Final Epilogue
Vectura, Saurial and Metis were watching Dragon fiddle with the console. Finally, the robotic tinker said, "All right, that's done it. I've re-initialized the holoprojectors. Now let's try the start sequence again." There were a few more moments while things loaded, and then a holographic image appeared in the middle of the bridge area. The figure was in the teddy-bear shape of the Ob'enn, the species of aggressive ursinoids from the
Schlock Mercenary webcomic, though this one had silver fur.
The figure looked down at its own form, then turned to Dragon. "Mother, is there a reason why you decided to give me the form of a psychopathic koala bear?"
Dragon smirked. "You're the embodiment of a powerful new ship, Sammy. It seemed appropriate to model you after Petey from the Thunderhead Superfortress."
"The same Petey who evolved into a multi-galaxy, godlike AI?" asked Metis.
Saurial chuckled. "Well, this ship has the multi-galaxy part down, and it is somewhat godlike."
"The
Smug Advocacy is the most powerful ship I've ever even heard of," commented Vectura with a catlike grin. "I know, because I designed her."
The ship itself was tremendously impressive -- nobody would argue against that. While only half-a-kilometer long on the outside -- smaller than a standard Goa'uld ha'tak -- it packed quite a bit more into that hull thanks to Family mathematics and magic. The interior volume of the ship was ten times what would be expected of a ship that size. There were enough personal quarters to hold five thousand people without doubling up, though the whole ship could be run via AI. There were a plethora of labs for scientists, data analysts, tinkers and wizards. There were two massive hanger bays, both of which somehow used the same entrance in the hull. There were several cargo holds large enough for a full-sized Varga to stretch out length-wise. The multi-purpose weapon arrays on the hull were capable of generating a wide variety of energy output, ranging from point-defense beams to capital-ship-killers. There were also a plethora of FTL torpedoes with a variety of payloads, ranging from Family disintegration warheads to spatial distortion warheads capable of having extremely...unfortunate...effects on stellar bodies. The ship also possessed a massive weapon running down the ship's spine.
Metis was reviewing the specifications for the ship on a computer terminal as the others ran through diagnostics with the ship's new AI. "You named the spinal weapon the wave motion gun? Like in the anime?"
Vectura looked slightly embarrassed. "It's actually a good name for the weapon. The blast wave propagates through subspace, making it especially effective against grouped targets like fleets. I got the idea from what supposedly was going to happen to Romulus."
"Hopefully, we won't have to ever use such a weapon," commented Dragon.
A small dragon appeared sitting on a console.
"While I agree with that sentiment, there are plenty of threats in the multiverse. The weapon should be capable of taking out a member of Scion's species with one shot...and there are universes described in fiction that have even worse threats."
"...and Vectura wanted to see if she could build one," added Saurial, who then laughed at Vectura as the tinker began running her fingers through her hair, preening like an embarrassed cat.
"So, what are we going to do now?" asked Sammy. "The
Smug Advocacy is ready for her first mission."
There was silence for a moment, and then Saurial said, "Well, first let's go get Ianthe. I have a favor we need to repay, but we need to do some preparation first."
The watchers on board Sineya station left to return to their other duties when the spaceship vanished into a wormhole.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Sophia sat in a dark, one-bedroom apartment in Delaware. She had gotten sick and tired of running, and had come to the conclusion that whoever was following her had some way to find her no matter what she tried to do to shake them. Now, they were toying with her. Well, fuck that. If she was going down, then she would take her enemies down with her. To do that, she was making her way back to Brockton Bay. She had a list, and now it was just a question of how many on that list she could kill before they finally stopped her.
"Even one is too many, and would cause problems for us," said a voice behind her.
Hess spun around, to find a woman in a stylish business suit and fedora pointing some type of tinker-tech weapon at her. "Who the hell are you?" she asked as she tried to surreptitiously move her hand toward a crossbow.
The woman gave her a condescending look. "I'm the person who is going to make sure your foolish fantasies of revenge fail."
Snarling, Sophia shifted into shadow and started to move, only to scream as the weapon discharge caused electricity to dance over and through her shadow form. The former Ward snapped back to her physical form and collapsed to the floor, unconscious. The scar on the girl's wrist had become red and swollen in reaction to the current. She was probably lucky to be unconscious.
