Chapter 17
In the throne room of Thrawn, a great flaming serpent writhed beneath a massive black one.
"Hallowed are the Ori indeed" Thrawn mocked as the last of the Ori writhed beneath him.
"You cannot!" the creature begged, "the fires stand before the forces of hell! There is evil in this galaxy and it will consume you!"
"What you don't seem to understand, Azaziel is that we don't need you or your kind." Thrawn gritted, "You're little religion is primitive, rudimentary. You've spent millennia building a power base which you've squandered. You and your kind are irrelevant, obsolete in the new order."
"You can't stop them!" it gasped, "They're too powerful! It has always been so!"
"Idiot." Thrawn gritted crushing it at last, "Trapped up in your traditions and habits." Thrawn looked up, "It seems we have intruders on board. I will deal with them before I go to plains of Celestus."
"You intend to challenge them directly as well?" Baltar asked, "Is that wise?"
"It seems I must, now that their guardians have chosen suicide. It is of no consequence however, these Ori have fed me with data. The ark you told me of once, may well be hidden right under their noses. When I have it I will have more than power enough.' Thrawn replied confidently, "The Ori sought to forge a hammer, where a spanner would do most nicely. With the will of two galaxies at my command I will prevail. Tell me Baltar, are you losing your resolve? Your duplicitous nature betrays you."
"If anyone could perceive my nature Thrawn it would be you." Baltar retorted, "Yet perhaps you are blind to your own."
The great dragon shrank back down to human proportions. Thrawn's eyes flashed dangerously, "Explain"
"The source of your knowledge, the being within that you wield." Baltar elaborated, "Can you be certain you have its ego contained?" He put up a hand as Thrawn cocked an eyebrow, "Oh come now be reasonable my Dear Emperor Thrawn, That creature inside you is a personality preserved as a energy pattern, its hardly insulting to point out that in ascending to a higher plane you two become such a pattern, at which point he can influence you."
"Anubis is neutralized." Thrawn replied, icily, "He serves me."
"You are confident in the force of your personality?" Baltar pressed.
"Of course, it is a simple matter of understanding the pattern. I study such things, I have all of my life. When Anubis tried to possess he should have thought to consider the fact that I was the uniquely suited to triumph in such a contest. I have honed my powers of objective observation with a gift for empathy. I harness this insight with strategy."
"It has served you quite well." Baltar relented, glancing sidelong at Thrawn as Thrawn paced to the window. The Emperor stood with his hands clasped behind his back.
"With the power I command I am unstoppable. When that fossil Adama and his upstart Jedi arrive, you can observe this for yourself. Come now Baltar, consider this, I have wielded this power for less than an hour and I have wiped out hundreds of ascended beings that have dominated for millennia. I wield the hopes and dreams of entire galaxy effortlessly in a symphony of will. Soon I will conquer another and with it the means to conquer whole galaxies at once! With the advanced hyperdrive possessed by the new Republic I will grow exponentially more powerful, consuming galaxy after galaxy. How will these Djinni oppose me then? I will be a God!"
"A God?" Baltar asked dangerously, "perhaps you have not considered your words carefully My lord Emperor."
Thrawn froze. Baltar could see him still framed by the stars, but his shoulders had tightened.
"Merely hyperbole." Thrawn replied.
"Truly?" Baltar pressed, "For what is a god but a being worshipped, a being with power over life and death, with the energies you would wield, would you not by definition be a God?"
"I suppose…" Thrawn muttered still not turning. He stiffened, "What are you doing Baltar? What is this game you are playing at? You seek to mock my will?"
"Mock? No, merely subvert." Baltar replied with a terse expression. The air seemed to grow thick and stormy.
"You underestimate me." Thrawn snapped, "My will is absolute…" he paused, as he realized he was making a mistake, "I see what you are doing Baltar, my intellect.." he stopped again. "His power is growing." Thrawn finished at last, an exasperated expression on his face. "You have shown that little worm precisely how to manipulate my ego, Baltar you fool! When this is over I will destroy you!" With that Thrawn exploded into a howling world wind through which two dark serpents seemed to coil and snap at each other. Baltar turned deliberately and strode towards the exit.
"I have survived far worse than you, Thrawn" sneered Baltar as the doors closed behind him., "and I have bought some much needed time."
"Hold." Ordered a red suited imperial guard, "Whats going on in there?" Absentmindedly Baltar crushed their brains killing all six instantly. Safe for the moment in the antechamber to Thrawn's throne room, he turned to more pressing business. Gently he placed a glimmering essence, still cradled in his arm upon the ground. Extending his hand over it he took a breath, and the glimmer brightened. At that moment Adama burst into the room followed by Yoda with Athena not far behind.
"Baltar" Adama's voice seemed to fall into the room like a boulder crashing from a cliff.
"I have saved him Adama, I have done what I can." Baltar replied, "I will stand with you for what need be done next."
