Braving the cold of Rhen Var [The Republic]

[Kana Truden]

That certainly wasn’t true at all; Kana was actually rather warm underneath her jacket. With a grin she could once again tell herself that while the force can be relied on for many thing, it’s still better to be safe than sorry and bring a jacket. Maybe the jacket was hugging Kana’s jumpsuit just a little too tight but compared to being cold it was nothing.

“It’s been a while since Taboon, maybe [member="Jerry Mars"] has forgotten about us?” Kana joked. “I’m just saying that if she doesn’t show soon we’ll probably be better off moving on without her. She’ll catch up.”

The jokester let the others do the talking as she proceeded to enter the small campsite, maybe she had been here with the troopers all along or at least in the nearby area?

 

[Jsc]

Mars entered the system via Hyperspace in her spirited Corellian Interceptor. The nimble yellow craft ducked through near space and zipped through the upper atmosphere like a darting arrowhead. She came in hot and fast like a blazing little rocket ship. Then slammed on the brakes and hit the repulsars. Hovering only meters from the ground the cockpit opened with a snapping lurch and Jerry jumped out onto the wing. She leapt to the ground and waved the ship away under the careful guidance of her Astrotech. A complete, if somewhat hurried, arrival.

Garbed in her spacesuit and helm, the little Zeltron princess felt neither the cold nor the wind against her ruby cheeks. They were already saturated enough to begin with. The temperature wouldn't change that even if she blushed. So she tapped her glasteel helm and made the call. Open channel,

~ "This is Jerry Mars to all JO-IFFs in the area. I'm planet-side and tasking to your location now. ETA, five minutes. Com is loud and clear. Mars out." ~

She smiled underneath her helm. Leave it to a Zeltron Ranger to always be fashionably late to the party. Good grief. So cheeky.

 

[VlPER]

He soon realized that the troopers here, were just as clueless about why they were there, as the Jedi were. Still. The more the merrier on a trip like this. More eyes meant more chance of finding what they were looking for. Seeing Kana venture forth into the camp, he decided to start moving as well. Before getting to far though, the turned toward Corvus. "Hey Corvus." Was all he said as he tossed her a saber and smirked.

Turning back toward the mountain, he started to venture off on his own. Even coming from Naboo, Viper loved the cold. It did help when you had the ability to shapeshift into something with fur though. Sure that he was far enough away that nobody could see him, he turned just his face into that of a wookie. "Now that's better." Viper said happily despite the biting wind blowing in his face.

"Now, let's see. If that's the mountain. Somewhere is this few mile stretch was supposed to be a statue. But after this many years....?" A frown soon made its way onto his face. "If the thing still exists, it could be weathered to look like any other rock crag....or be buried in snow....or just not be here anymore." The whole idea sounded good at first. But now that he was here. Now that he was looking over the desolate ground that was Rhen Var, he was beginning to think they may need more to go on.

A warm feeling suddenly filled him, and he smirked. "Of course..." He mumbled to himself. "Stupid me." With that, he marched off to start searching.

[member="Corvus Raaf"] | [member="Kana Truden"] | [member="CC-1693"] | [member="Tugoro Taidarious"] | [member="Meeristali Peradun"] | [member="Jerry Mars"]

 

[J.Reaper]

Reaper woke up with a headache. he noticed that he was laying down upon the snow and that he had landed on Rhen Var.
he got up looking around the snowy terrain while trying to see if he could find the ship he was in.
luckily thanks to his phase II clone trooper armor kept him warm.
reaper was trying to remember what happend and remembered that they flew into a blizzard out of mistake and crash landed. reaper found the ship and tried to look if anyone survived that was in the ship.
he went inside and looked at where the pilot was and pulled himself up to be able to see.
he saw the pilot and touched his throat to see if he had a pulse.
the pilot was dead aswell as the rest of the crew that was inside so he picked up a rifle with a thermal sight from a soldiers body. he looked for a working radio inside the ship and tried to contact anyone. jedi or trooper did not matter aslong as he found anyone.
"This is Clone Trooper Reaper, does anyone copy over? i repeat this is Reaper does anyone hear me?"
he picked up the radio and put it on his back and then started walking into the snowy terrain. he pulled out and activated a map of the area he was in and looked for the LZ waypoint.
the LZ was a couple of clicks away from him so he pulled up his rifle and started walking to the LZ.

