10. Chapter Ten: First Contacts
Summary: One Halloween Night changed everything for Xander. Agreeing to a contract with the Nine-Tailed Fox Demon for power, he unknowingly unleashed great evils to the world... changing everything for the Scooby Gang. Buffy / Naruto / Andromeda / Starwars / Multiple Crossovers
Crossover: Buffy the Vampire Slayer AU crossover
Disclaimer: I do not own any characters, objects or plots from
Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV series, Andromeda TV series, Star Wars, Stargate SG-1 TV series, Casper the friendly ghost, Captain Planet and the Planeteers, Ghostbusters, Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VI (Final Fantasy III in North America), X-Men, Primeval TV series, Final Fantasy X-2, Highlander, Smallville TV series, Star Ocean Video Game series, Gundam Manga and Anime series, Xenosaga Video Game series, Naruto Manga and Anime series, Dungeons and Dragons, Carebears, Pinky and the Brain, Star Trek, Gurps, One Piece Manga
Book Title: Master of the Forbidden Seals
Author: Wraithrune
Chapter 10: First Contacts
"Little is known of Jonathon Levinson, Andrew Wells, Jack O'Neil Jr. and Anna Maria, code name Rogue. Records from the old council archives state that they are the first four Founders of the inter-reality Watcher's Council. The reality which was classified as Reality 10928 in later years by Grand Seal Mistress Dawn Summers, was an alternate reality where Stargate Command and its various aliens exists without the presence of the Hellmouths or demons. Contact between the inter-reality branches was only available between high level Watcher Council members, and the knowledge of reality travel is one of the most closely guarded secrets of the Intergalactic Watcher's Council."
~ Entrée in 'History of the Founding Council'
at Mayor's Mansion, 1140hr
Xander blinked as he looked at the two men that they had rescued. He blinked again as he turned to look at Buffy.
"Did he just ask us which planet we are from?" Xander asked Buffy slowly.
"I believe that's what he said." Buffy replied, a hint of amusement in her eyes.
"It's obvious you are not normal humans." The white haired man cut in dryly, looking at the two teenagers. His eyes lingered on Xander's steel claws, causing Xander to reflexively retract them back under his skin. "Look I am grateful that you two decided to help us. But my partner and I aren't ignorant of life outside Earth. We are part of a government organisation that deals with First Contact situations, acting as middle men between other alien races and the U.S government so you really don't have to worry about us. I am Colonel Jack O'Neil by the way and this is… Murray"
There was silence as Buffy and Xander just gaped at the two men with opened mouths.
"That's certainly interesting." Rommie said as she walked up the stairs with Cordelia and Andrew trailing behind her. They had obviously heard what the man had said because Andrew was looking at the two men with a glazed look in his eyes. "Is what you said true? That there's truly an Earth organisation that knows about the extraterrestrials? We've certainly never heard of it… What is its name?"
The two men turned as one to face the newcomers as if accessing the threat levels. The white haired man who had called himself Jack spoke up again, even as he gave a wince, clutching his injured arm.
"There are more of you." Jack said slowly as he looked back at Xander and Buffy. "You are all together?"
"Erm… I guess… I mean yeah! We're together." Xander said as he closed his open jaws with a snap.
"Then in answer to your question, the two of us are from Stargate Command." Jack said, turning to Rommie who seemed to be the eldest and the impromptu leader of the group. "What we do is not common knowledge on Earth. But we've been in operation for seven plus years, so I find it a surprise that you've never heard of us in the intergalactic scene. We're… pretty famous… or should I say infamous amongst the Goa'ulds, especially after the few times they tried to invade Earth and were thwarted because of our efforts. You certainly seemed to be enemies of them, though I've never encountered any weapons that would turn Goa'ulds to dust."
Andrew and Xander's eyes were threatening to bug out while Buffy had a look of dread in her eyes.
"You call what we were fighting just now Goa'ulds?" Buffy asked slowly as if to clarify, there was a hint of dawning horror on her face.
"Yes, isn't what they are known as intergalactically?" Murray asked with a frown, as if something was not adding up.
Xander looked like he was going to have a stroke any moment, at the mere thoughts of space faring vampires, while Buffy was beginning to look very pale.
"What… do you term as Goa'ulds?" Rommie asked Jack and Murray carefully, shooting Xander, Buffy and Andrew a warning look, imploring them not to speak.
"Goa'ulds? You know the tiny parasitic worms that tunnel into human hosts, coil around the spine, take over one's bodies, and have flashy yellow eyes, as well as fleets of spaceships controlling empires made up of hundreds over planets?" Jack explained with a frown. "Surely you know what you were fighting against, or did you call them by another name?"
Andrew's jaws dropped open at the words spaceships and planets, but he quickly regained his composure when Cordelia gave him a sharp jab in his stomach. The teenagers wore various expressions of shock at the new information. But at Rommie's sharp look, they were holding their tongues.
"You're sure that the Goa'ulds you're talking about are alien parasitic worms?" Rommie asked, stressing the word worms.
"Yeah…" Jack replied slowly, looking guarded as he observed the teenagers and the young woman. He seemed to realise that the small group before him had no idea of what he was talking about.
