What the Frell did you do this time Erpman!
Disclaimer: See chapter one
Author's Notes: Thanks for all the reviews, as always they were appreciated. I just want to acknowledge my new Beta reader Robo Jesus for all his help, and Skeet who also took a look.
Chapter 21 The Human Remnant Alliance
On board the Battlestar Galactica, Commander Apollo and the representatives of the Human Remnant Alliance stood in the docking bay waiting for Commander Crichton's shuttle to arrive.
Apollo looked around him and mused how much things had changed during the course of his life. The destruction of Twelve Colonies had been a life-shattering event that had been overshadowed by his brother's sacrifice; then the subsequent headlong race and escape form pursing Cylon forces led by the traitorous commander Baltar. At that time he'd believed that nothing could be worse, but after twenty-five yahrens of evading merciless Cylon forces he knew just how unforgiving and cold the galaxy could be.
It had all started a mere ten yahrens after the destruction of the Colonies, two yahrens after Commander Cain and the Pegasus had joined the refugee fleet, they had run into a second refugee fleet. At first they had thought that they were other survivors of the Twelve Colonies.
They were wrong; the second fleet had been the survivors of the Thirteenth colony. At first Apollo's father, then Commander Adama of the Battlestar Galactica and President of the Colonies had thought that the Cylons had beaten them to Earth, but that had proven incorrect. The truth had turned out to be much, much worse. All hope had left the fleet that day and it hadn't returned since.
The Thirteen Colonies of Kobol had fallen on the same day.
The thousand yahrens Cylon war had been fought on two fronts and each group of humanity had been unaware of the other for the entire time. Adama's mood had darkened greatly and he'd sensed Count Iblis's hand in it all. It was even possible-or rather very probable, that Iblis had been out to annihilate humanity from day one, right from Humanity's first contact with the Cylons although Adama had no proof of that.
The Human Remnant Alliance had been born that day, together the two fleets had joined forces and together they had continued to evade the Cylons to the best of their abilities, and over the yahrens they had been joined by more human survivors from scattered worlds and eventually by survivors of the Eastern Alliance.
Apollo shook himself out of his reverie, and looked to his left; his father was standing there, with the other representatives. Apollo smiled even after all these yahrens; Adama was still as charismatic, resolute, and unwilling to give up in the face of impossible odds. Apollo thought that was probably why he'd been elected as first president of the new Human Remnant Alliance in the first place in spite of his advanced age.
The Human Remnant Alliance was formed to gather the disparate remnants of humanity in the fleet into one functional group until the day they were able to find a safe haven from the Cylons.
So far that day hadn't arrived.
Major Athena elbowed her brother. "You're starting to lose your focus in your old age Apollo," she quipped sarcastically with a smile at her brother.
Apollo rolled his eyes at her remark.
"So who do you think this Commander Crichton is?" she then asked. "And more importantly, where's he been for so long that he doesn't know that the Cylons took out Earth?"
Apollo shrugged and shook his head. "I don't know, but if you wait a few microns I'm sure he'll be able to answer all our questions," he retorted. "The shuttle's docking now."
Apollo's mind finally turned towards the events at hand. This Commander Crichton and his ship had appeared directly in the path of the fleet without any warning. At first he'd assumed that it was a First Contact situation especially considering that the ship wasn't anything that the computrons or he recognized and that wasn't taking into account the power readings from the saucer ship a fraction the size of the Galactica.
His mind had started to jump to many wild conclusions from what they were reading. For one he'd imagined that they'd run into an advanced alien species, possibly someone that could and more importantly would, stand up to the Cylons and aid the Remnant Alliance.
Then Commander Crichton had answered their hails and the entire situation had turned into a humongous mystery. They had so many questions and they weren't going to get any answers until Commander Crichton's ship docked.
Crichton's shuttle appeared at the edge of the docking bay and Apollo frowned at its strange design. The ship was grey; it had a central triangular section with a wing extending from the top of the ship. Two other wings were folding up on the ship so the whole thing had the look of a tall flying pyramidIt was a design that had a somewhat aesthetic appeal to him.
The shuttle slowed, extended its landing skids, and came to a halt. President Adama walked towards the shuttle leaning heavily on his cane, the rest of his group followed in his wake. Commander Apollo and Major Athena followed behind them. Adama stopped ten meters away from the shuttle and waited expectantly for Commander Crichton to join them.
Adama stood at the forefront of the expectant group, Apollo and Athena flanked him, each on a different side, a ramp lowed from the underbelly of the shuttle,
"Here he comes," whispered Athena expectantly to them.
"Patience daughter," Adama said serenely, not letting any of his curiosity show. He projected a calm exterior, in preparation to meet Commander Crichton.
"Yes father," replied Athena cheekily.
A pair of black leather boots appeared followed closely by two black-clad legs with pistols holstered on each leg. Those legs were attached to a muscular torso. Finally Crichton's face appeared and Adama was able to get an impression of the man. Crichton stood at the bottom of the ramp and Adama realized that this was not a man to be trifled with lightly. Crichton's eyes shone with a dangerous glint that promised many dark things to those that crossed him. The scar along the side of his face only enhanced the glint of his eyes.
