Ora Noc Terrol: The Road to Paradise (rated M)

708's eyes flicked backwards to look at the man who had spoken, though her walk never slowed. Looks like the flighty type. Placed himself in the middle of the group; should we be attacked he'll be the least likely to take damage. Well, he's a smart coward at least. She returned her gaze to the road, not bothering to answer Bannon's question about names. She didn't have one, and telling them her number would just raise suspicions.

From the corner of her eye she caught sight of the Mercenary starting for the lead of the group, which would put him right next to her. She sucked in a breath, forcing down the rising panic that scratched at every fiber of her being. If she couldn't keep her cool her cover would be blown and then there would be no hiding what she was.

Just stay calm. Remember what 715 used to say. Its better to keep them closer, where you can watch every move. Then they can't spring traps or shoot you in the back. She shut her eyes for a bit longer than a standard blink, forcing her hands to unclentch and hang limply at her sides. And 707. He was a master at waiting for the perfect chance to strike. If he could do it, so can I. She opened her eyes. If he attacks, you can end him easily if he is close.

Her thoughts still did nothing to slow her heart rate or the icey-fire of adrenaline trickling into her veins.

Once again, there was a weird sensation that Jack noticed every time 708 was near him. I won’t lose anything by trying. He thought as he stopped at her side.

“Don’t worry, I’m not with them anymore.” He said softly before starting to walk slowly, while taking dissimulated glances over his shoulder. If she reacts, then she must be a prisoner of sorts who escaped.

Her eyes widened for a fraction of a second, but that was all the reaction that she showed. However, his simple comment sent her heart racing faster than before and the adrenaline dumped into her viens, no longer a small trickle. She swallowed hard, not slowing in her walk.

Does he know?! No, he can't, I would of recognized someone who had been part of the Facility projects, and he surely would of seen and known what the number meant. As if in answer to her rising panic, her tattoo throbbed, the pain fresh as the day the numbers were inked there. Calm, keep calm. he's probably mistaking you for someone.

Her hands curled into fists at her sides and she met his every glance, her eyes hardening every time they caught his. It was only through an extreme force of will that she was able to surpress the shudder that threatened to run through her body.

Maria Zal

Maria heard Bannon give his own greeting, though no one else seemed willing to introduce themselves. Hoping to begin further conversation, Maria introduced herself.

"I'm Maria Zal. If any of you need medical attention while here, you can seek me out. I'm a doctor, and I've had plenty year's worth of experience treating patients. So long as I have the proper medical equipment and time, I should be able to patch up any wounds you all receive. Just be careful, though. I'd rather not have to use my skills here."

She gave a nod to those around her. Hopefully that might get more people speaking.

“Evelyn Goins.” Eve flashed Bannon a toothy grin that could have been mistaken for a smile if you tilted your head and squinted a little. She looked oddly happy considering her recent explosion at the con-man, but it wasn’t a personality change for the worst, most would probably say. “But, you can all just call me Eve, since that‘s what everyone else does.”

She took in the group for a moment, wondering silently to herself why such a strange crowd would gather on this back water world, but their surroundings made any concentrated thought difficult to attain and even more difficult to maintain. The desert around them seemed like it was trying to crush them with the oppressive heat that radiated from both the sun above and the ground beneath their feet; the waves blurred her vision, and it was almost impossible to make out anything along the horizon, save for the splintered rock formation that dominated the flat terrain of the desert around them. Her pace was casual as she strolled along the road, noting that its surface was strangely smooth instead of the uneven and rough stone that she had been expecting.

It had been weathered by all those who had came before them, since the time it was first a barely noticeable footpath to the wide stretch that rolled on before her. It had witnessed thousands of footsteps in its life, she was certain, and it would continue to endure them long after she had passed. What had walked on it in those times ancient? Was her journey taking its first steps along the same path the ancient Tervim had so long ago? The very thought of such a prospect made her heart flutter in excitement, and sent her mind spiraling into a bliss fueled whirlwind of theory and analysis.

