Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, locations or plots from Buffy, Stargate SG1. This is just a work of fiction which using the worlds that have been opened to us through the creators of these shows. All reviews are welcome.
A/N: This story takes place a few days before the events in Exodus (SG-1: s04e22) and during the events of Listening to Fear (BtVS: s05e09).
The Milky Way Galaxy, sixty million years ago.
The Watchers Council believed that the Earth, or Terra, was older than anyone thought it was. That demons and the supernatural walked on its surface when it was a hellscape of fire and brimstone. They believed that the planet, in what they called the Primodium Age, was the home of demons.
And they were right.
The Earth was home to the demons, monsters, and creatures of darkness. However, what they didn't know was that it lasted for the better part of ten millions years. Before that, there were no demons, no monsters, there was nothing supernatural; instead, the world was teeming with life like a paradise right out of the religious texts that exist today. What they didn't know was that a race of people lived on Terra long before the demons and the creatures of darkness. A people from another galaxy.
It was five million years after the last of the dinosaurs were rendered extinct that a ship landed on a blue world, the third planet orbiting its star. The ship carried refugees from a faraway galaxy who came upon a belt of stars they called Avalon. And the lush, green world they landed on was named after their own race, the Alterra.
Terra. That was what the Alterra called the planet on which they would make their new home. A home free from the persecution of the fanatically religious Ori; a home where the Alterra could spread and form a new society of their own.
And Terra was to become the jewel of their new civilization. The planet was colonized and, after forty years, a ship left the planet and set course for a world that would eventually be known as Dakara. It was the very first planet they landed on during the journey to Earth. With a recently invented device meant to ease transportation throughout their new civilization by creating a stable wormhole, called the Astria Porta, installed on Terra, and the second one was installed on Dakara. And the first stable connection for wormhole travel was created between these two planets.
Thanks to the Astria Porta, Dakara became their first colony, and the ship- one of many seed ships, continued laying Astria Porta on habitable worlds in Avalon, and then they left the galaxy and set off for other galaxies in the universe depositing the ring shaped devices on habitable worlds. While the Alterra expanded their sphere of influence, they soon became allied with three other advanced races who had only just started colonizing the galaxy as well; the Furlings, the Asgard, and the Nox. This alliance of four races shared ideas and knowledge on a third planet that eventually would come to be known as Heliopolis.
And thus, the Alliance of Four Great races was born.
However, the four races were not the first to step foot in the galaxy. And Terra wasn't the only planet that was full of life. It was simply the planet most suited to what the Alterra were looking for and it resembled their homeworld. There were other planets that were full of life, including, a planet on the far side of the galaxy that. The planet was teeming with life, but it was life that was dark and twisted. A world that would be introduced to the Alterra six hundred years after they colonized Terra. It was a world of perpetual night, a planet of forests, streams, lakes, and vast stretches of grassy land that covered the surface. The darkness was momentarily broken as squeals were heard in the distance while a bright white light washed over a small area. The light soon faded, and the squeals disappeared, only to be replaced by the sounds of howls, growls, and grunts followed by the thuds of footsteps that were travelling fast towards the momentary flash of light. The light was fully faded now, but it left behind an Astria Porta and the accompanying Dial Home Device on the surface. The seed ship that lay it, then swung around and jumped into hyperspace for the next planet in its itinerary.
It would be two minutes later that several bipedal creatures stepped out of the shadows snarling and growling at the new object that stood amongst them. One of them, it's eyes blood red, it's skin covered in black, hardened scaled skin, opened its mouth and growled at the object in front of them. The open mouth of the creature revealed row after row of sharp teeth before it pulled back and looked behind it. All of the creatures then turned as well as squeals sounded in the distance. The creatures growled and returned to chasing their prey, leaving the ring shaped device alone among the trees in the vast jungle.
It would be twelve years later that the Astria Porta activated for the first time. The blue event horizon rippled as a team of six Alteran scientists arrived on the world. The blue light from the event horizon highlighted their surroundings. So once the Astria Porta deactivated, their light faded, and so they took out their flashlights and swept their immediate area before they went exploring. With the ship known as Destiny having been launched a mere forty years earlier following the ships that seeded Avalon with Astria Porta, the Alterra were now free to explore and further expand their civilization. And they did. The Alterran civilization covered nearly four hundred worlds, with many more still being explored, with over billions upon billions of people settling on these colonies. And Terra was their capital.
It was peaceful, unlike their own galaxy where the Alterra were hounded and killed by the Ori. However, that peace wouldn't last. The scientists on this dark world were soon hunted and, then with the swipe of sharp clawed hands, were killed. The creatures had found a new source of food as they bit into the flesh of one of the scientists. They used their immense strength to crack the skulls and then take off the top of the skull before biting into their brains.