A second figure appeared behind Crichton similarly attired and armed but feminine and wearing a full-length black leather coat. She had long black hair that reached her shoulders and she wore an equallyintimidating expression on her face. She came to stand by Commander Crichton looking warily about her.
Adama's eyes found Crichton's and Adama stepped forward to greet him, but Crichton beat him to it. "Howdy, folks, nice to meet you," Commander Crichton said, "I'm guessing you're the head honcho here?" he added indicating Adama with a wave of his hand.
Athena and Apollo exchanged a quick glance behind their fathers back, but Adama was not put off my Crichton's familiar greeting. "I am President Adama of the Remnant Alliance, welcome on board the Battlestar Galactica," Adama said with a calm authority that belied his excitement.
"You don't say?" Crichton said somewhatsarcastically.
The woman beside him elbowed him in the side and he winced, "Sorry," he said, "I'll try to keep my sarcastic tendencies under control, "I'm Commander John Crichton of IASA, nice to meet you," he held out his hand.
Athena stifled a snicker at Crichton's antics as Adama stepped forward and took Crichton's hand, "Good to meet you Commander." They shook once before letting go. Adama turned to gesture Apollo, I believe you've already spoken with my son, Apollo, commander of this Battlestar."
"Oh, yeah, I already talked to your boy, he gave me the good news about Earth," Crichton deadpanned. The woman elbowed him again, more forcibly this time.
"Owww…" Crichton turned to the woman, "What was that for Aeryn?" he said innocently.
The woman glared at him and said, "John - be nice to these people. We've already got more than our fare share of enemies in the multiverse, do we really need any in this dimension?" she demanded irately.
Crichton smiled sheepishly at her in response.
Dimension?What did they mean by this dimension? thought Adama mystified by the concept.
Athena shared an amused glance with her brother, these strangers were…interesting. She could see that her brother was having similar thoughts.
Crichton turned back to Adama. "Uh sorry, about that, this is my wife, Colonel Aeryn Sun-Crichton."
Aeryn nodded in greeting.
Adama continued as if nothing had happened, he gestured towards Athena, "This is my daughter, Major Athena." He continued on and introduced his aides before finally asking the question that had arisen from Colonel Sun-Crichton's remark, "What did you mean in this dimension?"
"Ah well that's the kicker, we…" Crichton indicated himself and Aeryn, "are not from this dimension. We're from a parallel dimension," he explained.
Silence descended on the Adama and the others as surprise and shock assaulted their senses. Colonial science had speculated on the existence of alternate realities but neither they nor any of the other human worlds had ever been able to prove their theories.
"Incredible," said Apollo in awe.
"Annoying, strange, nerve racking and at times down right scary is a better word for it," Crichton quipped.
Adama looked at him speculatively, "I sense that they're a long story behind your words. Perhaps you would like to join us for refreshments in one of the conference rooms, I believe we have much to discuss."
Crichton nodded, "Whatever you say Mr. Pres, lead the way…"
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Meanwhile on board the Farscape 3, Russ was exploring the ship, familiarizing himself with his new home. His two wolf brothers were with him still sniffing at this new and strange territory they were in.
Russ inhaled deeply, his enhanced sense of smell identifying many non-human odours. The ship practically reeked of Xenos and had they been back in the Imperium, many priests and the Ordo Herecticus would have demanded that the ship be consecrated and purged of the Xeno taint before any good loyal citizen of the Imperium could live for fear of contamination.
But he wasn't in the Imperium and the fundamental iron clad rules he had lived by for over two thousand years by didn't apply any more. It was very unsettling for someone so used to be in command. And it made him yearn to lash out at something.
Too lost in his thoughts was he that he didn't look where he was going as he rounded a corner he felt something impact and rebound off of his lower abdomen.
He looked down to see Khaleen sprawled on the floor in front of him, "Hey! Watch where're you're going!" she shouted at him before looking up irately at Russ.
Her expression changed from disgust to wide-eyed anxiety as her eyes continued to travel up and up and up to look Russ in the eye.
"Or not…" she quickly added in a quiet whisper as she took in the breadth and height of the Primarch. Like Crichton she had assumed that the armour was responsible for his exaggerated height and build.
"Forgive me, I didn't see you there," apologized Russ evenly, he reached out one massive hand. "Let me help you up."
Still wide-eyed, Khaleen swallowed nervously and hesitantly allowed the Primarch to help her up, his hand engulfing hers. The contrast between the two hands made Khaleen's hand look infant-like.
When she was standing she found herself face-to-abdomen with the Russ, she took a step back so that she wouldn't develop a crick in her neck from looking up at him.
"Uh…thanks," she managed to say as his piercing gold eyes scrutinized her from way up high.
An awkward silence grew as they stood there in the corridor Khaleen's gaze oscillating between the Primarch and his wolves. The silence continued until she couldn't take it she opened her mouth and meekly asked, "Uh…was there something you…uh, wanted?"
"I do not know your name," stated Russ evenly.
