On the fringes of the Outer Rim territories and famous for being the one-time location of the Rebel Alliance, Hoth is a frigid world marred with fissures created from the tidal pull of Hoth’s three moons. Blanketed in a frozen ocean, massive oceanic currents beneath the southern hemisphere are the cause of constant seismic activities that result in a constantly shifting landscape of tunnels and caves.

Buried into the side of a fissure reaching hundreds of meters into the core of the planet is a network of tunnels leading into a cave. Its sole entrance is suspended within the wall of the fissure, requiring one to rappel down the dangerous crevasse and into the tunnels; one small miscalculation could send explorers descending the rest of the unmeasured height deep within the planet’s core.

Insulated under several hundred meters of ice in all directions, the cave is protected against the gale force winds and the intense snowstorms that sweep along the planet’s surface. As a result, the cave is warmer than most of Hoth’s unforgiving cold with melting icicles dangling precariously overhead. In turn, this allows for more life to grow in addition to being a promising habitat for the hulking wampas that have been trapped this far below the surface. Beginning to thaw, it is obvious that this cave will eventually fall victim to seismic activity and disappear into the sheets of ice that surround it. Illuminating the cave’s interior with a dull blue glow, the luminous forms of lichen have taken up residence among the bones of the creatures unfortunate enough to be trapped here.

Caution must be exercised if one is to navigate the slippery slopes of the cave as melted icicles drip onto the cavern’s floor surface. In one corner of the cave, the ocean water has accumulated to form a large pool, providing sustenance to the rare lumni-spice growing within the crystalline complex, never to see the blue-white sun.

It always began this way.

In fact, Raiju Kang had been a member of the Brotherhood for long enough to be well aware that these weren’t just warning signs. It wasn’t just a general feeling anymore, it was a certainty. The Brotherhood was going to be consumed by another great war, it was just a question of when.

Reports of isolated conflicts had started to show a prelude to the war and the Nautolan knew it was just a matter of time before Brotherhood space would be harder to navigate. Times like these made for great profits for those unbound by clan loyalties and willing to smuggle goods the troops held dear. And with the added confusion surrounding the disappearance of the Grand Master; chaos would be the Nautolan’s shroud; it was a situation he simply couldn’t pass up.

Yet, these situations always lead to the most peculiar incidents.

As Raiju held tight on the line he had rappelled down, he looked to the Sergeant who hung on the line to his right.

“See that hole there? That’s the passage down.”

“Seems like an odd place for lumni-spice to grow.” The man obviously knew nothing about the production of his habit. Raiju cared little about this though, the Sergeant was a means to an end.

“Bathos, it’s the best place in the galaxy - you dolt.” The Nautolan wasn’t sure how much longer he was willing to put up with the fool. If it hadn’t been for Odan-Urr’s operations on the planet and Raiju’s former connections with them, this mission would have been impossible but that didn’t mean the Odan-Urr Sergeant had to survive the full excursion. Two of Bathos’ most trusted soldiers had joined them, and Raiju calculated that only two were needed to get the supplies back to the surface.

Lots of room to maneuver.

“Whatever, just remember our deal.”

Once they were in the passage, their descent slowed as Raiju had cautioned. Wampas were known to grow unusually large here, and rumors were Dragon Slugs liked to camp out near lumni-spice. Every sound and perceived flash of movement caused the group to pause, concerned about what threat laid around each corner. Yet, as they moved further and further into the fissure; Raiju came to suspect the sounds were coming from behind them.

The grip of the Bryar felt so familiar has the Nautolan tugged one from its holster. Grabbing the back collar of nearest trooper Bathos had brought with him, Raiju pulled the man close to his chest and drove the butt of his pistol into the side of the man’s head. Firmly holding his Bryar over the dazed man’s shoulder, Raiju took aim at Bathos

“So you ratted me out, eh?” Raiju was quick to spit out in a hushed tone.

“Raiju, I…” Bathos fumbled for words as he looked between Raiju and the direction the sounds we coming. “We have to go or we all are in fodder.”

Before Raiju could question the idiot further, the pair noticed a light on the wall behind them. Without a word, Bathos and his second took aim down the passage and pressed themselves against the walls for cover. Raiju laid the dazed man down, and retreated behind Bathos; taking over his shoulder towards the light. When a figure emerged, it was Bathos who called out in warning.

