Incursion, Part 2

"Incursion, Part 2" is the first season finale of Stargate Universe.

Synopsis
The standoff between the Lucian Alliance and the Destiny Expedition continues, but a problem arises which threatens the safety of both groups.

Plot
Everett Young radios Kiva, telling her that he has the medical supplies she's requested, but demands a face-to-face meeting for the exchange. Ronald Greer pretends to be a medic, in order to switch him for Tamara Johansen. Matthew Scott leads an assault team that will invade on command. When the two sides meet, Kiva orders TJ to check the supplies. A sudden power failure puts both sides on alert, and Greer draws his gun on Kiva. Young tells TJ to come over to him, but Kiva threatens to shoot TJ if she does not come back, and warns that the hostages will be killed if Kiva does not return. TJ complies, and Kiva's group retreats to the gate room. Young orders Greer not to fire on Kiva. In retribution for the attempt to surprise her, Kiva kills one of the Marines, Rivers, and has TJ report it to Young.

Elsewhere, Chloe Armstrong and Eli Wallace are still resting in a corridor. Eli tells Chloe not to fall asleep because it's dangerous. She claims that advice is for concussions. Eli adds that it would also be boring. Chloe wonders what will be done with the prisoners. Eli figures they'll be dumped on a habitable world. Chloe hopes everyone is ok, while Eli hopes it's over. Eli knows they have to worry about themselves and picks Chloe up so they can keep searching.

Young goes back to the control room to find out why the power failed. The team doesn't know, and he angrily demands they fix it. Calming down, he tells them that Rivers is dead. Rush callously states that someone was going to die, so Young tries to attack him. Adam Brody and Dale Volker restrain him, while Rush goes on to state that Young's desire to save TJ is what got Rivers killed. Young angrily orders Rush to fix the ship.

A Lucian Alliance soldier named Koz is sent to assist TJ in treating Varro. Meanwhile, in the mess hall, Camile Wray suggests to Young that everyone can be saved if they simply surrender, but Young denies this course of action; Kiva would surely kill everyone that she didn't see as valuable the moment she gained control. Kiva radios Young, wishing to speak with Wray. She asks why Wray allowed the ambush to take place; Wray insists she was overruled. She is warned that Kiva will kill again if they attempt something similar. She decides to revive their original deal: exchange four hostages for four prisoners. However, she also wants food and water supplies for three days. Wray agrees on the condition that the hostages are offered food and water.

Power fails again, and Young comes to the control interface room to see if they have found an answer yet. The team shows him a sensor scan of a nearby binary pulsar: a rotating neutron star and a white dwarf. The Lucian Alliance chose a poor time to dial in. High levels of gamma radiation are being created by the white dwarf tearing material from the neutron star, and when the white dwarf collides with the loose material every 46 minutes, 37.4 seconds, an even greater radiation burst is emitted. The power failures are being caused by Destiny diverting power to keep the shields up. Soon enough, the shields will fail and everyone will die. For some reason, FTL will not engage, so they can't escape unless the problem is solved.

Wray relays this information to Kiva, explaining that after two more radiation bursts people will start dying. Kiva insists on making the trade first, then dealing with the problem. Telford is sent to check on TJ and Varro. She's nearly done, having almost sewn up his wound, but complains that the power interruptions are slowing her down. Telford tells her of the radiation bursts and leaves her to her work. Tj suddenly looses her balance and is aided by Koz; she insists she's fine and claims to be finished with Varro. She asks Kiva for permission to treat the wounded hostages, to which she agrees.

Once the food is gathered, Wray prepares to trade with Kiva. She turns down the offer of a flak vest, wanting to make it seem like she is trustworthy. Greer asks if Young is sure about this idea; he's not. Young wishes Wray luck, hoping she makes a better impression. During the exchange, Kiva only brings two civilian hostages and a military officer, since there are no more civilians to trade. When Wray points out the deal was four people, Kiva insists that these two were the only ones she had. Wray asks for TJ, but Kiva refuses to return her. Instead, she has Rivers' corpse dragged in. Wray tries to argue that they should work together, but Kiva refuses to give up her position. Once Kiva leaves, Wray has Brody open the door to let Scott in. She tells Scott that Kiva has no more civilian hostages, which leaves them to wonder what happened to Chloe and Eli.

Eli and Chloe continue their exploration of the ship. Eli jokes that carrying a wounded person through the ship is great exercise, and that they should do this every week. Chloe calls him a great friend, and he says that someone can't have too many of those, making note that something like accepting all friends on Facebook doesn't count. Distracted by the conversation, he opens the next door they find without bracing himself, exposing the corridor to a hull breach. Eli manages to get the door closed before either of them are sucked out.

