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.