"I was able to rescue her digital consciousness." "You can neurally connect to her world." "You're not tabor." "Right, the amnesia thing." "Tabor told me." "Adrian maro, tabor's former assistant." "We were kinda hoping maybe we could stay with you guys for a while." "Wait!" "The needle was poisoned." "Round up his family and his closest friends." "Guilty or not, an example must be made." "I want two dozen prisoners to a cargo hold." "No more, no less." "Let's go." "Move." "Come on." "Move." "Let's go." "The journey to inari7 should take less than 48 hours." "In this time, you'll be questioned regarding any antiimperial acts you may have witnessed or any suspicions you may have regarding neighbors' or friends' loyalty." "We're loyal to emperor ishida!" "Our people have proudly served the royal court for generations." "And yet one of your fellow clansmen plotted to kill our beloved emperor." "None of us had prior knowledge of his intentions." "We'll see about that." "You have no right to keep us here." "We're following the emperor's orders." "Are you questioning his right to rule over you?" "I question a ruler who would deny his subjects their freedom on the basis of unfounded suspicion and fear!" "I accept your confession of treason." "No." "No, no, no, no." "No!" "I'm loyal to the emperor!" "No!" "Please!" "the royal court's decision in this matter?" "Glad to see you're taking this seriously." "For your information, I was only pretending to sleep." "when no one knows you're listening." "Right, so the snoring was just for show?" "I had to convince him." "And the drool?" "It's the little details that make it work." "So what did you learn?" "Gideon." "He's the one in charge." "Think we can convince him?" "What, you worried all this ain't enough?" "Rumor has it you're the one in charge here..." "Aside from our ishida captors, that is." "I look after my people as best I can." "And that includes most everyone we came on board with... 'cept you two." "So who are you?" "All you need to know is that we're here to help." "Gettin' you off this ship, for starters." "That assassination attempt made the emperor look weak." "Now he's gonna make a big show of stamping out any disloyalty." "Like it or not, you're a part of that show." "And by "show," she's talking about a very public round of executions just to prove it to everyone he's still in charge." "Even if we could escape, where would we go?" "We got contacts in the outer colonies, the ones that have recently declared independence." "And they'd help us?" "They already agreed to take you in." "This is a new life for you and your people, one where no one has any power over you." "All you have to do is seize the opportunity..." "By helping us take this ship." "Reports of losses are still coming in, but it looks like the blockade has held." "Good." "Redirect ships from the atria sector." "Reinforce our positions along chara 2 and 3." "But that may leave atria vulnerable to attack." "The planets in that sector have proven valuable allies." "And their sacrifice will be recognized if it comes to that." "The blockade is our priority." "Yes, emperor." "I'll see it done." "Thank you, general ueda." "Teku, what news?" "Are we any closer to identifying the coconspirators?" "To be frank, heika," "I don't believe there were any." "We have questioned many of his people, but none could provide any information aren't asking the right questions." "I'd like to announce the conspirators have been caught and set a date for their trial by the end of the week." "It is best to move quickly in these matters to give the people the reassurance they deserve." "Don't you agree?" "Yes, emperor." "We hit them after their next checkin." "That'll give us 20 minutes to take the bridge." "Create a distraction so we can take out the guards." "But we can help you take the bridge." "You'll just get in the way..." "And probably get killed." "At least let us free our friends from the other cargo holds." "This needs to go down quick and quiet." "they'll enact a lockdown, and then we're all screwed." "We'll handle it." "She's going with you." "We just told you..." "Look, she's one person." "She won't slow you down." "Can you fight?" "Served for five years with the planetary guard." "Want a demonstration?" "That won't be necessary." "Okay, you're with us." "Might just pull this off." "What, you