"Are we rescued?" Asked Tucker as they looked at the sailboat.
"Saved?" Said someone.
"Perhaps it's them." Said Zuud.
Vanto and Zuud then swam over to the boat.
Princess Luna, using what magic she had, used her magic to levitate her binoculars to see if there was anyone on the sailboat.
"Do you see anything?" Tucker asked her.
She shooked her head."No."
"Maybe it's a trap?" Tucker said.
"What do you mean a trap?" Said Stuhlinger.
Vanto and Zuud swam over to the sailboat and climbed aboard it. They heard music from inside the boat.
"Do you hear that?" Zuud asked Vanto.
Vanto nodded.
Suddenly, shots were fired from below inside the ship. They quickly moved but the shooting stopped and they heard the sound of the trigger being pulled but no shots.
"Damn it." They heard from inside the ship.
Vanto kicked open the door that lead into the ship, aiming his gun. He was surprised to see Desmond sitting on the floor, a bottle in one hand and a rifle in the other.
"You." Desmond laughed when he looked at Vanto.
They brought Desmond to the beach. Some people were asking Luna some questions.
"Okay, okay, just wait one second, okay. I'll be right back." Luna said to them before she went to Vanto."Everybody needs to know what's going on, Vanto. There's a boat-"
"Just tell them Desmond's back until I find out the rest, okay?" Vanto said.
Vanto then went over to Desmond, who was drinking near a fire.
"So, before you ran off, I guess you just forgot to mention that you still have a sailboat." Vanto said."Why'd you come back?"
Desmond laughed."Do you think I did it on purpose? I was sailing for two and a half weeks, trying to find some land. Instead, I come back here. And you know why? Because this is it. This is all there is left. This ocean and this place here. We are stuck in a bloody snow globe! There's no outside world! There's no escape! So, just go away, huh. Let me drink." Desmond said.
Vanto saw Zuud and was about to leave.
"Are you still pushing it?" Desmond asked, talking about the button.
Vanto nodded."Yeah, we're still pushing it."
Flashback
Desmond Hume was in prison. He was at a counter in the prison, looking at the soldier behind the counter who was taking out some items.
"Set of keys, one pocket watch, gold plated, one photograph, one book, Our Mutual Friend. Why didn't you bring that inside?" The soldier asked, curious.
"To avoid temptation, brother. I've read everything Mr. Charles Dickens has ever written, every wonderful word. Every book except this one. I'm saving it so it will be the last thing I ever read before I die." Desmond told him.
"Nice idea, as long as you know when you're going to die." The soldier said. He then stamped "discharged" on some papers."Lance Corporal Desmond David Hume your sentence is hereby complete and you are now and forever dishonorably discharged from the Royal Scotts Regiment of Her Majesty's Armed Forces. Long live the queen. Enjoy your sodding book."
Desmond left with his things when he saw a limo pull up. The window rolled down and he saw Charles Widmore.
"You want a ride?" Widmore asked him.
"Not with you." Desmond said.
"Get in the car." Widrmore said.
Desmond went into the car, curious as to what Widmore wanted. When he got in there, he saw boxes on the seat.
"Did you bring me a present?" Desmond asked.
"Actually, two presents. One of these boxes contains your past, Hume. The other, your future. Go ahead, open it." Widmore said to him.
Desmond opened the box and saw all of the letters he had tried to send to Penny. They were unopened.
"You're a bastard, you know that?" Desmond said angrily, angry that Widmore had taken all of his letters.
"The fact that she never received your sentiments is good for her. Good, because as far as she's concerned you've forsaken her. And that's the way it's going to stay." Widmore said.
"Is it now?" Asked Desmond.
"Penelope's moved on, Hume. She's getting married." Widmore opened the other box that was filled with money."This is for your new life, away from my daughter. The conditions are simple. No contact, no calls, no posts. You just run away, Desmond."
"And what makes you think I would just run away?" Desmond asked him.
"Because you're a coward."
On the Island
Vanto and Zuud were walking on the beach, talking.
"On the way to the funeral, I told you that Applejack had been compromised by the Others and then you asked me how we might take advantage of that. I believe we now have our answer. The boat." Zuud told Vanto.
"The boat?" Said Vanto.
"This camp Applejack is leading you to across the Island, that is where they will set their trap. While Applejack leads you by land, I can approach far more quickly by sea. And I can go ashore undetected." Zuud explained.
"Go ashore and do what?" Vanto asked.
"Scout them. Their numbers and positions, their weapons. Then I'll go to the nearest beach and start a signal fire with these." She held up some leaves."They burn with a dark, black smoke. You and your team will come to meet me at the signal and we will go in together." She said.
"We're not even sure if Applejack's been turned by them." Vanto said.
"She has been turned." Zuud told him.
