This section of the station is a little less crowded and bustling.  Some resturants and bars are placed sporadically around office centers and storage areas.

[From Destiny: Cargo Bay]

Kale hitched the crate up slightly as he moved from the busy commerce sector into the quieter parts of the business sector.  He cast a look over his shoulder to make sure Wei-Li and Geoff were still with them, "Crew an' I come ta Torrance Station pretty regular like, it's a good place ta do business.  Once we're done we can hit up the entertainment sector - I think it'd be yer kinda place." he looked from Wei-Li to Geoff, "The both of yers kinda place." he added, thinking Wei would love all the street performers and Geoff would like the booze.

Wei-Li nodded in response to Kale's statement.  She continued to scan the area, a smile on her face.  She looked every part the tourist while she got a feel for the area.

<from Cargo Bay>

Geoff walked after the captain and Wei-Li with the two crates in his arms. He nodded to what the captain said and then grinned widely as he said they'd hit the entertainment sector after the work was done. "Heh. Our kinda place, huh? I'm thinkin' tha' means lotsa liqour fer me an' lotsa fancy tumblin' tricks fer Wei. Or maybe the other way 'round. I always did have a likin' fer the fancy tumblin'. Especially if I also have liqour. Dangerous mix, but it's always sorta fun. I mean, 'til the drunken crashin' inta buildin's an' such.", he said with a grin and a chuckle.

Kale grinned wryly and directed his attention to figuring out where they were going.  After stopping at one of the public maps that were set up sporadically throughout the station he led the way to Sparks - the bar that Diego had said they would meet at.

There was a bright sign over the door and inside was the sound of people talking and laughing - tasteful music could be heard drifting out of the well lit bar.  In front of the door two men stood with their arms crossed.  They were huge - about Geoff's size but one smiled as she saw Kale approaching.

"Well whattaya know, look who it is Dobbs." he said, elbowing the other man who turned and looked - and then laughed.

"Look what the cat dragged in!" he said with a grin, "'Ol Galway."

Kale grinned as he approached the two men, "I can see ya missed me." he said with a wink.

"Diego always said you were his favorite." Dobbs said, clasping a hand on Kale's shoulder - which practically knocked Kale over.

"Ah, I'm flattered, yer gonna be givin' me a big head.  'Course ya know I couldn't be stayin' way long - moneys too good." he laughed and the two men joined in.

Ramirez was looking around over Kale's shoulder though with a smile, "Where's that sour faced mate 'o yers?" he said with a laugh, "Ya know he still owes me 20 creds from the last time." he smiled broadly, "I beat 'im ya know at cards."

"Ya only beat 'em cause he was lettin' ya win - you were so piss drunk ya woulda tore the place up if ya'd lost." Dobbs laughed and Ramirez shrugged.  Kale frowned though.  Rhaef ... they were talking about Rhaef.  He cleared his throat once and swallowed.

"Rhaef ain't comin' on this run." he said, not wanting to delve into anymore about him, which his tone clearly said, "This here's Geoff though, and Wei-Li.  New crew." he said, turning the attention on the other two.

Wei-Li smiled and bowed slightly at the introduction bur remained silent.  Instead she watched their surroundings as she did back on Paquin, making sure she missed nothing while still making people think she was focused on them.

She did give a slight pause when Kale introduced her as crew.   She reailzed she still needed to give him an answer.
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:48, Wed 27 Sept 2006.

Geoff followed along behind the captain and came to a stop when it seemed they had reached their destination. He smiled as the captain met up with two men at the door, probably bouncers or guards of some sort from the size of them, who he seemed to know. That put Geoff at ease a bit. He figured that friends of the captain were friends of his too. At least so long as they didn't prove otherwise somehow.

He frowned slightly as it seemed the friendly banter between the three had somehow turned to the subject of Rhaef and he noticed the captain's reaction to it. He didn't say anything about it, since the captain's tone when he addressed it would tell anybody that the subject of Rhaef's whereabouts was closed. Geoff shrugged to that, thinking that that subject was honestly anything but closed, but that wasn't for him to say.

He smiled widely to the two men as the captain introduced him and Wei-Li. "Nice ta meetcha. I'm Geoff Wolfe. I'd shake yer hand, but, as ya can see, I've pretty well got my hands full at the moment. Still, nice ta meetcha, like I said.", he said in a friendly tone.

For a moment Dobbs looked as though he were going to start asking questions about Rhaef when Rameriz gave him a look and turned his attention to Geoff.

"No hand shakin' neccessary.  Nice to meet ya all the same, mate.  Pleasure." he said then turned back to Kale, "Well you an' the crew can go right on in, Diego's 'xpectin' ya."

Kale nodded his head, "Thank ya kindly, it was good seein' you two.  Stay outta trouble, ya hear?"

The two men laughed, "Yer one ta talk." Dobbs said but stepped aside as Kale, Geoff, and Wei-Li went inside.  The bar was alive with color and smells and music - although it wasn't particularly crowded or anything.  Most of these private bars weren't.

Across the room Kale spotted Diego sitting at booth in the corner and waved, Diego stood up and strod across the room.  The man was short, almost a head shorter then Kale himself but he was certainly built.  A black bandana was tied around his head and his face was open and smiling.

"Same 'ol Diego." Kale said as the man approached.

"Kale, my friend, it is good to see you well.  Here, here - let's put these crates away and we can talk some more, yes?"  Diego held up a hand and motioned for two other men to join them, "Miguel and Tony - they'll take those from here." the two men took the crates from Kale and Geoff - a trade Kale would not normally have made without cold hard cash in hand, but since it was Diego he had no worries, "So, I see new faces here.  I'm Diego Montoya." he said introducing himself to Geoff and Wei-Li.

Geoff smiled in a friendly manner to the two men outside as they stepped aside and let them pass. This job already seemed to be starting out on a pretty good foot since the two guys were so friendly with the captain. It made it really easy to believe that this job might actually go smoothly. Geoff was happy about that. Jobs lately had a bit of a habit of giving him more action than he'd like so even he can appreciate a change in that trend. Give him a chance to relax for awhile instead of being ever watchful and wary with one hand always near his gun.

He walked into the place after the captain did and looked to the man who seemed was the Diego guy they were looking for. Despite himself, Geoff sized the man up as though he were a potential threat, as he did most people he just met. The man was short, shorter than the captain and far shorter than him, but he seemed to make up for that lack of height with bulk. Geoff came to the conclusion that, as anybody they did business with, the man had the potential to be very dangerous if he wished it.

When the man greeted the captain in such a friendly manner, Geoff felt that there was probably no danger from the man. Though he did tense some when two men came to take the crates from them without any money changing hands, only surrendering his when the captain did. That act alone was enough for him to trust Diego. If the captain would let him take the crates without paying first, then the man had to be trustworthy. So Geoff smiled in a friendly manner and offered his hand to shake when Diego introduced himself.

"Nice ta meetcha, Mr. Montoya. I'm Geoff. Geoff Wolfe. One o' the newer additions ta the crew.", he said and grinned wryly,"I'm the guy the cap'n hired ta do heavy liftin' an' heavy fightin'. Gotta say tha' I'm glad I'm only doin' the liftin' right now."

Wei-li smiled and nodded, waiting her turn to introduce herself.  As she waited, she continued to watch everything around her.  She noticed where the men took the crates, the value of the crystal wear at the bar, and the way Mr. Montoya dressed.

WHen he finished shaking Geoff's hand, her smile broadened and she stepped forward.  "Wei-Li Seneca," she said, introducing herself as she took his hand.

"Mr. Montoya, it is an honor to meet you."

Diego grinned broadly at Kale and shook Geoff and Wei's hands, "I'm sure he'll have you fighting soon enough though if I know Kale." he said to Geoff with a small wink, "Of course I don't complain about this - if Kale went legit then we would not be doing business here today.  Come, come, let us sit." he began to lead the way back to his booth in the corner.

As Diego turned to lead the way Kale smiled at Geoff and Wei-Li, a slight raise of his eyebrows said 'I told you he was a good guy'.  After a month of hard jobs, dealing with Diego was a welcome pleasure - if only every job could go so smooth.  This was exactly what Kale needed though to get his mind off of everything else - and honestly just to restore his faith in humanity in general.

He slid into the booth beside Diego, letting Geoff and Wei-Li take the one across from them, "I see business is boomin' here fer you - better then last time Destiny docked." Kale commented as Diego fished around in a bag at his side for Kale's payment.

Without looking up Diego spoke, "Ah yes, well the further Torrance Station slips from the term 'civilized' the better for me.  They fight it - those patrols are no joke, but it is inevitable.  The stations far too close to Reaver territory for any truly profitable legitimate business." Diego said, then grinned as he found what he was looking for, "Ah ha, here we are - I believe that is the amount we agreed on, no?" he passed a small money pouch to Kale.

Geoff merely grinned with his usual feral amusement that came to him when the talk turned to fighting as Diego commented about the captain's penchant for finding trouble. He knew that the man was right about that. The captain had the habit of finding trouble....or trouble had the habit of finding him. Geoff hadn't decided yet. In either case, it meant a hell of a lot of interesting times for Geoff and he wasn't going to complain about that. In fact, he should remember to thank the captain when he has the time.

He moved to go sit down, smirking slightly to the captain's expression. So he had been right and this Diego fella was nobody to worry about. Didn't mean Geoff had to admit that he was wrong, even if he agreed. So he merely shrugged non-commitaly and took the seat in the booth across from the captain and Diego, sliding over to make room for Wei. He listened with only half attention to the talk between Diego and the captain as the other half was now occupied with seeing if there was anything to drink in this place. If the job was as safe as it seemed to be, it wouldn't hurt for Geoff to have a drink or two....or three...

Suddenly the normal bustle and sounds of the space station seemed to disappear altogether - completely drowned out beneath the pierching wail of a siren.  It seemed to shake the very air with its intensity and reverberated in everyone's ears.  It also sent the station into complete and utter chaos.  Screams echoed against the walls, people began running in all directions - those that didn't know what the siren meant were left staring dumbly at the odd and terrifying shift in atmosphere.

Kale nodded his head as Diego spoke - made sense to him.  As long as the Alliance wasn't around trying to 'civilize' a place then it was finally free to be what it was, and Torrance Station was a pretty decent place in Kale's opinion, and had certainly treated Diego well.  Kale took to the money pouch from Diego and was counting it as he amusingly pondered getting himself his own spacestation to work out of when the siren's suddenly began blaring all around him.  Kale didn't waste a second - he knew exactly what that sound meant.  His eyes met Diego's as lurched out of the booth.

