Another chapter done, this once focuses solely on events in the SGC, and offers a lot of hints on future events in the Stargate universe. The inevitable impact of Imperial technology will soon be felt, and I expect a lot of things to greatly deviate from cannon. This will be greatly felt it later seasons, and I expect the 5, 6 and 7th seasons of Buffy to be very different from cannon. As for the changes to the Stargate story, I am still developing the long-term effects, but I have a plan for the rest of the season for the moment. There was also a mistake in the last chapter, in which I kept Carter at the rank of Captain, while the chapter was meant to take place after she was promoted. Anyway, read and enjoy.
Chapter 8
It took two days before Willow had managed to gather and produce enough equipment to make a suitable presentation of Imperial technology, as well as provide enough supplies for at least some of the SGC soldiers. Fortunately, she had a certain amount of equipment already produced, just in case an emergency situation sprung up suddenly.
"Watch yourself. I don't want you getting hurt, alright?" Buffy stood by the truck that Willow had rented to transport herself and the cargo to the SGC in Colorado.
Since Ted had a driver's license, Willow had several human-like versions that were used to drive cargo from the train station to the factory. This time, one of them would be used to drive her. SG-1 were already in their vehicle, and would guide her.
"The Emperor protects." Willow grinned and hopped in the truck. A minute later, they were already on their way to the city.
The trip from Sunnydale to Cheyenne Mountains was long and rather boring, and Willow was rather relieved when they pulled in the base's parking lot.
A group of workers was already waiting to unload the truck, although they paused when they saw Willow emerge from the truck.
She wore black pants with heavy combat boots along with carapace armor protecting most of her body. The armor bore the mark of the Omnissiah on the chest, and on top of that, a white hooded robe. Two mechadendrites, which were integrated into the armor, hung over her shoulder, one sporting a large claw, the other a welding torch along with various other attachments. They were controlled by a metal headband placed on her head, a device that was a blend between a mind-impulse unit and elements of the constructor device. Completing the ensemble was a las pistol hanging from a holster on her belt.
"This way." O'Neill led her deep into the base. She drew a lot of strange looks, but no one commented.
The SGC was just as she expected it to be. A maze of concrete and steel, filled with people rushing all over the base, all united in a single purpose. The protection of humanity. A small smile graced her lips as she walked. Regardless of the age, the strength of humanity remained unmatched.
"Willow, this is General George Hammond. George, Senior Techpriest Willow Rosenberg of the Adeptus Mechanicus." O'Neill introduced her to his superior.
"A pleasure to meet you. I have to say, when Jack told me what they found, I was a bit skeptical to believe it." Hammond began.
"May I introduce the representatives from the Pentagon, Major Davis and Colonel Maybourne?" Willow gave a nod to the other officers, although she noticed that Jack gave Maybourne a rather nasty look.
"Perfectly understandable. Now, shall we begin with the demonstration?" Willow grinned. She had pulled her hood back, revealing that her formerly long hair was now cut rather short.
"Right this way." Hammond led her to the storage room where they had secured the items she had brought, and Willow spent a few minutes either pointing out boxes to be brought out, or opening some and pulling out various items. Once she had gathered everything, the whole group went to one of the firing ranges, where several targets were already placed, all of them wearing Jaffa armor, with the exception of two, who were wearing the two sets of Imperial armor Willow had brought.
"This is the cornerstone of the Imperial Guard. The lasgun is simple, robust and effective." Willow raised the rifle so that the gathered observers could take a good look.
"Depending on the power settings, it can fire anywhere from a 120 to 180 shots per magazine. It also features a bayonet mount, which can come in handy in close combat. There is also a modified version called the long las used for sniping. Now, as I understand, the targets are wearing the same armor your most encountered foes wear, so let's see how effective the weapons will be." Willow turned towards the row of dummies wearing Jaffa armor.
With a crack of ionized air, a red bolt of light impacted the chest plate and burned a hole right through the armor.
"Impressive. But, how reliable is the device?" Davis asked.
"You can drag it over rocks and through a swamp, and it will still be able to fire afterwards. Not that I recommend this, of course. The power packs are also very adaptable, and can be recharged with almost any power source. These power packs have integrated solar converters, so if necessary, you can recharge the packs just by leaving them out in the sun for a few hours." Willow replied.
"Next, we have the flamer. It is simply a flamethrower. It has a maximal range of ten meters. Not very elegant, but it gets the job done." The stream of flames that impacted the target left only burning plastic and heavily warped metal.
"Next we have the bolter. It is a large caliber projectile weapon. It is a bit different from what you are currently using. Firstly, this is a smoothbore weapon firing a two-stage projectile. Due to this, it has a lot less recoil than what you'd expect from such a large caliber. There are also different types of ammo used, but at the moment, we're only producing the standard type." Willow picked up the bolt gun and fired a shot at a third target. A second later, a massive hole appeared on the target.
