The Hoth system is supposed to be devoid of human forms

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus arrived at Hoth. It was the sixth planet of the remote Hoth system. A desolate world covered with ice and snow, located in the Anoat sector, a rarely-traveled portion of the Outer Rim Territories. As Corvus peered through the windows of the craft she was piloting she understood why.

From one side of the galaxy to the other and she had traded one ice world for another. They’d recently picked up a distress call from a ship that had gone missing some time before. Probably a blip. Probably a fool’s errand. Do you mind going Corvus?

She didn’t mind. It was a journey that allowed her time to meditate, to read and to practice Faalo’s Cadences. And the history of the place wasn’t lost on her either. Not too many Jedi got to set foot on locations only told of in stories on holocrons. Echo Base. The Battle of Hoth.

She landed as close as she could to the crashed ship. At least that part held true. It was partially covered in snow and dangerously close to a nearby precipice but it was definitely there. Perhaps someone was still alive and had activated the distress code?

Corvus left the astromech to shut the systems down and went to get changed into something more appropriate. On Rhen Var she’d relied on her robes and use of Tapas. This time she wore a full compliment of snow gear. “You’re getting soft in your old age," she said out loud as she opened the hatch to leave the ship.

[member="Enya May"]

 

[Seth Harkness]

[member="Corvus Raaf"]


Enya did not mind the cold, though it was a bit too cold for her liking. Even so that still did not bother her to much. She'd been here for god knows how long. The Padawan was dressed as warmly as she could be, she did not want to freeze to death out here. with the hood of the jacket pulled over her head Enya sat quietly atop the sup. since she was dressed in all white it be hard to see her. Like she had done everyday she sat there and meditated, keeping her mind away from the cold. Enya had faintly heard the Ship but paid it no mind for the time being.

 

[Ayden Cater]

[member="Corvus Raaf"], [member="Enya May"]

There was actually a fair amount of activity in the system, thought not to the untrained eye. A single satellite in orbit kept silent vigil as it kept the Protectorate outpost in contact with the wider state. A small outpost to be sure, the hidden base never the less had several hundred Protectorate soldiers, technicians, and support staff along with a dozen starfighters. They picked up the unknown craft as it entered the system and immediately began tracking it. No Protectorate vessels were on the travel logs, so they knew it wasn't one of theirs. Starfighters were prepped and put on alert stand-by while the base leader watched their descent.

Once the ship had landed a pair of fighters were launched while a pair of speeders, specially insulated to prevent freezing in Hoth's bitter cold, raced out to the landing site. They were going to get some answers. If the visitors were pirates or smugglers, they'd be arrested. If they were worse... Well, Hoth had ways of dealing with that. The Protectorate had long since claimed Hoth as a part of its territories, and they had become very efficient at observing without being observed.

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus stepped out and was hit by a wall of cold. The wind was a factor here and it took a few seconds to get her balance to walk upright. And the problem with the noise was that it made hearing anything impossible.

As she walked towards the crashed ship, she had to walk close to the edge of the ravine that was near enough to be disconcerting but not close enough to worry her. But that noise of the wind was a challenge.

It sounded like a scream of someone being tortured. Elara. Corvus' mind immediately snapped back to hearing Elara's screams on Ossus. In her mind she replayed the moment the Padawan was clubbed over the head and dragged into the ship.

So preoccupied was she that she committed the cardinal sin she always reprimanded Padawans for. She lost sight of the here and now.

Moving up quickly behind her, using her ship as cover, came a Wampa. It closed the distance between them stealthily but relentlessly. Finally it jumped - from quite a distance - but when you're as big as this creature was, it allowed for a lot of kinetic energy to take your prey down.

[member="Enya May"]

 

[Seth Harkness]

Enya's eyes snapped open over the sound of the snow she had picked up on another sound. and she leaped from the top of the ship and took off into the snow, moments later she launched herself at [member="Corvus Raaf"] and knocked her away from the wampa forgetting about the drop off that was on the other side.

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus' breath was temporarily taken away by the force of the body-tackle but it was nothing compared to the hit she avoided as the wampa sailed through the space she'd occupied just a few seconds earlier.

But the hit took from the risk of being clawed by the wampa and instead pitched them over the side of the ravine. The natural reaction under these circumstances is to look to take control of the situation. A Jedi is taught to trust in the Force - and that's exactly what Corvus did. With the bundle of white on her back and arms around her neck, Corvus stretched out with the Force. The concept of falling to her death never crossed her mind - such as her faith. She grabbed a rock as they pitched over the edge and dangled there for a few moments. She was aware that the person behind her was breathing heavily and she sensed great fear associated with the height.

Closing her eyes and aware that the wampa's position, Corvus used the Force to leap back onto the main body of ice and snow. As she landed she simultaneously drew her saber but did not activate it. If the wampa wanted to attack, she'd have to defend them - but her preference was for it to find an easier prey.

"You OK?" she said to whoever it was that was still holding on to her neck. "I'd recommend you stay where where you are for a few seconds more."

[member="Enya May"] | [member="Ayden Cater"]

 

[Seth Harkness]

" I'm Alright... lets just not do that again ok?" she responded with a bit of a shaky voice. " But don't worry about me you're the one who almost became that things next meal" she said shaking her head so her sapphire blue eyes were now easily seen now from under the hood.

[member="Corvus Raaf"]

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus gave a wry smile. "I owe you one - thanks." As she had hoped the wampa was now eyeing them warily and starting to back away.

"I guess you're from the ship? Any other survivors." Corvus kept a wary eye on the surroundings and with her free hand, kept the girl behind her.

[member="Enya May"] | [member="Ayden Cater"]

 

[Seth Harkness]

" Eh Sadly no" Enya said shaking her head as she shivered a little. " Good to see another person, it feels like its been ages since i've seen anyone" she said looking around with her deep blue eyes " I'm Enya by the way" she added with a smile.