"Thank God!" Buffy broke the silence, giving a relieved sigh. "For a moment there, I thought we were going to have to deal with vampires in space. I am not sure what I could do against planets full of vampires. I mean one girl against zillions of vampires? That's so not fair… Though on second thought, empires of parasitic worms don't sound all that good to me either... They really tried to invade Earth?"
"Wait a minute…" Jack said as he eyed the group of teenagers uneasily. "You're aliens right?"
Xander pinched himself before answering good-naturedly. "Nope, I'm pretty sure I am 100% human, though maybe right now with the gloves on, I am probably…"
"We're demon hunters." Rommie answered, cutting off Xander before he revealed anything he should not. She gave Xander a stern look, the boy really needed to learn discretion. "And the creatures we fought just now are not Goa'ulds, they are vampires."
"You are humans?" Jack asked, shock on his face, before looking at them as if they were crazy. "You must be kidding. Look I've seen that girl call up fire from nowhere, and the boy there sprouts steel claws. What's more vampires are not real! Everyone knows that!"
"I am afraid this would take too long to explain." Rommie said with a sigh. "But the short version is, there are a lot of things going on in this world that you know nothing of. Magic and demons are real for instance. And from your conversation, it seems aliens are real as well."
"Look, no one with common sense is going to believe what you are saying." Jack answered stubbornly. "You're just trying to pull one over me aren't you? What are you people, really? I am not leaving until I get the truth!"
Rommie paused, looking at the unflinching face of Jack and Teal'c. Then she turned to Andrew, a glint in her eyes.
"Andrew, heal them if you please." Rommie said in an even voice.
Andrew gave a hasty nod as he threw out his hands at the two men in front of him. Jack and Murray took a step back as two blast of white light emitted from the boy's hands and strike their bodies.
"What on earth are you…" Jack trailed off as his various wounds began to close right before his eyes. He turned to look at Teal'c and saw that his injuries were being healed as well. "How did you do that?"
"Magic." Rommie said simply as she waved her hands to encompass Xander, Buffy, Cordelia and Andrew. "These young children are all talented magicians, able to cast healing, empowerment and elemental spells. I am their guardian, and we are a small group that protects the people of this town from what lurks beneath the shadows. Shadows which you disturbed when you came into this mansion."
The four teenagers just looked at Rommie askance after hearing the half truth and half lie that Rommie was sprouting. But Rommie gave them a small shake of her head, stopping them from saying anything.
"You must be joking." Jack said in a tone of finality. "Look we've dealt with aliens that has healing abilities as well. They could even bring back the dead. You don't have to lie through you teeth like this, ordinary humans can't do what you are doing now."
"You'll be surprised." Rommie muttered before motioning all the teenagers to gather around her. "I see it would take a while to convince you, and it's not safe to stay here any longer. Cordelia, bring us back to the High School library."
Cordelia gave a nod as she raised her hands. Before Jack and Murray could realised what was happening, energy gathered around them and all of them disappeared from the Mayor's mansion. All that's left to speak of their presence was the piles of vampire dust scattered around various locations in the mansion.
Rogue felt very much alone as she stood beside the group of strange men. One moment she was running away from home after… that incident with her would be boyfriend… The next moment, before she even had a chance to blink, she find herself the damsel in distress in what looked like a setting for a sci-fic show. But unfortunately, she had already seen first hand that this was no show, especially after the burly man, Wolverine got into that fight with Anakin and John.
She was still trying to get over the fact that the strange man, Wolverine, had sprout claws! Then there was the fact that the burly man had recovered from the powerful blow from John remarkable quickly. It made Rogue wonder if he was also a mutant like her, except that if he was really a mutant, she doubted that his powers involved sucking the life out of anyone, which hers' did.
The man who had introduced himself as Anakin Skywalker, dressed in a set of armour she had never seen before, had told them a remarkably simple plan to break out of this place. In essence, the plan boils down to them stealing the plasma guns in the room they were trapped in and tried to blast a way through the energy fields trapping them in their cell. They would focus their plasma beams in one area and hoped that it would be enough to overpower the energy fields. Rogue was going on by faith that there was even such a thing as plasma guns. As far as she knew, her world was not that advanced…
The men had made their way to the pile of guns after Anakin had explained the plan. Rogue however, had lingered behind, making her way to another section where a pile of gloves and accessories seemed to be hovering in mid-air. When she had awoken, she had a brief moment of horror when she realised that her hands were uncovered. Her mutant powers worked by skin contact and it had been pure luck that she had not absorbed the living energies from Wolverine when he had landed on her, during his fight with Anakin. This was something she had to remedy quickly. Anakin and John might be armoured and safe from her touch, but Wolverine and the man calling himself the Green Arrow was not.
"Rogue? Where are you going?" John asked, turning around as he noticed her walking the other way. Anakin looked up in Rogue's direction as he picked up what seemed to be a blaster. Beside him, Green Arrow and Wolverine were choosing their guns as well.
"I am just going to get something." Rogue said smiling wanly as she quickly grabbed the nearest pair of gloves. There was no way she was going to tell a bunch of strangers that she was a mutant. She had seen on TV how some of the mutants were treated by the public, and she did not want to suffer through the same pain and humiliation.
As her hands came into contact with the pair of black leather gloves, a strange energy surge through her body. Thoughts and memories of another woman forcibly took over her as Rogue gave a frightened scream before darkness claimed her.
