Dreams and Ideas

by Shadow Master

These are a collection of fanfic crossover ideas that my admittingly warped imagination has come up with. For the most part this is to satisfy the plot bunnies but if you see a drabbleshortetc that you think deserves to be made into a full fanfic let me k

23. Legends Remade and Reborn

"Legends Remade and Reborn" by Shadow Master aka Ryley Breen

email: ryley[underscorebreen[athotmail[dotcom

Disclaimer: The various characters, locations and plots are not owned by me but rather their creators as well as associated companies. I am making no profit off of them whatsoever. I am writing this for my own personal enjoyment as well as the enjoyment of anyone who decides to read it. Therefore keep your lawyers on their leashes because any sort of lawsuit at the moment would be a waste of time since anything you gain would be ridiculously less than what your lawyers would charge you for their services.

Note: This has been a drabble/short idea of mine for some time. It all came about when I wondered what would it be like to have four or five of the best gun wielding soldier type characters on the same team. Then it evolved to include a certain amoral Colonel who might be looking for a leg up and would be open to the idea of a certain chaos mage. Finally it landed where it is now. I know that there will be certain missed facts or lacking info since I only have movie info for some of them with the rest being from so please keep that in mind when the urge to flame me gets difficult to handle.

Now on with the show….

Legends Remade and Reborn

A Top Secret Prison Complex for 'Unique' Criminals, Alaska

Four Months After 'A New Man'

Thank you, Jack! Thank you very much! Colonel Maybourne thought with a barely contained flame of fury as he looked at his schedule for the day as the new C.O of the 'Purgatory Max' prison facility.

It had only been a month since his off world R&D facility was shut down, its personnel captured and all the technology acquired returned to its original owners. Needless to say his superiors in the N.I.D were less than happy about that and probably would have court marshaled him and imprisoned him if he hadn't thought on his feet and placed most of the blame for the fiasco on the heads of others. The surveillance team that he'd had watching O'Neill to confirm his 'dissatisfaction' with the progress that the SGC had been making acquiring off world defense technology and the personnel at the off world base took the majority of it. It was his claim that he had only acted based on the information they provided him with and, as such, it was their fault that the project had been exposed. Fortunately for him they had accepted that and withdrew the charges that would have ended up putting him in prison for the rest of his life or on death row. Unfortunately, it had resulted in him getting transferred to what was most definitely one of the most unpopular postings possible. He was now the man in charge of the Purgatory Max prison facility, where the military and U.S government kept its 'special' prisoners. That, of course, meant all of them possessed knowledge or abilities that had been deemed a threat to the country. That meant anything from rogue scientific experiments like the 'Hyde' Project to some of the more troublesome ones, like magic users.

While it had been a bit of a shock when he'd learned that the supernatural, arcane and demonic were real, he'd taken it all in stride. Some of the prisoners were warlocks, witches and wizards who, for one reason or another, had been imprisoned here until it was determined that the 'sentence' had been fulfilled. Personally, he figured that at least a third of them were just here until they decided to give his bosses whatever it was the top brass wanted. After all, enough of them weren't human enough to be covered by the bill of rights or any rights legislation he was aware of. Not that that would have prevent his superiors from holding someone they wanted to keep a firm grip on, but it meant less paperwork juggling for them if there was an actual valid reason for holding the being.

All in all, Purgatory Max held about two hundred and thirty inmates at any one time, with prisoners coming and going once every week or so. He had arrived yesterday and now it was expected as part of his job to visit every division, sector and department both for introductions and also to get up to date on everything. While he had reviewed the files he'd been sent a week ago, they were just the monthly reviews and that meant he had at least three weeks of data to catch up on. Looking at his schedule, he saw that he had a meeting with the commander of the prison guards first and then he was due over in the 'Coven' wing, as most people called it, to review the current occupants. It was in that wing that the human magic users and a few of the more manageable demonic magic users were imprisoned until the people in charge decided what to do with them. While the higher ups were wary of magic, they could not refute the possibilities it offered and what could potentially be gained by using it. They knew, just as he did, that Wolfram and Hart used it regularly to get their clients acquitted of everything from a speeding ticket to mass murders so brutal it even turned his stomach. While it had been put up for discussion, it had been decided in the end that they would avoid making any deals or signing any contracts with that law firm on the grounds that there might be fine print even they couldn't see on something they signed. Instead, it was decided that they'd develop their own little branch of magic users and people with paranormal abilities since they'd be the ones in control. At the moment, though, they were still looking for leverage and bribery material that would gain them acceptable control over the more promising inmates.

Getting out of his seat, he decided it was better just to get the whole thing over with rather than drag things out any longer. It took ten minutes to reach the office of Special Agent Maury Dammers and when he saw the man, he knew he'd have to put in a recommendation for the guy to undergo psych evaluation sooner rather than later. As he recalled when he read the man's profile, he was the younger brother of a Special Agent Milton Dammers, who had been assigned to infiltrate cults and supernatural communities. Needless to say everyone who met the elder Dammers immediately pegged him as being 'odd', with the occasional addition of 'a few cans short of a six pack'. From what he could see of Maury, he was well on his way to becoming like that as well and he had to be certain that he'd know when it was time to call the men in white coats. After the meeting, he then went to the Coven wing to take a look at things and see if any of the inmates were willing to agree to the terms of their release or needed to be placed under heavier restrictions.

An hour later, he had just about finished his perusal of the wing, after making several recommendations that inmate F. Krueger received an increased dosage of hypnocil in order to ensure the man's connection to the dream world be blocked.

Heaven help us all if he hooks up with them again! Harry thought as he recalled what the file said about Krueger's exploits.

The next inmate though was one that had only been there for four months but was considered just as dangerous as Krueger in that he was quite resourceful. There had been no less than five attempts by the man to escape since arriving, resulting in everything going to the cell being thoroughly examined and compared to ingredients in certain spell books. It wasn't perfect, since they didn't have an experienced magic user on hand who understood the books well enough to catch everything, but it seemed to be sufficient for the time being. The man had been captured and imprisoned after an incident in Sunnydale by members of a black project called 'The Initiative' that was tasked with researching demons while looking for possible military applications. From what he'd heard through the intelligence grapevine, though, the project had blown up in the overseeing committee's faces when their prized project went rogue and almost pulled of a coup d'etat two months ago. Virtually all of the project's research personnel were dead and at least a third of the military people assigned there were no longer capable of participating in field ops anymore. However, even with the group that caught him being gone, the initial charges against Rayne and the other charges that were added later once agents backtracked the man's movements stuck. At the moment, the top brass were considering using him only for what contacts the man might have in the occult community and perhaps as a distraction supplier. He had been given the deal two months ago but, thus far, had refused to do anything unless he was granted a complete presidential pardon and allowed to leave the country unmolested. Naturally the higher ups were refusing to accept those demands and had decided to let the man cool his heels for a few months in this prison in the hopes it would make him more reasonable.

Time to see if two months in this freezer box of a prison has changed the man's mind. Harry thought as he turned the corner and looked at the unbreakable transparent cage Rayne had been put into. The design made it a little better than most prison cells the public was aware of but at the same time it was five times more secure since various escape artists had tried to break out of it with over eighty percent of them failing. Considering the fact that these people were the cream of the crop in their field, it was a safe bet that no one outside of the field would be able to do better than they did in escaping. From the looks of things, Mr. Rayne was content to just sit back and wait but it was anyone's guess what he was waiting for. It took only a few steps of his for the man to notice that there was someone coming down towards his cell and, when their eyes met, Rayne put a smile on that instantly told the new C.O of the prison not to trust the man.

"You must be the new commander of the base. Ethan Rayne, at your service!" Rayne said with a mocking salute from his place on the bed.

He knew I was coming. I'll have to remember to impress upon Dammers to make sure his men know to follow the 'do not speak around the prisoners' rule. He thought with slight annoyance that an inmate knew even a little bit of what went on outside his cell.

"My name is Colonel Maybourne, Mr. Rayne, and you're right about me being the new commander of the base. I was making the rounds to all the various departments and decided to stop by to see if you've reconsidered your position on the N.I.D's offer." He said, putting from friendliness into his voice but keeping it mostly professional.