Catching herself before she started to debate the prospects of studying this road for the rest of her natural life, the young woman turned her focus to those around her, in an attempt to stave off the hungering curiosity that cooed and howled in the depths of her mind. “What’s a doctor doing on a planet like Sheol? Planning to help the thousands suffering from bullet wounds and disease? Or you gonna set up shop and make a freaking killing as probably the only licensed doctor on this entire planet?”

She could practically taste the tension that hung between the group, and at any moment she expected the cauldron to boil over and burn all those who were too stupid to see the steam. Slipping in between the towering woman and the stoic man, she continued to walk as if nothing was the matter.

“And what about you, Bannon? All remarks aside, you seem like the sort of man who wouldn’t want to come to Sheol. You look like you’d be more at home in a casino than a desert, to be completely honest.” She seemed genuinely interested to hear what the pair had to say, even as her eyes kept close watch over the two beside her.

As Angel remained silent she could feel the tension. After all she wasn't the only one who was keeping silent. Though she was sure that some of them had better reasons not to speak than just being naturally rude. Angel had no idea where these people came from and so it was hard to tell why some of the others kept quiet.

The redhead sighed and dug out another cigarette. She knew that the others wouldn't appreciate her smoking again, but she was at the back of the group. Besides it was safer to smoke out in the open area.

As she began to smoke, she waited for someone else to speak. If things went her way she wouldn't have to talk.

Bannon gave a true, hearty laugh at Eve’s remark. He loosened his tie and buttoned up his west in response to the blistering heat of the dessert.

“Aye, so it would seem, and I’ll take it as a complement Eve. I certainly have done my share of gambling over the years. It is a shame there’s no casino in this dessert. Certainly would have made my day. Did you know that they built an entire city in the dessert back on good old earth to create a gambling haven? Las Vegas, I believe they called it. Ah, but I am rambling, and not answering your question. My reason for coming to Sheol is quite simple.” He looked out over the dessert, his eyes distant.

Forgive me, but I’m gonna play my cards close to the chest on this one. I raise you half the truth, but I will be damned if I’m going all-in. Not gonna give away the fact that I used to hang with the scum of the underworld, or that I was stupid enough to piss off the mob boss Jack Andolini. Ugh, if I turn around, I almost expect to see his ugly face grinning at me from behind that revolver of his.

“I needed a fresh start, to put a distance between me and my old life. Sheol is nothing if not far away from everything else. And the story of this paradise in the dessert seemed...pleasant, if far fetched. You know, if someone found it, I sure would start a casino, and give it some glamorous name, like The Garden of Eden Casino, in bright neon letters”. Bannon chuckled contently. “Oh, the tourists would eat it up!”

Only a little bit of surprise, however, no reaction that I can read. Jack decided to keep an eye on her only, but he was rather less concerned with her right now. Suddenly, his mind focused on the woman who raced past between 708 and himself.

“A bit in a hurry to get nowhere are we?” He exclaimed loud enough for those beside him listen carefully. “Those truly worthless ruins won’t move you know, if there truly is one good enough out there.” Jack was now taunting her, trying to test her patience and well, have a little fun. Might not be the best way, but it was his way of having fun.

708 ran a hand through her hair, brushing the annoying strands back out of her face. She listened intently to the conversation, mildly confused at the 180 that the small purple haired woman pulled mood-wise. Wasn’t she ready to tear that man’s throat out a few minutes ago? With a slight shake of her head, she dismissed the thought. She was never going to understand plain, ordinary humans.

She turned her attention away from the group, the conversation registering in the back of her mind. Ahead of them, she could see the rock formation slowly growing closer, though she knew she would be the only one to really notice. That was one thing she could thank the Facility for. Her senses were far above those of normal humans.

When the Merc spoke, her eyes snapped down to him. A deep frown etched itself in her features, the expression harsh on her normally placid features. He’s purposely trying to start a fight. Is he that eager for bloodshed? She made a slight noise of displeasure. They never change, no matter what age they are.

Another sound of distaste left her, and she pushed past Eve and the Merc, not wanting to get caught in the fight that was sure to happen. She sent a hard glance at the Merc as she passed him, a hint of hostility lurking in the teal depths of her eyes. Once she reclaimed the head of the group she settled into a faster paced walk, her strides long.