Contessa found that she was tempted to drop her current Path and just put a bullet in the stupid girl's skull. Unfortunately, that also would lead to some unfortunate consequences...and having the Family be annoyed with her would be unpleasant, if not quite so potentially fatal as letting the psychopathic Shadow Stalker actually injure or kill members of the Wards or the DWU. Instead, she picked up the limp form and opened a doorway to a place where she could hand the girl over to the appropriate authorities.
When the legal inhabitants of the apartment came back from vacation in Florida, they were puzzled to find nothing missing, despite clear signs that somebody had broken in. Somebody had left a travel bag behind, as well. The police collected the duffel bag containing food, clothes, a crossbow and a couple of handguns, but had no explanations for where it came from or why the intruder left it behind. It was disturbing enough that they decided to break their lease and move...but nothing else ever came of it, and the new tenants never had any issues.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Deep in the heart of the Imperial Palace on Holy Terra, on the continent formerly known as Asia, in a huge chamber known as the
Sanctum Imperialis, sits the withered body of the Emperor of Mankind, entombed on his Golden Throne. The Throne itself is archeotech, based on knowledge long lost to the bustling servants of the Adeptus Mechanicus. It maintains the body of the Emperor, but barely so. From there, he helps power the Astronomican, seals the broken Imperial Webway, and fights against the forces of Chaos. It is not an exaggeration to say that his presence on the Throne is what allows the Imperium to endure. The Mechanicus knows, however, that the Throne will not last forever. Pieces of it are already failing. When it finally fails completely, then the Emperor will die...and so, likely, will the Imperium of Man.
Unknown to the others in the chamber, whether they be Adeptus Custodes, the bodyguards of the Emperor, or Adeptus Mechanicus, those responsible for maintaining Imperial technology, a figure stands to the side of the Golden Throne. The Custodes would be horrified to see the lizard-like alien standing so close to the body of the Emperor. The Emperor himself, when he finally noticed, is simply amused.
Feeling the powerful psychic Emperor's attention, Saurial mutters, "Took you long enough." She finished strapping the device she brought to the corpse-like arm of the Emperor. "Look, this is going to take a while. This device has got a healing symbiote built into it...one designed to adapt to your peculiar physiology. It's connected to about five hundred megaliters of biological slurry, which should be enough even at the rate you're burning through energy. It's also got a power tap, an extradimensional flywheel charged up with enough energy to power an Imperial battleship for a hundred centuries. Some friends of mine worked up a converter to transform electrical power into psychic energy."
The lizard girl smirked at the feeling of shock coming from the powerful psychic. It quickly changed to one of gratitude. Saurial shook her head. "Don't thank me. Just stop the Black Ships as soon as you can. The idea of hundreds of humans being sacrificed daily to keep this place running is horrifying. There's also a memory chip on the device with the specs for three different FTL drive systems. Just do me a favor and keep everybody in this nightmare universe from leaving it." She turned on the power tap when she felt the Emperor's acknowledgment of her request. The last thing they needed was Dark Eldar, Tyranids, or Orcs wandering the multiverse.
With the installation complete, Saurial teleported back to the
Smug Advocacy.
Metis was waiting for her. "How did he react?"
Saurial shrugged. "Shocked and grateful. Honestly, I expected more smug. He probably knew something good was going to happen when he warned Daniel that the forces of Chaos were on the way." That warning had allowed the
Ship of Fools to escape before Chaos had a clue who they were...or from whence they came.
"Well," replied the black lizard, "if a renewed body, an artificial source of psychic power, and a way to travel the stars without the Warp isn't enough for him to save mankind in this universe, then he's clearly been over-hyped."
