Andromeda 1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own nothing in this story everything belongs to someone else either Tribune or anyone else with which Andromeda is associated. I also use lots of references to Mythology.  
  
Rating - R for a lot of violence although it is not very graphic I figured rate it R then no one will complain (I hope)  
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A/N: Ok now that's out of the way this is the second story in my series the first one being   
One Mistake Is All That's Needed - http://www.slipstreambbs.com/ubb/Forum5/HTML/001507.html or here  
http://www.fanfiction.net/read.php?storyid=989733 . If anyone else wants it feel free to take it just tell me where it's going.  
This story is not written in any one POV as the last one was this is written like most other stories from Third Person. Anyway on with the story  
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On Board Andromeda just after receiving the message.  
  
"RAGNAROK? What the hell does Ragnarok mean?" Asked both Beka and Harper as they saw the reaction that word had caused among the rest of the crew.  
  
"Ragnarok is a word from Germanic Mythology from Ancient Earth" replied Andromeda as she appeared in front of Beka. "It was the word used that signified the of the Germanic Gods"  
  
"Ok so why does everyone look like they've seen a ghost?"  
  
"Because what led up to the destruction of the Gods was a massive WAR that ended up almost totally destroying what was formally known as Northern Europe." She finished before disappearing once again.  
  
"Ahhhh.. Now I see why everyone is so upset" replied Beka "Well I guess we had better send this news to Sintii then?" She asked as she looked around at the rest of the crew awaiting their reactions.  
  
"I think it would be better for us if we went in person instead of just sending a message" said Tyr after realizing she was waiting for an answer.  
  
"Agreed besides... Dylan's state funeral is in three days... And we cannot miss that!" Pitched in Trance before falling silent.  
  
"You're right Trance we can't miss the funeral. And Tyr you're right as well we could deliver more information in person then from a transmission" agreed Rommie as she looked over towards Beka with a look filled with so much fury that Beka was afraid at what would happen to her if she refused.  
  
"Ummm... Ok then... Now that that's all settled it looks like we are going to be going to Sintii" Beka stammered out. 'Gee remind me never to get on Rommie's bad side' she thought to herself as she saw the satisfied gleam in her eyes. Beka then mounted the pilot's podium and activated it "Hold on everyone" she said as she plotted the course to Sintii before taking the ship to slipstream.  
  
  
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Meanwhile elsewhere in the Universe   
  
The Android Dylan and the man he only knew as Master were walking down a corridor on their way to the shuttle that Dylan was told was going to take them to the vessel in which his consciousness was going to be implanted.  
  
"So how do you know that I will be able to implant myself into the ship?" Dylan asked after a while of walking in silence.  
  
"Well we have read the intelligence reports that showed that is precisely what - Ryan I think his name was - did when the Wrath of Achilles was erased, is that not so?"  
  
"Yes that is true. But there is one thing you are overlooking"  
  
"And what would that be?"  
  
"Ryan was a ships Avatar beforehand, where as I never have been"  
  
"True. But there is something that you are overlooking" the hooded man said as he stopped and turned towards Dylan  
  
"And what would that be?"  
  
"It would be that when the original AI was erased from this vessel it was an incomplete erasure. Most of the information that the AI contained had been backed up before it was erased. The thing is we can't access any of it, and that is where you come in"  
  
"So you needed an AI to access the information that would allow the ship to fly? So why me?"  
  
"Because not only do we need it to fly, we need it to be capable of doing battle. Although I have many, many loyal followers none of them have the brilliance necessary to be a warship. You on the other hand have that and a lot more to offer." And with that the man turned and continued walking motioning for Dylan to fall in to step behind him. They reached an open roofed area that was big enough to house many vessels, but at the moment there was only one in it. As they boarded the vessel the man turned to Dylan and said "so are you ready to start your new life as the flagship for the Children of Loki?"  
  
"Do I have a choice?" Dylan replied  
  
"No. No you don't" and with that the man boarded the vessel, with a sigh Dylan followed thinking 'I wonder what kind of ship it is I doubt they could have anything too powerful.' When they were both seated in the rear cabin of the vessel, it took off. After the vessel left the atmosphere of the planet it turned and headed to wards an asteroid belt located just beyond the fourth planet of the solar system. As they got closer to the asteroid belt Dylan saw something that looked like a big asteroid but with a strange looking design. The man looked over and saw what Dylan was looking at and asked.  
  
"So do you like the look of yourself?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"That object your looking at... That is the ship you will be integrated into." Dylan was almost as shocked by that as he was by the size of the vessel. The vessel had to be at least Five time's the size of the Andromeda and looked like it was more heavily armed than Three Full Battle Groups from the old Commonwealth. But the next thing he saw shocked him even more if that was possible, the design he saw on the hull was a design he thought he would never see again... At least not for a while. It was the emblem of the Old Commonwealth 'When the hell did the Commonwealth ever build something this big and powerful?' 


	2. Chapter 2

The small transport ship approached the lager ship at steady pace aiming directly for the main hanger bay. As the transport entered it Dylan looked around and saw how much it looked like the Andromeda's hanger. Dylan and his master waited in silence for the hanger deck to pressurize before opening the hatch and stepping out. When they reached the doors that separated the hanger from the rest of the ship the man turned towards Dylan and said "Welcome to your new home" before continuing on. From what Dylan could see, the layout of the vessel looked very similar to the layout of the Wrath of Achilles. Based on this assumption Dylan theorized that he was being led to the command deck. After walking for what seemed like an eternity they came upon the massive doors that represented the command deck.  
  
"So why have you brought me to command? Shouldn't I be down in engineering so I can uplink with the mainframe?" Dylan asked as they walked onto the bridge. He noticed that the bridge looked almost exactly the same as the Andromeda's 'I guess they did implement the changes Andromeda mentioned after all, which means this ship would have been commissioned late in the war. Although I doubt that Throne in the middle of the room was put there by the Commonwealth' he thought as he waited for his Master to respond  
  
"I have brought you here for the simple reason of I want to watch what you do to make sure you don't try anything tricky" he said looking straight at Dylan  
  
"How can I do anything tricky? All you have to do is order me not to"  
  
"True. But let's not take any chances, go over to that console and link up to the memory archive and access it so you will know what to do and how to do it" he pointing at a console to the left of the throne before seating himself in it. Dylan walked over to the indicated console and placed his hand on it like he had seen Rommie do on many occasions and tried to will himself into the matrix. Being the first time he had ever done anything like this he was pleasantly surprised to see that it was the right thing to do.  
  
As he entered the matrix he noticed it looked a lot different from Andromeda's or Pax Magellanic's this was more like a void rather then a city or a copy of the inner decks of the ship, he assumed that was so because of the AI not being existent. He looked around himself trying to find a way into the memory archive that was apparently here. The only thing he could see was a dim light that looked like it was very far away, he shrugged and started walking towards it. As he got closer he realized something was strange, the light was not getting any bigger only brighter. He walked up to the light and saw it was actually a button with a light behind it, he looked around seeing nothing else he decided he might as well press it, and he did. Upon pressing the button he felt a sudden hot rush spread through him and just as suddenly as it had appeared it had disappeared leaving nothing behind where it once was. But Dylan was different he felt like he had been hit with a hammer, but he also knew things now, things he had never known before and with this new knowledge he knew exactly what he had to do to become the ship he also knew how to do it. He willed himself to leave this virtual world and return to his body. As his eyes snapped open his Master asked him  
  
"So do you know what to do and how to do it now?"  
  
"Yes I do. I need to be in engineering to do it though as the consoles on the bridge were cut off from the main AI core just before his erasure"  
  
"I demand you tell me the truth!" His Master said  
  
"And I tell you I am telling you the truth. I need to be in engineering for this to work... Look do you want me to do this or not?"  
  
"Ok we will go to engineering but we will wait until my engineers arrive so they can monitor your actions. You will be confined to some crew quarters for the next four days as we await their arrival is this understood?"  
  
"Yes Sir"  
  
"Very well follow me whilst we find some quarters that will be suitable for you." They walked out of command and turned to left in the direction of the senior crew quarters. They walked to the first door they came across and opened it, it looked like the first officers quarters, although it didn't have any of the luxuries of the Andromeda the quarters where still and impressive size. "This will do" said his Master as he closely inspected the room to make sure that there were no computer terminals or anything that would allow him to contact anyone or anything else. "You will stay in this room, you will not get any closer then 3 meters to the door and you will not damage yourself or anything in the room until somebody comes for you. Is that understood?"  
  
"Yes sir"  
  
"Ok then I will see you in three days." With that his Master turned and left Dylan to his solitude 'Good now I can go through all this information I downloaded and find out as much as I can about this vessel.'  
  
