Mission 4: "A Chilling Discovery"

Epilogue Supplemental 4.1


"Freezer Burn" By Korey Robinson

Part 1


The cold, harsh winds of Hoth blew wildly across the frozen wasteland as a terrible storm threatened to bury everything in sight. Snow whipped at speeds of 100 miles an hour, and the temperature dropped to 20 below. It was a night of darkness and terror. The moon and stars were cloaked by the fierce storm, and even if someone were to produce a light the snow would shroud it in seconds.

This storm, however, blew far to the east of the stranded transport ship of the former senatorial aid Tianti, the Anomid that had taken the Supreme Chancellor’s Special Task Force from Darga Prime so that they could meet with Senator Prin Ay’laya, Brin’tac’s former employer. The dense clouds could be seen even from the hill that Brin’tac, Geldar, Satchal, Lialla, and Tarrsk were standing on. The hill was just north of the ship and mountain that had been the trap that Wraith had used to strand them on the icy planet.

“Do you think the storm will hit us?” asked Brin’tac as he and the others crouched next to Lialla with the macro-binoculars.

“It’s difficult to say,” she said grimly. “The winds are whipping fiercely in every direction. Who knows which way it will go.”

The stranded members of the Task Force and the Daragald’s Blight mercenary unit had been stranded now for nearly a week, and so far their repairs had gone much better than they’d expected. However, if the storm they now saw approaching were to hit them who knew what sort of disaster that would cause. They had dug the ship out of the snow and had managed to get it into an upright position, but all that work would mean nothing if the blizzard buried them.

“Do you think we could move the ship somehow?” wondered Satchal.

“I don’t know if that’s possible,” said Geldar. “Par’kiss said that the ship might not have enough power to get us off Hoth as it is. If we move it we may not have the energy again to lift off.”

“Can the Force help?” asked Lialla as she glanced up at the young Jedi.

“I doubt we could stop a storm that strong or even divert it,” he admitted. “Even if we could I wouldn’t really know how.”

“We’d better get back with our report,” Brin’tac suggested. “Maybe the others will have some ideas.” The others agreed and with faces downcast and the situation looking hopeless, the small group stood and slowly made their way back to the ship.





The lounge of the ship was crowded with the twenty-four refugees as they gathered around in the now spacious area to discuss the storm and the repairs. Par’kiss, the Devaronian technician of Daragald’s Blight, told them that the ship’s hull was still far too damaged to withstand the onslaught of the storm if it struck. If they only had a few more days they might be able to get it totally reinforced to withstand the heavy snow. As it stood there were several patches of the hull that would totally buckle and break under the pressure of even a few feet of snow.

“Isn’t it possible, though, that if we get the hull to withstand the blizzard we could always use the ship’s engines to melt the snow once we’re ready for lift-off?” asked Jarith, a human soldier and scout who was a member of Daragald’s Blight. He was a tall, thin man with a crew cut and a face that looked as if it had been in one too many brawls. He wasn’t very bulky, but he was a well-defined individual. He had bright blonde hair and blue eyes, and he was generally a good-natured kind of guy, always looking on the bright side of things.

“It is possible,” replied Par’kiss. “If the engines were warmed up they would melt the snow enough to thaw the snow behind the ship and underneath. However, we would have no way of thawing the snow above the ship. That snow would pack down on us, and it would take a great deal of the ship’s energy to lift off.”

“Then we have little choice,” said Gariss, the gray-skinned Barabel leader of Daragald’s Blight and the one who had assumed command over the entire situation. He was large and muscular, and the jagged scar across his face and on his bare arms indicated he’d seen many battles. He wore a blaster carbine on his back and a blaster pistol at his right hip, and a vibroblade was sheathed at his left hip. A bandoleer was slung from right shoulder to left hip, and on it he carried six grenades and a few thermal detonators. “If that storm swings our way we will have to move the ship. Since the engines do work we’ll have to move to a safer location.”

“But if that happens we might not have enough power to lift off and get off world,” Par’kiss informed them. “The engines would suck a great deal of our power.”

“We have no choice,” said Gariss. “If we don’t move and the storm comes this way we’ll have no chance of getting off alive, am I right?”

No one argued. If the blizzard hit they were stuck for good. There would be no way to repair the ship if they were all buried inside, and there would be no way they could lift off. They had to avoid the storm. It was the only way.

“Could anything else go wrong on this trip?” Satchal remarked, and several individuals glanced in his direction as if he had just jinxed them all. Satchal just ignored the looks and shook his head in frustration.

“Then we’ll need to find a source of power,” said Par’kiss. “We might be able to conserve our energy if we don’t warm up the ship’s engines before moving it, but even if we do that it will sap a lot of power to get us far away from the storm. We have to find another source of energy if we’re going to hope to get to outer space.”

