AN: You better be cackling, Dragan!
"Sir, you know who those ships belong to?" Carter asked.
Jack had to drag his gaze away from the viewer, his mind still reeling at the sight of Borg cubes just flying through space pretty as you please.
"Yeah. They're Borg cubes. You know? From TV?"
When Carter gave him a blank expression Jack rolled his eyes and sighed in exasperation. How can he have the biggest brain on the planet working with him and she doesn't know Star Trek lore. It's like Carter skipped over the geek parts of being an egg-head.
"You're gonna have to give us a little bit more of an explanation than that, Jack," Daniel said without taking his eyes away from the screen.
"You too, Daniel?" Jack said.
Somehow, I'm the biggest nerd on the team!
"I know of the Borg, O'Neill," Teal'c said. "But are the Borg not a fictional race from Star Trek the Next Generation, a television program?"
"Thank you, Teal'c!" Jack exclaimed as he gave his other two teammates judgmental looks.
"So, you do know of these beings that dare attack my father!" Klorel said.
Jack held up a finger. "Uh ah-ah! You be quiet, the adults are talking."
Klorel face twisted into a snarl at Jack's glib dismissal, but he fell silent.
"Are you saying those ships look like something from a TV show, sir?"
"Not look like, damn near exactly alike," Jack said. "The four smaller cubes are dead ringers, but I don't recall any being all white like the big one."
Daniel stepped closer to the viewer and adjusted his glasses before he said, "Well, whatever, whoever they are, they're beating the hell out of Apophis's Ha'tak."
"Impossible! None may overcome the mighty Apophis!"
Jack ignored Klorel and looked at Teal'c.
"Have you ever heard of anybody out there with ships like those?" Jack asked.
"I have not."
"Well, they can't be actual Borg," Jack said.
He'd seen some nutty things since he joined the SGC, but he doubted super powerful cyborg aliens that just happen to resemble the Borg existed in the real world.
"What do we do now, sir?"
"Carter?"
"I think she means what's our next move?" Daniel said.
Jack shook off the amazement he felt at seeing the cubes and refocused on the mission.
"Right. First we need to get off this ship and then set off the charges."
"How we gonna do that?" Daniel asked.
"This thing must has bays for the Death Gliders, right?" Jack glanced at Teal'c for confirmation.
"Indeed, Colonel O'Neill."
Jack looked at Klorel and smiled.
"I think we have everything we need to open a path to one."
"I will not allow myself to be your hostage!" Klorel said.
"It's either that, or we leave you here to be assimilated by the Borg."
"Sir."
"Kidding." Jack walked up to Klorel who was still restrained by Teal'c. "Look, this ship is going to blow, so either you tell your minions to give us safe passage, or we can all die here."
"I would rather perish than aid you!"
Just at that moment the sound of banging from outside the bridge started.
Klorel hiked his chin then gave Jack a nasty, over-confident smirk.
"Soon my Jaffa will breach this place and end your miserable existence. Surrender now and I may yet spare you."
"Yeah, right," Jack said.
The banging got louder.
"Just a minute!" Jack shouted at the door before he turned back to his team. "Okay, people, options?"
"Will the Jaffa really risk Klorel's safety to get us?"
"I believe they will, Daniel Jackson. It is likely they intend to heal Klorel in the sarcophagus should he be injured during their attempt to retake the Pal'tak."
"Is there another way out of this room?" Jack asked.
"There is not," answered Teal'c.
"Then we make our last stand here," Carter said grimly.
Jack hated last stands. Especially when the other side had the better chance of surviving them.
Jack looked at the viewer and saw the four small cubes move away from the battle, and the white cube intensify its attack on Apophis's ship. He also noticed tiny flashes of green light that seemed to come from random positions around the Ha'tak just before eruptions bloomed on its shields.
"How about we contact whoever is on those ships for help?" Jack looked at Teal'c. "Can you use this tin can's communications to call our new friends?"
"I should be able to send a broad transmission, however there is no way to be certain these newcomers will be able to receive it."
"Try it."
