New Terra, few hundred years ago within the time dilation field.
"Mommy!"
Buffy and Xander snapped opened their eyes before rushing out of bed together. With no time to even put on their robes, the two of them ran out the door, and then into the hallway. They then darted towards the room of their youngest daughter, Lisa, who was five years old.
"Lisa!" yelled Buffy as the little girl screamed out loud once again. With their other two children having moved out of the house and living on the other side of the city known as New Sunnydale, the couple only had their little girl with them. And now, she sounded as if she was terrified.
"Mommy! Daddy!" she yelled once again. However, this time there seemed to be a hint of laughter in her voice, but Buffy and Xander didn't recognise the part where Lisa didn't sound scared; all they heard was their little girl screaming for them. Reaching the door, which was coloured blue in contrast with the walls of the two-story house, Buffy shoved it open and dashed inside with Xander by her side. Once inside, they suddenly stopped and started at the orange glow around their youngest daughter who covered her mouth with her hands and started to giggle. "Mommy! Daddy!" She then put her arms around her tiny time and started to twist her body while giggling, "it tickles!"
"Honey," said a concerned Buffy as she rushed to her daughter and picked her up off the bed while her body was still glowing. Buffy held Lisa tight while staring at an equally surprised Xander who had his eyes wide open, "shh, honey. It's going to be alright."
"It tickles, mommy," Lisa said as she wrapped her arms around Buffy's neck and stared at the picture on the wall of herself, her parents, and her older brother and sister. Lisa then let go of Buffy's neck and pulled back while still giggling before she looked at the concerned face on Buffy. Lisa then twisted her body and watched Xander walking towards her in a blue shirt and white shorts, a smirk on his face.
"You scared us, sweet pea," Xander said, chuckling while ruffling the hair of the still giggling Lisa. Lisa then gave a wide smile showing off her gleaming white baby teeth at her father and said she was sorry.
"I saw this ball of light, and then it went into me and now it feels warm," she excitedly said looking at Xander, and then at Buffy, and back to Xander again. "I was scared when I saw it, and when it went into me? It was nice." It was then that Lisa noticed the look of worry on her mother's face again, and then she noticed the smile vanish from Xander's face for a little while as the couple looked at each other. But when Xander looked at Lisa once again, the smile reappeared on his face. But Lisa caught on to the look of worry on the both of them and was afraid she had done something wrong.
"Mommy, Daddy? Did I do something wrong?"
"No, Lisa," Xander said gently as he stroked the back of her head while Buffy pulled the little girl, who was already in her arms, forward and hugged her tight. "Nothing's wrong."
But Buffy knew exactly what had just happened, as did Xander. They knew that it was time to search for potential Slayers thought the worlds in the time dilation field. They knew that the Stargates must have been activated for the ritual, originating from Lantea, to take place. They knew it was time for the annual opening of the Slayer Academy to new applicants, and that the ad blitz would be beginning the next day. In the meantime, the spell designed to indicate the people who had the potential to be Slayers in the planets that were within the time dilation field continued to do its job among the other races as well.
While it was good to know that there were thousands of potentials Slayers out there, Buffy was terrified that her youngest daughter was one of them.
The Slayer Academy, Sunnydale, 1000 hours.
The next day, Buffy talked to Giles and told him what happened to Lisa while they were walking through a glass covered Bridgeway that connected the seventh floors of the four-towered, twenty storied, Slayer Academy. Buffy had her hair pulled back into a ponytail, and wore a blouse and jeans while holding on to a cup of coffee while Giles, his hair thinned grey, was wearing a white shirt and brown trousers with his hands behind his back.
"She needs to be told, Buffy," said Giles who was the head of the Slayer Academy, as the sun shone through the clouds in the sky. It was a cool day as the trees around the vast complex swayed while students were playing in the fields, training, simply studying, or just hanging out. Buffy glanced out the one-way tinted glass, away from Giles, and saw students, some as young as twelve, undergoing basic exercises while Giles continued to talk, "and from then on, it's her choice."