Her eyes once again returned to the horizon and the rock formation that dominated most of it. She didn’t like it. Too easy to hide in, set up an ambush. You’re over thinking this. They wouldn’t of followed you here, and they definitely wouldn’t waste time setting up an ambush… Still, the uneasy feeling in her stomach didn’t settle in the slightest. Though, that probably had more to do with the ex-military man behind her than the rock formation ahead.

Maria Zal

"Actually, I'm here looking for somebody." Maria answered, though she didn't think Eve's other two ideas weren't all that bad either. Though she needed to remain focused on her main objective here. It wouldn't do to get side-trakced, after all. She did have a limited amount of time to search for her father before her mother passed away. They both needed some sort of closure before Maria lost her last living parent (Because her father must be dead, after all. Why else had he not contacted her since her sixteenth birthday? It was the only explanation she could think of that would explain his sudden vanishment).

"Don't let that guy get to you." Innokenti said to Eve. He turned and glared sharply at Jack. That guy was strange. He had a vast knowledge of weaponry, and obviously experienced with it. On top of that he was confident enough with his abilities that he didn't feel threatened by the rest of the group.

'What's strong, arrogant, and well armed at all times?' Innokenti thought. Then, after a moment or two, it clicked. 'A mercenary.' "Over compensating for something there Merc?" he yelled, "Or are you desperate enough for work that you have to start a fight to impress someone?" Innokenti let out a short burst of laughter. He had nothing to fear from that man. No Svetlana would ever hire a mercenary, much less a space mercenary.

Since she was at the back, Angel was hoping that everyone would forget she was there. It would save her the trouble of introducing herself and than explaining why she was here. It also allowed her to listen in on the conversations so although they didn't know who she was, Angel was able to learn their names.

He looked up at Jack who seemed to be causing a fight. Well he may not have started it, but it was clear that this group was not getting along well.

"A mercenary," she said, taking another drag. "What the hell would a merc be doing on here, shorty? Is the heat finally getting to you?"

"It doesn't matter. He could be here to stroke my ego and I really couldn't care less." Innokenti said though he couldn't help but be a little interested himself. Innokenti pulled three bullets out of his pack and began to juggle them with one hand as he talked trying to break the monotony of walking for such a long time. "But just so I know which direction to walk away from, might I ask what you doing here Mr. ...I'm sorry what's your name again?"

Jack kept ignoring the chatty couple in the middle.

Jack made a sudden stop and did a 180 degrees turn in order to take a look back at the gate from which they had previously exit. They hadn’t walked so much, however, the door seemed to be farther away than what Jack had thought it would be.

Before turning around once again and resuming his trip, he said “I didn’t mention my name and you don’t need to know it. Also, look below your feet, that’s called a road if you didn’t knew. As for you…” his gaze change direction and was now directed towards the green eyed girl who for some reason kind of called Jack’s attention “that’s something for me to know and for you to find out”. He turned and kept walking against the wind.

"How very cryptic of you," Angel said to Jack. He seemed ok to her, more than the others. But the shorter one was becoming annoying. "I just spoke my mind. No need to be so nasty." Which was a weird comment coming from her, since Angel had been nothing but nasty so far. But it was whatever.

