The Road to OZ  (4/?)

by Anne Olsen

Ratings/warnings: OK (Oz/Kiwi spelling/grammar etc) – PG13 – Action, drama, angst.  Gundam Wing/Stargate SG1 xover.

Pairings:  - Gundam Wing: 3x4, 1x2, 5+S.
                 - Stargate SG1: Non specific (at this stage although this may change as the story progresses.)


Summary: When a gateway is unintentionally opened, two unrelated missions become one desperate struggle for survival. SG1 and the Gundam pilots must join forces to take control of a weapon that could affect the future of both their worlds.

Archive:


Disclaimer: Gundam Wing belongs to Bandai, Sunrise and Sotsu Agency. I promise to return the boys in one piece, more or less, when I'm finished, but hold no liability for any physical injury or psychological trauma sustained by them in my fiction.

Stargate SG1 are owned by Stargate (ll) Productions, Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Products.


Thanks to the beta team: Bast,  haraamis, Spaceseeker, Anon and Gina. Also to Misanagi and Shadow for their input and support.

Comments to: anneo @ paradise.net.nz

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Chapter Four

"Sorry I'm late." Daniel slid into his seat, his coffee balanced in one hand and a pile of papers in the other. Pushing his glasses up his nose, he glanced around the conference table. "Did I miss anything?"

"Welcome, Dr. Jackson," Hammond said. "I'm pleased that you're feeling better, and no, you haven't. We were waiting for you before we got started on the debriefing."

Daniel had the decency to look apologetic, but there was a familiar gleam in his eye that made Jack stifle a groan.  What the hell had gotten Daniel fired up /now/? "Sorry, General, I was talking to Quatre, and I forgot the time." He took a swig of coffee. "It's really quite fascinating the way their world appears…"

"One thing at a time, please." Hammond interrupted Daniel before he could go off on one of his enthusiastic ramblings. "We'll get to our visitors in due course." He nodded over to where Frasier was reading through a pile of what looked suspiciously like medical test results. "Dr. Frasier will be sharing her findings shortly, but I believe you have a mission to report on first. Colonel O'Neill?"

"Oh right, that." Jack cleared his throat. "It was a trap."

"A trap?" Hammond arched one eyebrow.

"Indeed," Teal'c confirmed.

"Instead of the nice, quiet stroll in the countryside we were expecting, we got hit by a Jaffa ambush. Friendly types, lots of firepower." Jack frowned.

"They attacked as soon as you got through the gate?" Hammond asked.

"No, they were really thoughtful. Waited a while, gave us time to work out that the Tok'ra agent we were supposed to be meeting wasn't going to show." Jack shrugged. "Then they attacked. As I said, friendly types."

"They were acting under the order of the Goa'uld using the name Bast," Teal'c took up the story. "As far as I am aware, she is not one of the system lords but…"

"Also known as Bastet," Daniel interrupted. "In Egyptian mythology she's most commonly represented as a young girl with a cat's head. She's the Goddess of cats…"

"So the whole cat's head thing is a clue, just in case we hadn't worked that one out yet?" Jack observed.

"Also the Goddess of the rising sun, bounty and plenty." Daniel took another swig of coffee and ignored Jack's comment. "And sex, fertility, birth and eroticism. She was said to protect expectant mothers alongside Tauret and had a three day festival every year that was essentially an orgy of drink, food, dance and sex."

"And this is bad, because?" Jack hoped like hell that there was a point to all this.


"Bast is linked to Hathor's sexual aspect, just as Sekhmet is linked to Hathor's violent aspect. She's also a protector of the sun, is sometimes referred to as "The Tearer", and in this capacity is supposed to battle the serpent Apophis..." Daniel looked up and waited, as though he'd just supplied some vital piece of information.


"Sounds like your average party girl in search of a good time." Jack hoped that this particular snakehead was not a staunch follower of their not so favourite Goa'uld.
 

"Deceased family cats were offered to her, and many other cats were sacrificed in her honour," Daniel finished. The fun part of the debriefing had obviously come to an end.  "And remember that this is just the myth behind the Goa'uld; we have no way of knowing how much is true."

