EPISODE 310: The Unconquerable Man

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"It matters little how we die, so long as we die better 
men than we imagined we could be -- and no worse than we feared."

[Drago Museveni   C.Y. 8451]

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======================================================================================
Scene: Harper is pushing a cryogenic capsule/coffin through the corridors of the 
Andromeda.  A window in the coffin shows that it contains the body of Gaheris Rhade.
======================================================================================

Harper: Dead man walkin'.  Dead man walkin'.  Walkin' the mile. Walkin' the mile.  {He 
arrives outside a hangar.  Dylan is waiting there.}  For your consideration, boss, one 
corpse.

Dylan: Gaheris Rhade.

Harper: Aside from the, uh, hole in the chest, a little bit of freezer burn, and the fact that 
he's kind of creepy, he's in pretty good shape... given that he's been stored down here for 
almost three years.

Dylan: Good.  The Rhade family may want to view the body before they bury him.

Harper: I gotta hand it to you, boss.  You're quite a boy scout.  I don't know that I'd be 
handing over his cadaver so quick for a hero's burial.  I mean, this is the guy that tried to 
kill you, right?

<Quick Flashback to "Under the Night".  Dylan and Rhade firing forcelances at each 
other.  Rhade misses. Dylan doesn't.>

Dylan:  Strange.

Harper: What? Us standing here over a dead Nietzschean on ice?  Yeah, it's strange, but 
it's also kinda nice, isn't it?

Dylan: No, no.  It's the, uh, scar.  I don't remember it.

<He has noticed a scar on Rhade's hand.>

Harper: Huh.  Well, maybe you never noticed it before.

Computer: Dylan, Admiral Telemachus Rhade and the Terazed delegation are now on 
approach for landing.

Dylan: Acknowledged.  Tell them that I'll...

<His words are drowned by a sudden blurring and temporal shifty special effect.>

======================================================================================
Scene: [OUROBOROS] Gaheris Rhade walks purposefully into a machine shop where 
Harper's tesseract machine is buzzing away.
======================================================================================

Rhade: Andromeda, I've found the tesseract machine.  I'm about to destroy it.

<He approaches the machine and arms his force lance.  Suddenly, Trance (gold) and 
Beka (regular) appear.  Rhade aims the force lance at them.>

Trance: I wouldn't do that if I were you.

Rhade: Beka, who the hell is this?

Trance: I'm Trance.  And I've come here to tell you that if you destroy this machine, your 
mission and all that you have done to further it will have been for nothing.

Beka: I think you should listen to her.

Rhade: I've got a man about to die and a ship tearing itself apart because of this machine.  
Do better.

Trance: Then remember.  Remember why this happened - how you got here.

======================================================================================
Scene: [UNDER THE NIGHT]  Dylan, Rhade, and Dawn are on the Andromeda 
Command deck.  The Nietzschean attack has begun.
======================================================================================

Computer: I'm detecting over ten thousand enemy vessels.

Dylan: What?

Computer: Five hundred are already within combat radius.  All of them appear to be of 
Nietzschean design.

Dawn: Ten thousand ships? It must have taken years to gather a force this big.

Rhade: Sir, I recommend we deploy Nova bombs.

Dylan: This system is inhabited!  I will not use strategic weapons, no matter how many 
ships we're up against.

Rhade: As you wish.

<Skip ahead a bit>

Rhade: Given the circumstances, I should be confined to the brig, along with the other 
Nietzscheans in the crew.

Dylan: Are you telling me I can't trust you?

Rhade: I'm saying you can't afford to take any chances.

<Skip further ahead.  Dylan's working to deal with Andromeda's computer having been 
sabotaged.>

Dylan: Rotate ship to compens....

<Rhade enters>

Dawn: Commander?

<Rhade fires his force lance, killing Dawn.  Rhade quickly shoots Dylan, too, killing 
him.>

======================================================================================
Scene: [UNDER THE NIGHT] In Dylan's quarters, Rhade lays Dylan's body onto a 
couch.
======================================================================================

Holo: What have you done?

Rhade: I tried to warn him.

Holo: So did I, but your sabotage proved quite effective.  Unfortunately for you, it had 
another effect.

<Alarms start going off on the ship.>

Rhade: The black hole.

Holo: Approaching the event horizon in three. Two. One.

<The ship is frozen in time.  300 years later, the Eureka Maru hauls the Andromeda out 
of the black hole, and Rhade becomes unfrozen.>

Rhade: Andromeda, report.

