EPISODE 103:  To Loose the Fateful Lightning

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Those who fail to learn history are doomed to repeat it;
Those who fail to learn history CORRECTLY -- 
Why they are simply doomed

[Achem Dro'hm   "The Illusion of Historical Fact"   CY 4971]

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===================================================================================
Scene: On Command Deck
===================================================================================

Dylan: It's called GS92196.  It's a guard station for starship service and repair. A real 
jewel in the Commonwealth crown.

Tyr: Perhaps once. But it's probably long gone by now.

Beka: This station's in easy striking distance of the Dihedra system.

Dylan: The last time I checked, the scariest thing about Dihedra was the size of the bills 
at the resort hotels.

Harper: Yeah, well, those hotels may still be serving lunch, but we'd be the main course.

Beka: The entire system is infested with Magog. Everyone knows that.  Almost everyone.

Tyr: The ship's weaponry is severely depleted. We couldn't even return fire on a single 
Magog probe, much less a full assault horde.

Holo: All the more reason to check out the guard station.  If it is still operational, we can 
stock up on slipfighters, drones, spare parts...

Dylan: Look, I grant you, it's a long shot. But maybe we'll get lucky.

===================================================================================
Scene: On Command. Andromeda flies through a field of debris around the station
===================================================================================

Tyr: Those are Magog assault ships.

Dylan {Over comm}: This is the Commonwealth Starship Andromeda hailing guard 
station niner-two-one-niner-six. Please respond.  {No response} Guard station, are you 
reading me?

Beka: Whoever's on that drift probably can't even breathe, let alone signal back.

Tyr: Nietzschean slavers have been here, too.

<The Andromeda draws closer to the station>

Harper: What a popular destination. It must be on all the tourist maps.

Holo: It looks like the station's still pressurized. The atmosphere is breathable and the 
AG fields are powered and running.

Dylan: Any life signs?

Holo: There seem to be indications of habitation near the generator complex, but scans 
are inconclusive.

Dylan: Prepare for docking.

===================================================================================
Scene: Dylan, Beka, and Harper board the station, the lights are off
===================================================================================

Dylan: Keep an eye out for the quartermaster's office. And stay alert. We're short-handed 
enough as it is.

<Harper draws their attention to some marks on the wall>

Harper: Battle damage. It's fresh.

<They enter an open area, and their flashlights illuminate a dead Magog>

Dylan: A Magog.

<Dylan leans over to examine the body, reaching out to touch a liquid on it>

Harper: Don't touch it!  It's venom!  I heard about a guy touched a fresh kill...three days 
later, his guts were teeming with Magog eggs.

Dylan: You can't get infected from a dead Magog. That's a myth.

Harper: I prefer to think of it as a cautionary tale.

<Weapons-fire suddenly zaps around them and they scramble for cover>

Beka: Gee, I'm glad we left Rev and Tyr behind! I'd hate to tick off the locals!

Dylan: They must think we're more Magog!

Beka: Or they're more Magog.

Dylan: This is Dylan Hunt, Commander of the High Guard Starship Andromeda!  We 
come in peace!

<The shots stop>

Beka: They've stopped shooting.

Harper: Yeah, they've probably gone to get bigger guns.

Off-screen Voices: Hail the High Guard! Hail the High Guard!

<From around them, dozens of children start coming out of hiding, all chanting "Hail the 
High Guard".  Dylan stands up and they switch to shouting "High Guard! High Guard!"  
A sick-looking teenage girl steps forward to greet him.>

Girl: Is it really you?

Dylan: I'm...Captain Dylan Hunt.

Girl: High Guard?

Dylan: I'm a High Guard officer, yes.

Girl: I never thought I'd live to see the coming of the High Guard.  I am G-Stat-Comm Kate
Nassan at your service, High Guard.

<She coughs a bit>

Dylan: Are you all right?

Nassan: I am old. Don't worry about me.

Beka: She couldn't be more than twenty.

Dylan: Where are the adults?

Nassan: We're right here.

Dylan: No, no, I mean the people my age.

Nassan {laughing}: High Guard, no one's as old as you.

Dylan: So, you're the oldest one here, and you're in charge.

Nassan: For now. When I die, my Onced-Off Hayak will assume command.

<A teenage boy steps forward>

Hayak: I led the victory this morning. We drove off a Magog assault.

Nassan: When Hayak dies in a couple years, my brother Mapes will lead our people.

<Mapes steps forward, saluting>

Beka {aside to Harper}: He's gotta be sixteen. Look at the peach-fuzz.

Nassan: Well, come on. Enough talk.  The High Guard is with us. We should be 
celebrating!

<The children cheer and start chanting "High Guard! High Guard!" again>

===================================================================================
Scene: Kids are still chanting "High Guard" later in another part of the station
===================================================================================

Nassan: High Guard, we've prepared the Mish Brief. Shall we transmit?

Dylan: By all means.