"I /do/ know that, Daniel," Jack reminded him. "And while your lecture was really interesting, it doesn't really tell us what she was doing on P2R-435." He shook his head. "Or what happened to the Tok'ra representative."

"I'll contact the Tok'ra as soon as we're finished here," Hammond promised, "and ask what information they may have regarding Bast. Jacob didn't mention her when we spoke, so I'm presuming that they were unaware of her presence there."

"Ya think?" Jack wasn't so sure, but he would hold back on jumping to conclusions until he had heard what Jacob had to say. He didn't trust the Tok'ra, but he did trust Jacob Carter.

"But," Hammond prompted, "meeting Bast on P2R-435 doesn't explain the presence of our visitors. I was under the impression that the native population wasn't as technologically advanced as the weaponry we confiscated from them suggests."

"They aren't native to P2R-435," Carter confirmed. "Daniel managed to dial home while we were under fire, but for some reason the DHD didn't dial Earth's Stargate."

"Yes, it did," Daniel protested, frowning. "But for some reason, we came through into some sort of storage room on another world."

"And straight into Nichol and his merry men hunting the kids," Jack remembered and started to explain what had happened.

"Do you know why Nichol was so interested in them?" Hammond asked, when Jack had finished. 

Jack shook his head. "He wasn't in a sharing mood," he said, "and the kids aren't being too helpful either. Trowa's got difficult down to an art form, and Quatre, although very polite, isn't much better. They both claimed that they don't know why Nichol was after them, but I'm not sure how much of that I believe. Hopefully, whatever Carter discovered on that disc I found in Trowa's pocket might answer some of the questions they couldn't…or wouldn't."

"We'll get to the disc in a moment, Colonel," Hammond reassured him. "So, for some reason the Stargate activated chevrons eight and nine, as well as the usual seven?"

"I dialed in the co-ordinates for home," Daniel confirmed, "and then the DHD did the rest."

"That's impossible." Carter frowned. "The chevrons either have to be engaged using the DHD, by a computer, or manually."

"The boys had been using the DHD to shelter from Nichol and his men…what if..?" Daniel shook his head and answered his own question. "No, Trowa was already unconscious when we arrived, and I dialed out myself. No one else was near it."

"The gate on their world must have had access to an outside power source," Carter pondered, "in order to initiate the eighth chevron."

"Ten times as much power as normal, right?" Jack cut in. He had grown attached to the idea of knowing his destination when he entered the wormhole; if this had happened once, could it happen again?

Teal'c looked at Jack, raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.

"Yes, Sir." Carter seemed somewhat preoccupied; Jack could see the wheels turning from across the table. "And we have to take into account that the ninth chevron was activated, too; we have no idea what it does or the amount of power required. The eight chevron inputs a galaxy code and is used for travel across vast distances, beyond the normal range of the gate system but…I'll have to look into it further; the computer system meta-log should provide the data I need to formulate more of an idea as to what might have occurred."  She shook her head and frowned. "Unless…I wonder if the computer system mentioned in here might be able to supply the extra power needed. It appears to be…"

"What computer system?" Hammond asked.

"The computer system mentioned on the CD that Colonel O'Neill retrieved, Sir," Carter replied. "It appears to be some kind of cockpit system capable of gathering battle information. It then uses the data to plan out every conceivable scenario of attack and defence before feeding the results directly into the pilot's mind."

Jack whistled. "That's some system. I don't suppose they were nice enough to include the plans for it?" They could kick some serious Goa'uld ass with a system like that; the potential was enormous. What the hell had the kids been doing with this kind of information? Whatever had been going down, Nichol would not have wanted them to escape with it. 

"It certainly needs further investigation," Hammond agreed. "How detailed is the information on it?"

"They've included the complete plans for the system, Sir." Carter leafed through the printouts in front of her. "The name given to it is ZERO, but it appears to have had a few modifications from the original to allow…" She paused. "It seems to have been adapted to interact with specific brain wave patterns, and to allow instructions to be relayed to the pilot from an outside source."

"Specific brain patterns, as in specific pilots," Daniel asked. He shuddered. "That's…how safe is this thing?"

