Disturbance in the Desert

[Opticzl]

"Mm, Kikuya, what the hell have you put into this steak?!"

Kikuya grinned slyly and continued to wash each and every dish until they were absolutely clean with not a single spot on any of them. Stephanie picked up the fork in front of her with her left hand and placed the fork in the steak, holding it tight. She then lifted a silver steak knife with her right hand and pierced the steak with it, cutting the steak into small and delicate pieces, then transferring her fork from her left to her right hand and one by one placing the tender pieces of steak into her mouth. The steak was tender yet juicy, the perfect combination. Stephanie wiped the juice that came from the steak off of her chin and stood up, stretching, she took her hand and put it up to her hairline and then swept her hair back, the motion was accompanied with a slight tilt of her head. She headed over to the exit of the kitchen and sat on a nearby wooden chair, she placed a pair of black and white cotton gloves on her hand and then a pair of plastic gloves over them. She held a .500 magnum bullet with her index finger and her thumb and then studied the bullet to see if it was faulty, after studying it for a few seconds, she dipped the bullet into a pot of a very hot, purple substance. She continued the process until she had successfully dipped thirty bullets into the purple substance. The entrance to the kitchen slammed open and a man carrying what seemed like salmon barged in. He walked up to the chef, Kikuya and placed the chef on a table. "Here you go Kikuya, take what you need." With that said, he headed towards the exit of the kitchen but shifted his gaze towards Stephanie, a mix of both curiosity and fatigue could be seen on his face. "Hey, what's that purpl-" He was shortly cut off by Stephanie, "Hey, hey! Back off! Don't get too close to this stuff, one touch and you'll die within a timeline of eleven days lad'!", the man's eyes widened in horror. "A-Alright, I'll back off.." He sighed and headed once again to the exit, glancing at Stephanie occasionally. To be exact, the substance was called Tetroroxin Poison. The substance was found in only one marine creature – the blue-ringed octopus. However, even though Stephanie had to extract the poison from the octopus she was not able to extract another chemical that the octopus used in order to make the poison more lethal due to her not having the right technology. The poison is said to cause a slow and painful death, within seven days the poison will cause the victim to lay in a paralyzed state and then four days after, die. Stephanie's objective was to dip fifty more bullets by the end of the day, speaking of objectives, didn't she have another objective assigned to her by Marine HQ?

"Kikuyaaaaaaaa!~"

Stephanie jumped out of her chair, threw her gloves onto the ground and rushed towards Kikuya. Kikuya turned towards Stephanie, she held a large pot of freshly made chicken noodle soup, one handle of the pot in each hand. Stephanie ran recklessly towards Kikuya and at the last moment she noticed that Kikuya was holding a large pot of soup, not having the sharpest reflexes, Stephanie was unable to dodge Kikuya and bumped into her, resulting in the pot sent flying across the room.

"Noooooooooo!~"

Kikuya yelled, making a diving effort to catch the pot in mid-air, she was successful but part of her dress ripped. She wasn't the most young and supple lady these days, but she still did have some flexibility left from her younger days as a marine. Kikuya, however, was not very happy. She shifted her gaze from the pot to Stephanie and her eyes transformed from a light blue to a deep and creepy grey. "Stephanie Haiki Avalyn! What do you think you're doing?!" Stephanie played with her hair, "I'm sorr-", she was cut off by Kikuya, "I've heard that only one million times from you, young lady!". Kikuya was like a mother to Stephanie, her original mother had passed away shortly after Stephanie had become a marine, forcing her through a long period of depression. Kikuya had a very fast temper, once it rose it very quickly dropped, Kikuya's eyes became blue once again and she forgave Stephanie. "Now, dear, what was it that you wanted to ask me?", "What were we assigned by Marine HQ?" she asked, Kikuya placed her left hand flat across her forehead in both frustration and sarcasm. "If you want to be a marine, you'll need to sharpen your memory. Anyhow, one marine was captured during a scouting mission in The Waste to gather more intel on the island and its inhabitants. We just have to save him, basically."

Oh yeah, there's a six thousand beri reward for it too.. She thought to herself, with that she could buy more technology to successfully enhance her poison.

Stephanie remembered that The Waste was like a desert, something she hated. She'd always fancy a vacation over a mission. She had also heard that the plant and animal life on the island was very lacking. As we all know, deserts lack rain and therefore hardly no plant life exists on the island. With no plants mean no animals, and with no animals mean, cannibals..?!

