The Uncharted Territories
Prologue – The Infiltration
The majority of characters in this are the property of GTA Otaku, with the exception of one or two later on
The concept of the UnchartedTerritories, Farscape and its races, worlds and customs are the property of Jim Hensons Workshop and RS O'Bannon.
Planet Hydra
Human Year 2002
"Give me a break…we're in a BOAT!"
The alien ship did not seem to be listening. It simply continued its deadly approach.
For astronaut John Crichton though there was no fear…he could hear D'Argo screaming, he could here Chiana questioning, but it was drowned out by Aeryn's smile…her touch against his face. "You and your timing". She half laughed calmy, a soldier till the end.
"I love you". In that split second, it was all that mattered as John and Aeryn kissed for the last time…and the world became black…
…
Peacekeeper Observation Post
Uncharted Territories
Human year 2097
There was one base, and yet there were two.
There was the surface, a common place Peacekeeper Observation post used to monitor the border colonies and shipping lines, keeping the peace. Then there was the underground, the place that only a handful of people in the universe even knew existed.
One of those people was about to make an unscheduled appearance…
'Peacekeeper Observation, this is the transport ship Ie'Lior from Delvia Prime, we are experiencing engine difficulty, request immediate dock for repairs'
'Affirmative Ie'Lior, please inform all passengers of security procedures and restrictions prior to docking'.
'Affirmative Observation' The Pilot gave a sharp sigh of relief as the docking web took over and his ship glided into the Observation hanger bay. Mere microts after landing Peacekeeper Techs covered it, each one studying their assigned area as if with a fine-tooth comb.
The ship only had a handful of passengers, a group of Delvian priests making a pilgrimage to some nebula the Pilot had never heard of, but which was supposedly the birthplace of their Goddess and so the home of their ascension ritual, not that the pilot cared as long as he got paid for his services there and back.
It occurred to him that unless the ship got working soon, he wouldn't get paid minklets.
He looked again at the readings. The ship was an old model but it was still very reliable and shouldn't be experiencing engine trouble of this magnitude without at least a cycles warning. At first he had thought it a sensor malfunction, but he doubted that all his sensors were capable of failing simultaneously. Sighing with frustration he gave his passengers a quick nod and exited the ship to find the Peacekeeper tech assigned to its repair. "How is she looking Tech?" The Pilot asked.
"Looks like one of your primary relays was twisted, short circuited the power coupling for the right engine"
"Twisted, what the frell could have caused that".
"The question is who the frell caused that? I'm afraid to report sir that you appear to have a saboteur on board".
Saboteur!
Without so much as a backward glance, the Pilot half jumped back onto his ship. All of the Delvian priests looked at him from behind the veils covering their faces, assigned attire for the pilgrimage, but despite the shadows they created he could still see that they all bore genuinely questioning and slightly annoyed glances.
It was in fact a few microts before anyone noticed the chair at the back of the ship, occupied only by a heap of clothing covering the seat and surrounding floor, the only trace of the person who had sat there earlier…
…in almost perfect reach of the damaged area.
'Intruder alert. Intruder alert'
The ventilation of the bases life support system was narrow so that even a Hynerian child would have had trouble navigating it. Because of this no one thought it a problem to have one ventilation system for both the observation post and the Gammak base hidden underneath.
It provided the perfect passage for both air and something within the air that despite sentience was not of its physical form…at least not yet.
The particles were an essence, the remnants of a being soon to be whole again as they entered the base of the underground, the base only a handful knew existed…the home of the top Sebacean researchers…and the project that would change the future for an entire species.
The particles filtered through the grid of the ventilation, observing the room through the sounds and hearing none that indicated a presence other than their own as they began to merge, bonding to one another in a glow of warm energy, using the DNA they held to grow skin, hair, eye colour and height, information for the loose black clothing she wore, a bag worn upon 'transport'. It took ten microts and at the end where the particles had clouded together a bipedal girl who from a certain angle would have appeared no different from a Sebacean now stood, taking a deep breathe of the air as her lungs regained function, and the blood started to flow through her formed muscles and organs. She opened her eye and observed the room for the first time, a corridor leading to the base main entrance, a passage way to the observation base above.
