Andromeda (2000–2005): Season 1, Episode 1 - Under the Night - full transcript

Battle stations.
Battle stations.

All crew,
man your battle stations.

Three minutes five!
Three minutes six!
Three minutes seven!

Move it, Thompson!

I wish
you wouldn't do that.

What if your anti-grav harness
failed and I couldn't catch you
in time.

Oh, Andromeda,
you wouldn't let that happen,

because then you'd have
to break in a new Captain.

Starboard Point
Defense Station Five,
manned and ready.

Point Defense Station Six,
manned and ready.

Defense Station Seven,
manned and ready.



Defense Station Eight,
manned and ready.

Report.

Captain, all stations manned
and ready.

Elapsed time,
three minutes
twenty-seven seconds.

Too slow!

Too loud.

Thompson, you forgot to activate
the secondary battery.

Andromeda had
to do it for you.

Yes, sir.

I'm sorry, sir.
It won't happen again.

Yeah, it better not.

All hands, stand down!

All crew,
stand down from stations.

Ship-wide, Rommie.



- All crew, stand down.
- End of drill.

This is the captain.
Not bad, people, but I'm
not doing any cartwheels.

Team-leaders,
coordinate additional sessions.

You know what to do.
Let's get it
under three minutes.

Dismissed.

We suck.

Thompson, not arming
that battery

compromised the
entire sector.

He's a bright kid.
He'll learn.

If he lives
long enough.

Ever the cynic.

You know, I can't wait
to hear your toast
at my wedding.

"To Dylan and Sarah.
I'm sure you'll have a long
and happy life together.

Unless you die."

Nietzscheans don't believe
in optimism.

It inhibits survival.

So does pessimism.

I'm glad
you're getting married.

You may not
be properly engineered,
but your genes are sound.

You should reproduce.

Thanks, I hope Sarah
agrees with you.

I'm sure she does.
As the great philosopher
wrote...

"Man is for woman a means.

The end is always a child."

I take it back.
You're not a cynic,
you're a romantic.

Captain Hunt,
we're receiving a hail
from a Systems Courier ship.

It's indicating
a stellar level emergency.

On our way.

Captain on deck.

As you were.

The courier
just transmitted
Status.

to normal space.
We're moving to intercept.

Are we close enough
for real time?

Range is one light second.

Establish communications.

This is the Systems
Courier ship Alacrative
Missive. Do you copy?

Go ahead, Missive.

It's a rogue black hole!
Hephaestus system.

They're trying to evacuate,
but there aren't enough ships.

Hephaestus has
a population of nearly
half a billion sentients.

You're the first ship
I've contacted.

Plot a course to Hephaestus.
Plotting course.

Keep moving,
notify everyone you can.

Dispatch our own couriers.
Tell them to spread the word.

Ship-wide.
This is the Captain.

All hands, prepare
to receive refugees.

Rig the ship
for maximum capacity.

Ejecting cargo
from bays one through five.

Approaching transit point.

Brace for slipstream.

Dawn, transit
to slipstream
on my mark.

Three, two, one, mark

Transiting back
to normal space in three,
two, and...

We're receiving over
a thousand distress signals.

I'm reading
a powerful singularity
in the outer solar system.

Mass, three times ten
to the thirty-first kilos.

Range, one-point-two
light minutes.

Hephaestus's population
is over 70% Nietzscheans.

If my people are running,
the situation must be desperate.

We'll take on
as many people as we can.

Deploy out-runners.

If there are
any orbital habitats
near the singularity,

we've got
to evacuate them immediately.

A contingent
of ships is closing
on us, aft and port.

Tell them we'll get
to them as soon as we--

They're firing on us!

It's a trap.

Battle stations!

The long night
has come.

The Systems Commonwealth,
the greatest civilization
in history has fallen.

But now, one ship,
one crew have vowed
to drive back the night,

and rekindle the light
of civilization.

On the starship, Andromeda,
hope lives again.

Battle stations.
Battle stations.

All crew,
man your battle stations.

Tell me
this is another drill.

It is no drill.

I was afraid of that.

All battle stations manned
and ready.

Two minutes,
forty-one seconds.

Deploy combat drones.

How many ships
are we up against?

I'm detecting over
ten thousand enemy vessels.

What?

Five hundred
are already within
combat radius.

All of them appear
to be of Nietzschean design.

Ten thousand ships?
It must have taken years
to gather a force this big.

Sir, I recommend
we deploy Nova bombs.

This system is inhabited!

I will not use
strategic weapons, no matter
how many ships we're up against.

As you wish.

More ships are closing.

We have to warn
the rest of the High Guard.

