Everyone whipped round to do a quick headcount, there were definitely only eight of them.

"Maybe you count as two?" Aero cocked his head at Jago. "Perhaps you have a horrible parasite living inside your brain which would account for your personality?"

Jago growled at him as he stalked back towards the shuttle.

Aero snorted, "Seriously? You going to try and fly back home solo?"

"Thomas," Jago called out, turning round from where he had been scenting the air, "open this cargo panel." Jago pointed to the side of the ship, scorched with burn marks from entering the planet's atmosphere at high speeds.

Thomas frowned, walking over towards Jago and drawing out some kind of sonic device. A minute later and the large panel hissed open. Another jet of steam rushed out, making the two Ferals cough and step backwards, waving their hands in front of their faces.

"What are they doing?" Sienna asked, crossing her arms over her chest. "We're keeping our commanding officers waiting."

Hannah scrunched her face up in a frown, sniffing the air before her eyes widened, "Oh god," she groaned, "I can smell her now the idiot."

"Who's an idi..." Aero began to ask but trailed off when, much to his great shock - a figure toppled out from the cargo hatch.

"Holy shit who's that?" Aero gasped, looking round to where Sienna, Tyron and Cody were all staring with similarly confused expressions.

"Felicity," Hannah snapped, rolling her eyes and striding towards the other Ferals.

"We should have known," Zach sighed, shaking his head as they watch a clearly disorientated Felicity attempting to right herself against Thomas's shoulder. Jago appeared to be reeling off a round of angry expletives at the younger Feral.

"She never gives up," Zach added.

"Fantastic," Cody stated in a monotone voice. "So now we have an unpartnered Feral stowaway to deal with on top of everything else."

"Just let us deal with her," Zach nodded, "we'll assume responsibility so you don't have to worry."

"It's this kind of unregulated undisciplined behaviour that is simply not tolerated by the Doll programme," Sienna quipped, sheathing her tablet and stowing it back in her travel bag.

"Well I don't think we'll euthanize her just yet," Zach retorted back with unmissable snark as his eyes flicked to Aero.

Jago, Thomas and Hannah rejoined the rest of the group along with a battered looking Felicity.

"It's a miracle you didn't die in that cargo hold," Jago growled in a low menacing voice that suggested he may soon rectify this situation.

"Why didn't you die?" Aero couldn’t help but ask as he eyed the Feral's nasty looking bruises and seeping gashes.

"Accelerated healing," Felicity grinned at him, nodding to a deep weeping cut on her hand that was already starting to mesh itself back together.

"Why don't we have that?" Aero exclaimed in outrage as he turned expectantly to the other Dolls.

"We have higher pain thresholds," Sienna replied quickly before shrugging, "swings and roundabouts."

"We need to get inside the survival shack before they think there's a problem," Tyron remarked loudly to the group, gesturing to the bunker in front of them.

"There is a problem," Cody bit out, but he was the first to start moving away from the craft and towards the solitary building.

Aero's first instinct was to jog and catch up with him but he couldn’t seem to tear himself away from watching the mesmerising magic of Felicity's disappearing bruises.

"Why were you so desperate to come?" Aero whispered to the Feral. "Surely there'll be other missions?"

Felicity glanced up at him, "Would you let your best friend go on a mission alone?"

"I'm not alone," Thomas interrupted before flushing and falling silent.

"Don't be mad," Felicity sighed, nudging the taller boy's shoulder before turning back to Aero. "This is my pack. Pack don't leave other pack behind." She said the last part with a pointed glare in Jago's direction.

"They do when they're ordered to," Jago replied gruffly. "You weren't cleared for this mission Felicity - you weren't even partnered and now the rest of us are going to take the blame for your hot-headedness."

"I can do this!" Felicity cried back. "My mentor taught me everything..."

"Your mentor is dead!" Jago snarled, rounding on Felicity with his teeth bared and his eyes flashing red. Aero flinched as he saw the larger Feral's canines extending and sharpening.

"And this isn't what Melanie would have wanted for you," Jago added in a hoarse growl, although Aero could swear that his voice cracked at the end.

"I belong with you guys," Felicity stated defiantly, squaring herself up to Jago's aggressive stance. "And since when did you care what Melanie would have wanted? I didn't see you taking her advice when you went on that mission with Vera."

There was a sudden roar as Jago lunged forwards, knocking Felicity off her feet and sending them both crashing to the ground.

Aero yelled in surprise as a clawed hand swung through the air, perilously close to his thigh.

"Get back," Hannah snapped, reaching forward and pulling at Aero's shoulder with a rough jerk.

Aero stared transfixed as the two Ferals swiped and pounced at each other, both of them now bleeding and panting.

Suddenly, there was a deafening shrill noise that sounded like an air horn and a sonic whistle rolled into one. Aero yelped and covers his ears with his hands as the Ferals all fell to the floor, their faces scrunched up in pain and shock.

The screeching sound ended as abruptly as it had begun and Aero turned to see four hooded figures stood in front of their group. One of them was holding up a sonic emitter, no doubt the source of the noise.

"I think that will be enough," the man announced, stowing the cylinder back into his pocket and looking up at them. "Seeing as you've only just arrived and haven't even had the good manners to introduce yourselves."

Aero realised that these must be the supervising scouts that Sienna had been talking about. He quickly stood to salute along with the rest of the group, including Jago and Felicity who briskly heaved themselves up from the ground.

"I am given to understand that we have an extra Feral?" the man questioned, raising an eyebrow at Felicity who stepped forwards to speak.

However, before she could utter a single word- the man smiled and chirped, "Always good to have a spare I suppose. Please follow me into the shack - there's a storm coming and we need to lock up the outer doors.”