Nassan {shouting}: Onced-Off! Tell the tale!

Kids {chanting}: Tell the tale! Tell the tale!

Hayak {to Dylan, Beka, and Harper}: Sit. You'll enjoy this.  {He steps forward to address 
the assembled kids} Begin Mish Brief. Transmit.

<The gathered kids all start humming, finding seats and settling down>

Hayak: During the fall of the Commonwealth, many of the Guard Station's original crew 
were killed, wiped out - leaving only us.  Their children and their children's children. 
Generation after generation.

<As he talks, some children bring forward a container, then a "Magog" shambles in. 
Harper jumps up, drawing his gun>

Harper: Whoa!

Nassan: Don't worry, it's just a costume.

Hayak: Ever since then, Magog and Nietzscheans have plagued us. Our people have fought 
off attack wave after attack wave.  Friends die. Family members get killed. 

<As he talks, the children act out a fight, beating up on the costumed "Magog".>

Hayak: But we always survive to fight out next enemy. Because we're Commonwealth! 
We're stationeers.  We have survived, and we have waited for the Day of Lightning.  And 
now that day has come.  End transmit.

Dylan: That was, uh, very nice.

Nassan: Bring the offering.  <A child comes forward, offering several small pointy items 
to Dylan>  It's her gift to you, High Guard. 

Dylan: What are they?

Hayak: Cheek-horns she carved out of a Magog.

<Some children open the container they brought out earlier. It is completely filled with 
the same sort of "trophies">

Nassan: We collected these for three hundred years.  And now they're yours.

===================================================================================
Scene:  Rev, Tyr, Beka, Dylan, and Harper contemplate the children's' "trophy" case on 
the Andromeda command deck
===================================================================================

Rev: These children desperately need spiritual guidance.

Tyr {examining a Niet bone-spur that was apparently also in the case}: It would seem 
that they're doing just fine without it.

Beka: Yeah, well, these kids are very in touch with their inner savage.

Dylan: You have to admire them. Everything they've created here, they've done on their 
own. No one's helped them. 

Harper: Yeah, maybe. But, uh, they could use a little help.  I thought Triangulum Measles 
was bad...you hear Nassan's cough?

Dylan: It's probably some kind of radiation poisoning. Beka, find out where the leak's 
coming from. {to Harper} And you, scavenger hunt. Find out what they've got that's 
useful.  Maybe we can barter.

Tyr: Perhaps they've be interested in some training...improve their tactics against their 
enemies.

Rev: With guidance, they can overcome their enemies from within.

Beka: Um, hello?  These kids take one look at you two and you'd be sliced, diced, and 
packed in a crate number 527.

Dylan: Beka's right. Undoing three hundred years of hatred and fear will take time. 
<Trance enters>  But I think I know how to start.

Trance: Why are you smiling at me?

===================================================================================
Scene: Trance stands next to Dylan and Harper in front of a crowd of children
===================================================================================

Random Kid: What is that? 

Random Kid: Shoot it.

Random Kid: I've never seen someone like her before.

<Hayak raises his gun, aiming at Trance>

Dylan: Nononononono...this is Trance Gemini. She's a good friend of mine.

Hayak: It's purple.

Dylan: The Commonwealth was an alliance of many types of beings, not just humans.

Hayak: There's nothing about purple things in the scripture.

Trance: And what scripture is that?

Nassan: The scripture...all that's contained in the room of knowledge.

Dylan: Maybe you can show me that room, but first, I want you to get to know Trance.

Trance: I promise I don't bite. 

<Mapes steps forward and touches Trance, feeling her hair.>

Mapes: You're pretty.

<Everyone smiles>

===================================================================================
Scene: Nassan is showing Dylan and Harper the "room of knowledge"
===================================================================================

Dylan: High Guard blue prints, procedure manuals, stored on flexis.

<Harper pulls out a flexi and seems shocked>

Harper: Oh, man! I'm dreaming.  You know what this is?

Nassan: That one's about the ship made flesh.  But why am I telling that to the High 
Guard when you know everything here by heart, like I do.

<Harper has continued looking over the flexi>

Harper: Hey, look, if you don't mind, I'm gonna borrow this for a little while and, uh, see 
what else I can scrounge.

<Dylan and Nassan agree, and he leaves>

Dylan: Uh, Nassan, there's no way you could've memorized all this.

Nassan: But I have, High Guard.  It's my duty.  And I have to make sure Hayak knows it, 
too, before I die.

<Dylan pulls out a flexi at random, reading from it>

Dylan: All right, uhhhh...frequency switching must occur how many times a second to 
avoid external sensor jamming?

Nassan: That's not what that says.  That volume's about the Free Can See Witches.  Our 
people must remain free in order to recognize the enemy.  For fifteen generations now, 
every G-Stat-Comm's known that.

Dylan: That's not exactly what it says.  Look, read right here.

Nassan: I can't read.

