Chapter 2
Xander stood across the street (out of phase so no could see him) from one of the largest warehouses in Sunnydale; watching the bustling activity as trucks delivered various lab equipment and supplies he had purchased. It was quite amazing what five synthesized bricks of gold could accomplish. Not only had he gotten the land, the football field long and three storey high warehouse, and all the lab stuff, but he also had a healthy amount left over for investing.
He currently had a copy of himself suitably disguised and signing for all the equipment and directing the workers to place the equipment where he wanted it. It was the weirdest feeling; the copy of himself, wasn't so much a separate entity as it was a part of him, he was getting all the sensory input from it/him as if he was the one standing there talking to the foreman.
Speaking of which…
Xander (also out of phase) stood at the base of a girded ramp that led up directly into the perfectly round maw of an obsidian black metal ring about twenty four feet in diameter. The nine chevrons perfectly equidistant from each other, the four superconductors clamped onto it, providing the massive power that the circular device required.
'So this is the Stargate' he thought. It was an amazing piece of technology; he itched to disassemble the thing and study its inner workings, but he doubted that would draw a favourable reaction from many military personnel in this secret complex. He was in the seventeen extra floors below NORAD in Cheyenne Mountain Complex here in Colorado Springs, which nobody but a select few knew existed, let alone what was done in its bowels.
Interestingly enough, the Stargate was at the bottom of the old ICBM missile testing silo; it was quite fitting in a way; that the device and the institution which he could see transforming and securing the future of humanity in this Galaxy would be located in a place which was technically part of the madness of Mutually Assured Destruction, if a Nuclear War ever took place.
He calmly walked out of the large room, and headed out of the open blast door, up the stairs and into the Control room which looked down upon the Stargate. It was filled with banks of computers mainframes, controls, communications, power governors and the large transparent map of the Galaxy mounted on wheeled stilts. The place was bustling with technicians and various Air Force personnel. He walked over to what he guessed to be the main control computer which interfaced directly with the Stargate, behind which an Air Force Sergeant was sitting, and placed his glowing blue hand on it.
It was amazing how through sheer ingenuity and trial and error they had managed to create a control interface for a device as complex as the Stargate. The library of Gate addresses was also very interesting; there were thousands of them – all worlds with Stargates on them. And all of them were literally just a step away with the Gate.
He finished absorbing the data and walked up the steep spiral staircase that led directly into a large room that had the feel of a Conference or Briefing Room, with a large mahogany table that was surrounded with rather comfortable high backed office chairs…all of which were mostly occupied, by the team known as SG1 – Colonel Jack O'Neill, Daniel Jackson, and the Jaffa, Teal'C. Captain Samantha Carter seemed absent for some reason, and it was her absence that was the discussion of the table. A portly balding Major General Hammond sat at the head of the table, was conducting the briefing, along with a rather attractive woman in white overcoat and an Air force uniform – whose disposition screamed 'Doctor' with the nametag 'Frasier'.
"I didn't know. I wasn't sure until I saw her lose it down there. Cassie was the one who suspected." O'Neill was addressing the General at the moment Xander had walked in.
"Cassandra still has traces of naquadah in her blood. I think there may be some connection - a reaction that made her sense the Goa'uld." Doctor Frasier posited worriedly.
"How in the world did it get into Captain Carter?" General Hammond asked with equal parts consternation and concern. Oh-oh, thought Xander, taking a glance into the timeline and probability lines.
"Sir, I don't know what to say. I examined Captain Carter myself, there were no visible signs of entry. I mean, she had a small abrasion on the back of her throat, but it could have been anything!" Frasier exclaimed in exasperation.
"Are you saying it entered through her mouth?" General Hammond said incredulously.
"The parasite's goal is to attach itself to the brain stem. The soft tissue at the back of the throat is as good a place as any to start."
"Oh, wait a minute, wait a minute. Oh my God, she was giving some guy on that planet mouth to mouth. There was blood but she said the guy just bit his tongue before he died," realized O'Neill, shaking his head in self-recrimination.
"If a Goa'uld can infest a human with no detectable physical signs, then we're gonna have to start giving all personnel who go through the 'gate an ultrasound or an MRI." Frasier sighed shaking her head at all the extra hours that would require of her staff.
"Well for now let's make sure we haven't let any more Goa'ulds through the 'gate this time," General Hammond said firmly.
"What would a Goa'uld be doing in a Nasyian man in the first place? I mean, we certainly didn't notice any of them acting Goa'uld-ish," Jackson frowned looking at the others as if asking them if they had noticed anyone acting possessed by an alien parasite and had failed to mention it.
"Maybe it was a setup, trying to get a spy into one of us," O'Neill shrugged.
"It is possible the Goa'uld within Captain Carter has already placed a device of destruction on this base," rumbled Teal'C stoically. Damn, does this guy keep a lid on his emotions or what, thought Xander in bemusement.
"If there's any tampering here, I want it found. Teal'c, I'd like you to help. You know better than anyone what to look for," General Hammond half requested/ordered of the Jaffa.
"Oh, what are we going to do about Sam?" Jackson asked in concern.
"We're gonna get that damn thing out of her is what we're gonna do!" O'Neill said firmly.
"Well that didn't really work with Kawalsky. And if any of those NID guys like Colonel Maybourne find out about this, then..."
"Well they're not going to! Right, General?" O'Neill looked expectantly at his superior officer.
"Agreed. I'm not giving up on Captain Carter either. But until someone presents me with a viable option, I'm putting you in charge of interrogating the prisoner."
"Due respect Sir, I don't think that thing in her head's going to tell me anything," O'Neill shook his head.
"Colonel, we need to know what that Goa'uld's doing here."
"Yes sir."
The meeting broke up from there and feeling his interest piqued, Xander accompanied O'Neill and Teal'C as they navigated through the labyrinth of rounded concrete corridors with exposed coloured piping and lines marked on the floor to help those with a poor sense of direction (not that there were many of those in the military) to get where they were going. They took an elevator ride up to sublevel nineteen and entered an area even more fortified and sturdy than the rest of the base Xander had seen, the doors marked 'Brig' gave a good clue that this was where Captain Carter was being kept.
After both men signed in to proceed into the area (Xander just walked through the security post), they approached a non-descript door just down the hall.
"This is difficult," Teal'C said suddenly, as both men paused outside the door.
"Yeah. Yeah, it is." O'Neill agreed with a sigh.
"I have accompanied you to give you this advice Colonel O'Neill. Assault the Goa'uld's ego. Make him appear foolish. He may then reveal the things you wish to learn simply to make himself appear more powerful." Teal'C suggested.
"Ah come on Teal'c. They're smarter than that." Jack shook his head.
"I have seen many Goa'uld strategies revealed and certain victories lost because of Goa'uld arrogance. It is the Goa'uld's greatest weakness," explained the former First Prime or General of the Goa'uld Apophis's army. Now there is food for thought, Xander made a mental note of that.
"Yeah," agreed O'Neill, sighing and swiping his card in the reader next to the door.
"Colonel O'Neill. When you speak to her, do not see your friend," Teal'C said strongly.
"How do you do that?" the Colonel asked rhetorically and entered the room, whilst Teal'C left to aid in the sweep of the base. Xander walked in behind O'Neill into a large darkened area, with one half of the room barred off with a thick metal cage. In addition, lasers beamed along each bar – clearly to let them know if the prisoner inside ever touched the bars. Xander suspected it was a design which was catered to someone with the ability to bend those bars – which the Goa'uld clearly had.