'Intruder alert. Intruder alert'
"Quick, this way". Footfall…getting louder…getting CLOSER.
The girl turned to face it and the radiant gill on her face glowed brightly in her fear of discovery by such numbers. She sprinted away…darting into the nearest corridor and…knelt with her head tucked into her clothing to hide the brightly glowing gill as they ran through the main corridor, rifles ready to fire at the slightest unexpected sound or movement.
The Banik girl didn't even allow herself to breathe until their footfalls had passed into a distant memory, and even then it was some time before she remerged from her hiding place…
…and found herself face to face with a security Peacekeeper left behind to watch the entrance.
He didn't say anything, with a smile like that he didn't have to as he approached her, gun ready to stun the young girl…or worse.
However he had made the mistake of underestimating her, for while she feared many Peacekeepers the girl knew from experience that she could more than handle one.
As the gun fired she jumped down beneath the blast…practically sliding between his parted legs to a standing position behind…kicking up as he turned…sending the rifle flying across the room.
The Peacekeeper's counter attack aimed for the hollow of her shoulder beneath the neck. She darted round and the intended fatal blow becoming little more than a sharp slap…but still a nauseating feeling consumed her throat…she doubled over. Clasped hands hit her back, knocking her off balance and sending her to the floor. She took it as a vantage point and wrapped her arms around his ankles…pulling them together and forcing him to trip over her own rolling form…landing in a sprawled heap. She stood quickly and as he followed suite jumped up to both double kick his chest and propel herself backwards across the room…landing on her hands and back flipping several times before stopping in a standing position.
It was a few microts before the Peacekeeper registered that during her stunt the Banik had landed on and picked up the pulse rifle…it was a few more before he realised that she knew how to use it.
He was dead before he had even hit the floor.
Dropping the heavy and traceable rifle, the Banik proceeded further into the base.
Getting in turned out to be the easy part…the arrogant Peacekeeper's hadn't expected anyone to get into the base, and with the exception of a few cameras security was pathetic.
However as ignorant as they may have been for a species, Peacekeepers did have one quality…
They learned from their mistakes…and they learned fast.
Her mission completed the Banik had intended to make a break for the small prowler hanger on the other side of the base, but during the run had found herself in a cavern of interconnected walkways around a long…long drop which amazed her that it didn't reach the core on the pathetically small planet the Gammak base occupied. There were forty peacekeepers in the underground, and they were all heading for her, and as good a fighter as she was the young Banik didn't like the odds.
She gave herself a time to catch her breathe…but only a few could be managed before footfalls once again filled her hearing…this time from both sides of the walkway she occupied. She stood tall and found herself surrounded, Peacekeepers with their rifles raised ready to fire if she refused the survivor instinct to surrender. She wasn't going to make it to the prowler bay as planned.
The Banik instinctively reached round to lay a hand on her bag, gently squeezing the material so she could feel what was inside, the reason for her infiltration. Such a small vial, and yet it held so much.
The lead guard was saying something, but with her heartbeat so strong in her ears she couldn't hear anything other than the consideration of the only option she had left. The girl was young and still tired from the last transformation…running hadn't helped. If she tried again would the strain be enough to kill her…and even if that didn't it was a long journey home through the vacuum of space…could she survive it in her transposed form? Had anyone ever even tried? She hoped the answers were in her favour as she climbed over the railings of the walkway…
…the gill, visible to the guards for she wore no mask or cover…began to fluctuate and darken. She blinked and it became a void of pitch black, like a hole in her face…
…and she jumped, leaving the Peacekeepers unable to do anything but watch as her body glowed and disintegrated upon contact with the ground far below, golden dust dispersing as it began its journey to the surface far above.