“Show us your hands-” Immediately, the call drew blaster fire from behind the figure holding the light.

“Hold your fire!” A strong female voice came from further down the passage, when the woman rounded the corner she continued; this time towards Bathos. “Sergeant, have your men lay down their arms and surrender the Nautolan. There is nowhere for you to go.”

“Like hell there isn’t…”Raiju hissed in protest. Snapping off several shots towards the woman, he saw her duck for cover and two of the bolts smashed into soldiers that had been on either side of her. Immediately, more troops filled the places of the fallen soldiers.

“Follow me!” Raiju roared as he snapped off a couple more shots and then turned to run down the passage. Behind him, Raiju heard several more shots and looked back to see Bathos shoot one of his surrendering men. A long pause followed before the Sergeant aimed the weapon at his own temple. The sound of the weapon’s discharged echoed down the passage, with Raiju following it in flight.

"Five casualties, ma'am," the soldier from the Odanite Expeditionary Force said to Alethia as she watched the remainder of the party unload her KX droid from the harness it had been winched down in. "One wounded, four dead, including Trask and Baxter."

"We'll bring the killer to justice, Lieutenant," Alethia answered sympathetically, giving the man's shoulder a firm squeeze. What was supposed to be a simple crackdown on Sergeant Bathos' two-bit smuggling ring was rapidly accumulating a body count. Now you know what dealing with the Rebellion was like, she mused ruefully. Perhaps things haven't changed so much after all. "Take the survivor back to the ship for interrogation. We need him alive and free of any more brain damage." Alethia wasn't sure if the officer had noticed the implied permission for his men to vent their frustration, but it didn't really matter.

The soldier only nodded, relaying the order to his men as Archenksova peered into the eerie blue abyss. Something's off about this. Nothing in Bathos' file indicated he was clever enough to set up a lumni-spice operation on his own. She hadn't gotten a good look at the Nautolan, and wasn't confident in her ability to tell one of the creatures from another of its kind. Nevertheless, there were only so many who had contacts in the OEF.

Alethia snapped out of her reverie at the lieutenant's voice. "Councilor, it will take some time to get reinforcements. I can hold this location until you return with —"

"Nonsense, lieutenant," she cut him off. I was killing terrorists with my bare hands when you and Pravus were children. Alethia kept the thought to herself, only replying, "I think a bit of hunting is just what I need to take my mind off the chill. Surely we can handle one drug-addled smuggler by ourselves, lieutenant."

"I will protect Councilor Archenksova with the utmost violence," the KX droid announced cheerily.

"See? We even have the droid to help." The OEF lieutenant still looked skeptical, but made no objections as he followed Alethia and the droid deeper into the cave.

The depths of the cave were disorienting, to say the least. The dim glow of the lichen and the vibrant blaze of Alethia's borrowed lightsaber bathed the surroundings in blue light, light which was scattered by trickling water and glittering ice. They kept hearing things off in the depths, but the echoing robbed them of any ability to gauge distance. The roar of some beast and the unmistakable sound of blaster fire were the only indicators that the Odanites were even on the right track.

"Ma'am, I have to insist that we pull back," the OEF lieutenant complained, trying to sound firm but respectful. He didn't quite succeed.

For her part, Alethia pulled her cloak tighter around herself as she peered into the midnight depths unfolding before her. Something still bothered her about the escapee, but they weren't making any measurable progress. If there were another exit to the surface in the depths, they'd already lost him; if not, they could just as easily lie in wait closer to the ship.

"Perhaps," she started, only to pause as something glimmered in the depths. Some small thing was spinning…

The soldier was about to say something, but it caught in his throat as the spinning lightsaber burst to life with a snap-hiss. Alethia grabbed his uniform and yanked him down as she threw herself to the cavern floor, quickly enough to keep him alive but not quickly enough to keep the orange plasma from tearing through his shoulder. Her own weapon hissed as it clattered along the ice, blade extinguished.

"Karking druk!" their assailant screamed as KX sprayed the cavern with flames.