In the back of the cell, stood Captain Carter like a solid statue, her arms folded and a hard expression on her face and in her grey-blue eyes that was…odd, and did not feel like it belonged on a woman with such a beautiful face. She wore her regulation BDU trousers, boots and a black shirt, but had been divested of everything else.
"So, you and I have got to have a little talk." O'Neill began with a smug grin. "You really screwed up here you know. I mean, you really blew it."
Captain Carter or the symbiote within simply sneered at the attempt, and replied, "You are weak." Her voice was distorted with a deep tone for some reason – ah, the symbiote presence in the neck pushes on the larynx and voice box, and changes the sounds produced.
"Who's behind bars right now?" O'Neill grinned.
"Your tactics will not work on me." The symbiote replied and Xander had the feeling that she was right…it wouldn't work. He took a glance into the timeline, focusing on specific points in the month ahead until he found a period six months into the future that dealt with this specific problem…ah ha.
"Not buying it, huh?" The Colonel looked rueful.
"You must let me go." The tone was insistent, yet there was also a hint of plea in it.
"Ah, no."
"You really have no idea why this is happening," Carter with a symbiote shook her head.
"And I guess you don't feel like telling me." O'Neill mused to himself.
"Let me go through the Stargate. I will find another host and send your friend back to you."
"You can do that? Leave a host without killing them?"
"Yes. It is possible, but not easy. I could die, but I promise I will try." Hmm, looks like this one is batting true to form, thought Xander. Remarkably selfless, but O'Neill won't or can't see it, as he proved with his reply.
"The Nasyian man died when you left him."
"The Nasyian man died first, that is why I left him. He was beyond my natural abilities to heal," countered the symbiote in Carter.
"What were you doing in him in the first place?" O'Neill probed curiously.
"Carter's mind would be intact. She would return to you as you knew her before," said the symbiote ignoring the Colonel's question, like any captured spy would.
"You know I can't trust you."
"I could have killed you and many others when you stopped me from going through the Stargate." Carter's face was sardonic as she said this.
"You didn't want to die yourself," countered the Colonel.
"It would not have killed me. I am too valuable," disagreed the symbiote.
"Which is exactly why we'll never let you go."
"I have done nothing to harm you. But you would not let me go even if you did believe me." Captain Carter's demeanour suddenly shifted, gone was the hard expression and suddenly her voice returned to a rich normal sound and her face was pleading and desperate, "Oh God, she's telling you the truth! Please, Jack, no Jack, please, don't leave me, please, give me a chance! Don't leave me like this! Please!" But O'Neill was leaving, clearly unable to take what he saw as manipulation of the Goa'uld on his friendship with the Captain. Xander remained behind and watched as Carter's demeanour changed yet again…it was fascinating, he could actually sense the back and forth see-saw of neural control going on with Carter's body. It had actually been the real Captain Carter pleading with O'Neill. "What will it take?" The symbiote angrily said.
"Cooperation and a little trust, at the very least," said Xander, allowing himself to appear only to Captain Carter's senses. "We do after all; have the same enemies and the same goal." Carter rocked back in surprise at his sudden appearance.
"What…who…are you?" Carter stared at his twinkly nude blue form with bafflement and wonder.
"Funny, you're sharing Carter's head, you should know that already," Xander probed deeper with his senses. "Ah, you've been keeping her suppressed somewhat, you're having trouble keeping up with Carter's will. No matter, my name is Alexander. This is my world and I protect it."
"Of what race are you?" the symbiote shook her head.
"Evolution is a concept not unknown to you; I am merely the next stage of Tau'ri. My kind is somewhat earlier than expected through a fluke of events, but I'm here now, and must make do."
"Hok'taur," mused the symbiote in amazement.
"Nothing so limited, but it's the best word in Goa'uld for me, I suppose," shrugged Xander. "So, Jolinar of Malkshur of the Tok'ra, what will it be? You're being hunted and I can sense the hunter…"
"How can you know my name?" gasped Jolinar.
"Does it really matter at this point? Let's chalk it down as just me being a Hok'taur and leave it at that." Xander sighed in frustration. "The hunter has followed you to this planet…as you were hiding among the Nasyian, so was he." Jolinar's eyes widened momentarily at that statement and she looked down in deep thought. "If you continue like this, he will find you and easily corner you here, at which point you will die and the information you have will be lost to the Tok'ra…your statement to O'Neill 'I am too valuable', gave you away."
"If what you say is true, then I must leave immediately," Jolinar said darkly.
"You cannot leave; you can only do so to bring a message of trust and possible alliance back to the Tok'ra from my world. As of this moment, you are under my protection Jolinar of Malkshur." Xander said and disappeared to her senses again.
He watched her as she tried to make sense of the encounter, pondering his words. Meanwhile, Xander busied himself with an in depth probe of the Tok'ra symbiote physiology, by walking into the cell and looking closely at it down to a cellular level – and then even going to the sub-atomic level.
An hour or so later, she seemed to come to a decision and shouted for the guard. She asked to speak to the Jaffa she had seen in Tau'ri clothing. The burly military SF guard merely nodded in comprehension and left. Twenty minutes later, Teal'C entered the room.
"You have requested my presence?" Teal'C's arms were folded formally behind him, yet it was clear he had his 'dealing with the enemy' mask on.
"Jaffa, you must convince the humans to let me go."
"They will not let you go."
"They are impressive. The Tau'ri have become very powerful in the time since the Goa'uld reign here. Certainly the System Lords will not allow this to go unchecked. I can provide the humans with information that can help them defend against attack," Jolinar offered.
"They are more powerful than you know. Already a Goa'uld attack on Earth has been thwarted."
"Indeed," said Jolinar looking thoughtful and stared at the spot where Xander had appeared to her, "but then a more powerful assault is already being planned."
"They are not fools. They believe you are here to plant a seed of that destruction." Teal'C's tone was biting.
"Not all Goa'uld are the same. There are a few that oppose the System Lords and their ways. You must have heard of the Tok'ra."
"Every Goa'uld seeks power for his own reason and would betray his own brother to achieve it," countered Teal'C, beginning to show anger.
"Some seek power for a greater purpose. Not every Goa'uld is an enemy to the people of this planet. The Tok'ra are real, no matter what Apophis has told you."
"I have yet to meet one."
"You have now. I am Jolinar of Malkshur."
Teal'C's eyes grew bigger subtly and he turned to abruptly walk out. "Wait; there is one among you I suspect you know, he believes me." Teal'C paused at the door turning around, waiting. "He is the Hok'taur Alexander." The Jaffa whirled around fully to face Jolinar.
"You are merely using Captain Carter's memories of the Hok'taur Alexander," Teal'C shook his head.
"She's not, Teal'C," Xander said appearing to both their senses, as he stood on the side of the room. "Good to see you again. And good to see you figured it out." Teal'C whirled in surprise at his entrance, settling into an instinctual combat stance before recognizing there was no threat and relaxing, though he was still on guard.
"It was DanielJackson who deduced what you are," Teal'C shook his head, "they are all rather perplexed at your presence."
"I know, I was there, although invisible, when Doctor Jackson found the graphic novel, it took him longer that I expected. I really should have removed the tattoo," Xander chuckled pointing to his forehead with the representation of the Hydrogen atom on it. "But there are factors involved in why I keep it, which are for another time."
"I have read what you are capable of, Alexander," nodded Teal'C getting back to business, and looked at Jolinar. "Does she speak the truth?"
"Yes," Xander said simply.