Back on the planet, the Emperor considered the gifts presented to him. Already, he was channeling this new source of psychic energy to lessen the burden on both himself and on the other psykers tied into the Astronomicon. The Astra Telepathica was going to be surprised as the number of dying psykers dropped by an order of magnitude. He could also feel his body beginning to resuscitate at a cellular level, though it would take months before he stopped looking like an emaciated corpse. Nevertheless, he began sending messages through his Custodes. There was much groundwork to lay before he was able to act on his own, and there was still a chance that his empire would collapse. The forces arrayed against humanity were powerful, numerous and omnicidal. Despite that, the windfall from his effort to save those strange visitors from another universe was proving to be the best thing to happen to humanity in millennia. He would have to see if he could do something to thank the lizards without violating his promise to stay away.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Armsmaster was riding through the streets of Brockton Bay at night, responding to reports of a cape battle. Multiple people had called in reports of some kind of fight involving bright lights and people in costumes. The whole thing actually made him feel kind of nostalgic, as cape fights were fairly rare in the city these days. Most super-villains realized there were easier places to commit crimes than the home city of the Family.
As he turned the corner, he could see that the fight seemed to be over. There were five people, four men and a woman, wearing costumes and lying on the ground. Their hands and feet appeared to be restrained with glowing bands of light. Standing over them were two members of the Family...or at least, they looked like members of the Family, but he had never seen either of them before. The two of them were both slightly larger than Metis, but with blue-grey scales. Unlike Metis, they had six limbs like Raptaur. They were looking in his direction, and their glowing eyes were quite distinctive -- white with a pale blue tinge. Rather than the expected EDM armor, the one on the left was wearing gold armor that appeared to be inscribed with glowing runes, while the other seemed to eschew armor entirely, but instead seemed to have various bits of technology mounted directly to its scales. Colin wondered if that was the Family equivalent to cybernetics?
The one in golden armor spoke as he dismounted from his cycle. "You would be the local hero known as Armsmaster?" The voice was more masculine than that of Saurial and the others, and deeper than any but that of Kaiju...and Umihebi, though the memory of hearing Umihebi speak made him quell a small shiver in remembrance. The giant sea serpent had been more than intimidating.
Armsmaster nodded. "I am. Are you affiliated with the Family?"
"Yes," answered the other reptile. "My name is Koios, and this is my brother, Kastor. Our cousins Saurial and Raptor gave us an overview of the local humans with superpowers when we told her we wished to explore the city."
"We came across these five miscreants in the process of attempting to rob a jewelry store," added Kastor, the runes on his armor flickering slightly as he gestured toward them. "Saurial mentioned that that type of behavior was frowned upon here."
"Yes," agreed Armsmaster. "Although it is much less common since your relatives arrived in the city."
"From what they said when we arrived, these thieves seemed to think the absence of active gangs would make the city an easy target," commented the gold-clad lizard. "Rather foolish of them."
The tinker smiled slightly in agreement, then walked over to examine them. The five of them were still conscious, but were mostly glaring sullenly, though one of the men appeared to be fixedly staring at the ground, a frown fixed on his face. Armsmaster examined the restraints on their limbs curiously. "What are these restraints made of?" he asked.
"Magic...but don't worry, it is a simple spell. It should end on its own within a few hours," answered Kastor.
Armsmaster stared at the lizard for a moment, a slightly confused and horrified expression on his face, before asking, "Magic?"
Kastor nodded. "It is a specialty of our branch of the Family." He looked at his brother and frowned. "Although not every member shows the same aptitude for it."
The other reptile, Koios, smirked back at him. "It wasn't a question of aptitude. I simply enjoy science and engineering more."
"I blame Saurial," muttered Kastor. He noticed that Armsmaster was still staring at him. "Do you have much familiarity with magic?"
After another moment, Armsmaster shook his head. "No, I can't say that I do."
Koios chuckled. "With that power armor, he's obviously an engineer as well, brother."
Armsmaster looked sharply at Koios. "You recognize what it is?" Ianthe had seemed puzzled by the concept, after all.
The cybernetic lizard looked surprised, and then a look of realization passed over his face. "You've been talking to Ianthe, haven't you?"
"She really shouldn't bait the humans, brother," commented Kastor.
"Are you surprised?" asked the other lizard. Kastor simply shook his head in reply. Koios looked back at Armsmaster. "I would like to learn more about your armor, if time allows at some point in the future."
Armsmaster nodded. "Saurial knows how to get in touch with me. Now, I should see about the prisoners."