At the other side of the room, a near similar Halloween possession was taking place as Wolverine picked up one of the guns with his bare hands. His whole facial expression suddenly changed to a snarl as he looked at the men before him.
"Hu…mans must die! For the honor of the Xiati!" The possessed Wolverine cried out as he opened fire on the shocked Anakin and John, with the Green Arrow narrowly ducking out of the energy blast.
"Wolverine! Are you nuts?" Green Arrow cried out as he scampered out of the way from another stray energy beam.
The three remaining men who were still in control of their own bodies had no time to worry about Rogue as they ended up in a battle for their lives.
"I've got Ms Calendar." Jonathon said after he put down the phone. "She said she'll be here in half an hour."
"Giles told me he would be reaching around that time with Angel as well." Willow said from the second telephone. A frown was scrunched on her forehead. "Though he didn't say what Angel was doing at his place."
"Well at least the adults will be here soon." Jonathon said with a relieved sigh. "So what should we do now?"
Willow was about to speak up when the voice of Harper broadcasting over the computers' speakers interrupted her.
"Incoming internet transmission from Rommie." Harper called out. "Willow and Jonathon, Rommie needs both of you to get Giles. Tell him to go to the Sunnydale High School Library at once and that the military are involved this time round. She's suggesting caution and partial disclosure regarding only the group's supernatural activities. The rest of the team not involved in the rescue needs to remain in the HQ, out of the sight of these newcomers."
"What?" Jonathon asked as Willow instantly picked up her phone, dialling Giles' mobile number. "What is going on? Where did Rommie send the transmission from?"
"The transmission was sent from the internet network in Sunnydale high school library. Rommie also assigned me a top priority task, to investigate the details regarding the two individuals they had rescued. Apparently they were part of a government organisation known as Stargate Command. Rommie needed any information about this organisation ASAP. She had also asked me to further investigate government agencies that had a hand in the supernatural. This is more as a precaution due to certain information Gaia had previously uncovered from the Mayor's computer. The last task is set at a lower priority." Harper's voice replied. "I am combing through the internet resources as of current moment. Rommie has instructed me to contact her, once I've uncovered anything concrete regarding the two they had rescued, as well as the organisation they are working for."
"I've managed to get Giles, he'll be making for the high school after dropping off Angel. He said that Angel can walk in the sun now, most probably an effect of the new power he got last night. Angel would be making his way here on his own." Willow said as she put down the phone, her voice tingled with surprise. She began making her way towards the computer consoles. "So I heard Rommie needs some research to be done. You need any help Harper?"
"Your skills will be welcomed Willow." Harper said as Jonathon and Willow made their way towards the computer stations. "Rommie needs to look up the details on one Colonel Jack O'Neil and a man named Murray, as well as a Stargate Command…"
The phone call from Jack had been tensed and cryptic.
"We may have a First Contact situation on our hands. Targets seemed to be friendly, but keep insisting they are humans. They don't seem to be Ancients, and half the time they are sprouting old myths and legends to make me and Teal'c confused. They seemed to think we're still trapped in the dark ages!" Jack's voice said tersely over the mobile phone. "I need you and Sam to come to the Sunnydale High School library pronto. Targets are capable of fire manipulation, instantaneous healing, and teleportation, among others. I need you as the cultural expert to tell me why they keep quoting urban supernatural legends at me!"
Daniel had winced at the frustration in Jack's voice. Jack had hang up shortly after Daniel had agreed to meet him there. Apparently Jack had sneaked away to patch the call, to get hold of the last two members of his team, shortly after the aliens had teleported him and Teal'c to a high school library of all places. Somehow when you imagine aliens, high school libraries usually do not go hand in hand with the image of worldly intergalactic travellers.
"We're here." Sam said as the car screeched into the park way in front of the Sunnydale High School. They had to stop a while back just to get direction to the school, wasting precious minutes before they knew which way to drive to get here.
"How are we supposed to find the library?" Daniel asked as they stepped out of the car, rushing into the school compound. The two of them paused as another car speed into the drive way, braking with a loud screech, parking behind their car.
They watched as a middle aged man, wearing a pair of glasses, stumbled out of his car and briskly walked in their direction, only to stop when he caught sight of them.
"Can I help you? The school is closed on weekends." The man asked looking at the two of them cautiously.
"We're looking for the high school library. Do you by any chance know where that is?" Sam asked, seeing a way to get some directions.
The man raised an eyebrow as he looked at them. "You two are from the military as well?"
Sam took a startled back as she tensed up, looking at the man.
"Well, we're part of the Air Force… We're supposed to be meeting someone at the high school library." Sam said cautiously, not willing to drag out her title unless needed.
"I see." The man gave a heavy sigh as he walked in front of them. "I am Rupert Giles. Follow me, I'll show you to the library since that's where I am going."
"Thank you." Daniel said gratefully as he and Sam began following the older man. "I am Daniel and this is Sam. If I might ask, who are you?"
"I am the high school librarian." The man calling himself Giles said as he turned and gave the two of them a look. "And I am probably the one who is going to explain the things going on in this town to you as well... That is if your government needs me to."
