"An entire planet?" Xander repeated for what had to be the tenth time.
Jack O'Neill gazed around the room, trying to gauge the effect that his words had had. Anya had a thoughtful look on her face. She wasn't having trouble getting her mind around this fact but since she was demon anyway he assumed that this kind of thing was par for the course for her. Xander who sat beside her looked slightly stunned. Spike, a vampire, did not look particularly ecstatic at having an entire planet of his kin to deal with. O'Neill made a mental note to speak to Buffy about the vampire later on. He needed to get a few things sorted out in his mind about this group of people and he guessed that she was the best place to start. Buffy, used to dealing with apocalypses, had been initially floored but was now fiddling, twitching. He recognised the signs as someone who wanted to get moving on this mission, rather than sit around and talk. That suited him. That made them similar. He was still unsure about the petite blonde and resolved to find out exactly what the Slayer powers were. Dawn and Giles looked less than happy at the thought of an entire planet policed by vampires and the girl down the end of the table, Willow was it? She had not said a word, not met anyone's eye except when she had been introduced. He saw the fear cross her face before being replaced by a mask of indifference. Oh yes, there was a lot more going on in this group than first thought and he wanted to get all this straight in his head before he put his life and the lives of his team into their hands.
"So, now you know." General Hammond had run through the situation after O'Neill had blurted out the problem.
"So you want us to what? Clear the entire planet of the vamps, kill this guy Ahmose and set the people free? What are we?
Supernatural pest control?" Spike asked.
"That's pretty much it." Dr Jackson admitted. "There are other options of course. We could relocate the prisoners to another planet, we do have several habitable planets which are reachable through the Stargate. We could destroy the vampires and leave the human inhabitants free and pray that Ahmose doesn't notice his guards are dead or…"
"Or we can give these guys a crash course in vamp protection and head back to Sunnydale." Spike finished. He turned to Buffy "This isn't part of the deal of being a Slayer, love. You don't have to do this. The deal is for this planet not the entire fucking universe."
He seemed unreasonably angry but then O'Neill and the rest of SG1 weren't to know how protective he was of her. She turned to him and laid a hand over his.
"It's fine Spike. We're only talking about it. I doubt they're planning on sending us through this gate thing with a bunch of stakes and nothing else."
"Of course not" General Hammond interrupted "We are looking for a long term solution to this problem with the least casualties all round. Agent Finn suggested you would be able to help us as you are all experienced in this area. There is no question of you going through the gate without any kind of backup or support."
This seemed to mollify the vampire a little and he subsided, slouching back into his chair. Buffy gave his hand a final pat and then turned to Rupert Giles.
"Giles, any ideas?"
The older man stood up and started pacing around the room. He slid his glasses off and, pulling a handkerchief from his pocket, began polishing them idly as he turned the facts over in his mind. SG1 watched him curiously but the Sunnydale gang had already moved together, Willow scooting up next to Dawn.
"I think the first thing we need to discover is if these vampires are different to vampires on this planet. We need to know if they react the same to sunlight, fire and stakes. Holy symbols are a tried and tested way to ward off vampires on this planet but they may be ineffective against these vampires."
"I could take the team and bag some for experimental purposes. Vamps are pretty much disposable." Riley looked over at Spike who was doodling mindlessly on the pad in front of him. Spike ignored the slight and carried on doodling.
"That sounds like an excellent idea." General Hammond said "SG1, if you would like to take Agent Finn and his team to the planet, recover some vampires and bring them back. We can hold them here securely and discover how strong they are and what their weaknesses are before we take on an entire planet of them."
"Sir, isn't that a little cruel?" Dr Jackson spoke for the first time "We can't hold these things here like that, experimenting on them."
"Why not?" asked Buffy "They're not human. They're not alive at all. Some nights I kill up to forty of them, and that's just me, not counting everyone else in this room. You have to understand, Dr Jackson, exactly what you're up against."
She saw Carter's eyes move to Spike to glanced up and met the bright blue of Spike's gaze.
"Don't look at me. I'm not a good example." He returned back to his doodling.
"What are we up against?" Carter asked "The Earth vampires? What are they like?"
"I could arrange a demonstration." Riley offered "SG1 have limited experience of the other vampires so they should be able to make a comparison. After that we can go back to the planet and take a couple of vampires, check their strengths and weaknesses and take it from there. We can't fight these things effectively if we don't know how to fight them."
"That's the best idea." O'Neill offered "There's no real time frame on this project is there Sir?" he asked Hammond who shook his head.
"Other than the fact that innocents are dying on that planet Colonel, no."
"Innocents die on this planet every day General" said Giles quietly.
There was silence for a moment before the General spoke.
"OK, we'll have this demonstration first. Agent Finn if you could please recover some subjects for the demonstration. After which SG1 and your team will go through the Stargate and retrieve some vampires from the other planet."
Riley nodded.
"I suggest we split up into groups so we can handle this better. Dr Jackson, if you can deal with the cultural side of things, Major Carter, any technology which may be of assistance and Colonel, if you and Teal'c can come up with some ideas as to how we are going to handle this problem." General Hammond glanced across at Giles who nodded at him and turned to his group.
"Willow and Dawn, you can work with Major Carter, Anya and I will work with Dr Jackson and Buffy? You, Spike and Xander will work with the Colonel and Teal'c." Giles looked at Buffy for approval and she nodded slightly.