"Cannibals! Cannibals! Cannibals!" She yelled, waving her hands all over the room.

"Maybe you should go take a walk." Kikuya suggested.

A few seconds later Stephanie had calmed down and nodded in agreement, she then exited the room. She walked upper level of the rusty, old, wooden ship. The floorboards made 'creaking' noises with every step she took. She straightened her posture and watched the sea, the waves crashed against the boat and the colorful fish jumped out of the water and back in. Moments later she noticed a green haired man with glasses walking around near her, he seemed to notice her but didn't say anything and by Stephanie's standards he was cute. "'Ey lad, what are you up to?", she asked.

[Deleted]

SPOILER: Click to show

I'll be using both Zeno and Gideon this post so don't worry about why this first part is what it is.

His calloused fingers proceeded each parchment flap, disregarding any contingency for significance to be hidden within these rudimentary texts. He must have acquired all notable knowledge in the world at his childhood paradise of Bundy, despite the ignorant conditions of that infernal cesspool. Oh the irony, how had this intellectual treasure found himself upon a vessel surely awaiting inevitable consumption? Was it for love? For fame? No, none that rubbish. All this imposing misery would be willingly endured for the sake of a single cause: that wonderful yet cliched concept of fellowship. If this suffering had been for another man or woman, Zeno certainly believed that desertion would have occured in ancient times. But of course, he had remained for his captain was no ordinary proponent of that dull and trite policy of 'Justice.' He was, the young Descartes believed, a symbol of this world's righteous vengeance, a relentless storm of retribution who would stop for no other.

A female officer distracted Zeno from his undying praise just as he finished skimming through the some-thousand page textbook. Judging from her lack of an elite Marine's trademark coat, he automatically categorized her as one ot the 'lower' ranks and kept pacing himself calmly to the deck where he intended to observe their impending destination. Although the girl intended to capture his attention, she endeavored to no success as the green haired Ensign promptly ignored her call and headed straight for the ship's main deck. Apparently, this mission would be quite different from the usual 'kill pirates, save townsfolk' deal Gideon preferred to undertake; instead of ruthless murder, this particular assignment consisted of only a simple variation of the typical operation's latter. Save a Marine, more specifically, a helpless Recruit. Once de Rabbis caught wind of this fabulous oppurtunity, Zeno knew that assistance would be required in completing this somewhat difficult task. Oddly, these 'low rank' troops, including that girl were chosen to support the famous Bundy duo in completing this mission. Nevertheless, any help was welcome. In fact, perhaps Zeno had been too harsh on the gal, after all first impressions are everything. With that in mind, the glass goggle Marine turned back to apologize for the impudent behavior he had displayed seconds before.

"Ah, greetings, my lady Marine! I do sincerely apologize for that moment of negligence early on. Honestly, you'll rarely, if ever, witness that sort of boorish attitude coming from me...Oh my, I forgot to introduce myself! Heh, how embarassing!" Despite the gap between both their ranks and age, Zeno still issued a courteous bow to compensate for his previous actions. "I am Ensign Zeno Descartes, second in command of this vessel and personally appointed partner of this ship's captain!" He paused for a moment after realizing how conceited that remark was made out to be. "Oh and may I ask for your name, miss?

---

Just a single Recruit?...
Devoid of sound and light, barren of joy and peace, this was the setting Gideon preferred in contemplation. Any glimmer of hope or frequency of bedlam would interrupt this sacred ritual of meditation. In this case, the stitched-lipped Captain pondered on the words of a fellow Marine who attempted to persuade him from venturing on this assignment.
...Rabbis, enlighten me. Enlighten me as to how that single Recruit would shift the balance of the world. You can't? Then why bother rescuing insignificant garbage that can't clean its own mess!?
That man possessed neither the conviction nor the right to spew such an abhorrent atrocity. He calls himself a Captain, yet that degenerate hasn't even earned the privlege to associate with humanity!

[/i][/b]
The Captain viciously slammed a closed fist onto the solid wooden desk, subsequently pulverizing the furniture to fragments and interrupting the beautiful void that was silence. Only a few seconds passed and the serenity of isolation returned once again. With his hand uninjured, de Rabbis wearily sighed with mental exhaustion.

