would have to fight their way to rendezvous with the others.

[member="Coren Starchaser"] | [member="Jerec Asyr"] | [member="Jin"] | [member="Rexus Wenck"] | [member="Ty Zashal"] | [member="Rayne Maxis"]​

 

[Coren Starchaser]

“Corellian’s gonna Corellia.” Coren said over the comms, shaking his head. Catman-do was going to need to prepare for that. This was a bit of an odd move, sure, but Coren wasn’t going to be phased by something Jerec did. One thing that was good about the outfit he was in lately? Looser controls on everything. As he got on his feet, he was doing his best to mask himself, sure, a few were going to know who he was, but it wasn’t something he wanted to broadcast.

Approaching over to Jerec, he shook his head. Was that a gleeful voice? “You really want a paddle beamer, don’t you, Asyr?” The man ran a hand through his hair and shook his head.

“I’m all for just letting it play out.” He looked over to Jerec. He heard word that one of the fireteams had just landed. That was a good sound for him. “Keep yourself safe up there, Stazi.”

That last line was more muttered away from the comms so Coren didn’t blow his own cover. Of course Sol would know who he was.

And that he wasn’t really worried for help.

“Just here to help the buyer, yeah?” He looked back to Jerec.

[member="Jerec Asyr"]
[member="Sol Stazi"]
[member="Rexus Wenck"]
[member="Rayne Maxis"]
[member="Ty Zashal"]
[member="Jin"]

 

[Ignatius]

Objective: Kill the Ssi-ruuk for what they did.
Location: In-between everyone

I had found them.

The foul beings that had attacked my planet. Attacked my people, destroying my home, and killing... her. They took the one thing that I loved. A hatred flowed through me that I had not felt in years. Ever since I had slain my uncle. I killed the man who raised me to bring an end of terror upon my people. I earned the respect of my peers, I had claimed the throne of the Fire Clan upon Kro Var. Yet, after doing so, Sahna and I retired from our duties of the Galaxy. We wanted to live a life away from war. Away from bloodshed. We were done with that. Wanting to teach others upon our home.

Yet, As the First Order had fallen, I thought it would have been a good thing. I thought it would be an omen for others to leave us alone.

I was wrong.

Within hours of hearing we were no longer under their rule, we were attacked by the Ssi-ruuk. The lizards and their weapons killing hundreds. All of the capable fighters tried their best. Yet they took everything from us. Razing our homes, destroying our lives. All so they could fuel up their ships and attempt to attack the First Order. Their stain upon the galaxy brought forth war to a people who were peaceful.

Taking it upon myself, I fought back. Tracking them from planet to planet. Finally finding them here on Hoth. Attacking the FO once more. I hated both sides. I would eliminate any and all who stood in my way. Why? I needed to find the one particular slimy bastard who attacked my home and got away. He stole the Lightsaber that belonged to my wife. A scar going along his jaw bone and up just under the eye.

My blade bloodied from swiping it into their armor. Cutting as deeply as I could. No. Not killing them. Cutting them deep enough, hard enough that they would die yes. Their life would end as they were covered in their own blood. In pain, and without anyone to render aid. They hunted my people. For that fact alone, they will all perish. Jyn would not be happy with me. Nor would Jericho. Arrek would be upset. However, this is life. Karma will always find a way. Even if I have to bring it to them.

Brandishing my sword, it cleaved into their exposed legs. Easily they went down with pained roars. The Lizards fell to the ground in pain as I cleaved them both once more. Tearing through scales and flesh into their legs. Blood rapidly would be pooling around them. Even spraying from wounds in time with their heartbeats. My robes were soaked in their life blood.

The reptilians were attacking the FO. Trying their damn hardest to get in. Hearing blaster fire above me, not that of a hand held one, but massive laser cannons as it echoed overhead. Slamming hard into the other side of the Plateau. It caused the snow over the top to fall into many places it should not. They were dealing with not just the FO, but now this unexpected air support. X-wings from what I could see fly overhead.

In that moment, I was nearly blasted apart. One of the giant lizards saw me standing there just watching the ships fly by. Bringing my blade up barely as the blaster bolt slammed hard into the flat of the sword. I reared back before thrusting my hand out. A loud whip of the wind exited from me, slamming into the being and sending him careening over the edge of one of the pits. The Bridge of the vessels behind dwarfing even the stature of these creatures. One of the drop ships of the Ssi-ruuk were having troops make their way down. Not sure why as they would be hanging from a rope ready to be shot out of the air.

Rushing over to the forward nose of the dropship, I reached up and with a twist of the fingers, snapped the neck of the Lizard flying the vessel before taking cover from the various people outside.

What was just a simple revenge against the Ssi-Ruuk, was becoming much more than I bargained for.

 

[Jerec Asyr]

PLATEAU - APPROACHING BASE OF MOUNTAIN - BEHIND THE SSI-RUUVI ADVANCE
Immediate: [member="Coren Starchaser"] [member="Jin"]
Other: [member="Rexus Wenck"] [member="Sol Stazi"] [member="Ignis Imura"] [member="Rayne Maxis"] [member="Ty Zashal"]

Jerec slung his rifle over his back and stood up with a paddle beamer in each hand. Lacking the finger splay to hold the discs by the edges like a Ssi-Ruu-

EDUCATIONAL MOMENT:
Ssi-Ruu, noun, singular. "That Ssi-Ruu ate my face!"
Ssi-Ruuk, noun, plural. "Those Ssi-Ruuk are going to eat YOUR face!"
Ssi-Ruuvi, adjective. "What a Ssi-Ruuvi way to eat a face off!"

