Chapter 25: Recovery

"Have we figured out the gate address yet?" asked the bald man in dress blues with the two star rank of Major General.

"Whoever wrote the program tried very hard to cover their tracks," Samantha Carter, Major, USAF said as she pushed her laptop screen toward the base commander, "But I think we've uncovered the planet that the intruder went to, yes."

The conference room was more crowded then usual, the presence of an additional two SG teams made the air stuffy and the elbow room nonexistent. In addition to the general and the major sat Colonel Jack O'Neill (USAF, Retired and reinstated), Daniel Jackson, PhD, Teal'c, and SG teams 12 and 13.

"That gate address wasn't in our database," Carter went on, "It's on a remote planet in this quadrant of our galaxy." The image came up on the screen and zoomed in on the planet in question.

"Any clue as to why this man went through all the trouble to break in to our facility just to strand himself on the other end of the galaxy?" General Hammond asked.

"Yeah, well I'm more interested in knowing how he knew about this gate address," Daniel said.

"And how he knew about the facility in the first place," the team leader from SG 12 suggested.

"Yes, we'll be looking into that. In the meantime after we send the MOUNT through the gate to make sure that the planet our ninja went to is not underwater or without atmosphere, all three of your teams will be sent to the planet in order to bring him back into our custody," Hammond said, "Gear up and move out."

As the general stood up, everybody else in the room with the exception of Teal'c and Daniel Jackson stood at attention and sounded off with, "Yes sir!"


The six figures surrounded the cloaked man, weapons out and upraised. The blonde haired woman frowned in consternation, "Who are you?" she demanded.

"Do not bother trying to read my mind. It won't work, but know that I am here to help you," the cloaked man said, his voice distorted to an unrecognizable growl.

"Words!" the tallest shouted, spinning his brightmage's staffs one in each hand. In a few quick strides he was on top of the man and brought one of them down on top of the man's head. The shadowy figure raised a curved sword above his head and the staff shattered, sending the large man backwards.

"How can you help us in this existence?" the bald headed man asked, his two axes glinting dangerously in the light.

"I can offer you a way out," the cloaked man said, flashing the engraving of a heron on the blade's hilt.

"Impossible!" the other woman shouted crossing her large arms over her chest.

"We have been looking for a way out for sometime," the blonde leader said as she helped the tall one back up on his feet again, "There is no way. We cannot get out."

"Your situation has come to my attention," the shadowy figure said arrogantly, "And I have decided to take pity on you."

"We don't need pity!" the shortest shouted, clearly outraged.

"No," the shadowy figure agreed, "But you do need direction. I cannot allow beings such as yourself to roam about DreamLand killing indiscriminately."

"We'll listen to what you have to say, before we decide to kill you," the blonde said, restraining the tallest from attempting to assault the man again.

"This whole realm is the creation a single man. He is the keystone that holds this world together, remove the man and you will have your exit."

"You would have us kill the administrator!" the third member of the group blurted loudly, "That's impossible!"

"Not if you have the right items. Just as he is the keystone, there are other stones that make up this world. If you collect them, then you will have the edge you need against the administrator. Lastly, all you need is something to finish off the rest of this place…this world without dreams," the unknown man said, his voice sounding amused.

"And just what is so powerful that it can destroy this whole universe?" the blonde leader asked.

"An ancient weapon powerful to kill a god," the shadowed man said, a smile on his lips knowing just how fully he had them.


Beyond sat straight up off of the ground from where he had been sleeping. The dreams were beginning to annoy him, making sound rest possible. Their clarity did not help either, as dreams were usually fuzzy or easily forgotten…or nonexistent usually.

Beyond checked the metal box that Nikita had given him. It was still secure and unopened, but Beyond was tempted to open the box to see what was inside. He supposed that he should have given it to either Harrod or else James…but he could not bring himself to part with it.

For some odd reason, the shadowy figure from his dream came back to him. 'An weapon powerful to kill a god,' the man had said.

