"Previously, on "Dark Matter"..." "The summit on EOS-7 will come under attack, and the result will be all-out corporate war." "It's a key that allows someone to access inter-dimension space time." "Use non-lethal force only." "I'll get the Blink Drive." "I just needed to cut you." "The poison that coats my blade will do the rest." "Are you telling me you want the war to happen?" "My people are already at war." "Three, Five, Six, if you can hear me, get down to the "Marauder."" "Hey, come with me." "Two?" "Two." "Come on." " Where are the others?" " Come on, we've gotta go." "We have to find them." "If we don't leave now, we're not gonna make it." "No, we can't leave." "Not yet." "Hey, look at me." "We have to go." "Now." "Where have you been?" "Negotiating our safe passage, thank you very much." "I don't understand." "The android was the bomb, but he detonated off-site." "Well, all I know is EOS-7 was destroyed, and now, we are looking at corporate war." "Ferrous Corp has launched a pre-emptive strike, and all hell has broken loose." "So what does that mean for us?" "Well, fortunately, Mikkei remained neutral at the council vote, so neither side see us as a direct threat... for now." "I have a Mikkei cruiser en route, but the closest friendly in range is your "Raza."" "I have requested a comm link in order to set up a rendezvous." "Wait, they know we're gonna meet up with the "Raza"?" "Yes." "And they're still willing to help us?" "Despite whatever disagreements Volkov-Rusi may have had with you and your crew in the past..." "If that's what you call Two killing a dozen of their soldiers." "War changes everything." "Now it's all about new alliances." "Android!" " Five, are you all right?" " Yeah, I'm fine." "We made it to an escape pod and managed to jettison before the station blew up." "Thanks to Commander Truffault." "We were picked up by a Volkov-Rusi ship that answered our distress beacon, and they have agreed to give us safe transport to your ship." "We just need your coordinates." "Understood." "What about the rest of the crew?" "Have you heard anything?" "No, I lost contact with them shortly before the explosion." "Two, Three, Six." "They were all on the station." "Well, maybe they were able to reach escape pods too." "We couldn't have been the only ones." "Perhaps." "We'll find them." "I know we will." "Everyone's gonna be okay." "No, Five." "I'm afraid that's not true." " Shields are down" " We've lost navigation." "Trying to get the engines back online." "All right, I've managed to stabilize our attitude with thrusters, but primary systems are inoperable." "So are sensors and comms." "Though I suppose it could be worse." "Yeah, we could be having this conversation outside." "Think you can pull off a miracle?" "Sure, but I'll need the right equipment and about two days to get it done." "I'd settle for just getting comms back online before the GA find us." "So what do you think?" "Hey!" " She was counting on me." " Don't do that." "Don't make her a damsel in distress." "She's a hell of a lot better than that." "She knew going on that station would be a risk." "She thought it was worth it." "But we still failed, and Ferrous Corp detonated that bomb anyway." "That wasn't a bomb." "What are you saying?" "That chain reaction of explosions could've only been caused by the reactor core going critical." "Ferrous Corp wasn't responsible." "It was Ryo Ishida." "Four?" " No, why would he...?" " He said as much to the Android after stealing the Blink Drive." "Yeah, while we were on the station, he boarded the "Raza" and took it." "I could've stopped this from happening." "I should've seen it coming." "He claimed he needed it to win the war Zairon was fighting, but I never thought he'd go this far with it." "But still... no, no, why..." "Why would he blow up that station and kill all those innocent people?" "Because destroying the station triggers a bigger conflict, one that indirectly weakens Zairon's enemies by redirecting their corporate backers." "How do you know this?" "Because he told me." "And, like you, I didn't believe he'd actually do it." "We've got to stop thinking of him as our friend." "He stopped being that the moment he downloaded" "Ryo Ishida's memories." "The Four we knew is gone." "Teku." "It's been far too long, my old friend." "Ryo?" "Now Emperor Ishida Ryo of Zairon." "Your step-mother?" "She'll no longer be a threat to you or anyone else." "And Hiro?" "He'll no longer be a threat either." "Your step-brother