"Suppressing fire!" the droid cried triumphantly, holding the trigger on its BT X-42 for nearly thirty seconds until Alethia finally screamed at it to stop.

Between the sudden loss of light and the steam filling the air, Archenksova could barely see beyond the soldier writhingin agony at her side. Footsteps clopped towards her at a quick pace, and the darkness was shattered by azure arcs of lightning as they slammed into the KX unit. "Supppppprezzzeeee," it managed to sputter before collapsing in a heap.

Alethia pulled herself to her feet as the Nautolan swaggered over to her, his other saber flaring to life.

"Sorry, sweets. Nothing personal," the familiar voice muttered.

She turned to face him just as the crimson blade plummeted down towards her face.

Cast with a crimson hue, the woman’s beauty was highlighted under the intensity of Raiju’s lightsaber as it drew nearer. However, the sight escaped Raiju when pain radiated over him and lead to a feeling of weightlessness. To make things worse, a roar filled his ears as the rest of his senses became blurred from a weight that struck his side.

The Nautolan soon felt his weight return to him as he slammed into the wall of the fissure and collapsed to the ground. Flakes of snow and ice powdered him, accompanying a strange grumble from behind the wall and tremble beneath the ground. Yet, the more pressing concern was what had flooded the Battlelord and now stood angrily in the centre of the fissure.

The creature was easily double the size of Raiju. Its hands were massive and were equipped with long black claws. If that wasn’t terrifying enough, the creature had crooked horns protruding from its head while its fur, which should have been as white as snow, looked stained red below its snarling jaw.

Raiju had no intention of fighting a Wampa. Unfortunately, the creature towered in between him and the exit while below scrambled the Odanite woman while the Wampa seemed drawn to the screams of the panicking lieutenant. When the wampa latched onto the soldier and drew him up by his legs, Raiju noticed the hilt of his deactivated weapon dropped from the soldier onto the ground. With a thrust of his palm forward, the Nautolan beckoned the weapon back to his grasp while behind the soaring cylinder the lieutenant was struck into the ground by the raging beast. Again a groan resonated from the ice, protesting the assault, and this time small shards of ice were shook from the ceiling as another tremble was felt under the Nautolan.

Though the wampa still hadn’t released the lieutenant's body, now corpse, despite the lack of screaming from the man...and, well, the misshapen nature of his skull.

One could spend time wondering if Wampa’s even knew what a man’s skull should look like, but Alethia didn’t seem to be one to waste such time. Instead, having made it to the rubble that has been her driod, the fierce woman showed her philosophy as she ripped the BT X-42 from its grasp and turned it on the beast.

The heat from the attack felt so intense to the Nautolan’s rubbery skin as the flame quickly ignited the Wampa’s fur. Immediately the fissure’s air was warmed by the lit, writhing beast as it flailed for several drawn out moments before it collapsed to the ground. Rubbing his eyes wildly to get them to adjust to the darkness, Raiju listened all while the ice around them roared in anger.

The tremble beneath his feet had grown to a full quack that tossed the Nautolan from side to side as he hopped around the fallen beast. When he rounded the Wampa’s corpse and came in sight of the woman hunched over her fallen comrade, the Nautolan’s flight stalled ever so slightly.

“Forget him, we have to get out of here!”

His words seemed barely audible over the growing sound of the ice shifting above them, yet Alethia was soon on the Nautolan’s heels as the pair stormed towards the exit. Smashing through streams of ice and snow that poured from the ceiling, neither of them hesitated when the other momentarily stumbled through their course. When the pair had made it within sight of the exit, Raiju turned his focus towards a warm feeling that he gathered in his feet which in turn exploded from the balls of his feet as he leapt forward; just as the full weight of the ceiling came down around them.

As the Nautolan had sailed forward, he was almost sure he had a felt the woman latch a hand on his wrist. Yet, when Raiju looked around; Alethia was nowhere to been seen.

Somehow, it still felt like something held onto Raiju’s arm.

Hanging from the edge of the exit, Raiju turned his attention back to his arm that still held him there. Back to the arm he thought Alethia had grabbed. Back to the arm, that was still embedded in the collapsed tunnel. Soon, the feeling of Alethia’s grasp faded and with it came a flood of pain that turned the Nautolan’s sight to darkness