I can't lose another one...Never again.Sadly this rage, though powerful, was a poison that consumed him not just at the mention of pirates but at the neglect of innocent people as well. This world needed a true hero, someone who would adopt the lifestyle of a crusader of justice not as a corrupted authority with the power to smite others. And to prove himself as that kind of man, Gideon knew that to save one Recruit was just as meaningful as wiping out an entire crew of savages.

After cleaning up the mess he had created with that firm smash, the Omen exited the captain's cabin to brief his fellow Marines. These troops were the future of the world's military after all; for diligence to spawn, in some cases, stringent encouragement had to be issued. Though they would most likely have no use for such stimulation. The extra support HQ had provided were no ordinary soldiers. An Ensign and Master Chief Petty Officer. Quite the mouthful but worthy enough to fight for this proud Marine.

As Gideon stepped out and met the sun's brilliant yet irksome rays, he noticed little Descartes acquainting himself with one of the Marines. Hm, good to see he's getting along. We'll need all their cooperation to look for that poor Recruit...I just hope we're not too late. Ironically, an ominous sensation overcame the 'Omen.' The vastness of the Waste's lifeless landscape reminded him of despair and desperation, two thoughts a Marine must never even conceive. Yet, even he could perceive just how broad and wide this land must have been and how hopeless a lost wanderer could be. We need to get there. Now...[/size][/blockquote][/blockquote][/blockquote][/justify]
[/size]

[Tomás]

"996, 998, 1000!..."

A loud sigh and moan of exhaustion could be heard after the 1000 times of repeatedly jumping over a rope. Johan let himself fall flat on his bed with his arms spread and stared at the ceiling. He set off to a mission that finds place in a desert that's completely deserted except for all the very very deadly animals and actual cannibals that live on the island. What happened to the "please find my bunny who's lost in the forest" like missions. Johan preferred any peaceful mission which required you to do nothing that is life threatening over this mission. He sometimes missed his day as a seamen recruit, back when everything was easy and he'd be protected by the captain and nothing really was too dangerous. Maybe the marine that they were supposed to capture was better off dead before he'd promote and have to do dangerous and risky missions like he did now. It is kind of weird that they're even sending a few marines at all to just find a seamen recruit. Certainly noble, yes, but a misuse of resources also. Well, he deserves the chance to make a choice right?

With that thought Johan got back up on his feet and put some boxing gloves on. The heavy bag that he hang up in this room was about to serve its purpose as Johan starts jabbing the heavy bag. It was the first time that Johan was actually teamed up with a group up, or at least getting assigned to a group, ever since he stopped moving in a crew. The captain that was in charge of the mission also looked really though almost intimidating. It was good to know that even though he looked really though and intimidating, he had a place in his heart for a seamen recruit which he probably didn't even know. It certainly gave a secure feeling, knowing that if something happened to him, Johan, there would be a captain coming out to save him. The heavy bag was coming back at him and he Weaved, step in and...

How were they even supposed to find this guy in the desert. It's like finding a needle in haystack. What were we going to do? Walk a random direction in the barren wastelands and I hope they meet him by any chance of luck? The chance of them encountering anything deadly on this deadly island was way more likely than to find a random marine that lost its way. This kept bugging Johan, the only breaks they were going to get or able to get would be at the nearest oasis. That is if they ever find one let alone that none are probably even unused which means that there will be either deadly animals or cannibals. It made Johan have a small grin on his face that he wasn't the one in charge so he wouldn't have to worry about any of that. He'd have to trust his superiors on this one.

...body blow! The heavy bag fell out of the the hook which it was so desperately hanging on to when Johan was punching it. A loud noise was audible right when the bag fell on the ground, however it wasn't the bag alone. It sounded as if something actually broke, it came from outside Johan's room. Johan on the other hand, didn't notice that that noise wasn't made by the bag alone and instead was impressed by his own punching power. Somewhat proud, he hang the heavy bag back up and decided to change clothes. The closer they got to the island the warmer it was actually getting, he knew he wouldn't get far in some jogging pants and a sweat shirt.

Johan decided to go to the deck to get more acquainted with his colleagues. Wearing a teal button shirt which was way too big for him, some brown short pants and slippers he headed to greet his team. Holding a thermos filled with hot tea, he saw a humongous man walking towards the deck. When Johan walked behind him the sound of his own mere footsteps disappeared in the loud noises of every step the man took. He felt so little walking behind the man. He was completely absorbed by his shadow, he became completely invisible when walking through the hallway as if he was trying to follow him unnoticed.