"Any luck?" Jonathon asked as he peered over Willow's shoulder, looking at the screen while the girl and sometimes hacker tried to run various search programs on the web to gain information about those they were researching on.
"Not much, I did find out that Stargate Command is another name for Deep Space Radar Telemetry after hacking into some government records. But other then that piece of information, there's nothing else. Harper probably has better luck than me, considering that he's an advanced A.I. who can run multiple search and hack programs at the same time." Willow said with a grimace.
"I am afraid I have to disappoint you Willow. I've located the IP addresses used by Stargate Command, but discovered that they utilised a closed network system. Most of the more important databases they used to store their files are not connected to the internet." Harper reported. "Those that are connected to the net contained only various mission reports not deleted from the consoles themselves. From what I've gained so far, I've evidence that this Stargate Command is an organisation that sends its teams, made of mostly Air Force and military personals, to other planets via a device called the Stargate. More information about the device and the government organisation could not be found…"
There was a short pause as a loading bar began appearing in both Willow and Jonathon's console.
"Please give me a moment, one of the search programs had located an archive containing all existing mission reports, from the time Stargate Command had first started its service to this current year. I am downloading the whole archive of contents now." Harper said, the tone of his voice sounded surprised. "The computer system I've targeted is protected by a very flimsy firewall software and belongs to U.S Senator Robert Kinsey. I am surprised that the government leave such sensitive data in such an unprotected system. I have also located files on his computer from an organisation calling themselves the N.I.D. Some reports seemed to touch on the Stargate program, I am downloading those files as well."
A folder named 'Stargate Command Year One' appeared on the desktop of Willow and Jonathon. It was shortly followed by other folders that read 'Year Two' and 'Year Three'. Clicking it, Willow was surprised at the number of sub folders inside, browsing into one randomly and selecting a document, she gasped as she saw an image of round metallic circle ring with a caption below that says 'Stargate'.
"The Stargates, also called the Chappa'ai in Goa'uld, are a series of devices, built by the Ancients, that can create artificial Wormholes between distant planets. The Stargates are often considered to be the Ancients' greatest creation, and so the Ancients are often called the Gate Builders. The Ancients, the Nox, and the Tollan (with the assistance of the Nox), are the only known races that have managed to build Stargates…" Willow paled as she read the report on the Stargate device out loud. "The Stargate is essentially an enormous superconductor, capable of harnessing power from a wide variety of energy sources, especially electricity.
When entering through the event horizon, the matter passing through is converted to energy, and then rematerialized at the event horizon of a Stargate. Wormholes are one way only, though it is unknown what happens if someone goes through an incoming wormhole…
The Stargate has symbols which are combined to form a seven-symbol address. Six of the symbols, representing constellations, indicate the destination's three-dimensional coordinates in space, while the seventh indicates the point of origin…"
"Oh my god…" Jonathon said in shock as he looked at the scientific document that Willow had opened.
Willow paled and then flushed before she seemed to visibly gather her composure. Willow looked at Jonathon as she took a sharp breath.
"How long until all the files are downloaded?" Willow inquired, as she scrolled down the documents that had already finished downloading, feeling faint as she looked at the numerous mission reports and a few technological reports in the folders. A few of them mentioned in passing the various alien species that Stargate Command had so far encountered.
"Fifteen minutes at minimum." Harper replied. "I'm also sending Rommie a copy of what I've downloaded right now… and… I've just received a transmission from her, she asked you and Jonathon to begin printing out the reports so that everyone would have a copy during the meeting later. In the meantime, just go over the documents on hand. She'll be sending Xander, Andrew and Cordelia back to the HQ soon."
"Alright, on to it." Jonathon said with a nod, as he and Willow began printing out all the documents they had.
Rommie looked up as Giles entered the library with two newcomers behind him, a brown haired man and a blond woman who immediately made their way to where Jack and Murray were leaning near the old weapon's cage. Most of the weapons had been moved to the HQ, but a few remained in the cage, stored in a box out of sight.
The past half an hour had been a tense silence between Jack and Rommie's group. Jack had refused to listen to Rommie's explanation of the supernatural or magic, Rommie was hoping that Giles might be able to do a better job, or even better, show some infallible proof that the supernatural actually exists. If Jack's expression was anything to go by, he still suspects them of being 'not of this world'.
"So those four are the ones you need me to brief?" Giles asked with a heavy sigh as he stopped in front of her. "The Council did instruct every field watchers on what to do if a country's military got involved in the supernatural scene, but I've never expected to actually encounter this problem in my lifetime."
"The Council was prepared for this type of situation?" Buffy asked in surprise. The three teenagers had been gathered uncomfortably around Rommie for the past half an hour, Giles' appearance was like a lifesaver to them.
"Yes, well, the Watcher's Council did have a lot of diplomatic ties to most of the major countries…" Giles said with a grimace. "The Council sells its supernatural research services to any country in need… and let's just say the research fees for each assignment are astronomically high…"
Giles stopped as a cough sounded behind him. Turning, he saw that the four military members had moved from the weapon's cage and were now standing a short distance away from him.
"My group is assembled, and I would very much like to hear what you say. The truth this time." Jack said, giving Rommie a withering look before turning to face Giles. "I am Jack O'Neil and who might you be?"
