A few minutes before the arrival of the Resolute.
While below ground there were security personnel responsible for the scientists working on the vast troves of symbols on the cavern walls, there were another sixteen security personnel responsible for the eight personnel from the archaeology and history departments of Starfleet Academy on the surface.
The scientists on the surface were working with some artefacts found outside the walls of the cavern below ground; a cavern wall behind which scanners still had difficultly revealing the vast cavernous complex of caves and tunnels. And it was all due to still unexplained energy interference. The scientists on the surface were examining the objects in metallic domes where their equipment was stored and the rooms sealed from contamination.
In addition to protecting the scientific personnel, the security personnel were also in charge of guarding the arrays of sixteen portable transporter units gathered in groups of six. These portable teleportation enhancers were responsible for beaming equipment and personnel in and out of the underground cavern.
Everything was going as well as it could; and then came the sudden quake. The earthquake had the Starfleet personnel above ground stumbling down onto the ground as the Earth shook violently.
Many of the personnel remained on their hands and knees, even the ones in the domes with some taking shelter under tables, while others were trying their best to keep their balance while grabbing onto the transporter units so that they do not topple over. All the while, the land continued shaking and rumbling around them violently. Crashes could be heard from two of the three domes, leading to some of the security officers stumbling towards the metallic domed work spaces while trying not to stumble back down onto the ground.
"Connor to Starfleet Command!" the senior security officer yelled into his comm-badge, "we're experiencing an earthquake over here! Why weren't we warned?"
"We just caught it on our sensors," was the reply, "getting reports all over the world of quakes and… and… this is impossible…"
As the shaking slowly reduced in intensity, it was the senior officer, the dark-haired male known as Major Andrew Connor, who was about to ask "what is impossible?" just noticed the reddish tint on the light brown sandy ground when he was on his hands and knees. Narrowing his eyes at the odd colouring, he then heard several gasps from the personnel around him before he looked up to see rolling red clouds forming high in the sky before his very eyes. More of the other personnel looked up into the sky before shocked expressions took over their faces as they got up to their feet. The clouds blocked out the sun – the reddish tint getting more prominent as if the sunlight was being filtered through the red clouds.
There were other odd changes as well; despite it having been a warm morning, the atmosphere was suddenly very chilly. At least that is what it felt to the people on the surface who felt as if cold invisible hands had reached into their chests.
The groups of security personnel and scientists rushing out of the domes, and then looked at each other before Connor pressed down on his communication badge again and called out to the personnel working underground. However, there was no answer to his calls for anyone to respond– there was just chilling silence. Connor could sense that there was something very wrong, but with no way of knowing what it was, there was nothing he could do other than transport down to the underground dig site.
"Starfleet Command to Connor, we received a message from Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Sunnydale," the female voice said, "he has recommended that Rapid Response Teams be deployed to the dig site."
"Why?" Connor asked. Rapid Response Teams were specially trained forces that would respond to Earth based threats; they were a section of Starfleet Security that was supposed to be the first line against the Dominion if they ever were to invade the Earth. And even though the Dominion and the war they started was ended, the Rapid Response Teams were still on stand-by. Connor looked around and didn't see any danger. And the only unusual thing were the red coloured clouds in the sky.
Then before he could receive an answer from Starfleet Command, the voice of one of the archaeologists in the cavern below yelled out through the comm-badge.
"HELP!" It was the voice of Karen Atkins before she was ripped apart, the snarls and the sickening sounds of bones 'crunching' and flesh being ripped out was transmitted through the badge before the sounds simply stopped. Before the connection was cut out, everyone also heard the unearthly sounds of roars and screams in the background. In the ensuing silence, the personnel on the surface had their hearts racing as they stood helplessly.
"Site team, stand-by," the female from Starfleet Command, who had no doubt heard the exchange, replied with a quaking in her voice, "rapid-response teams are on the way."
"Copy that, I'll be taking a team down to investigate," Connors, trying to push out the sounds he just heard, called out into his badge before turning towards a female officer nearly a meter away - the woman was his second-in-command. He called out to her while motioning to himself and then to the other male security officer, Stewart, next to him "the two of us are heading down to the dig site. You stay here and…"
DHOOM!