"I can see no lie either, I will report that you vouched for her as well," Teal'C nodded and walked out.
"What was that about?" Jolinar asked.
"You would know if you allow for a full blending to occur, but since you won't I'll tell you that it doesn't matter to immediate issues."
Sunnydale, California
Xander stood in the middle of his newly acquired warehouse turned lab, surrounded by boxes upon boxes and numerous crates of equipment and machinery. He held out his arms parallel to the ground and abruptly everything rose into the air and began to unpack itself before flying with speed to its assigned place. In a mere two minutes everything was complete, and he began to go to each machine and altered it with a combination of what he had absorbed from the databanks of the Goa'uld Ha'tak, tech from the Watchmen Universe, and a few other fictional Universes that he knew of – control of space and time came in handy sometimes and having a genius atomic physicist in your head helped too. It took most of the day, but it was rewarding for the Doctor Manhattan aspect.
When he was done, he had a lab that would have any scientist or engineer practically salivating if they were to ever enter it.
He grinned in satisfaction…it was time to get to work.
SGC Brig, Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado
Xander was bemused as O'Neill and Teal'C returned to the cell – the Colonel squinted around as if it would somehow help him to see the out of phase Xander. He let himself appear to the senses of the SGC's 2IC and laughed.
"Yikes," jumped the Colonel, wincing as he stared at Xander. "You're never gonna drop the naturist act are ya?"
"It's not an act, Colonel O'Neill," Xander's glowing eyes narrowed at the man. "It's a trapping that is pointless to me, as it serves no practical purpose anymore."
"Yeah, guess so," shrugged O'Neill. "How come we can't see you on the monitors?" He pointed to the cameras in the various corners of the room.
"Because I'm keeping it from seeing me, it's really not that complicated a process."
"Right, okey dokey, so you're saying you trust her?" he pointed to Jolinar.
"She is who she says she is," Xander said. "The Tok'ra are essentially a subset of symbiote species, Colonel. Think of them as the law abiding American citizens in comparison to the Goa'uld's death row inmates in a Federal penitentiary. They take humans who are about to die. Who choose to continue to live and co-exist with the symbiote, both sharing consciousness equally. Now, obviously, circumstances forced Jolinar to take Captain Carter, but as you've heard she's willing to leave."
"Oh," said O'Neill blinking as he tried to comprehend that and stared at Jolinar.
"I have heard of them as well," said Teal'C, "There is an old legend among the Jaffa that speaks of a group of Goa'uld who opposed the ways of the System Lords. This group is called the Tok'ra. This symbiote, Jolinar of Malkshur, claims to be part of that group."
"Are you both sure?" O'Neill asked firmly.
"Unfortunately, we do not carry any identification," Jolinar replied dryly, since no Tok'ra would dare carry any form of token or ID that could perhaps be lost and betray them.
"Okay," O'Neill sighed heavily. "Let's try to build a little trust here, shall we? One of the Nasyians we brought back was very badly burned. But somehow he just got up out of his hospital bed and disappeared. Who is he?"
"It must be the Ashrak," Jolinar replied looking worried.
"It means hunter," replied Teal'C to O'Neill's querying stare.
"A Goa'uld?"
"Yes. An assassin of the highest rank who carries out the orders of the System Lords," explained Jolinar.
"Who's he here to kill?"
"Me," the Tok'ra said simply. O'Neill turned his stare to Xander. "Do you know what this assassin looks like?"
"Yes, but I wish to save the Nasyian who is being possessed by the Ash'rak, and I don't have to tell you how valuable a live Goa'uld is in terms of research; so we will allow him to penetrate this base."
"Wait a sec," frowned O'Neill, "you can remove the Goa'uld, without killing the host?"
"Most certainly, precision remote teleportation," shrugged Xander.
Sunnydale
If anyone was to walk into one of the very large cemeteries the town had, they would spot an odd sight. A petite blonde haired girl who couldn't weight more than a hundred pounds soaking wet, was moving with blurring speeds and fighting against a man easily twice her mass. The man was not a man, however. He had enlarged canines and a distorted face – a vampire. Reason dictated this was hardly a fair contest, but the girl in her mid-teens was easily defeating the guy; blocking his relatively clumsy haymakers, kicks and strikes with ease, and delivering strikes back that sent the vampire reeling.
Your ordinary John or Jane Doe off the street would be alarmed at the sight, not able to comprehend what was going on, but even those who walked in the world of the 'supernatural' and knew all about it would find the sight utterly bizarre; mainly, because of the glowing blue, human shaped being floating a few feet off the ground with his legs crossed and a book hovering open in front of him, watching the battle with idle interest. There were also five more vampires hovering in the air, orbiting the scene at a height of four meters – all struggling and flailing – it looked almost like they were trapped in zero G.
"Look outward Buffy," advised Xander. "Your power comes from all around you. You are merely a conduit for it."
Buffy avoided a roundhouse, got under the vampires' guard and a strike to its midsection sent it practically flying and demolishing several gravestones as it spent its resultant momentum.
"Damn," blinked Buffy in amazement. Ever since she had been called as the Slayer, her strength, speed and reflexes had increased well beyond normal human levels, now with the techniques Xander had been teaching her it felt like she was on whole different level altogether. And what was further astonishing was that they were so simple in retrospect. This was only her third 'lesson' with Xander; she struggled to imagine what she could achieve after a year.
She ruefully remembered her first lesson from Xander. He had been rather abrupt starting them in the first place, approaching Giles and stating that she needed to be 'honed' properly for the future ahead. He had said that the amount of lives that will be lost because of events that wouldn't have happened if she had been 'properly trained' in not only her Slayer gifts, but also in martial arts and tactics was 'unacceptable'. Sure Giles found that a bit insulting at first, but quickly began to see Xander's point when he proceeded to give a demonstration. A spar between Xander and herself; in which he said that he would only use a 'vampire' level of strength and the various martial arts Dr Osterman knew from the Watchmen Universe – since all of the Watchmen had been prolific martial artists.
Her defeat that followed had been an eye-opener. After all, what was to stop Spike from turning a human martial artist and sending it to attack?
"Excellent," Xander nodded with a grin. "You seem to have gotten the hang of it, and we only needed to go through three vampires." He pointed a finger at the insensate vampire struggling to get up from the wreckage of a tombstone; a beam of white light lanced forward and hit the vampire…instantly causing it break down into ashes. He raised his palm to the orbiting vamps and a wide burst of white solar radiation shot upward and caused a brief rain of ashes and dust.
Buffy brushed the ashes off her and stared at Xander as he floated to the ground to stand on his own feet – she still found the nudity distracting, but was slowly becoming used to it. "I would be careful of Billy Fordham, Buffy," he said suddenly with a distracted air, staring to the east with a grin on his face.
"What? Why?" she blinked. The reappearance of her old crush from Hemery Primary School in LA had been a welcome distraction from the troubling thoughts of Angel possibly cheating on her with that woman she had seen the other day during a patrol.
"I sense that he feels only desperation when he is in your presence," explained Xander turning to face her. "And it's not the 'I wanna do the mattress mumbo with ya' type."
"Xander!" Buffy complained at his crassness, slapping his shoulder and feeling a pleasant electric tingling from the contact. Despite this, she was glad of the comment, it proved that the Xander she knew was still there.
"Take it seriously Buffy," Xander said, suddenly speaking with his what she termed 'Doctor Osterman' voice. "Do not ignore anything that looks odd, or sets your instincts off, nothing is coincidence…everything's connected."