When finally on the deck, he'd get a warm welcome, literally. The sun would blind him right when he got outside. It was nice to have a little sun but he missed the breeze so he could have a little of that Hans-Klok-effect*.When his eyes got a little more used to the sun he looked around. He was standing right next to the giant man he just followed outside to the deck of the ship. There were also two people talking to each other which were both about the same length. Johan took a sip from his thermos and looked up to large man beside him. Johan reached out the thermos to the man.

"Would you like some tea as well, sir?"

OOC:
*=Hans-Klok-effect is a term used in dutch photography. I couldn't find anything about it in English so I decided to try and explain it. Whenever there'd be a photoshoot with Hans Klok, he'd put a ventilator next to himself so it would look as if air was running through his hair. This is called the Hans Klok effect basicly just waving hair by the wind.

I also intend to mess up some sentences once or twice just hit me up and I'll correct the sentence. I mostly dont notice the mistakes myself untill someone actually tells me. xD

[Opticzl]

The green-haired man simply ignored her and paced back and forth, it seemed he was very busy. Stephanie sighed and simply watched the fish jump out and into the ocean, the wind made her hair move side to side and it seemed she was sweating.

"Ah, greetings, my lady Marine! I do sincerely apologize for that moment of negligence early on. Honestly, you'll rarely, if ever, witness that sort of boorish attitude coming from me...Oh my, I forgot to introduce myself! Heh, how embarrassing!", Stephanie simply smiled, the sun's rays reflected off of her teeth adding to her beauty. As she smiled she began to study the man, he had a mop of messy green hair which seemed to be a lighter shade of green in the centre of his head and darker as his hair flowed outwards. A pair of green eyes were hidden behind a rather clean pair of transparent glasses. His skin was more of a lighter peach colour and shined in the sunlight, he had a sly grin on his face which made him even more cuter. He wore a brown trench coat and black pants, he also wore a pair of brown shoes. His appearance was one which could make any lady swoon.

"Oh and may I ask for your name, miss?"

Stephanie ignored his question and continued to stare at him, it seemed she was perplexed by the man's appearance, after a few seconds of staring at the man's green eyes, the man walked up to her and snapped his middle finger and thumb twice in her face. "Look, I don't have time for this.", Stephanie blinked her eye's twice and blushed in both embarrassment and anger, the man had loads of time, they weren't even close to The Waste, however, Stephanie should have replied faster. "O-Oh,I-I'm Stephanie Avalyn, Master Chief Petty Officer sir. I wish to show the world that women can also be as successful as men in the marines.". She glanced at the Marine logo in the middle of his trench-coat, he was obviously of a more prestigious rank. "I'm going to go now sir," She yawned in a rather lazy fashion, "a vacation would be way better than this.". With that said, Stephanie started to head back to the kitchen, as she walked towards the kitchen each and every floorboard made a 'creaking' sound, "This ship needs some major repairs, one direct hit from a cannonball and we're finished.", she whispered to herself. As she approached the kitchen it seemed to get significantly hotter, usually it did not get that hot around the kitchen, Stephanie began to think deeply what was causing the temperature to rise so fast, she then came to the conclusion that the kitchen was on fire. She ran towards the entrance to the kitchen and pushed it open.

"Fire fire?!"

"Where where?!"

"Where where, there there!"

"There there, where?!"

Stephanie examined the whole room, looking for the fire, after a few seconds she realized there was no fire.

"Oh sorry Kikuya, I thought there was a fire due to the significant increase in heat."

"Stephanie, you made me scared for a moment!"

Stephanie ignored Kikuya and proceeded towards her guns and ammunition department, she sat down and placed her gloves on her hands once again, she inhaled a deep breath and got to work once again. She started wiping all the dirt and blood off of her sabre with a cheap cloth, she then placed her sabre down on the ground and loaded her most useful weapon, the R&S 500, the R&S Model 500 was the most powerful revolver in the South Blue. It was built on R&S's largest frame, the X-Frame, which was developed because none of R&S's existing double-action frame designs could handle the muzzle energy and pressures generated by the .500 R&S cartridge. It was the most powerful production revolver in South Blue today. It contained a .50 caliber bullet. The Model 500 can fire a bullet weighing 350 gr at 300 feet per second, generating a muzzle energy of over 500 foot-pounds force, amazing, eh? She loaded her baby with fifteen of her poisonous bullets and fifteen of her normal bullets. She then loaded her West Blue made FN FAL which was made to pack a punch and injure criminals. She put the FN FAL down and picked up another cloth she used to wipe the sweat off of her forehead. "Hey Kikuya, do you know what's making the temperature rise so much?"