-he'd resorted to wrapping the central thumbclaw toggle in copious amounts of space tape under tension. That let him rest each paddle beamer on top of a fist, against his thumb and forefinger, like a very wide pistol.

"Well, the client gets a cut, a large one. Majority. But don't feel too bad if you see some trinket you can't live without. I know those vows of poverty have to wear heavy on you Jedi sometimes. How does that work, anyway?"

The Ssi-Ruuk were far enough ahead, in the mouth of a gigantic tunnel, that a little banter wouldn't get anyone killed just yet. But he pulled up behind a boulder and hunkered down for some cover in the meantime.

"That tunnel looks like the only major way in, but the Ssi-Ruuk have it locked down. I've got a repulsor belt and you've got magic. How do you feel about skipping the big fight and going for a climb?"

 

[Ty Zashal]

-> Landing Zone, Naval Yard
-> Looting

The powerful and loud engines of the freighter kept decreasing in noise, the once incredible speed in which it used to zoom above the battlefield had now been brought to a standstill, the starship merely hovering nearby other landed ships near the slanted landing caused by the avalanche. "Hope no one blows you up while I'm gone." He muttered while turning off the majority of the power in the ship, flicking the switches again and turning a couple of dials, still wearing the white headset as he unplugged it from the console, a portable battery within the ears of the headset keeping it powered and the transmissions easily heard. After flicking off a couple more switches the ship would fall into silence, Ty swung around in his chair and got out, grabbing a nearby backpack and running on out of the cockpit.

----​

The edge of the ramp had hit the snowy floor before he turned off all the power, his boots hitting a small bunch of snow at the edge of the slanted metallic path, his hand grabbing a cylinder pipe that connected the ramp to the ship. The old man had a good view of...everything, from the cockpit. The carnage and mayhem, and with his headset there was a good idea of just how many transmissions were going on and out of the battlefield, but being upfront had always brought in the purest instincts of man. And with that the emotions- fear above all else. He let go of the ramp's cylinder pipe and stumbled down the ramp into the snow, hand quickly reaching to his thigh holster and taking out a DL-44 pistol. There were other ships that had landed, friendly ships, ORC or maybe they were independent like himself, hadn't mattered to him- the chaos of the battlefield always provided a awareness for how no one would care or save you in times like these. A battlefield was like a reminder of some eerie memory you seldom wanted to remember, but also came back, and it didn't help Ty was late to the landing, but there was some help protecting the landing zone.

And after walking quite a ways into the facility, the tip of his foot just kicked a corpse.

The white armor of the First Order soldier was disturbing at first- it was like black lining had suddenly appeared out of the snow, surrounded by scorch marks. The scorch marks marked the dead trooper's pure white armor, and that black lining were the exposed parts between the plating revealing the black uniform underneath. Rather then just walking on, Ty quickly holstered his pistol and crouched down, moving the corpse on it's back and patting it down "Come on..." Ty muttered, eventually bumping his back into a hard pack of snow. He'd rub the snow away, and give a smirk "Exactly what I was looking for." and grab the handle of the gun. A F-11D, for someone else it'd be a throwaway weapon, but for a civilian of illicit activities in a battlefield like this, it was a prized treasure that could be worth it not just here, but perhaps for the rest of his career! "Thanks friend." He once again muttered, this time to the corpse, getting off the ground and brushing snow off of the gun.

The smirk on his face would disappear as quick as blaster fire came back into focus with his hearing, with the realization of the battle still going on, he'd look around swiftly, then dart off deeper into the base.

 

[Jend-Ro Quill]

ELSEWHERE
(ABANDONED JEDI ENCLAVE, MOUNT ISON, NORTH RIDGE, NEAR RUINS OF ECHO BASE)

Quill's old Y-wing drifted down onto the snowy landing pad. The old permacrete and stonework held under the fighter-bomber's mass; the Underground had designed the landing pad to support a single light or medium freighter. His Y-wing took up maybe half the space. Nobody else would be coming, so far as he knew. He zipped his coat and cracked the canopy. Subzero wind blasted snow inside, so he hurried. Within a couple of minutes he'd resealed the ship and waded through shin-deep drifts to the door.

Looters had smashed their way in years ago. They'd found virtually nothing. By all accounts, a Jedi named Jorus Merrill had built this enclave to assist the long Jedi evacuation of the Core, when the One Sith were ripping the heart out of the Republic. And then the Jedi evacuated elsewhere, leaving the Hoth site plain and unused. And then the First Order had moved into the Anoat Sector to stay. Quill couldn't tell or sense whether they'd ever found the location, but if they had, they'd never used it for much if anything.

No, nobody had ever called this place home. It felt like a blank slate. Quill snugged his cap a little tighter over his ears, turned on a glowrod, and headed farther in.