had doubts?" "Never." "Here we go." "Yup." "Hey!" "Hey!" "Let's go." "Sit tight." "Turn that thing off!" "Relax, sweetheart." "Hard part's over." "Okay, I've got full control of the ship's systems, and I've just locked down the interior corridors." "Now free the prisoners." "Yup, you got it." "My god." "They're opening the air lock!" "What are you doing?" "!" "Cleaning house." "Commander truffault, you are receiving a subspace transmission from an unauthorized source." "Has the sender identified themselves?" "They claim to be the crew of the raza." "Put them through." "Hello, commander." "How goes the war?" "The mikkei combine has managed to stay out of it." "Well, hopefully until the end of this unfortunate conflict." "At which point mikkei will step into the power vacuum unscathed and resource rich?" "You really think ferrous is gonna let that happen?" "I'm not sure they'll have much of a choice." "Their hands are rather full." "Now, either you've redecorated, or you've found yourselves a new ship." "Yes." "We have doubled the size of our fleet." "I thought you and emperor ishida weren't on the best of terms." "This cruiser isn't so much lent as it is liberated." "Stealing warships..." "My, you've upped your game." "This ship does have a lot of firepower, but that's not why we took it." "Zairon's at war with pyr, but in the bigger corporate conflict, they're officially neutral." "Allowing a ship like that free passage through contested areas." "No one will be looking too closely at us or anything we might be transporting." "That could be useful, if you're looking to move cargo that requires a bit of extra discretion." "Know anyone like that?" "I'll be in touch." "All right." "We're in business." "You know, we make a pretty good team." "Yeah." "I like this." "It's got kind of an "all hail our glorious leader"" "sort of vibe to it." "Android, any progress establishing a neural link?" "Not yet." "connection is theoretically possible, but such a function was not part of this ship's original design." "What's with the nocando attitude?" "That wasn't pessimism, simply a statement of fact, like, "we stole a ship,"" ""we're flying through space,"" "or, "I could detach your head with minimal effort."" "Okay." "Minimal..." "Yeah." "Okay." "Effort." "I got it." "Testy robot." "So how'd it go with truffault?" "She buy it?" "Yeah, I think so." "Still can't believe we're gonna work with that bitch." "She hates us." "You shoulda seen them, yakking on like old friends." "Yeah, old friends until we doublecross her." "Incoming transmission." "Get out." "All right." "Two..." "I should've known." "Hello, emperor." "What can I do for you?" "I want my ship back, for starters." "Sorry, but we have plans for this sweet, sweet ride." "You stole the blink drive from me, destroyed a research facility that set my war effort back years, and now you take one of my ships?" "Too ambitious?" "I know you still blame me for what happened to nyx, and even though she didn't die by my own hand," "I still bear the guilt of her death." "And I accept..." "You know, I miss that kid's moxie." "I caution restraint." "I will bring the full force of zairon down on them." "The full force of zairon is presently engaged in more pressing matters." "It is unwise to commit valuable resources to a personal vendetta." "They targeted me!" "And I will respond with force!" "They attacked the house of ishida." "They stole from us." "It is my duty as the emperor to respond." "Forgive me, emperor." "I did not mean to offend." "You haven't." "Your counsel is always welcome, teku." "No matter how idealized and misdirected." "Move!" "The mikkei shuttle has docked." "Seal off all doors between the cargo hold and the air lock." "We wouldn't want anyone wandering." "Yes, portia." "Whoa, hey." "Remember, we are supposed to be friendly." "Put it away." "This way, grunts." "Truffault said you'd have information about the drop." "Here you go." "This planet is in traugott territory." "That a problem?" "Not for us." "No information about the cargo we're hauling for you?" "The less you know, the better." "Careful, you clumsy idiots!" "Do you want to get us all killed?" "!" "Please at least attempt to follow the protocol." "All right." "Half now." "The other half on delivery." "Yeah, we are all good." "Who wants?" "We done?" "Yes." "All right." "Let's go." "Tash, see