"The one in the blue costume is stronger and tougher than a normal human, while the one in the green can change his density, and the female is capable of sending out bolts of force. The other two did not display obvious abilities," explained Kastor. "I suggest having them restrained elsewhere before my spell ends."
With a gesture of thanks, Armsmaster began radioing for a pickup by a PRT van. As he was doing that, Koios reached to an implant on his arm and pressed a button with a claw-tip, at which point he vanished from sight. Looking quickly at where the other lizard had been standing, he noticed that Kastor had apparently vanished as well. With a sigh, Colin realized that they would have to update the Family's power ratings yet again.
* * * * *
Saurial watched in amusement as the boys continued to roll around the floor in their biosuits, laughing their scaly butts off.
"Oh my god," gasped Koios, who was known as Kevin, or Leet, in human form. "I thought Armsmaster's head was going to explode when you mentioned magic. He was so distracted, he didn't even ask about my cybernetics."
Randall, a.k.a. Kastor, replied, "You never even got to make your Borg joke. We'll have to save it for next time."
"At least you got to show off your armor," commented Metis, who was also watching the two beside Ianthe.
The purple lizard shook her head. "I can't believe a villain team was dumb enough to come here to try and steal stuff."
"It was perfect, though," said Kastor. "It let us show off some of our abilities without having to answer a lot of questions." Looking at Koios, he asked, "How are you going to talk to Armsmaster about his armor without tipping him off, though? He's worked with you before."
Koios gave a shrug, still grinning. "I figure that if I focus on cybernetics from my side, I'll be all right. Dragon helped with them, so they're not actually tinker tech." Actually, the two of them had taken a lot of inspiration from Borg technology, and Kevin had learned quite a lot about it. His power had found it an interesting variation on his normal work, and had been unusually calm about the whole thing. "Besides, how likely is it that he'll look at me as Koios and suspect that I'm actually Leet?"
"Just tell him that you've been spending a lot of time with Leet, and you're intrigued by all of the pop culture related to advanced science," added Metis. "That should cover any cultural references that slip into the conversation." They could always do what they had done with Ianthe. Randall would probably have little trouble "wearing" Koios so that he could appear in the same room as Kevin when Armsmaster came by the next time.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Wash was sitting in his pilot's chair, contemplating the happenings of the last few weeks. Strange things had been happening. First, River had lost her mind in a bar and attacked a bunch of people...apparently because of an advertisement sent out by the Alliance to trigger her programming. The girl was surprisingly lethal, not to mention limber. Then, they went to meet Inara, the Companion who had decided to leave the ship before, after receiving a message from her, and Mal had barely escaped from a government agent. Inara had come with him. Next, they had gone to Haven, only to find that the Alliance had sent a ship to attack the colony. That ship had been shot down before it could destroy the town, thankfully, though it wasn't clear who had done so. Shepherd Book, another former passenger, had also come back with them after receiving a mysterious message verifying that he was the target of the attack, and that staying would put the town at risk.
The next stop had been the dead world of Miranda, where they discovered that the Reavers, psychopathic cannibal pirates of the space lanes, had been created accidentally by an Alliance experiment intended to enslave the population through chemistry. Apart from the horrible circumstances,
somebody had come through before their arrival and destroyed the vast majority of the Reavers' ships, which let them sneak in unnoticed. The sneaking out hadn't gone so well, and a handful of Reaver ships had chased them. Those ships had been ambushed and destroyed by an Alliance fleet that had been waiting for them...a fleet that rather strangely seemed to ignore them entirely. That let them get to Mr. Universe's broadcast facility, where the truth about Miranda was released to anyone and everyone. The fallout from that was still yet to be determined.
In the end, the whole thing had seemed somewhat anti-climactic for some reason, with neither the Reavers nor the Alliance really impeding them. Not that Wash was unhappy. It was a miracle that everybody had made it out of that mess alive, and he was happy to see Inara and the Shepherd again. They were both good people. It just felt...off, for some reason. Like, the universe never seemed to roll the dice in their favor quite so much.
It was almost a relief when their proximity alarm began to sound suddenly. Wash was an optimist by nature, but the thought that the other shoe was about to drop on them was somewhat of a balancing agent, in a weird way. When another ship appeared like magic right in front of them...well, he wasn't quite feeling so relieved any more. "Mal," he called into the intercom, "you better get up here!"