There was an unforeseen side effect. The creatures' main food source was a species of armoured, and tusked, boar. The creatures would eat their brains and gain knowledge of how the boars would avoid them during their hunts. And the creatures used that gained knowledge to perfect their hunting of the boars.
And it was the same with the other prey on the planet. However, the creatures were also cannibalistic... they had in-borne instincts of when the hunters were greater in number than the prey. And so, the leaders of every pack – the larger and fiercer females- would lead in eating the weaker members of their groups. But after eating the brains of the Alterran scientists, the creatures grinned with blood dripping from the sides of their blood-stained lips as memories and knowledge entered their minds about the current state of the galaxy.
There was a civilization of billions out there in the galaxy. And their own civilization of billions of hunters had a new food source. They craved variety, and the scientists who lay dead on the grass were just an appetizer.
Using the knowledge gained from the scientists, the creatures accessed the network of Astria Porta and, over the next year, seventy planets were attacked. A total of forty billion lives were lost.
All Alterran.
The attacks would come at night. And these creatures, which became known as the Nocturna, only arrived through the Astria Porta after the setting of the sun. They would slash, tear, feed through cities and towns killing men, women, and children. They were incapable of being seen using the advanced sensors of the Alterra, and later the Asgard, the Nox, and the Furlings. The more knowledge they gained from the killings, the more cunning the Nocturna became. In another two years time, out of a total of six hundred and seventy billion Alterra… more than three hundred billion lost their lives.
The Alterra were losing a war they were wholly unprepared for. However, three years since they encountered the Nocturna, the Alterra had just finished building their first warship which was sent to a world currently under attack. The mission was to save as many people as possible, and retrieve a creature so that it could be examined. The ship contained a unique weapon that was created for war. For a race of scientists and philosophers, the thought of killing these creatures were unfortunate… but this weapon was needed urgently. The Alterra, in agreement with the other three races who knew they could be attacked at any time, knew that they needed powerful weapons to fight back. And so, the drone weapons were created.
Once the ship entered orbit of the world after exiting hyperspace, one of the attacking Nocturna was beamed up and locked in a cell surrounded by what was the most advanced shielding system in the galaxy. While scientists and the advanced ship sensors were examining the creature, the Captain of the ship prepared to fire the weapon they were certain would turn the tide.
From the ship, yellow coloured dots flew out and rained down on the planet below. There were no survivors among the three million inhabitants, and so the Captain of the ship used the new Drone weapons to destroy every moving thing on the surface of the planet. However, it was a hollow victory even with hundred of thousands of Nocturna having been shredded apart. Over the next few months, seven more ships were built and sent to fight the Nocturna. However, by the time the ships of the Alliance arrived at the location of a planet under attack, it was too late.
No one knew where these creatures came from; all everyone knew was that the Nocturna were a galactic threat… a deadly scourge that could wipe out the Alliance. The Alliance knew there was no choice, they had to come up with a new approach. During a meeting in Heliopolis, one of the Alterran councillors admitted that they had been working on a device for the past six months on Dakara that would take care of the Nocturna threat. He admitted that they required a DNA analysis of the Nocturna… and they finally had it from the one they captured.
The rest of the Alliance reluctantly agreed to use the weapon. The most powerful weapon in the galaxy, powerful enough to end all life it targeted. An Alterran was the one who activated the weapon while opening every Astria Porta in the galaxy simultaneously. An energy wave travelled through the dark planet, the homeworld of the nocturna, and billions died with one stroke. Nocturna in the midst of attacking other worlds died as well; however, there were a few that survived by going deep underground and entering a period of deep slumber.
For now, though, the threat was gone in an act of genocide that was purged from all records of the Alterra. No one would ever know of what they did, because the Alterra did not want their descendants to have their hands stained with the blood of their ancestors' mistakes. The Alterran population grew once again, and the Alliance held for millennia.
At least until the plague that nearly wiped out the Alterra, leading to the end of the Alliance. The vast majority of the Alterra died, while others ascended, and the rest fled Avalon for a new home in their city-ship of Atlantis. The very same weapon that ended the Nocturna, was then used to destroy all life in the galaxy and thus ending the plague, before it was used once again to reseed life.
However, what no one knew was that a group of Nocturna lay in deep slumber deep underground on a distant world. They were unaffected by the energy wave. And they presented a grave threat if they were ever to wake up.
Planet soon to be designated as P2T-118, known by natives as Asherah. Earth year: 1981; 1930 hours.