All of the security personnel stared at each other before they turned towards the direction of the teleportation enhancers.
DHOOM! DHOOM!
Everyone's hearts were pounding in their chests as the thunderous sound boomed out. They looked down towards the ground as a DHOOM! was followed by another DHOOM! They saw the dirt shaking on the ground, the some rocks jumped up slightly at another DHOOM!.
It was unnerving to say the least, especially when they were all standing very still. And there was nothing around the three of them that could cause this sound and the localized quakes. Even the branches and leaves on the sparse trees and bushes around them were shaking from when a few more DHOOM! Sounds erupted from the location of the transporter enhancers.
"What the hell?" Connor exclaimed over a few more DHOOM! sounds as he turned around towards the other looks of shock in the faces of the officers and scientists. And then, all of a sudden, everything was quiet once again.
Everyone stood still for what seemed to be hours; but in reality, they stood very still while their hearts were racing in their chests for nearly a minute. No one said anything; not about the thunderous sound that seemed to come up from beneath them nor did anyone ask about the red clouds that covered the sky above them.
Before he could order that the transport enhancers be brought back to their upright positions from where they lay on the ground, Connors heard the sound of something ripping from behind him. The man turned around to the gasps of many of the scientists while the security personnel were already taking out their phasers. His eyes set on the glowing rip in the air several feet away from him as he too reached down to his hip and grabbed the phaser.
Turning his head to the left of the first rip, he could see that there were three more glowing rips in the air, one next to the other. Just as he pulled out his phaser from the holster, Connors saw several people – both men and women – rushing out of the rips. They stepped onto the rocky ground just as there was another DHOOM! And then the sound of a roar.
"All of you get into that shuttle and get out of here now!" a woman wearing a green shirt and jeans yelled out as she pointed at the shuttle, "move… all of you are in danger!"
"Who are you? Identify yourself!" Connors ordered while pointing the phaser at the women while the other security officers, at least the ones not ushering the scientists to stay behind them, were pointing their phasers towards the other men and women who were still rushing out of the blue rips in the air.
However, before anyone could respond. There was another DHOOM! Followed by the sound of something below their feet being ripped apart once again. Then, just as it began, the sounds were gone once again. Connors was looking over his shoulder towards what seemed to be the source of the sounds while his phaser remained aimed at the woman with glasses.
"My name is Amara Kensington," the woman gently said. Connors turned his head back towards her as she continued, "all of you are in danger. You need to get into the shuttle and…"
Several meters behind the Starfleet officers and scientists, there was another DHOOM!' before the ground beneath them exploded upwards. The transporter enhancers, dust, rock, sand, dirt, patches of grass… everything that made up the ground beneath their feet, exploded into the air. The explosion was so intense that it had everyone with their backs to the explosion stumbling forward while the members of the Devon Coven led by Amara were thrown back before falling onto the ground.
As the debris from the enhancers, the dust, and dirt started falling back down towards the ground, Connors and Amara were the first to begin getting up to their feet. Connors could see Amara's eyes widen at something behind him, and so he turned to see a very wide hole several meters in front of him.
And then there was a roar.
RRAAAAAAARGH!
"Everyone from Starfleet, get into the shuttle and…" Amara's eyes narrowed and her breathing, as well as her heartbeat, raced in fear at the figures that were pulling themselves up and over the edge of the giant hole. They were about eight feet tall with arms that look as if they were armoured; in fact, some kind of armour covered their entire bodies as more and more creatures climbed out of the hole. Out of the crowd of even more demons, there were ones that were pale – the sunlight filtering through the red clouds doing nothing to stop them – with yellow eyes and fangs. This group rushed at the humans, much to Amara's horror.
'Turok-han vampires!' she thought to herself, 'there are so many, we cannot take them all by ourselves
"Get into the shuttle!" Amara yelled out as the Turok-han closed in, followed by the rush of the various other demons that were starting to spill out of the hole. There were growls, roars, and snarls as the demons rushed them while Amara yelled out, "Team One! Form a barrier!" Amara turned to Connors and reiterated, "get everyone into the shuttle!"
