Authors Notes: Thanks to all the reviewers. You're keeping me going on this story, so far. Another short chapter. Some things are starting to move along nicely. I really need a bit of time to sit down and hammer out a big chapter and get to where I'm going to. I can see multiple endings with this story, and I can also see this story expanding into one which is 200,000 words or so. I don't think I'll do that, but I might tie it into a series of BtVS stories which are already that length (I've mentioned it before), or not.

Anyway, happy reading, and leave plenty of reviews

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Chapter 5

Stargate Command

Cameron Mitchell took immediate stock of the man who walked into the briefing room, obviously in charge. There were two others with him, a young woman and another man, significantly younger, but Mitchell wasn't interested in them. He was interested in their leader. The man who had been dispatched by the President to brief General Landry, SG1 and the Nox on a situation which no one at the SGC had the clearance to know about. Already Cameron could tell that the man had been hardened through battle, and had already seen enough to last a lifetime. He carried himself well, and exuded an air of confidence which only came with the knowledge that he was about to unleash a hornets nest within the SGC.

"General Landry," the man asked while looking at the General.

"Yes," Cameron saw Landry reply.

"Colonel Riley Finn of O-Ops," the man replied. He introduced his friends as well, before Landry introduced him to SG1 and the three Nox who were also attending the meeting. "I'm here regarding your attempts to find information regarding Wolfram and Hart, as well as a request from the President to brief you regarding the situation that our organisation deals with," Colonel Finn stated.

"I'm sure we'll be very interested to hear what you have to say Colonel Finn," Landry said. "If you will proceed?"

"I am aware that the Nox here have briefed you about some aspects of what i'm about to say, but without knowing what's been said, I believe I'll just start from the beginning," Finn commented. Cameron saw that he received a couple of nods from the Nox. "Our organisation was formed as an offshoot of the failed Initiative project to protect the civilian population from hostile sub-terrestrials, or HSTs for short. HSTs are commonly vampires, werewolves, and various hostile demons, but we've encountered some 'other' things during our missions," Colonel Finn said while sharing a glance with his team mates. "Yes, before you say anything, there are really such things as vampires and werewolves, and demons too. Unlike common legends, vampires are not allergic to garlic. A wooden stake, beheading, burning or sunlight are the only ways to kill a vampire. They are the most populous demon variety on earth, and have increased senses, speed, dexterity and strength than normal humans," Finn said. "Our operation used to seek out these creatures, determine if they were hostile, and exterminate them," Finn explained. Cameron saw him pause, obviously letting all in the room absorb the information. "Additionally, our role was to seek down leads on possible apocalypses. We would try to prevent them if necessary, or advise the big guns if we couldn't handle it ourselves. Many higher level demons on earth want to open a portal to a dimension infested with demons, letting them through. Doing this would certainly cause an apocalypse on Earth, as we know it. The world would be overrun with demons and other creatures which would be too powerful for us to control," Finn stated.

"Like Illyria?" Cameron asked, hoping to put Finn on the spot. He could tell that there was a lot that Finn wasn't telling them, and this was confirmed when one of Finn's team mates winced in their seat at that name.

"From what we know of Illyria, she's a complicated issue," Finn replied. Cameron saw him look around the room before continuing, probably to see if anyone was interested in what he was about to say. Cameron for one, was very interested. Whenever something was 'complicated', it meant it was interesting. "A group that we knew of, who we had on good authority were on our side, were offered jobs at the Los Angeles Wolfram and Hart branch, and they took them and ran the place for a year," Finn stated. "Wolfram and Hart, although a law company on the front, is one of the most malevolent organisations in this dimension," Finn stated.

"As well as in many others," Lya of the Nox expanded. Cameron saw Finn nod to this, before continuing.