“I just wish we could get this over with now,” remarked Tso unhappily. He had been dreading the trip off the planet since everyone would be counting on him to do the job. He’d be flying without guidance systems, and that meant a very difficult ascent through the atmosphere. If he didn’t fly the ship just right he might burn them all up. Since he’d had several mishaps in the past while flying he had some serious doubts that he could achieve this. However, since he was the only pilot they had he was their only hope.

“Where are we going to find this power source?” asked Brin’tac. “Do you have any suggestions?”

Par’kiss thought about this a moment. “I’m not sure. There is likely to be no technology on this planet, and I’m not sure how we could possibly power the ship up unless we have some sort of energy cells.”

“Is it possible to recharge our energy cells in the storm?” said Hodge, a weasel-like human of Daragald’s Blight who was the communications officer. He had squinted eyes and a darker complexion, and his dark hair fell in a wiry, tangled mess. He also tended to walk more hunched over with his hands clasped to his chest. He wore an assortment of devices all over his dark gray combat vest and at his belt. “The winds might create a lot of power.”

“The winds would also destroy anything we might use to generate the power we’d need,” Lialla told them. “Those winds are strong, and we don’t have the time to both patch and reinforce the hull and create something to channel the wind.”

“She’s right,” said Par’kiss. “It would take me some time to build something to channel the power of the wind.”

“Then we either need to find another power source or some sort of shelter against the storm,” said Gariss. “We should do some additional scouting.”

Chik’a’timin disagreed. He was a Carvrigan, a being with large, bulbous eyes, a thin, flat face, a long, thin neck, and a thin, frail looking body. His head was shaped in a triangular fashion with the point being the nose and mouth and the top and back of the head being a point of the base of the triangle. His eyes were black orbs that stuck out on either side of his flat head, and his nose was nothing more than to slits on either side. His mouth also appeared as a long slit, and when he spoke his head seemed to split open in half. His voice was high pitched and squeaky, and he had a very thick accent. He was a security specialist and a pickpocket, and he often got the unit out of sticky situations. “What are we going to find on this wretched planet? We could search for a decade and never find the power we’ll need or a shelter near enough that we could drag the ship to. Let’s face it, we can’t fly the ship anywhere or we’ll suck the power we need for lift-off, and we don’t have the manpower to drag it anywhere. If that storm hits us we’re doomed.”

Marks agreed with Chik’a’timin. He was a human scout who had never seemed to develop into manhood. His body was that of a thirteen-year-old boy. He was about five feet tall with dark hair and brown eyes. He wore a dark blue combat vest and black slacks, and he was armed with two blasters, one on each hip. In spite of his size he was a very skilled scout, and his skill with blasters was exceptional. “I’ve been out and scanned the whole area. There’s nothing for kilometers.”

“Still,” said Geldar. “We have to do something just in case that storm does come. Satchal, Tarrsk, Lialla, Brin’tac, and I will go out searching to see what we can find.”

Satchal glanced over at him with a raised eyebrow. He hated Geldar’s attitude sometimes. He always acted like he was their leader. “Thanks for asking,” he muttered sarcastically just loud enough for Geldar to hear. “I do so love these excursions into the deep freeze.”

Geldar frowned at him. “Sorry, Satchal,” he replied. “It’s just that you’re a Jedi and can handle the cold better than others. Your skills will be perfect in helping us find anything out there.”

“Besides,” Tarrsk put in with a grin. “He didn’t think you were such a sniveling little baby.”

The words stung, and Satchal had had quite enough of Tarrsk always taking Geldar’s side. “Hey! No need to hurl insults,” he said heatedly. “I was just trying to make a point.”

“Your point is well received I am sure,” Brin’tac replied crisply to end the conversation. “What do you think, Gariss?”

“Sounds good,” the Barabel replied. “We’ll need everyone else to remain here to take care of repairs.”

But the heated words continued, fueled now by Brin’tac’s own attitude. “Why do you always pick on Geldar when he tries to lead us wisely but when it comes to useless over here you never seem to argue?”

Brin’tac was stunned by the words and taken aback. Tso fell back a step in disbelief. Lialla gasped and put her hand to her mouth. Geldar shot Tarrsk an inquisitive glance. Nyarchagga’s eyes widened in hopes that a fight would break out. Satchal’s anger flared up and his eyes narrowed on the Trandoshan. “Useless?” he shot back angrily. “What about…”

But Tarrsk cut him off. “And you! We wouldn’t even be in this mess if that stupid weakling you called master had been able to take out a minor Dark Jedi.”

Satchal’s lightsaber ignited and Tarrsk whipped out his blaster rifle within a split second of Satchal’s move. Satchal was about to lunge at the Trandoshan when a blaster bolt nearly took off the Padawan’s head. Everyone froze.

“Enough!” Gariss roared. “If you two don’t stop I’ll have both of you fried and served for dinner. Now shut up! We don’t have time for your petty bickering. We’ve all been through a great deal lately, and I’ve noticed that everyone is growing testy, but I will not have open brawling on this ship. Whether you like it or not I’m in charge around here. My unit outnumbers and outguns you nearly two to one. Now calm down.”