"Honey, we are approaching the Boondocks Residence (joke Stomesukel) Waste, it is said to be one of the hottest islands in the South Blue, reaching temperatures over fifty degrees celcius. Don't be surprised if you melt there."

Melt? Melt?! I don't want to melt.., thoughts flowed throughout Stephanie's head, she didn't want to melt nor did she want to do this mission, she just wanted a vacation, why did she have to do this? She was used to catching cats and stuff, she liked being a Seamen Recruit. After a few minutes of pacing around she sighed, she knew she had to do this, she picked up all her guns and ammunition, placed them on her utility belt and headed off for a mission briefing from this 'mysterious captain'.

[Deleted]

SPOILER: Click to show

After this post, do whatever you want if you want to interact with Zeno.

"Stephany Avalyn, huh?" whispered the busy Ensign as the M.C.P. Officer left his presence, but not before leaving some confidential opinion about the run-down condition of the ship.

I'm quite surprised such a fierce woman ended upon our vessel. What is Gideon up to? After returning back to his studies, Zeno glanced back to the direction of their destination when all of a sudden, drastic changes occured. The heat had felt sweltering before but now this temperature reached insanity! Each movement now required excessive amounts of energy as opposed to the effortless motions he had done before. With his keen vision, the melting Marine looked on ahead and realized just how hopeless this mission could be. What the hell is Gideon up to!?

---

Tea? Such manners did this young lad portray; Gideon felt as though it was his own son who had offered the beverage. This young Marine, though subordinate, was just as equal to this towering Captain in the eyes of Justice. And as such, Gideon thought it fitting to respect the lad in an equivalent fashion. "I would love some, thank you. And no need to address me as sir, we are all equal in the face of danger." After receiving the hot drink, Gideon looked back to inspect the situation. This impending danger would soon be on their doorsteps and who knew what hazards would lie in the depths of a scorching desert other than the obvious heat? With a calm sip of the tea, he motioned for the Marine to follow him. However, he remembered that the young man had a name which was shown on a mission board for the Captain to inspect. Considering this was neither Zeno nor a woman who went by the name of Stephanie, this obviously had to be Engisn Johan de Witt. Good, another Ensign. Perhaps his skills can complement with Zeno's. He inwardly chuckled to himself, expressing amusement at the thought of his friend competing for the position of the Captain's right hand and second in command of this great shi-CREAK

A broken ship? This was most certainly not a good time to realize the near-dilapidated condition of their transport. After, there were infinite scenarios that would involve sabotage from the locals, ambush after leaving the island, or even 'commandeering' it for personal uses. In order for them to leave safely, someone had to be left behind and maintain the state of the ship. But who?

Just as Gideon reached the deck, along with Johan, he called for Zeno off on the port side so as to start the briefing. However, someone was missing: Stephanie. Wasn't she with Zeno? He asked the same question to his trusted right hand but received no coherent response with the tremendous heat affecting him. They had not even reached the Waste yet the weather was already beginning to aggravate the others. Either it was time for a prep talk or a quick briefing before heading out to the hot wilderness. Just as the briefing was about to start, Gideon saw his M.C.P Officer all locked and loaded which both pleased and disappointed the dark haired Marine. For one thing, the lowest ranked soldier demonstrated diligence by preparing herself for the mission before it had gone underway. On the other hand, these two so-called-Ensigns were preoccupied with some other activity.

"I'm a bit disappointed in you, Zeno. You as well, Johan. I expect you both to be fully armed and ready the next assignment." Gideon rarely tolerated behavior such as this. Then again, this was Johan's first day with, Zeno though had no excuse having worked with the Captain, even before their Marine days, for over a decade! He'd be sure to issue some sort of punishment after the Recruit was rescued. But enough of this punishment talk. Now, it was time for business.

