PKW1

FARSCAPE: THE PEACEKEEPER WARS

Airdate October 17, 2004

Written by Rockne S. O'Bannon & David Kemper

Directed by Brian Henson

For a complete list of Guest Stars and other credits, please visit:

The space shuttle sits atop the tower, ready for launch.

A man, dressed in a hawaiian shirt, open at the throat, faces away from the shuttle and says:

"My name is John Crichton. An astronaut."

The space shuttle launches. The man's face appears, capped by a pilot's helmet with a clear visor. A smaller ship is manuvered out of the shuttle's cargo bay. There is an explosion.

"Four years ago, I got... shot... through a wormhole..."

The smaller ship moves away from the shuttle. It cants over and slides into a wormhole. The pilot looks overhead at his controls. The wormhole closes behind him and winks out.

"... to a distant part of the galaxy."

There are asteroids and other ships around the small one. The ships appear to be shooting at each other. The man swivels his head, trying to follow what is happening. His ship is drawn inside a huge, oval shaped vessel.

"I ended up on this living ship, populated by escaping prisoners..."

Several faces flash by: A male alien with facial hair and tentacles, a female humanoid with a braid and a black pressure suit, a tiny, froglike creature and a grey skinned female alien. The man is now sitting outside his small ship and is wearing a black leather uniform.

"... who became my friends."

Previously, on Farscape (voice of John Crichton)...

Scene One: from "Infinite Possibilities, Part One: Daedalus Demands", Ancient Jack is talking to John, in his head. "We gave you a gift. You misused it."

Scene Two: from "We're So Screwed, Part Two: Hot to Katrazi", John points at Commandant Grayza, then at Emperor Staleek. "You want what I know about wormholes."

Scene Three: from "Bad Timing", Moya sits near the mouth of a wormhole. A transport pod flies into it. Aeryn: "What if the Scarrans are heading to earth? John: "Earth is not ready." Another, unknown ship flies into the wormhole. A Scarran transmits from inside the vessel: "Our course is set for Crichton's home planet."

Scene Four: from "We're So Screwed, Part Two: Hot to Katrazi", John points his pulse pistol at the prone Scorpius' face. John shouts: "What did you tell them?" Scorpius gasps: "Nothing!"

Scene Five: from "Bad Timing", the transport pod and the Scarran ship both fly inside the wormhole.

Scene Six: from "We're So Screwed, Part Three: La Bomba", Commandant Grayza: "Give us wormhole weapons and everyone will be safe."

Scene Seven: from "We're So Screwed, Part Three: La Bomba", a Scarran waves his arms while while transmitting from inside an elevator. John and Aeryn are inside another elevator.

Scene Eight: from "Bad Timing", John stands in front of the American flag at Serenity Base, on the moon, and looks towards a distant Earth.

Scene Nine: from "Bad Timing", Sikozu and Scorpius stand in front of a hatch onboard Moya. Scorpius: "The Scarrans will ravage your planet. I can prevent it."

Scene Ten: from "Bad Timing", John faces Aeryn while sitting in a boat. He leans towards her. John: "Will you marry me?" Aeryn nods and whispers: "Yes."

Scene Eleven: from "Bad Timing", John stands up in the middle of a small boat and yells: "We're having a baby!" Aeryn reaches out and grabs his coat, trying to pull him back down into the boat.

Scene Twelve: from "Bad Timing", a large ship flies towards the boat. Aeryn and John both turn to look at it. As it flies over them, some kind of projectile leaves the ship, heading right towards John and Aeryn.

And now... Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars... on SciFi (voice of announcer)

The quiet of empty space...

Inside Moya, a broken conduit hangs limply and drips fluid, with a splash. There are several wires hanging beside it. Nearby, John Crichton lies on a table. His eyes are closed and his face and neck have traces of blood on them. He is wearing a dark colored t-shirt. Moya's Command is empty looking and there are flashes of flames as electrical circuits burn out. A voice echoes in the stillness...

Aeryn' voice: "You did it... John. (her voice breaks) All fighting has stopped. There's no more dying. And, all of a sudden... three is not such a scary number.

The cargo bay is deserted. There are barrels and other debris lying on the floor. The corridors are lit up but littered with broken bits of equipment. The lighting flashes erratically.