A dense silence fell in the room as Satchal and Tarrsk both put their weapons away. Each glanced at the other and the others in the room realizing their own foolishness.

“What about me?” Tso wanted to know. “I want to go on the scouting mission.”

“We’ve been over this before,” said Gariss, his words still losing some of their heat. Tso was clearly disappointed. He hated sitting in the ship doing pretty much nothing but going over the ship’s controls while the others went out possibly never to come back. “We can’t afford to risk your life. You’ll stay here where it’s safe. Besides, if the storm comes we’ll need you to fly the ship.”

“Don’t worry,” said Nyarchagga with a sadistic grin. “Pretty soon you’ll be doing plenty to incinerate us in a fiery explosion that will end all of our lives in the most excruciating of ways as we pass through the planet’s atmosphere.”

Everyone shot him a sharp look that caused the Dug to withdraw. “What?” he said with a bit of a smirk. Then seeing Tso’s wide-eyed expression he turned away from them, a smile splitting his elongated face as he stifled his laughter.

“Now let’s get moving,” said Gariss in an attempt to regain control. “We don’t have a great deal of time here. Lialla is in charge of the scouting expedition. She knows terrain a lot better than the rest of you. Follow her lead, and I don’t want to hear any arguments. Is that understood?” Even if there were any objections the Barabel’s menacing snarl would have silenced them. Turning, Gariss led his people out of the room and sent them back to work while Lialla and her team gathered their things to go out into the harsh cold once more.





Lialla and her team stood on a hill some three miles west of the ship and scanned once more the entire wasteland. A herd of Tauntaun was moving across the frozen desert in a northwestern direction. Lialla turned to the others. “Once again we find signs of life still existing out here. There must be some sort of plant-life growing out here.”

“Yeah, but we’re not looking for food supplies. We’re looking for a power supply or some sort of shelter,” Satchal remarked.

Lialla looked over at him. “My point is that if there is some sort of food supply there may be some sort of shelter. The Tauntaun most likely survive in caves like the Wampas. The Wampa cave was too small for us, but the Tauntaun cave might be large enough to house the ship. Since the Tauntauns travel in herds I’ll bet they definitely have a larger cave somewhere nearby.”

“But is it right to force the Tauntauns out of their home just so we have one?” Geldar pointed out. “I don’t feel right about that.”

Satchal glanced at him with a raised eyebrow. “I can’t believe you’d rather sacrifice our lives for a bunch of animals on some useless planet in the middle of nowhere.”

Geldar turned to him and was about to argue about how they were only visitors to the planet and that the animals were the ones who belonged here when Brin’tac cut in. “We should refrain from arguing, if at all possible,” he replied. “Gariss was right, don’t you think?”

Geldar bit his tongue. “Right,” he said simply, “but I still think that we must respect the creatures of this world as much as possible. We wouldn’t be very appreciative if they forced us out of our ship, would we?”

“Still,” said Lialla, cutting off Satchal before he could comment. “We should investigate the area where the Tauntauns are heading for. Perhaps we may find something more interesting.”

And so, after a great deal of arguing they finally agreed to follow the Tauntauns to their cave. However, the Tauntauns, it seemed, were not heading to a cave. They were nomadic creatures that never stayed in one place for too long, and they had just cleaned out the cavern that they had been using. Lialla and her team followed them for several hours, running as fast as they could until the Tauntauns outdistanced them and vanished over the horizon. At that point they stopped and tried to consider the situation.

“We’ve gone at least another couple of miles from the ship,” Brin’tac observed. “Maybe we should follow the tracks back to where we were and try something different.”

“The creatures seem to know where they’re going,” said Lialla. “I still think we should follow them.”

“But,” said Satchal, “we don’t know how far they’ll take us before they stop.”

“There must be food around here,” Lialla argued. “They must have a cave nearby for the Wampa to have had a cave.”

“What if they’re leaving their cave to find new feeding grounds?” Tarrsk remarked dismally. “There can’t be that much food around here to supply all of those Tauntaun with sustenance.”

“We should follow the tracks back then,” suggested Geldar. “If they’ve left their previous cave it may be just the place for us to take the ship.”

With that said they decided to turn around and follow the tracks back the way they’d come. Several more hours passed, and soon night began to fall. It was a good thing they’d turned around because the Tauntaun traveled on for some time and distance and would have led them straight through the deadly night to a cave some thirty to forty miles away. During the night the temperatures on the open wasteland dropped to nearly fifty below, and the entire group would have frozen to death.

Now as night fell they finally came upon the cave. A great heat emanating from the mouth of the cave was the first thing that any of them noticed. To their great delight it instantly warmed their frozen digits and joints, and for the first time since they’d crashed on Hoth they knew what it was like to be warm again.

