Orbit of Earth.
From the Enterprise, to Voyager, to the Andorian and other Federation ships in orbit of Earth; all of them saw the destruction of the Persephone through their sensors. Seven was staring stunned at the Particle Stream moved through the Persephone, destroying all traces of the ship, before being block by Atlantis' shields. Voyager's sensors were recording what was happening while Seven strode to another console while blood stained the side of her face from a cut earlier.
She recorded the reading of the stream against the shield and was amazed by the power being given out against that kind of a force. It was the same on the Enterprise as Data and Laforge, who was out of sickbay, looked on from engineering as the particle stream was diverted. In addition, there were four other vessels of the Pegasus Alliance heading for the sun. While the Federation Alliance didn't know about it at the time, the Pegasus ships were heading to Atlantis in order to guard it- since the shields needed most of the power diverted from other areas except from life-support, the other ships were being sent as a show of force to prevent any other attacks on the Ancient city-ship.
Back on the Vantage, Jon released a sigh of relief after hearing from his wife, Dawn, that the particle stream was being diverted. Once he received confirmation he went on to scanning the planet below for Lisa's life-pod.
"There's nothing, sir," said one of the bridge crew who looked back at him shaking his head, "we've scanned the entire planet."
"Scan it again," Jon said getting off his command chair while he was surrounded by bridge crew bustling around the bridge, "the life-pod has a short range hyperdrive, and the scanners supposed to be fixed onto the closest planet that supports life. In this case? Well, it's Earth." Jon pointed out the forward viewport towards Earth while continuing, "So keep scanning."
"Yes, sir," was the reply before Jon heard from General O'Neill that Ba'al was captured and they were starting to copy the data on the mothership. Jon acknowledged the General before he looked at another crew member and had him contact the other Federation Alliance ships, and ask them if they needed any medical aid. After issuing his order, Jon was then told by a female crew member that Willow, Vala, and the unconscious Adria were back on the ship- the latter woman was in a stasis chamber.
And Willow wanted to see him.
"Oh, this is gonna be fun," Jon mumbled as he got up off the chair, and then rushed out the bridge after telling his second in command to take the Conn while, at the same time, one thought raged in his mind. 'Lisa, where are you?'
Sunnydale, CA, Earth.
In a massive cavern, one connected to various other caverns underneath Sunnydale, glowed bright blue as a rift opened up. The cavern was dimly lit thanks to spots of fire burning out of holes in the rocky ground while hundreds of pale bipedal creatures stood up and rushed the opening of the rift. Some of them stood several meters away from the rift, but even they could sense something was wrong. The creatures, with their deathly pale faces, black eyes, ridged eyebrows, and tattered clothing bared out their fangs just before feeling an intense heat. The ones standing away from the rift saw their brethren turn to ash from that very same intense heat.
And then they ran, the ones standing further away ran roaring in anger just before a heat wave hit them. In total, the entire cavern was clear of the creatures in under two seconds. There was no-one there to see the various forms of debris flung out from the rift and impacting the ground with thuds as the material bounced off the hard ground before stopping several feet away. The debris was soon followed by a cylindrical tube that was spit out of the rift before a burst of orange and red, from the particle stream that destroyed the Persephone, flared out and spread out into the cavern before the rift vanished a second later.
The blue hue that reflection on the walls of the cavern was gone, replaced by the red and orange light reflecting off the fires that were burning from the holes. There were some parts of the ground that flared up thanks to the small section of the particle stream that came through, but those fires were soon extinguished after the heat dissipated into the tunnels that led out of the twenty-story cavern. Lisa, who was panting as she remained strapped in her seat inside the smoking life-pod, clenched her teeth together and yelped as the life-pod bounced on the hard ground once. She had felt the heat from the particle stream, but the feeling of her body temperature… and the temperature of the inside of the Pod, along with its hull, rising was secondary in her mind once the pod skidded on the rocky surface.