The remaining Nocturna, fourteen packs led by one female, were in hiding underneath the surface of a world forty thousand light years away from their own homeworld. Millions of years had passed them by when a sweet scent hit the nostrils of the female. It slowly opened its red eyes. And growled. She got up slowly, looked at her males lying in hibernation, and looked up upon breathing in the scent of four figures. The creature then stealthily walked forward through several passageways, it's eyes seeing in the dark as if it was day. After fifteen minutes of moving through one passage after another… it lay its eyes on four people who looked like the Alterra.
They didn't notice the female since she blended with the darkness around them. However, sensing that she was being watched, one of them looked up and scanned the area with her eyes. The Nocturna could hear the Alterra's heart racing as she turned and spoke something to the others in a language she did not understand. But, sensing that they were about to escape, the female Nocturna struck first. The screams of the four people reverberated through the walls… the scream of the woman was last… the scream stopping after the sound of a sickening 'crunch'.
The body of the woman fell onto the ground where it lay in a pool of blood. It was twitching uncontrollably while a good sized chunk of her forehead was missing. As the Nocturna walked passed the bodies, it was licking the inside of the skull it tore off the woman's forehead using it's clawed fingers. The Nocturna then, once all the brain matter and blood was licked off the inside, dropped it with a thud and ate the chunk of brain matter it pulled off the piece of skull and chewed it. After a few minutes of swaggering towards a breeze rushing past her, the Nocturna stopped and looked out the mouth of cave covered partially with undergrowth of grass and vines hanging from trees outside. Its eyes were blinded by the sunlight as it stepped back further into the cave, and growled in hunger as it breathed in the scents of nearly six hundred people in the distance. It closed its eyes and concentrated, and heard the sounds of celebration… as well as a scent that made the female nocturna lick its lips.
It was the scent of a newborn; no more than two hours old. The female remembered her first taste of a child, and she wanted this one for herself. Her male soldiers could have the others, but the baby was her meal. But she could not act now.
She needed to wait for the night to fall, and then she was going to have her fill… starting with the baby. The female nocturna sensed that she didn't have to wait long, so all she had to do was wake her soldiers. She knew that once they had killed the village, she needed to mate so that she could lay eggs for the next generation of the Nocturna. And then they were going to ravage the galaxy once again.
Asherah, 1800 hours.
Gina was looking into a mirror as she placed both of her hands on the wall in front of her. A hand suddenly covered her mouth to stifle the moan that was about to escape as she rolled her eyes upwards. Her body was shaking as she caught the reflection of the man who was behind her just before closing her eyes tight. She saw that his eyes were closed as well and brought her head back down and hung it half in shame and half in response to the pleasure emanating through her whole body.
At the last grunt of the man behind her, Gina let out a stifled scream which she hoped no one heard from the living room below. The man was panting as he stepped back and bent down to pull his pants back on while Gina stared at herself in the mirror. She was flushed, and her curly blonde hair was ruffled when the man behind ran his hand through the back of her head of hair.
"There's something wrong with me," Gina said softly as she lowered her ankle length skirt which had been bunched to her waist. She looked at the reflection of the man in the mirror looking back at her. He had a small smile before she turned around and looked into his brown eyes. "nine months ago, you said you'd leave Caresa, that we would wed and.. and then…"
"Then she became pregnant," said the man.
"Linton," whispered Gina as the man took a step forward and held her hips before leaning in for a kiss. However, she moved her head to the side and whispered that they couldn't do what they had just done again.
"I didn't hear you complaining just now?" Linton said as he leaned in and kissed her neck, "and your sister's busy with the baby, and…"
"Your baby," said Gina as she gently pushed the man away, "a child I wanted with you. Now… now my big sister get to have a child with the man I love, and…"
"Gina," said Linton as he held her arms gently.
"I… I can't," said Gina as she moved sideways and away from the man, "maybe… maybe this is the last time. Maybe it's a sign from the gods that… that I should move on."
"We can still do this," said Linton as he referred to their affair, "do you really want this to be our last time?"
"I kept telling myself that when Caresa was pregnant," said Gina, "but my… my mind would close up every time you joined my bed. I… it's up to me to stop. And… and by the name of the gods, then I heard your baby cry after her birth. I was there when Caresa gave birth to my niece and… and now… now… how I can I look into her eyes while I'm having an affair with her father."
"You won't stay away from me," said Linton, "you know that, Gina. Remember six months ago? You told me the same thing. We ended up having the best coupling between us in ages. You couldn't stop after that, and you won't stop now. I…"
"It stops, Linton," whispered Gina as she walked past the man, "it stops today." She then opened the door and walked down the platform and down the stairs to the large living room. There was music and the smell of cooking meat to celebrate two auspicious events; the end of a fruitful harvest, and the birth of a child.