was too easily influenced but, at heart, a good man." "His death is unfortunate." "His death was regrettable but, ultimately, necessary." "I still have enemies within the court, but they've lost their direct claim to the throne." "They're disorganized and without purpose." "It's only a matter of time before I uproot them." "And then what?" "Have them take my place here in this cell?" "Why risk it?" "Your years as a fugitive have hardened you, Ryo." "I can see it." "What happened to the idealistic young man I used to teach?" "He's finally learned your lessons in political ethics." "Now come, let's get you out of here before you make me change my mind." "Oh, Teku, I've missed you." "And I you, Ryo." "Welcome home." "Welcome back." "Still no word from the others?" "None." "Well, we have to go back and search for survivors." "I'd advise against that." "By now, the GA will be all over that area." "Well, we can't just leave them." "We can't give up if there's a chance they're still alive." "There were escape pods all over that station." "I'll contact Mikkei Central and have them divert all available ships to the area." "If your friends have survived, hopefully our ships will find them first." "What was that?" "We're under attack." "We've been double crossed?" "No, the Volkov-Rusi ship has been destroyed." "It's Ferrous Corp." "Why aren't we jumping?" "Their first salvo disabled our FTL engines." "It's always the first thing they target." "That's their attempt to disable our shield." "It appears the engines on both ships have been disabled." "What about their shields?" "Their shields are down." "So fire on them." "Finish them off." "Unfortunately, our weapons are also down." "Their weapons seem to be just fine, no?" "As are our shields, for the time being." "Wouldn't now be a perfect time to use that Blink Drive of yours?" "It would be, if we still had it." "Oh, you gotta be kidding." "Anders?" "I thought you were dead." "I would've been if I hadn't been wearing my flak vest." "The fall actually did more damaging." "Hit the back of my head and knocked me right out." "You have looked better." "What's the story?" "Oh, I ran into some old friends." "It was more like they ran into me, actually." "Repeatedly." "With their fists and feet." "Where are we?" "What were you doing on that station?" "I was trying to stop a bombing." "Kal, was he with you?" " Hmm?" " Six." "Yeah, yeah." "Him and some of my crew." "What happened?" "I'm sorry." "With our engines dead, we're just another cold piece of debris to any ship sensors." "At least we have that." "Mm-hmm, and, maybe... comms." "Oh, yes." "Hey, we're receiving a transmission." "It's the "Marauder."" "Come in, "Raza," this is the "Marauder."" "Come in." ""Marauder," this is the "Raza."" "It's good to hear from you." "I'm with Six." "We managed to make it out before the station exploded." "Any word from the others?" "Anything from Five?" "Yes, Five also managed to escape." " Is she okay?" " Is she there?" "I'm here, and I'm fine." "Commander Truffault and I managed to make it to an escape pod in time." " Truffault?" " Yes." "Thank you." "We owe you one." "This is one assist I won't be calling favors on, unless, of course, you happen to have a couple of FTL engines handy." "We don't have any operational engines." "We need you to come pick us up immediately." "Unfortunately, Two, that's not possible." "The ship has been damaged in a battle with a Ferrous Corp destroyer, and we're dead in space." "We're effecting repairs as we speak, but there's no telling when we'll be jump-capable." "Okay, well, do what you can." "We'll sit tight." "Have you heard from Three?" "No, I'm afraid not." "You should know, I'm sorry, I..." "Android, what is it?" "Nyx." "She's dead." " What?" " How?" "I found her on the bridge." "I suspect she encountered Ryo Ishida and tried to stop him from taking the Blink Drive." "He killed her." "They're a determined bunch." "What was that?" "The Ferrous Ship has launched a shuttle." "It's headed straight for us." "What are you doing?" "Trying to get this generator up and running." "Temperature's already starting to drop." "It's gonna get cold fast." "You should let me take a look at it." "You can see fine from there." " I mean, let me help you." " I got it." " Seriously." " I got it." "Are you really gonna be this stubborn?" "Stubborn enough to keep one of the galaxy's most wanted locked up?" "Hell yeah." "We should be working together." "Like you said, the temperature's