<Holo-Rommie is still there, but she refuses to respond.>

Rhade: You may not like what I've done...

Holo: What you've done is betray your oath and murder your captain.

Rhade: I am the senior officer aboard and you're my A.I.

Holo: You've seized this ship without authorization and I refuse to acknowledge your 
commands.

Rhade: Report or be erased. I'm in command.

Holo: Fine, "Commander".  We're on an escape trajectory from the black hole's gravity 
well, but there's no sign of the Nietzschean fleet or our escape pods.  And we've 
experienced more severe time dilations from the black hole than I anticipated.

Rhade: How severe?

Holo: We were trapped for over three hundred years.  And by the way, we're being 
boarded.

<A screen shows the Maru crew plus Tyr and his mercenaries.>

Rhade: Looks like some sort of ragtag team under command of that Nightsider.  Four of 
them are not a threat.

Holo: Not even the Magog?

Rhade: He looks like a monk.  He and his friends we'll interrogate later.  The rest we 
eliminate.

Holo: What about the Nietzschean?

Rhade: I'll deal with him.

Holo: You've certainly got your hands full.

Rhade: Look, I'll make you a deal.  If our boarders are from the Commonwealth, I'll 
surrender.

Holo: And if the Nietzscheans won the war?

Rhade: Then I'll give you a choice.

Holo: Then you know what my answer will be.

======================================================================================
Scene: [UNDER THE NIGHT]  Harper is looking through flexis and finds a schematic he 
needs.
======================================================================================

Harper: All right!

<He turns to leave and Rhade is behind him.  Rhade punches him hard, then aims a force 
lance at him.>

Rhade: Wandering all alone on a High Guard starship.  You're a brave little man.

Harper: We saw her first!  Open salvage - finder's keepers!

<Harper starts to get up, and Rhade hits him again.>

Rhade: Salvage?  The Commonwealth sent you.

Harper: Commonwealth?  Wait a minute.  You're with the original crew, right?  You got 
stuck in time, didn't you?  Oh, man, I got news for you, pal.  There is no Commonwealth.  
There hasn't been a Commonwealth for over three hundred years.

Rhade: Then this is a Nietzschean empire?

Harper {sarcastic}: Nietzschean empire? Please, stop, you're killin' me.  {He tries to get 
up and Rhade hits him again} Ah! Stop it! You're killin' me!

======================================================================================
Scene: [UNDER THE NIGHT]  Tyr is moving around an Andromeda cargo hold
======================================================================================

Tyr {over comm}: Brexos, link up with Varasteya on Deck Four and fall back to Cargo 
Bay Three.  We'll regroup and...  {there's static on his comm} ...Brexos?  Brexos!

<Rhade voice comes from somewhere in the cargo hold.>

Rhade: Your friends won't answer you.  They're dead.  The Nightsider, too.

Tyr: Friends? What would make you think they were my friends?

Rhade: Well done.  Maybe not everyone in this future is inferior after all.

Tyr: If you were going to kill me, you would have done so already.  Let's have a look at 
you.

<Rhade steps out, showing his bone blades in a Nietzschean salute.>

Rhade: I kept you alive because you'll help me save the universe.

======================================================================================
Scene:  [ANGEL DARK, DEMON BRIGHT] Shortly before the events of the episode, 
Harper and Rhade are in Rhade's quarters.  Dylan's Go board is there.
======================================================================================

Rhade {voiceover}: Mission log, day 62.  While the crew of the Eureka Maru lack 
military discipline, recruiting them has worked out better than I expected.

Harper: Ok, so after a mountain of work, a few trips into the VR matrix, and countless 
mind-numbing detours into the ins and outs of game theory... (Finally I just threw the 
book out and downloaded the whole damn thing {indicating his dataport}) ...Add a little 
artificial intelligence and, uh, I finally cooked up that Go partner for you, chief.

Rhade: Show me.

Harper: Ok.

<Harper pushes some buttons on a remote control, and a holographic Dylan appears by 
the Go board.>

Holo-Dylan: Hey, Gaheris.  Up for a game today?

Harper: Huh?  You give me a corpse from down in deep freeze, and I give you a worthy 
Go partner with all the knowledge and memories I could, uh, dig up or extrapolate.  
You're kinda creepy, you know that?  {Rhade gives him a dirty look}  ...If you ask me.  
Which you didn't, so here you go.