"How long?" he asked, his jaw tight.  He needed to know how long they had before the station was swarmed with Reavers - he needed to know if he could make it back to Destiny.

Geoff's reactions were more instinct than thought as he stood up from the booth, his hands already drawing his guns before he could even think to ask what the siren meant. His guns moving wildly about as he searched for the cause of the trouble. He didn't know what the trouble was or if it even was trouble at all, but sirens usually meant trouble and trouble was something he wanted his guns to be aimed at. He didn't say anything though, just waited for the captain's orders. He knew that the captain would know what was going on, even if Geoff didn't. In that case, Geoff didn't really need to know what was going on. He just needed to know where to shoot.

"Two - maybe three minutes." Diego said, moving just as swiftly as Kale, "If the siren's are going off they've already boarded the station." he said, his voice was calm but the slight twitch of his left eye gave away his fear.  Diego had been prepared for this though, "You won't make it back Kale - we have to run now." he said, "Now!" he was already running, at the back of the bar was an entrance into the service halls, Diego had specially fortified the passageways for just such an occasion.  The blast doors should hold the Reavers out.

Kale gritted his teeth, out of everything that could possibly happen this was the worst thing he could imagine.  This was it, Kale felt the breath leave him for a moment as the weight of what was happening came crashing down on him.  Reavers ... he felt faint for a moment and then quickly regained his senses - he couldn't fall to pieces.  He had to act and he had to act now - but there was no time to think - no time to - no time ...

"Okay - okay we go, follow him!" Kale shouted to Wei-Li and Geoff over the sounds of screams echoing throughout the bar and the corridors beyond, "Reavers." he said in a low voice - they might not even have been able to hear him but the look on his face could not be misunderstood - they had to move and they had to move fast or they were going to die.
This message was last edited by the player at 08:28, Sun 01 Oct 2006.

Piercing screams began to cut through the air like knives.  Screams of not only fear - but agony.  Of a fate far more terrifying then death.  Growls and feral noises were far too near - accompanied by the sounds of tearing flesh, breaking bones.  Reavers didn't just kill their victims - they mutilated them beyond all recognition ... and they were coming.

They were coming fast.

Geoff had watched as Diego went running, not even knowing what he was running from. When the captain moved to follow and Geoff heard his low words, he hoped he had heard wrong. When he heard the screams and growls that seemed way too close for comfort, he knew he had not and he stood frozen for an instant. Reavers. In his short life, Geoff had not met anything he was truly afraid of. He had almost been killed so many times it was hard for him to be afraid of death or any man who brought it. But Reavers....they brought a fate worst than death and they sure as hell weren't men bringing it.

He felt his blood run cold and his eyes widen in fear, but he mentally slapped himself as he knew there was no time for fear. Only time for action. So he moved quickly as he passed Wei-Li one of his pistols and then grasped her wrist. "Run, dammit, run!", he yelled, partly to Wei-Li and partly to himself as he ran as fast as his legs would carry him after the captain and Diego, still holding onto Wei as he did so.

Wei-li held the gun tightly, annoyed now that she'd doubted the need for one.  She moved with Geoff, his spare pistol in her left hand as she moved with him.  She focused on Geoff and Kale, letting herself become an extension of their actions.

She moved on instict, thinking of nothing but not becoming a victim.  There was too much left to do to die now, and far too many more plesant ways to go.

The blast door was already lowering as Diego entered the service hall at a run - three of his men were already inside, someone must have hit the controls, the door was a quarter of the way down.  He skidded inside, "Who hit the controls?!" he shouted, "There's still time!"

The door was closing quickly, there were tons of people still outside, tons of people that would have been able to make it to safety but now there was no time for that - the door would be closed and they would be left out there.  Left to the mercy of the Reavers.

Kale ran behind Diego but stopped at the door - letting Geoff and Wei-Li run in first, he had to make sure they were all safe.  The door was closing quickly, it was already a quarter of the way down, "Get inside, now!" Kale shouted at his crew mates, his eyes flew to the other people in the bar however - the others racing for the service halls that were not going to make it.

Radio:  "Cap'n, y'comin!?"

Geoff cursed as the door to the hall they were heading for was closing as they ran. He watched Diego run in ahead of everybody and the captain stop to urge them on. Geoff nodded as he pushed Wei-Li ahead of him to go under the door and then he moved under as well, pausing just on the other side to duck down and look out to the captain. "C'mon, Cap'n! Hurry up an' get in! Ain't no time ta waste!", he yelled with urgency as he gestured for the captain to follow them inside quickly.

Kale made sure Geoff and Wei-Li were safetly inside the service hall, his hand pushed against Geoff's back to urge him to move even faster - the door was almost half way closed now.  He glanced over his shoulder then, outside the window to the bar he saw them ... the Reavers ... time seemed to suddenly slow down.  It felt like it took years to manage one single blink.  A rushing sound filled Kale's ears, punctuated here and there by the shrill of a scream.  Kale felt like he was under water - like he was drowning - drowning in a sea of faces. All around him faces flashed by - faces full of terror.  People were dashing towards the service hall and Kale knew with a cold certainty they wouldn't make it.

His head swung to his left and his eyes met Geoff's as the man shouted at him to get in - the moment felt unreal and it lasted for an eternity.  Kale could feel the blood coursing through his veins, pumping through his heart, the sound of his own breath a distant roar.  Then his head turned back to his right - a woman with a child in tow was almost at the closing blast door ... almost there.  Kale looked back a Geoff and knew the man could see what he was thinking in his eyes.  When he looked away time suddenly began moving again - in fact, it seemed to be making up for lost time.  It was flying by.  Kale wasn't even thinking anymore - he was just acting.  He took two bounding steps, his arms flying out and shoving the woman and child forward.  Two steps and they'd be back at the blast doors.

"Go!" he shouted to the kid, pushing him inside - the boy ducked under to safety.  The woman turned surprised eyes up to Kale.

"You're an angel." she whispered and their eyes met for a brief moment - hardly even a fraction of a second before she was on the ground - rolling beneath the door - she barely fit ... Kale wasn't going to make it.

"I'm goin' home!" he shouted to Geoff and Wei-Li, "Find Destiny!"

Then the door closed, sealing off the service halls - leaving Kale outside.

....the Reavers were coming ....

Wei-li helped the woman up, only having a moment to see him before it was closed.  She gasped as she realized it was too late.  She clamped her jaw shut and moved pulling the woman her her son along... making sure she didn't loose Geoff.  She clasped his left hand with her right with no intentions of letting go.

She tried not to think about the reavers, not to think about Kale... to assume the best but she knew better.  She let out a ferral growl of her own as she forced herself to think and not feel.

Geoff had seen the look in the captain's eye and knew exactly what he was going to do. How could he not know? He knew the captain well enough to know exactly what the man would do, had to do, as he saw the woman and child. "Cap'n, no!! There's no time!!!", he yelled after the captain, already knowing it would be no use as the captain turned and headed toward the woman. Geoff would have raced after him, but he knew that he would be no help. He would slow the captain up, at best, and get himself, the captain and the people he was trying to save killed, at worst.

So he stayed and waited for the captain, yelling for him to hurry and that he could make it if he moved faster. False words and he knew it. Still, he waited with false hopes as he helped pull the kid in and then the woman after, turning back to the already far too low door to help the captain in. But it was too late. The captain would never make it in. He heard the captain's final words to them as the door slammed shut and he yelled out loud as he banged his fist into the door.

Gorramit, Kale!! Ya better not die on us or I'll kill ya!!", he yelled, knowing it was a futile attempt even as the door clanged shut. Geoff punched the door once more, not caring about the pain in his hand for it. The captain was out there and he was in here. It wasn't right. It was his job to protect the crew and now the captain was out there to face reavers alone. More than the failure in duty, though, there was the pain in him. The pain of losing a family member.

Everybody on Destiny were his family and, though he would never admit it outloud, Kale was the closest thing to a father that Geoff had ever had. The idea of losing all that hurt him now. He thought about everybody else who was out there. Charlie, Ren, Acacia, Connor and, worst of all, Lei. He could only hope they were all right, even if he knew better. Only hope futilely and feel useless as he hid behind the armored door that separated him from the only people he cared about.

He was deep in these thoughts when he felt Wei-Li's hand clasp onto his and he turned to her, realizing that he hadn't been separated from all of the people he cared about after all. He nodded to himself and squeezed her hand slightly before he finally felt himself calm down and start to think a bit more clearly. a bit more like himself. He moved along with Wei-Li and headed down the service halls, looking around as he did. "Ok. I heard ya, Cap'n. Gotta find our way home...", he said softly to himself as he walked.

Wei-li simply nodded, but didn't let go of his hand.  The thing that hit her the most was the fact that Kale was seperated from them, trying to save others-- and that he expected them to make it back to the ship.

He wasn't giving up on them, he was depending on them to take care of themselves and not give up on him, on themselves-- on Destiny.

Wei-Li continued to run and scan the area.  "We're getting out of here," she agreed.  "Together."

Kale stared at the door for a moment the fact that he was outside of it - out here with the Reavers not fully setting in ... until he heard the sound of screaming almost right outside the bar.  He spun around in time to see blood spatter the window.  Kale couldn't think - if he thought he'd freeze up.  Fear was already threatening to take away all his senses.  If it succeeded he'd be paralyzed.  Paralyzed with fear as the Reavers descended down upon him.  So Kale didn't think.  He moved - and he moved fast.

We don't need no big guns - no 'course not ... ruttin' brilliant idea, Kale.  Real good thinkin' there. he berated himself as he pulled his pistol from his hip - not that it'd do him much good.  Against Reavers a simple pistol might as well be made 'o plastic and squirt water.  A grenade would be nice right about now ...

Kale ran, he ran so hard that his feet began to ache from slamming against the metal flooring.  He ignored it.  He also ignored the burning in his chest, the shortness of his breath.  He didn't look back - not once.  Not even when he heard the growls and screams so close he could swear that they were going to grab him before he took another breath.

It was then that he heard the staticy voice coming through his radio - Charlie.  He fumbled to pull the radio out, "Are you okay?" he panted into it as he ran, "Are the others -" Kale could hardly breathe, " - are they ..."

Radio:  "Yeah, Cap'n, got Lei'n Connor'n right here.  Hold on, gotta get th'door."