"Caresa," whispered Gina as she smiled at her older sister who held onto a tiny bundle wrapped in a pink blanket while sitting down. Behind her was a table with several place-mats. The bundle in her arms moved slightly as Caresa looked up from her child, and smiled at her younger sister. "Have you picked a name yet?"
"Mother is telling me that she prefers Alatina, and father said he prefers Colina before he left for the nearby village in a supply run."
"And Linton?" asked Gina as she sat next to her sister who was holding onto the child.
"Aphrodite," said Caresa.
"I don't like any of them," said Gina as she leaned sideways at the sleeping baby before looking at the stairs. The both of them saw Linton walking down the stairs. He then reached the bottom and turned while telling Caresa that their room was ready. Caressa said thanks before telling the man that her father wanted to meet him outside. Linton nodded his head and glanced at Gina. They looked at each other for a second before she looked away, and towards the baby. "she's so adorable, Caresa."
"I never got to hear the name you want for her," said Caresa as Gina looked at her in surprise.
"You know our customs for naming a child," said Gina, "only those of the elders in the family…."
"Or the elders of the village can name a baby," Caresa finished her sister's sentence. "I still want to know what you'd name her."
"Artemis," said Gina as she looked at the little girl, "if I could offer a name, I'd offer Artemis as a name."
"Can I use that name?" asked Caresa.
"Ye.. yes," replied Gina nodding her head.
"Linton, tell mother I have selected a name," said Caresa, "tell her… tell her that I chose it." Caresa then turned to Gina, who had a warm smile on her face, and said, "but the three of us will know it was you."
"Hello, Artemis," said Gina as she brushed the back of her finger on the baby's cheek. Her mind went back to what she had told Linton earlier about not being able to see her niece in her eyes if she was still having an affair with him. And as Artemis opened her eyes and stared at Gina, the curly haired twenty two year old knew that she made the right choice. Caresa asked Gina if she wanted to hold the baby, to which Gina nodded her head as her older sister handed the baby over gently. In the meantime, Linton went out the door to inform his mother-in-law that the baby was named. Gina looked down at the baby in her arms, and felt a tinge of envy. But she put on a smile, "your mother and I will always be here for you, my Artemis. Through sun and the rain, and the storm… we will be here."
"You will be protected, Artemis," said Caresa as she lay two fingers on the baby's forehead, "and…"
Suddenly, the two women looked up upon hearing a bloodcurdling scream, followed by loud roars from nearby. Gina, her heart racing, stood up as she heard the sounds of men, women, and children screaming all round them. It was then that the baby in Gina's arms started to wail- the little girl releasing a loud scream that filled the whole living room. Gina and Caresa screamed as well when three bodies were flung through the windows and into the room.
"Mother!" yelled Gina as she rushed to the bloody and unmoving body. She and Caresa had tears in their eyes as they sobbed at the horrific sight of mutilated and half eaten bodies on their living room floor. With the baby in her arms, and holding onto her sister's arm with her other hand, Gina rushed out the door, and into the panicked crowd of people who were running around in every other direction. Their eyes opened wide upon seeing the monsters that were attacking, and eating, the people in their village.
"Gina!" yelled Linton as she and Caresa turned around. The both of them could only scream as two creatures pushed him onto the floor and started to tear him into pieces with their gnashing teeth. Caresa was sobbing for her husband as Gina pulled her arm, the younger sister trying to be brave for the both of them, as she and a few others made their way towards the lights of the next village visible in the distance, across the fields of tall grain. As they ran, they heard the screams of men, women, and children from the village as the monsters killed one person after another.
"Run! Run!" yelled Caresa as she pushed her sister forward while running behind her. She was already exhausted from giving birth earlier that day. And she was falling behind as she looked over her shoulder at a larger monster, nearly seven feet tall looking around while the smaller monsters were killing indiscriminately.
'Not just killing… eating,' Caresa thought to herself. It was just then she heard a loud scream. A scream that made her sob as she ran. It was a scream of three children calling out for help. And then the cries vanished, only to be replaced by more men screaming. But she, her sister, and several others behind them continued running through the fields.
Suddenly there was a loud howl while the baby's cries pierced the air after the village behind them was quiet. The monsters, the nocturna, were now feasting. Caresa looked behind her while running and saw six of the shorter monsters coming after them while the tall and larger one seemed to lean forward and sniff the air before it ran after them.
"Caresa!" yelled Gina as she ran with her niece in her arms while looking over her shoulder.
