"so, uh, for dessert why don't we talk about where we're going?" "don't everybody talk at once." "i don't want to upset your digestion or anything." "make you puke." "okay, so, uh, my stomach's settled." "where we going, boss?" "we're making a delivery." "thank you." "may i ask what?" "no." "how come she knows?" "incoming commonwealth communication." "on screen." "greetings, captain." "just wanted to give you the heads-up separating rumor from fact." "most of the nietzschean prides that joined the commonwealth are now, indeed, contemplating leaving it." "so it's a celebration." "the rumours of them coming together and massing a major fleet are just that, but there has been some suspicious activity centered around the planet enga's redoubt, the dragan homeworld." "now, that's a little vague." "we have uncovered attacks by the nietzscheans on various drifts and planets... but nothing out of the ordinary." "rollins out." "that's it?" "if this was no big deal, why'd she tell us?" "supply cargo from commonwealth headquarters has arrived." "i wasn't expecting a shipment." "maybe it's supplies for the upcoming nietzschean battle we're not supposed to know about." "the shipment is for the commissary." "ah, well, then, it's a food fight." "move out." "seal the area." "check the corridor." "all clear." "this way." "[ alarm sounding ] hangar deck 15." "stowaways in the cargo." "do we need bells and whistles for that?" "thank you." "how did they get past our security?" "i'm detecting the deactivation of an electromagnetic cloaking device." "nice toy." "mr. harper, i want one of those." "looks like we just got one." "they have a captive." "nietzscheans." "a gun to one person's head is a gun to all of ours." "so are you just going to stand there and let the ice cream melt, boss?" "seal off that deck." "[ alarm ]" "go, go, go." "freeze!" "who the hell are these nietzscheans?" "what the hell are they doing?" "now the intruders are sealing off deck 15." "what?" "we just did that." "how do they have the codes?" "they are in complete control of deck 15, and establishing a power base of their own." "they're looking for something." "themaru." "rommie, take them out with your automated internal defense systems." "not when they're holding some of our crew members." "deactivate that deck's ag field." "captain hunt." "we have a proposal for you." "when you're ready to negotiate, let us know." "how can i negotiate if i don't know what they want?" "artificial gravity disabled with no effect on the intruders." "they're wearing personal ag harnesses." "these guys know exactly what they're doing." "yeah, it's a little too convenient, isn't it?" "the universe is a dangerous place, but in our future, my crew and i fight to make it safe." "i am dylan hunt, captain of theandromeda ascendant, and these are our adventures." "the intruders are continuing to spread out through deck 15." "rommie, on screen." "okay." "what's your pleasure?" "it's simple." "we'll trade our hostages for the bones of drago musevini and theeureka maru." "oh, so that's all you want." "well, that's no problem." "we'll just- [ beep ] no. nomaru." "dylan... yeah, i got... stuff on there, boss." "i know." "i'm just trying to buy some time while i think this through." "there's nothing to think through." "she's right." "rommie, on screen." "okay." "sorry we got cut off, there." "uh, what's your plan b?" "you have five minutes or the hostages will die." "nietzscheans..." "no sense of humor." "no offense, tyr." "status report." "my defense systems on hangar 15 have been disabled." "harper." "i'm on it." "i've managed to cut off access to themaru and musevini's bones." "we can under no circumstances surrender the progenitor's remains." "we need a better plan than that." "yeah, we do." "one that involves getting our crew members back." "i don't expect you to understand, but there are far greater concerns than the crew of theandromeda." "how typically selfless of you." "those bones mean more to the future stability of your commonwealth than any of you can begin to realize." "i don't care about the bones." "once more, rommie." "okay." "you reached a decision?" "i'll make you a deal." "no deals." "you'll take me as your hostage in exchange for all of my crew members." "if you've harmed any of them, no deal." "go on." "i'll guarantee you the bones and themaru." "dylan... true to form, captain." "protecting the greater good." "meet at the slipstream core." "i'm on my way." "this is a horrendous idea." "very horrendous." "do you have a better one?" "no." "you?" "no." "all right, then." "beka, you