Nairobi, Kenya, 2031.
It was the final day of the exodus from Earth.
The day that the Tau'ri would be leaving Earth for good. With the Talon, the final Tau'ri ship in orbit over Earth waiting for her Commanding Officer, the exodus was one ship away from being complete. The SGC, Area 51, the classified Homeworld Command Bunker under the Pentagon, the BPRI Compound had been completely destroyed with all the computers, data, and various other systems wiped out. An Asgard-Tau'ri virus was introduced into the World Wide Web to wipe out any information on the Stargate Program and the people associated with it, even from the most secure computers. As for any paper trails, it was widely believed that any evidence was destroyed during the nuclear strike and the resulting war between Augments and humans, followed by those who were genetically engineered and those who were 'normal' humans.
Everything that needed to be done to ensure that their fellow Terrans could move on, without the sin of what the Tau'ri had done to save the galaxy weighing down on them, had been done. The final duty was a request to an old friend of the Talon's commander, Colonel Willow Rosenberg.
It was early in the morning when Willow, Buffy, Faith, Tara, Amy Madison, and General Landry were beamed down close to a tree that was white in colour, the leaves having already fallen from the branches which swayed in the light breeze that swept through the plains. The tall grass around them swayed in concert with the breeze as Willow and the others walked to the tree where a male lion was lying down, it's head resting on its front paws before sensing the five humans.
The Slayers and Willow remembered this moment; it had been several years since they had first met the one they were about to meet. The first time the Slayers had met this person was during a test to measure how worthy they were of using her power. With the Earth being taken care off in terms of it's ignorance to the goings-on in a newly peaceful galaxy; the next step had been to take care of the supernatural. The Covens around the planet, of which most witches and seers opted to remain on Earth, swore to be the guardians of the Hellmouths. They had already completed a ritual that would essentially slow down the release of dark mystical energy from the Hellmouths, responsible for attracting demons and their ilk, to a trickle.
Reducing the chances of attacks by all forms of demons.
Approaching the tree, the group stopped as the lion lifted itself on all fours and walked towards them. It stopped a few yards away and then gave what seemed like a small bow of its head before turning to the left and walking away. Once it disappeared into the swaying grass, the group walked over to the tree where Willow found a plaque on the ground; the plaque was a piece of naquada, etched with symbols in the language of the Ancients. It was laid there on the ground by Willow herself when she was Athena thousands of years ago as the burial place of a good friend.
Just as all those years ago, Buffy and Faith crouched down and closed their eyes while touching the plaque. It then started to glow red while a heavy cold breeze came out of nowhere. Reality seemed to shift around them as the tree became darker; the bark turning brown and the leaves starting to sprout out from the branches. A few meters away, a small rectangular metallic structure appeared out of nowhere and a small campfire raged several feet from the entrance while a Lantean Gateship lay dormant near the structure.
Willow breathed in the fresh air as she looked at the home she made in the plains of Nairobi ten thousand years ago, after her people returned to Earth from Atlantis after their defeat at the hands of the Wraith. She and several others made Nairobi their home for a few years. They left due to the high heat in the day, and cold at night, a few years later until only Athena was left alone.
As Willow recalled her memories, she looked at the structure and then at her friends while Faith and Buffy stood up and looked around searching for the one they came to meet. It was Tara who said that she felt as if they were being watched, and the redhead agreed before turning around to stare into the eyes of a young, dark-skinned, woman wearing rags all over her body. Her hands and feet were attached to the ends of menaces, and her arms were by her side while two sharp weapons lay on her back. Her face had white paint, and her hair was dry as it fell around her face to her lower back. Willow could never forget her… could never forget the little girl the woman had once been when they first met ten thousand years ago.
She was the woman who the Furling priests known as the Shadow Men kidnapped even after Willow had given them thirty thousand living weapons to fight the vampires and demons that already existed and were threatening humanity. The woman in front of her was the being prophesized to be a powerful warrior that would fight the evil beings that threatened humanity. But Athena was having none of that, and in exchange for the living weapons, she demanded that the Shadow Men let the girl be free to live her life. However, five years later, after giving the Shadow Men the last batch of clones, Athena was betrayed.
For the past five years, unknown to Athena, the Shadow Men used a demon to extract the life force of the living weapons so that it would grow more powerful. Eventually, all of the clones were dead; their life force and abilities absorbed into what would be later known as the Shadow Demon. During a mission to rescue the girl, Athena was taken captive and made to watch the last batch of the living weapons die a gruesome death, after which the Shadow Men thanked her for saving the world. She then watched with horror as the girl, who was chained to the Earth, begged her for help.
But Athena couldn't do anything since she was chained to the wall and forced to watch without interrupting the ritual. Athena, who was still in her physical body, watched helplessly as the Shadow Demon was released from its cage and struck the girl. She remembered the screams of anguish from the girl as the demon took her body and her soul… imbuing her with its own gifts… as well as the gifts from the living weapons.
Back in the present day, Willow took a step forward toward the girl who grew up. The very same girl for whom Athena created two weapons before she was exiled from Earth for using her cloning research, deemed illegal in the eyes of the Atlantis Council on Earth. The Scythes were given to the girl to help in the war against the demons… and she fought with those weapons until the say she died. The girl won the final massive battle- one girl alone against a horde of demons and the last Old One. Athena rushed to her side after having a nightmare while she was meditating in Kheb, where she was training in seclusion with Oma Desala for her ascension. The young woman died in Athena's arms from a fatal wound, and her death changed the future of good versus evil in the supernatural realm.
The girl, Sineya, became known as the First Slayer. And her death formed the Slayer Lines. Athena, joined by the ascended Hera who arrived to fulfil her promise of ascension to Sineya, witnessed the formation of the lines after Sineya's refusal to ascend following her death. They were lines of mystical energy that shot out of Sineya's body and permeated the Earth. The power of the planet itself powered the Lines so that when one Slayer died, the next one could be activated; and that way Sineya would be able to guide the next generation of Slayers.
And now, Willow had a favour to ask the young woman she used to call her daughter.
"Athena… mother," said Sineya as Willow hugged her tightly, "it has been too long."
