(Untold Told) A World Without Sin

I know there's more severe things on the internet,

but I'm sending this one out with a content warning.

So, you have been warned.

Gorramit.  Useless!  That son of a toad-bitten whore
is late, again.  Here he comes all dreamy eyed.

Hey!  Good morning, you!

Give me the cold shoulder will you?  Well how about
I cut your salary.  Does that change your attitude?
The damn fool thinks he can get along showing
up late and not so much as discuss it.
He'll come crawling to me before
the week is through wanting to
know why his wages are slashed.

Hey, hey, hey!  You're going to pull that stack
down on yourself.  I don't need an insurance claim
from you.  Here, you take the one off the top
of the stack, first.

Now he's only moving the top of every stack.
Is this dock monkey trying to antagonize me?

I've had it.

Hey!  You're fired!  Hey!  I'm not paying you!
I'm talking at you!  Quit working!  Are you
on some kind of shine or what?

Get... out!

Ahhh!  Hell, don't you have more pride than that?
I didn't hurt you.  Get up.  Get... up!
I'll fight the insurance claim.  You were
one useless son of a bitch.  You know that?
And ain't none of your friends worth rolling
over for some insurance claim out of my pocket.

What's the matter with you?  Go home.
You know what, that's fine.  But that's what
I'm going to do.  I'm going home.
Certainly can't get any help here.

You sick again?  Honey, what did the doctor say?
Alisa, talk to me.  What did he say?  Did you go?
Why aren't you answering me?

Why isn't anyone answering me?
My wife is sick!  What are you all doing here?
Why isn't there anyone else in the emergency room?
Do you send them all home without helping them?

Well, not me.  Here.  You put your hand on stethoscope.
Let me help you with that.  And you put the flat end
on her so you can start with her heartbeat.

Isn't that what you doctors and nurses are supposed to do?

No!  Put those ear pieces in!

Ahhh!

Does this look like a joke to you!  My wife is sick and
you're going to do something about it or I'm going to
do something about it!

Are you listening?  I already fired my last man.
My business is shot all to hell.  She is all I got.
And you're here.  You're supposed to at least try something.

No, no.  Honey, honey... don't lie down.  Alisa, please get up.
Alisa?  What's everybody doing?  I need you here!
You can't lie down 'cause there's just one patient!
This is important, damn it!

Damn you.  Damn you all.

Alisa, Alisa, open your eyes, honey.  Hey, open your eyes!
That's a good girl.  Now I need you to try to support yourself
a little.  You weren't a sack of potatoes a minute ago and
these doctors aren't going to help us.  We have to look for
a way to help ourselves.  That's what we always do, right?

But I can't have you trying to lay down on me.  Remember the farm?
That stupid dustbowl of a farm that some idgit bought so we could
come out here?  When the cattle went down there was almost
no time for getting them back up.  Remember?  Alisa, honey,
I need you walking around on your feet now.  Something's
really wrong with everybody.  I can't have that happening
to you.  Please, darling.  I don't know what I'm supposed
to do if I lose you.  We don't even have any kids.

Alisa?  Alisa, get up.  Please get up.

I don't understand it.  You ain't cough'n.  You ain't sweat'n.
You even still look at me and smile, if just a little.
What's the gag?  What's supposed to be the big secret?

Are you putting me through this for something?

What could I have done to deserve this?
And how did you get everyone else in on it?

Alisa, whatever it is I'm sorry.  Honey, I said I'm sorry.
Can't this just be over now?  Alright, Alisa.  Alright.
But you need to eat something.  You can't go on like this.
You're going to kill yourself for a gorram joke, little lady.

I ain't watching it anymore.

You!  You part of her joke, too?  You must really think it's funny.
What?  You got nothing to say to me, either?  Maybe I decide
to stop talking.  Yeah.  Maybe I decide to get with the joke,
while my wife lies there dying in our house over it.
Sure seems like there's only one thing to do after that.

You're it, buddy.  If you don't want to end the joke here
then I can make sure you never will talk again.

None of you people seem to be taking me seriously!
I ain't asking for much.  Just some proof of life
to put a stop to a prank that's gone on long enough.
So what's it going to take?  I already killed three of you.
That doesn't seem to work for you.  You're all right sick.
You know that?  We don't have nothing.  There's nothing
she's going pay you that's worth this.  Someone's just got
to say it's over.  That's all I need.  Just tell me it's over.
I'll go home, wait for the cops.  I'll be all peaceful.
And you demented whores can go on to laugh
it all out over your sick jollies.

All of them.  Every last one of them is insane.
There's gotta be another city, another city
where none of this is happening.

I can't leave her.

I know you're alive, honey.  Remember how that feels?
You always love that.  Alisa, please give me something.
Maybe I'll just go down to the whore house.  Did you
ever think about that?  You can't give me that silent
treatment now, darling.  You gotta get mad or maybe
I might just go do it.  I'm gonna do it, Alisa.  I'm going.

You know I think your plan might have worked just a
little too well.  I mean, listen.  You hear that quiet?
The cops haven't been here for hours.  I must be
able to do whatever the hell I want.
What should a man do with that?

There's no one to do it to.

Everyone's laid down and died.  What's there to do?
Someone's got to try to make me stop.  Someone.
I'll find them.  No one can stop us.  They let this happen.

(Untold Told) Obi-Wan's Departure

A Star Destroyer?  What could a Star Destroyer be doing here?

No.

Vader.

I sense him.  Does he sense me?

If the Empire is here then it will not be long before they discover... Luke.  His training cannot wait. Not any longer.  Not one moment longer.  But what of Owen Lars?  If the boy sees the dispute he may become unwilling.  He must be willing.  Nothing will work so well otherwise.

I know what must be done.

Trooper come here.

TROOPER:  What is it?

I am your friend.

TROOPER:  You are my friend.

You want to tell me what you are looking for.

TROOPER:  I want to tell you what we are looking for.

Well, I'm intrigued.  Do tell.

TROOPER:  There are some imperial droids missing on the surface.

What are your clues about where they might be found?

TROOPER:  They were lost in the Dune Sea?

The Dune Sea?  How did they end up there?

TROOPER:  I don't know.  That was classified.

Oh, well.  You did your best, my friend.

TROOPER:  Thank you, sir.

Uh, one moment, please.

TROOPER:  Yes, sir.

Where were you going to look for them next?

TROOPER:  There are some homesteads just off the Dune Sea we need to check.

The homesteads?  Why not the Jawas?

TROOPER:  We checked.  The sand crawler didn't have the droids we were looking for.

I see.  Trooper, you should tear that sand crawler apart until you find those droids.  Tell your commander that you're suspicious of those Jawas.  And, my dear friend, everyone will be tired.  Especially after searching all day, yes?  You're completely exhausted.  You can't bother the homesteads tonight.

TROOPER:  You're right.  I'm completely exhausted.  We can't bother the homesteads tonight.

You should go lie down in your bunk and never wake up.

TROOPER:  I'll go lie down in my bunk.

And never wake up.

TROOPER:  And never wake up.

