Hothline Bling

[Armand Temi]

Out of all of the worlds to travel to, why, oh why, did it have to be Hoth? Rarely did Cath play the "princess card" though she technically was one, but most of the time she went out of her way to downplay that aspect of her life, not wanting to be seen as taking advantage of her highborne status in order to advance in anything - school, the government or the ranks of the Silvers. Besides the more common your standing, the easier it was to blend in, gather information and talk to local inhabitants and Cath enjoyed nature over the tap of a datapad in a stuffy office or the shuttering of archival flimsiplast in a well-protected fortress.

But today, she could have hid in under the thick blanket of the bed covers in The Celestina’s pilot quarters and slept all day versus traveling out in the unforgiving freeze of Hoth’s atmosphere. Despite the warmth of the small civilian outpost, Cath could still feel the deepest chill inside her bones and the tips of her ears felt like icicles despite the furred hood of her parka.

Rumor that a Force user, possibly a Jedi, lived among the local population was why the Jedi Knight had come all of this way. The First Order controlled Hoth, but somehow the woman had evaded detection or capture. Whoever this female Force user was, she certainly wanted to get away from the galaxy and no doubt had a good reason not to be found. Did she have a bounty on her head? Was she on some monastic journey like many Jedi found themselves on, especially after experiencing some kind of trauma or warfare?

Unless it was all for naught, the rumor as thin and cheap as shvash gas.

Cath had traveled alone, thinking she’d be less likely to spook the woman, so with a few supplies in case of getting stuck in a blizzard, she hopped upon a snow swoop and made her way across the a snowy field, following a small line of pristinely white and jagged hills leading to a mountain range about fifty miles to the north.

[member="Stephanie Swail"]

 

[Stephanie Swail]

Stephanie stumbled, arms flailing forward to soften the impact, as she fell into the snow dune on all fours for the fifth or fourth time since leaving the broken down sled.

"Oh for…."

The girl sighed, the biting wind teasing her innards as it snuck through her layers of clothing and chilled her gently second by second. The first time to a planet such as Hoth, the world as alien to Stephanie. Used to warm climates, jungles and rolling deserts. Not….not this.

She took a moment to stand, regain her balance and tighten the scarf around her neck. She wasn’t dressed in the best attire either. She wore combat trousers and a thick jumper and a thicker jacket with hood, a chunky olive green belt and heavy duty boos, but that was it. Her scarf trailed down as did wisps of her brown hair. She squinted behind the yellow goggles and wiped flakes of snow that blew on her, blearing the blue and white landscape ahead.

The sun above was a pale dot in the sky and did little to warm her.

She missed her robes and dresses that clung to her elegant body and acted as an extension of her aura. They were pretty and reflected her Hapan roots. Whatever this was, the journey to becoming a Jedi was harder than expected.

If there was one person who she wanted to help her, it was [member="Kyra Sol"] but she hadn’t been seen since leaving the Je’daii conclave for this expedition to find a mystical Jedi Knight who had seen so many horrors and wonders of the galaxy and survived them all thanks to the Force. Stephanie wanted to meet this woman and learn from her on the quest to become a real Jedi Knight.

A Jedi! Like the ones she kept hearing about” The Silver Jedi heroes, well, not ALL heroes – that bastard who hurt Kyra was poison….but the rest were heroes in her eyes. The Iron Empire had heroes too. The Alliance. She would be a hero for someone one day.

Brown mountains in the distance were her goal, and she would have been there were it not for the sled breaking down. They were so close….so close….and then she could have…..

NO.

NO!

Stephanie turned. She could have shelter. She hadn’t unloaded her shelter and gear from the sled! Her pained cry rang out and she kicked the snow below her, before batting a violent Force blast to the side to send flakes up in the air.

How could she have forgotten?

Hanging her head in despair, she knew what she had to do. She had to make the journey back across the frozen plains and find the sled and get her gear.

Taking a step across the snow dune, she stumbled and fell forward again up to her knees.

Another cry of annoyance echoed around the ghostly landscape from the dot in the snow.