Vanto thought about this."I'll have to tell Luna, Redheart, Stuhlinger, and Valance what we're doing." Vanto said.
"No. Applejack cannot sense we know she is lying. All we have is the element of surprise, Vanto. Right now, it's only your responsibility to keep it secret." Zuud told him.
"Black smoke, huh?" Said Vanto.
"This time they will know that we are coming." Zuud said.
In the Hatch, Tarkin walked over to Sev, who was at the computer. The time was at 5:00.
"Hi, Tarkin. Where have you been?" Sev asked when he saw him.
"I have been thinking." Tarkin said.
"About what?" Sev asked.
"That in a minute, that computer is going to start beeping, and when it does, you're going to let it go. You're going to let it run down to zero, past zero. And you are not going to push the button."
"But I am going to push the button. Why wouldn't I?" Sev said, confused.
"Because you don't want to be a slave." Tarkin told him.
"I am not a slave." Sev said.
"You were a slave to the Republic. And now you're a slave to that." He pointed at the timer."Just like I was. So I'm going to tell you again. Don't push it." Tarkin said.
"Do not tell me what I can do." Sev said.
Sev then started entering the numbers into the computer.
Tarkin quickly grabbed his DC17m blaster to shoot the computer. Sev quickly stopped him before he could aim at the computer.
"You cannot push that button." Tarkin said to him.
Sev knocked Tarkin to the ground and then pressed the button for the computer. He then grabbed Tarkin and took him out of the Hatch.
"No, it's not real. We're only puppets, puppets on strings. As long as we push it, we'll never be free." Tarkin told him.
"Well, you're free now, Tarkin. Don't come back." Sev said, throwing him outside the Hatch.
"No." Said Tarkin.
Vanto handed a gun to Applejack. He then handed one to Stuhlinger.
He handed a gun to Luna, who seemed unsure.
"What's the matter?" Vanto asked, wondering what was wrong.
"All that stuff we found in the medical station, costumes, make-up, fake beards, what if these people just want us to think they're hillbillies?" Luna said.
"Listen, ah was there." Said Applejack."Ah saw them. They are hillbillies. They live in huts, they eat fish, they're probably more scared than we are. And they have no idea we're on our way."
"Alright," Said Valance."Let's do this."
Zuud walked over to Desmond at the beach.
"I need your boat." She said to him.
"I wouldn't waste your time. There's nothing out there, pal." Desmond told her.
"I'm not going out there. I need to get to the North shore of the Island, and quickly." Zuud said.
"Going to see the hostiles, are you?" Desmond said.
Zuud looked at him, confused."What?"
"You know what, ignorance is bliss. The boat's all yours, for all the good it'll do you." Desmond said.
"I don't know how to sail." Zuud said.
"Then I suggest you find someone who does." Desmond said.
Vanto, Applejack, Redheart, Valance, Luna, and Stuhlinger walked through the jungle.
Valance noticed a doll on the ground. He was about to grab it.
"Careful." Luna said to the cyborg before he could touch it."It's a trap. A net. Rousseau's got them all over the Island."
"How would you know that?" Valance asked.
"I tripped one with Vanto. We ended up—never mind." She said. She then heard Valance chuckle a little."What?" She asked, wondering what was so funny.
"When Vanto told me you all got caught in a net, I thought he meant, uh—something else." Valance said.
"Since when did you and Vanto start talking about me?" Luna asked.
"Do not be afraid." Said a dark voice out of nowhere.
They all stopped. Vanto, Luna, and Stuhlinger had heard this when they had gone to the Black Rock to get dynamite.
Applejack, scared by the voice, looked around, pulling the trigger of the gun...but no shots were fired from her pistol. Applejack looked at the pistol.
"Sorry." Said Vanto."I guess I forgot to load that one. Want to give me the mag?"
Tucker was walking through the jungle when he saw Tarkin. He heard Tarkin crying.
"Dude, are you...are you crying?" Tucker asked Tarkin.
Tarkin turned to look at him. Tarkin thought of Princess Leia seeing him like this.
"What happened to your face?" Tucker asked.
"Nothing, I'm fine." Tarkin said.
"Okay...Hey, uh, if you're feeling a little sorry for yourself, you may want to have a drink with your friend from the Hatch." Tucker said.
"What?" Tarkin said, confused.
"Oh, right, you weren't there at the funeral. But anyway, he's at the beach."
"Desmond?" Tarkin asked.
Tucker nodded."Yeah, Desmond. I'm sure you two have a lot to talk about."
At the beach, Zuud had gathered Doctor Whooves, who knew how to sail, Derpy, who would be coming with them, Dooku, and Indiana Jones.
It was nighttime now. At the beach, Desmond was sitting at a fire, drinking.
"So what did one snowman say to other snowman?" Tarkin asked Desmond, walking over to him.
Desmond looked at him."Smells like carrots."