"Run!" yelled Caressa running as she waved them on, "run! Run! Run!"
"NO! Caresa!" yelled Gina as she turned and saw the people behind her sister get cut down. They screamed in pain before they were set upon by the monsters who bit into their necks, and then pressed down, killing them. Time slowed down for Gina as she saw a monster slash her sister's back. To Gina, her own scream seemed to drag on as her sister fell to the ground while her niece was wailing in her arms. She could hear Caresa telling her to run as fast as she could through tears stain eyes while both aunt and niece cried in the night.
"Run… Run… Arte…" gurgled Caressa with blood running down the side of her body before a Nocturna jumped onto her back and stomped down on her spine. Gina gave off a bloodcurdling scream before she ran towards lights and through the tall stalks of grain. She looked over her shoulder at the larger creature running after her. She saw the red eyes, the drool falling from the side of the creature's lips as it ran and roared at her. Something in Gina was telling her that the monster wanted her and the baby. Gina ran faster than she had ever run before. She heard footsteps behind her as the ground and some fallen stalks crunched beneath her feet. She heard the growls behind her getting closer… but she didn't want to look back while she held on tight to the baby in her arms.
All Gina had to do was get to the next village where her father had gone earlier in the day to buy additional supplies for the baby. She could warn them, and then everyone could hide somewhere… somehow.
'They're getting closer,' though Gina as the sounds of growls were getting much closer. Her legs felt heavy, her lungs were burning, and she was panting when she looked over her shoulder and saw the larger creature getting closer as it pushed through the stalks. She heard the sound of blood rushing behind her ears. It was the buzzing sound of the blood that made her miss the other creatures darting past her in the distance and heading for the next village. Gina looked back to her front, and as she did… the woman tripped and fell towards the hard ground.
And she knew this was it. If she fell, the large creature would be able to reach her, and then kill her and her niece. Suddenly, as she fell forward she saw a white light in front of her, followed by a pair of arms holding onto her own. She then saw the light coalesce into a face with brown eyes and a soft smile of a dark blonde haired woman.
All of a sudden, things shifted around her, and Gina found herself standing in a large room with flaming torches hanging on the stone walls. The light danced off the stone and reflected on the flags and hanging banners which contained an unknown symbol.
"You are safe," said the woman as she let go of Gina's shoulders and stepped back. The young woman holding the crying baby sobbed before falling onto her knees. Gina cried out as she closed her eyes and tears fell down her face while leaning forward with the crying Artemis.
"What is…, how… ?" said a man in a red robe as he rushed into the room. He was soon followed by six other men, all wearing the similar coloured robes, staring surprised at the woman crying on the floor and then at the woman in a cream coloured dress standing over the young woman.
"You are the monks of the Order of Dagon, are you not?" asked the woman as Gina trembled while she sobbed. One of the monks nodded his head and rushed to the sobbing woman and placed his hands on her shoulders and tried to calm her down, while the others rushed forward and demanded to know what was happening from the mysterious woman.
"You are the Order of Dagon?" asked the woman as she crouched down and placed a hand on the forehead of the baby who immediately stopped crying. Instead, Artemis simply looked up at her sobbing aunt.
"We are," said one of the men gently as they sensed the calm emanating from the woman in white, "and you are?"
"I am one who broke the rules of my people," said the woman as Gina looked up at her with red eyes while mumbling to 'bring them back.'
"Bring them back, please… bring my family back… I beg you…" she begged while sobbing, "take my life for my sister…for my mother… for my father… please… please… save him. Please."
"What did she say?" asked one of the monks, while another monk said that they didn't understand the language.
"Their deaths, heinous as they were, were part of the cycle of birth and death," said the woman sadly as Gina lowered her head and sobbed while apologizing to Artemis. The woman gently continued talking, "I could not help the others, and I.. I was not supposed to help you either. But… but your heart… your need to protect the child was what spurred me to act."
"Then bring back the others!" yelled Gina as the baby started to whine. Gina heard the baby, and looked down into her eyes before saying that she was 'sorry'. "Please… bring them back."
"I have brought you to another world, another place where you could begin anew," said the woman, "I can do nothing else. Except ask for assistance from these people."
"I….."
"Sleep, Gina," said the woman as she touched her forehead. The young woman lowered her head and fell asleep while the woman in white took the baby into her arms and held her close. The woman in white then looked up at the confused monks, and slowly went up onto her feet.
"This woman has just witnessed something no one should ever witness," said the woman, "the death of her entire village at the hands of an insidious race."
"Race? Was it an Orc? Demon? Or…" asked one of the monks.