"They are involved many of the averted apocalypses, as well as funding and organising hundreds of HSTs, and our people took over their Los Angeles office. Initially, we thought that they'd do good with the place, but from what we could tell of their actions, they were supporting Wolfram and Hart," Finn said. "We were wrong. They were working to take down Wolfram and Hart from the inside the entire time. Unfortunately, during their operation, one of their team members, Winifred Burkle, was exposed to Illyria's sarcophagus, and was killed in Illyria's resurrection as she overtook Ms. Burkle's body," Finn stated. "Our friends then managed to sway Illyria over to their side, and took out the Los Angeles Offices of Wolfram and Hart, as well as the Circle of the Black Thorn, one of the most influential groups in the occult world, working for Wolfram and Hart. Illyria was the only survivor of Wolfram and Hart's retribution," Finn explained.

Cameron sat there, and listened as Finn explained the rest of the situation. The Nox asked about the Slayer, and why there were so many of them now, and Finn and his team explained a number of circumstances which led to there being many Slayers now. What was interesting to notice though, was when Finn explained that the organisation which helped the Slayer, the Watching Council or something like that, was gathering resources and personnel so that they could start to make an offensive against Wolfram and Hart, across multiple dimensions. Finn then had to reassure Carter that magic was real, and existed, and offered to show her a demonstration at a later time when they brought one of their witches in. Throughout the entire speech, he described tactics and various weapons and facilities which could be very beneficial to the SGC. He was interrupted as Walter came into the room.

"General. There's a woman named Rosenberg upstairs with another man, demanding to speak to whoever is in charge," Walter said.

Ionian Nebula – Goa'uld Cargo Ship - Hyperspace

No matter what Illyria found here at the Ionian Nebula, she would just examine it / them and then proceed on to Kobol. Since discovering the Asgard vessel probing the mystical barrier surrounding hundreds of light years of space, in which Kobol was central, finding out what happened to her brethren was of the upmost importance. She could not have the Asgard call on the Nox and Ascended to stop her; she would not win. It was the first time since her reincarnation into the human shell that Illyria felt, not afraid, but cautious, of her continuing existence. She was therefore forced to go back to Kobol and investigate the mysterious presence which she had sensed on the opposite side of the planet than the Stargate. It may be something which could lead to her resurrection into her former self; or at least allow her to modify her shell so it could handle a significantly higher proportion of her power than the current one.

Emerging from Hyperspace, Illyria reached out with her senses, and detected groupings of organic life not too far away. She made a short hyperspace jump to their location, and immediately cloaked the cargo ship after emerging from hyperspace. She saw in front of her a variety of ships, many of them looking worn and depreciated. They were warring with other ships, which the sensors on the cargo ship could discern were part biological in nature. Illyria watched the conflict, realising that the defending ships were likely a refugee fleet, while the other ones were their oppressors. Illyria watched the conflict for a few moments, discerning that there was no technology which was a threat to her. She had just turned the cargo ship away from the skirmish, on a course for Kobol, and was going to enter hyperspace when explosions of magical energy assaulted her senses from the battle behind her. She turned the ship to see the defending fleet leaving in flashes of white light, letting off huge bursts of energy which rippled the space and dark energy around them. It was faster than light technology which The Old Ones had developed for their armies millennia ago, which Illyria had a hand in developing herself. Even the Ancients and Asgard wanted to reverse engineer the technology, but the Old Ones ensured that it never happened. Illyria could tell that it had been heavily modified, how or the effects of which, she could not tell, but the basis of the technology belonged to her race. The only way to trace the FTL jumps was to sense where the disturbance of dark matter and magical energy occurred when exiting the jump. Illyria knew that the jump that the ships took would not be far. Illyria's estimates of the humans level of technology inferred that the Nebula may interfere with their sensors, thus limiting the distance of their jump. Illyria could not rely on this fact however, as she would have never expected them to have the Old Ones' FTL technology. Reaching out with her senses, Illyria only had to wait a few moments before she detected a similar magical disturbance nearby, approximately seven light years away. She now had a choice; proceed onto Kobol, or to travel to the location of the human fleet and investigate the source of their jump drive, hoping that the humans were descendants of the humans which Illyria's brethren had taken to Kobol a millennia ago.

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Authors Notes: Can you tell that I like to leave things open a bit? Next couple of chapters, things will start moving as well. Also, there'll be some added emphasis on the Illyria sections (as this was designed as primarily an Illyria fanfiction). Like what you read? Leave a review! It will be much appreciated.