There Are Bad Times Just Around The Corner (Resistance)

[Natasi Fortan]

Ruins of Echo Base
2203 Hours (Local)
Command Wing

She swung one last shovelful of snow into the large plasteel container and then turned, wiping a bead of rapidly-freezing sweat from her brow before it became an icicle. She straightened and, leaning on the snow shovel as she peered over the rim of the container. The system was, Imogen -- no, Evelin -- rather foolish in the absence of context, especially considering there were large machines, specifically designed for this sort of heavy labor, powered down not thirty meters down the tunnel in a large hangar. But these machines were loud, their computer linkups went over transmission waves, making it vulnerable to being picked up by long-range scanners under the right circumstances. She wouldn't feel comfortable using them until their signal jammers were in place.

She heard the whirring servos of the protocol droid before it appeared, rounding the corner of the tunnel, its left photoreceptor flickering. "Princess!" it called in its prissy, posh accent. "I say, Princess! You're late for your meeting in the Command Center!" Evelin glanced at her chronometer and sighed, jamming the shovel into the wall of loosely-packed snow. "Are we making progress in digging out the tunnel, Princess?"

Evelin had never quite gotten used to the title Princess. She had been married to her husband the Prince for a short time -- weeks only -- before his untimely death. But her mother-in-law insisted that she keep it; it could help to boost morale, or dazzle foreign leaders, or otherwise provide some kind of psychological boost. Besides, she had argued, it was a nice memorial to her dead husband. She shrugged as she began striding quickly towards, and then past the droid, designated F-6I0, or Six-Eye, and said, "If the snow continues to be this lightly packed, we might be able to make it through to the old armory by the end of the week. Our ultrasound scans suggests it's not entirely caved in." Six-Eye turned and cantered along to keep up.

The walk to the command center was short, because the livable space of Echo Base was comparatively small. When she entered, she was bathed in the dull blue-green light cast by the status screens set up around the room, and carefully stepped over the thick cords that ran between the equipment and generators in a nearby alcove. She lifted her dark eyes to meet three of the other individuals in the room, [member="Khindys Kaai"], [member="Dex Bastion"], and [member="Julius Sedaire"], in turn. "General," she nodded gravely. "Captain. Master Jedi. Sorry I'm late, I lost track of time in the south tunnel. Speaking of, have we heard on the status of those signal jammers? We could really get this place going if we could just get the diggers started."

((OCC: Yes. I godmoded a little in assuming you're all here. Let me know if you'd prefer to not be here. Your presence is optional!))

 

[Khindys Kaai]

Khindys Kaai was seldom late to anything. There was too much law-abiding Sector Ranger left in him for that.

Though not enough, he reflected wryly, to prevent him from joining a movement intending to overthrow a sovereign government. Life wove tangled paths. He shivered, drawing his duster tighter around his wiry shoulders; he'd refused a parka, trusting in his fur and the heavy jacket that had long been his partner to keep him warm, but he now regretted the decision. His ocular scanner was reporting temperatures that put more grey in his hair, and he was reasonably sure that the base would continue to be frigid even once they were sure it was safe to turn the main power on. But who in the galaxy would ever come looking for them on this iceball? There was nothing here worth having except privacy.

The newly-minted officer looked up as [member="Eveiln Redstar"] entered the command center, snapping off a quick salute. He wasn't quite sure how a princess ranked compared to a general, but he would never have made it into the movement without her, and that was plenty worthy of his respect. Never mind that she'd organized much of this Resistance on her own; he was the newcomer, she was the powerhouse. "Slow going, Princess," he reported, his gravelly voice even more grave than usual. "We've had to abandon the speeders for now; their engines can't take the cold. Tech boys are working on it. We have the scouts riding some of the indigenous wildlife to place the last few."

As if in answer to an unspoken prayer, his wrist commlink chimed with a confirmation. "That's the all-clear now. We should be able to activate the main power and heavy machinery." And maybe get a little less ice in our hair, he thought but didn't say. Leaning over the nearest monitor and tapping his occular scanner to the side, he watched the little blips that represented his scouts turn and head for home. It was good timing; he didn't fancy their chances if they were caught outside at night. He wondered how the original builders of this place had managed it given the harsh environment; the Resistance was lucky to have found the structures relatively intact, though much of the infrastructure would need replacing.

Looking up, he offered his colleagues a nod. "We'll need to stagger the fleet's arrival. Even with the jammers up, we can't afford to attract too much attention."