"Right then people, let's get moving. Dismissed."
Jack O'Neill gazed around the room, trying to gauge the effect that his words had had. Anya had a thoughtful look on her face. She wasn't having trouble getting her mind around this fact but since she was demon anyway he assumed that this kind of thing was par for the course for her. Xander who sat beside her looked slightly stunned. Spike, a vampire, did not look particularly ecstatic at having an entire planet of his kin to deal with. O'Neill made a mental note to speak to Buffy about the vampire later on. He needed to get a few things sorted out in his mind about this group of people and he guessed that she was the best place to start. Buffy, used to dealing with apocalypses, had been initially floored but was now fiddling, twitching. He recognised the signs as someone who wanted to get moving on this mission, rather than sit around and talk. That suited him. That made them similar. He was still unsure about the petite blonde and resolved to find out exactly what the Slayer powers were. Dawn and Giles looked less than happy at the thought of an entire planet policed by vampires and the girl down the end of the table, Willow was it? She had not said a word, not met anyone's eye except when she had been introduced. He saw the fear cross her face before being replaced by a mask of indifference. Oh yes, there was a lot more going on in this group than first thought and he wanted to get all this straight in his head before he put his life and the lives of his team into their hands.
"So, now you know." General Hammond had run through the situation after O'Neill had blurted out the problem.
"So you want us to what? Clear the entire planet of the vamps, kill this guy Ahmose and set the people free? What are we?
Supernatural pest control?" Spike asked.
"That's pretty much it." Dr Jackson admitted. "There are other options of course. We could relocate the prisoners to another planet, we do have several habitable planets which are reachable through the Stargate. We could destroy the vampires and leave the human inhabitants free and pray that Ahmose doesn't notice his guards are dead or…"
"Or we can give these guys a crash course in vamp protection and head back to Sunnydale." Spike finished. He turned to Buffy "This isn't part of the deal of being a Slayer, love. You don't have to do this. The deal is for this planet not the entire fucking universe."
He seemed unreasonably angry but then O'Neill and the rest of SG1 weren't to know how protective he was of her. She turned to him and laid a hand over his.
"It's fine Spike. We're only talking about it. I doubt they're planning on sending us through this gate thing with a bunch of stakes and nothing else."
"Of course not" General Hammond interrupted "We are looking for a long term solution to this problem with the least casualties all round. Agent Finn suggested you would be able to help us as you are all experienced in this area. There is no question of you going through the gate without any kind of backup or support."
This seemed to mollify the vampire a little and he subsided, slouching back into his chair. Buffy gave his hand a final pat and then turned to Rupert Giles.
"Giles, any ideas?"
The older man stood up and started pacing around the room. He slid his glasses off and, pulling a handkerchief from his pocket, began polishing them idly as he turned the facts over in his mind. SG1 watched him curiously but the Sunnydale gang had already moved together, Willow scooting up next to Dawn.
"I think the first thing we need to discover is if these vampires are different to vampires on this planet. We need to know if they react the same to sunlight, fire and stakes. Holy symbols are a tried and tested way to ward off vampires on this planet but they may be ineffective against these vampires."
"I could take the team and bag some for experimental purposes. Vamps are pretty much disposable." Riley looked over at Spike who was doodling mindlessly on the pad in front of him. Spike ignored the slight and carried on doodling.
"That sounds like an excellent idea." General Hammond said "SG1, if you would like to take Agent Finn and his team to the planet, recover some vampires and bring them back. We can hold them here securely and discover how strong they are and what their weaknesses are before we take on an entire planet of them."
"Sir, isn't that a little cruel?" Dr Jackson spoke for the first time "We can't hold these things here like that, experimenting on them."
"Why not?" asked Buffy "They're not human. They're not alive at all. Some nights I kill up to forty of them, and that's just me, not counting everyone else in this room. You have to understand, Dr Jackson, exactly what you're up against."
She saw Carter's eyes move to Spike to glanced up and met the bright blue of Spike's gaze.
"Don't look at me. I'm not a good example." He returned back to his doodling.
"What are we up against?" Carter asked "The Earth vampires? What are they like?"
"I could arrange a demonstration." Riley offered "SG1 have limited experience of the other vampires so they should be able to make a comparison. After that we can go back to the planet and take a couple of vampires, check their strengths and weaknesses and take it from there. We can't fight these things effectively if we don't know how to fight them."
"That's the best idea." O'Neill offered "There's no real time frame on this project is there Sir?" he asked Hammond who shook his head.
"Other than the fact that innocents are dying on that planet Colonel, no."
"Innocents die on this planet every day General" said Giles quietly.
There was silence for a moment before the General spoke.
"OK, we'll have this demonstration first. Agent Finn if you could please recover some subjects for the demonstration. After which SG1 and your team will go through the Stargate and retrieve some vampires from the other planet."
Riley nodded.
"I suggest we split up into groups so we can handle this better. Dr Jackson, if you can deal with the cultural side of things, Major Carter, any technology which may be of assistance and Colonel, if you and Teal'c can come up with some ideas as to how we are going to handle this problem." General Hammond glanced across at Giles who nodded at him and turned to his group.
"Willow and Dawn, you can work with Major Carter, Anya and I will work with Dr Jackson and Buffy? You, Spike and Xander will work with the Colonel and Teal'c." Giles looked at Buffy for approval and she nodded slightly.
"Right then people, let's get moving. Dismissed."