Part I
December 25, AC196The sky was black, and filled with stars. Normally, it would have been a beautiful view, but right now, two people didn't really have the need to pay attention to the stars – one moment off-guard could mean the difference between victory and defeat.
"So, what's this button for?" a very young Wu Fei, the pilot currently piloting Altron Gundam, asked.
A bald, tall man, commonly known as Master O, looked at his very young apprentice. "That is something you will have to figure out on your own. Use it when you really feel you need to. Or when there is no other way out."
Although young Wu Fei did not know what Master O was talking about, he knew it meant that he was given a great responsibility – of something that could alter both the past and the present.
"I don't approve of Relena Peacecraft. It's wrong to think you can achieve peace by just throwing away the weapons and locking up the soldiers," Wu Fei nearly yelled.
"Is that why we should allow Mariemeia to be a dictator?" Heero countered, blocking Wu Fei's attack.
"It will be something for the soldiers to go by and…"
"That may be fine for now, but she's only repeating history," Heero replied, "The sad and miserable history of war! If we don't stop it now, they'll need soldiers like us again! The tragedy called history will just be repeated. Wu Fei, tell me. How many more people do we have to kill?"
Heero's tirade was followed by a short silence. Flashes of memories shot through his mind. The girl. The dog. The city. The fire. And it was all his fault. "How many more times do I have to kill that girl and her puppy? Zero never gave me an answer…Tell me, Wu Fei!"
The pilot in question didn't know how to react as he saw his – former – fellow Gundam pilot falling down towards the surface of the water. Without thinking twice, he pushed the button, the button. For over a year, he hadn't touched it. Somehow, it never felt like the right moment to activate it. But now, it did.
Heero braced himself for the impact with the water – three, two, one…
But instead of crashing into the deep, blue ocean, he saw a bright white flash, and immediately realized that this was not a good sign. Instead of water all around him, he saw – stars, many stars, and Earth from a great distance. Yes – he remembered – hours before, he'd been here. It was the rendezvous point with Wing Zero. Quatre had sent his shuttle here, because Heero had insisted that he'd receive it somewhere other than the remaining three Gundam pilots. Mainly because he still had some unfinished business with Wu Fei, in which he didn't want to involve the others, but also because he didn't want Trowa, Duo, nor Quatre to catch the glimpse of relieve on his face as soon as he re-entered Zero's cockpit. It had been really hard for him, to let Zero go. Of course, he wanted to contribute to world peace by sending his Gundam towards the sun, but nonetheless, Wing Zero had been the only consistent thing in his life the past few months.
And now this. Although Heero wasn't easily caught off-guard, he certainly never expected something like this to ever happen to him. What was it that happened anyway? He supposed that he was somehow instantly transported from Earth to outer space. He had no idea if technology like that existed already, and if yes – was it in the hands of Dekim Barton? That would certainly explain why Wu Fei had such a thing in his possession. But then again, why did Wu Fei use it?
However, Heero pushed the many questions aside, as he remembered Earth's current situation, and imagined that it would probably be best if he reached Earth as soon as possible. Or so he thought.
Present Day
Jack was not pleased. Oh, Jack was not pleased at all. Not only was it five in the morning, but somehow, General Hammond had found the most unpleasant way to interrupt his annual fishing trip. The Colonel hoped that whatever Hammond had to say, would be very important, otherwise… well, he had yet to figure out that part – but it wouldn't be pleasant.
"So, campers, what's the matter?" he said, as soon as he entered the briefing room. Apparently, General Hammond had called all members of SG-1 back to base – Teal'c, who had been visiting Chulak; Daniel, who had been helping some other archeologist in Seatlle with some weird texts; and Sam… although she never had left the base in the first place.
"Well, Colonel – I suggest you take a seat. What I'm about to say is of great importance… and I'm afraid it's not very good news."
"That's new…" Jack muttered, but decided to keep quiet as the General shot him a quick glance.
"Just a few hours ago, the Tok'ra contacted us – saying that one of their operatives undercover in Apophis' fleet, discovered that they are preparing a direct assault on Earth."