"I am Giles." Giles introduced himself as he continued. "Librarian of this place and member of the Watcher's Council."
"Watcher's Council?" Murray inquired as he stood beside Jack. "Do you know what it is O'Neil?"
"I've no idea." Jack said with a shrug. "Mind telling us who the hell all of you are?"
"I believe the answer lies in a simple phone call." Giles said with a suffering sigh as he moved towards the phone in the library and began dialling some numbers.
Everyone watched puzzled by his actions until Giles waved them to move nearer.
"Ah… yes United States Special Watch Group?... This is Rupert Giles, Watcher's Council Member… Watcher Code X73891473, authorisation code for your group is 738BN283." Giles said as he pulled out a piece of paper from his wallet and began reading from it. "Ah… yes you see, I've encountered four of your military people, I believe they are from the Air Force… They would need disclosure… I see alright…"
Giles turned and hold the receiver of the phone out to Jack.
"You'll need to talk to the nice lady on the phone… Jack was it?" Giles said as he looked at the small group standing next to Rommie and his charges.
Jack gave Giles a distrusting look before moving forward to accept the phone. There was a pause as he began talking agitatedly into the receiver.
"So that's it?" Rommie asked curiously as Giles moved closer. "A phone call is all it takes?"
"There are some procedures to go through first… before any Watcher's Council member was to reveal the secrets of the supernatural, to any unauthorised military personals in United States." Giles said with a grim smile. "Hopefully this phone call would clear things up a bit… Rommie? Are you alright?"
Giles, Xander and the others looked on worriedly as Rommie suddenly gave a gasp. Her eyes were staring emptily into space, her whole body tensed and frozen.
"I am alright, just receiving some information from Harper… I… oh..." Rommie's eyes widen as she turned to Jack and his team who were now gathered around the phone. She gave them a look akin to understanding and respect, as she continued in a softer voice. "They were telling the truth… about the aliens… and the Stargate Command… Giles, we need to have a meeting later, after this. What Harper found is going to make you see this world in a whole new light."
"That's exactly what I've been doing for the past month." Giles said with a barely audible sigh. "Seeing the whole world in ways that I'll never have imagined."
Jack took over the phone as Sam, Daniel and Teal'c moved closer to him. He shot a look at the group of teenagers and the two adults standing in a corner, to make sure they were not planning on running away, before speaking into the phone.
"Jack O'Neil speaking." Jack said dryly into the receiver. "Who am I speaking to?"
"I am Lieutenant Sally Trevor, operator of the United States Special Watch Group." A stern female voice replied. "Jack O'Neil, I need your rank and current designation."
"United States Special Watch Group?" Jack said dubiously. "How do I know you're who you say you are?"
"Mr O'Neil, I'm asking for your rank and designation, not asking you to reveal States secrets, like the one you just blundered into." The operator at the other end of the phone said impatiently. "For your information, we're part of the Army. Rank and designation… now."
"Colonel Jack O'Neil. Assigned to Deep Space Radar Telemetry." Jack replied, grimacing at the sharp voice of the Lieutenant Trevor. He heard sounds of typing over the phone, and then a sharp intake of breathe.
"… I am sorry Colonel, it appears your files are classified above my level of clearance." Lieutenant Trevor said in a much nicer voice. "Hold on to the phone for a while, I will need to contact my CO."
"Alright I'll wait." Jack said with a bit of surprise. If she knew that his files were classified, whatever she said about being from the army might be true after all. Not that he had any idea why a Special Watch Group was suddenly involved in this mess.
There was the play of waiting music before someone on the other end of the line picked up the phone.
"Jack O'Neil?" A deep masculine voice spoke over the phone in what sounded like surprise. For some reason, the voice seemed familiar to Jack. "The only Jack O'Neil I knew who's in the Air Force, is that ornery bastard that used to work under me during the Vietnam black ops."
"Colonel Talbot?" Jack spoke in surprise, his mouth gaping open as the voice brought with it past memories of darker times.
"General Talbot now actually. So it is you Jack." General Talbot said with a sigh over the phone. "You were always a bundle of trouble, and now you've literally blundered into a state secret. Not to mention it seems you've some secrets of your own as well. I'm unable to get into your files even with my clearance level which is already damn high. What have you been doing these past years Jack? Last I heard, you were resigned."
"It's classified Talbot." Jack said with a grimace. "So what state secrets did me and my team just found ourselves in?"
"The information cannot be told over the phone. I am tracing your call and it is… from Sunnydale of all places… why the hell did you even go to that place! Never mind that now, get your team to the Sunnydale military outpost just outside town. One of my men will be there shortly to brief you." General Talbot said seriously over the phone. "Do not and I repeat, do not say anything more to the emissary from the Watcher's Council. The US government is only working with the group because we had to. Do not reveal any more information to him or ask him any questions. Take note that the Watcher's Council has no authority whatsoever to ask about what you're doing. Follow my instructions, all will be revealed in the Sunnydale military outpost. This is a direct order Colonel, a call will also be patched to your CO to inform him of what happened to your team."
"Understood Talbot." Jack said grimly as he turned to glare at that Giles man who was looking at him with a knowing look. "I'll get my team there pronto."