“So there is some heat in this terrible place,” remarked Satchal as he took off the helmet of his environmental suit. “Look, you can even see stone where the snow is actually melted.”

“The heat in this cave is pretty strong,” said Geldar in thought. “Perhaps this is a sleeping volcano.”

“I can’t believe we didn’t find this place earlier,” said Lialla. “I thought we’d been this way before.”

“Who cares?” said Satchal. “The point is that we’ve found it now. We can probably move the ship here and finish repairs in the heat of this cavern.”

“Not likely,” said Lialla. “This is at least four to five miles to the southwest of the ship. We couldn’t drag it here, and if the ship flies here it may not fly again. Remember?”

“Look,” said Geldar as he stooped in near the western wall of the cave and brushed his hand across the rocks there. “There are definitely signs that something was growing here. Cracks in the cave floor and stumps of growth indicate that plant-life is attempting to make a home here. The roots probably extend far beneath this cave. The Tauntaun must have been feeding here for some time and have now left. They’ll probably return later when they think the plants here have grown again.”

“This still doesn’t solve our situation, though,” Tarrsk said gruffly. “So what if there’s life here. We have to find a power source or some shelter for the ship. This cave might be large, but I don’t think it would fit the ship even if we could get it here.”v “Let’s search the cave out further,” Brin’tac suggested. “We may find something more deeper in. Besides, night is here, and it would be too dangerous to make the trek back to the ship at this point and time.”

“I’ll try to radio them while you guys head out,” Lialla told them.

Off they went with glow rods raised high to light their way as the heat of the cavern grew more intense. At this point Satchal put his helmet back up so that the environmental suit could now protect him from the heat. The entrance to the cave was wide and large, but at the back it narrowed into a small passage.

“This passage is smooth,” said Geldar as he held his glow rod closer to inspect the walls. “Isn’t that odd?”

“And it looks like someone used a plasma cutter on it,” Satchal remarked as he, too, examined the wall.

They all exchanged questioning glances as Tarrsk readied his weapon just in case. On they went into the passage that sloped gently down into the deep darkness of the underground. The passage went straight as an arrow at first until at last it came to a fork in the road. At this point Lialla stopped them, for she had rushed to catch up with them.

“We’ve got a problem,” she said, her face shining eerily in the light of the glow rods. “The signal’s very weak. I could barely make them out.”

“What are you saying?” asked Satchal, his stomach turning with a sudden sense of dread.

“I think the storm has hit already.”





Tso sat in the cockpit of the ship going over the controls once more when Nyarchagga entered and sat down next to him. “Feeling a bit nervous?” he asked with a smirk.

Tso sighed. “I don’t need you teasing me anymore about my past failures, Nyar. I don’t like the idea of everyone depending on me any more than you do, but that’s just the way it’s going to be. So leave me alone!”

Nyarchagga threw his hands up defensively and drew back away from the Sullustan. “Relax. No need to have a whelp right here. I just came to check on you. We’re all taking a break from our work, and I thought I’d see what you were doing.”

“Going over the controls for the millionth time,” he replied in total anguish. “I wish there was something else to do.”

“What about a game of Pazaak?” asked the Dug. “I’ll even go easy on you this time.”

Tso shook his head. “I always lose at those games.”

Nyarchagga frowned. “What do you do for fun?” he asked, and it actually seemed that the Dug was interested.

Tso looked at him for a moment. “Well,” he said with some reluctance. “The things I like to do you’d probably find very boring.”

“Probably,” admitted the Dug, “but at least it would be something to do.”

Tso considered for another moment whether he should tell the Dug anything, and deciding it couldn’t hurt he said, “Believe it or not I enjoy very much the excitement of being behind the controls of a ship. I love flying, and I love traveling from one system to another. There’s no greater feeling than to feel the ship soaring through space or the sky at my command.”

The Dug rolled his eyes. “But what do you like to do when you’re not doing that?” he wondered.

“Well,” said Tso. “I like to play games and things like that. I just don’t like playing them with people who are very skilled at them. It’s no fun when you lose all the time. I also like scouting out new places and seeing new things, and I enjoy very much the company of almost everyone in our group.”

At this the Dug sat up eagerly. “Who don’t you enjoy the company of?” he inquired.

Tso smiled. “Oh, no. Why should I tell you? You’ll just go cause trouble with that information.”

Nyarchagga’s face formed a devilish grin. “Is it Tarrsk?”

Tso shook his head. “I’m not telling you.”

“Come on,” said Nyarchagga. “What’re you afraid of?”

“You,” said Tso. “I don’t trust you. You could take something as innocent as a rose and turn it into a Rancor.”

Nyarchagga chuckled. “Thanks for the compliment.”

Their conversation was cut off suddenly, however, when a transmission came through. “This is Gariss,” came the gruff voice of the Barabel. “We just received a transmission from Marks. We need to get this ship up in the air. The storm has blown in our direction, and it’s going to be here in three hours. Marks said that it started blowing in this direction an hour ago, and it’s moving fast.”

