The Freaking Blizzards of Castameer (The Kathol Outback + open)

[Leos Palle]

She reached out to take the helmet from the boy, holding it at arms length due to the smell. Seriously, it didn't smell good. Yeah, she could take care of it, but she almost wished she hadn't volunteered to help the kid out on this one. Of course she'd seen much worse. You end up working behind enemy lines in a war zone, helping out people in need, and eventually you were going to deal with more than just vomit. Blood, fecal matter, and everything else were common in field hospitals that resulted from warfare. It wasn't the most pleasant of things, but neither was war itself and she still found herself participating in that.

"Don't freak out," she warned before she threw the helmet out away from everyone.

Of course she caught it in the Force several meters away from the small outpost of theirs. Flipping the helmet on its side, she faced the opening away from everyone, and began to make the helmet spin rapidly. The vomit contents started spraying across the snow, but at least it wouldn't get on anyone. It would get most of it out of the helmet and then all she'd have to do would be give the inside a good wipe down and they'd be good to go. Of course her concentration was broken when something slammed to the ground nearby. She tumbled and fell and dropped the helmet in the snow as a result, though she was quickly back to her feet.

The sound of a booming voice calling to Jorus was a bit disturbing, but at least it seemed like this was someone they knew. She called the helmet back to her and scooped up a handful of snow which she used to wipe out the inside before doing the spinning trick one last time, then she offered the helmet back to the kid.

"There you go. Should smell like snow in there now. I recommend not eating before or during flight for you."

[member="3X744"] [member="Jorus Merrill"] [member="Sarge Potteiger"]

 

[Ria Misrani]

Who the feth? "Introducciones, por favor?" Ria asked as she looked between [member="Sarge Potteiger"] and [member="Jorus Merrill"]. The blonde turned and watched [member="Kytra Odran"] work with @3X744. Aww, poor kid - Ria remembered her first crash like it was yesterday. Wait. It probably was yesterday. She took in a deep breath it seemed that @Sor-Jan knew the other person that had approached the crashed out hulk. She then looked at the drop pod committing that symbol to memory. Stretching her muscles out a bi- oh wait, no shoulder's still effed up. "Also, is there anything we can do- about..." Ria pointed to her left arm as it dangled there. "I'm pretty sure it's not supposed to do this."

The slicer took the moment to take stock of her inventory, thankfully all of her default gear was still on her person. Including the cool Racket Bites she got recently, so that made her a bit happier. She'd be a pretty useless gunslinger today, but maybe she could provide another kind of help. A diversion team, maybe? Maybe.

 

[Kira Vaal]

OOC Post
[member="Jorus Merrill"]
Kira can't be there herself, too busy destroying Super Weapons. Incoming aid. The Falcon and crew are yours for this thread. Treat it well! Not a scratch yeah?

 

[Lok Xiangu]

"I hate everything that you stand for and everything that you are, Ria," the teenager said to himself as he walked around the snowy ground of Castameer's earth, keeping in range with the Underground group. He totally forgot some details of how they managed to crash down, but he did remember Ria wanting to change the radio station he was listening to which was solely dedicated to Hutta Pop. Any other genre of music could go jump off a cliff or die in a hole. Now what he just said he didn't really mean it at all. Just that the situation that he and the others were in caused him to be desperate for some aid and say things that had no value in them.

The Munin slung his Vornskr scattergun on his shoulders and dug into his utility belt for his lighter and a joint to smoke from. What sucked was that he had to take off his Mandalorian helmet in order to smoke the spice he was about to consume. Unlike the most of the Underground folk, he was clothed in his armor which featured a temperature regulator in order to keep him warm from the arctic cold of Castameer. But his face would have to experience the frostbite that his companions were bearing with.

"I really, really wish if there was some way to smoke a joint without taking off your helmet," Lok said to himself as his face began to feel the harsh cold once his helmet was off. Was it worth it for a joint? Absolutely. He place the joint between his lips and lit it up with his lighter. He took an inhale of the chemicals from the drug and exhaled a smoke from his mouth, cherishing the flavor of the spice.