[member="Cath Lorr"]

 

[Armand Temi]

Cath had tried to communicate with the unnamed Jedi through ordinary physical means - satellites, comms and holos - though despite her best intentions, Hoth had other plans, its hostile surface making even the most rudimentary contact difficult.

The Jedi Knight stopped the swoop, booted feet crunching in the snow as she steadied herself and using the back of her wrist, began to wipe off the layer of ice which had knit together on her goggles. Earlier in the day when she scanned the tundra using the Force, Cath had detected nothing. Sighing and trying not to shiver, she attempted another search. First she got the blasted physical trembling to stop, and then she began to meditate… are you out there? If so, where are you?

Tendrils of the Force would finally reach the other, not a disconcerting feeling but bringing warmth and curiosity. And then it was gone.

More emboldened now at what she found, Cath turned to the west and continued her journey towards the lightsider. The closer she got, she realized the other Force user was… not in despair but a state of frustration or mild annoyance.

Don’t worry, friend, she thought to herself with a half-smile, understanding all too well those small irritations in life from the bureaucratic reports she had to file as Madame Secretary to ship repairs on the Celestina. And even though Hoth was fething colder than a Tauntaun’s nose, the half-Eldorai felt a heady rush over the sheer power of nature and how the dangerous environment had the capacity to even rival the most powerful and deadly use of the Force.

Stephanie would be able to see Cath’s swoop, a dark dot on the horizon, taking a more unusual shape as it came closer to where she struggled.

[member="Stephanie Swail"]

 

[Stephanie Swail]

Stephanie walked, stumbled, hands tight and arms wrapped around her body.

Head down, eyes squinting behind the goggles, she looked at the ground before her as she returned the way she had come from. Already, her footprints were half gone from the snowflakes blowing across the dunes of the otherwise beautiful landscape.

It crossed her mind why the First Order or anyone else would want to own such a planet as Hoth. There was nothing here unless they wanted ice for drinks or store dead bodies. She started chuckling – be it a little deliriously – thinking about a huge cavern of dead bodies stored on ice piled high from First Order battles, all dressed like Stormtroopers, and officials drinking iced tea and brandy with ice-cubes cut from the huge stalagmites.

She stumbled again.

Glancing to the horizon to see where she was, a shape caught her eye in the distance; a blot on the picturesque blue and white sheen of Hoth. Rubbing her goggles to see if it was dirt, the blot didn’t move, it just seemed to wobble and get a little bigger.

A transport? A speeder? Her speeder?!

"Hey…" she said quietly.

Then, she picked up the pace.

"Hey, over here," she said louder.

Now she broke into a run towards the object, and started to wave her arms in the air, doing half star-jumps across the snow to make as much noise and movement as possible.

"Stop!!" Stephanie shouted above the biting wind.

She didn’t stop moving, or waving, or shouting as a new found burst of energy and hope flooded….oh chit. What if it was the First Order? Who else would be out here alone? Her eyes went wide. The glee faded. She stopped waving, turned and ran the other way through the powdery snow towards the snow dunes she had crossed as fast as she could.

No no no! The last think she needed was to be a prisoner of the First Order!

[member="Cath Lorr"]

 

[Armand Temi]

Cath finally spied the figure through her googles, which appeared to be icing over again. Was she...? Oh good the woman ran towards her waving her arms, but then to the Jedi Knight’s dismay, she ran in the opposite direction.

Please tell me there’s not a pack of wampas behind me, she thought.

The half-Eldorai’s telepathy skills were nascent and untrained, but there was a first time for everything. Reaching out with the Force, Cath tried to reassure the Jedi: Don’t worry, you are in no danger. My name is Cath Lorr, and I’ve just come to talk to you. Please do not be alarmed.

Likely half of that even transmitted, but now she grew closer to the retreating figure. Cath had her sights on Stephanie and not really on the ground below her and by the stars, everything was so drenched in snow, that it all just blended into a swath of white. Therefore, she didn’t see a rocky outcropping, which the swoop scraped by, now tossing her into the air. The Knight softened her blow, slowing herself down with the Force and after crouching to catch her breath for a moment, she stood and waved both arms back to the woman, all swaddled and bundled in all-weather gear as Cath was.