<He hands Rhade the control gadget and leaves.  Rhade turns off Holo-Dylan.  Holo-
Rommie fritzes in.>

Holo:  For a man who killed his captain and best friend without saying a word, you 
certainly seem reluctant to let him go.

Rhade: I did what I had to do.

Holo: For what? For the Commonwealth?  The glory of the Nietzschean people? Look 
around you, Commander.  You killed him for nothing.

Trance {over comm}: Prepare to enter slipstream.

<The ship enters slipstream, having a bumpy ride.  Purple Trance is piloting.>

Trance: Look out!

<The ship exits slipstream, damaged.>

======================================================================================
Scene: [ANGEL DARK, DEMON BRIGHT]  Rhade enters an office, reviewing 
information on a data pad
======================================================================================

Rhade: What the hell have you people done to my ship?

Holo: We're in the Witchhead Nebula.  According to the Maru's historical records, it's the 
site of the last major battle between the High Guard and the Nietzschean alliance.  Both 
sides battled it out to mutual annihilation, leaving a power vacuum that paved the way for 
three centuries of chaos.

Rhade: Interesting, but irrelevant.  Have Beka head to the nearest slip-point.  We leave as 
soon as repairs are complete.

Holo: I'm detecting another ship in the nebula.  It's one of ours - the Renewed Valor.

Rhade: Yazgar's ship in our timeframe.  That's impossible.

Holo: Impossible though it may be, she's hailing us.

Rhade: Maintain radio silence.

Holo: You may wish to reconsider when you see the message she's transmitting.

<Yazgar's message appears on-screen.>

Yazgar {on video}: Admiral Stark has ordered every remaining High Guard ship to 
assemble here.  In two days, we're heading straight for Fountainhead, to take out the 
Nietzschean homeworld.

Rhade: They're not in our timeframe.  We're in theirs.  Somehow we've gone back in 
time.

Holo: To less than forty-eight hours before the Battle of Witchhead.  And we're stuck 
right in the middle of it.

======================================================================================
Scene: [ANGEL DARK, DEMON BRIGHT]  Rhade, Tyr, and Beka talk & walk
======================================================================================

Tyr: Our course of action is obvious: Help the Nietzscheans.  Restore the universe to 
order.

Beka: So everyone can live under Nietzschean jackboots for the next three hundred 
years? {insincere} No offense, captain.

Holo: What you're both forgetting is that it may not matter what we do.  Some theories of 
time travel assert that there is one fixed timeline which, once fixed, can never be 
changed.

Rhade: A man makes his own fate.

Holo: Well, even if history is endlessly mutable, Commander, there's no guarantee that 
our actions, whatever they may be, won't make matters worse.

Tyr: Speculating on physics is pointless.  Our own actions are all we can control.

Rhade: Indeed.  Then our next action will be to leave Witchhead and return to our own 
time.  Immediately.

<Tyr looks displeased.>

======================================================================================
Scene:  [ANGEL DARK, DEMON BRIGHT]  Rhade is sitting by his Go board.  Holo-
Rommie fritzes in.
======================================================================================

Holo: All systems are back on-line, even without Harper's help.  Beka and Trance think 
they can retrace her route and return us to our point of origin.  We're ready to go.

Rhade: Finally.  Prepare for slipstream.  But first, send a message to the Renewed Valor.  
Tell her her orders have changed.  She's to follow us into slipstream to a new rally point.

Holo: Are you asking me to lie to fellow High Guard officers?

Rhade: I'm asking you to save their lives.  One more ship here won't make a difference, 
but in the future...

Holo: Dylan and Yazgar were close.  Difficult questions will be asked.  Is that what you 
want?

Rhade: What I want is to make sure that no more of my friends die in vain.

======================================================================================
Scene:  [ANGEL DARK, DEMON BRIGHT]  Rhade walking in Andromeda corridors
======================================================================================

Computer: The Renewed Valor is setting a new course.  Congratulations, Captain, it 
looks like they bought it.  Wait - a new slipstream event.

Rhade: On-Screen.

Computer: Hundreds of Nietzschean ships are targetting the Valor.

Rhade: Set a course to intercept.

<A nearby viewscreen shows Yazgar's ship being attacked and destroyed.>

Rhade: Another dead friend.

Holo: There's more.  The Maru's historical records indicate a fleet of five hundred 
Nietzschean ships fought at Witchhead.  I'm detecting over fifteen hundred Nietzschean 
ships in the nebula.  With a fleet this size...

Rhade: ...the High Guard doesn't stand a chance.