The hull of the Pod showered the surrounding rocky ground with sparks upon hitting and skidding on the ground, and then bounced up off the ground and into the air upon hitting a rock.
"Oooph," Lisa growled as the straps of the harness dug into her shoulders, chest, and her thighs while the pod hit the ground once again with an audible 'blam', then sparks showered out, and then it bounced up once again.
Lisa could feel the speed decreasing with her body rattled after the fourth bounce before the pod skidded along the rocky floor of the cavern. Sparks flew as the pod continued to skid, with Lisa hearing scratching sounds as well as the groaning caused by sections of the hull being torn off before the pod started to slow down and then eventually stop moving.
While there was no visible fire, Lisa could smell something burning as she groaned while taking off the straps holding her body down. She undid the restraints on her chest, and then pulled it away while wincing in pain from the crash landing that jarred her entire body. Groaning in pain, she then reached across her body with her left arm and took off the restraints on her right shoulder while her right arm did the same for the left shoulder. Lisa then removed the restraints on her thighs before she stopped moving and closed her eyes.
She took in several deep breaths to calm her nerves as she remembered the particle stream passing the failed shields of the Persephone, and then crashing into the bridge. Lisa opened her eyes and shook her head before wondering where she was on Earth as she stared at the stalactites on the rocky ceiling of the cavern.
'It has to be Earth,' Lisa thought to herself as she removed a panel on her left after pressing some buttons that would have ordinarily opened the glass cover. 'The crash must have taken out the automated systems,' Lisa thought as she gazed at the glass cover, on which she could see had several cracks, 'yep. That's definitely from the impact,' she thought as she reached into the recess after having removed the left panel, and grabbed a small lever. 'This has to be Earth, the sensors are automatically tuned to the nearest life-sustaining planet, and the nearest one is Earth. Hell, I programmed it for Earth, so this is Earth,' she thought to herself as she pulled the lever down. 'I must be in some cavern underground.'
Once she pulled down the lever, there were several popping sounds caused by small explosions at the outside edges of the cover before it was violently jettisoned off. The sound reverberated throughout the cavern as the glass cover crashed back onto the ground several feet away. Once the cover was away from the still smoking Pod, which left a trail behind it on the hard ground after it's final crash onto the rocky terrain, Lisa grabbed the outside edges of the pod with both hands. She and then pulled herself up to a seated position.
And suddenly her senses started to go off. She felt as if she was being watched. The young woman turned her head and scanned the dimly lit area with her eyes before shaking her head. All she had seen were rocks of various sizes on the ground with fires burning from various areas. All in all, the place seemed eerie to Lisa as she frowned while feeling pain from the crash emanating throughout her body. Pain which started to slowly fade away as the nanites in her system began to administer small doses of pain killers while others began easing some strained muscles.
Frowning at not knowing where she was exactly, Lisa climbed out of the pod and, once her feet hit the hard ground, she reached back into the pod and pulled a lever next to her seat up toward her. The young woman heard a click, and then she pulled up the seat back to find the standard survival bag.
She took out the backpack, while her heart raced, before pushing the seat back to it's previous position. Placing the backpack on the seat back where she once lay, Lisa unzipped the bag and took out a black vest which she put on around her body. She then zipped up the front, after which she began checking the pockets to make sure as he had everything she needed; a flashlight, a whistle, a small flare gun, a life-signs detector, and a compass. While the life-signs detector already had a compass, it was mandated that an ordinary compass be included in the pack in case of emergency. And It was the compass that confused Lisa when she took it out to make sure it was working correctly.
She stared confused at the compass when she saw the plate inscribed with the cardinal points was spinning around uncontrollably. Lisa then took out her life signs detector and stared at the screen. Lisa was more confused when the life-signs detector showed an error message where the compass direction would have normally been displayed. She looked down at the life sign detector in her right hand, and then at the compass in her right hand- all while wondering what was going on.