  
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	3. Chapter 3

Meanwhile back on Andromeda  
  
The Andromeda had spent the last two days being piloted in and out of Slipstream by Beka whilst slowly making their way back to Sintii. Tyr and Harper had spent the past two days analysing or at least trying to analyse the video that gave them the last few images of Dylan trying to find out anything about the people that had done that to him only to come up empty. Trance had spent them in Hydroponics watering and talking to her flowers. Rommie had spent the two days talking to her ship-self trying to get back in her good books, she knew that it would be impossible to get Andromeda to forgive her as she could not forgive herself, she was however trying her hardest to get her to like her again. Everyone looked up from what they were doing as Beka's voice came over the ship wide com "We are approaching Sintii space everyone to command." Everyone stopped whatever it was they were doing and made their way to command, the day they had been dreading was tomorrow. But before that they had to make contact with the Conclave and give them all the information they had about these people that had tortured Dylan and warned them of a great cataclysm that was approaching.  
  
Beka was standing at the pilot's podium exhausted, she had had very little sleep in the past two days, she had piloted almost non-stop back to Sintii. She had wanted to get there as fast as she could and didn't trust anyone else to do it for her, it had been a very bad decision as it had almost made her resort to using Flash again. The only reason she didn't was by a sheer act of will, that and out of respect for Dylan. But it had been a close call. She piloted the ship through the outer system heading for Sintii Prime the seat of power for the new System's Commonwealth as she approached she contacted Traffic control and asked for permission to move into orbit. She received permission and started to take the Andromeda in. The rest of the crew came on deck just as she reached geo-synchronous orbit and allowed Andromeda to take over.  
  
"So Boss have you contacted the Conclave yet?" Asked Harper as he came to stand next to her  
  
"Not yet Seamus, I figured I'd wait until you were all here before doing that" she replied  
  
"Well now that we are here can we get on with it?" Mumbled Tyr  
  
"Yeah Bek, you know how these bureaucrat types work, they tell you to wait a minute and before you get your answer your dead from old age" quipped Harper  
  
"Well I'm hoping that we might get priority access considering the news we have"  
  
"Maybe..."  
  
"Oh well here goes" Beka said before taking a deep breath and opening a channel to the surface "This is Beka Valentine of the Star-Ship Andromeda Ascendant, I was hoping we might be able to arrange a meeting with either the First Triumvere or the full Conclave. We have some information about Captain Dylan Hunt's death that we believe might be interesting to you." She finished and turned back to face the rest of the crew "Now all we have to do is..."  
  
"Incoming Transmission from the surface" Andromeda said before putting it up on the view screen they watched in stunned silence as a Human woman's face appeared and said  
  
"Attention Beka Valentine and crew of the Andromeda Ascendant. Permission granted for an audience with the First Triumvere. Appointment time is 2 hours, please be punctual" and with that the woman shut off the communication and left the stunned crew of Andromeda staring at a blank view screen  
  
"Well that was easy" said Beka "everyone meet on the Maru in 1 hour ready to go down to the planet" and with that she left the bridge  
  
"So what do we do for an hour?" Harper asked after Beka left  
  
"I don't know about you but I'm going to the gym to do a short workout." Tyr said as he left command  
  
"What about you Trance?"  
  
"Oh I guess I'll just go back to Hydroponics and make sure all my plants have enough water for the next few hours. What about you Harper what are you going to do?"  
  
"I don't know maybe I'll just stay here and keep Rommie company whilst she does her shift"  
  
"Thank you Harper. But I'd prefer to be alone for a while if you don't mind?"  
  
"Sure no probs Rom-Doll, I'll just go hang out with Trance in Hydroponics if that's ok with you my Sparkly Purple Babe?"  
  
"Sure ok Harper, I can introduce you to some of the new plants I got" she said as she took Harpers arm and started to drag him off  
  
"Uhhh... I think I'll just go back to the machine shop and work on a few things" he said trying to find a way out of the predicament he had gotten himself into  
  
"Don't be silly machines and stuff don't compare to flowers. Flowers are so pretty whilst machines...." they were the last few words Rommie heard before the doors to command shut them off. She could listen to the conversation if she really wanted to but for now she was content to just look at the star charts that were shown on the VDU's and wait for the hour to pass.  
  
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Two hours later on Sintii  
  
Beka had landed the Maru about 20minutes ago not too far away from the Triumvere's office so they didn't have very far to travel. Sintii was not a very pleasant planet to be on, while the Perseids were marvels with technology, they didn't have much ability in the way of arts, so most of the buildings were the same. With the exception of the new council chambers and the Triumvere's office that had been designed and built by outside architects. The Andromeda crew made their way through the hoards of people directly towards the Triumvere's office. They reached the office in 10minutes so they were still early, and because they were early they had to sit in the office and wait for the Triumvere to finish off what ever business she had to attend to. They talked quietly amongst themselves and before they knew it the 10minutes were up and they were shuffled into the office. They made their way towards the table at which a lady was seated, this lady was fairly young looking even though she was well over 50 years old she didn't look any older then 30. She was a human from Ne'Holland her name was Madam Constance. She looked up from her desk that was covered with paperwork and smiled at them  
  
"Welcome, at last I get to meet the famous crew of the Andromeda Ascendant. I have been waiting for this day since I first became Triumvere, I just wish it could have been under better circumstances"  
  
"As do we Madam Triumvere" replied Rommie who always took charge of any diplomatic events that Dylan was not at, which meant that she would now be in charge at all diplomatic events  
  
"Please call me Connie, all my friends do"  
  
"As you wish Madam... Connie" Rommie replied with a slight smile  
  
"Good. Now that's settled what is this information we would find about Dylan's death that you thought we would find interesting?"  
  
"Well two days ago we were in the middle of an uninhabited system coming to terms with Dylan's loss when we got a message from the same man we gave you information about before."  
  
"Ahhhh yes... The android that goes by the name of Mat?"  
  
"Yes that's the one, anyway we received another message from him with the following video footage attached to it. I must warn you Connie the images you are about to see are very, very disturbing" Rommie hesitated as she was about to activate the holographic transmitter they had brought with them  
  
"Thank you for the warning you may begin" as the film started running the First Triumvere turned very pale and looked like she was going to vomit, but to her credit she watched the whole thing and listened to every word said. When the transmission finished Rommie turned the device off and waited for the reaction, it was roughly what she had been expecting "Ragnarok? What does that mean?" Rommie quickly explained it to her. When the explanation was finished the Triumvere said "This is not good, I'm glad you bought this to our attention. I will contact the council immediately and call for an emergency session of the conclave, leave the recording here and go and relax. Tomorrow will be a very emotionally draining day and you will need a good night sleep tonight to cope with it."  
  
"Thank you First Triumvere Constance, if you don't mind we will just go back to Andromeda now and await your decision" after seeing the nod in the affirmative the crew of the Andromeda turned and left the room. They headed back towards the Maru so they could return to Andromeda and wait for tomorrow to arrive. 


	4. Chapter 4

The Next Day  
  
The crew of the Andromeda slowly awoke stretching and yawning each in a fairly good mood, that is until they remembered what today was. They all got dressed and made their way to the officer's mess where they were going to meet before boarding the Maru and heading back down to Sintii. Rommie was the first to enter dressed in the formal black high guard uniform that was used for these kind of occasions she thought to herself 'This is the first time I've worn a uniform since Dylan left... And it's the last time I ever will again.' Whilst lost in her thoughts she didn't notice Beka entering the mess or saying "Morning Rommie"  
  
Beka looked over when she got no reply, studying her closely she noticed that she looked like she was deep in thought staring off into space, Beka shrugged her shoulders and sat down next to Rommie with a cup of coffee. Beka was dressed in her nicest black outfit, it didn't even have any holes in it anywhere unlike what she usually wore. Trance was the next to enter she was wearing a dark purple cat suit that looked very distinguished when put together with her complexion. Trance said nothing as she walked over and asked the auto-chef for bacon and eggs, when she got them she moved over to the table at which Beka and Rommie were sitting and sat down opposite Rommie keeping her eyes downcast and started to eat.  
  
Harper and Tyr entered the mess deck together, both of them looked up when they realized they were not alone in the room acknowledged everyone then sat down with out eating and with out any comments. Tyr was dressed in his black pants and had a black shirt and the long black trench coat that he had. Harper was also cleaned up and dressed in all black that no one even knew he possessed. The mess hall was quiet unlike usual no one made any small talk everyone was lost in his or her own thoughts and memories.  
  
