Walking in a Winter Wonderland

[Anastasia Rade]

Hoth

Snow was a novelty to Anastasia. She had read about it in books however had never had the chance to actually experience it for herself. It was something that the young seer had always wanted to do despite what others said about it being cold and dangerous. It was something that everyone ought to experience once in their life plus how bad could it really be? She had seen holoflicks of people having fun in the snow making forts and all sorts of fun things. She wanted to do that too so she ignored those whom told her it was too dangerous and set off on an adventure of her own in the land of snow.

The young seer's boots crunched in the snow as she walked in the snow towards a cave she saw in the distance. As she walked the young woman shivered pulling her fluffy white winter coat around her more if possible as the wind hollered around her. Her whole body was freezing and she was looking for some shelter until the wind died down. There would be no playing in the snow with the weather the way it currently was.

Sighing she trudged on hoping the weather would clear up soon as this was not what she had imagined her trip to a snow covered planet to be like. She wanted to play in a winter wonderland not freeze to death in one.

[member="Adenn Gra'tua"] [member="Kaggak"]

 

[Durotar]

Ahhh... snow. One of my favorite things in the universe. I simply sat down on the largest drift I could find and waited for people to pass. There was somebody in a gigantic white fur coat walking towards me. That was.... probably bad. The drift I was on was a clear fifty miles of any fort around. My corvette was parked right down the slope. Whoever that was must've been freezing their ass off. I waved at the person hoping they'd actually see me rather than go snowblind as soon as they looked up.

The person clearly couldn't see me. I began to walk in the drection of the white-clothed person.

I reached the person.... Just as they collapsed into the snow.

[member="Anastasia Rade"]

 

[HK-36]

[member="Anastasia Rade"], [member="Kaggak"],


Whoosh of air, the racing of the snow on the wind, a blizzard was gathering as it was usual on Hoth.

But there was something else heard above the hissing, snarling wind.

Engines. Multiple engines. In the desolation and cold of the Hoth it was not hard to spot an organic, especially with advanced sensors, two just made a job easier, the same applied to incoming ships. Anyway, to Anastasia and Kaggak the whooshing would only intensify as the speeders closed in straight on their position.


Finally, a sight would break cover as the speeder sped by them, visible, clear in its metal sheen and the glow of engines. However, what they would be able to see was that there was no rider on it.

A tactic employed by the synthetic members of the Ropo Guard, the Ranger Garrison stationed on the surface of Hoth, drop from the speeder once closing in on the cover and disappear in the snow cover just to silently crawl closer to their target's position and then stand up, breaking from the cover as the speeder, guided wirelessly, turns around and shuts off, waiting for its summon.

Anyway, that was what was happening there, and if Anastasia and Kaggak followed the speeder's movement with their eyes they would be distracted enough to not notice a slender armor-covered shape break from the snow and stand up behind them, if they did not take the bait they would just see the armored being stand up, which was creepy enough.

The figure was glad in armor from head to toe, white robes, garbs, and cloak adorning his body, his voice stoic yet somewhat warm as it spoke.


"Hoth Ranger Service, is everything alright here?"

Although there was nothing to indicate so from his appearance, the voice showed his nature clear. A droid. Little did the couple knew, it was HK-36 himself, on another patrol on Hoth to watch over the local Ropo population.


From the cover of snow and wind few more speeders appeared, the rest of the patrol, this time with riders on them.

 

[Durotar]

I looked up at what appeared to be a cloaked droid.

"Nothing too bad, ranger. Just a bit too cold for the lady. She's lucky I parked my ship as close as I did, actually. She'll be okay if she's indoors for a bit. Thanks for the concern, though."


There was something. A small twitch in the snow. Not a definite enemy. But maybe an extra outrider or two. I moved my eyes slighlty under the hood I was wearing. I decided to try a little bluff.

"I certainly didn't do anything bad enough to merit the extra friends, sir. Not that more isn't better on this wonderful snowball. I just think it's a little impolite to try and shoot a guest."


I grinned a little. My mouth was shadowed by my hood, so the droid probably couldn't see it. But even if it did, the grin was totally genuine. Hoth was one of my favorite places ever, and the snow was like an old friend to me.