“All right,” said Tso feeling a lump form in his throat. “I’ll get the ship ready for takeoff.”

“Good,” said Gariss. “Par’kiss suggests taking your time and letting the engines warm up first. Although it will cost us some considerable energy to do so we don’t want to risk burning out the engines.”

“Right,” said Tso, and he immediately flicked on the power to the cockpit. “Let’s see if we can actually get this thing off the ground.”

“Looks like you’ll get your chance to do what you really like before you thought, eh?” Nyarchagga remarked with a smile. “Just hope you don’t blow something in the process.”

Tso glared at him for a moment. “If you’re not going to do anything useful right now then you can leave. I think I can fly a ship across the frozen wastes without destroying something.”

“We’ll see,” said Nyarchagga with another smirk.

Tso sneered and turned away from him back to the communications’ counsel. “Gariss,” he said. “Where should we go?”

“See if you can find a safe place to park the ship preferably to the northwest away from the storm,” said Gariss.

“What about my friends?” he asked.

“They’ll either have to find us or we’ll pick them up on the way if we run across them.”

“Can’t we send out a message to them?” asked Nyarchagga.

“No,” Gariss replied. “We think they’ve gone beyond our range of contact or something’s jamming the signal. We tried to reach them, but there was no response.”

Tso and Nyarchagga both exchanged worried glances. “Something could have happened to them,” said Tso to Gariss.

“If so there’s nothing we can do about it,” said the Barabel. “We’ve got more pressing things to worry about. Night’s coming on, and Par’kiss says it will be much more difficult to get this ship to work with the temps dropping. We have to move now.”

Tso then switched off the communicator and sat back for a moment. He stared out the window as he wondered just where the others could be and why they hadn’t contacted them in some time.

“Hey!” snapped Nyarchagga, waking Tso from his thoughts. “I thought you were going to get us out of here.”

“I am,” said Tso as he sat forward once more and began powering up the ship’s engines. “I was just wondering what was going on with the others.”

“They’ll be fine,” said the Dug with confidence. “If we can get out of some of the scrapes we’ve been in I’m sure this planet isn’t going to kill them.”

Secretly, though, Nyarchagga was just as worried as Tso, if not more so. He’d been traveling with Brin’tac and Satchal for so long that he had forgotten what life was like without them. He would never really admit it to anyone, but he was rather fond of both of them. It would devastate him if they didn’t return.

The cockpit of the ship now sat in silence with only the hum of the engines filling the room. For thirty minutes neither one spoke as they considered the possibility that they would never see their friends again. Then, at last, Par’kiss broke the silence by announcing that he thought the engines were ready to go, and at that Tso fired them up and grabbed the control stick to ease the ship into the air.”

The ship rattled and rocked as it started up into the air, and the tension in the ship was so thick it could be cut only with a lightsaber. The ship ascended some thirty feet into the air before Tso kicked in the rear thrusters to send them forward across the wasteland. To his left he could see the dark clouds of the storm pressing in towards them, and he grimaced as he thought of what would happen if they were caught in it.

Then, all at once, a loud snapping sound shook the ship, and instantly it twisted counter-clockwise. The thrusters had kicked in but the left stabilizer had broken sending the ship spinning in circles like a top. Tso jerked hard on the controls to compensate, but when he did so the right stabilizer snapped as well veering them on a course right for the storm.

“Way to go!” cried Nyarchagga in dismay as he thrust his head forward to see out the viewport better. “You’re going to kill us all.”

“Not quite!” snapped Tso, and he shut the thrusters down and slammed the ship’s rear thrusters into action. The ship immediately slowed to a stop and halted now dangerously close to the mountain, which was just to the left and beneath the ship.

Just then Par’kiss’ voice shot over the communicator. “Both left and right stabilizers are shot! You’ll have to reverse it to get us away from the storm. There’s no way we can turn until both stabilizers are repaired.”

“I don’t have any guidance systems!” Tso cried. “There’s no way I can steer this thing for long without guidance systems especially going in reverse. I won’t be able to see if something’s coming up at us.”

“Fly higher,” said Par’kiss. “You won’t hit anything if you’re high enough.”

“What about power?” Tso shot back. “Will we have enough?”

“At this point power is the least of our worries.” It was Gariss this time, and his voice was sharp and cold. “Just do it!”

But Tso knew in his heart that to do this would doom them all to being stranded on Hoth. Even without both left and right stabilizers he knew he could still get the ship off planet if they had enough power. However, if they expended the energy by flying high into the air they’d never make it. Scanning around the terrain as best he could Tso desperately hoped to find something to save them from the storm.

