Welcome to Gaia! ::

John nodded. He limped to the back of the ship, collecting his gear. Limping back to the cockpit, John frowned. "Do you have any morphine to block out the pain in my leg? I think I'm gonna need it for when we get into the hot zone."

Jackal looked at the girl, for once, his face showed nothing, no clever remark passed his lips. For a second there was nothing except his cold blue eyes, staring directly at her. Or through her, his mind lost in memory and history.

The raider got up slowly, appearing almost weary for the first time since he and the mercenary had met. He walked over to her purposefully, and confidently, his large boots thumping on the floor of the shack.

Jackal leant over the girl, his face mere centimetres from hers.
"These scars, Koko, have all been inflicted, at some time or another, by people who wish to torture, and kill me. The sad part being, my dear that they were all warranted."
Jackal pulled out another cigarette, and lit it slowly. Inhaling and exhaling deeply, he continued.
"This is because, ever since I was born, I have done what it takes to survive, and that, my pet, is what it all comes down to isn't it? Survival?"The raider pondered this for a second, as if searching for an answer within himself to his own question. Before continuing abruptly.
"Some, I have forgotten the story behind, because, after all, moments in our lives are fleeting."
He looked down, running a hand over a large scar going from his left shoulder, all the way down to the right side of his waist.
"However some have more memorable stories than others."

Jackal waved the memory away with his cigarette, almost snapping back into reality.
"However, where I got these scars is unimportant, what does however bare major, f***ing importance is that I've killed every, last, person, to ever give me one."The raider paused, looking into the girls eyes for a moment, before turning away suddenly, putting the cigarette into his mouth and inhaling sharply, his breath rattling through the shack.
"Now back to business"
He moved over to the communications system, and began tapping at the keyboard without another word...

Koko sat in silence for the whole time Jackal spoke, the only source of emotion on her face being her eyes. It was only once the raider had turned that she lowered her eyes, exhaling slowly. She sifted through a lot of memories while she sat still, some good, most bad. Eventually she spoke, though her voice no longer held it's normal confidence; instead it was quiet, just barely audible.
"I know all about the need to survive. I lost everything, so I had to fend for myself for a long time.... After a while, I became numb to the hardships, immune to the violence. I was the one sent on missions no-one else would even consider, maybe they were smarter than I."
She made a strange, choked laugh & a twisted grin played on her face. Her voice became louder & adopted the same weird tone it had once with Zed (after she'd killed one of the people involved in the test-flight that presumably killed Finn). The sound seemed innocent & sweet on the surface, though what she said, & the underlying tones of her voice made it sound like one of someone crazed,
"I suppose we have something in common now don't we Jackal? You've killed certain people who've wounded you, as did I. Though mine was more emotional wounding, rather than physical. They deserved to die. Oh I remember every detail of those particular killings, the look on their faces when they knew the end was coming... so sweet."
Her head tilted in his direction, her eyes glazed over & staring creepily. She began to laugh. At first it was almost a giggle, then it grew louder & more maniacle until the sound reverberated round the room.

Koko fell silent after being backhanded, her hair falling across her face. For a moment she didn't say or do anything. Without warning she yelled out & kicked upwards, her boot smashing into the raider's chin. She still looked crazy-faced & thrashed wildly, all thoughts of escape forgotten in her insanity. After a few moments she abruptly fell still again, head down & a small laugh emerged from her lips.
"Heh, heh.... heh heh. I'm going to kill the little doggie. Little doggie's gunna get bitten. Oh the sweet kiss of death approaches."
She lifted her face again, blood trickling down from her mouth - whether she'd bitten her tongue when backhanded or done it herself was unknown - making her appearance even more frightening.
"Bet ya don't feel like calling me pet names now huh little Jackal?"

The unexpected blow hit Jackal directly in the chin, and he grunted slightly, being forced to step back slightly, his head snapping to one side.

When Jackal turned to face the girl once more, his face was a picture of pure rage, with blood dripping from his mouth, he looked like a wild animal. Another wicked grin spread across his face, a mask hiding his fury.
He stepped towards the girl slowly, and stretched out his powerful hand, roughly grabbing her chin in a vice-like grip.
Kneeling down, Jackal moved his face closer, and closer to the girls, until his lips were almost touching her cheek.
Without warning, he licked the blood dripping from the girls mouth off of her face, and savoured it like a fine wine. Throwing his head back in ecstacy.

He looked at the girl, his cold blue eyes fixed on hers.
"Remember my pet, this little doggie, is no little doggie at all, at this particular moment, to you, he is the hound that guards the gates of hell... and you just f***ing opened them."
With this, the raider punched the girl in the stomach, causing the chair to topple over, a primal, animalistic howl breaking his lips...

When the raider grabbed her chin, Koko abruptly fell still & quiet, her eyes still glazed over. As Jackal got closer to her, all her muscles locked & she had been about to headbutt him - until he licked the blood from her mouth. That act threw her completely & she took a sharp intake of breath, not able to make sense out of what he'd just done.

The punch to her stomach caused all the air to come whoosing out of her at once - winding her - & she gasped for breath when the chair toppled. In the time it took her to start breathing normally, she'd reverted back to the insane state of before & thrashed again, screaming. It wasn't until her arm was in front of her that she half-realised the chair had broken enough for one of the bonds holding her to snap.
"Oh how unfair. You've had a taste of my blood, now I want some of yours."
Her laugh began again & didn't even notice the pain that should obviously have been surging through her. In a flash she'd managed to retrieve her hidden knife with her free hand & grinned.
"The snake's coming for the little doggie...."

John watched Zed, mouth slightly open in awe. "That's one way to breach and clear." He muttered. As soon as Zed's cannon blast had cleared, John entered with his rifle drawn, keeping an eye on Jackal he did so. He sneered at the raider. "I'd keep still if I were you."