If Kale could actually breathe he would have sighed with relief, as it was he just allowed the brief feeling to wash over him.  "Get 'em - get 'em inside.  Keep 'em safe ..." Three crew on board.  Three crew safe.  And Wei and Geoff in the service halls - that left Ren and Acacia.  Kale was so caught up in his thoughts of getting his crew all back to Destiny safetly that he didn't notice the three men bursting out of one of the side doors.  They caught him completely off guard, running into him full force.  The radio flew out of his grasp and skidded across the metal plating away from him.  But that was the least of his worries.  As the radio flew one way Kale felt himself flying the opposite direction.

Pain hit him as his body hit the window hard and was thrown through it, shattering the glass.  His back was cut to pieces, he could feel the warm sticky blood even has he tried to pick himself up off the floor of the shop that he was now inside.  A million curses sat at the tip of his tongue - they never crossed his lips.

A Reaver emerged into the hallway right where Kale had just been running.  The creature grabbed hold of one of the men that had pushed Kale through the window and he could hear the sound of breaking bones and then ripping flesh - Kale turned his head away, scrambling to his feet and running through the shop.  Kale wasn't a religious man but he prayed that God had mercy on those men's souls - they'd just saved his life.

The shop had an entrance on the other end that turned out to be a short cut, through the doorway Kale could see the chaos of the commerce sector - he was almost home.

[To Torrance Station: Commerce Sector]

Diego watched in shock at Kale ran away from the service hall and came back shoving a child and a woman through the blast doors, "What is he - Kale!  Kale, don't be a gorram fool!  Kale!" the doors closed then, sealing tightly.  The screams sounded distant behind them.  He had given his life - he had given his life for these two that he didn't even know.  "May God take him to his heart." Diego muttered lowly, sending up a prayer.  He had no doubt that Kale was as good as dead.

He looked around him then - there were only 10 of them.  Five of his own men, Geoff and Wei, and the woman and child.  He took a deep shakey breath, "Let's move." he said.

As if to punctuate the end of Diego's sentence the blast doors began to shake.  The Reavers were just outside - trying to bang down the doors.  Loud thunks echoed through the service hall, each one sending a jolt of fear through everyone gathered.

Geoff had nodded to Wei-Li's assertion that they would be getting out of her together. "Ya can count on tha'.", he said softly as he continued to look around. He saw Diego echo his own cries and sentiments against the door and heard the low utterance he sent up. Geoff shook his head to that. "God's gonna hafta wait on tha' 'cause the cap'n ain't dyin' anytime soon. 'Sides, I think this station is the last place God's got anythin' ta do with, righ' now.", he said firmly, obviously not thinking much of prayer at all, let alone a prayer for the departed soul of a man he still wants so badly to be alive.

When Diego told them to move and he heard the pounding of the Reavers on the door, he nodded shakily in agreement, lifting his gun up and at the ready as he walked close to Diego. He still grasped Wei-Li's hand tightly as though it were the only reminder that he had a reason to survive this time around. "So wha's the plan? Ya got a way out of these tunnels tha' the Reavers won't know or are we expectin' a fight pretty soon?", he said in a low tone to Diego, not wanting to alarm others with his talk.

Diego looked at the large man beside him - Geoff... Kale's crew. He felt for him.  Kale was a good man.  A decent man.  There weren't many like them - it was understandable that Geoff wouldn't want to accept what had happened and Diego wasn't going to push the matter so he nodded his head but said nothing.

He pulled his pistol out and reloaded it, "Just in case." he said looking at the others, "There is a back way - should let out to the docks.  I've barricaded this stretch of hallway, we should be safe." Should being the key word there but Diego wasn't going to call any unneeded attention to that.

He began walking then, leading the way down the hall.  Their footsteps echoed no matter how softly they tried to step and the slience that hung between them was only puntuated by the distant screams and the quiet sobs of the child in their midst.

Geoff nodded to Diego's words, glad that there was some sort of plan at work here. Geoff was not an idea man, he was a guy who followed orders and a friend of the captain's was a good enough person to give those orders. So he followed after Diego with his gun still held at the ready and his other hand holding Wei-Li. He was very glad for her presence at this moment. He thought he would not have handled things quite so well had it not been for her. He turned and gave her a quick smile before looking back down the tunnel, watching for any trouble. No matter what Diego said, "should" was not good enough for Geoff to feel completely safe.

Wei-Li's hand trembled slightly at Diego's words, but it was the pressure from Geoff's hand that gave her courage.  He was here.  They were still together.

Everything else ceased to exist.  She continued to scan where Geoff wasn't, hoping that between them there would be no surprises.  She ventured one look to the ceiling, then focused on the world around them.

It was a tense walk down the hallway.  A few times one of the larger men, obviously members of Diego's gang would mutter curses under his breath about blowing the Reavers to pieces.  It was tough talk, belied by the way he kept nervously twisting his hand around the barrel of his gun.

Diego looked back to the others as they reached a fork, "Almost there now, see no worries." he said in a tone that was far more confident then he felt, "This way." he said and branched off to the right.

Diego stopped short then, holding a hand up for silence, "Shh, did you -" a loud crash suddenly resounded down the hall, the sound of metal hitting metal.  It cut through the silence like a knife.  Everyone's head whipped around in the direction of the sound.  Then Diego said quietly, "Run."

Geoff had walked in a wary silence, his gaze and his gun always traveling about in front of them as he trusted Wei-Li to watch the back. His hand had never left hers, the physical contact between them being one of the only things keeping him as calm and grounded as he was right now. If it wasn't for her grip keeping him here, he would be lost in his mind, worrying about the captain, worrying about Charlie and Connor, worrying about Ren and Acacia and, most of all, worrying about Lei. He felt a pang go through him at the thought of how his sister, as he had come to refer to her just about all the time, must be worried and scared without him. He knew that, if it wasn't for Wei-Li's presence, that thought alone would have driven him to a much less rational place in his mind.

But, as it was, Wei-Li was there beside him and that focused his thoughts more. He had to be calm and cool so they could get out of this alive. Get out of this together. So he walked right behind Diego, following his lead easily. He felt a slight bit of relief as he said they were almost there and started to lead them down a branch in the path. That relief turned into an icy feeling of dread as he suddenly called for silence and the sound of metal crashing down the hall caused him to start. He looked in the direction the sound had come from as everybody had and didn't even have to wait for Diego's quiet word to start running, his grip tightening on Wei-Li's hand as he tugged her along with him, shooting an urgent glance back to her as he did so.

Everything came down to a rhythm.  It was the rhythm of their pace, their hearbeats, the things left unsaid.  She moved as Geoff's shadow, his back.  He watched the front, she watched everything else.

She'd heard enough about Reavers to know one thing: hope was an illusion.  Hope was a goal, but it wasn't the road to take.  Safety existed in distance and in being unreachable.

Then it happened.  They'd been found and they were too far from the next barrier.  She moved with Geoff, feeling his tension and the pressure guiding her arm.  She'd worked the trapese too many times with her brother not to notice.

This was the same pairing, the same risk: fall out of rhythm and you were lost.  She gave him the briefest of questioning looks.  There were others here, though she held no illusion of being able to protect them.

There was no time to contemplate how they'd gotten in - it was enough to know that they had.  The ominous sound of heavy footsteps rattling the metal flooring of the service halls spurred everyone onward.  The Reavers ran - impossibly fast.  They could hear the sounds of the others footsteps - they could smell their prey.

Diego's feet pounded agains the flooring and he cast a look back at the others, "We're not gonna make it." he shouted to be heard over the sounds of their own footsteps - he could hear the Reavers gaining on them.

Geoff had caught Wei-Li's brief questioning look, but could only shake his head quickly. He wasn't concerned for the others around, no matter how much it may make him seem cold to act as such. In the end, that was what it came down to though. He didn't know the people around here and he didn't care about them all that much. He knew that they were all scared people with families and people to care about and that their deaths would cause pain to those closest to them. He knew this, but he also knew something else. He had his loved ones to think about and care for. Right now that meant Wei-Li. She was the only other person he gave a damn about right now and all the rest would just have to fend for themselves.

So he ran, still gripping her hand tightly as he came up beside Diego, making up for his lack of speed with long strides. He could hear the sounds of their pursuers behind them, the sound of their heavy footsteps clanging down onto the floor sending a chill down his spine and causing him to press onward even faster. As he heard Diego's shout, he knew the truth in it. He could hear them being gained on. He knew that they would overtake them eventually...but he would be damned if he was going to admit that.

"The hell we're not!!!", he shouted as he ran as hard as he could, knowing that it may be futile in the end, but not willing to give up. He wouldn't even look back to check the Reavers' progress because he knew that would only waste time and, even worse, make him lose what little hope he had. He gripped both his gun and Wei-Li's hand tightly as he continued to run forward with his gaze ever pointed to the front.

Wei-Li gave him a worried, yet understanding look.  He was right and she knew it, she just didn't have to like it.  She trusted Geoff's decisions and knew that she was part of his survival plan.  That was all she needed.

As they ran, she could feel the hairs on the back of her neck standing up.  Most of her life had been about timing.  It had been about ariving at the right point with the right momentum and here, the timing was all wrong.

She was about to give up, surrender all thought when she saw something overhead.  It was an air intake vent, some 10 feet above them.  She slowed down, trying to get everyone's attention.  "Won't make it running... gotta climb."

She nodded towards the vent.  She was already climbing it in her mind, Feeling the steel and tile under her feet as she stepped onto a small inset in the wall, then up to the fire stantion next to it.  It was worth a shot and if Wei-Li knew one thing-- it was climbing.

Geoff had slowed down as she did, looking to her with confusion as to why they were slowing down at all. He heard what she said and saw where she nodded and he winced inwardly. Climb? Geoff had never been much for climbing that didn't take pure brute strength and his balance was only okay at best. Climbing would not be his first choice at all. But he knew she was probably right. Running was probably futile and the Reavers were almost upon them. Besides, he trusted Wei-Li's judgement and, if she said climbing was the only way, then climbing they'd go.

"Fine. Wei-Li, go first and pick out the way then. Then I'll throw Diego up there with ya 'cause he knows his way 'round here. After tha' I'll be right behind ya.", he said with a nod and then looked to her with a concerned gaze,"Do it quick 'cause we don't got a lot o' time, but be as careful as you can. Don't want nothin' happenin' ta ya..."

Wei-li looked him in the eyes and nodded.  Her raw emotions shone in her eyes.  Fear danced with terror as she forced herself to let go of his hand.  Trembling she nodded again and began climbing.

It was as she imagined, except that the tile was glossier than she thought.  She let her breath out as she climbed, shimied and swung into place.  She stood in a precarious position as she tried to remove the cover.  She let out a slight sound of frustration as she tried to pry it open and slipped.  She chinned herself back into position and tried again.