Lok wondered if his friend Onley or his adopted father Vilaz were around so that they could get them off from this damn blizzard and rock, but it wasn't worth bothering them since they were probably busy doing something important.

[member="Jorus Merrill"]

 

[Mara D'Lessio Merrill]

[member="Hylocereus"]

"Brylark? Concordian cedar? That's awesome, Hylo -- that'll be perfect." The timeframe was realistic, even optimistic on his part. Whether the Sith would give them that kind of time was something else entirely. With the blizzard shielding everything from sight and the sensor units on the fritz from the orbital jamming storm, for all she knew the Sith could be here in an hour or a week.

The airborne snow shifted as a wave of overpressure radiated from a drop pod's arrival. Loud didn't begin to cover it; her knees buckled, and she just barely stayed upright. From the pod emerged a six-metre monstrosity with a familiar logo on the side. Off to the side, Noomay barked in surprise, though the pragmatic tortoise regained his composure at once.

"Hylo, that's [member="Sarge Potteiger"] -- that's my godfather." She grinned through numb lips, wrapped her long coat around herself more tightly, and shuffled through the drifts to meet him. Dad was already there, and a few others, including that [member="Ria Misrani"] girl. Mara caught her request for an introduction.

"This is my godfather Sarge," she said. "He was the Omega Protectorate."

 

[Teagan Stoirm]

So there was some giant that had shown up around the same time that Teagan had shown up. This crew from what he could tell was about as organized and well equipped as the Doldur rebels had been back home before Clan Raxis began to supply weapons and armor. It was a little calming, but also a bit worrisome. What was a motley crew like them doing on this planet anyways? Was it a colony ship that had gone to the wrong coordinated and got caught up in all of the fighting? Nope, those weapons were not something a colony ship would use or the armor. The ship was mix-matched but it was definitely designed for combat and not for spreading the word of the Force to every doorstep across the galaxy at the worst possible times. He just went about following the people who needed his medical supplies around.

Teagan had unloaded all of the medical kits on him, aside from the one on his back, to the appropriate places then remembered he had forgotten the emergency kits in the starship. He rushed back out to it and got inside of the cockpit. He pulled them all out, with his arms being completely full now, and looked around. Who was in charge of everyone? Was there even someone in charge? He had no idea, but he saw a group gathering around that giant so that seemed like a good place to go. He went over to them and said as he got close, " Teagan Stoirm of Clan Raxis. I got these emergency kits here. Where should I put them? They have some portable heaters, food and water, some emergency blankets, and small medical kits." He stopped just outside of the little gathering and waited for someone to tell him where to take things. Yup, just like back during the rebellion. Only this time around there weren't a bunch of droids and jerks trying to kill them all......well not yet.

[member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"] [member="Lok Munin"] [member="Ria Misrani"] [member="Kytra Odran"] [member="Jorus Merrill"]

 

[Ria Misrani]

"Stuff it, Lok," Ria spat back as [member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"] was introducing Sarge. "Vertical City Rock all the way, you and your karkin' Hutta Pop." She honestly couldn't recall what it was they were all saying expect she was pretty sure the words Kark you, Lok were uttered. Turning her attention back to [member="Sarge Potteiger"] she smiled. "Aw that's sweet, you have a Godfather." Feth, Ria didn't even have a father let alone godparents whatever those were supposed to be. She waved to Sarge with her right hand, the good hand and then looked over as @Teagan Stoirm approached the group. "Oh, heat - heat - heeaaat."

"Also the Omega who?" She asked, "and aren't we supposed to be dealing with an Omega? Feth what is with the galaxy and the word Omega, are you all so bent on the end?" The blonde looked down at her arm, "hey, seriously, can anyone just like pop this back in? I mean, that'd be perfect - just, it's not supposed to you know, dangle." Now, Ria wondered if she could contact space mom - space mom who didn't know they were space mom yet. "So, boss what's the plan - I mean we're not in any shape to jump into the fray down there and well - I'm a useless gunslinger with one arm." She could probably still slice her way through things, albeit a lot slower than usual...

