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Around 200 Earth years ago, this rock we call Ares was far from the relative tranquillity of today.
There were a series of wars, well, you could say it was just one big long war, but that doesn't sound as good, now does it?

Anyway, it all began when the rich and powerful corporate types decided that they wanted more power and even more money to line their already bulging wallets. They wanted to rule over cities of their own, so they used their money to hire mercenaries to 'take care of' whoever was in charge then replace them as the leader.

It was simple enough, but the newly appointed leaders needed some kind of force behind them, or they would be easily overthrown, so they hired their own mercenary armies, then once the power was theirs, they would conscript or enslave civilians for work in arms factories or to become soldiers.

A while passed, in which almost every large city had built up sizeable millitary forces, mostly out of fear that another city's army would be bigger. Resources were poured into arms manufacture and research, many new vehicles and weapons were built, including railguns, walkers, tanks and aircraft. For the first time in Ares history, there were borders between nations.


While the tension between the newly independant nations grew, the various raider factions had been gathering in strength and number, biding their time until the oppertune moment to hijack the situation for their own gain.

It was a ticking time-bomb, that no-one really wanted to be holding when it detonated.

It was the start of a very cold and very long winter, peace-talks had been arranged in Ares city, which was still considered the captial city of the planet due to the vast sleeper ship, from which many earth-born people still emerged.

As one would expect, these peace talks broke down, eventually decending into a gunfight after a raider marksman shot and killed the leader of Ares city, which sparked the responce of a dozen other mercenary snipers, each working for different cities, to fire at the other leaders. The bloodbath that started in that relatively small room quickly spread across the entire planet and started what we now call the mercenary wars.


This story starts in and around that very conference room where it all began, with a group of very powerful and very nervous men and women who are all trying to keep their best pokerfaces on whilst they attempt to prevent the inevitable, and the mercenaries and assassins on the rooftops opposite, watching the politicians through the scopes of their weapons, fingers hovering over their triggers just waiting for someone else to take the first shot.

A gloved hand pulled back the bolt handle and cocked the rifle as the viewfinder hovered over the conference room window.

He looked through the scope for a moment then turned to watch another mercenary sniper take up position in the apartment directly opposite the room that the meeting was being held in.
The whole world was looking through those windows, most of them positioned on the roofs, balconies and at the windows of the buildings opposite them, watching through scopes, just waiting for it all to ignite.

A vantage point was difficult to find, many of the mercenary snipers eventually settling to share rooms, after all, it was peace talks that were taking place opposite.
Finn however, opted for the roof of an apartment, which was not the best of choices, considering the outside air temperature was somewhere around -20 degrees Celsius as it was a week or so into one of the harsh Ares winters.

The young man wore a thick dark-green parka and a pair of fingerless gloves, the parka's hood covering his features and protecting his face from the relentlessly cold winds.

They sure as hell better pay me extra for this... I hate winter...

He looked through the scope with one of his deep blue eyes, watching the nervous politicians taking their seats around a large table.

Colo offered a half-smile as thanks to Casey, admittedly a little shaken by her forceful vice, before listening to her inquiry, which Guido answered in his usual convauluted, if fairly poignant style. "Well, of course we need to walk through that door first, my dear. Then we might as well take any seat we like. Oh, and, erm... I can't promise you any seats." Guido slunk a hand into his pocket and after a few moments of grasping, revealed a somewhat aging and decrepit invitation; something which struck the younger pair as surprising, given it had been issued only a couple of weeks ago. "It says here: No Guests Allowed. But given the amount of blatantly hired guns in the building, I doubt they'll mind me bringing you two in. Or more to the point, they won't tell me to leave." The elder of the trio stopped for a moment, recalling the details of his youthful accomplices' previous conversation. "Oh, and Colo. Listen to Casey once in a while. You're smart and strong, so at least pretend to be confident, kay? You won't be able to rely on people like her all your life..."

A man standing next to the door snapped across the room at the unusual party who had decided to show up. "Are you going in? They're waiting to start. And, I'm only letting one of you in." The rather persnickety looking gentleman glanced down a list. "A Guido..." The man in question had used the time in which he had been talked at to close the distance between him and the door, and was now close enough to take his first pace into the meeting room, something which he delayed, decidng first to offer the attendee a simple "Pshaw", before motioning himself and his entourage into the arena in which the planet's fate would be decided.