have command." "harper, once we reach themaru, go to slipstream core." "check it out, see if they did any damage." "tyr... follow me, please." "i want you to be my shadow." "and?" "kill the bastards." "sorry, sir." "don't worry about it." "move it." "let's go. move!" "stick to the deal." "or?" "i'll destroy the bones." "you're bluffing." "those bones mean squat to me, lady." "go." "put my men on a screen." "andromeda, on screen." "access granted." "you know my ship." "very well, captain." "very well." "secure themaru." "i'm impressed." "[ trance ]: beka, i'm on themaru." "rommie's covering the hangar." "hurry." "no!" "i have to get in. no!" "beka, themaru is shut down." "i should be able to make it operational from here." "oh, god." "dammit, i can't." "trance, get to the cockpit." "[ grinding ]" "beka, everything's dead here." "i got nothing." "we're locked out." "[ beeping ] trance, get out of there." "all right, let's see what the boneheads were up to." "boss, i think i found something." "ah, genius, we do what we must- andromeda... any time, tyr." "can you keep a secret?" "not from everyone." "i'm scared." "all my mystery." "all that i've been guarding." "what have you been guarding, trance?" "can you tell me?" "can you tell dylan?" "he knows." "i don't feel fear the way that you do, but i have observed it can limit you." "i feel that we are nearing the end." "is this another one of your riddles?" "no riddles." "just fear." "i have guarded for so long." "now, i'm unsure of what i am doing." "[ cocks weapon ] keep moving, captain." "i'm moving." "i'm moving." "we've got serious maneuvering in the commonwealth." "the nietzschean succession is turning out to be a major problem." "i am aboard the high guard ship, twelve centuries." "we'll be there as soon as we can if you really need us." "our convoy cannot give you high priority at this time." "andromeda, what's that?" "the communication is jammed." "well, try something else." "efforting... efforting?" "themaruis this way." "oh, is that where it is?" "you know, i get confused." "all these corridors look the same." "let's go." "once we're free of theandromeda, we'll disengage our sabotage." "that makes me feel much better, thank you." "have a nice flight, now." "good work, tyr." "unbelievable." "success." "open the coffin." "it couldn't have gone better." "take drago's remains to the rendezvous." "i will entertain no questions." "am i understood?" "no one will break security." "themaruhas entered slipstream." "deck 15 has returned to normal." "however, somehow they've managed to severely compromise navigational control." "where the hell were you?" "ambushed." "you're in one piece?" "yes. he's safe." "i've got rollins." "this is a heads-up." "things are developing fast." "more attacks confirmed, all led by the drago-kazov." "in the archsul system, five planets destroyed." "sinti has been completely overrun." "they are marauding and trophy-taking." "the commonwealth cannot allow that." "well, we've got problems of our own here." "the commonwealth fleet is headed your way." "now what?" "boss, as much i owe themarumy life," "the whole universe is going to crap." "we've got to look out for number one." "let's get the hell out of here." "no. we're not giving up on themaru." "dylan, we have to get it back." "why?" "what am i missing, here?" "come on." "come on, give me something, trance." "a crumb." "anything." "a couple of words." "maybe even three words, like "not now, harper,"" "or "we're saving the universe,"" "or "we need your plants. " anything." "good guess." "dylan, we can track themaru." "it's leaking pion particles." "it's an easy trail to follow." "rommie, can we go to slipstream?" "that we can do." "beka... all right, we'll outrace them, scoop it up, and put it back in its hangar." "sounds good." "i want my ship back." "brace for slipstream." "they don't see us." "everybody likes a surprise." "trance, let's go." "tyr, try to keep up with me this time." "i'll do my best." "trance, check it out." "dylan, we've got a problem." "i'm on my way." "there is an old story." "fate travels to a distant planet looking for a man." "we do not know if it is good or bad, this fate, but the man fears this fate, his fate, so the day before fate arrives, he takes off for the planet sinti." "fate arrives at the man's doorstep and asks the man's family where he's gone, and the family replies that he has left for the planet sinti, and fate says, "now i understand,"" "and the family looks at fate without understanding." "fate simply says," ""tomorrow, we have an