[member="Lok Munin"] | [member="Jorus Merrill"] (Space Dad)

 

[Sarge Potteiger]

There was a chortle from the walker, though it came out as an ear-rending static laced avalanche. Perhaps something had come dislodged during the fall. "Mara, dear, who is that handsome shrubbery alongside you." With two earth-quaking steps the machine pivoted, looking down at [member="Hylocereus"]. "A more strapping fern I've yet laid eyes upon. Also," it paused, attention back to its goddaughter, "Is it your birthday?" That wasn't a serious question.

Rather, Mara would likely pick up on the sly attempt at humor. "I can assure everyone here that I am neither evil, nor a multi-sector spanning government. I am many things, but an evil government is not one."

Again, he laughed in a manner like an astromech screeching it's way across the sky.

[member="Ria Misrani"] [member="Jorus Merrill"] [member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"]

 

[Hylocereus]

Hylo looked at [member="Mara D'Lessio Merrill"] and considered the seeds for a moment. Biting his lower lip, which was already beginning to chap from the cold and the wind, he looked at the horizon. Where would they need to defend? How much of a fort could he get up in time? All of these things crossed his mind as he heard Mara point out the giant robotic man who [member="Ria Misrani"] seemed interested in and state in no uncertain terms that he was her godfather. Hylo gulped. Her godfather was a robot! He didn't do so well with machines. Nothing about them were living and breathing like plants. And then... it spoke.....

"Umm hello sir..." Hylo said looking up at the metalic manbot. Okay so Hylo wasn't taht stupid and figured out it was a walker, but still... intimidating. Hylo beamed with pride at the rather rude compliment. He was way more complex than a fern or mere shrubbery. Although some shrubbery had rather extensive structures and chemical components that... no stop it. Then the man laughed. Maybe he was a robot....

Hylo narrowed his eyes and looked around. He put his hands to the ground with seeds and hands. "Grow tree," he said trying to be impressive, but his voice cracked. Plus he was talking about trees. The trees began to spin to live their trunks lifting from the ground. There was Brylark making up the frame and branches of the Mandalorian blaster resistant Concordian ceder filling in the walls weaving themselves together and growing until each limb pressed against eachother locking into place. Hylo left a few slits of space between branches for soldiers to fire out or observe from. The floor was made from the brylark, firm and steadfast on a platform just above the snow, else they would have had to dig out their new little shelter and bunker. around the outer perimeter the thorns crew in thick tangles of vine and thorn wrapping around the bunker on three sides. They were thick at the base but loosened at the top to not obstruct sight and just movement.

After the impressive, perhaps too impressive, display Hylo found himself utterly exhausted. Sweat froze from his brow and he needed to sit down to avoid the dizy feeling toppling him over. "Give me a minute, I can harvest seeds and do more...." he panted.

OOC: [member="Sarge Potteiger"] I'm not getting your tags for some reason. I saw you tagged me twice. Sorry about that.

 

[Jorus Merrill]

[member="Hylocereus"] [member="Sarge Potteiger"] [member="Ria Misrani"] [member="Teagan Stoirm"]

"Stoirm, eh? Welcome aboard, and thanks for the supplies. I'm Jorus Merrill, my friend Ria, my daughter Mara, her boyfriend, my old friend Sarge." The list ended with him gesturing vaguely upward, then at a couple of well-swaddled Bereth-Aku trudging closer. "And these are Burrick and Noomay, some of our medics; they'll distribute your emergency kits." One of the turtles took [member="Ria Misrani"] in hand and began fixing her dislocated arm.

As Hylo's brylark-and-cedar blockhouse took form, Jorus blinked, and blinked again.

"Mara," he said eventually, "I've decided I'm alright with you dating plants as long as they can grow fortifications. And shelter." He raised his voice so others might hear him, cupping his hands around his mouth. "Folks! Get the coldest ones in here." It looked like it stood in a pretty decent position, defensively speaking, so he'd need to make sure that the purpose-grown gunslits were manned by people who knew what they were doing.