The room's brown walls already appeared to have been stained by the thick layer of smoke which loomed in the air, giving the room an odious stench, which, to be honest, none of the participants appeared to be particularly disgruntled, perhaps familiar with such a thing, their grubby fingers wrapped around thick cigars. However, the trio's entrance did surprise them. Not only was he late, Mr Guido Nemeth had apparently ignored the no guests rule, and although many of the people sitting at the meeting desk gave each other mistrusting looks, none of them rose an objection. The people whom controlled didn't consider Guido a threat, far from it; to most of the mob kings and elitist landowners he had always come over as a bit of a goof in what little public counsel he held. And so the "goof" decided to take the last empty seat at the grand table dimplomacy was to occur across. It appeared the men who had been pacing nervously outside whilst the three protaganists, at least, in their own minds, had been discussing. The enviroment forced a cough out of Colo, who found such a surrounding unfamiliar, and the subsequent smoke intoxicating an act which turned out to be the last sound heard before a deathly silence fell across the room.

The owner of the building, a Mr Liebharr, had agreed to be the neutral host and therefore was the natural choice to first address the commitee. Others followed, with little debate, something which Guido appeared to shy away from. Eventually however, he let out a yawn, turned to his young companions, and said "Watch this. I'm going to change everything." He stood from his seat and tapped his trademark cane against the solid surface in front of him suddenly gaining the undivided attention of his peers. "Now," Guido started, knowing it to be a good establishing point he adopted from a friend's oration, "I know we have all had our differences. But we've finally bothered to actually talk to one another. Isn't that progress?" The speaker looked at his audiences puzzled looks, and prepared the finishing blow. "Finally," a smile creeping upon the enigma's face, "can't we all be friends?"

...

The audience sat staring mute and dumbfounded at Guido, who stood with a wicked grin upon his face. Finally, after an eternity of nothing, Colo tapped his mentor on the shoulder and asked, "Seriously, is that it?" Another moment of silence passed. Then the proceedings, which until then had been taken with a certain amount of respect, suddenly broke down into an arguement, starting with several people beginning a point at the same time, something which the remainder soon took their part in. Before long, Guido placed a palm on the backs of his comrade's and ushered them out of the door reasoning that it was about time they were leaving.

As they closed the door behind them, they heard the first gunshot.

(Never typing that much again, ty, this thang just got started.)

The loud crack of gunfire penetrated Finn's ears before giving way to a volley of bullets from the snipers perched on the buildings opposite.

The swarm of bullets tore through the room and the people within it, killing all but a lucky few that'd managed to escape the room.

A moment of silence passed as the snipers had to reload their weapons, during which they became conscious of the fact that the other snipers were now their enemies. The shooting continued, but the target was not the men and women in the conference room, it was now the other snipers and mercenaries.

The young mercenary sighed then ejected the unused clip from his rifle and slung it onto his back before standing up. He surveyed his surroundings once more, then jumped down onto a lower roof in the opposite direction to the fighting, eventually making his way back to his favourite bar near the entrance to the sleeper ship.

Thyra, who was positioned inside one of the buildings, just managed to survive the incoming barrage of bullets from the other snipers. Frowning, she quickly picked up her shotgun, which she had left by her feet while she was using her sniper rifle, and hurried out of the apartment room, followed by a couple of other mercenaries. She sighed and looked back over her shoulder.
"Well...That was fun."
She pushed some stray hair behind her ear and slipped into a back alley. It was absoulutly freezing and Thyra wished she had invested in one of those lovely warm fluffy coats she had seen in the shops. She exited the back alley after a while and came out where said shops, pubs, and dining areas could be found. Her apartment was around here.