Aeryn: "But, no matter how wonderful this is..."

John lies perfectly still on the table, his arms at his sides. He is covered with a shiny gold blanket and large portable lights are pointing down at him from several points around the table.

Aeryn: "... I will not accept it... as a trade-off... for losing you."

There is a flash of light...

A blue, ringed planet looms in front of a small moon. A large vessel rumbles into view. It has a round, bulbous front and appears monstrous in size. As it slowly moves towards the planet, an armarda of smaller ships become visible. All the ships have orange glowing lights and appear to be of similar design. As they pass by the planet's ring, ships of different designs appear. All the vessels have multiple weapons arrays visible on their exteriors. Suddenly, one of the ships pulls ahead of the others and begins firing at the lead vessel. The weapons target the round bulb at the front of the ship and bright orange flames explode from it. Several smaller ships break away from the group and also begin firing at the lead vessel as they fly past it. The larger vessels surrounding them continue to fly in formation as the lead vessel takes multiple hits and finally explodes in a ball of orange flame. It sinks downwards into the planetary ring as it disintegrates.

Under a green colored sea, rocks and aquatic plants litter the ocean floor. There is the sound of air bubbles being released and a small, four-legged creature swims into view. It appears to be wearing clothes. As it floats past, it turns and digs something up from the ocean floor and quickly swallows it. It continues to swim around, surveying the ocean floor. It stops and puts something from each of its two hands into its mouth and swallows again. A small, colorful banded fish swims nearby. The clothed creature studies a group of nearby rocks and spots something on one of them. It brushes the object off the rock and makes a satisfied sound as it puts it into its mouth. The banded fish swims directly infront of the creature and is swiftly eaten by it, without use of its hands. The creature chortles. It then turns its face up and swiftly pushes towards the surface where a large rectangular object is floating. Its head breaks the surface right beside the floating object.

D'Argo: "I've gotcha." He leans over the edge of the raft like boat and grabs Rygel by the back of his shirt and hauls him on board.

D'Argo picks him up and carries him unceremoniously across the boat and deposits him on a seat.

Rygel: "Thank you... ever so... for your kind assistance."

Noranti immediately starts to wrap Rygel up with a blanket. There are three other humanoids on the boat. They are dressed in brown robes. At least one of them appears to be holding a gun or rifle.

D'Argo: "Always anxious to lend a hand to a dominar." He stands, looking down at Rygel.

Rygel: "So often I've proclaimed having a bellyful of Crichton and Aeryn. Never thought it would be so literal... uhh!" Rygel groans and his insides make a loud rumbling noise. He leans forward vomits a huge amount of water and debris into a container as Noranti helps to hold him steady. D'Argo grimaces. Rygel coughs.

One of the aliens asks: "What did you call their species again?"

Noranti pulls a piece of debris from the container and tastes it. Spitting it out of her mouth she holds it out to the alien: "This is Crichton. He's called a hoo-man." She sets the particle down on a pile of debris. She takes another piece and holds it up: "And Aeryn..." Noranti tastes the particle and spits it out. "... Sebacean. Definately Sebacean." She sets the second particle on another pile.

D'Argo: "Rygel... do you have all the pieces?"

Rygel: "From under every rock, every crevice. I sifted the bottom sand with my bare hands. Look at my nails!" He holds his hand up. Noranti continues to sift through the vomited particles.

One of the aliens stands under the boat's canopy, at a control panel. He turns towards the other aliens: "Caa'ta, the Leviathan ship has returned. Their transport pod is approaching."

Caa'ta: "Order the concealment canopy lowered." He walks over to join the other alien at the controls.

The boat speeds up and heads towards a gigantic flowing bubble on the sea. The bubble quickly dissipates to reveal an island city. Overhead, a transport pod descends through the atmosphere, also heading towards the city.

Near the ringed planet, many armed vessels fly in formation.

Inside a Peacekeeper vessel, Captain Miklo Braca walks into a room where Sikozu is holding a cloak, apparently for Scorpius who stands across the room, staring at a view screen.

Captain Braca: "Sir. Another deep space contact from Peacekeeper Strategic Command." He walks briskly over to stand near Scorpius. "Grand Chancellor Maryk... again."

Scorpius sighs and takes a last look at the view. He turns around, shakes his head and activates a control on the desk in front of him.

