"The cycle of possibilities is fleeting.
The lash of an eye in a hurricane."

Seefran Love Song
341-AT9

[Command]

DOYLE: One.
(The planet Earth goes KaBOOM! Consoles explode.)
ROMMIE: I'm picking up attack craft leaving Earth on an intercept course.
HUNT: Beka, slipstream. We don't need this fight right now.

[Med deck]

(Harper has been retrieved safely.)
TRANCE: He's more heartbroken than hurt. The sedative should help him sleep. You could use a good sleep, too.
HUNT: Like that's going to happen. Is he going to be okay?
TRANCE: Yes, he'll be up and irritating in no time. Maura saw this coming.
HUNT: What she is and what she knows, Trance, is quickly becoming apparent.

[Command]

ROMMIE: Captain, we may have a larger problem than previously thought.
HUNT: And the good news just keeps coming.
ROMMIE: The debris from Earth's explosion has been analysed three hundred and thirty nine different ways. And in each test, I've discovered at least one variety of radical isotope.
TRANCE: The Abyss.
DOYLE: In league with the Nietzscheans.
BEKA: And they're waiting for us.

[Hunt's quarters]

(The Andromeda Ascendant has returned to Terazed.)
MAURA: Captain.
HUNT: Hey. Nice job on Earth. Yeah, I'm sure you know nothing about that.
MAURA: I've come to make my final offer. You're the last of the Paradine. Your survival is of utmost importance. A hope for the future. You see that things are getting worse.
HUNT: I will not let three galaxies fall into that cosmic sinkhole and wipe out trillions of sentient beings just so you can destroy the Abyss.
MAURA: Let me show you what you are passing up. This is what Tarn Vedra will look like in the future. Would you like to see what you look like in the future?
(Maura vanishes.)
HUNT: She's really starting to get on my nerves.

[Corridor]

TRANCE: What are you really up to?
MAURA: Had you stayed, you would know.
TRANCE: But I don't.
MAURA: I am doing the ultimate, the only. You, Trance, are our oldest and first.
TRANCE: The first to flee, as well.
MAURA: That is a problem, even though the reason was a Paradine.
TRANCE: The Paradine protect the Lambent Kith Nebula.
MAURA: Do they?
TRANCE: Why is all this happening now? The Abyss, the Nietzscheans suddenly so active, why? Why won't you answer me?

[Control area]

(Harper is sitting on the floor.)
HUNT: Mister Harper. May I?
HARPER: I guess nobody else is going to take it.
(Hunt sits down opposite him.)
HUNT: All the years I've been on this ship, I've never done this before. Gives you a whole different perspective, doesn't it? You're strong enough to get through this, Harper.
HARPER: I can't get over that feeling that all I have left now are memories.
HUNT: Welcome to the club.
HARPER: Does it ever get better?
HUNT: Of course, once you start to forget. It makes you stronger.
HARPER: I don't want to forget. I don't want to get stronger. Right now, these memories are worth more to me than everything. I know I always used to talk about how crappy Earth was, but there were good memories, too. Like camp. Summerville camp. Did I ever tell you about it?
HUNT: No. 
HARPER: Okay, we moved around a lot, but one summer, we lived at a camp, kind of like a refugee camp, and, me and my cousins called it Summerville because that's exactly what it was not. We learned sarcasm pretty young. Anyway, one day I find a stack of comic books in a pile of ruins. I don't know what happened to the kid who had owned them, but anyway, I go running home, worried about where I'm going to hide them, right? And my mom's there. She sees me and she says, Seamus, why are you so sad? And I realised, right then and there, I wasn't. I wasn't thinking about Nietzscheans, I wasn't thinking about Magog. Despite everything, I was happy. So, I gave her a big hug and it was just a really great day.
HUNT: My mother used to call days like that commonplace miracles.
HARPER: We sure could use one of those right now, huh?
HUNT: Yeah. I'm working on it.

[Corridor]

HUNT: I've reached a decision.
MAURA: You will return to the Seefra system?
HUNT: I will return to the Lambent Kith Nebula.
MAURA: That's a start. Do you trust me?
HUNT: About as far as I can throw you.