Curiosity began to overwhelm the tall man, and with a quick glance to make sure that nobody was watching him he began to work at the lock. A few minutes later the brightmage managed to get past the lock and he carefully opened the lid. The Index glowed bright green up at Beyond, and he gasped in shock.

Why did he give this to me!? Beyond thought desperately. Unsure about what to do with the Index, he quickly shut the box and shoved it back into his pockets. Knowing that sleep was not going to help him anymore, he stood up and began walking among the sleeping bodies. The darkness around them was almost smothering it was so thick, even for one who knew how to weave shadows.

The defenses set up by the ragged survivors had long since been completed, and the high ranking officers left had decided to let the clan rest up for the night. Some people had been selected to take shifts guarding the encampment, and Beyond could hear the guards murmuring in their foxholes.

There was one figure actually standing up, though Beyond could not tell who he was until he was right on top of him. Harrod turned and looked at Beyond with bleak eyes.

"You should be sleeping," Beyond said.

"I can't. I haven't been able to sleep in so long. This whole disaster doesn't make sense…" Harrod replied. He snapped his arm out in an angry gesture, as though trying to ward off something.

"A lot of things haven't made sense in a long time," Beyond said quietly.

"This planet is one of those things," Harrod said, "Look! You can see the Yuuzhan Vong ships hanging in orbit! But not one on the ground…"

Beyond remained silent as Harrod began pacing anxiously, "And then!" Harrod continued frantically, "The Vong themselves do not exist in the Force!Everything has some signature in the Force! Even those trees are dangerous…I can sense their anger at our presence…"

Beyond had heard Number Six say similar things, so he let Larry continue on…he seemed to want to be venting. Beyond knew how being stuck in another world against your will could be unsettling, but he had gotten used to it.

Harrod suddenly stopped talking, and went very still. His arm silently went for his lightsaber and he held it tightly in his grip.

"Something's coming…not the Vong…or else I would not be able to sense them…but they're coming!" Harrod's eyes twitched oddly and he began to scowl at the darkness, "Wake up the camp! Hurry!"

"What is it?" Beyond asked, staff coming up as he tried to see what Harrod was sensing, but he was too late. The jedi ignited his lightsaber and sprinted off into the darkness, after a few moments even Harrod's purple blade had disappeared into the night.

Staring dumbfounded for a moment, Beyond moved forward to talk to the perimeter guard who were more confused then he was. As he opened his mouth to explain, sudden howls and cries of outrage could be heard in the darkness.

The guards were suddenly alert, and the ones nearest to Beyond racked back the bolt on the Browning .50 caliber machine gun. The sound was loud and familiar enough to wake up the people around them. When darkly armored figures began pouring out of the night, the sounds of machine gun fire quickly woke up the rest of the camp.

In the chaos that followed, the perimeter guards were quickly reinforced by the remaining ODSTs and Clan Hunters as they joined the fight against a large force of enemies. Nobody knew who they were and nobody asked, but they were armed with mostly edged weapons while a handful carried bows.

Beyond cracked one of the oncoming monsters on the head with his staff, and turned his body in time to put the end of his staff into another's stomach just as it tried to split open his skull. A quick flick of the wrist sent the staff's end into the attacker's jaw and backwards.

Another one came from behind, Beyond tried to turn but was too slow. The monster grinned eagerly though crooked teeth and a black face, oddly human. As the creature tried to bring its slightly curved sword down on Beyond's face, Tex darted in and stuck her sword through the monster's throat.

"What are these things?" Beyond shouted, though he had fought similar creatures he had never seen anything fight with such ferocity.

"I don't know!" Tex shouted as another creature fell to her sword.

"Urk-Hai," Harrod said coldly, appearing out of the darkness his face blood spattered and glowing dangerously in the light of his lightsaber, "Created by Sauroman to be superior to orcs…I know where we are now…and I think I know why the Yuuzhan Vong have been unable to land here!"