As seven of the newcomers rushed past the Starfleet Officers, some of whom reached out to pull them back from doing what they thought was something suicidal, without success. The seven newcomers raised their arms and whispered in an unknown language to the perplexment of the Starfleet officers. Unknown to the officers, the witches and warlocks from the Coven mumbled spells that formed an invisible wall that glowed purple when the demons crashed against it. The barrier surrounded the Starfleet group, the Coven, and the shuttle craft; and right outside the barrier, the humans were surrounded by thousands of demons that were growing in number.
"This is so much more than I thought," Amara whispered as she watched the demons bang their fists against the wall, which glowed as it was being hit. Because of the crowd, Amara couldn't tell if there were demons that were going on past them and towards the city of Sunnydale which was still a long distance away. She looked towards Connor who asked if she and her team were carrying portable shield generators. Amara shook her head before she turned and ordered the remaining Coven member to kill the Turok-han with blasts of fire.
As the remaining members of the Coven were throwing oval shaped blasts of fire, Connor and the other Starfleet officers – as well as the scientists – could only look on in surprise at the spontaneous blasts of fire that seemed to appear out of nowhere just over the palms of the men and women throwing the blasts. Connor turned towards Amara and was about to ask how her people were able to do what they were doing.
Instead, he put that thought to the back of his mind. Even though his training as a Starfleet officer demanded that he ask questions; he simply took in what was happening and made a mental note to ask his questions at a later time.
"Sir!" his second-in-command yelled out while pointing at one of the yellow eyed, pale figures, who simply turned to dust after being hit by a blast of fire after it went through the barrier.
Connor narrowed his eyes while thinking, 'it turned to dust… to dust! What the hell is going on here?' before turning towards Amara looking at the other direction as another pale figure turned to dust while another blue skinned, tattooed figure with horns on its head was pushed back before it stumbled onto the ground breathing and alive. The roars and screams were coming from all around them as Connor spun before stopping as Amara called out to him.
"Your phaser has the 'kill' function, correct?"
Connor nodded his head before yelling out, "yes!"
"Order your people to fire at the maximum 'kill' setting!" Amara yelled out over the loud sounds from the demons around them, "the barrier won't let them in, but it will allow people or weapons to get out!" she then pointed towards the shuttle, "get the people who don't have weapons into the air where they would be safe and then use the shuttle phasers to kill as many of these things that are heading to Sunnydale!"
"But…"
"They will kill everyone in Sunnydale! Maybe some would head to San Francisco or any of the closer cities before moving onto the next… and I can promise you there will be a lot of dead people if we do not do anything now!"
Questions. Connor had so many questions as Amara finished yelling. He could see a serious expression on her face with no hint that she was kidding in any way. He met her eyes, only to see real fear in them. He then turned towards the other security officers and the scientists, all of them had the same look of fear as well. It was primal fear… fear of the unknown. And there was something within him that yelled out 'you do not want to know this enemy!'
"Number One!" Connors yelled out to his second-in-command. There was no answer.
Connors turned to the fearful look on the woman's face before rushing over to her, stepping into her line of sight, and then grabbing her by the shoulders and shaking her. It would be a second later that the woman blinked, her eyes now meeting Connors.
"Sir?"
"I have a job for you," he said nodding towards the shuttle, "just follow my orders, we can deal with whatever strange things are happening at a later time. Understood?"
"Ye… yes, sir," she nodded her head before Connors continued saying that she needed to fly the shuttle out of there with the other personnel.
He continued, "the woman in charge of these people said that there are more of these things headed for Sunnydale. We'll keep on fighting here, take the Academy staff with you… they should be safer in the air, then head towards Sunnydale once you take off. Once you get to Sunnydale, use the shuttle's torpedo's and phasers to stop as many of these things from getting to the city."
Connors' Number One looked around as the demonic horde, with more and more of them pressing against the barrier even as many fell dead after being hit by the blasts of magical flame, surrounded them. She then looked back towards her Commanding Officer and nodding her head. It would be a few seconds after what would be the thirtieth demon to fall that another portal opened up to Josie and Data rushing out onto the dirt and rock covered ground.