"It has, my daughter," replied Willow before introducing General Landry and Amy. Sineya nodded her head before welcoming Buffy, Faith, and Tara back. Sineya then turned to Willow who took in a deep breath before saying, "we are leaving this world, Sineya."
"I know, Athena," Sineya replied.
"And we won't be returning again," added the General. Buffy then said that two Slayers and a handful of the BPRI personnel, as well as a handful of witches, belong to six covens, including the one in Devon, chose to stay and defend the world from demons. With most of the demons' dead after the initial nuclear strikes, there were still those who needed to be kept in check by the Slayers. So, Tara and several witches from all the covens on Earth used their powers to tap into the magic flowing through Earth's lay-lines and redirected those energies to blocking the very same energy that emanated from the Hellmouths; especially the oldest one in Sunnydale.
Willow then introduced Amy Madison who, after Tara leaves Earth, would be the most powerful witch on the planet. And she, along with the other witches, seers, watchers, and people knowledgeable with the supernatural, would act as guides for any new Slayers who would be activated after the current ones die.
And it was to find a way of activating new Slayers on another planet that Willow and the others arrived in Nairobi.
"Sineya," General Landry said as he stood next to Buffy, "the place where we're going is full of monsters called the Wraith."
"Yes," Sineya said nodding her head, "Mother has spoken of the Wraith.
"We need a way to activate Slayers there, Sineya," said Buffy, "what we've got planned is to place a few planets, including our new homeworld, into a time dilation bubble."
"Time in the bubble moves faster than the rest of the universe," Willow explained, "so by the time we're out of the bubble, we'll have a force enough to battle the Wraith on an equal playing field. But we want Slayers to be our first strike against the Wraith, so we need to activate an army."
Sineya nodded her head and held out the palm of her hand upwards. Soon, a red light started to glow on top of her hand and it slowly coalesced into a ruby-red crystal. She handed the crystal to Willow and asked her to plant it in their new world. She told Willow that the crystal contained a portion of her essence, and a small part was only needed to activate a new Slayer. Sineya reminded Willow and the others that since the crystal contained a small part of her essence, the lines formed on Lantea would need ten years to strengthen.
"And then the same rules of activation apply," said Sineya as she looked at her successors, Buffy and Faith, "if you wish to artificially activate a Potential, they will have to pass my tests. And I will deem them either worthy or unworthy to wield my gifts. If more than one Slayer is to be activated, then the time to wait before the next activation is twice the number of Slayers activated."
"So two Slayers activated means we need to wait four years before trying again," Tara nodded her head while recalling the three Slayers they had just activated a year ago.
"Yes," said Sineya, "they will be full Slayers; with all the power as those in this world. They will help in the coming war."
"Thank you, Sineya," said Amy, "I hope we see each other again."
"We will not, Amy Madison," Sineya said, "not like this. However, I will be within every Slayer who is activated… including those who are activated through death in battle. Farewell."
"Goodbye, Sineya," said Willow as she hugged the young woman again while General Landry nodded his head, "take care of your successors, as you always have."
"Be safe, mother," whispered Sineya before everything changed and the group found themselves facing the white tree, the only difference being the red crystal in Tara's hand. Willow breathed in and out deeply before she walked towards the tree and crouched down. She then leaned forward and brushed her fingers along the etchings on the plaque.
"Here lies Sineya of the Plains," Willow whispered, "may her will, strength, and power be forever."
Willow then bowed her head in respect before getting up and heading back towards the group. After saying goodbye to Amy who then used her magic to teleport herself to the Devon coven, the others were beamed up to the Talon. The ship, the last Tau'ri vessel to leave Earth orbit following the massive Asgard Colony ships, the very same ships they used to transport their own people when they were losing the war against the replicators several years ago.
Back then, the ships were in the void outside the Ida galaxy while Thor called on SG-1 to help them activate a time-dilation device. But, once the replicators were defeated, the ships were mothballed and put back into action a year after the nuclear attacks to relocate millions of people from Earth and the SGC's allied worlds, including those who voluntarily moved from the Asgards Protected Planets.
A day after the Talon exited hyperspace over their new homeworld, the red crystal dubbed by Buffy as the 'Slayer Seed' was planted in the smallest continent on Lantea. Willow, Faith, Buffy, Tara, Giles, Xander, and Dawn watched as red light shot out of the crystal and into the sky of Lantea, followed by rays of light that emanated from it and shot around the planet. The light could be seen from the space stations as well as from Atlantis given that one of the rays of red light passed directly overhead. The lights soon faded, and it was then that Tara told Willow she could feel the energy flowing through Lantea itself. That the planet's own life force was powering the new Slayer Lines.
It would be eleven years later that the first three Lantean Slayers were activated. And their training began. Eventually, the Slayers were crucial in the war against the Wraith, just as their progenitors were supposed to be. They were key.
And now, in the final war against the Goa'uld and the Ori, they were going to be the first strike teams again.
Ba'al's mothership, Now.
Legate Broca couldn't believe it as he stared at the holographic HUD showing the destruction on Bajor. He and the other Cardassians, Breen, Weyoun, the Jem'Hadar guards, and the quietly fuming Changeling watched as the numbers on the side of the holographic planet, with many areas in red, continued to go up.
"More than a billion deaths," said Weyoun as the numbers continued going up; the advanced Ori sensors on the ship feeding them live data from the surface.
"Lord Ba'al, I…."
"Show reverance to your god," said Ba'al as Qetesh looked over her shoulder at the Cardassians staring at him and then at each other. They then turn to him and went down on one knee while she felt the quiet rage coming off the Changeling. Smiling as she looked away, Qetesh looked out at the stars over Bajor as the Cardassians made an oath of loyalty to Ba'al.
"All we ask, Lord Ba'al," said Broca with his head towards the floor, "that we, the Cardassian people, retake what was once ours. The Bajoran Colonies, and the one symbol of their rebellion against us… one which my own people built with our own blood and sweat; Terok Nor."
"Then it is yours," said Ba'al in his gravel sounding voice before telling the Cardassians to rise to their feet, "I have been watching the Cardassians, and the Breen for a long time. And then I captured a diseased Changeling and…"
"How?" asked the female Changeling furiously, "where is…"
"It is dead," said Qetesh as she looked out at the stars, and then continued to speak while looking over her shoulder at the Changeling whose skin seemed to be peeling off her body, "and if you do not temper your anger, Changeling, I will make certain the same applies to you and your people."