After about a few more minutes of intense fighting, the steam of Urk-Hai began to lessen and then finally stop. Soon the night was silent again, except for the shouts of the wounded for medics and healers. James approached Larry out of the darkness, cautiously appraising the sanity of the heavily breathing squad leader. Link and Navi followed James, glaring at the dead Urk-Hai intently, as though they would leap to life.

"What?" Harrod demanded when he saw James' expression.

"Nothing…" James said slowly, "This attack has forced us to remain here longer then we had hoped. We wanted to be out of here at daybreak, but with all the wounded…"

"That's unfortunate," Harrod coldly.

"Indeed, more so since we need to find the location of the Stargate on this planet in order to get off of it. Now that we no longer have anything in the way of ships…"

"Did you capture anybody? Anything left from the raiding party?" Harrod asked abruptly.

James frowned at the question, "No, of course not. We killed everything that moved."

"Are you sure?" Harrod demanded.

"Of course," James responded, eyeing Harrod with curiosity, "Why?"

"If I'm right, then there should have been two small people with them, probably barefooted…"

"Hobbits," Tex said, recognizing the description.

"Yeah," Harrod said.

"I'll check the remains…but I don't think anyone saw anything like that," James said.

"I'll help…because if we did kill the hobbits, then we are going to have one very angryTa'veren chasing after them…and us."


Snake looked through the blades of grass that he was lying in at the guard who was standing ten or twelve feet away from him. Though the intelligence Snake had on the facility did not suggest anything about armed guards who were also members of the God Killers, he was not surprised at their presence.

The man had gotten some message a few minutes earlier and had gone alert, clearly looking for intruders. It had forced Snake to distract the man by knocking down a hornets nest right next to him.

In addition to effectively getting rid of the man for a few minutes, it was extremely funny to watch a full-grown man with an automatic weapon and body armor scurry away in a panic.

But now the man was back, and just as Snake was getting ready to enter the base. Knowing that he would be missed, and he would have to do well to hide the body, Snake waited till the man had his back turned and then leapt from his hiding place. The man turned at the last second, but it was too late. Already inside the man's range, Snake grabbed the man's arms and slammed him into the ground rendering the man unconscious.

For good measure, Snake fired one dart into the man's head and began dragging him into the foliage. After careful observation, Snake determined that radio check-ins were ever ten minutes, and he had decided to act about two minutes after the most recent check-in.

Knowing that time was against him, Snake ran into the forest knowing that the entrance to the underground compound was nearby. Spotting a camouflage painted door directly off to his right, Snake crouched behind a tree in order to figure out what kind of security was placed on it. Spotting a small black bulb sitting directly over the door, Snake knew that it was a camera.

Amateurs, he thought to himself. Guessing that a squad would most likely be dispatched to investigate the disappearance of the guard, Snake positioned himself behind the door so that they would not spot him.

Sure enough, a small contingent of more generic looking guards ran out of the door a few minutes later. Moving carefully, Snake slipped into the open door behind the last guard and under the camera.


Aragorn topped the rise following the path that he had been following for the many past days with little or no sleep or food. Legolas came up behind Aragorn hardly looking winded, his keen elf eyes searching the horizon for any sign of their quarry.

"They have led us directly to Fangorn Forest…it will be difficult to track them in there," Legolas said.

"And they are at the doorstep of Isengard," Aragorn added darkly, "We must pick up the pace."

The sounds of heavy footfalls and even heavier breathing announced the arrival of Gimli, the dwarf.

"Pick up the pace?!" The dwarf managed to spit out between gasps for air, "We've been running for three days Aragorn!"

"I doubt we shall have to run much further," Legolas said, his eyes narrowed to slits as he peered into the tree line, "There is a large camp of armed men at the tree line…and the Uruk-hai are dead."

"Can you see Merry or Pippin?" Gimli asked.

The elf shook his head sadly, "No, my friend. They are probably inside the encampment, though as prisoners or guests, I am unsure."