[member="HK-36"] [member="Anastasia Rade"]

 

[Jim Noalbrorn]

Holoflick actor, Jim Noalbrorn sat lazily on the seat inside of his rented transportation. Finally, the ship came to a halt on the ground and the large ramp slowly came down. Jim climbed to his feet, slowly making his way over to the ramp. He quickly headed down, mumbling to himself the moment he had stepped into a snow.

"MOTHERFETHER OF A KARKING SON OF A SHUTTA OF A MOTHERFETHING NERF-HERDER!" Jim shouted angrily as the cold winds flew into him. "OUTTA ALL THE PLACES WE COULD'VE FETHING FILMED! 'Oh hey Jim, we're changing course your heading over to Hoth now, thanks' is what the fething pilot told him. Marching through the cold snow he began to scream angrily before falling to his knees.


"You know what this means, right? I'm going to have to kill you", He said, slowly pulling himself up to his feet. "I'VE NEVER BEEN THIS KARKING COLD IN MY ENTIRE FETHING LIFE!" Jim barked at his bodyguard, [member="Atticus Maroo"].

 

[Atticus Maroo]

Atticus loved the cold hehe he was use to it.

He held a warm coat and walked do2n the ramp, he could only laugh at what his boss was saying.

"Quit your whining sir here's a coat." Atticus said before putting the coat over the actor's shoulders.

He took his sunglasses out of his suit pocket and put it over his eyes.

"Eh boss...who's smart ass idea was it to film on Hoth...I think you got the place mixed up.

He walked forward and stepped on to the snow. Over his suit he wore a black trench coat. He grabbed a cigarette and pulled his lighter out to light it.

He ignite the lighter and lit the cigarette, then put the lighter away.

"I tell ya this no lace is cold as heck, now where is the spot." He said to the actor.

[member="Jim Noalbrorn"]

 

[Jim Noalbrorn]

"Atticus...the directions are in the-" However, the actor was interrupted as the ship took off, flying off into the galaxy. "Ship", The actor finished, sliding his arms into the coat. "Great, we are going to freeze to death...ain't that nice?" The actor asked, taking a few steps forward. "All because we had the film the movie Bantha Battle", The actor said, turning to [member="Atticus Maroo"]. "WHY DID I FETHING SIGN UP FOR A MOVIE TITLED 'BANTHA BATTLE' WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME? 'BANTHA BATTLE' ARE YOU FETHING SERIOUS!" He screamed, pacing back and forth angrily.

"Feth 'Bantha Battle' also feth the man who came up with the title", The actor said, spitting in the snow. "Did you ever think you would've died like this? This reminds me of the holomovie called 'Snow is cold' do you remember that movie? Well, I do and guess what...I WAS FETHING COLD WHEN WE WERE FILMING THAT TOO!" The actor continued to scream, angrily punching the ground. "You know one of my best movies was 'Blood splatter' you know? I hated that movie, too."

The actor's rambling had barely made any sense and it seemed as if he just talked to hear his own karking voice.

 

[Adenn Gra'tua]

Today was a strange day for Adenn, as he wasn't pursuing a bounty or being shot at -or shooting anyone for that matter- he was just on the planet Hoth, a giant snowball planet with the dangerous Wampas as one of its few inhabitants, other than snow. The bounty hunter was a distance from his ship after having been walking for a good ten minutes, and his plans to return back to it were delayed due to the man overhearing engines, multiple engines, Adenn suspected they were either some explorers looking for a cave or some people looking to sell something illegal, either way, he was interested. Another short walk before two silhouettes nearby, looking as if they were conversing about something lost to Adenn's ears "Hello!" he yelled, with his voice amplified by the outer speakers of his helmet, a moment later his right hand raised up to wave at the two "Everything alright here?" it really didn't need asking, but it gave Adenn a reason to approach them, and so he didn't have to yell much more,

[member="Anastasia Rade"]
[member="Kaggak"]
[member="HK-36"]

 

[Anastasia Rade]

"Oh," she turned around to the smiling ranger. "I believe everything is alright," she sheepishly grinned. The last thing than Anastasia wished to tell them was that she was cold, lost and that this was not her expectation when it came to snow. The young girl not only knew she would look stupid saying such but she would feel stupid all the same. Though, he was a ranger and would probably know the best places to go. She needed to risk stupid in order to get what she wanted.