"Ah yes! The old 'work for us, make things for us, but never think about leaving us' deal your predecessor put on the table two months after I arrived in this charming facility," Ethan said with contempt for the deal that he'd been offered. "No doubt their lack of response to my counter offer was meant to make me remember who held the keys to my cell in the hopes that I'd agree to their terms. Really! Over a hundred years of experience and the military still resorts to such blunt methods!"

"Well, you know the old saying, 'if it works, why change it?'" Harry said, rattling off the phrase without actually believing a word of it.

"Well I'm afraid that if you want anything out of me, you and your superiors will have think outside the box. While I don't mind working for others on occasion, I am a man who values his freedom." Ethan said as he made a show of only having passing interest in the conversation.

A second later, though, a thought seemed to strike Rayne because a smug smile blossomed on the man's face from ear to ear.

"Perhaps, though, I am making a deal with the wrong people. Maybe I should be trying to make a deal with the person with the keys to my cell rather than the people who give him his orders." Ethan Rayne said, sounding more and more sure of himself with every word. "After all, you must have done something rather damaging to get this assignment. Perhaps you'd like a chance to get in good with your bosses again."

"What makes you think I didn't request this assignment?" He asked, keeping his poker face in place while inside he was scrambling to figure out how Rayne was hitting the mark so often.

"Oh please! No sane military man would request to be assigned to a madhouse like this!" Ethan replied with some venom at the idea that such a transparent façade would fool him, "This is where they send soldiers to either waste away and die or suffer for some grievous mistake they made! I imagine you made quite a mistake indeed since the last commander of this facility was a rank below you."

The conversation was starting to deeply bother him, not only because of how often Rayne was guessing correctly about the circumstances of his reassignment to Purgatory Max but also on the correct method for escaping. Intellectually it would be smarter to try and cut a deal with the prison staff rather than the people giving orders to the staff hundreds of miles away. After all, even if they had planted a spy in the complex to keep an eye on things, by the time that word got out that the C.O had let a prisoner loose, it'd already be too late to do anything about it. Still, he wasn't about to just walk up to the door and let Rayne out.

Not without hearing what the man had to offer first.

It wasn't that he was a traitor to his country or his people, but rather that he agreed with the chaos mage that Purgatory max was where the brass sent the expendables. He knew that it was only a matter of time before they either decided to make his reassignment permanent or arranged an 'accident' for him. The idea that there might be some way to regain his former standing with the higher ups at the N.I.D was appealing, if only because he had no wish for his final days to be made up of running this hellhole.

"Let's assume for the moment that I am interested. What could you possibly offer that would be enough to get me out of this place and back into the good graces of my superiors?" Harry asked, trying to sound as hypothetical and non-committal as possible.

"What all militaries want: the ultimate soldier. One who is not only perfect physically but also has a mind that finds ways to make the impossible possible." Rayne replied like a man giving a presentation before a board of directors with the utmost confidence of getting a promotion out of it, "Did they tell you about a little bit of fun I had two years or so ago in Sunnydale?"

"Yes. You cast a spell that caused people to gain the memories, abilities and personality of whoever or whatever they were dressed up as to the point that they really believed they were who they were dressed up as." He replied recalling the details of that little escapade but not particularly impressed, "However that was all just fake. According to the information in the file, the spell is reliant on the bust of Janus remaining intact and is flawed in that the hosts will only accept the 'reality' that they know. Not exactly something that could be used effectively."

"What if I told you that the spell I cast that night was incomplete, that if I had had one final item I could have made most of the changes permanent, and that that was the only reason those changed returned to normal after the bust was broken?" Rayne asked, looking more smug than ever, "The spell was originally created by Janus worshippers in order to cause as much chaos for their Lord as possible by introducing as many foreign and dangerous elements into the world as possible. Naturally, those that desire order were quick to obliterate the Janus worshippers as quickly as possible and, within two and a half centuries, believed they had succeeded. However a handful of the more cowardly worshippers forsook their loyalty to Janus in favor of being allowed to live."

"One of them, though, didn't throw away all of his books and artifacts, but rather hid them away so that one day the Children of Janus could rise again. I happened to locate this cache of goods about a year before I went to Sunnydale to cast the Janus spell you know about. In fact, it was the finding of this cache and the locating of an old friend of mine that prompted me to cast the spell in the first place," Rayne said as he continued to explain the truth behind the event in question. "However one crucial ingredient required for the spell was beyond my reach as it was in the possession of one of the most wealthy men in all the world. The fool! He thinks of it as nothing more than a pretty bauble and has it sitting on display in his mansion. He has no idea of its true power."

"If you didn't have the final ingredient, then why did the spell work at all?" Harry asked, showing a bit more interest in what was being said.

"I used a substitute for the final ingredient. Generally it is not recommended for a person to use substitute ingredients for a spell of this magnitude, since the side-effects can be most unpleasant for all concerned," Ethan replied, lying back onto his bed with his eyes looking up at the ceiling. "Fortunately, Janus was not offended at the substitution and lent his power to the spell. However, if you were to acquire this final component for me as well as everything else required by the spell, I could have your super soldier ready to go inside of a week."

"An interesting offer but most fictional characters that might fit the bill are either mentally deranged or too 'honorable' to perform most of the tasks my superiors would require them to do," Harry said, pointing out a flaw in the plan to see if Rayne really did have all the bases covered.

"True, but if you got a few young 'volunteers', people whose minds were still flexible enough to groom them into what you wanted them to be, then they should be easy enough to control or manipulate," Ethan said, dismissing the flaw as a minor one. "After all, as I said, it will only be the memories, skills and perhaps some personality traits that will remain once the spell is lifted. Normally the spell would not be lifted and the hosts would forever remain under the thumb of the fictional entity in the driver's seat. However, with a little tweaking of the spell, I can make it so that all that would remain would be the knowledge, skills and personality traces of the costume. If you put the right spin on the situation with your volunteers, then they would follow orders willingly and by the time they figured out the truth, they will have strayed too far from the straight and narrow to go back."

"An intriguing idea, but I'm not sure if I'm willing to risk my life on some half baked plan of yours to produce the perfect super soldier," he said, wanting to see if there was anything else Rayne could offer before he agreed to the deal.

"Then what if you could be the point man ushering in a level of technology far beyond anything currently available whether it be on the public, private or black market? For, you see, you, just like everyone else who hasn't seen the spell in its entirety, do not know just how thorough the changes are with the fully cast spell," Rayne said without any anxiety or loss of confidence. "Are you familiar with the concept of alternate realities, Colonel Maybourne? Other Earths where things are similar in some ways but drastically different in others?"

"I'm familiar with the concept," he replied, recalling a few files where SG1 got involved with alternate realities.

"Well that, my good friend, is where the unique abilities, technologies and memories come from. They are not artificial in the least." Rayne stated like he was delivering the world's greatest punchline, "The truth of the matter is that when the spell is cast, Janus delves into the many alternate realities that exist out there and, for lack of a better word, scans subjects who best match the persons or things the costumes worn represent. In other words, if someone went dressed as Mr. Spock from Star Trek, Janus would seek out the best match based on the version of uniform worn and the wearers own desires. Once found, the spell would literally begin to rearrange the host's body and mind in the blink of an eye to match what was scanned. Do you see what I'm saying?"

"You mean?!" He asked with surprise as his quick mind easily followed the train of logic that Rayne had laid out.

"Yes, my good man! Should you agree to this idea, you could literally have a working version of devices and beings that, up until now, have only existed in fiction." Rayne said with his smile getting even wider if that was at all possible, "Think about it. You want cybernetic limbs that work better than the clunky models of today? This spell can get you a limb that looks and moves identical to flesh and blood ones. You want a new untraceable communications device? Why, just dress one of the hosts up as a fictional character that either possesses one or knows how to make one. The possibilities are truly endless."

The very idea that advanced technology could be obtained without ever leaving the planet completely blew him away and caused his mind to race in order to comprehend all the possibilities. If this worked out the way that that Rayne implied, then he could easily turn the SGC into the laughing stock of the United States by outdoing them completely in terms of acquiring sophisticated technology for Earth defense. Hell! If he played his cards right, he could easily become the second most powerful man in America next to the President himself. With such possibilities in mind, Harry almost let his expressionless face slip and let Rayne know that he'd hooked his prey, but he believed that he caught himself in time. Before accepting this offer, he would need absolute proof that things would work out as Ethan Rayne implied and that meant a trial run comprised of expendables as well as the calling in of most of the favors he had left.

