The man arched a brow and stared a Kale for a moment, considering.  After a rather long pause he finally said, "Yer lying."  His expression belied his words though, Kale could easily tell he wasn't sure whether he was lying or telling the truth.

Kale kept his face even and maintained his position on the opposite side of the bay from Wei-Li, "Wish I were.  I'd much rather leave while my crew is still all in one piece but I can't do that without a workin' ship." Kale shrugged his shoulders, "You an' I seem ta be at an impasse.  I reckon' the best solution would be to get me my mechanic so we can run along on our merry way."

Kyoko smirked at the man, loving the fact that, while he...and his men, were clearly in control, they were not informed, which could lead to a feeling of inferiority and opportunity for the oppressed.

"He's right, you know..."

She felt like chiming in. Maybe give somebody time to do something...

Connor looked around quickly, trying to take an assessment of the situation. And then an idea struck him. This idea would either work, or get him killed, but either way, something needed to happen.

Connor swallowed and took a breath before taking a step or two to the side and glancing at the leader.

"Hey...can I talk to you for a minute?"

Time to see how this played out.

Wei-Li did her best not to move, not to draw attention to herself but everything ached.

Larry had been quite... thorough in his tying, making sure there was no way she could squirm or otherwise work her way loose of the ropes he'd used on her.  She'd tried every trick she'd known when he was tying her, but either he knew what she was doing and compensated, or he hated Rhaef, and therefore her that much.

Her money was on the latter.  The man didn't strike her as a heavy hitter in the brains department, but when it came to vindictiveness-- he took the prize.

She closed her eyes, trying not to think of the pain in her shoulders, or how much it was going to hurt when circulation finally returned, but when she closed her eyes all she could see was Charlie trussed up like she was and the tone in Rhaef's voice as he bargained for their lives.

Wei-Li wanted, more than anything, to wipe that smile off of Currio's face.

Geoff kept the appearance of a broken man.  He let slip a moan or two, but they were quiet, understated.  As long as the bad guys thought he was helpless...

Soon.  Soon he would get his chance to knock those arrogant cods down to size.  He only needed Kale's signal... and Lei to finish untying Wei-Li.

It wasn't all that hard for Lei to creep her way over to Wei-Li without drawing all that much attention. After all, she was... well, very small. And plus, who would question a young girl greeting the just-returned crew member with a tight hug? Particularly when the majority of the men with guns were well distracted by Kale and the others.

The only problem was, one glance at the knot holding Wei-Li's wrists behind her back, showed Lei that it was going to be quite a bit more difficult than the one she had just untwined Geoff from. Not because it was any more elaborate... just tighter. Very much so. Chewing her lip in a deep concentration that she hadn't quite meant to reveal, Lei set to work with the knot, slowly prising the cord apart, bit by bit. Unlike Geoff's knot, though, she couldn't quite get the thing undone.

Also unlike Geoff, though, Wei-Li was far more flexible. So loosening the knot enough to allow her to bring her hands around to the front if she needed to, was at least useful. Leaning in close to Wei-Li's ear, she whispered softly, "Sorry. I can not do it all the way. It is very tricky."

Wei Li winced slighlty as Lei worked on her bonds, but tried to remain still even as her circulation returned to her arms.  It hurt.

She gave Lei what she hoped was a reassuring smile.

"It's all right," she said softly, then added so only Lei could hear.  "Don't need my hands nearly as much as I need to be able to move. "

She winked as she prepared to do what she could to help if the moment came.  Having her hands would have been nice but she could move again, and she still had her legs.

She turned slightly and watched the others for a sign.

The lead man raised a brow, looking at Kale.  He wasn't as easily duped as the crew hoped.  Curio's men were the elite and although those that he sent to do grunt work like guard the crew weren't his top of the line men, none of them were complete idiots.  He had noticed Kale's apparent change in demeanor.  One moment furiously saying he wanted his whole crew back, the next acting as though he didn't really care.

He shook his head, "No, and no." he said turning to the other man that had stepped forward, "I ain't stupid.  I'll let one of my men take a look at your ship, if she looks flyable though there's gonna be a price ta pay for wasting my time."

The man looked like he meant it.  He was eying Kale evenly, daring him to protest again.  He was trying to call Kale's bluff.  The only thing that was still going their way was that he hadn't noticed that Lei had moved quietly from Geoff to Wei-Li.

