Perils of Hoth/Story

Perils of Hoth an MI5 Chronicles story

The YT-1210 light freighter known as the Republic Hunter zipped across the tundra of Hoth. In the cockpit sat Pandolfo Taproot. He was a Nosaurian operative with the Secret Galactic Intelligence Service, commonly known as MI5. He was heading for coordinates displayed on his nav computer.

A ship had crash-landed on Hoth and a distress beacon was activated. It was picked up by authorities on the nearby Bespin who believe it to be the ship carrying their Senator. The beings of Bespin turned to MI5 to assist in a rescue. Since Pandolfo was the nearest agent to Hoth, they sent him to pick up the survivors...if there were any.

So Pandolfo was following the distress signal. The snowstorm was picking up and it was getting harder to see out the viewports of the MI5 transport. As he approached his destination, he hovered just over the downed ship. He couldn't even make out what type of ship it was. It appeared that the tail of the craft was missing, and the ship was laying half-buried in the snow belly-up. At a closer inspection of the area, it looked as though the front third of the ship was sticking out over a cliff.

Pandolfo had to get a better look. He slowly maneuvered the ship around to the other side of the crash to find himself looking down at a cliff-face. He estimated that it was about a 200 yard drop to the next ledge. Then an even steeper drop from there.

Well, he had to do his duty.

He maneuvered the Republic Hunter back around to the opposite side of the crash-site and landed in the soft snow. Lowering the ramp, he exited out into the below-freezing weather to find himself knee-deep in snow. He pulled the heavy coat tight around his chest and tramped through the snowstorm toward the downed ship. His reptilian skin was thick, but he still felt the chill of the weather.

Finally reaching the crash site, Pandolfo ducked under the twisted metal where the tail had once been and entered into the small space. It was still freezing, but at least the metal protected him from the wind. He passed a few crates that were covered in ice and approached a door. The ship was definitely upside down, because the panel with the door controls was flipped.

Pandolfo tapped the panel. Nothing happened. No power.

He pounded on the door. "Hello?" He yelled. "Anybody in there?"

He listened, but couldn't hear anything due to the sound of the wind outside.

Then there was a metal-on-metal sound and the door slowly opened inward. Pandolfo saw a fair-skinned Human male pulling the door inward. He was bundled up in layers of clothing.

"Hello," Pandolfo said. "I'm Pandolfo Taproot. I'm with MI5."

"A Nosaurian?" the Human questioned.

Ignoring that comment, Pandolfo said, "I've been sent to rescue you. Are there any other survivors?"

The Human pulled Pandolfo through the door then pushed it shut again to keep as much of the cold out as possible.

Pandolfo saw three other Humans, two men and a woman, huddled in a corner of the room, shivering. Pandolfo recognized the dark-skinned Human. "Senator," he said acknowledging him with a slight nod.

Senator Vogel Kell was the Galactic Senate's representative from Bespin. He stood up and approached the MI5 operative. "Are we glad to see you," he said through chattering teeth.

"Thank you, sir," Pandolfo said. "Were there any more aboard when the ship crashed?"

"Two others," Kell said. "And a droid." He shook his head. "They...didn't make it."

"I'm sorry," Pandolfo responded.

Kell continued, "There was something that went wrong mechanically in the hyperdrive and caused the ship to veer off-course."

The Human that opened the door a moment ago spoke up. "I was piloting the ship when all of a sudden I lost complete control. It spiraled and we ended up entering Hoth's atmosphere."

"There was no sabotage or anything?" Pandolfo probed. "You're positive it was a mechanical failure of some kind?"

"Positive," the pilot responded.

"Alright," Pandolfo nodded. "We've gotta get you guys outta here. My ship is right out this way." He pointed to the door through which he just entered.

The two in the corner, Meryl Junta and Nax Johann, stood up and hurried toward the door. The pilot, Primo Loy, moved to open the heavy metal door again. "Wait a minute," Pandolfo said, throwing up his hands to stop everyone. "We have to be careful moving around this wreckage. It's sitting on the edge of a cliff."

No sooner had he finished his sentence, a loud cracking noise was heard underneath them. They all stood absolutely still. Pandolfo could see the fear in their eyes. There was another crack and the wreckage shifted a bit throwing everyone off-balance.

"We're gonna fall off the cliff!" Meryl screamed. "Get us out of here!" she yelled racing to reach the door.

Pandolfo grabbed her as the ship tilted forward. He felt panic rush over him. The ground under them had given way and they were sliding down the cliff.

- - - - - - - - - -

The next thing Pandolfo saw was the pilot Loy shaking him awake. "Come on! Wake up."

Pandolfo felt a pounding in the back of his head. He looked up to see the door high above him. He slowly got to his feet and realized the ship was know vertical, with the tail-end upward. "Is everyone alright?" He rubbed the back of his head. He must have hit something when the ship slid off the cliff.

"It's Nax," the Senator said. "His arm is broken."

Pandolfo turned to see the woman Meryl cradling Nax. The young man's right arm was covered in blood.

"I've got first aid in my ship," Pandolfo said looking upward at the door that he could no longer reach. "I've just got to figure out how to get back to it." Since the crashed ship was upside down to begin with, it most likely slid on it's roof, which meant the belly of the ship was away from the cliffside. That gave him an idea. "Where's the boarding ramp on this thing?"

"Over here," the pilot said, pushing a large crate out of the way. Since the ship was vertical, the hatch for the ramp was about 6 feet up from where they were currently standing. Pandolfo climbed the crates and pushed outward on the hatch. It opened slightly, letting in the freezing air. Peeking out, he could see they were on that first ledge he had seen earlier, which meant they had slid that 200 yards down the cliff. How would he get back to the Republic Hunter now?