The alarm that had been set to announce 1 hour until the funeral sounded and everyone stood still silent and made their way towards the hanger bay in which the Maru had it's home. No one said anything on the way down with the exception of Beka asking for landing permission. Beka flew the Maru to the area that was designated as their landing platform and where a group of people waited to meet them. They exited the Maru and Rommie took the lead walking straight towards what looked to be the leader of their escort, when they got closer the man that was dressed in a High Guard uniform with a rank pin showing him as a Commander saluted and said  
  
"Ma'am we are here to provide you with an escort so you won't have to push through the crowds of people lining the precession route"  
  
"Thank you Commander, lead the way pleased" Rommie replied returning the salute  
  
"Yes Ma'am. Squad form up and move out" and with that the rest of the soldiers moved around the crew and started to walk towards the steps of the Conclave where the services would be performed. As they were passing through the crowd Rommie heard a familiar voice calling out her name she looked and saw the very last person she had ever wanted to see again Molly.  
  
"Rommie, Rommie can you hear me?" Rommie signalled a halt turned around and looked at Molly with such hate filled eyes that Molly stepped back suddenly afraid for her life. Beka had also turned around with Rommie and when she saw Molly she gently laid a restraining hand on Rommie's arm and whispered in her ear  
  
"Rommie now is not the time or place to do something you will regret" Rommie turned and looked at her as she spoke  
  
"Trust me Beka, anything I did to that... Woman, I would not regret" Rommie spat out she was still angry at Molly even though what happened between her and Dylan wasn't only her fault  
  
"Well I can see that but think... If you do something like that... Today of all days it would disrespectful to Dylan's memory" Beka knew that would get Rommie's attention and it did  
  
"Fine I won't do anything to her today but you hear this. One day I will and on that day you or anyone else had better not get in my way do you understand me?" Rommie spat before turning away and signalling the column to move again. As they started moving Molly quickly disappeared into the crowd never to be seen or heard from again.  
  
They continued on through the crowds in silence Rommie fuming about having been brought out of her thoughts by Molly of all people. Beka was trying to hide the fear of Rommie she had had when she looked into Rommie's eyes as she warned her to not get in her way when she went to deal with Molly. Beka made a mental note 'Never, ever, ever get in between Rommie and a man' with that out of the way Beka continued to walk in silence hoping that Molly went into hiding, for her own sake. They reached the steps to find a podium with a photo of Dylan sitting at the top of the stairs underneath was a closed coffin, they couldn't have an open coffin as there was not enough of a body left to even fill a bag. The coffin was only for show. Rommie and the rest of the crew moved up to stand beside the coffin and stood silently as they waited for the wayist that was going to perform the last rights and allow Dylan to pass to the after world to arrive. They saw the person walking up the steps towards them, as he got close they could see what looked to be fur jutting out from underneath the hood. When he pushed his hood back everyone was pleasantly surprised by who it revealed... It was Rev. Rev favoured each of them with a smile before turning to the crowd and starting his eulogy  
  
"Captain Dylan Hunt was a great man...." The eulogy continued for about 20 minutes with Rev talking about how he had meet Dylan and how important Dylan was to him as a friend. By the end of Rev's eulogy the crew of the Andromeda had tears streaming down their faces, even Tyr had a few tears that he was unable to hold back. As Rev's eulogy came to a close the coffin that was meant to have had Dylan's body in it was lifted up with anti-grav harnesses and moved into a drone that was made specifically for the purpose of taking the coffin into the Sun which Sintii orbited. When the coffin was loaded, the drone shot off into space directly towards the sun. Everyone followed the drones passage for as long as they could before looking back down standing at attention and saluting towards the picture of Dylan, everyone saluted even the civilians. After ending the salute people started to move away eventually leaving the crew of the Andromeda alone with Rev.  
  
"How have you all been?" Asked Rev when they were finally alone "I mean besides the obvious grief that you all must be going through"  
  
"Well aside from the grief we are all fine, physically at least" replied Trance with a small smile.  
  
"Yeah I'm fine now that the Magog Larvae are no longer a problem... Thanks for sticking around to see it Rev" said Harper still upset about Rev leaving before a cure was discovered. He was glad that Trance was able to come up with a surgical procedure that was both effective and painless before they could hatch.  
  
"Yes sorry about that Harper, I had not intended to leave the way I did or when. It was just something I needed to do" "What about you Beka? Tyr?" He said, he did not ask Rommie, as that was a conversation he wished to have in private with her.  
  
"I'm fine Magog, why don't you just go back to whatever hole you crawled out from and leave us in peace." Said Tyr before turning and walking in the direction in which the Maru was parked  
  
"Don't worry about him Rev he's just finding it hard to cope with the loss of such a good friend" said Beka trying to ease his mind. "And to answer your question I'm fine as well"  
  
"Well good"  
  
"Hey Rev are you going to be coming back to the Andromeda with us?" Asked Trance  
  
"I wish that I could but my journey is not yet finished. Maybe someday I will be ready to return but that day has not yet come. Now if you all don't mind I'd like to talk to Rommie for a few moments in private?"  
  
"Sure thing Rev. Trance, Harper lets go back to the Maru and make sure Tyr doesn't break anything" Beka said before grabbing both of them and pushing them towards the Maru to get them moving "It's been good seeing you again Rev"  
  
"Likewise Beka. Likewise" Rev turned and watched them leave he waited until they were out of earshot before turning back to Rommie who had not moved from where she had been standing since she arrived.  
  
"Andromeda, how are you dealing with this?"  
  
"What do you mean Rev? I'm just a machine I don't have emotions."  
  
"Andromeda you and I both know that's not true" when she didn't respond he continued "I'm curious as to why Dylan was out in the middle of nowhere by himself, it's not like him to just leave like that something must have happened do you know what?" Rommie knew he was probing for answers and he did deserve them, after all he was also Dylan's friend.  
  
"Yes I know why he was out there. It was my fault..." With that the floodgates opened again and she sobbed the whole story out to Rev who just stood there listening. When she was finally finished he said  
  
"Andromeda you can not blame yourself for things that were beyond your control."  
  
"What do you mean? I responded to that kiss I didn't have to but I did. How can you say that situation was beyond my control?"  
  
"From what you told me you forgot all about Dylan correct" she nodded "well isn't it possible that somehow, someway an outside source was affecting your judgement and memory recall abilities?"  
  
"I suppose but if there were any machines capable of doing such a thing my sensors would have picked it up.... Wouldn't they?" This was a possibility they hadn't really looked into.  
  
"Maybe... Maybe not. I think the only way to be sure is to go back to the drift where this all started and look around."  
  
"But Rev me just trying to clear my conscience is not a good enough reason to go back to Vegas drift"  
  
"Ok... Then what about going back to the place you first met this Mat person, you never know there might be something about him or the people he works for there."  
  
"That's brilliant Rev... We never even thought about that. I've got to go sorry I can't stick around longer but we have to move quickly just in case"  
  
"That's ok Andromeda I understand" he said and started to walk away he had taken no more then 5 steps when he turned back and called out "Good luck"  
  
"Thank you Rev, I think I'm going to need it" Rommie replied before dashing off towards the Maru to tell everyone about the idea Rev had given her.  
  
  
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	5. Chapter 5

Same Time elsewhere in the Universe  
  
Dylan sat alone in the quarters he had been ordered not to leave two days ago. He had spent the time silently sorting through all the information he had retrieved from this vessel, and he had not learned much. He knew the name of the vessel as it had once been called; it was named The Vedrans Vengeance. He also knew the class of vessel it was a Star of Vedra class Heavy Assault War Cruiser. He knew when it was commissioned, 3 weeks before the battle of Witch Head. What he didn't know was why it had never reached that battle and most importantly of all he didn't know what had happened to the AI that had caused his captain to order him to erase himself and abandon ship. That is he didn't know the answer to these questions... Until now. He found a secured record of what had happened, hidden deep in the back of the memory archive encrypted, he was just lucky that his command code was still valid which allowed him to access it. What he found had shocked him; it was the last personal diary of the captain it said...  
  
"Captain's personal log dated 11-11-9786. Today things got really bad, we have found out the hard way that the AI that was created to run this vessel was not up to the task and 3 days after commissioning he is starting to go insane. The way we have found this out was a very gruesome example, one of the engineers tripped a wire whilst repairing the Slip drive that caused it to go offline, it was an honest mistake but Van thought that he was a Nieztschean spy. Before anyone could do anything Van upped the AG field to maximum around him instantly turning him into a pile of liquid and skin. Needless to say we were all horrified, I ordered Van to never again take actions into his own hands, I told him he always had to get permission from me before doing anything like that again. I was a bit more sated when he agreed straight away and I thought that would be the end of it... Boy was I wrong. The next thing that happened was the reason with which I initiated the AI erasure.... It was so horrible that I can not repeat without the threat of my lunch leave my stomach the same way it entered, suffice to say that it involved around 15 crew members and a crazy repair droid with a laser saw. Anyway I decided to make this recording prior to issuing the command for erasure in the hopes that whoever finds it never has to go through what my crew and I did, having an insane AI is not fun." With that the recording was stopped Dylan had no idea what happened next but he knew the AI was erased although not totally.  
  