"Your offer intrigues me, Mr. Rayne. However you do realize that I'll need to see the spell performed at least once and my own people examine the results before I can agree to your release terms," he said, making it clear with his voice that release would depend heavily on the goods being delivered as promised.

"Of course, of course! However, if you don't mind, I'd like to make two suggestions as to who two of the test subjects should be," Rayne said with a slightly vengeful tone of voice. "You see, an associate of an old friend of mine was instrumental in bringing about my capture and, thus, my imprisonment in this lovely building. I would like to repay her for her fine gift."

"I'll see what can be arranged." Maybourne said and then immediately left the area to contemplate where he would take things next.

He knew a few good men who owed him favors. He could get them to acquire the final ingredient to the spell that Rayne mentioned. They could also be used to acquire the two 'volunteers' that Rayne wanted since he'd be using them to acquire two test subjects himself. He knew he'd probably get scolded later for allowing his personal feelings to get in the way of his duty but he just couldn't pass up the opportunity to get some measure of personal revenge against O'Neill and his band of troublemakers.

He knew exactly who the two 'volunteers' from Colorado Springs should be.

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Four Days Later, A Street in the Residential Area of Sunnydale, Evening

"So did you get a post card from Buffy yet?" Xander asked as he and his bestest bud Willow walked down the sidewalk heading for home.

"No but that's not surprising since she and her mom are trying to do the super mother-daughter thing in L.A." Willow replied, looking up at her friend, "Apparently the whole mess with the Initiative had Mrs. Summers a little spooked and this was Buffy's way of trying to get her mind off of things."

"Poor Buffy! We're definitely going to have to do something extra fun for her when she gets back," he said like he had just been told that Buffy had been forced to go to Summer School.

"What's so bad about wanting to spend time with her mom?" Willow asked apparently not completely comprehending the implications of such a bonding moment.

"Think Willow. Joyce has just had to endure yet another year of her daughter risking her life fighting demons that ended with her fighting a military demonoid cyborg," he explained, hoping that his friend's IQ had not taken a nosedive. "What do you think her motherly instincts are going to be screaming at her to do?"

It took a minute or two of careful contemplation but eventually a look of worry appeared on the redhead's face along with sympathy. This told him that she had finally connected the dots.

"Poor Buffy!" Willow said mirroring what he had said a few moments ago, "All that shopping, the trip to the beauty salons and probably a few art shows!"

"Yep! I like Mrs. S as much as the next guy but when she goes into overbearing mothering mode it's time to jump ship or get smothered by her." He said with mock seriousness to show he didn't really have any bad feelings towards the den mother of the Scooby gang.

He was about to say something more when something sharp bit into the back of his neck, like one of those pesky needles that doctors and nurses use. Reaching up, he felt around the general area and when he felt a solid object, he pulled it out before bringing it around to get a better look at it. However, just as his mind began to match the name 'tranq dart' to the object in his hand, darkness came down on him like anvil the size of the Empire State building. Only peripherally was he aware in those last moments of consciousness of Willow's frightened yelling being cut off and a small vibration going through the ground beneath him.

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Colorado Springs, The Front Steps of the Frasier Home, Morning, One Day Later

"Now I'm going to be busy in the lab for most of the day, so you're going to be on your own," Dr. Janet Frasier said as she locked the front door to the home in preparation to take her adopted daughter with her to the SGC to visit Sam and the others. "Sam and Jack said that they'd do their best to free up some time for you but if the alarms start going, I want you to go to General Hammond's office immediately so I'll know where you are. Understand?"

"Yes Mom!" Cassie replied, not liking one bit that she was being treated like a five year old.

"I'm just worried, Cassie. If there's one thing I've learned working at Cheyenne Mountain, it's that anything can and usually does happen there sooner or later." Dr. Frasier said in an effort to placate her adopted daughter, "I just don't want to see you get hurt."

"I know Mom but if you think about it, the only way for me to be completely safe if something happens at the SGC is to teleport me ten miles away the second it happens," she said, trying to reassure her surrogate mother that she knew the drill. "Seeing as how they don't have teleporters there, I doubt there's a way to be completely safe in the mountain."

Seeing a look in her adoptive mother's eyes that said 'maybe my daughter should not come', the brunette quickly came up with something to obliterate that idea.

"Besides, with Jack, Sam Daniel and Teal'c around, plus General Hammond in command, I'm sure that anything bad that comes through the gate is going to wish they'd never heard of Earth." She said sounding like she had all the confidence in the world in SG1 and the C.O of the SGC.

"You're right. Now let's get going before—" was as far as Janet Frasier got before a white dart seemed to materialize at her neck.

Like a puppet whose strings had been cut, the chief medical officer of the SGC dropped to the ground unconscious. Cassie tried to go to her side but she got no more than two steps before a sharp pain in the back of her neck caused her body to betray her and her mind to take her to la-la land as Jack would call it.

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Air Force Academy, Main Gym, One Day Later

This had better be damn important! That's all I have to say about this! Thought Cadet Jennifer Hailey as she entered the main gym that she'd been summoned to.

The cause of her ire wasn't so much the location she'd been asked to meet Lt. Johnson at, but rather what it had interrupted in her quarters. Contrary to what most of the base might think, it wasn't a make out session with one of her fellow male cadets who she'd snuck into her quarters or anything but rather a project she'd been working like mad on. Ever since she'd caught a glimpse of what would be waiting for her once she graduated from the academy, she'd devoted almost all her free time to getting the best grades ever on everything. Most of the people that could be called her friends in her class told her she needed to relax and try and enjoy her teenage years, but she'd more or less told them that she was enjoying what she was doing. Of course they just rolled their eyes and went to the cadet lounge to hang out and watch TV but, then again, they didn't know what she knew. It was possible to travel to other planets! Wormholes were being created almost daily in Cheyenne Mountain! Alien life did exist! The fact that she'd been told that if she managed to make it through the academy with flying colors she'd earn a spot at the SGC was all the incentive she needed to do her best.

Thanks to this, though, I'm going to have to pull an all nighter if I want to present this to the science class on time! She thought as she looked around the gym for Lt. Johnson so she could get whatever he summoned her here for out of the way.

What immediately made her wary was the fact that the gym was completely empty, not a single person anywhere, which was odd considering the number of cadets at the academy. Even if there wasn't a class scheduled for this time, there were usually a few of the guys playing a game of basketball. Not that she spent any of her free time watching their sweating, toned bodies run up and down the court. She was much too intelligent for something as wasteful as that. She just happened to need a place to sit down a few minutes and the bleachers were the closest ones that would meet her needs. In any case, the sheer lack of people in the gym either meant that Lt. Johnson had just played a prank on her, one she would get him back for tenfold if that turned out to be the case, or she was early for some reason and the lieutenant would be along at any moment.

As she heard the door she had come through a minute ago open up, she decided that her latter theory was the correct one and turned to find out why she'd been summoned here. However she only got about two thirds of the way through her 180 degree turn before something sharp bit into her neck and her body suddenly felt like it had gained two hundred pounds. So potent was the pull into darkness that she couldn't even find the strength to reach up and find out what had hit her in the neck.

The last thing she heard before boarding the boat to dreamland was Lt. Johnson saying, "Nothing personal, Cadet. It's just this means a seriously plush assignment for me once the Colonel gets ahold of you."

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One Week Later, Purgatory Max Prison, Noon (local time)

"You're late, Major Wilson." Maybourne said as he watched the last team carrying both Cassandra Frasier and Cadet Hailey in from the helicopter outside.

"Sorry, sir. Those people at the SGC picked up our trail earlier than expected and we needed to make sure we lost them before coming here." Major Wilson explained as he ran alongside his team as they carried the two young women to the designated room, "Fortunately I believe we lost them somewhere near southern Alberta so you needn't worry about them crashing this little 'gathering' of yours anytime soon."

"You'd better hope so, Major, or you can forget about getting the pictures and the negatives of you and that underage young woman in Saudi Arabia," Harry warned, making sure that the man knew what leverage was being used against him and the prize for bringing the 'volunteers' here safely.