[Nebula]

MAURA: You have questions.
HUNT: What I have is I've had enough out of you. The known worlds have turned to chaos, and you are all making this happen.
MAURA: We have nothing to do with the Nietzscheans.
HUNT: They knew to come here. They arrived with the Abyss. This won't stop until everything, including you, and each and every single one of you, is destroyed. You've got to see that. There must be some among you who have the same courage as Trance Gemini. Come on, you can leave this council. You can help us. Help us to live!
MAURA: I warned you, Captain. We've already set fate in motion. We don't control it.
HUNT: If this was really fate, it wouldn't need your help, now would it?

[Corridor]

MAURA: The Nebula wants you back. This is your last chance.
TRANCE: And if I don't?
MAURA: Then your sun will perish along with everything else.
TRANCE: I have no choice but to stay.
MAURA: There will be no rescue.
TRANCE: I don't want to be rescued.

[Briefing room]

HUNT: Rommie, how much ammo and power does Andromeda have?
ROMMIE: With help from the Commonwealth, we will soon be at full capacity. I haven't had this kind of ordinance since we left Terazed a year ago.
HUNT: So, yet another moment of truth. I want each of you to speak honestly. No holding back. Don't everyone talk at once.
HARPER: Nobody wants to go first? All right, I'll go first. I say we stay and fight. You saw what they did to Earth. I'm more than happy to die right here, right now, as long as I can take a whole bunch with me.
HUNT: Rommie?
ROMMIE: I'm a warship.
HUNT: I'll take that as a vote to fight.
DOYLE: Seefra is all I've ever known. This isn't my fight. I fight for what I love. I want to go back. What?
HUNT: I was hoping for a on the other hand.
DOYLE: On the other hand, if you choose to fight, I think I would still like to go back.
HUNT: I see.
BEKA: We don't stand a chance against a Nietzschean fleet. And the Commonwealth forces won't help us. They're in shambles, thanks to the Worldship. This fight seems like lunacy. On the other hand, what have we been fighting for for the last five years? We can't just throw it all away just for the slimmest chance of something safe. I'll do it. I'll fight.
HUNT: Doyle? What do you say? Are we going to do this or not?
HARPER: Doyle.
DOYLE: For you.
HUNT: Rommie, begin the final prep. Doyle, secure all outer decks for assault. Harper, double check and triple check all systems. Beka, I'll need you on Command with me. Oh, and, you don't have to call me Captain.
(Hunt leaves.)
TRANCE: I say we do it.

[Corridor]

BEKA: Seems like old times.
HUNT: You said that with a smile.
BEKA: I'm feeling nostalgic.
HUNT: One day we'll look back on all this and giggle.
BEKA: Has been quite a ride. Dylan?
HUNT: Yeah?
BEKA: Promise me something.
HUNT: You got it.
BEKA: If we get out of this, we'll always ride together.
HUNT: Beka. You were my first friend on this journey, and I promise you, you will be my last.

[Rhade's home]

RHADE: I've just come from a meeting with the leaders of what is left of the Commonwealth.
JILLIAN: We're going to lose.
RHADE: Somehow I've always known. I've dodged death once before through a miracle.
JILLIAN: A miracle that brought you to us.
RHADE: For that, I am grateful. But a false miracle, nevertheless.
JILLIAN: No.
RHADE: A building without walls is where we live. Hope without dreams is all we have. To run is to embrace despair.
JILLIAN: The Nietzschean riddle of desperation.
RHADE: That's all we had. But now we have each other.
(The air raid sirens begin to wail.)

[Briefing room]

(Trance is dealing out her tarot cards.)
TRANCE: Are you worried you're not doing the right thing?
HUNT: No.
TRANCE: So maybe you're just a little short on hope right now.
HUNT: Deal another card, Trance.
TRANCE: Maura's terrified of you. Maura. What is she fearful of? Conscience.
HUNT: Well, she has none. That's odd for the avatar of light.

