The Saga Ends - Finale Discussion & SRP Reflection

Started by Grizz, October 15, 2017, 06:49:11 PM

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Grizz

The oldest lesson in the universe. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Ten years in the Accobar System came to an end tonight with the final installment of 'Pioneers Ad Finem.' Charles Kort and Denara Clake embraced their ends as the struggle to prevent the return of the Accobi ended not so much with a bang (though there were several of those), but with a moral dilemma.

It had always been a mystery how the Accobi could be so advanced yet come from a planet in ruins and resembling a pre-warp civilization on the surface. In the finale we learnt that there was another power in play. An entity from the stars which fell from the sky and 'graced' a quiet civilization with immense power - a power which corrupt them entirely across generations - leading to the imprisonment of the source of that power. It was a story which had been retold throughout the decades of the Accobar Conspiracy. Sel'tar, G'rath, Vega and Kort all sought power in various forms and it corrupted them and all it touched. The Halkonians leeched off what technology remained on Accobar on their arrival and it drove Clarke close to insanity.

Had things gone to plan, the Gateway would have been opened, the Accobi would have been at full strength - infused with technology still powered by the imprisoned entity - and they would have swept across the Galaxy while Kort (or at least, as far as he believed) watched from the sidelines, with the Federation supposedly spared from the first wave of conquest. As it was, with guidance from Doctor Tobin and the voices of past figures on what Pioneer and its crew need to represent, Mason - presented with a choice many had been robbed of - elected to free the imprisoned creature...

Denara Clarke: We fed off their technology to survive. What else could I have done?

Sel'tar: I had no choice.
G'rath: What choice did I have?
Maria Vega: I did what I had to do!
Charles Kort: I didn't ask for this.

The Truth: Your predecessors were caught up in a game that has been played for a very long time...

Amber Munro: Don't make my mistakes. Don't play their game. You need to forge your own path if Pioneer is to succeed.

Renee Hampton: Pioneer won't work unless we can find a way to do things differently.

Sophia Mason: I don't want Accobar to be associated with death and destruction.

President Taylor: We all share the responsibility that history has placed in our hands!

The Truth: I'm giving you an opportunity to break the cycle.


In doing so, the Accobi were robbed of much of their power and while still a threat - they were vulnerable to attack.

Kort, exposed to their weakness, struck down the Accobi Architect before he could take Mason's life. Despite her intention to take him with her, Mason allowed him to stay behind before the facility could be blown away from orbit. Redemption? No. But a man whose life choices were taken from him, finally realizing that he had backed the wrong horse.

"Accobar falls!"

The Gateway was still almost impervious to the attacks of the Helia, Dauntless and Tomal. However, with its shields now down thanks to the freed entity, it was vulnerable to another form of attack that Mason had prepared for. Signalling out to the cosmos, as the Accobi ships came forth through the rift, the Halkonian Cruiser Orion revealed itself and made for the outer ring of the structure. Following Clarke's instructions, the Helia unleashed the remainder of its nanite warheads on to the Orion moments before she collided with the Gateway. Clarke destroyed the Orion and took much of the structure with her. Now infected, the Gateway was completely vulnerable and soon fell apart, destabilizing the rift and pulling the Accobi vessels back in to the void from whence they came.

The Accobi-Halkonian war was over. The Gateway was destroyed. The mysterious entity was free to roam the cosmos once more. The crew returned to Pioneer as heroes - though the entirety of their deeds over the years will likely forever been shrouded in mystery.

There was still the question of who was ultimately responsible for all that had taken place. But lets draw a line under that. Even if it was definitely Rush. Or Hampton. Or Munro. Or Kort. Or 'The Entity.' [spoiler]Definitely Rush though[/spoiler]

"It's not a mandate to change the galaxy. Just our little corner of it."

'The Truth' was imprisoned and set to stand trial, giving Mason some sense of solace that someone would answer for the Cabal's crimes - even if it was one who had helped her and her crew get as far as they did. The Klingons and Romulans held their ceasefire - setting the groundwork for President Taylor's legacy during the final days of her presidency. The Telosians broke their communications silence - seeking renewed diplomatic ties and allowing Leona Mason to be reunited with her son and husband - with Sophia soon to follow. Vice President Renee Hampton called Mason to inform her of their impending Telosian arrivals - and also to echo the words that Olivia Taylor spoke to her when she was the one sitting in that Ready Room.

"We still have work to do."

With a rare, stable CMO/ACMO partnership alive and well and with a new XO in Alicia Costello, Pioneer once again finds itself as a middle ground for warring and lost peoples to come together and rebuild - as it was always meant to be.

Despite a tremendous amount of setbacks and delays, we ultimately made it. It wasn't how I hoped to cross the finish line, but I'll sure as hell take it. Thank you for being there over the years and making it all possible. I want to hear your thoughts, not just on the finale but the stories of Asteroid Base: Alpha and Pioneer Station as a whole. Relationships have formed. Enemies have been slain. New life has been new discovered. I can't possibly have noticed all of it so let's hear your side of it, too!

Thank you, Accobar. Thank you, all. Send her to the archives, Scott.

Goodbye.

Grizz