The Worst of Luck

[Venris Helion]

[member="Anastasia Rade"]

“I just always get the most exotic places,” Venris said through chattering teeth, “Don’t I?”

The young mercenary was trudging through the snowy wastelands that covered Hoth, one of the least hospitable places in the galaxy. How had he come to be stuck in such a godless void of freezing death, might you ask?

He had been on a transport with other mercenaries coming back from a job when the ship had been hit by the very people they had stolen an object from. Venris had gotten to an escape pod, had very likely been the only person to get away and had landed here when his pod’s computer told him that there had been an unknown sensor signature a few miles away.

On the bright side he might find rescue soon and be the only one to collect the reward money.

On the down side...

“On the down side I’m stuck in this kriffing blizzard!” He shouted, his voice drowned out by the howling winds anyways. “Why do I always have to take the risky jobs? Why?! This cannot get any worse!” He kicked a pile of snow away...only to realize it was not snow he had just kicked but a very solid and furry hide of a creature that was rising up and turning its bulky form to glare down at the human.

“...well...” Venris reached for his vibro blade’s hilt as the Wampa let out a roar. “I definitely walked right into that.”

 

[Anastasia Rade]

Ana had thought that doing research on the snowy planet of Hoth couldn't really be all that bad. She had after all been though much worse as a slave so this would be a piece of cake. If she worked on her special projects here who would come? Ana doubted there was anyone that interested in her or what she was trying to do. It was all purely for herself anyway.

Pulling the pink hood over the top of her head Ana trudged out onto the snowy tundra. A blizzard she knew was coming but by her calculation she ought to miss it. She needed a break and a nice walk out in the snow seemed to be just the ticket.

She was used to the warm weather found on Mandalore so this was quite different but in a good way. Ana didn't mind the cold all that much and the thought of one day actually it would be nice to take Aaden here. This thing called building a snowman sounded rather fun and something she may have done as a child had she ever had the chance to be one.

Before she knew it the wind and snow began to kick up swirling around her making it almost impossible to see anything but while she may not be able to see Ana could hear a loud roar. As she was about to turn and run she thought threw the snow she saw the outline of an actual person.

A sigh escaped her lips as she pulled out her knife and ran to go help. She couldn't just leave this person out here alone. The rifle she wouldn't use as it was hard enough to see out here. Ana didn't want to possibly shot someone.

Getting closer she could see its backside but only because it was huge. Here goes nothing, she said to herself as she ran towards it the best she could in a blizzard stabbing it in the back which only caused it to roar louder. All she did was upset it.

[member="Venris Helion"]

 

[Venris Helion]

Venris drew his blade out as the Wampa took one step towards him...right before a colourful figure stabbed it right in the back. The massive beast roared in pain and spun around, clumsily swinging at its attacker. Immediately shaking off his shock, Venris charged in and buried his vibro blade deep into the right knee of the Wampanoag from behind, making the tip poke through the knee cap and causing the Wampa to lose its balance and begin to fall over.

Venris quickly rolled away and pulled two of his knives from beneath his coat while glancing between the wounded Wampanoag and the pink clad figure that had come to his rescue. The Wampanoag snarled defiantly, intent on fighting to the death, and swung one arm at the pink clad warrior.

[member="Anastasia Rade"]

 

[Anastasia Rade]

It was good to see whomever this person was knew how to fight. Not that Ana needed the help but it was always better than someone whom was scared of their own shadow. Now that she thought about it Ana doubted a chicken would ever come here. It was too rugged for them. Hopefully when all of this was over they could not try to kill each other.

As the Wampa too a swipe at her Ana dropped to the ground and rolled towards the creature as it hobbled around on one foot. Taking advantage of the fact that she was near the foot he was on she stabbed him with the second knife in the foot that she had pulled of her coat. Ana had quite a few weapons under her sleeve as one could never be too careful.

A loud roar in pain was heard as the creature fell to the snow covered tundra with a loud thud. Bouncing back up Ana's glance was to [member="Venris Helion"].

They needed to get out of here and even though she didn't exactly trust him it would be good for them to stick together. It was safer that way and she could light the way for them.

 

[Venris Helion]

Venris jerked his vibro blade free of the fallen Wampa and cleaned the blade on the beast's fur before sliding it into the sheathe on his back, ignoring the pitiful groans of pain emanating from the animal. With that settled he pulled his hood back up to cover his face and faced the person who had come to his assistance: a young woman, her features mostly hidden by the blizzard, save for her pink color scheme in clothing.

"Thank you for the assistance," He bowed his head in gratitude before putting on a smile as he met the woman's gaze. "I hate to mooch, but I don't suppose that I could trouble you for transportation off of this frigid ball of ice, could I? I'm rather...well...stranded."

 

[Anastasia Rade]

"I have shelter about half a mile back. We can talk from there. The blizzard is only going to get worse." She lightly smiled at him though the snow as she motioned for him to follow her as she turned back to where she had come from. Ana could only assume that he was following her as she didn't look back behind her.