"It does not matter," said the woman as she looked at the child in her arms who went back to sleep. She then looked at Gina, and then to the monks, "Gina's mind will need time to heal. Ordinarily, I would be able to use my abilities to change her memories , but I have already interfered too much in the evolution of these two humans. And my punishment will be dire…. But bringing them here was worth it. No child should be… should grow up alone."
"What do you intend us to do?"
"Gina deserves a new identity, a new life, a new family, and a new hope. The baby is much too young to remember what happened to her family. But Gina needs your aid," said the woman, "you can change reality itself, and give her new memories. It is why I have come to you. Will you help them?"
L.A, 1981, two days later.
"I'm up, I'm up," said Joyce Summers as she got out of bed upon hearing a baby crying in the next room. She looked over at her husband and narrowed her eyes at the still sleeping man and wondered how he was able to sleep through the steel plated lungs of their little girl. She got up off of bed, put on her robes, and then her slippers before trudging half asleep around the bed. She then went out the door, and into the room where the baby's crib was placed in the middle of the room with a mobile hanging overhead.
Joyce looked down at her baby, and smiled as she reached down and took her in her arms.
"Let's take a seat, Buffy," said Joyce as she sat down on a rocking chair. "I'm sure you're hungry, sweetie."
Joyce started feeding Buffy as a woman in white looked on for a few seconds before she turned and walked through the door. She walked through the house and caught sight of the various pictures showing Hank, Joyce, and Buffy summers together. She looked at their wedding photo, Joyce's graduation photos, and even pictures of her first date with Hank. There was even a picture of a young fourteen-year-old Joyce with her parents next to a childhood picture of Hank with his own parents.
"Ganos," said a familiar voice from behind as she took in a deep breath and turned around.
"Hera," said the woman, "I take it you are here to punish me?"
"I asked the Others to show you some compassion," said Hera as she walked towards her, "you did what you did because you didn't want to see them killed. You took pity on them."
"I did," said Ganos as she looked at the picture of Joyce and Buffy, "Gina and Artemis. I went back to the planet… the other villages were devastated. No one survived… at least I believe no one survived. I saw nothing alive in the other villages. Gina and Artemis could very well be the last of their kind. The monks gave them a new life, and in return, I told them that I sensed a dark force slowly growing in regards to the Matrix."
"I feel it too," said Hera before she shook her head, "but if you do something like this again, then the Others will come down hard on you."
"I know," said Ganos, "but I have no regrets."
"You have always been looking out for the children, old friend," said Hera as Ganos released a small smile while turning her head to look at the pictures. "What will you do now?"
"Return to the higher plains," said Ganos, "and you?"
"I will return to Sunnydale… it is almost dawn, and I wish to see Athena awaken from her slumber."
The figures then vanished. The house stood silent as Joyce was feeding Buffy; the former having the memories of her previous life changed by the monks, as well her own reality. Joyce was happy with her husband and Buffy. And she needed nothing else.
It would be sixteen years later that Joyce got divorced from Hank, and she and Buffy moved to Sunnydale. Her daughter, a Slayer activated when she was only fifteen, then saved the world numerous times from one apocalypse after another. Eventually, even Joyce found out the truth about her daughter… and she initially didn't take it well. Eventually though, she came to terms with Buffy being the Slayer. And soon after... just like that… she watched Buffy go off to college.
All the while, Joyce didn't know the truth of who she and her daughter really were. She was content with her life, just as she knew Buffy was content with hers. The two of them loved each other, and nothing would ever tear them apart. And while Gina and Artemis were living a new life as Joyce and Buffy Summers respectuvely, the Nocturna's population started to grow as they continued to consume the people of Asherah. Eventually, the population grew to a little over forty thousand Nocturna. It would be soon that the initial Female... the one who wanted to eat Artemis and her mother before they vanished... the very same one who had the knowledge of activating an Astra Porta, would dial out a wormhole.
Leaving behind a devastated planet twenty one years after having eaten the entire population, the Nocturna... at least those who already had the knowledge of the Stargate network after consuming the Alterra millions of years ago, including the initial female, lead groups out into the galaxy.
The Planet Vorash, secret underground Tok'ra base, twenty one years after incident on Asherah.
General Jacob Carter, the host for the Tok'ra known as Selmak, had just returned from the latest mission to sabotage Goa'uld naquada refineries. He had been sent the orders by the High Council a week ago, and the mission was finally completed. Landing on the sun lit surface of Vorash, the General exited the Tel'tak and walked towards the ring platform next to a pair of large sand dunes. As the man was walking while mentally speaking with his symbiote, he failed to noticed the breeze covering up the last bit of a footprint that led from the Stargate to the ring platform.