appointment in sinti. "" "your fate is waiting for you." "on theandromeda?" "i don't know, but i'm frightened, tyr." "i'm frightened for me." "i'm frightened that i will not succeed at what i need to do, but i'm also frightened for you- that you are going to do the wrong thing." "all right, what's going on?" "well, we seem to have chased themaru right into the middle of the drago-kazov system." "that's right where someone wants us to be." "there are three nietzschean cruisers approaching." "incoming transmission." "welcome to the drago-kazov system." "i am field marshall ataturk." "you're right on time." "welcome to the new nietzschean universe, the new order." "i would recommend you not fire upon us." "i have thousands of ships at my command." "relax and enjoy the ride." "theandromedais now a trophy of the drago-kazov." "status." "we have 30% power left." "all right." "take us to slipstream." "dylan... there's a problem." "abort. fall back." "[ alarm beeping ] all right, what happened?" "if the andromeda tries to get to slipstream, she'll eject her slipstream core." "the accompanying exotic matter will cause an explosion that will completely destroy the drago-kazov homeworld." "but we'd be okay?" "yes." "go directly to slipstream." "sabotage... this was done after the nietzscheans left theandromeda." "only senior officers have those codes." "it wasn't me." "there is a slipfighter leaving the ship." "it's tyr." "you know what?" "i am a gullible man when it comes to certain nietzscheans." "open a comm channel." "he's not responding." "of course not." "all right. here we go, tyr." "theandromeda is in our custody." "what are you doing?" "hold your position." "do nothing." "what is your destination?" "safety." "where?" "field marshall, you are painting this vessel." "i will not be followed." "but we need to know where you are for your protection." "you will discontinue your surveillance immediately." "you are being obvious and foolish." "foolish?" "and suspicious." "i delivered theandromeda." "that is all you need to know at this time." "but if there is more to your plan- any communication can be intercepted." "with our goal so near at hand, we cannot afford to breach security." "we can't afford to lose our leader." "this communication is terminated." "from now on, you will maintain radio silence." "done." "rommie?" "dylan, they've accessed my computer." "i'm being towed." "they're towing us?" "yeah, we're their trophy, remember?" "if it weren't for the honor, i'd just as soon pass on it." "rommie, what am i looking at?" "the kodiak homeworld." "orbiting enga's redoubt." "that's tyr's homeworld." "so he did all this just to get home, huh?" "but why?" "dylan, we can escape." "the slipcore will eject and the exotic matter explosion will destroy the dragans, but we can escape." "i have enough power for that." "or we could hang in there and fight." "boss, i'm with rommie." "go directly to slipstream." "we can't eject the slipcore." "there are thousands of slaves on enga's redoubt." "rommie... if you give me enough cover, the dragans will never notice a drop-pod coming into the system, will they?" "or care." "dylan, wait." "someone should go with you." "can't do it." "this is between me and tyr." "it's only a matter of time until we restore andromeda's power." "and when that happens, we go down fighting." "preposterous." "the andromeda will never force a collateral damage situation." "really?" "tyr anasazi is now the leader of the drago-kazov." "he has shown himself to be the true reincarnation of drago musevini." "he's also delivered proof of his loyalty to them." "he has delivered theandromeda." "all right, time to find out just exactly who has been messing with our slipcore." "all right, tyr ana-sleazy." "you can't hide from andromeda's video surveillance." "all right, andromeda, let's start with a few hours ago." "show me tyr anasazi if you can find him." "this is tyr during the assault on the nietzscheans." "security playback from corridor on deck 15." "okay... where was he after we got themaruback?" "he was in slipstream core control." "what?" "show me." "security tape running from invasion point." "i knew you were just another back-stabbing nietzschean, tyr." "last time i looked, drago's bones weren't in the slipstream core." "what else has he done in the core?" "any other suspicious activity, for that matter." "keep an open processor." "working backwards." "keep going." "wait a minute." "that's three years ago... he waited for three years to betray us." "guys, i got some bad news." "i had expected you sooner." "and