You think this is some kind
of Nietzschean conspiracy
against the Commonwealth?

They're Nietzscheans.
They're shooting at us.

Given the circumstances,
I should be confined
to the brig,

along with
the other Nietzscheans
in the crew.

Are you telling me
I can't trust you?

I'm saying
you can't afford
to take any chances.

Sergeant,

take Commander Rhade
to the brig.

See to it that the other
Nietzschean crew-members
are relieved of duty.

Aye, Captain.

We can't maneuver.

There are too many of them.

We've lost
over 70% of our drones.

Can we transit
to slipstream?

Not here.

The gravitational pull
of the black hole is too strong.

We're trapped.

Thompson!

Thompson!

Hull breach
on level 8, section 3.
Evacuate immediately.

Thompson.

I've lost connections
with the lower decks.

We've had
multiple hull breaches.

Life support is failing.

How long to transit?

We need ten
more minutes to get past
the gravitational distortions.

We're not gonna make it.

How many of your androids
are still functional?

Twenty-nine. Fifteen others
are still on-line,
but I can't--

It'll have to do.
Man the critical systems.

Give me ship-wide.

Ship-wide.

This is the captain.

All hands abandon ship.

Repeat. All hands abandon ship.

Use every available
escape pod and drone.

Get away from
the Andromeda

as fast as possible,
then scatter.

Make your way
to a Commonwealth Starport

and warn the High Guard
what's happened here.

What about you?

I have an idea.

You always do.

You're gonna need
a good pilot.

I ordered you
to abandon ship.

Let the record show that
First Lieutenant Refractions

of Dawn respectfully
refuses to comply.

If we live through this,
you can court martial me.

You are
one stubborn bug.

What's the human expression?

"Guilty as charged."

Abandon ship.

All crew, abandon ship.
Proceed to escape pods.

Shuttles available
on Hangar Deck Three.

Abandon ship.

Abandon ship.

Abandon ship.

This way, sir.

Keep training better.

Seal off command and control.

Vent the rest
of the atmosphere.

We need to make the ship
as light as possible.

The rest of the ship's
been depressurized.

Set a course.

Heading zero-nine-zero
by negative fifteen.

But sir,
that takes us straight--

I know where it takes us.

Straight into the black hole.

Dylan,
are you sure about this?

My connections to the rest
of the ship are shot.

We're leaking anti-protons
from the port reserve tanks.

I can't guarantee
I'll have
enough power left

to pull us away
from the singularity.

We're not strong enough
to fight our way free.

We've gotta use
the black hole's gravity
to slingshot us away

from the Nietzscheans.
It's our only chance.

Course laid in.

All forward, lieutenant.

All forward. Aye.

I... didn't catch
that last part.

My life. My soul.

For the hive. For the hive.

Or as you apes
would put it, Banzai!

Gravity fields are holding.

We're heading
straight at it.

When should I
vector away?

Not just yet.
Let's build up
some speed first.

We're at 25 PSL.

Twenty-six.

Twenty-eight.

Thirty!

The main energy grid...
I'm losing power.

We've lost
all power.

Going to reserves.

Andromeda! Ship!

Are you there?

The AI network's
been disrupted.

How could
that happen?

Stay focused, lieutenant.

Aye-Aye.
We can still make it.

One thing's for sure.

There's no turning back now.

Rhade?

Ten light seconds away.

Divert all power
to starboard engines.

Plot a hyperbolic fly-by.

But keep us at least
a half light-second away
from the event horizon.

Got it.

Dylan!

Sabotage!

Sabotage.

Captain!

The starboard engines
are off-plane.

Rotate ship to compens--

Commander?

Rhade!

I tried to warn you.

What are you doing?

Ensuring the survival
of my people.

The Commonwealth is weak.

It bargains
with its enemies,
it compromises.

My people
are engineered
to be perfect!

And the Commonwealth
is no place for the strong.

So the Nietzscheans decided
to destroy it.

We spent years preparing,
waiting, arguing.

For a long time,
I opposed the destruction
of the Systems Commonwealth.

So did many others.

The Treaty of Antares
changed all that.

The Magog.

Yes! The Magog.

Savages. Predators.

They eat sentient beings.

They reproduce by rape.

They killed
over a billion people
on Brandenburg Tor.

They destroyed
the Nietzschean colony
on Hawking.

And what did
the Commonwealth do?

We made peace with them!

You compromised
with monsters!

The blood of over
a billion people
cried out for vengeance,

and you made peace.

You have sown the wind.
You shall reap the whirlwind.

You know what
your problem is, Rhade?

You talk too much.

What was that?
A temporal distortion.