falling fast." "We're gonna be stuck here for a little while." "See, that's where you're wrong." "I triggered the emergency beacon during planet fall." "Someone will come for us, sooner or later." "How far out are they?" "They've just breached the airlock." "They're on board." "Move, move." "They've breached containment." "Where's your nearest weapons cache?" "This way." "It's nothing to be concerned about yet, but we'll keep a close eye on it." "How's Teku doing?" "Fine." "I left instructions with one of the guards to prepare a guest room for him." "Good." "I assume he will be staying a while." "Well, that's for him to decide." "I would assume that, as Emperor, it would be up to you." "His presence in the court concerns me." "Teku spent the last three years locked up in a dungeon because he was loyal to me." "With all due respect, heika, he was imprisoned because he was disloyal to the throne." "Well, now they're all one and the same, so there can be no confusion." "Like your step-brother, Teku leads with his heart." "His interests may not align with the court's." "Then I should take steps to rectify that." "I'm not the bad guy." "Your outstanding warrant would suggest otherwise." "Okay, I am a bad guy, but I am not the bad guy." "We didn't blow up that station." " That was Ferrous Corp." " Why would they do that?" "To weaken their corporate rivals." "I guarantee you, out there, there's gonna be all-out war..." "If it hasn't already started." "So you and the crew of the "Raza" are, what, defenders of the peace?" "No, we're the bad guys, but we're trying to stop the bigger bad guys from screwing things up for everyone." "You sound like Kal." "How well did you know him?" "We've been friends from way back, trained at the academy together." "I was the best man..." "So you knew him well enough to know that he wouldn't have thrown in with us if we couldn't be trusted to do the right thing." "Yeah, he took us down." "He turned us in." "But he also helped us escape because he realized that he'd made a mistake." "He realized, like you said, there were bigger bads out there than you." "You happen to be working for one of the biggest." "I don't always agree with our methods, but the GA is a force for law and order, and that is something I believe in." "Well, if I'm right, and we're headed for corporate war, law and order will be the first thing to go." "Come on out, little girl." "We're not gonna hurt you... much." "Back, back!" "Coming at you." "Move, move!" "Headed your way." "All clear." "Okay, check your weapons." "I need one body in that hall drawing fire." "The rest of us are gonna circle around and outflank them." "Take them by surprise." "Son of a..." "I don't understand." "Why would he do it?" "She must've tried to stop him, and he killed her." "Simple as that." "But he cared for her." "I know he did." "Maybe, before he got his memories back." "Why would getting his memories back change anything?" "The time they spent together, the relationship they built..." "He couldn't have just forgotten." "I'm guessing his old memories helped him put things in a different perspective, made him reorder his priorities." "Like you said, we've gotta stop thinking of him as Four." "But he told the Android, had her warn us, that the station was about to blow." "He didn't have to do that." "Part of him must still care." "Some small part, sure, but not enough to stop him from destroying that station, killing all those people... and killing Nyx." "What was that?" "Six?" "Life support." "It just shut down." ""Marauder," hey." "Tried to reach you earlier." "Yeah, we were dealing with a few issues." "How close are you to getting those engines back online?" "I'm not sure." "We're still working on it." "We're running out of time here." " I know, we're..." " Life support took a hit." "Oxygen is running out." "We've got maybe 40 minutes left." "We'll come get you before that happens." "I promise." "All right, keep us updated." "Better go grab that oxygen tank in the back." "What the hell?" "Two, what's going on?" "Two?" "I'm transferring most of the remaining oxygen to your section." "That and the tank should keep you alive long enough for them to get here." "What about you?" "Counting on my nanites." "We know for a fact that I can last at least 30 minutes without oxygen." "And what happens after that?" "You're still flesh and blood." "You can't last forever without oxygen." "I don't need forever." "You don't get to make this call." "Yeah, actually, I