"Now, now, my queen," said Ba'al as he and Qetesh stared at each other before she turned back towards the star field, and Ba'al towards the female Changeling, "I do apologise for the death of your kin. However, it was a necessary consequence of examining a way to save the lives of your people."
Ba'al then turned to his First Prime and had him bring the antidote. The man bowed his head before rushing off down one door. In the meantime, the Breen said that they would like to be on their way to conquering Vulcan and Romulus, and their respective colonies. The group then looked at the Changeling who then reluctantly said that she would only acquiesce to Ba'al if his "so called cure" worked.
"I assure you it would work." Ba'al and the others then turned upon the First Prime returning with a small golden chest in his hands. He went down on one knee in front of Ba'al and then held out his arms, with the small chest on the palms of his hands. Ba'al reached down and opened the chest's cover before taking out a brown spherical object and then walking towards the Changeling. "This contains self-replicating nanites that were built using the technology of a race long dead. It's only programmed to administer the cure that would destroy the virus infecting your body at the sub-atomic level. Then once you are cured, you only have to join with the rest of your people to spread the cure in the self-replicating nanites."
"How is it administered?" asked the Founder.
"You can either absorb it or swallow it. Either way, the nanites would be absorbed into your form."
The Changeling knew she had no choice. Her people were dying- she was dying, and even with their level of technology.. they had yet to find a cure. She popped the pill into her mouth knowing full well it was a risk, but a risk that needed to be taken. She wanted to be healthy, she wanted her people to survive. And not for just finishing the job against the Federation and its allies… she also wanted to make Ba'al pay for this humiliation. And she wanted to make the Cardassians and the Breen pay for this insult.
This betrayal by the Breen and the Cardassians just cemented her hatred of the solids. It cemented her reasons for the Dominion invading, and then taking over the Alpha Quadrant. She was going to steal Ba'al's technology so that the Dominion could upgrade their ships. Once the Alpha Quadrant was subjugated, then they could prepare to defeat the Tau'ri who she believed were no doubt coming to protect their homeworld; Earth.
It was that disbelief in Earth being the Tau'ri homeworld that was pushed to the back of her mind as the female changing gasped before her shin started to liquefy. Everyone watched the Changeling liquefy for a few seconds before reforming herself as a solid being with her skin, which had earlier appeared to be peeling off her body, unblemished. She then looked at her arms and body in surprise before looking up at Ba'al.
"Now," said Ba'al, "you want to save the rest of your people?"
"Yes," said the Changeling who had more hate than ever in her heart while staring at Ba'al. She knew that her humiliation was complete and that the Dominion wouldn't be seen the same way again by the Breen and the Cardassians. Ba'al' smiled as the ship, instead of heading for Earth, stopped over Cardassia Prime where Legate Broca said that he would be rerouting some ships to take back Terok Nor and other Bajoran colonies. Ba'al smiled before saying that he would have his ships join them. He explained that the ships were taken from a group called the Lucien Alliance centuries ago after they were weakened by the Tau'ri before they suddenly withdrew from the galaxy. The ships were stolen with the Alliance members turned to serve both him and Qetesh over a hundred years ago. And their ships were upgraded with advanced weapons and shielding that would be able to take on any resistance. He told Broca that two ships will meet them in orbit, and then had him give the coordinates for the station to the commander of the Hatak class ships that were on the way to Cardassia. They would then head to the station, making its recapture easy, and the Cardassians could do what they wanted.
"Then the honour will be yours, Broca. If the Tau'ri arrive, they will be surprised at the strength of the fleet in my command," said Ba'al as the Cardassians bowed their heads and were then beamed away. Ba'al then turned to the Breen general who said that they would make their own way, unlike the Cardassians. The General said, in a screeching voice, that the Breen were itching for battle and didn't require any help.
"There will be a small force of five Ha'tak class ships in case you encounter more resistance than you can handle," said Ba'al as the Breen just stared, "after all, what kind of a god would I be if I didn't prepare for any eventuality."
The Breen then nodded his head before being beamed out of the ship. Ba'al's vessel then entered hyperspace and exited a few minutes later over the Changeling's homeworld. the Changeling, Ba'al, Adria, the Jem'Hadar, and Weyoun beamed down to the surface on a rocky outcropping. He nodded at the Changeling who then walked into the dark brown rippling liquid that surrounded them. It was the Great Link - the Changelings in their natural form sharing their thoughts, memories, and experiences as one. The female Changeling melted into the Great Link which then quickly started to turn a light brown while the Jem'Hadar and Weyoun looked on in surprise.
"It's working," exclaimed Weyoun when before long, two shapes walked out of the light brown liquid and took form of the Female Changeling, and one other who was male. Weyoun then bowed his head in reverence as did the Jem'Hadar while Ba'al and Adria looked on.
"Now," said Ba'al smugly, "on your knees."
"Thank you, for your help, Ba'al," smirked the female changeling as she took on his form, while the male took on Adria's form. "If you knew us Changelings as you have said, then you would have realised that we hate solids… and we will not share power. After you and your queen are dead, we will kill your crew and steal your ships. We will…."
"Do nothing," said Adria as she flicked her hand and the necks of the Jem'Hadar, who had already made their way behind her and Ba'al, cracked with a sickening sound. The Changelings looked on stunned as Weyoun was mentally slammed against the side of a large rock while Ba'al simply chuckled. The Female Changeling was about to ask what was so funny when she felt her body becoming much heavier and harder. She looked down at herself and watched as her feet started to solidifying into a dark coloured mineral. It was then she mentally heard screams through the Great Link. She turned her head, as did the male Changeling who had taken Adria's form, and watched the entire sea of brown solidifying.
"The Goa'uld make sure that they have no rivals," said Ba'al as the female Changeling turned back towards him and Adria, "no world under Goa'uld control would be allowed to have such advanced technology."
"But…."
