The Worst of Luck

[Venris Helion]

Venris nodded. "Agreed."

He drew his vibro blade and began to follow the trail of blood around the side of the facility, keeping an eye out for either the Wampa or anything else that might inhabit the frigid world.

As he walked, Venris began to wonder about his rescuer a bit. He still found it quite odd that she would be on this planet out of anywhere else in the galaxy, and with how armed and experienced she was he suspected that she had perhaps as much training as he did in fighting, perhaps more. He would inquire further into this later, preferably after they were off of Hoth.

[member="Anastasia Rade"]

 

[Anastasia Rade]

She could hear a howl at the moon but beyond that there wasn't much else or she supposed it was the moon. The sound of the Wanpa wasn't within her range which was surprising. Considering its injuries she suspected to see it laying around somewhere.

"Do you see anything?" She turned to him as she put the hood back over her head. This was getting creepy because of the creature, not because of him. Ana could certainly handle him besides he was nice yet her guard was still up as was her nature.

Out of the corner of her eye she spotted something slowly moving around nearby the little base. Slowly she began to creep closer.

[member="Venris Helion"]

 

[Venris Helion]

[member="Anastasia Rade"]

"I see something," Venris squinted. "But that's no Wampa. Get back!" He held up his vibro blade as the shape rose up into view, towering over the crushed corpse of the wounded Wampa. "Icetromper!"

The large quadriped turned its horns towards the two humans and exhaled heavily. While usually prey to Wampas and human hunters, this thing had been big enough to kill the wounded wampa...and was now wounded itself and angry. It began to lumber towards them, swinging its head to knock them aside with its horns.

Venris spun aside and didn't even try to strike it with his blade, knowing that his little sword wouldn't be enough to cut through the thick hide of the rampaging Icetromper fast enough like his lightsaber would have, had he still possessed it.

 

[Anastasia Rade]

Ana on the other hand did have her silver saber with her so as the Icetromper ran past him she called it to her igniting it. She had backed up previously to give them room but now it was her turn to try her hand with the beast. It helped that she had a weapon that would go through it.

Turning it snarled at them as it charged back at the two to which this time Ana stepped in front. "I got this," she smiled at him with a wink as she began to run forward at the beast.

As it put its head down Ana raised the saber higher side stepping it as it came bowling at her. The creature the strong and fast but she was quick and limber. Once it got close enough Ana brought her saber down on its side. The saber connected but only enough to get a chunk off the side.


The creature came charging at her once again and this time she swung to take off its head with one swish.

[member="Venris Helion"]

 

[Venris Helion]

The strike worked, and if not for the incredibly thick hide the beast's head would have been entirely lopped off. Anastasia's silver blade left it dangling by a few strips of meat as the corpse rolled to a stop close by. All was silent, save for the howl of the wind and the hum of Ana's lightsaber. Venris rose to his feet and sheathed his vibro blade as he walked over to the corpse and got a look at the mostly decapitated head before glancing towards Ana.

"Good swing," He complimented. "I wouldn't have suspected that a Jedi would be out here."

[member="Anastasia Rade"]

 

[Anastasia Rade]

"It's a way to center myself. I just sometimes need a break from everything. I'm sure you can understand that," she lightly smiled. Even now Ana would get overwhelmed from time to time out in the galaxy. Things would sometimes go over head or the nightmares would come back. Coming to places like this helped her quite a bit.

"We should go before something else shows up besides its cold out here." She stated before turning around and beginning to head back to where she once came from hoping he would follow her.

Ana hoped that her abilities didn't scare him away. She had only taken the saber out to kill the beast. Ana still meant him no harm.

[member="Venris Helion"]

 

[Venris Helion]

Venris could detect Ana's concern, having become familiar with it both during his years as a padawans and the time since then as a mercenary. Perhaps he should put her fears to rest...

"I understand it all too well," He nodded. "And I also understand why you hid your abilities from me...because I hid mine for the same reason, Ana."

At that point Venris stopped concealing his force signature from Anastasia, letting her see that he was a force sensitive individual like her. He took off his hood and smiled at the young woman. "And I agree with that second part...let's be off before something bigger comes along looking for a snack. If you have any questions I'd be more than happy to answer once we are far away from this miserable ball of ice."

[member="Anastasia Rade"]

 

[Anastasia Rade]

Ana had many dark secrets and reasonings for hiding all of her skills. One was because the Graug had used them against her and as such she was still a bit a shamed of them. He didn't need to know her life story though therefore she wouldn't go into it for his sake.

"The cold doesn't bother me very much but please come follow me to warmth and the ship." She lightly smiled at him as she turned to walk back inside.

Flying wasn't something she was great at but she could get from point A to point B which was what really mattered most of all. "It's not the best of ships but it runs," she stated as the ramp lowered for him.