"The original system doesn't appear to include that adaptation, but the plans are here for both." Carter skimmed her notes. "Unfortunately, an error seems to have occurred when the data was uploaded to the disc, and I have no idea who the system was designed to be in tune with." She glanced at Daniel. "There isn't much in the way of test results regarding how safe it is either, but from the few there are, it appears that 99.9% of those tested as pilots for the system went from zero to psycho in ten seconds or less." Carter shook her head." There is, however, an enormous amount of information about fighting machines they term mobile suits, though the most interest appears to be in a specific form of suit called a Gundam. Apparently there were only five of those, if you don't count Tallgeese, but then that wasn't made of Gundanium alloy…."

"Back up," Jack ordered. "What the hell is a mobile suit?"

Instead of answering in words, Carter indicated the view screen. An image of something looking suspiciously like a giant robot appeared on the screen. "That, Colonel, is a mobile suit, or MS."

Jack peered at the screen closely. The suit definitely /did/ look like a giant robot, and it was clutching some kind of beam rifle in its right hand. "Oh great," he muttered, "we've stumbled on a plan to corner the toy industry on this planet. How many weeks is it to Christmas? Someone needs to warn Santa that his elves are in revolt."

"Oh this isn't a toy, Colonel." Carter's eyes were bright; she had the look of a kid-let-loose in-a-candy-store. Jack waited, knowing that he would get the details, whether he asked for them or not. "This particular model, known as a Leo, stands at 16.2 metres high and weighs 7 tonnes. It's made from a Titanium Alloy…"

"The same stuff the iris on the gate is made from?" Jack whistled. "That's some robot." A whole army of these things wasn't something that he would want to come up against in a hurry.

"Yes," Carter confirmed. "Except, as I said, these are made from an alloy, not pure Titanium like the iris. However," the image on the screen faded to be replaced by that of another robot, "as well as the Leos, there are also the Ares, which are bigger and heavier. They stand at 16.9 metres and weighing 8 tonnes and are land /and/ air suits." The screen changed again. "These are Taurus…"

"Don't tell me," interrupted Jack. "Bigger and faster?"

"No, Sir." Carter shook her head. "Smaller and lighter, for heightened mobility in space, and with the ability to transform into something resembling a jet fighter. Their weaponry includes a beam canon and an optional laser gun."

"So these people fight their battles using these suits, rather than in person," Teal'c asked.

"No," Carter indicated the suit on the screen. "The pilot sits in the chest cavity of the suit, which is the equivalent of a cockpit. Although they did manage to mass produce remote controlled suits later, called mobile dolls, the large majority of their war seems to have been fought between soldiers piloting the original suits."

"Who are their enemies?" Teal'c, not surprisingly, was interested in the finer details of the war. It made sense; after all, he had trained as a warrior and been the First Prime of Apophis before joining the good guys. 

"From what I can ascertain," Carter said, "different factions on the planet, which interestingly enough they call Earth, have been at war with each other for quite some time. Approximately 198 of their years ago, they established space colonies. There are references to five colony clusters, L1 – L5, and by AC102, the space colonists numbered fifteen percent of the human population."

"AC meaning After Colony?" Daniel seemed thoughtful. "This is all starting to make sense now."

"Want to share with the rest of the class, Daniel?" Jack knew that Daniel had spent some time talking with Quatre and Trowa; hopefully, he had been able to get more information from them.

"Trowa and Quatre both spoke of Earth and the Colonies, and I presumed that they were referring to our Earth, and that 'the Colonies' was the name of their world." Daniel adjusted his glasses and took another sip of must have been cold coffee by now. "Quatre is from the Colonies, Trowa isn't sure of his origins. They must have also originally presumed that when we spoke of Earth, we meant their planet." He shook his head and suddenly grinned. "Quatre seemed surprised that I hadn't heard of his surname; the Winner name is apparently well known on their world. That must have been what clued him in…"

"And you were planning on telling us this…when?" Jack rolled his eyes.

"I've only just worked it out myself, Jack." Daniel seemed somewhat annoyed, but Jack got the impression that it was more with himself than the boys. "No wonder he seemed amused."

"These boys do not seem particularly forthcoming with information," Hammond noted. He turned to Frasier, who had been following the conversation, but so far hadn't joined in with any pearls of wisdom of her own. "Do there seem to be any noticeable physiological differences between them and us? Any ill effects for having lived on these space colonies, rather than on their Earth?" If these people were prepared to share their technology, the repercussions could have far reaching effects, especially as it implied that they could be scientifically advanced in other areas too.