======================================================================================
Scene: [ANGEL DARK, DEMON BRIGHT]  Rhade is studying his Go board.  The 
Dylan hologram is turned on.
======================================================================================

Dylan: Pondering your next move?  Ponder faster.  I'm getting bored.

Rhade: I think Harper built you too well.

Dylan: You're agonizing over a moral choice which you know is obvious.

Rhade: You know about the Nietzschean fleet?

Dylan: You're a hell of a Go player, Gaheris, but you're not much of a strategist.

Rhade: Then enlighten me.

Dylan: You think saving the Nietzscheans might mean less chaos and fewer deaths in the 
long run, but you're wrong.  The Nietzscheans' problem was never the size of their fleets.  
A bigger armada just means more blood, more death, and more destruction when they 
inevitably turn on one another.  You have the means to prevent that.  Harper can build it 
for you.  You just have to decide to use it.

Rhade: You're advising me to massacre my own people.

Dylan: I'm not advising you to do anything.  I'm just playing a game.  It's your move.

======================================================================================
Scene:  [ANGEL DARK, DEMON BRIGHT]  In a machine shop, Harper's messing with 
equipment.
======================================================================================

Harper: Look, an AP fusion catalyst isn't exactly a precise weapon, you know?  It's not 
gonna work with the fleet scattered halfway across the nebula.  Unless you can get 'em all 
to line up nicely to be incinerated.

Rhade: I'll see what I can do.

Harper: What?  You're serious?

Rhade:  Just get the catalyst working.  You do your job, I'll do mine.

======================================================================================
Scene: [ANGEL DARK, DEMON BRIGHT]  Rhade walking through corridors
======================================================================================

Computer: The Nietzschean fleet has moved within range.

Rhade: Prepare for the attack.  Catalyst on standby.

======================================================================================
Scene:  [ANGEL DARK, DEMON BRIGHT]  Andromeda swerves through the nebula, 
drawing the Nietzschean ships after her.  Rhade, Beka, Tyr, and Rev are on Command.
======================================================================================

Rev: The Nietzschean ships are in position.

Beka: Gaheris!

Computer: Captain?  Captain!

Rhade: Engage.

<Rhade looks away as Andromeda fires the catalyst.  The nebula explodes behind them.>

Rhade:  Beka, best speed to nearest slip-point.  Get us out of here.

======================================================================================
Scene:  [ANGEL DARK, DEMON BRIGHT]  Tyr enters Rhade's quarters
======================================================================================

Rhade: You wanted something?

Tyr: Only to ask you how it must feel to go down in history as the greatest butcher of the 
Nietzschean people that ever lived.  Who could have ever guessed that the "Angel of 
Death" that struck down the Nietzschean alliance was one of our own?

Rhade: It's funny how things work out.

Tyr: You find betraying our people - ALL OUR PEOPLE! - funny?

Rhade: Our people?  Our people were meant to be living gods - warrior poets who 
roamed the stars bringing civilization - not cowards and bullies who prey on the weak 
and kill each other for sport.  I never imagined they'd prove themselves so... inferior.  I 
didn't betray our people.  They betrayed themselves.  You know this better than anyone.

======================================================================================
Scene: [Sometime between UNA SALUS VICTUS and OUROBOROS]   Rhade at his 
Go board.  Holo-Dylan is on.  
======================================================================================

Rhade {recording in his office}: Mission Log, day 401.  To date, my efforts to restore 
order to the known worlds have returned less than optimal results.

Dylan: Oh, "less than optimal".  You've always had a way with words, Gaheris.

Rhade: Are you saying I talk too much?  {Dylan shrugs.  Rhade puts a Go piece on the 
board}  Maybe so, but I still win.

Dylan: At least you're honest with yourself.

Rhade: Of course I am.  The only way for a Nietzschean to improve himself is to engage 
in continual self-assessment.

Dylan: For example?

Rhade: The Magog threat, for one.

<Quick flashback to "Its Hour Come 'Round at Last".  Compu-Rommie explaining the 
Worldship.>

Computer: They're worlds.  Twenty of them joined into some kind of structure.  Those 
worlds – they're hollow. And they're full of Magog.  Trillions of them.

<Back on "Day 401">

Rhade:  One would think that that would be enough to convince the doubters that they 
need a strong, organized central government with an adequate military.

Dylan: I see. It's all about politics.

Rhade: Everything's about politics.

Dylan: Everything?  Friends? Family?

