Disclaimer: Stargate: SG-1 and all related concepts are the property of MGM, while the character of Spike belongs to Joss Whedon and James Marsters, among other people (Also, the original idea for this story came from Jedi Buttercup's 'An Unexpected Gift', so I don't own it either, although I have put my own spin on things, and have been given his full permission to use his idea)
Feedback: I'd appreciate it, of course
AN: Regarding how Spike is able to actually punch Adria despite the fact that she has that necklace that protected her from the Dakara weapon, I'm assuming the necklace's protection only extends to less conventional energy-based attacks; after all, with the mental powers available to her, it's unlikely that the Ori would have been concerned about her getting punched, so why would they have provided her with a means of protection from that when she was more than capable of doing it herself?
The Ghost in the Team
Barely even taking time to register the loss of her would-be attackers as the energy of the Dakara Superweapon, Adria raised her hand, her mind resolutely fixed on the destruction of that very weapon.
As much as she regretted the necessity of what she was about to do, if the word of Origin was ever to be successfully spread throughout the galaxy, this weapon, and the people who wielded it, would have to be eliminated.
Raising her hand as though she was about to fire a weapon she held in it, Adria focused her power and her will, preparing to smite the planet before her for defying the word of her fathers…
And then a powerful kick struck her in the side of the head, sending the Orici flying off to one side and breaking her concentration.
"Sorry, love," a voice stated from where she had been standing mere moments ago, sounding unutterably smug with itself, "but I don't really do the whole 'standing by while the planet gets blown up' thing- even if it's not my planet that's going to go boom-, and given what I've heard about your lot, I somehow doubt you're here to just nicely ask these Jaffa sods to stop using this 'Dakara Weapon' I've heard so much about."
"What?" Adria asked, cradling her apparently bruised cheek as she stood up and turned to look in the direction of the voice that had spoken.
To her confusion, standing in the middle of the control room, apparently unaffected by the recent attack from the Dakara weapon, was a tall man with almost white hair, dressed in a long black coat, dark trousers, and a red shirt of some kind. At first glance, Adria would have taken him for a human due to the lack of a tattoo on his forehead that was common to all Jaffa, but even a cursory look at his face revealed a twisted appearance that belonged to no species Adria could identify.
Then her initial confusion faded, to be replaced by resolve; no matter what else became of her in this moment, she was the Orici, and she would not countenance such treatment, even from one of the people she sought to save.
"Who are you, who would dare to strike the Orici?" she asked, getting back to her feet and facing the intruder, scorn clear in her face.
"Name's Spike," the 'thing'- for lack of a better term; he was no lifeform that Adria could identify, at least- said, grinning casually at her before his gaze narrowed, his golden eyes almost seeming to glow in a Goa'uld like manner. "And, right now, I'm the man who's going to kick your sodding arse unless you leave that planet alone!"
"Really?" Adria asked, smirking slightly as she felt the balance of power shift once more in her favour. Reaching out with her mind, she prepared to grab the man before her and hurl him into a wall, putting him down until the moment when he would realise how futile his actions had been from the beginning…
Only for her to find nothing in front of her to throw.
"What?" Adria asked, unable to keep the fear out of her voice as she looked at this seemingly bodiless man before her; she could sense a life-presence of some kind there, so he wasn't a hologram, but he didn't seem to have any kind of actual body that she could actually touch. "How…?"
"Am I a 'ghost'?" 'Spike' replied, grinning casually back at her. "Don't rightly know for sure, wouldn't tell you even if I did know, and, right now, don't much care about the specifics of it."
Glaring in a resolved manner at Adria, Spike's mouth twisted into a slight smile as he stared at her. "All that matters to me is that it lets me kick your arse."
Before Adria could even try to come up with a new plan of attack, Spike had launched another punch at her, sending her staggering backwards, a sudden pain spreading across her lip. Confused, Adria raised her hand to her mouth, and, much to her shock, it came away bleeding.
This… thing… had made the Orici bleed?
For the first time since her birth, Adria felt a brief trickle of fear about something other than disappointing her fathers.
This thing may have been an abomination in the sight of the Ori, but it was an abomination that could actually hurt her… and worse, it was an abomination that she could not hurt back to make him see the error of his ways. If only she had more time to work out some effective counter-attack…
Time, however, was something that Spike clearly wasn't willing to give her; before she could do much more than scramble back to her knees, Adria felt the heel of Spike's boot pressing against the back of her neck, slamming her against the ground and prompting another brief flash of pain as her nose hit the floor with an unpleasant crunch.
"Now then," Spike said, his voice cold as he stared down at her, his heel still pressed against her neck, "unless you want me to keep hitting you- and trust me, I worked with a master of torture for years; I know just what to do to put you down without actually killing you-, I'd appreciate it if you'd take me to the control room and tell me how to send a message to anybody who might be listening. Got me?"