"Nothing too noticeable," Frasier confirmed. "But they appear to possess faster reaction times than we do, and were able to shake off the affects of the sedative much more quickly than Dr. Jackson." She consulted her notes. "The sedatives in the tranquilliser darts were far in excess of the amount I'd use to take down a teenager. Not having access to others of their world, I can only draw two conclusions. Either that one of the side effects of their people adapting to colonisation is that they have developed this ability, or that these boys are not the norm, and that the sedative was tailor made to take this into account."

"I'd go for the latter." Carter's voice was sombre.

"What the hell?" Jack couldn't help but voice his concern. "Are you trying to tell us that these kids are some kind of experiments?"

"Not necessarily scientific tampering, Jack." Daniel chewed the end of his pencil thoughtfully. "Evolution perhaps? People are often scared of something new, of something they don't understand. That could have been the reason why Nichol was after them."

"What makes you so sure, Major?" Hammond's question interjected a voice of reason into the conversation. Facts would be rather handy right about now, instead of flights of fancy. Jack forced himself to stay calm and waited for Carter's answer.

Instead of what Jack was expecting, Carter continued with her history lesson. "In AC 175, the peace between the Earth and the Colonies was shattered with the assassination of the pacifist, Heero Yuy. The Alliance, who is apparently the ruling government of Earth, was forced to defend itself from the Colonists who took Yuy's death as a declaration of war. Years of uprisings followed, with the Alliance barely managing to survive intact. Then, three years ago, in AC 195, the Colonists launched their ultimate plan, Operation Meteor."  She paused. "The plan was to drop one of the colonies onto the Earth and decimate it."

"These Colonists were going to destroy the Earth?" Daniel sounded disgusted. "That's paramount to genocide. But I still don't see what Quatre and Trowa have to do with this; they're just kids."

"I'm getting there," Carter said. The image of the mobile suits, which they had been looking at before, changed to show another suit, but this one was clearly custom made; while it shared the basic giant robot look, it was sleeker and appeared to have more in the way of firepower. "This," Carter announced, "is a Gundam - Wing Gundam, designation 01, to be precise. Each colony cluster sent one of these advanced mobile suits and a pilot to Earth to carry out Operation Meteor."

"Gundams?" Jack knew that he'd heard that word somewhere recently, but he couldn't quite place it.

"They are made out of a new alloy called Gundanium which was created in high-temperature plasma that can only form in zero gravity. The name comes from the original name for the formula, Genetic on Universal Neutrally Different Alloy. The 'ium' was added later to distinguish the alloy from other, similar ones being developed on Earth around the same time."

Jack interrupted before Carter got too into the techno stuff. "And your point is?"

"The Gundanium armour makes these Gundams nearly invulnerable to normal beam weapons and physical attacks. With the Colonists having five of these suits, and using highly trained terrorists to pilot them, the Alliance lost many troops and resources while attempting to defend both itself and the Earth."

"One of these Gundams would indeed be useful to defend ourselves against the Goa'uld," Teal'c surmised. "Continue please, Major Carter."

"Teal'c has a point," Hammond agreed. "Even if they were unwilling to share the mobile suit technology, the alloy itself has much potential."

"I think I may have a sample of it, General," Carter said. "I still have to run more tests to be certain but the knives that Colonel O'Neill found on the boys aren't made of any metal known here on Earth, and I suspect it may be Gundanium. They are impervious to any damage I've attempted to inflict on them, and their base compound matches that which is given for the alloy."

"No wonder they weren't very forthcoming with information about their weaponry," Jack muttered. With Daniel's comment about Quatre being from the Colonies, and with what they had learnt, it was beginning to look as though these kids were Colony sympathisers at the very least and might even have knowledge of these Gundams and their pilots. A nasty thought stuck him. "We aren't the only ones going to see the potential in this, General."

"I realise that, Colonel." Hammond glanced around the room. "Under the terms of the agreement we have with the NID, we are obliged to pass on information regarding any new technology. What we've learnt so far regarding the ZERO system and Gundanium certainly falls under that umbrella." He paused. "And if Trowa and Quatre have information they aren't sharing, it stands to reason that the NID will want to ask them a few questions too."