Scorpius: "Grand Chancellor."

A voice screams out of the comm system...

Grand Chancellor Maryk: "Where the hezmana... in my orders did you find the phrase..."

Aboard his vessel, the Grand Chancellor paces as he yells at Scorpius: "... preemptive attack?!"

Scorpius: "The Scarrans are massing for an impending onslaught we all know is coming."

Grand Chancellor Maryk sighs.

Scoprius: "A conflict we are ill-situated to win. By challenging them before they are prepared, at least we have a fighting chance."

Maryk: "You were sent there to gather surveillance, and then..."

Scorpius interrupts him: "With all due respect, Sir, I was sent here.. to perish at the vanguard of this inevitable conflict. I simply refuse to participate on their terms... or yours."

Maryk: "Because of your actions, the Scarran empire has declared war against us. Do you know what that means, Scorpius? We are now officially engaged in the last war of our era! Congratulations."

D'Argo hurries along, followed by several brown-robed aliens. There are mountains behind him and several tall buildings with spires. He is walking along beside a waterway. His long red coat sways in the breeze. Ahead of him, a transport pod lands. As the ladder descends, D'Argo breaks into a run. He stops and looks expectantly up at the hatchway. Chiana hops down several steps.

Chiana: "D'Argo!" She leaps off the stairs altogether.

D'Argo cries: "Chiana!" as he catches her in his arms. He hugs her and she throws her head back, laughing. Her arms are clasped around his neck.

D'Argo: "Your eyes?"

Chiana: "I can see again, D'Argo."

The three brown-robed aliens stand nearby, watching. Two of them are holding rifles.

D'Argo: "What happened? How?"

Chiana: "He gave me new... new eyes." She points to her eyes with two of her fingers. Her eyes now have irises that run verically.

Stark exits the transport pod and starts down the stairs.

Stark: "We found one, yes." He hurries over to D'Argo and Chiana.

Chiana: "Stark and I found a Diagnosan."

There is a throaty gasp from inside the pod, and suddenly a Diagnosan tumbles down the stairs and lands on the ground with a loud hiccup.

D'Argo points to the fallen medic: "What's wrong with him?"

His question is answered by a familiar voice.

Grunchlk: "Nothing's wrong with him." He laughs: "He's fine."

D'Argo: "Grunchlk. I thought you were dea..."

Grunchlk interrupts: "Dead? Me?" He twirls the ends of his mustaches:"Hardly at all. Hah!"

There are many people in the streets of the city. Inside one of the larger buildings, there are several of the aliens with rifles. Chiana sits on top of a table, with D'Argo and Grunchlk standing, talking to her. There is a large pool in the center of the room, filled with green water and waving plants. There is some kind of a device with a hood and bright, reddish lights, near the pool. The Diagnosan stands by the device, talking in his own language and making movements in a suspension of particles that appear to be coming out of something he is holding in his hand. Noranti hurries over to him.

Noranti: "Those crystals are people's lives."

The Diagnosan hiccups... twice.

Noranti: "Stop waving that thing around." She stands next to the Diagnosan.

D'Argo looks over at them: "This had better work."

Grunchlk: "You're lucky to have him, mate." He walks over and pats the Diagnosan on the shoulder. "Diagnosans, they're at a premium, especially now that there's a war on."

D'Argo: "What war?"

Chiana: "The Peacekeepers and the Scarrans declared war against each other."

D'Argo: "Do the Peacekeepers know what they're getting into?"

Grunchlk: "The Scarrans didn't give 'em much choice. Hah! They were already taking the galaxy by force... system by system." He laughs.

D'Argo: "A galaxy-wide war."

There is a fire-fight taking place in space. Several small ships are flying towards and shooting at a larger one. There are several explosions.

Peacekeeper: "The Scarran vanguard has breached our defense perimeter."

Sikozu looks at a control panel: "We've drawn them in sufficiently. The trap is set."

Scorpius comms: "Captain... initiate the plan exactly as I instructed."

Captain Braca is strapped into a flight harness and wears headgear. He comms: "All pilots deactivate targeting and flight systems."

Another voice answers: "Copy that."

Braca: "We fly manual from here."

A group of Peacekeeper prowlers fly beside a large vessel.