And there it was. A cleft of the mountain was just wide enough for the ship to land on. If he could just manage to get the ship down on that cleft, and if it could support the weight of the vessel, they might be high enough that the snow would not bury them. The winds might threaten to knock them off, but sheer rocks wall rose up on the east and north sides of the cleft that might save them. At that point, desperate as he was, Tso saw it as their only chance. With no guidance systems and no left or right stabilizers, Tso dropped the ship down towards the cleft and gently eased it into place. Gritting his teeth as the ship touched the stone and the landing gears sunk into the snow that covered it, Tso spent the next few moments praying that this move wasn’t a mistake.

“What are you doing?” Nyarchagga wondered after the ship touched the cleft of the mountain. “Didn’t you hear what they said?”

Tso glanced over at him with worry etched on his face. “I’m hoping I didn’t just make a huge mistake,” he replied.

Then another voice cut in with the same question. Gariss was furious. “You stupid Sullustan! What the @*(& are you doing up there?”

Tso was reluctant to reply. “I’ve landed us on the mountain,” he replied. “So far it seems to be holding. I’ve landed us on a large cleft. It might be…”

“You @#$@@$ idiot!” Gariss shot back, cutting him off. “Are you trying to kill us all? I told you to get the ship out of here.”

“I…” said Tso, but he was cut off again. Par’kiss was saying something in the background.

“The ship’s belly thrusters are buried in snow,” said the Devaronian. “We’re not lifting off again, at least for now. The snow is too deep, and it will take some time and energy for the thrusters to melt the snow before we can use them again. Otherwise we will cause the engines to fry since they have no room to fire.”

Gariss continued to curse and swear violently, and Nyarchagga quickly switched off the com-channel. “No sense in hearing any more of that,” he replied with a glance over at Tso. “I really hope you know what you’re doing, Tso. If not we’re going to have one heck of a battle on our hands when we try to fight our way out of this thing.”

Tso was stunned. “You mean you’d fight with me if they tried to kill me?” he said, not sure what to think of that comment.

Nyarchagga smiled. “Of course,” he replied. Then his smile twisted into a sadistic one. “I’d want to make sure we got out alive so that I could kill you myself.”





The blizzard struck in all its glory. The wind whipped about the ship sending torrents of snow everywhere. The temperatures dropped to fifty below, and everyone aboard the ship huddled in rooms that they were forced to heat or they would have frozen to death. Still, even with the heat, the rooms were cold, and everyone clustered together to keep warm.

The ship rocked and moaned as the wind threatened to blow it off the mountain. As those trapped inside felt their doom was certain they all secretly cursed Tso for his foolish landing on the mountain’s side. At one point the wind came up from the south and actually picked up the ship, tilting it on its side and dropping it down again into the snow. The inhabitants of the ship were tossed about like popcorn being popped, and several of them were injured in the process. Borgis, a heavily armed Gran soldier, suffered a head wound, and blood issued out of one of his three eye-stalks from where he’d smashed it into a bunk. He was tended by Malgith, the black-skinned Ithorian who was both medic and grenade specialist, and he was strapped to one of the lower bunks for safety purposes in case the ship was tossed again.

Tso sat alone in the cockpit of the ship, and his misery could not be more complete. Everyone had made him sit there in case he could possibly do something to save the ship if it were blown off the rock ledge. In reality they had forced him to sit in the cockpit so that he could watch his own demise.

Tso saw the whipping snow as it clouded everything in sight. The lights on board the ship were off except for that of the heater that warmed him. He clutched the seat that he was buckled into, his knuckles turning a light shade of gray. His heart pounded a million times a minute, and he wished that he was anywhere but in that cockpit. Why hadn’t he just obeyed orders and taken them far away from this? Why hadn’t he just thrown the ship in reverse? He was always messing things up, and this time it probably would mean their deaths.

The ship suddenly tipped up on its side precariously as the wind whipped under it and tossed it into the northern wall of the ship with a fierce crash and grinding sound. Tso grit his teeth and prepared for the worst, but the ship merely dropped back into the snow with a loud boom and a cascade of snow off of the mountain.

Tso breathed a sigh of relief, but the tension still remained in the air of the cockpit. It was a long night, and he didn’t sleep a wink. The wind continued to whip all around until at last, as morning came, the storm blew past and was gone leaving Tso exhausted and his nerves shot. At last, as the first rays of light began to shine across the frozen desert, the storm was over, and the crew all began to move about to inspect the damages. When they found Tso he was still staring, wide-eyed, out the viewport clutching the arms of his chair.

Gariss and Nyarchagga chuckled when they saw him. Gariss came over and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Congratulations,” he said. “Your little stunt has paid off. You’ve conserved our power supply and managed to keep us from getting buried by the storm. Now all we have to do is clear out the piles of snow that we’ve taken in, and we’ll be back in business soon. Why don’t you get some sleep? We’ll take care of things up here.”

Tso glanced up at Gariss with a pitiful look on his face. “You’re not upset anymore?”