It gave suddenly, almost sending her back down but she caught it and herself and lowered it to Geoff.  Then she slipped into the vent to make sure it was strong enough.  Then she was back out with a foot on the stantion.

"Let's go," she said holding her hand out to help him and the others up.

Geoff had given her a brief reassuring smile, though he knew that his worried expression made it hard for anything to be reassuring on his face. Still, he wanted to reassure her as much as possible. He also wished he could reassure himself, but that was much harder to do. "We're gettin' outta here together no matter what.", he murmured as he reluctantly released her hand and let her get to climbing.

He alternated between looking behind them and up to her as she climbed, not wanting to take his eyes from her, but knowing that he had to watch for the Reavers. Still, he was ready when she finally got the vent cover off, grabbing it as she passed it down and letting it down to the floor. He watched as she climbed in and then came out with her hand out to help others up. He nodded to that and quickly moved to Diego.

"You first, boss man. You know the way to go.", he said as he almost bodily pushed Diego up to climb and grasp Wei-Li's hand. When he knew that he was up, he had started to move to climb up as well, but he paused at the sound of the bawling kid. He looked to the mother and child and frowned to himself. He knew he shouldn't worry about anybody but himself, but the captain had risked his life to save the two. There was no way Geoff could make that risk for nothing. So he moved over to the mother and child and reached a hand out to them.

"C'mon. Y'all first. We don't got a lot o' time so hurry.", he said urgently as he began to try and help the woman up too. It was stupid to do this, he knew, but it was the right thing to do and, damn him for a fool, he wanted to do the right thing for once.

Diego hardly had any time to react before he found himself being lifted bodily by Kale's guy, Geoff and shoved up into the vents.  It was a good idea though, he was fairly confident the Reavers wouldn't follow them there.  He climbed in - the vents weren't large but enough so that he fit rather comfortably, being smaller in stature, although it'd be a tight squeeze for his men and Geoff.  He moved to the opposite side of the vent opening to help Wei-Li pull the others up.  He nodded respectfully as Geoff turned and helped the woman and child up into the vent first - he was most certainly on of Kale's men.  Diego wouldn't have expected such an act from a man that looked like Geoff did - in all honestly 'thug' had been the first word that came to mind when he'd saw him.  But he was one of Kale's through and through.  The sentimental hun dun ... he just hoped it didn't get him killed like it had his Captain.

"Come on, up you go." he said, pulled the woman inside after the child, "Alright guys, let's go!" he shouted to Geoff and his three men still in the hall.  His hand reached for Geoff's, who was the closest, but suddenly the large man was shoved aside by one of his own.  A new guy, Clive.

"Get me outta here!  Get me out!" he shouted, his push had come unexpected and sent Geoff with no small amount of force into the opposite wall.  The panic was rising down there in the hall as another one of his men tried to hold Clive back - then the other made a leap for the vent, just to get hit by Clive who had wriggled free.

It was coming to blows now ... and the sound of the Reavers feral growls was growing closer.

"Jesus, we don't have time for this!" Diego shouted, but his men weren't listening.

Geoff had cursed himself a stupid sentimental fool for letting the woman and child go up before him and he knew that he would pay for letting his emotions get the better of him. Sure enough, when it came time for him to go, he was pushed fiercely away to slam into the opposite wall. He grunted in surprise more than pain and then turned back to see who the hell had pushed him. What he saw shouldn't have surprised him at all. Of course the men were panicking about who would go first. It's human nature, he supposed. Still, it was also idiotic as their fighting only wasted time and Geoff didn't have time to waste.

So it was with a growl of barely suppressed anger that Geoff stalked over to the three men and shot his pistol into the ground near them. "Hey!! We don't have any ruttin' time fer this!! The more you fight, the closer the Reavers get!! Now I dunno 'bout ya three jackasses, but I've got a home and a family to get back ta! They're waitin' fer me ta get there and I'll be damned if I'm gonna keep 'em waitin' longer than I hafta!", he shouted in a voice full of rising rage,"Now either ya stupid ung jeong jia ching jien soh get yer gorram asses in gear and get up the ruttin' vent one at a time or, I swear ta God, the devil or whatever powers there are from here to the ends of the 'verse, that what I do ta ya fer wastin' my time will make even the Reavers sick ta their stomachs!! Dong Ma!?"

He then pointed his pistol to the one who had pushed him and glared at him dangerously. "Now hurry the hell up and GET UP THAT FUCKIN' VENT!!"

The men all froze as Geoff's gun shot went off - the sound impossibly loud it seemed in the small, tight hallway.  It echoed off the walls for what felt like an eternity long after he'd actually fired the shot.  They listened though to his words - or perhaps they only understood the fact that they were being ordered up into the vent at gun point.  Regardless they weren't fighting anymore and starting to move .... problem was it was too late.

Around the corner came the thing of nightmares.  Three to be exact.  Their faces mutilated out of all recognition.  The closest one had a hook connecting his upper lip to his eye socket - the eye, all white and red and obviously useless looked as though it were beginning to fall out.  And that was the most human looking side of his face - the other was just a mess of gore.

They were moving fast - their harpoon moved even faster.  The huge pole of metal soared through the air and entered with a sickening sound into Clive's stomach, the man Geoff had his gun pointed at.

The men screamed, Clive blinked in shock, trying to scream as well - his mouth opening soundlessly in agony and fear.  The stench that radiated from the Reavers was enough to make one sick - it was even worse if you could bear to look at them.

Wei-Li whimpered slightly when one of Diego's men shoved Geoff away from her.  She quickly drew the gun he'd given her and aimed it, not at the men, but at the approaching Reavers.

"Come on, Come on..." she said as she wrapped a leg around a pipe outside the vent.  With her other hand free she reached down to offer support to the others, all the time swearing to herself that if Geoff was lost because of their stupidity she would shoot all three of them.

Then she swore and nothing else mattered but Geoff.  She had to get him up.  She fired down at the Reavers waiting for Geoff to take her hand.
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:47, Wed 04 Oct 2006.

Geoff's blood went cold as he saw the harpoon pierce the stomach of the guy he was holding at gunpoint. The expression on his face made Geoff's insides tremble and it was all he could do to keep himself from throwing up the contents of his stomach, the combination of the Reaver's stench and looks and the pure fear that coursed through him causing the bile to rise up in his throat. Still, he couldn't freeze in fear. He had to move. Had to move or die just like the man in front of him.

So Geoff moved quickly, feeling the cold chill of fear enter his bones. He looked to the men that were left and knew what he should do. He should shoot them in the knees and leave them as a distraction for the Reavers. Sacrifice them so he could live. It's what he would've done before. On the streets by himself, he had sold out a good many people to keep himself alive. He had left them to die so that he could live. He had done it so many times that it should be easy.

But maybe it was the fact that he had people to care about now, maybe it was the fact that he couldn't stand how Wei-Li would look at him if he did that, maybe it was his thinking that doing that would make him nothing like the shining example of big brother he should be to Lei or maybe it was just that the captain was rubbing off on him. In any case, he aimed his gun, not at the men, but at the Reavers, shooting off a few rounds to their heads, knowing that little to nothing could stop Reavers but having to try anyway.

"Hurry up!! Get up there!!", he yelled to the remaining two men as he shot again.

Clive had sunk to the ground, shaking and shivering in convulsion, "I - I don' wanna die ... I ..." his words were weak, cut through with sharp inhalations as the life was leaving his body - he was the lucky one.  He might die before the Reavers got him - hopefully.

Despite the bullets flying the Reavers kept coming.  Another harpoon soared through the air grazing another mans shoulder - not piercing it, but knocking him to the ground all the same.   The first of the Reavers was on top of him in a second.  There was the sound of breaking bone as his arm was practically ripped from his body.  He screamed in agony.  The third man was suddenly paralyzed with fear.  Just standing there - he had wet himself.  The sickly yellow liquid was pooled beneath him and still he didn't move.

"AHHH!" the man screamed beside Geoff, and Clive looked pleadingly up into his eyes as the second Reaver was just a few steps away.

"Don't ...  let 'em  ... get me ..." he managed to choke out.

"Oh God!" Diego gasped, pushing the woman and child away from the vent - they shouldn't see this.  Diego wanted to look away himself ... but he couldn't.  His eyes were glued to the massacre beneath him.  Transfixed.  His insides were churning - he was going to be sick.  Fear had him paralyzed.  The sight was so unimaginably awful that he had to look.

"Jesus!  Get up here, get up here!!" he shouted futily, the Reavers were on them.  His men were already down, "Give me your hand!" he screamed to Geoff who was once again closest to the vent.

Geoff cursed as his bullets did nothing to the Reavers and he knew that fighting was futile as he saw the other man go down under the Reaver and saw blood spray as his arm was nearly ripped from his body. He heard the scream of the only surviving man left and then met Clive's gaze. It was a brief meeting of eyes and his words were quiet and choked, but Geoff heard them like they were the only sounds in the hall right now. He nodded and picked his gun up, aiming it at Clive's head. "I'm sorry...", he said and shot the man, knowing it was better dead than in a Reaver's clutches.

He had barely even shot the gun before he was dashing for the vent at Diego's urgings. He holstered his gun and jumped to  grasp Wei-Li and Diego's hands so he could climb up. As much as he had wanted to help, there was only so much a man could do before he had to turn tail and run.

Wei-li stood there, her jaw clenched to hold back the sobs she couldn't control.  She held her hand out for Geoff, this was a catch she had to make.

As she stood, she watched the Reavers closing in.  She quickly tucked the gun away and waited for Geoff.  When he jumped, she focused on Geoff and nothing else.  She felt his weight and strained, briging him back into the vent.

"Geoff!" Her voice cracked as she sobbed in relief.  Then she softly added.  "Gotta go..."
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:17, Wed 04 Oct 2006.

Diego and Wei-Li caught hold of Geoff's arms and began pulling him up - all three Reavers had now filtered into their section of the hall.  They went for the man just standing their first.  His scream rang out and although Geoff couldn't see what was happening he could feel the warm blood hitting his arms and the side of his face as Wei-Li and Diego pulled.

The third Reaver went to Clive first - the man was dead though, so he turned his attention to Geoff.  Pain shot through him as he felt something sharp enter his right calf - cutting deeply through the muscle and tendons there.  The Reaver had him, was pulling him down - back into the hallway.
This message was last updated by the player at 18:36, Wed 04 Oct 2006.