((Is this okay? I'm not too sure :/ ) Tis good mrgreen )

Upon reaching the door, Koko wrenched it open - luckily it opened without too much effort - & was met by... a huge corridor. All of the lighting along this section was functioning, illuminating the massive walkway with white light. From this corridor, many more smaller corridors branched off, leaving her effectively in a maze. The girl's eyes began to well up with tears when she saw just how lost she truly was. Again her tiny voice spoke out, almost drowned by the suffocating silence of the metal structure.
"Mummy....?"
She hugged herself again, only now noticing the shard of metal in her hand. She held out & unfurled her hand, sniffing & blinking away tears as she looked at it. The object was strange; larger than her hand but not heavy at all. It shimmered in the light as Koko turned it over in her hands. Though she didn't know why, she placed the metal in her dress pocket.

Again, the girl was overwhelmed by the sheer size of the thing she was inside when she looked around. She moved through the corridor, looking down the smaller branches in case there was anything promising. Nothing. Every single one looked the same, with no hint of a way out. Koko began to shake with fear; what if she was trapped here forever? Just as she felt like crying again, the young child felt the unmistakeable brush of wind against her cheek. It was cold, but she didn't care. If this breeze led to an exit she'd gladly follow it. Drawing herself to her full height (which wasn't much) the girl began to run, following the breeze down a small corridor that seemed no different to the others. She sped round corners, ignoring any closed doors she passed & not realising just how fast she was actually travelling.

The wind was getting stronger & colder, she must be near the exit! Running even faster - & nearly tripping in the process - Koko rounded one final corner & spotted that which she had been searching for. At the end of a small hallway, an open door stood. Daylight flooding in. With an excited gasp she stumbled towards the door, barely believing that she'd found a way out. She'd meet someone who could help her, find her parents & finally be safe. Right? Koko slowed a little as she ran out of the door, finally realising just how cold it was outside (especially since she was wearing a dress) & smacked straight into a raider. His face was horrifically scarred down one side of his face & his eyes glinted evily as he looked down at the young girl. The man smirked & picked her up by the back of her dress, his voice dripping with foul intent.

"My, my. What do we have here? A little brat just woken up?"

Eyes widening with fear, Koko did the only thing she thought she could. She screamed.

oO*Casey*Oo

Casey tut-tutted at the display of volatility between the two, and when she was cued, jogged over to a nearby bench. It was there that she sprawled the rather traditional, multi-folded bit of paper that formed the map. In the south easterly corner, the building that was now a hell hole of bullets and trigger happy snipers was circled in a red marker. Then, a little north and then west of said circle, a deep blue rectangle housed the parking spot.Casey walked her fingers from one to the next, and deduced that they would have to head north bound through the main streets, then at the eighth alley on the right, take that and begin to head westward. Had they parked in an open area, they could have headed in a straight line.

Casey, now sure of the directions, folded the rather awkward slab of paper and slid it into the pack she carried on her back, and began to take of an unusual pace - it was a walk at appearance, but a jog at a speed. The markswoman shifted her body weight from right to left foot, pausing to look back every few paces. It was a short while after they headed westward that they encountered the ship.

They were not alone.

The ship (not parked securely) was surrounded by adoring mechanics, children, nosy citizens, all of whom were running both their hands and eyes over the framework of the advanced vehicle. The sudden realization that this ship was far more advanced than the technology that Casey used irked the female a little bit. It caused her to ponder as to why she had not been using more advanced equipment for her daily activities. She put it on her checklist of things to do when they boarded their ship. 'Retrieve PCT from ship's hold' (PCT meaning PCTablet - a fairly new piece of technology she had recovered.)

{OOC: Imagine an iPad.....KOKO IS ADORABIBLE!}

Koko was absolutely terrified. After she'd run out of breath & her scream had ceased she'd been roughly pulled onto a motorbike & had no choice but to hang onto the raider in front of her - lest she fall off. He stank of smoke, alcohol, sweat & something... strangely metallic. She knew the smell, but couldn't quite place it. The girl figured pretty quickly that screaming was not going to get her anywhere & she might just get thrown off this barely functioning vehicle. From the way the exhaust was chucking out black fumes, she knew it's engine wasn't burning the fuel properly; though she had absolutely no idea how this piece of information had become known to her, she'd never ridden on a motorbike before this, much less learnt about one. At least, she didn't think so...

The young girl shook & tried to make herself appear as small as possible. She'd thought someone would help her, instead she'd just been kidnapped by someone she was instinctively afraid of. She had no idea that there was someone chasing after the raiders, had no hope that she'd be saved.