From there they made their way to what had once been a recreation area for some of the more compliant prisoners before an incident with one H.Lector prompted those in power to transfer the cannibal to another location. Using a third of the favors he'd still been owed by various members of the military and intelligence community, Harry'd had it retrofitted to meet with Rayne's specifications for the spell. Now it looked like a cross between an Anime cartoon and a mad scientists laboratory with the oddest piece being a futuristic looking bed that looked like it could be used for either surgery or mechanical maintenance. Currently occupying the bed was a young woman in her late teens wearing a skintight combat suit and vest colored various shades of grey with everything looking fully realistic. Her hair had been dyed grape purple, it had been fiery red the last time he had seen her before Ms. Myers had taken her away to get changed, and he was sure that if he peeled back her eyelids he would see reddish eyes. Heavy restraints were placed at all the crucial points and each was made to hold up to anything short of Superman himself, so he was confident that once the procedure was done she'd stay put.

To the right of the med/mech bed was a young man who was thankfully restrained by a far more normal looking metal table but with heavy leather straps in all the right places just to be on the safe side. Dressed in a steel gray body suit with buckles, straps, knee pads, elbow pads, equipment compartments and a green headband he looked like any number of other Special Forces soldiers he'd seen in his career. However, if he was to believe the brief summary of the character, the young man was dressed up to be then this teenager would soon be the most elite soldier of their time, a soldier who made the impossible possible on a regular basis. He could just imagine the progress that could be made against the Goa'uld with someone like this on the side of the U.S.A.

"Ms. Kyle? Take our two new arrivals to the changing room and dress them in their assigned clothes," he said to the blonde 'associate' of his that would be assisting in the data gathering once the spell was complete. "I want them ready for the 'process' in twenty minutes."

"Of course, Colonel." Ms. Kyle replied as she directed the soldiers of Major Wilson where to take the two young women.

With that done, there were only a few more things that he'd need to take care of before he could safely proceed with matters. Moving over to where he saw Rayne going through a mock practice of the spell he caught the eye of the personnel present and gestured for them to gather around Ethan's location.

"Alright people! Here is how things are going to go down and what your responsibilities are going to be." He said making sure he was speaking loud enough for everyone to hear him, "Major Wilson? You and your men will be providing additional security along with Dammers and his men. The majority of your men will be here to make sure that our 'volunteers' don't get a chance to act on any desire to leave that they might have. There must be NO permanent damage done to them no matter what. Dr. Beckett? Your team will be the ones to run the preliminary analysis and classification of the technology we're about to bring into existence. Just like Major Wilson, I do NOT want any permanent damage done to the 'volunteers'. They're literally one of a kind and my superiors will not like damaged goods. Does everybody understand?"

There were nods all around as everyone from the soldiers under Major Wilson to Beckett's people knew that this could be a major boost to their careers if they played their cards right. They also knew that this could wind up putting them in unmarked graves in the middle of nowhere if they screwed up, so none of them were going to do anything beyond the description he had just given.

"Good. Now, I have some work to do to prepare a brief for the brass should this pay off like we all hope it will," Harry said, putting his safety measure into place. "I will contact you via video conferencing on that monitor from here on out, since I doubt I will be able to find the time to actually walk down here every time. Work hard and all of you will reap the benefits of this project."

With that, he walked out of the room and began heading towards his office. Once there, he would wait for the preliminary results of the transformation before moving onto phase two of his plan. He wasn't all that comfortable with that part of the scenario but he knew that once Rayne's idea was proven that his superiors would want the number of people who knew about it kept to a minimum. That meant that once all the steps, ingredients and procedures for creating super soldiers was recorded in every conceivable way, all the loose ends would have to be cut.

Such a shame, really, that most of them won't make it out of this place alive. He thought as he recalled what he knew about the people he had just talked to, But if everything works out like I hope it will, the project will likely become an even bigger secret then the SGC. Sadly, that will be a bit over their security clearance levels.

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Purgatory Max, Recreation Area Twenty-five Minutes Later

"Wakey, wakey, little ones," came an annoying British voice through the darkness of unconsciousness.

Then, of course, came a rather pungent smell that caused him to forcefully be returned to consciousness in seconds and definitely give him a reason to smack whoever had ruined his naptime. So, without hesitation, he tried to lash out with his foot only to find that it was being solidly restrained by something, since it did not move an inch. Once his eyesight came back fully, he could see that he was in some kind of hastily created lab of some kind with machines and chemicals everywhere. He tried to look down to see what was keeping him from kicking the geek in front of him but there was something wrapped around not only his forehead but also his throat. Deciding to deduce what he could through what he could do, he went for his sense of touch first and found that he was in distinctly different clothes than he remembered. It was tight and form fitting with what felt like straps used in the military to carry equipment wrapped around his limbs and torso. He could also feel a headband of some kind beneath the strap pressing against his forehead. It was also cold in the room, much too cold, and he didn't think it was because this room used to be a meat locker or something. It was far too uniform and natural for that. All in all, he had been changed into different clothes without his consent and relocated to someplace that was NOT California.

Sight was consulted next and, from that he was able to tell, that the men with the guns arrayed within his field of vision were either black ops or mercenaries. Most likely they had been the ones to ambush him and Willow in Sunnydale with those tranquilizer darts. While he didn't exactly see himself as special ops material, Xander did like to think fighting demons for four years on top of a Hellmouth would've allowed him a little bit of special awareness when it came to being followed or watched. Obviously while fighting demons and the supernatural might make you more aware than most humans, it still doesn't make you good enough to perceive that you're being followed by trained soldiers. There were also lab scientists around, such as the one that was now going to the left of him to wake someone else up, and since they didn't look like the weaklings that couldn't cut it in the major leagues of the scientific field, they must be top dollar eggheads. Put the highly trained soldiers and the elite brainiacs together and it was clear to him that either someone who was filthy rich or powerful arranged all of this. Mercs cost a lot of money, as did skilled scientists, and to be able to hire both at the same time means that either you had a lot of money or had quite a bit of power over the people involved. Neither were good things as far as he was concerned, since it was unlikely he'd be able to persuade any of them to let him go.

Hearing was the last one he'd use, since he figured he only had enough time to take stock of the sounds around him before the clichéd villain speech routine began. He could hear the familiar hum of electronic machinery, the hiss of open flames and the tapping of keys on a computer's keyboard. This confirmed to him that a lot of equipment was in the room along with other devices commonly found in a lab and that told him that the geeks would be working here for some time rather than just doing an overnight thing. Considering that he was tied down with at least one other also restrained, then it meant he and the other person were the test subjects.

Just when I thought that mess with the Initiative was over with, some other idiot thinks he had dabble with stuff he doesn't understand. Xander thought as he tried to piece what he had learned together even more than before, But what exactly are they trying to do?

"So tell me…Xander, I believe…how is Ripper these days?" Came the same annoying British voice from earlier but this time his mind was awake enough to recognize it.

"Ethan Rayne!" Came a female voice that he knew in an instant belonged to his bestest friend Willow and, at that moment, it was confirmed that he hadn't been the only target of the mercs.

"Correct, young lady! I guess I shouldn't be surprised that you picked up on the answer before the young man here did." Ethan said with complete disrespect to the founding male member of the Scooby gang, "He always did strike me as the expendable idiot of the group."

While it was his first instinct to growl at this, Xander chose to reign that idea in, since it would only amuse the chaos mage more. Better to try and fish for information than waste time yelling out promises of an ass kicking he couldn't deliver on just yet.

"I thought the G.I. Joes had locked you away for good. You mojo your way out of your cell or were they stupid enough to listen when you promised them the world?" He asked, hoping that the idiot would be arrogant enough to spill at least some of the truth.

"Oh, nothing so ridiculous as that! I am not stupid enough to promise them world domination and I seriously doubt my present employer would believe if I had told him I could give him the world," Ethan replied as thought it was idiotic for anyone to make such a promise. "I did, however, promise to help him gain what the Initiative failed to do with that little patchwork monstrosity Walsh created. A super soldier capable of doing on his own what an entire platoon could not accomplish. In this case, though, I'll be providing my employer with four such people."

Four!? Xander thought with some surprise before remembering that Willow was there as well, But then who are the other two?

"Who the hell are you!?" Yelled a female voice to his left that definitely sounded like a teenager copping some serious attitude.

"Cadet Hailey, correct? As the young lady mentioned earlier, my name is Ethan Rayne and I am but a humble businessman selling his skills to the highest bidder." Rayne said sounding like he had the most honest profession in the entire world, "I always demand compensation for my services, but considering the unique nature of my abilities my benefactors don't mind."

"And what are those abilities?" Asked a third female voice who sounded more like your typical moody teenager.