Our artificial gravity must be
amplifying the time dilation
effects of the black hole.

Give up. You can't win.

I told you before.

Time dilation is increasing.

Pessimism
is not a survival trait.

Gaheris, what have you done?

I'm proud of you.

You should be.

Anything yet?

Or are you people
still poking around
like blind men?

You'll be the first
to know.

This is growing
so tedious,
Captain Valentine.

I paid you for results.

And you'll get them.

But in case you haven't noticed,
there's about ten trillion
cubic meters of vortex

out there, and only
twenty million cm of ship.

Which just goes
to prove how amazing I am.

You found it?

For my next trick,
a needle in a haystack.

Patch the sensor scan
through to the main viewer.

Let's get
some magnification.

There.

Finally.

After all these years.

The Andromeda Ascendant.

Pride of
the Systems Commonwealth.

And she's all...

ours.

You seeing
what I'm seeing?

A really excited human
with a rash?

No, the ship.
The Andromeda Ascendant.

Right where
that furry little twitch
said it would be.

You're speaking of
our respected employer.

Ha! Whooo!

You know, I may
actually be starting
to like that guy.

Hmm. No prior claims.

Open salvage, baby.

Then it appears
we are in luck.

Luck? Luck?

This is a High Guard ship
of the line.

The pride of
the old Commonwealth
perfectly preserved.

When they made up the phrase
"They don't make 'em
like they used to,"

this ship is what
they were talking about.

It is the big score.

The Shangri-La.
It's the Holy Grail
of interstellar salvage.

Yes. And it's pretty, too.

And, according to Beka,
Gerentex already has a buyer,

I dunno, some tin-pot dictator
with visions of empire.

I don't know what
the asking price is, but even
at a measly five-percent each,

we are talking
some serious lucre,
which means...

we are all
rich rich rich, baby.

Hmm. That is if we can
pull it away
from the black hole.

Trance, have you been
in the engine room lately?

No, it's disgusting
back there.

Thank you.
But take my word for it.

Getting that puppy loose
will not be a problem.

The only thing we do have to,
you know, worry about is...

how are we gonna
spend our money?

Lemme guess. A little cottage
by the lake-shore,
a white picket fence, dog?

All the traditional
mud-foot accessories.

Not even close.

I have one word
for you two.

Seraglio.
Sir what?

Seraglio. Slave girls
and grapes.

Eunuch guards. Classy.

Hey, don't forget
the silk wall-hangings.
I love silk wall-hangings.

The only reason I go
is for the silk wall-hangings.

Harper, you
are truly disgusting.

I try. So, boss,
what're you gonna do
with your share?

I dunno. I figure by the time
I settle my father's debts,
fix up the Maru,

pay back that loan
I took out the fund this job,

I should have
just about enough

for a nice dinner
at Cavanaugh's,

as long as I don't order
any wine.

You're buying freedom,

peace of mind.

I'd say that's worth more
than physical indulgence.

Speak for yourself, Rev.
Hmm.

Be grateful I don't value
such things.

Boss, he's giving me
that look again.

Rev, don't.

Let me get you
some steak sauce first.

So Rev, what are your plans?

I'm going
to build a hospital
on Kingfisher.

Kingfisher?

Isn't that the world
where you were--
Born...

yes.

My people did some
terrible things
on Kingfisher.

If I can do anything to help
to alleviate the suffering
that they caused...

that I caused...

it will be well worth it.

In a way, I'm trying
to buy absolution.

Which makes me
just as selfish
as any of you.

You know, I, for one,

hope you're
as good at this
as you say you are.

Actually, I'm better.

Rev Bem, Trance, Harper
sound off. Pilot ready.

Navigation and sensors, ready.

Environmental controls
and AG systems,
ready. I hope.

Engine room ready, as always.
Let's kick some ass!

What's the time dilation
look like?

The Andromeda
is slowly moving away
from the singularity.

Time dilation levels
on board are one million
to one, and falling.

Looks like in a few more years,
it would've cleared
the singularity by itself.

Yes, yes, yes. Which means
the longer you wait,

the more likely someone else
will be able to come along
and take it away from us!

The trick is
to free the Andromeda

without getting stuck
in time ourselves.

Or being crushed
inside the hole.

If you're not
up to the job--

Look! You hired me

because I was the only one
desperate enough
to take this job

and slick enough
to pull it off.

But from here on in,

it's my gig. So back off
and let me do my job.

Prepare
to cut loose
the cargo pod.

The pod? But, I...
Okay!

For this to work,
we need to lose
any unnecessary mass.

Don't worry.

We'll retrieve your cargo
when we get back.