"I never thought any of my girls would ever have to be a Potential," Buffy said softly while listening to the sounds of Slayers training as they continued to walk through the passageway.
The Academy was an alternative to Sunnydale High and the University of Sunnydale. In addition to Potential Slayers, there were also students from the nearby cities who were non-potentials; instead, they took up training in magic with Tara and her teams of witches and warlocks. There were also other students who were not interested in being Potentials nor were they interested in Magic being educated in the Academy; instead, these parents wanted their kids to get the best education possible.
"I know that some of the non-Potentials wish they could be…. You know.. a Potential Slayer. And I know the Potentials want to become Slayers, but…"
"They don't really know what that means," Giles nodded his head, "even the virtual reality training simulators don't have the whole weight of real combat. Although it does come very close."
Buffy sighed nodding her head while she recalled a technology that was developed fifty years after the time dilation devices were activated. It was based on the Virtual Reality pods provided to the SGC by the Vosinii of P7J-989 many years ago; before the exodus to Pegasus.
The new pods designed on Lantea were capable of being networked so that squads of Slayers and Potentials could train on various difficulty settings against demons, vampires, Wraith, or anything in between. The technology was even being used outside of the military and the Slayer Academy as entertainment modules for gaming.
Thanks to crystal leads from the pods that could be attached to various parts to the body providing an electrical charge to the muscles to replicate whatever was happening in the Virtual scenario; it was a highly effective training device. So if a Slayer or potential was being punched, they would feel the injury on their body... but they wouldn't be injured.
Even if they had their arm broken in the simulation, the Slayer or Potential would feel the pain, but the arm would be intact. The pain would last for the better part of a day with medication before fading away. But it was extremely useful in giving the Potentials and activated Slayers training since they were in a Time Dilation field with very few enemies to fight.
There were incidents of supernatural occurrences on the worlds that were occupied a long time ago, but those were swiftly taken care of by the Witches and Slayers.
The Virtual Reality scenarios would include vampires, demons, monsters, even ancient vampires. The Slayers and Potentials would have to work together in the virtual world work where, thanks to the leads that attached to their skin, they could feel everything. They could feel a warm or cool breeze, or they could feel the sun beating down on them, or the feeling of snow landing on their skin.
They could feel the pain from cuts as blood dripped down their bodies, but their real-life bodies were unharmed. Most importantly, they could feel the weapons they would have to carry; from feeling the weight and grain of a wooden stake to the leather wrapped handle of a sword or an axe, to the weight of a crossbow just before firing.
They felt everything.
And it was the same for the military personnel who trained in these pods. Those involved in the Army could feel just about anything from the dust being kicked into their eyes, to a bullet hitting them on their body. Or those in the Tau'ri Defence Fleet would feel the effect of G-Forces as pilots flew an F-22, F-302, or an Arrow. They could also train on ships as members of the crew on the Aurora, or the Daedalus, or the Avalon. This is all so that they could be used to the feeling of the console, the buttons, the air supply on a ship.
So that they could be experienced in warfare.
The pods were used to train the military and the Slayers so that when it was time to fight against the Wraith, the men and women in the front lines were ready. However, there the traditional methods of training were still used. Only after reaching a certain level of real life training, could the military officers and Slayers begin training in the pods. Even then, rigorous real life training was still carried out by the personnel even if they used the pods.
Even Buffy and the other Scoobies would train; as would Willow, Faith, Daniel, Teal'c, and the others. All to keep their skills sharp while they lived their lives in the time dilation field.
Given the uses of the technology, it was heavily regulated outside the Slayer Academy and the military. The Civilian settings on the pods could not reach the maximum; it ended at level six instead of ten, and any attempt to change the software would render the device unusable. However, the maximum civilian level was good enough for gamers who wanted to play being a soldier, or racing a car or flying a ship from one galaxy to another while battling enemy fighters.
The technology was extremely popular among the so-called 'clean brothels' that popped up soon after the technology was made available to civilians. And it was used as a training tool for the police departments on New Terra, Lantea, and several other worlds.