"Magic, my dear, magic. I specialize in chaos magic, to be precise, and it can be quite useful when used just right." He replied as though telling someone his abilities centered on teaching.

"There's no such thing as magic! Quit trying to bullshit us!" Hailey yelled obviously pissed that someone would insult her intelligence with such an answer.

"Considering the tales I've heard of you, Ms. Hailey, I would've thought you'd have a more open mind." Rayne said before dismissing her outright, "Regardless of what you believe, you'll soon experience the truth for yourselves."

"What exactly are you planning, Rayne?" Xander asked, wanting more info on what exactly the chaos mage intended to do to create super soldiers.

"Oh, just a variation on what I did on that Halloween night oh so long ago. Only on a much larger scale," Rayne replied with some amusement as though there was some secret joke to it all. "In fact, I wouldn't be at all surprised if you chose to thank me once it is all said and done."

"Don't bet on it! Besides, if you're just going to do that old Halloween spell then I think your employer is going to want his money back." Xander said, making it clear that he'd sooner kiss the devil's ass then thank the chaos mage, "After all, the last time you did it all it took to break the spell was breaking the Janus bust."

"Ah, but this time there'll be no bust to break and the spell will only end if I want it to end. Besides, I made sure that each of you are in restraints strong enough to hold even the fictional characters you're about to turn into." Ethan said with full confidence in his preparations, "Even your redheaded little friend won't be able to break free even with her soon to be increased strength."

"Just who are you planning on turning us into?" He asked, definitely not liking the confidence radiating off the chaos mage at the moment.

"I'm afraid I can't tell you that. After all, it would spoil the surprise and I'd hate to deprive you of that." Ethan said with an even bigger smug look, "Just relax and prepare yourself, young man. Things are going to get rather unpleasant in a few moments."

Well, on a scale of one to then I'd definitely rate this situation as NOT of the good. He thought as he tried to figure out what exactly the Brit Bastard was going to do to them.

"Hey Willow! Can you see anything useful from your side?" He asked as quietly as he could without being impossible for his friend to hear him.

"No but I've got a bad feeling about all this." She replied in a tone that implied she was straining her eyes to find anything informative, "I'm not sure but this outfit they put me in is at least two sizes too big for me and maybe a bit more since its so skintight. I'm thinking maybe whatever's gonna happen is going to be a bit more than just messing with our heads this time around."

Definitely NOT of the good! He thought as he took what his friend had just informed him about.

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One Minute Later, Ethan Rayne's Point of View

"Well, I think it's about time to get the show on the road!" Ethan said as he moved over to where the ingredients of the spell were laid out, "Major Wilson? If you and your men will take up your positions around our volunteers please."

Not even bothering to turn and look to see if the black ops soldiers were obeying him, he began to put on the necessary vestments of a follower of Janus. While a bit odd looking to the everyman, it was necessary for any spell that would call on the god's power because otherwise you'd likely offended the two headed being.

Needless to say that is not a smart idea.

Once full adorned, he looked towards the centerpiece of the spell, the Eyes of Janus, the pieces that he'd been unable to acquire for the Halloween spell and thus had been forced to substitute with common emeralds. The Eyes of Janus, however, were said to be a gift from Janus himself and thus had a great deal more power to them than anything found on the Earth. It would be their power that would not only make the changes in Harris and the others more profound, but it would also make the alterations permanent. While he was certainly willing to do Colonel Maybourne a favor by creating four super soldiers for him, it was more because of the chaos he knew would come out of it than just to get his freedom back.

Although that is a nice bonus though. He thought as he picked up each of the four god-made emeralds and brought them over to the bust of Janus.

While it was true that he had told Harris that there would be no bust this time around, it was in fact crucial to the spell. All spells needed some kind of focus point in order to work properly and a bust of the god he was borrowing power from was perfect for his needs. Plus it would allow Janus a more direct way of drawing in the chaos that would be created by this spell. If there was one thing that Janus appreciated more than anything, it was chaos in the world and, if one of his followers contributed, then they would be rewarded. He figured if he introduced four highly skilled and potentially rebellious elements into the world, the chaos that would result from it would put him at the front of the line to receive Janus' blessings. That was why he'd chosen the four costumes he had rather than something more powerful or technologically advanced. Oh, he'd given the excuse that he thought it best that they take baby steps in acquiring technology from the fictitious worlds the spell could draw from but that was more or less a lie. Each and every one of the fictional characters the four were dressed up as were do-gooders that not only always did the right thing but also weren't afraid of using lethal force, if necessary. Maybe the blonde character was a bit closer to evil than the other three, but in her case it was more like a spot of good inside a sea of bad. After all, Nina might have a questionable occupation, but she did do the occasional good deed from time to time. Besides, putting nothing but heroes on the team would hardly create any chaos, so introducing a bit of darkness would spice things up a bit. All together he imagined that the Colonel would be able to reap a brief period of prestige but that would only last until Harris and the others gained a good grip on their new attributes. Once that happened, chaos would reign and Maybourne would probably be lucky to be able to flee the country before his superiors caught up with him.

There are times when I just know I made the right choice in pledging my loyalty to Janus! He thought with glee although he kept his face impartial for all to see.

Taking the four eye-shaped emeralds into the palm of his hand, Ethan stood in front of the bust and, in a sudden motion, clapped his other hand into the one holding the emeralds putting as much pressure as he could on the pretty baubles. He winced slightly when they pierced his skin and he could feel it when the blood began to flow, but that was to be expected. Like in many potent spells, blood acted both as the catalyst as well as the connection between the spell and the person casting the spell. Once he was satisfied that the blood was flowing sufficiently, he then placed the emeralds one at a time into the eye sockets of the bust.

"The world that denies thee, thou inhabit," he chanted as he first emerald into the first eye socket. "The peace that ignores thee, thou corrupt."

One by one he placed another emerald into a vacant socket.

"Chaos. I remain, as ever, thy faithful, degenerate son." He said as he used drops of his own blood to color his eyes after putting the last emerald in place.

He could feel the energy stirring in the air, the power gathering to bring to life four characters of fiction, and used his skills to direct both to where it needed to go. One by one the 'volunteers' were placed within whirlwinds of magic, isolating them from the outside world, safe within the center. Sadly it looked like only he and perhaps the young wicca Rosenberg had a clue as to what was beginning to gather in the room. Reminded of the promise he'd seen in her, he decided to speed things up a bit, since it wouldn't do if Ripper's little protégé did anything to mess things up.

"Janus, I invoke your spirit. Hear my plea. Seize this moment for your own reason. Come, appear and show to us that which is infinite power." He chanted as he brought the spell to the next level, "The mask transforms itself into flesh and blood. Your holy presence curdles the heart. Janus! Take them, change them and feed on their existence!"

With those words, a wind of terrible power burst into existence and would have sent many an object flying if he hadn't instructed the others in the room to take the appropriate steps to prevent such an occurrence. Once it reached its peak, the four subjects began to glow with a blinding green light and screamed the screams of people who were undergoing very painful changes faster than their bodies were used to. For the women it was adjustments in height, as well as their body mass index, and definitely in their chest sizes. Now, they likely wouldn't completely lose their original looks or appearances but rather the more dominant characteristics of the fictional characters will be added to what is already there. So, in a way, it was an arcane version of plastic surgery but on a much larger as well as detailed scale then what could be achieved through modern science. In the wicca's case, though, the changes would be a bit more extreme since the only a small piece of flesh would remain with the rest replaced by metal. These physical changes were the reason he insisted that the costumes be larger than what most would consider appropriate for the 'volunteers'. He had known from the beginning that they'd need some growing room, otherwise the clothes would rip potentially to the point where the women would wind up giving the men of the room something of a show.

Not that I'd be adverse to such a display of feminine beauty, but some of the gadgets in the clothes and on top of them might get damaged. He thought as he brought a hand up to block some of the light generated by the spell, Considering the fact that the technology was the deciding factor in getting Maybourne to agree to this, I doubt he'd feel inclined to keeping his side of the deal if it got smashed.