No! No, wait. I, um,

I have to make
some preparations
in the pod

before we detach it.

By all means.
Just remember, we're
on a tight schedule.

Yeah. Yes.

Hold up, everyone.
Our employer needs
to tuck his cargo to bed

before we get started.

It won't be
long now, ladies.

There.

Ready when you are, Captain.

The pod's away.

Okay, everybody,
just like we practiced.

Let's rock.

And away we go.

Acceleration, 67, 000 G's.
AG fields holding.

29% light speed. Thirty.

Hang on. This is where
it gets a little rough.

AG field's at maximum!

Almost there. Harper.

I know, I know,
more power.

We're exceeding
safety thresholds!

That's the general idea.

Target in range.

Fire!

Harpoons away.

If you pray to any kind
of divinity, you might want
to start right about...

now!

The bucky cables
are holding.

We're doing it.
We're actually doing it.

Okay.

We've got lost bucky cables
five through seven.

Speed's dropping.

Cut the cable.

- Let it go.
- No!

We can do this. Harper?

There's nothing left!

Unless...

That was cable ten.

Come on, Harper.

Okay, if this works,

in about ten seconds
you're gonna have
one big burst of power.

And if it doesn't?

Well, then I hope Rev Bem
has some major pull upstairs.

Three

seconds to the big one,
ladies and gentlemen.

Three.

Two.

One.

Yes!

I am a God! Whoo!

Critical Reaction
in Engine Three.

Critical Reaction
in Engine Three.

Oh, crap.

Critical Reaction
in Engine Three.

Harper, you little psycho,

did you do
what I think you did?

Hey, it worked,
didn't it?

I got it, I got it.
It's cool.

He's a lunatic.

I'm afraid to ask.

He injected protons
straight into one
of our reserve AP tanks.

Instant roman candle.

What about the Andromeda?

I'm bringing us around.

Ladies and gentlemen,

the Andromeda Ascendant.

Okay, I would
just like to say,
for the record,

we rule.

Captain Hunt!

Captain Hunt,
are you all right?

I'll live.

Captain Hunt,
something's wrong.

We're moving away
from the singularity,
but the Nietzschean fleet,

our escape pods,
they're all gone.

That's impossible.

We may have experienced
more severe time dilations
as we approached

the event horizon
of the black hole.

How severe?

Spit it out!

According to my calculations,

we have been
frozen in time

for over 300 years.

Three hundred years?

Oh, my God.

Sarah? My folks?
The rest of the crew?

I'm sorry, Dylan.

Everyone we know,

our entire world,

is gone.

Okay, so according
to the stories,

the crew of the Andromeda
abandoned ship.

But they did so
during the middle of a battle,

so God only knows
what we can expect
when we get over there.

I wouldn't presume
to speak for the Divine,

but do watch out
for unexploded munitions,

anti-personnel nanobots,
automated attack drones--

Not to mention radiation leaks,
blown pressure seals, shrapnel--

Okay, okay, Mom and Dad,
we get the picture.

We'll be careful.
We promise.

I don't want you
to be careful. Trance,
I want you to be paranoid.

Oh! Oh! Miss Valentine?
Yes, Harper.

This isn't our
first field trip.

Purple company excluded,
of course.

That is my point.

I want you to treat
every boarding
just like your first one.

I want you
to double-check everything.
Hell, triple check it.

I'd hate for any of you
to end up like Vexpag.

Vexpag?

Your predecessor.

Oh! He's the guy
who retired.

Didn't you say
he bought a farm?

The farm. He bought, the, farm.

Well, what's
the difference?

Torn pressure suit
and a bad emergency seal.

Oh, that is different.

You'll be fine.
Keep your eyes open.

Use your head.

Or whatever it is
you think with.

Trance, your helmet?

Oh, right.

Air's breathable,
what there is of it.

We're at .6 atmospheres in here,
but a lot of the ship
is still exposed to vacuum.

We'll have to repressurize it
section by section.

I am in love.

With a machine.
Why am I not surprised?

Hey! It's not
just a machine.
It's a masterpiece.

A work of art like, uh,
a Durer etching
or the Parthenon...

or, a Harley-Davidson.

A motorcycle.
It's an Earth thing.

I hate to interrupt
such passion,

but I smell blood.

And burnt carbon.

This ship has been
through a fight.

Or, or everyone
on board got pancaked
by the singularity.

No life-signs so far.

Good. Harper, patch
into the ship's computer.

Let's see if we can get
this thing to fly again.

Thanks.

Three hundred years.

I wonder if
anyone even remembers
what we were fighting for.

They died for
what they believed in.