"Can we get out that way?" the Senator asked.

"It's too dangerous," Pandolfo answered, climbing back inside.

"What are we going to do, then?" the pilot asked.

Pandolfo paused. "I'll have to, I guess, climb back up the cliff-face to get my ship, then come back down here to get you."

"You can't leave us! We're coming with you," Meryl exclaimed.

"No," Pandolfo said. "You're safer here."

"What about you? The blizzard conditions are getting bad out there," the Senator commented.

"I've got thick reptilian skin that'll help protect me from the elements. Plus I've got MI5 training. I can survive."

"Be careful," the Senator said as he watched Pandolfo shimmy out the hatch.

Pandolfo slid down the side of the ship and landed in the snow. The blizzard was getting worse, and it was starting to get dark. The temperature was dropping. He could feel it. He could also see his breath.

He walked around the now-vertical wreckage and looked up at the cliff-face. There was a wide gouge taken out of it where the wreckage had slid down. He then peeked down over the edge and couldn't see the ground below. All he could see was white. He had no idea how far down it went. If the wreckage slid down further, who knows how far they would fall. He had to hurry. He found footholds and began the ascent up the cliff.

- - - - - - - - - -

The cold was really getting to him now. After clinging to that cliff with his bare hands, Pandolfo could feel them starting to go numb. Frost had formed on his horns and he couldn't stop shivering. He finally reached the top and just laid there in the snow for a moment. He was exhausted.

Slowly getting to his feet, he realized there was a new layer of snow since he landed. It had risen a couple inches.

Making his way back to the Republic Hunter, something big came up behind him. Pandolfo was hit in the side of the head, knocking him to the ground. He quickly rolled over on to his back and found himself staring up at a wampa. The creature roared and jumped down on top of the diminutive Nosaurian. Pandolfo just managed to reach the MI5 standard issue blaster on his belt as the wampa jumped on him. Pandolfo felt the snow creatures large claws dig into him as he fired the blaster into its chest. The wampas grip relaxed and Pandolfo used what strength he had left to push the wampa off of him.

Pandolfo got to his feet once again and looked down at the wampa, a blaster wound in it's chest. He must have hit the heart. Lucky shot. Pandolfo shivered when he saw the creatures dead, yellow eyes. Then he wasn't sure if the shiver was because of the creepy eyes or the below-freezing temperature. He turned and continued toward the MI5 vessel. "Snow, ice, wampas. This frakking planet..." he said aloud, cursing Hoth.

The first thing he did when he entered the ship was apply bacta to the wounds the wampa gave him. He then immediately headed for the cockpit and lifted off. He maneuvered the ship down the side of the cliff and hovered near the lower ledge where the wreckage sat. He then realized there was no room to land the freighter on the small ledge. The downed ship took up most of it. And what space was left on the ledge was breaking apart from the weight of the wreckage. Now what?

Maybe if he lined up the ramps of both ships? It would be dangerous to cross them, but it could be done. He lowered the Hunters ramp and hovered dangerously close to the wreckage. Fine-tuning the autopilot, Pandolfo programmed it to do nothing but hover in that one spot. He was happy he had the computer skills to do that. MI5's training at its best. The thing he was worried about was the autopilot compensating for the changing winds of the blizzard.

He hurried back through the ship to the boarding ramp and stepped down to the end of it, again feeling the freezing temperature. The hatch of the downed ship he crawled through earlier was only a few feet from him. Through the falling snow, he caught a quick glimpse of the Bespin Motors logo on the side of the downed ship. He still didn't have any clue as to what model ship it was.

The pilot, Loy, stuck his head out the hatch. "Pandolfo!"

"Come on," he yelled back. "Get everyone out now."

The woman was the first to come out the hatch. They reached out to each other, clasped hands, and Pandolfo pulled her aboard the Hunter. Next was the injured Nax Johann. Loy helped Nax out toward the Hunters ramp as Pandolfo grabbed the man's good arm. A strong wind suddenly whipped past them, causing Loy to lose his grip on Nax. Nax was dangled there in the freezing blizzard. Pandolfo did his best to hang on to him. The woman Meryl came rushing back down the ramp to help pull him up. She helped Nax into the ship.

Next, the Senator climbed out and grasped Pandolfo's hand. He left his feet and jumped the small gap to the boarding ramp. "Thank you," he said to Pandolfo, heading into the ship.

Lastly, the pilot made the transition from one ship to another, Pandolfo pulling him aboard. With everyone safely aboard the Republic Hunter, they closed the ramp and finally left Hoth.

- - - - - - - - - -

Pandolfo rested and tried to warm himself up while Meryl and the Senator tended to Nax's wounds. Loy piloted the Hunter to Bespin where the Senator and his entourage disembarked. Upon their exit, Senator Kell thanked Pandolfo.

"Just doing my duty, sir," Pandolfo responded.

"No, no," the Senator responded. "It was more than that. You will not go unnoticed. I will personally acknowledge your skills, determination and bravery the next time the Senate meets at the Rotunda. I know some in the Senate disapprove of some of MI5's actions, but I have seen it first-hand and want everyone to know the good your organization does."

"Thank you, Senator," Pandolfo said, shaking his hand.

Everyone said their "thank-you"s and "good-bye"s and Pandolfo took the Republic Hunter back to MI5 Headquarters on Coruscant where he was properly treated for his wounds and was able to take a nice, long, much-needed rest.

End