For a full ten minutes, the bright light bathed the room and anyone not wearing welder's goggles, meaning everyone, was forced to both close their eyes AND cover them in order to block out the radiance being given off by the spell. Eventually, though, the spell finished its work on the four teenagers and the glow faded out until the only illumination in the room was that provided by the electric lights overhead. Once his eyes got back to normal, Ethan looked towards the location of Harris and his 'team' and found, much to his satisfaction, that everything had gone exactly as he had planned. Each volunteer was now physically at the halfway point between their original ages and the age of the character they had been dressed up to look like. For Ms. Frasier that meant going from sixteen years of age to somewhere around the mid-twenties in terms of physical appearance. Harris, on the other hand, looked to be further into his late twenties than he had originally anticipated, but was still within three to four years of Ms. Frasier physically at the moment. Probably the person who aged the least was Cadet Hailey, since the character she had been dressed up to look like was biologically twenty-four years old, even though she had been cryogenically frozen for quite a while according the source material. Still, it meant that she would at most age about three maybe four years from her pre-spell age, which hopefully wouldn't be too much of an issue down the line. As for Rosenberg, she had gotten the full package deal with a body that was perfect in every conceivable way in terms of age appearance and physical…#ahem#...endowments. Her change was not restricted by the age of the original character because the body the character had been in was artificial. The only original part of the body the character had once possessed was the brain, with everything else being replaced with cybernetic bells and whistles. He believed the term used in the source material was 'prosthetic body' and, as he directed his eyes to the bed she had been placed on top of, he was thrilled to see that his hunch about direct contact with the primary host had been proven accurate. No longer was it simply a prop painstakingly put together by some Anime fan (a fan whom would be reported as having commit suicide, if he had heard it correctly), but rather it was now a marvel of science that would be fully capable of seeing to Ms. Rosenberg's unique medical needs.

All in all, I do believe that I've outdone myself! He thought as his mind came up with quite a few possible rewards Lord Janus would bestow on him, Now, however, comes the bothersome part of the process.

"All right! Now we just let the four of them simmer for a few days, then I will start the final phase of the plan that will remove the foreign minds from their bodies without taking the memories, skills and abilities along for the ride." Ethan said as he began to remove the Janus vestments and wipe the blood off, "Major Wilson? You and your team will be in charge of keeping an eye on them. Be very careful around them from here on out because, from this point on, you are looking at four of the most dangerous people on the planet."

"Who exactly are they supposed to be?" Asked one particularly dim looking member of Wilson's team, causing the rest of them to shake their heads at his stupidity.

"Allow me to introduce Alexander Harris aka Solid Snake, Willow Rosenberg aka Major Motoko Kusanagi, Cassandra Frasier aka Lara Croft and Jennifer Hailey aka Nina Williams," he said matching each of the original person's names with the mind that was even now beginning to settle into its new home. "With the track records those characters have, I would recommend Major Wilson that you impress upon your men not to come within ten feet of them, nor fall for any deceptions."

"Understood." Major Wilson said with a respectful nod.

"Be sure that you do understand because I would hate to tell the Colonel who was responsible for his four prize soldiers escaping, suffering a serious injury or being turned into corpses," Ethan said, making it clear how short their lives would be cut if such things happened.

"You needn't worry, Mr. Rayne. My men are professionals." Wilson said with a bit of annoyance, "None of them would be foolish enough to give these four an opening to try something."

"Good to hear, Major," Ethan said before making his way for the entrance/exit to the room. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm a bit fatigued from the spell. I'll be in the office down the hall getting some rest. Be sure to wake me if something odd happens."

"Yes sir." Wilson said before he began barking out orders to his men.

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Four Days Later, Purgatory Max, Colonel Maybourne's Office, Morning

"Is it about time to cancel the spell?" Maybourne asked as he looked at his computer that was not only providing an audio/video feed from the lab but also transmitting a feed of him back, albeit distorted in order to conceal his identity from the subjects.

"Yes. The changes they've undergone, both mentally and physically, should have had ample time to settle." Rayne said from his position in the lab closest to the camera, "Once the spell is broken, though, all four of them will likely be seriously disoriented as their minds try to make sense of the new information in terms of memories, skills and senses. I'd wager that based on what I've read of these four, they'll need at least three days before they're ready to do anything besides the basics."

"Good. They'll need to be ready to show off their abilities within two weeks or else my backers will start to get impatient." He said, careful not to make it sound like this was an officially sanctioned operation by the United States Military.

"That should be adequate time for them to become comfortable enough to put on a decent show. However, I believe they will likely need a bit more time before you put them to work in real missions," Rayne said, no doubt referring to the fact that memories and skills alone did not a super soldier make.

"So noted. Begin the process to break the spell." He ordered as he prepared to put the final phase of the plan into place, "Notify me when it has been successfully terminated."

"Of course." Ethan said before the connection was terminated.

He waited a full two minutes before opening a communication line to the closing actors of his little scenario.

"Colonel Makepeace?" He asked in order to make sure that the connection was active.

"Reading you loud and clear, sir." Makepeace said via audio only.

"Is your team ready to go?" He asked, referring to the fifteen man team that would close the little show he'd orchestrated.

"Yes sir. We've arrived at the perimeter of the complex and will begin our insertion on your command." Makepeace replied promptly with the sound of guns being readied in the background.

"Good. It should be show time shortly." He said as began feeding images to the soldier's equipment, "These people and objects are to be left untouched and undamaged. Do whatever you have to in order to ensure this. Naturally your goal will be to cut off as many loose ends as possible, but it must be done in such a way so as to seem unavoidable at best and accidental at worst. After all, our soon to be new recruits will not be as amicable to joining us if they think we're just thoughtless killers."

"Understood. What about Rayne?" Asked Makepeace with some concern in his voice.

"Capture him but do so out of the sight of the new recruits. He must appear to them as though he has managed to slip out and escape in order for my scenario to work." He replied firmly, so that there would be to room for misinterpretation, "Once you have him, move him immediately to the secondary chopper and have it take off for the nearest N.I.D safe house. I know that this will put some of your men out of luck in getting out of here for a while, but it's necessary."

"Not a problem, sir. Unlike some teams I could mention, my men don't mind roughin' it a bit when necessary." Makepeace said with some venom in his voice.

"Good. You're looking at the beginning of a new age, Colonel." Maybourne said, putting another layer of grease on the wheel that was his insertion team leader, "If the four volunteers work out the way I believe they will, perhaps we could consider you for the next round of upgrades."

"I thank you for the consideration sir but I think I'll stay with what I've got for the time being." Makepeace said, sounding reluctant to agree to a process that was unconventional.

"Very well." He said in response.

Right then he noticed a red light flickering in the corner of his screen, indicating that someone else was attempting to establish a connection with him. Seeing as how it had taken special modifications to arrange a connection with Makepeace, the only other place the call could be coming from was the lab where Rayne was located. Most likely it meant that the spell had been successfully broken and Ethan was attempting to notify him of this.

"We just received our green light, Colonel. Commence insertion. I'll meet you at the east entrance." He said before sending his dummy message back to Rayne that there was a communication error in the connection.

Getting up from his seat, he knew he'd first have to go to the central computer core and delete all records of his involvement with the Purgatory Max facility. His scenario hinged on the point of him being the 'good guy' Colonel coming to rescue Harris and the others. While he didn't anticipate that the four of them would attempt to backtrack to this moment and snoop around, he couldn't discount the possibility either. Given Ms. Rosenberg's new abilities, he would have to be extra thorough in deleting the computer records and burning the paper ones. While he wasn't an expert in the character she had been dressed up as, he'd read enough to be wary of leaving any digital evidence behind that could ruin his plans. As far as Rosenberg and the others would know, this facility was under the command of his predecessor right up until Makepeace's team barged in. They would be told that the man had been showing increasing signs of mental instability right up until the end and that this 'experiment' was likely an attempt by the man to improve his standing amongst the military community. Of course this man would be found dead later, shot several times in the torso and head, with a few incriminating pieces of evidence on his person.

It took five minutes total to completely destroy or delete the paper trail connecting him to the facility and he just barely managed to make it to the east entrance in time to hook up with the insertion team. Fortunately, he had taken the time to slip into standard combat fatigues, including a bulletproof vest so that he would at least look the part of being a part of the team. After a few exchanged words, in which Makepeace informed him that the prison sentries had been dealt with, they proceeded down to the lab.

