Acacia stopped what she was saying as Ren kissed her, closing her eyes for a moment and savouring, as if it might be the last.  She listened to his words, slowly being comforted even as she could hear the screams of the Reavers down by the cargo bay.  All these things drew away, however, when Ren asked...when he asked the question.  She drew her head back and looked Ren in the eyes.  He had just said...had he?

"Ren...of course I will."  She smiled, another tear escaping from the corner of her eye.  She had forgotten momentarily about the Reavers, feeling as if the world stopped outside of his arms.  "Of course..."

Ren held her close, savoring the moment, she'd said yes. And he'd finally asked her. Now all they had to do was get off the ship. And gorram it, they would. He kissed her again. Then he remembered what he came up here for, "Kale wanted you to go hide with Lei in Charlie's room. And to be honest, I'd rather you hide too, but I ain't about to tell what to do."

Acacia choked back a sob, pulling back from Ren's kiss and looking up into his eyes, biting her lower lip for a moment.  She was happy, in this moment...but ti couldn't last forever.  They couldn't get married and get off this ship if they couldn't save t whole thing.  She swallowed hard, stepping back with her armful of medical supplies and trying her best to look strong in one of the scariest moments of her life.

"I can't, Ren...I'm needed.  Just like you are.  I...I love you, and I love this, but it needs to pause for just a moment."  She leaned up, kissing him again as she stood on the tips of her toes.  "To be continued."  With those last words, she turned and led the way to the Cargo Bay, determined to live.

------->to Cargo Bay

"Damn straight," Ren breathed quietly, after the kiss broke and he followed Acacia into the cargo bay. Rhaef or no Rhaef, Geoff or no Geoff, they were going to survive, and he'd do whatever it took. Everyone aboard this ship deserved that chance.


---> TO cargo bay

Kyoko staggers in, the dead weight on her shoulder keeping her off balance. She winced as she slammed into the doorframe, sparks filling her vision as she took the impact.

I can take it better than he can. Reavers did a number on all of them. She thinks as she brushes her hair out of her sweating brow. Dead weight he might be, but at least he was still breathing she noted as she laid him on the table and shook her head. The ship was shaking and shuddering. Too much for Kale's hand on it, and she was down here in the Infirmiry.

"Come on Lei, we are clear of the ship, you can fly steady from here on out." She mutters to herself as she slides open a medicine cabinet starts pulling out pallets fo Acacia to use when she got in there.

Connor moaned slightly as Kyoko slammed into the doorframe. The jarring had revived him from the inky blackness in which he had been. It was nice...until he became more conscious...conscious enough to feel the pain in his leg and ribs. God, those Reavers had done quite a number on him. He tried sitting up, but it didn't work. He was sore and aching. So, instead, Connor turned his head towards Kyoko.

"...D...did we make it?"

"So far, right now we need to get you restrained before you fall off the bed." Kyoko says as she straps him down. "Where do you hurt the most? I can give you a local, and leave a syringe for you..in case we're boarded." She says as she pats his hand gently.

Connor moaned as the straps tightened down. Damn that hurt. He could see his vision fading in and out, like he might black out again.

"I'll take that...as...a...no......" Connor was out again.

After their daring escape from Torrance Station the crew of Destiny was left broken and beaten ... and one crew member short.  The mourning had just begun for the crew but they had to press on.  They dropped the young boy which Kale, Geoff, and Wei-Li had saved off with his father and then turned to Paquin for Ren's funeral.  It was a short trip that left all of them with heavy hearts but Ren's death had effected no one as hard as Acacia.  So two weeks later found the crew of Destiny on Osiris saying goodbye to their doctor.

And although he was millions of miles away, as Destiny and her crew suffered ... so did Rhaef ...
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:00, Sat 13 Oct 2007.

[From Destiny: Dining Hall]

Lei had slipped silently past Geoff, Wei-Li, and the Captain in the cargo bay.  They were too busy doing, whatever they were doing to notice.  She pushed the swinging doors open and felt along the wall for the light switch.  It was odd to find the room dark.

Lei flipped the switch and the lights flickered to life.  The room was exactly as Acacia had left it.  No one had been in here since Torrance Station.  It felt like entering a tomb.  Lei quickly moved towards the drawers.  Acacia always had everything perfectly organized and she found the gloves with no problem.  She grabbed two boxes and then slipped from the room.  Turning the lights back off as she left and moving quickly back towards the dining hall, still curious as to what Dake had in mind.

[To Destiny: Dining Hall]

[From Destiny: Cargo Bay]

Lei stepped inside the cargo bay and let go of Dake's hand, moving to stand against the far wall.  She didn't much like being in here, not since Acacia left and Ren ... The room was always dark and empty.  She reached up to switch the lights on and waited for Kyoko to tell her what to do, if anything.

[From Destiny: Cargo Bay]

Kyoko led Dake over to the operating table before looking back at Lei.

"I'm gonna need gloves, tweezers, and the sterilizing kit, sweetie. Can you get those for me?"

Kyoko figured she could get some kind of anesthetic or painkiller while Lei did that.

[From Destiny: Cargo Bay]

Dake followed Kyoko and Lei through the passenger quarters and into the infirmary.  The room had been pointed out to him on his brief tour of the ship but he'd never actually been in it before.  It actually wasn't too shabby.  He'd been expecting worse, especially considering how Kale had said that his ship didn't have a Doc or anything.  Who was keeping the place so tip-top?