After a moment of silence, Adria sighed in resignation.
As much as she hated to admit it, she couldn't make this thing see the error of his ways when she couldn't even touch him. All she could do was go along with his demands, wait and see what happened, and try and figure out some way to turn this situation to her advantage
"I… understand," she said, inwardly fuming at the disrespectful attitude of this 'man'- if man he was- even as she acknowledged that she had to go along with his demands.
"Good," Spike said, releasing the pressure on her neck as she hauled herself back to her feet. "Now then, let's go on a little walk to the control room, shall we? I don't know about you, but I don't really want to turn on something that I shouldn't and blow this thing up; even if it didn't kill me, drifting about in space is not my idea of fun, and I don't think it's yours either."
As much as she hated to admit it even to herself, Adria had to acknowledge as she walked that her foe made a valid point; she wasn't even sure if she could survive the destruction of the ship if it should explode.
As she had thought earlier, all she could do was go along with her current situation until another option presented itself to deal with this arrogant upstart; if her fathers had taught her anything, it was that patience was an essential part of any campaign.
Even as she walked, however, she couldn't shake the slight fear that she felt as the creature that had just actually hurt her walked slowly behind her, his hands constantly visible out of the corners of her eyes as though they were just itching for her to give their owner an excuse to grab her head and twist it.
She was rapidly coming to the conclusion that her best chance might just be to run rather than to try and figure out a means of fighting this abomination when her usual methods had so spectacularly failed; she still couldn't think of a single weapon in her immediate arsenal that wasn't dependent on the subject having both a physical body she could attack and a mind she could read.
As he stood in the temple of Dakara, the group of Jaffa in the room having waited a few moments to allow the weapon to take effect, General Landry was barely able to stop himself from hitting Se'tak as the man looked casually at the Dakara Superweapon's controls before turning back to look at him.
God, if he didn't need to remain diplomatic if he was going to have any chance of making his point, he would have just punched the Jaffa leader and damn the consequences.
The man may just have killed three of the few people who the galaxy literally owed their very freedom to at this point- one of them the person who started his people on the path to freedom in the first place-, and the only thing he seemed to care about was the fact that Earth had apparently been suppressing their control when they'd only wanted to work together to coordinate an assault on the Ori.
"The ship has been halted," Se'tak said, a slightly smug tone in his voice as he glared at the general. "Your attack on Dakara has been thwarted; the Ori warship is once more ours."
"And I keep telling you," Landry retorted, "my people have nothing to do with this. We only object to your use of the weapon against innocent people; we do not object to you taking power-"
"Hello?" a voice suddenly yelled over the radio in Landry's pocket- the only communication device in the room, which he'd brought along in case he needed to be informed of new developments at the SGC-, breaking the chain of conversation between the two men. "Sorry about the delay in replying up at this end; took a stupidly long time to get to the control room from where we were…"
Landry's eyes widened in shock as he pulled his radio out of his pocket, ignoring the critical looks from Se'tak- evidently he felt that Landry's not having mentioned the radio earlier was further proof that Earth didn't see the Jaffa as true allies- as he forced himself to focus on the more immediate concerns right now.
"Spike?" he yelled into the radio, unable to fully believe that the vampire was actually talking to him now, of all times. He vaguely registered that Se'tak was looking at him in a critical manner, as though angered at the lack of respect Landry was showing him, but Landry had questions that needed answered right now; Se'tak would have to wait a few moments. "What the hell are you doing here?"
"Saving the sodding planet, Hank m'boy; what else do you do when you're on SG-1?" Spike asked, sounding like he was restraining a slight smile as he spoke. "Sam must've dropped the amulet before everyone else got beamed off the ship by the Odyssey; found myself alone with this 'Orici' bird who was piloting the thing, and figured I'd make myself useful by taking her out before she could do anything."
"The Orici?" Se'tak repeated, looking critically at the radio in Landry's hand, before he walked over to yank the radio out of the general's hand and raise it to his own lips. "I am Se'tak, ruler of the Free Jaffa Nation; who are you, and what do you mean when you say you have 'taken out' the Orici?"
"Oh, so you're the guy who was firing that weapon at us?" Spike's voice replied, apparently unconcerned about the potential consequences of talking to the ruler of an entire people in that manner. "You know, you sods really need to think more about friendly fire; you nearly killed the rest of my team. Hell, you probably would have sodding killed me if I wasn't already dead… well, kind of…"
"You are 'kind of' dead?" Se'tak repeated, looking critically up at Landry. "Do you know what this fool is talking about?"