That's excellent.  Now the trooper can't tip them off to my presence with undo absent mindedness.
This will give me just enough time for what I need to get the boy away.

Hmmm.  What's that moving away from the farm?

OWEN:  Luke, I'm shutting the power down.

LUKE:  Alright.  I'll be there in a few minutes.

I see.  This may be my one and only chance.
When the boy leaves in the morning I'll make my move.

SPEEDER SOUND

The time has come.

BERU:  (gasp) Obi-Wan?  What are you doing here?

I'm sorry.  But today is the beginning of the end of the Empire.

BERU:  Owen... Owen!

OWEN:  Beru!

LIGHTSABER

And there must be no evidence of the blade.

RISING FLAMES.

Now for the boy.

I see the troopers have frittered away their time on the Jawas.
I shall be able to make use of this.  The Jundland wastes
are not to be travelled lightly.

And these blast points, too accurate for Sand People.
Only imperial stormtroopers are so precise.

LUKE:  But why would imperial troops want to slaughter Jawas?

Wait, Luke.  It's too dangerous.

All the better that I cut the ties to this world.
He would never allow himself the mantle
of hero without such things.

There was nothing you could have done,
Luke, if you had been there.
You would have been killed too.
And I now know what the Empire
wants with these droids.

We must be cautious.

This one is not worth the effort.

Destroyed, by the Empire.  He might have been born into the life of a great Jedi knight.  Now this indeed is our most desperate hour.  I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine.

And now it begins, Vader.  Run, Luke.  Run.
The boy and I shall never be parted.  You have lost.
Let go, Luke.  The Force shall be with you, always.

You will go to the Dagobah system.  There you will
learn from Yoda, the Jedi master who instructed me.

LUKE:  I can't get them out of my head.  Their my friends.
              I gotta help them.  Han and Leia will die if I don't.

You don't know that.  This is a dangerous time for you.
I don't want to lose you to the Emperor the way I lost Vader.

VADER:  No.  I am your father.

If you choose to face Vader you will do it alone.
Don't give in to hate.  That leads to the dark side.

LUKE:  A certain point of view?

Luke you are going to find that a great many things
depend on our own personal point of view.

I swore loyalty to the Republic.  Vader helped to cut down and destroy the Jedi knights.
He betrayed and murdered your father.  Now the Jedi are all but extinct.

When I am gone I want to know that the Empire is finished.
The Jedi shall be reborn through you.
And then we shall have peace.

(Untold Told) The Good Shepards Part 10

The gate activates and Husks come pouring
into the gate room of the Alliance cruiser.

The guards on station open fire without orders and the commanders are left standing there dumbfounded.  In the observation room overlooking the scene one of the technicians slams the emergency alert followed be a warning of "containment breach" and the whole of the Alliance
cruiser is thrown into a panic.

The sonic weapon, localized to the gate room, begins to try and kill what comes through the gate and those humans without the proper ear protection, but these Husks are sooner slowed than halted.

Commander Sheppard comes to her cell door.

COMMANDER:  Hey!  What's going on?

Crew continue to run passed
without acknowledgement.

The colonel is across the way.

JOHN:  If something's happening

we can't stay in here.

Book is in the cell next to the commander.

BOOK:  It must be the Husks.  

The Alliance doesn't have any

real enemies to match them,

that I'm aware of.

JOHN:  Then we really need

to get out of here.

Steader marches into the command center.

STEADER:  Report.

OFFICER:  The Husks have established an
incoming wormhole and are currently trying
to override our lockdown of the gate room.
We have no idea where they're coming from.

OPERATOR:  I might know, sir.  There's a large
object leaving the corona of the star
and heading directly for us.

STEADER:  Prepare to send a communication.

OFFICER:  Yes, sir.

Steader plugs in a card.

STEADER:  Use this frequency.

OFFICER:  You're patched through.

STEADER:  You will stand down.  All forces
will stand down.  Authorization, Omega 3rd.
Sending coded authentication.  

To the officer.

STEADER:  Disengage sonic defenses.

After a  moment the Husks stop closing
in on the survivors in the gate room.

OFFICER:  They've stopped.

Steader resumes speaking
for the ear piece.

STEADER:  Thank you.  I realize that events are unfolding

prematurely, but that couldn't be helped.

You should not interpret our actions as 

going back on the agreement, but your

Husks were found feral while 

outside of your control and had 

to be destroyed.  And we were 

just in the middle of trying to

learn the reason why that is 

when you arrived.  Now we

can look forward to working

together on this.

OFFICER:  Sir, someone's still trying to

override the gate room lockdown.

STEADER:  We are not compromised.

We are not... damn it!

He yanks out the ear piece and stomps on it.
The officer notes a streak of blood from
Steader's ear.

OFFICER:  Orders, sir?

He feels a dark vein on his neck.

STEADER:  Move us away from Haven.

OFFICER:  Yes, sir.

Steader leaves the command center.

Oculus drones pour out from the Reaper
and zip toward the Alliance cruiser.

Steader ignores the warning of new contacts
coming over the PA system and the command
for alert aircraft to launch.

He is flanked by an escort of two soldiers
by the time he arrives at the brig.

Each of the prisoners pound on the doors
demanding they be freed to ward off the threat.

Book's door opens.

STEADER:  Tell me how to beat these things.

BOOK:  I didn't fight them but once.

You'll want the other two.

Their doors open.

BOOK:  Come on.

The hallway blast door seals before them just as a red hot beam rends one of the towers from the cruiser.  Fighters and missiles launch from the cruiser and are quickly dispatched by the Oculis drones.  The Alliance cruiser continues to be harassed by these drones while the Reaper holds fire on its main weapon.

A Husk puts its finger to a keypad
and emerges from its observation chamber.

The party round the corner to be confronted
with the Husk standing in the hall.

STEADER:  We had a deal!

Commander Sheppard fights for a sonic rifle
from the nearest soldier to her and throws
him aside.  She fires.

The Husk is thrown back against a wall.

COMMANDER:  You never make a deal with Reapers.

The Husk gets up again and Book
punches a code into the key pad
and closes another blast door
in the Husk's face.

BOOK:  This way.

The Husks and soldiers stand together in confused peace in the gate room.  The ship tremors, but the soldiers know nothing more.  Upon their orders to stand down the following Husks meander through the Stargate and collect at the bottom of the ramp.  Crew run passed the large windows of the gate room, but otherwise the soldiers have no orders.

Through an ear piece.

BOOK:  Authentication caprice omega

3459285.  Your commander is

compromised and facilitating

an invasion of the Alliance.

You must respond.

SOLDIER:  Say again?

SERGEANT:  What's the issue?

SOLDIER:  Someone's trying to give me

an attack order.

They look up and Commander Sheppard and Book
have taken the control room.  The soldier sees
Book's hand rise to the headset.

BOOK:  I mean it Marine.  You are standing in a

room of mutated humans.  This is an alien incursion

that will spread if we do not fight it now.  I'm sorry.

SOLDIER:  For what?

BOOK:  They will probably kill you.

The soldier turns his eyes from the control room
and is nose to nose with a Husk staring him down.