Scott is worried about Chloe, but Greer assures him that Eli will protect Chloe with his life. Greer tells Scott to remain focused on the mission, and to have faith that Young will eventually give the order that will let them resolve the situation. Scott isn't sure how Greer can be so sure of that, but Greer simply tells him to learn how.

Varro is now awake and thanks TJ for healing him. She is dismissive of his gratitude, saying that she would have done it for anyone. He tries to continue, but she insists that she's been standing for too long as it is and wants to finish treating the wounded.

Eli and Chloe hit a dead end in their exploration of the ship. Chloe claims that she never had any true friends before Eli. She wonders why Eli always regards this as getting a runner-up prize. Eli tries to find the words to express his affection for her, but Chloe cuts him short with an "I know." Eli then finds an active console which he can use to contact the control room.

The science team has devised a plan to protect the ship. The shields on the side of the ship facing the pulsar are severely depleted, but the shields on the opposite side are much stronger. By rotating power from one to the other, it will buy the time they need to fix the FTL drive. Without access to the primary systems, however, the emitters have to be reset manually on the outside of the hull. Scott and Greer prepare to go outside the ship. Rush tells them it's a simple task, and Greer asks why Rush doesn't do it. He sarcastically states that if Greer can fix the FTL drive while he's working, he'll switch.

Before Scott and Greer can get to work, there is another problem: Kiva controls the side of the ship with the hull breach nearest to the emitters, meaning they have to get past her to get outside. Wray tells Kiva of this, and Kiva demands control of the ship in exchange for her cooperation. Telford goes back to the corridor where the man was burned alive and picks up a radio he left behind to contact Young. He convinces Young to transfer control. By having Young and Brody retreat to an auxiliary control room, he can transfer control back to them at the first opportunity. Once the Alliance herds everyone into one area, Rush can vent the sections around the hostages, protecting them.

Young agrees to surrender control, under the condition that none of his people are hurt. Kiva accepts the condition. Rush and Brody get ready to leave, but get a message from Eli moments before. Not able to do anything at the moment, Rush and Brody leave. Lisa Park transfers control to Kiva. A message is sent to Eli, telling him to stay put.

Now in control of the ship, Kiva's group rounds up the expedition crew and allows Scott and Greer to get to work. They make their way to the shield emitter and reset it. Varro tells TJ that the lack of shooting is a good sign. He notes that his stitching has torn, a result of him moving around. He tries to offer an olive branch, noting that the ship never really belonged to the expedition and that they'll all have to get along after things are settled. TJ doesn't answer.

Meanwhile, Telford destroys a power relay as a distraction. Calvos reports this to Kiva, who leaves to check on what's happening. Telford comes in and orders Calvos to fix the relay, taking over his station. He begins transferring control to Rush and Brody. Kiva catches him in the act, and they both shoot each other. This stops the transfer before it can be completed. Kiva's men find both her and Telford on the floor. Kiva is alive but unconscious. Telford's condition is not stated. Assuming one of Young's men to be responsible, Dannic takes command and decides to deal with the problem by executing the military personnel.

On the hull, Scott and Greer return to the hull breach. However, Kiva's men have no intention of lowering the shield to let them back in. Rush radios Scott, telling him of an alternate means back into the ship which they might be able to reach if they hurry. Eli is near the access point, so Rush sends him to open it. Eli tells them of Chloe's location, and makes sure that she knows his feelings before leaving.

In the infirmary, Varro asks what's going on over the radio. Dannic wants the injured expedition soldiers brought to him. TJ immediately refuses to treat Kiva if they are moved. One of the Marines decides to attack his captors. In the struggle, the gun goes off and sprays the entire room, killing several people. The Marine disarms the Alliance soldier, but is killed by Varro. He checks on TJ, finding that she has been shot in the stomach.

Scott, Greer, and Eli make their way to the alternate access point as fast as they can. Chloe falls unconscious in Eli's absence. The Alliance personnel lead the military into a room to execute them. Young simply stares into the ceiling as power shuts off from another radiation burst.

Production

 * Incursion was originally slated to be a single episode, but while writing it, Joseph Mallozzi began to realize it would have to be longer. There were initial concerns it would be three parts, with the third part airing as the season two premiere, but after various edits, it was tightened to two episodes.
 * According to Mallozzi, the episode will have the "biggest HOLY #%&@!" ending he'd ever written.