[/justify]

[/size]

[Tomás]

To Johan's suprise the man gladly accepted his tea. This was someone Johan could respect and appreciate, a man that he could drink some tasteful tea with. After a sip of Johan's hot tea, Johan could almost read the satisfied expression off his face. The girl who was just talking to the green haired man just now made a quick leave for it. This was a good a moment Johan to introduce himself he thought to himself. But the man who was still holding his thermos gestured for Johan to come with him. Johan shrugged, he'll get acquainted with the green haired man sooner or later anyway. Moving his way to follow the captain, the sound of his slippers clapping against his feet were awfully annoying. What disturbed him even more was the fact that every shift of weight would cause the ship to cry out an ear deafening sound of the wooden floor. The sound was hard to ignore, it was a big and nice ship but, this couldn't possibly go unnoticed by the captain. While following Gideon he was thinking why he was actually following him. No... He wouldn't... The mission was yet to be enlightened and the chors or tasks were yet to be divided to the group. Johan wasn't waiting to take care of this forsaken ship and try and blow some life in it. Anything that would be considered on the technical side, Johan is not your man. He suddenly felt a desperate urge to prove himself. He didn't want to fix the ship in this god forsaken heat to miss out on this mission? Well the answer to clear and simple to Johan.

When they finally arrived on the deck, Gideon looked like he was about to go through the mission with the rest aboard but he then noticed that there was one person missing. He couldn't start the briefing about the mission because one person wasn't there yet. Quickly after Gideon called Zeno he appeared right next to Johan. Before Johan could formally introduce himself he got interupted by the cracking sound of the wooden floor. The happy pink haired girl joined the group all armed and well prepared. Johan couldn't help but notice the look he got from Gideon. She really did look like a nice girl but she was definetly making Zeno and Johan look bad. Johan did some preperations on his own, he wasn't waiting for someone to judge him. If he would make a comment about his prepa-...

He just couldn't let it rest now could he? The remark that he expected Johan to be "armed", because ready he was, infuriated him. This man must not understand what the word "armed" meant to Johan. It would most definitely not involve any tools of combat that'd help exterminating the opponent. Johan wouldn't need any of such kind, and he wanted to let him know but now wasn't the right time. He'd interupt the start of his briefing, which would be unacceptable for Johan's standards. He had a hard time accepting to not express himself. It seems there is only one way left to show him and that'd be to show him how prepared he really was. The girl was quite cute it would have made the air very awkward if he just started preaching about how guns and weapons are for cowards and B.A.N. Unlike the girl, all the arms he needed litterly were his arms, and his fists. In addition Johan already figured out how they could tackle the problem of where to find the marine. Now he just had to see what the captian's plan was and see how it would match with his.

[Opticzl]

A few minutes after Stephanie left the kitchen she arrived at the place where everybody was gathered for a briefing of the mission. Zeno, the new ensign Johan and finally the captain, wait.. what was his name? When Stephanie was assigned to the vessel she never got a chance to find out who the captain was, but now she had her first glimpse of the man. He towered over her, standing at a good eight feet six inches tall, he most definitely intimidated her. He had Frankenstein like stitches on his lips which were very much disturbing. His attire however was very much of a typical marine's. He had streaks of gray in his dark black hair. He had a very pale skin complexion which was somewhat creepy if not terrifying. Complementary to the snow white complexion were two hazel colored eyes. His lower body took up most of his height which probably gave him more range for a kick and a larger collection of techniques. However, the two looked like they had a big gap in their age, Stephanie was nineteen and the captain was in his early thirties. Stephanie sure had a lot of arcana to unlock about the man. She glanced to her left and noticed another man who was also assigned to the same vessel as Stephanie. The man and Stephanie didn't look too far away in age and he looked noticeably younger than the captain. The lad had no facial hair at all and seemed to have very smooth skin. He had very short blond hair, in the back it covered his neck and it looked as if he was a wild animal. He has sea blue eyes and a small nose. The man was dressed in a very official manner, however, only the standard marine uniform, Stephanie had her own uniform that she designed and it was approved by Marine HQ. He was very much physically prowess. He could be easily confused for a model, but Stephanie didn't care, she could too, at least that's what she thought. After carefully studying the man she began to wander off into her very own land of imagination. "Why do I have to go on missions like this? It's not even fun, I'd rather a vacation than this..". After dreaming of a lovely resort for a moment she shifted back to reality. The captain hadn't started to brief the mission yet, it seemed the heat was getting to him.

The heat was agitating and definitely irritating, she began to itch herself due to the heat. As she waited for the captain's briefing of the mission she peered behind herself and then she fully turned around. The island was in sight and oh boy was it big. It was basically a vast desert with little or maybe even no water. No wonder why the inhabitants were forced to be cannibals, but, uh, hello, there is an ocean out here. The island was surprisingly quiet and no inhabitants could be seen from where they were currently at. There was hardly no flora on the island other than the cactus which thrived in desert like regions. There was very little fauna, such as scorpions, snakes, possibly some animals native to the island.