"You would have made such perfect slaves," said Ba'al with a sigh, "your people were a threat. There was no way to know how long your war would have lasted, and even if by some chance the Federation won… they would have sought a peace treaty and let your people escape responsibility. We were willing to come out of hiding when the fighting had stopped and then conquered all of you at your weakest points, but with the appearance of the Tau'ri… we changed our plans. We were already strong enough while the Tau'ri were in hiding somewhere in the galaxy… and now… now they have come out and we will show them how far we have come. And how woefully unprepared they are for what is yet to come. With the power of the Ori under our control, this entire galaxy will be mine."
"We would have let you live a while longer if you had not betrayed us," said Qetesh as the two Changelings opened their eyes wide in shock at what was happening, "your bodies are being turned to solid naquadria on a sub-atomic level. The nanites were programmed to change you at the sub-atomic level in the event you betrayed us by taking our forms… just as I would die if my powers were used against my husband."
"I… you.. you would… kill….?" The Female struggled to speak as her head was solidifying.
"The Goa'uld have exterminated worlds for less," said Ba'al, "you should have asked the Tau'ri what we did to the people of Abydos, or to the world known as Hanka. Or… but does it matter? Once the Cardassians and Breen have finished conquering their worlds, our ships will destroy them and take over what they have captured. The people will then bow down to us as gods."
"I…."
"Shhhh," said Qetesh as the Changeling's solidified into greyish statues.
"No! Founder!" exclaimed Weyoun as he rushed to the solidified Changelings and fell to his knees while holding to their legs, "no… please, no.. you are gods. Fight this… please.. fight this!"
Ba'al and Qetesh then beamed out to the awaiting ship. He then ordered his First Prime to open fire on the planet. Multiple bursts of plasma from the Ori enhanced weaponry impacted the surface which then interacted with the still spreading naquadria… forming a deadly, and unstable, chain reaction. The ship escaped into hyperspace just as the massive explosion look Weyoun's life first, and then the lives of all the other Changelings. Even those that hadn't been solidified yet as the planet was torn apart.
Deep Space Nine, Alpha Quadrant, at that same time.
The Midway station listening post detected the massive explosion; the naquadria destroyed not just the planet itself. The intense subspace shockwaves affected several planets in the system, including the ones where Jem'Hadar cloning facilities were located in the Gamma Quadrant. The Changelings were made extinct in one stroke. And Odo felt it all the way from Deep Space Nine as he let Major Kira, who had been crying on his shoulder, go before stumbling back onto a console, and then falling on his knees. He looked at the floor in confusion as a pain went through his body when he realised that that the screams he heard in his mind before they were suddenly silenced, were the screams of his people in the Great Link.
He felt their deaths from all the way in Deep Space Nine.
"Constable?" asked a worried Captain Sisko as Dax and a tearful Kira ran to him while he was gasping on the floor of the operations center.
"They... they're gone," he whispered as he looked up at the Captain, "the.. the Founders. I.. I can't feel them.. I… heard screams and then… then silence. I can't feel the pull towards the Great Link anymore."
"Odo?" asked Major Kira sniffling before she continued, "are.. are you…."
"My people are gone," Odo whispered in shock, "I.. I may be the last Changeling."
"Security," said a deceptively calm Garak, the resident Cardassian tailor who had a shop in the Promenade of the station, through the comm-badges as he stared at furious Bajorans outside his shop. He had seen the destruction of Bajor a few seconds ago, and then saw the fear and sorrow in the eyes of the Bajorans around him turn to hate and rage when they realised he was among them. He hurriedly retreated to his shop, locked the doors and stepped back while the crowd pounded the doors with their fists- all of them howling for his blood. He stared at them with eyes wide open while continuing, "I need some assistance. I do believe that some of the Bajorans down here wish to kill me."
"Let him die," hissed Kira as she hugged Odo tightly while looking up at Captain Sisko, "let him die."
"I will not have this station descend into chaos," said the Captain before turning to Worf and ordering him to take a detachment of security personnel to the Promenade to protect Garak, and to restore some semblance of order. He knew that a lot of people died this day, and he didn't want any more bloodshed.
"Captain?" said O'Brien as he looked at the console in front of him, and then back up at the Captain with his eyes wide open, "we have forty-one Cardassian ships coming at us at warp. All of them are Galor Class."
"How long before they get here?" asked the Captain as Dax ran to O'Brien's console while Bashir moved to another Bajoran who just sat on the ground in shock.
"Forty minutes," said Dax.
"The ships that were heading for the station," said the Captain referring to the Federation ships that were rerouted to Bajor after the attack, "get them back here. I'll contact Starfleet Command and inform them of the latest situation."
"My people are gone," whispered Odo shaking his head-on Kira's shoulder, "my people are gone."
"Odo," whispered the Captain as he crouched down next to him while Dax was contacting Starfleet and the Federation vessels, "we'll find out what happened to your people. But right now we have a bigger problem. A Cardassian fleet is on the way, and we need to plan a defence while evacuating as many Bajorans as possible. Please, I need your help." The Captain then turned to the Major who was looking back at him. He wiped the tears that were flowing down her cheeks and apologised, "I'm sorry, Major Kira. As Emissary, it is my duty to protect Bajor. I may have failed in one aspect, but I will not fail in protecting the Bajorans on this station. I will protect this station, and I will protect the Bajorans here by making sure that they're evacuated, and…."
"Benjamin," said Dax as the viewscreen activated. Everyone looked up to see two tears in space as two ships; pyramid shaped with a black hull around it shot out and stopped. Dax looked at the console and then back at the Captain before saying that the ships didn't correspond to any race that they were aware of. It was then that another officer said that the ships were charging weapons and raising shields.
"Power levels are off the scale," said another officer.
"I'm reading plasma weaponry all over the hull, unknown type of shielding technology, an unknown power source, no warp drive and no deflector dish," said O'Brien, "and no visible engines."
"Arm all photon torpedoes, charge phasers, and activate the shield," commanded the Captain who was trying to project calm, instead of confusion, at what he was hearing from the Chief. He then looked down and told Kira that he needed her and Odo by his side. "Please."
The Major and Oda then slowly stood up and nodded their heads.
"Major," said the Captain, "I know this is difficult. But you are the Bajoran everyone here will listen to. I need calm on this station, and I need you and Odo to help me."