Adama regarded Baltar for a moment, then stood beside him facing the the storm that raged throughout the room.
"Does it sicken you Adama?" Baltar jeered, "To join with that worm Anubis, and a traitor like myself?"
Adama regarded the man with such intensity that Baltar flinched.
"No Baltar, I am honored to stand beside you. You have found redemption old friend, you have found it!" he clasped Baltar's shoulder and the other man, touched, felt his eyes moisten involuntarily.
"We are such old fools." He muttered in a broken voice.
"Then let us give of ourselves for our children." Adama declared, casting a glance back at Starbuck and Athena. The two ascended once more and hurled themselves into the storm.
"Aren't you a little short for a stormtrooper?" Mothma
"Har de har har." Said Sheppard jerking off the helmet, "Lando's getting Ackbar, come on!" Mothma followed him out into the hallway of the detention center. Charred bodies lay everywhere, some missing limbs, some crushed to the side.
"Good heavens." Mothma breathed, "What happened here?"
"A pissed off Ancient, a Jedi master, and Kyle Katarn." Sheppard remarked, "I've known the man an hour and I'll never forget his name."
"It's a trap!" Ackbar warned lurching from his cell as the station shook, "Thrawn planned this, he wanted you all to come."
"Well if that's true the mans an idiot." Said Sheppard, "Adama said the Ori had come, and this place is shaking itself to pieces. Thrawn's trap is falling to pieces around him, he's about to lsoe the Death Star."
"We need to leave immediately." Ackbar replied, "He has access to the new Republic Holonet, and he intends to turn the tables on our assault forces."
"If we get to the gate room we can gate to Atlantis, and warn high command." Mothma suggested.
"Lets move." Sheppard ordered.
"Weak he has become, yet save him we can." Yoda murmured gently passing his hand over the glimmering shape before him. It grew. Athena placed her hand over as well.
"I knew him Yoda, I knew him deeply long ago." Athena said, "I know where is has come from, how he began, and I sense within you, there is an imprint, recent, still fresh…"
"Yes." Yoda agreed, "Save what remains we can."
"And give him more." Katarn declared stepping forward, "I know what you need and I offer it gladly."
"Another way there must be." Yoda demurred, "The force…"
"Cannot create something from nothing." Katarn replied, "And there is no time to do this right. It calls to me, and I have missed it for so long." He looked down for a moment, "I have been a ghost these years, seeking only survival without the force. Now I long to join it fully." He took a deep breath, "Master Yoda this is what I was born for."
Athena looked from one to the other, "I don't know what to do." She admitted, "We must save him, but he wouldn't want.."
"A gift of life." Kyle said, "He must let me give it, I see no greater honor." He cast a glance at Yoda, "I am so tired of fighting, so tired of not knowing right from wrong, so tired of finding my way through darkness where old friends have fallen, leaving only sadness."
"Then time it is, to begin anew." Yoda replied resolutely, "Not the final step this is, in your journey, but the next."
"There is emotion, yet peace." Kyle said sitting upon the ground.
"Starbuck, hear me, Starbuck!"
"Ignorance, yet knowledge, Passion, yet serenity. "
The air pulsed with something new. As chaos raged in the room beyond the three and the glimmer between them knew only stillness.
"Starbuck come back to me, you belong to me!"
"Chaos, yet harmony." Katarn whispered
The glimmer grew to a radiant ball as light erupted from Yoda's tiny frame.
"Death, yet the Force. "
"Would you die for me?"
Her voice, the hot dry air, a presence powerful and mysterious…
"Give yourself to the Ori…"
Chaos intangible fury, the howling…
"Say goodbye to Cassiopeia, and Athena"
His own voice, so long ago, Cassiopeia, she was with Cain now, Athena, where was Athena?
"Make yourself one with the path, and the journey will lead you to eternity."
"We all judge ourselves Starbuck"
What am I? What am I becoming?
"Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter…"
He awoke.
"Starbuck!" Cried a joyful voice, he turned questioningly first to her, than two Master Yoda.
"it was me…" he said dazed, "Another me, from another time?"
"An echo that was." Yoda, "Of what was, or for you, what could have been. Belong here, you do not."
"That Starbuck died." Athena said sadly, "A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away… my Starbuck." She sighed deeply, sadly, "it was never meant to be was it, everything I've been through, none of it matters…"
"Death is a natural part of life. Rejoice for those around you who transform into the Force. Mourn them do not. Miss them do not." Yoda consoled.
"My Starbuck is not in the Force." Athena said sadly, "Only his echo, brought by another long ago."
"Who are you?' Starbuck asked, "Who am I? My memory its…"
"You are Starbuck." Athena said at last gathering herself, "I am Athena, There is much to say but no time to say it. In the room beyond, two great men fight evil for the fate of the universe." She rose, "Its time I joined them."
