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Being careful not to make too much noise, Koko slipped into the cargobay, hoping that Zed would keep his back turned for a few moments longer. The 'flitted' over to the access hatch at the other side of the bay & quickly wrenched it open, before making her way out into the desert. The inhaled deeply - she'd spent a very, very long time on this planet & knew it better than almost anything - before glancing back. She caught a glimpse of Jackal with his beloved bike just before she set off into the desert. She probably come back to the Aiolos, but not for a while, she needed to get to the bottom of these weird visions. The mercenary began a quick (faster than even the fastest althete) but easily maintained pace, heading away from the ship, the raider's shack & the people around it.

It wasn't too much longer after she'd left - though she already travelled a fair few miles in that time - that Koko spotted something strange in the desert sand. Since everything was calm for the moment, she managed to spot an object ahead of her & slightly to the left. As she drew closer, she could tell that it wasn't a plant, or a rock, or a destroyed vehicle. Intruiged, she altered her direction a little & travelled towards it more quickly, closing the distance in minutes. It was a person. A girl.
Probably wandered out 'ere or somethin' & collapsed...
The mercenary crouched down next to the person lying in the sand, noting how she was still breathing. She sighed & shook her head,
"Bloody amateurs."
The mercenary looked up at the sky, realising that night would soon descend. Her gaze drifted back down to the girl & she sighed again before taking out one of her own water bottles & tilting the girl up, pressing the end of the bottle to the other girl's lips. She made sure the girl drank some of the water before lying her back down in the sand. She began to make preparations for a small camp...

Jackal quickly pulled himself out of his last few moments of precious euphoria, instead deciding to focus on the ultimately more important reality. He quickly set to opening one of the large storage compartments on the side of his bike, retrieving both a "Shorty" Mosberg 500 shotgun, which he quickly strapped to his upper-thigh, and a pair of beaten up looking goggles.
Pulling the goggles over his eyes, the raider quickly mounted the vast machine, leaning forward and cracking his knuckles before flicking a few switches on the vast vontrol panel.
With a roar, the bikes huge engine came to life, causing the entire frame to shudder violetly.
Jackal's mouth curled into a viscious grin as he grasped throttle, and began to rev the engine aggressively. With a quick salute to the Aiolos, the raider released the clutch and sped away from the vast ship at a seemingly impossible speed, leaving a large cloud of dust in his wake.
Turning towards his shack in the shadow of a gaint cliff face, the raider snarled over the growling of the engine. He was going to go home, tend to his wounds and service his weapons. Because he had a very important job to attend to...

Despite her best efforts, Zed noticed Koko leave before he carried a sleeping John out of the ship through the airlock.
He dropped him on the floor and acended the access ramp back into the Aiolos.

Moments later, the ramps retracted back into the ship's hull and the hugely powerful engine started once more, effortlessly lifting the ship off of the ground.
The landing gear clunked back into the ship as the Aiolos floated motionless in the air.
The pilot checked the navigation computer and then the main monitor that was displaying an image of the planet Ares.
"Looks like we got a few days left before the winter hits..."

On Ares, summer and winter cycles happen every 2 months and are separated by less than a week due to the planet's eliptical orbit and irregular rotation. This also meant that extreme temperatures were common, 50 degrees celcius in a particularly hot summer day and down to minus 50 in the coldest winter nights.

At the moment a hot cycle was nearing it's end, so the seering heat of the desert would turn to freezing temperatures within a few days.

Zed's ship had air conditioning and central heating, so he didn't mind either way.

Jackal slowed down upon reaching his shack, passing it to pull up next to the sturdy chainlink fence surrounding his garage. Pulling out a large ring of keys, he clumsily fumbled through the various pieces of metal before jamming one into the heavy iron padlock securing the gate.
Following this he drove slowly through the gap in the fence and stopped in front of the garage. Quickly tapping the bikes complicated looking interface system, the raider smiled and exhaled heavily as an unhealthy sound of grating metal rang out as the heavy looking garage door retracted, revealing a dimly lit concrete interior, filled with various weapon's, tools and an assortment of spare parts.
Upon driving into the garage, the doors closed behind him as he flicked a few switches on the bike's vast control panel, the bikes industrial engine shuddering as it powered down.
Jackal grunted as he dismounted the hulking machine, removing his goggles quickly and placing them on a workbench.
Pacing over to an indescribable weapons rack, the raider quickly picked up his favourite Bren Gun and ten extended magazines for the high calibre LMG, roughly jamming one into place. In addition to this he picked up a handful of rounds for his magnum.
Walking back over to his bike, he placed his Bren Gun in a storage compartment running along the left hand side of the bike, easily accessible whilst driving. He then opened another smaller compartment next to the control panel, revealing his prized magnum. Picking up the heavy gun, Jackal smirked slightly, weighing it in his hand and looking down the sight for a second, taking simple pleasure in its craftsmanship. With a flick of his wrist, the raider opened the drum, loading the gun with quick precision before snapping it back into place.
Coldly, he placed the magnum back into its compartment, before moving over to the corner of the workshop and opening the medical kit on the wall, simultaneously dragging the dressing away from the wound at his side. He grabbed all that he would need before soaking a rag in sterilising fluid, flinching minutely as he pressed it against the ragged flesh...