"Hello, Desmond." Tarkin said.
"Hello yourself, Grand Moff."
Tarkin reached for the bottle."Do you mind?"
"Oh, I insist." Desmond said."So you managed to fix the computer, then, did you?"
"This world is still here, isn't it?" Tarkin said.
"I'm not so sure about that, brother." Desmond said.
"Please, refresh my memory, Desmond. How long did you say that you were down there in the Hatch?" Tarkin asked.
"3 years." Desmond answered.
"Desmond, what if I told you that for all that-all those years that you and all the men before you were down there pushing that button—what if I told you that it was all for nothing?" Tarkin said.
"I'd ask you how the hell did you know something like that?" Desmond asked.
"I found another hatch, another station on the Island. They called it the Pearl, and I saw a film there. An orientation film. And it said that everything that was happening in our hatch wasn't real, that it was a test, a psychological experiment."
"You're lying." Desmond said.
Tarkin pulled out the Pearl video from his pack."Would you like to watch it?" Tarkin asked.
"You're so sure it's not real, then just stop pushing the button!"
"Well, I have. Except, unfortunately, someone else decided to start. So you're going to sober up. We're going to get a good night's sleep. Tomorrow, we're going to find out what happens if that button doesn't get pushed."
Vanto, Stuhlinger, Redheart, Valance, and Luna were sitting at a fire in the jungle at night. Vanto looked at Applejack and walked over to her.
"Hey, you alright?" Vanto asked her.
She nodded."Yeah, just getting some more firewood. Not feeling too hot."
"You shouldn't be out here alone. I'll give you a hand." Vanto said.
"Hey, thanks for coming out here. Risking your neck for mah sister." Applejack said.
"Live together, die alone." Vanto said.
Applejack nodded."Yeah."
Zuud, Whooves, Derpy, Dooku, and Indiana Jones were on the sailboat, sailing to the Other's camp.
But they were all staring at something that was on one of the beaches on the Island.
On the beach, there were three giant, tall statues of three human men holding staffs. On the far right of the statues, there was one statue missing, it's feet only remaining.
"Who built these statues? And who are these three men?" Whooves asked, looking at the statues of the three men.
"And what happened to the one that's missing?" Asked Count Dooku, looking at the feet of the missing statue.
"Wait a minute...I recognize that symbol." Indiana Jones said, pointing at the symbols that were on the three statue's chests of the men."That's the black sun. That's a symbol the nazis use."
"Do you think they built them?" Derpy asked.
Jones shook his head."No. These statues have been here for a long time."
In the Hatch, Sev was in the computer room when the lights suddenly went out. Sev went to the fuse box and saw a missing fuse in there.
"8...7...6..." Sev heard a voice.
Suddenly, blast doors started to fall down. Sev quickly ran to the computer room but a blast door closed in front of him before he could get in.
In the computer room, Desmond had rubbed some wires together to close the blast doors. Tarkin was also in the computer room with him.
Sev banged on the blast door."Tarkin!" He yelled.
"An impressive trick." Tarkin said to Desmond.
"Tarkin! Tarkin! Can you hear me? Open up!" Sev yelled.
"Are you sure about this, brother?" Desmond asked Tarkin.
Tarkin nodded."I'm sure."
"Don't do this! Tarkin!" Sev shouted.
"Alright then, Grand Moff. We wait."
Flashback
Desmond had been part of a government experiment. This experiment had been about trying to go to other worlds. The government had discovered an ocean world but could only send one man.
And Desmond, using a sailboat, went to this ocean world. He had been in the Galaxy for a while, learning about it. He had learned about the Empire and the Rebellion.
He was on the planet Mon Cala in the middle of a storm. Desmond went down into the boat and grabbed his Charles Dicken's book and put it in plastic to protect it from the water. He then put the book in his coat.
Suddenly, Desmond started to see a bright light.
Desmond noticed that he was laying on a shore. He then saw someone in a yellow suit come out of the jungle. The man grabbed Desmond into the jungle and drag him somewhere.
Desmond was laying in a bed. The person in the yellow suit took the suit off and looked at Desmond.
The person was an old human male with white hair and a white mustache.
"Are you him?" The old man asked.
"What?" Desmond said, confused.
"What did one snowman say to the other?" The old man asked him.
"What are you talking about? Who are you?" Desmond asked.
The old man sighed."My name is Yularen. Wullf Yularen."
"What-what happened to my boat?" Desmond asked.
"I found you washed up on the beach. There was no boat." Yularen said.
Desmond then heard a beeping sound.
Yularen went over to the computer and typed in it. The beeping sound then stopped.
"What was all that about, then?" Desmond asked.
"Just saving the multiverse."
Later, Desmond was watching a film.