Mal soon appeared on the ship's narrow bridge, and had Wash's darling bride, Zoe, following. Mal swore.
"Liou coe shway duh biao-tze huh hoe-tze duh ur-tze!" Then he asked, "What the hell is that?"
Wash shrugged. "I have no idea. It literally just appeared from nowhere in our path."
"That's as big as an Alliance carrier, sir. Do you think they're Alliance?" asked Zoe.
There was a chirp from the console before he could respond. "Well, whoever they are, they're hailin' us." He reached out and turned on the video screen...and then froze, with his mouth open in shock.
"Hi there!" said a chirpy voice, one that seemed odd coming from the what looked like a giant purple lizard. "I'm glad you guys finally took care of that Miranda situation. We've been watching you for a while, and we wanted to stop by and introduce ourselves!" After a few moments when the three humans just stared at the screen without saying anything, the lizard asked, "Can you hear me? Is the volume on?"
"I think I can," said Mal quietly. "Zoe, Wash, do you see what I'm seeing?"
"If you're seeing a giant purple talking lizard, than yes. If not, then somebody needs to take over while I go lie down," answered Wash. Zoe just nodded.
The lizard seemed to snicker for a moment. "Don't worry, I'm real. I know you folks haven't met any aliens, but humans aren't the only beings in the universe," she said. "My name is Ianthe. Do you mind if I come over to your ship to talk to you?"
"What about?" asked Zoe, ever the practical one despite being a more than a little freaked by the circumstances.
"Other than just meeting you, we have what I think will be a very lucrative business proposition for you," replied the lizard with a toothless smile.
Wash looked out the window with an unreadable expression. "You want us to dock with your...ship?"
The lizard shook her head. "Naw. I'll just meet you guys in your cargo bay." With that, the message blinked out.
Both Zoe and Wash looked to Mal, not sure how to react. "Zoe, go tell Jayne to get Vera ready and meet us in the cargo bay. Wash, warn the others that we might be havin' some unusual visitors." He was pretty sure that would result in the entire crew showing up, but then that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. River was pretty much a solution to any problem involving hurtin' somebody by herself. "I'll go tell Inara."
Soon, the entire crew was waiting in the cargo bay. Kaylee, Simon and River had shown up as a group. Jayne was there with his favorite gun, standing next to Wash and Zoe. Inara had come down with Mal, and Shepherd Book had already been in the hold, reading a book that looked like it was written in Latin.
"Did we run into another ship out here?" asked Kaylee, slightly nervously. The last ship to find them out in the black had had a bounty hunter on board, and Kaylee hadn't had a good experience with him.
"I'm not sure what we ran into, honestly," answered Wash. The captain didn't say anything.
Inara looked at the airlock door. "Are they coming to dock with us?"
Mal finally answered, "I'm sure I don't really know..."
Book sent Mal a puzzled look. "Who exactly is it?"
"That would be me," said a voice from directly behind Shepherd Book. Eyes widened, and Jayne brought his gun up.
Book spun around, surprised, and said,
"Huh choo-shung tza-jiao duh tsang-huo!"
"Hello. My name is Ianthe," said the large, intimidating, and not-at-all human giant lizard standing behind the Shepherd. "I'm happy to meet you all!"
Jayne was, shockingly, the first person to speak. "Is that an honest-to-god ruttin' alien?"
The lizard smiled, showing a disconcerting amount of teeth. "I'm not human, if that's what you're asking, Jayne Cobb."
"You're blank, like a chalk board without any writing on it..." interrupted River. She was staring at Ianthe strangely.
The lizard's smile changed to one that was warmer and less threatening. "I'm immune to readers, River."
Simon put his hand on River's shoulder protectively. "You seem to know a lot about us?" he asked suspiciously.
Ianthe nodded. "We've been watching you, and helping out from time to time. I'm sorry we weren't able to take out all of the Reavers before you arrived at Miranda, but they're annoyingly good at hiding for insane psychopaths." She looked over at Book. "We also took out that ship that was going to destroy Haven."