Kale met the mans stare with an equally even one of his own.  Imagine that, a guard that wasn't complete brawns for brains.  He only took a few seconds to think over his options.  The ship was flyable, it wouldn't take a genius to check her out and see that, and the moment someone left to go check it out they probably tighten their guard and Kale was more then a little sure that the man intended to fulfill his promise of their being a price.

He had caught Lei's movement over to Wei-Li though and he could see the woman looking up at him now expectantly.  They'd have to move now.

Kale reached a hand up and scratched his head, his glance was brief but it met every one of his crews eyes, it meant: NOW.

"Well, I'm sorry ta hear that, I really am ...

With that he sprung into action.  He lunged forward, his arm shooting out to hit the mans wrist that held the gun down into his knee which he was bringing up.  The pain should cause the hand to release the weapon and Kale could make a grab for it.

It was the moment he'd been waiting for.  As Kale moved, Geoff also moved.  He lurched to his feet, reaching for the guards closest to him.  His arms went wide, intending shoulders to meet guard-gut as he came fully to his feet.  If he was lucky, he might even get a weapon or two.  Still, his primary goal was to at least knock the two guards out of commission; to buy enough time to go where he was needed.

As the others moved Wei-Li sprang into action, or more acurately slithered into action.  She quickly flipped herself around, working her still bound wrists to the front before swinging her legs around to provide the momentum she needed to stand and more imporantly move.

She didn't need full use of her hands, not for this.  She had her feet which could be just as formidable a weapon as hands.  She moved without thinking, intent on doing as much damage as she could.

Connor swore something unintelligible before leaping towards the man who'd confiscated the weapons he'd been pulling out of the locker.

He figured it was the best bet at this point.

The man that Kale attacked shouted a curse as his wrist was hit into Kale's knee, the force was so strong that Kale could swear he heard something break and the gun clattered to the floor.  Kale made a grab for it, but even with a broken wrist the man was still thinking on his feet, his leg shot out and kicked Kale hard in the ribs as he dove for the gun, the impact causing Kale's fingers to miss its grasp and push the gun further form himself as he fell to the floor, the man standing over him.

Kale's action was so sudden however that many of the other guards were still watching their leader's fight when the rest of the crew sprung into action.  Geoff stood up swiftly but his balance was a little off causing most of his weight to lean slightly to the left.  A bad thing for the man standing there who got the full force of Geoff's shoulder in his gut, but a good thing for the man on the right who was unscathed.  The guy on the left crumpled to the ground, the wind knocked out of him.  The other man quickly swung around, beginning to bring his gun up to shoot at Geoff.

The men guarding Wei-Li obviously didn't consider her a threat and as Geoff stood up they began to rush towards him to help out their colleagues.  Turning their back on Wei-Li was a back idea however as she quickly sprung to her feet.  She shot a leg out ot the closest retreating bad guy and the man tripped allowing her time to wrap her still bound hands around his neck and position herself on his back where he tried to bat her off.  The man that she didn't attack stood somewhere between Geoff and Wei-Li, uncertain as to what to do next.

The man standing by the weapons locker managed to duck Connor's attack and ran towards the bay doors where four of the remaining men were opening fire in the direction of Connor and Kale.  Bullets whizzed past Connor's ear as his leap became a roll to the floor.

Two men were rushing towards where Kyoko and Lei were still standing, staying out of the fight, not having noticed Kale's subtle signal.  The last two were trying to rush down the ramp and towards the lair, presumably to get back up.

Connor swore and continued his diving roll, now desperately looking for a weapon to use. He was also glancing to see where the nearest guard was.

So much for being helpful.

Momentum.  One of these days, Geoff was going to fully think through that whole momentum thing before he lept into action.  Now was not the day, however.

Having completely missed the second guard, the pieces clicked into place.  There would be a gun - at least one - trained on him within a matter of seconds.  He had to do something to avoid being shot.  He also had to do something to attain a weapon.

Well, action was better than inaction.  Right?

Geoff did the only thing he could think of.  He attempted to grab hold of whatever part of his victim was in reach, hoping like hell that he'd have enough strength in his momentum to pull the poor sucker into a shield position.  If there was enough momentum, he wanted to "spin" the hapless bad dude into the gun-toting bad dude.  But, the best laid plans of mice and men...
This message was last edited by the player at 06:50, Fri 18 July 2008.