Undergrounders began to file out from the least effective shelters and set up in the living wooden bunker. Heaters from the new emergency kits featured prominently. For his part, Jorus stayed outside, in the bunker's lees. His eyes settled on the purveyor of said kits, [member="Teagan Stoirm"]. "Hey -- Stoirm. If your fighter's still good to fly, any chance you could make a recon run, see what's coming our way and how far off it is? Last I saw'em, they were due east of here."

He glanced up at Sarge. "What kind of sensors you got in there, anyway, come to think of it?"

 

[Bryce Bantam]

"This is seriously not a good time to talk [member="Kimiko"],...

Back at the strip mines, Bryce has successfully handled the distraction part of his plan, the escape part was becoming far more troublesome as his efforts to draw the One Sith away from their true objectives had worked a little too well.

"No, I don't why it is so cold. It's an Ice planet that probably has something to do with it..."

More blaster fire rings out around Bryce as a new group of guards begins attacking him.

"Yes, I'm sure you will be fine, Jorus..."

A guard leapt at Bryce causing him to stop mid-sentence, after flipping him onto his back and stunning him with a slash from "dream weaver" he returning to talking with his beautiful friend.

"Look you'll be fine just stick with the General and try to stay warm, Bantam out."

 

[Leos Palle]

With the kids helmet returned, nice and clean, she turned to look at the others again. The bruiser of a dude, [member="Sarge Potteiger"], was talking to Mara and the plant guy, so she was going to leave that alone for the moment. Especially since she didn't know the guy the way it seemed that the others did. Though that armor was sure something else to look at. Instead she caught some snippets of what [member="Bryce Bantam"] was saying.

"Hey, you listen here, Bryce. If you die over there I'm burning your guitar at the funeral, you hear me. That's how mad I'll be."

Plus the band would be short it's lead guitar. She'd have to go audition someone and it just wouldn't be the same without that crazy mop bobbing around to their rocktronic sound. She really did love the band, she had to admit. They played some seriously good music to keep everyone's spirits up.

For now, though, she went and grabbed a pair of binos and started surveying their surroundings. She quickly spotted the cloud of snow that was making its way their direction. Wouldn't be long before it was in range for the long guns to start firing. She glance over at [member="Jorus Merrill"].

"We've got incoming."

 

[Tabigarashu Madara]

Maybe it was because Hirou had taken a nasty rap to the head when they'd been thrown around in the crash. Maybe, even for a furry little creature, Hirou was COLD.

Whatever the reason, when [member="Jorus Merrill"] shouted "Folks! Get the coldest ones in here," the little Nezumi came walking across the top of the snow crust (being not heavy enough to break through). Delicate tail kept wrapped around their middle, Hirou kept reaching up to knock snow flakes off of their whiskers and muttering every time. Hiking the tiny rucksack a little higher on their back, Hirou nodded at Jorus as they moved in closer. As if this were nothing out of the ordinary.

 

[Tarok Vassket]

There were many rocks on Castameer, but this one was Tilzi's. Having tried the trick with a loose piece of bulkhead, the nightsister had risked leaving the shelter of the ship to find a large, round stone. It was about the size of a limmie ball.

With a snap-hiss she ignited her saber. She pressed the tip into the top of the rock until it eased in just a centimetre. It was held their until most of the rock glowed a dull orange. Back at home they had placed stones into boiling water and used them to keep their shelters warm. On Empress Teta, when she had been playing the part of a minor noble she had experienced other uses for hot stones in a luxury bath house.

Tilzi sat down and removed her gloves. This took far longer than it should have done with fingers that refused to move whem she commanded them to do so. Perhaps even using a saber was unwise. Then she would have been forced to swallow her pride and sit around an electric heater with the others.

As an independently minded hunter, she had intended to strike out into the wilderness and scout the terrain. But Tilzi had never known cold quite like this. Had never felt her extremities lose circulation even under so many layers. At least she was alive - if grumpy - to experience this. Is she had known what an inertial dampener was, she would have thanked whatever deity kept theirs running during the crash. Better frozen toes than being a smear on a deck.