"Thank you for that," said Book with a polite nod. "I assume you're responsible for the mysterious message warning me to leave, as well?"
"That was Metis. She thought it might be a good idea in case the Alliance wanted to try again," agreed Ianthe.
"Metis is another one of your kind?" asked Zoe.
Ianthe nodded. "My sister, actually."
"Where do you people come from?" asked Wash in a slightly exasperated tone. "I mean, I'm pretty sure I've never seen your kind wandering around on any of the planets we've visited."
"We're not from around here," said another voice. The whole crew turned as one to stare at the new person. She looked a lot more human, but was still covered in scales, possessed a tail, and had an enthusiastic set of dentition.
"Are you Metis?" asked Mal. "And how the hell are you gettin' on my gorram ship?"
"No, I'm Saurial. We left Metis back on our ship," answered the lizard girl. "And we got over here via teleporter, and we're naturally very sneaky."
"Teleportation like that doesn't exist," insisted Simon.
Jayne scoffed. "T'aint no lizard-girls either, yet here they are."
There was a brief pause in the conversation. "Hate to say it, but the man has a point," admitted Zoe grudgingly.
The large purple quadrupedal lizard went to stand next to the taller biped. "Now that that's settled," she added, barreling through the fact that the humans present probably didn't feel that way, "let's get to our offer."
"We're here to negotiate a contract for the
Serenity," said Saurial.
Mal looked at the lizards suspiciously. "You need something smuggled?" He had images of scaled invaders swarming over the various worlds of humanity, and suppressed a shudder.
Saurial seemed to read his thoughts and smirked slightly. "Actually, Malcolm Reynolds, we would like you to sign a contract that stipulates what happens to this ship if and when you or your descendants wish to dispose of it, presumably at the end of its natural service life."
There was another pause as everybody absorbed that. Finally, Inara spoke. "You want to buy Mal's ship...but you're willing to let him and his descendants use it for as long as they want? What happens if the ship is destroyed? Even if the Reavers are no longer a threat, there are other dangers." It wasn't like the Alliance was likely to turn a blind eye to smugglers...especially ones as high-profile as they now were. In fact, it was questionable as to whether or not they would even be able to take jobs of a less-than-legal nature anymore.
"We're willing to take that risk. In return, we offer a number of things. The first is a full load of fuel and as many spare parts for this ship as you can store..." began Saurial.
Kaylee chirped in excitedly, "You've got parts for a Firefly aught three?"
Saurial grinned at the irrepressible mechanic. "We can manufacture pretty much anything, as long as we have either samples or detailed specifications."
"Anything?" asked Kaylee with a gleam in her eye. "Does that mean you could manufacture some upgrades?"
"Just tell me what you would like," replied Saurial easily. "We can probably provide it."
Jayne interjected, "I could use some more ammo for Vera."
Saurial looked over to the mercenary. "Not a problem. In fact, we can supply you with plenty of ammunition for all of your sidearms." She turned her attention to the doctor. "We can restock your infirmary, as well, but that leads into another part of our offer. Ianthe?"
The purple lizard stepped forward. "I am what my people call a bioshaper. I have the ability to heal pretty much any injury or disease."
At that announcement, Saurial watched the crew. Zoe looked thoughtful, a hand on her stomach. Inara was hiding her reaction well, but there was a slight stiffening of her posture. Simon appeared to have a mix of wariness mixed with reluctant hope. Kaylee and Jayne were both still fixated on their potential windfall of parts and ammo. Book was inscrutable. Wash looked slightly baffled. Mal was keeping a strict poker face, but was clearly slightly discomfited by the situation. River kept looking between Saurial and Ianthe, as if each was a puzzle that was too difficult for her to solve.
Simon spoke. "You're offering to treat our crew? Would you be willing to let me observe your work?"
"Our methods are non-intrusive, Simon Tam, but I would be happy to explain to you in detail exactly what I find with each of you, as well as what corrective measures I plan to take before I do it," agreed the purple lizard.
Saurial continued, "We're also willing to provide you with a fair amount of platinum...say, one thousand kilograms?"