Wei-Li broke the scene down mentally, cacluating the moves needed to keep the crew of destiny whole and they simply didn't foot out as they where.  It would take her too long to take this man down in a sleeper hold and that time was all the two approaching Lei and Kyoko needed.  Then there were the two running for the ramp.

She took a deep breath.  First things first.  The man she was dealing with had weight and size on her.  She had surprise, which had been used up and she had the ropes.

She knew if she could get the right leverage she could bring him down... but then what?

She shook her head for a minute then turned to Kyoko and Lei.  "Move!" she yelled.

Lei had scrambled back and out of the way as the fighting had begun, automatically attaching herself to Kyoko's side. Other than that, she seemed completely frozen in terror. She wasn't sure quite what she was meant to do, where to look, what to think. It was only Wei-Li's urgent command that snapped her back into reality.

Move.

She only needed to be told once. Just as two of the men were practically upon her and Kyoko, Lei scurried quickly out of the way... by ducking under one of the men's legs, tiny as she was. The only question would be whether she had caught him off guard, or given him the perfect opportunity to grab her.

Kale grunted as the man's kick hit him solidly in the ribs before he hit the ground.  Ta me da! he cursed as the gun spun across the metal floor and out of reach.  There was no time to scramble for it yet, not with the man standing over him.  Kale quickly rolled onto his back, as he did so he swung his legs out with all the force he could muster, trying to knock the mans legs out from under him and buy him some time to make another grab for the gun.  He could hear shots being fired already and he'd feel a hell of a lot better if he had a pistol in his hand.

Kyoko was surprised that the crew sprang to action as quickly as they did. But then, this was the crew of Destiny. Kyoko immediately crouched the second she heard the first gunshot echo off the chamber wall. This was not good.

She saw the two men at her and Lei, and Kyoko dove towards the girl, hoping to provide her with cover. It was ironic, at least in Kyoko's mind, that she was willing to sacrifice herself for the girl. But hard times brings out parts of you that you didn't know existed...

When the fan suddenly got brown and sticky, stopped whirling around in a smooth fan-like way, Dake was taken by surprise.  He is the outsider, whatever his history with the captain, and his mind was far and away when Kale made the signal.  His mind was intent on not letting his mouth open up, because the sight of Wei-Li tied up and treated so callously, the sight of his hero -- wait, no!  His former hero!  Former hero! -- trying to bargain with the bastards, the whole sight of it...

Well, it made his mouth want control.  Which was a bad thing.  Dake knew it was a bad thing.  And bad things were bad.  Which Dake knew, because --

And then the fan got brown and sticky.

To one side, Lei and Kyoko.  To the other side, Kale.  Kale's gun goes spinning out of his hand, and Dake, torn for a moment, hesitates.  Then he tries to get to Kale's gun.  He doesn't want it for himself.  He wants to kick it -- push it -- send it spinning closer to Kale, and then run and tackle -- at the knees, because Dake is a younger brother, and dirty fighting is a younger brother's only recourse when it comes to self defense -- the men who are menacing Kyoko and Lei.

He doesn't even think anything bad about Kyoko when he acts on this plan.

Connor's roll landed him almost right next to the weapons locker, if he could avoid the men shooting almost haphazardly into the cargo bay he should be able to slip inside the locker and get his hands on something nice and shiny.  No one really seemed to be paying direct attention to him, however, there were definitely bullets whizzing through the air for him to be worried about.

Geoff successfully caught onto the arm of the man he had knocked down, using both his momentum to the side and the falling mans momentum towards the ground he used his left hand to swing the man in front of him just as the second man fired his weapon.  The bullet hit the man Geoff was swinging square in the chest and he crumpled to the ground, obviously dead on the spot.  Geoff looked back up at the man who had fired the shot and the man actually stumbled back a step, shocked at what he had done and perhaps just a little afraid that he'd be next.  However, the man that had been trying to decide whether or not to help the men attacking Geoff or the man that Wei-Li had attacked had chosen to go for the larger target.  He shot at Geoff, the bullet nicked his right shoulder, a glancing blow but enough to draw Geoff's attention.