"I… I'll address the Bajorans through the Station's comm system," the Major Whispered before Odo said that he'll head to Worf's location and stop any fighting or looting that may occur. The Captain nodded his head, after which the Major headed to a console and Odo to a lift at the port side of the room. The Captain knew that there would be time to mourn later, especially after confirming what Odo revealed to them about the Changelings. But for now, he needed their minds distracted from their respective tragedies. He needed them to be kept busy... and the only way was to protect the Station and its people.
"Hail the ships," said the Captain. Ezri nodded her head before the Captain spoke, "this is Captain Benjamin Sisko, commander of Deep Space Nine. Identify yourself."
"If anyone attempts to leave the station," said a male voice via audio only, "we will shoot it down. This station belongs to our god, Ba'al. And he will enforce his will through the Cardassians. It will be up to them to decide your fates."
"How long before the Federation ships get here," asked the Captain turning to Dax while Major Kira was doing her best to keep everyone on the station calm and collected.
"Twenty minutes," said Dax looking at the scans. Then there was a beep and she focused on another screen on the same console before looking up at the Captain, "I'm getting a communique from Starfleet; the Andorians have also mobilised. There are forty ships being sent to Earth, and forty being sent here. Sixty Starfleet vessels are heading for Earth with the Enterprise carrying the flag. And… oh no…"
"Our subspace communications are being blocked," said O'Brian, "we're cut off from the Federation."
"I want all Bajorans and civilians at the docking ports. We can't risk anyone leaving now in the event that these ships will fire on them," commanded the Captain before saying that with the aid of the Andorian ships, he would be able to use the eventual battle between the Andorian-Federation alliance ships and these two alien vessels to evacuate as many Bajorans and civilians as possible, "all Starfleet and Bajoran security personnel stand ready to defend the station. I want all phasers and torpedoes to fire at the Cardassian ships once they enter firing range. And hail these alien ships again. I want to try and negotiate an escape route for the civilians on the station right now."
"No luck, Captain," said O'Brien, "I can't cut through the interference."
"Keep on trying," said the captain as he looked at the two Pyramid ships, "keep on trying. At least find me a way to get through to the Federation ships once they're in close proximity."
"Working on it, sir," said O'Brien.
Conference Room, Atlantis.
Willow and the rest of the former SG-1 rushed up the central stairs followed by Captain Janeway, Chakotay, and Tuvok while the other Starfleet officers were sent back to Voyager to prepare for battle. The Captain knew that everyone, including herself, had numerous questions for these people following the revelation that they were from Earth… including the fact that Willow mentioned she was born in the late twentieth century. However, all of that had to be put on the back burner as they rushed up the stairs while the Captain, Tuvok, and Chakotay stared at the active Stargate.
"Report!" ordered Willow at the officers and technicians at Stargate Operations.
"Midway Station reports a massive planetary scale naquadria explosion," said one of the officers standing behind the console. Everyone stopped and stared at each other in shock before Willow barked an order at the technician.
"I want all readings sent to the Conference room and…."
"Ma'am," said another officer "you're receiving a message from the chairperson of the Alliance Council."
"To the Conference room," said General O'Neill.
"Issue evacuation orders for the City… I want all non-essential personnel beamed out of here in an hour."
"Ma'am?" asked another technician.
"You heard me," Willow said, "one hour. We leave five minutes later… any later than that? Then the Goa'uld and the Ori will have a foothold in the Milky Way by taking Earth. Contact General Jon O'Neill, I want a full task force armed and prepared to leave within an hour."
The officers in the Operations center nodded their heads before Colonel Carter told them to warm up the Star Drive and the Wormhole Drive, "have Dr. Mackay meet us at the Conference room with Dr. Hailey. And contact Vala… tell her we need to talk. Transfer that call to the conference room too."
"Understood," said the officer while another one activated an alarm that sounded throughout the city. Willow then led the others into the conference room before the lourved doors closed shut and the lights inside on the walls turned to a dim orange. General Carter pressed a button on the wall and the conference table was lowered into the floor while then moved over for a circular pedestal to rise in its place. The room dimmed slightly as a hologram of the Milky Way appeared in front of them. Janeway was staring at the technology in front of her and more questions swam in her mind as she glanced over at Willow who turned to a screen on the wall that activated to show a woman with yellow eyes and a pale complexion looking back at them.
"Chairperson Alanna," said Willow nodding her head at the Enkaran woman.
"General," she replied with a serious look on her face, "President Chase and I have already conducted an emergency meeting of the Alliance Council."
"That was fast," said Daniel.
"We experienced slavery under the Goa'uld and oppression under the Ori," said the chairwoman as Janeway looked on, "and we know what the Tau'ri have sacrificed. While I felt it right that forty years of war would have made people tired of fighting. And enough for a simple 'peacekeeping mission' to the Milky Way, the Alliance disagrees."
"Ma'am?" asked Willow.
"It was a unanimous decision," said the Chairwoman, "and the fastest. A total of five minutes since we know the threat represented by both powers. The Alliance has authorised war on the Goa'uld and Ori. General, the Tau'ri have taken the lead on the Goa'uld and the Ori before, and we're asking the same again. Free the Milky Way from the Ori and Goa'uld threat. But the on-going war between the Federation and their enemies are not our concern."
"Madam Chairperson," said Willow before she turned to looked at Janeway who had several questions in her mind. The redhead then turned to the screen once again and said, "we have Captain Kathryn Janeway of the Federation Starship Voyager with us. And she has questions."
"Captain?" asked Alanna, "you have questions?"
"Yes," said Janeway as another screen behind them popped up to show Vala's face. Willow turned to Vala while Janeway asked Alanna if there was any way at all to negotiate a truce with the Goa'uld and Ori. With General O'Neill, next to her as she received an answer from Alanna; Willow, General Carter, Teal'c, and Daniel were telling the stunned Vala, whose hair already had wisps of grey, about Adria's rebirth and possession by Qetesh.
"I'm heading back to Atlantis," Vala who was on the planet in the Triangulum galaxy designated as T7Y-879, "give me…"
"Vala," Willow interrupted her. "We need you and General Mitchell there to secure the treaty with the Hotahth. We'll bring Adria back alive this time and…"
"Cam can handle the rest of the way with our diplomats," Vala interrupted Willow, "she's not all Ori, Willow. You know that. She's part human. Ba'al's torturing her by letting Qetesh control her."