Rhade: Everything.  Besides, what's left of my family is hardly worth mentioning.

Dylan: Ah, your Pride.

Rhade: The entire Nietzschean race.

Dylan: You will need them, you know.  You can't expect to impose civilization on the 
known worlds without their support.

Rhade: They've offered.  I said no.

Dylan: Of course you did.  It's because you don't trust them.

Rhade: I trust them to be Nietzscheans.  And Bolivar hasn't disappointed me.  He's 
blackmailing leaders of potential member worlds - making them reluctant to sign on.  
Nietzscheans used to say we act out of enlightened self-interest.  The problem with 
Bolivar and his ilk is that they've forgotten the most important word: enlightened.

Dylan: And yet you let Tyr stay here where he can do you the most harm.

Rhade: You know the old saying: "Keep your friends close, keep your enemies under 
constant surveillance."

Dylan: How constant?  Tyr stole the bones of Drago Museveni from the Drago-Kasov.

Rhade: Yes, and stowed them in Storage Area Fifteen.  The Dragons are still trying to get 
them back.

Dylan: They caught you with your pants down.

Rhade: No.  Tyr's a Nietzschean and a Kodiak.  I find his actions utterly predictable.

Dylan: But if you keep the bones here, you might as well paint a target on this ship.

Rhade: There is already a target on the ship.  And Tyr's holding the gun.

Dylan: Then you'll have to deal with him.

Rhade: And I mean to.

======================================================================================
Scene:  [A while later]  Beka enters Rhade's quarters
======================================================================================

Beka: You wanted to see me?

Rhade: I think you know what this is about.

Beka: Tyr.  I don't know, Gaheris.  

Rhade: You think the timing is wrong?

Beka: No.  This - *this* is wrong.  {She gestures to the ship, meaning the whole 
situation.}  This is not what I signed on for.  Things are not what I thought they'd be - 
things I can't get out of my head - things I can't tell myself are ok.

Rhade: Like what?

Beka: Like Acheron.  When I took off after that stray cargo ship...

<Flashback to "Una Salus Victus".  Beka's working on fixing the Maru. Quechua's ship is 
working and Quechua is talking to Beka on comms.>

Quechua {on comm}:  It's time.

Beka: Yeah.  I figured.

Quechua: I've enjoyed talking to you, Beka. I won't insult you by asking for your 
surrender.

<Beka gets up and walks to the cockpit, settling into the pilot's seat.>

Quechua: If you want, I can relay any last messages you have for your friends or family.  
Is there anything that you'd like to say to them?

Beka: Yes.

<She pulls the seat into the "ready to go" position. The vid-screen shows a status 
message: "Fire Control On Line".>

Beka: I'm sorry.

<She pushes the button to fire weapons, catching Quechua by surprise and blowing her 
fighter up.  End of flashback.>  

Rhade: She was trying to kill you.  You didn't have a choice.

Beka: That's exactly the problem.  I guess what I'm trying to tell you is I can't do this 
anymore.

Rhade: You're leaving.

Beka: I need to go someplace I can clear my head - someplace that isn't here.

Rhade: I understand.

Beka: Do you?

Rhade: I learned the hard way - you shouldn't cling to things you can't change.

<Beka kisses him.>

Beka: See you around the universe.

======================================================================================
Scene: [A while later]  Rhade and Harper are in a machine shop.
======================================================================================

Harper: Come on, don't think of it as losing a girlfriend.  Think of it as, uh, opening up a 
spot on your dance-card flexi.  Besides, you always got me and Trance.

Rhade: You think Beka and Rev will be all right on their own?

Harper:  Please.  No offence, Mr. Self-Involved, but, uh, they were ok before we met you, 
I think it's a pretty good bet they'll be ok now.

Rhade: So what's your excuse?

Harper: Well, what, are you kidding?  Uh, the only shot I got at evicting my little tenants 
is right here.  Besides, you're the only guy I know who hates Nietzscheans more than I 
do.

<Holo-Rommie pops in.>

Holo: Captain, it's Tyr.  He's making his move.

<Rhade heads out of the machine shop, drawing his force lance.>

======================================================================================
Scene: [A few minutes later] Tyr is in a dark cargo hold, fiddling with Drago's bones.  
Rhade enters.
======================================================================================

Rhade: Lights!

<Lights come on.  Tyr throws a throwing-star, but Rhade blocks it with his hand, getting 
a cut, but otherwise unhurt.  Tyr starts to move forward to fight Rhade, but can't seem to 
move his feet.>

Rhade: The gravity (??  ??) your feet strong enough to hold an Umbrite.  You're going 
nowhere.