Geoff had only been focusing on pulling himself up, not even letting the splattering of blood on his arms and face distract him. He had to get up there. He had to get to the vents and then get home to Destiny. He had to get home together with Wei-Li. Those were the only thoughts he let into his mind until he cried out loudly with the pain in his calf. That was when he finally looked down and saw the Reaver on him, pulling him down.

Geoff looked up with panic to Diego and then to Wei-Li before his eyes hardened and he shook his head, looking back to the Reaver below. He began driving down the heel of his left boot hard into the Reaver's skull. "I am not going out like this! I am going home!! I'm going to go home with Wei-Li and see Lei again!! So you let go, you ruttin' bastard!!", he growled, each word punctuated by an impact of his heel.

Wei-Li's jaw dropped when she saw the look in Geoff's eyes.  With a growl she pulled even harder.  When that didn't work she pushed against the pipe with both feet, pushing off of it gave her more power to pull Geoff up.  They had to stop the Reaver, but she knew that going back down was death... and so she helped to pull it up when she pulled Geoff.

She only knew she was not going to loose Geoff, not like this.

Diego pulled harder as he heard Geoff shout and knew that the Reaver had him.  He wasn't about to let go though - he couldn't have even if he wanted to.  His body no longer wanted to respond to his brain.  And his body was busy pulling - so that's what he was going to do.  For a moment it seemed like they were going to pull the Reaver up with him, then the weight lifted - the Reaver must have let go as they were suddenly able to pull Geoff up into the vent.

Diego tried to get his bearings - he'd never climbed around in the vents before so he wasn't entirely sure where to go.  Looking around he decided heading south - that was the direction of the docks - that's where they needed to go.  "That way." he said, "Go!" the woman and child were in the front, but its not like there was a lot of leading that needed to be done, they were pretty limited on the choice of directions up here.  He let everyone move ahead of him, placing a hand on Geoff's shoulder, "Can you make it?" he asked, the gash in the back of his calf was not pretty.

Several thougths fired off at once in Wei-Li's head.  The first was to make sure that the Reaver wasn't there; second, get Geoff away from the opening, which she did.

Once they were far enough away she pulled out Geoff's pistol and set it down beside her.  Then she tore his pants leg and inspected the wound.

Geoff had not let himself relax even a bit until he was in the vent and free of the weight of the Reaver on his leg. He then sighed heavily and took several deep breaths as he leaned against the wall of the vent. He looked to Diego as he asked if he could make it and he nodded. "I've had worse. Just need ta patch it up. Don't worry 'bout me. Watch out fer those two.", he said gesturing to the mother and child and gave him a slight nod,"Thanks fer yer help back there."

He then looked to Wei-Li as she tore away his pant leg and began to inspect his wound. "I'll...I'll be fine, Wei. We gotta move. Just use what ya tore off ta patch it up fer now and then let's go.", he said and then moved a hand to grasp hers,"And....thanks. Looks like ya saved me, huh? Heh. Maybe ya should ask the cap'n fer my job when we get back ta Destiny."

He smiled slightly, making it a point to say "when" and not "if". They were going to get back to Destiny. No matter what. He gave her hand a squeeze and then let go to let her look over his wound again.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:06, Wed 04 Oct 2006.

Diego let the rest of the group move on ahead of him, then he grabbed his gun from where he had placed it on the surface of the bottom of the vent.  He looked back down through the opening into the hall.  His men were screaming down there.  Diego swallowed hard and sent up a prayer before taking careful aim.  It took three bullets (one had missed) and all his men were dead.  It was the last thing he could do for them.  He replaced the vent then, "Move." he said, and urged Geoff and Wei-Li forward after the mother and child.

Wei-Li looked up at Geoff, a small smile on her face.  She squeezed his hand, then turned back to his leg.  Each time Diego shot she flinched, but she remained where she was, working on Geoff's leg.

"You're the reason I was up here."  Her voice was soft, but it carried in the tunnel.  She made quick work of dressing his wound.

When she stood she moved to a position where she could support him if needed then winked at him.  "You're not getting rid of me that easily."

Geoff looked to Diego as he heard the shots, knowing that it must have been hard for the man to put the bullets in them, but also knowing it was better than letting the Reavers have their ways with them. He looked away and back to Wei-Li as she finished patching him up and he flexed the leg slightly, testing to see just how much movement he could get out of it. Judging by his wince, it wasn't gonna be much at all.

"Trust me, Wei. That's the best news I've heard all day.", he said as he began to move forward at Diego's urging,"Wouldn't wanna be gettin' rid o' ya at all, after all. 'Sides....I don't think I'd still be movin' forward if ya weren't here..." He gave her a slight smile and then looked ahead as he moved forward as well as he could with his leg as it was.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:46, Wed 04 Oct 2006.

Wei-Li shot Goeff a mischivious look, though it did little to hide the fear and stess she was feeling.  "Considering the kinda day we've had..."  She managed a wink but quickly got back to business.

"How far do you think we have to go?" she asked Diego.  They were moving slower now, not wanting to run headlong into a Reaver sewing party.  Plus with Geoff's leg, they weren't going to be running any marathons if she could help it.

She kept a hand on his leg as they crawled through the vent.  It wasn't much, but it was something.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:53, Wed 04 Oct 2006.

There's a loud noise then, and the vents shake for a moment, up at the front of the line the kid gives a small scream and the mother's voice coo's softly to calm him - but her words sound hollow - she doesn't think they're going to make it.  The sound continues for a few minutes, everyone in the vents are almost frozen with anticipation, looking around, wondering what is going on.

It's suddenly very quiet.  The soft whooshing sound of air flowing through the vents has stopped.  No one had even noticed the sound to begin with - but now its absence fills everyone with a sense of foreboding.

They continue to crawl, its slow at first but their breath is coming in gasps - they feel lightheaded ... must be all the running they did earlier and the sight of the Reavers ...

Geoff crawled for a long time, only having paused at the sudden loud noise which had caused him to draw his gun and look around for a threat of any sort. It seems to stop after awhile and it's deathly quiet afterwards. It wasn't until it was gone that he noticed the soft sound of air moving through the vents stopped. He didn't think much of it, except for the slight tingle of fear that moved through his spine as he holstered his pistol and began to crawl forward again slowly.

It was a slow change at first, but it was soon that he felt his breath coming in gasps and pants. Being as big as he was, he must've been one of the first to feel the sudden change as he had to stop and lean against Wei-Li, an arm about her shoulder, as he stopped to try and steady his breathing. "My...my head's all....out o' whack. I feel all...fuzzy. I gotta...I gotta rest fer a second..."

The air vent seemed to go on forever but Wei-Li didn't mind.  So far there had been no trouble from the Reavers since hauling Geoff up into them.  It didn't mean they wouldn't be trouble later on, but at least they'd had a reprieve.

It was like one of the core world spook thrillers, being alone in the dimmly lit vents.  Every twenty or thirty paces there was an air vent, though she spent very little time looking out them.

There was too much going on-- too much death and too many chances a Reaver would see her looking out.  The rattling sound caught her by surpise and for a moment she was sure the Reavers had converged on their location.

Then the lights went out.  Wei-Li knew immediatly that the vents were closed but she didn't know why.  The lack of moving air made it even worse.  She stiffened when Geoff spoke and shook her head.  Were they being gassed?

It took her a few moments to realize that nothing was moving... no air... no gas.  She shook her head in the dark and tried to take a few deep breaths and felt a chill go through her.

The air wasn't moving, which meant the air they had was limited to what was in the vents.  If it wasn't moving... they had to.  They had to get to where the air wasn't as stagnant... wasn't as deadly.

She turned and whispered in her ear, though part of her knew the sound would carry in the enclosed vent.  "Air's limited...and not moving... we stay... we die.  We gotta get somewhere and get out of here."

When she realized the others had stopped she shook her head and whispered harshly.  "... gotta keep moving.. find a vent and get it open... Everyone.. keep moving..."

Geoff looked to Wei-Li as she spoke and nodded his head, though the movement didn't help his already dizzy perceptions any. He didn't speak though finding it hard enough to breathe, let alone form words. So he forced himself onward, crawling as fast as he could, which wasn't fast at all, really. Being wounded as he was and now lacking air, it was hard for him to move too fast without becoming dizzy. So he moved at the fastest pace he could and focused on the tunnel ahead. They had to keep moving. They had to keep moving or they'd die. He'd be damned if he died in a vent from lack of air after having escaped Reavers. They'd come too far and they still had to get back home so he wasn't going to be dying of anything anytime soon.

Diego had been crawling forward at a fairly decent clip, taking up the rear.  The sound of the vents rattling however had sent a cold shiver of fear up his spine.  He didn't know what the sound meant ... not at first.  Then he had begun to feel a shortness of breath, it was minor, just a slight lack of air.  Up ahead of him he heard Geoff mention it - it must be hitting him harder, Diego thought.  When Wei-Li responded however everything began clicking in his head.

The sound ... it had been the vents closing.  They had cut the air - there was no air in here, "You're right." he spoke up, "Find a vent, we have to get out of here.  They cut the air.  The patrols ... its part of the defense procedures." In the case of a Reaver attack it had been decided that the air would be cut - possibly kill the Reavers - but mostly to show mercy to those that were most likely, at this very moment, being tortured to death.  Suffocation was a far more humane way to go.  Put them out of their misery.  He tried to suck in a great breath of air but was unable to.  The vents weren't really that large of a space.  Just the few of them were using the oxygen up quickly.  They had to get out of there quick.

The woman's voice floated back to him, "Here, there's a vent here!" she called and crawled past it so that Diego, Wei-Li and Geoff could try to open it.  Diego frowned when he saw it.  It wasn't just that the slats were closed - a metal vent door cover had slid into place.  He didn't know if they'd actually be able to remove it.

Geoff would have cursed outloud about their current situation, but found himself without breath to do so. So he merely looked grimly forward as he crawled. At the shout from the woman ahead about there being a vent, Geoff let a sigh of relief leave him as he put on extra speed, ignoring the shooting pain through his leg as he moved. He stopped with Wei-Li and Diego at the vent and looked at it quizzically as he saw that it was a solid piece of metal blocking their way instead of just the usual slats he would've expected. He could've kicked through those, but this looked to solid for that.

So, as Geoff pondered their possibilities, he, of course, came to the conclusion that he invariably always comes to. "Huh...right, then. I'm gonna shoot through the ruttin' thing.", he said as he drew his pistol, reloading it with the shells at his belt and preparing to shoot.