Angie's eyes gleamed as she listened to Koko's voice, but then when she said that she would have to leave her at the city, she felt her eyes sting as they began to water. "B...but...I won't b..be in the w...way! I w...wan't you to...to...to teach me!" she sobbed, throwing her arms around her drawn-up knees and dropping her head down. Angie shivered as she began to get cold on the desert sand, and wriggled closer to the fire. "I...I have no-one else..." the girl whispered.

It was true. She had left her family in pursuit of her idol, and sought to be just like the famous Koko.Her family, despite telling tales of Koko, told her that she was no longer welcome if she was to pursue such dangerous, reckless and wild dreams of meeting and learning from Koko. She had heard many stories as a child, and now had given up everything to find the female mercenary. Angie lifted her head, looking up at Koko, and tried to smile. "B...but I know you are b...busy...so I don't want t...to be in your way..." she continued, and then looked away. She had no choice but to accept it, she respected Koko too much to ignore her requests and demands.

Thane stifled a yawn and rested his head against one of the chryostatis pods, eyes closed.
"Urgh...I need some sleep."
He rubbed where the scars on his face were, and then across to the other side of is face. Sighing, he opened his eyes and stood up straight, wiping away the dust from the pod. A huge grin spread across the young scientists face.
"Guys!! Here!"
He hurriedly wiped away the dust from the pod to come face to face with his mentor.

(I've decided to try again. Last time, it was a bad time, and besides that, my determination to RP was much less. I think we can all agree I have... some... ability to drive this through now. I have, admittedly, been inspired by onehorsey joining, and besides that... 1000 posts.

Who don't wanna be a parta dat? (Charrie below))

Name: Ilyse Reizbar

Age: 19

Gender: Female (yup, not a typo. I lost the last of my masculinity in a poker game razz )

Title: A Fun-Loving Inventor

Weapons: A high tech rifle. Using state of the art, although admittedly rather haberdash, methods, bullets from its barrel can be fired at a higher velocity than similar models, with the result of higer chance of penetration and range. That weapon is mainly used only for security. Ilyse also owns a single action army revolver, believed to have survived the trip from Earth. Constantly polished to a shine, Ilyse refers to it as a "classic"; more for theatrics, and less as a practial weapon. Other weapons she may use are completely varied. Any gadgets on her person could be considered a threat in the wrong hands, which, fortunately, dosen't appear to be the case.

Description: With fine, blonde hair reaching her neck, freckles across the midriff of her face and a shorter than average stature, she hardly presents herself as an imposing figure. She has bright blue eyes, and a goofy, but adorable, toothy grin, often uneccessarily stapled upon her face. Her time in the desert has given her skin a warm glow, and to deal with the climate she may pull down the goggles upon her forehead, and pull up the red bandana around her neck. Her usual attire is composed of a white T-shirt and some tattered jeans, however she will often be seen wearing an old, beige duster, with plenty of pockets, whilst on buisness ventures or inventing. She says it makes her feel like one of those characters from the old western stories, but know one really knows what she means by that anymore. She has a bright and personable way about her, constantly smiling, leaving guests baffled by her overenthusiasm. She loves to waffle about her inventions and the testing of said projects, and although she comes up with some prettty neat ideas, a lot of them can have flaws. She loves old technology, and what was known on Earth as the "western" genre. Ever since reading a perfectly preserved book about cowboys when she was 6, she's been addicted to the subject, quickly buying any relatable relics which pass the hands of traders she meets. That old cowboy book has become her prized possession, and she keeps it sealed within an airtight plastic.

Information: Born on Ares, to a relatively economically comfortable couple, who are settled in a sleeper ship, she was educated by her parents, and through her enviroment, gained a passion for engineering. It was this passion that caused her parents much trouble, as nearby settlers complained aboutthe constant mechanical whirring and beeping Ilyse would carry out throughout the night. As her parents confronted her, at the age of 15, a combination of teenage angst, and flawed genius, caused her to leave the colony in search of "creative space". Travelling with a party of traders she sighted a spot near an oasis and built a shack near it. This shack would not just play home to her constant need to invent and create, it would also serve as a stopping point which offered respite to passing traders. Through traders, Ilyse found a counstant source of food, and, in return, the traders were offered whatever crazy machination the young inventor had scrambled together. Furthermore, her contact with these travelling salespeople allowed her to contact her parents, through way of written word. However, it has been a good while since their last response, and seeking an answer, Ilyse seeks a practical and quick way to get to the sleepership...

The Aiolos sped across the desert sky, directly in the line of fire of Ilyse's fireworks.

Zed's attention quickly turned from the plant to several large, yet strangely colourful explosions around the Aiolos, followed by an alert signaling that something was caught in the grating of one of the ship's intake ducts.

The Aiolos silently spun around and loomed ominously in the air over Ilyse, lowering all of it's weapons into firing position whilst the targeting computer located the source of the exploding projectiles.
The pilot looked up at the monitors, his thumb poised over the small green button that would unleash a storm of metal chunks into whatever the ship happened to be targeting.
Zed hesitated, he'd seen fireworks before and knew they were of no real threat to his armoured ship.