Tyr:  And that hand will always have a scar.

<Rhade shoots Tyr, killing him.>

Rhade: I'm sorry.

======================================================================================
Scene:  [OUROBOROS] Rhade's playing Go with Holo-Dylan.  Rhade seems agitated.
======================================================================================

Dylan: You can't win every game.

Rhade: Maybe not.  That doesn't mean you simply admit defeat.

Dylan: Well, there's admitting defeat and then there's accepting the inevitable.  You've 
been losing a lot in the last month.  If I didn't know better...

Rhade: Nothing's changed.

Dylan: Things have changed.  Tyr, Beka, Rev Bem?  And now you've started to lose 
worlds.

Rhade: You can lead a Nightsider to water, but you can't make him spawn.  And I've got 
all the crew I need.

<Holo-Rommie pops in.>

Holo: That may not be true for very long, Captain.  Harper's Magog eggs are hatching.  
He's calm right now, but he has one request.  He's convinced the Perseids have something 
that can help him.

Rhade: We're going to Sintii.

======================================================================================
Scene:  [OUROBOROS] Hohne and Harper are setting up the tesseract machine.
======================================================================================

Holo: So you want to remove the larvae by folding space?

Hohne: Alice strings and tesseracts.  Astounding. If we can work out the specifics of this 
technology we should be able to literally mold space and time to our will.

Harper: Yeah that's the general idea. Uh, frankly though I'll be happy if we can just 
extract my unwanted guests.

======================================================================================
Scene:  [OUROBOROS]  Beka & Rhade talk & walk
======================================================================================

Beka: I came as soon as I heard.

Rhade: Harper's like your family.  If there's one thing a Nietzschean understands, it's 
loyalty.  I miss you, Beka.

Beka: Gaheris, please don't think this means I plan to stay.

Rhade: It doesn't matter if you stay.  You're here right now.

Beka: I think about you.  A lot.  But this thing between us can't work.

Rhade: Story of my life.

<He walks away down the corridor and is caught up in a time distortion.  He sees two old 
crewmembers walking.>

Rhade: Thompson! Stam!

<The distortion takes him back.>

Rhade: Thompson. Stam. 

Holo: Captain? What are you doing here?

Rhade: This isn't deck ten?

Holo: Deck nineteen.  One minute you were on deck nine the next you were 200 meters 
away.

Rhade: I saw our crew - our original crew - on the ship.

======================================================================================
Scene:  [OUROBOROS] Harper enters the machine shop where Hohne and Rekeeb are 
working
======================================================================================

Harper: Tell me you got it all figured out.

Hohne: Not all, but we've made a good start.

Rekeeb: Observe.

Harper: You want to add a photonic resonator?

Hohne: We need it to maintain absolute control of the string rotations.

Harper: A-ha.  Because otherwise we'd end up playing, uh, Alice String roulette in the 
key of F.  This may actually work 

Hohne: I must say, two years ago if you'd have told me that someday I'd develop a 
cutting edge application of string theory with a human from Earth, I'd have thought it as 
likely as a Borillian meteor shower.

<Hohne and Rekeeb giggle.>

Harper: All right, all right.  Look, the two of you at least pretend you're not having so 
much fun, ok?  Remember, my life is hanging by a thread here.

======================================================================================
Scene: [OUROBOROS] Rhade appears in a corridor after another distortion
======================================================================================

Rhade: Andromeda, Harper on screen.  {Machine shop comes up on a nearby 
viewscreen} Talk to me.  What is this?

Harper {on-screen}: Uh, well, as far as the chinheads and I can figure, the present 
weirdness we're experiencing is a tiny, little, unintentional side effect of the tesseract 
machine.

Rhade: Fine. Fix it.

Harper: I wish I could, bo - uh, Captain - believe me.  But, uh, I don't think we can.  See 
the effects seem to sorta be coming from the future.  'Cause the machine isn't exactly 
finished yet and it's building itself.

Rhade: Then make it stop.  Rhade out.

======================================================================================
Scene:  [OUROBOROS] Harper with Hohne and Rekeeb in a crawlway
======================================================================================

Hohne: Oh dear.  This is all my fault. I never imagined the tesseract machine's side 
effects would be so disruptive.

Harper:  I just wish I knew what we did wrong.

Rekeeb: Not did. Will do. These events are emanating from the future.