"Okay," she nodded taking the instruction to heart, as they headed out of the cemetery.
SGC Brig, Cheyenne Mountain
The Ash'rak regarded the weapon he had taken off the human standing guard outside the holding area where they had kept his target. Its construction was intricate, but was still based off ballistics; most Goa'uld would sneer at it and dismiss it as primitive, and beneath them. The Ash'rak knew better, his skill as an assassin was beyond using ranged weapons, but he knew their advantages. No staff weapon could fire with lethality at the ranges this weapon did.
He strode into the darkened room beyond and dropped the ballistic weapon; he had what he needed to do his job already. He could sense the traitor Tok'ra within the woman waiting behind the cell doors.
"Interesting weapons these humans use," he said mostly to himself. He walked over to the door in the crude bar cage and with a pull of his enhanced strength it opened seemingly effortlessly, snapping the lock in the process. He observed his target with confusion as he readied the small ring-like Hara-kesh weapon on his hand. She was not grave or cowering, but giving him a satisfied smirk. "Kree shak, Jolinar. By decree of the Goa'uld System Lords you will die with dishonour by the power of the Hara'kash." He raised the weapon, its triangular emitters powering up with a form of radiation that was kept highly secret, because it was deadly to any symbiote directly exposed to it.
"Hear this. The days of the Goa'uld System Lords are numbered," Jolinar said with narrowed eyes.
The next thing the Ash'rak knew was that he was flying through the air with great speed and slammed against the hard concrete walls; and then he tumbled forward, suddenly in apparent zero gravity and flailed in mid-air to no effect at all. His only weapon also decided to zoom off his fingers and disappear into the darkness of the room. The smug expression of the Tok'ra standing looking up at him was the last thing he saw as the darkness of unconsciousness claimed him.
8888888
Xander brought the Ash'rak to rest on the floor, before giving a flick of his fingers. A ten litre tank of hydrodynamic nutrient fluid mounted on a wheeled trolley appeared next to him. Next he focused all his concentration on cataloguing every molecule of the Goa'uld within the Nasyian man dressed in Air Force BDUs. After fifteen seconds he again gave another snap of his fingers and abruptly a large Goa'uld parasite materialized in the tank; its tiny crystalline eyes flashing suddenly and its long snake like body quivering in fear as it realized that it was suddenly out of its host.
He looked around and saw that Jolinar was smirking at the sight of the fearful Goa'uld squirming in its tank.
"It's not so nice when you are the one in the stasis tank, is it?" spat Jolinar with contempt at the Ash'rak, even though it couldn't possibly understand her at the moment.
O'Neill and Teal'C arrived with those coiling s-shaped Zat'nika'tel weapons in hand and lowered them when they saw the unconscious Nasyian and the disembodied Goa'uld.
"Nice," grinned O'Neill, and briefly talked into a hand radio, summoning a medical team. When the Nasyian was put on a gurney and wheeled off, he stalked up to the tank, tapping on it, causing the Goa'uld within to startle. "Not so all powerful now, are ya?" he grinned.
Xander gave a gesture as he teleported the tank to his lab in Sunnydale, where another copy of him would start research on the Goa'uld physiology.
"Aaaahh," moaned O'Neill.
"The SGC is getting a good deal in return Colonel, don't complain," Xander said with a grin.
"Speaking of which, when is it gonna happen?" O'Neill grinned rubbing his hands together.
"When I leave this room."
888888888
Xander stood for the first time openly in the SGC's main briefing room, looking over the Stargate. It was probably the only place that had a good 'view' in the entire base. The only person with him in the room was General Hammond, looking anxious and concerned. The former was mostly because of not knowing what Xander had done to his base, and the latter was due to Captain Carter's welfare. Xander thought that Hammond was an excellent flag officer in the overall scheme of things; he had sat in on a number of the man's briefings and could instantly tell that he hadn't left his common sense and humanity behind when putting on his General's uniform. Looking into the timeline only reaffirmed that fact.
"I don't much like your idea, Alexander," the General said finally.
"It's an excellent solution to Captain Carter's and by extension, Jolinar's problem."
"I doubt there's anybody with clearance willing to host an alien symbiote – even if they are suffering from a terminal illness that can be cured by the Tok'ra," Hammond shook his head. "They will still paint the Tok'ra with the same brush as they do the Goa'uld."
"Then look for someone in the military without clearance, who can go into the situation with fresh eyes. The fact of the matter is, General, that while I can even the playing field between you and the Goa'uld, and defend Earth if it should come down to a conventional attack from space, in terms of off-world intel, you are relatively blind to the Galaxy. That is where the Tok'ra can help us and themselves with an alliance. Their biggest problem is finding hosts without Goa'uld interference, and how many people suffering from terminal illness on the planet are there?"
General Hammond nodded at Xander's point, and looked at his watch in irritation. "They're ten minutes late."
"Give them a break, General, they're just trying to tear themselves away from exploring the improvements I made, they should be arriving in fifty seconds."
And exactly fifty seconds later, Colonel O'Neill, Teal'C, Daniel Jackson, Janet Frasier and in lieu of Captain Carter's dilemma, Dr Lee, the short and wild haired co-chief of R&D at the SGC arrived; all seemed to have come down with slight case of shock – even Teal'C. Dr's Frasier and Lee's eyes fixed on Xander's glowing, perfect nude physique and their mouths gaped open stupidly.
Xander winced at the deluge of thoughts suddenly in the room. Not so much their volume but at their content. Both Lee and Frasier had an obvious scientific interest in wanting to study him.
"Have a seat people!" barked Hammond, his command voice broke through the fog and everyone sat down. "Now, I want a report of what Alexander has done to 'aid' us. Colonel, since you seem like have lost the ability to sit still, we will start with you."
O'Neill winced and stilled his excitement. "Uh, Sir, it seems that the entire SGC armoury has been converted into something straight out of Star Wars. Our standard stuff is still there but there are also racks of what is called…" he stared at notepad briefly in his hand. "MGRG Mark 1. MR1 for short. Essentially Sir, it's an assault rifle sized rail gun."
"Rail gun?" Hammond looked startled. "The smallest one I've ever seen was mounted on a battleship. And we were looking at it as an offensive weapon for the Starship program…"
"It uses highly powerful electromagnetism and an inertial field to accelerate a 5mm projectile to speeds in excess of Mach 10 and can carry two hundred rounds in a single magazine. Smart targeting also allows for shots at ranges only seen on a sniper rifle." Xander grinned at the stunned looks in the room.
O'Neill nodded. "What he said…" pointing at Xander. "Though why couldn't we have gotten ray guns?"
"Energy weaponry, while advanced and useful on ship-to-ship scale, is more disadvantageous in a man portable weapon."
O'Neill sighed in regret and turned back to Hammond. "Sir, we also found odd armour that looks like Imperial Storm Trooper gear, but has a different shape, the helmets look different, and they also have an internal HUD that links up with the MR1 and give you a whole whack of readings like life signs, sensors, and night vision. There are also these flexible undersuits for the amour that we think is air tight, I bet we could even fight in hard vacuum with this stuff on."
"It is the armour that was used in the Clone Wars by the Galactic Republic, General Hammond," Teal'C said stoically, though his eyes twinkled. Mostly everyone in the room knew of the Jaffa's fondness for the Star Wars universe.
"Hey, I'm a fan," Xander chuckled, as everyone looked pointedly at him for an explanation.
"Could we maintain the weapons and the armour?" General Hammond looked to Dr Lee.