Frowning, she put the compass back in her vest pocket and looked at the screen on the life-sign detector for any signs of life. However, so far she couldn't find anything. Putting the device into her right trouser pocket, Lisa leaned into the pod and reached back down into the backpack to take out a stun sidearm, the same type that Vala had used to stun Adria in Paris earlier.
As she was taking out the sidearm in the bag, she reached in with her other hand and took out its holster. She put the weapon into the holster and then wrapped it around her right thigh while the handle to one of her light blades brushed against her thigh and arm. At the same time, Lisa was wondering why it was that the Vantage, or any of the other ships in the Pegasus Alliance hadn't picked up the subcutaneous transmitter in her left arm. 'Unless they think I'm dead,' she thought to herself, wondering if the intense radiation from the particle stream could have blocked any detection of the hyperspace window… even by Atlantis.
"No matter," Lisa said as she reached into the bag and took out a spare energy cell for the weapon and a subspace radio. She then looked back into the bag and took out a flask. She unscrewed the top and then started to drink the cool water contained within. She still felt hot from the particle stream, and it was hot in the cavern as well. Her face was covered in sweat as she took a few more sips of water before placing the flask back into the backpack. As she did, Lisa saw several protein bars, a blanket, and a cap before zipping it back up.
Lisa then lifted the bag off the horizontal seat back before slinging it over her shoulder. She then took a step away from the pod and brought the radio to her lips.
"This is Colonel Lisa Summers of the Persephone to any Pegasus Alliance ships, do you copy," Lisa said as she started walking away from the pod, looking around at her options, while repeating herself on the radio and thinking to herself, 'this is a subspace radio. The ships in orbit should be able to hear me from down here.' Lisa repeated herself once again, but there was no response at the third try. Frowning, Lisa continued to walked straight ahead towards one of the tunnels while slowly sweeping the area with her eyes.
In the meantime, the Vantage and the other Alliance ships were releasing drones that would essentially repair the damaged hulls on their own ships. In addition, some of the Federation vessels were already calling out for aid due to their life support systems starting to crash. Those crew were beamed down to the areas in Starfleet Command that were already cleared off the Kull Warriors by both Federation and Pegasus Alliance vessels.
As for medical attention, shuttles from Earth were sent up to the Enterprise, Voyager, and several other ships with doctors and supplies. The Pegasus Alliance ships were thanked for the offer of medical aid, and asked that those offers remain at stand-by. At the same time, science and engineering teams from the Federation ships were preparing to take shuttles to the mothership so that they could examine it.
Back in the cavern, Lisa was shuffling her feet on the hard and rocky ground as she forged on ahead, cautiously. She saw several other tunnels that seemed to lead out of the cavern and, from her vantage point as she looked up, she could make out several ledges on the walls of the cavern. Some of which had tunnels leading somewhere else. And it all led to Lisa continuously wondering where she crash landed.
She already made the decision to take the closest tunnel out of the cavern. She had taken out the life-signs detector while she was walking ahead and was staring at the screen which showed an outline of the tunnel, and the one next to it heading upwards. However, there were no life-signs present.
Continuing to forge ahead, Lisa put the device back into her vest pocket and looked around while wondering if her mother was okay. Unknown to Lisa, Buffy was still fighting alongside Josie and two other Slayers after having cleared a section of Starfleet Command. With the ships above them providing shielding from the ever-dwindling death gliders, Buffy and the Slayers... as well as the Marines and SG teams on the ground… were being directed towards hotspots. And Lisa was never far from her mind- she just couldn't be distracted as she, Josie, Stella, and Connie and their teams fought one wave of Kulls after another.
It was the same with the other Slayer squads as the number of Kull Warriors began to decrease. Back in the cavern, Lisa was halfway to the tunnel when she stopped walking upon hearing a growl. Actually, there were several growls as Lisa spun around and stared at the tunnels behind her, and above her. The sounds were coming from everywhere, and she was standing in the middle of the rocky terrain. Lisa shot off to the side, running towards one of the larger rocks as fast as possible. The growls were getting louder and she could hear the thundering sounds of footsteps that were heading towards the cavern.