 

[Johnny Diamonds]

"Holy sithspit, it's cold...like, Hoth cold."

Johnny D was absolutely covered in warm clothing; thick insulated jacket, at least three pairs of pants, thick snow boots, woolen hat... The kid looked like his overprotective mother had dressed him for school in the dead of winter. Johnny did not like cold. Sure, most of his tech prefered to be nice and chilled, but he liked warm things. Warm things like piping hot Stimcaf! oh yes, he had a canteen filled with it the size of his own head. Popping the top, steam came off like a geyser, as he sipped it with a very satisfied sigh. Mmmm, mmm. Good stuff, this. Looking over at Corvus, he offered her the canteen.

"Stimcaf? Force knows it's like, a thousand degrees below zero out here. Speaking of, so like, we heading out soon? I'm gonna get frostbite on my eyeballs out here."


[member="VlPER"] | [member="CC-1693"] | [member="Kana Truden"] | [member="Corvus Raaf"] | [member="Tugoro Taidarious"] | [member="Meeristali Peradun"] | [member="Kiskla Grayson"] | [member="Jerry Mars"]

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus caught the saber that VlPER tossed to her. People throwing her these things was becoming a habit. Her plans to craft a saber on Corellia seemed too distant now. As if the Force was nudging her to gently bring those plans forward.

As ever, Johnny Diamonds brought her mind back to the here and now. “You were expecting sunshine and beaches?” She smiled but it was slightly force as she had to admit it was actually colder than she'd expected.

She declined the drink – for now – as one of the troopers informed her there were two messages to report. A ‘Jerry Mars’ was en route and a Republic ship had crash landed a short detour away from the route to the mountain. “Please take us to the crashed ship and inform Jedi Mars of our plans.”

“OK, slight change of plans. There’s a crashed ship nearby so we’ll see what we can do to help, then it’s on to the mountain.”

By now the snow had picked up and with the driving wind was blowing in almost horizontally. Corvus picked up pace to speak to VlPER. “In case you’re wondering, the ice statues weren’t constructed in an hour or anything. They took days. So, if you’re going to build something like that here, in these conditions,” she waved her arm by way of illustrating her point, “you’d choose somewhere sheltered from the elements. Which means that there’s every chance it has remained intact or at least broadly recognisable. And there were two of them too.”

[member="VlPER"] | [member="CC-1693"] | [member="Kana Truden"] | [member="Tugoro Taidarious"] | [member="Meeristali Peradun"] | [member="Jerry Mars"] | [member="J.Reaper"]

 

[J.Reaper]

Reaper had walked long enough that he could not see the crashsite anymore but at the sametime he could not see anything where he was going. "god dammit!!! cant see anything in this damn blizzard" reaper looked thro his scope and checked if the area was clear, luckily it had a thermal scope. reaper was looked at his map and tried to locate the LZ again. while looking at the map he heard what sounded as a howl but what it was he didnt know.
he checked again thro the scope but got nothing on the thermal so instead he used his radar and there were blips all around him.
he checked one last time on his scope and saw creatures he never seen before starting show up around him.
he aimed at them but he didnt know what he was aiming for since he has never seen this creatures before.
then he started hearing howls all around him and so he used the radio "This clone trooper reaper, does anybody copy?. need backup at my location ASAP, i repeat i need backup!!".'
he hoped that anyone could hear him.