"When is this guy going to brief the mission?", she thought to herself. With all the heat getting to her she demanded for some type of machine that provided air to cool her down. She raised her hand and then spoke in a very loud tone.

"Have we been supplied with any god-damn fans?!"

[Tim Curry]

Luck had never been something that agreed with Hawk; his life could be seen as a constant stream of hardship and ill turns by any but the most optimistic of eyes. His streak of bad fortune caused him to abandon luck as a concept and adopt the belief that life as a whole is a series of random events that you can influence. Yet as he stood upon the deck of the ship, sweating lightly as the Waste drew nearer, he couldn't help but wonder if perhaps he was being put through a series of tests of some kind by a higher being for whatever purpose. It'd only been a couple weeks since he had been promoted to seaman recruit and he had already been assigned to what was essentially a suicide mission. A wave of heat rushed over him carried by a current of air, the lightest taste of the hell that almost certainly awaited him. The desire to take refuge from the winds reminded him of the matter at hand, receiving a briefing from the captain of the crew regarding the mission that is driving them to this arid death-trap.

Despite the danger many of the recruits seemed eager to prove themselves, either out of confidence or ignorance (the two always seem to go hand in hand).
The nature of Hawk's expertise was in his analytical ability and critical thought process, the application of which to a combat situation being a very difficult matter without the mechanical ability to follow through on the plans he can map out. Though he was not inept combat-wise, he was hardly noteworthy in either marksmanship or close range combat. Passing marks in the marine testing was all that he sought or achieved, though he now felt that possessing excellence in either of those fields would be of scarce benefit if what he had heard about the Waste was true.
Rumour said that the only people strong enough to survive on the desperate conditions of the island did so by using whatever means necessary as resources were constantly in short supply.
More specifically, they had resorted to cannibalism, killing and taking everything from anyone foolish enough to sail ashore. When reports of such a barbaric and ruthless island reached the marine headquarters of the blue, a scouting crew was sent to gather intel and confirm the existence of the cannibals.

Predictably, all did not go to plan and one of the marines ended up being captured while the rest of the crew were in retreat from the Aiel. The mission presented to Deckard's temporary division was a rescue, with no mercy shown to the inhabitants should they make any attempt to stop them.
Or at least that was the general gist of it from what Hawk could gather from the murmurs of his crewmates. Aside from the cannibal angle, what instilled fear in the dog were the tales of the Aiel people's strength, agility and prowess with the use of spears. If they could get within 5, no, 15 meters of him his story would almost certainly be over. Deckard quietly sighed, shuffled his legs and shrugged his shoulders a little in order to limber up. He hadn't moved from his post as lookout in a couple hours and his whole body felt stiff. "Guess it's time to step into the lion's mouth."
With his compulsive need to use a summative line satisfied, Hawk began his climb to the deck on the ship's ropes. The heat was growing stronger and Hawk was sweating everywhere during his descent, perhaps now was the time to take off the leather overcoat.

[Opticzl]

A man who towered over Stephanie stood at the far side of the room, standing in a firm position with his arm's tucked to his sides and a serious look glued onto his face which could easily intimidate any marine or pirate. He stood at around six feet and three inches and had a huge muscular build, you could see the veins popping out from his arms, one could call him ripped. His shoulders were covered by armor plates and so was his chest but it didn't seem he needed armor, his chest and shoulders themselves were as hard as steel. His hair was not taken care of and that being said, his hair was very messy. His eyes were a deep shade of brown and his nose was almost perfect. The man had bandages wrapped around his left arm and a large black glove on his right hand. The man stood, almost emotionless, staring right at Stephanie and Hawk.

Who was this man..?

None other than the newly assigned captain, Rodger Brick.

"Have we been supplied with any god-damn fans?!"

Rodger gave Stephanie a quick stare and then shifted his gaze to a file folder that sat on his desk, cracking his knuckles in a quick manner he placed his calloused hands on the file folder and opened it. He quickly analysed the information that laid in front of his hazel brown eyes. It seemed that two rookie marines were assigned to this mission along with himself to this dangerous and suicidal mission, well, that sucked. He guessed he had to do everything by himself, these rookies were hardly capable of anything is what he thought. However, even though he knew they were useless he quickly read over their profiles that were in the folder.