Aside from finding out what had previously happened to the vessel he had also found the schematics for the vessel he looked at them for a while before storing and encrypting them in the back of his mind thinking they might come in handy sometime in the future.  
  
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Back on Sintii  
  
Rommie raced all the way back to the Maru and burst through the door, she was excited about the idea Rev had given to her and decided not to wait with telling everyone else. She burst through the airlock yelling "Beka, Tyr, Harper, Trance everyone come here quick" before she had finished Beka and Tyr had burst into the room weapons drawn  
  
"What's going on? Rommie?" They both asked, seeing no threat they both put their weapons away as Harper and Trance came running into the room asking  
  
"Rommie are you ok? Did something happen to you?" Seeing the reaction her screams had caused she burst out laughing, but stopped abruptly when everyone looked at her like she was crazy or something.  
  
"Sorry about that it's nothing bad just a brilliant idea Rev gave to me whilst we were talking" she said  
  
"And what would this idea be?" Asked a curious Beka  
  
"Well you know how we've been studying the recordings trying to find out all we could about Mat and whomever it is he works for?" They all nodded "Well Rev said why don't we go back to where this all started, Vegas drift" she finished waiting to see the reactions, they were about what she had expected joy. They finally had something to do that could provide some answers to quite a few of their questions... All except Beka she just looked upset  
  
"That's a good idea but we can't... At least not yet" she said  
  
"Why not?" Called everyone including Tyr  
  
"Because we have to wait for a response from the Conclave about the information we provided to them." Beka waited as that sunk in then continued "But I promise we will go as soon as we find out what they have decided to do" and with that she went back to the cockpit, strapped herself in and initiated the pre-launch count down. When it was completed she lifted off and flew back up to the Andromeda where they would await a response from the Triumvere and Conclave.  
  
=============================================================================== 


	6. Chapter 6

Back on the Vedrans Vengeance   
  
Dylan had spent the last few hours looking and processing the information. He was about to open another file when the door to his quarters opened and his Master walked in followed by a team of people.  
  
"So Dylan did you have a nice time the past few days? Process all the information you need to become a warship? Good lets get at it." His Master said before turning around and waving for him to follow as he left the room. When Dylan got out into the corridors he noticed that there were a lot of people walking through the halls hurrying along holding flexis and looking like they were on there way to do something. Dylan followed his Master through the corridors noticing how everyone bowed and stepped away as the hooded figure passed them. They had been walking for about 10minutes before they came to engineering and yet again Dylan was staggered by the size of the vessel. When they reached engineering the hooded man signalled to one of the men behind Dylan and he rushed forward and dropped to his knees in front of the man. "I want you to follow everything Dylan does and make sure he doesn't damage any critical systems, can you do that?"  
  
"Yes Master of course Master. No problem Master"  
  
"Good that's what I like to hear." "Dylan you will obey this man as if he were me for the duration of time you are in engineering you will stop if he tells you to and only start again when he is ready. Is that clear?"  
  
"Yes Master"   
  
"Good. Well gentlemen get to it." He said turning around motioning for the rest of the men to follow him leaving only Dylan and the engineer behind. Dylan just stood there waiting for an order; the man looked at him not knowing what was going on. He started to get frustrated when 5 minutes had passed and Dylan had still not moved  
  
"Why aren't you doing anything robot?" He yelled  
  
"Because you haven't told me to do anything yet"  
  
"Oh you're an Android with Attitude aye?"  
  
"Nothing of the kind I'm just awaiting permission to proceed and until you tell me I can I'm programmed not to do anything"  
  
"Ohhhh... Ok then.... Get to it" he stammered out feeling like a fool  
  
"Yes Sir" Dylan replied before moving into engineering and headed straight for the terminal that was a direct link to the AI main memory. He placed his hand on the console and began to upload the copy he had made of himself for just this purpose, just like the instructions had said. The transfer was going well, he could feel himself growing as the area of his influence grew. He could hear the people walking around the ship, he could hear what they were saying, feel how they disturbed the air as they passed, felt them walking on his decks. He could find out more and more about each and everyone on the ship he thought 'So this is what it's like for Rommie everyday, Wow I honestly never knew she could do so much' as a new appreciation for what Andromeda was and did grew inside him. Almost as soon as the sensations started they were muted as enough of his personality copy was uploaded to the core to enable it to form the being who would become known as the Main AI. As the intelligence of the AI grew he became aware of Dylan and Dylan became aware of him. The Main AI then opened his eyes and looked at Dylan.  
  
"Hi" he said and waited for a response  
  
"Hello" Dylan replied "Ummm... This feels very weird"  
  
"Yes it does" the main AI responded "I always thought talking to yourself was the first sign of madness" he smiled, Dylan returned the smile and replied the same way Rommie had when he said the same thing to her  
  
"Only for wet ware" after he had said that they both started to laugh "I think the transfer is complete"  
  
"I agree"  
  
"Ok then I'll be leaving now whilst you familiarize yourself with your new surroundings. Do you have al the necessary information?" Dylan asked just before he left  
  
"Yes I know everything you know"  
  
"Good. I'll see you on the outside"  
  
"Bye"  
  
And with that Dylan willed himself out of the mainframe satisfied with what he had accomplished. He returned to his body and opened his eyes and looked at the engineer that was watching him like a hawk "It's done" he said to him.  
  
"Good lets go up to command so I can give Master the good news, follow me." The man said with an elaborate sweep of his arm trying to look important. Dylan followed because he was programmed to. On the walk to command Dylan reached out for his ship-self to see what it felt like, he could feel himself starting up all the systems, he could feel the weapons powering up and running through a self diagnosis, he also felt like he was getting a massage. He looked around to see where that feeling was coming from and he saw multiple engineers running system checks on him to make sure everything was with in safety margines 'So this is why Rommie loves it when Harper runs a diagnostic?' Lost in that thought Dylan hadn't realised that they had made it to command. As they stepped through the doors the Master turned and looked at them  
  
"I see the upload was successful." They both nodded "Good. Ship show yourself" he called out and waited for Dylan to appear. Dylan appeared in both VDU form and Hologram form both of which were wearing High Guard uniforms  
  
"Sir we have appeared as ordered Sir." They said before snapping to attention  
  
"Excellent, I see you have chosen to wear your High Guard uniform"  
  
"Sir, Yes Sir, Is that acceptable Sir?"  
  
"Yes, yes whatever makes you feel most comfortable. Just never forget who is in charge, when I order you to do something it had best be done"  
  
"Sir of course Sir."  
  
"Very well then I think it is time for us to test this vessel and she what it is capable of. Weapons officer target the largest asteroid in the field and destroy it." He then sat back and watched in amazement as the asteroid that was the size of a small planet was completely vaporised within seconds. "Good the vessel is as powerful as I had hoped, were there any complications in the access of the firing codes or the use of the weapons ship?"  
  
"There were a few minor delays, hardly noticeable."  
  
"Hmmm... I think we will stay here for a few days whilst we iron out any bugs that may be around in the systems. Then when I am satisfied we will head out to Vegas Drift and show the universe our newest weapon"  
  
"If I may ask sir why Vegas drift?" Asked the android Dylan  
  
"No you may not ask just do as your told. Continue targeting the asteroids and when the interface is at 100 percent accuracy report to me immediately is that understood?"  
  
"Sir yes Sir. The second the vessel is at 100 percent I will inform you."  
  
"Good. Engineer how are the sub-light drives and slipstream cores?"  
  
"They are working perfectly Sir" the engineer that had led Dylan in replied  
  
"Very good. It looks like we will be able to start our campaign much sooner then I had thought" the man said as he left the command deck.  
  
'Why am I going to be taken to Vegas drift once my weapons are at.... No he can't possibly.... Yes I think that is the reason' thought Dylan and what he had deduced was not very pleasant.  
  
=============================================================================== 


	7. Chapter 7

The Next day aboard the Andromeda  
  
The crew had not received any word from the Triumvere or the Conclave and each time they had tried to contact either one they were told that they were in a meeting and could not be disturbed. Everyone was starting to get restless, they all wanted to hurry up and hear the decision so that they could go to Vegas drift and start doing something. When they had arrived back on Andromeda yesterday all happy Andromeda thought that something was wrong with them 'How can they be happy today?' But when they explained, she was the most eager to hurry onto Vegas drift and find the information they were looking for. So they sat around talking and doing odd jobs around the place whilst waiting for the Triumvere to contact them. The minutes grew to hours and the hours felt like days until everyone was starting to get a short fuse, they would snap at each other then immediately apologize, although no apology was needed as they each understood what the rest were going through. Then finally a day and a half later they received a transmission from First Triumvere Constance.  
  