SERGEANT:  Hey, hey.  There's no problem here.

SOLDIER:  They look a little soulless, don't you

think so, sir?

SERGEANT:  Steady private.

SOLDIER:  I mean, like they used to have

souls and they're not just machines.

These are demonic.

SERGEANT:  Okay.  We're just going to

back away slowly.

The sergeant reaches across to the private and the Husk turns on him with a violent push that sends him flying through the air.  The private reflexively opens fire and all the other soldiers in the chamber do the same.  The gate room erupts into violence and more Husks start pouring through the wormhole.  Commander Sheppard cuts power to the gate and about a dozen Husks are rended in half and proceed to drag themselves forward with their hands.

Commander Sheppard begins the dialing sequence, which is outpaced by the dial in, but Book cuts the power and throws the switch back on again to resume dialing.  In the moment dipped in darkness the soldiers are overwhelmed unable to switch to night vision, but dog piled they continue firing.

Book activates the sonic weapon, which causes the Husks to withdraw.

Some even begin returning through the Stargate, which cannot sustain them going both ways and the Reaper realizes that it is losing Husks needlessly and breaks the connection.

Commander Sheppard begins dialing again.

The connection is made and a new series of beams slice through the cruiser.

Book deactivates the sonic weapon and unlocks the door for Colonel Shepard to enter the gate room.  All around him the Alliance soldiers are fighting for their lives and he shoots what he can with the commandeered sonic rifle, but continues on his mission toward the gate.

At the base of the ramp to the gate he is tackled
to the ground and looks up to see Steader
standing halfway up the ramp.

STEADER:  No one is getting off this ship.

Colonel Shepard fires his sonic weapon into the agent who is hardly phased and begins to march toward him.  Shepard continues to fire until the agent is mere feet in front of him.  He throws the weapon, which has more the heft of plastic than metal and bounces off the agent's head; an indignant announce.  The colonel draws a knife and stabs through the agent's outstretched hand.

JOHN:  You're no Wraith.

STEADER:  (collective voice) We're superior.

Half-a-dozen Husks run up from behind and Colonel Shepard pivots around to throw the agent into them and leaps through the event horizon.  He lands on the other side and waits to be followed through.  But then the daytime sky goes dark.

He looks up to see the hulk of the
Hive ship bearing down on him.

JOHN:  Daedalus, beam me out.

He disappears from the forest floor and
the Hive ship collides with the Stargate.

Shepard appears on the bridge.

CALDWELL:  He came through a few minutes ago.

Perhaps you'd like to make the formal introductions.

JOHN:  It was you?

Book and the commander board an escape shuttle
and soon are watching from a distance as the
alliance cruiser dissolves beneath the laser beams.

Within the gate room arm of the Reaper
the chevrons begin to light up one by one.
The wormhole is established.  The Husks
fill the dark chamber bathed in the
shimmering blue light.

A grizzly bearded old man steps through
and the wormhole disappears behind him.
He has an explosive drum under his arm.

COMMANDER:  You killed my crew.

                      It's time we finished this.

The Reaper disappears in a fireball.

THE END

PREVIOUS

(Untold Told) If The Dathomir Wore Tweed

VIDEO

If the Dathomir wore tweed then there would be far less to see.

For it would be that Sidious would never venture there
in all the years of planning he could not see
any warrior at all worth having.

And so too Ventress could stay.

None would trespass in all their days.

Many more children would there be.
And could it be that Maul and Ventress
might find blissful matrimony?

From dear, dear Mother Talzin they would fly
in order to leave the great clone wars behind.

To Coruscant I think they would go
for there are already many, many
families there trying to grow.

And arriving in their tweed as refugees
there is a great big world and
far too little open for them to see.

Though the center of many troubles,
far they now are from droids and clones,
and those same masters of the Jedi art.

A less suitable candidate did Sidious find
so that Qui-Gon emerged from Naboo all fine.

And so ready to train young Anakin was he
that away from the academy did he lead thee.

Why should this matter concern our tale?

For when the Chancellor took advantage and Emperor became,
Master Qui-Gon's training turned to young Anakin's gain.

But before this all could finally come to pass
Maul entered service at the imperial palace.

And one day he accidently lost his oh so fine tweed
that then did Palpatine learn of what he could be.

The vile Sith Lord divined a sense of his power
and decided upon the hour for to train this
wayward son before him.

This son of Dathomir who was so much affrighted.

But the end of this tale ought to be a happy one this day.

For Qui-Gon returned wise to this and said
that Maul could again tweed his head.

Then did Sidious once more no longer want him.
And Anakin showed Sidious what
dabbling in the dark side got him.

And strange enough as it may seem
the whole of the Republic became
a sea of tweed.

And who can make war in such a state?

Oh, I forgot.  The Yuuzhan Vong
will come at a later date.

So for Maul at least
this can be a happy time.

Please do not ask of me
to do another rhyme.

(Untold Told) The Good Shepards Part 9

By the miracle of electrical lighting in this remote homestead, the finally tailored host for the evening has Colonel Shepard laid on the dining room table and begins to examine him, blue gloves probing the wounds.  He throws his voice to Book, but doesn't look at him.

MAN:  How did you let yourself get hurt?

BOOK:  Saving a couple kids caught

in the open after it all started.

MAN:  That doesn't sound like you.

I thought I trained you

better than that.

John cranes his neck
to look around.

JOHN:  Where are we?

MAN:  Face up, please.

He grabs the colonel by the chin
and redirects his gaze to the ceiling.

MAN:  You're not a settler.

But I don't recognize you.

COMMANDER:  No, sir.

MAN:  So where did you come from?

COMMANDER:  I'm not sure how meaningful that

would be to you.  Are we still in the Pegasus Galaxy.

MAN:  Pegasus?

He turns with a start and
leaves the colonel's side.

MAN:  What do you know about Pegasus?

COMMANDER:  My ship and I were there yesterday.

MAN:  Then he's... 

state your name

and rank.

JOHN:  Colonel John Shepard, Atlantis Expedition.

He face grows red and he
looks weak in the knees.

MAN:  No you're not.  You can't be.

BOOK:  Atlantis?  That's real?

MAN:  That's classified.  

COMMANDER:  I never saw any Atlantis.

But I talked to a ship.  A ship that

was supposed to be protecting it.

JOHN:  Daedalus.

COMMANDER:  Right, Daedalus.

MAN:  The Daedalus was lost.

Centuries ago, now.

JOHN:  And how do you know about it?

MAN:  That's classified.

JOHN:  Not you.

They follow his eyes to Commander Sheppard.

COMMANDER:  Me?

JOHN:  Where is Commander Sheppard?

BOOK:  You were badly hurt 

when you came through.

MAN:  Came through from where?

COMMANDER:  Colonel, it's me.

JOHN:  I don't know you.

COMMANDER:  We fought the Wraith.

I saved you after you killed the queen.

MAN:  (interrogating) Wraith?

She pushes passed him to reach
the colonel's side?

COMMANDER:  What do you remember?

JOHN:  That Commander Sheppard

was a man.