 

[GM-1693]

[member="J.Reaper"] [member="Johnny Diamonds"] [member="VlPER"] [member="Corvus Raaf"]


Snipes heard the incoming call from a fellow trooper, though he wasn't a clone himself, and neither was any of his men, they were all part of the Republic Military, and all brothers in arms in his eyes. "When did we get a clone??" Kite asked. "Can it Kitey." Vox replied back to the young man
"Reaper, this is CC-1693, copy over." Snipes answered the man back. "What is your location?" He then said.

Turning to look at his men, he spoke, "Kite, Deadsy, stay with the Jedi. Vox you're with me." He shuttered his weapon, and moved over the HQ they had made. "None of the recon drones saw him." Deadsy said. "Maybe he just got here." Vox said back. "No, the Jedi would have mentioned it." Snipes said in turn. Kite scratched his head, "Why didn't we see his ship drop into the atmosphere?"
Snipes wondered over to the monitors. Sure enough there was a trooper heading in their directk didn't give off a service number." Vox said. "That mean he's lying?" Kite spoke next. Snipes shook his head no. "He sounds a little out of it." He turned to long range communications.
"Reaper, this is Snipes, we're are at the LZ. We've been on this planet for week. We never saw your ship come down. Can you give us your service number?"Snipes spoke. He didn't like this. Either the trooper was disoriented, or this was a trap.

 

[VlPER]

Viper had gone very far, so he could still here the commotion in camp. "A down ship, eh?" He said curiously to himself. "Odd..what would another ship be doing here? And at the same time we are? Any who do I have a bad feeling about this?" It was a funny thing talking to ones self. It made all the sense in the world when you were alone. But through in a another person, and it's just weird. It was at this point he heard the tell tale sound of someone approaching. He quickly shapeshifted his face back to normal as he heard the sound of crunching snow getting closer. Pulling his hood back to uncover his head, Viper then began to feel that presence that always made him smile. Inwardly at the very least.

By now the snow had picked up and with the driving wind was blowing in almost horizontally. Corvus picked up pace to speak to VlPER. “In case you’re wondering, the ice statues weren’t constructed in an hour or anything. They took days. So, if you’re going to build something like that here, in these conditions,” she waved her arm by way of illustrating her point, “you’d choose somewhere sheltered from the elements. Which means that there’s every chance it has remained intact or at least broadly recognisable. And there were two of them too.”

A smirk flew up on his face once more. "Reading my mind, are you Corvus?" He said playfully. "Dangerous that could be." Viper chuckled as he turned to face her. "Even if they aren't in the best of shape. I think I thought of another way to find them...just in case." He added with a shrug of his shoulders.

"The people that made this place. The training ground. The statues. They were once very powerful individuals. The detail we should also look for is one only a force user can detect." He gave pause for her to think. Though he suspected she was already following his train of thought. "Training with someone is special. It creates bonds. You tend to learn things about them that normal interaction and talk just never reveals."

He turned away again, realizing this could technically apply to them as well. In fact he may have only thought of it because his growing relationship with Corvus. He honestly, wasn't sure at this moment. Looking back to the mountains in an attempt to look as though he hadn't just had this particular thought, he continued. "It uh...well, with these individuals being as powerful as they were. And training obviously being important to them. This place would be a special area. And ones so powerful would have been sure to leave there own force imprint...so to speak. We need to reach out with the force and try to feel for this location. Eyes can deceive. But it's fairly difficult to hide a force signature like I'm sure we'll find."

He shook his head a bit and laughed lightly at himself. Sometimes, he felt like he talked to much. He just gets so focused, that he can't stop till his thought process is seen through. "Sorry...didn't mean to go on like that. It just had occured to me though. Anyway, we can do that later. I believe you mentioned a down ship? We should do that right away right?" Viper asked turning back to her with a small smile.

[member="Corvus Raaf"]

 

[Kana Truden]

“Good to hear, Mars.” Kana responded to the woman not knowing the soldiers probably already had. “We were just talking about you and- Wait, hold on…”

She turned back towards Corvus as she told the rest of the group about the change of plans.