"Sir, we don't even know if the people on those ships are friendly."
"Enemy of my enemy, Carter."
Teal'c pushed Klorel over to Jack before he went to an orb and pedestal different from the one that brought the Ha'tak out of hyperspace.
"Carter, you and Daniel get ready for the Jaffa to breach."
Carter and Daniel took cover behind the end of the sarcophagus near the main control panel, while Jack pulled his sidearm and used Klorel as a meat shield.
"Release me!" Klorel demanded once he realized what Jack was about to use him for.
"Nope. Unless you wanna tell your guys to stand down, whatever happens to me happens to you first."
"O'Neill, I have sent the message."
"Good, now find some cover."
Teal'c hefted a Zat gun and took up residence behind the control panel.
The banging and clanging became louder. It sounded like the Jaffa were close to prying open the doors to the bridge.
"Hold your fire," Jack told his team. "I'm going to let them know we have Klorel. Maybe that'll buy us time."
"Yessir."
"Last chance," Jack told Klorel.
"I will delight as you breathe your last breath."
"Cheery."
Jack pulled Klorel behind one of the pedestals and raised his gun and aimed it at the doors.
The doors to the bridge parted with a loud screech as several pairs of hands gripped the door panels and the Jaffa outside pried them open with brute strength.
"Listen, snake heads, I got your puny god with a gun to his head, so unless you want to risk the life of Daddy Apophis's little rug rat, stay the hell outta here!" Jack shouted at the Jaffa about to swarm the bridge.
There was no movement beyond the door that Jack could see, but he knew the Jaffa weren't going to fret too much at his toothless threat. He watched the entrance closely waiting for whatever came next so he could shoot at it. What came next was a silver ball tossed into the room that landed in front of Klorel and Jack.
Jack felt Klorel tense. It was different than the constant resistance in his thin, but surprisingly strong arms, this tension felt like Klorel was bracing himself for something. Jack really knew the ball was bad news when Klorel cursed under his breath.
Before Jack could get off a shot at the metal orb it released a blinding white light that made Jack flinch and turn his head away. The light kept up for five seconds. Then ten. Fifteen seconds passed before it shut off abruptly as if a someone flipped a switch.
"What the hell was that about?" Jack said.
Teal'c fired his Zat at a Jaffa that poked his head through the doorway. Jack saw the Jaffa drop to the floor in convulsions, and a moment later someone pulled the downed Jaffa from view.
"That was a Tok'Kal—a shock grenade," Teal'c said. "We should be unconscious after direct exposure to its effects."
"I'm fine. Carter? Daniel?"
"All good, sir."
"M'Good."
"Most unusual," Teal'c said.
Jack had to agree. Something weird was going on. Jack dragged Klorel closer to the doorway. He made sure the Goa'uld blocked most of his vital areas, except his head, as he approached. Though his view wasn't clear, Jack could see half a dozen Jaffa standing stock still just outside the door. A bit to his left he saw the prone form of the Jaffa Teal'c stunned.
"What has happened? Why do they stand as statues?" Klorel asked, his Goa'uld voice sounded panicked and stranger for it.
"On a break?" Jack quipped though he wanted to know what made the Jaffa immobile as well.
Still, no reason to look a gift horse in the mouth.
"Carter, Teal'c, Daniel, looks like we have a way out," Jack said as he turned to look at his teammates.
And that's when he saw it. An unequivocal, no mistaking it for anything but, Borg cube hovering in front of the viewer. It was as large as the white cube battling Apophis's ship, but it was black. Parts of it gave off a golden luminescence instead of the neon green Jack saw the Borg cubes on Star Trek give off.
"What is this madness?" Klorel said as he gazed at the cube.
The others attention went to the viewer at Klorel's wail.
"Where did that one come from?" Daniel asked.
"I think… I think it's the other four cubes combined," Carter said.
"Cool," Jack said.
Jack felt all the tension in Klorel drain from his body. Before Jack could process why Klorel stopped resisting, Teal'c and Carter shouted:
"O'Neill!"
"Colonel!"