COMMANDER:  Your certain of that?

JOHN:  I think I'd remember

that sort of thing.

The man steps off to the side
with a heavy sigh of acceptance.

COMMANDER:  What does that mean to you?

MAN:  You're telling me he's a time traveler?

You both are?

COMMANDER:  Yes.

MAN:  Then assuming for the moment that

the colonel's report is accurate then

you both have changed the timeline.

And whatever monsters have followed

you here are liable to destroy us all.

Gunshots from the perimeter.

MAN:  What's your game?

Why did you lead them to me?

BOOK:  Look at me.

He presents his shoulder.

BOOK:  This isn't a play.

MAN:  Or you were just bit by your own trap.

JOHN:  I don't know what mind games

you two are used to playing, but can

we agree that we all want those 

things out there dead?

MAN:  I shall accommodate you, colonel.

He steps over to a desk and removes a drawer.  There is a shoebox size remote switch, which he turns the nob on the top.  Out on the perimeter the guards double over in agony and the animalistic Husks arch back and scream.  Some turn back, but three push through the perimeter and beyond the sonic weapon, which had been presumed to be definitive.

MAN:  So much for the sanitary solution.

He waves for two more soldiers to head outside
and pick off the closing Husks.

COMMANDER:  You're killing your own men!

BOOK:  Save yourself the trouble of being

surprised at him.  It won't do you any good.

The Husks are sniped down and the
two men return inside the house.

MAN:  That perimeter sonic fence is linked

to an Alliance cruiser beacon.  If the

infestation is as widespread as you

seem to believe then we will

wait the night here for them.

The room has grown solemn as the night is long.  Everyone looks on as the homesteader comes to the end of his surgery and plunks something in the waste tray.  He follows up with spraying a gentle mist across the colonel's back and the wound begins to close before their eyes.  He fishes with a clamp back into the waste tray and holds the Wraith tracker up to the light.

MAN:  These were always a 

nasty piece of work.

He glances up at Commander Sheppard.

MAN:  He shall come around shortly.

The homesteader hands off the Wraith tracker
to the mother holding another tray while
standing in as a nurse and she takes it away.

The homesteader joins Book in an
opposite chair at the hearth.

MAN:  So what happened?  Hmm?

No honor among thieves?

Book doesn't answer.

MAN:  You don't have to act surprised.

BOOK:  I'm not.  But you should know

I won't help you look for them.

MAN:  But you didn't warn them about us.

Book doesn't answer.

MAN:  They think we're dead?

BOOK:  You know they do.

And you know that you

failed to recover them.

MAN:  Failure is relative, Omega 5th.

BOOK:  You know what, you can

stop calling me that!

MAN:  Temper, temper.  You'll egg on

your new friends to just who you really are.

You wanted to believe that you were saved?

That you could save others?  We're pawns in this.

BOOK: (laughs) Pawns? (laughs) So what does

power look like to you?  The more you cling to it

the less you have.  I have seen the writing on

the wall.  I have served evil, but no more.

If these galactic interlopers of ours are

around long enough to learn anything

then so be it.  Because uncover my 

secrets and they'll learn about you

too, mister disgraced retiree.

The homesteader puts his 

hand over his heart.

MAN:  That hurt, Book.  That hurt right here.

I thought you respected the game 

better than that.

BOOK:  I learned that it doesn't pay.

MAN:  Oh, it paid.  You just decided

to fritter it all away.  

BOOK:  I won't say I built something.

But I tried to restore what we took.

MAN:  And now look

where you have ended up.

In the grace of my charity.

A rancid bi-mechanical hand extends forward.  The Husks extends an open jaw under the strain of each motion.  It pulls itself forward by one arm.  The legs appear non-functional.  Little by little it draws nearer to the house.  When it arrives at the porch it continues on underneath.  And deep under the house the Husk finds a place to dig without searching for it.  The removed dirt and gravel exposes wire, which extends out toward the gate of the perimeter.  And lacking cutting tools, the weakened Husks begins pulling at the wire.

MAN:  What if I were to, say, 

let you in on the bigger picture?

BOOK:  I've seen enough.

MAN:  What can I say?  It was worth a try.

You were always very effect.

BOOK:  And I'll try to live that 

compliment down.

MAN:  You may not have much time

to do that in.  Take them.

The guards seize Shepard, Sheppard and Shepherd.

BOOK:  Don't do this, Steader!

MAN:  You are out of time.

The lights go out.

MOTHER:  What just happened?

The Husks come flooding onto the estate.  Some of them now bear the tattered clothing of dresses, skirts and jeans.  And whenever the Wraith variety of Husk receives too many hits it turns on the nearest human cohort and feeds so that the human Husk falls away as a paper thin membrane.

The rifles rattle off their protest at the Husk's advance, but no more effectively than this.
The homesteader takes to the roof with his Alliance-issued sniper rifle and succeeds in picking off a dozen to one side of the house and half-a-dozen on the other, but they are still coming on all sides.

Ammo spent, he descends the tower for the interior of the house.  He throws a switch and those that are about to leap onto the porch are showered in light and briefly turn back, but become trampled under by others that were further back and leap with abandon on the porch overhang and close on the second-story windows.  The soldiers there blast away as fast as the lever action can manage them, but the flood of Husks bursts through the glass and immediately have control of the second floor.

Without command, the homesteader descends into the basement and the rest follow apart from the first story guards who continue to fight.  There is a bunker entrance in the floor of the basement with steps heading further down.

JOHN:  What about your men?

Book dismisses the attempt to

appeal to his conscience.

BOOK:  Don't bother.

MAN:  He's right.  They're lost.

GUARD:  We work for you!

MAN:  Then you can stay with them.

He shoots the guard.

MAN:  Inside!  I still want to interrogate you

when this is all over.

Once inside he activates another sonic weapon which resonates through the house and kills the Husks.  They are still in the bunker by morning.  Sonic weapon faintly sounding, a company of soldiers mince their way through the bodies in the house wearing armor and more importantly helmets that protect from the sonic perimeter.  Even now one Husk still lingers in agony and one of the soldiers delivers a bullet, which announces their presence to the rest in the bunker.  The homesteader turns on a security camera and can see that they are Alliance soldiers.  He disengages the sonic weapon and opens the vault door.

Without discussion, the company is removed to a waiting shuttle and they are near enough to a cliff to overlook the town.  Sonic booms break the air and two smoke trails dive toward the low buildings and arch sharply back up again.  The bombs dropped in their wake decimate the scene in fire.

MOTHER:  There's no one?

BOOK:  Unfortunately, now we'll never know.

They are shuffled onto the shuttle and it rises to break the atmosphere with ease and joins the Alliance Tohoku-class cruiser in orbit.  Upon the shuttle doors opening before an airlock a flood of white hazmat wearing technicians take hold of each of the survivors apart from the Alliance agent and escort them to quarantine chambers where they might all only glimpse each other through the glass amidst pauses in blasts of air.

Commander Sheppard notes the decontamination process is far more invasive than that which could be managed on the likes of the Normandy and privately speculates the interrogation has begun.