[member="Venris Helion"]

 

[Venris Helion]

[member="Anastasia Rade"]

"In my opinion that is all a ship need ever do," Venris replied. "Don't let my Captain k ow I said that if you ever meet her, she'd probably rant at me for it." He chuckled softly,mand casually tossed the data crystal up and down. "However...if this ship has the right apparatus for scanning this crystal...I am admittedly a little curious to see what my employer wanted me to get for him, and whether or not it's harmless."

He turned towards Ana. "Do you have such a device?"

 

[Anastasia Rade]

[member="Venris Helion"]

"It is possible, I'm not really sure. I don't fly a lot but feel free to look around." Ana smiled with a shrug. The last thing that she would ever want to admit was that she had no idea what type of machine he was speaking about.

"I sense your strong with the Force as well?" It was less of a question and more of an observation. She just couldn't pinpoint if he was a Jedi, Sith or what.

Taking a seat in the captain chair she began the take off pattern to get the two off this ice ball.

 

[Venris Helion]

[member="Anastasia Rade"]

"Aye...so my master always said," Venris nodded as he began to look around for one such machine that could analyze the data crystal. "And if you are wondering...no, I am not a Jedi...not anymore, but nor am I a Sith." He paused as he came to one device that was settled among the communications controls. "I am what people refer to as a Rogue, and Independent...others would use the word 'good for nothing' or 'renegade' but I find those names to be so hurtful."

He leaned down and examined the device, which was built into the console but had a wide port in it. It was labelled as a Crystalline Data Translator....exactly what he needed. "Here we are." He set the crystal in the port and watched as it became suspended by a beam of green light while the screen flicked on. "Let's see what my clients were so worried about..."

As Venris' eyes crossed the screen his smile began to fade.

 

[Anastasia Rade]

"A rouge," she mused out loud as she took off. She had heard of such people before but never met one. Ana had been taught that the galaxy was not black and white but shades of gray. "Do you lean towards one of the sides more than the other?"

She was a Jedi in a way but at the same time not so much. Ana didn't identify with many of the Jedi or what they stood for. She was much more a Mandalorian than anything else. That was how she identified herself at the very least.

After leaving the atmosphere Ana put the ship on autopilot to see what his frown was all about. "What's wrong?"

[member="Venris Helion"]

 

[Venris Helion]

[member="Anastasia Rade"]

"What's wrong is that my client broke one of my few rules," Venris replied, "...this data Crystal contains coordinates for Jedi Temples, along with info on how well guarded they are..." He growled, "Ones that I'm betting he'd want to pilfer."

He gestured to the screen with one hand. "Take a look, I bet there's some old sanctuaries and enclaves on here that you recognize. Nobody asks for a list of Jedi outposts unless they intend to make a visit eventually, and if they're willing to steal and kill for that list then they aren't the sort that you want anywhere near a jedi enclave." Venirs shook his head. "I may not be on the best of terms with the Order...but I don't like it when somebody tricks me into stealing from it."

 

[Anastasia Rade]

[member="Venris Helion"]

"This information should be given to the order than, right?" She looked to him wondering what his plan was. Ana couldn't force him to give up his bounty and do the right thing. She could hope that was his plan and steer him in the correct direction.

"We can give it back to them in good faith. It is the best option." It was the only option in her opinion. Now was to see what type of man he was and see what his plan was.

 

[Venris Helion]

[member="Anastasia Rade"]

Venris considered Ana's words carefully, although his mind was made up for the most part. He removed the crystal from the slot and held it in his palm. "As I said...I may not be on the best terms with the Order, but I wouldn't steal from it."

Venris wrapped his fingers around the crystal...and a crunching noise could be heard as he focused upon it, using the Force to generate a bubble around it and increase the pressure within. When he opened his hand the crystal had been reduced to powder.

"I still have to meet with my employer," Venris added, dusting his palms off. "However, I intend to find out just what exactly he was thinking of doing with this information."

 

[Anastasia Rade]

"I'll still come with you as backup." Ana had a feeling that his employer was not going to be happy with the outcome of all of this. She was sure that this guy had minions and [member="Venris Helion"] was going to need all the help that he could get. Since he was going about this in the correct way, at least in her mind, she ought to help him.

"Do you want to afterwards tell the council what is going on? If not I can tell them about this so that you don't have to deal with that part." She knew he wasn't with the Jedi so perhaps he wouldn't be comfortable going to meet with them. Ana could understand that and she would help him.

[member="Venris Helion"]

 

[Venris Helion]

Venris considered this for a moment, brushing the last of the crystal powder off of his gloves. He turned to face [member="Anastasia Rade"] and responded, "You can tell your council at any time that you wish, can't imagine that it'll change their perspective of me much but I won't ask you to lie or omit anything to them."

Ana struck Venris as somebody he may have been good friends with if he had remained in the Order. He knew that not all Jedi were self righteous stiffs like certain ones he had the displeasure of meeting in the past, in fact he had known many who he held in high regard to this day, and Ana would likely join that list after this. He couldn't ask her to compromise her allegiance by making her lie to the Council, even if it was just a lie of omission

"I'll type in the coordinates and get us underway," He stated, walking towards the front of the ship.