 

[Hylocereus]

Hylo gulps as he heard [member="Jorus Merrill"] speak. He said he'd be alright as long as Hylo could fortifications and shelter. He'd approved. Still exhausted from his previous effort. There was seeds still from the newly grown plants, and he collected what he needed. His mother could have used the force and grown a fortress. Yes, she had that power, and to more than just three plants at once.

Taking the seeds Hylo became content to walk into the cold and build another shelter despite his exhaustion. That was until he heard the call of incoming. Looking into the distance he saw the sign of snow being kicked up by fast moving objects. He couldn't tell how far away they were, the snow falling and the snow being flung into the air creating a sort of white out blocking his perception. Close though. Hylo weighted the options in his head and considered carefully his next move. If he built another set of barricades now he'd be in no condition when the attack came. Not that he was in the best condition now, tired and cold. Still if he didn't try to do something now there might not be time later.

Taking a deep breath Hylo finally decided on his course. With both hands he grabbed Mara and turned her around. "You need to stay safe," he said. Sure she was a warrior and sure she had way more experience at this sort of stuff than him, but it was his job right? To protect her. "Not inside the bunker," It was going to attract a lot of fire in the upcoming melee. He'd seen movies and knew what the target would be for heavier ordnance. Besides Jedi were better mobile. "We'll make our stand here..." With supreme effort Hylo focused on two seeds, this time making a simple wall from interwoven brylark and Concordian Cedar. It wasn't the longest wall to have ever existed, nor even the biggest he made in his life, but with the energy he had and the tools at his disposal it would have to do. Hylo plopped down in the snow behind his wall and pulled the blaster he had from its holster before taking a deep breath. With his other hand he grabbed his ligthsaber. He wasn't really good with it, but he could block a blaster bolt or two and maybe stop Mara from doing anything foolish. A twang of concern registered through his bond with the girl as they briefly stared at one another. "So," he said waiting for the oncoming rush. "What now?"

 

[Teagan Stoirm]

The cold wasn't really getting to Teagan that much, and it wasn't because of him coming from some cold planet like Hoth either because he was from Doldur. The silicar that was a part of making his armor was just that resistant to cold that it was stopping the worst of the cold and chill from getting to him. Thank the stars that someone had thought of the stuff. The others though didn't seem to be so lucky in the staying warm regards. He felt bad for them and wished he could do more for them, but he was only able to bring the heaters he had in those kits. The only other thing he could do was maybe....the idea hit him.

Teagan had been asked by [member="Jorus Merrill"] to go scout ahead but it wasn't long after that [member="Kytra Odran"] had confirmed enemies incoming. He wasn't a pilot, even if he was able to fly the thing, but there was something he was and that was an engineer. He turned his attention to the man who seemed to be in charge because everyone was directing their attention to him to lead. He said to the man, " I'm not a pilot, so if you have someone who is around here I'd be happy to let them use the ship until this whole situation is resolved." He pointed to the starfighter as he spoke and then after the pause he pointed to the large ship that had crashed adding, " But I might be able to get your power working again and your weapons active. I've worked on all kinds so it shouldn't be too hard.....hopefully." He then waited to see what the man wanted him to do. This wasn't his crew or his house after all so it was only polite to do what the one in charge wanted. He really hoped the man was in charge at least.

 

[Sarge Potteiger]

Turning it's bulk towards the east, the mechanical monstrosity sat, staring into the blizzard. <ALL OF THEM.> This time, it didn't sound like Sarge - it sounded like a droid - and it was most certainly speaking to [member="Jorus Merrill"]. A faint clicking could be heard, and then it seemed Sarge had reigned in control of things. <7.> He responds, <And 3 known only to Tuskens.>

 

[Jorus Merrill]

"Thanks, Stoirm, that'd actually be great-"

For now, though, she went and grabbed a pair of binos and started surveying their surroundings. She quickly spotted the cloud of snow that was making its way their direction. Wouldn't be long before it was in range for the long guns to start firing. She glance over at Jorus Merrill. "We've got incoming."

Jorus snorted at Sarge's joke, even if it had probably been meant to show his distinctness from whatever machine he shared his walker...or his mind...with. "Well, keep an eye on the horizon for us. A sentry just gave the call that we've got visual contact due east. Last thing we need is to get flanked."