Stephanie Avalyn.

A marine with great potential due to her father being a high ranking marine. A pro in the art of poisons and herbs, despite being in the marines for only a year and a half she has already become a Master Chief Petty Officer. Also skilled in the field of guns and weapons.

Pathetic. Why did the Marine HQ write so much about her instead of just summing it up in one word, pathetic.

Hawk Deckard.

A twenty six year old with great promise, highly adept in investigation and situation analysis. Previously had assisted in the capture of a marine killer and also, not to go without mentioning that this man is a highly skilled tracker.

Again, pathetic.

RPING AS STEPHANIE NOW.

Stephanie stared at the captain as he sat on his large chair, staring at the two of them. Was this man eye raping her? She hoped not, if he was, she woulda' killed him on the spot no matter how strong he was. It seemed as if the captain was staring at someone else, other than herself of course, she turned to her right and there stood a man, Stephanie jumped back in surprise and human instinct. This man had walked in like he was a ghost, not making a sound. The man was a moderately tall, lean man whose stance and weak body language makes him the furthest thing from intimidating to even the weediest perp. His hair was a strange mixture of blonde hair with black roots. He wore a combination of suspenders and a shirt.

His face was handsome and with well-defined features, while still being somewhat babyish which Stephanie found odd. The man stood in a cool fashion, almost intimidating. Great, now she had two dumbies accompanying her to this suicide mission, one to her right and one in the front of her.

His facial expression was completely blank and was rather hard to read and decode. His arm muscles weren't built in the slightest but his legs are more pronounced. After carefully studying the man, she walked up back to where she was previously and then whispered to him.

"What's your name and don't you think this captain is so stupid?"

[/justify][/size]

[Tim Curry]

Hawk strode into the main cabin and, to his relief, found that the meeting had yet to begin. Feeling sweat trickling down his forehead, he quickly swept his hand upward in a motion that both wiped his brow and swept through his slightly dampened hair.
The cabin was unusually large for the medium sized barge, and the reason for this was as visible as the man in question. He stood with such a commanding air that Hawk didn't even have to think about what he had heard of Captain Rodger Brick to recognise him. His build suggested that he was made of a material other than flesh, as his limbs were more solid than well cast steel. Immovable and dominating, Brick looked to be just that fire-power that Hawk needed to get to the end of the mission without being served as an entreé in a grand feast.


Drawing your eye away from Rodger is difficult as it takes so much movement to see anything other than his mass, but there were a couple more marines in the room who, like Hawk, hadn't been briefed beforehand. All of them were ordinary soldiers of various rank and size aside from a girl who seemed to want everyone to be exceptionally clear on that fact.
She had decorated her uniform with floral patterns and modified the clothing itself as her pants were loose and neon pink. This implied a couple of things about her personality, and Hawk wasn't interested in any of it. He noticed that she was scrutinising him as a doctor might examine a microbe under a microscope, to which there was no reply but to stare blankly and pretend that you didn't notice.
Sadly, this isn't really an effective method of getting people to stay away and she promptly sidled towards him, careful to avoid the attention of the captain.
"What's your name and don't you think this captain is so stupid?"

Great, a girl so energetic that she couldn't even wait for the answer to one question before asking another.
In an attempt to construct an impression of being a distant and bitter man in her mind(social interaction was nothing more than a puzzle with constantly shifting paradigms and ends to the detective); Hawk paused, silent and motionless for a couple seconds before giving in and answering.
"The name's hawk and to be frank; I couldn't give a shit about the captain aside from what he can do for me, and I'm pretty sure the feeling is mutual."
With a bit of luck, a reply that blunt and would be enough to make anyone back off a little, but Hawk never was very lucky.
Great care was taken to avoid their eyes ever meeting to further build the image of a person who is best left to their own devices.
It wasn't as if Hawk was actually anti-social, there was just something about this particular girl that irked him more than he would care to admit considering how little he knew or should have cared about her. It came to mind that none of this had any importance considering the situation, but to Hawk his emotions were things to appreciate and evaluate. They were as important to him as his cognitive functions as they could often inform him subconsciously of things he had otherwise missed. And so, when he started feeling without explicable reason it worried him.
The urge to sup back a coffee was noted but dismissed as it hardly seemed as if a cafetière would be aboard the ship.