Diego through out an arm to stop Geoff, "Are you ruttin' crazy?  You shot a pistol in here the damn thing'll richochet - likely kill us all!" he said, the whole sentence taking more air they really had but it had just flown out in his panic as the man firing the gun off.

Geoff paused and opened his mouth to defend his actions to Diego, stopping as he found himself unable to. "Uh....tha's a good point. Hadn't really thought o' tha'.", he said in a low tone before shaking his head and looking to Diego,"But then do ya got any better idea o' wha' ta do then?" He fell silent, with the exception of the panting breaths that left him, as he looked to Diego to see if the man had any bright ideas at this point.

Wei-Li moved forward, feeling around the sealed vent.  Even in the dark, she closed her eyes as she tried to imagine the cover in her mind.  "This is a HGM-7 Pressure seal... Maybe an Meyers-Hughs 23..." She half asked, half declared.

She looked up at Deiego.  "Am I right?"

Diego took in a labored breath, the air was getting less far too quickly for them to just have shut closed the vents - he looked up when Wei-Li spoke.  Of course.  "They're pressured locked." he said, "Close the vents up, suck some of the air outta here and you got yourself a tight seal.  If we can make a hole though ..." he faded off as his gaze fell on Geoff's gun that he still had out, "Give me one 'o your bullets." he said quickly.

Geoff had to admit that he had no idea what they were talking about when it came to pressure seals and all. But he understood the idea of making a hole and the fact that Diego had an idea of how to do that when he asked him for one of his bullets. So he slipped one of the shells from his belt and handed it to Diego. "What're we doin' then? 'Cause y'all might be all good with the thinkin' an' plannin', but I'm only good at it when it comes ta fightin' so I'm a little behind in the thinkin' here."

Diego pulled out a small flashlight and set it up so it would illuminate the vent and the area around it.  He then set to work pulling the projectile portion of the bullet away from the casing. He pulled out a pair of pliers and carefully wrapped a portion of rubber glove over the ends.

"If we can get enough powder, we can blow a small enough hole in the seal.  If we do that-- theres nothing left to hold the shield in place," he told them as he rocked the slug back and forth to loosen it.

Finally it gave way and he smiled as he poured out a small amount of powder agains the seal.  "I might need a little more.. how many bullets can we spare?"

Geoff nodded to Diego's plan, thinking that it made more sense than his "shoot a lot and see what happens" plan. He watched Diego at work, hoping very much that this plan of his worked. If not, they'd probably just end up still trapped with smoke filling the vents. He shook that thought out of his head and looked to his belt to see how many extra shells he had left.

"All right, I got three extra shells ta spare, if'n ya need 'em", he said as he extracted said shells from his belt and held them out to Diego if he needed them.

Diego didn't say anything now in an attempt to conserve air, just held his hand out and took the bullets from Geoff.  He opened them the same way that he had done the first and poured the powder out.  After had made a neat pile with a slight trail leading away from it he turned to the others, "Crawl further down," he instructed, they needed to not be all huddled right here when he lit this thing, "Anyone got a match - have to light this."

When Diego told everyone to move further down, she remained with Geoff.  She knew how desperate this attempt was, and she had no itention of being seperated from him.  She remained where she was, trying to think if she had anything that would work to light the makeshift fuse but could think of nothing.

She prayed someone had something Diego could use, otherwise there was no doubt that they would die where they were.

Geoff had stayed put as well and watched Diego at work, not wanting to be caught unaware if the opening of the vent cover attracted unwanted attention. He looked to Wei-Li beside him and smiled to her, grateful for her presence. It was coforting even in this situation to have her there with him, reminding him of what he was fighting to survive for.

He then looked to Diego as he asked for a match and he nodded as he dug through his pockets for the half a book of matches he had. He handed them over to Diego, wishing he had some cigarettes left to go along with the matches. He could really use one about now.

Diego watched as the woman and child moved further away, but Geoff and Wei-Li stayed close. He looked at them - but said nothing, just took the match from Geoff.  Alright ... here goes. he thought.  He struck the match it lit - then flickered, the flame impossibly low it seemed and as Diego tried to lower it to the powder it winked out.  Diego wasted no time, just pulled another match from the book and tried again - the same thing happened.  There wasn't enough oxygen in here to get the flame lit properly.  Oh God ... come on, come on, come on ... he lit a third match as close as possible to powder ... it looked like it was going to wink out as well - but it didn't.

"Back!  Back!" Diego shouted, moving backwards himself.  There was a small explosion then and then a hissing sound as the seal was broken, he looked to Geoff then to do the honors of breaking the damn vent cover off so they could get the hell out of there.  He was feeling incredibly weak and light headed, he needed air.

Geoff had watched intently as Diego struck two matches that flicked out. He had been getting really nervous about whether or not this plan would even work so he was greatly relieved when the match stayed lit. Of course, relief or not, he was ready to move as soon as Diego said to, moving back as quickly as possible and pulling Wei-Li with him. He threw an arm up to shield himself from any effects of the explosion, only pulling it back at the hissing sound.

Geoff looked to Diego and nodded to his glance, knowing that it was his job to break stuff down even in this case. He hauled himself back toward the vent and, after some repositioning, brought his uninjured leg to bear. With a slight grunt, he brought his boot down hard upon the vent cover in hopes of knocking it loose.

It took two tries but finally the vent cover gave way and fresh air was filling the vents - not quickly though, they still had to get out of there.  They had reached the edge of the business sector.  The hallway beneath was a mess, glass was shattered everywhere ... but there didn't seem to be any Reavers in sight at the moment.

Geoff looked down as the vent finally broke open and saw that the hallway was empty. Messed up beyond belief, but empty. Geoff looked to the others and gestured that he would go first. Even with his injured leg, it would be best if he was down there to catch people. Besides, he was the tallest so the drop would be shorter for him.

Without further ado, he grasped the edge of the open vent and lowered himself down, hanging down from the opening with arms stretched above his head before letting go to drop the remaining few feet. He landed as best he could, but the shooting pain through his wounded leg was unavoidable and he clenched his teeth against the cry of pain that wanted to leave him. He managed to keep his feet, though his right leg was a bit shaky, and looked around the halls to make sure they were clear before looking up to the vent for the next person to come down.

Wei-Li turned away when Diego lit the fuse, her forhead pressed against his shoulder.  There was something comforting in his presense and the way he watched out for her.

She did her best to stay out of the way as he worked to open the vent.  When he signalled the others to wait, she tried to object but he was already down.  She watched tensely knowing she wasn't strong enough to pull him up.

She clenched her fist tightly when she saw him land, but he held on.  She quickly signalled the woman to bring her son and come over.  She braced herself and showed Diego how to help.

The lowered the mother first, then her son.  That done Wei-li gestured for Deigo to go next.

Diego helped assist Wei-Li and Geoff in getting the child and his mother out of the vents and then finally took the plunge himself.  His feet landing solidly on the glass strewn ground he sucked in a much needed deep breath of air.  A sense of relief flooding his body.  He didn't dwell on it long though as he began looking around.  This section of the hall appeared to be empty but the sounds of blood curdling screams and growls was not at all far off.

"The docks are just through there." he said, pointing down the hallway.  His boots were crunching glass beneath his feet.  The window here was completely broken, and lay in shattered fragments all around the floor.

Wei-li paused, looking for a good set of hand holds on either side of the vent before lowering herself through the hole.  She moved with practiced ease, allowing Geoff to lower her to the ground.

She hugged him tightly for a moment, then set to work surveying the area.  They were out of the vent, but there was still a long way to go.  She moved to his side so she could support his injured leg and prepared to move.

While no place was safe. staying in one too long was far more dangerous.

Geoff helped everybody down on his end, trying to hide the shaking in his injured leg when he had to support their weight to help them down. As Wei-Li was let down, he let out a sigh of relief and smiled, glad to be out of the vents even if they were now out in the open of a Reaver infested space station. Besides, it was hard for him not to smile when Wei-Li hugged him tightly as soon as she was down on the ground. He smiled and returned the embrace briefly, knowing there was little time for it, but needing that slight reminder of why he was still going forward in such a situation.

As she moves with him to look around, he moves at her side with a slight limp, trying to work out what their next move should be. He looked to Diego as he pointed the way to the docks and nodded to the man. "All right, but what're we s'posed ta do? Jus' walk righ' in there straight down the hall? 'Cause, I dunno if tha's gonna work. Ya know, 'cause o' the flesh eatin' Reavers who are prolly hangin' 'round there an' all.", he remarked with a grim expression.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:33, Wed 18 Oct 2006.

On the floor, surrounded by the shards of shattered glass, lies a radio ... it looks exactly like the ones they use on Destiny ...

As he limps at Wei-Li's side, his arm about her shoulders to help support himself, he continued to look around. It was during this search over the area that he saw the radio laying in the middle of the floor, surrounded by shards of glass. The first thought that came through his mind was, Yes, now we can call the ship!, which was followed by the darker thought of, What happened ta the person who had that before? It was all too easy to imagine any of the crew who had been off ship getting overrun by Reavers and dropping the radio in the midst of their screaming and agony.

He shook his head then and decided not to think about it as he pointed the radio out to Wei-Li and limped over to it, picking it up to make sure its in working order and to see if it actually is one of the ones they use on the ship. He found that it was and, after a bit of tinkering which basically consisted of him whacking it against his palm, he got it to crackle to life again.

He didn't hesitate to speak into it with an urgent yet quiet tone. "H'lo? Cap'n? Charlie? Ren? Anybody? Are ya there?", he said,"Hey, are y'all still there? It's Geoff. Me and Wei-Li are still alive and kickin' so y'all better ruttin' be too."

Wei-Li's arm around Geoff tightened slightly, not out of fear but hope.  If they could contact the crew... if they were all right.

She let out a desperate sigh and then forced herself back into performance mode.  She remained focused on their surroundings, letting Geoff focus on the radio.

Radio:  "Geoff!  Y'v got non'such an idea how good's ta hear ya.  Y'still comin', right?"

Wei-li almost laughed for joy when she heard Charlie's voice over the two way.  She turned, impulsively kissing Geoff on the cheek.  Charlie was there... waiting for them.

She shivered slighlty, but held Georr close.  They were going home.

Geoff's face broke into a wide smile as she heard Charlie's voice answering his, a laugh of relief leaving him at the sound. At that moment, Charlie's voice was the greatest thing he had ever heard. He had been about to turn and hug Wei-Li to him in joy, but she beat him to the punch as she kissed his cheek and held him close. He looked to her with a wide grin, knowing that they were both thinking the same thing. There were people there waiting for them at home. They were gonna go home.