 

[Natasi Fortan]

"All the better, until we can be sure we aren't sending any rogue signals into the system," Evelin said gravely, casting an eye skyward, as if she could see through the ice roof and mountain above it, to the star of the Bespin system in the night sky. She gave a violent shiver, and was herself unsure whether it was due to the extreme temperature or the sensation of being relative moments from obliteration. "Since our X-Wings and other fighters are equipped to operate in space, they should be able to handle the atmosphere of Hoth, no?" She glanced up to [member="Khindys Kaai"] and then over to [member="Dex Bastion"], a touch of color coming to her face as it became obvious that she didn't know it all.

She turned to the monitor that the General was viewing and anxiously tracked the progress of the scouts. Without looking away from the monitor, she spoke over her shoulder to [member="Dex Bastion"]. "Captain, I trust you and the General can work on a firm schedule for bringing in our ships and naval personnel? We've completed excavations on the east tunnel so now we have more room for our personnel to sleep." Finally, she turned away from the monitor halfway. "And we'll need to work in a supply run into that schedule before the end of the week -- being extremely careful not to raise suspicions," she said warily. The excessive worry was beginning to take its toll, and she saw First Order shadows everywhere.

"I hate to say it," she murmured glumly as she turned to the central display, a large, round conference table into which was built a strategic display. "But we should firm up our plans for... for after Echo Base," she finished diplomatically, her eyes cutting across to [member="Khindys Kaai"] and [member="Julius Sedaire"] briefly before activating the map. A large, crimson stain spoiled a chunk of space near where Hoth glowed blue and glacial. "From here, we can organize short-range strikes against the First Order's holdings, but that runs the risk of exposing our position. General Kaai, I believe you have some candidates in mind for... well, for alternatives."

 

[Alasdair Sitra]

Who in the Feth had thought that Hoth was a good idea.
He knew who. That damn [member="Kira Vaal"]. She had made the suggestion to set up base on this ice bucket and then got in her fancy ship before flying off to some jungle planet with warmth, sun, beaches and cocktails. Dex cursed her under his breath as he stood in the command room with the other assembled members of the Resistance.
It still felt weird to say.
The Resistance.
For so long he had been Dex Bastion, Captain of the Galactic Alliance Defence Force born, trained and raised within the Galactic Alliance and proud to be. It had been a blissful existence of X-Wings and girls. Fighting petty pirate raids and Remnants of an Imperial Order long gone. It had been fun.
The the First Order appeared.
He had heard the briefings at Sullust of this extremist Imperial Group. At first they hadn’t seemed anything more unusual then what they had already dealt with, a bunch of Imperial loyalists backing some crackpot dictator who liked power. So the Galactic Alliance did what they did best, the sent a strike force and removed them from Eriadu. It hadn’t gone to plan though, the damn fiends glassed Eriadu City and left it a smouldering crater.
They should have taken the hint then that these guys weren’t just another remnant. They should have been smarter. Instead GADF command deemed them a minor threat and let them flee into the darker regions of space and turned their attention back to their own borders and the One Sith to the Galactic Centre.
There had been calls to hunt down the First Order, angry words spoken in political and military meetings, curses and threats but the verdict was always the same.
THEY WERE NOT A THREAT.
Well it had back fired hadn’t it. That little remnant of Stormtroopers became an army, there little scattering of ships became a navy and their little base became the foundations of an entire Sector under their sway. Then they took Skye, then Bespin. Yet the Galactic Alliance just sat there watching with stunned looks on their faces.
Dex couldn’t handle it, so he swapped his GADF orange for the orange offered to him by one of his old friends, a friend who had formed a group of ragtag individuals willing to take the fight to the First Order.
The RESISTANCE.

Yes it was a good cause, but no-one had told him it would be so damn cold!
He offered a nod, a smile and a casual “Princess.” As [member="Eveiln Redstar"] entered the briefing room to join the others that had been having small conversation about the fact that it was so cold on this planet and that none of their equipment seemed to be working because of it.
“As the General said, we’ve managed to get the jammers in place. We set a series in the nearby mountains that should give the base itself some form of protection.” He sighed, they had lost two good men placing those jammers. Not all the wildlife on this iceberg was gentle. “Black Squadron did some runs yesterday to get the net active in the asteroid field in sector seven. We’ll be running sensor runs up there over the next few days as well. Hopefully get an early warning system in place come the end of cycle.”

He allowed several other topics to rise and fall but then came the mention of the X-Wings. Dex shook his head at her question with a disappointed look. “We’re hitting some issues. Mostly with the fuel stockpiles. We’ve bunkered down several units to give us the ability to keep Black Squadron on full standby. The less ships we have to worry about the more chance we have at keeping the ones we need up in the air.” He gave the General a hesitant look, both had previously discussed the issues surrounding their forces and the problems just kept on mounting.