"Yes," nodded the scientist. "It will take a bit of doing to get production of spare parts going but since Alexander also gave us the technical manual and blueprints I foresee no problem. Reloading the weapons in theory shouldn't be a problem either, since it's merely a question of recharging the power cells of the weapon and creating proper sized projectiles." Dr Lee pushed up his large glasses and continued. "As for the armour, it's a smart composite ceramic that we should be able to duplicate with no problems either, it's rather ingenious."
"Good, Dr Frasier?" Hammond turned to the SGC Chief of Medicine.
"Well, Sir, all of my standard equipment is still there, but one my empty wards have been completely converted. It's filled with over twenty vertical tubes that seem to contain a fluid that I'm still running tests on, but it's the same thing we saw Luke Skywalker recover in when he was suffering from frostbite on Hoth."
"Bacta tanks," supplied Teal'C.
"Not Bacta precisely," Xander shook his head. "Bacta has raw ingredients that don't exist in this Universe – so there's no hope to maintain them. Instead they are filled with a fluid that excites natural healing by a factor of a thousand percent. You will find the biochemistry information related to it in your computer, Dr Frasier."
Frasier boggled at that for a moment before clearing her throat and continuing, "General there are also other equipment that I have yet to catalogue, but at a glance we have medical scanners that make MRIs look crude, facilities for near perfect artificial limb creation and lots more. I'd go so far as to say that we have the most advanced medical facility on the planet if not most of the Galaxy now."
"Doctor Jackson?"
"My office hasn't changed much, but what I did get is quite significant. There are four or five types of scanners interfaced with my computer that I'm gonna have the science department look at, but I can probably do artefact dating and general analysis in seconds now, instead of waiting days for carbon dating results and other traditional lab tests. The artefact storage room also has similar scanners installed as well, but on a larger scale."
"Dr Lee, what do you have to report?"
"Umm, well, General," Dr Lee looked nervously at Xander, to which he only grinned knowingly in reply. "I don't want to alarm anyone but currently the base is running completely on its own internal power supply and we're cut off from the Colorado grid."
General Hammond looked in askance to the Doctor then at the overhead lights. "How can that be, Doctor, the lights are at full luminescence?"
"General, the base's nuclear reactor and the power vault has been replaced completely by…" Dr Lee gulped and stared at Xander again. "The main engine room of the USS Defiant, Sir."
"What?!" barked Hammond incredulously.
"Sir, it's a Matter/Anti-Matter Reactor assembly and control systems from the USS Defiant, to be specific the Deep Space Nine version of the ship. It's currently producing enough energy to power the entire North American continent easily."
"How the heck are we gonna maintain something that advanced?!" O'Neill said in astonishment. "Are there dilithium crystals inside the thing?"
"No, that's what's amazing," said Dr Lee, turning to Xander.
"Again, dilithium in the manner it's seen and used in Star Trek is completely fictional," Xander said. "Instead of that, I merely used a specialized form of graviton emitter that keeps the antimatter channelled and isolated. The reaction chamber is in pure vacuum."
"What about generating Anti-matter itself? There's currently only enough anti-deuterium for three months," Dr Lee queried.
"That I will do myself," Xander said and turned to face the group. "Consider it my insurance that will keep your superiors honest and fair, I realize that you are all quality folks, but I can't say the same for those NID assholes. In fact, I think the planet would be far better off without them. I can see them causing numerous blunders in the future, the least of which is allowing the Goa'uld to infiltrate their ranks." He suddenly snapped his fingers.
"What did you just do?" General Hammond sat back with a sudden weary sigh and shook his head.
"Let's just say that every single digital cent of government money allocated to NID operations in past year and coming year has found itself going instead to various charities around the world."
"You just bankrupted the NID?!" O'Neill looked astonished and like Christmas had come early.
"Indeed, it's after all just ones and zeros stored on computers," shrugged Xander staring off vaguely into the distance. "And if they should cry foul and get more money, well, they'll find it mysteriously reallocated again into yet other charities. Personally, I hope they complain a lot, those landmine victims in Mozambique could do with new artificial limbs, especially the children."
Everyone stared at each all wondering the same thing.
"Oh relax," Xander grouched shaking his head. "Even I am but a puppet, the only difference is that I can see the strings, no more able to affect my final destiny than any of you. God, the Creator, Allah, Buddah, the Divine…she could squish me like a fly."
"Okay," Dr Lee cleared his throat to break the silence that followed of that surprisingly pious statement. "Uh, General, I also have to elaborate on some of the systems that popped up in the science department and Captain Carter's lab. Molecular imagers being the most prominent, also what I think is a device which can do actual nano-assembly…the possibilities for that alone are endless."
"Put it in your report detailing your new capabilities in layspeak, Dr Lee," General Hammond ordered. "What about the Control Room? I noticed a few differences there that I saw Sergeants Siler and Walter squealing in delight over."
"Oh yeah, well, there's a completed subspace communication system that we've been in the experimental stages of at Area 51," explained Dr Lee with excitement. "We can talk to anyone with a compatible system across half the Galaxy now; through a Stargate that's extended to the entire Galaxy and it can communicate securely with the systems in the Stormtrooper armour with none of the normal interference you encounter using standard RF."
"The Gate's Dialling Computer has been augmented with biometric security as well, that scans the DNA of the person sitting at the controls and will shut itself down if someone unauthorized tries to use it." Dr Lee drank some water and continued. "Also the Stargate itself has been reinforced with emitters for a graviton shield that is one micron closer to the event horizon than the Iris."
"It's a Regenerative Shield that adapts to any weapon that's fired on it," Xander said suddenly grinning and laughing at something.
"All right," General Hammond said raising his hands to halt things. "I have a lot to take in; I'll take a tour of my 'new' base myself. Alexander, will you stick around?"
"I'll be here, though you may not see me," grinned Xander. "Jolinar needs a new host and I'll need to help facilitate it when the time comes. I'm sure the Colonel would like his team's resident scientist back."
Xander smirked knowingly at the Colonel.
Surely he couldn't know…
Sunnydale
Buffy walked into the Sunset Club, feeling a grim coldness in her. If Xander's warning hadn't been enough, Angel echoed it not a day later, then Willow finally turned up the fact that her old friend Billy Fordham wasn't even registered in school. Then there was the vampire that she had thought Ford had killed, but clearly hadn't, as the same vamp had stolen a book from Giles' office that very night. And the kick in the pants was the fact that Ford was part of some society that revered vampires.
The place was essentially one big basement, essentially decorated to be a dedication to vamps in popular culture; Dracula, Anna Rice, and the like; bat shaped lights, TVs blaring vampire movies, disco mirror balls, and a cliché eerie music was constantly being played over the large speakers. The people inside were all dressed in similarly cliché vamp costumes – all of them deluded into thinking that vamps give a shit if you revered or loved them.
She spotted Ford arguing with a girl seemingly in her late teens dressed in a cowled cape with fake fangs and another guy dressed in a totally over top Count Dracula outfit.
"It's gonna be fine!" Ford insisted, running a hand through his short dark hair.
"No." Buffy said loudly enough to be heard over the din, attracting everyone's attention. "It's really not."
"It's kinda drafty in here," Ford muttered pointedly to the cliché vamp guy.
"I'm sorry, Ford. I just couldn't wait till tonight! I'm rash and impulsive. It's a flaw." Buffy said pointedly, coming down the stairs onto the main floor of the club.
"We all have flaws." Ford pointed out, a cool demeanour now settling on him.