Harper:  Aggghhh! 

<He doubles over in pain>

Hohne: Oh dear.

Harper: I wish you'd stop saying that.

======================================================================================
Scene: [OUROBOROS] Rhade arrives in his quarters via a distortion.  Holo-Dylan is 
there.
======================================================================================

Dylan: Let me guess.  Cut-and-paste ship.

Holo: Try "cut-and-paste universe".  Time and space are coming apart at the seams, and 
the effects are not confined to this ship.  I'm getting reports of tesseract effects from 
Sintii, and if we can't stop them, they'll tear the planet apart.

Dylan: The Perseids are the one ally you've been able to count on since Day One.  You 
can't let that happen.

Beka {on a viewscreen, in the Maru}: Gaheris? I know I'm not your favorite person right 
now, but did you really have to sic the entire Kalderan army on me?

Rhade: Beka! What the hell...?

Beka: I gotta go.  They... {she sees something off-screen} What the...?

<She goes off-screen and Rhade runs out.>

======================================================================================
Scene:  [OUROBOROS] On the Maru, Beka and Purple Trance are fighting Kalderans
======================================================================================

Beka: Trance, you will never guess who I just met.

Trance: A scary futuristic version of yourself?  She went that way.

<The two follow the sound of fighting to where Gold Trance is fighting Kalderans.>

Gold Trance: Behind you! 

<She fires between Beka and Purple Trance, killing a final Kalderan.  Beka and Purple 
Trance both look shocked.>

Beka: Trance?!

Gold Trance: Beka.  I forgot how beautiful you were.

Beka: Uhh, thanks.

<The two Trances look at each other.>

Purple Trance: You're me. From the future.

Gold Trance: More or less

Purple Trance: Did everything turn out the way it was supposed to? 

Gold Trance: No. Things are bad and they're getting worse. I made a lot of mistakes.

Purple Trance: So are we going to lose?

Gold Trance: At best, we are not going to win. You know what we have to do.

Purple Trance: Is it the only way?

Gold Trance: There is one perfect possible future but I have not seen it yet.

Beka:  Ummm... could someone provide me with a translation, please?

Purple Trance: Beka, I have to go.  But don't worry, I'm not really leaving. I'm just... 
changing.  Everything will be okay. You'll see 

<Purple Trance walks off into distortion.>

======================================================================================
Scene:  [OUROBOROS] Rhade arrives again at the room with the tesseract device
======================================================================================

Rhade: Andromeda, I've found the tesseract machine.  I'm about to destroy it.

<Gold Trance and Beka arrive>

Trance: I wouldn't do that if I were you.

Rhade: Beka, who the hell is this?

Trance: I'm Trance.  And I have come here to tell you that if you destroy that machine, 
your mission and everything you have done to further it will have been for nothing.

<Pause for commercial.>

Trance: Your mission is failing, Captain.

Rhade: I've had some setbacks, it's true.  But I don't believe in failure.

Trance: That is why we thought you were the one - the one to restore the Commonwealth 
- forge civilization where anarchy once ruled - lead our armies into the battle to come.

Rhade: But you don't believe that anymore?

Trance: No.  I have seen the future, Captain.  I've lived it.  I know what happens.  Your 
life can still mean something.  You still have contributions to make, but you are not the 
one.

Rhade: Then who is?

Trance: I think you know who.

Rhade: Dylan.

Trance: Right here, right now, you have a very unique opportunity to reshape the entire 
universe according to your own will.  And this opportunity is never going to come to you 
again.

Rhade: You can't know that.  I can still do this.  I can still rebuild what I helped to 
destroy.

Trance {gently}: With no friends, no allies.  Even as we speak, Harper and the Perseids 
are on their way to the machine shop, and one of them is not going to make it.

======================================================================================
Scene:  [OUROBOROS] In the slipstream core, Hohne has just fallen over the railing and 
Harper is trying to hold onto him.
======================================================================================

Harper: Hang on!  Don't! No, don't! Rhade'll kill me!  Come on. No! Don't!

<Hohne's hand slips out of Harper's grip, and Hohne falls.>

======================================================================================
Scene: [OUROBOROS] Back in the machine shop
======================================================================================

Rhade: Andromeda.  Status of Harper and the Perseids.

Computer: In the slipstream core.  Harper and Rekeeb are safe, but Chief Technical 
Director Hohne has fallen to his death.

Rhade: Understood.  {to Trance} Are you doing this?