[Corridor]

HUNT: So what have you got?
ROMMIE: I've got multiple ships heading our way. Cruisers, Garuda class fighters, stealth fighters, Drago-Kazov and Mandau Prides. Bad news travels fast.
HUNT: Yeah, there's nothing more enjoyable than somebody else's troubles.
ROMMIE: This is enjoyable to you?
HUNT: Hey, what can I tell you? I am a fun guy.
ROMMIE: Well, I'd really like to know how they found us.
HUNT: Well, they had help.

[Command]

ROMMIE: And that, Captain, would be the Sabra-Jaguar joining the Nietzschean fleet.
(Space is filled with ugly fighting ships.)
HUNT: Look at that. They're coming right at us like somebody gave them directions.
ROMMIE: Why are they targeting us with such prejudice?
HUNT: Well, it's because every one of those Prides just happens to hate my guts.

[Terazed bunker]

BEKA: Rhade.
RHADE: What brings you to this humble entrenchment?
BEKA: You know me, I love slumming.
RHADE: So do my enemies. It's going to be one hellacious fight. Some Prides already on the ground are headed this way.
BEKA: You're going to lose, Rhade. The Commonwealth is going down.
RHADE: Most definitely. Which brings me to the question, why are you here?
BEKA: I'm your friend.
RHADE: And Matriarch.
BEKA: If that's what it takes.
RHADE: What does that mean?
BEKA: The Nietzscheans are not just coming after you. They are coming after all of us. Okay, now if I can play the Matriarch card, there might still be hope.
RHADE: Hope doesn't matter anymore.
BEKA: Snap out if it, Rhade. Fight with your friends. Bring your family.
(Somebody starts shooting at them. They return fire.)
BEKA: I can get you out of here.

[Command]

HARPER: That's a pile of ships.
DOYLE: Two thousand one hundred and three, to be exact.
HARPER: Like I said, we're about to be neck deep in a big pile of ships.
DOYLE: Missiles one through eighty loaded and ready. PDLs online. Dylan, should I fire?
HUNT: No. We wait. I want them closer.
ROMMIE: I've prepared an estimate of the approaching firepower.
HUNT: Doesn't matter.
ROMMIE: But they're targeting.
HUNT: So are we. Forty salvos of direct offensive missiles, followed by forty salvos of hunter-killer drones. I'm betting they've never seen anything like this before. Fire.
DOYLE: Firing.
(Lots of enemy ships go KaBOOM! as Andromeda flies through the middle of the fleet.)

[Terazed bunker]

(Beka and Rhade finally kill this wave of attackers.)
RHADE: They've pinpointed us. They're just going to keep coming. Their markings. Drago-Kazov, Mandau, Sabra-Jaguar. Nietzscheans coming for their own. History repeating itself.
BEKA: We can change all that. If we can get to the Maru, I can outfly any of these bozos. They might even stop firing for fear of killing me.
RHADE: This is my home, my fate. It ends here.

[Command]

HARPER: Surprise, surprise, we broke their attack pattern. You were right, boss, they weren't ready for it.
HUNT: Let's make sure we don't give them the opportunity to regroup. Reload all missile tubes and prepare bucky-cables.
ROMMIE: Dylan, I have several stress fractures on my outer hull. Repairs are underway.
TRANCE: But I see damage in sector fifty five.
HUNT: How did that happen?
HARPER: Lucky shot.
DOYLE: That's our life support system hub.
ROMMIE: Correct. And Dylan, sector fifty five cannot sustain another attack without compromising repairs to my hull.
TRANCE: Dylan, without all systems in sector fifty five functioning, we could lose life support systems completely.
HUNT: Doyle, assign all available nanobots to deck fifty five for repairs. Harper, continue direct fire until I get back.
HARPER: Gladly. Firing on any Nietzschean that comes within eighty lightseconds of my Rommie.

[Terazed bunker]

BEKA: Now or never, Rhade.
RHADE: Andromeda.
ANDROMEDA [OC]: Aye.
RHADE: The Nietzscheans are here.
ANDROMEDA [OC]: Yes?
RHADE: With a little bit of luck, I can get them to concentrate their fire and attention on me long enough for you to get away.
BEKA: Rhade, don't do this.
RHADE: This is my duty. This is my home.
BEKA: Your home is about to be the hottest patch in the heart of hell.
RHADE: My family makes it heaven.
BEKA: I'm your Matriarch. We're going.
RHADE: Beka, I beg you. Allow me to have the time I have left without the shadow of disrespect.
BEKA: Then I'm begging you as a friend.
RHADE: As I am you. Now go. Go!