Back in the Present day, Giles was telling Buffy that if Lisa chose to embrace her calling as a Potential Slayer, Buffy could ease the little girl into it by telling her stories of her exploits.
"I know it's Lisa's choice," said Buffy shaking her head as she walked with Giles into a hallway, and towards her office, "but what do I do if she wants to become a full Slayer? What if after all the training, all the history lessons on the Slayer and Watchers diaries, she still wants to be a Slayer?"
"Then she has her mother and father to lean on," said Giles, "and she has her brother and sister. It's ultimately her choice, Buffy. She still needs to be told about her calling, and if she chooses to pursue it is her choice."
"And I ask you again, Giles. What if she chooses to become a Slayer?" asked Buffy not liking his answer as she reached her office. She then turned and stared at Giles.
"Then she.. then she's going to make you proud," Giles whispered.
Buffy simply sighed before she nodded her head, and then looked away. Giles watched Buffy walk into her office before he took off towards his office on the twentieth floor of the first tower.
He had to coordinate the new training sessions of the recently activated Slayers with Angel so that they could begin basic training with the pods.
Persephone, Earth Orbit, a few seconds later; present day.
"We've received orders to engage, ma'am" said Major Daniels as he looked back at Lisa who nodded her head.
"Coordinate with the Vantage," Lisa ordered as the bridge lights dimmed and a call went out throughout the ship to prepare for battle, "activate the tactical display and lock on all weapons to the mothership."
"Locked and ready," Major Daniels said as everyone on the bridge looked out at the dorsal section of Ba'al's mothership. When a holographic display was laid over the front viewport. Lisa narrowed her eyes at the two yellow shimmers that surrounded the mothership and then ordered Major Daniels to contact the Vantage.
She then turned towards the mothership and pursed her lips at something unexpected.
Vantage, at that same time.
"General, sir," called out one of the officers as he looked back at Jon, "the mothership has raised shields and… and well, according to the Persephone, it's a double layered shield."
"Activate the tactical display, give me confirmation" ordered Jon as the large screen in front of them shimmered. A holographic layer rose just over the viewport and showed the location of all enemies in space, including the ones that were being destroyed. It also showed the location of any and all damaged Starfleet vessels, as well as the vessels that were still active and about to fire on the Ha'tak class vessels. Jon could see, as he leaned forward, that Voyager was about to take on a Ha'tak class vessel with four other ships. He could see that the five vessels still had shields and weapons, while several others guarded the Enterprise and the other damaged ships. 'They're going to be alright if a group of Federation ships take them on."
Jon then watched a scan of the mothership on the holographic layer showing an elliptical shield, and another interior shield that hugged the hull of the massive vessel, both of which were being powered by an Ori power source. With the Federation ships destroying the pyramid ships and then moving onto another one, Jon ordered all Pegasus Alliance ships to focus on the mothership. He then contacted General O'Neill and told him about the double shields on the mothership which was preventing the transporters from locking onto the interior of Ba'al's massive ship.
"Stand by," said Jon just as he received confirmation that all ships were ready to fire on the mothership.
"General Rosenberg and her team are requesting permission to beam down to the surface, sir," said another officer, "and they've requested the ETA of the Melbourne."
The Melbourne was the lone Daedelus class vessel that was assigned to head to the Omega Sita, an underground bunker that used both technological and magic locks to seal items that threaten not only the safety of planet Earth but the galaxy as well. Items such as a tablet, sought by minions of the hell god Glory to open a one-way incoming doorway to her dimension, were stored here. It was Buffy's team that killed the minions just before two of the hell gods that trapped Glory in the human vessel known as Ben could arrive on Earth. Thousands of items, including dark magic spell books, were stored here as well.
And one of the items was the Ark of Truth; the very reason why the Melbourne was in orbit of the Omega Site planet before it opened a hyperspace window and left for Earth.