"Would you happen to know where it's less windy?" He got stupid questions all the time, right?

She spun a little to see another addition to the party standing out in the freezing weather and waved herself. Anastasia didn't know him personally but the young seer could spot the typical Mandolrian armor out by now. She was always safe around them. "I'm just out here exploring nothing major."

[member="Adenn Gra'tua"]
[member="Kaggak"]
[member="HK-36"]

 

[Durotar]

I looked down at the woman.

"It's less windy over this drift. I actually parked my ship there."

The drift I was indicating was pretty big. Larger than my corvette, for sure.

"If you want, I actually have heat and food and stuff. All of you should come along. At least you won't freeze your asses off."

[member="Anastasia Rade"] [member="Adenn Gra'tua"] [member="HK-36"]

 

[HK-36]

[member="Kaggak"], [member="Anastasia Rade"], [member="Adenn Gra'tua"],


The droid clad in armor looked to Kaggak,

"We are on a routine patrol, which is done in groups, on the account of how many ways Hoth can kill a lone wanderer. And we have not aimed a shot at you yet, we have snipers in the snow for that."

HK would look to Anastasia before glancing to Kaggak once more,

"Speaking of guests, this is a protected national park planet, you need to register your arrival and departure with the Ranger Garrison so we can check you for any poaching. And you need a proper survival license to go out into wilderness without a guide. I presume you do not have the proper paperwork for either of those?"

The machine would drone on in slight irritation, he was never a fan of the Vong, he may have warm up to them if they would only stop attacking him every chance they got, plus he already faced enough poaching attempts on Hoth lately, especially aimed at the fuzzy cute little Ropos he has sworn to protect.


Finally he was able to direct his attention to Anastasia,

"Less windy on Hoth? Well the closes such shelter is under a ranger's cloak, I believe we may have a spare if you are really so ill prepared, as to exploring-"

He motioned with his head to the speeders behind him, some indeed seemed to be carrying supplies, he would continue, looking up to quickly scan their surroundings through the cover of snow and wind,

"-You could always join the patrol on one of our speeders, we will be passing by major landmarks on the current route, and then we will be coming back to Garrison Seven where you can grab something warm to eat and drink. I suppose we know the lay-out of the planet the best, since we are the ones protecting it."


Once more the Ranger Machine would look to Kaggak,

"Negative, we need to be moving on with the patrol. But we shall sent another patrol to your ship."

He would look in the direction of the drift the creature indicated, doing a quick scan,

"Just to make sure the arrival of your ship and your piloting license have been registered."

HK would turn to look at Kaggak directly,

"I hope that is alright."

He would quip in his mechanical monotone,



"Everything alright here?"

The droid would wave to Adenn, looking still at the Vong being,

"Ranger patrol encountering unsuspected guests. No hostilities yet."

Machine quipped in an answer.

 

[Durotar]

[member="HK-36"] [member="Anastasia Rade"]

"Why you smart-mouthed mechanical bastard..."

I grinned.

"I actually have a survival license. And a license to land on Hoth. I've been here before. Go ahead and check me for poaching, though."

I had a sudden thought.

"Is it illegal to keep Ropos as pets?"

 

[Adenn Gra'tua]

"Ranger patrol encountering unsuspected guests. No hostilities yet." Was Adenn's answer, which made him a small bit more curious to who these "unexpected guests" were, not that it was really his business to be sticking his noes in these kind of things, but he saw it as the only thing to be done as of the moment so he continued forward.

"I guess that would make me unexpected too, wouldn't it." Adenn said to [member="HK-36"] "Do you need to check my arrival time, 'cos if you do then I think I registered for arrival about... Twelve minutes ago, and departure time should be forty minutes from that time. After the sentence Adenn stopped next to the group, looking them over as he could now make out their features from this distance, he looked at a being clad in a cloak and armor -whom he presumed to be the ranger- before speaking again "By the way, you have any idea when this storm is gonna let up?" the bounty hunter asked, his right hand moving towards his belt before he hooked his thumb in it.

[member="Anastasia Rade"]
[member="Kaggak"]
[member="HK-36"]