===================================================================================
Scene:  Harper enters the Andromeda, pushing a trolley with a crate on it
===================================================================================

Harper: All hail the conquering hero.

Holo: Have fun looting?

Harper: You know it, baby.  I scored you an entire crate of quintiflop logic chips.

Holo: That's quite a bonanza.

Harper: And you ain't seen nothin' yet.  {He pulls a bottle of beer out of the crate} 300 
year old Neuverin Weisbrau.  {He opens the bottle and takes a swig}  Ahhhh...God is 
good. You want some? I could pour it into a spectral analyzer or something.

Holo: Thanks, but I prefer the logic chips.

<She fritzes out>

Harper: I can fix that.

===================================================================================
Scene:  Beka is showing Dylan a schematic of the space station on the main viewscreen
===================================================================================

Beka: I've tracked the radiation to this area on Level 19, but they say it can only be 
entered by the High Guard, using the "words of the past".

Dylan: Words of the past?  Passwords.

Beka: Whatever it is, you gotta say it if we're gonna get in there and find that rad-leak.

Dylan: Did they say what they were using this room for?

Beka: Some mumbo-jumbo about a noble shrine.

Dylan: If this were a standard GS, it would probably be a dry dock facility. But you've 
seen the place. Kids are living in the machine shops, growing food in the armory...

Beka {teasing}: ...Playing basketball in the hydroponics garden...

Dylan: There's nothin' wrong with that.  Any idea what's causing the radiation?

Beka: Could be a million different things: a leaky AP Valve, a cracked Mag Bottle...

Dylan: Yeah, you're right. It could be anything.  But whatever it is, it's robbing these 
kids of their full lives and we've got to get it off the station.

===================================================================================

Scene: Harper is seen working on something in the Maru

===================================================================================
Scene: Beka leads Dylan, Nassan, Hayak, and some other children around the station
===================================================================================

Beka: Here it is.

Nassan: High Guard, this is the moment.  The one every generation's waited for and 
dreamed about.

Dylan: I understand you need a password...the "words of the past".

Nassan: Exactly as you said.

Dylan: My High Guard access code generally does the trick.

<He steps to a console nearby, putting his hand on a scanner>

Dylan: Commonwealth Captain Dylan Hunt. Access Code: Lexic Dark 52278 Alpha 771.

Console: Checking.  Authorized.

<The door Beka led them to slides open.  The children start cheering like crazy.>

Random Kid: It's the Day of Lightning!

<They enter and the lights come up on a docking bay filled with two long lines of 
slipfighters.>

Dylan: Beautiful.  Type 2 Arc Glide Slipfighters.

Nassan: Hayak and Mapes. As we practiced.

<Hayak and Mapes quickly take positions at two nearby consoles.>

Hayak & Mapes: Alert Status Five!  Arm all systems!

<They remove key cards from around their necks>

Dylan: Wait!

Hayak & Mapes: Combat readiness factor 5591.

<They insert the cards into the consoles and alarms start going off all over the place>

Dylan: That radiation...it's from voltarium, isn't it?

Beka: It's consistent with voltarium, yeah.

Dylan: Do those slipfighters carry Nova Bombs?

Nassan: You mean Noble Bombs. Of course. And now they're ready to destroy our 
enemies.

Kids {lead by Hayak}: Victory! Victory! Victory! Victory!

===================================================================================
Scene: Dylan confers with Rev and Tyr on Command Deck
===================================================================================

Dylan: Those children now have the ability to destroy two dozen solar systems, and I 
gave it to them.
 
Rev: Do not blame yourself.  You could not know there were Nova weapons in a docking 
bay.

Dylan: The last adult commander must've rigged the slipfighters.  And before he died, he 
told the kids "Wait for the High Guard to return with the password."

Rev: Their interpretations have been wrong, but Dylan, their hearts are good.

Tyr: With those bombs, you could have your Commonwealth today.

Dylan: If I use Nova Bombs, I wouldn't be restoring civilization, I'd be founding an 
empire.

Tyr: If you don't want to get your hands dirty, I know people who would pay dearly for 
those things.  We'd all be as rich as the king of Nightsiders.

Dylan: I won't buy my Commonwealth, either.  If it's to mean anything, people have to 
join voluntarily and with full knowledge.

Tyr: Even children?

Dylan: Even children.

===================================================================================
Scene: Dylan is sitting near a fire, surrounded by children, including Hayak.
===================================================================================

Dylan: I have a vision. A great vision of a restored Commonwealth. 

<The kids start shouting "VICTORY! VICTORY!"  Dylan stands up to keep their 
attention>

Dylan: THE VICTORY...the victory is over ourselves.  It's over the darkness in each of 
us which compels us to fight enemies.

<The kids look uneasy and confused>

Dylan: We need to move forward together, looking forward to the day when true victory 
means we have no more enemies.

Hayak: Death to the enemies!