"They are neither," came a voice from the trio. All three spun, drawing weapons as though a horde of Orcs had sprung up from the grass.

Instead of Orcs, there was a man in a long robe and a woman dressed in a white shirt and slacks. Both were armed but neither made a move to attack the trio. Both looked shaken but injured, and Aragorn lowered his sword.

"Who are you?" Gimli demanded.

"I am Carth and this is Nikita," the man said, "She leads the camp of armed men down there."

"Who are they?" Aragorn asked. Gimli and Legolas finally sheathed their weapons, though their mistrust showed clearly on their faces.

"Travelers," Carth answered, "They've become lost and are on their way to an important battle. One that will determine the fate of all of us."

Nikita remained silent, studying the three facing her with a serious scowl. She was tired, since she and Carth had been moving all night in order to get near the largest gathering of Clan Hunters on this particular planet. She had just about reached her limit, and was tired of hearing Carth speak in riddles and vague references.

"Your friends aren't down there, but they are safe. There is someone down there, however who does need to see you to explain what has been going on," Nikita said briskly. Carth glanced at her with a little bit of irritation showing on his face.

"See us?" Legolas asked, "How do you know who we are?"

"That will be explained soon," Carth said quickly before Nikita could answer, "Nikita will take you down there. I must go elsewhere…"

"He's going to see some other important people," Nikita said hurriedly, "Now let's go!"

The three exchanged glances, "We have been running for the past three days, Aragorn. A bit of meat and some cheese would be delicious right about now," Gimli said.

Aragorn nodded, and Nikita led the way down the hill. Carth watched them for a moment before he turned and began walking in the opposite direction. By the time he had reached his third step, he had vanished.


The black haired boy regained consciousness hours later, and sat up groggily and looked around him. Squinting around himself he could hardly see anything, until he grabbed his glasses off the floor and put them back on his face. The room looked exactly like the Gryffindor Common Room, with the addition of bars surrounding it.

"Are you alright?" A woman asked from another cell.

"Clearly he is. Those fools want him alive!" Sneered a tall Asian man who had his hair in a topknot, who was in a different cell all together.

The woman glared back and then returned to the boy with a smile, "My name is Yuna…and that arrogant fool over there is Cao Cao. What's your name?"

The regarded her for a moment, the boy stood up, "I'm Harry…Harry Potter."

"How did you get here?" Yuna asked.

"Did you not see that ugly blue-eyed woman who carried him in here?" Cao Cao demanded, "Clearly he was captured…"

"I know that you ambitious old fool!" Yuna snapped, "I'm trying to get some information on our captors!"

"Fine, then dig away. You'll learn nothing of value though."

"They came in the night…they took me right out of my dormitory," Harry said, rubbing the lightening bolt scar on his forehead, "Oh no! We tried to stop them…but they were too powerful…Ron!" Harry gasped as the memories came flooding back to him.

Cao Cao remained quiet for once, staring impassively at the boy moaned as he realized that the God Killers had destroyed everything close to him. Harry threw his head backward and screamed loudly, the sound reverberating off of the walls. When he stopped screaming, a look of pure hatred was in his eyes.

"They will pay!" he screamed.

Yuna nodded, an angry snarl spreading across her own face, "They will! For Wakka!"

"For Ron!"

Cao Cao shrugged, "For my ambition!" he shouted.


Snake had no idea how complex the bunker had been until he had found himself lost inside of it. Seriously, how did anyone expect him to get any work done without an accurate map of the places he was supposed to go.

Poking his head around the corner of the hallway cautiously, he spotted a guard and a security camera which happened to be looking the other way at the time. He was surprised that with all the advanced technology that would make his job so much harder this facility was equipped with only the most primitive of surveillance equipment.

