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 Posted: Fri Jul 29, 2011 12:10 pm
 Koko followed Finn to the ship, constantly looking around herself as though she expected them both to be attacked. Once she had clambered into the ship & positioned herself in the gunner seat the girl seemed to relax ever so slightly. Being surrounded by a metal vehicle made her feel a bit safer than being out in the open. She took the helmet offered to her & slipped it over her head; it was a little bit big for her, but she didn't mind too much. Though she was on-edge, the sudden roar of the engines didn't make her jump at all - quite the contrary in fact - they made her feel more at-ease & she closed her eyes for a moment to listen to the powerful, rumbling sound.
The girl just about heard Finn over the tremendous sound, her eyes opening just as the ship lurched forward. She gripped the chair, feeling herself being pushed back against the fabric by the sudden G-force. Koko let her breath out in a 'whoosh', her fear of the terrible place temporarily forgotten by her awe of the powerful machine. However, said fear soon returned when Finn slowed the ship & further strengthened by the man's wish to investigate the ghostly town. The young girl pulled her legs up & hugged her knees to her chest, not daring to touch the gun controls (even though normally she would have been completely fascinated by them) because she was too worried about how trigger-happy she would be. As she turned her head to look up at Finn her large blue eyes shone & she looked a picture of her even younger self.
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Posted: Fri Jul 29, 2011 1:41 pm
Finn brought the aircraft around to get a better view of the window through which the eyes had been staring at them. Sure enough, the eyes were there once again, staring straight into the cockpit and into the eyes of the pilot for a moment before the mysterious gaze shifted to look directly into the camera of the turret controlled by the gunner; the eerie image on the monitor, which sat on the dash in front of Koko, appeared to be staring directly at her.
Finn turned on one of the spotlights to illuminate the room, making the eyes vanish momentarily as the same strange wailing noise started again, but this time so much louder that it could be heard over the noise of the engines. The camera feed flickered as the image of the eyes returned, the light only just penetrated through the strange brown growth on the inside of the window, revealing a twisted and hideous mass of flesh and bone that nearly filled the entire room.
The mercenary spoke through the microphone in his helmet directly to his young compainion. "Everything is gunna be fine, just don't turn around for a minute" He gave away very little in his tone of voice while he flicked several switches, activating the weapon systems. A barrel emerged from one of the ship's wings before lobbing several grenades through the window of the building, smashing it through and releasing a red mist from within.
Finn pulled the control stick towards him, sending the aircraft backwards away from the building as the explosions ripped through the building and the mass of human material. The mercenary turned the ship away from the town and boosted the aircraft towards the town of Norcorn, which famously had a large refueling station for airships and other aircraft.
The mercenary wars were well underway now, the rusting hulks of destroyed tanks and aircraft from a recent battle littered the dunes between them and Norcorn, many lost to the harsh conditions of the desert itself. There were very few survivors, after getting stranded in the vast deserts of Ares, death was often seen as a better alternative to the extreme climate.
The ship, which was named 'Firebird' after having been shot down and rebuilt. Finn though it was somewhat similar to how the Phoenix dies then is reborn in the stories, which is probably where the name came from. What the ship lacked in armour, it more than made up for in speed and agility. Firebird was the same type of aircraft that Finn had once used all those years ago, when he was part of the Ares City Security Force, which was where he made a name for himself before he became a mercenary.
Despite the recent encounter, the mercenary's mind was elsewhere, he was on a mission. "I wonder if Thyra and Casey are still around Norcorn... I think we'd better pay a visit, I haven't seen them in a long while and merc gals do not like to be kept waiting..."
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Posted: Fri Aug 12, 2011 4:09 pm
Koko turned her attention to the floor, feeling a strange sense of unease as Finn moved the aircraft. She felt a shiver run down her spine & shut her eyes tightly, too afraid to look at the monitor before her - she could practically feel something watching her. When the horrible screaming noise from whatever was in the building started it frightened her so much she curled up into a ball, whimpering ever so slightly. Not even Finn's words as he spoke through the speakers in her helmet, nor the explosions that ripped through the buildings could calm her.