i would have expected your loyalty." "looks like we'll both be disappointed." "it's quite beautiful." "is it not?" "if you like abandoned asteroids, yeah." "no, but this, all this." "this is where drago musevini's remains were enshrined for all the prides to view, under the protection of the kodiak." "this... this was our legacy." "the ham-fisted drago-kazov couldn't have created anything so sublime in a million years, only destroy it." "the dragans were short-sighted in their attack on your pride, tyr." "it was senseless." "it was what it was." "there is no blame." "we were in their way." "now they are in mine." "with the dragans, shall we say, removed from our collective sight... we can begin to create a more perfect universe." "the universe is never going to be perfect, tyr- it will be a damn sight better if i can unite the prides." "dylan... you are not just another stupid kludge." "you have insight... nearly nietzschean at moments." "hear me... the dragans, there, on enga's redoubt are standing in the way of a better nietzschean future." "if i act now, if i strike at this moment, i can correct that." "all for the mere price of theandromeda, plus her crew." "no... no!" "not necessarily." "i have made my choice." "if you attempt to take the andromeda to slipstream, yes, you will destroy that planet, but you... will be free, alive, to fight another day." "it would be a very nietzschean choice." "maybe, but i would be letting you do the same thing to the dragans as they did to your pride- wiping them out because they're in the way." "they are in the universe's way!" "like every empire since the dawn of history, they've had their day." "that's not your decision to make." "no, it's yours!" "you are a beautiful man, a valiant man, but you are flawed in your tiresome sense of right and wrong." "there is only your will, my will, and the universal will, and here we all sit wasting time." "choose life, dylan." "go, while i can still admire you." "you have let me know you too well, tyr." "that's your flaw." "you will help me to get out of here." "you don't need my help." "make the nietzschean choice." "i can't." "i'm not a nietzschean." "that why i've always had you." "you have friends on theandromeda,tyr, people you care about." "do you... truly not see that there are greater concerns here?" "how could you not have known that it would come to this?" "if you force me to make this choice... to bring death to an entire world, we can only ever meet again as enemies." "is that your choice?" "[ beka ]:dylan." "dylan, come in." "can you hear me?" "dylan- go ahead." "dylan, you've got to haul it back. now!" "our big problem just went giant, and i hope you have tyr with you." "we can't fight, and we can't run until he fixes his bug." "you hear that?" "i no longer have a choice." "the only choice is yours, and if you don't undo what you have done, then you condemn my ship and my crew to its death." "what's it going to be, tyr?" "hesitation, dylan... five minutes ago, this wouldn't have been an issue." "hesitation is weakness, and you, sir... you!" "my friend... have always made me... hesitant... and i am not fond of you for it." "yes. i know." "if i do this... if i go back there with you, it will be the last time." "then... it is over." "promises, promises." "dylan, hurry." "we're coming back." "fix the ship." "why did you do it, tyr?" "why did you throw away three years of work, three years of fighting for survival, of friendship?" "beka, i may have thrown away more in coming back here than i ever did in leaving." "and there's just no time to explain that any further." "tyr, we may not get out of this." "i think you owe me an explanation." "you'd like an explanation?" "the universe is changing, and we're changing right along with it." "i'll tell you a secret." "i've lived with you, i've fought beside you, fought with you... i've often wished you were a nietzschean." "what am i now?" "nothing." "they say it takes a minute to find something special in a person, an hour to appreciate them, and a day to love them... but it takes an entire life to forget them." "beka, i wish that i could explain- forget it, tyr." "go fix the ship." "now what?" "this might be of interest to you." "hundreds, if not thousands of ships are entering our system." "42% have no id or known profile." "the rest are known enemies of the commonwealth." "ogami, kalderans, bokor, nightsiders, freebooters." "you've got to be kidding me." "it's going to be one heck of a party." "open a comm channel." "comm open." "this is captain dylan hunt of theandromeda