Dylan: No. No. I mean death to the enemies inside ourselves.  Together, you and I, we 
can bring unity over revenge, peace over war, civilization over barbarism...

Hayak: High Guard, if you want peace, then bless these holy warriors. 

<He gestures to Mapes and another boy standing near him. They come forward and kneel 
in front of Dylan. Dylan looks chagrinned, but goes along with it.>

Dylan: Right.  The High Guard blesses you, Mapes, and you...

Hayak: Gando.

Dylan: Gando. Bring us peace.

<The kids cheer and start shouting "High Guard! High Guard! >

===================================================================================
Scene: Dylan enters medical, where Trance is looking worried
===================================================================================

Dylan: I hope you had more luck treating Nassan than I did in teaching those kids.

Trance: Dylan, her conditions incurable.  She has a couple months to live, at best.

Dylan: What about the others?

Trance: Well, the older ones - like Hayak - won't make it either, but Mapes...his 
generation and anyone younger, I think we can save.  I'll just have to inject the nanobots 
to repair the genetic damage.  But we are going to have to get rid of that voltarium.

Dylan: Inject the nanobots. I'll take care of the bombs.

===================================================================================
Scene:  Tyr stealthily enters the station, dropping from an opening in the ceiling
===================================================================================

Tyr {talking over the comm}: I'm in the station.  Heading for the fighter deck now.

===================================================================================

Scene: Harper continues to work on something, looking very pleased with himself

===================================================================================
Scene: Dylan enters Nassan's quarters. She's lying in bed, coughing.
===================================================================================

Dylan: Nassan?  I need to talk to you.

Nassan: Yes?

Dylan: All the information you have...everything is based on what you were told by the 
previous G-Stat-Comm, right?

Nassan: Yes.

Dylan: And everything the kids know is based on what you tell them.

<She nods>

Dylan: Tell them that peace is the way.

Nassan: They know that already. You'll k-kill our enemies, and then we'll have peace.

<Somewhere in the station, some odd machinery noise starts up>

Dylan: N-no, that's not what I'm talking about. It's...

<Outside the room, the kids are heard shouting "Victory! Victory!"  Hayak enters.>

Hayak: Thank you, High Guard!  The Day of Lightning is beginning.

Dylan: The Day of Lightning?

Hayak:  Our two Holy Warriors are on their way to fill the Dihedra System with Magog 
blood.

Dylan {upset}: Who authorized that?

Hayak: You did, High Guard.  When you blessed Gando and Mapes to carry the Noble 
Bombs.

<Dylan is stunned and angry>

Dylan: NOVA. Bombs. They're NOVA BOMBS!

<He runs off>

===================================================================================
Scene: As two slipfighters leave the station, Dylan arrives on the Andromeda bridge, 
issuing commands over comm as he climbs into the slipstream chair.
===================================================================================

Dylan: Beka, report to the station. Help Tyr.  Andromeda, prepare for launch.  

Computer: Yes, sir.

Dylan: Rev, Trance, Harper - Command.

<Harper replies from where he's still working on his project>

Harper: I'm busy!

Dylan: NOW! Get up here!

===================================================================================
Scene: A short time later. Andromeda has left the station and is following the slipfighters.  
Rev & Trance are on Command Deck
===================================================================================

Dylan: Engaging slipstream...now.

<The ship enters slipstream>

Dylan: Andromeda?

Holo: The slipfighters have cut all communications. They're not responding to hails.

Rev: They have a twenty minute headstart.  It's going to be difficult catching them.

Dylan: I'm banking we're better pilots.

Holo: We'd better be.  If just one of those slipfighters reaches the Dihedra sun, it'll 
destroy the entire solar system.

<Harper enters>

Harper: (Acting Impossible?) Harper reporting for duty.

Dylan: Man the First Officer's station. Configure for fire control.

Harper: Wait a minute, isn't that Tyr's job?

Dylan {Sounding tense}: Improvise.

<Harper looks around to Trance>

Harper: Where's Tyr?

Trance {whispering}: It's a secret.

Dylan: Prepare harpoons.  We've GOT to intercept them.

<The ships exit slipstream and enter a solar system with two suns>

Rev: We can only retrieve one ship at a time.  Which one?

Dylan: Right.

Trance: Left!

<Dylan, Harper, and Rev look around at her, startled>

Trance: Ummm...it's just a choice.  You know. Fifty-fifty?

<Harper looks skeptical>

Dylan: You heard the lady.  Move to intercept. Maybe that'll discourage the other one.

Harper: Harpoons ready.

Rev: First target ship in range.

Dylan: Fire.

<Andromeda fires a harpoon and snags one of the slipfighters>

Dylan: Trance, go see to the pilot.  Andromeda, move in on target two.

Harper: He's going too fast!  We're losing him!

Holo: He's almost reached the sun.

Dylan: Can we destroy his ship?