[member="Corvus Raaf"]

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus gave Enya her full attention now. She bowed formally. "Jedi Knight Raaf. I sense you too are a Jedi? What about your companions on the ship?"

As Enya replied, Corvus sensed they were soon to be joined by others. "And I thought Hoth was supposed to be devoid of humans."

[member="Enya May"] | [member="Ayden Cater"]


(OOC - Enya, please post your reply - and I'll then pause to see if the OP want to have words with us)

 

[Seth Harkness]

" yeah they were to, but i did not know them that well" Enya responded as she folded her hands behind her back " How about we move a bit away from this drop please? i dont feel like falling again" she added with a small laugh before shivering again.

[member="Corvus Raaf"] [member="Ayden Cater"]

 

[Ayden Cater]

The fighters streaked overhead, their presence sufficient to make the wampa decide that it stood a better chance of finding a meal elsewhere. They spotted the two Jedi and called back to base for orders. In the meantime, the speeders arrived on the scene. The soldiers that hopped out were clearly veterans of dealing with Hoth's frigid temperatures judging from their attire. One of them trotted over to the Jedi, apparently trusting given his lack of a raised weapon. "Are two you alright?" It was hard to hear his voice given the roar of the wind, but he didn't come too close just in case one of them decided to attack.

[member="Corvus Raaf"], [member="Enya May"]

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus stepped forward, but stowed her saber before she did so. Hands well away from the weapon, she spoke. Well, OK, she shouted.

"We're OK but there are dead on the crashed ship. I picked up a distress call and came to investigate. It came through on a Jedi frequency. I'd appreciate if we could have a hand loading our comrades onto my ship - I presume you have something suitable for me to transport them with? Not sure what you want to do with the ship though."

In a normal voice she asked Enya, "Do you know why you were on Hoth? Anything our friends here should be made aware of?"

[member="Ayden Cater"] | [member="Enya May"]

 

[Seth Harkness]

[member="Ayden Cater"] [member="Corvus Raaf"]

Enya shivers again " Eh i can't exactly remember" she said sighing as she tried pulling her coat tighter around her " ok im freezing now, been able to ignore the cold for the most part but now its worse.." she said closing her eyes for a moment to clear the show away that had blown into her eyes.

 

[Ayden Cater]

"Let me call it in." The soldier turned and tapped the outside of his helmet to activate the com. If the Jedi cared to listen in, she'd hear his shouting easily enough. "HQ, we've found the target. They seem to be Jedi. They claim to have come here in search for a crashed Jedi ship." A pause. "Yes sir. Jedi. I'm looking at two different ships, so their story checks out. They've requested aid. Survivors and KIAs need extraction." Another pause. "Yes sir, bodies. Alive and dead. They're asking about possible salvage on the downed ship... Roger. Over and out." The soldier made a hand signal to the patrolling fighters and they shot off back towards the base.

Turning back to the Jedi, the soldier gestured behind him to the other speeder which pulled up next to them. "HQ's sending out a bird for pick-up. Should only be ten minutes out. We'll have an engineer look at the crashed ship, but they'll likely recommend leaving it where it is. Hoth is not good on a ship." Out of the side of the speeder the soldier pulled out a portable thermal generator. "This should last until our ride comes in. Keep you Jedi from freezing out here."

[member="Corvus Raaf"], [member="Enya May"]

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus wanted to suggest they go to her ship, but didn't want to spook the soldier into thinking they were going to make a run for it. Accepting his offer of the generator, she also offered the young girl her jacket. Calling on the Force, Corvus used Tapas to maintain her own body temperature.

"Got any caf?" she called to the soldier.

Turning back to Enya, she said, "Don't worry, we'll get you inside soon enough." Aware of the young girl's continued apprehension, she moved her further away from the drop nearby.

[member="Ayden Cater"] | [member="Enya May"]

 

[Seth Harkness]

" i'll be glad to get out of the cold" Enya said sighing " and to get something hot and actually worth eating other then frozen dry meat." she said shaking her head. her black hair had fallen out from under her hood and into her sapphire blue eyes, that did not seem as bright and shanny as they normally did.

[member="Corvus Raaf"] [member="Ayden Cater"]

 

[Ayden Cater]

It didn't take long for the dropship to appear on the horizon. The first speeder stayed put while the second one got an early start back to base. Once the dropship landed several medics, denoted by red cross over white background markings on either shoulder, came out and began inspecting to the sole survivor while the soldiers began to task of loading the deceased into cold-rated body bags for transport. An engineer ran off to examine the downed ship but came back in short order with a simple headshake.

Once the deceased were all loaded, the soldier that had been dealing with the Jedi pair so far turned back to them. "Alright well unless you like white and ice and have a powerful need to hug a wampa, I suggest we all head back to the base. The commander will want to debrief you two. In the meantime we'll see about getting the survivor here checked out and fed."

[member="Corvus Raaf"], [member="Enya May"]

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus nodded to the soldier. "Of course. To be expected. Lead on."

Putting her arm around Enya, Corvus smiled. "Don't worry. We'll have you back to civilisation soon enough." As they followed the soldier, Corvus asked Enya. "So where are you usually based? And who is your Masyer, or was he...?" She looked towards the body bags and hoped it wasn't the case. She'd lost her own Master when she was 14 and it took her a couple of years to get over it.

[member="Ayden Cater"] | [member="Enya May"]

 

[Seth Harkness]

[member="Corvus Raaf"] [member="Ayden Cater"]

" Well... To be honest i don't have a Master..." She said sighing as she shivered again while walking along side her " i'll be glad to get out of this damn cold, i dont even know how long i've been out here"