“Alright, so Corvus claims there’s been a change of plans.” [member="Jerry Mars"] had to know. “It seems there is a soldier in need of our help out there. It’s kind of strange if you ask me, but I don’t give the orders.”

She looked at the others. [member="Johnny Diamonds"] seemed rather unhappy with the current weather conditions. [member="VlPER"] and [member="Corvus Raaf"] seemed to be scanning the area for something. Was it usual for people to stand that close to each other? Kana shook her head; it was probably just the snow messing with her eye measure.

Meanwhile it was hard to get a read on [member="Tugoro Taidarious"] and [member="Meeristali Peradun"] since both of them seemed to have gone rather quiet. Though judging from said lack of activity it could only be assumed that they were as much of a fan of this place as the rest of those who didn’t properly prepare for the cold climate.

“It’s going to be a long hike, Mars. I hope you brought your jacket.”

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus laughed at VlPER. He was a master at using her own saying and actions against her. And she was so fond of quoting Obi-Wan Kenobi. ‘Your eyes can deceive you. Don't trust them.’

“Well put. And actually I hadn't considered that angle.”

The sound of urgency cut across the snow. Clearly something was up. Hostiles made the situation more urgent, not less and so Corvus walked across to the troopers as they planned their next step. “You didn't think we were going to wait behind did you?”

Corvus glanced across at Kana. It was hard to believe this was the quiet Jedi she'd met only a short while ago.

[member="VlPER"] | [member="CC-1693"] | [member="Kana Truden"] | [member="Tugoro Taidarious"] | [member="Meeristali Peradun"] | [member="Jerry Mars"] | [member="J.Reaper"]

 

[J.Reaper]

reaper heard the transmission from the trooper, and said "this is Clone Trooper CC-3368 nicknamed Reaper." i dont know, some of my equipment are broken probably because of the crash. i got orders to be in a backup squad just in case something happend so we where in orbit on the planet, but something happend and we crashed. when i woke up i was on the planet"
the creatures was getting closer so he shot a warning shoot just infront of one just warn them what would happen if they got to close.
"anyways i could need some help since im surrounded by a group of animals i have never seen before"
the blizzard was getting stronger as his view was diminishing and the only thing he could see with was with his thermal scope on his rifle.
"i promise im not enemy if you think that" one of the creatures charged at reaper. he rolled away from it and started shooting. "and can you please hurry!!!"

 

[GM-1693]

Snipes shook his head. "Alright guys, we're going after him." He told his squad. "Deadsy, stay here, and monitor us with the drones. Keep us updated on his situation." He turned to the rest of his squad. "Get your gear together fast, we're doing a rescue." Kite sighed, and walked to his backpack, and checked his gear. Some thermals, a few clips, and other basic stuff. Vox nodded, and slid his pack on, already knowing what was in it. "[member="J.Reaper"] we're heading your way. Stay low, and dont cause a scene. Stay quiet." He replied back to the clone. "Lets move!" He said when they were all finally ready.

They jogged up the snowy hills surrounding the LZ, with Deadsy telling them were to go. The blizzard was beginning to pick some wind speed. With Kite at point, and their thermal vision on they could see fine. "They shouldn't be sending random troopers to places their not prepared for." He said. Vox scoffed. "You dont know whether he was ready. He said his gear was damaged. Things happen." Snipe shook his head in agreement. "Reaper we're close, we can hear the animals."

 

[Jsc]

Approaching LZ

It appeared everyone was going looking for a lost trooper. Interesting. Mars would simply reach the LZ and wait this one out. The troopers were more than enough manpower for such a simple task. Jerry would just get in the way of paid professionals. Even if she was a Ranger. No, lost troopers be damned. She was here for crystals and little else. The soldiers would just have to look after themselves.

She messaged [member="Kana Truden"]

~ "Thanks for the update. I'm almost to the LZ and I'll be waiting on stand-by after that. Good hunting. Mars out." ~

Jerry shrugged and kept about her hustle. She was starting to like this planet. It was dramatic and exciting. Her favorite.

