Continued from here.
Epilogue
"Into the Light"
Rex and Revan raised their hands to the sky, the two men alone able to manipulate the Force to a degree few of their kind could reach. With Darth Vader’s help primarily, the group could feel a pressure in the air as the Force rippled and shook around them. The dark clouds above began to break apart and drift away from the immediate area, taking with it the violent lightning and harsh winds.
Burnham let out a gasp one she realized her communication signal was getting stronger.
“Just a bit more,” she said, feeling the hair on her arms stick up from the charged energy in the air. The environment felt almost otherworldly. Large amounts of the Force were moving to and fro, reminding the group a little of the fall into the abyss. Soon, the dark clouds had drifted further and further, allowing communications to finally go through.
“We’ve done it!” Burnham announced, then spoke into her communicator.
“This is Officer Burnham. We’re alive. You should be able to lock on with the transporter now.” In just a few minutes, everyone soon found themselves beamed aboard the Discovery.
Some time passed, where the Discovery crew tended to the wounded and discussed openly with Rex and Revan their understanding of the Force. It was eventually explained to everyone that it was possible they could use the Force like the mycelial network. Furthermore, all of their jumps and a new understanding of temporal signatures allowed the crews of the Discovery and the Enterprise to calculate how to make accurate jumps across dimensions, using a combination of the spore drive technology and the transporter technology. The transporter had a range limit, but the limit could be overcome by transporting to the space between dimensions for an infinitesimal moment of time and then jumping again to the desired universe. How this was possible was thanks to the space between dimensions being incredibly small in scale in comparison to the fact that it touched all dimensions across reality.
Regardless if the explanation was understood, Burnham and Stamets assured the crew and those displaced that they knew what they were doing now. They could get to their home destination safely, but it would take more time to calculate the individual universes of all those displaced. Within a couple of hours, Rex volunteered to take Stamets place within the spore drive and the ships made a successful jump home.
***
In the days following, the Discovery brought their many tagalongs to the United Federation of Planets' representatives on Earth and explained to them the situation. All of the displaced were granted residence within the Federation building until the time that the technology to get them home was finalized. The Federation decided to establish a partnership with both the Enterprise and the Normandy, making them Federation representatives of their respective universes. The Federation also told the Normandy’s crew that they could not assist them in their war back home, for that would be a violation of the laws and ethics the Federation followed, though Shepard understood the situation.
It was soon discovered that the ARK had gone missing from the ships, leaving everyone to theorize it had simply disappeared during the final jump. Liara hoped greatly that it would be discovered by those who would do right by the device and the woman trapped inside.
In order to more quickly ascertain how to calculate the coordinates for all those displaced, the Federation reached out to other dimensions, finding a utopian version of Earth that had their own version of the United Nations. The UN leader within this dimension, Kenjiro Yamadera, worked earnestly with the Federation to help them in their efforts, finding inspiration himself in going on to unite other UN branches across the multiverse.
In time, a vigil was held for the crew members lost during the incident, as well as Elliot. Rex and Revan worked through their differences and approached the Federation with a proposal. They asked for access to the interdimensional travel devices once they were completed, speaking of threats on the horizon they had inklings of thanks to the visions they had received. Due to their help in getting the Discovery home, the Federation agreed, though as long as they were monitored.
Soon, after a month had passed, the Federation called upon the displaced and brought them together within the Federation building to deliver them some big news.
“Both the Enterprise and the Normandy safely made it back to their home dimensions,” Burnham announced to the group.
"They had important matters to attend to back home and could not stay to say goodbye." They were in a large conference hall, but the front was filled with members of the Discovery’s crew, who had some sort of pedestal set up in front of them. Burnham gestured to it.
“It is still only a beta design, but this piece of equipment will transport you all back home, safe and sound. We still do not entirely know why this all happened in the first place, but the Federation is looking to phasing out the spore drive technology as a result, or at least its use on ships.”
"Once again, we are terribly sorry that you had to be dragged from your homes across the multiverse, for a whole month even," Saru added after Burnham,
"However, one thing to consider, for better or for worse depending on how luck shines on you, as we've observed with our meeting of the Enterprise, time is not so linear through different worlds. Even though you've spent a month relative to this world, that is the more unpredictable part; depending on where your world might be, from your world's perspective, you may have been gone for hardly a minute, a day, a week, or even a whole year or beyond, all things considered. Do keep this in mind, please."
Stamets raised a hand.
“Now keep in mind, these are one-way trips home. You can’t come back, nor can we send messages to your homes or loved ones. It is the Federation’s request that you do go home, as keeping you here is believed to possibly upset the balance between universes. Ethically, we can’t let you stay.”
“So…” Burnham nodded her head.
“Say your goodbyes now. It has been an honor getting to know you all.”
Tilly, standing next to Burnham, leaned to the side in her direction.
"This is still really freaky to me... We really just discovered a whole new frontier beyond space but we won't even be able to explore it! Though, I guess it's for the best, all things considered. Still, since we don't know what caused this anomaly in the first place, who's to say this won't happen again? What if they don't even end up in a world like this? How do you think they would've gotten home?"
...
"Oh, I should... probably keep that to myself," Tilly cleared her throat as she turned to face the displaced,
"Yeah, anyway, say your goodbyes! What she said!"
Burnham let out a long sigh.
"Perhaps in time, Tilly, things will change. It is inevitable, really. We should hope for the best."
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