“Black Squadron will be briefed on bringing the fleet in. We’ll be doing jumps from tomorrow, hopefully bringing them in two to three ships at a time. Shouldn’t take us too long.” He watched some holographic displays dismissively before turning his attention back to the Princess. “All in all we’re in a good place, just gotta hope the First Order don’t catch on to quick. We’ve heard reports of several new Star Destroyer classes being deployed around Bespin. Maybe we should send some scouts out to investigate that? What about [member="Kira Vaal"], or is she still off sunbathing on Tatooine?”

 

[Khindys Kaai]

[member="Dex Bastion"] was the kind of guy the Resistance needed: optimistic, determined, experienced. But that didn't make it easier to hear him give bad news.

Khin bit his tongue to suppress a curse. No ground vehicles, little if any air support, and a base that was still half-collapsed; one suspicious probe droid and they'd all be caught with their pants around their ankles. Still, he reasoned, at least a few things were going right. Black Squadron was the Resistance's best, and kriffing good at what they did; he'd take one of them over ten brainwashed TIE-jockeys. And with the early warning sensors they were placing around the system, he thought wryly, they might be able to get their pants up to their knees at least before the First Order bombed them all into little tiny pieces. He directed a nod of respectful approval toward the captain.

Khin worried a little about [member="Eveiln Redstar"]. He knew she was tough and spirited, but she was new to the sensation of being hunted. The general knew that crawling fear well, how it hung heavy in the pit of your stomach only to race up your spine in moments of panic. And the princess could feel that fear not only for herself, but for the entire movement she led. But she was doing well at transforming worthless worry into productive caution, and he respected that tremendously. "Captain Bastion and I will closely coordinate arrivals," he replied. "Fortunately the hangars are mostly intact. We have smugglers dropping supplies at a rendezvous point in the Ison system; our boys will secretly bring them the rest of the way."

The topic turned, and so did Khin's stomach. He didn't particularly want to consider that they might soon need the contingencies he'd been developing. But this was war, and war against a much larger force with superior firepower. One slip-up or fluke and Hoth would be lost. Swallowing hard, he leaned over the main projector. Three planets appeared, suspended in the middle of the command center, and a silence field descended over the officers. "That is correct, Princess," he began. "Gentlemen, nothing said here leaves this room. Secrecy is a priority. For a direct fallback from Hoth, there's a cell on Barkhesh that's offered us shelter. That should allow us to maintain a hidden presence close to the Ison Corridor. There is also a cell setting up a forward base on Ryoone to hit the First Order's core worlds."

He flicked a switch, and the third planet grew larger. "If we lose Hoth, that means the First Order can find us almost anywhere. So we'll have to put our central command hub somewhere that no one would ever look. I once traveled through a place called the Dead Nebula while pursuing a suspect. It lives up to the name, and it's close enough to support our other bases. We're working on construction as we speak, but as of now its location is a priority one secret. Not even personnel will know its location." The general paused, looking over at [member="Julius Sedaire"] with a concerned expression. He valued the Jedi's presence and assistance, but he couldn't say he understood a karking thing about the Force. "I am concerned, Master Jedi, that the Knights of Ren will be able to rip the location from our minds."

"Is there any defense against such an intrusion?"

When Captain Bastion mentioned the star destroyers, Khin offered a grave nod. "I agree that investigating the First Order fleet presence should be a priority."

 

[Nara Basaar]

"Great....another one" Nara sighed staring at another one of her cracked blood test needles. The Twi'lek was loyal to the resistance and fully believed in their cause, but she hated the decision to come to this planet. Hoth was just a desolate unforgiving ice desert which of course offered privacy but at what cost? The harsh climate and environment was not only slowly taking it's toll on the people inhabiting it, but it was also taking it's toll on Nara's medical equipment. More and more of her supplies were being rendered obsolete daily. It was not like when she was back on Coruscant where she could have supplies delivered anytime, Nara had to make do with what she had until supply drops were made and those were not often. It was times like this when Nara had to think of the greater picture and not the somewhat minor annoyances she was currently facing.

The Resistance's base on Hoth was nowhere near ready yet, Nara did not have a designated room for her clinic yet so she just had her equipment in the room people slept in. The tiny Twi'lek was really struggling on this planet. Nara knew things would get better once everything was set in motion but that was not helping her now. To help combat the cold Nara was engulfed in a white parka that was about 3 sizes to big for her, her blue lekku were also completely covered from her head to the tip in a white Wampa fur headdress.