"Well, contact the Melbourne," said Jon. It took a few seconds before they found out that the Melbourne was six minutes away. Jon then ordered the message to be relayed to Willow in the locker room.
"General Rosenberg's requesting permission to beam down again, sir," said the officer after Willow was notified. He was wondering why the redhead needed that information but chose not to ask at that moment since they were dealing with a more immediate threat in space.
"Granted," said Jon before he looked back up at the forward viewport. "Cripple the mothership. I know we tried to beam that clown, Ba'al, out, but there's something blocked our targeting sensors. Once the ship's been crippled, we beam General Jack O'Neill over with his team."
"Understood."
"All ships!" yelled Jon as every single Pegasus Alliance ship targeted the mothership while the fighters; the Vipers and the Arrows were fighting the Death Gliders. Just as the Alliance fleet opened fire with every weapon they had, Admiral Henrikson of Starfleet, who was stationed in the planetary defence compound in San Francisco, ordered the launch of all Peregrine Fighters to repel the Death Gliders. He was interested in the shield that protected his city, but he told himself that those questions could be answered at another time.
He then got in touch with Dawn on Atlantis, he referred to the city as the 'unknown vessel' and then coordinated with her on the borders of the shield so that the Peregrine Fighters didn't impact it and be destroyed. While the fighters launched, space above Earth and outside the hundreds of damaged and destroyed Federation ships lit up in white, green, blue, and orange as the weapons fire from all ships hit the mothership's shields.
"My word," Picard could only whisper as he and the others on the Enterprise, as well as the crew of Voyager while they fought the remaining Ha'tak class vessels, watched the violence that was erupting over their world.
Emergency Chambers of the Federation Council, Paris, France; a minute earlier.
Adria stared at the screen overhead which showed the nuclear explosion in Cardassia Prime, and she smiled at the outrage coming from the people all around her. The emotions they were exuding ranged from anger to disgust; both at the Tau'ri and at her.
And now, she was watching the ongoing battle between the Pegasus Alliance and some two hundred Federation Alliance ships, against the remaining Ha'tak class vessels and Ba'al's mothership whose shields were flaring orange as every weapon directed at it was rendered useless. At least for now, some of the drones fired from the Aurora class ships were being destroyed at the outer shield. However, there were a few that went through only to be destroyed once they hit the interior shield.
Quetesh smiled as she looked away from the screen above them, and then looked down at the body of the Federation President at her feet. She glanced at the people who were huddled together while her Kull warriors blocked the exits. There were several other dead bodies, the very reason why the counsellors were cowering, that littered the red-carpeted floor of people shot down by plasma repeaters after they tried to use their numbers and barge through the Kull Warriors.
They failed, and sixteen people were mowed down, the scorch marks on their dead bodies still smoking
Quetesh had a smile plastered on her face. She chuckled at the destruction of the military base on Cardassia Prime while the other councillors were muttering among themselves at the level of violence being unleashed. After the nuclear blast, there were some who were even telling her that there could still be some peace between their peoples; that they had heard of how the Tau'ri tried to exterminate the Goa'uld. And that the Federation could give them some measure of protection only if they powered down their weapons.
Thanks to Adria's abilities, Quetesh knew that the man was being deceptive. He had no intention of seeking peace after what he and the other human and aliens had seen on the screen as their Federation, Klingon, Vulcan, Romulan, and Andorian ships and people were being slaughtered.
She licked her lips as she stared at the fear on the faces of the people looking back at her.
She scanned the rows of seats with her eyes until she reached a man with pointed ears and a white robe staring back at her. Quetesh raised one side of her lips as she walked towards the section where the man was seated. Quetesh was curious, she was trying to get a surface scan of his mind, but she felt her probes being blocked. She then tried to feel his emotions, but all she found was that he had a high degree of control over his emotions. The others were exuding fear, while the man was showing 'indifference'.
"You do not fear?" asked Quetesh as she approached the edge of the raised platform while staring at the man. She then stepped down and walked to a series of stairs.