By the time that they reached the entrance/exit, he could hear restless sounds coming from inside and he could tell that those inside were beginning to feel anxiety as a result of his absence. Good. That would make Major Wilson's team more likely to open fire when Makepeace's team charged in giving the insertion team a valid excuse to return fire, thus tying up loose ends. He himself, of course, would stay completely out of sight until Makepeace gave the all clear signal in order to avoid the danger of one of the scientists or soldiers implicating him verbally. Makepiece and his team were good but there was always the chance that one person might yell out 'Maybourne, what are you doing' at the wrong time and ruin everything. With a single signal to Makepiece, his team stormed into the room and the sounds of automatic gunfire filled the air to be accompanied by screams seconds later. This went on for about ten minutes before silence once more became the dominant feature in the area, with only the footfalls of Makepeace and his men filling the air. He waited three more minutes and then strode in like he had been sweeping the surrounding area himself and had just come back.

"What's the sit rep, Colonel?" He asked Makepeace, managing to put the effect of being slightly out of breath into his voice.

"The rogue N.I.D troops put up heavy resistance, sir. We had no choice but to use lethal force." Makepeace replied, putting genuine regret into his voice, "Most of the scientists died as well from stray fire. The ones that are still alive are unconscious and I don't think they'll be in any condition to talk anytime soon."

"What of Ethan Rayne? Intel said he'd be here as well." He asked making sure he was heard by Frasier and the others.

"He's escaped. I sent three men after him but they haven't reported anything of use back." Makepeace replied but in a way that hinted that the chaos mage's disappearance wasn't thanks to him or his men.

Not good! He's crucial to producing more super soldiers! Harry thought as he tried to figure out how to run damage control if Makepeace's men didn't capture Rayne, While the four 'prototypes' here should be enough to pacify the brass in the short term, I'll need Rayne ASAP to keep things from blowing up in my face.

"We'll get the survivors and the four civilians here out first and then conduct a thorough search of the immediate area around the prison." He stated as though there was no other plan to follow, "If nothing turns up we'll put a bulletin out to all of the police in the nearest towns, cities and shacks in the area in the hopes of getting a line on him."

"Yes sir! You heard him, men! Stabilize the wounded and get ready to escort the civilians to the choppers." Makepeace yelled out with authority, causing his man to snap into action.

With that handled, Maybourne moved over to the 'volunteers' and began to assess any damage that they might have incurred as a result of the firefight. He knew he ordered Makepeace not to damage Harris or the others and to avoid putting bullet holes in Rosenberg's maintenance bed, but there was always the chance that something got through. Looking over Harris, Frasier and Hailey, he could tell that the disorientation Rayne predicted still had a pretty firm hold over them but they were managing. Rosenberg on the other hand, once the restraints were removed, was jerking around like a badly operated puppet. That didn't exactly fill him with confidence about her future or the future of the prosthetic body industry that would be born through her, but he was willing to give her some time. After all, if learning to deal with a prosthetic arm or leg was difficult for normal people in the present then learning how to master a full body prosthetic would likely be ten times harder than anything he could imagine. Still, he hoped that the memories and skills she retained from her fictional character would be enough to smooth the process out as well as speed it up a bit. He hadn't been lying to Rayne earlier when he said that his superiors wanted to see the results of their venture sooner rather than later, but he actually felt he had a month before he'd need to show the four of them off. He'd bring in specialists in the field of physical rehabilitation for new prosthetic users as well as those who worked with people who'd just begun to recover their motor skills after a serious injury. With a little luck that would be all that the red-but-now-purple-headed young woman would need in order to be able to move around without giving any outward sign that she wasn't human. From there he'd wager that the combat skills and abilities of one Major Motoko Kusanagi would be easy to utilize and that it would only take a week to become familiar enough with to impress the brass.

However, as he saw Xander 'Solid Snake' Harris get his walking legs back well enough to stand, he figured that he'd better start with his 'I am your ally' routine.

"Take it easy, kid. You've just been through a rather messy situation." He said, sounding like an uncle would towards a nephew.

"Who the hell are you?" Harris asked with a voice that was a little rougher and jaded than what he'd heard before over the communication connection.

"Colonel Harry Maybourne, United States Army." He said introducing himself trying to sound as honest as he could, "As for your next question, which is probably how we found you, we've been on the trail of several rogue N.I.D elements for a while now and only recently managed to find out about this project of theirs recently."

"Where's Rayne?!" Harris asked and there was no mistaking the tone in his voice as one that promised significant pain for the Brit should the new Solid Snake ever catch up with him.

"We don't know. We know he was in the room prior to our entry but he seems to have slipped out in the middle of all the gunfire." He replied truthfully without having to construct any artificial facts, "Once you're safely away, we'll sweep the area for him. Don't worry! If he's out there we'll find him and 'persuade' him to undo the damage he's done."

That seemed to satisfy the young man as well as the others who were letting Harris lead the Q&A session on their current situation. However he thought he saw a bit of suspicion in the eyes of former cadet Hailey, but that was most likely from second hand stories she might have heard from Major Carter. He was confident that with a bit more effort he could discredit those stories or at least convince the recipient of Nina Williams' skills that he was a changed man. If that failed, then he'd probably, at the very least, have to try and gain the backing of at least one member of SG-1 before her suspicions would go away.

Let's hope it doesn't come to that. He thought since he knew the chances of succeeding in something like that were somewhere between slim and none.

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On Top of a Truck Entering Cheyenne Mountain, Eight Months Later

He remained as still as a rock atop the supply truck and waited until it was on the verge of coming to a complete stop before he rolled to the left away from the elevator.

Dropping the concrete floor beneath, he made less sound than a dropped pin and quickly moved off to the side so as not to bump into any of the MPs by accident as they unloaded the vehicle. Once he was sure that the majority of the men in the area had their attention focused on the truck and its contents, he slipped around them and entered the elevator just as the doors closed. It was vacant but he knew that the soldiers he'd gotten by would call for the car again soon so, without hesitation, he popped open the hatch to the roof of the elevator car and went through it. A few seconds later his prediction was proven accurate when three MPs entered the elevator with an armload of supplies which, if intel was correct, would be headed to the SGC complex below. It was a brief five minute ride but he didn't stick around too long since he soon found the air vent he'd been waiting for. With judicious use of his combat knife, he unscrewed the grating and, after carefully placing it on the roof of the elevator, he slipped inside with the scraping of cloth against steel being the only noise made.

Thankfully, amidst all the noise from the machinery in the shaft and the MPs own chatter, they didn't hear anything.

You know, with such lousy security, I'm tempted to leave little post it notes here and there suggesting how they could make the place more secure. He thought as he carefully crawler towards point A, where he'd meet up with the others, Sadly the Colonel knows me well enough to anticipate something like that and forced me to give them up before leaving.

Once he reached the point in the trip where he'd be disembarking from the vents, he was surprised to see that rather than be empty at this point in time like he'd been told it would be there were at least five men in the room, including the infamous Colonel O'Neill. From the way Maybourne described the guy, he'd expected an obnoxious jerk who got passed over for most promotions because he rubbed his superiors the wrong way. What he saw when he looked in was a man reaching the end of his field career but still managed to earn his pay when it mattered. In any case, though, it meant that exiting via the men's locker room was definitely not an option, since even at his best he doubted he could exit the vent and put the vent back into place without being noticed. So he decided to move on to the next available exit point so as not to stray too far from his assigned path to point A. The room that the next vent let out into was thankfully empty, but he still took the necessary effort to remove the grating without making a sound. In less than a minute, both feet were on the floor of the on base living quarters for someone although there weren't any obvious decorative pieces to give him a clue as to who it belonged to. He was about halfway to the door when his soliton radar picked up someone approaching the door to the room. Rapidly looking around, he spotted no immediate places nearby that could conceal him easily since the closet was too shallow to conceal him even with the stealth camo turned on. What looked like a cabinet for books, papers and knick-knacks was also out of the question since none of the spaces between the shelves were big enough for him too squeeze into. In the end, he had to go with something that made him feel like something of a peeping tom but as he heard the footfalls come into dangerous range outside the door he dove to the floor and rolled beneath the bed.

Good thing this person likes big beds. He thought as the doorknob turned and the door opened, I can hide underneath here and have room to spare.