"Not long after the experiments began, however, there was an incident. And since that time the following protocol has been observed: every 108 minutes the button must be pushed. From the moment the alarm sounds you will have 4 minutes to enter the code into the microcomputer processor induction into the program."
When it was over, Desmond restarted the film.
"How many times are you going to watch that thing?" Yularen asked, putting on his yellow suit.
"Why are there missing parts?" Desmond asked.
"Radzinsky made some edits." Yularen said.
"Who's Radzinsky?"
"He was my partner."
"And what happened to him?"
"Just make sure you put that back behind Turn of the Screw when you're done with it." Yularen said.
"Why do you wear that suit?"
"So I don't get infected out there." Yularen grabbed an injector with a vial."Give yourself a shot of this every 9 days. You were out there a while before I found you. I hope it is not too late."
On the Island
Sev was still banging on the door."Tarkin!" Sev yelled.
"Who is he, Grand Moff? The man out there pounding on the door?" Desmond asked Tarkin.
"His name is Sev. He is a commando." Tarkin said.
"Open the door, please. Tarkin! Can you hear me? Open up!"
Desmond seemed a little surprised."We locked out a commando?"
Sev climbed out of the entrance of the Hatch and noticed a door that said "Quarantine."
The Clone Commando ran to the beach and saw Tucker.
"Tucker, do you know how they got the Hatch door open?" Sev asked, going over to him.
Tucker nodded."Yeah."
"How did they open it? The door that says "quarantine"?."
"They blew it up, why?" Tucker asked.
"Tucker, I need your help." Sev said."Tarkin's locked me out of the Hatch. And I believe he is doing this because he is going to stop pushing that button. And, Tucker, I am absolutely certain that if he is successful, in 90 minutes, everyone on this island will die." Sev said to him.
"Alright, I'm in."
"Good. Come on." Sev said.
"So, these Others, do you think they're left over from the DHARMA people?" Valance asked Applejack as they walked through the jungle.
"Ah don't know." Applejack said.
"What do you think, Luna?" The cyborg asked her.
"Just keep moving, we're being followed." Luna whispered to him calmly.
"What?" Said Valance.
"Just keep smiling. There are at least two of them across the river. In about 5 seconds, I'm going to turn the tables on them." Luna said, using her magic to levitate the gun.
"Wait a second." Said Valance.
"Are you in?" Luna asked.
Valance nodded.
They turned and started shooting at the two Others. Valance hit one with his palm blaster while the other quickly ran away.
"He's getting away!" Luna yelled.
Valance tried hitting the one running away with his other palm blaster but missed. They all ran over to the one that was shot.
"He's dead." Luna said, a little sad. She had only wanted to injure him."We have to find the other one."
"No!" Vanto yelled.
"I'm going. Valance." Luna said.
"I said no!" Vanto yelled.
"Are you crazy?!" Said Valance."If we let him go, they'll know we're coming! He'll-"
"It doesn't matter if we catch him now!" Vanto said, confusing them. He looked at Applejack."They've already been warned."
"What do you mean "warned"?" Valance asked.
"Why don't you tell them, Applejack?" Vanto asked her.
"Vanto." Luna said, confused.
"Ah don't know what you're talking about." Applejack said.
"Stop lying! Tell them." Vanto said to her.
"Tell them what?" Applejack said.
Vanto pushed her up against a tree."I know what you're doing, Applejac! Now tell them the truth! Tell them!" Vanto said to her.
Applejack was silent for a moment."It was the only way. They gave me a list."
"What list?" Vanto asked.
"It had your names on it. Ah had to bring all 5 of you back or they said ah'd never see mah sister again!"
"Who are they?" Vanto asked her.
"It's like Ah said. They live in a camp with huts. Ah swear, that's it." Applejack said.
"You let Henry go?" Luna asked her.
Applejack nodded.
"Did you kill them? Starstone and Suri? Did you?" Stuhlinger asked the orange mare.
"Ah had to. Ah-Ah couldn't find any other way. And Suri was a mistake. Ah-ah didn't have time to think." Applejack told him.
"But if you did have time, you still would have killed her, right?" Stuhlinger said angrily.
"Applejack...how could you?" Luna said, horrified that a member of the Mane Six had killed two people.
"Ah'm sorry. You understand—Ah am sorry. Ah'm sorry. Ah—mah sister!" Applejack said.
"I'm going back." Stuhlinger said, turning around to leave.
"No, Stuhlinger. Stuhlinger, you can't!" Vanto said.
Stuhlinger stopped and looked at him."We're all going to get killed and you knew it! You let us come anyway."
"It's too late to go back now, Stuhlinger. We already caught them following us once. If they don't believe that we trust Applejack, they'll kill us all! I'm sorry that I didn't say anything. But you have to know that I would never bring you out here if I didn't have a plan." Vanto said to them.
"What plan?" Asked Valance.