these men safely back to their ship." "The hell you doing with that?" "What, I can't be curious about the planet we're not visiting?" "Still no success in reaching six?" "It's been days since we last talked." "I assume he must be busy." "Too busy to call just to say he's too busy?" "Too busy to even accept my comm transmission?" "that his new duties on the outer colonies would command a great deal of his attention and that he wouldn't be as available to you as he was in the past." "Yeah." "I know." "But that doesn't mean he isn't missing you, too." "Maybe that's him now." "Commander truffault." "What the hell is your crew playing at?" "I'm telling you, we haven't stolen an ishida cruiser or taken delivery of any missiles." "And I suppose you're gonna deny contacting me as well?" "Yes." "Seriously, that's the best you can come up with?" "Look, I don't know what's going on, but I assure you we had nothing to do with it." "Pending the return of those missiles and the cash, consider our unlikely alliance suspended." "Well... that was weird." "Hey." "Hey." "You figure out why truffault thinks we doublecrossed her?" "Yeah." "Because we did doublecross her." "Damn." "I must be getting old." "My memory is not what it used to be." "I had the android access the ga general database and search for any official sightings of us over the last few months." "Check it out." "Month and a half ago, rigel9." "Three weeks ago, kleeia3." "Except I've never been to rigel9 or kleeia3." "Tash and wexler." "Well, guess we now know who took that ride back from the alternate universe?" "Well, we can't just let them fly around, trashing your reputations." "To be fair, kid, our reputations are already pretty trashed." "We can't let them get away with this." "So what are we gonna do?" "Well, first we're gonna find them, and then we're gonna deal with them." "Hey." "What do you got there?" "First present tabor ever gave me." "It's an antique he won in a poker game on Artemis9." "Really makes you realize..." "How much you miss him?" "He gave me this and called it my endofyear bonus." "Cost me more to get it appraised than it was worth." "So why do you still have it?" "I don't know." "What are we doing here?" "No, on this ship with the crew of the raza." "They're the galaxy's most wanted." "Legends." "And we're useless." "Because of us, they almost got killed on that traugott colony, got trapped in a time loop, got sent off on a wildgoose chase..." "Again, I need to point out, that was all you." "My point is, after really thinking about it, it's become obvious:" "We don't belong here." "I hate to say it, and I'm sure they'll hate to hear it..." "I'm sure they'll be fine hearing it." "I'll let 'em know tonight at dinner." "Hey, Adrian, we need your help with something." "On the other hand..." "Got it?" "Yup." "Beauties." "." "a nice fat, juicy target and see what these babies can do?" "No." "Priority number one is finding a buyer." "We'll keep one crate and sell the rest." "To who?" "I'm sure there are plenty of interested buyers." "Portia, we've received a subspace transmission." "I told you to block ishida and truffault." "It isn't ishida or truffault." "Finally!" "Adrian." "Where's tabor?" "He's taken a leave of absence." "Hiding under a rock until the war blows over?" "Probably." "But that's not the point." "Just because he's disappeared doesn't mean you guys can go around violating your contractual obligations." "Well, look who's stepping up." "I didn't think you had it in you." "I'm impressed." "Wait, how did you get this transmission channel?" "Truffault called me." "Of course." "Stealing an ishida cruiser?" "Heisting a shipment of cuttingedge missiles?" "We saw an opportunity, so we took it." "And it never occurred to you to give your representation a headsup?" "Not to mention the fact that you just screwed over the only corporate friend you have." "We'll make new friends." "And besides, mikkei is not going to do anything." "and they run the risk of ferrous corp." "Finding out they've been smuggling missiles to traugott." "Well, okay." "But you shoulda dialed me in." "You mean tabor, don't you?" "Sure." "Tabor and me." "I mean, that's how this works, right?" "You steal stuff." "We sell it." "And take your cut." "It's the price of doing business." "So you think you can find a buyer for these missiles without tabor?" "I