As he watched the person enter the room he could only see the dirt covered boots of the soldier, since given the bed's position relative to the door and his position underneath the bed it was the only thing he could see without moving closer to the edge of the bed. However this didn't last as the person moved towards the closet he was able to see more and almost choked on his own spit in surprise since it looked like he had snuck into the room of a female officer. At this point his Snake side warred with his Xander mind, since while the proper thing would be to look away or close his eyes at this point he found that he just couldn't bring himself to miss out on what he expected to happen next. Seconds later his prediction was proven right when, piece by piece, the female officer disrobed, no doubt with the intention of getting into some clean clothes for a debriefing or something. First the boots got kicked off and then came the pants, revealing some nice toned legs with an almost golden tan that caused him to imagine what the woman would look like on the beach. Then his brain almost froze when he realized that instead of standard issue female underwear or boxers, this woman actually wore something a step shy of thong bikini. Fortunately he was able to shake his mind back online but it was still a sight to see as far as he was concerned. Next to be tossed off was a camo jacket and then a standard short sleeved black t-shirt revealing some toned, but not muscled, abs, making it clear that this was not a pencil pusher or lab jockey he was looking at. Fortunately for him, his position did not allow him to see past the lady's mid-riff because he was pretty sure that if he got to see any more of her his brain would blow a fuse.

God must have been interested in seeing what that would be like because, a moment later, the woman chucked her bra, revealing black lace.

He hoped that it would end there, considering that it would only make it that much harder for him to keep silent and hidden if the woman went any further, but God it seemed wanted to push the envelope all the way with him. For instead of putting on a new bra, shirt and pair of pants like he'd hoped, she instead proceeded to remove her thong-like panties, inadvertently showing him not only her rack but her bare butt as well. However what blew him away was the fact that he now had a face to go with the supermodel body and it was then that he swore to himself that he would never EVER speak of this to anyone. After all, he was fairly certain that both Cassandra and Hailey would castrate him if they learned he'd stumbled into a peep show involving Major Carter and Willow would probably lecture him both in person and by codec for a long time. Fortunately for him, she soon went into the small bathroom that the room had, probably to take a shower, and once he heard the water begin to flow loudly enough he slipped out of the room as quickly as stealth would allow.

The rest of his sneaking through the corridors of the SGC, thankfully, was relatively uneventful with only a few brief moments when someone paused as though they heard him before moving along. Eventually he made it to point A and that was the central computer room for the entire complex. Stepping inside, he looked about the room to see if any of the others had made it there ahead of him but saw nothing aside from the humming servers and databanks. However a small shift in the air alerted him to someone coming at him from the right and, just like Solid Snake would, he pulled out his SOCOM HK USP compact tactical gun out and brought it around in that direction. However he realized a second too late that there had been another person on the approach from the opposite direction, leaving him only time enough to lean to the side to avoid the object he sensed coming at his head. To counter the other threat he removed one hand from his SOCOM HK and pulled out his combat knife and placed it just short of where he figured the attacker's stomach was since this would force that person to stop or get gutted. Feeling a small gust of air consistent with a running person coming to a sudden stop, he knew he'd played his cards right.

If you three are quite finished trying to outdo one another, we have a mission briefing to start. came Willow's voice, via his codec, sounding annoyed.

With her comment he now knew what was going on and secretly agreed with her that they had better things to do than compete with one another. In front of him he watched as Cassandra 'Lara' Frasier disengaged her stealth camo to reveal that she had chosen to go with a basic jean and tank top combo with her ammo back pack completing the ensemble. With a pair of HK USP Match pistols aimed at him, he was glad that she didn't have the silencer on them since it would have made for a rather unpleasant beginning to the meeting. Angling his head a bit so he could look behind him, he saw Jennifer 'Nina' Hailey crackle into existence as her own stealth tech disengaged, revealing she'd chosen to wear a full 'catwoman- like bodysuit with guns and knives sheathed every few inches. The weapon she'd brought to bear against him had been a katana which, if it was the one he'd seen her used back at the base, was state of the art and able to cut through most of the lighter metals. Cassandra was the first to holster her weapons but for Hailey it took a bit more effort on her part to keep from following through on her attack. It was always a problem for her because, unlike the rest of them, her character was an assassin through and through. He knew the character's history pretty well since he was an official videogame freak and he could only imagine what it was like to have the memories of an assassin who couldn't remember her past bouncing around a person's head. While the former cadet still had most of her marbles, the fact that the life of an assassin so dominated Nina Williams' mind made certain habits hard to kick.

"You're late, Xander." Cassandra said with a faint British accent, "We all pretty much got here two minutes ago. What kept you?"

"My men's locker room entry point was blocked so I had to look for some other way into this level. It took a while." He replied, covering up any of his unconscious tells by turning most of his face away while he holstered his gun and sheathed his blade.

"Why don't you just tell them that you couldn't get out from Major Carter's room until she went into the bathroom?" Willow asked as she faded into visibility, wearing the same gray shaded combat outfit she'd been wearing when Rayne had cast his spell.

He knew right then and there that the cat was out of the bag and that if Willow's words weren't enough to mess things up, the guilty look his face would fill in the blanks. For a moment he couldn't believe that Willow would say something like that, since it went beyond the usual playfulness they had between them as friends back in Sunnydale. However his mind quickly reminded him that, ever since she had been placed in a Motoko Kusanagi prosthetic body, she'd gradually started to lose many of the inhibitions he usually attached to her. Not to say that she was like Faith or anything, but she definitely liked messing with his head more than she used to. Looking at Cassie and Jenny, it was clear that their shock quickly was turning into anger but thankfully a beeping in his ear saved him from trouble as it indicated that the Colonel was attempting to make contact. Seeing that the rest of them also were getting beeped, he hoped that they'd put a hold on any tongue lashing (the painful kind rather than the pleasurable ones) until after the mission. Crouching down to one knee, he pressed the right point just behind his left ear to initiate the connection his end of things.

"Snake here. All team members have reached point A and are preparing to head to point B." He said softly, knowing that his voice would be carried by the nanites in his blood even if he went to barely a whisper in volume.

"Good. According to my mole in the SGC, SG-12 will be going through to a planet thought to possess a potent weapon that could be useful for planetary defense." Maybourne said as he dove right into the mission briefing, "Hammond and his people have tried to acquire this technology through diplomatic channels but without success. It will be your job to sneak through the Stargate, infiltrate the complex where the weapon is located and then acquire the schematics for the device. Bear in mind that these people are called the Tolen and are very technologically advanced. You'll need to stay on your toes. Intelligence on them should be stored in the SGC databanks for The Major to download."

"Already done. I've got a few ideas of where to look for the weapon and information pertaining to it," Willow said via the communication gear in her prosthetic body. "Getting in and out without being spotted is going to be the problem. If they're half as advanced as the files indicate, I'm not sure how effective our stealth camo units are going to be."

"The Tolen are a relatively peaceful race so there shouldn't be anything more than light policing of the civilian areas. As for the more secure facilities, I believe that as long as you're careful and work together, I have no doubt you will succeed in your mission." Maybourne said with genuine confidence in their abilities.

"Any restrictions?" Hailey asked professionally as she was no doubt committing the mission details to memory.

"Avoid creating a body count as best you can. Corpses turning up will only increase the alert level amongst the Tolen making it more difficult to move around." Maybourne replied with precision, "If something happens, and given SG1s track record it most likely will, you are to abort the mission and wait for SG1 to return to the Stargate to escape."

"What makes you think they'll be able to make it to the gate if something comes up?" He asked, wanting to find out just what the chances were of them getting a return trip home.

"I think that both Agents Williams and Croft will be able to tell you, Snake, that O'Neill and his bunch have an uncanny knack for getting out of tight spots." Maybourne said with some genuine respect for the team he so disliked, "They'll manage somehow."

"Understood." He said, hoping that the confidence the Colonel, Cassie and Hailey had in SG1 was justified.

"They're due to go through the gate to the Tolen home world in one hour. Be there in time to pass through the gate and make sure you do so quickly to minimize the possibility of SGC personnel seeing ripples in the event horizon." Maybourne ordered, implying that that would be one of the riskiest parts of the mission, "Over and out."

With that the communications connection was severed and the waiting game began until the time when SG1 would go through the Stargate.

"Did you mess with the cameras in this room, Willow?" He asked his friend, who looked him glassy eyed for a moment before life returned to them.

"Sure did. As far as they're concerned, this place is completely empty with all systems running normally." She replied with a smile of pride at her ability to manipulate computer data.

"Okay then. The game's Poker and bets will be in the form of the paperwork for future missions." He said as he took a deck of cards out of one of his strap pockets.

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