"Vulcan's do not feel fear," said the man calmly as Quetesh walked up the stairs. He remained standing while two Kull Warriors walked down to Quetesh, and then flanked her.
"You will. By the end of today, you will feel fear," Quetesh said just before she turned around and walked down the set of stairs once again to the middle of the raised platform.
She stared, with her lips now twisted in a sneer, at everyone cowering in fear of her as she wagged her finger at each row of seats. Quetesh then pointed at one section, and the accompanying group of people huddled while glaring back at her. She pointed at each person as they glared at her while mumbling "do I kill you? Or you? or you? or you? Or do you make good slaves? So many decisions to make."
Suddenly there was a screeching sound from behind Quetesh. The young woman's sneer turned to a smile as she turned around and came face to face with eight flashes of white light. Once the light faded, she came face to face with the last person she thought she would ever meet again.
"My, my, my," said Quetesh as she formed a half smile on her face, "Vala Mal Doran. You look well for someone who should be over three hundred years old."
"Food and exercise, Adria," replied Vala as she raised a weapon and aimed it at the younger woman. In the meantime, Willow mentally contacted the leader of the Slayer squad behind her, Milly Cooper, and ordered her to take out all the Kull Warriors. Willow glanced at Milly, and then at the people around her before looking back at Quetesh.
"Vala?" asked Willow.
"You won't stop me this time, Athena," Quetesh said as she gathered energy in the palm of her hand. The energy began to twist and turn as it slowly glowed and then rippled as a red coloured orb, and then it started to burn as flames ripped through the surface. And all the while Adria had a smile on her face, "you cannot stop me. In fact, you never did stop me in a fair fight."
"Adria, I know you are in there, I need you to fight," said Vala sternly as she walked to the left side of the former Orici while Willow mentally ordered the Slayers to neutralise the Kull Warriors while she crept to the right.
"Go!" Willow hissed as Milly and the Slayers rushed off the platform and down the steps, before activating the blades of light. They rushed up the stairs and then began attacking the Kull Warriors while Willow placed a telekinetic shield in the immediate area of the pulse blasts the Warriors were firing.
Her shield prevented more innocent deaths while the Slayers went to work.
Milly had the first kill as the plasma hit the armour she was wearing. She got closer and then rolled just as the Kull swung its arms. It was about to hit the side of her head when, with the nanites and her training slowing down her perception, Milly looked up after her roll, and saw that the arm was just overhead. She then swung her blade the other way and cut off the arm which then fell onto the floor. She then cut off the other arm as the Kull stumbled back. Finally, she then swung the blade horizontally before moving on to another Kull. All in all, the first kill took less than six seconds and ended with the armless Kull being bisected through the abdomen.
"That's two," said Milly as she killed another Kull, and soon the others began yelling out their kills. The Slayers continued to cut down one Kull after another while Willow glanced at the young women.
As Willow watched them fight, she knew that if it hadn't been for the Slayers, then they wouldn't have gotten rid of the Wraith.
Once the Kull in the chamber were defeated, Milly ordered the Slayers to be split into two groups. One would go after the Kulls in the Complex, while the others would lead the survivors out of the chamber and to the surface where it was safe.
"You know as well as I do, Vala," said Quetesh while the survivors we being led away as she pulled her arm back to fire the blast at her hosts' mother, "that the host does not exist anymore. Now, I suggest you be silent and…"
"Adria," barked Vala as she lowered her weapon and stared at the dark-haired young woman in front of her, "listen to my voice, I… I can't lose you again. I… I don't want to kill you again. Gain control and.. and we could help you. We can be mother and daughter. You have a brother and sister, Adria. I need you to come back and…"
"Then I'll kill them too," said Quetesh as she fired the blast of fire at Vala. It was then that the blast hit a telekinetic shield, Willow's shield, as she stepped forward from the right side while gathering a white coloured energy in the palm of her hand. She then blasted Quetesh.
The Goa'uld slapped the blast away, the arm that deflected the blast glowed yellow for just a second. It was then that Willow and Vala had confirmation that Adria was using a personal force field. The blast impacted an empty section of the now empty chamber and then exploded with chairs, dust, concrete and metals being thrown into the air.