do." "You think I don't know what's going on?" "You're blaming yourself for what happened on the station, what happened to Nyx." "But you're wrong, and trading your life for mine isn't gonna make things right." "Two, talk to me." "Two, talk to me!" "I think the cavalry's here." "Sit tight." "I'll try not to wander off." "Come on." "Aah!" "Ah." "Shh." "You still awake?" "Yeah." "Just wanted to say you'll never know how truly sorry I am." "For what?" "Betraying you." "Turning you all in." "At the time..." "At the time, it seemed like you were doing the right thing." "Or so I thought." "I guess we both learned that doing the right thing isn't always the right thing to do." "Bringing you in was wrong, but..." "Trying to stop the bomb, trying to stop a war..." "Was just asking for trouble, even if we had succeeded." "We try to forget, but the truth is, who we were influences every decision we make." "Ever since we came out of stasis, we've been fighting against our pasts." "No matter what the odds, we've been trying to be better, and... we keep failing." "No." "As long as we keep trying, we know we're better." "That's all that matters." "Sure, it'd be easier to be the bad guy, to not give a damn, but..." "That's not who we are." "Not anymore." "The shields are weakening." "How's it coming along?" "I think this is gonna work." "I'm gonna get the engines up in time." "Unfortunately, Five, I'm afraid that's unlikely." "The successive volleys from the Ferrous Corp destroyer have taken their toll." "I estimate total shield failure in less than 20 minutes." "Hey, I thought I'd lost you there." "I have an idea, but I will need your help to set up a neural link with the Ferrous Corp shuttle that's currently docked with the ship." "Okay." "You're dead." "I am." "I'm sorry." "For what?" "You can't seriously blame yourself for what happened to me." "On that very first day when we came out of stasis," "I took command." "And the crew let me because they had faith in me." "They trusted me to look after them." "And you did." "Not well enough... for One or for you." "You can get off me now." "Yeah, yeah, yeah." "What the hell was that thing?" "Security drone." "I'm guessing it wasn't properly shut down after they closed this place up." "Okay, I've got a plan." " Let's hear it." " Step one:" "Give me your gun." " I don't think so." " Are you kidding me?" "You've got two." "You can barely hold onto one," " let alone shoot." " I can shoot just fine." "Yeah, it's aiming that's the problem." "Come on, man." "I just saved your life." " You owe me one." " And I saved your life back on that station." "We're even." "Oh, seriously?" "Oh, man." "I give you the gun, I have your word you'll give it back to me the second this is over?" "Yeah, sure." "I don't believe you." "Just give me the goddamn gun." "Oh, ouch, ouch, oh!" "Oh." "You can second guess yourself all you want, but the reality is, you and the crew of the "Raza"" "lead dangerous lives." "If I'd just let the GA deal with the corporations instead of risking my crew..." "Who was I to think that we should be the ones to change things?" "Just because you failed doesn't mean it wasn't right to try." "The old Portia wouldn't have, but you're different." "You're a better person." "Being better is so much harder." "You're not even real." "Then a part of you knows that what I'm saying is true." "You're not perfect, but you're the best shot our friends have at survival." "So if I already know all this, why are you here?" "Why else?" "To say good-bye." "Come on, come on." "The destroyer is hailing the shuttle." "Ignore them." "They're threatening to open fire." " Is it close enough yet?" " Not yet." "Red Team One, I repeat, this is your final warning." "Requesting ident code." "They're opening fire." "How much closer?" "Almost within range." "Setting drives to go critical in three... two... one." "Target destroyed." "Nice work." "Oh, come on." "Why are you looking at me?" "How is that my fault?" "You couldn't have taken the shot two seconds earlier?" "I wanted to make sure." "Can I have my gun back?" "Yeah." "This is the Galactic Authority." "Come forward and identify yourselves." "What's it gonna be?" "This is the Galactic Authority." " Come forward and..." " Lieutenant John Anders," "Galactic Authority, Serious Crimes Division." "I came down in an escape pod after the destruction of EOS-7." "We heard weapons fire." "Yeah, yeah, facility's security drone was still active." "I had to take it out." "Are you