"I'm still a little fuzzy on exactly what yours is. I think it has to do with being a lying scumbag." Buffy stopped within arm reach of him.
"Everybody lies."
"What do you want, Ford? What's this all about?" Buffy growled, getting down to the point.
"I really don't think you'd understand."
"I don't need to understand. I just need to know," she countered frostily.
"I'm gonna be one of them." Ford said simply.
"You wanna be a vampire?" Buffy was incredulous.
"I'm going to."
"You know, vampires are a little picky about who they change ov..." Buffy trailed off as a realization dawned on her. "You were gonna offer them a trade!"
"I don't think I wanna talk anymore."
Buffy covered the distance between them in a flash, grabbed him by the throat and slammed him against the nearby pillar, holding him easily two feet off the ground.
"Yeah, well, I still feel awfully chatty! You were gonna give them me! Tonight!"
"Yes," gasped Ford.
"You had to know I'd figure it out." She eased up on her grip to allow him to speak.
"Actually, I was counting on it."
"What's supposed to happen tonight?"
A loud clang resounded through the Club and Buffy spared a brief glance at the source of the sound. The inner door of the place had been closed by the cliché vamp guy, and it looked like pretty thick solid steel.
"Rigged up special. Once it's closed, it can only be opened from the outside. As soon as the sun sets, they'll be comin'." Ford smirked and Buffy threw him in disgust, he skidded a few feet along the floor painfully and got up, still smirking.
"If these people are still around when they get here..." Buffy looked at the people in the packed Sunset Club.
"We'll be changed. All of us," grinned the cliché vamp guy.
"We're going to ascend to a new level of consciousness! Become like them. Like the Lonely Ones," crowed the cape girl in glee.
"This is the end, Buffy. No one gets outta here alive." Ford shook his head.
"There's gotta be another way out of here," muttered Buffy, scanning the place desperately, deluded or not, these were still people she had a duty to save.
"This is a bomb shelter, Buffy. I knew I wasn't gonna be able to overpower you. But this is three feet of solid concrete. Trust me when I say we're in for the long haul."
"At least let the other people go," reasoned Buffy desperately.
"Why are you fighting this? It's what we want!" the cape girl said in confusion.
"It's our chance for immortality," cliché guy added his ten cents.
"This is a beautiful day. Can't you see that?"
"What I see is that, right after the sun goes down, Spike and all of his friends are going to be pigging out at the all-you-can-eat moron bar," Buffy said unpleasantly.
"Okay, that's it. I think we should gag her," the cliché guy said to Ford.
"I think you should try," Buffy growled threateningly.
"She's an unbeliever. She taints us."
"I am trying to save you! You are playing in some serious traffic here! Do you understand that? You're going to die! And the only hope you have of surviving this is to get out of this pit right now, and, my God, could you have a dorkier outfit?" Buffy exclaimed finally, unable to further resist pointing out the guy's sins against fashion and good taste.
The guy looked offended but the cape girl just laughed.
"I gotta back her up, Diego. You look like a big ninny," Ford admitted ruefully. The watch on his wrist beeped. "6:27. Sunset."
Downing Street, London, England
It was dark in the official residence of the United Kingdom's Prime Minister. Xander strode idly through the well appointed house that housed the 'First family' of Britain. It had a surprisingly homely feel that the White House had lacked. With the latter he had felt like he was walking in a museum, rather than a functional house. This was not the case here. Xander phased himself through the door to the master bedroom and through the darkness stared at the sleeping recumbent forms of Tony Blair and his wife.
He hated intruding like this but he had no other choice. He'd be damned if he made the same mistake as the Doc did in the Watchmen Universe. This world could not afford a Big Brother USA, not with the enemies the human race had. He walked towards the sleeping PM and placed a finger on the man's forehead. To an outside observer barely five seconds passed before Xander nodded with a grin and let go, he materialized a portable hard drive on the bed stand with a neat letter taped to it. It wouldn't do to have the man think it had only been a dream after all and the hard drive would keep the balance of power roughly even.
Xander turned and walked out of the room…two down, one hundred and eighty eight to go.
Sunset Club, Sunnydale
Buffy ran up the stairs towards the solid steel door and tried with all her strength to pull it open, but whoever had done this had done a good job. There was no way she could find enough purchase to exert all of her power. Kicking the door outwards would eventually cause the thick rebar steel to bend, but there was clearly not enough time to do that, and doing so would leave her spent and easy fodder if Spike was on the way.
Ford watched her initial struggle with amusement as he came up the stairs.
"Hey, you never give up, do you?"
"No, I don't." She said coldly in reply.
"That's a good quality in a person. Too many people, they just lay back and take it, but us..."
"Us? We have something in common now?" Buffy turned to face him, her face showing contempt.
"More than you think." Ford said assuredly.
"Yeah, well, let me explain something to you. You're what we call the bad guy." Buffy said in a tone as if she was addressing a five year old.
"I guess I am!" Ford chuckled.
"These people aren't gonna get changed, are they? The rest of them, they're just fodder." She looked down at the excited crowd in the Club feeling a grim cold settle on her heart.
"Technically, yes. But I'm in. I will become immortal," Ford grinned at her.
"Well, I've got a news flash for you, braintrust: that's not how it works. You die, and a demon sets up shop in your old house, and it walks, and it talks, and it remembers your life, but it's not you." Buffy explained condescendingly.
"It's better than nothing," Ford asserted.
"And your life is nothing?" Buffy asked in confusion, Ford only snickered at seeing it and it sent her ire rocketing. "Ford, these people don't deserve to die!"
"Well, neither do I! But apparently no one took that into consideration, 'cause I'm still dying." Buffy's eyes widened as the implication set in. "I look good, don't I? Well, let me tell you something, I've got maybe six months left, and by then what they bury won't even look like me. It'll be bald and shrivelled and it'll smell bad. No, I'm not going out that way." Buffy didn't want him to see any hints of pity on her face and turned away. "I'm sorry, Summers. Did I screw up your righteous anger riff? Does the nest of tumours liquefying my brain kinda spoil the fun?"
"I'm sorry. I had no idea. But what you're doing is still very wrong." Buffy looked at him again.
"Okay, well, you try vomiting for twenty-four hours straight because the pain in your head is so intense, and then we'll discuss the concept of right and wrong." Ford pointed contemptuously downward. "These people are sheep. They wanna be vampires 'cause they're lonely, miserable or bored. I don't have a choice."
"You have a choice. You don't have a good choice, but you have a choice! You're opting for mass murder here, and nothing you say is gonna make that okay!" Buffy shook her head angrily.
"You think I need to justify myself to you?" sneered Ford.
"I think this is all part of your little fantasy drama! Isn't this exactly how you imagined it? You tell me how you've suffered and I feel sorry for you. Well, I do feel sorry for you, and if those vampires come in here and start feeding, I'll kill you myself!"
"You know what, Summers? I really did miss you," Ford said musingly.
Buffy found she had run out of logical arguments, and then they heard a car outside skid to a stop. She felt her spidey sense give a major blip…the vampires were here.
"Ford, help me stop this." Pleading was all that was left, Ford only continued to stare in silence. "Please." Silence. "Screw it." Buffy threw a flat handed strike directly into Ford that sent him flying off the balcony and crashing into the crowd, which partially cushioned him but he still fell into unconsciousness.
"People, listen to me! This is not the mothership, people! This is ugly death come to play! Ford sold you out! He's the only one getting turned!" Buffy rushed down the stairs again, trying to find a defensible position as the crowd tried to comprehend that, but time had run out. The inner door burst open to reveal the bleached haired Spike with his vampire girlfriend Drusilla and a murder of vampire minions behind them.