"Miss Amara," Josie exclaimed as she rushed towards her Watcher while Data, who first looked around at the horde trying to get to them, accompanied her. The android nodded at Connors before asking for a situation report. Josie and Amara listened in while the members of the coven not generating the barrier continued to hold back the demons by projecting blasts of fire that were killing and injuring several of the demons around them.
It was just then that someone yelled out, "Look!" Connors, Data, Amara, Josie, and the others who were not holding up the barrier or killing the demons, turned towards the officer and then followed the invisible line leading from the tip of his finger to the bright glow in the distance over Sunnydale. Connors and the others were so far away that the glow was a pinprick, a brilliant blue hue, that just as quickly vanished after an object spit out and headed for the city.
"It is a ship," Data said, his eyes focusing on the very distant object, "the configuration is that of a Pegasus Alliance vessel."
"Where is it going, Commander?" Connors asked before Amara could. She glanced at Josie who was looking towards the distance in worry.
'She knows,' Amara thought to herself, 'she knows why the ship is going towards the city… there is only one reason it would.'
Connors was going to tap his comm-badge; first he wanted to know the ETA of the Rapid Response Teams to Sunnydale, and secondly, he wanted to know if the ship that appeared over the city could help them.
But before he could even bring his hand up to his chest, there was a violent roar from behind them. From the location of the hole. Everyone looking away turned towards the direction of the giant hole in the ground. Even the demons that surrounded them had stopped banging against the barrier… even the ones rushing towards the city stopped and turned at the sound of the roar.
The demons were stomping their feet. Many were pulling their heads back and roaring into the air. Connors and Amara, as well as the other humans, felt as if there was something bad coming their way. In the meantime, Data tilted his head while looked around at the demons; all of whom started to attack the barrier once again.
"Fascinating," Data said as he reached for his tricorder, "none of these beings correspond to any known alien species in the Federation Database." He then looked towards Josie and asked, "these are what you would call demons?"
"Demons?" Connors asked with narrowed eyelids, "what…"
RAAAAAARHHHHH!
The humans were silent once again as the flapping of what sounded like giant wings could be heard in the direction of the hole.
It would be a few seconds later that, out of the giant hole that led down… deep down into the shattered seal of the Hellmouth, four large dragons flew out into the red cloud covered sky.
Every human stared with jaws hanging off their faces in shock as they watched the dragons fly high into the air before hearing even more growls as giants climbed up to the surface. The giants stood on the hard ground carrying clubs and sharp blades that were stained with red before roaring into the air. It would be then that the other demons began making a run for it past the humans, and one android, protected by the barrier. There were more larger demons that appeared – all of them looked as if they were looking around… some sniffing the air… before turning towards the group of Starfleet and Coven members.
"Might I suggest a tactical retreat?" Data said while staring at the giant demons that were making their way towards the barrier. He could feel a sense of fear going through him thanks to his emotion chip, it was a feeling that brought about bad memories. He then looked up towards the sky to see the dragons flying about before three of them separated and flew in separate directions while one began sweeping down towards the group surrounded by the barrier.
The dragon then roared out loud… so loud that the humans in the barrier could feel their bones shake. In the meantime, more and more demons were pouring out of the hole and heading for Sunnydale and other cities.
"Everyone in the shuttle! Now!" Connors ordered waving to the awaiting shuttle as the dragon approaching them opened its massive jaws. Even though the monster was so high up - and getting closer every second - the group within the barrier could see a blueish-red glow from deep within the dragon's throat.
Everyone began running as fast as possible towards the shuttlecraft just as the dragon spewed out a stream of flame that would impact the ground in only a few seconds. And once it did, the entire area was engulfed in flames hot enough to turn the surrounding area into glass.
Atlantis, Pegasus; tens minutes later.
The klaxons at Stargate Operations in Atlantis were blaring as Willow, her body covered with black and grey armour while a pair of gunmetal-grey coloured gantlets covered her arms, rushed down the central staircase leading to the activated wormhole. She met with an armoured Buffy and Faith at the bottom of the staircase just as the shield covering the Stargate's event horizon was deactivated and the President of the Tau'ri, Cordelia, walked through with a serious expression on her face.