"You can't seriously be suggesting that we hand a couple of kids over to the NID?" Jack protested. There was no way that he was going to let his least favourite, nosy, interfering military types get wind of either this technology or the kids. The NID had done nothing in the past to disprove his theory that it possessed neither morals nor ethics.

"I'm not sure we have a choice, Colonel," Hammond admitted.

"There's always a choice," Daniel said. "And what if the people from the NID discover that the boys have these 'enhancements'? I can just imagine their minds ticking over with ways to exploit it."

"I don't like this any more than you do, Dr. Jackson," Hammond said. "But we need to know exactly what information we are dealing with first." He nodded towards Carter. "Could you tell us more about these Gundams please, Major?"

"Each Gundam is different, and the chosen pilots were sent from the different colonies," she continued. "I'll paraphrase the information given for each Gundam pilot."

"One through five, right," Daniel asked. "Is there a reason why we're getting these details if this took place three years ago?"

"There's a very good reason, Daniel," Carter confirmed. The screen changed to show a boy of about fifteen. He was of slim build with dark hair, and Japanese features, although he could have passed for European at a pinch. "Heero Yuy, although it is suspected that this is his code-name, Pilot 01."

"For crying out loud!" Jack was not impressed. "This kid is the pilot? What the hell is wrong with these people, sending their children to fight their wars for them?" So far, he hadn't seen anything to endear him to these Colonists.

"He may look like a child, O'Neill," Teal'c reminded him, "but that does not mean that he acts as one. He was probably trained from birth for such a task; appearances are often deceiving."

"In this case, very deceiving," Carter confirmed. "According to the information here, Yuy destroyed a shuttle carrying the Alliance pacifist leaders. He is also known for leading strikes against mobile suit warehouses and production facilities, using high-powered explosives. On at least one occasion, the damage spread into a civilian area, killing men, women and children. He seems to have little regard for human life and is considered highly volatile.  The information states that the soldiers are advised to shoot to kill. "

The screen changed again to show another boy; this one had a long braid and was dressed in a priest's garb. "Duo Maxwell, Pilot 02. His Gundam is known as Deathscythe."

"He can't be more than fifteen either," Janet shook her head. "I don't like the conclusions I'm drawing from this, General." Jack didn't blame her; the whole scenario filled him with disgust.

"Duo?" Daniel frowned. "That's Latin for two. And Heero…"

"Dr. Jackson," Hammond warned.

"It's okay," Daniel waved a hand. "I'll wait till Sam's finished. This must be a co-incidence. I can't believe that…" He shook his head. "Keep going; don't mind me."

"Maxwell has also been known to refer to himself as Shinigami, the Japanese god of death. He took out a mobile suit factory in Guam…"

"So the place names and continents /are/ the same as ours." Daniel interrupted again; he ignored the glare that Jack gave him. "I'm working on a theory concerning that, but I'll share later." 

"He took out a mobile suit factory in Guam," Carter repeated, "and later destroyed OZ troops attempting to retrieve important equipment. Considered highly dangerous; approach with extreme caution even if he appears to be unconscious."

"OZ?" Hammond asked.

Carter consulted her notes. "Order of the Zodiac; another military group within the Alliance, General." She glanced around the room before continuing. "02 attacked an Alliance hospital and planted explosives. He showed obvious disregard for the safety of the patients."

"Fun guys," Jack commented.

Another boy's image took the place of Maxwell's. "Chang Wufei, Pilot 05," Sam began. "Gundam Shenlong."

"Excuse me, Carter, but can't you count?" Jack snorted. "The last time I looked three comes after two; it's then followed by four and /then/ five."

"Begging your pardon, Sir," Carter's tone was polite, but it was obvious that she hadn't appreciated the interruption. "I do realise that; the reason for the information being relayed out of order will become clear shortly."

"Right," Jack nodded. "I'll just sit here with bated breath, shall I?"