[Corridor]

MAURA: You can still decide.
HUNT: You're forcing me to choose between two deaths, one in valour, one in cowardice.
MAURA: Live your life out on Seefra. Be happy.
HUNT: There is no happiness on Seefra. Besides, I'm winning.
MAURA: It's time to embrace your fate.
(The Route of Ages Gateway appears.)
HARPER [OC]: Boss, we've got some serious and might I say some wondrous weirdness going on here.
(He sees it on a wall screen.)
HUNT: I'll give you credit, that's a good trick.
MAURA: I don't need tricks.
HUNT: Yes, you do. Illusion is your primary strength. That's really all you are.
MAURA: Ridiculous. I offer you life because you are a Paradine. But watch me kill your crew.
HUNT: And there it is. You see, I had my suspicion, and now you've just confirmed it. I know what you are, and you can't kill me because I am Paradine. It's too bad, Maura, but you are about to lose.
(Maura sends an energy bolt at Hunt, throwing him back down the corridor.)
HUNT: Oh, that hurt.

[Command]

(Doyle, Harper and Rommie are sitting in front of the viewscreens. A fire breaks out and Harper stands up.)
ROMMIE: I got it.
(The fire goes out.)
HARPER: What the hell are they waiting for?
ROMMIE: Orders.
HARPER: This is like a dream.
DOYLE: I wonder what it's like to die?
HARPER: I've died a thousand times.
DOYLE: You can only die once, Harper.
HARPER: You don't know my love life.
ROMMIE: That's a really old joke.
HARPER: That's my love life. Old joke. Kind of like life. One big joke, and then you die, without ever hearing the punchline.
DOYLE: That is a joke.
ROMMIE: My head was in a cabinet. That's a joke. That's what I remember.
DOYLE: Is that all you remember?
ROMMIE: It made me angry. And then nothing.
DOYLE: Like a dream.
HARPER: Much better topic. Let's get back to dreams. Ow!
ROMMIE: I don't have dreams. I have visions.
HARPER: Doyle has dreams.
DOYLE: I did. Not anymore. I miss one of them, though. I had it all the time. A strange man walks up to me in the saloon when I'm working and asks me to marry him, and I say, I cannot marry thee for I have a love who sails the deep salt seas. And though he's been gone these seven years, no man shall marry me. For what if he has died, or in some battle slain, or drowned in the deep salt sea, or found another love and he and his new love both married be? If that is so, I wish them both health and happiness that burns across the sea. And he looks at me and kisses me and says, weep no more, my own true love., for I am your long lost love. I remember waking and thinking, if that never happens to me, I will cease to exist.
HARPER: That's beautiful.
ROMMIE: I have a ship approaching. It's a friendly.

[Eureka Maru]

BEKA: Stand back, you freaks. I'm the Matriarch.
(The fleet stops firing at her.)
BEKA: Wow.

[Command]

HARPER: It's Beka. Ha!
DOYLE: Beka, we have you within our range. Keep moving.

[Eureka Maru]

HARPER [OC]: Translation, haul ass!
BEKA: Hey, good to hear from you.
HARPER [OC]: We don't have time for niceties.

[Command]

HARPER: Put the pedal to the metal.

[Eureka Maru]

BEKA: You know, I think I have this under control. But stand by.

[Command]

HARPER: Surrounded by two Nietzschean fleets? I don't call that under control.

[Eureka Maru]

BEKA: Okay, everybody, this is your Matriarch speaking. Incidentally, it's nice to see you all. You're looking very good. Now, what I want you to do, my loyal and loving subjects

[Command]

BEKA [OC]: Is to take it nice and easy here.

[Eureka Maru]

BEKA: I want you to remain in formation and let me pass by. If you do, I will reward you. With what, I'm not exactly sure, but it's going to be a very, very big surprise.
(Something goes Bang on the Maru.)
BEKA: Hey. Hey, hey, hey! That's not being a very good subject!

