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Jackal rolled his eyes at the drama unfolding. Between with the young girl wandering off into the desert, and Koko's trust issues they could easily have been characters in some sort of Drama.
Gritting his teeth, the raider heard the unmistakeable engines of the Aiolos as it flew overhead; no doubt to retrieve Koko. He thumbed the hammer of his magnum back, happy for finding himself alone once more, and leapt over his rubble-strewn barricade.
Rolling into a crouch, the raider fired off a shot, and quickly followed with another; He grinned viciously as he watched the bullets meet their mark, the first lodging itself in the gut of a sharp-shooter, the other tearing through the skull of a sniper sat atop a tall barricade.
Using the momentum of his roll, he quickly dove forwards behind new, albeit much shallower cover, hearing bullets pepper the sand behind him. Jackal snarled, calling to the head of the military force. "Is that the best you've got!?"

Zed noticed Koko collapse and rushed over to where she lay in the long grass. He placed his index and forefinger on her neck to check her pulse and listened for her breathing.
"Oh dear... More oxygen here than on Ares, musta sent ya loopy"
He sat down in the grass beside Koko after deciding that she was in no real danger of death.
"Yeah, the ship just needs to charge up... I'll look for bits that fell off or something."
The pilot scooped the unconscious Koko up from the grassy ground and headed back towards the crashlanded ship, which had been scorched somewhat on entry into the planet's atmosphere, turning the primarily white ship a dark grey colour.

Thane glanced over to the hole and breathed a small sigh of relief, helping Dimitri over to the opening. When Dimitri had made his way through, Thane followed him all the while trying not to cut himself too badly on the jagged edges.
When he had got through Thane had to sheild his eyes from the glare of the sun. It was true they had gotten outside but they weren't near the groud. In fact the ground was a fair way down. The dark-haired man looked back towards Lance.
"Sir, be careful when you come through."
Thane helped Dimitri shuffle along the section of the outer part of the Sleeper Ship. He was just hoping that the Skankhounds wouldn't follow them out here.
((Does this work? I didn't know if the Sleeper ship would really have outside sections but I didn't think they'd just stumble onto the ground...*shrugs* I dunno I change it if it doesn't work))

In the short time before she regained consciousness, Koko experienced a strange variety of visions. Some she had seen before - the strange man in the white coat, the burning city - others though, she had not. Images of being wrapped in a large, fluffy coat; a dark room with only a sliver of light from an open door; a whitewashed room with a dismantled computer before her. These were just some of the many things that passed before her, the images were all jumbled together, often getting overlayed & mixed with each other so they didn't make much sense.

When the mercenary woke with a yelp she had a thin layer of sweat coating her forehead. What had caused these peculiar hallucinations? She didn't know, but she intended to try & find out. Somehow this planet seemed to be connected to them, but why she couldn't fathom. Blinking slowly, Koko turned her attention to her surroundings, trying to sound light-hearted.
"Can't believe I fainted, means I'm missin' out on all that beautiful scenery."

There were a couple of shots, some yelps & a fair amount of cursing before Lance made his way through the tear in the ship. The hounds still within the sleeper vessel howled, scrabbled & snapped at the hole, but did not emerge - the researcher wasn't sure whether he was glad about that, what could be out here that was cause them to reside within & never come out? After sighing, running a thumb over his scar & turning to the others, the gruff man realised that they were a long way off the ground.
"Oh that's just dandy."
he said under his breath. After scanning what lay below for a moment, Lance addressed the other group members,
"Well, guess we best be findin' a way down eh? I dunno about you, but, unless my eyes are deceivin' me, that's a city down there."

Koko wasn't really listening to Zed as he mumbled to himself; her brow was creased slightly, her mind deep in thought. For a brief moment she looked around herself, making sure her boots & trench coat weren't too far away before resuming her thinking. She sighed & flopped backwards so that she was lying on her back in the grass, looking up at the sky. Something was flying overhead, though it was so high that - even if she had known what creatures resided here - she wouldn't have been able to tell what it was. There was so much that she wanted to ask Zed about, learn about the things that lived here & how different they might be from the things on Ares.... but that would have to wait.

Turning her head ever so slightly the female mercenary looked over at the pilot as he tried to figure out how to move a rather large metal panel that had been sheered off the main body of the Aiolos. Despite the confusing events that had transpired (what with the hallucinations & dreams) Koko still felt a warm glow in her chest when she looked at that man. Without really thinking about what she was doing, she got to her feet & approached Zed, not saying a word. When she was close enough she slid her arms round him, resting her head on his back & sighing lightly. At this particular moment in time Koko felt vulnerable, her mind was in turmoil, she was a long way from 'home' & she needed comfort.

As she felt her hand pressed against Zed's chest, Koko smiled contentedly, feeling the man's heartbeat through her fingers. There was something soothing about the steady beating, it calmed her nerves a little. She took a step back as the pilot wrenched the metal fragment out of the soil, raising an eyebrow at how far he managed to move it.
"Guess ya don't know your own strength eh?"
She grinned a little bit, then ran off into the ship, gathering together some equipment before appearing near Zed again & placing the various things she'd collected on the ground.
"Looks like we've got our work cut out... she looks pretty banged up..."
Gently, the female mercenary laid her hand on the hull of the craft, looking slightly saddened by the damage that had been caused.

After a few seconds she blinked sharply & turned to face the pilot.
"I should probably get my shoes back...."
She glanced down at her bare feet, which were now grass-stained & dirtied, her trench coat & boots were still where she'd left them in the grass not too far away. She began to walk towards her stuff, albeit rather more slowly than usual. Once again she was deep in thought, though this time the things coursing through her head were not to do with her hallucinations, they were of a completely different vein; a faint, sly smile spread across the girl's features as she contemplated some of the things she was planning.

Having collected her boots from where she'd left them, Koko slipped on her socks & footwear, a little upset now that she couldn't feel the Earth's grass beneath her feet. She took a moment to close her eyes & inhale deeply, still finding it amazing how a place could be so full of life. When the mercenary turned & made her way back to the Aiolos, she heard Zed yell & raised an eyebrow.
"Another problem? What is it?"
Drawing up next to the pilot, Koko let her eyes wander over the half-buried ship, glad that the impact hadn't been worse - the whole thing could of broken up & both of them could be dead.

Letting her gaze flicker towards Zed for a moment, taking in his features as he surveyed the ship. She raised her hand a little, as though to reach out to Zed & touch him; just as she was about to, however, she flinched, looked away, then lowered her hand again. The pilot had more important things to deal with, she knew he wouldn't be happy until the Aiolos was up & running again. Maybe then she could...?

Koko smiled ever so slightly as Zed headed back into the ship but, once he was out of sight her expression shifted. She lowered her eyes & sighed, looking down at the slightly flattened grass around the crashed Aiolos. After a while she lifted her gaze, looking up at the sky & murmering to herself,
"I said I'd be ok Finn... but I'm not sure that's true anymore... I don't know what's happening to me..."
With her hair blowing around her face in the breeze, Koko stayed in that position for a while. She felt like something was calling to her here & couldn't understand why - she'd never been here, so why did it seem so... familiar? The feelings she was experiencing scared her. After hundreds of years (literally) of surviving on her own, detaching herself from everything, from other people to her emotions, she was finding the sudden influx of different feelings rather frightening.

Blinking slowly the mercenary turned her head towards the craft, suddenly switching her thoughts to how she was going to re-attach the pieces of metal to the underside of the hull in an effort to distract herself. It was no good dwelling on things right now, she had a ship to fix.