"Take them all," snarled Spike with his vampiric face exposed, "save the Slayer for me."
The vampires exploded into motion and jumped from the upper balcony down into the midst of crowd and promptly began grabbing people to feed. Spike took the time to walk leisurely down the stairs, looking smugly at Buffy as she offhandedly dusted a nearby vampire with her stake, which was about to start feeding on the cape girl.
"Let's dance, Sla…" before Spike could even finish the comment he met a double handed strike to the solar plexus from Buffy that sent him crashing against the concrete wall, breaking chunks out of it with the force of the impact. She made a running jump from the sofa for the key to stopping this massacre and grabbed onto the upper railing, vaulted it, and promptly wrapped the surprised and weakened Drusilla into a choke hold with a stake poised right over her heart.
"Spike!"
The vampire in question was still wobbly on his feet but had recovered enough of his wits to see the clear threat.
"STOP!"
The vampires hastened to obey, letting go, several people slumped to the floor from the blood loss, but for most the feeding had stopped in time to let them keep their hold on consciousness.
"Good idea. Now you let everyone out, or your girlfriend fits in an ashtray," Buffy threatened with relish.
"Spike?" Drusilla was clearly frightened.
"It's gonna be alright, baby. Let them go!" ordered Spike with pure command of being the oldest vamp in the room behind him. The vampires reluctantly obeyed again and everyone, now thoroughly and properly educated in the true nature of vampires fled up the stairs, those unconscious were picked up by others and dragged along.
Once everyone was out, only the vampires on the lower level, Spike on the stairs, Drusilla and Buffy were left…in addition to a still unconscious Ford – seems no one felt like rescuing the one who had betrayed them.
"My, my, my, well done Buffy," Xander suddenly appeared standing next to her.
"Thanks," she nodded, tightening her grip on Drusilla.
"What in the blazes?!" exclaimed Spike staring at Xander with fear. "How are you still…that blue bloke…?"
"My twinkly kitten is beyond my sight, he's not there but is, and he does not let me see him…." Drusilla said as she stared with appreciative yet still absent mad eyes at Xander.
Xander ignored the ramblings of the Seeress vampire, narrowed his glowing blue eyes at Spike and gestured with two fingers for the vamp to come closer. The bleached Billy Idol look-a-like vampire found himself hovering in the air and moving slowly to the same level as the balcony. "Good doggy," mocked Xander and pointed his palm towards the lower level and a directed wide beam blast of solar radiation that dusted every single vampire on the lower level. He gave a snap of his fingers and the astonished vampire couple vanished only to reappear on the lower level amidst the dust of their former minions.
Xander guided Buffy towards the inner door and shut it behind them, sealing Spike and Drusilla in the Sunset Club with Ford.
They emerged into the alley outside the Club to see the former vampire worshipping people helping each other out and tending to their wounds and helping those in a more critical condition towards cars and on their way to hospital.
Angel and Willow waded their way through the crowd over to Xander and Buffy.
"You guys are just in time," commented Buffy wryly.
"Are there vampires?" Willow asked cautiously.
"Yeah, was, Xander blasted all the minions with sunlight, Spike and Drusilla are still alive, but contained. They'll get out eventually, though."
"I wish you just would…" Angel turned to Xander, leaving the sentence unfinished.
"Believe it or not, both have a part to play in the future ahead, they are necessary," Xander said earnestly.
"For good or evil?" Buffy asked pointedly.
"Ying Yang, guys, Yang Ying, adios," Xander nodded at them and vanished with a flash of light.
"We should probably go too," Buffy advised. "We can come back when the gruesome twosome are gone."
"Come back for what?" Willow asked in confusion.
"For the body." Buffy stared at the sealed entrance of the Club, pondering Xander's comment…how could vampires as evil as Spike and Drusilla ever amount to anything 'good'?
Sunnydale High School, a place of learning that probably didn't so much as register a blip on the minds of most Californians as a place to want to study at, was winding down to the end of another day filled with the usual antics and hijinks of students in their late teens. Jenny Calendar, resident Computer Teacher, Technopagan, and the relatively newest member of the group affectionately known as the Scoobies – who like their cartoon counterparts – fought the vampires and evils of the Hellmouth - was picking up the programming books from her last class of the day.
Her mind dwelled on her last date with Rupert Giles; Watcher, mentor and trainer of Buffy Summers. It was not exactly a conventional choice going to monster trucks but it had had its moments. There just wasn't much to do together around the Sunnydale area except for the traditional dinner date. She sighed and combed her neck length tresses of dark brown hair absently with her fingers as she balanced the pile of books on her hip.
Honestly, sometimes she couldn't fathom what attracted her to Rupert. His sometimes bumbling manner that most definitely hid depths that he kept well out of plain sight…or was it the sense she had that he was a man you could count on…that he treated her like a true lady…or was it just as simple that she was a sucker for Brits.
She walked forward not really looking where she was going and was promptly startled when her vision was obscured by a blue haze and an electric tingling prickled all over her body. She squeaked in fright, dropping her books with a crash and stumbled forward…thankfully the blue haze vanished and her sight returned… the tingling went away.
She turned around and gasped.
"Really, Miss Calendar, you should pay attention to your surroundings more, this is the hellmouth after all…be thankful I can make myself insubstantial," Xander turned around to face her with a big dopey grin on his face.
"Yes, uh hu," she cleared her throat uncomfortably and started to pick up the dropped books, more to hide her blushing face…it wasn't only the accident causing the blush though. She had only met Xander once since his transformation, and it had been something Giles had discussed often on their date – especially the science behind it and the training Xander was giving Buffy in how to harness her 'energy' properly. She was therefore not used to at all to staring at such a perfect exemplar of a male physique.
Before she could even begin to pick up a book though, they seemingly got a mind of their own, and flew through the air to settle in a perfect pile on her desk.
"Thanks," she said, pushing her hair behind her ear nervously and walking to her desk.
"What you fear most will happen."
It felt as if an icy hand gripped her heart and squeezed slightly. She stopped, putting her hand on a nearby desk to support herself, and didn't turn around lest her startled face betray her. What am I thinking? He has a non-linear perception of time…why do I try? He knows already. Yet why do I not come clean?...Rupert. She feared his reaction when he would learn of her heritage.
She took a deep breath, composed herself and turned around. Xander was simply staring at her with a fathomless look in his glowing eyes. "Or should I say what your clan fears most, will happen."
"Angel?" she asked with dread.
Xander's face became pleased and he nodded. "I've not looked into the specifics of the probability line yet, or what causes it, but Angel will turn on us before the year is out."
"Then I have some explaining to do."
"Indeed, Jana."
SGC – Briefing Room
Jack O'Neill sat in his customary seat at the table and grumbled to himself in irritation, he and the rest of the SG teams one through twelve had barely had five hours of training today with the MR1s and trooper armour before the call from Hammond had come, summoning him, Teal'C and Daniel for an emergency briefing.
They were all still clad in the armour, minus the helmets of course. Jack was a great fan of the design; instead of the dinky white colour of the original stormtroopers that would make them stand out like a sore thumb in any natural or urban environment; the armour was painted in a perfect rippling green pattern that broke up their forms. On the shoulder sections were the traditional 'A' point of origin for Earth and chevron 1 symbols denoting SG1.