___

ooc: if you ain't talking to Jerry, don't @Tag me. Lol. I'm subscribed. I get a note for every new post. So if you ain't talking directly to my character. Don't bother to @Tag her in your posts. Thx.

 

[VlPER]

Viper had soon joined up with Corvus, Kana, and the troopers after giving one last look out to the future site of their search. Quietly, he stood by and watched the troopers finish getting ready and start to move out. That poor trooper stuck out there sounded like things were starting to get desperate. He put his hood back over his head and began jogging after the rescue party.

(Cue theme music for this rescue)

Viper slowly closed in on the group. Faster and faster he moved. Onward toward the crest of the hill in front of them. Pulling from the force, he force jumped over the lead troopers and charged on up the hill. Once there, he looked down and could see a small shuttle had indeed crashed.

The amount of snow now falling, obscured most else from view. Viper wasted no time to analyse the situation. He charged in headlong per his normal fashion. He figured he was now a melee fighter. The only way to engage was to close the gap. He also figured the troopers with their AR's and sniper rifles would be able to cover him.

The adrenaline was now freely flowing through his veins. This along with the force strengthened him beyond what he'd have normally been able to do. His reserves weren't limitless though. And if he didn't try to conserve it, he might tire before this fight was over.

That didn't concern Viper though. He could only imagine a couple fates worse than being torn apart by wild animals. And he didn't want this unfortunate soldier to have to deal with any of them, including the animals. With his attackers now coming into view Viper pushed his body to his limits, running as fast as his legs could carry him. When he was finally close enough he force lept through the air toward his first target. Activating his sabers in mid flight, he yelled a battle cry, and plunged his two sabers into the first beast.

Whatever these....things, were. There was a whole pack of them. And they all looked hungry. His eyes quickly scanned the site. Upon seeing the lost trooper, Viper noticed one of the animals about to pounce on him from beyond. Reaching out through the force, he caught the animal in mid leap, and caste him far away. Only a yelp of some kind, gave evidence of when the animal finally landed.

Several of these voracious animals had now turned there attention to Viper. As they moved in to attack, Viper lept over them and to the soldier beyond. "Hey trooper! Mind if we drop in? Or is this a private party?" He joked as he took up position next to him to cover his flank.

By this point, Viper was breathing heavily. He had delved deep into his reserves of energy just to make it this far and was indeed tiring quickly.

[member="GM-1693"] | [member="J.Reaper"] | [member="Corvus Raaf"] | [member="Kana Truden"]

 

[Tugoro Taidarious]

Tugoro had never actually shown up to the shuttle. He had taken his own fighter through space, flying nearby his fellow Jedi as they left the Praxeum. The Padawan had enjoyed his time on the famous ship, though he had decided to leave while the others explored. His Aleph super fighter would cruise through space, allowing the youth a view of the icy planet ahead. It did not look pleasant whatsoever. Leaning his head back into his singular seat, the boy would groan, quickly wrapping himself up in his robe. Tugoro's Aleph would break through the atmosphere, sailing through the cold air and towards the Republic camp that had been set up. Though instead of landing, the Jedi would continue to fly, having picked up a crashed shuttle apparently. The boy's craft of Imperial design would screech, it's iconic engine rather audible, even over the icy winds.

Through his glass view port, he was able to see ahead, watching as many animals were killed by a saber wielder. He shook his head from side to side, disappointed by the fact that no one even tried to tame them via the force. With his hands steady on the controls, Tugoro would guide his craft over the landscape, beginning to survey even more of it, in hopes of maybe even spotting the cave entrance. He would probably have to land at the base camp, though he really didn't want to journey in all of that cold weather.

 

[Kana Truden]

“Sure thing. Kana out."

She pocketed her communications device once more as she marched along with the others towards the crashed ship. There was a set of basic medical supplies in her pack so the choice whether to go or stay wasn't really up to her. The hike was certainly cold, shuddering and shaky teeth were to be expected. As Viper engaged the enemies around the ship he let loose what Kana would come to describe as one of the most cheesiest one-liners she's ever heard.