"Pack all your things and move out of Sunnydale before night fall. Trust me on this, you don't want to be walking around in this town after dark." General Talbot warned. "I'm sending a man down from our desert post nearby, a Captain Jones…"
"Ah crap…" Jack said with a groan at hearing the Captain's name.
"You know Captain Jones, Jack?" General Talbot asked curiously.
"Let's just say we're supposed to be working together right now, but my team went away to do some separate investigations." Jack said reluctantly.
There was a pause, and then a heavy sigh over the phone.
"I'll get the whole story from Captain Jones later." General Talbot said wearily. "In the meantime, clear out, and don't disturb the emissary from the Watcher's Council."
"Understood sir." Jack said as he put down the phone. He gave his team a look before turning to observe the group of teenagers and two adults, saying in a carrying voice. "It appears we have new orders from higher up. We're to leave these people alone and proceed to the Sunnydale military outpost. But you knew all this was going to happen all along, don't you? Mr Giles…"
She was Pagie Matthews Halliwell, the fourth and youngest witch in the Charmed Ones. A group of the most powerful white witches in the world. Her powers are telekinetic orbing, glamouring and sensing of one's charges. She was also able to heal, and possess the ability to teleport from one place to another through her orbing powers. Rogue swayed, crumpling to the floor as her mutant powers absorbed Pagie Matthews' abilities and memories, merging them with her own.
There were sounds of fierce fighting and grunts of pain coming from her right. Getting up dizzily, she caught sight of John and Green Arrow holding down a snarling Wolverine. Anakin stood at the side where with a wave of his hand, the gun Wolverine was holding was wretched out from his grasp. Rogue's eyes widened at the display of telekinetic powers, her heart drumming faster as she realised she was not the only mutant here. The change in Wolverine as the gun broke skin contact with him was instantaneous. He swayed on his feet and looked around him in embarrassed surprised.
"What happened? One minute I was holding the gun, and the next minute I was taken over by the mind of an alien creature who wanted to kill humans!" Wolverine said in shock at the mental intrusion. He looked at the charred armour of John and winced in apology. "Sorry about that pal, I tried to take control, but whatever took over me was too strong…"
"I understand, Anakin explained that you were not yourself during the battle." John said with a curt nod. "But what is going on Anakin?"
"I could sense the same strange energies that were in the air around us, within the items themselves as well. Apparently skin contact with the items triggers a mental possession, whereas if you were wearing gloves or armour like me, it seems you will not be possessed." Anakin said, motioning to himself and Green Arrow who had each taken a gun before the fight began. He looked at Rogue who was walking towards them cautiously, eyeing the gloves in her hands. "Rogue… are you alright?"
"Yeah, someone tried to take over me, but I… seemed to have absorbed her memories and powers." Rogue said with a shudder. "It is not a nice feeling."
"Memories and powers?" Green Arrow asked looking at her carefully. "Can you show us this powers you were talking about?"
Rogue wavered for a moment, looking uncertain about showing them what would be more proof of her mutantness, but gave a resigned sigh as she looked at their grave faces. There was no backing out of this. She threw the gloves into the air and called out firmly. "Gloves!"
The three men watched in shock as the gloves dissolved during the mid-air flight into orbs of light. At Rogue's command, the light orbs flew to her waiting hands and solidify as a pair of gloves resting against her palm.
"Well that's new. Rogue… let Wolverine touch those gloves… as a test." Anakin instructed.
"A test for what?" Wolverine protested, looking a bit anxious at more possible mental intrusions. "I am not your guinea pig!"
"Right now your hands are not gloved, and skin contact with any other items in this place would probably cause something else to take over you." Anakin reasoned. "I want to see if the gloves are alright for you to touch now that Rogue has absorbed whatever memories and powers from it. As far as my senses tell me, it is now a pair of normal gloves, with no strange sources of energy imbued in it. I see not much harm in attempting this experiment."
"Senses? Are you a mutant as well?" Wolverine asked as Rogue neared and he reached out to touch the gloves. Rogue rear back a little, expecting what happened with her to happen to Wolverine, but surprisingly Wolverine remained unaffected. Wolverine gave a grunt as he gave Anakin a curt nod. "Seems like you're right. Whatever girlie did to the gloves, it is safe for me to touch now."
"I thought so, but mutant? What do you mean by that?" Anakin asked curiously.
"Mutants are people with some genetic quarks that grant them superhuman powers. Well at least that's what I remembered. I wasn't actually paying attention when Charles was lecturing me on the birds and bees version of it." Wolverine said scratching his head while looking at the gun he had taken previously floating in the air in front of Anakin. "Your powers seemed telekinetic, like… one of those that I know. My powers on the other hand are a bit different, focusing on regenerative healing, which is one reason I could heal so fast."
"Oh!" Rogue said startled and relieved at finding others' like her. It opened an emotional floodgate for her at finding similar people in this time and place. "I guess I am the same as well. I could absorb people's life force and memories through skin contact."
Wolverine looked at her with a raised eyebrow before giving a shrug. He turned to look at Green Arrow and John. "Well… a mutant gathering. Are you two going to tell me you're mutants as well?"
"Sorry, I am not a mutant, at least not that I am aware of." Green Arrow said while John just shook his head.