"Chang," Carter said, indicating the Chinese pilot, "obliterated the OZ training facility at Lake Victoria. He struck before dawn, catching the students unaware and wiping them out before they had a chance to begin active service. After joining a traitorous rebel force within the Alliance, he used his Gundam to help the rebels to destroy even more Alliance troops. Highly skilled in unarmed combat; lack of weaponry does not make him any the less deadly. "

"Honourable sort, isn't he?" Jack commented. These pilots needed lessons on decent human behaviour and a good kick in the ass.

"Pilot 03," Carter continued. "Gundam Heavyarms."

"Pilot's name?" Daniel prompted. "Although I know I'm really not going to like this." He pushed his glasses up his nose, took a swig of cold coffee and frowned.

"Trowa Barton…" The next picture was too damn familiar for comfort. The boy portrayed was definitely younger, but there was no mistaking who he was.

"You're kidding me, right?" Jack was not impressed, although it made one hell of a lot of sense. The weaponry that the kids had carried, Quatre being comfortable with the gun, their reluctance to share information about themselves and, of course, Frasier's report regarding their enhanced physiology.

"No, Sir, I'm not. He's a Gundam pilot." Carter glanced down at her notes. "His real name is unknown; the original Trowa Barton, heir to the Barton Foundation, was murdered and his killer never discovered."

"I wonder why." Jack couldn't believe that he'd allowed himself to be taken for such a ride. These kids were good; he'd give them that.

"Barton, or whatever his name is, attempted to self-destruct his Gundam under the circus big top during a special performance for OZ troops. Fortunately, he failed. 03 also infiltrated OZ ranks, leaked sensitive information to the rebels and worked to undermine OZ and Alliance command within the troops. He is a mercenary who plays both sides. "

Daniel broke the silence. "Let me guess; Quatre is French for four, so it follows that Quatre is pilot 04. All of their names mean numbers, and more specifically the same numbers as both their Gundams and colonies. I wonder if any of them are using their real names, or whether there is some significance to it that I'm missing?"

"The significance you're missing, Daniel, is that these kids are killers who appear to have no regard for life." Despite the tone in his voice, Jack's anger wasn't directed towards Daniel; he was angry at himself.

"Appearances can be deceiving," Daniel argued, "and history has a habit of being written by the victor." He waved towards the screen. "Sam, tell us what Quatre did. I'm sure you're dying to, or otherwise you wouldn't have left him till last."

The room went quiet and Daniel glanced around sheepishly. "I'm sorry, that was out of line. I guess I'm just shocked. I've spent time getting to know these kids, and I can't believe that this can be true." He shook his head. "And is it just me, or is all this information regarding the history of their world, plus their technology being available on one very handy CD just a little too much of a coincidence?"

"I thought that at first too, Daniel," Carter admitted, "but from what I can tell, this CD /does/ appear to be set up to do just that. Propaganda or educational?" She shrugged. "It's difficult to say…"

"It could even be a sales pitch for their new improved ZERO system," Jack threw in his own two cents worth.

"Anything is possible, Sir," Carter agreed. She replaced Trowa's picture with that of the remaining pilot. It wasn't a surprise to see a younger version of Quatre's face staring back at them. "Quatre Raberba Winner, pilot 04. Gundam Sandrock. Quatre Winner disobeyed his father's wishes and chose to pilot a Gundam for a faction of rebels in the Middle East, destroying Alliance equipment and bases. It is presumed that his actions convinced his father to rebel against the ambassadors of OZ by cutting off supplies and putting the residents of L4 at risk. OZ was forced to deal with the threat by employing extreme measures. After losing his Gundam and witnessing the death of his father, 04 built and piloted Wing Zero, using the enhanced ability system code-named ZERO. He proceeded to destroy several colonies and an uncalculated number of military units sent to restrain him. Considered unstable and highly dangerous." 

"He has ties to the Middle East?" Hammond had noticed it too. No wonder Carter had left pilot 04 until last.

Daniel didn't seem surprised. "That explains his knowledge of Arabic," he surmised.

"There's one more thing I haven't mentioned," Carter admitted,  "which corroborates the information on the CD."

"Which is?" Jack kept his tone even; he didn't want to believe what he had just been told, but he couldn't afford not to with the safety of the SGC at stake.

"The knives that I thought might have been made of Gundanium," Carter nodded towards the picture on the screen. "They are engraved with their pilot designations."

****

End of Chapter Four

TBC