ascendant." "define your purpose." "no response." "it appears that they're all coming after the drago-kazov." "incoming communication from high guard ship twelve centuries." "we are entering your system." "rest assured, your safety is near." "yeah, well, we're not feeling very safe right now." "the forces are firing on the dragan's homeworld, enga's redoubt." "total anarchy." "why?" "and why the dragans?" "why us?" "we've got to get out of here now." "yeah, i think that's a pretty good idea." "you still out of here or what?" "yes." "don't forget to write." "you know, i can't blame you for wanting to destroy the drago-kazov, tyr, it's just how you did it." "i haven't done it as yet, and now, i just might not." "don't try to con a con, okay?" "you're safe." "we have full power." "boss, we're good to go." "rommie, take us out." "thanks... for undoing the trouble you caused in the first place." "you know, i thought i knew you, tyr, and it turns out all along you've just been waiting to betray us." "what did i ever do to you?" "you made me laugh." "no, i didn't." "yes, you did." "just not out loud, and i hope you get the chance to do it again." "yeah, we'll double-cross that bridge when we get to it." "we miss anything, boss?" "now what?" "now we wait for these idiots to blow each other up, and then help the commonwealth pick up the pieces afterwards." "cutting yourself off from your best allies, aligning yourself with no one." "odd choice for the ultimate survivor." "i will never, ever, waste my time reasoning with a machine." "your vine is dead." "no... i am the vine, and quite unlike your synthetic self, i am very much alive." "i've accessed the nietzschean folklore of the dragonia vine, and initially, it does signify leadership, but it also comes with a curse- a lonely and bloody end." "more of the commonwealth has arrived." "this has to be a trap, a trap to destroy the commonwealth fleet." "we are now engaging the enemy." "please await our orders." "come on." "await orders?" "and engage which enemy?" "this is nuts." "this is insanity." "tyr, anything you want to tell us?" "no." "the ogami and kalderans have opened fire on the commonwealth ships." "what?" "rollins, fall back." "we'll cover your retreat." "that is a negative, captain." "we are engaged." "please await for further orders... stand by for further orders." "the enemy fleet, kalderan, ogami, and nietzschean, are destroying the commonwealth fleet." "it's total anarchy." "oh, crap. we're next." "dylan, we've got to get out of here." "we've got to go." "beka, you have command." "great." "tyr... any dubious obligation i might have had to you, i have fulfilled." "i'm leaving." "you're going to your death." "you've got no place to go." "i've got everywhere to go." "it is time for my son to be with his father." "you told me your son was dead." "you can't be surprised." "you've always known." "yes. i have a son... and there is so much more that you will know of him one day." "because you believe he is the reincarnation of drago musevini." "dylan... that's the most glorious thing... he is." "okay." "so what does that mean?" "it's hope, dylan." "hope for my people, hope for your people, hope for your commonwealth, hope for the universe." "there is no hope for the commonwealth." "the commonwealth fleet is destroyed." "and now, the sabra-jaguar, the mandau, the rakhshasa, all the prides will honor that child." "they have no choice but to follow." "it is written in their genes... as it is in his, and mine." "tell that to the dragans' children." "they are hardly an issue any longer." "next time we meet... friend or enemy?" "dylan hunt... live well. tyr anasazi." "tyr doesn't have a chance." "maybe they don't care about him anymore." "you're half right, harper." "what about the other half?" "the other half will hunt him down, and we're looking at the universe coming apart at the seams." "and history repeating itself." "the nietzscheans have created a void." "they've weakened the commonwealth enough so that others have seized the opportunity." "and that's the optimist's viewpoint." "they're closing in on tyr." "what do we do?" "oh, what the hell." "cover him." "andromeda, clear his path." "let me know when he's through." "i can't see anything." "just keep firing." "path is clear." "no sign of tyr." "we've done all we can here." "take us to slipstream." "you got it." "we're losing them." "nobody on our tail." "you know... i have only one question about all of this- so who gets tyr's stuff?" "what do we do now, boss?" "they'll be coming for us, and we'll stay ready."