"Vala," said Daniel, "you have to.."
"I'm coming to Atlantis in five minutes," said Vala in a stern voice, "Mitchell out." The screen then turned off while Willow then tapped on her earpiece and told one of the Operations officers to expect Vala coming in from Triangulum.
"Triangulum?" asked Chakotay turning towards them while the silent Tuvok simply arched his left eyebrow upwards, "as in the galaxy?"
"Yes," General Carter answered, "we have already colonised two worlds in Triangulum, and three in Andromeda."
"Fascinating," answered Tuvok just as Alana finished telling Janeway the danger presented by the Goa'uld and the Ori. Willow could sense that the Captain was unhappy with some of the answers, but there was nothing she could do as Tuvok mentioned that battling Ba'al would logically lead to fighting the Cardassians and the Breen; as well as their allies.
"I'm sure General Rosenberg has a plan," said Alanna, "General, the Alliance will authorise mobilisation of a hundred and fifty Alliance ships. Our technology would be at the same level as the Ori, so we should be able to match them shield for shield, and weapon to weapon. Your addition mission is to question Adria and Ba'al so that we can discover any additional planets they have conquered. The Alliance fleet will be under your command; and I... like the others in the Alliance, do not want to hear from the Goa''uld and the Ori ever again. I leave how you accomplish this mission to your discretion. Use whatever weapons you feel is adequate."
"Understood, ma'am," said Willow before the screen went dark and on another screen appeared Jonathan and Andrew from the Midway Station. Andrew said that they were already linked to Atlantis. Willow nodded her head and then pressed on a section of the holographic image of the Milky Way. The view zoomed to showing Earth with all the ships, led by the Enterprise, holding station over the planet. A screen to the left of the redhead then turned on and Jonathan said that they were watching a live data feed to Atlantis. The hologram in front of them zoomed out to showing two red dots, one was Earth and the other was where, unknown to everyone in Atlantis, used to be the Changeling's homeworld.
"Johnathan," said Willow, "where's Ba'al's ship?"
There was another red dot that appeared and the image zoomed in to show the massive ship in orbit of a planet with twenty other Ha'tak class ships and Al'kesh transports numbering up to thirty surrounding the planet. There were other orange and black ships with purple accents in orbit of the planet which Tuvok calmly said was Cardassia. Tuvok was looking at the symbols over Cardassia, and then at the symbols over Earth before asking about their significance.
"Those are Stargate addresses," said General Carter, "but they're kind of useless now since we disabled the entire network, and buried a lot of the Stargates while beaming out others and placing them in the void between galaxies."
"Then the Stargate that vanished from Vulcan in the year 2029 was the responsivity of the Tau'ri?" asked Tuvok.
"The Asgard," said Willow, "their ships are much faster than ours. A few of them helped us remove the Stargates before heading off to their home galaxy to rebuild their civilisation."
"Another galaxy?" asked Janeway while Chakotay looked to Daniel and asked why the Stargates were deactivated and removed.
"So that Earth wouldn't be burdened by what we had to do to keep it safe," said General O'Neill as Janeway looked at him, "the Stargate Program, Stargate Command, Homeworld Security, the BPRI… all these organisations weren't revealed to the public because…. Well, politics happened."
"And then there was the nuclear war that preceded World War Three," said General Carter who looked away, "we lost a lot of people."
"You were there?" asked Chakotay surprised.
"When we detected the launch of the missiles," said General O'Neill, "we did everything to stop them. But the Trust…"
"I don't understand. The Trust?" asked Janeway.
"We can talk about all this later," said Willow as she looked at the image in front of her, and then at General Carter who she could feel was getting upset. Even after all this time, even after having five children with General O'Neill; Willow felt General Carter's heart break remembering the day Debbie, her first daughter, died in the blast that levelled Colorado Springs. Willow then turned to Janeway and asked which other planets were in direct danger.
"Vulcan," said Janeway pointing at a planet which was then highlighted in blue to indicate it didn't have an opposing force orbiting it, "Tellar, Andoria… those are the founding planets of the Federation. If those four falls, then the Federation will crack. But Earth is the glue. Then you have Deep Space Nine… the station guarding the mouth of the Bajoran wormhole."
"Betazed," said Chakotay pointing at a planet that turned red to indicate it was in the hands of the enemy. The man was surprised that Betazed fell before he and Janeway glanced at each other while wondering how far the Dominion, the enemy they had only heard about, had been able to get into Federation territory.
"Basically if Earth falls, everything becomes unstuck," said Willow.
"General Rosenberg," said Teal'c as Willow looked up at him, "with your permission, I will have the Free Jaffa Council send a group of Hat'ak class ships."
Willow nodded her head before Teal'c turned and walked out of the room. Once the doors closed again, Willow looked at Janeway and asked if Voyager had any children on board.
"Yes," she nodded.
"The child can't go where we're going, Captain," said Willow while Janeway frowned, "the Ori and the Goa'uld are races your people have never fought before. And I'd like to explain things in detail. But…"
"Willow," said Andrew as she faced the screen.
"There are more of those Kull warriors coming through the Stargate in the Presidio," he continued before the image showed a map of San Francisco. They watched Starfleet Command be overrun by the Kull warriors. More and more of them left the confines of Starfleet Command and started to enter the city. Some were crossing the bridge towards the Oakland area, their armour effective against the energy weapons being wielded by the Federation Security Forces.
"They're heading towards the Academy," said Chakotay.
"The cadets will be in danger," said Tuvok as he watched the Kull warriors moved forward with ruthless efficiency shooting down anyone who shot at them. The image then changed to the Milky Way once again and the blue around Deep Space Nine had turned red. Willow asked Andrew to zoom in on DS9, and she and the others were able to see two Ha'tak class vessels looming over the station while Cardassian ships were heading for it at maximum warp. The other planets had turned red as well when the ships from Cardassia headed for Andoria, Earth, Tellar, and Vulcan. Each had different arrival times with Ba'al's ship, four Ha'taks, and seven Al'Kesh exiting over Pluto and just staying there. Ba'al had given the Earth an hour to surrender, and he was going to keep that promise. The other Ha'tak ships and Al'kesh stopped over each of their planets; Vulcan, Andoria, Tellar, and then started to fire on any resistance.