(Alright guys, I’m going to be doing a brief time skip in this post. Also, I’m going to have an important note at the end of this post. Pay close attention to it, as it will contain vital information.)

~~~~~~~~~~

A heavy silence settled over the group, making the heat seem all the more oppressive. The hard-packed earth below them radiated heat and there wasn’t a cloud in sight to offer relief from the harsh temperature of the sun. Sweat could been seen breaking out on foreheads and trickling down backs, staining shirts dark. The heat haze on the horizon only grew worse the farther along the road that they traveled

708, a good three yards ahead of everyone else, raked her hair back with a grunt of annoyance. She frowned. Will definitely need to find something to tie my hair up with. I wasn’t expecting it to get this hot here, and my hair is only making it worse.

She glanced back at the group, half-way tempted to ask one of them if they had anything she could tie it back with, but dismissed the thought soon as it formed. There was no way of knowing if any of them could be trusted, and talking to them would serve only to bring up more questions.

It had been a good fifteen minutes since the last words had been spoken amongst the group. It might have had something to do with the heat and talking only served to waste energy, or perhaps it had to do with the fact that no one quite knew if they could trust one another. Not that it mattered much in the end, for time being the motley band was forced to travel together along the dusty road.

708’s fast walk slowed until she came to a halt, one foot half raised to take the next step. A frown etched itself across her features as she examined the stretch of road just head. A few more steps would bring her into the shadow of the rock formation that ran parallel to the road. Something was wrong.

Scattered across the road were pieces of wreckage, and on the opposite side of the road directly across from the rock face were two burned out skeletons of trucks. The metal was twisted and scorched; making it obvious that something explosive had to do with their destruction. The road itself was stained dark in irregular patches, looking suspiciously like long-dried blood.

She took in all this in an instant, her teal eyes narrowing in suspicion. So focused on examining the road and its surroundings was she that she failed to notice that the rest of the group had caught up with her. With the frown carving itself deeper into her face she took another step forward, then another.

Her head suddenly snapped to the side, and her eyes locked on a spot high up on the rock formation.

Shit.

Seconds after, a loud crack sounded and she stepped to the side. A cloud of dust rose from the place where she had been standing a second before. A second crack sounded and she jerked slightly, before dashing forward, far faster than any normal human possibly could. A trio of shotgun blasts sounded, but they were too slow to catch 708.

In the next instant she was among the shotgunners, and the air erupted in a rain of fire, as bandits made themselves known and turned their fire on the rest of the group.

~~~~~~~~~~

(Okay guys, as you can see the group has been attacked by bandits. So, since this is the first battle I’m going to lay out some guidelines, so to speak.

1.) If your character has no experience with guns, your posts should reflect this. Don’t make them an ace shot if this is the first time they’ve fired a gun.

2.) The bandits have the upper hand; they will not be killed easily. In other words, you will really have to fight in order to win.

3.) You have been provided cover, (the wreckage of the vehicles) so please please please use it.

4.)Your ammunition is not unlimited. While I won’t be keeping an exact count of number of shots fired, I will keep a rough estimate. Once I deem you’ve depleted your stock you are out and will not be able to fire your gun until you get more rounds. This being said, ammo can be replenished at outposts, towns, and by looting corpses.

5.) You are not allowed to loot the corpses of this group of bandits.

6.) I will make the final call on the deaths of the bandits.

7.) If you get shot, react. Unless your character has experience taking a gunshot, it is very hard to shrug off bullets.

8.) If your character is injured, they will not heal overnight. Even 708 is subject to this, so while she will heal faster it will not be instantaneous.

9.) Last but not least, pay attention. If your character does something less than intelligent, expect the bandits to use that to their advantage. You’re survival is not guaranteed, so be smart about things.

Okay, one last thing. To show that you’ve read, understand, and will obey these guidelines put “So grab something sharp and find some cover.” At the top of your next post. That’s it guys. Thank you!)

(“So grab something sharp and find some cover.")

The first shot surprised Bannon, and he jerked into a low crouch in the middle of the road, his brain wondering what and who and what all over again. He remained in the middle of the road for a heartbeat, searching for the source of gunshot. His ears told him it had come from the rocks, and that made sense to his mind, it was the high ground. The second shot scared the shit out of him.

“OH SHIIIIT!”

Bannons brain decided that now would be an okay time to hit the save your own skin button. Running low and grabbing for his gun, he made for the wrecks a bit further up the road. He dived with about as much grace as drunken, scared goose, face planting in the sand behind the closest truck. He calmly placed his suitcase next to him, propped against the wreckage, and assumed the fetal position, his gun clenched like a talisman in his hand.

Oh nonononono, not good. Not like this. Heart attack after orgasm, sure, but not THIS. He stared at his gun, like finding out that was not in fact a rubber ducky.