alone?" "Yeah, yeah, it's just me." "I'm sorry we didn't have more time to get to know each other." "Me too." "I'm gonna miss you." "We're not gonna make it." "Good-bye." "Fonsei Teku, you stand before us, a free man for the first time in many years." "As Emperor, I offer you a life far from the politics and gamesmanship of the royal court, a home in the countryside and a considerable stipend that will allow you to live out your retirement in quiet retreat." "What say you, Teku?" "You are most generous, heika." "But, in order to receive these gifts, you must publicly recant." "Do you renounce your actions against the throne?" "No, I do not." "I am, and have always been, loyal to Zairon's rightful ruler and his father before him." "Not a duplicitous Empress." "Not a pretender to the throne." "Now and forever, only Emperor Ishida Ryo." "Well, you refusal to renounce your crimes have cost you my offer." "So be it." "So, instead, I'll make you another:" "A position in this court as my royal advisor." "What say you, Teku?" "I accept this great honor and vow to serve you and the court to the best of my abilities, to my dying breath." "Five told me I would find you here." "Ah, I wanted to grab a final cup before we rendezvous with my ship." "It's amazing, really." "Your android makes better coffee than anyone I know." "You should come by for her Spaghetti Saturdays." "Love to, but it looks like" "I'm going to be rather busy for the foreseeable future." "So what do you think?" "Which side of this corporate war is Mikkei going to fall on?" "Well, if we side with Ferrous Corp's enemies, we risk inciting the wrath of a very powerful opponent with no guarantee of victory." "On the other hand, if we back Ferrous Corp, once the other corporations have been defeated, we know it'll only be a matter of time before they come after us." "So?" "So... we wait." "Continue to maintain a neutral position and try not to get drawn into the conflict." "And how long do you think that'll last?" "Ideally, long enough until both sides are so weakened beating the shit out of each other we can just swoop in and clear the table." "Spoken like a true opportunist." "Well, you do what's in the best interest of those you serve." "Even if what you do is morally questionable." "Especially if what you do is morally questionable." "It's easy to lead in the good times, much harder to do so in the bad." "You suffer losses and begin to question past decisions, and that's all right." "But, as a Commander, you can't let the responsibilities you bear weigh you down, because, if you do, you will never move forward." "Yeah, well, that's easier said than done." "Especially when the costs are personal." "The costs are always personal." "Two, we've just received a coded transmission." "Is that my ship?" "No." "Patch it through to the mess." "Yes, Two." ""Raza," this is Lieutenant John Anders of the Galactic Authority." "How did you acquire our comm signature?" "I got it from a friend of yours." "He could use a lift." "I'm sending you his coordinates." "It's chaos out there." "GA's gonna be spread thin." "I say we take advantage, hit a few places." "And I'm okay with that, but I think raiding and robbing should be a means to an end, not the end itself." "Like you said, we hit a few places." "We stock up... food, weapons, whatever, but then we go after Ferrous Corp." "Put a crimp in their plans for galactic domination." "Without the Blink Drive?" "We don't need the Blink Drive to make a difference here." "It's not our fight, man." "If Ferrous Corp takes out the other corps, you can be damn sure they'll eventually make it our fight." "I made a casserole using some of the fresh vegetables we picked up on Corvus-8." "We'll have allies out there..." "Rebels, the outer colonies, anyone who's ever been wronged by the corporations." "Mm, this is really good." "Thank you." "The secret ingredient is basil." "Mm." "And love." "But mostly basil." "Hey, sorry I'm late." " Nice apron." " Thank you." "I picked it up on our last station stopover, along with new boots and a wholly impractical but simply adorable hat." "Oh." "Well, where are you off to?" "Well, I was gonna go eat in my quarters." "I've got stuff to do." "You're the one who keeps saying we're family." "Family eats together." " Hey." " Yeah?" "Oh, all right." "So, what about you?" "What do you think we should do next?" "Simple." "First, we take back the Blink Drive." "Then, we kill Ryo Ishida." "Sarah, it's me, Five." "Welcome back."