[member="Stephanie Swail"]

 

[Stephanie Swail]

Stephanie heard the voice though the wind and in her head.

Cath Lorr...?

She turned, slowing to an awkward jog and then a slow walk backwards.

Was this...she used the Force to reach her. What was she doing in the middle of n -

A loud crunch, and the sled suddenly jolted and span up into the air, throwing the body of Cath around. Stephanie gasped, and winced, but saw how fast the sled fell, and the girl didn't. She seemed to land on a cushion of air, a careful and controlled landing even after a violent crash.

Stephanie looked on as the figure waved. She may need help.

Help her.

She started a gentle run back across the snowy plain towards Cath and the slightly smoking sled. It was...had been...an impressive vehicle and probably still worked, but the front end was all crunched up and a sled was bent. The girl, however, looked fine and wrapped in her protective warm clothing.

Stephanie pulled down the black cloth covering her lower face below the yellow goggles.

"Are you alright? Are you...are you a Jedi?"

[member="Cath Lorr"]

 

[Armand Temi]

It was truly amazing the lengths that some Jedi would go to hide, and that those who sought them would equally go to the ends of the galaxy. And maybe if Cath was into those thrill-seeker vacations, Hoth would seem way more appealing right now, but her hands were already beginning to feel frostbitten, and she hadn’t even been out in the elements but for an hour or so.

The half-Eldorai bit her lower lip and smiled, barely visible under her oversized goggles, the scarf and hood pulled tight around her head. She followed Stephanie’s line of sight towards her snow swoop and holy stars, it was smoking! Wonderful.

How Stephanie had been living out here all by herself... presuming she was alone, was a complete mystery to Cath. The petite Jedi Knight selfishly craved a glow lamp or even a primitive fire and some hot chocolate, but would take whatever warmth was offered.

“I’m okay,” she said. “The swoop is not however, and I’m no mechanic. But I am very glad I found you.” With the wind howling and snowflakes stirring around them like dust motes, Cath laughed and said, “Is there a quiet place we can go to talk? I’m assuming there’s not a McYoda’s around the bend.”

[member="Stephanie Swail"]

 

[Stephanie Swail]

Holding the hood of her jacket up over her tightly braided hair, the other hand above her goggles to sheild the snow, Stephanie could just hear what this Jedi - Cath Lorr - was saying, but she didn't understand one part.

"Er...a McYoda?" She glanced around, left and right, shaking her head. "I'm sorry, I...I don't know what that is!"

She waded forward to stand beside the Jedi and turned so their back was to the wind, enabling their voices to be heard a little better - with a shout of course.

"I've been looking for you! I don't know where I even am, but I thought you would have a camp or something? My gear is still in my sled back there!"

Stephanie fought against the wind, and tapped Cath on the arm and pointed outwards to a series of ice caverns across from the dunes.

"I suggest we try and move there out of the wind! A snow storm could be heading in! Take what you can carry! Come on!"

The Jedi needed help, and Stephanie would be the one to help her. Hopefully there was something she could carry for her and wade across the snow dunes to the ice caverns. Some shelter, however cold it may be, was better than braving the open elements.

[member="Cath Lorr"]

 

[Armand Temi]

Stephanie didn’t know what McYoda’s was, and well, that was a good start, because it was a terrible chain with horrible food, served for speed and flavor and not nutrition. Cath liked her already.

“No camp!” the half-Eldorai shouted back. She had The Celestina, docked in a secure location, the clothes upon her back, a day or two of supplies and that was about it.

“Okay! I’ll follow your lead!”

She still could not figure out where the Jedi lived, but followed her just the same, wading through the deep snow, the smoking swoop behind them. If things got too bad, Cath knew she could call for backup using a secure comms, but she hoped the weather would clear enough that one of the women could look into repairing the swoop.