"I see someone's been practising," mocked Quetesh as she stared at Willow. "I have my hosts' memories, Athena. I see she nearly killed you. If not for Vala's interference, she would have. I will not make that same mistake."
"Yea, well," quipped Willow as she mentally ripped off a row of seats while Vala raised her weapon again. She pumped the weapon, a grenade launcher, and then aimed it at Quetesh while taking steps back. Even with the shield around her, Vala knew that Quetesh would be jarred by what was about to happen.
Willow shot one row of seats after another towards Quetesh who blocked several using her own formidable abilities. Willow then fired off more energy blasts while tearing off more seats and ramming them into Quetesh.
Quetesh then started to defend herself by mentally grabbing some of the rows of seats being shot towards her and redirecting them to Willow who mentally shoved them aside. The fight between the both of them, with both using telekinetic powers and energy blasts from the palms of their hands, was destroying the entire chamber while Vala took cover and aimed the weapon at Quetesh.
Vala waited for Willow's signal as she stared at the redhead while Quetesh mocked her.
"Do you remember how Adria nearly broke your neck, Athena? That is what will happen again. I will put you down, and then I will put the coward, Vala, down. I will ground you both into dust, and..."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," yelled Willow as she dodged a blast before firing one of her own while mocking Quetesh. "Boo hoo. Look at me, I'm a leather wearing skank who wants to rule the galaxy."
It was at that point that Willow and Vala glanced at each other knowingly.
Vantage Locker Room, three minutes ago.
A few minutes ago, when in the Vantage's locker room just before beaming down to the surface, Willow checked a screen on the port side and ran a scan on the area around Quetesh. She then saw the unique signatures of the Kull Warriors and over a hundred life signs in the underground complex. A plan then formed in her mind. A plan she shared mentally shared with Vala as she checked her weapon. In a few seconds, Willow ran through a scenario mentally with Vala. Once she mentally told Willow that it was a risk, but possibly successful, Willow then brought in Milly to the mental scenario.
Willow went through the scenario; starting with the Slayers killing the Kull Warriors while Willow laid a mental shield near people close to the blast zone from the Kulls plasma repeaters. The plan was then for Milly and the Slayers to separate into two groups; one to kill the remaining Kull Warriors in the building while another team took the hostages out of the building.
Once they were out of the chamber, Willow and Vala were aware that anything could happen. The two of them just needed to hold back Quetesh for the Melbourne, a Daedalus class ship that was already on its way… six minutes away… to Earth.
They could have waited until the ship was in orbit, but Willow and Vala were concerned that Quetesh would start murdering people; if she already hadn't started.
"No anti-Prior weapon with us," said Willow before telling Jon to contact the Melbourne and have them replicate an Anti-Prior device and then activate it before putting it inside the special cargo that was on the way to Earth. "She's going to have her shield, that's a definite fact."
"I agree," Vala said.
"So, we distract her, we keep her busy," said Willow, "and then once we have the Ark beamed down, the Anti-Prior weapon will be activated. She and I will be powerless, and then... well, hopefully then we won't be dead. We'll use the device on her, punch her out, and then ask the Asgard for help in getting the Goa'uld out of her."
"Sounds like a plan," Vala said as she stood ready with the weapon in her hand.
Back on Earth, now.
And once Vala, Willow, and the Slayer squad were beamed down… they put their idea into action. As a result, Willow and Vala were left alone with Quetesh furiously firing energy blasts at Willow while Quetesh rushed to the other side of the chamber, took cover behind an untouched row of seats, and then got down on one knee and aimed the weapon.
Willow could feel mental fingers trying to probe her mind, and Vala's as well, as she and Quetesh fought a battle of mental abilities. The redhead had placed several blocks between their minds and Quetesh's probes while Vala had her weapon raised at her daughter.