'It's from everywhere,' Lisa thought to herself as she panted while running. Lisa needed to know what was happening and where she was… and she couldn't do that if she was dead. And yes, she felt a sting in her gut that told her she was in danger. She felt a chill up her spine as she wondered what was coming- especially since, from the thundering footsteps, whatever was coming towards her location seemed to be big.
"RAWWWWRRRR!" the loud roar shook the ground and the walls of the cavern as Lisa looked to the caverns that surrounded her. The roars and growls where coming from everywhere. She was only a meter away from the largest rock, large enough to hide her if she crouched down and hugged its jagged surface, and she ran towards it.
But the sounds were getting louder.
Thirty seconds at the most, that's what was going through Lisa's head as she ran faster than she ever had in her life. She could already see shadows on the tunnel walls being cast by these large creatures out of the corner of her eyes. Lisa turned her head to be sure that she had seen the shadows on the walls.
Twenty seconds.
And Lisa knew she would only just make it to cover. However, when she turned her head back around to the rock; the young woman immediately stopped. She skidded on the floor while spreading her arms out to keep her balance. Lisa's face was etched with surprise as she stared at the figure in front of her. A figure dressed in a cream coloured blouse and jeans.
"Mom?" Lisa asked as she stopped. The figure, Buffy, stood with a smile on her face as she crossed her arms over her chest and stared at Lisa who continued, "mom, how.. how are you here? Anyway, neverminded, we need to…"
"I see the Slayer and the idiot have a spawn of their own," 'Buffy' said. Lisa stepped back while she narrowed her eyes at 'Buffy' before she turned her head at the growls and roars coming from the figures running at her. Her eyes widened in shock upon seeing the fiery red eyes rushing at her. Lisa's heart fell upon hearing 'Buffy' laughing while the creatures, 'no, not just any creatures… demons. Oh God these are demons' Lisa thought to herself as she reached for the handles of her lightblades. She turned to 'Buffy' who was smirking at her before she raised her hand, and then clenched her fist high into the air.
And then the thundering sound around Lisa stopped, and she looked around to see the demons- about forty five that she could make out- stopped moving just before they reached her. While they surrounded her, Lisa turned back towards 'Buffy' and recalled what it was she just said about the 'Slayer and the idiot' having a spawn of their own.
'This isn't mom,' Lisa thought to herself as she gripped the handles of her deactivated lightblades tight, "who are you?"
"Answers later," 'Buffy' said as she began to walk around Lisa, who kept her eyes on the figure in front of her, "first, how is it that the Slayer cow is alive?"
"Who are you?" Lisa demanded to know as the demonic horde that surrounded her growled, roared, while others slammed their weapons- clubs, jagged swords, axes, and their bare fists onto the hard ground.
"My children are hungry," the figure said while Lisa spun around and stared at the wall of seven-foot-tall, muscled and sharp toothed demons, some of which were drooling, and then back at the figure who looked like Buffy. Lisa wondered what the being in front of her meant when saying its children were hungry. The creature pretending to be Buffy then smiled and stopped walking, "I know a long time, hundreds of years actually, have passed by. I know this because I have the memories of those who died."
"Who are you?!" Lisa demanded.
"Such impatience," the being in front of her said shaking her head, "your cow of a mother met me once. The very day her lover, the one before she settled for the idiot, attempted to commit suicide after I mocked him. After I tortured him with the deeds of his past. She never told you about the day she met me?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," Lisa said. And that was the truth. She didn't know what the being in front of her was talking about. Lisa knew that Buffy had once been in love with Angel, the man Lisa herself used to call 'Unca Liam' when she was a child. But what the being in front of her was saying didn't sound familiar to Lisa, "when did Angel try to commit suicide?"
"There's no need for explanations, little girl," the being said shaking her head, "all you should know is that my children and I have been waiting a very long time for a way to break the seal that's been sealing the Hellmouth."