"Hey trooper! Mind if we drop in? Or is this a private party?"

Kana chuckled, had [member="VlPER"] seriously just said that? At least he could make up for it with a lightsaber dance unlike anything she’d seen before. Then again she hadn’t exactly seen anything but the temple in a very long period of time as her courses had gone underway. As impressive as her friend's display was Viper seemed to have taken a bite that was a bit more than he could chew. His heavy breathing being the most obvious sign.

“Remember, V - Don’t overdo it.” Kana slowly retrieved the ‘shoto’ from her belt and flicked it on. “Overpowering them is good but you’ll also need to outlast them if you want to survive.”

Spoken like an equally cheesy instructor but at least there were truth behind the words. Her training session with Commander Corek had taught her that.

“Don’t jump in blindly. Get a feel for them, respect them.” Kana’s voice managed to draw the attention of two of the creatures that had been approached Viper and [member="J.Reaper"]. “Trust your instincts as well as the force, then strike.”

As she finished talking one of the creatures lunged at her. With a diagonal upwards slash and a dodge the now-lifeless body of the creature fell to the ground. Kana had to admit it felt strange swinging a smaller lightsaber at your enemy and even stranger to have it cut through them rather than applying blunt force.

As the corpse collapsed onto the ground the other creature followed up on its mate’s attack but was just as easily taken care of and all without breaking a sweat.

“Never underestimate the value of tiring your opponent rather than yourself.”

He probably knew all this, but there were no reason not to repeat it just for good measure.

 

[VlPER]

(OOC: Read this as if Viper is being playful. He's not angry at all. Actually, the little skirmish has his blood up. In a good way that is.)

"Kana!" Viper yelled with a smirk on his face. "Training speech later, ok master." He teased, and then grunted as he struck out at another animal. "I just didn't want to be late to the dinner party." He said with a nod toward the stranded trooper. "Normally," He paused again as another strike missed his target. The animals were beginning to show more caution and not simply charge into his blades. Instead they were starting to probe his defense, and pull back when Viper would strike. "I'm the soul of caution.....RIGHT CORVUS!?" He yelled to his normal training partner, a huge smile all over his face.

Although, there was now a bit of awkwardness between them. He was trying to do his best and show a more neutral stance toward her. Some days were better than others...

[member="Kana Truden"] | [member="GM-1693"] | [member="J.Reaper"] | [member="Corvus Raaf"]

 

[Kana Truden]

Did he call her master? Kana chuckled. It was at least years left until she would be able to consider herself as such but she took it as a compliment nonetheless.

”I ain’t doubting you on that, V.” Kana yelled back. “I just don’t want to you to bite off more than you can chew.”

She took a few steps towards [member="J.Reaper"] and [member="VlPER"]. There was something about this whole situation that didn’t sit right by her. The creatures were just defending their territory, the rescue team was no better than the creatures themselves when it truly came to it. But what else was there to do? None of the present padawans had the skill to handle it any other way and as such the situation was resolved the only way available to them.

Kana reluctantly disposed of another creature and with a clumsy horizontal slash she managed to cut it in two. Its whine as its front half struggled for its life was like a punch in the gut. She hated the suffering she brought it yet knew there was no other way.

“I hope these things take the hint and run off.”

 

[icaros991]

reaper crouched and starting shooting at one of the animal that was charging at him. he hit the animal in the head so it died about one meter away from him. reaper was noticing that he was running out of ammo and asked the trooper "hey trooper!!! do you got a spare ammo clip!!?? could really need one since this bastards can take a hit" reaper looked while the jedi was fighting but noticed it was a padawan since the jedi had rushed in to battle and used his energy in the wrong way. he looked around seeing another jedi and a group of troopers. he felt glad that they found him. "lets give this bastard a piece of there own medicine" reaper stood up and started moving to the creatures and started firing at them.