FIC: The End - The Beginning

[MythingLink]

This was just a little something to get me started in writing fan fiction for Andromeda. It contains dialogue from Under the Night and An Affirming Flame, but all the rest is mine.

This, as well as some other short pieces by others can be seen at http://www.woolfden.net/scarecrowsdream

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Title: The End - The Beginning
Author: MythingLink
Comments to: mythinglink@mindspring.com All comments/critiques are
welcome.
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Under the Night and An Affirming Flame
Archive: Please ask first.
Disclaimers: The characters and premise belong to all the guys that
show up on the end credits. I am just borrowing them for the sake of
a little mindless entertainment. No profit is made nor expected.

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The End

"That little blond guy said 'You guys lost. The Commonwealth has been
gone for over three hundred years.'" said Captain Dylan Hunt while he
paced around the railing avoiding looking directly at the image of
Andromeda, the ship's AI unit.

"It's my fault. If I'd made it to slip stream ... got a warning to
the High Guard .."

"It still might not have made a difference," interrupted Andromeda.
"The Neitzscheans had a vast fleet. They've been preparing for years
and they had time on their side. By the time word had spread it may
have already been too late."

"How could the High Guard have let this happen?" asked Hunt. "We
had ten times as many ships, a hundred times as many men," he argued.

"And we haven't fought a war, a real war in over a 1000 years,"
Andromeda argued back. "whereas for the Neitzsheans every day is a
battle."

"It can't be all gone. The Commonwealth spanned three galaxies, we
had over a million member worlds, orbital habitats, asteroid colonies.
Part of it must still exist somewhere."

"Then we have to find it.

"We will, but first things first."

"This is Captain Dylan Hunt. Commander of the System's Commonwealth
Starship Andromeda Ascendant. I've been told the Commonwealth has
fallen. Maybe that's true, but there's still on place where the
Commonwealth endures and that's on this ship ... my ship. I
understand you plan to loot the Andromeda and sell what's left over.
I promise you that's not going to happen. You have 15 minutes to
restore the Andromeda's control capabilities and withdraw to your own
vessel or I will retake my ship by force."

"Bold words, Dylan," noted Andromeda when Hunt was finished with his
speech.

"Yeah, but now I have to make them bold actions," responded Hunt.

"In our three years together we've been through some difficult
missions, Dylan," stated Andromeda. "But nothing compared to this."

"Andromeda?"

"Yes, Dylan."

"Did you believe him?"

"Commander Rhade?"

With haunted eyes Hunt looked up into the visage of Andromeda. "Yes.
Was it so bad making peace with the Magog? Was it worth this?"

"I don't know Dylan. Making peace with one's enemies is never a bad
thing."

"Are you sure? Look what happened because of it. The Neitzscheans
looked at it as a sign of weakness. They felt betrayed and for that,
they destroyed us ... destroyed everything that we'd built. They
killed ..."

"Sarah?"

"Yes. Dammit." cried Hunt. "They killed Sarah," he added his voice
dropping to a whisper and his eyes dropping to the deck.

"And you'll never be able to forgive them for that?"

"No," he answered, looking up again into Andromeda's face, "How could
I?"

"What? No answer?" he asked when Andromeda hadn't responded.

"Dylan, this is something you have to work out on your own. It's
something your own conscience will answer for you in time."

"Time," he mumbled. "TIME! We're 300 years away from everything and
everyone we knew. We're an anachronism now."

"Then you must make this our time, Dylan."

Hunt looked up from the floor straight into the eyes of Andromeda,
"With your help?"

The image of the ship's AI unit smiled, "Of course with my help ... my
help and theirs." She put up the images of the people who had boarded
the ship.

"Theirs? Andromeda they are trying to take this ship away from us,"
he objected.

"Away from you ... if they succeed in taking the ship, they'll be
taking me as well," she corrected.

"So I have to stop them and then what? Please join me in trying to
rebuild the Commonwealth?" he asked.

"Why not? You can't run this ship with just the bots and me to help.
You need people, Dylan."

"I need people I can trust. How can I trust them?" he asked pointing
to the images of Bekka and her crew.

"You won't know until you try, and you can't try until you gain
control of the ship, and you can't do that standing her arguing with
me," she answered. "Dylan you are the last who remembers what the
Commonwealth was, what it stood for, what it could become. You have
to remind them. You have the heart to change their views and the
words to do it."

"It's not going to be easy," he said.

"Nothing worth doing is easy."

***

"What d'ya say?" asked Dylan as he stood in front of Bekka, Harper,
Trance, Rev Bem, and Tyr. "If worse comes to worst you can always
leave."

"You know, a lot of people will not be enchanted by this plan of
yours," said Bekka.

Dylan remembered Andromeda's words as he listened to Bekka's
objection. Well, what was good enough for him ...

"Nothing worth doing is easy."

Bekka looked at each of her crew before responding. They were all
smiling at her and the looks on their faces convinced her.

"What the hell, it beats doing salvage runs. Looks like you got
yourself a crew."

***

"Did you have doubts?" asked Andromeda later when Dylan was alone in
his cabin.

"I did. I still do," he answered. "But, it's a start. One foot in
front of the other Andromeda. One foot in front of the other. Here's
hoping the next step we take goes as smoothly."

The Beginning.

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Cheers,

[Maria8475]

that's really good! I loved the first ep, and you've just managed to make it that much more special. Thanks!

[Lonewolf89]

Good job!

[stripe]

Not bad at all {{{{ML}}}}}

I dont normally read Andromeda FF being a Hercules girl lol!! dont ask ...

But I liked it.