"The… the Hellmouth?" asked Lisa, her voice trembling as she looked around once again, and then back at the being in front of her with her eyes wide open in shock, "I… I… I'm in the Hellmouth?"
"My army was prepared to leave the Hellmouth after the events of your World War Three when the world and humanity were weak," the Being said as the demons around her roared, raising their weapons and fists into the air, "and we would have. We would have if your mother and the other Slayers hadn't offered their blood to the spell that diverted the Earth's magic and sealed the Hellmouth. That blocked my demon horde, and me, from leaving this place."
Lisa could feel anger and hate erupting all around her as the being who pretended to be Buffy gritted her teeth and stared.
"The Blood of Slayers sealed this place, so the blood of a Slayer will break the seal," the being said as Lisa rushed forward and punched whatever it was trying to be her mother. However, Lisa was surprised when her fist went through 'Buffy' face.
'She phased?' Lisa thought as she stared at her fist in surprise being jumping back away from 'Buffy'.
"My demons will pour out into the world and tip the balance towards the darkness," the being said, "and when that happens? When I'm in the hearts of every man, woman, and child? When I make them hate and commit unspeakable evil against each other, only then will I be able to take physical form. And when that happens…" Lisa listened in stunned silence as the figure in front of her twisted her body inside out before taking on the form of an eleven-foot-tall robed demon that growled out, "I will send my children through the Stargate network. The galaxy will fall into Hell, and I will be all powerful. I will spread throughout all creation just as I once had before the Word was spoken, before the Bang, before the Light."
"Who are you!" yelled Lisa as she gripped the handles of her blades while her heart raced.
"The First Evil," the being grinned before turning to the other demons, "do not kill her. Her blood is needed to break the seal." The First then trend to Lisa and grinned, showing off a row of sharp teeth, "you can fight all you want, Slayer. I recommend you don't. My children are hungry, and the angrier they get, the more they would want to eat you."
And then the First vanished. And all Lisa could do was spin around on her heels as she stared at the demons who seemed ready to pounce. She looked around her at the snarls being aimed at her from the creatures who had sharp and jagged swords, axes, and clubs in their thick and muscled arms, and armour around their thick trunked bodies.
"Okay," Lisa whispered to herself as she tried to calm herself down. She remembered he first battles against the Wraith and how scared she was, and it was Buffy who told her after the first few missions that the virtual reality training sessions never could give her the real feeling of combat. 'And mum was right about demons too,' Lisa thought to herself as sweat beaded on her forehead while she remembered Buffy training her for battle against all matter of demons and vampires. But these demons were nothing like what Buffy and Xander, as well as Giles, Faith, Willow, Anya, Jonathan, and Andrew described. The ones in front of her were larger and taller than her.. than any of the Wraith she fought against.
Her thumbs were brushing against the button on the handles in each of her hands; the very same buttons she knew would extend the blades of hot plasma contained within a magnetic sheath. She knew she was surrounded, and that her next move was going to be fateful no matter what happened. Lisa recalled the First saying that it needed the blood of a Slayer to break the seal that blocked the Hellmouth and release demons back to the surface of the Earth.
'The First wanted to show me force,' Lisa thought as she looked around at the demons surrounding her. She then crouched down to see through the thick legs of the demons and could see that there was empty space behind them. A lot of empty space. She looked up at one of the snarling demons who stepped towards her, its body swaggering. Lisa saw it tighten its grip on the hilt of its sword before she looked past the demon. They were all gathering towards her. Even the ones behind her and to the left and right sides.
"Well, the First did say not to kill me," Lisa quipped as she looked around while standing up once again. She went through scenarios in her mind, and all of them ended with her being badly injured… even if she did make it out of the cavern alive.
And then, she had an idea.