"What do you have planned, Athena? Vala?" asked Quetesh as she dodged a shot before firing one blast at Vala. A blast that Willow deflected up towards the ceiling. Quetesh was impressed as she glanced at Willow and mentally told the redhead that her shields were much stronger than the last time they faced. "Too bad it's not enough."
"Yeah? Well…." Willow quipped before she looked at one of the rows of seats, jerked her head to the side while telekinetically ripped off three rows of seats. Willow's forehead was covered in sweat as she then snapped her head and waved her arms at Quetesh just before the seats slammed into the former Orici. This time, Quetesh was flung into the other side of the chamber with a thud, while Willow turned and ran as fast as possible towards Vala's location with a telepathic yell.
Willow: "Now, Vala!"
Vala aimed the weapon at the location where Quetesh was flung. She knew that her daughter would be alright, her shield was designed to help her survive anything. For now, though, they needed a distraction.
Once Willow reached Vala's location, the latter woman pressed the trigger just as Willow raised a shield around herself and Vala. A second later, there was a large explosion that spewed debris every which way. The shield covering the both of them flared as debris fell on it while Vala and Willow looked out at the flames.
"Never that easy, is it?" asked Vala as she pressed a button on the side of the weapon and switched to the attached armour-piercing rounds.
"Nope," she replied while Vala cocked the weapon. Willow closed her eyes and scanned the surrounding area while keeping her mind, and Vala's, blocked from Quetesh.
"It's a minute away," said Willow as she stood up.
"Anything on Adria?" asked Vala as the both of them walked down the stairs to the raised platform. Stepping up onto it, the two of them cautiously walked towards the flames while Willow said that she could still feel the hate from the Goa'uld symbiote.
"She's somewhere under the... argh!"
"Will...? Damn... ugh!"
Willow and Vala, their faces twisted in pain, then fell to their knees while their hands clutched their chests. There was a sudden release of physic energy as the debris that covered Quetesh was blasted away. The two women collapsed onto their sides as Quetesh, who looked unharmed, floated herself up and out of the twisted metal she was buried under. She then landed on the raised platform while staring at the two woman on the floor.
She smiled as the both of them opened their mouths to breathe while a sudden vice-like grip squeezed their hearts.
"Come now, Vala. Athena. This is too easy." Quetesh mocked as the two women were groaning in pain. Quetesh crouched down next to Willow who was laying on her side and continued to probe her mind, at least attempted to, however, she couldn't get anything since she felt Willow using all her powers to block their thoughts. Quetesh, looking down at Willow, grabbed her arm and rocked her to her back while Vala was struggling for breath while opening and closing her mouth like a goldfish out of water.
Quetesh smiled down at Willow who had her eyes closed while her face was twisted in pain. "I am the Ori, Athena. You are still weak. Now, show me, Athena. Show me everything you have planned. Or I kill you and Vala very, very slowly."
Persephone, orbit of Earth, at that same time.
"We're out of drones!" yelled an officer as Lisa shook her head in disbelief. The Persephone and every other ship had been firing with all their weapons for the past four minutes, pounding the shields mercilessly. However, the mothership's outer shield had gone down to seventy percent, but the inner shield was holding at eighty.
The outer shield continued to take the brunt of the blasts. And even if the blasts did penetrate the outer shield, the blasts lost a lot of energy, and was barely effective against the inner shield. Lisa knew they needed a new plan as she ordered Major Daniels to contact Jon, Apollo, and Jack O'Neill since he was still unable to get to the mothership.
"Continue firing," said Lisa as she got off her seat and was heading to the screen on the port side when Major Daniels called her back. Various consoles started to beep as Lisa turned and looked out at the tactical screen. The shields on the mothership were still flaring from weapons impacts, but the strange thing was that the Pegasus alliance ships hadn't been fired on by Ba'al.
Suddenly, the domed section of the ship started to peel away. Lisa stared at the rising power level on the holographic screen which indicated that weapons were about to be fired. However, the main weapon was pointed away from Earth. Lisa had seen the video of the Mothership destroyed Bajor, and she breathed a sigh of relief as the 'petals' that made up the done unfurled and yellow coloured energy crackled along its surface.