“Are you good with a spanner?” she asked as they headed towards the cave, the storm bearing down on them, the wind nearly pushing them into the shelter with its force.

[member="Stephanie Swail"]

 

[Stephanie Swail]

The snow started to fall like rain, which meant the clouds far above were tight and the wind was biting.

Stephanie held Cath's arm as they both tread the soft virgin snow to the cave, hollowed out from years of natural erosion and weathering from snow and ice across the rock-face.

Once inside, Stephanie walked backwards, keeping her eye on the weather outside and pulled down her face-mask, and pulled back her hood. The snow flakes fell from her at once and she shivered.

"Well," she said with a gasp, "I know a mechanic who showed me a little on basic repair so I'll do what I can when the snow dies down."

The two figures were framed against the cavern opening and the wild snow-fall in front of them. Again, another rather picturesque frame.

"I'm glad you came by when you did. I've only been here less than a day and already messed things up. But you found me - the Force guided you to me, that much is clear." Stephanie looked to the hooded figure, and gave a small bow. "I come seeking your help, Master Jedi."

For this had to be the wise Jedi living out of Hoth after all. Didn't it?

[member="Cath Lorr"]

 

[Armand Temi]

Eventually the two Jedi clutched at each other for support, and Cath welcomed Stephanie’s friendly touch as a good sign. The Eldorai herself was stubborn, and if the woman did not want to leave Hoth, no amount of convincing would help. But whoever wanted to stay on this wretched planet had stronger and colder blood running through their veins than she. Which is why it was the perfect hiding place for a group like The First Order.

When they reached the cave, Cath sighed with relief, and the snowstorm outside was but a dull roar. Pulling down her own hood and scarf, her voice echoing against the freezing and barren walls, she said, “If you’re looking to get away from it all I have a much better suggestion than Hoth.” The Jedi’s focus was on the opening of the cave and the picturesque view and yes, now that they were not out there in it, the Eldorai realized that the snow falling was a beautiful sight.

“Wait.. you’ve only been here a day?” Who was the fabled Jedi that had been living on Hoth then? Cath’s head canted to the side as she tried to figure out why the fellow force user was bowing and calling her a Master Jedi. “I don’t understand. How did you come to Hoth so recently? I was told you’d been here for months?” The Knight removed her gloves and rubbed her hands together and as she waited for a response, she knelt on a patch of rocks with a small divot in the center where she might be able to start a fire, though kindling might be a problem.

[member="Stephanie Swail"]

 

[Stephanie Swail]

Stephanie turned, holding her hood still as the wind and snow-storm howled by outside. She turned to Cath, who was looking to create a fire.

"I’ll go anywhere from here," she said louder over the weather. "I like snow, but not in the wilderness of Hoth."

She looked at her, working out why she said what she did. It was evident that the Jedi thought she knew Stephanie from somewhere, or via some feed. There was nothing to link the two except a backwards planet where a Je….ah.

The Hapan walked over and crouched down with her back to the cavern opening, hands tucked under her armpits.

"You were told by whom? I was under the impression that YOU had been living her for years, making it your solitude away from the dark forces out there. Where better to hide from an enemy than under their noses."

She tried to get eye contact.

"I came here looking for you," she said with a silly smile, knowing what had happened. "We both come looking for a Jedi Master. I found you. You found me. I get the better deal!"

[member="Cath Lorr"]

 

[Armand Temi]

Cath was still attempting to gather kindling for the fire, but it was a fruitless effort to say the least. While she felt herself an expert at remaining calm, there was something so inhospitable about the frozen wasteland that nearly had the Eldorai panicking.

She quirked an eyebrow when the Jedi said that she did not like Hoth.

“My name is Cathoulous Lorr. I’m not a Jedi Master. Not yet at least. Please just call me Cath.”

When the unnamed Force user crouched down beside her, the lightsider glanced her way. With her milky white skin and curvy but strong figure, it was easy to see now that the woman had not been out in such hostile weather. Otherwise her face would be reddish and wind chafed at the very least.