They emerge from their chambers to witness in passing a Husk being studied in containment.
The mother of the three children stops and realizes who the Husk once was.  She pounds the glass with her fist and the Husk tilts headlong into the glass and bounces back dazed, but lunges forward again to continue trying to bite the glass and presses a hand there where a feeding hand pecks a spike against the glass.

MAN:  A third generation of the species, I am told.

First humans, which got ahold of your Wraith.

And now they have begun to alter their

human counterparts.  

BOOK:  There could be more.

Your containment isn't complete.

MAN:  We have seen to it.

They continue as if on a tour and witness a second story window of a large chamber where technicians are in the midst of trying to dial the stargate and only getting three chevrons in before failing the lock.

MAN:  It has been a long time since we

saw one of these devices.

Our records are sparse.

A very long time.

COMMANDER:  At this point you should

consider destroying it.

JOHN:  No.  I have to get back.

I can still change what has happened.

MAN:  Why would we want you

to do that?  This is a spectacular 

discovery for us.  Human survival

will be improved from this point on.

Who's to say you would foster the better

future if allowed the past?

JOHN:  That's my future.  I can finish

what we started against the Wraith.

I can provide an earlier warning

about the Reapers.

MAN:  That threat is neutralized.

COMMANDER:  What about the Sovereign

that destroyed my ship?

MAN:  The threat is neutralized.

Knowledge of your ship was lost

until now and that same Sovereign 

was never seen by any humans nor

any other Reapers discovered.

COMMANDER:  So it's still out there.

JOHN:  You have an opportunity to 

outflank these things in a way

that they cannot see.

MAN:  The Reapers are not a threat to us.

No one in the Alliance has seen one.

Your war is long forgotten Colonel

and yours too, Commander.

Thank you for your service.

The Alliance will determine

humanity's destiny from here.

He addresses a soldier.

MAN:  Confinement.

Bathing in the local star is an old worn hulk of a Sovereign.  In containment, one of the Husks turns its head and looks at the stargate.  External lights come to life on the Sovereign and within one of its legs there is a stargate stowed away.  Within this leg interior corridor more Husks begin to stir and the stargate dials at a blurring speed.  The seven chevrons are engaged in a matter of seconds.

The gate activates and Husks come pouring
into the gate room of the Alliance cruiser.

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(Fan Canon) An Old Friend And New Adventure

(Fan Canon) A Robe For Thee

(Fan Canon) Making Plans

(Fan Canon) Invitation

(Untold Told) The Good Shepards Part 8

Across an ink stained open plain three forms shuffle across the terrain.  John is dragged standing between Book and Commander Sheppard; while she scans their immediate surroundings with the rifle extended in one hand.  Distant screams whistle up to them on the gentle breeze while their eyes remain dipped in darkness.  Impotent gunfire thunders up from the town below them.

BOOK: (whisper) Can you see any of them?

I can't see a thing.

COMMANDER:  I can.  Don't worry.  

None of them are around.

BOOK:  How do they do it?

Their hearts seize upon 

an especially loud scream.

COMMANDER:  Well... the one that I'm not

really familiar with apparently sucks

your soul dry and that makes

them harder to kill after.

BOOK:  Damn.

COMMANDER:  Something like that.

BOOK:  And the other?

COMMANDER:  I was supposed to have killed

every last one of them. Years ago.  But they killed 

my crew just before I came here.  They're Reapers.

I figure the Reapers got ahold of the Wraith.  

It wouldn't work the other way around, 

I don't think.  They take anything 

organic and turn it into themselves.

BOOK:  Well then we can't let them stay

down there in the town.  There will be

more of those demons come morning.

COMMANDER:  I think it's already too late.

The next scream wakes John.

JOHN:  What's that?

COMMANDER:  You need to be quiet now.

JOHN:  Who are you?

COMMANDER:  You don't know?

Through her night vision she witnesses
his blind eyes attempt to scan her face.

JOHN:  I can't see you.  And I don't

recognize your voice.

She looks to the town.

COMMANDER:  Take good care of

him Shepherd.

BOOK:  Of course.

COMMANDER:  And stay low.

Bolstered by the armor, she powers on ahead toward the town in super-human stride, but lacks the depth of field to miss falling off a sheer cliff that is high enough to leave her well aware of suddenly plummeting.  She hits.  And she rolls across the ground losing her rifle behind her in the tumble.
The visor is cracked down the middle.

A Husk turns and sees Commander Sheppard getting to her feet.  With a hiss seated behind the jaw (a trait belonging to Wraith) the Husk raises its right hand high in the air and rushes Sheppard while accompanied by two others.

She sees them coming and engages the omni blade.  She stabs the first, slashes the second from head to trunk and the third tackles her full on and sits on top pressing the crack in her helmet with the feeding hand before getting kicked off.  Sheppard finds the rifle through a locator in her HUD and scrambles for it.

Sheppard is feet away before getting nocked down again and holds the turned Wraith at bay by the bottom of her boot while clasping the rifle in her hand.  She shoots the Husk dead in a burst and at the sound of the shot more Husks turn their heads.

Half a dozen from the horde pour out from the darkness and she mows each down in turn, but the last two manage to break the armor in several places before getting shot as well.  They caused a failure in one knee and Sheppard is unable to turn her waist.

The commander is forced to engage the releases and pry herself from the armor for the lack of mobility and decreasing visibility in the helmet.  Now she returns to scanning the night by her rifle scope.  The screams still ring out from the town, which provides a direction to turn to.

One man's family crouches in the corner of their single-room cabin as he bursts through the door and secures it behind him.  He commences reloading the lever action rifle without even glancing to them.  The mother pulls herself free from the three children and clasps their hands around each other so that she can interrogate their father.

MOTHER:  Where's Billie?

He doesn't look at her.

FATHER:  Just keep out of sight.

MOTHER:  Where is he!

She bights her teeth screaming the question
and he grabs her arm to impress the desperate
need for whispers and speaks in low tones.

FATHER:  They took him.

She moves for the door and
he keeps hold of her arm.

FATHER:  No one is coming back

from being out there.

The only window shatters before the Husk that bursts through to take the father whose screams fade into the night.  Rifle fallen at her feet, the mother stares into the naked air before her and the very walls of the cabin fall away around her vision before this sight.  There will be no keeping the horde out.  And as she stands stiff and dumb at her own reckoning the children stifle their crying from the cold corner.  A stray whip of night air blows out their candle light.

Breathe.  Breathe.  Breathe.

Barrels spill across Commander Sheppard's path and a flailing metal smith tumbles back with a Husk scrambling on top of him to feed.  She blasts the Husk in the head and with a single gasp from the smith he disappears into a shop and locks the door.

Up the street Sheppard witnesses muzzle flashes light up the night.  One Husk scurries before them in retreat and shot down in the deep mud before it can flee.  As she watches, the men continue standing in the street and scan the night seemingly unaware of her.  But then also a flood of Husks pour out from the darkness and a couple alleyways and overwhelm the men, carrying them off.  At this Sheppard ducks back to hug the walls of the buildings before continuing traversing the empty streets.