Trance: No.  It's just the universe.  It is what it is, and you're the only one who can change 
that.

Beka: No pressure.

Computer: Captain, more reports from Sintii.  The planet's crust is literally crumbling 
apart from the tesseract effect.  The Perseids have begun a massive evacuation, but I 
doubt they can finish it in time.

Trance: Trust me, Captain. Please.  Let me help you create the future that you wished for 
when you killed your best friend.  Let me help you save him.

Rhade {to Beka}: I don't suppose you have any witty, but only marginally helpful, bon 
mots to offer?

Beka: No. I wish I did.

Rhade: Me too.

Beka: But, Gaheris, I have to tell you - too weird not to be true. And the situation's too 
desperate for you not to try.  You said you wanted to fix what you helped destroy.  I 
guess what you have to ask yourself is how badly do you want that?  Badly enough to kill 
for?  Badly enough...?

Rhade: Badly enough.  History will judge me a traitor for what I'm about to do.  But if he 
fails - if Dylan fails, imagine how they'll judge him.

Trance: With silence.

<Rhade nods, making his decision, and kisses Beka.>

Rhade: See you around the universe.

<Rhade and Trance disappear into a distortion.>

======================================================================================
Scene: [UNDER THE NIGHT]  The distortion drops Rhade and Trance into an 
Andromeda corridor 
======================================================================================

Rhade: Are we...?

Trance: Yes.  Hephaestus, on a parabolic mission towards the black hole.  It's the eve of 
the Nietzschean uprising.

Rhade: I remember.  So much has happened.  There's so much for him to understand.  So 
much for him to know.

<Trance kisses Rhade on the cheek.>

Trance: Make sure that he does.  It's up to you now.

<She disappears into a distortion.  Rhade draws his force lance and heads off down the 
corridor.  He approaches a cross-section just as his younger self is walking past.>

Rhade: Commander!

<The younger Rhade looks up, and is just starting to realize something is fishy when the 
older Rhade shoots and kills him.  Rhade begins to change clothes with his younger self.>

======================================================================================
Scene:  [UNDER THE NIGHT]  Rhade enters Command again while Dylan is working 
on repairs
======================================================================================

Dylan: Rotate ship to compens....

<Rhade enters>

Dawn: Commander?

<Rhade fires his force lance, killing Dawn.  Rhade misses Dylan this time, allowing 
Dylan to take cover behind a console.>

Dylan: Rhade!

Rhade: I tried to warn you.

Dylan: What are you doing?

Rhade: Ensuring the survival of my people.  The Commonwealth is weak.  It bargains 
with its enemies, it compromises.  My people are engineered to be perfect! And the 
Commonwealth is no place for the strong.

<skips ahead a bit>

Rhade:  You have sown the wind. You shall reap the whirlwind.

Dylan: You know what your problem is, Rhade? You talk too much.

<Dylan slides his force lance across the floor towards Rhade. He has rigged it to explode, 
and Rhade is thrown through the air.  Dylan tries to take advantage of the situation, but 
Rhade recovers quickly, and they fight hand-to-hand for a while.>

Rhade: Give up. You can't win.

Dylan: I told you before. Pessimism is not a survival trait.

<Dylan & Rhade both dash for force lances dropped in the fight, their actions starting to 
go into slow motion again>

Computer: Time dilation is increasing.

<They both reach the weapons, and exchange fire. Dylan manages to hit Rhade full-on, 
and hurries to check on him>


Dylan: Gaheris, what have you done?

Gaheris: I'm proud of you. You should be.

<Rhade dies.>

======================================================================================
Scene:  Back in Andromeda "real-time", Dylan and Harper are still conversing over 
Rhade's corpse
======================================================================================

<Dylan seems to sense something odd.>

Harper: Weird. I almost feel like I know the guy.  Must be the, uh, cryo-fumes getting to 
my head, huh?

Dylan: Maybe.

Harper: I'll tell you what, though.  It's a good thing for him I didn't know him.  Anybody 
who'd try to kill his own best friend - good riddance!

Dylan: It's not that simple.  It was never about me.  The truth is, I'll never know why 
Gaheris did what he did.  But I'd like to think that he had the best intentions.

Harper: Yeah? Well... {Harper holds his hands to indicate two positions with a short 
distance between them.} ...good intentions, hell.  You draw the map.  He got what he 
deserved.

Dylan: It's not for you or me to judge.  All I know is: Every man is the hero of his own 
story - even Gaheris Rhade.

######################################################################################
				THE END
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