Holo: Our missiles will never catch him in time.  The system is doomed.  And if we're 
not careful, the chain reaction will destroy us as well.

Dylan: We have to try! Continue pursuit.

<They do>

Harper: We're not gonna make it.

Holo: He's still out of range. We have to turn around.

Rev: Seven seconds to impact.

Dylan: Andromeda, hard 180!  Maximum delta field.

Rev: Three seconds. Two. One.

<One of the system's sun explodes>

Dylan: Engage slipstream...now!

<They slipstream away>

Dylan: Andromeda, is there any chance anyone survived the Nova?

Rommie: I'm sorry, Dylan. All the inhabited planets were incinerated.

Rev: So many lives.

Dylan: A whole solar system of your people. Gone.

===================================================================================
Scene: Mapes barges out of the docking bay, where Trance is waiting
===================================================================================

Mapes: Why did you stop me!?!

Trance: You're welcome.

===================================================================================
Scene: Beka and Harper talk and walk
===================================================================================

Beka: OK, so Tyr has most of the equipment in place. We just need your help for a 
couple seconds

Harper: Fine, fine. I'll help you sabotage the kids' slipfighters. But personally? The kids 
are not the problem.

Beka: They committed genocide. That's the problem.

Harper: Yeah, not when it's justified.

Beka: There's no justification for genocide.

Harper: Tell that to the Magog.

Beka: Harper, I didn't grow up on Earth, but I understand how you must...

Harper: No, you don't.  Listen, I had two cousins - Declan and Siobhan. They were 
twins, actually, about my age. We grew up together, you know?  We used to share 
between us whatever little scraps we could find.  And then the Magog came. And these 
Magog didn't have the courtesy to just kill and eat my cousins. No, my cousins were left 
alive, paralyzed, to host little Magog eggs that fed on their insides and grew until my 
family had two choices. Either kill my own cousins, or wait for the Magog to hatch and 
kill us.  So, you know what?  I say "Good on 'em!" Good on these kids.

===================================================================================
Scene: Hayak speaks to a bunch of cheering kids
===================================================================================

Hayak: The Magog of Dihedra - gone.  Their planets - gone. Their solar system - gone. 
Their killing, murdering ways! Gone! FOREVER!!

<cheering>

Hayak: Soon, the High Guard will return to bless more of our holy warriors, and to bring 
more peace to our enemies.  Peace to the Neitzcheans of Centauris A!  Peace to the 
Magog of Albadar!  Peace to the slavers of Zoran Drift! PEACE TO ALL OUR 
ENEMIES!!

<And the crowd goes wild>

===================================================================================
Scene: Nassan wakes, and Dylan is sitting by her bed
===================================================================================

Nassan: High Guard, you really are here. I was afraid I was dreaming.

Dylan:  I know all about dreams.  I want to share mine.  It's about peace.

Nassan: Yes, peace. We destroyed our enemies.

Dylan: You destroyed a solar system.

Nassan: Filled with Magog.

Dylan: Some of whom may be innocent.

Nassan {laughing}:  Innocent Magog?  No one's gonna cry over their deaths.

<Rev enters, pulling back a hood he's used to hide himself>

Rev: I will.

Dylan: Meet an innocent Magog.

<Nassan jumps back, grabbing a nearby gun and aiming it at Rev>

Dylan: Whoa, whoa, whoa.  Put away the gun!

Nassan: Sound the alarm!

Rev {to Dylan}: No. I understand her fear.  If she feels more comfortable, she can keep 
the gun trained on me.  {To Nassan}  Let me talk to you.  If after one hour, you still want 
to kill me, I won't stop you.

===================================================================================
Scene: Hayak approaches the entrance to Nassan's quarters. Trance is standing guard
===================================================================================

Hayak: Who's in there?

Trance: High level High Guard conference.

Hayak: Then I should be included.

Trance: Uh, the High Guard wants to talk to the G-Stat-Comm alone.

Hayak: Is she near death?

Trance: Hayak, the High Guard moves in mysterious ways.

<He gets the point that she's not going to let him in, and leaves>

===================================================================================
Scene: Nassan still has the gun pointed at Rev
===================================================================================

Rev: Have you ever wished for life without fear?  Without enemies. One that wasn't a 
constant struggle for survival.

Nassan: Life IS struggle.

Rev: That is what your life has been. But what if everything you knew changed? What if 
there could be a life of peace?

Nassan: It doesn't matter what I think. I'll be dead soon.

Dylan: It matters for your brother, and all the generations after you.

Nassan: All my life, I've worshipped you. Waited for you.  Absolute faith that no matter 
how horrible our enemies had made our lives, you'd come and save us.

Dylan: I have come to save you. From yourselves.

Nassan: We don't live in mortal fear of ourselves.  We don't worry about getting eaten or 
raped by ourselves.  We live in fear of Magog.  {She tightens her grip on the gun} And 
you, you haven't said anything to change my mind about wanting to kill you right here, 
right now.