He pulled out his encrypted comlink and keyed for all Underground assets on scene. Their few helpers and guests would be able to hear easily enough. Noomay the Bereth-Aku medic had done a good job with the comms. Jorus opened his mouth, then shut it again as an explosive flicker marked the probable location of the distant enemy. A moment later, a battered old YT-1300 blew by overhead. [member="Kira Vaal"], it seemed, had sent the Millennium Falcon down, and her crew had drawn first blood. Whoops rose from assorted Undergrounders.

The comlink rose to his lips again as he squinted across the tundra, cybernetic eyes zooming in. Yep, there they were. "All Underground forces, this is General Merrill. We have visual contact with Rogue Sith forces due east, about three klicks away. Estimated contact in...two and a half minutes. If you don't have heavy weapons, keep cover in the wreck; it'll hold off their guns. They look like old One Sith AA Gunboats, tinfoil open-air troop carriers that pack of bit of a punch but shred easy. The Sith troopers on those decks are just as cold as we are, but they've opted to die for their cause and I'm in no mood to deny them. Expect suppressing fire and then an infantry wave."

A handful of old hovertanks had been extricated from the crumpled hangar. Pintle-mounted, self-powered guns dotted the top surface of the wreck. Some heavy weapons had been carried into Hylo's tough wooden bunker. Then there was Sarge in one-man-army mode.

It would have to do.

[member="Hylocereus"] [member="Sarge Potteiger"] [member="Teagan Stoirm"] [member="Tilzi"] [member="Tabigarashu Madara"] [member="Kytra Odran"] [member="Ria Misrani"] [member="Lok Munin"] [member="Kimiko"] [member="Niko Minuro Ike"] [member="3X744"] [member="Sor-Jan Xantha"]

 

[Ria Misrani]

Ow! Karkin' A that hurt. Ria looked at her shoulder as the medics tended to it. She heard her comm beep and tried to listen in but was deafened by [member="Kira Vaal"] and the arrival of a very, very familiar ship. The Millennium Falcon, and Ria let out one long whistle - what she wouldn't give to have a little Corellian freighter of her own. One day, when she a - got off of this stupid rock, b - learned to pilot and c - had more income than a front shop that did little to nothing except improve Naboo's cyber security suite and internal sensor alarms. Since it was the only paying gig Kathol Outback Security Alarm and Systems could actually get for the time being.

Ria was able to catch a little of what [member="[/FONT][/SIZE][SIZE=14px][FONT='lucida sans unicode']Jorus[/FONT][/SIZE][SIZE=14px][FONT='lucida sans unicode'] Merrill"] said, she couldn't slice into anything from here and as they worked on her arm she at least had her guns. So she could either stay in the wreck and risk death from Sith or freeze, go with Jorus and risk death with either the Sith or the cold. She might as well tag along, the medic patted her shoulder and told her to be easy with it and her arm. Moving her fingers a little she nodded, maybe it wouldn't be the best idea to go. Finally, the blonde silently opted to stay in the wreck and at least get her guns ready.

 

[Nico Ike Qarmast]

Nico was looking at it and she knew there was a small wanting to find some of the One sith tech, Matsu was looking to get a look so they could try and revitalize by making newer and better versions. After all what better way was there to do things then to build off of something instead of trying to go from scratch. You had a portion of the work done and could work on fixing the flaws in the design or making it your own. She was moving now and the chance for a fight would let her test out the upgrades to the aegis gauntlets as she shook her hands ready to begin. Prepping the paddle beamerr in the wrist of one and the force crystal shot in the wrist of the other as she focused looking at where they were going and tapped the one activating the shield as it wrapped around her body and shimmered a faint blue in the light. The robes she and Joza were designing and testing might be strong but tests were done for a reason andpersonal shields were made for another. In this case because you wanted to live longer and continue a fight before she checked the lightshield on the one gauntlet adjusting the size to let someone else use it for cover if they needed it. Getting some good cover to fire a blaster could be a problem.