And finally, after her new acquaintance had pieced it together, she laughed, a musical tone which echoed around the stark and unfurnished cavern.

“What are we doing then? Let’s get the Hell out of here. Because despite this shelter, I think we might freeze without a fire.”

Cath stood and reached her hand out to the Jedi to help her up. Truthfully though she had no idea how they would make it back to the Silver-friendly base with her transportation buggered and the fellow Jedi on foot or sled.

[member="Stephanie Swail"]

 

[Stephanie Swail]

Stephanie rolled her eyes, cursed under her breath, and reached out and stood with the help of the elven looking Jedi.

"Cathoulous. Such an unusual name! I'm boring old Stephanie Swail. And I'm not even a Jedi. Yet. Well, I'm trying, but I'm just on a journey to find help."

Walking to the mouth of the cavern as the snow blew in hard, she pulled up the cloth guarding her face and tugged the front of her hood.

"If we make it....in that direction," she pointed East, ",then we can get my sled and make it to a small outpost, a settlement of some kind, where I landed."

She didn't like the look of the storm, or even going out in it. With a sigh, her shoulders slumped.

"Why haven't they invented teleportation yet."

Looping an arm around Cath's shoulders, Stephanie knew what they had to do, and they had to do it quick before nightfall or they'd likely freeze to death.

"Come on, Master. Head down, and move as fast as you can. We'll be ok."

[member="Cath Lorr"]

 

[Armand Temi]

“It’s a mouthful, for sure. And I’m very pleased to meet you, Padawan Swail. I still will wonder who that mysterious Jedi is, but I think my calling to Hoth was to find you instead.”

She pulled her hood up over her long ears and silvery brown hair. The storm was getting worse - Cath could sense it and they needed to move.

“You keep calling me Master… I am not-”

Cath paused. Her father would tell her, in his normal gruff manner, to seize this moment. To become the Jedi Master that she was always going to be.

But what if I just want to be someone’s friend instead? She knew it was the doubt talking back. But then again, the hierarchy of the Jedi ranks always seemed so rigid and imperialistic… much like a monarchy. The one she constantly tried to deny, to avoid and to escape from?

But it doesn’t have to be that way, Cath.

“Alright Padawan,” she said with a sly grin. “You want me as your Master, you got it. But first we’re going to get out of here and I know just the place for us to train.”

Yes there was snow at their destination, but also hot springs, bountiful oxygen and normal temperatures. Plus peace and serenity as far as the eye could see.

“But first we have to get there.”

She took shelter in the fellow force user’s arms for warmth and support and added, “Oh by the way. You’ll never be my servant, Steph. I’d rather consider us equals.”

[member="Stephanie Swail"]

 

[Stephanie Swail]

The two figures rested on each other, pushing against the other for support as they stumbled out of the cave. One arm around the other, one hand pulling down their hood or goggles, it was now a case of navigating a snowy, cold and dangerous plain to reach a sled.

"You’re a Master Jedi, right?" Stephanie shouted over the wind. She spat out some snow that blew in her mouth. "Whatever you are, you’re a Jedi. I am not – so you’re a Master regardless."

She stumbled, but Cath had her.

"If you can help me find the way of the Jedi, I will not let you down, I promise!"

Maybe then she could find Kyra and show her how much of a Jedi she could become? That would put a smile on both their faces. The excitement of taking such a voyage bubbled away inside her. She squealed again as she stumbled – again – up a sand dune as the sun seemed to break some of the clouds above.

"Look for a black and orange sled – it’s got my gear on it and a bright yellow flag! I know because I followed the glaciers and caverns like we just went in, so it’ll be along to our left somewhere!"

That is, unless it had been stolen.

By what, Steph? A wampa? Focus!

[member="Cath Lorr"]

 

[Armand Temi]

“I see it!” shouted Cath, her silver eyes spying the yellow flag and then the form of the sled, thank the stars! Once they reached it, the Eldorai realized that, while it was a small craft, it would fit both of them comfortably. Fumbling around, gloved hands scrabbling for the ignition, Cath asked, “Do you have any family? That’s the most difficult thing about choosing the Jedi path. Being away from my parents.”