Sikozu comms: "Fly straight in. Their targeting telemetrics will be corrupted at least two degrees off-center by the ambient magnetics. You dare them to hit you."

Braca: "So, Red team... you're close to my left flank. Blue team, on right. Upon signal, execute tiered attack on lead Scarran dreadnought. Confirm."

There is more gunfire as many small ships attack a larger vessel.

Peacekeeper: "All armada ships now taking heavy fire, Sir."

Scorpius: "Only for the moment. Stay positioned."

Captain Braca stares intently ahead, his face being lit by the glow from the battle: "And... fire!"

The prowlers begin firing at the square upper structure of a Scarran dreadnought. They score multiple hits and there are several small explosions, followed by a much larger one.

One of the aliens plugs in some thick wires and there are a lot of sparks. The device the Diagnosan was spewing particles into begins to hum. A brilliant light begins to travel from the base of the device upwards, around the suspended particles. Everyone in the room stands watching as the hum's pitch goes higher and the particles begin to coalesce. At first they look like two rounded humps, but shape continues to develop until the humps start to look like John and Aeryn sitting and hugging each other. They are kissing and have their eyes closed. Slowly they draw away from the kiss and open their eyes. They look at each other. D'Argo sighs in relief. John and Aeryn both turn their heads, just enough to notice that they are surrounded by people and they both reach down and pull their pulse pistols, bringing them up and pointing them out at the onlookers. The Diagnosan immediately throws his hands up in the air. The armed aliens bring their rifles up and point them at John and Aeryn.

Caa'ta: "Lower your weapons."

D'Argo: "Hoo... "

John: "How long?"

D'Argo: "About sixty solar days."

Chiana: "Still on the water planet."

Aeryn carefully climbs off John's lap and gets out of the device. She points her pulse pistol at the aliens. John gets to his feet and does the same.

Caa'ta: "Put your weapons down now."

John: "Bad guys?"

D'Argo: "Yes and no. They did help us put you back together."

Aeryn: "Put us back together?"

Chiana: "They said it was an accident. You were crystalized."

John and Aeryn, in unison: "Crystalized?"

Caa'ta: "Last warning."

D'Argo gestures upwards with his head.

John and Aeryn stand with their weapons aimed for a few more microts, then they both uncocked their weapons and point them up and away from the aliens. Two of the armed aliens step over and take the pulse pistols from them.

John puts his hands in the air and turns to Aeryn: "You said yes."

Aeryn looks over at him: "I did?"

The aliens push their rifles into John and Aeryn's backs, prompting them to move.

John: "Sixty days... any regrets?"

Aeryn: "No... it's going really well."

John looks back at his friends as he is guided away: "Hey! We're gonna get married!"

D'Argo and Chiana, in unison: "Congratulations!"

Captain Braca's excited voice interrupts Scorpius' thoughts.

Braca: "Sir... you were absolutely correct. Their pilots and gunners were no match for ours."

Scorpius holds up his hand to silence him. Braca stops and stands at parade rest, a huge smile on his face.

Sikozu: "Scorpius?"

Scorpius: "Prepare to withdraw?"

Scorpius still has his back to Captain Braca and Sikozu: "The rest of the armada... is to continue to engage the enemy, covering our escape."

Braca: "But, Sir... we're winning."

Sikozu: "Without this carrier, all remaining units..."

Scorpius: "My orders are clear." He turns and walks past both of them, stopping at a small pedestal table nearby. Braca follows him.

Braca: "Sir... you're asking us to withdraw our troops, our ships, our..."

Scorpius reaches out and grabs Braca by the throat, effectively cutting off any more protests. He growls, barely intelligibly: "Yes, that's it!"

He releases Braca.

Captain Braca turns away from Scorpius, towards the other Peacekeepers in the room: "Plot an escape route. Close hangers. Rig for maximum speed."

Scorpius steps away from the table and walks back towards Sikozu.

Scorpius: "He is alive, Sikozu."

Scorpius puts his hands on Sikozu's waist, picks her up and sits her on a table in front of him: "John Crichton is alive."

The alien, Caa'ta stands behind John Crichton who is facing a female alien.

Caa'ta: "One more time. Begin again."

John: "Fine. For the eighty-nineth time."

