Exusia Part I: Isis

[Paintcheck]

Ares looks over at Taylor "Want to take a look?" he says, offering her the binoculars.

He keys in his PDA again

"Ares here. Have discovered the location of the fall-back point. Pretty crude affair here, if the idiot garrison hadn't just destroyed itself attacking the quarry this would be an easy victory. Have eyes on Target SOT, no sign of SOM but presumed here as well. Attached is a map of the area from what I have been able to observe. Suggest that you get soldiers here as soon as possible before SOT leaves. Will continue to observe. Ares out."

That done he rolls over on his back looks at the stars.

[Tom]

Eros looks at the merc then at Landan, "Well if it a merc hit it with a newspaper or something. . . Make it go. . . I don't want assholes snooping around trying to kill me and shit."

Taylor looks through the binoculars remarking to her self "Sia Nara." she hands them back and rolls on her side facing Ares. "So umm. . . will my weeks time in the rebellion count for anything? Or do you think I can go scott free? I mean. . . All I did is run Jail shift with Ivan. . ." She then rolls onto her back feeling awkward after asking that

[Mangoman]

In the town Tank can be seen walking into a bar. He seems to be talking to some people.

[Paintcheck]

Ares doesn't move, he takes the binoculars back and sets them on his chest. "Like I said I am not here for you." Interpret that as you will, Taylor.

He sits up a bit, slides his pack under his head and lays back down, still fixated on the stars. "You ready to talk about yourself now?" he asks gently.

I hate waiting.

[Tom]

She takes a deep breath "Well. . . I was born on Hora within the inner ring of Exusain planets, Moved out here with my family cause my dad was a man of science and though that Isis had what he needed for his research, Well He was flying about in his mining craft out in space collecting  Samples when a groub of Pirates attacked his vessle and destroyed it. This happened when I was about 10. . . So, my brother and his child hood friend Theo Took care of me, Theo and my brother Orion where more or less Freelancers and would take turns spending time out in space collecting jobs n' such. . . Well. . . Seven years ago My brother left and never returned. . . I guess either he got tired of this life or he died. . . Theo stuck around and took care of me. So a few five years go by, and Theo had become my best friend in a way, We where at a Check point, we had a nice car and looked fairly decent, the Troopers started popping off that we were wanted for some bogus reason, Theo demanded we saw the paper work, They had wanted me and my Necklace-" She pauses and pulls out a heart shaped Platnum necklace with a heart cut Emerald in it. "-My father had given it to meand said it was my mothers. . . So anyway, they pull theo out and start to rough him up. . . he eventually gets roudy. . . and one thing lead to anouther and. . . Bam. . . One of them miss fired and he was gone. . . I screamed and jumped into the driver seat and sped away. . . Went back to the house collected what money Theo had in the bank. . . and. . . I have been living the past two years as a hermit. I joined the rebellion to get back at the local Garrison I guess. . . Guess now Ill spend time being a musician and artist again. . ." she sighs.

[Paintcheck]

Ares acknowledges the story with a "Mmmhhm" and stays silent for a bit.

"I know all about 'the hermit life'," he says and begins to hum "Iris" to himself quietly.

After he finishes the song, he goes silent again. "Frankly I think music is the better option for you than rebellion. Musical talent is a gift I don't have." He pulls a bullet out of his gun belt and examines it, then starts to spin it in between his fingers. After a few minutes he has it moving so fast it is almost a blur. The effect is hypnotic ((extra points if you get where this reference comes from)) and Ares stars at it for a few moments then stops and slides it back in the gunbelt. "Sorry about your brother."

He stretches out a hand and pats her.

[Tom]

She looks over at him and softly smiles "Thanks I guess. But how would you know about the hermit life? You are a Gunslinger, you go places, meet people, be all ninja badass n' stuff. I heard that sometimes you guys do Secret Agent type stuff too."

[Paintcheck]

"Yeah. But you try holding a steady relationship while flying all over the place constantly endangering yourself for things you probably do not see the importance of and let me know how you feel afterward. And then the few times you are home your friends won't see you any more because they think you're 'The Man' and going to arrest them or kill them. Or when you work with other 'Slingers who look down their nose at you because even though you are faster and better than them you still aren't Highborn and therefore aren't important. And then you do finally meet a Gunslinger who sees past all that and is amazing and awesome and beautiful and..." he stops abruptly, sighs.

"And yes sometimes we do 'secret agent stuff' on top of that too. Although my last mission before this one was far from covert." And it was also my first mission ever but you don't need to know that Taylor.

[Tom]

She cocks her head "You met someone on the job?"

[Mangoman]

Tank can be seen laughing in the bar, and slides a sack of something acros the table. He then leaves the bar and starts up the jeep, heading back.

[Paintcheck]

"Story for another time." And with that it is clear he doesn't want to talk about it further. "Extraction should be here tomorrow, the assault guys will be coming in a few days after that to blow the shit out of this place. I see no reason to stick around here so if you want to grab anything now would be a good time to do it." He rises to his feet, brushes some grass off of his back and heads back to the car.

[Mangoman]

Tank's Jeep pulls into the motorpool and he gets out. He walks to the shack to put on his armor.