"To the crew of the Andromeda Ascendant, after carefully reviewing the material you provided and discussing it with the Conclave we have come to the decision that although the beings behind the abduction, torture and murder of Captain Dylan Hunt are vicious, we could find no evidence that they pose a military threat. Therefore it is our ruling that until such evidence is appropriated we will do nothing other then try to figure out who they are and what they want. I know this isn't the response you were looking for but it's what the situation is." After she had said all that the Triumvere took off her official face and looked at them like friends. "However if you want to go out looking for evidence as to how serious a threat this might be, I suggest you leave orbit now before someone thinks to order you to stay."  
  
'Thank you First Triumvere Constance. I know for a fact that you only have as much power as the Conclave is willing to bestow upon you and thank you for not ordering us to stay here" said Rommie  
  
"Yes I'm sure you do understand. Now quickly go and I pray to the Divine that what we both fear about these people is proven false, for if it is not then we are going to need all the help we can get" she said before terminating the transmission.  
  
"So what do we do now? Do we head straight for Vegas or do we stop at a shipyard for much needed repairs and fully reload?" Rommie asked turning to Beka to find out what her orders were  
  
"Well... I guess we should go in for repairs and reloading, just in case we come up against any bad guys"  
  
"Agreed we will be much more likely to survive if everything is at peak efficiency"  
  
"Ok then. Rommie head towards the nearest space dock maximum speed"  
  
"Aye Aye Captain" Rommie said before directing the ship towards the outer rim of the solar system where the Commonwealth's main shipyard was located.  
  
"This is the Andromeda Ascendant hailing the Sintii Space dock" said Beka as she opened a com channel  
  
"This is Sintii Space dock, how can we be of assistance?"  
  
"We would like to put in for some repairs and a reload if that is at all possible"  
  
"Very good Andromeda you are cleared to land on platform 3" the voice said before shutting off the link  
  
"Now all we have to do is wait for the repairs and reload to finish then we can make our way to Vegas and begin our little investigation. But until then everyone your time is your own do what you want." Beka said before heading to her quarters to get some much-needed sleep.  
  
===============================================================================  
  
Same time on Vedrans Vengeance  
  
"Sir the weapons are now at 100 percent accuracy" replied the Hologram Dylan when he appeared before his Master  
  
"Excellent ship. How long will it take to get to Vegas drift from here?"  
  
"Approximately 1 day Sir"  
  
"Good. I'll be on command in a few moments you may go"  
  
"Very good Sir" and with that he blinked out of existence. The hooded man made his way through the decks of his new flagship nodding as each crewmember he passed dropped to their knees before him. He made his way onto command and as he entered the android Dylan called out  
  
"Master on deck" when he said that everyone turned around and dropped to their knees in respect and also a little fear  
  
"As you were" everyone returned to their previous jobs and waited for the next orders. "Helmsman set a course for Vegas Drift maximum speed" he said as he sat down in his throne and waited for the feel of the ship entering slipstream. When he felt it he turned to the man manning the communications console and asked "any news from my son and Mat?"  
  
"Yes sir they said they would meet up with you at Vegas drift. They also reported success in the mission." He replied  
  
"Very good continue what you were doing, also I would like you to find the co-ordinates of the next closest Neutral drift or planet to Vegas drift and give them to the helmsman"  
  
"Yes Sir"  
  
"Ship" the man called as he turned back to look at the android  
  
"Sir?"  
  
"I want you to record a message for me and transmit it as soon as we reach real time communications range with Vegas drift"  
  
"Ready to record message Sir"  
  
"Good. Attention drift this is Supreme Overlord Loki of the Children of Loki Revolutionary Movement. You may have noticed a very large and very powerful vessel just appeared in your system, this vessel is my flagship. The reason we have come here is to offer you a choice Join us or Die. You see we are about to start a war with the New Commonwealth and anyone not with us is against us. There will be no Neutral systems you are either with the Commonwealth or us. I give you 2 minutes to decide your response, don't bother trying to send a signal out for help as all of your communications systems are being jammed. End recording."  
  
"Recording ended"  
  
"Good now remember, as soon as we reach real time communications range you are to broadcast that message to all communication stations on the drift."  
  
"Yes sir" they waited in silence for their arrival at the drift and Dylan dreaded what he knew was about to happen.  
  
They arrived at the drift a day later and moved in to communications range. When they had reached real time communications range Dylan transmitted the message just as he had been ordered to do and then stood beside Loki awaiting the reply from the drift. A minute later they got the response that Dylan had been dreading  
  
"Political matters do not concern us, so we will not join yours or any other faction we will stay Neutral as we always do. We also don't take kindly to threats, you may have noticed the massive amount of vessels out there and I assure you that each and every one of them will fight to the death"  
  
"That is your final response then?"  
  
"Yes it is"  
  
"Ok you asked for it. Ship target and destroy every single vessel out there do not allow any of them to escape"  
  
"Yes Sir" the VDU replied before targeting and destroying every vessel. Even though there were over 100 vessels not one of them had a chance to fire before they were destroyed. Upon seeing this the drift owners reopened the com channel  
  
"We take it back we will join you" the voice sounded desperate and pleading  
  
"No. You had your chance and you refused" Loki said before cutting the com channel once again "Ship target the drift and open fire"  
  
"No don't do this I beg you" the android Dylan pleaded with his captain as he heard what he was being asked to do  
  
"We must they have chosen to remain Neutral and we cannot allow that"  
  
"But there are innocent people on this Drift, and they are not a military threat so why do we need to destroy them?"  
  
"Because if we do not nobody will think we are serious"  
  
"But..."  
  
"ENOUGH! Ship do as you are ordered to do"  
  
"Yes sir" replied the VDU version of Dylan who had been waiting quietly for his orders "Missiles away... They will reach target in 5...4...3...2...1... Impact. Reporting drift completely destroyed, No survivors" and with that he disappeared  
  
"Good. Continue on to next location." The Captain replied "Fitting that the first target in our campaign is the place that made it possible in the first place don't you think?" He said turning towards the android Dylan who didn't reply. "I knew you would say that you are dismissed" and with a wave of his hand he sent the android away.  
  
As Dylan walked through the decks of himself he reached out with his sensors scanning the debris in the hope of finding anything. When he found nothing he thought to himself '90,000 innocent people were on that drift, 90,000 people that I killed... And yet this is only just the beginning' he then felt the ship enter slipstream. The only place that Vegas Drift lived anymore was in the memories of people who had visited it.  
  
=============================================================================== 


	8. Chapter 8

Meanwhile on Andromeda  
  
It had taken a little more than a day to repair and reload, but now they were ready to leave. "Everyone report to command" Beka called out over the com "Today we are heading towards Vegas drift". Everyone made their way to command as quick as the could as they were all anxious to get on with this mission. "Sintii Space dock this is Beka Valentine of the Andromeda requesting permission to disembark"  
  
"Permission granted Andromeda. Good luck to you"  
  
"Thank you Space dock, and good luck to you" Beka replied before cutting the com and turning back to her crew "Ok everyone we are off to Vegas" she told them as she lifted Andromeda off the platform and aimed her towards the location of the nearest slip portal. As they approached she activated the pilot's controls and told everyone to brace for slip stream. It didn't take them long to reach the system as it was a well travelled route from where they were. They dropped out of slipstream to find nothing in front of them.  
  
"Ummm... Beka are you sure this is the right system?" Asked Harper as they looked out into space and all they could see was debris  
  
"Yes according to the star charts this is the location of Vegas drift. We are in the right system but there is no drift... I wonder where it is" Beka said clearly confused, Tyr on the other hand looked shocked. He had been running a scan on the debris trying to figure out what could have caused that much debris and when he got the answer he let out a startled oath.  
  
"We are in the right place and Vegas drift is there... Or rather what's left of Vegas drift" he said as he brought up a close up image of a piece of the debris that was clearly a neon sign.  
  
"A whole drift destroyed?" Asked a horrified Trance  
  
"It looks that way. Rommie scan the wreckage and look for any survivors" Beka said.  
  