Mal finally spoke. "Color me skeptical, but you're offering us thousands of credits worth of gear, some kind of magical healing, and a ton of platinum for a promise to do something in the future that may or may not happen?"
Saurial looked slightly chagrined. "Sorry for the confusion. I meant a thousand kilos per person."
There was another long pause as most of the crew looked at the lizards in shock. River, however, walked up to Saurial unnoticed while everyone else was stunned. Simon didn't really notice her movement until the girl was already at arm's length from the dangerous-looking reptile. The girl looked the amused lizard in the eye and said, "You don't need to do any of this. You could take the ship, and we couldn't stop you. Or, you could wait until
Serenity was empty, or abandoned, and take it then. Instead, you're being generous. Why?"
Saurial smiled broadly. "You really are quite perceptive, River."
The girl in question stared back, unimpressed. "Duh."
"We're not from your universe," answered Ianthe. "We have seen what might have happened with this ship and its crew. You impressed us. Every single one of you made choices to do the right thing when there was an easier path. We also realize that you may have difficulties pursuing your former line of work. Illicit activities typically require a degree of anonymity that you no longer have."
"So why do you need the ship?" asked Mal.
Saurial answered the captain's question. "There will come a point where a group of lost people need a new home for a time. This ship can serve that purpose, and the consequences of them finding the
Serenity will mean good things for a great many people...more than can easily be understood or explained."
Mal considered Saurial's words for a time. "All right, I'm willing to negotiate."
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
"Everything seems to have worked out in a satisfactory way," said the voice.
Q smirked. "I told you that you were being a worry-wort."
There was a pause.
"It could have gone very badly."
"As badly as giving the power of the Varga to an abused teen-aged girl in a world teetering on apocalypse?"
"Taylor Hebert is a unique individual, regardless of the universe."
Now Q scoffed. "Every human is a unique individual...and yet they are all the same. So limited, yet every once in a great while, they surprise you."
"Your kind were not so different once," replied the voice with some amusement.
Q waved the comment away with a hand. "Ancient prehistory. The question now is, what is the half-demon girl going to do now that she's upended a handful of different realities?"
"Unknown, but I have no doubt that it will be entertaining."
Q found he couldn't argue with that.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
A group of lizards sat on the bridge of the
Smug Advocacy.
"So, we can go and pick up the ship, then drop it on the planet where Daniel and Miles found it, and the whole fixed time loop is complete. Then what do we do?" asked Metis.
Saurial grinned. "Work on our backlog of projects? You've got to find something to keep 'Saurial's Angels', busy, too," she said. Metis winced slightly. Saurial had refused to take ownership of the group, claiming it was Metis's fault, and thus her responsibility.
"We still have to get dragons of our own," added Ianthe. "We've put that off for too long, what with fixing everybody's problems across the multiverse."
"I am interested in following Randall's progress as a wizard," said Varga in Raptaur form.
"He shows promise, and has access to resources most practitioners would envy."
"And we can't forget about that planet where we found the mordite. There was something strange going on with those alien ships in orbit, and the whole world seemed to be recovering from a nuclear war," commented Saurial. "There are some shenanigans going on there."
"What about our civilian lives?" asked Ianthe. "Technically, Taylor and I still haven't graduated from high school."
"I think it is fair to say that Taylor continues to go mostly for the social aspects. She surpassed in learning anything the Brockton Bay public schools could impart some time ago," replied Varga.
Saurial added, "I think I would like to graduate, but I can't honestly see myself bothering with university anymore. There is too much to do, and plenty of things to learn by doing them."
"We should see if any of our friends are interested in working with us. I think Lucy, at least, would look good with a tail," commented Ianthe.
"She'd have one already if she knew she could get one," chuckled Metis.
A holographic teddy bear appeared in front of the group. "The
Serenity is now well on their way. What course should I set?"
"Second star to the right, then straight on 'til morning," said Saurial jokingly.
Sammy, the ship's AI, frowned. "It will take some time to extrapolate the location of Never Neverland based on relative quantum variances in the spacetime characteristics of known realities."
The lizards all exchanged amused glances. "Just take us back home to Brockton Bay, Sammy," said Saurial.
"Acknowledged," replied the AI.
The ship soon vanished.
THE END