It wasn't until the pilot had flown the ship a fair distance from the abandoned town that the child unfurled herself, her eyes open. She didn't look at Finn, part of her deeply ashamed by how cowardly she could still be, but instead wrenched the rifle still slung across her back & threw it down before she turned & looked out one of the side windows at the vast expanse of desert. The hulking wrecks of various machinery seemed to be the only break in the sandy planes, until she spotted a pack of dune lopers making their way over the landscape. She leaned a little closer to the window, watching with intense interest at the canine creatures as they caught up with & overtook them, wondering if they were on a hunting trip. She knew from experience that while the Arean desert looked empty on the surface, there was a whole load of life within it's dusty, sandy depths. Fighters in the war she knew raged across the planet would often lose their lives when they didn't take proper precautions with the hidden wildlife.
Though she heard Finn's comments about Thyra & Casey - who's names tugged at a memory of a certain bar where a man had once expressed interest in taking her, followed by a massive Jaxxyx & Franargle attack - she said nothing to him, she simply continued to stare out of the window. For a moment Koko wondered how long before they reached Norcorn & whether she could simply 'wait in the car', so to speak. From where they were, the roar of the Firebird's engines would just start becoming audible to those in & around Norcorn.
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Posted: Mon Sep 05, 2011 2:40 am
Duskhorse oO*Casey*Oo "No more screwing around..." 
Casey clicked in the button of her walkie talkie; "Yeah. Place has been completely ruined, I want to save what's left of it. Over." Placing the device back on the floor, Casey smiled at the steadily growing palace in front of her. It had four towers, two with a drawbridge. It had a moat (albeit devoid of water and man eating critters) and a flag made from a stray dry piece of Arean plantlife.
Hooper came and lay down beside Casey, panting in the heat of the day. Hopefully it wouldn't be too long till the duneloper could get into some shade. Casey then searched for Admin, who had smartly taken it upon himself to have a wander for some shelter. The drequine stopped under the canopy of a nearby derelict shop.
{OOC:.}
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Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2011 1:17 pm
Finn, who was still thinking about his next encounter with the 'lovely ladies' as he preferred to call them, pulled the throttle lever towards him, slowing the craft, then pulled the steering stick sharply to the left, sending the ship corkscrewing down towards the city below. The planet below them spun wildly as he took his hands from the controls, taking a moment to flick several switches on one of the instrument panels beside him, a smile appearing on his face.
"Hmm... If I remember correctly, there should be a pretty good bar somewhere around here..."
He took hold of the controls again, jerking the control stick to the right, then pulling it towards him, leaving the aircraft flying at a fairly low speed just over the rooftops.
"The scanner is acting weird, only clearly showing a few life-signs. It might be busted though... If you see either of the lovely ladies... or anyone for that matter, tell me and I'll take a look... I'm gunna head us to one of the few blips."
Firebird hovered over what was left of the city as Finn and Koko looked out of the windows for signs of life as they approached the edge of the city, where one of the clear life-signs approached.
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Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2011 2:02 pm
As Thyra neared what was left of Norcorn she spotted an airship flying over the destroyed city. Before speeding up, she radioed to Casey.
"I think you might have company, over."
Rusty growled in her backpack. He didn't like the sound of the quad-bike at all, the poor thing.
"We're nearly there, little fella, keep your fur on."
Norcorn really had been destroyed. Thyra felt quite sad, she had quite liked this little city.
Once she had reached the city she began to travel around to look for Casey.
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SCF_Pinstripes Vice Captain
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Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2011 3:33 pm
Koko didn't respond in any way to acknowledge Finn other than a small 'hmm' noise, she just continued to stare out of the window, not really paying any attention to what she was seeing. Her mind was wandering somewhat, mulling over the events that had just transpired & how she'd reacted; even with all the time she'd spent with the mercenary & all the things he'd taught her, she was still just a scared little girl... & that pissed her off. If she didn't toughen up soon she'd wind up as some morsel for an animal, or a play-thing for a raider gang somewhere. If it wasn't for Finn, that would've already happened, but she knew she couldn't rely on him forever. One day he wouldn't reach her in time, or would be off on a job somewhere & she'd have to defend herself.