"So!" Lisa said as she clipped the light blades handles to her belt once again after having removed them She then reached down to the stun weapon. She looked down at the weapon and slid off the top cover before looking up at the demon towering over her. it's red eyes glaring down at her while she ripped some of the mini-crystals from the energy regulator next to the vial of refined liquid naquada, "you guys want to take over the world? And then the galaxy, huh?" Lisa glanced down at the crystals between her finger and then dropped them onto the ground before glancing up while replacing the top cover, "that's a bit ambitious don't you think?" Lisa stared at the demon looking down at her defiantly while switching the 'safety' on the weapon in her hand to the 'off' position. She then depressed the trigger while pointing the barrel at the ground, and then heard a 'click' sound which told her that the weapon was set to automatic fire.
And with nothing to control the flow of energy, Lisa could feel the weapon heat up in her hand.
Lisa then stepped back and threw the weapon into the crowd of demons to her left… the direction of the closest tunnel; the one she was heading towards earlier. She then jumped back to avoid the sword that was being swung at her. "Hey! The First said not to kill me!" Lisa rolled back and then dashed to her right side and rushed towards the demons. She needed to be as far as possible from what was about to happen next.
"Three," Lisa said as she ran while unclipping the handles of the light blades, "two," Lisa then turned around to the left side sharply as soon as the demons started to rush towards her. "One," Lisa said as a loud 'boom' thundered in the cavern. She glanced at the explosion which had flung many of the demons into the air, along with the body parts of the ones that were closest to the explosion, as she dived onto the ground and stumbled behind a rock that protected her from the resulting falling debris.
Lisa heard blood-curdling screams and roars all around her as the light from the explosion faded away slowly. She broke cover and then ran towards the panicked demons that were getting up off the ground while throwing aside any body parts that landed on them. Lisa pressed down on the buttons that activated the light blades and then ran at the remaining demons that were in her way. Her target was the tunnel behind them, and her mission was to get out of the cavern she was in. Lisa had no idea if the tunnel would take her to safety or not, but she needed to get out of the cavern before more demons came through.
Lisa felt as if her body was going on autopilot; the nanites enhancing her already enhanced agility as she leaned back from a sword swing from one of the enraged demons while her boots hit the blood-soaked ground. She then swung her light blade clean through the head of one of the demons. Lisa manoeuvred herself out of the way of another swing by ducking jumping, and rolling around before her blades cut through the demons' weapons like a hot knife through butter and then cut through the armour they were wearing.
She then rushed towards the tunnel while catching a glimpse of the First looking down at her from the ledge right above her head. But Lisa didn't stop and stare.. instead, she continued to make her way through the demons that were rushing at her. Sher beheaded three more, bisected two others, and stabbed one more demon before she made it past the demons. She jumped over body parts and dead bodies while making a dash for the mouth of the tunnel.
She was already running away from the demonic horde.
Hearing the thundering footsteps behind her, Lisa continued running without looking to see the demons snarling at her. They were getting closer and closer while Lisa was nearly at the mouth of the tunnel. However, once she entered the mouth, the sounds behind her stopped… she only heard growls and snarls coming from the demons. Lisa turned at the mouth of the tunnel while panting and saw the First, in Buffy's form, smiling at her while its arm was raised up into the air.
"Run, little Slayer," the First said shaking her head. Lisa was panting as she looked at the enraged demons behind the First, and then her eyes shifted back to the First. "Wherever you run, I will find you. And where I find you, my children will not be far behind."
Lisa didn't know what to say. All she knew was that she could feel a warm breeze brush past her, 'this tunnel must lead to somewhere close to the surface. It just has to, or why else would there be a breeze. It could be a way out of the Hellmouth and… and… wait, if there's an exit then why hasn't the demons left?' Lisa wondered as she glared at the First and clipped the handles of her deactivated light blades to her belt. Lisa then remembered what it was that the First said earlier, that the Hellmouth was sealed, 'so maybe it's that seal preventing the demons, including the First, from getting out.'
"Yeah, that has to be it," Lisa thought turning back towards the tunnel. She ran through the mouth while taking out her subspace radio and making another call to the Vantage- or any other Alliance vessel.
TBC