"Oh God," said Janeway as a bolt of range plasma was fired from a Hatak vessel. The plasma caused the shields of the Andorian warship to flare, collapsed it, and then went on to destroying the vessel; all in one shot. Janeway looked at the angry looks on the face of the Tau'ri next to her and then back at the screen as twenty more ships were destroyed before the Andorian vessels retreated back to the planet. Tuvok watched as the Goa'uld ships destroyed several Vulcan vessels, their phasers doing nothing against the Ori enhanced shielding of the Goa'uld. They then watched the Tellarite ships be destroyed before they retreated as well. The Goa'uld were holding station over the planets as if they were waiting for an order.
"Faith," said Willow, "call Buffy and all the senior Slayers. Everyone's getting activated. Get Angel, Spike, and Kathy too. Once the Stargate disengages, we'll dial the Gate from here. I want SG-1, SG-2, 3, 4, and 5 with full anti-Kull armour loadouts. And the Slayers? Well…. You guys know what to do."
"I know," said Faith before she rushed out the room and headed to operations to contact Buffy. In the meantime, Willow asked Janeway to send the child to the Midway station with her parents since her safety couldn't be guaranteed on her own ship or on Atlantis.
"Once the battle is over," said Willow, "we'll Gate her and her parents from the Midway Station to Earth. You have my guarantee, Captain. There are no children coming with us either, everyone's being evacuated."
"Janeway to Ensign Wildman," said Janeway while Willow nodded her head and then turned to Andrew and Jonathan and asked them to expect a few guests. The two of them nodded their head while Janeway was telling Ensign Samantha Wildman to beam herself and her daughter to her coordinates. Once Ensign Wildman said she would be on the way, Willow turned back to the hologram and wondered aloud the best way to get the Cardassians, and the Breen.
"And a group called the Dominion," said Chakotay, "they've invaded the Alpha quadrant as well."
"And the Dominion," added Willow with a nod of her head, "out of the way so that all we deal with is Ba'al and Adria."
"With Captain Janeway's help, we can find out the location of the Breen, Dominion and Cardassian homeworlds," said Daniel, "we could establish a blockade."
"We only just heard of the Dominion," said Captain Janeway, "you've seen where Cardassia is located. As for the Breen? I can have Ensign Kim send you those coordinates."
"We need to show them we mean business when we tell them to back off," said Willow nodding her head as she looked at the hologram once again, "a blockade won't be enough."
"There is one way," said General O'Neill, "low risk, but the payoff will be enormous."
"Which is?" asked General Carter.
"We do to the Cardassian and Breen homeworlds what the United States did to Japan to end World War Two," said General O'Neill while Janeway looked at him stunned.
"You're talking about the extermination of thousands…. Millions of innocents including women and…"
"I'm sure Jack doesn't mean we actually nuke them, right?" asked Daniel while Tuvok took a deep breath and Chakotay looked on concerned. He was about to open his mouth to support Janeway when General O'Neill said that of course, he didn't mean to fire nuclear weapons at them.
"Do you know how many people thought we faked a moon landing?" asked the General, "I say we fake an attack."
"We just need to know their most populous cities, their military bases, their planetary defences, and power generation sites," said General Carter while Janeway and Chakotay breathed a sigh of relief.
"We can do that," said Willow nodding her head, "but I still want all Tau'ri ships loaded with three Horizon weapons. That wormhole is connected to Ba'al's base of operations, and I want that place reduced to stellar dust."
"Willow," said Andrew, "our system is showing that seven hundred Kull warriors have come through the Gate, but we can't access the Gate's own diagnostic systems. We can't track the wormhole."
"Then we need Ba'al and, or, Adria alive to find out the location," said Willow, "which means we need a portable Gate shield after our thirty-three minutes are up."
"Yep," Jonathan said.
"Captain Janeway," said General Carter, "if I give you a range of frequencies that we know are effective against Kull warriors, could your weapons match those frequencies?"
"Our phasers are capable of rotating between multiple frequencies," said Janeway nodding her head.
"Willow," said the blonde General, "if I can connect Voyager's subspace systems to our own subspace satellite network, then Captain Janeway could send Starfleet a way to at least fight the Kulls. Prevent more deaths."
"Do it, ma'am," said Willow nodding her head as General Carter rushed off with the Captain to Stargate Operations.
"Commanders," said General O'Neill at Tuvok and Chakotay, "let's create a fake attack, shall we?"
New Terra, ten minutes later.
New Terra was the first world colonised, along with Lantea, after the Tau'ri moved to the Pegasus galaxy. This was the planet where Ira and Sheila Rosenberg made a new home, as well as Buffy and her family. The blonde Slayer, while over nine hundred years old, looked as if she was in her late forties. But thanks to the nanites in her system that enhanced her already mystically enhanced body, she still fought as if she was in her late teens. She, just like Faith, Rona, Satsu, VI, and several other Slayers activated on Earth and in the Pegasus galaxy, was a veteran of the war against the wraith.
The Slayers, along with the existing Cylon Centurions, were key in the war against the monsters. Their enhanced strength, agility, healing, and fighting skills were what turned the tide against the Wraith on the first day of the war. For forty years the Slayers fought and helped win one battle after the other while losing five Slayers to the Wraith in forty years. Buffy and Faith, and a few others retired when the Wraith threat had decreased significantly five years ago… and the slack was taken up by some of the new Slayers activated in Pegasus.
Buffy was now a trainer at the Slayer Academy, as well as a clinical psychologist who taught at the Tau'ri Army Command on New Terra. She had the life she had always wanted during the time they were in time dilation; it was peaceful with very little goings-on as far as the supernatural was concerned. She had Xander in her life, as well as Joyce. She had Dawn, and their adopted brother and sister from Edina, Jay and Rose. She was also finally able to build her family. Brendan was the first born, and then came Sarah, and finally Lisa.
And they were accomplished in their own right.
Brendan, like Xander, was a popular novelist; Sarah was a trained counsellor and psychiatrist, and Lisa was in command of the Persephone… she was the only one in the Summers family to join the Tau'ri military after being activated.