Rev: Very well. But you did go one hour without killing me.  And if you can go an hour, 
maybe you could go a day.  Then a week. Then maybe - just maybe, a lifetime.

<Nassan looks conflicted.  Elsewhere on the station, Hayak and the other children 
observe what's happening in Nassan's room on a flexi>

Various Children: What's she doing?  Kill it.

<They seem angry, and brandish weapons>

===================================================================================
Scene: Dylan and Rev (wrapped in a cloak and hood) leave Nassan's quarters. Hayak 
approaches from behind them
===================================================================================

Hayak: Come immediately to the Noble shrine.  Something's leaking.

Dylan: I'll be right there.  {Speaking softly} Rev Bem, you're fifty meters from the 
airlock.  Go. I'll meet you ship-side.

<He heads off with Hayak>

===================================================================================
Scene: Beka is outside the Maru. Harper opens the door, but is not letting her in
===================================================================================

Beka: So, are you ever going to tell me what you're doing locked in my ship with all the 
sensors cut?

Harper: I can't. It's a secret.

Beka: Harper, c'mon. We're friends. We have no secrets.

Harper: Oh. Ok. What's your natural hair color?

Beka: I can't tell you. It's a secret.

<Harper looks at something over her shoulder>

Harper: Hey!

<When Beka turns to look, he yanks one of her hairs out, gloating>

Harper: Well, then let's find out.

<He steps back and closes the door again, shutting her out>

===================================================================================
Scene: Nassan is sitting in the main area of the station, talking to the children
===================================================================================

Nassan: I didn't understand it either, at first.  But then I started to think.  What if our 
children could always live here at peace.  And every time I would think that way, the next 
attack would come, and the next. We only survived because we had faith in the High 
Guard.  And now he's here, and he's brought friends.  And today I met one of his friends.

<Hayak enters>

Hayak: Is that what he is? A friend?  Here's High Guard's friend.

<He gestures toward a walkway above. Some children are holding a bound Rev Bem.  
The kids push Rev off the walkway, leaving him to hang from a rope tied around one 
leg>

===================================================================================
Scene: A short while later, Rev is being beaten, still hanging
===================================================================================

Rev: Divine Spirit, forgive these children.

Hayak: Mia, your turn.

<A little girl steps up to hit Rev with a glowing shock-stick thing they're using, but Dylan steps 
in and grabs her arm, throws the stick away, and confronts Hayak>

Dylan: Cut him down.

Hayak: But High Guard, how are these kids going to learn if we don't teach them?

Dylan: Nassan's teaching you a new way.

Nassan: Hayak, listen to the High Guard.

Hayak: I've listened enough.  The both of you, talking to this Magog, drinking his words 
like milk.  I don't blame you, Nassan. You're dying, you're not thinking clearly.  But 
you...you're the High Guard.  Yet everything you say spits on our sacred scripture.  If 
you're really our Messiah, you'll beat this Magog to death yourself.

Dylan: I am the High Guard, and I am your Messiah.  But my ways are not your ways, 
and if what I say differs from sacred scripture, then what I say is the truth!  And I say 
"Cut Him Down!".

Hayak: As you wish.

<Rev is cut down, and he lands on the floor roughly.>

===================================================================================
Scene:  Trance is fixing up a groaning Rev
===================================================================================

Trance: Fourteen broken ribs and a ruptured something that only Magog seem to have.

Rev: It's akin to a pancreas.

Trance: Oh, I see.  OK.  So, um, what's a pancreas?

Rev: It's...

<He yells in pain as she uses a device to insert some nanobots>

Trance: OK. All right. OK. The nanobots are just fixing your ribs, OK?

===================================================================================
Scene: Beka and Tyr enter command. Dylan's already there.
===================================================================================

Beka: We did it. Twenty-two Type 2 Arc Glide Slipfighters rigged for remote control.

Tyr: Our control.

Beka: Once we get out of here, we can remote fly those babies and their Nova Bombs off 
of GS9-whatever right into our hangars.

Dylan: Where at least they'll be our problem.

Tyr: Or our solution.

Dylan: Only gods should have that much power.

Tyr: Funny. Today, that's who you said you were.

<Dylan looks troubled>

===================================================================================
Scene: Rev and Trance in medical
===================================================================================

Trance: I keep picturing you just hanging there. It seems so unforgivable.

Rev: No transgression is unforgivable, except pride.

<Dylan enters>

Rev: As a humble servant of Providence, I should be working towards releasing any anger I 
felt towards those children throughout the ordeal.  I didn't want my last thoughts in this 
life to be dark.

Dylan: Even if you can forgive them, I can't. We're leaving.

Rev: Dylan, there's so much more to teach them.

Dylan: They'll have to learn on their own.  Trance has injected everyone with the 
nanobots.  Once the bombs are off their drift, the kids won't be exposed to radiation and 
they can live a full life. Hopefully, they'll mature on their own into people we could 
include into the Commonwealth someday.