Shoving that thought aside, Snake wondered just how he was going to get past the guard and the security camera both. He could easily deal with the guard, but if he knocked out the guard and left the body in the hallway somebody would see it when the camera swiveled back onto the guard's body. Equally frustrating was the fact that if he disabled the camera the guard was sure to notice.

The problem solved itself when the guard came around the corner, and with a very shocked expression on his face. Snake reacted instinctively, grabbing the man by the back of the neck before he could get his rifle up and make things messy. With a quick thrust of his arm, Snake threw the man's face into the wall, both breaking his nose and rendering him unconscious.

Searching the man for anything useful, an idea came to him. Quickly backtracking to a small storage closet, Snake stripped the man of his uniform and weapon and quickly began the patrol down the hallway where the guard had been before. Leaving the guard's post would alert the guards to the absence of one of their original ones…making his disguise useless.

Sighing to himself he began patrolling until he was relieved of his patrol…hopefully soon. He was on a timetable after all…


"And that's pretty much the situation," Larry said finishing his report. The NPCs of Legolas, Gimli, and most importantly the King of Gondor, anotherTa'veren. Nikita and James were also present.

"You want me to join you?" Aragorn said after a long pause.

"Yes," Larry said, "We're all in trouble, and you are part of the solution for getting us out of here."

"I cannot. I cannot abandon Merry and Pippin," Aragorn said.

Nikita and James threw their hands up, "There are Yuuzhan Vong hovering around this planet. They destroy everything! I have no idea why they haven't landed yet," James shouted.

"If we can kill orcs we can kill whatever these monsters are from the sky," Gimli said fiercely.

"Maybe, but can you kill both orcs and the vong warriors? The real battle is not here," Nikita said.

"What if we agree to continue the search?" James asked.

"How would we come with you and continue searching for Merry and Pippin at the same time?" Legolas asked.

"That's easy. We have people pursuing us, and we're stationary with wounded and gathering our scattered clan. We're sending a squad a head with the other ta'veren we managed to gather. We'll find your missing Halflings and you go with that squad to fight the next battle," James said.

Aragorn was silent for a long time, "Very well. I'll go."

"I will stay and help with the search," Legolas said.

"As will I," Gimli said robustly.

"Excellent," Nikita said, "The squad you'll be going with leaves in the hour. Time is a luxury we do not have."

"Heard that one before," Gimli grumbled.

"Harrod, come with me. You're the squad leader for this mission," Nikita said, motioning for her to follow him.

"Things are bad," was the first thing that she said, "We are scattered across all of Middle Earth, we're low on supplies, most of us are wounded, and to top it all off we still can't log out of this damn game."

"Thanks for the rousing speech," Larry said dryly, as he continued to follow her, "What's the good news?"

"The good news is that we have enough vehicles to transport your squad and the twoTa'veren to this planet's Stargate. Your orders are to take them to the Stargate and go to this gate address I'm sending you," Nikita said, tapping her stylus to her PDA screen.

"What're the vehicles we'll be driving?"

"They're all ODST vehicles, two warthogs and one mongoose," Nikita said pointing them out.

"Mongoose?" Larry asked with a raised eyebrow.

"It's an All Terrain Vehicle. Fast and real strong, should be useful to you guys. We'll follow you as soon as we're able."

"What are our orders when we get through the gate?" Larry asked.

"Carth should meet you there," Nikita said, "He'll explain everything to you there."

"Carth? How did he get to the gate before us?" Larry said questioningly.

"No idea," Nikita said honestly, "Anyway we're removing Red and Leo from your squad. We need them here, you'll still have Tex, Fox, Section, Beyond, Link will be going with you of course, and Aragorn. You got enough swords in that group to arm the Scottish to invade England, so I'm sending Assim with you too."

"I thought Fox was all shot up," Larry said.

"Doc D does good work," Nikita said, "Get your crew together and head out."

"Yes, ma'am," Larry said as he turned to leave.

"Oh, Harrod?" Nikita said waveringly.

"Yes, ma'am?"

"I'm tired of playing this game. Give em' hell."