"Not again," Jack moaned, "I really hate that guy."
"But what about the Protected Planets Treaty?" Daniel asked, "I thought we'd set up an agreement with the Asguard and the System Lords that our planet would be safe, as long as we didn't… interfere with Goa'uld-business at a… large scale, or something like that anyway."
"That's what we thought, too, Doctor Jackson," Hammond replied, "But apparently, Apophis has chosen to deny that. The Tok'ra think, that by defeating us, Apophis will achieve a greater status among the System Lords…"
"General Hammond, when are we to expect Apophis' fleet?"
"We don't know, Teal'c," the bald man from Texas replied, "It could be weeks, days, hours – hell, even minutes. You all know as well as I do that Apophis can be most unpredictable."
"So, what do you want us to do?" Jack asked, suddenly wishing this was all a really bad nightmare, and he would wake up soon in his cabin at the lake.
"We'll come to that later on, Colonel. Unfortunately, Apophis' assault wasn't the only thing I wanted to discuss with you."
"Even worse news?" Sam asked hesitantly.
"We're not sure," Hammond replied, "All we know, is that Deep Space Radar Telemetry…"
"The real ones?"
"Yes, Colonel, the real ones, discovered something unusual. With their Hubble Telescope."
"Their Hubble Telescope?" Sam exclaimed, "Why the Hubble? If it was something… extra-terrestrial, surely our scanners would've picked up something?"
"Hold on, Major, I haven't told you everything yet. After we received their message, we instantly scanned the coordinates they gave us."
"And?"
"Nothing. If we were to rely on the scanners, we'd probably never detected it in the first place. However, the picture Deep Space Radar Telemetry gave us, confirms that there is something."
"But they can't be sure?" Sam asked incredulously, "Why can't they be sure? Either it's alien or not."
"Oh, it's definitely alien, Major Carter. But then again, it's also not."
"Oh, General…" Jack sighed, "Can't you just stop being so secretive and just tell us alright what it is that Deep Space Radar Telemetry saw?"
"Why don't you take a look at it yourselves," Hammond said, handing out four photographs.
"What's this supposed to be?" Jack asked, twice turning the photo hundred-eighty degrees, "It looks like…"
"A bird. Or an angel."
"Aw, come on, Sam!" Colonel O'Neill exclaimed, "You say that's a living… thing?"
"Well, I can't be sure, but I doubt it's technology. If yes, then whatever created the thing, is way smarter than we are, if no… I'm not sure about that."
"Say, Teal'c," Jack suddenly asked, "Ever saw one of these… things?"
"I have not, O'Neill," the ever stoic Jaffa responded, "In fact, I have never encountered anything that even resembled this… thing."
"Guys," Daniel interjected, "I think we should stop calling it 'thing'. For all we know, it could be a living creature or something the like. Why don't we give it a name?"
"What, like Fifi or something?" Jack retorted, "It's not a dog!"
"I concur," General Hammond stated, "Doctor Jackson, what name did you have in mind?"
"Well, I didn't have one in mind yet, so I'm open for suggestions."
"How about 'Millennium Falcon'?"
"Jack!"
"What? I think it fits the thing just fine!"
"Alright, but let's drop the 'Millennium'. You're not Han Solo."
"Colonel, Doctor Jackson," Hammond tried to calm the two men down, "I'm fine with the 'Falcon'. Anyone objects? No? Alright then, Falcon it is. Meanwhile, we've still got a situation on our hands, people. Teal'c, Colonel O'Neill – I want you two to lead the necessary preparations that have to be made in order to defense ourselves from Apophis. Doctor Jackson, Major Carter – you two will be given the task to find out whether or not the Falcon is a threat to Earth. If yes, you'll have to come up with something we can defend ourselves from it, if no, you can join Teal'c and Colonel O'Neill. Any questions?"
"No, sir."
"Alright then, dismissed."
As soon as Heero was in scanning range – no, even before he was in scanning range, Zero's pilot knew something was wrong. Something was terribly wrong. Here was Earth, right before his very eyes, yet there were no colonies to be seen. Not a single one.
What the hell happened…?