[Command]

HARPER: Juke left. You've got an Orca on your six.

[Eureka Maru]

BEKA: Andromeda, get ready, I'm coming in.

[Command]

ROMMIE: Opening hangar seventeen.
(Screech, slide, sparks.)
ROMMIE: She's in.

[Corridor]

HUNT: Oh.
MAURA: You can't win.
(She slams him into a stanchion.)
HUNT: You're not an avatar of the suns. You're an avatar of the Abyss. And now the Nebula is controlled by it, as well.
MAURA: Brilliant deduction, Captain. Too bad it's too late for it to be of any use to you.
HUNT: Yeah, okay, so, are we having fun yet?
(Maura sends him flying further down the corridor.)
HUNT: Oh. Okay, you set me up. Must've been the same with all the other Paradine, and then you fed them to the Abyss, but I won't go that easily. As long as I'm alive, you will fail.
MAURA: I can still make you suffer, and the rest will die. Trance will perish, the only real light left of the universe. The oldest, most powerful sun will be gone. I have my orders.
TRANCE: And so do I.
MAURA: Ah. The fire princess. Let me crown you.
(Maura sends Hunt flying past Trance.)
HUNT: Argh!
MAURA: Trance, join me while I can still save you.
TRANCE: I do not need to be saved. You offer me nothing. Dylan, we need to get to the Route of Ages. I can lead us through.
HUNT: Sounds good to me. Andromeda.
ANDROMEDA [OC]: Here, Captain.
HUNT: Take us into the Route of Ages.
MAURA: No! No!
(The Andromeda enters the Route, and the world spins as time goes back through season four.)
MAURA: My passing won't make a difference. That which I am the avatar of is going to destroy you. It is right behind us. The Abyss will swallow you up.
HUNT: Yeah, at least I won't have to put up with your drivel anymore.
TRANCE: No!
(Maura disappears in a puff of black smoke. Andromeda exits the Route.)

[Command]