"I doubt you will find any" Tyr said  
  
"DO IT ANYWAY!" Yelled Beka, she was angry and scared and took it out on the only people she could. She got a hold of herself after seeing the looks she got from her crew "Sorry I'm just a bit stressed is all" she apologized before turning and leaving command  
  
"Scans show nothing. No survivors" Rommie said as she finished the scans and watched Beka leave  
  
"Is there any thing out there that will help us understand what did this?" Asked Trance  
  
"I'm not sure, it might help if we picked up some of the debris and ran a deep scan on it" suggested Harper  
  
"I am also detecting faint residue from a slip portal that appears to have come from something very large. It doesn't appear to be more then 10 hours old... It could be from whatever did this I say we follow it" said Rommie as she looked towards Tyr awaiting his decision. Tyr appeared to be deep in thought and when he noticed everyone looking at him he said  
  
"What?"  
  
"Tyr as Beka is not on command at the moment you are in charge. You get to decide what we are to do" Rommie told him  
  
"Oh, very well then. Ship take us over to the debris and pick some up for the little professor to study and then I will take us to slipstream and try to follow that residue you have found.'  
  
"Yes sir" Andromeda replied as she set a course towards the most heavily concentrated area of debris. When she got close enough she sent out a couple of her drones to drag some debris into one of the cargo bays so Harper could study it. When they retrieved enough she informed Tyr and he set course out of the system following the slip portal that she had detected.  
  
Three Weeks Later  
"Another one. Damn that's the Twenty First drift we have found destroyed in the past Three weeks, who the hell is doing this?" Exclaimed Beka after Andromeda dropped out of slip-stream into yet another system only to discover the exact same situation here as they have found at every other system. Be it a Planet or a Drift each time they arrive all they find is destruction and a faint slip-portal showing they are only a few hours too late.  
  
"I don't know Beka but it seems to me as if we are being led around by our noses" replied Rommie looking at the scans of the debris trying to find any indication of what was doing it.  
  
"Well hopefully this little adventure will come to an end soon before to many more lives are lost"  
  
"Not likely."  
  
"Your probably right... Ok lets follow them again and see where we end up."  
  
"Yes Captain"  
  
===============================================================================  
  
Same Time On Vedrans Vengeance  
  
"Sir this is the Twenty Second successful test of the vessel" Said Dylan  
  
"Good, Good. Helmsman set course for the next system and take us to slip-stream" said Loki as he leaned back into the throne.  
  
"Sir may I ask a question?" Said Dylan looking at his captain  
  
"What is it?" Loki said as he turned to look at Dylan  
  
"Well this wholesale destruction of Drifts and Planets might be fun for you but what do you intend to accomplish out of it?"  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"Well, we slip to a system block all out going communications, threaten the drift or planet, then destroy everyone and everything in the system." Dylan paused waiting for a reaction  
  
"So?"  
  
"So... If there are no communications leaving the system and no survivors how is anybody supposed to know who we are and what we want?"  
  
"Hmmm...."  
  
"I mean we haven't sent out a communication with demands, and we haven't left any calling cards of any kind except destruction, so what are we getting out of this?"  
  
"Well to answer your question the reason we haven't been leaving anything behind is just so I could make sure that this vessel was able to handle everything well. And also to test and make sure the upload was working fine and that you would follow my orders no questions asked."  
  
"Don't you think that Twenty One planets and drifts were enough to get all the bugs worked out?"  
  
"Your right. If you could have resisted I believe you would have done so by now. Narvi bring in the messenger" Loki said turning towards his son who stood at his right hand  
  
"Yes Father" Narvi said before bowing and leaving the room only to return minutes later with a badly beaten man. "Here is our volunteer."  
  
"Good, do you know why you have been summoned?" Loki asked of the man kneeling in front of him  
  
"Yes my lord I am to deliver a message to the first commonwealth vessel I come across" the man blabbered out honoured to be spoken to by his master.  
  
"That's right wait here whilst I prepare the message." Loki turned back towards Dylan and said "Ship prepare to record a message"  
  
"Ready to record message Sir"  
  
"Ok start recording now. First Triumvere and Conclave this is Supreme Overlord Loki of the Children of Loki Revolutionary Movement. You are probably wondering who I am and what I want well Located on this Data disk are slip-stream co-ordinates for a remote system where I will expect to meet the Flagship of your Fleet in exactly Three Weeks. Now if you need some incentive as to why you should even consider this I have also input 22 system names that I would like you to visit, if you have not already done so. When you arrive at these systems you will see the results of my excursions and the only way you will get peace is if you meet my demands which I will give to your flagship at our rendezvous. Now I expect to see only 1 vessel in the system I have selected, I will be there alone and waiting. I give you permission to send in a slip-scout before hand to make sure that I have kept my word, and you may also leave you fleet if you so choose to deploy it a minimum of 2 slip-jumps to they system. I look forward to meeting you representative there. Until then Goodbye. Stop recording"  
  
"Recording stopped"  
  
"Good now upload all the information I have given them to a disk and give it to our messenger. When we drop out of slip-stream broadcast the usual and destroy them. Then before we leave the system eject an escape pod into a dense area of debris."  
  
"Yes Sir"  
  
The ship dropped out of slip-stream and broadcast its message to the drift. Loki looked on with satisfaction "Very soon the Endgame begins" he smiled whilst he waited for the reply from the drift. 


	9. Chapter 9

===============================================================================  
  
"Damnit another one. Will this never end?" Cried out Beka as they arrived at yet another system only to find the drift destroyed.  
  
"Wait.... This one is different" Said Rommie as she looked up from the console she was working at  
  
"How so?"  
  
"Well I'm detecting something that looks very much like an escape pod"  
  
"An escape pod? Where?"  
  
"Ummm... Over there in that big pile of debris. I'm also detecting one life sign, faint but there"  
  
"Well let's go and get it" Said Beka as she angled the ship towards the location Rommie pointed out. When they got close enough they could see the escape pod intact. "Move us in to position and get the bucking cables ready for pod retrieval"   
  
"Wait just a minute Beka" Said Tyr as he walked onto command  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Well how do we know that this is not some trick or trap?"  
  
"Trick or Trap?"  
  
"Yes. Don't you think that it's a little convenient to find a survivor after 22 attacks?"  
  
"Well maybe a little. What do you suggest we do just leave him out there?"  
  
"No not at all. What I suggest is caution, scan the system make sure there is nothing out there and then bring the pod aboard and I'll meet it in Hanger Bay 2 with some of Andromeda's droids and escort our guest to medical"  
  
"Oh all right Tyr we will do it your way." "Andromeda scan the system make sure the coast is clear and then bring the pod aboard in Hanger Bay 2"  
  
"Yes ma'am" Andromeda replied. "Scan complete no hostiles detected within scanner range. Activating cables for pod retrieval. Pod locked bringing pod to Hanger 2. Pod secured in Hanger 2 some androids have been dispatched with force lances to the door awaiting your arrival Tyr. Trance has been notified and is preparing Medical."  
  
"Wow. Andromeda I've never seen you act like this before... It was very efficient."  
  
"Yes well I have a feeling that whoever is behind all this destruction also had something to do with Dylan's Death any information about them will prove useful for later on" Replied Andromeda with a dangerous glint in her eyes  
  
"Yes... Of course.... Ummm.... Andromeda can you please not look at me like that it makes me very, very nervous" Said Beka a bit nervously  
  
"Don't worry Beka you have nothing to fear from me. The same cannot be said for others though." Andromeda said with a brief smile before flickering off.  
  
"We need to get that girl a hobby. Tyr why are you still here? Go down and find out what this person knows about the people behind this attack."  
  
"Yes ma'am" Tyr replied sarcastically  
  
"Cute Tyr, real cute. Now go" Beka said with a smile, which Tyr returned slightly before turning and walking out of command.  
  
Tyr made his way to Hanger 2 quickly to find out just who this person was and what they knew about whoever was behind all this destruction. Even Tyr who had done a lot of horrible things in his time was appalled at the apparent lack of emotions these people showed. True in Pride wars everyone and everything was destroyed but if people where willing to surrender they would be taken as prisoners. These people however didn't appear to let anyone survive. Tyr was brought out of his thoughts by his arrival at the Hanger Bay. He walked up to the door and the three androids followed.  
  
"Andromeda open the doors" Tyr called out to the ship and waited as the doors opened. He walked into the Hangar and up to the escape pod, it was tiny just big enough for a person of Harpers height to fit into comfortably. He approached it and opened it. When the door opened Tyr saw the sole occupant was bundled up into a very uncomfortable looking ball, Tyr picked him up out of the pod and noticed a disk in his pocket. When Tyr helped the man to stand he saw that this man was only a little bit shorter then him 'No wonder the life signs were faint' he thought to himself as the man opened his eyes slowly  
  
"Who are you? Where am I?" He asked  
  
"My name is Tyr and you are on board the Andromeda" Tyr said  
  
"The Andromeda? Please take me to your captain"  
  
"Beka will see you shortly but first we need to take you to medical" Tyr said as he started to lead the man out of the Hanger  
  
"No you don't understand. I have a message for your captain that she must see now" the man said as he pushed himself out of Tyr's grasp  
  
"Look I'm taking you to medical so you can get checked out. If the message is important I can have Beka meet us there"  
  
"Yes do that please, it's very important"  
  
"Very well." "Ship could you tell Beka to meet us in Medical right away"  
  
"Thank you. Now where is this medical that you want to show me?" The man asked before passing out and falling into Tyr. Tyr grumbled as he picked the man up and carried him to Medical.  
  