Jacob: "Now that this mission's over, maybe I'll head back to Earth. Take a week off and spend time with Sam, Mark, and the family."
The General could hear Selmak chuckle in his mind as the rings rose up, followed by the old man getting awashed with white light. When the light faded and the rings retracted to the base of the platform, both host and symbiote gasped at the scene laid down in front of them once they reached the underground base. The General took out his Zat, and activated it while talking a slow step off the platform as he looked at the blood covered walls and floors of the hallway in front of him. The man saw bodies, both host and symbiote lying on the floor in their own blood. He crouched down at the first body, and thanks to the dim lights on the ceiling, Jacob saw that it looked as if the symbiote was torn out from the back of the Tok'ra's head. He looked to the right of the body and noticed the slash marks, but the shocking thing he saw was the skull was cracked open and the bones scattered on the floor, and the brain was missing.
Trying not to vomit because of the sight and smells before him, the General got to his feet slowly and looked around at the chunks of flesh that were missing on various parts of the other bodies. He felt Selmak quaking in fear, and as a result… so did he. However, he knew he didn't need Selmak's fear, he was already afraid on his own. He had seen a lot of things during his military career, but nothing like what he was seeing now as he turned into another hallway while his boots quashed as he stepped into pools of blood.
There were half eaten bodies laid out on the floor of the hallway in front of him. He then looked through the opening to his left and saw two sets of legs on the floor behind a table., He cautiously walked in, wondering if whatever it was that did this still remained in the base. The General stepped on the shards of glass from the various bottles and beakers broken on the floor as he kept his Zat raised at the other entrance to his right.
Once he saw the bodies, the man sighed and closed his eyes in mourning.
The bodies were of Lantesh and Martouf… and the other body was that of Freya with one half of the Anise symbiote lying next to the body. The General then walked out of the room and continued down the hallway when he felt an intense fear. He grabbed the back of his head while Selmak was telling, screaming really, to run.
But the General wanted to go on. He took another step and stopped when he heard a loud growl from the hallway to the left, and from the right. Then he heard the sounds of thuds on the floor as a group of creatures were running towards him. The man turned to the opening on the left, and through the dimly lit hallway, he saw with his eyes opened wide as three black scaled creatures roared before they bared rows of razor sharp teeth at him. He then shot a Zat blast, and then another and another to no effect. He then heard growls from behind.
Not wanting to look, the man dropped the Zat onto the floor and ran for dear life. His heart was racing while Selmak was screaming at him to run as fast as possible. The roars and the growls stated to get closer and closer… the General could hear the feet of the creatures falling on the blood-soaked floor; and the General did his best not to slip and fall. The man touched a crystal on the wall, and then skidded to a stop and look behind him as the crystal created a wall to block the path of the creature. The General stepped back when he heard the roars from the other side of the wall, followed by the sound of a fist punching into the wall.
And then, not wanting to wait around, the General turned again and ran towards the ring platform. He remembered the bloody eyes that looked back at him, the blood dripping from the lips and the side of the creatures' mouths… and the claws. He remembered the claws as he ran faster for dear life. Then, as he made a turn into another hallway with the ring platform at the end of it, he heard the wall behind him crumbled, followed by a roar. And he ran faster.
Once he was a few steps away from the ring platform, the man took a leap forward and landed on the platform. He then slammed his hand on the activation button on the wall and turned. He saw the rings rise up and surround him just as one of the creatures leapt forward. The General was then washed in white light, and found himself standing on the surface under the sun before he stumbled away from the platform. He fell forward and stumbled as he tried to keep his balance while running away from the platform in case those creatures came after him. He ran a few meters before turning to find that he wasn't being chased. The man was panting as he remembered the horror down in the base, and the image of the creatures baring its teeth came back to him.
He didn't know what the creatures were, and neither did Selmak; and that worried him. The man didn't want to hang around longer than he had to, so he turned and ran towards the Stargate. He hoped that the SGC had a record of this creature, or that Daniel could have encountered stories of this creature from the various worlds that the SGC sent their teams.
"Please tell me you have something," mumbled the General as his hands shook in fear while he was inputting the IDC after the Stargate activated, "please tell me you guys have something."
Unknown World, 2200 hours.
The System Lord known as Apophis, a thorn on the side of Stargate Command and Earth, died a gruesome death.