Dake moved to the table and sat down, trying to not think about the pain in his arm, "Just get the thing out of me and lets be done with this. he said, trying to mask the pain in his voice.

Lei nodded at Kyoko's request and went to gather the supplies she had asked for.  It had taken Lei a long time to feel okay with being in the infirmary.  It reminded her so much of the white place.  Even now she had to force herself to not think about it and just get what Kyoko requested.  She opened the cabinet and retrieved the items, moving back towards the table and setting them on the small metallic tray.

She looked at Dake then and scrunched up her nose, "Does it hurt?" she asked quietly.

Kyoko nodded to Lei, before applying a general anesthetic to the wound. Sterilized, Kyoko donned the gloves, and took a deep breath. She grabbed the pair of tweezers and looked at Dake.

"Don't move..."

With that, she took the tweezers and began pulling bullet fragments outs. Kyoko felt bad, her minimal training meant she wasn't going to be perfect with this...she just hoped she wasn't making anything worse.

When she managed to fish out the last fragment, dropping it with a plink into the metal tray by the operating table, Kyoko breathed a sigh of relief.

"Now we have to clean it, stitch it, and wrap it."

Kyoko looked to Lei.

"Can you get me the bandages, heart?"

Dake was grimacing as he looked at Lei, her tiny nose all scrunched up, asking him if it hurt.  He tried his best to keep the pain from his voice, "Nah, feels just like butterfly kisses." Dake commented but the sarcasm was thick in his voice ... as was the pain.  He grit and bared it though.  He was a man now, not some boy not matter what Kale thought.

"Just get on with it." Dake growled when Kyoko finished and started listing off the things that still needed doing.

Lei watched with interest as Kyoko removed the bullet, not looking away even once.  It was a sight that would make most little girls queasy.  Lei wasn't even phased.  Perhaps it was her curious nature ... perhaps she had seen worse before.

She cast a solemn, understanding look in Dake's direction when he spoke, looking for all the world like a seasoned veteran who knew exactly where Dake was coming from. It was an odd look on a girl so young.

She looked up when Kyoko spoke and nodded, "Okay." she said and went to fetch the bandages while Kyoko worked on cleaning the wound and stitching it up.

Kyoko paused as Wei-Li came on over the intercom. She sighed, hurriedly cleaning out Dake's wound, wrapping the bandage over the stitches. She stood back and looked at him.

"Looks like you've got work to do..."

Dake grunted as Kyoko tightened the bandage around his arm and then looked up as Wei-Li's voice filled the small room from the comm system.  The corner of his mouth tilted upwards in a smile, at least she was alright.  She was the main reason that Dake had been none too happy about being left behind.

He hopped off the table and hit the comm button with his good arm, "Roger that, Wei-Li, I'm none too fond of this rock anyhow." he said.  He released the comm button then and turned to Kyoko and Lei.

"I recommend finding something to hold on to, this'll probably be a bit bumpy." he grinned mischievously, the pain almost forgotten in the light of getting to do what he did best - fly.

[To Destiny: Bridge]

Kyoko shook her head as she watched Dake exit to the bridge. Somethings never seemed to change. She glanced back at Lei.

"Hey, sweetie, why don't we go strap in somewhere? Last thing we want is for one of us to take a nasty spill..."

Lei listened to the comm, the corners of her lips turning up slightly when she heard Wei-Li's voice.  That meant that she was okay, and hopefully everyone else was as well.  She didn't like it when people went away.  In the white place nobody cared when someone died.  The kid was just there one day and gone the next.  But here ... when Ren and Acacia left the whole ship seemed sadder.  When Rhaef left she thought they might not ever recover.  She didn't want that to happen again.

She watched Dake leave and then looked at Kyoko, "They're all coming back now, right?" she said.

A few moments later the sound of a gun shot being fired echoed back through the ship.  Kyoko and Lei exchanged looks and strapped themselves in.  It was only a matter of seconds before the ship began slowly lifting beneath them and the sound of gunfire in the cargo bay increased.

Lei gripped the sides of the small bench that she and Kyoko were sitting on as she felt the ship rumbling around her.  Then she heard the gun shots.  Her eyes widened, she had learned very quickly that that was never a good sound.  Fear was bright in her eyes.

Kyoko looked down sympathetically at Lei. She wrapped an arm around the girl and pulled her into her as tightly as she could without harm, and as much as the straps would allow.

Kyoko never considered herself great with children, especially one like Lei, but everybody needed comfort.

Okay, so Kyoko also needed comfort, but it was thought that counted, right?

The crew of Destiny has finally managed to get itself back on its feet.  After a trying past few months things are starting to go back to normal.  The absence of Ren and Acacia is still felt but the ships newest members have begun to find a home on board the old freighter.  Most relationships have been mended and although there are still some unanswered questions between members of the crew life has been peaceful.

However, after a few months of excitement and trials the crew has discovered that the cash flow has come to a sputtering halt.  The crew needs a job and soon.  First rule of the black is to keep flying.  Fortunately, one of Kale's contacts managed to put him in touch with the infamous Sin Twins.  The girls are probably the most ... unpredictable of contacts, one can never be quite certain what they're getting into when dealing with them.  But one thing is for certain, the pay-out is always good.  The crew has set up a meeting with the twins in a casino on Santo to get more details about the possible job.
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:46, Fri 25 Apr 2014.