Buffy had peace again after helping save the galaxy. And now, nine minutes ago, she received a call from Faith that Slayers were being mobilised. To her surprise, Ba'al and Adria were alive and they were sending Kull warriors to Earth.
The blonde Slayer looked at the black armour that was standard issue for all the Slayers, as well as the green crystal in the middle of the chest. It was this invention that protected them from the Wraith feeding on them. Buffy then looked, while Xander crept up behind her and then wrapped his arms around his wife's hips, at the silver tube-like object hanging next to it. She looked at the silver and black handle with a red button at the top, and then looked up at Xander before kissing him.
"You have to go?" asked Xander softly after their lips parted.
"We'll be back," replied Buffy as she stared at him, "this is what Slayers do, save the world. Any world."
"Come back safe," Xander whispered before Buffy looked at the armour and the silver and black tube; a weapon that was once thought as ridiculous science fiction was the brain-child of Xander, Andrew, and Jonathan while they were discussing a way to create the perfect weapon for a Slayer in the war against the Wraith. With the Slayer scythe on Earth having been passed to the next Slayer hundreds of years ago, the Slayers needed a signature weapon of their own in Pegasus. And so this weapon was developed after a little over forty tries, twenty near maimings, ten near deaths, and an explosion at a lab after it was evacuated following an issue with the naquada-fusion power cell. It was a weapon that was excitedly endorsed by Generals O'Neill, Sheppard, and Mitchell. Vala was excited about it as well, as was Teal'c although he didn't show it.
However, the weapon could only be used by a Slayer since it needed enhanced senses to wield it without killing, or maiming, themselves or others. The Slayers were trained in the use of the weapon for at least ten years before they could go out in the field with it. Luckily, by the time the Time dilation bubble was deactivated, the more than four hundred Slayers were proficient in the weapon.
And they formed a key part of the Tau'ri contingent as ground troops within the larger Alliance space force that decimated the Wraith.
Back in the present, Buffy started to take off her clothes while Xander handed his wife the black armour.
Sunnydale, California, several minutes ago.
Josie Charney was just about to start her lesson on the Xindi attack on Earth when the PADD she was holding started to beep. It was the same with all the other PADD's on the desks of her sixth-grade class. One student after another turned on their PADDs while Josie was asking everyone to not be distracted by whatever it was that they were being alerted about.
"Miss Charney?" said one of her Bolian students, his face showing fear, after looking up from his PADD, "you may want to see this? Ummm… may I be excused?"
"What's going on?" asked Josie as she looked at the fearful faces on the faces of her other students. She then picked up her PADD and activated the alert message. What she saw chilled her to the bone as what could only be described as a blue portal in the middle of a stone ring was spewing out beings in armour that were shooting at Starfleet officers. However, the beings themselves weren't being harmed upon being hit by phaser fire.
"The Dominion have invaded," said a scared girl in the back row. Everything then started to yell over each other that Earth was being attacked. That the Dominion were invading Earth.
"Hey!" Josie yelled after giving off a shrill whistle that quietened everyone down, "we have Starfleet and the Federation Security Services to protect us." Deep down inside, though, Josie knew something was very wrong as the students looked up at her with fear on their faces; these new beings didn't look like the Federation News service's description of the Jem Hadar, and she didn't recognise the word 'Goa'uld', or 'Ba'al' as reported. She told the children to turn off their PADDs, and then turned to the Bolian child and asked him if any of his family was at Starfleet headquarters.
"My father," he said.
"We've been told that the Enterprise is in orbit with several other ships," said Josie gently, "I'm sure they have something planned." However, Josie stopped talking upon hearing a voice coming through the school's public address system.
"Attention, this is Principal Valar to all students and staff of Sunnydale High School," said the Vulcan principal over the Public-Address system as Josie looked out the window upon seeing several long, white coloured transport with the Sunnydale High logo embossed on the sides flew overhead, "staff is to accompany their students to the quad for immediate evacuation to their transports. They will then be taken to their places of residence; all parents have been notified. All staff, once the students have been cleared, are to return home and engage level three security measures on the recommendation of the Federation Security Services and Starfleet Security."
"Alright kids," said Josie as the students started to pick up their PADDs, "line on up."
It was ten minutes later that Josie rushed back to her apartment on her motorcycle. Once she reached her apartment, she then ran up the stairs and opened the door to her apartment.
"Lights, Computer, show me the current news out of San Francisco," said Josie as the lights in her apartment turned on after she closed the door behind her. Her flat screen monitor then activated to show running battles between the invaders and the forces of Federation and Starfleet security on the other side of the Golden Gate bridge. "I need a one-way pass to San Francisco through Air Tram, transporters, or any form of travel."
"San Francisco has been declared a quarantined zone by Federation Security until the current crisis has been abated," said the female voice of the Computer, "all incoming traffic to teh San Francisco has has been rerouted to Los Angeles, Sunnydale, and Santa Barbara."
"Fine," sighed Josie as she headed to her bedroom and rushed onwards the closet. She opened the doors and then went down on one knee. "Call the Devon Coven, I need to talk to Miss Amara." The computer then beeped, telling Josie that the Devon Coven was being called while she input some numbers into a keypad on a long black case. The keypad glowed green before the case unlocked on its own as a female voice spoke through the speakers in her room.
"Josie," said the voice belonging to a middle-aged woman in the Devon Coven while an older woman was holding onto her shoulder, "I was just about to call you and…"
"I need a portal transport to San Francisco," said Josie while she looked at the object in the case, and then closed the cover. A handle then popped out and she grabbed it before picking it up off the ground. She then narrowed her eyes and then tilted her head in surprise while placing the case on her bed. "Wait, what did you mean you were going to call me?"
"I wouldn't be a good watcher, even while on vacation, if I couldn't guess your needs," said Miss Amara, "plus. I'm watching the news too. The weapon may not be enough."
"Phasers don't seem to work," said Josie as she opened the case again as it lay on the bed. She reached into the case and then grabbed the long handle of the weapon. She then picked it up while feeling a sensation from the weapon calling out to her. She stared at the weapon, a weapon she rarely used except during her nightly patrols three times a week; a weapon she was told was supposed to be handed down from one Slayer to the next. And now, the weapon was hers. As she looked at the sharp blade, Josie said, "maybe we need to try something from the past."
TBC.