Carter aimed down the sights of her MP-5 and Teal'c pointed his Zat, both brandishing their weapons in Jack's general direction.
Jack wanted to let out his own shout of warning when he saw a black garbed figure materialize behind the others. The figure stood in front of the main control panel with their back to the rest of the room. They wore head gear of some kind that reminded him of a motorcycle helmet, only the helmet the figure wore didn't seem to have any visible way to put it on or take it off. It looked as though it was seamlessly attached to their armored jerkin somehow.
"Jack, on your left," Daniel said.
Slowly, Jack turned his head and saw another black clad figure standing next to him, just behind his shoulder. Like the first figure, this one also had a slender build, and there didn't appear to display any physical features that identified them as a man or a woman. Though with the helmet, this one was as tall as Jack.
"Uh… Hi?"
Unimatrix 31, sans Individual Drones Seven and Nine, closed in on the bridge of the Ha'tak. Apophis's precautions became more apparent once they reached the command level of the pyramid. Hundreds of unassimilated Jaffa marched in formation through every hallway that led to the bridge, which made it challenging and time consuming to hit them with needles unnoticed.
And time was running out. Every projection the Collective ran showed Apophis either abandoning ship or setting off the self-destruct once he realized he could not take the Prime cube in battle. It was imperative they gain control of the Ha'tak or Apophis before then.
Xander ordered a dozen assimilated Jaffa to meet with the remaining members of Unimatrix 31. The Borg Jaffa marched up to the command level in formation, and once they joined with Unimatrix 31 the cloaked One, Two, and Three of Nine took up positions behind the Jaffa and marched in step behind them. Five, Six, and Eight of Nine stayed behind to start assimilating the Jaffa that flooded the command level.
As expected, the Borg Jaffa were allowed to pass the many Jaffa guarding the hallways unquestioned until they reached the bridge. Four Jaffa sentries stood outside the Pel'tak's sealed doors. As the Jaffa that led them to the bridge marched away One and Three of Nine needled the guards. The first guard to be assimilated into the Collective turned a snake symbol on the door and opened it.
One and the others followed the newly assimilated Jaffa inside where four fully armored Jaffa guards were stationed around the room. At the center was Apophis, his attention focused on the viewer and the looming presence of the Prime cube that showed on it.
Three of Nine fired a needle at the back of Apophis's exposed neck. A golden barrier flared around Apophis when the assimilation needle struck it and alerted the Jaffa sentries, who frantically searched the room for where the attack originated. Apophis whirled around as well. One saw the Goa'uld's eyes look directly at where he and the others stood cloaked. Like Bra'tac, Apophis also possessed the ability to sense the presence of the Borg.
"Jaffa! Kree!" Apophis shouted and pointed at the seemingly empty space where Unimatrix 31 gathered.
After seconds of disarray the Jaffa got over their confusion and obeyed Apophis's command, and began firing their staff weapons, but the Infiltrators were able to easily dodge the blind-fire.
One side-stepped one plasma burst before he fired two piercing needles at the Jaffa nearest the doors. Because he was in the direct path of several blasts, Three dive out the way and rolled smoothly into a crouching pose. Two ran directly at the Jaffa firing from Apophis's right, dodging to the left and then to the right, and slipped behind the Jaffa. She used her re-fabricated tubules to penetrate his armor, then quickly moved to the remaining Jaffa and assimilated him as well.
In the five seconds it took the Infiltrators to pacify the Jaffa guards, Apophis had rushed over to the upper left corner of the bridge. Two tried to approach Apophis from behind as well, her intent was to penetrate his personal shield by using her tubules to by-pass its inertial dampening aspects. Before she reached him, Apophis turned and aimed his Kara kesh at her still cloaked form. A beam of orange energy shot out and struck her center mass, and sent her flying back with great force. Three leaped from his crouched position and intercepted her in mid-air. Both tumbled head over heels for a second before they pushed apart and landed pat on their feet.
"Whoever you are, you will come to regret this affront to the great God Apophis!" Apophis declared while he held out his gauntlet covered hand and pointed at the Borg.