already have one." "Who?" "All you need to know is that I'm getting you top price." "I don't like it." "What's not to like?" "You vouch for this buyer?" "Completely." "Then I want you there for the exchange." "Well, that's... unusual." "Either you show up, or the deal is off." "Fine." "I'll be there." "Happy?" "Ambivalent." "Great." "I'll send the coordinates once I've made the arrangements." "Ooh, well, that went better than expected." "Yeah, congratulations." "You're a terrific liar." "Hey, I was taking a chance they would even know me." "I already told you, in the alternate universe, the crew of the raza never lost their memories." "I know, but I was kinda thinking the alternate me might be something different." "Like what?" "I don't know." "Concert pianist?" "My mom said I had a gift." "Come on." "We should get ready." "I can do this, right?" "But what if they suspect a setup?" "What if they make an example of me?" "that'll make me look really bad." "I'm not gonna let that happen." "Okay, that's... reassuring." "Don't worry." "All you gotta do is talk, and we'll do the rest." "Can I have the gun I was promised?" "Know how to use this thing?" "Pfft." "Point and shoot?" "Lesson complete." "Hi." "Where's the buyer?" "Gguess he's running late." "Where's, portia?" "She's back on the ship with the missiles." "When the buyer shows up, I'll radio to her, and she'll come down to meet us." "Wewell, that doesn't strike me as a particularly efficient use of our time." "What, we wait for the buyer, then we wait for portia..." "See what I'm saying?" "Hahave you been on the raza long?" "'Cause ii don't really recognize your face." "Iit's just..." "Don't!" "Don't." "Don't what?" "You were going for your gun!" "No." "I was adjusting my pants." "No." "You were definitely going for your gun." "No." "This is me going for my gun." "Stop!" "Don't!" "Don't move another muscle!" "I'm warning you!" "Drop it." "The other portia." "I was hoping I'd get the chance to see you again." "You should be careful what you wish for." "Now drop the weapon." "Actually, I think you should drop yours." "Why's that?" "my team in the trees will take you all out." "You think I came down here without backup?" "There's no one out there." "Why don't you test me and see what happens?" "God!" "In the... you know what?" "!" "You are gonna regret that... right now!" "Right now!" "Guys, whenever you're ready!" "Aw, shit." "Yeah, not so tough now, are you?" "Put that thing down before you hurt someone." "It's fine." "Three took the bullets out." "What the hell?" "I secured the marauder." "Moving on to phase two." "It's hard to describe exactly the feeling of having a gun pointed at you." "What a rush." "It really puts life into perspective." "I mean, just look at this sky." "I..." "I've never seen it so blue and vibrant." "Okay, can someone just knock me unconscious and drag me the rest of the way?" "I cannot listen to any more of this." "I've already killed you once." "Please don't ask me to do it again." "Wait, is that what happened to the me in this reality?" "'Cause I looked him up." "He went missing a month ago." "I figured he was just keeping a low profile." "Yeah, you think you're capable of that?" "I mean, you killing me makes a lot more sense." "How'd you do me?" "How did I do you?" "I spaced you." "Damn." "That's cold." "Yeah, well, you doublecrossed us, took my ship." "I figured it was an appropriate response." "Plus, you spaced me first." "You know, I can't help but, see this as an opportunity for a fresh start for both of us." "I'm a free agent, you know, with a lot to offer both professionally and personally." "You, um, looking for any new talent?" "No." "Wait." "This is where we parked the marauder." "Where's our shuttle?" "I got no idea." "Taking it wasn't part of the plan." "Meet the buyer, steal the payments, keep the missiles." "Is that it?" "I dunno!" "Maybe kill Adrian and the buyer?" "but nobody said Jack squat about heisting your ride, though." "You think if I had known that getting captured was part of the plan, I woulda gone along with it?" "Move." "You changed your clothes." "Authentication sequence:" "ThreetangofiveGulf-Sierrasix." "Shutdown command." "I'm sorry, portia." "That code is no longer valid." "Aah!" "I know." "She tried to deactivate me." "Where is she?" "Locked up." "Good." "Okay, I'm going back down for the