“Oh. Right.” He blind fired over the wreckage, not thinking about aiming apart from getting the general direction of the rock formation right. Each shot was punctuated by him expressing his feelings about the current situation

“I. HATE. THIS. PIECE. OF. SHIT. PLANET!”

F**k it! An ambush!

Jack’s reflexes where used to this kind of battle zone and he managed to take cover quickly under one of the wreckages along the road, however, the enemy was shooting them from up top and the figures weren’t very clear.
What in the world is she? The tall girl started running fast, but not human like fast, she was speeding faster than what Jack had ever seen before. What is she? What could she be?

Clink!

A ricochet got his attention. He forgot completely about the girl, for the moment. With his right hand Jack pulled out only one gun, the one strapped on his left side.

Let's see what my money bought. Time to give her the first run. Jack grinned softly and moving his head slowly out of his hiding place, he managed to spot 2 men to his right, moving his head slowly, he checked over what he had to his left, nothing. Thankfully there were only 2 men near Jack’s spot, and neither one was aware that he was close to them.

1, 2, 3 …GO!

He yelled in his mind. The first shot, a miss. Only 2 inches below the man’s tummy, it hit the rock that he was behind of. We get him now. He thought as he raised his gun a little and took a second shot. Hit! The man besides him had spotted Jack, but before he could turn, aim and fire, Jack put one on his throat. I have to do some further practice with these babies, because that one was meant for the head.

“1, 2, 3, 4… 10. Good” Ten seconds without shots being shot near him, meant that he hadn’t been spotted by anybody else. The mercenary took a deep breath, and he got out half his body beneath the wreckage to check over what he has dealing with.

(“So grab something sharp and find some cover.”)

(Okay nando, I'm gonna call 2 dead from Jack, but from now on lets remember that they have the high ground. The majority of the bandits are in the rock and thus have better cover. I've set this scenario up with about 15 bandits, so this puts us at 13. Remember, these guys are going to be hard to kill. They've done this before.)

There was no time for thought, or words. Only time for action and reaction. 708 was upon the first shot-gunner in less than a second, one hand grabbing the barrel of his gun and wrenching it from his grasp, breaking his wrist in the process. Her other hand drew back and in a single swift move she drove her fist through his face; a gruesome squelching sound signifying his end. Her head whipped to the side, and she side-stepped a blast, a grunt escaping her lips.

A horrified cry sounded from one of the shot-gunners, and before he had time to level his gun on her, a ragged hole dripping crimson and bits of gore replaced his chest cavity. 708 pumped the gun, ejecting the spent shell, before pumping another into the chamber.

“What the **** are you?!” The next bandit cried, leveling his pistol on the approaching woman. He fired off several shots, but she continued her approach, never even slowing even though several round hit their mark. “Why won’t you die!?” He was now pulling the trigger only to hear the empty click of the gun. He dropped his gun and scrambled backwards screaming, “Why won’t you die?!”

With the calmest expression on her face she closed the distance between them, and ended the bandit’s life. She threw the shot-gun aside, before crouching and pressing herself against the rock. A few yards to her left she could hear two more bandits, but she knew that she would be unable to approach them with out risk of being shot from those up higher on the rock. It was the sniper that worried her. Even she couldn’t take a round to the back of the skull and live.

Will have to either wait until those two have been taken or distracted, or I’ll have to make a mad dash for one of those wrecks. She grimaced, pushing back memories of her testing. I hate dashes…They always end up sucking. Her face slid back into the neutral mask, her eyes flicking around as she wieghed her options.

None looked very promising.

(And now the death toll has reached 5, bringing us to a total of 10 bandits left. The rest are not to be killed easily, okay? Also, I'm going to ask that no one's character's notice when 708 get's shot. Thank you.)

(“So grab something sharp and find some cover')

Angel nearly jumped out of her skin at the sounds of the shotgun. She stood frozen for a second, glancing around and like, Bannon headed to the wreak. If she didn't, Angel was pretty sure she would have died.

Grabbing her gun, she stared at it, if almost she was trying to make it fire and hit someone just by willing it. She had never used one before.

Well now is as good a time as ever.

But she wasn't sure where to aim.