ROMMIE: Well, if we defeat the Abyss, all chaos of the universe will cease.
HARPER: Well, that ceasing better happen soon. The Abyss was right on our tail when we came through the Route of Ages.
DOYLE: We have to take it out.
TRANCE: Without a doubt.
(Hunt enters with Beka.)
HUNT: Well, it's good to know that we're all on the same page. Andromeda, put the Methus diagrams onscreen, please. This is what I think. The diagrams weren't just meant to stop Trance's sun. They were also meant to stop the Abyss. In the known worlds or in the Seefra system, it didn't matter. The Abyss was always coming after us. Maura and her friends were just the accelerant.
HARPER: I should've seen it, boss. Trance's sun coming to Seefra, a concentration of mass designed to attract a cosmic rendezvous.
BEKA: A rendezvous with the Abyss. Talk about a date with death.
DOYLE: The Vedrans anticipated all of this.
HARPER: Those crazy Vedrans, anticipating everything. But we still haven't figured out what goes in that empty spot in the Methus diagrams.
HUNT: Mister Harper, you disappoint me. Trance. Trance was always supposed to go in there. That was the plan. Trance's sun will be able to destroy the Abyss.
(A second Trance pops in.)
TRANCE 2: Exactly.
HARPER: Two Trances? I don't know if this is a nightmare or my dream come true.
TRANCE 2: Dylan, you have to act. You have to get her off this ship now.
TRANCE: Dylan, no.
TRANCE 2: Somehow, this impostor has appeared. She will ruin us. You have to get rid of her right now! Dylan, now.
TRANCE: No, this isn't right.
TRANCE 2: Dylan, now.
(An alarm goes off.)
TRANCE 2: Please.
(Hunt shoots Trance.)
TRANCE: Illusions, lies, simulations. You fell for it, hard. Mist and mysteries until there was no way out. You have to help yourselves. 
TRANCE/VIRGIL: Listen to my music, and see the reflections of your helpless selves.
BEKA: It's Virgil Vox.
TRANCE/VIRGIL: You all listened to my music, you fools. I brought you darkness and joy. But time is running out. There is no such thing as time. The Abyss.
(Hunt shoots Trance again, and she disappears in a puff of black smoke.)
HARPER: How'd you know?
HUNT: She was crying. The Abyss has no memories. Nothing to remember or forget.
DOYLE: What was that?
HUNT: Let's get moving.
HARPER: Am I seeing things, or have we turned back toward the Route of Ages?
HUNT: What the Abyss fears most is light. So, I say we smother the bastard with the sun.
BEKA: Trance's sun.
HUNT: That's right. Remember what Flavin said. Find a place where opposites cancel time. Well, that place is the Route of Ages.
TRANCE: Time to cancel time.
HUNT: Everything I've done has brought me to this point. Every friend, every foe, every fight. This is where it ends. It's been an honour to serve with you. All of you. Let's bring it.
(They approach the Route, which is filled with swirling black and red.)
HARPER: Would you look at that?
DOYLE: The Abyss.
BEKA: So, we meet again.
ROMMIE: We can't get any closer, Captain.
HUNT: Oh, yes, we can.
BEKA: Dylan
HUNT: Beka, the fun is just starting.
BEKA: You've always had a very strange idea of fun.
HUNT: Hey, you're the one who always said that it's been one hell of a ride.
BEKA: It's showtime.
(More twirling and this time the clips move forward in time.)
HARPER: Getting some serious shake rattle and roll here, boss.
ROMMIE: We're sustaining heavy damage on all outer decks. Hull integrity is severely compromised.
DOYLE: Starboard thrusters are going critical.
HUNT: Negate the automatic shutdown. Beka.
BEKA: It's too hard. The gravitational pull of Trance's sun and the Abyss, it's too strong.
HUNT: You can do this.
BEKA: No, I can't. It's too much.
HARPER: Come on, Beka.
HUNT: Beka, this is it. This is what it all comes down to. Your whole life. Come on, you can get us through this.
(Clips of happy times on Seefra One as the Route spins into the Tarn Vedran sun and is consumed. The Andromeda Ascendant flies free.)
HARPER: Whoo, hoo! Yeah!
DOYLE: We are free and clear. And home.
HARPER: See you later, you big freak. Speaking of which, I haven't been this happy since Tyr left.
BEKA: I knew I could do it. I'm the best. Oh, my god. I'm so relieved I could kiss Harper.
HARPER: Hey, why not? I'm not proud.
BEKA: It's a figure of speech.
HUNT: Damage report?
ROMMIE: Thrusters are out. AP systems are offline. I'm initiating repairs.
DOYLE: Time to completion, one hour twenty six minutes.
BEKA: The fact that we have time is all we need to know.
HUNT: Trance? Are you okay?
TRANCE: Dylan, I'm happy, but I'm also sad.
(A slipstream portal opens and ships come out. They are not hostile.)
HUNT: My god. Look at that.
TRANCE: It is my sun. The Abyss is dead.
DOYLE: Captain, the Route of Ages has turned into a slipstream portal. Tarn Vedra has rejoined the known worlds.
ROMMIE: I'm picking up a distress signal. It's Rhade.
HUNT: Let's hear it.

[Shuttle]

RHADE: My family is safe, but I'm out of fuel. I'm coming in very hot.

[Command]

ROMMIE: I have his location.
HUNT: Let's go get him.
BEKA: I'm on my way.
(Beka leaves.)
HUNT: Trance. Prep med deck.
TRANCE: Aye.
HARPER: I'll help. Yes, he's a Nietzschean, but he's a friend. A good friend. Regardless of his bad sense of style.
(Harper and Trance leave.)
HUNT: Doyle, take a slipfighter for escort and make sure Rhade makes it back to the Maru.
DOYLE: With pleasure.
(Doyle leaves.)
ROMMIE: Would you like to be alone, Captain?
HUNT: Yes. Yes, I would.
(Rommie leaves.)
HUNT: Andromeda.
ANDROMEDA [OC]: Aye, Captain.
HUNT: Just checking. Five years. Three hundred and eight years. I'm home again. I'm home.
(Hunt heads for the exit.)
HUNT: Yes! Andromeda, I know winning isn't everything, but I sure could get used to this feeling.
(The lights go out, and Hunt leaves.)