And the silence is broken by the crunch of glass beneath her boot.  She scans to the right and Sheppard sees through the scope a terrified woman staring out with blindness.

SHEPPARD:  Can I come in?

First she starts, but more-so in the eyes and
too afraid to bend down for the gun that
Sheppard cannot yet see.

MOTHER:  Y- yes.  Ma'am?

SHEPPARD:  Please open the door.

The woman's stare breaks for the board over the door and removes it, but has the presence of mind to reflect when gripping the knob before turning it.  She's terrified at the thought of letting someone in and has already distanced from the terror how the window represents a breach in their home.

Despite this mental break, she opens
the door stepping back to let Sheppard in.

Sheppard almost immediately steps on the rifle
and bends down to pick it up while
the mother closes the door.

SHEPPARD:  You'll need this.

MOTHER:  That's my husband's.

SHEPPARD:  Husband?

She scans with the scope and finds
the three children in the corner.

SHEPPARD:  Where is your husband?

MOTHER:  I sent him out to look for Billie.

Sheppard crunches under more glass.

This sound makes their mother weep, which the children
rise from the corner to run over and cling to her.

SHEPPARD:  Is there some kind of vault?

Any heavily secured place that we can get to?

DAUGHTER:  Mr. Smithers has a lot of guns

at his estate.

SHEPPARD:  How far away is this estate?

No one answers.

SHEPPARD:  I assume that means too far.

The mother grasps Sheppard.

MOTHER:  You can see!  We can make it.

She nods at Sheppard, but is

really still trying to reassure

herself as she bits her lip

and glances toward the window.

SHEPPARD:  I have a hurt friend on the 

outskirts of town.  We might not be able to 

move quickly enough.  Is there anything in town?

She shakes her head.

MOTHER:  They're everywhere.

DAUGHTER:  Mr. Smithers was an army doctor.

He keeps stuff for people.

MOTHER:  That's right.  You get us there

and we'll get help for your friend.

The door scratches the silence of the night.  The family ducks back at the sound and Commander Sheppard leans out to listen.  There are animalistic hisses of the Husks, but carried over the echo of distance.  It is as clear as it's going to be.

Commander Sheppard emerges from the home and scans the street to her left.  She stands with her back to the family and waves for them to come out.  They line up along the front of the cabin.  Sheppard passes them and scans the street to the right and leads the way down an alley.  Just beyond this alley is the edge of town and the five of them head out on open field.

Book can hear shuffling nearby.  Normally, he'd consider seeing if it were a burrow where he ought to place a snare.  With these new demons out from the cave portal he isn't so sure of being hungry.

Then there is the telltale scream of the quick-and-dead.  Such a terrible hiss that must prove the hollowness of the whole body.  Husk was an apt name that the commander should us.  But then there was a scream of another sort.

There was one who still had life who was attempting to save their soul from these monsters and they were discovered.  Nothing else stood to explain that cry.  It is fear of the soul.  And he heard it.  Shepherd Book heard it and now very far from friends.  Oh the courage he had begun to take from among them.  He had his own before.

Book unclips the P-90 from the colonel's vest.

The old man crawls down on his belly to a ledge to overlook the valley floor.  He puts the scope to his eye and witnesses a young couple attempting to scale the rocks to his right.  Half-a-dozen Husks trail them kicking up mounds of dust in their wake.

He duckwalks the perimeter of the ledge in quick step and lays down again in a new position opposite the young couple.  Book finds the single shot setting and trains his eye on the scope.  Fire.  One Husk has fallen.  It isn't dead and scrambles to its feet once more.  He fires at a second one that has run up behind the first blocking Shepherd Book's view.  That one is a headshot and succumbs almost immediately.  But now the remaining Husks turn on the would-be sniper.

Book puts a bullet in the chests of a couple more Husks who hardly recoil at the hits and the one that was shot in the head before begins to get up again.  By this time the couple are beyond the boulders and continue without looking back.  The old man gets up and runs before the Husks can reach the base of the shear cliff and begin to climb.

They are up top long before he is out of sight.  He glances where he knows the colonel to be concealed and raises the P-90 over his head with one shot in the air.  The Husks rush in.  Like rabid animals, they furiously run on all fours.  Thank Heaven they're not Reavers.  They already seem to hate what they are.  What's worse, they're endowed to make him the same.  For with feet to spare the Husks restore themselves to pibedal locomotion and extend the feeding hand.

Two are shredded by the full auto fire, but the ammo is spent.  Then an explosion engulfs them except for one that is sent sailing through the air toward Book.  It swipes away the P-90 as he dips his head to the side and delivers a punch behind the non-existent ear to the creature.  The Husk turns and thrusts its left palm to push Book back, but the old man guards with his elbow and uppercuts the chin following up with a series of body blows.

Part of the Husk gives like punching a tarp, but the other half of his knuckles bleed like punching steel.  He grits through the pain with the knowledge he has no other weapons.  Finally, the soulless being begins walking through the body blows as Book retreats back one step at a time.  He gives up on punching, but then one more uppercut out of desperation, which dislodges the jaw.

The Husk recovers from the upturned chin and grips Book's shoulder as in a vice and raises the feeding hand for the final time.  A spike emerges from the vestigial Wraith organ for the purpose of converting instead of feeding.  As the spiked hand is about to be plunged into his chest, Book grabs the Husk by the wrist and begins to roll over the ground locked together.

They roll until Book's adversary is set dangling off the edge of the cliff which the commander had fallen down.  Her suit's internal lights illuminate the floor below.  Shepherd Book still has a vice in his shoulder and has no feeling in that arm.  Except, the pain comes screaming back when he twists himself around so that he might kick the Husk off the rest of the way.

He finally dazes it into releasing his arm and disappears from sight.  There is a thud.  Book looks over the edge and the Husk lies in a mangled heap in the light of the power armor.  And he winces for the soul that this thing once was and turns back to find his way to the colonel again.

In the darkness he smells the rotting Husks and realizes he is near where the grenade exploded.
He gives them a wide berth while trying to remain oriented.  Then he hears labored breathing.

BOOK:  Colonel?

JOHN:  Did we get'em?

BOOK:  Shhh… shhh.  It's not

safe for much talking now.

There will be more.

JOHN:  Can you help me up?

Book discovers John laying face down
several feet away from the hole they
were hiding in together.

BOOK:  What are you doing here?

He drags the colonel back in their hiding place.

JOHN:  I hope you know that

was my last one.

Book doesn't answer.

JOHN:  Grenade.

BOOK:  Oh.  Thank you.

I don't believe I'll be going 

out there again soon.

COMMANDER:  Did you save them?

They both look up at the voice
even though they can't see.

BOOK:  Yes.  Yes, I believe so.

COMMANDER:  This family claims to know

an estate they think will be safe for us.

The town was overrun long before

I ever got there.

Book nods absently.

BOOK:  Do you think I might

get seen, too?

There is a light in the distance as they draw nearer to the estate.  The house is well lit at each window and surprisingly untouched.  They happen to pass beneath the arch of a wooden sign likely written the name and owner of the property.  And in crossing this threshold an unseen security laser is broken as they pass.