Nara was rummaging through her equipment and inspecting it when she heard commotion from the command room. At first Nara thought it was maybe just the others talking. Aside from the Princess [member="Eveiln Redstar"] who Nara really admired, she was not 100% familiar with others at the base but she knew that would change over time. At first Nara shook it off and went back to inspecting her equipment and it was a mess. Bandages frozen together, test tubes cracked and her stethoscope had ice on it. The Twi'lek heard more commotion coming from the command room, it sounded like they were talking about something serious. Nara became worried that something bad had happened so she went to go find out what was going on. Nara made her way down the ice tunnel and entered the command center. The first person she noticed was of course the princess, Nara smiled at her and slightly bowed her head in respect to her. Nara walked past [member="Dex Bastion"] took place next to the princess. Nara's dark eyes were fixed on the monitor, she did understand everything on it but she could make out the gist of it. Nara's attention was soon grabbed when [member="Khindys Kaai"] mentioned Dark Nebula. The Twi'lek turned to him "Dark Nebula? i have never heard of it. What kind of place is it?"

 

[Natasi Fortan]

"Doctor," Evelin nodded her head at [member="Nara Basaar"], an early supporter, as she entered. She had begun as a medic, but in the leadership vacuum of the early Resistance, Evelin had started to rely more and more on Nara, to the point where she was now a trusted adviser and de facto logistical coordinator. "Glad you could make it. We were just discussing some of the logistical challenges here. Would you kindly work with Captain Bastion and General Kaai to coordinate delivery of your supply drops? We will be having an uptick of traffic into the system, so we will need to schedule everything very carefully." Imogen crossed the room to the entrance and set the security locks, effectively locking down and more-or-less soundproofing the command center.

Turning her attention back to the monitor, Evelin listened carefully to [member="Khindys Kaai"] as he described the efforts there. "Outstanding work, General. As always," she added with a prim smile. "I'm sure I don't need to echo the General's admonishment about the secrecy of this. In fact, I suggest referring to it only by its code name -- which, correct me if I'm wrong, General, is Junkpile? -- in case it is overheard by anyone with even a colloquial knowledge of the system in question. We'll need to organize supply trips by our most trusted pilots, scheduled precisely so as to avoid giving any clue as to Junkpile's location. It will be a challenge, but I trust each of you to make the necessary arrangements. And obviously, however I can be of assistance, I will."

"It's not a very nice place, on the whole," Evelin told Nara. "But as far as the Resistance facility there, I understand it is secure, safe, and above all, secret. And it's our responsibility to ensure it remains that way. We don't speak of it outside this room. If the Jedi can teach us a method of withstanding torture to resist it, then we must learn it. The resources we've poured into establishing each of our safehouses and bases is not inconsiderable, and while we know that we won't be able to use all of them forever, we must be able to rely on Junkpile for the long term."

[member="Dex Bastion"]'s question regarding the First Order was on point. "I thought we had a policy about mentioning such dirty words as 'sun' and 'Tatooine' on this icebox," she said wryly, chuckling a little. For a moment, the tension melted away. "We can certainly send a signal to her. She's one of our best pilots -- present company excluded, naturally."

 

[Khindys Kaai]

Khin offered [member="Nara Basaar"] a deferential nod as she entered the room; as newly-minted logistics coordinator for the Resistance, she had every right (and full security clearance) to be there. Besides, he had great personal respect for her; years ago now, when he'd been ambushed by felons in the Coruscant underlevels, her treatments had saved his life. It was that experience that had inspired him to seek to recruit her, though at times he worried about the decision. She was perfectly capable, but the stress of being hunted and under-supplied was likely wearing on the idealistic young doctor.

"The Dead Nebula," he explained gravely, "is an isolated star cluster largely wiped out by the Gulag Plague. It's mostly ruins and scavengers now, but we've picked out a region where not even the scavengers go." He turned back to [member="Evelin Redstar"], offering a smile and a slight bow in response to her praise. "Yes, Princess. Junkpile." It was a nickname that the base had come by early on, when the various bits of salvage had just begun to be fitted together. But it would hold; Khin was confident of that. And it would be one of the galaxy's best-kept secrets if all went as planned.

"We'll coordinate the deliveries from Ison," he replied, offering Nara another nod. The two of them could draw up timetables for smugglers, trusted agents, and droid barges to surreptitiously move all of their various materials to Hoth. It would take time, and be painfully complicated, but between the two of them was ample experience in managing supplies and personnel. Then the Princess joked, and he chuckled in reply; he did miss a good, warm sun on his back. "Wherever Vaal is, we'll get her on this one. It's important enough to cut a vacation short. We'll provide a bonus, of course."

As he spoke, the room grew brighter (and a little warmer) as auxiliary lights and heating systems chugged back to life. Khin smiled widely; with the signal jammers in place, it was safe to turn on the main power. They'd had to replace the power generators; the base's original unit had been destroyed in some long-ago battle. But now everything was coming together. "Main power's online," he said, tapping the secondary consoles that provided base diagnostics. "We should be able to have most of the tunnels excavated within a few days at the most."

It was good news. Maybe they were finally catching a break. Or maybe, his cynical side said, it was a cruel trick of fate before the coming storm.