stykera | Eidelon City, The Water Planet

Meanwhile, outside the temple the Scarran forces prepared to force their way inside. Inside the temple, Aeryn was desperate to have the baby. And when the Scarrans began firing the first casualty was, naturally, the Diagnosan. Somehow this left Chiana in charge of the birth, which was, naturally, complicated. After Aeryn declared that shooting made her feel better even though firing was making things even more complicated, Chiana attempted to coax her into the fountain in the middle of the temple. The fighting continued. Crichton went looking for Stark and the small group of Eidelons.

"Astro."

"We're," Stark started to say, then stopped. "Just a few scratches," he assured Crichton.

Crichton called Pilot, was assured that Moya would arrive to retrieve any and all survivors in an arn or so, and then returned to Aeryn and Chiana, who finally made their way into the fountain. Aeryn remained in pain, D'Argo went to create a diversion, Braca declared their situation rather hopeless and Scorpius revealed Sikozu to be the Scarran spy who had been betraying them all along. It was an eventful few minutes.

Suddenly and rather inexplicably at first, Aeryn stopped pushing and called out for Stark.

"Stark?" Crichton repeated, confused.

"Stark!" Aeryn called again, and Crichton joined in. "Come here!"

"Do you want me to take your pain?" the Banik asked, hopping into the fountain with them.

"No. I want you to marry us," Aeryn said.

"What?" Crichton and Stark were equally surprised by the request.

"Now!"

"Aeryn," Crichton said quickly, "we can go to Vegas tomorrow."

"No!"

"Marry us!" Crichton joined in the demand. Angering the pregnant, hurting, and very angry Peacekeeper was just not worth it. Stark, rather predictably, gaped and started to flail. He'd never married anyone before. He'd never even thought about marrying any couples before.

"Wait wait wait," Rygel interrupted, hurrying over on his throne sled and coughing up the engagement ring Crichton had given to Aeryn what now seemed like a lifetime ago. Crichton was excited, Aeryn rather unimpressed.

"Quick, quick," she snapped.

"Come on!" Crichton added.

Stark, still flailing both internally and externally quickly said a few words that the translator microbes didn't even work on.

"Idiot," D'Argo yelled. "That's a Sheyang prayer for the dead!"

Stark frowned and wrung his hands, trying to think. He never did very well under pressure and there were so many things in his head, even with all of Yondalao gone, it was hard to find the right words. Aeryn's slap across his face certainly didn't help. He tried again, more untranslated words which turned out to be a Delvian puberty rite, earning him another hard slap.

"Okay, okay," he said desperately. Hitting him really hadn't been necessary, had it? He was trying to help. He just wasn't prepared. "You two love each other, right?" They answered affirmatively. "Enough to be married forever?" Another definite affirmative response. "Then you are. Congratulations." That hadn't been so hard, actually. And a Stykera was kind of like a priest, he reasoned, so it ought to be fine. He hoped. Crichton slid his mother's ring onto Aeryn's finger, they kissed, and then the Scarrans started firing again. It would have been almost comical, really, if it hadn't all been so immediately dangerous.

The baby was born, finally, in the fountain and then he was hastily bundled into a sling so they could run from the temple. It was no longer even remotely safe and they had to get to the rendevous with Moya.

They were pinned down by enemy fire on their way, only to be rescued by Jothee in a cloaked ship. But the relief from that didn't last long and they fell prey to another ambush. D'Argo took a pike to the chest, and War Minister Ahkna herself grabbed Crichton and held a gun to his head. That didn't last long. The War Minister died moments later from pulse fire to the head, courtesy of Crichton's new wife. But for D'Argo it was too late.

"This won't heal," D'Argo said, "it won't fix, it won't..."

"I'll take your pain," Stark offered.

"No," D'Argo shook his head. "Pain is good. Means I'm still alive."

"Then let me help you to the other side," Stark tried.

"Frell, Stark! This is the other side," D'Argo said, "I was hoping to go back."

Stark nodded, a pained expression on his face, and left D'Argo and Chiana to their final moments together. It was, he well knew, important to be able to spend those moments together. He would have given anything for that. After a few moments, Crichton had to drag Chiana away to safety. They had to get to Moya at the rendezvous.

They made it at least. But leaving a friend behind to die meant that small victory was a hollow one.

[I know. 3 in a row is a lot but I'm done for the night, I promise. 1 more tomorrow and that's it for PK Wars and all of Stark's canon appearances. Really. No more spamming from me. And really, since when do I ever post this much? Who am I and what did I do with me?]