Yoda put out an arm, "Wait, Athena wait, the Force calls, not your moment is this, Not the place, not the place. Save Starbuck you must."
"If not here, where, if not now, when." Athena demanded, "Ihere is nothing left for me here, and before me is the greatest threat this galaxy will ever face."
"No," said Yoda his eyes distant, "There is another…"
Sheppard, Lando and Chewie erupted from the turbo lift followed by Ackbar and Mon Mothma. Lando placed his blaster on the console and began to key in a disconnect sequence as the Death Star shook "We can use the Stargate to get out of here!"
"No!" Sheppard grabbed his arm, "We need the gate to take out the Death Star!"
"Oh this things going down gate or no gate." Lando replied shaking him off, as if to punctuate his point, he froze, "What the kriff? That's an outgoing wormhole, to Atlantis!"
"I got a bad feeling about this…"Sheppard commented tapping his com link "Atlantis this is Sheppard, respond." After a pause he tried again. "Something's wrong over there."
Lando keyed the interface "The gates jammed open, there's biomass that hasn't fully exited the other.." A vidlink came up and the Atlantis gate room came into view. Bodies lay everywhere.
"This doesn't make any sense!" Lando cried in frustration as the station shook again, "The temperature on the other side is rising steadily, radiation is off the chart?"
"The city's been moved." Sheppard surmised, "it was supposed to escape into hyperspace."
"Who could have gotten its coordinates so quickly?" demanded Ackbar, "Where is it?"
"I don't know but if I had to make bet I'd say its right in the middle of a star." Lando replied grabbing his blaster and grabbing Mothma's arm, "We don't have time for this, we have to go now! We've got to get to a ship!"
"We can't just leave all them!" Sheppard objected, "Master Yoda, Adama, Starbuck! We have to wait!"
"We have to go." Lando insisted, "This station could go up any minute, the Stargate leads to a death trap and the only ship in this docking bay at the moment is the jumper only you can fly Sheppard, if Ackbar and Mothma die here, the new Republic dies with them! We've already lost Atlantis, we can't lose them too!"
Sheppard looked conflicted, "I don't…"
Ackbard stepped over to him.
"Young man, what does the Force tell you?" He asked, "Search your feelings."
John inhaled and was still for a moment. Reluctantly, he opened his eyes.
"Get to the Jumper." He ordered flatly, "We're getting out of here."
The storm ended. The wind ceased. Thrawn stood.
"All too easy." He declared with a half smile. He prodded the battered form before him. "Wake up Adama, is this how you choose to die?" the form stirred
"I choose… to die as myself." Adama replied weakly.
"A selfish choice." Thrawn observed, "When you know your power and your knowledge may be all I need to achieve victory."
"Aren't you… powerful enough Thrawn?" Adama coughed.
"Didn't quite et all the way back did you." Thrawn observed squatting by the side of the old man, "What's this? You're old uniform from the Galactica? Guess you grabbed the closest memory at hand to escape me hmm? Can't consume your essence if you aren't ascended, an interesting move, but had it occurred to you that your valor, your honor might perhaps bring me back to the light side?"
Adama tried to snort, "Don't try your games Thrawn I'm too old for that. You took baltar, and all that he was, if you couldn't learn from that…"
"Yes," Thrawn pondered, "he did have a bit of a dark streak when he was young, but he had quite a change of heart…" he leaned close to Adama, "But you are correct. I would not be changed. What… who I have become is now quite set in stone."
"You're a monster." Adama muttered, "but I have outfoxed you."
"What?" Thrawn started, "No you don't you little…" Adama shimmered blue and then disappeared leaving only his clothes behind.
"The Force is with him." Observed a gravelly voice. Thrawn looked up to see a solitary figure leaning on a walking stick.
"Master Yoda. Come to challenge me all by yourself?" Thrawn chortled, "you're quite a legend you know, I believe I studied your strategies in the clone wars quite some time ago." He smiled, "Your work was… uninspired."
"Quite to the contrary it is." Replied Yoda stolidly, "Always inspired I was, by the force. With me it is, even now."
"It will not save you, you cannot oppose me by yourself." Thrawn roared, "I am a God!" A black serpent erupted from Thrawn, "I am an emperor!" A golden dragon burst forth, "I am the Ori!" A flaming serpent poured forth, "I am a being of light! A silver serpent flew forth, and together all four stretched toward Yoda. Yoda blinked owlishly.
"And I am the Force." He replied quietly. He tapped his stick down and a figure appeared, in shimmering blue beside him. Luke Skywalker. Another appeared beside him, Obi Wan Kenobi, Another Quai Gon Jinn, Leia, Han, and others. They filled the massive throne room like a luminous army. Finally before them all appeared the spirit of Mace Windu.
"I've been waiting a long time for this. " Windu said, and stretching forth a hand it called from its belt a phantom light saber. "You're not Sith but you'll do. Evil is evil. This party, is over"