Wei-Li was finding it difficult to get the man she had her arms wrapped around into the proper sleeper hold position - so she did the next best thing she could think of.  Expertly using the other mans size and lack of balance to her advantage she managed to flip him down onto the ground.  Her arms and the rope still wrapped tightly around his throat.  However, in getting him to the ground she managed to get herself pinned beneath him.  He gurgled and tried to force her arms off from around his throat.  In order to do this he dropped his gun on the ground beside the two of them, just inches away from Wei-Li's grasp.

Kyoko and Lei had finally sprung into action as bullets began flying across the bay and two men began rushing towards them.  Kyoko tried to leap in front of Lei to protect the young girl but she wasn't quick enough.  Lei had already begun rushing the men who were running towards them.  A tactic that obviously took the men by surprise.  She managed to run right under the first man, knocking him off his feet in the process.  He almost fell on top of her but she managed to duck to the side just in time.  Lei was getting dangerously near where the bullets were flying now.  To her left Geoff was fighting with two men and Wei-Li was lying on the ground trapped beneath a third man.  To her right Kale was struggling with the lead man and Dake seemed to be heading to aid him and Connor was by the weapons locker.

The second man didn't falter however and kept rushing towards Kyoko.  He was drawing his weapon has he ran but didn't yet have it in hand as he approached her.

Kale's kick knocked the lead man flat onto the floor with a loud grunt.  He rolled over to get the gun that had been knocked away from him just as Dake kicked it towards him.  The gun spun across the floor and almost right into Kale's hands.  Dake didn't stop there though, he kept running across the bay towards Kyoko and Lei.  In order to get there however he had to rush across the area where the men were opening fire and he was forced to drop to the ground or risk getting shot.  He could see that Lei had almost positioned herself in the line of fire too however which would not be good.

        |                                            |
        |                                 4          |
        |                             X              |
        |                           X
        |      2X                  5                 |
        |                 3                 6  X     |
        |                                   D X      |
        |  1   X                                7X   |
        |                                            |
        |_____________  X  X  X  X    _______________|


                          X  X

[1. Connor
 2. Kale
 3. Dake
 4. Kyoko
 5. Lei
 6. Geoff
 7. Wei-Li

Here is a diagram, the X's are the bad guys, the D means a bad guy who is dead]
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:36, Sun 27 July 2008.

Connor ducked as the bullets whizzed right by him. Gorramit. He wasn't about to stop now, even if it meant taking a bullet. Connor made a mad dash, attempting to cover the few remaining feet that separated him and the weapons locker. Connor knew he'd be grabbing more than one gun, and he'd also be looking for something that could pause the firefight. Or maybe win it? Connor had no idea if Kale even had something like that.

Time to find out, provided he didn't get shot to hell first.

Wei-Li winced slightly when she realized that her manuever had worked a little bit too well.  Now the man could better use his weight against her.  When she saw the gun she felt a slight tinge when she realized that she might have to kill to get out of this, but visions of Charlie trussed up like a Thanksgiving goose quickly settled that thought in her mind.

Charlie had almost killed Kyron to save the crew, Wei-Li realized she could do no less.  Even as she made the decision a new plan of attack formed.

She couldn't get the hold she needed to incapacitate this man, but she could use what he was trying to do against him.  She felt his body shift and contined to fight him, giving just a little, and showing signs of weakness on the side that would lead her to landing on his gun.

One down, only a hundred more to go.  Okay, so maybe it wasn't exactly a hundred to go, but with the pounding in his head, the gunshots, the dying and the spinning, it didn't much matter if it was one or a thousand.  There were more bad guys than Geoff could take out alone.  Good thing he wasn't alone.

Turning his focus onto the shooter, Geoff felt the burn of the graze.  He was not a happy camper.  The blatant pain, however, seemed to clear some of the fog from his mind.

Enough of these games he thought.  Then, he roared.  It wasn't the sound of a man in pain, it was the sound of a man pissed off; a dangerous man; a man who didn't care about the consequences.

With the strength of long-trained muscles, Geoff dropped to the corpse at his feet, reaching for the gun still held in dead fingers.  Even as his knees hit the grating of the cargo bay, his hand brought the gun up and squeezed the trigger.  Once, twice.  A double-tap.  Without pause he shifted aim to the gunman who'd backed up a step, intending on another double-tap.

Geoff didn't like getting shot, even if it was just a graze.