"Oh…okay. I'm Khaleen Hentz, I'm with Quin," she replied quickly.
Russ cocked his head to the side and his eyes narrowed, "Quin?" he asked quizzically.
"You know, Quin. Quinlan Vos-Master Vos," Khaleen prompted.
Russ nodded in understanding, "Ah, Jedi Master Vos, as a great warrior as any I have ever fought alongside," he said in approval.
"War doesn't make one great," came Vos's voice from behind Khaleen.
Russ focused intensely on Vos, "It doesn't?"
"There are much better things that a person could spend their lives doing," Vos explained.
Russ frowned at Vos, "It seems we have different views on life," he paused for a moment, "I believe you owe me an explanation of what you are…If we are going to be living together on this ship then it is best that we get to know one another," Russ suggested to the grim Jedi.
Vos nodded, "We were just on our way to have a meal; perhaps you would like to join us?"
Russ nodded, "Yes I would like that. Lead the way, Master Vos."
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The Conference room on board the Battlestar Galactica, one hour later
"I think someone's been watching too many Terminator movies, John Crichton quipped in disbelief. He turned to Adama and asked, "Where's John Conner…or Arnie for that matter, when you need them?"
President Adama just stared blankly back at him.
John shook his head, "Right, never mind, for a minute there I forgot who I was talking to."
Damn, thought John, this dimension is really screwed up. Humanity was at the brink of extinction because of these relentless Cylons.
"Well, commander Crichton? We have answered your questions, perhaps you could answer ours?" Commander Apollo asked.
"Yes, what brought you to our dimension?" repeated Adama curiously.
"Well actually we're here by accident," admitted John simply.
"By accident!" repeated Apollo in disbelief.
John shrugged sheepishly. "We're lost in the multiverse."
Athena snorted in disbelief. "How'd that happen?"
John opened his mouth to reply but Aeryn beat him to it. "It's his fault," she said irately, "he's always getting us in trouble."
John glared daggers at her.
Adama ignored the obvious marital byplay and asked, "How do you intend to get home?"
"Truthfully, we're just going to keep jumping from dimension to dimension till we hit the jack pot," John answered unenthusiastically. He then launched into a small explanation of their situation and how many dimensions they'd previously visited leaving out nearly all of the details.
Adama frowned. "Then you have a very little chance of actually finding your home dimension," he stated simply.
John looked pointedly at the President of the Remnant Alliance. "Yeah but it doesn't mean I'm not going to try, anyway that's not the issue at hand," while he had been talking an idea had begun to grow in his mind, "You guys could use a helping hand, right?"
Apollo eyed him, "In what way?" he asked sceptically. How could one small ship aid them?
"I scanned your ships before coming board they're pretty impressive…if you're not me," John began. "I happen to be in possession of quite a few technological advances that might be able to help you fight the Cylons."
He had Adama's complete attention now. "As what?" he asked intensely.
John smirked knowingly, "For starters, how does Zero point energy sound?"
The others in the room stared at him wordlessly.
John continued on smugly. "How about some actual energy shield technology from a species that according Dr. J, was at least fifty million yea-yahrens old?" he added using the Colonial word for year.
"Fifty million yahrens?" echoed Athena in disbelief as she shared an excited look with her brother. Could this human be offering them the ray of hope that had been gone for so long?
"Yup, and that's just for starters," John confirmed for them.
Adama looked at him inquiringly, "Why would you help us?" he asked suspiciously. "What do you get out of all of this Commander Crichton?"
John scowled. "The Cylons want to exterminate humanity-they've destroyed Earth. I won't stand for that-even if it it's not my Earth. When it comes down to is I'm human, you're human, you're in trouble and need help. That's all I need to know," John paused for a second and he shrugged. "Besides, Russ wouldn't let us leave this dimension without him and us laying the smack down on the Cylons."
"But what do you want in return?" questioned Adama critically.
"Nothing-okay maybe seeing the Cylons bleed a little bit would be nice," John admitted.
Adama looked at Crichton in a new light, this was turning out to be an auspicious meeting. He shook his head in disbelief at this opportunity that had miraculously fallen into their laps. "Then I believe that we have a deal. On behalf of myself and the Remnant Alliance I accept you offer," he held out his hand to John.
John took his hand and quipped, "then I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship."
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Invisible to conventional Colonial sensors and the Farscape's Borg sensors, a dark entity watched the events going on in the belly of the Battlestar Galactica and it did not like what it was seeing and it just wasn't going to sit down and let these interlopers and their new technologies cost him thousands of yahrens worth of effort. Thousands of yahrens worth of effort would not go to waste because of one insignificant human.
The dark malignant entity known as Count Iblis smiled evilly, he knew exactly what was needed to stop this change. It was time for his plans to finally reach their end…and most decisive end would it be
The dark one's maniacal laughter echoed unheard in the vastness of space.
Author Notes: Hope u like this chapter. Please read and Review even if it's just to say good chapter. More BSG changes will be appearing in the next chapter.
Don't tell them what's about to happen next as above. Let them speculate.
Next Time: Complications and Narrow Escapes