"This is General O'Neill! All ships evasive manoeuvres!"
The General's voice came in good and clear through the speakers in all the Pegasus Alliance ships.
"Evasive pattern Omega Three!" yelled Lisa, recognizing the grave seriousness in Jon's voice, she was about to dash back to her command chair when the crackling energy reached the tip of each 'petal', and rapid bursts of energy was fired out at the Pegasus Alliance vessels. The blasts impacted the Persephone's shields causing the entire ship to violently shake as the crew were flung around onto the walls and then the floor. The ship was then hit by another blast as Lisa was flung onto the back of her seat. He hit it with her shoulder, screamed in pain, and then the ship shook once again when she hit the floor with a thud. There were violent explosions at various areas of the ship while Lisa was helped up as sirens stared to blare.
She listened to the cacophony of voices as the tactical scree fizzled slightly while showing the Alliance ships being hit hard.
"Damage report!" yelled Lisa before she ordered the man holding onto her to push her arm back into it's socket. "Oh bloody hell!" yelled Lisa as, with a crack, her arm was pushed back into its socket just as the Persephone was hit once again. Some of the overhead panels dropped to the floor, injuring a few officers while sparks showered down.
"Shields at… at fifteen percent, hull breaches in decks four, six, seven, and nine… emergency force fields are holding," said a bleeding Major Daniels while Lisa, groaning in pain, was slowly getting to her feet. "Thirty injured, and… and four dead."
"The Vantage?" Lisa whispered as she shook her head.
"Badly damaged. They lost power to their weapons and hyperdrive. The Galactica is moving in to defend her, but she's damaged too," said the Officer.
"And us?"
"Shields are down to fifteen, we lost long range comms, life support in two decks are going down, we lost seventy percent of our weapons, and… and we can't take another hit right now. Shields slowly recharging."
"Contact the Vantage," limped Lisa towards her Command chair when she stopped. She had an idea as she stared out at the screen as the mother ship stopped firing at the Pegasus Alliance fleet.
"I am Ba'al," said a gravelly voice as Lisa, the slightly injured O'Neill's, Thor, Teal'c, Daniel, and every crew listened, "surrender your vessels. Or you fall to the Goa'uld empire."
"Encrypted comms, now!" barked Lisa while Ba'al continued to talk about how the combined Ori and Goa'uld technology would enslave the galaxy once again, and that not even the Tau'ri would be able to stop them. "Generals O'Neill? Admiral Adama? Thor? Teal'c?"
"We hear you Summers," said General O'Neill as the line crackled while Jon was helping the injured on the bridge, "what's up?"
"The weapon is recharging," said Major Daniels as Lisa looked at him, and nodded her head.
"Sir, I've just been told the weapon is recharging," Lisa said as she stared at the fritzing tactical screen, "we're not sure how long and…"
"Five minutes."
"Ok," Lisa said looking questioningly at Daniels, and then back at the screen, "we've got five minutes."
"So, we've got Bacchi talking for five minutes?" scoffed General O'Neill, "that's worse than torture."
"O'Neill, we have repaired our sensors," Thor said over the subspace radio, "I can confirm Lisa Summers' observation in regards to the recharge cycle of the weapon."
"I'm showing the same thing," Apollo said. "we have a break then. What's the plan?"
"General O'Neill, sir, when I was in Fleet Academy, I read up on how you and Colonel Carter stopped Anubis' ship."
"One 302 jumped into hyperspace, and through the shields," said the General, "crazy idea at the time. But that was without the inner shield, Summers."
"Well," said Lisa as alarms blared in the background, "I was thinking about the Horizon weapons we haven't fired because we're too close to Earth. And together with a few Raptors? I think we could take down the shield from the space between the outer and inner shields."
"Admiral?" asked General O'Neill.
"Beam the Horizon weapons to the Galactica," said Apollo.
"Let's just hope it works," Lisa said.
TBC.