Yet all I do is freeze or run away... god I'm so pathetic.
It was only after a few minutes of flying over the city that Koko finally realised what she was seeing & she blinked slowly, leaning closer to the glass. As she watched her surroundings pass by her eyes started to widen.
"H-hey Finn... the buildings, they're all.... destroyed."
Everywhere she looked the girl could see the remains of various structures, large chunks missing from walls, roofs & floors as though something had taken a bite out of them, or tunneled through them. Now she knew why the scanner wasn't picking up much life, it wasn't malfunctioning, the city was dead...
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Posted: Fri Sep 23, 2011 2:39 pm
oO*Casey*Oo "No more screwing around..."
Casey spoke to Thyra again, "Alright. Thanks. Wonder who it is, over and out." before settling the machine in her pocket. Casey looked up in time to see an airship approach her location, stirring up sand and debris. Casey cursed under her breath and drew her rifle. Her trust pistols sat at her hip, and her canine beside her. Shutting one eye, Casey watched and waited to see who would emerge from the ship. Norcorn was being churned up by the force of the ship, wasn't it destroyed enough already?!
{OOC:.}
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Posted: Sat Sep 24, 2011 9:39 am
"It looks like maw worm damage, must of happened a day or so ago..."
Finn lowered the landing gear then set the small airship onto a landing pad, which was in the center of an open square, near enough to the bar he wanted to visit.
While the mercenary waited for the engines to power down, he handed Koko a revolver and a holster belt.
"You've seen me use these before, you'll know what to do with it when you need to."
He grinned then opened the Firebird's cockpit window, stepping past Koko and standing on the craft's nose for a moment.
"Looks pretty clear to me, lets wait here, were right on the route that radar blip was headed, so whatever it is, it'll pass right through this square. That's why we need to be ready, but don't get jumpy with that cannon I gave you."
Finn jumped off of the aircraft's nose and leaned against it, hand hovering over his holstered revolver.
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Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2011 1:07 pm
Thyra found Casey pretty quickly after reaching Norcorn.
"Hey there, I-"
Thyra was distracted briefly by the large aircraft landing nearby. Squinting she thought she could see someone on the nose of the ship.
"I...uhh...I wonder who that is..."
Rusty emerged from her backpack, wrapping himself around her shoulders as she stopped the vehicle and dismounted.
She came to stand next to her friend as the dust, the ship had disturbed, had settled.
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SCF_Pinstripes Vice Captain
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Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2011 1:23 pm
Having taken the revolver & holster belt, Koko set both of them next to her, making no move to put them on. She looked out of the window at the destroyed city,
Maw worm huh? Wonder how big it was..? & where it is now.. probably long gone, since there's no food here, still, should probably keep a lookout.
She glanced over at where Finn was stood atop the nose of the aircraft, her young face creasing into a frown - she'd remembered him saying about wanting to visit a bar & for her to tell him if she saw the 'lovely ladies'. No doubt he was planning to try & get with yet another girl. While the young girl thought of the mercenary as her father & loved him for all he'd done for her, that was the one thing about him she wasn't particularly fond of. She had to be careful whenever she came home, or tried to find him if he'd been missing for a while, lest she walk in on something. She sighed & put a hand against her forehead; if anything were to put her off ever having intimate relations with someone else, it was seeing that, especially when it involved her 'dad'.
After a moment she lifted her head & called through to Finn,
"Hey Finn, I think I'm gunna sit in the ship. When you're done with whatever I'll be here when you come back."
With that Koko turned over in her seat & curled up, resting her head in such a way that she could still stare out of the window at the desolate remains of the city. Maybe while he was gone she could have a little look around - there could be some decent stuff lying around & she was going to prove that she could look after herself. She wasn't going to just rely on Finn anymore.