If he did decide to follow her Ana would take him to the base that she had found at the bottom of a mountain. It wasn't much but it would keep them out of the cold.

The base itself was built as a secret hideaway from the Empire she could only guess. Maybe an old rebel base? Ana didn't know nor was she really that concerned at the moment whom it used to belong to. It had looked abandoned to her so she cleaned up the place to semi-use.


[member="Venris Helion"]

 

[Venris Helion]

[member="Anastasia Rade"]

Venris followed the woman through the curtain of snow all the way back to the base. It had likely been the source of the signal that his pod had picked up upon crashing a few miles back, and was a welcome sight to the half frozen mercenary. Upon finally passing through the front entrance and being out of the blinding and freezing environment of Hoth the young man let out a relieved sigh. "I cannot thank you enough for this, my lady."

He pulled his hood off and began to look around at the base interior, wondering if he might see any signs in the architecture that would indicate just who had built it originally.

 

[Anastasia Rade]

"It's quite alright, I couldn't just let you freeze out there." Stated as she lowered her hood and took off her pink coat. Ana may be helping him but that didn't mean she still wasn't wary of him. It was just part of her nature to always be looking over her shoulder. She was pretty sure that he meant no harm but if he did she certainly was ready.

Still, she needed to be a good host. Being cautious didn't mean being rude. "Can I get you something warm to drink or eat? We have to wait for this to pass before we are able to do anything."

The place was cosy enough for what the purpose was. All they really wished to do was get out of the cold.

[member="Venris Helion"]

 

[Venris Helion]

[member="Anastasia Rade"]

Venris began to remove his blades one at a time and set them, in their sheathes, down on a crate that served as a table. When he heard her offer, he shook his head and set his own coat over the collection of weapons. "I'm quite alright, but thank you." He looked towards her. "My name is Venris Helion, at your service. Might I ask your name, m'lady?" Venris didn't need any acting lessons to sound grateful or polite; if this woman had meant him any harm he couldn't feel any such intent radiating off of her, and she was being both a good host and rescuer so far.

 

[Anastasia Rade]

"Anastasia Rade, it's nice to meet you." She couldn't help but notice his collection of weapons as he took off his coat. It was quite impressive for a gaunt to an Ice planet. She wondered what they were all for but kept it to herself. Ana had a nice collection of her own weapons.

"If I may ask, what are you doing here? I don't get many visitors as this isn't some high class resort destination." She grinned at him as she took a seat motioning for him to do the same.

She suspected him to ask her the same question which was fine. As she would give him a truthful answer. She had nothing here to hide from anyone.

[member="Venris Helion"]

 

[Venris Helion]

[member="Anastasia Rade"]

Venris smiled and bowed his head. "A sincere pleasure to meet you, Lady Anastasia."

When she asked him his reasons for being on Hoth he chuckled. "Well, that's a funny story, but I guess I'm not exactly pressed for time."

Venris sat down and began to sum up the events of the past few hours in a nut shell. "There I was on a flight back to Correlia with a group of like minded individuals, colleagues of mine, fresh from a job and ready to be paid. The next thing I know our ship was being shot at and I had to hop into a pod. I crashed on this rock of all places and the computer alerted me to a signal coming from here, so I followed it and found you...and the Wampa, I certainly can't complain about the former though."

He leaned back and relaxed a bit, his body no longer shivering visibly from the near hour walk in the cold outside. "What of you, Lady Anastasia? You seem equally well equipped, too much for a leisurely winter stroll on this world."

 

[Anastasia Rade]

She wasn't used to anyone bowing to her least of all being called a lady. It had always been the other way around her bowing to her master and doing their bidding. As weird as this turn around was Ana couldn't help but kind of like it. It could have been her had her father not died after all her had been a Moff. She firmly believed that she would have followed in his footsteps. As it was she enjoyed being in charge and had really stepped into her role amongst the Mandalorians.

"Please, call me Ana. I'm here for some peace and quite away from it all. We all need a vacation from time to time, right?" She smiled leaning back on the couch. "The weapons are for protection after all you can never be too careful. The Galaxy is a very dangerous place, Mr. Helion." Case and point the Wampa that had tried to kill them both. It was important to always be prepared.

She couldn't help but be curious as to what type of job he had come back from. Could he possibly be a bounty hunter? "Like bounty hunters?" He wouldn't know it but most of her family were in one way or another bounty hunters.

[member="Venris Helion"]

 

[Venris Helion]

[member="Anastasia Rade"]

"That is...one of my usual jobs, yes." Venris admitted. "However this was more of a retrieval mission, the retrieval of something highly valued by my client." He patted his pocket. "Nothing dangerous, I made sure of that, simply something that he wants really badly and is willing to pay for it. Without my compatriots however it. Seems that I might be collecting the fully reward myself."

He did not fear telling her all of this because the object was a data crystal that required a unique passcode to acces.

"Putting aside work and safety, Ana," He continued, calling her by her prefered name. "How long have you been here for your...vacation?" He asked.