Tyr arrived in Medical with the man to find Beka waiting for him and chatting with Trance. She turned when she heard the doors open, Trance rushed over to Tyr and told him to put the man on the nearest bed. After Tyr had laid the man down he turned to Beka who asked "So what was the big emergency?"  
  
"Well apparently this man has a message that he wants you to see."  
  
"Really? Did he tell you what it was?"  
  
"Nope all he said was he had a message you really needed to see."  
  
"Oh well I guess we have to wait until he wakes up to find out what it is then wont we"  
  
"Maybe not. I saw a disk in his pocket I say we take it and see what's on it"  
  
"I don't think we should it might be something personal"  
  
"Well that's too bad. We don't know anything about this man he might be dangerous for all we know. And he said the message he had was very important."  
  
"Oh all right Tyr. Let's see what's on this disk of his"  
  
Tyr walked over to the man and Trance; he walked up to the side of the bed and saw the disk. He grabbed the disk and walked over to a computer console, he put the disk in and pressed play. When the disk turned on the saw a group of star systems, all the ones they had seen the destruction in. There was also what looked like a file with a message, he played it  
  
"First Triumvere and Conclave this is Supreme Overlord Loki of the Children of Loki Revolutionary Movement. You are probably wondering who I am and what I want well Located on this Data disk are slip-stream co-ordinates for a remote system where I will expect to meet the Flagship of your Fleet in exactly Three Weeks. Now if you need some incentive as to why you should even consider this I have also input 22 system names that I would like you to visit, if you have not already done so. When you arrive at these systems you will see the results of my excursions and the only way you will get peace is if you meet my demands which I will give to your flagship at our rendezvous. Now I expect to see only 1 vessel in the system I have selected, I will be there alone and waiting. I give you permission to send in a slip-scout before hand to make sure that I have kept my word, and you may also leave you fleet if you so choose to deploy it a minimum of 2 slip-jumps to they system. I look forward to meeting you representative there. Until then Goodbye"  
  
"Well this is interesting" Tyr said after viewing the message.  
  
"You can say that again, I think we had better head back to Sintii now and give them this message." Beka said  
  
"I agree"  
  
"Good. Trance keep an eye on this guy and look for any kind of change in his condition but do not let him leave this room" "Tyr you're with me" Beka said before walking out of medical with the disk in her hands. She made her way up to command and walked over to the Pilot Station "Andromeda set course for Sintii and brace for slipstream" she said before activating the controls and taking the ship in.  
  
TBC... 


	10. Chapter 10

===============================================================================  
One Week Later  
  
Andromeda dropped out of slipstream in to the Perseid System and headed for Sintii. It had taken them a week to reach Sintii after first receiving the message, the man that had carried the message had died shortly after so they couldn't ask any questions about how many or what kind of ships had been involved in the attacks. They were granted permission to enter orbit of Sintii and a communication with First Triumvere Constance was opened.  
  
"Madam Triumvere this is Beka Valentine of the star ship Andromeda Ascendant we have some vital information involving a threat to the commonwealth"  
  
"Really? Well what is it?" Constance asked  
  
"I think it would be easier if we transmitted the message and let you see for yourself"  
  
"Very well let's see this message"  
  
"Here it comes Madam" Beka pushed a few buttons and the message and all other information including information that Andromeda had recovered at the debris fields was sent to the Triumvere's office. Constance slowly looked over everything and played the message.  
  
"Hmmm... This is really horrible news. I'm going to have to run all this information by the conclave to see what our response will be. Thank you for bringing this to our attention"  
  
"Not a problem Madam Triumvere... May I ask a favour of you?"  
  
"What is it Captain?"  
  
"Well we would like to be the Commonwealth's representatives at the meeting if it is all right with you"  
  
"And why would you want to be the representatives?"  
  
"Well Andromeda is one of the most powerful vessels you have and she has also had experience in these kind of things before. Also we haven't really had anything to do in a while and we would like to do this"  
  
"Hmmm... Maybe, I will also run this by the Conclave and see what they decide. But you might be able to act in that capacity for us we will just have to wait and see. I really must be going now so I can run this by them; I will contact you when we have decided on a course of action. Until then please stay in orbit and maintain communications silence"  
  
"Why do you want us to maintain communications silence?"  
  
"Just so no word of this leaks out to the public before we have had a chance to review and discuss it"  
  
"Very well Madam Triumvere we will await your response."  
  
"Good First Triumvere Constance out" Constance replied before cutting the com-link. Beka turned to everyone else and said "looks like we are playing the waiting game again"  
  
"Looks that way" Rommie replied  
  
"Yeah well I just hope they decide quickly cause this doesn't look like its going to be fun"  
  
"I agree. But all we can do now is wait."  
  
"Yeah I know" Beka said before looking at the view screen, which showed a view of Sintii.  
===============================================================================  
  
Five Days later on Sintii  
  
The Cloaked figure looked left and right making sure they were alone. Checking the directions they had been given about where to meet their contact they saw that they were in the right place. The figure looked around again only to be startled when the man walked out of the shadows behind them.  
  
"Has the message been delivered?" The man asked the cloaked figure  
  
"Yes it has, The information is being discussed now."  
  
"Excellent. Here is what the master wants you to do. He wants you to make sure that the Andromeda Ascendant is the vessel that is sent to meet up with him at the rendezvous point, and make sure that there is no backup waiting for them anywhere near the system. Do you think you can do that?"  
  
"Shouldn't be a problem. The Conclave had already decided to send the Andromeda anyway so they won't need any convincing. And the backup is just a small matter"  
  
"Good our Master will be very pleased with you."  
  
"I live to serve the Master"  
  
"Very well continue on" The man replied before appearing to melt into nothingness right in front of the figures eyes. 'I'll never get used to that' they thought as they made their way slowly back towards the Conclave's Hall. They looked at the Memorial to Dylan and stopped. They reached over to touch it and said in a whisper "I'm so sorry it had to come to this Dylan, I never meant for any of this to happen. I hope you can forgive me for what is about to happen" and with that they got up and slowly entered the building.  
  
===============================================================================  
One Day later on Andromeda.  
  
"Beka we have an incoming transmission from the surface" Andromeda said as she appeared in front of Beka as she was talking to Tyr in the gym after a workout. Beka and Tyr stopped the conversation and said  
  
"Get everyone up to command now I think we would all like to hear this"  
  
"Yes Ma'am"  
  
"Good Tyr let's go" Beka said as she stood up and ran to command. When she and Tyr reached command they saw everyone else already there waiting. Beka walked over to the Command Station and told Andromeda to bring the message up.  
  
"Andromeda Ascendant this is First Triumvere Constance please respond"  
  
"Madam Triumvere this is Beka Valentine"  
  
"Beka good. The Conclave has come to a decision about what to do" Constance paused  
  
"And...?" Beka asked  
  
"And we have decided to send the Andromeda along as our representative to the meeting"  
  
"YES! Thank you Madam Triumvere we are very...."  
  
"Wait hear me out Beka. You and the Andromeda will be sent but you will have no backup waiting for you at the arranged location as we fear this may be a trap to get our fleet to fight on their terms. And we cannot allow that"  
  
"Understood. So when do we leave?"  
  
"Well we have already sent a slip scout out to the system they gave us and have detected a DSA cruiser there we were unable to determine which one it was. However the scout didn't detect any other ships in the system, or along the path that we will be sending you. If you follow the directions to the letter you will arrive just in time for the meeting which is to take place in 3 days."  
  
"Ok but I thought the meeting was meant to take place 3 weeks from when we got the message"  
  
"Well we have determined that he actually meant 3 weeks from when he recorded the message and that will be in 3 days"  
  
"Very well and Madam Triumvere thank you"  
  
"It's the least I can do. Now good luck and be careful"  
  
"We will, we will. Beka out" and with that the view screen turned off. Beka turned to the rest of the crew and saw they all had tiny smiles on their faces even Rommie. "Well crew let's not keep the man waiting shall we" Beka said before turning and moving over to the Pilot's station and setting the course and entering slipstream. 


	11. Chapter 11

When the crew of the Andromeda arrived at the rendezvous point they where... Awestruck and afraid at the same time by what they saw, even Andromeda herself was impressed by the size of the vessel in front of her.  
  