That's the same speech
I always give.

Except there's no one
to give the speech to now,
is there?

Their children,
Dawn's mating group,
Rhade's wives?

They've all been dead for
at least two hundred years, now.

We'll find someone.

Their descendants.
The Commonwealth will know
where to find them.

The Commonwealth.

We need to make contact,
let them know we're still alive.

I'm not
picking up any local signals.
We'll have to...

Dylan? We have intruders
on board.

They're trying to rewire me.

Come on, be nice. Oh!

Got it.

You have control
of the ship?

No. But I have control
over the doors.

This I. S. net is insane.

I've never seen
so much interconnectivity
in a single system.

It's gonna take weeks
to figure it all out.

Weeks?

We have a delivery date
to keep.

And we will,
even if we have
to drag this thing in.

But I'm betting your client
will be a lot happier

if we deliver a ship
he can actually use.

Captain, I will--
Look, this little, uh,

struggle for authority thing
is all very cute,

but, uh, if you're not
too busy, I could really use
a ship's schematic.

A what?
Something that'll explain
what all this crap does.

Do you want us
to go poke our noses around?

Yeah. See what
you can find.

Maybe, we can get ourselves
a little divine providence.

Ah.

Never hurts to ask.

Trance, have you found
anything yet?

Trance?

Oh. Pretty.

What?

Anestarian
Tundra Flowers.

The best
oxygen producing plants
ever discovered.

I thought they were extinct.

Uh, you're supposed
to be looking for a schematic.

I knew I was
forgetting something.

Uh, Beka,
what about you? Any luck?

No. No, nothing so far.

That makes five.

Humans working
with a Magog.

Are they crazy?

Apparently. Although
their leader appears
to be a Nightsider.

And I haven't a clue
what she is.

Another thing
I don't understand.

I'm pretty sure
that's Triangulum Measles.

So he's sick.

With a disease
that was nearly extinct
three hundred years ago.

Something any decent doctor
could cure over night.

I'm not sure I like
the implications of this.

Me either.

Hey guys?
I'm waiting.

Maybe it's time
I introduced myself
to our guests.

You want
something done right...

You have
to do it yourself.

You finding
everything you need?

Who the hell are you?

No. It's who the hell
are you,

and what are you doing
on my ship?

Your ship?

No, no, no.
This baby's ours.

We salvaged it
fair and square.
Finder's keepers.

This is a Commonwealth starship.

You can't just come aboard
and lay claim to it.

Commonwealth?

Wait a minute.

You got stuck
in that time thing.

Let me guess, you're one
of the original crew, right?

I'm Captain Dylan Hunt
of the High Guard,
Commander of this vessel.

I got news for you,
Captain Dylan Hunt.

You're not the Commander
of anything.

There is no High Guard.
Not anymore.

There was a war.

A big one,
against the Nietzscheans.

I was there.

Well, I guess you kinda
just missed the end, then.

I hate to break it
to you, but...

you guys lost.

The Commonwealth
has been gone for
over three hundred years.

It's my fault.

If I had made it
to Slipstream, got a warning
to the High Guard...

It still
might not have
made a difference.

The Nietzscheans
had a vast fleet.

They'd been preparing
for years and they had
surprise on their side.

By the time word
had spread, it may have
already been too late.

How could the High Guard
let it happen?

We had ten times as many ships,
a hundred times as many men.

And we haven't fought a war

a real war,
in over a thousand years.

Whereas for the Nietzscheans,
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.

I'm telling ya.
The guy is huge.
He's like...

some kind of
Greek god or something.

Still, there's only one of him.

Yeah, but nobody said
anything about taking
this ship away from anybody,

especially somebody so big.

It's supposed
to be abandoned.

Yeah, but if it wasn't
for us, he'd still be stuck
in that black hole.

I think he owes us.

Well, maybe if we
just asked him nicely,
he would give it to us.

Hmm.
Mercy is it's own reward.

Yeah, says you.

Look, I say screw this talkin'
and we start walkin'. Get--

This
is Captain Dylan Hunt,

Commander of
the Systems Commonwealth
Starship Andromeda Ascendant.

I've been told the Commonwealth
has fallen. Maybe that's true.

But there's still one place
where the Commonwealth endures,

and that's on this ship.
My ship.

I understand you intend
to loot the Andromeda
and sell what's left over.

I promise you,

that is not gonna happen.

You have fifteen minutes
to restore the Andromeda's
control capabilities

and withdraw
to your own vessel,

or I will retake my ship
by force.

Hunt out.

I don't like threats.

Neither do I.

Which is why
I brought him along.

I'll take it from here.