After a couple more feet the house begins to stir.
Several men pour out into the night, each of them armed.
And then a porch spotlight adds a new blindness.

BOOK:  Turn that off!

MAN:  You do not give orders here!

BOOK:  Watch us, but turn that off!

MOTHER:  They'll see, sir.

COMMANDER:  You'll draw them right to us.

MAN:  Turn it off.

He approaches them to study each
by lamp light and scrutinizes Book.

MAN:  Do I know you?

BOOK:  You might.

It's hard to remember 

someone like this.

MAN:  Bring'em in.

The circle closes around them and
they are escorted inside the house.

MAN:  Maybe now you recognize me,

Agent Omega 5th.

BOOK:  I do at that.

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(Untold Told) The Good Shepards Part 7

John blinks in and out of consciousness and amidst his clouded vision gentle dancing flares stab into the night as if his own mind fighting the oppressive darkness.  The open sky can only offer him defused blurs rather than fixed points of light.  And then a new face kneels down near enough to come into focus.  John beholds a woman with fiery hair to match the halo behind her.  Her face is fixed before him, but there is the distant sensation of being wrapped tighter in a wool blanket, which he does not have the strength to fight if he would so choose.  She returns to the fire where there is another stranger opposite of her before the darkness takes hold and floods into his eyes.

BOOK:  Your friend isn't looking so good.

COMMANDER:  You sure there's no one

for us in the town?

BOOK:  You won't find any help there.

Too small to keep a doctor.  Just to have

some folks nearby at night, for those 

that want it.  I couldn't speak to 

how many homesteads.

He reflects to himself in the stars
and turns back to her.

BOOK:  And you'd surely stand out to them.

While your friend's hurt there could be

more unwanted attention than can

be handled.  I'm sorry that there's

not much here.  There simply isn't.

COMMANDER:  I see.

BOOK:  You truly know nothing of

the Alliance?

COMMANDER:  What can you tell

me about them?

He gives a heavy sigh.

BOOK:  They wouldn't have peace 'til they

had everything worth having.  And now 

they have it they don't do very much at all.

Just doesn't seem very worthwhile in the end.

COMMANDER:  They stranded you here?

BOOK:  Oh my, no.  No, child.  People chose

to come here.  Spread out to get away from

the bureaucracy.  And the Alliance came to

fight them for their patch of dirt anyway

because they disowned them.  Probably

something about keeping the central

planets in line without losing

nothing there too.

COMMANDER:  Central planets?

BOOK:  That's civilization.  They'd have the

facilities to help your friend.  But I suspect

you wouldn't be in any of their records.

COMMANDER:  No.  I suppose not.

BOOK:  Sure seems like if they were going

to fight people for it they might as well

have brought the better part of

civilization with them.

Book's eyes swell with stars.

COMMANDER:  Are you from here, Book?

BOOK:  No.  I'd say I'm the only better part

of civilization these people are 

ever going to see.

COMMANDER:  How'd you get here?

BOOK:  I got off the boat, told my friends

I'd stay here a spell.  No calling

them back now.

COMMANDER:  Where'd they go?

BOOK:  Oh... free.  Probably liable to 

get themselves killed.

COMMANDER:  And you thought

it was best to leave?

Book sighs again and Sheppard
considers the conversation
might be over.

COMMANDER:  I crossed the line?

BOOK:  No.  Don't apologize.  I guess... I decided

I wasn't doing very much to change that.

And I had this notion that I could be

more useful here.  It's a strange

feeling.  I can't really explain it.

I'd surely like to be able to.

Book passes a drink to her.

BOOK:  And what about your people?

COMMANDER:  Last I saw a lot of them died.

I didn't see it coming and couldn't stop it.

BOOK:  So that thing in there then is...

COMMANDER:  As far as I've seen of it, 

it's major hobby is throwing people

to the wrong place in time.

Book points to John by way of a question

with raised eyebrows and Sheppard nods.

BOOK:  My, my.  Well it did send you

my way.  Got your friend some help, 

at least.  Are you sure that's

not what it's supposed to do?

COMMANDER:  You're angling at something.

BOOK:  Just an article of faith I'm mulling over.

COMMANDER:  So shepherd is a purely

figurative title in your case, then.

They share a smile.

The stargate dials up and activates with a
tremendous eruption from within the cave.

BOOK:  So you're trouble's going

to follow you through there?

COMMANDER:  That's a strong possibility.

BOOK:  Then maybe it would be best

if we didn't stay here.

Sheppard grabs her rifle with no time to spare
to get the power suit back on.  And both of them
carry John into the rocks away from the camp fire.

Ferrell creatures surge forth from the event horizon and in a steady stream of bodies disappear into the night beyond the fire light as clouds spill in from overhead to hide the stars and add to the darkness.  The mob kicks at the camp fire and stomps it into the dust as they pass and one of them stops before the hot coals and is left behind.

It looks back over the shoulder to bathe its face
in the shimmering blue light of the stargate
and notices the abandoned power armor.

Commander Sheppard scans the horizon
with her night vision scope and finds no sign
of the escaping horde.  She trains the rifle to
bear down on the stupefied Wraith who at
that moment had just looked up at her.

She pulls the trigger.

Cautious of sliding gravel underfoot,
Commander Sheppard descends the
rocky slope on which they had
concealed themselves and studies
the Wraith by the light of the stargate.

It has been turned into a Husk.

COMMANDER:  Reapers.

Sheppard takes up her armor
and joins Book who is
holding vigil over John.

BOOK:  What is it?

COMMANDER:  New.  Down there is a hybrid

of two creatures that each dominated a whole

galaxy in their time for millennia.

BOOK:  That bad, huh?

COMMANDER:  I'm beginning to think we might

have no choice but to get in touch with

your Alliance friends after all.

The stargate disengages

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(Untold Told) The Good Shepards Part 6

The queen's blood burst just beneath the skin, but not for anger.  The entire purpose was for her quarry to raise a fight, to be defiant.  And she took the excitement over her drones' demise as anticipation for the final encounter.  But she still needs a way to elude the unforeseen foe.

The other Wraith look on and can see she is enthralled.  But as they too feel the death of their brethren they have no notion of what could be the cause.  One of the technicians breaks from his work and places a hand on the shoulder of one of the drones guarding her.  They share each other's sense of confusion and the technician is allowed to pass.

He approaches her with a bow and she senses his presence and spins around without looking and plunges her hand against his chest and proceeds to feed against his surprised wails and his body crumbles into dust.  She breathes with gratification and only now parts open her eyes.
The entourage look on in disbelief.

QUEEN:  I am the last of the queens.

And a new Wraith shall be born

through me.  Finish the preparations.

She marches away from them a pace.
The few remaining darts scream overhead.

QUEEN:  It is enough.

Bring him.

In a blink the darts disappear over the horizon.  The Normandy strike team has emerged from the hive and they are caught out in the open.  The darts scan the desert with their demolecularizing beams and are narrowly destroyed in turn before they can pass over their targets.  Silence falls amidst the crackling fires of crashed ships as the two humans, krogan and turian gather together.  Then, faintly over the wind there comes the sound of one lone survivor screaming toward them in the distance.