One de-cloaked, as did the rest of Unimatrix 31. Apophis's eyes narrowed at their appearance.
"Your false claims of divinity are irrelevant; you will be assimilated."
Fury and a very real light burned in Apophis eyes. "And you will perish in the flames of my vengeance!"
The ceiling over Apophis's head opened and three Transportation rings lowered around him. A beam of yellow light enveloped Apophis before it shot up through the rings and vanished. The three rings then returned to their recess in the ceiling.
"Does anyone think he was talking metaphorically?" Xander said.
"A far as our sensors show he hasn't activate the self-destruct," One of One said.
"Then he must have found another way to destroy the Ha'tak and take us with it," Three of Six replied.
"Until we find out what it is, we can't risk assimilation," said Xander. "We should begin transporting all Jaffa and retinue to the cube."
"Should we? That would be a massive drain of power," One of One said.
"Do you disagree with saving them?" Xander asked.
"No. We can't let five thousand people die. However, if we don't find Apophis's trap in time, after transporting so many our shields will not hold, and we may not be able to escape to a safe distance."
"Suggestions?" Three of Six said.
"Trade places with the Net-cube," One of One said. "Together they have more power at their disposal. The two Infiltrators and SG-1 have Klorel's Ha'tak under control, so we don't need to worry about any attacks coming from it."
The Collective mulled over One of One's suggestion for almost a microsecond.
"Agreed."
Jack pulled an unresistant Klorel with him away from the second black clad figure, and rejoined the rest of his team, who'd retreated to another part of the bridge. Carter held her weapon ready, but aimed it at the floor, while Teal'c kept his Zat trained on the intruders. Daniel just looked confused.
The intruder that had appeared behind Jack walked over to a podium, raised their hand over the orb on top, and then two familiar thin, black tendrils emerged from their fingers and connected with the orb.
"Who are you guys?" Jack asked.
Please don't say we are the Borg. Please don't say we are the Borg. Please don't say we are the Borg.
"We are the Borg," the black clad figure at the main controls said with a modulated, sexless voice.
Jack winced. "I was afraid you'd say that," he said.
"Don't worry," the other so-called Borg said with the same artificial voice. "We aren't here to hurt you or your team."
"Although we would appreciate you turning Klorel over to us," said panel Borg.
"Uh, what do you want with him?" Daniel asked.
"We lost Apophis, so Klorel is our only option to figure out how to access the upper tier control systems of a Ha'tak," replied the control panel Borg, who still hadn't turned away from whatever it was doing there.
"By assimilating Klorel?" Jack asked.
"Correct. We've already begun the process. So please hand him over."
Jack turned Klorel around and kept a grip on his shoulders. Klorel's dull eyes stared unseeingly at Jack. A second later they began to turn black and silver.
"What about the host?" Jack asked, looking at the Borg. "Can you remove the Goa'uld inside him before you assimilate him?"
"Unclear," panel Borg said.
"Care to explain what that means?"
The Borg at the controls finally turned around. Jack couldn't tell if they were looking back at him because of the smooth, round, featureless helmet they wore, which Jack decided didn't look much like a motorcycle helmet after all. It was too small; the helmet seemed molded to fit the precise dimensions of the Borg's head. There barely seemed enough space inside the helmet to comfortably fit their nose, and none to move their jaw.
"We want to put the symbiotes through more analyses before we try to remove or assimilate them," panel Borg replied. "We know Goa'uld larvae act as an immune system for Jaffa, and our nanoprobes can take over that function if we have to remove them, but we have no idea what happens to the host of an adult Goa'uld if it's removed."
Jack looked a Klorel, and for a moment saw Skaara. Jack gave each member of SG-1 a look and received slights nods in response. Then Jack looked at the Borg.
"Mind if we discuss this amongst ourselves for a while?" he asked.
"Of course, Colonel O'Neill," panel Borg said before turning back to the main control panel.
Jack frowned at hearing the Borg call him by his name and rank but ignored it for the moment.
"So, they don't look or act like any Borg I've ever saw on Star Trek," Jack said once the team moved to the other end of the bridge for privacy.