"Neither am I what you thought me to be. I am but a simple Jedi." Anakin said, continuing firmly. He gave a push with the Force, directing Wolverine's gun towards Rogue, who gave it a weary look. "But we can discuss more on that once we're free. Right now I need you, Rogue, to absorb the energies in the gun to make it safe. This will enable Wolverine to use it. I could try to push the energies out with my Force, but I'm not sure how long that will take, seeing as time is of the essence."
"Alright…" Rogue said with a grimace, touching the gun hovering in the air in front of her. Her back arched back as she gave a gasp.
She was R'kaiti, born of the Xiati race. The Xiati are humanoid aliens with rat like faces that had taken Temporal manipulation techniques and Cybernetic technologies to the next level. They were also embroiled in an intergalactic war with the Human races… Rogue blinked as she tried to push back the decades of hatred for humans as well as the memories of how to create all those Temporal and Cybernetic technological devices.
"Argh..." Rogue cried out, clutching her head as it throbbed in pain.
"Will you be alright Rogue?" Anakin asked, looking at her with worry.
"Most probably… have a massive headache. I don't think I can absorb any more of those memories." Rogue winced.
"That will be fine. I sensed the strange energy in the gun had disappeared. Wolverine can use it now. Green Arrow, John and I are either wearing gloves or armours so we will be safe." Anakin explained with a nod. "If you put on your new gloves, there will be no need for you to absorb any new memories when you take up a gun from the pile over there."
"Alright." Rogue said as she slipped on her gloves. She made her way over to the weapon pile as she chose a gun similar to what Wolverine had previously chosen, a gun of Xiati design. After all, with the new alien memories in her head, she felt sure she knew how to operate the gun. She watched as John chooses a weapon as well, picking up what looked like a massive blaster. She turned to Anakin and met his eyes. "I'm done."
"So am I." John said looking at the Green Arrow and Wolverine who was readying their guns as well.
"Good, let's begin the plan of blasting out of here." Anakin said, as he led them to a corner of the strange prison they were trapped in. "This is where the energy barrier surrounding this prison felt the weakest…"
Xander was not sure what he had expected to find when the four Air Force people had left the library in a rush and Rommie had ordered Cordelia to teleport them to Headquarters once they had left. Sure he knew that Rommie, with Harper's help, had located more information about the Stargate Command that Jack was talking about. But he was not actually expecting Harper to dig out the whole mission reports of Stargate Command, which narrates the exploits of the various Stargate teams sent through an alien device called the Stargate, to other planets.
More than a few of the mission reports drafted the various missions the Stargate teams had taken to protect Earth from hostile aliens numerous times. With the number of times Earth had been saved from destructions and invasions, the Stargate teams were like the technological, space going version of the Slayer gang. While Xander and the others were saving Earth from being destroyed by the supernatural, the Stargate teams were saving Earth from aliens. In particular, the flagship team of Stargate Command, SG-1 topped the rest of the Stargate teams in the number of contributions they had made towards the organisation, by making alliance with powerful aliens, finding and deciphering alien technologies and the number of times that they had saved Earth.
When he had first opened the folder on SG-1, Xander had been startled when he had seen the familiar faces of the four Air Force personals they had only just rescued and met in the library. The leader was apparently Colonel Jack O'Neil, the white haired guy in the group. Or as Buffy had said, the old guy. He was a highly decorated Air Force Officer who had accomplished combat feats thought impossible during the numerous times SG-1 had been been sent to sabotage any invasion plans, most particularly that of the Gou'alds against Earth.
Major and Dr. Samantha Carter, the only woman in the team was next. As an accomplished astrophysicist and scientist, she was the one that contributed the most to Stargate Command's understanding of alien technologies, as well as ways to reverse engineer them. She was also the second in command of the team and possessed a high level of ingenuity to get the team out of tricky situations as well as helping the team balance the odds against superior technologies. In short, she was the brains of the group.
Dr. Daniel Jackson, an archaeologist and linguist of many ancient languages was a civilian attached to the team. He was instrumental in his part of understanding how the Stargate works as well as deciphering the meanings of the alien languages that they had encountered. He was also the leading linguist in the Ancient's language. The Ancients being the ones who had built the Stargate had left behind a whole cache of other technological legacies in the galaxy, and it was only through Daniel Jackson's translations that Stargate Command had the know how to start operating the devices that they encountered.
Murray, or rather Teal'c, was what is known as a Jaffa, human slaves genetically engineered by the parasitic aliens called the Gou'alds to bear the aliens' larva in their belly pouch. Willow had been a bit queasy at the thought of stuffing an alien parasite in one's own belly, especially when the picture of the Gou'ald had revealed that the aliens are the size of a large worm who would burrow underneath a human's neck and take control of the human's body and mind.
Due to their technological advantage, the Gou'ald had control over hundreds of planets in the Milky Way galaxy, and masquerade as Gods over their human slaves. Teal'c had thrown away his beliefs that the Gou'ald was Gods after encountering SG-1, and had been assisting the team as a fighter as well as provide inner knowledge of the workings of the Gou'ald and Jaffa society. In the reports, it had been stated that Teal'c was granted rights on Earth while he was helping Stargate Command to free his people, the Jaffa, from Gou'ald oppression.