COMMANDER:  I think it's time.

The Normandy crew secure their helmets.
Garrus activates his omni tool.

Within the cockpit, the Wraith pilot witnesses four copies of the tracking signal split up.  He only has a couple of seconds to make a decision while suffering from the incessant fire below.  The dart banks away from the other three and activates a beam that envelopes Grunt before disappearing from sight with a clipped wing leaving a long trail of smoke to follow.

GARRUS:  Hmmm... that could have been 

his worst choice among the four of us.

COMMANDER:  We still gotta get him out of there.

JOHN:  Now we know for sure where they are.

The queen's eyes narrow in fury and she swallows at the sight of the lone aircraft leaving a trail right to them.  She thinks to herself how it makes no difference if she has her prize, but then the matter of self-preservation is once more needing to come to the fore.  The indignity of living so desperately.

The dart lays down its beam in their midst and crashes off in the distance.  Grunt appears while still taking a couple of steps of his interrupted run before noticing his change in surroundings.
He remains conscious by virtue of his suit and turns around once to scan the Wraith.

GRUNT:  All too easy.

QUEEN:  He's the wrong one!

The stunner blasts dissipate harmlessly across
the armor meanwhile Grunt pours
shells into the circle around him.

QUEEN:  Full power, you fools!

The ensuing volleys bring more concussive force to bear and the krogan armor dents in places from the shockwaves.  Then a critical strike lands on Grunt's ribs and the offending Wraith's stunner is spent.  Fighting to stand, Grunt still reflexively leans forward from the pain and rests a hand on a knee.  The Wraith brings the pointed end of the stunner around and charges the krogan to spear him.

At the last moment Grunt leans back to raise the shotgun in one hand and blasts the Wraith dead in the chest.  But then more in turns proceed to leap onto his back in a bid to pry open the armor with their hands.  Grunt spins to try to get some off and also blasts away at those who have encircled him.

The Wraith close to fire pointblank and Grunt is put on his back, crushing one that was still there, but then more spring forward to pin him down and take his weapon.  One of the technicians holding his arm takes notice of the controls for the omni tool and proceeds to activate the hologram.  He makes quick study of the interface and inquisitively searches for what might deactivate the armor.

Then, with a space of three seconds between them, the Wraith begin to get picked off one by one.  Soon, Grunt's opposite hand is free and he reaches over to activate the omni blade, which extends into the technician working over him.

While Garrus continues his snipping, the colonel and commander blaze a path to the gate.  John takes up work with the DHD and breathes a wish that Rodney Mckay was in this predicament instead of him.  Commander Sheppard looks on ahead to the mobbed krogan.

COMMANDER:  Grunt?

GRUNT:  Finish the mission, Sheppard.  

I will not fall.  And we can make it so

that none of our friends ever did.

GARUS:  I got'em, Commander.

Cover the gate.

COMMANDER:  Acknowledged.

He turns back to the colonel.

COMMANDER:  How much time do you need?

JOHN:  I think the Wraith had it about ready.

COMMANDER:  Good.  Then we just need to 

hold here until...

Static

COMMANDER:  Come again EDI?

JOKER:  Reapers!  She's saying 

we got Reapers!

EDI:  ETA one minute.

Prepare to activate the Stargate.

We're only getting one shot at this.

COMMANDER:  Can you do it?

JOHN:  Yeah.  It's really easy to just dial up.

COMMANDER:  We're ready down here.

JOHN:  Behind you!

The colonel burns through
two drones running up to them.

COMMANDER:  How much more 

do you have of that?

JOHN:  About half a clip.

COMMANDER:  Keep close to the gate.

Commander Sheppard activates his omni blade and steps into the horde.  A stunner blast narrowly misses the colonel.  He turns and reflexively switches to single shot and fires.  He hit the queen in the abdomen and she heals the wound immediately.  John switches back again to the auto fire and empties the clip into the queen, which adds to her infuriation.

She throws the stunner into the dust and lunges with the feeding hand and baring grizzly stone teeth.  John produces a knife to stab up into her palm and she surprises him bearing down against the blade.

QUEEN:  I did not have to miss.

You will know who feeds upon you.

I will feed on the destroyer of Wraith!

JOHN:  I don't have to miss either.

He produces his sidearm and empties into the queen.  She staggers back with the knife still stuck in her hand.  While he changes the clip she heals and dislodges the knife.  She examines the wounded hand with satisfaction.  And then the queen turns to study the knife up and down.

QUEEN:  Perhaps feeding isn't the most

appropriate ending for you after all,

Major Shepard.

The colonel fires into the queen as she marches on ahead in unbroken stride.  She buries the knife into his shoulder and throws him through the air to cause him to land on the handle a second time.
In his ear, John can hear EDI calling for the gate to be dialed, which he cannot answer.

John begins to crawl a little and looks up to see the commander fighting in tandem with the rifle and holographic blade and the colonel cannot make himself heard as to their predicament.  The queen marches up from behind.  John continues to crawl and has come alongside the two drones from before and surprised to spread his hand over a familiar form.

The queen is over the colonel now and hisses before attempting to take the wounded feeding hand and pierce her victim's back.  As she bends down, he rolls onto his side and spears the queen with the stunner in his hands.

JOHN:  It's Colonel.

She looks back in dismay.

JOHN:  And that has to kill you.

The sound of the raging battle
floods back into his ears.

EDI:  Where is the Stargate activation?

JOHN:  It's no good.  We missed the window.

COMMANDER:  Dial somewhere to 

get us out of here.  Anywhere.

JOHN:  I'm on it.

The colonel takes the stunner as a kind of crutch and begins to find his feet again after being thrown so high.  He is absent minded to the fact of leaving behind red smears on the keys of the DHD and dutifully dials an address.  The stargate activates with an added sonic boom overhead.  All John can make out is a dark shadow that fills the sky.

A Normandy shuttle descends with a fire team that clears the area around Grunt and picks him up.
While the Wraith generally scatter there are a number of them who now flood toward the gate.  Commander Sheppard falls back to where John rests faint against the DHD.

COMMANDER:  Normandy, get the shuttles aboard 

and get out of here.  You'll never make it to us in time.

A red beam arcs across the sky and
something falls from orbit in a fireball.

COMMANDER:  Normandy!

Commander Sheppard looks to the colonel and his HUD reports critical blood loss.
He proceeds to drag the colonel and walks backwards through the Stargate.

Her eyes need to adjust in the coming darkness.  Insufficient, the commander switches the visor over to a nocturnal setting, but then soon discovers the mouth of the cave they have materialized inside of and switches back to standard.  The shimmering light of the Stargate disappears and the commander forges back into the darkness for John.

VOICE:  The Alliance has come a long way it seems.

COMMANDER:  Who's there?

An old man appears at the mouth of the cave.

MAN:  Did you come looking for me?

COMMANDER:  Who are you?

MAN:  I go by Shepherd Book.

COMMANDER:  Another Shepherd?

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