"It uses explosive rounds?" Hammond frowned a bit.
"Yes. Bolters were designed to cause heavy damage, since they're primarily used by the Space Marines against stronger opponents than normal humans. Due to the nature of the projectile, it is not as effective at very close range, and since it fires solid rounds, it is not as efficient as the lasgun, but its power certainly compensates for that." Willow grinned.
"I also have with me a heavy bolter that was designed for a heavy weapons team. It takes at least two men to carry the weapon and the ammo, but its effectiveness against infantry is not to be underestimated. Since it's difficult to move quickly, it is mostly used to guard critical areas or ambush approaching infantry." Willow opened the large crate near her, demonstrating the large gun and the four crates of ammo chains with it.
"Next we have the grenades. We have managed to produce three types. Frag grenades are anti-personal grenades that unleash a hail of metal shards when they explode. They can also be set on a timer or with tripwires to set traps or cover escapes.
The krak grenade and the melta bomb are anti-armor grenades. When they impact an armored target, they can easily destroy it. The melta bomb is more effective, due to the higher termal energy it generates." Willow had pointed out the three different grenade types.
"Your weapons are indeed quite impressive. I was told that a member of your group requested to join this facility?" Hammond asked. While Jack had filled him in on the situation a few more details never hurt.
"Kendra has indeed asked to aid you in your struggle. She had recently suffered heavy injuries, and at her request, we have placed her into a Dreadnought. A Dreadnought is basically a large walking robot operated by a human pilot. The pilot is tied to the machine for life support. Outside of it, they will die. Kendra will have plenty of weaponry for any situation that might arise during her tenure here." Willow replied.
"You will provide us with more weapons in the future?" Maybourne stepped forward.
"At the moment, our production facilities are tied up working on Kendra. With the aid of the men that you will provide, we should be able to increase our quotas and produce more equipment for your use. Now, shall we move on to the last part of the demonstration?" Willow turned to the two dummies wearing Imperial armor. One was wearing the standard flak armor of the Imperial Guard, while the other was clad in carapace armor.
Teal'c, who was revealed to the Scoobies to be the real name of the large black man that was a part of SG-1, stepped forward to test the effectiveness of the Jaffa staff weapon on the armors.
After several shots, Willow stepped forward after attaching a complex eyepiece on her headband and began to examine the areas where the staff blasts had hit.
"Well, the carapace armor can easily take a shot from this weapon, but this armor takes a lot more time and resources to produce, and it is also much heavier. The flak armor is not as effective, but the chest plate is strong enough to endure a shot, although the wearer might experience some minor burns in the impacted area." Willow reported.
"That is good to know. Our current armor has proven woefully ineffective against Goa'uld weaponry." Hammond asked.
"Let me ask you something. What would you do if your group was ordered to surrender your facilities to the US Government?" Maybourne asked her.
"Colonel." Hammond did not like the greasy NID member any more than his 2IC, but he was more diplomatic than Jack was. Still, his tone carried a clear warning.
"It is a question I expected, general, so I am willing to answer it. Outside the fact that we're talking about technology that is about forty thousand years more advanced than the one you have?" Willow grinned as the man's face got a slightly annoyed look.
"Yes, in an emergency situation, a local government would be able to take command of the Mechanicus installations on their world, but this is not applicable in this situation." Willow's tone remained perfectly even as she spoke.
"And why's that?" Maybourne almost snapped.
"Our installation is under control of the Ordo Malleus, and the authority of the Inquisition is second only to the God-Emperor himself." Willow replied.
"That was an excellent presentation, Miss Rosenberg, and I for one am very grateful that you have agreed to provide us with your technology." Hammond jumped in before Maybourne could say something that could cause trouble.
"We are always willing to aid those who seek to protect humanity. There are a few conditions to this deal, though. The most important is that all Imperial technology is given to the SGC, and as such, only this facility has the right to use it. If any other branch of the military is seen using our technology, we will retrieve all our technology, by any means necessary." Willow's tone had taken a steely edge, and the threat was clear as air.
"That is perfectly acceptable." Hammond shot a warning look to the two Pentagon officers.
"The other condition is that your men must be taught the proper rituals to use and service this equipment. As a Techpriest, I cannot allow Imperial technology to be used unless I know its machine spirits will be properly appeased." This surprised the officers a bit.
"You want us to pray to the rifles?" O'Neill was skeptical, but his tone was not insulting.
"I understand your reservations, but the rituals are not mere superstition. The Adeptus Mechanicus has spent thousands of years studying the nature of the machine spirits, and the rituals are based on that research. You'll find that a properly tended rifle will serve you much better than a neglected one. For example, if you take two lasguns, give them the same level of maintenance but only apply the proper rituals to one of them, you'll find that the latter's performance is superior to the first, even if there's no visible reason for it to be." Willow replied.
"We will give it a try. You can teach these rituals to my men?" Hammond was a fairly open minded man willing to accept a great deal if it meant keeping his subordinates alive and healthy, not to mention his world and family safe from alien invasion.