[Tom]

She nods. "Can you take me to my house. . . Its the only place that has important things in it. . . Other than that the rest is- Was at the old base and is either looted or destroyed. . . I can show you where it is." She stands up and starts heading toward the car.

Eros Sighs seeing that He has been beat out of this planet. . . And that he will HAVE to start up eleswhere..

[Paintcheck]

Following her directions, Ares navigates them back to town. He pulls up in front of the house she points out and stops the car. "Alright grab what you need," he says. I can't believe I am doing this.

[Tom]

She nods "Thanks Ares. . ." she steps out of the vehicle and goes into the Medium sized house leaving the door wide open as she starts to pack her shit to get the fuck out of there. The house looks to be a two story, with the second story being smaller then the first, you can see some art in the windows, and arangements of stuff.

[Paintcheck]

((Going to be wrapping up this story arc and making a new Exusia topic on another planet soon so try to wrap things up.))

He contemplates following her in then shakes his head. Checking his PDA he sees that his transport is indeed in orbit and awaiting instructions.

"Just set down in the space port and act casual I don't want the Grove rebels thinking we're onto them. I'll be here in less than 1 hour."

He drums on the steering wheel, waiting patiently for her to finish. She steps outside with her belongings: an electric guitar, an amp, some art supplies, and some other stuff that he imagines is probably clothes or similar. He notices she's changed out of her "rebel" wear and is dressed rather nicely. He smiles to himself briefly and starts the car. "You look nice." She slides in and he heads off towards the space port.

He drives to the military part of the port and speaks to the guard who examines Ares' gun and credentials and waves him through. Ares parks the car and steps out, slinging his backpack over his shoulder. Taylor gets out too and follow suit. It's a quiet day for military traffic and Ares recognizes the shuttle quickly. "Come on."

They board and strap in. "Yeah sorry this isn't exactly first class" he practically shouts over the noise of the engines spooling up. "This is going to take me back to Olympus, that work for you?"

[Tom]

Taylor nods and smiles softly at him "Thank you. . . For everything you have done for me so far. Maybe I can find a record producer to get me going on my musical career." She smiles even bigger

Eros and Tank make an Exodus off the planet with a handfull of rebels to the new planet, there are still rebels in the Oasis looking base.

[Paintcheck]

Yeah well at least some good came out of this...maybe.

"You're welcome." He checks his PDA and finds he has a message from his Commander. "Nice job marking the base we have a team all set to go, should be there within 12 hours. We'll take it from here." He turns the device off and closes his eyes, drifting to sleep.


Upon arrival on Olympus (Capital planet of the Exusian Empire) he disembarks the ship and heads to the parking area with Taylor in tow. He finds his car, a small sports car and climbs in. He turns to Taylor "I'm heading home. You're welcome to come if you need a place to stay."

[Tom]

She looks at the ground sheepishly for a moment and nods "Sure I guess."

[Paintcheck]

After half an hour of driving they arrive at Ares' apartment. He unlocks the door and steps in, hold it for her. He tosses his backpack by the door and pulls off his duster, hanging it on a hook near the door. It's a large apartment, probably quite expensive although it looks extremely "lived in". He gives her a short tour.

"Kitchen. Probably no 'real food' in there as I have been gone for a while but I got soda and frozen stuff if you're hungry." He passes through it into second room. "This was probably supposed to be a bedroom but..." The carpetting has been ripped out and there is a large workbench against the wall. Scads of tools hang neatly on hooks or in boxes under the bench and bits and pieces of projects (mostly firearms-related) are strewn about. He steps through it back into the hallway. "And finally my room." It is surprisingly sparse with a desk with an expensive computer on it against one wall, a small closet with some clothes strewn about on the floor, and an unmade bed. "So yeah, make yourself at home. If you need to go anywhere let me know and I'll take you there."

He heads back to the kitchen, opens his fridge and removes a brightly-colored can. He opens it and downs it in one big gulp. "Uh...I don't entertain much...at all so sorry if this is as awkward for you as it is for me. The last time I had someone over here was when Ash..." he stops himself again. "Never mind."

[Tom]

She quirks an eyebrow "Ash- Ashley? Was that her name?" she asks inquizitivly, "Im sorry. . ." she later says realizing how hard it is for him to talk about it, she makes her way to the living room assuming he has one and plops her stuff next to the couch, she plugs her E-guitar up, and starts to Play Gemini.

"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2C6A7u8-sI"

[Paintcheck]

"Yeah it is. She's not dead in case you were wondering." He listens to her play for a bit and then heads into the work room and shuts the door behind him, only to reemerge immediately and head to his bedroom. He returns with a long rifle on his shoulder and heads back to the work room.

[Tom]

She finishes off the song Well I suppose thats a good thing she is alive. . . OR is it? she sets her guitar down and stands up looking around the kitchen a little more, she looks in the fridge grabing a soda poping the top and drinking it. She later goes toward the work room and sneakily peaks in

[Paintcheck]

She sees Ares hunched over the bench with the impressive-looking sniper rifle in pieces in front of him. He has a piece in his hand and is going over it with fine grit sand paper. Without looking up "Please knock if you don't mind."

[Tom]

She is rather supprised "you heard me? Wow. . ." she scratches her head and walks in "That sniper rifle. . . I've never seen a model like it. . . Whats it called?"