Xander had continued reading of the various alien races the team had encountered, especially regarding the Nox and the Asgards, two of the great races who were once part of the Great Alliance of the Four Races. The four great races apparently included the Ancients, who were humanoid in nature, but had apparently ascended to another plane. Then there were the Furlings, who had vanished, with no one knowing what they looked like. The Nox was another of the great races, humanoid in appearance as well, and bearing great powers over healing and resurrection. They were also unfortunately pacifists, and had secluded themselves in their own planet.
The Asgard was the last of the four great races. Apparently they also once bear a humanoid form. But while trying to find ways to allow them to preserve their enormous knowledge, they begin cloning their bodies, replacing their old bodies with new clones for thousands of years. These long centuries of continued cloning had led their bodies to degrade to a form similar to that of the rumoured Roswell Greys. They were also unable to reproduce and were desperately seeking cures for their genetic problems.
They were also the last of the Four Great races who had maintained contact with the humans on Earth, and the only ones to come to Stargate Command's aid when Earth was in danger many times. As Sam Carter had stated in her reports, they were a wise and benevolent race. Unfortunately, not all the technologically advanced aliens in the galaxy bears the Asgard's peaceful philosophy. This is why Stargate Command had to defend Earth from extra-terrestrial threats numerous numbers of time.
"This is incredible." Xander spoke up at last, after two hours of glancing through parts of the mission reports that Willow had printed out for everyone. "To think we've a whole First Contact program hidden right under our noses. Apparently demons are just a tiny part of the problem in this galaxy."
He looked around at the large table where everyone had taken a seat while looking through the large stacks of reports. Willow, Jonathon, Andrew, and even Cordelia had expressions of mild shock and awe on their faces. Angel, Ms Calendar, Giles and Rommie were however more controlled in their facial responses as they calmly browse through the documents.
"Yes but unfortunately, short of breaking into Stargate Command, there's no way we could use the Stargate to travel to other planets. And even then, not all the planets in this galaxy are populated with Stargates. Those without Stargates can only be accessed by space travels." Rommie stated. She was the only one that did not have a stack of reports to glance through, as she had literal downloaded the whole archive of mission reports in her head already. At the current moment, she was seated beside Giles while she waited for everyone to be done. "With the growing threat of alien invasions, it is also imperative that we concentrate all our efforts on quickly building up a starship force to counter any threats. I think we'll need to look through the Halloween sub-dimension again for any technological devices that could speed up our starship production, and thus provide aid to this Stargate Command organisation."
"You mean revealing ourselves to them? I thought you were all against that just now?" Buffy asked as she looked at Rommie puzzled.
"I still am. There's a difference between revealing ourselves now when we can't even defend our own assets from government acquisition and a difference between revealing ourselves when we have one or preferably more spaceships under our command to back up our claims." Rommie said evenly as she gave a meaningful look at Giles as she continued. "If we were to tell Stargate Command that we've real workable technologies from TV shows and games, what's to stop the government from coming over and confiscate all our devices and equipments for their own uses?
When that happens, not only may we be locked out of the Stargate program, but you may lose any space faring capabilities to travel to other planets to shut down the open Hellmouths. After all, I highly doubt that any government organisation would just let teenagers control spaceships that could destroy continents."
Giles coughed awkwardly as he looked at everyone. "I am afraid what Rommie said is true. If I am a government body, I'd most certainly not hand over command of even one spaceship to a teenager, or any civilian member for that matter. Governments are notoriously hard headed about letting anyone other than their own people have more fire power than they do. For now, we should only let the military thinks that we're a group of demon hunters with a few powerful budding mages in our group."
"So we have to wait until we have enough spaceships to back our claim of power before the governments would agree to let us go our own merry way?" Buffy asked astonished. "That's stupid! We're trying to save the world…"
"I know we're trying to save the world. But the governments have no assurance that we may use the technologies we have on hand for other uses." Rommie said with a sigh. "And governments are all about protecting themselves first. We need to be vigilant right now in case our technologies are stolen from right under our noses. Xander how soon may we enter the Halloween dimension again to do a full inventory of the technological devices inside? We need to see if there is any useful equipment that can speed up our starship production."
"Well anytime actually." Xander said patting his pocket. "I've the seals and everything with me at all times…"
Everyone looked at Xander as he paused and suddenly began to sniff the air around him. Cordelia who was seated just next to him started to inch away.
"What are you? A dog?" Cordelia said in mild disgust as she tried to put in some distance away from Xander who was starting to invade her personal space.
"No, don't you smell something burning?" Xander asked with a frown as he sniffed the air. He froze as he looked at everyone. "Chaos… I can feel chaos energies coming from somewhere…"
Xander never got a chance to continue as a flood of white light orbs streamed from his pocket. There was an oppressing wave of energy and then an explosion which shattered the large table and sent everyone tumbling out of their seats.
A dark armour clad figure stood in front of him as Xander blearily picked himself up from the wreckage of his chair. Chills ran down his spine as he realised who he was looking at.
"Oh shit!" Xander said with a horror filled voice as he began to back away. Inch by inch…
Author's Note: There at last! The first meeting between Buffy gang and SG-1 is finally over. I've rewritten that scene more than five times (I lost count), because I keep writing out lame encounter scenes. Hope this one is more logical.
Anyway :D A belated Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year!