others." "First, I need to arm up." "Under the circumstances, that's an excellent idea." "There's a settlement west of here." "They'll have surfacetoorbit communication." "We should contact the raza." "That's four hours over rough terrain." "Well, I can do it in two." "But we're gonna stick together." "Look, we knew there was a chance that this could happen, but the android is prepared." "Our best bet is just to sit tight and let this play out." "Wow, you are different." "My portia would be beating the crap out of me right now for information." "We... that was more of an observation than a suggestion." "Who else came over with you on the marauder?" "Do I need to remind you that they used you and abandoned you?" "Okay." "They used you and abandoned you." "You're alone." "Everyone." "What's that?" "We all hitched a ride when your raza made the jump back to this reality:" "Me, portia, Boone, Tash, the android." "Not so much." "He's not really a team player." "Right." "Well, what have you and your team been up to since you came here?" "Taking it easy, seeing some sights." "There's a lovely adultsonly botanical garden on rigel9." "Also setting up this score." "Right." "Well, I'm sorry it didn't work out for you." "Don't apologize." "This is far from over." "The hell is going on up there?" "Any word from portia?" "Not yet." "Don't worry." "It's all going according to plan." "Relax." "We're prepared for any complications." "Besides, even if worse comes to worst, we still got one last card to play." "Right now, aboard that ship, your little friends, they're in a whole world of trouble." "Yeah?" "You really think your Boone's gonna convince anyone he's me?" "Little while back, you had me convinced you were him." "Yeah, but that's 'cause I'm a better actor." "I do recall some performance issues." "I bailed on you." "There was no performance." "I recall that opening overture." "You never had a chance to experience the crescendo, baby." "That's because I was disappointed in your pianissimo." "Okay, I think we've exhausted" "Can we go back to threatening each other's lives?" "Gladly." "It would appear she's waiting for something." "Yeah?" "This." "Bet you didn't see that coming." "Boone?" "I'd say "the one and only," but lately, that doesn't seem to be the case." "What is going on?" "Seem to be locked out of all the systems." "Their android must've installed some kind of failsafe." "I should be able to override it, but I'll need to do it on the bridge." "Come down here and open the door manually." "On my way." "What the hell?" "Aah!" "Okay." "Slight problem." "Ship seems to have a mind of its own." "What is that supposed to mean?" "Well, just... a little longer to get there, that's all." "Are you okay?" "Yeah." "Aah!" "Getting a little dizzy here." "Air seems to be a little bit light." "Activate the emergency lifesupport systems right now." "Actually, we did see it coming." "A ship just dropped out of ftl." "It's the other raza." "What took you so long?" "You were supposed to check in." "Sorry." "I didn't realize you were on a tight schedule." "Who the hell are you?" "I'm the one holding two of your crew members..." "Portia and Boone." "You can call me five." "Hey, kiddo!" "Three, is that you?" "Are you okay?" "Shut up." "He's fine." "But that could change." "Then let's talk deal." "I have two of yours, and you have one of ours." "I also have a stockpile of missiles waiting to go on a little test flight." "You wouldn't dare open fire on us with your friends on board." ""Friends" is a pretty generous way of describing our relationship." "Destroy this ship, and you lose any hope of ever recovering the blink drive." "That's a good point." "Guess I'll get over it." "I believe we can arrive at a mutually acceptable agreement." "Great!" "The missiles, the payment, and your crew member have been deposited in a clearing" "1.42 kilometers northeast of this location..." "And your crew members have been deposited in a clearing 1.63 kilometers southwest of here... as agreed upon." "I'm afraid I had to restrain them." "I restrained your crew member as well." "I also found it necessary to gag him." "Understandable." "By the way, it's pointless for your crew to come after the blink drive." "It's been damaged beyond repair." "Are you being deceptive?" "No." "In that case, I will advise my crew of the fact and recommend we