Bannon was squeezing the trigger like crazy, but his thoughts were less panicked now. Oh, he was scared, more so than he had ever been in his life, but his nature was getting the better of him. And his nature was to plan and execute. This was no con, but he was sure the same rules applied. Diplomacy was out of the question. Bannon would have taken surrender if he had the slimmest hope of survival. But judging from the wrecks, these were hard men, and they had the upper hand. There would be no parlay. Running away was no option either. From that vantage point, the bandits would pick him off like a clay pigeon. Therefore, it was fight or die. He noticed that his gun was making a clicking noise, its clip spent.

"GODDAMMIT!"

He rummaged through his jacket for a new clip, dropping the old one into his free hand. He had picked up on how to reload these things from a few hoodlums in his time (and really, it wasn’t rocket science if they could wrap their heads around it), but the shooting part was the problem. He put the empty clip back in his jacket, and slammed the new one home. He noticed Bandana Girl (that was what she was to him, because she’d spoken maybe two sentences in their short time together, and none of those had included her name) had taken cover behind the wreck just like him. She was looking at her gun, like it was some strange conundrum to be solved. He yelled to be heard over the gunfire.

“I SUGGEST YOU PUT THAT TO GOOD USE!”

He jabbed his gun at the rock face where the bandits seemed to be entrenched. He was about to peek over the edge, when a small, but possibly brilliant idea struck him. Taking of his hat and keeping his arm extended as far away from his body as possible, he slowly raised the fedora so that it would be visible to the bandits. At the same time, he raised his head, keeping it on a sideways angle so an eye would just clear the edge.

Ha-ha, you scurvy coyotes. Let’s see where you are hiding.

Angel glared at Bannon, but nodded as well. She peered out slowly from where she was, trying not to make herself too much of a target. She brought her gun over the edge, and waited until she saw something. What she was looking for wasn't exactly clear to her, but Angel had to do something.

(“So grab something sharp and find some cover')

Maria Zal

At first Maria stood still, shocked by the turn of events. Then she immediatley burst into action, rushing toward and diving behind some cover before she gave the bandits a chance to kill her. She gave a slight grimace, knowing that dive had given her a few bruises and scrapes. No matter, though, they could be patched up later. All she needed to do right now was survive.

Maria fumbled to grab the gun from her purse, and managed to put some ammo into the pistol. Looking over what remained of the truck (though making sure not to get too high, either), Maria tried to locate the nearest bandit. She lifted her gun and fired three times (rather blindly, too) before ducking back under cover. Maria doubted she had hit any of them, but it was worth trying anyways. Damn, she needed to get better practice with a gun if she wanted to survive here.

It made her wish she'd taken that class on learning how to properly use firearms...

Jack saw and spotted various bandits, all properly hidden between the high rocks. As he searched for a target, something caught his attention and when he managed to focus and get a clear view it was the annoying fellow raising his hat as some sort of bait.

Jack frowned. He must be stupid! It doesn’t take too much to realize that if the bandits see the hat they are going to shoot it! And the arm holding it!

(“So grab something sharp and find some cover')
Innokenti was stunned. What better way to top his day off then a fire fight? He wanted scream loudly enough to break the sound barrier but, he was a little busy being shot at. He caught two of the bullet he had been playing with earlier but, to his great annoyance, lost the third.

Deciding that one round was an acceptable sacrifice for the war gods to have he dropped into a dead sprint for one of trucks firing three rounds at a duo of bandits on top of the formation. When he reached his cover of choice he slammed himself against it hard enough to feel it digging into his skin. 'Figures. I get so paranoid about the people walking next to me I end up missing someone who may ACTUALLY want to kill me. He thought bitterly as he tried to ignore the pinging of bullets bouncing of the truck.

"Would you please stop with the f*cking shooting!? I can't hear myself think for shits sake!" He yelled as he turned out of his cover to fire three more rounds at the two bandits he was previously firing at. He ducked back in again and emptied the used shells in to his pocket while trying to pull four more out of his pack. After finally succeeding in reloading he moved to the other end of the truck hopping that he could get a better angle on the bandit if they where still alive to shoot at him.