"Indeed," Teal'c said. "I seem to remember the Borg shaped as both robot and flesh. They were also quite an aggressive race."
"Right? These guys haven't threatened to assimilate us even once!"
"Sir, with all due respect, we shouldn't identify these people as Borg. Whoever—whatever—they are, they can't be a fictional race of people from a TV show. It's just not possible."
Jack gave Carter a look. "So, it's just a coincidence they have big ass cube-shaped spaceships, assimilate folks, and also call themselves the Borg? You know I don't believe in coincidences, Captain."
"Neither do I, sir, but what other rational explanation is there?"
"Either, way," Daniel said, "they saved us from the Jaffa just now. That has to count for something.
"And what if they really do find a way to safely remove Goa'uld from hosts?" Daniel asked. "They could save Skaara, Sha're, and countless others."
"Yeah, but I'm not giving Skaara to them without more to go on," Jack said.
Daniel gave Jack a pensive look, but in the end nodded in agreement.
"We have another thing to consider," Carter said. "Should we really stand by and allow them to gain control of the ship?"
"They neutralized a dozen Jaffa in but moments," Teal'c said. "I am uncertain how we may hinder their efforts."
"Carter's got a point, though. Even if we can't stop them from boosting this thing, we at least need to find out what they intend to do afterwards."
Jack shuddered at the thought of these guys being anything like the Borg from TV. Those Borg would be an even bigger threat than the Goa'uld.
"Besides, we have an ace up our sleeve if these guys plan on screwing us over. Tell me you set the C4 on automatic timer," Jack said to Carter.
"I set the C4 on automatic timer."
"Good. How long do we have?" Jacked asked as he glance at his watch.
"Twenty-four hours," Carter said.
Jack blinked then exclaimed, "Twenty-four hours!"
"At the time, sir, I thought we were still light years away from Earth," Carter said in her defense, though she did look slightly abashed.
Jack took a breath before he said, "It's fine. We can still set them off manually if we have to."
When the team meeting broke apart, Jack looked at the Borg and saw the one that probably assimilated Skaara was finished doing whatever it was he did to the podium, and joined his pal at the control panel.
"Uh, excuse me," Jack called out to the pair.
"Yes, Colonel O'Neill?"
Neither Borg turned around, so Jack had no idea which one responded.
"Mind if I ask what you plan to do when you have control of the ship?"
"Assimilate it."
"And then?"
The Borg that assimilated Klorel turned around and said:
"Party like it's 1999."
Jack looked at his team and saw Carter and Daniel look as perplexed as Jack felt.
"I'm sorry, but... how do you know that phrase?" Daniel asked.
"From the greatest Prince album of all time? How could I not know it?"
Daniel stepped forward. "What's your name?"
"I go by Seven of Nine," the Prince fan said.
Jack looked at the Borg's slender, androgynous physique and said, "Not that Seven of Nine, I presume?"
Seven of Nine laughed. "You wish!"
"My designation is Nine of Nine," said the other Borg.
"Do you have… any other names?" Daniel asked.
"The question Dr. Jackson is dancing around is: are you from Earth?" Jack said.
If they are, it would explain a lot, Jack thought. Like why they call themselves Borg. Maybe as some kind of homage.
Neither alleged Borg offered an answer. Nine of Nine stopped manipulating the control panel for a moment and took what looked like to Jack a deep breath before they resumed working on the panel.
"Tough question?" Jack asked.
"We were once human, yes," Seven of Nine finally said.
"How is that possible?" Carter asked. "Your ships are technologically superior to anything currently found on Earth. Just gathering the raw materials to construct them is beyond what we're capable of!"
"Exactly," Jack agreed. "And I think somebody would notice them being built. They don't exactly blend in with the… Well, any scenery, really."
Seven of Nine held up their hand and replied, "The answers you want are complicated. We can explain later if you don't mind waiting until we finish our work here and return to our base."
"Your base? Where is that? Earth?" Daniel asked.
"No," Seven of Nine said. "Jupiter."