John goes and gets a stool and sits down. He is facing a wire grid, similar to a duct cover, with a honeycomb mesh. "Once upon a time, there was a boy named John. And John was an astronaut."

The space shuttle rockets fire, sending it soaring into the sky.

"He lived in a far away place called Earth..."

The shuttle's cargo bay opens and the Farscape One module is brought out on a long metal arm.

"... which is so far away you've never heard of it."

The rockets on the module fire and it flies away from the shuttle, leaving a flaming trail in its wake.

"One day, when John was out doing astonaut things..."

John sits in the cockpit of the module, wearing his IASA flight helmet. Suddenly, the module hits some sort of wave front and is tossed sideways.

"... a big, blue wormhole gobbled him up and spat him out at the far end of the Universe."

The module travels through a wormhole. John is tossed around inside. Just as suddenly as it went in, the module exits the wormhole into the middle of an armed conflict. Behind him, the wormhole winks closed and is gone.

"Things were looking grim in Mudville..."

John comms: "Canaveral?"

The module flies towards a gigantic ship.

"... til our hero met an amazing living ship..."

D'Argo growls at John while picking him up by his throat. Rygel spits black goo in his face. Aeryn removes her flight suit helmet and shakes out her braid.

"... made some nice new friends and he hooked up with his dream girl."

Aeryn grabs John, slams him against a bulkhead then throws him to the floor. Several black-suited soldiers march past.

"We could have lived happily ever after, but the Peacekeepers raped..."

John is lying on his stomach with his hands tied, outspread, while Commandant Grayza bends over him, touching him.

A hand pushes a control knob upwards. In the Aurora Chair, John screams. Scorpius looks on.

"... and tortured us for years on end."

Crais: "Fire" A ship fires several shots, striking Moya.

John stands up while he talks, pacing and scratching his head: "Then, two months ago, we got our asses shot off again. This time it was the Scarrans.

The Scarran Emperor Staleek growls quietly.

"Big reptiles." John wiggles his hands up and down: "Woo-oo-oo. And Moya, our living ship, limped her way to your happy planet for a little R and R because we figure, it's empty. Hey, no one is gonna bother us."

John and Aeryn are in a row boat on a very blue lake or sea. John stands up and throws his arms in the air and shouts: "We're gonna have a baby!" Facing Aeryn, he asks: "Will you marry me?" Aeryn nods her head and whispers: "Yes."

John continues to pace: "Next thing me and the future Mrs. Crichton are having a private moment when you guys fly by..."

Sitting in the boat, John and Aeryn look up as a ship turns and flies directly towards them.

"... Boom, ba-bing..."

They hug and kiss as the ship fires some sort of missle at them. The two begin to melt into each other.

"... squiggly line, squiggly line..."

The ship continues past as the figures of John and Aeryn crumble and fall apart into thousands of pieces.

"... crystallized. And, it's two months later."

John stops talking and puts his hands on his hips. The aliens all turn and look around at each other.

Grand Chancellor Maryk: "Retreating." He walks into a room, followed by another Peacekeeper.

Peacekeeper: "Scorpius has powered off his onboard beacon. We have no way of tracking him."

Maryk: "Broadcast this order... highest priority. The instant his Command Carrier is spotted, it is to be fired upon. No hailing. no offer to surrender. I want this coward Scorpius and all who fly with him erased from existence!"

Peacekeeper: "Aye, Chancellor."

A very pregnant Commandant Grayza walks into view.

Grayza speaks to Maryk's back: "Scorpius is many things, Maryk, none of them good. But a coward? Never."

Maryk turns around to face her: "He has initiated this war and then turned and run. How do you define cowardice, Grayza?"

Commandant Grayza clasps her hands in front of her, in a prayful attitude. She steps towards Maryk.

Grayza: "Grand Chancellor... please... consider my counsel on this carefully. Hatred of the Scarrans is Scorpius' sole consistent trait. There is something else."

Maryk: "Perhaps... but my orders stand." Maryk turns and walks away.

Aeryn is lying on some sort of bed or table. The Diagnosan is standing over her, while John kneels beside her, peering into her face. Grunchlk stands off to the side with his back to them, appearing not to listen while he surreptitiously picks up coins from a pile and puts them into his pocket.

John: "Funny how?"

Aeryn: "Different."

John: "Different how? Like ice cream cucumber different?"