not pursue your ship." "Are you being deceptive now?" "No." "Commander, the all missiles and most of the cash accounted for." "Minus a modest service charge." "We don't work for free." "Thank you, sergeant." "That'll be all." "It would have been nice if you'd actually captured your impersonators." "They could cause further problems moving forward." "Yes, I'm well aware of that." "Tracking them down will be our next priority." "In the meantime, I'll have my office work up a new authentication protocol, just for you." "Thanks." "Wait!" "Commander, don't leave." "Is there something I can do for you, Mr. maro?" "I just need one little favor." "You're gonna wanna be careful how you answer that." "So should I start packing?" "You told them?" "No." "I didn't think it was right to get their hopes up." "Too late for that." "You guys taking a little trip?" "Yeah, we're off to rasnov4, courtesy of commander truffault." "What's on rasnov4?" "My cousin." "Plus, it's in mikkei territory, so should be relatively safe for a while." "I do have other clients out there." "As much as I'd love to, I can't just be working with you exclusively." "We'll try to hide our disappointment." "Well, anyway, keep up the good work." "Thank you." "Try not to die?" "I guess I'll get my stuff." "Just because he's leaving doesn't mean that you have to leave as well." "You could be a valuable member of this crew." "Three?" "Well, if she's gotta go, she's gotta go." "Adrian paid me three months in advance." "And, let's face it:" "He wouldn't survive ten minutes without me, so..." "Take care of yourself." "Hey." "Hey." "I was just about to come look for you to say goodbye." "You sure about this?" "[Adrian yeah." "As much as I admire what you guys do, this isn't the life for me." "Being down on that planet pretty much confirmed that." "We're all afraid." "We just... do a better job of hiding it." "You're also pretty good at this whole actionadventure thing." "I'm more of a behindthescenes guy..." "You know, working the angles, closing the deals." "That's not you." "Not the real you, anyway." "Yeah?" "What is the real me?" "Someone with a good heart who tries way too hard." "Someone I was just getting used to having around." "You know, you can come with us if you want." "Plenty of room at my cousin's place." "Ride out the war in relative safety?" "No, thanks." "My place is here on this ship." "Yeah... figured you'd say that." "See you around, Adrian." "Guards to my location immediately." "Signal's blocked." "There's no need to turn this into a bloodbath." "Right." "Because we're..." "Such good friends, you decided to..." "Pop by for a casual visit." "You are not that far from the truth." "You betrayed me." "I can see why you would think that, but you're wrong, because I'm not who you think I am." "So you're not portia lin?" "Yes..." "And no." "See, I'm here to tell you a story." "And when I'm done," "I'm confident you'll believe that we very much can be friends." "It's high time we came together to go after a... common enemy." "Well, you... have my attention." "Sarah?" "Sarah?" "I'm here." "Hi." "Hi." "This is beautiful." "I created it." "How?" "Well, when this all started, everything around me was like a... blank canvas." "But five uploaded a program that... allows me to manipulate my environment... build things." "She wanted me to make this my home." "That kid?" "First an empty room, and... now this." "How long did all this take?" "I have no idea." "I mean, I could stare at this flower, and maybe a few seconds pass, maybe a few hours." "I..." "I can't tell the difference." "Well, it's beautiful." "Did you make this, too?" "I've moved on to birds." "But they're proving to be a bit of a challenge." "You're building yourself a whole world here, aren't you?" "It's not just for me." "I want you to be happy when you're here." "I am." "I want this to feel like it's your home, too." "Where are we?" "I thought we were going to a space station to resupply." "that you haven't heard from six in a while." "So we decided to resupply and check in on him at the same time." "Really?" "Thanks." "You're welcome." "to establish communication with the ground." "No." "There are no communication signals coming from the planet." "Maybe their tower's been damaged." "It... it looks fine to me." "Wait a minute." "Magnify." "Those are bodies." "My god..." "Six!"