Trance: But some of them were coming around. Like Mapes.

Dylan: We're leaving. That's final.  Now go shut the airlocks and prepare to depart.

<Trance leaves, and Dylan sits on an examining table, looking troubled>

Rev: What's really bothering you?

Dylan: I want my dream of a restored Commonwealth to come true.  But that's no good if 
it's based on a lie.  I am not a Messiah. If there's anyone I've met who could be a 
Messiah, it's you. It's not me.

Rev: I am humbled. But please don't tempt me to commit the transgression of pride.

Dylan: That's exactly the transgression I'm worried about committing. My vision is to 
found a Commonwealth based on the principles of truth, but today I compromised.

Rev: That may be true, but I do believe you are a messenger...of light, of hope, of 
goodness.  Of civilization.  I think if you keep this forefront in your mind, you'll make 
the right compromises.

===================================================================================
Scene: Trance is walking down a corridor.  Mapes appears on a screen near her.
===================================================================================

Mapes {over a comm}: Trance! Trance, please let me in. I want to come with you.

Trance: Oh, Mapes. You can't. We're leaving.  But I will come back. I promise, I will.

Mapes: Don't leave me here with Hayak.  He thinks I've been compromised. As soon as 
Nassan dies, he'll kill me. Please!

<She pushes a button to open a nearby airlock, Hayak and his "troops" are waiting>

Hayak: All of your brains must be in your tail.

<He points a gun at Trance and she's taken prisoner>

===================================================================================
Scene: Holo-Rommie appears on the Command Deck (Dylan and Rev are there)
===================================================================================

Holo: Dylan, something strange is happening. I'm getting peripheral sensations. 
Someone's cut my internal sensors.

Dylan: Contact Harper, now.

Rev: Ahhhm...Harper has locked himself in the Maru.

===================================================================================

Scene: Harper is working on his project in the Maru when he hears activity behind him 
and turns slowly.

===================================================================================
Scene. Hayak and crew, including Trance, walk onto Command Deck
===================================================================================

Various kids: Hands up! Don't move! Nietzschean, freeze!  Move move! Everybody get 
down, right now!  I'll shoot!

Rev: Suddenly my ribs hurt again.

<The kids take aim at Dylan and Rev>

Dylan: Get off my ship.

Hayak: You don't have any power over us.

<He pushes Trance to Dylan>

Dylan: Actually, I do.  From here. 

<He gestures to the control panel>

Hayak {not impressed}: Oh?

Dylan: Soon, I'll launch your Arc Glide fighters and fly them with their "Noble" bombs 
onto my ship.

Hayak: Turn on your display.

<The display shows several slipfighters already flying. Dylan pushes some buttons on the 
console, trying to control them, but Hayak holds up a device>

Hayak: We're jamming your data link...Dylan.  The real High Guard would know that.  
That's scripture directive 23-20.  But you're not the real High Guard, are you?  Maybe 
there is no High Guard.  Or maybe I'm the High Guard.  And I've just blessed twenty-
two holy warriors.  Each one of them, right now, is in an Arc Glide slipfighter targeted 
for a different solar system.  The Day of Lightning is NOW!

<More "Victory! Victory!" from the kids>

===================================================================================
Scene: A short time later. Beka is escorted onto Command by one of Hayak's soldiers
===================================================================================

Hayak: Look at this.  It's not enough that Dylan's friends with Magog. He holds hands 
with Nietzscheans, too.

Tyr: I can assure you, Dylan and I are not friends.  Let me join you.  I can train your holy 
warriors to command a galaxy.

<Hayak spits on him>

Hayak: Seven of our holy warriors are headed for Nietzschean systems.

<Mapes appears on the main Andromeda screen. He seems scared.>

Mapes: This is flight leader Mapes. I know I speak for w-we holy warriors...every one.  
We are sad, but proud to give our lives until we are all reunited...

Hayak: Until we are all reunited in the great Commonwealth beyond known space.

<Dylan takes advantage of the distraction to push some keys on a console. A weird 
scuttling is seen on the walls, and one of the older kids falls to the floor in pain>

Hayak: Lester, I told you all to take nanobot inhibitors.  Get him, Tomodoko.

Mapes {Still on screen}: Hayak, what's happening down there?

Hayak: We're fine. They tried nanobot probes to paralyze our neuron systems.

Dylan: You took N.I.'s before you boarded.

Hayak: We're not children.  We're holy warriors. We've been fighting our entire lives.  
Line 'em up for execution!

<The children prepare to shoot Dylan and the others, but before they can shoot, Harper 
enters, carrying Nassan>

Harper: You're not allowed to give that order.  At least not while she's alive.

Hayak: Nassan. I'm glad you've lived to see the Day of Lightning.

Nassan: Tell the Noble Warriors to return. The High Guard's already said he doesn't 
want the Day of Lightning.