Not to mention, her mother, the Queen, expected her to marry - not just anyone as that individual would jointly inherit the Bardottan throne. And then have a brood of children. All the while serving as a Jedi Consular to bring peace to the galaxy.

And thinking upon it more, that was a lot of pressure indeed. Would she be forced to eventually make a choice between her destiny and a family of her own?

Here she was having an existential crisis on a snowy world she could not wait to get off of, while she left poor Stephanie just standing there.

“A little help?” she asked with a cheeky grin, still trying to work out how to turn on the sled.

[member="Stephanie Swail"]

 

[Stephanie Swail]

Stephanie let out a sigh that nobody could hear above the cold wind. The sled was still there, a little buried by the snow but nothing they couldn't scoop out in a minute or two.

As she made sure her bags were still fixed tight to the rear of the machine, the girl rested on her own and adjusted her hood.

"No family," she said between breaths. "Just me. Well, I had family, but I don't know where they are. I was raised by the Republic and...well, yeah, I only have myself and the Force, just, for company."

She stumbled around and kicked some of the snow away from the sled as Cath seemed to take charge in sitting in the drivers seat. Stephanie did a 360 check of the sled and came back around, and took a seat behind the Jedi Master. Well, Knight, but to her, a Master. She pulled a chip from her breast pocket, fumbling with it in her gloved hands, and leant around Cath to insert it into the small dashboard, between the sled controls.

"You need this!" She pushed the engine starter and after a couple of seconds the sled chugged into life. "Off you go! Don't crash!"

Stephanie held Cath's sides and prayed they wouldn't run into anymore testing times on Hoth.

[member="Cath Lorr"]

 

[Armand Temi]

As the two women settled upon the sled seat, the Eldorai wanted to ask Stephanie what had happened to her family. In fact, the need tugged at her almost desperately as Cath held her own family in the highest regard. But she did have a few words of empathy, words which had been passed along to her from other Jedi she’d encountered:

“Your family will now be with the Jedi Order. In fact, most of us are required to leave them behind. Some never see their parents or siblings again.” This was said with a bittersweet sigh, as Cath constantly warred with herself over the very fact of putting the Order over her ancestry and future Lorrs.

The petite elven woman had never driven this specific type of sled before so it took a little bit of swerving and a few bumps where they flew in the air for a few seconds before the ride smoothed out as Cath fought through the fierce snowstorm.

By the end of it, her nose and lips felt completely frozen and even her eyeballs hurt.

Once she and Stephanie were back in the safety and warmth of her ship, she said, “Where we are going will seem like paradise compared to Hoth. Also Padawan Swail, in terms of belongings, anything I have here on the Celestina and where we are going, is also yours to use.” Squinting one eye, she appraised her new padawan and added, “But I think with our difference in heights, my clothes or even robes are not going to fit you.”

[member="Stephanie Swail"]

 

[Stephanie Swail]

With one hand tight on Cath’s side, the other holding her hood down, the ride across the dunes was a bit bumpy and stop/start, but eventually the Jedi found her footing – or rather driving – and made good time.

The glaciers around them whizzed by, and the sun high above broke through silver clouds as they snow storm passed across them and they cleared the worst of it. Stephanie rocked this way and that with the turns and twists of the sled until they came to the ship that had a nice frost over it.

Staggering off, she grabbed her two bags, slinging them over her back and pushed the sled up the loading ramp with Cath and let it rest finally in her hold. The Hapan dropped her bags and pulled off her hood.

"Thank you," she said, adjusting to the warmth, "thank you. I have a few items here for now."

She pulled off her hood and goggles and jacket, snowflakes falling and melting instantly. Putting them in a neat order to dry out on the sled, Stephanie removed her gloves and stood in her thick snow-peppered trousers and tan boots, but a casual olive green vest and white shirt. Her brown hair was tied up.

Stephanie blew into her delicate hands.

"Thank you for helping me. I will not forget your kindness today."

[member="Cath Lorr"]