Stark

( In which the universe is almost destroyed but there's a mostly happy ending. )
Stark had had enough of all this and wanting nothing more than some peace, felt he could not stay. He made his goodbyes, murmured as many blessings as he knew over tiny D'Argo Sun Crichton, and took a transport pod, hoping to go back to another home. He would have stayed for Chiana's sake, but she didn't want his assistance or interference in her grief and he knew he wouldn't be of much assistance in any rebuilding efforts that might occur. Instead he would try to get back to the island. He had missed Fandom ever since he left, and now seemed a perfect time to return. He felt like he needed to be back there, for some reason, moreso than he had in quite a long time.

[So, that's PK Wars except for Stark's final scene because, I'm sorry, being forced to take someone's soul and knowledge into your head against your will and then watching the universe nearly destroyed does NOT EQUAL finding your own inner peace. Plus, think of all the glowy icons no longer usable if Stark stops glowing as he seems to at the end. Makes no sense to me, so I skip it.]

Time passed on Moya. A few solar days at most while they traveled back to the water planet. Stark was still distraught, not paying attention to the passage of time or to anything else. He didn't notice the comings and goings of anyone else on Moya. He wandered the corridors occasionally, ignoring his comms and the DRDs and most attempts at interaction and the reports of developments in the war between the Scarrans and the Peacekeepers. The war that might have been averted already if only he had better prepared Yondalao or if only he were able to do what it was everyone wanted him to do and deliver Yondalao's spiritual remains to the other Eidelons. "I'm not worthy. I'm not worthy. I'm not worthy. Can't do that, can't do that. I can't do it." Repetitions along those lines were all he said when he bothered to speak at all. Sometimes, even when he did speak, he was barely understandable. The others weren't sure if he was talking to himself or a voice in his head. It amounted to much the same thing as far as they were concerned, and Stark babbling was at least somewhat normal, even if the rest of his behavior wasn't.

He would have spoken to the others if he could have. He wanted to. If he were able to, he would have told them everything. He would have tried to explain what was going inside his head. He would have tried to tell them all that what was left of Yondalao was nearly unbearable to be carrying around inside of himself but that he was trying. And yes, he was occasionally carrying on conversations with the voices in his head but if they had half as many pieces of others inside of them as he did his shipmates would do the same thing. Some of the voices were helpful. Others, particularly those acquired when he had lived among Scarrans and Peacekeepers, were not. And some of them were just loud and distracting. And one, the one voice he wanted most of all, was nearly silent and that only made matters worse. If Zhaan were here, even just in his head, it would be easier. He knew that. If Zhaan were here the others would never have forced him into this situation in the first place. She wouldn't have allowed it. He knew that, too. Of course, the others knew nothing of all of this. All they knew was that something was wrong. Even if he had tried to explain, they wouldn't have understood. None of them were Stykera. None of them had had the the remains of a spiritual leader, and with them one of the last hopes for peace in this end of the galaxy, forced into their heads.

"I don't know how," was his last quietly desperate statement before he stopped speaking entirely.

[Poor wee Banik. We're almost at the end though. Hopefully.]

Once aboard the Scarran ship, Stark and the others were led into a detention area and scanned for weapons. There were rather a lot of those amongst this group.

( And then more unpleasantness )

[In just under the wire. Whee.]

It was time, Stark decided, to head back to his friends. Shipmates. Friends. He'd been away long enough. He'd met a daughter who was impossible and a son who was, if anything, even more so. He'd had enough Fandom Weirdness, in other words, to last for quite a while.

So he commed to the water planet and let them know he'd be back soon. It was good to hear their voices. And it would be good to see them all soon.

And as he often did, he reconnected his comms to the alumni network. A little more weirdness couldn't hurt, right? And another friendly voice was always a good thing.




[As usual, open for phone calls etc.]

Stark always missed Zhaan. This was a fundamental part of who he was, much like his tenous hold on his sanity or his tendency to babble. Sometimes he missed her more than others. Usually this was just something he accepted, something that bothered him on some level but not an immediate one. Usually it was a wistful sort of emotion, occasionally something stronger. Sometimes it was more immediate. Like today. Today it wasn't even just emotional. Today it was almost physical.

Staying cooped up his transport pod was not helping Stark in the least, which was why he'd landed on this small commerce planet. Doing something, even if it was just wandering through a marketplace looking for something more palatable than food cubes, had to be better than being left alone with his thoughts right now. Unfortunately for Stark, this particular commerce planet happened, at the moment, to be hosting more than a few Delvians.

Had Stark known about the influx of Delvians, he probably wouldn't have landed at all. Right now he wasn't in any shape to be running into blue people when all he wanted in the world was one particular, beloved blue person. One he'd been missing for far, far too long.

It had been merely an annoyance when he'd spotted the first Delvian woman. He'd simply turned and headed in a new direction. It had happened again, and he'd turned again, thinkin perhaps he should just head back to the pod.

And then he'd turned and crashed into two Delvian Pa'us. Having one eye, after all, led to a distinct lack of peripheral vision to one side. He stumbled backward, stared, paled, whispered "Goddess help me" in a tone barely audible even to himself and began stammering out an apology.

One of the priestesses had grabbed at his shoulder to steady him as he stumbled. She smiled, dismissing the apology as unnecessary, as did the other. "Are you all right?" one asked, "you look...unwell."

"Could we help?" offered the other. "Come, sit, before you fall over." She motioned to a recently vacated bench as she spoke. The first Delvian who had spoken nodded her agreement, gently pushing tugging Stark towards the bench. Part of Stark was having very happy thoughts at the idea of these two Delvians. The vast majority of him was appalled at that part and trying not to flail or run screaming.

"I..." Stark began, toying with the mask buckle at his neck in his effort not to flail. "I. No. No. This is. I...That is, you're...you're not. And I, no. You're not, even if you look...I need to go. Now. Need to go now. Need to be somewhere else. Alone." Leaving two confused Delvian priestesses behind him, Stark turned and fled in the opposite direction hoping he could manage to avoid anymore encounters with blue women on his way back to the transport pod. Perhaps being alone was his best option right now.

[I couldn't leave Stark entirely out of sex week even though just contemplating including him felt vaguely wrong somehow. Establishy unless you happen to be in the UTs or you're taking a break from your pollen-fueled sexcapades to call an alien. He'd enjoy that.]

They made it back, eventually, to the water planet. The Diagnosan, Chiana, Grunschlk and Stark all survived the trip, which was more surprising than the fact that they reached their destination.

The others had been busy while Stark and Chiana were off getting new eyes and a doctor, and all the tiny, tiny pieces of Crichton and Aeryn had been found. And then, somehow, they were put back together. It was good to have everyone back in one piece

Satisfied with the fact that he'd been right and his friends hadn't been dead at all and that they were now returned to themselves, Stark eventually slipped away back to the transport pod. He'd returned Chiana, he'd brought the Diagnosan back, everyone was back in one piece. He wasn't needed here right now and staying didn't feel right. In the discussion and excitement of new eyes, babies, engagements, and Rygel being suddenly pregnant Stark's absence wasn't immediately noticed, nor was the note he left. The note simply promised he'd return, as he always did, and that he would try his best not to be put into any boxes before then.

Once in the transport pod and away from the planet, Stark began fiddling with the comms. Maybe he'd get through to someone again.


[Stark will be back with everyone, eventually, so I can do PK Wars in my own special highly abridged way. And through the magic of being a glowy plot device he won't even miss anything important. And Rygel being pregnant? Never gonna not be funny. Open, if anyone would like to contact or be contacted by an emo alien.]