The rail rifles on the other hand; it was just pure vanilla firing those babies. Especially the built in grenade launcher that had a targeting computer that calculated the perfect angle for you to shoot, so that the grenade would land on precisely the spot you wanted to; like for instance, right behind a bit of cover that an entrenched enemy was using. It was also nice not to have to worry about ammo so much any more. With full gear a soldier could now carry one thousand rounds with him for the rail rifle, instead of just two hundred.
Hammond emerged from his adjoining office with distinctly harried look. "Sorry to interrupt your training, SG1, but there has been a rather distinct set of developments which will alter the way we do business here in the SGC."
"What sort of developments, Sir?" Jack frowned in worry.
"It seems that our resident superhuman has thrown us a curveball," Hammond laughed with a shake of his head. "I just got off the phone with the President, who's seemingly had his own phone glued to his head for the past two days. He's been fielding conference calls with practically every foreign head of state on the whole damn planet."
One didn't have to be a genius to connect the dots. "Oh no, tell me Alexander didn't do what I think he did?" Jack asked wearily.
"If you mean, did I disclose the Stargate program to them, then yes, I did." Alexander appeared again, out of nowhere at the other end of the table.
"Why on earth did you do that? Do you know what kind of wrangle that is gonna cause?" Jack exclaimed incredulously and angrily.
"Easy Colonel, he knew," Hammond gestured for his subordinate to back down. "Alexander…if you would explain it to us."
"Put it this way," the superhuman explained. "Despite the technological leg up I gave you there is one thing that will always be against us. Numbers. General Hammond, have you looked at any intel gained from Klorel's mothership yet?"
"Yes," nodded Hammond and sighed explosively, rubbing his hand over his bald head. "When we started this program I said we were in over our heads…but I never realized the full extent of that statement until I read that preliminary report."
"How many Goa'uld Ha'tak class motherships are there in the Galaxy?" Alexander asked mildly.
"Those that Apophis knows about at least…just over a thousand odd…"
"One thousand three hundred and twenty four, to be exact." Alexander said casually.
"Holy crap!" Jack felt an unbearable weight settle on his shoulders at the thought. There were barely fifty two trained Air Force special operators in the SGC, and that was it, holding the line against that many bad guys…it was seemingly impossible! He gave a glance at Daniel to see him look like someone had swung a bat in his face. Teal'C was obviously less shaken by the news, as he knew of the strength of Apophis' fleet and some of the other System Lords, but even he was aghast at the total number.
"So you see, there is no possible way you could defeat them in a straight fight, we can be thankful that they are a Feudal empire. And spend the majority of their time fighting amongst themselves for territory and resources – rather than worrying about a 'backwater' planet like us. Therefore, the only solution is to increase the numbers on your side significantly. What I've done is a first step in that direction."
"What have you done, exactly?"
"I briefed every single Head of State with any sort of standing army on the entire situation, gave them a virtual tour of the SGC, opened their eyes with some probable futures, and pointed out some hard truths. I made them realize that we either unite, or we let ourselves be enslaved and die. What use are our petty squabbles over who has what on this planet, when there's an entire Galaxy full of parasitical aliens that could glass the planet with an all out attack."
"And the result?" winced Jack, knowing the shit that politicians could pull out of their asses and mouths.
"Well, the SGC keeps its day job and location, so you can relax Colonel," Alexander grinned at them in amusement. "Each country who played ball with me received numerous tech schematics and the capability to replicate that technology…keeping the balance of power on the planet level. Also, General Hammond will find his worries over the operating budget a thing of the past – each country part of this new alliance has to make a financial contribution to it. And more importantly, they have to contribute twelve special operators for ground ops and a team of their best engineers and scientists to begin work at Area 51. Countries with navies must also send twenty four officers and crew who will eventually man the starships that you are in the planning stages of."
"How many countries are we talking about?" Daniel asked looking amazed now.
"One hundred and eighty one is the exact number I believe. Meaning the SGC will have access to over two thousand men and women for operations against the Goa'uld in the near future."
"Cool," mumbled Jack absently. Two thousand was better than fifty, but it was still not enough and Earth would need time to start to build up its own space fleet…would they have that time? But wait a sec…"Umm, I might be wrong but aren't we getting ahead of ourselves here, wont we need naquadah and lots of it to build these spaceships…"
Alexander just grinned and looked significantly at Hammond. The General frowned for a moment before apparently realizing what the superhuman was implying. "Well, it seems that this is a good a time as any; a few days ago a patrol in the restricted zone of Area 51 stumbled upon a protrusion of dark rock about fifteen feet high that was not on any of their maps, they took samples and take one guess what the scientists found it was…"
"Naquadah?!" Daniel said incredulously.
"Exactly," nodded Hammond. "A preliminary survey and scan was done, it's the tip of a huge network of naquadah veins that have seemingly sprung up from nowhere."
"Basic matter synthesis from one type to another," Alexander grinned. "Okay, getting back to the SGC, it's name will stay the same, immediate decisions that need to be bumped up to higher authority will still go to the President. But long term ones will fall to a Council of Nations that is being hammered out by the various Heads of State. The current working name they have for the new body is the Union of Earth."
"Wow, that sounds actually as if it will work…hopefully it won't turn into the dog and pony of the UN," Daniel said with raised eyebrows, looking impressed.
"It won't," Alexander said with intent. "And there will none of that power of veto bullshit either; each country will have an equal voice."
High Jupiter Orbit, Sol System
If anyone from Earth could have been there, they would've seen a strange sight indeed. Something was moving amongst the many moons of the Gas Giant. It vaguely resembled a spiked sphere in shape, though was seemingly made of numerous interlocking pieces that orbited around a transparent chamber…most people would be reminded of the inner workings of a clock. Xander sat in Indian fashion inside the chamber and gazed with wonder at the celestial beauty dancing around him.
He allowed himself an hour of exploration, zipping about the moons and giving himself a close up of Jupiter's great storm. It could swallow numerous volumes of Earth, so giant was it. Doing this was the greatest remedy for the risk of developing a big head – it was so easy when walking on Earth to begin to view his fellows as people beneath his notice. Doc Manhattan had fallen into that trap, and the result had nearly been nuclear holocaust. There was also the fact that in this Universe there was the Goa'uld to deal with, not to mention numerous other foes even greater. The Doc's Universe had aliens as well, but none had developed any form of practical FTL tech and had never interacted or grew greater to the level of being interstellar powers.
Then there was the other possibility…companionship. Xander knew the Doc had not found anyone he could be absolutely sure was worthy of the gift he could give and would not abuse it, but this was not the case here in this Universe. He could already see three potential candidates just amongst his circle of friends – whether they would accept it was another question.
"Enough putting it off, Xander," he mumbled to himself. His clockship zipped within a blink of an eye to a low orbit above the gas giant and with his mind he reached into the vast ball of gas, pulling the necessary amount of matter out of it.
He continued pulling until about twenty five cubic kilometres of space was filled with the mixed gasses that Jupiter was made up of. Steeling himself he snapped his fingers and suddenly it was all converted to pure energy, the image of what he wanted firmly fixed in his mind, he quickly gave another flick of his fingers before the energy overwhelmed him.
There was a large flash of light and then from out of seemingly nowhere, the mushroom shaped space station known as Earth Spacedock from Star Trek appeared, significantly scaled up to be over twelve kilometres in height and six in diameter. He had moulded the hull out of an alloy of titanium, trinium and naquadah, but at the moment, that was all this giant space station was… an empty hull. Now began the harder more arduous task of making the thing habitable, not to mention capable of defending itself.
Ah, what fun.
