Disclaimer: none of the characters used here are mine.
Note: this story takes some liberties with both history and the source material. So if you're not a fan of anachronisms or anatopisms, you may not enjoy reading this. Can't say I didn't warn you.
SGC, Creek Mountain, Colorado, Earth:
If one were outside the mountain, they would not be able to hear the blaring alarm that goes on in the facility, located two dozen floors beneath the surface. An alarm that woke an aging general from his anxious thinking in his office.
"Unscheduled off-world activation," is called through the speakers.
What is it not now, the General asks himself, as he rises from his seat to leave his office.
Less than ten steps later, the General has entered the facility's control room. There, his instincts take over, as he looks through the control room's window, where he can look into another, larger room. One where military personnel have already gathered around, armed and ready, pointing their guns in the same direction. That being one huge ring, with nine lights, of which only seven are lit up, but these lights pale in comparison to the light that is produced from what's inside the ring. To the casual observer, it looks like a puddle of water, but to the people who work in this mountain, it's the event horizon of an incoming wormhole, held steady thanks to this large ring. The Stargate.
"It's SG-1, General," a voice calls to him.
The General turns his head to who just spoke to him. It's the technician, handling the computers that activate the Stargate from this end, and the same one who called "off-world activation" mere seconds before.
"Why aren't they coming through the Gate?" the General asks.
Before the Technician can answer, he raises his hand to his ear. He's hearing something through his ear-piece.
"They are transmitting a signal," he explains, and just as soon starts pressing a few buttons, so the General can hear it too.
"Repeat, this is SG-1, calling Stargate Command!" The General recognized the voice he's hearing. It belongs to the leader of the SG-1 team, Colonel O'Neill.
"Hammond here," the General replied. "What's your status."
"It's a complete war zone out here!" The tension in O'Neill's voice is obvious. "The Bajorans have only NOW decided to stop being oppressed and started to rebel," a shot of a raygun can be heard, followed by that of a machine gun firing. "We were barely able to make it to the DHD, it's that heavily guarded!"
That was on odd choice of words on the Colonel's part, the General realizes. The team made it to the DHD, or Dial-Home Device. Why didn't he just say he's at the Stargate?
"Why aren't you coming through?"
"We'd love to," the Colonel explains. "But the Cardassians have put the Stargate in the middle of the warzone, while they're keeping the DHD in a heavily guarded building, ten miles away from the Gate."
A tactic that sounded typical for the Cardassians, the General thinks to himself. By putting the Stargate out in the open, it creates the illusion that anyone can leave if they want to, but by keeping the DHD in a secure location, they are preventing anyone from escaping.
"Have you tried to ask DS9 for help?" the General asks, hoping that the nearby space station is able to provide any assistance.
"We tried," O'Neill answers. "But they're overrun by Replicators."
Suddenly, more laser sounds screech through the speakers. Shots are fired that come from SG-1's weapons. The General hopes to hear his team win this shooting match, but the fight is interrupted by a sudden static.
"Sir, we lost their signal," the Technician tells the General.
Even though the General has heard this being said several times before, he never gets used to the sound of that.
The Death Star, Uncharted Territory:
Though space stations are made for functionality and efficiency, the one who demanded this station to be built insisted on building a throne room, for when he decides to visit the station. Unfortunately, he did not come to this station for his own pleasure. He had received an invitation, requesting his presence into this part of space. A name was not given with the invitation, but the boldness of the request alone gave him an idea as to who is asking. And one look through his window reveals the arrival of their ships. The configuration of these ships only confirm what he already suspected. He turns to the door to his throne room, awaiting the arrival of this representative he's supposed to meet.
The wait is long, but he's not surprised. Considering whom he is dealing with, all sorts of precautions have to be taken. They are searched, scanned, repeatedly, making sure they have no weapons, or anything that can harm this man. Sure, even if they do manage to smuggle anything harmful into his throne room, he has abilities that would render their attempts futile. Still, being forced to go through customs like this, helps intimidate his visitors, making them think twice before trying anything foolish. But even if their search is done, it is still quite a distance from the space station's docking area to the throne room.
Eventually, his visitor arrived. Both look each other up and down. What he sees before him is a female, dressed in black robes, with pale skin that has an odd shade blue to it. The woman in turn looks him up and down. His dresscode is similar to her own, but his natural appearance is that of a frail old man. She has seen old men ruling empires, but this frail looking man can somehow intimidate entire galaxies? She finds that hard to believe.
"Peacekeeper Commandant Mele-On Grayza," the woman introduces herself. "An honor to finally meet you, Emperor Palpatine."
The Emperor grins. "Peacekeeper... I always thought the name a misnomer."