Gariss gave him a smile, the first warm thing he’d done since Tso had known him. “Of course I am,” he replied with another chuckle. “You directly disobeyed me and nearly got us all killed. However, it seems to have turned out for the best, so I guess I don’t have to kill you. Now get yourself to bed before I change my mind.”

Tso jumped to his feet and hustled out of the cockpit to escape the intimidating Barabel while Nyarchagga continued to laugh mockingly at the poor Sullustan. Tso reached a chamber where several others were already working to clear out the snow, but he passed them without even glancing in their direction. Only a single thought was on his mind right at that moment. He was tired, and he wanted desperately to curl up in some corner and fall fast asleep.

At last he arrived at one of the bunking quarters, and Tso found that they were mostly empty. Only those that had been injured were occupying the beds, and Tso quickly rushed to an open bed and curled up inside it. Within a few moments he was fast asleep.





The news that the storm may have already reached the ship caused all of their hearts to sink. After all, what was the point of going on with little hope that they’d get off planet? Even if they could get off planet, due to some sort of luck or chance, they would never see Nyarchagga or Tso again.

“There’s always the possibility that they moved the ship,” said Brin’tac, after a moment of thinking. “We may still find them yet.”

“Even if that’s the case,” said Satchal, “how are we going to find them, and why didn’t they respond to our message?”

“There’s no sense worrying about it,” said Tarrsk with little emotion in his voice. “If the blizzard hit the ship then we’ll just have to deal with it. Right now we have to search this cave and see where it leads. I don’t like that the tunnel looks as though it’s been manmade. We should investigate. You never know what we might find in here.”

Satchal nodded. “You’re right,” he replied with jaw set. “We shouldn’t worry about things just yet. Let’s keep moving.”

But as he began to pass Geldar put his hand on his friend’s shoulder. “Satchal,” he whispered. “I sense that you are trying to force down your anxieties with anger. That can be dangerous.”

Satchal gave him a glare. “Handle anxieties in your own way, and I’ll handle them in mine. I can control my anger, Geldar, maybe even better than you.” His words were harsh and cold, but Geldar could see that he was restraining a bitterness that was deep within him. “Let’s just go.”

“But which passage should we take?” asked Brin’tac as he stood staring at the passages. “I don’t sense any difference between the two.”

“Always take the same passage,” said Lialla. “Then you’ll never get lost. I always go right first.”

“Fine,” said Geldar, still a bit worried about Satchal. “Lialla should go first with Tarrsk in the lead. Satchal and I will take the rear.”

This time Satchal closed his eyes and refrained from making another comment about Geldar’s take-charge attitude. At this point he was more concerned about Nyarchagga and Tso than about making any point about Geldar.

Thus no one argued, and off they went to the right. The passage continued on to descend deeper into the underground in almost a perfect straight line. Then, all at once, the passage turned sharp to the right, and it was as they rounded this bend that they began to notice that the heat was even seeping through their environmental suits.

“I don’t know how much more we’re going to be able to continue,” commented Brin’tac, who was warmer than the others due to his thick fur. “The heat is becoming to strong.”

“There must be some sort of lava pit down here,” replied Lialla. “Maybe he’s right. Maybe we should turn back.”

“You’re the leader,” Satchal replied crisply. “Whatever you say goes.”

“We could always try the other passage,” suggested Geldar.

Lialla paused to think a moment. “This passage was delved out by someone,” she replied. “It must lead somewhere bearable enough for sentients to dwell.”

“It depends on the sentient,” Brin’tac replied, “and on how long ago they built this passage. They may not have dwelled here for many centuries.”

“I say we should still try investigating a little further,” said Geldar as he turned to Brin’tac. “If you need to, why don’t you stay here or head back up a bit where it’s cooler.”

“I may just take you up on that offer,” said Brin’tac thankfully.

“I’ll stay with him,” said Satchal, who was very weary of the entire expedition. “None of us should be alone.”

“Good idea,” said Lialla. “We won’t be long.”

So Lialla led Geldar and Tarrsk on down the passage while Satchal and Brin’tac returned up to the main cavern near the entrance. Instantly, Brin’tac began to recover from the heat, and he felt somewhat foolish for turning back. However, he was glad to be away from the wall of heat, and since Satchal had come with him he felt comforted.

Meanwhile, Lialla and the others followed the passage until, all at once, it opened up into a massive cavern. To the left the ground fell away precariously into a hundred foot drop right into a massive sea of lava. The rock ledge they stood on was littered with large boulders and loose rocks. Smoke filled the ceiling and seemed to be draining out of the cavern through small vents at the top. The passage continued on along the ledge, where the ceiling was lower, right to another opening on the far side.

At this point Lialla paused. The heat in the chamber was nauseating. “Look!” cried Tarrsk in a hushed voice. They all turned to where he was pointing and saw, to their amazement, an open crate! Rushing over without thought, they investigated the scene.

There were definitely signs of life here, and the crate had the symbol of the SoroSuub Corporation. On top of that it showed very little signs of age. Tarrsk sniffed the container and informed them that there was a definite smell of food still in the container. He didn’t think it was very old.