(Switched to my iPad, so my posts will lack color for sentences and it might come out oddly structured from time to time. Just a heads up.)

 

[Anastasia Rade]

"Interesting, lucky you. I do side jobs myself but only when the pay is good and I'm interested in what it is I'm retrieving." His answer made her wonder if he had gotten rid of them on purpose or if it really was a freak accident. Mandalorians she knew had each other's backs but smugglers and the like she wasn't too sure. Ana had heard stories of comrades turning on each other. He didn't look the type however she had been surprised before by people.

"It's only been a few days but I do miss home a little. The hustle and bustle of the market place, the greenery and even the sand. It is good to visit such places but I find I do always enjoy coming back home. Do you need a lift to get your item to your client? I'm happy to give you a lift."

She didn't expect any money in return for this. Ana only wanted to help plus she was kind of interested in what he was hiding.

[member="Venris Helion"]

 

[Venris Helion]

[member="Anastasia Rade"]

"Your home sounds a good deal better than this place," Venris said, and then grinned as she offered him a ride.

He hadn't even needed to do a mind trick for this. Score!

"Lady Ana, I would owe you my life and more if you did that for me." He said before producing the data Crystal from his pocket and lightly tossed it into the air once before catching it and letting her see it. "And if you desire, I could talk my client into giving you a fair cut of the reward money."

 

[Anastasia Rade]

"It is very nice on Mandalore." She lightly smiled as she watched him throw the rather beautiful crystal in the air before catching it again.

"Do you know what it does? What it's for?" She questioned even before considering taking his offer of half the amount he was to get for it. A crystal like that could be worth a lot or even be worth something to her cause.

He was being fair enough to her and he had only just met her. It seemed that Az was right there still were good people out there that were not Vode. It seemed perhaps that Venris was one of those good people.

"Once this blizzard dies down I'll take you and we can discuss all of it."


[member="Venris Helion"]

 

[Venris Helion]

[member="Anastasia Rade"]

"It's a data crystal, so the most it can do is store info and make sure that nobody can try hacking into it like they would with a data card or a computer drive." Venris replied before pocketing the crystal. "I can't say for sure what's on it, only that if they were willing to pay enough credits for one of these and if my client was willing to pay even more then it has to be important."

As far as Venris could deduce, Ana's offer seemed genuine, devoid of the subtle conspiracies that most would have if invited into such a deal with a stranger. She could have asked him for more details, tried to take the crystal herself...but instead here she was actually obliging to go out of her way and help him. If he did not have the power of empathy he would be suspicious.

Pleased with Ana's honesty and altruism, Venris smiled and rose to his feet, gracefully bowing at the waist with one arm resting across his front in a semi-formal bow. "And thank you again for your charity, Lady Ana. Most would not be so willing to help as you, given the general affliction of paranoia and greed that seems to be ravaging the galaxy these days."

 

[Anastasia Rade]

Ana wondered what was on it but it wasn't her place to ask such things. It was best for them both to collect the bounty and go on their way. What would she wanted with that anyway? The young woman had bigger things to worry about.

"I know quite well how cruel the galaxy is. People only are out for themselves and don't care about their fellow man. It's a shame really." She was jaded by a lot of things however she tried her best to not show it. Everyone deserved a chance to really show the type of person they were.

"On our way Mr. Helion you can tell me more about yourself. I am quite interested in hearing more about you."

[member="Venris Helion"]

 

[Venris Helion]

[member="Anastasia Rade"]

"I look forward to that, Lady Ana, more so in getting to know a delightful woman like you," Venris said sincerely.

He glanced towards the doors of the base. "I think that our furry friend has somehow followed us."

That wampa was persistent, that's for sure. It had dragged its bleeding carcass on one good leg through the blizzard and was hammering on the outer doors, not making so much as a dent in its present state.

"It won't survive long, not even in its natural environment." Venris rose to his feet and walked over to his collection of weapons. "It would be cruel to let it slowly die the way it is and even if we had the ability or inclination to heal it then we'd still have one angry wampa to deal with, better to just give it a quick ending now." He checked his vibro blade.

 

[Anastasia Rade]

Ana did have the gift of healing but she wasn't sure a good use of that would be on the Wampa. Her kindness for the creature would only bite her in the butt as he was right they would only have an angry creature on them. She didn't need to tap into animal friendship to know that much. Telling him that she was force sensitive didn't really bother her. She could see them being friends even after this.

"I agree, I wouldn't want to see suffer more than it already has." She nodded as she grabbed her blade to follow him out there. "I'll come too on the off chance that it brought friends and than we can take off." The wind had died down from what she could hear and the only thing left was this pounding sound.

Now that Ana thought about it she realized he never told her where it was they would be headed. It didn't matter but once again she was curious but didn't bother on asking as she would figure that out later.

Opening the door she didn't see the Wampa right away but she did see the blood soaked snow which showed it had begun looking for a different way in. "You go one way and I go the other?"

[member="Venris Helion"]