"Are you kidding me?" was the first thing that Cordelia exclaimed while waving her arms about as she approached Willow and the others while the Stargate disengaged behind her. The area around Willow, Buffy, and Faith was a hive of activity as Cordelia continued speaking in an exasperated tone, "they broke the seals? Are you kidding me?"
"General," a technician cried out from the Operations level while leaning over the railing overlooking the Gateroom. He then saw the President and saluted her. Cordelia nodded her head looking up at the man before telling him to continue. The man then turned his head towards Willow and said, "the Slayers report ready, ma'am. They have boarded the Jumpers and are prepared to make their way to the Gateroom."
Willow then said, "have them begin making their way to the Gateroom." The Technician nodded his head before rushing back to a console behind him. Willow then turned back toward Cordelia and said, "afraid so. That's what we got from the SOS relayed to us from Earth through the Mid-Way station."
"So, we stopped one apocalypse after another," Cordelia said, her hands on her waist, "Slayers, the BPRI, and the SGC kept the world spinning…. And now it's all going down the drain?"
"Looks like it," Faith then added.
"As far as we know," Buffy spoke as Willow motioned towards the stairs as a door on the high ceiling right above the Gateroom slid open. The group began walking up one step at a time while Buffy continued, "every bit of dark energy that's been collecting in the Hellmouth for the past three hundred years has covered the Earth."
"Damn…"
"The Resolute informed us that Tara and her apprentices, as well as Major _, and Anika were heading out for the Enterprise," Willow said as Dawn, carrying a tablet in her hand, rushed down the few steps to meet both of her sisters, her sister-in-law, and Cordelia.
"We've lost contact with the Resolute," Dawn said. Willow stopped what she was about to say as the group turned towards the brunette with stunned expressions on their faces. Dawn put her hand up, signalling that they let her finish speaking before coming to the wrong conclusion, "this cloud, or miasma… or whatever it is that's covering the Earth is allowing absolutely no comms or scans to get through."
She then motioned towards Willow with her left arm, "just as Colonel Edison said before he sent Tara and her team over to the Enterprise. So the Resolute is probably… I mean there is a very high probability… that the ship is in Earth's atmosphere somewhere over Sunnydale."
"And if there is an absolute reason for the ship to be in-atmosphere, then it has to be because of the seal beneath Sunnydale High," Cordelia said as a cold chill ran up and down her spine imagining vampires, demons, and all sorts of nightmares escaping into the city itself from the High School. She shook her head before asking, "what about the other cracked seal?"
Dawn then went on to say that the Resolute set a message just after making the hyperspace jump into the Earth's atmosphere that Tara mentioned fighting on the outskirts of Sunnydale.
"So the Coven's already made their move," Cordelia said while the others nodded their heads.
Faith then stated that the Resolute was probably already defending the rest of Sunnydale by trying to destroy as many demons as possible. Cordelia took in a deep breath as she thought back to hearing the unexpected news of what was happening on Earth back in her office. It was unbelievable, especially after everything that had been sacrificed by Slayers over hundreds of years to protect the Earth from the very demons were now threatening to take it over once again.
There was a hum as one Jumper slowly lowered itself to the Gateroom, the rear door opening as it just hovered over the shiny floor. The ramp reached the floor reveal at least twenty Slayers in their regulation armour carrying a deactivated Light Blade on their hips.
Willow, Buffy, and Faith turned back towards Cordelia and Dawn before nodding their heads.
"Be careful guys," Dawn said as she looked at her sisters and her sister-in-law, "get back safe."
"I've already ordered a deployment of Pegasus Alliance medical and military assets to Earth," Cordelia said while Dawn turned and ordered a technician to dial the Stargate to Earth, "they'll be there in a few hours."
"We'll pick Tara and the other Witches on the way to Earth," Willow said, "hopefully they would be done briefing the higher ups by then."
"The Hellmouth would have to be sealed again," Cordelia said, "do whatever it takes, Willow."
"Copy that," the redhead replied before she, together with Buffy and Faith, walked up the ramp which then closed up behind them. It would be a few seconds later that the Stargate activated and the Jumper went through the event horizon. The first Jumper was soon followed by another one, and then another, and another. It would be after nearly thirty Jumpers going through the Stargate that the device shut down.
TBC