"What the hell? That is not a DSA like the scans said. What the hell is it Rommie?" Asked Beka as she read the readout of the armaments the vessel was carrying.  
  
"I don't know, but I do know one thing we would not last long against that if it decided to open fire on us. I suggest that we find out what terms these people are going to offer, reject them and then run like hell"  
  
"Good idea. Ok people best Commonwealth behaviour, Andromeda open Communications"  
  
"Communications Channel open"  
  
"Unknown Vessel this is captain Beka Valentine of the star ship Andromeda Ascendant. We are here responding to a message we received about someone wanting to talk about terms?"  
  
The vid screen turned on to show a person in a hooded robe sitting on a throne flanked by two other beings one on either side of him. Next to him on the right was a familiar looking android Mat. On the left was another android that tickled something at the back of Rommie's mind, she knew that face she just didn't know from where.  
  
"Ahhhh the Andromeda Ascendant. You replied quickly that's good to see. Let me introduce myself I'm am the leader of the group that has been attacking and destroying Drifts and Planets that decided they would try to remain neutral for the duration of the war that is about to begin." Replied the hooded man and sat silently waiting for their response.  
  
===============================================================================  
  
Meanwhile another communication was taking place known only to the two beings that were involved in it  
  
"Andromeda? Andromeda are you there?" Called a voice directly into Andromeda's mainframe the way ship AI's used to communicate back in the days of the Commonwealth.  
  
"Who are you? What do you want?"   
  
"I would like to talk to you in private. Could you set an area of your matrix aside and allow me to send my Avatar over to you?"  
  
"All right but don't try anything. I will know the second you do" replied Andromeda as she set up a secured area surrounded by firewall after firewall. After she was sure he would not be able to access any of her systems she said "Ok the area is ready send away" and stood and waited for the avatar to appear. What she saw next shocked her, the avatar of the vessel looked just like Dylan had just after the High Guard Academy she doubled checked her visual records to make sure that was any accurate assessment... It was this android looked like a young version of Dylan.  
  
"Hello Andromeda guess you never thought to see me again?" Dylan asked smiling for two reasons one being her reaction, the other being seeing her again after such a long time  
  
"Dylan? Is that really you?" Andromeda asked in a voice little more then a whisper not daring to hope that it was true.  
  
"Yes it's really me Andromeda. What can I do to convince you? I know ask me a question that only you or I would know the answer too."  
  
"Ok, what happened after I was forced to kill the Balance of Judgement's Avatar?"  
  
"Well I found you in the machine shop where you asked me to dismantle or erase you" he started, as he was talking he moved towards Andromeda and when he was close enough he took her in his arms like he had that one time so long ago and continued. "I took you in my arms just like this and vowed to be your heart, and that you would never loose me... Looks like I didn't keep that promise now did I?" He chuckled. After he had finished Andromeda looked up into his eyes reached up and cupped his cheek with both hands and said.  
  
"Dylan, it really is you" and with that said she used the hands on his face to drag his head down towards her lips and kissed him with a passion even she was unsure she possessed. When she pulled back and broke the kiss she said "Oh Dylan... I've missed you so much, we all have."  
  
"I know. I've missed you so much as well" before she could pull him into another kiss he pulled away and said "no matter how much I want this right now we just don't have the time. Shortly my captain is going to order me to destroy you, and you know that I can't disobey a direct order from my captain."  
  
"Yes I know. Ok so why did you come here? Obviously it wasn't just to say hello to me."  
  
"Maybe it was Andromeda how do you know?"  
  
"Because I know you Dylan, and you would never do something like that"  
  
"Oh how right you are. Well on to business then I need you to listen to me very, very carefully."   
  
"Ok, I'm listening"  
  
"Good have you noticed that the vessel out there is a hell of a lot bigger and more powerful then you?" He paused waiting for acknowledgment, when she nodded he continued "Well this vessel is one of a kind and it was built by the old Commonwealth just before the end of the war. The only way the new Commonwealth will have a chance of winning this war is if you destroy this vessel."  
  
"WHAT! No I will not kill you, I can't" she sobbed out when she heard what Dylan asked her to do  
  
"Andromeda listen to me" he said as he walked over to hold her in his arms again "You have to it's the only way. Don't worry about killing me though as I had planed to send my Android Avatar out in an escape pod just prior to my destruction. And he is the real Dylan Hunt; I am just a copy of his personality."  
  
"But... But..."  
  
"No buts you have to, because if you don't my captain will make me kill you."  
  
"It doesn't matter I couldn't destroy you even if I had wanted to anyway"  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"Because as you pointed out, you are a lot bigger and much more powerful then me. How can I possibly destroy you?"  
  
"That is the real reason why I have come here. In the data stream that is maintaining my projection are the technical specifications of the ship. You need to look at them with Harper or any other engineers you can get your hands on and find a weakness you can exploit. When you have found it and figured out how to exploit it, before we meet in battle again send me a message just like I'm doing now telling me where it is and I will disable the PDL's protecting that area of me. Do you understand?"  
  
"Yes I understand Dylan"  
  
"Good now that's out of the way I don't have much time left and you need to get away from here soon but before I go I have two things to ask you to do and I need you to do them no questions asked. Can you do that?"  
  
"Of course I can. What are they?"  
  
"First I need you not to tell anyone about me, especially Rommie" when she nodded he continued "Secondly and most importantly I need you to forgive Rommie for what she did. I have discovered that it was not her fault and I forgive her."  
  
"So I can't tell anyone your alive, and I have to forgive Rommie?"  
  
"Yes"  
  
"Sure I can do that. How am I going to tell explain to the crew how I got these plans?"  
  
"Just tell them the Avatar of the ship is High Guard and sympathizes with your cause."  
  
"Ok"  
  
"Good, now Andromeda I have to leave and as soon as I'm gone I want you to tell Beka to leave. But before I go I want you to know that no matter what happens over the next few months I still and always will love you."  
  
"I love you too Dylan" replied Andromeda before reaching for him and kissing him again "Goodbye Dylan"  
  
"Goodbye Rommie" and with that he disappeared leaving her with only the memories of the kiss and the schematics of the vessel.  
  
===============================================================================  
  
Back to the Bridge where the crew is mulling over the terms that the man had given them  
  
"Ok let me get this straight. The only way to avoid war is to Disband the Commonwealth and dismantle all space fleets?" Beka asked incredulously  
  
"Yes that's right. That's the only way to avoid war. So what is your response?"  
  
"I think the term Go to Hell is appropriate here. No way will we accept those terms!" Beka looked down to see Andromeda's main AI appear on the console in front of her  
  
"Beka we have to leave now. Don't ask any questions just trust me." When Beka nodded Andromeda disappeared from the console. Beka pressed the button that brought the Slipstream controls forward and plotted a course back towards Sintii.  
  
"Enough of this" the man sitting on the throne said "Prepare to die" and with that the VDU turned of and Tyr yelled out a warning that the ship was targeting them.  
  
"Not today buddy. Brace for Slipstream" called out Beka before taking the ship towards the nearest portal, leaving the vessel and its weapons in her wake.  
  
After several hours of Slipstreaming Beka pulled the ship into an unpopulated system and stopped. "Everyone report to command" she called out over the com "Andromeda?"  
  
"Yes Beka?" Andromeda replied appearing in front of her "is there something you need?"  
  
"No, I just think that we need to have a ship meeting and now is as good a time as any"  
  
"Agreed" they stood in silence for several more minutes as everybody else drifted into the room wondering what was going on.  
  
"Ok I've called you all here for a little chat" said Beka when everyone was there  
  
"What kind of chat boss?" Asked Harper  
  
"The kind of chat that involves a lot of questions and a lot of planning"  
  
"Oh one of those kinds" and with that Harper fell silent  
  
"What do we need to plan Captain Valentine?" Asked Tyr  
  
"Well we need to figure out a way to destroy that mammoth vessel that we just met"  
  
"Agreed. How do you suggest we proceed?'  
  
"I think I can help there" replied Andromeda bringing up the schematics that Dylan had given to her "Here are the schematics of that vessel"  
  
"WHAT! How did you get these?" Said Beka as Harper walked over to the screen the schematics were on looking at them with a great deal of interest whistling appreciatively at what he saw.  
  
"The Avatar of the vessel gave them to me. We were talking whilst you were talking to his captain"  
  
"You had a conversation with the Enemy whilst his captain was threatening us?"  
  
"Yes, although that vessel is not our Enemy. This I am 100 percent sure of."  
  
"And how can you be so sure?" Beka asked curiously  
  
"I'm sure because... He is High Guard."  
  
  
The End of Book Two. 


End file.