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Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2011 3:23 pm
Finn spotted Thyra and Casey stood around a quad-bike through a nearby gap in the buildings, the dust kicked up by the aircraft made it more difficult to see them.
"It's Thyra and Casey... and Thy has found herself some kind of pet... what is that? I can't tell if it's cute or just odd... I'll have to investigate. You wanna come say hi? I'll bet they'll be very happy to see you again! Hopefully that'll distract them from their anger at me for not coming back for... a while... I'll go on ahead, you catch up."
Finn stepped away from the Firebird, pulling up his seldom used dust-mask before walking almost blindly through the dust in the direction of the others, tripping up over a short wall, but managing to recover before the dust started clearing.
It'd been years since he'd seen them and he hoped they'd be happy to see that he'd looked after Koko well.
I wonder If Thyra is going to shoot me this time...
He slowed his pace slightly as he stepped through the dust that was still suspended in the air.
Hmm... perhaps walking right at them out of cover was an extraordinarily bad idea, even for me.
He continued to slow his pace until he neared the edge of the dust shroud.
"Thyra? Casey? Don't shoot, it's me Finn! Or if you're trying to kill a guy called Finn, I'm not him!"
Perfect.
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Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2011 11:25 pm
oO*Casey*Oo "No more screwing around..."
As Thyra arrivded, Casey smiled. Hooper returned though Admin had taken his leave somewhere. Casey started to talk, but was interrupt by a sharp bark from her canine friend as the animal took off towards a figure. A voice echoed through the churning sand, but Casey couldn't hear or see who it was until they emerged from the dust cloud. Finn? Finn?!
"Where the hell have you been?! We renovated a fricking house in the time it took you to come find us?!" Casey yelled, unholstering her pistol and firing a single bullet close to his feet. The merc then noticed someone was missing...Koko.."Where is she Finn?" she asked.
{OOC:.}
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Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2011 12:49 pm
 A range of emotions swept through Thyra when she caught sight of Finn, the main one, however, being rage. Striding over to him she pulled out the handgun she kept attached to her waist, aiming it at Finn's head.
"Three years Finn! We've waited three years for you! Where the ******** have you been?!"
Through all the anger she felt for this man she didn't deny that she was relieved to see him again. Slowly lowering the weapon, and chucking it on the floor, Thyra stumbled over to Finn, wrapping her arms around his waist and buried her face into his chest.
"You had me worried sick, ...you ungrateful b*****d."
She was silent for a moment before her shoulders began to shake and she cried quietly.
"I-I...I hate you sometimes." (( Hi I can't write emotional reunions help ))
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SCF_Pinstripes Vice Captain
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Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2011 1:59 pm
From where she was sat in the Firebird, Koko could just make out the voices of those outside. She also heard the single gunshot & jumped slightly in her seat, scrabbling to the exit of the ship so she could peer out. She noticed Finn stood with a girl clinging to his waist - it looked kind of like Thyra, but since she couldn't see her face it was hard to tell - & she almost made out Casey in the background. Having determined that Finn hadn't been shot & no-one seemed to be in any immediate danger she clambered the rest of the way out of the ship & sprinted to a nearby partially collapsed building, reaching it in a fraction of a second. She watched the goings-on of the adults from her new vantage point for a while, her large blue eyes darting from one figure to another. She hadn't seen the two women for quite a while & wasn't sure what she would say to them. She shuffled from one foot to the next, debating whether or not to go over when something caught her eye. Something was glinting in the sunlight not too far away from her, attracting her like a magpie.
Approaching carefully, in case whatever it was might explode (which was fairly probable) the young girl tried to inspect the object. It was metallic, that was certain, but she couldn't quite make out what it was, since it was half-buried in the Ares sand. Gently she reached forwards & poked it a little, ready to run if it started beeping or something equally sinister. When nothing happened she shifted it a little more, finding that, once again nothing occurred. Figuring it must be fairly safe, Koko began to drag the metal object from the sand, discovering it was much larger than she originally realised. After a fair amount of tugging & maneuvering she finally pulled it from the sand. It looked like... a breastplate?
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