It was only minutes ago that the Goa'uld finished inspecting the twelve Ha'tak class vessels that would be used for the attack on the planet known as Vorash; the Tok'ra base recently uncovered by the undercover Goa'uld known as Tanith. While he hadn't realized that Tanith was killed several minutes ago, Apophis was certain that the Tok'ra resistance would be finished at the end of the week. However, all that changed when a group of nearly two thousand creatures rushed in through the Stargate and started killing his Jaffa.
Not just killing; the System Lord started in horror as the creatures ate the Jaffa. He saw his Jaffa firing staff plasma blasts at the creatures to no avail; the creatures kept on attacking like rabid animals. For the first time, the Goa'uld was terrified as he turned and ran towards the closest Tel'Tak instead of his Mother-ship at the end of the large field. He saw that his Jaffa were scattered as they ran towards their ships, while others opened fire. He heard the sounds of the staff weapons and the Zats being fired, followed by bloodcurdling screams. He watched, out of the corner of his eyes, as the creatures attacked the Jaffa who were nearly at their respective ships while a few creatures rushed into the HA'tak class vessels roaring out loud. Apophis rushed into the tel'tak and pressed the button to close the door just as twenty Jaffa were begging him to wait, to save them. He stood at the door and watched them get torn apart by six of the creatures, while one of the larger creatures rushed towards the closing door of the Tel'tak. Apophis pressed the botton to close the door, and then rushed to the cockpit and sat at the pilot's seat. The ship's engines then hummed to life as the six creatures tore apart the Jaffa who were running to the tel'tak.
As the ship rose into the air, it listed sideways while the larger creature forced itself in by pushing the door back open; a door that closed shut after it entered the rear compartment.
"No," said Apophis as he looked over his shoulder at the black scaled creature. It roared at him as he pressed a button to seal the creature in the rear compartment. A door slid down shut as it separated the compartment from the cockpit. Apophis then turned the ship around while compensating for the extra weight in the back. He saw the two thousand black scaled creatures, under the cover of night, killing and eating his Jaffa while hearing screames from the subspace radios of the Ha'tak class vessels and his Mothership begging for help before the lines were cut. None of them even managed to fire off the ship-borne plasma weapons before they were torn to pieces on the bridge of each ship. He could hear the loud bloodcurdling screams from the ground even through the hull of the ship as he pulled up and enabled maximum thrust. The ship shot up into the sky.
The Goa'uld's plan was to open the main door in the rear compartment once in orbit. The oxygen would then escape, and kill the creature. However, upon hearing the loud 'bangs' from behind him, Apophis looked over his shoulder at the door as it started to dent inwards after several punches from the larger female Nocturna. His eyes went wide as the creature roared before throwing one last punch, ending with the door falling forward just behind Apophis' seat.
"I am a god!" yelled Apophis as the creature pulled back its head, and then released a mighty roar that showed off all of its sharp teeth. Apophis saw the razor sharp claws prepared to strike at him. He saw how some of his Jaffa died in pain screaming out for him… but he had no idea who he would scream for.
Just then, an idea came to his head. If he had to die.. he wasn't going to die alone. He was going to make sure that the Earth was terrorized by this creature. He then reached forward and input coordinates into the computer just as the creature roared again. However, in his panic and as his arms trembled in fear, he heard the swish of the claws being raised behind him, the Goa'uld input the wrong coordinates on Earth. All he knew, as he looked back at the creature after pressing the button that threw the ship into hyperspace, was that the SGC would be called to investigate… and they would die. Especially SG-1. He knew in his gut that this one creature would be able to kill a planet if need be.
His recalled his army of thirty three thousand Jaffa fired plasma weaponry and Zats at the two thousand creatures. He saw that the Zat blasts had no effect, and while the plasma blasts from the staff weapons did manage to push back and daze the creatures that were hit, they simply got up much angrier and leapt to the Jaffa who were firing the blasts. He remembered their screams of terror through the hull as they were almost immediately overrun. Based on what he had seen, Apophis knew that Earth had no chance with their primitive weapons.
Back on the ship, the creature swung its arm downwards at an angle and sliced the man's head into five pieces which fell onto the floor of the cockpit. The Nocturna roared in rage at the hyperspace tunnel in front of it before it reached down and tore off Apophis; arm, and bit into it. It didn't know where it was going, but the Nocturna hoped there would be food to satiate its appetite.
Vorash and Apophis's planet weren't the only ones being attacked, there were several other simultaneous attacks throughout the Goa'uld empire with thousands of Nocturna coming out of the Stargates. The Nocturna had truly returned, and no one was safe. Especially since the various female Nocturna, having had their fill, were ready to mate.
The Nocturna were increasing in population, and they were famished. And the knowledge gained from the Goa'uld and Tok'ra would bring them to new worlds to sate their hunger.
TBC.