He took up the radio again and spoke into it. "Charlie, righ' now, yer voice is the best thing I ever heard. I'm glad yer still in one piece! Is everybody else there? Is everybody ok? Did the cap'n make it there? ....Is Lei ok? Please tell me Lei's okay.", he asked, the words seeming to spill from him one on top of another before he shook his head to finally get control of himself and answer her question,"Yeah, we're comin'. Me, Wei-Li, Diego an' tha' woman an' kid tha' the cap'n risked his gorram neck ta save. We're in the business sector again, lookin' right down the hall tha's s'posed ta lead ta the docks."

Radio: "Geoff?  Oh, you got no idea how glad I am ta hear from ya - ya say ya got Wei, Diego, an' the woman and kid with ya too?" he didn't wait for a response though, "Where are ya?  How'd ya - nevermind." he said, cutting himself off, there wasn't time, "Everyone's back here on Destiny, we need ya to get here soon though.  The ships stuck, we're tryin' ta break her loose now though - I don' if its gonna work or not ... the Reavers - they're all over the space above the station.  Shootin' ships down, bordin' 'em ..." he trailed off, "Geoff, get home.  Get you an' the rest home."

Geoff laughed again and shook his head in disbelief. Tha captain was on the ship too! He had made it past the Reavers. "Aw, Cap'n, I'm glad yer still 'round ta give me orders an' tha's an order I'm real glad ta follow. We'll be there jus' as fast as we can, Cap'n. Don'tcha worry. We'll get ta Destiny. We'll get home. 'Cause one thing I'm good at is followin' orders. Heh.", he said and then paused slightly before speaking into the radio again,"I'm glad yer all right, Kale. Real glad."

With that, he tucked the radio into his pocket and looked around at everybody, a new resolve in his expression and posture. "Y'all heard the cap'n! We gotta get home. Gotta get ta Destiny. They're waitin' fer us there. Let's get movin'!", he said as he placed his arm around Wei-Li and looked to her with a wide smile,"We got people expectin' us."

Wei-li smiled at Geoff.  For the first time since the nightmare had begun she had hope.  They had a plan, and as Geoff said...people waiting for them.

She leaned in slightly to give Geoff more support then looked at Diego.  "Sir, what is the layout around here?  How to we get to the ship?"

She knew it wasn't going to be easy, but they had to know where they were and how to get where they were going.

"Well I'll be ..." Diego muttered as the radio he had noticed Geoff stooping over to pick up turned out to be Kale's.  The mans voice was a welcome relief to here.  Diego couldn't believe that he was still alive.  The odds had been completely against him - these were Reavers they were dealing with for God's sake.  But as Kale continued speaking Diego felt his heart sinking.  The Reaver's were swarming the space above the station ... that wasn't good.  Even if they made it back to the ship ...

Diego didn't get to finish that thought - as a scream pierced the air entirely too close to them, he looked up, fear on his face, "We got to move.   Now." he said, and began running off down the hall.

Wei-Li all but herded the mother and her son into position between them and Diego.  It wasn't much but at least they had protection on either side.  She moved in a little closer to Geoff under the pretense of helping him.

She knew he could feel her tremble at the sounds and the knowledge that there were Reavers all too close, but she put up a good front for the others.

She nodded, ready to support Geoff as they followed Diego.

Geoff had actually been feeling good as it seemed they'd be safe aboard Destiny sooner rather than later. At least, he had been until the sound of that piercing scream cut through the air far too close for comfort. He looked to Diego as he started to lead the way down the hall at a run, glad that Wei-Li got the mother and son in between them. Partly so they would be protected, but also because he doubted he could keep up with anything other than being the tail end.

He put an arm around Wei-Li's shoulders as she moved close to him and he felt the tremble in her, knowing that the fact that the Reavers were so close was probably the cause of that. He knew he'd be shivering himself, if he was the type for that. As it was, he was tense as he leaned slightly against Wei-Li, giving her shoulder a reassuring squeeze and giving her a shaky grin before moving at a limping run as they followed Diego.

They had all been focusing dead ahead - trying to run away from the sound of ferocious growls ... they hadn't expected the Reavers to come from the side.  A small hall that branched off of the one they were now in.  The creature grabbed hold of the mother, his nails sinking into the soft skin of her neck.  She screamed and gasped in pain.  The boy began screaming as well and running towards his mother.

"Mama!!!!  No!!" he cried out.  The woman gasped and turned dying eyes on the boy.

There was only one Reaver, a ragged piece of metal glinted in the flourescent lights ... it had been sewed right onto his arm.

"NOOOO!!!!" the boy screamed and the Reaver plunged the makeshift blade
into the woman's gut.  It all happened so quickly.  The woman barely made a sound.

Diego, who had been at the lead had barely skidded to a stop and turned around when the blade was sinking into the woman's stomach.  The boy was screaming and running straight towards the Reaver that had taken them by surprise, "Stop!" he yelled, "Stop him!" he called to Geoff and Wei-Li who were closer.  His gun in hand he began unloading it into the Reaver - it had very little effect.  His eyes were glazing over with tears from the look on the childs face.  He should not have had to see that...

There was no time though, the Reaver was quickly losing interest in the now dead woman and Diego could hear the clamor of the footsteps down the hall - many footsteps - there were a lot of Reavers headed their way.

Geoff had cursed out loud at the sight of the Reaver grabbing the woman. He didn't even need to hear Diego's shout to make him move toward the boy and his mother. He pushed Wei-Li ahead, giving her an imploring look to go forward while he ran to the boy. His injured leg screamed in protest and he knew that he was more than likely just damaging it all the more, but, at that moment, he didn't care. Damned captain. Definitely rubbing off on me. The whole having a family thing is making me soft..., he thought to himself, knowing that he didn't disapprove of the change even if it sounded like he did in his head.

He was too late to save the woman, seeing her get gutted by the blade that was somehow part of the Reaver's body. Geoff didn't even pause to try and fight the Reaver. He just ran by and scooped up the crying, screaming boy as Diego emptied his gun into the Reaver with little to no effect. He held the boy tightly to him as he ran forward, feeling blood run anew down his leg and pain shoot through him as he moved on his leg in a way he knew that he shouldn't. He blocked all that out, though. He only focused on the need to survive. The need to block out the pain and move. It was move or die and he sure as hell wasn't ready to die.

"Run, gorramit, run!", he yelled out to Diego and Wei-Li as he took his own advice and ran with his leg continually sending jolts of pain through him that he simply ignored. He'd hurt later, but he'd live right now and that's what mattered.

When Geoff pushed her away, Wei-Li froze.  It was only a moment but it was as if everything stood still for just a moment.  He wasn't leaving her... he wanted her to live, to move... to fight.

She exhaled sharply and moved towards Diego, as he fired she scanned for other threats to scared to look back.  When she heard Geoff telling them to run, hear heart soared.

He wasn't telling them to leave him, he was telling them to get the hell out of the way.  She pulled on Diego's arm.  "You heard him... get us out of here."

Diego's heart was pounding and his legs felt weak.  He wasn't entirely sure how he was still running, sheer adrenline must be pushing him forward.  The horror of the past twenty minutes (could it have really been such a short amount of time?) was threatening to overwhelm him.  It didn't help that he knew in the pit of his stomach that he wasn't going to make it.  Kale had said that the Reavers were shooting down any ship that managed to pull away from the station.  The fool was going to risk everything to get away just to be blown up a few seconds later ... Diego wasn't going to let that happen.

"To the right!  Go to the right!  There's a weapons locker." he shouted to the others.  The Reavers were fast on their trail.  They weren't going to be able to outrun them.  If they could make it to the weapons locker though that door should hold til they could get some heavier ammunition.

Geoff's leg screamed in pain with each step he took, knowing that his leg was only propelling him forward due to adrenaline. Later he'd be in agony and he knew it, but that didn't matter. A bit of agony was better than what the Reavers would to him and the kid he carried if they were caught. So the blood that seeped down his pain wracked leg would have to be ignored for now. He would have to shut it out like he shut out so many other moments of pain in his life. Shut out pain to live later. That's all that mattered.

He heard Diego's cry and turned in the direction he indicated, his leg screaming in protest and Geoff gritting his teeth to keep the cry from coming from his throat as well. He couldn't respond between his gritted teeth so he merely let his actions speak for him as he headed in the direction of the weapons locker, hoping to every god in the 'verse that Diego either had one hell of a plan or a bunch of the biggest guns that one could ever find.

Radio: "Geoff, ya read me?  How soon can you get back - we need ta make our move soon."

Geoff could barely hear the captain's voice over the radio, but he couldn't have answered even if he had tried. His leg was screaming, his hands were full with the boy in his arms and he was out of breath from a combination of the running and the pain. So he couldn't answer the captain's call. But he knew he had to or else they would assume the worst.

So, knowing that he wouldn't be able to get the radio himself, he pushed himself to run that much harder and faster despite the agony of his leg so he could move beside Wei-Li. He looked to her, but couldn't bring himself to catch the breath to call to her so he simply gestured to the radio at his belt with his head and hoped she understood.

Radio: "Geoff do you read me?  Are you guys alright?"

The loud sound of the Reavers heavy footfalls resounded through the hallway filling everyone with a sense of foreboding - then, if anyone had cared to glance back, the first Reaver came into sight.  They were gaining on the group and fast.  There was the sound of a feral growl and even without looking they knew that they were fast on their trail.  The boy that Geoff was holding screamed, from his vantage point he could see the Reavers closing in on them.  He began to flail in terror, the motion making it even harder for Geoff to keep a hold of him.  But he wasn't thinking clearly, he was just taken over by sheer fear.  His foot caught the radio and sent it flying to the ground - there was no time to picked it back up.  The Reavers growled again and then the sound of the radio being crushed beneath one of their boots met the groups ears.

Wei-Li's hope quickly turned to fear as the Reaver's continued to close in.  She swore to herself as she ran.  Geoff was the fighter, Geoff was the one who could defend him and circumstances had placed him in the rear with the little boy and the reavers closing in.

She used this to urge herself on.  With him in the rear, it was up to her to try and get to the weapons... to take on his job.

She looked where Diego pointed and nodded, pouring on as much speed as she could.  She had to get the door open, to get inside... to get to a weapon she could use.

Her footsteps became a prayer, to keep moving, to keep living to keep Geoff safe and with her.

Diego is running hard alongside Wei-Li when he notices the boy giving Geoff quite a bit of trouble, he slows his pace slightly to try and help Geoff manage the kid.  He didn't even notice as the radio flew from the other mans grasp and spun onto the floor to be crushed seconds later.  It didn't matter.  What was important was reaching that weapons locker and continuing with his plan.  He reached the door at a run just behind Wei-Li and urged her inside.  He held the door open just long enough for Geoff to slip in as well.