"I can write down all the pertinent rites once I've reviewed the personnel files for the future acolytes." Willow replied.
"Right this way, then." The group left the firing range and headed to the main control room.
"You can access our personnel database from this terminal." Hammond gestured to one of the work stations. Willow nodded and took the seat before the terminal. To the surprise of the SGC staff, one of the mechadendrites shot forward and extended an interface jack that connected to one of the free ports on the computer. The screen of the terminal began to flicker rapidly, cycling through files at a staggering pace.
"Well, I have selected the candidates I feel are the most suitable for induction into the Cult Mechanicus." Willow spoke a few minutes later, and four files appeared on the screen.
"Bill Lee and Lindsey Novak are the ones I want permanently in Sunnydale, while Jay Felger and Chloe Angstrom would serve better here once they have been trained. The equipment we'll provide will require regular maintenance, not to mention Kendra. A Dreadnought is a machine that requires regular attention. Also, switching the modular weapons is a difficult operation I wouldn't entrust to anyone without the proper training." Willow replied.
"I will inform them of your decision, although it might take a while to get them all here." Hammond replied. Not everyone Willow selected was currently at the SGC.
"That's alright. Major Carter has offered to show me some of the technology you have managed to obtain. I daresay that will keep me busy enough." Willow smiled.
The few hours spent in the SGC labs was indeed very informative for Willow. The examination of the Jaffa staff gave her new insights that could greatly help her improve the reliability of the much more powerful, but more unstable Imperial plasma weapons. The biggest point of interest for Willow was a piece of technology the SGC had acquired recently, namely a Naquadah generator. The fusion generators Willow used were an extremely old design, maybe even from before the Dark Age of Technology, as she simply couldn't produce some of the components used in the more modern reactors, which in turn greatly reduced the maximal amount of energy she could provide to the factory.
The use of several Naquadah reactors would not only solve this problem, but with the extra energy, she may even be able to rebuild the generators into the more modern versions, further increasing the output and thus the maximal mass amount the constructor could produce.
"How soon can you manufacture six of these generators?" Willow asked eagerly.
"We may have to get them from Orban, but we can have them here in a few days if necessary. Why?" Carter felt that she had found a kindred spirit in Willow, and only her duty to SG-1 prevented her from volunteering for a transfer to Sunnydale.
"Our biggest problem is power. I am limited by both space and the level of available technology with how much energy I can provide to the factory. While I am excavating a chamber for a third reactor, it will not be complete in months. With the power provided by such a compact source, I can not only increase the factory's production output, but also refit the main generators, further increasing power and production, which in turn would mean more equipment for the SGC." Willow grinned.
"I will speak with General Hammond about it. I'm curious, are you capable of building a spaceship?" Carter asked.
"I have the knowledge, but not the means. With massive expansion, we may be able to manufacture some aircraft types that can also function in space, but it would a long time before we can even begin something like that." Willow sighed.
"Would it be possible to produce some components in other sites?" Carter asked.
"No. Even the metals we use for construction are produced using machines that only we can construct. But, there is something you can do. I can provide you with the designs for our servitors. If you manufacture them, it would liberate a lot of our resources." Willow grinned.
"But aren't they based on advanced technology as well?" Carter frowned.
"Not quite. The ones working on more complex tasks do have more advanced components, but excavators don't need anything complex. Also, the original design was developed over forty years ago on this Earth." This confused Carter.
"How is that possible?"
"It's a long story, let's just say we managed to obtain the only prototype and used it to construct more of it. While the technology is not that advanced, the potential for abuse, especially in modern society is very high, so they should be produced with care." Willow replied.
The phone in the lab rang at that point, and Carter picked it up. "Your recruits have arrived."
"I trust you've all been briefed on why you're here and have accepted the offer?" Willow asked once she was introduced to the four people she had chosen.
"Yes. Although I personally prefer Star Trek over Warhammer 40K." Dr. Felger grinned.
"Will we be required to wear uniforms?" Dr. Lee asked.
"The robe is required, yes. Other than that no, unless you want to." Willow shrugged.
"What exactly will our role be in your facility?" Lee continued.
"Oversight and programming. There is one more duty, but you'll learn about that once you've been fully ordained into the Adeptus Mechanicus." Willow grinned.
"Major Carter has filled me in on your discussion. I am certain we can accommodate you on both accounts." Hammond informed her. It was an easy decision to make as any aid to the Sunnydale facility would in turn mean more advanced equipment for the SGC.
"Thank you, General. We should get going. It's a long drive back to Sunnydale." Willow grinned and walked out of the conference room, followed by the four new adepts.
"What do you think, major?" Hammond turned towards the woman once they were alone.
"The Goa'uld are in for a surprise the next time we clash. I'd really like to see the looks on their faces once we finally have that Dreadnought going through the gate." Carter smirked.