“Let’s see what else is in this cavern,” Lialla suggested with excitement, and she stood and rushed through the cavern toward the other entrance to the cavern. As she went she scanned the area for more signs of recent habitation.

Suddenly, a snapping sound echoed through the chamber and immediately there came the sound of something whirring through the air. Instinctively Lialla dropped to the ground, and a split second later a whirling blade shot over her head and across the room to slam into the far wall where it sparked as the metal hit rock.

All of them froze, and for several moments they didn’t speak or move. And then, all at once, a great rumbling sound could be heard throughout the entire cavern. The ledge shook, and Lialla and the others clutched anything they could find near them to give themselves some sort of support. Then the entrances on both sides of the ledge began to close.

“Through the doorway!” Geldar cried as they left their places to hurry to the doorway they’d come through. Hearts pounding in their chests, they reached the door just as it ground slowly to a close.

Then, to their horror, the lava began to bubble and rise towards the ledge. Lialla fell back from the door and stared over the edge with eyes widened in complete terror. All mental capacity had shut down, and she was frozen in place.

Geldar, however, still had his head on his shoulders. He ignored the rising lava and pulled out his lightsaber. Igniting it he shoved the blade into the door and began to cut it open as fast as he could. Still the lava rose, faster now than before, and Tarrsk was growing more anxious with each moment. He wanted to shove Geldar to the side and do the cutting himself. Geldar, however, was calm as he trusted the Force to get them out of the dilemma.

At last, he cut a hole in the rock door large enough for them to squeeze through, and having Tarrsk grab Lialla they all rushed out of the cavern and up the passage just as the lava rose to the rock ledge and began to pour onto its surface. They ran as fast as they could, but the lava was right behind them.

In the meantime, Satchal and Brin’tac sat at the entrance of the cave as they stared out at the night beyond. Both were thinking about the ship and their friends aboard. Then, all at once, the rumbling began to occur, and they both shot to their feet as they stared at the back of the cave in alarm. Rushing to investigate they came to the passage just as, out of the corner of his eye, Satchal spotted the entrance of the cave growing smaller. Spinning around he saw a massive blast door closing the passage off from the outside. Something dropped into the pit of his stomach, and a sense of dread overcame the young Padawan as he thought of being concealed inside the cave. He sped back to the entrance of the cave just as Brin’tac realized what was happening, and Satchal threw himself out right as the door closed behind him.

Satchal was hit with the sudden chill of the below zero wind, and at that moment he realized what he’d done. He’d left his friends all trapped inside. What had he done? What was he doing? Getting to his feet he ran to the entrance and fought to find some sort of release mechanism. Then, igniting his lightsaber, he tried to cut the door open. However, it was immensely thick, and the lightsaber did little to cut through it.

At last, after several moments had passed, Satchal slumped into the snow in despair. He was all alone in the darkness and cold of the Hoth night, and rapidly, unknown to him, the storm was coming in his direction.

Brin’tac, on the other hand, stood stunned as he watched his friend abandon him. He couldn’t comprehend anymore what was happening, and in his confusion he ran to the door and tried desperately to open it. As he tugged and pulled and the rumbling continued, he began to grow more frantic. All his efforts were in vain.

Then the sound of shouting brought him back to reality. Geldar and the others were screaming in alarm, and their voices echoed all around him. Brin’tac turned and rushed back to the passage to warn them that they were trapped inside. He reached the fork in the passage just as Geldar and the others rounded the bend further down, and at that moment Brin’tac beheld the rising lava behind them.

“Move!” cried Geldar in alarm. “Get out of the passage!”

“It’s sealed off!” Brin’tac yelled back as panic began to set in.

“Take the left passage!” Tarrsk ordered. His cool head in a crisis situation had finally returned, and he was thinking more like a soldier once more.

Brin’tac didn’t need to be told twice. He paused for only a moment to glance down the left passage, and then he vanished from sight. None of them wondered at all what had happened to Satchal.

The left passage was much more twisting and turning, and Brin’tac found himself fumbling around in his panic. Then, all at once, he came upon a solid, metal door at the end of the passage. Immediately he began to pound on the door and shout for someone to let him in, but over and over his poundings echoed uselessly down the hall. “Let me in!” he cried. “Please!” Tears were forming in his eyes and flowing down his fur-covered face. “Open the door!”

Then Geldar and the others arrived, and Geldar threw Brin’tac out of the way. Brin’tac spun around, and to his stark amazement and horror, like a moth drawn to a flame, he beheld the lava roaring down the passage after them. Staring in a complete trance he watched as the lava surged up to meet them. This was the end. They had gone through so much only to end here. The lava would sear their bodies instantly, and they would cease to exist. “Good bye, my love,” he whispered in the dark, “wherever you may be.” And then the lava smashed into the doorway, and they were gone.




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Mission 5

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