Grayza grins back. "And I thought only Peacekeepers would be so arrogant to build throne rooms in their ships. Looks like you and I are not that different."
The Emperor looks at her again, but not with his eyes. He has a special sense, which allows him to see what she feels. Most people, even representatives, would shake at the mere sight of him. Or at least feel a little fear of failure. But not this one. He senses her stomach is having trouble digesting the food she had before leaving her ship, but other than that he sensed nothing. As though she's so sure he will give her what she's about to ask.
"Come closer," he tells her, and she obeys.
"I have an offer which, in the long run, will benefit both parties," Grayza says as she approaches.
"That is what your message told me," Emperor Palpatine replies. "But in itself it means very little."
Grayza lays her hand on her heart. "My apologies."
Suddenly, Palpatine senses something else. He doesn't know what. There's a sudden change in the atmosphere, but he can't explain how.
"What I propose," Grayza continues, "is an alliance."
Palpatine frowns. "An alliance? After all the soldiers that died on both sides. All the resources that have been lost. All the territories. And now the Peacekeepers want an alliance?"
"Precisely," Grayza smiles, more broadly this time. "We both want the same thing. You want our territory, we want yours. You want to maintain peace over your empire, we want to maintain peace everywhere we can. You have an interest in our technology, we have an interest in yours."
That last bit makes Palpatine feel elated. Which is odd, as normally this would trigger an alarm inside his head. Why is he feeling so light-headed now?
"Explain," he says, trying to maintain some control over his faculties.
"Your Death Star," Grayza says. "It is said it has enough power to destroy entire planets. This is technology that even us Peacekeepers haven't been able to perfect."
"And from what my sources tell me, you don't need it," Palpatine interrupts. "You have managed to weaponize wormholes."
"Wormhole weapons are powerful, indeed," Grayza does not deny that. "Too powerful. Our soldiers will only use it when all else fails. Unfortunately, that means we never had to use it, making many of our opponents think we're bluffing. Including our greatest foe, the Scarrans."
The moment he hears her describe the Scarrans as a dangerous foe, it made him feel a fury like nothing he's ever felt before. Which makes him even more uncomfortable. Normally, he's more in control over his emotions like this. Why is he feeling the most petty things over the most insignificant matters?
"So we need a new weapon," Grayza continues. "One that's not as powerful as our wormhole weapons, but intimidating enough to let everyone know we are not to be trifled with."
A bead of sweat ran down Grayza's neck. That's when it hits Palpatine. This woman is secreting some kind of pheromone that's clouding his mind. That is why she was sure he would get what she desired, as she believed he would fall for her feminine wiles.
"An interesting proposition," Palpatine says. "Allow me to send my reply directly to your superiors."
Grayza raises a brow. What did he mean by that?
Mere seconds after saying this, the Emperor raises his hands and flexes his fingers. Before the Peacekeeper Commandant has any time to let what's happening register with her, bursts of lightening shoot from his hands, hitting her.
The jolt was short, just let it sink in with her. Grayza takes a deep breath, but that was all the time that Palpatine allowed for her. He shoots out more bolts of electricity, more powerful than what he used before. The Commandant can do nothing more but cry in agony as she feels her body burning to a crisp. But, as if this moment wasn't full of surprises already, Grayza feels something happen inside her. Somewhere inside her belly, something is swelling up. And if her knowledge of her own anatomy isn't failing, that something is happening inside her own stomach.
The Emperor noticed it too. What's more, is that he senses this is new to her as well. He "looks" at her again with his special sense. Earlier he sensed that she had some trouble digesting her food. That food is what's swelling up now. She was fed an explosive substance One that was organic, and therefor wouldn't show up on any scanner.
On board the Peacekeeper vessel, two pair of eyes are watching a holographic display intently. On the display, they can see how the Emperor is igniting the substance in the Commandant's stomach. A substance they themselves had fed her. Unknowingly, so when the Emperor is using his special sense, he wouldn't suspect anything. They watch how he stops electrocuting her, but at that exact moment, the Commandant combusts, and the holographic projector stops showing anything.
"Our plan worked," one of the two men hisses. Though his body is covered in an isolating suit, his face still reveals his reptillian features. "We now rid the universe of its most incompetent rulers, and ourselves of our masters."
The other takes a deep breath, and though his breathing is synthetic, it sounds a little more prolonged than usual, as if he is relieved to hear this. "Indeed."
The first man who spoke turns to his companion. "Now, let us do what we came here for in the first place."
The second man turns to him too.
"We came here in the hopes that your Empire would ally with the Peacekeepers. And while our leaders are now gone, that shouldn't stop us from forging the alliance. Don't you agree, Lord Vader?"