They were now in a small, narrow room.  To their right and left were shelves full of weaponry.  Heavy ammunition - just the kind of thing that might give them a fighting chance against the Reavers.  At the far end of the room was another door.  "It leads back into the hallway around the corner." Diego explained in a breathless voice.  There was a loud bang on the door they came in as the Reavers reached it, "We'll go out that way." he started loading himself up.  There were quite a few shotguns, Sonic Rifles, Sniper Rifles, Assault Rifles, a grenade launcher and a few boxes of different types of grenades (flashbangs, smoke, gas ...)  Diego equipped himself in silence.

Geoff had cursed silently at the loss of the radio, unable to bring breath to his lungs to curse outloud. He didn't even want to think what the captain would think when he didn't answer and, worse yet, if the last things he heard were the Reavers running after them. But, at the moment, he couldn't worry about that. He had to run now and worry about everything else later. He looked to Diego as he came back to help him with the boy, managing a slight nod in thanks and nothing else as he moved as fast as he could force himself to.

He was thankful as he saw that they reached the heavy metal door of the weapons locker that had been mentioned and he dashed inside through the door as Diego pulled it open behind him. He came to a stop inside the room and put the boy down as he then allowed himself to fall to a knee and catch his breath in loud pained gasps, his hands moving to grasp at the newly bleeding wound at his leg as he closed his eyes and grit his teeth against the pain that threatened to overwhelm for a moment.

He stayed like that for a moment, listening to Diego's words only through the haze of pain, but understanding what he said. It was a few short moments later, more moments than Geoff should've allowed himself if he was honest, that he opened his eyes and took stock of what was around him. He looked weapons over and nodded as he brought himself to a shaky stand, his leg burning with pain as he hobbled over to the shelves of weapons to begin to load himself up, leaning heavily against the wall as he picked through assault rifles and shotguns to try and make himself ready for what was to come.

Once Diego had what he needed he looked to the others - were they a ragtag bunch or what?  The boy had just collapsed into a ball on the floor, he wasn't even crying anymore, just sitting there in silence, his eyes glued to the door that kept lurching with the force of the Reavers trying to break it down.  He could tell that Geoff was in no small amount of pain ... but there was nothing he could do about that.  Wei-Li was alright though and obviously quickly regaining her breath.  Diego swallowed hard as he got ready to tell the others what he needed them to do - knowing there would probably be protests.  These were good people, but Diego knew what had to be done.

"We go through the back door.  The Reavers aren't stupid, they're going to see us going out that way and come around the corner." he looked seriously at Geoff, "I need you to lay me cover fire - there's another service hall door just down the hall.  I need to get in there.  Once I'm through you run straight down the hall, the docks are at the end of it, I trust you will find your Destiny there.  Don't wait for me ... I'm not coming." he took a whole box of the grenades, "I'm going to blow the station.  You heard Kale, the Reavers are boarding all the ships that make it out, this is the only way to take them all down - and to put those remaining out of their misery ... you must go quickly.  I will wait ten minutes," he set the clock around his wrist for that amount of time and handed it to Wei-Li, "When that goes off I'm blowing the station ... I wish you all the best of luck.  And tell Kale ... tell him he was right." Diego grinned slightly, "And that I owe him a thousand credits in the next life - he'll know what I mean." with that he moved to the door and waited for the others to be ready.  This was it.

Wei-Li gathered up a collection of weapons she could use then paused to inspect the door they'd entered: the door where the reavers were trying to get in.

She paused long enough to try and think of a way to booby trap the door, but there was no way that wouldn't involve one of them getting hurt or worse.

Then she wheeled around when she heard Diego's plan.  Her jaw dropped as she stood there trying to deny what he'd said.  The only problem was, she couldn't find a decen argument against what he'd proposed.

"..."  She shook her head, a bitter expression on her face as she swallowed hard and grabbed a few more weapons.

Then she knelt down so she was standing eye to eye with the boy.  "I'm sorry for everything that's happened here," she said softly.  Tears welled up in her eyes as she continued.

"But we gotta hold ourselves together for just a little while longer if we're going to get out of this alive..'kay?"

The boy simply shivered and shook his head.  He'd seen too much to think they were going to make it out.  They were going to all end up like his momma.

Wei-Li's shoulders sagged slighty and she simply pulled the boy close and held him.

After a few moments she looked up and Geoff and nodded.  If they were going to do this, they were going to need to do it soon.  She stood still holding the boy in her arms.

Geoff felt the weight of the weaponry he'd just acquired weighing down on him, putting more strain on his leg and causing pains to shoot up and down his body.  But this was the way it had to be and truth be told he felt a hell of a lot better fully armed - even if it was adding more weight then he knew he should be carrying.  More weapons meant a better chance of getting back to Destiny, and that was the only thing that mattered now.  To get him and Wei back to the ship.

He looked up then when Diego spoke, breaking into his train of thought.  He started nodding his head as Diego told him to lay cover fire.  He wasn't entirely sure why he wanted to run to another service hall but covering his back - Geoff could do that.  His nods of agreeance however peetered off as Diego finished what he was saying.  He wasn't comin'?  What?

"Diego -" he started but the man just kept right on talking.  Talking 'bout how he had to blow the station up - the ruttin' fool was going to go blow himself up.  Geoff nodded grimly - the man was doing what had to be done.  And Geoff wasn't going to argue that.  Now he didn't know what the man was talking about when he said to tell Kale he was right, but Geoff sure as hell intended on delivering that message.

He looked at the man for a moment, feeling as though he was supposed to say something now.  Some well wishes or somethin' - but nothing was coming to mind.    He wasn't really good at this sort of thing, saying goodbyes and all that, probably because he'd never really had no one in his life to say good bye to.  Diego just nodded back at him though, there was no need for words - they both understood.

Geoff looked back at Wei-Li now and placed a hand on her shoulder, "Come on, we're goin' back to Destiny." he said and stood, ready to make their last stand.

When Geoff rested his hand on Wei-Li's shoulder she turned.  She gave him a weak smile, then leaned towards him to give him a kiss.  With the boy in her arms, the movement was awkward, but she had to find a way to tell him how she felt.

She corrected her course, her lips meeting his.  For a breif moment she felt warm and protected and that was all that mattered.

"Lets go home."

Geoff offered Wei-Li a weak smile in return ... and then she was leaning forward.  Her blue eyes closed, her lips connected with his.  Their warmth took him off-guard, he found himself just sitting there stupidly for a moment.  Just a fraction of a second before he lifted his large calloused hand to gently hold the back of her head.  His fingers intertwining lightly in her hair as he pulled her towards him.  Returning her kiss - their lips promising the beginning of something ... if only they could live through this.  Geoff had kissed many woman in his day.  Dozens - more then dozens, but he had never felt like this before while doing it.  As though he knew he was going to be happy for a long time.

The kiss only lasted a moment but it felt an eternity.  When Wei-Li pulled away Geoff grinned at her, "Well now if that ain't somethin' worth fightin' fer then I don't know what is." he said, and then stood at the door, ready to make their escape.

Wei-Li let out a breathy sigh when the kiss finished and nodded.  Then she turned to the boy in her arms.

"no matter what happens, hold on tight.  Okay?" She asked him in a determined tone.  They were getting out of this and she and Geoff were going to have to talk about a few things, but as he said-- it was something to look forward to, something to fight for.

Diego looked back at Geoff and Wei-Li as they kissed and then looked away, a small smile on his face.  He was doing the right thing - getting those kids out of this, they had something to live for and Diego.  Well this station, the people here, they had been his entire life.  It was fitting that he would go down with them now.  With one last grim look at the others he placed his hand on the door.  In his mind he was already mentally seeing the hall outside, the ten steps or so that he had to get across to make it to the service door.

"Three, two -" he held up a finger for one and pushed the door open.  He didn't even wait to see what was outside.  He just took off, running as hard as he could towards the door at the end of the hall.

There was a moment that the banging on the other door persisted - and then the Reavers caught sight of Diego taking off down the hall and abandoned their task of trying to break in to go and chase him down.

There were so many things Wei-li wished she could change, but any doubts she had fled as soon as the Reavers gave chase.  She prayed that Diego would be all right, but she knew what he planned and she knew there was no walking away from it.

She held the boy a little tighter as she crossed her arms in front of her, guns in hand.  The only thing she could do for now was run... and pray.

Geoff was surprised at how quickly the man sprinted from the door - although he didn't know why, made perfect sense really, adrenline and true terror snippin' at your heels let you do all sorts things you wouldn't normally be able to do.  Geoff didn't waste a second raising his rifle and firing off round after round into the Reavers chasing Diego down.  He glanced over his shoulder, "Go." he said to Wei-Li, "I'll catch up." he said, hoping that that was the truth.  Hoping that his injured leg would let him run just a little more.

Wei-Li's expression fell for a moment when Geoff told her to go, and then it hardened.

"You better," she swore then started running.  She followed the directions Diego had given them, praying Geoff would catch up.  She held the boy tight as she ran, but she kept moving, watching out for signs of Reavers.

Diego ran.  That was the only thing going through his mind.  Just keep running, just keep running. He could hear the sound of the Reavers close at his heels and then Geoff's gunfire.  He prayed that it would be enough.  The door was ten feet away, 5 feet away, 3 feet away - Almost there! His hand found the control panel and he hit the button, the doors hissed open and Diego barreled inside, closing the door behind him.  He had one last glimpse into the gore strewn hall.  One last look into the face of madness as the Reaver tried to make it inside.  And then nothing but dim lights.  This was it.  This was the end.

Geoff didn't stick around.  The second Diego was through that door he took off.  Not giving the Reavers any chance to turn around and catch up with him.  He could see Wei-Li up ahead with the boy.  She was still alright and that filled Geoff with a sense of relief.  Ten minutes Diego had said.  They had ten minutes now to get the hell off this station before it was blown to smithereens.

Geoff groaned as he ran, the pain in his leg was unbearable and yet he continued to bear it.  Up ahead he could see the hallway opening up into the large commerce sector.  Almost there. he thought, Almost home.

[To Torrance Station: Commerce Sector]

Wei-Li poured on the speed as she heard Geoff Catching up with her.  She could sense the unsteadiness in his gate.  She knew what his let wound was doing to him but she also knew he had to keep moving.

Stopping meant death.

--->To Torrance Station: Commerce Sector