Hayak: That's when we thought he was our Messiah. But he's not.  Ask him.

Nassan: Well?

Dylan: I'm sorry, Nassan. I'm not a god. I'm not a Messiah. I'm just a man.  I lied 
because I wanted your help, and I still do.

Nassan: Everything I've believed in my whole life...I don't...I don't know what to 
say...what to do...

Hayak: You're sick, incapacitated.  I proclaim myself G-Stat-Comm.

Nassan: You can't do that.

Hayak: I can. I have.  Tie her up with the others.

<Hayak's troops look nervous. No one makes a move>

Hayak: This is Defcon One! The Day of Lightning!  Now do as I say!

<Some of the children holding Dylan & the others move forward and take Harper and 
Nassan into custody, too.  We see that Trance is using her tail to untie or cut her bonds>

===================================================================================

Scene: A pair of bare legs is seen exiting the Maru. 

===================================================================================

Scene: Tomodoko and another kid are helping the one who was injured by nanobots 
down a corridor. They look up at something, surprised, and a bare arm grabs one of them.

===================================================================================
Scene: Back on the Command deck, Hayak and his soldiers prepare to shoot the prisoners
===================================================================================

Hayak: Ready. Aim.

<The door to Command opens, and everyone turns to look, stunned, at a naked woman 
who's just entered.  It's Rommie! Yay!>

Hayak: Who are you?

Rommie: I am Andromeda. The ship made flesh.

Hayak: You're just another liar, like all of them. Kill her!

Rommie: I don't think so.

<Suddenly, all the kids with guns drop to the floor>

Harper: Oh! Artificial gravity field.  Don't it just suck?

<Trance has gotten herself untied, and hurries to start untying the others>

Rommie: Dylan may not be a god, but on this ship - I am.

Dylan {gaping}: Andromeda. How?  {He looks over at Harper} Your secret project.

Harper: THAT is the Andromeda I know, love, and gave human form to.

Dylan: OK, let's get those slipfighters.

<Andromeda leaves the station>

Dylan: One minute, twenty-seven seconds before the fighters hit slipstream.  Harper, 
unjam this thing!

Harper: Data link unjammed.

Dylan: If one gets through...

Rev: Forty-three seconds to slipstream. Forty-two.

Tyr: We're in range.

Computer: Link established.

Dylan: Good.  Andromeda, eject pilots.

Computer: Ejecting pilots.

Dylan: Give me an Arc Glide self-destruct sequence. Execute.

Tyr: What is wrong with you?!?

Dylan: Take over the fighters. Order them to enter slipstream and self-destruct.

Tyr: Those empty fighters are transitting into slipstream with our bombs.

Dylan: They're not our bombs. They're no one's.

<The slipfighters enter slipstream and blow up, making a big explosion>

Dylan {to Hayak}: There's your Day of Lightning.  {To Beka} Take the Maru out. Pick 
up the kids in the cockpits and return them to the drift.

<He walks toward the still-naked Rommie, grabbing the Hawaiian shirt off Harper's back 
as he passes him>

Dylan: Tyr and I will escort these kids back.

<He helps Rommie on with the shirt>

Dylan: Maybe you could help, too, Andromeda.  Ummm...first, restore AG Field.  {She 
does so, and the kids can get up}  Nice work.

Harper: Hey! Don't forget, I created her!  Now who's the god?

===================================================================================
Scene: Dylan is walking down a corridor, and Rommie intercepts him
===================================================================================

Rommie: Captain. It's good to finally meet you.  Face to face.

<She holds out her hand and they shake hands>

Dylan: This is strange for me to...see you like this.

Rommie: Me too. Strange. But nice.

Dylan: I'm so used to talking to you on the holo-screen.  Waking up in the morning, 
having breakfast, you seeing me...

Rommie: ...getting out of the shower.

Dylan: Can we just say..."on many occasions".

Rommie: Of course.

Dylan: So, I...uhh...hope your new avatar won't change our...uhh

Rommie: Sir.  Commonwealth protocol prohibits anything other than a purely 
professional relationship.

Dylan: Well then, Andromeda. Welcome aboard.

<They salute each other>

===================================================================================
Scene: Mapes is addressing the children
===================================================================================

Mapes: We have survived and we've waited. But now, Dylan Hunt - the High Guard - 
has given us a new Mish Brief.  Not to prepare for the Day of Lightning, but for 
membership in the restored Commonwealth. As your new Onced-Off, I proclaim. Begin 
Transmit!

<The kids cheer>

===================================================================================
Scene: Dylan transports a large box to a storage chamber, keys something on a touchpad
===================================================================================

Dylan: Captain Dylan Hunt, commanding officer. Nova containment authorized. Ten 
Break Alpha.

Holo: Sir? Are you sure you want to retain a Nova bomb on board ship?

Dylan: No. But all the same, Ten Break Alpha.


===================================================================================
THE END