He sticks out his hand to the one he just called Vader. The latter takes the hand and shakes.
"Agreed, Scorpius."
The Planetary Alliance, Spaceship Flamel, in orbit around Persephone:
A small derelict vessel has just been dragged into the docks. Several men in purple uniforms are surrounding the vessel. Though their scans had shown no lifesigns inside, they cannot be too careful.
Once the Commanding Officer to these men enters the docks, he is being briefed.
"Commander, Sir," one of the soldiers salutes him.
The Commander salutes him back. "What's the status?"
"The ship hasn't moved yet, Sir," is the answer. "Permission to ask a question, Sir."
The Commander nods.
"Is all this necessary? Our scans have already revealed there's no one alive inside."
"You can't be too careful. This," the Commander points to the ship, "Firefly has caused us more trouble than it's worth. Who knows what tricks they have up their sleeves."
The soldier nods, and leaves his commanding officer.
An order is given to one of the soldiers to open the ship's gate. The soldier approaches the vessel, presses an emergency button on the outside. A gate at the front is opened, slowly. But as it opens, they see feet at the bottom. So there is something alive inside after all, some are thinking. While others believe otherwise. The feet they see do not belong to people. They're gray, and made of metal. Robots? Likely. Many of the soldiers already began to lower their guns. A big mistake that turns out to be, as when the gate had opened enough to reveal the bodies' upper torsos, they saw the arms carrying guns, which start shooting everyone nearby.
"Do not resist," the artificial beings call in unison, speaking in a flat and monotonous tone. "You will be upgraded."
"They're Cybermen!" one of the soldiers shouts, upon which everyone starts barraging their foes with everything they have got.
Guns are shot, grenades are thrown, but other than denting the Cybermen's outer shell, they don't seem to be too bothered with that the purple-bellied men are doing.
Soros, Betelgeuse System:
Flying saucers, large enough to cover an entire city, are hovering over this planet's metropolises. In the center of one of them, something opens up, revealing a huge, green, glowing cannon. Sparks are gathering, as the thing is charging. Suddenly, a ring of fire flies through the air, hitting the saucer. Its cannon stops charging. Small explosions erupt on several spots, as the saucer breaks into two halves. No longer able to stay afloat, the saucer crashes.
One giant man, tall enough to rival any skyscraper, looks at the remains of the crashed ship. If he was pleased with himself, his giant mask revealed nothing of the sorts. As he looks on, he hears a thundering noise. He turns to look.
Around him, several more of these giant saucers are closing in on him.
He anticipated this. He bends his knees, and raises his arms, ready for battle.
Before anyone can do anything, a bell starts ringing. It's not that of a nearby church, it's the alarm that is built into his suit. He looks down. On his chest, where there usually is a blue light, indicating he's safe, is now a red blinking light, telling him that he won't last much longer in this atmosphere. No matter, he thinks. He knows that he now has these saucers' attention, and thus, he can lure them away from the planet.
"Shuwatch," he shouts, as he thrusts himself off the ground, and flies into space.
As he flies, however, he hears tiny buzzing sounds. He looks down.
Underneath him, several smaller machines are chasing after him.
He makes a circular movement with his one hand, creating that ring of fire again, and throws it toward these machines.
While several of them are hit, many more are fast enough to dodge the attack. They start gathering around the flying giant, and fire at will. Normally, a barrage like this would not faze him, but since he's severely weakened, he has little defense against them.
On the ground, a small group of people are running away from all the carnage in the air. Everyone ducks as a large piece of debris is about to fall on them. To everyone's surprise, a large green light shines over their heads, catching the debris, saving everyone.
"There!" someone points to where the light comes from.
As everyone watched, they saw a man, wearing a green costume, a green mask, and a ring on his right hand, from which the light was shot.
"Fear not! We're here to help!"
Everyone gasps at the sight of him.
"A human!" one of them shouts.
This surprises the green man. He was told there were humans on this planet. His ring shoots out another green light. This one forms a screen, which zooms in on the crowd. Being able to take a closer look, the green man realized why they were so shocked. These aren't humans. They are all hairy, lack noses, and have hands where there should be feet. Monkeys? Are monkeys the dominant species of this planet?
"The humans are vicious in their actions!" one other shouted.
"They are the ones who have brought this on us!"
"Kill that human!"
All of them charge at the green man. The latter is taken aback at this. He just saved their lives, and yet they see him as their enemy. As he tries to figure out what to do, a large shadow covers him, and the surrounding area.
The Apes before him noticed this as well. All look up to see what's causing this.
A huge humanoid body is falling toward them. One that the Green Man recognized too well.
"Zoffy?!" He can't believe it. These invaders were capable of taking out one of the Ultrapeople?