"Well…" Landry said, pausing for a moment to come up with a convincing cover story that wasn't a total lie- he'd tell them all the truth about Spike later, but for the moment he doubted the Jaffa would believe that Spike was a vampire who'd sacrificed himself to stop the First Evil- before continuing, "while on a mission, Spike- it's a kind of nickname he prefers to be known by; even I'm not sure what his real name is- encountered a device that apparently disintegrated him only for him to be 'restored' later in an intangible state."
"An intangible state?" Se'tak repeated, looking critically at Landry. "If he can touch nothing, how is he capable of communicating with us now?"
"Colonel Carter theorised that Spike would be capable of influencing his environment if he concentrated enough," Landry clarified, as he looked up at Se'tak. "He hadn't managed to get the hang of it last time I saw him, but if he took out the Orici, it seems like he managed to master that particular talent since then."
Taking the radio back from Se'tak- fortunately the Jaffa appeared more than slightly bemused by what he'd just learned and didn't argue about the action-, Landry activated the radio once again.
"OK, Spike," he said, unable to stop himself from enjoying a slight smile as he spoke- after all, Spike may be a new member of the SGC, but it was still good to see his faith in his staff justified-, "now that you've taken the ship, what do you want us to do?"
"What else?" Spike asked, sounding like the answer was obvious. "Get somebody from down there up here; I can't threaten this Adria bird and pilot this thing, you know!"
"Right," Landry said, still smiling as he looked up at Se'tak. "I'll have some people up there as soon as I can, I assure you; in the meantime, just make sure Adria doesn't do anything. Clear?"
"Crystal," Spike replied, before he terminated the call. Putting the radio back in his pocket, Landry turned to look at Se'tak, trying not to grin too much at this vindication of his organisation.
"As you heard," he said, nodding politely at the Jaffa before him, "we have recaptured the Ori battlecruiser, and I would be most grateful if your people would accompany me to properly secure it; Spike's still new to the whole experience of being on an SG team, and even if he wasn't, he could hardly be expected to secure the ship himself."
For a moment, Se'tak stared grimly at Landry, as though coming to a decision, and then he finally nodded and turned to look at one of his fellow Jaffa.
"Assemble a contingent of Jaffa and have them assemble here," he said. "We shall dispatch a ha'tak to secure the ship-"
"Actually, that won't be necessary; Ori battlecruisers are equipped with ring transporters," Landry interrupted, looking at Se'tak as he spoke. "We can travel directly to the battlecruiser without the need for a ship; it should allow us to more rapidly secure the more vital parts of the ship in case other Ori forces show up."
For a moment, Se'tak looked as though he was going to protest, and Landry wondered if he'd been a bit too direct in his 'orders'- he didn't want to risk jeopardising their relationship with the Jaffa any more than it already seemed to be- but the Jaffa leader simply nodded.
"A good plan," he said simply. "We shall meet you at the ring transporters shortly; be prepared to leave as soon as we arrive."
"Of course," Landry said, nodding briefly at the man as he and his associates departed, leaving only Landry and Bra'tac in the room.
As soon as the last Jaffa had departed, Bra'tac turned to look at Landry with a relieved smile on his face.
"It is good to know that your teammates have managed to triumph over the Ori," he said, before he looked more curiously at the general. "However, I am uncertain about who 'Spike' actually is; is he a new member of the SGC?"
"He's a bit of a complicated story, but yes, he's on the team," Landry nodded in confirmation at the master Jaffa. "Actually, he's officially on probationary status; this was only his first mission, and the main plan was to see how he'd handle himself given his current… condition, but he seems to have handled himself well enough."
"To have defeated the Orici and acquired control of an Ori battlecruiser?" Bra'tac said, smiling slightly as his eyes turned upwards towards where the battlecruiser in question floated even now. "I would certainly say he has 'handled himself' well for his first mission among you."
A few minutes later, Landry and a small group of Jaffa- Bra'tac in the lead to avoid any command dispute; he at least was somebody that everyone could agree deserved to lead this kind of 'expedition'- were walking through the corridors of the Ori battlecruiser, weapons drawn in case of any unexpected attacks. As they turned into the control room, Landry smiled slightly as he saw Spike and Adria in the middle of the room, Adria slumped in the control chair as Spike's hands hovered threateningly around her neck.
"Ah, you're here," the vampire said, smiling broadly up at General Landry before his eyes turned to the Jaffa around the general. "And which of you guys nearly turned my friends into atoms?"
"Spike…" Landry groaned as he glared at the vampire, who turned to look at him as he spoke, "do you have to phrase things like that?"
"I'm a to-the-point kind of bloke, your Generalness; it's got me through life so far and I'm not planning on changing it any time soon," Spike explained simply before he turned back to look critically at Se'tak. "And can I say, I really do not like the idea of nearly getting disintegrated because you triggered some sodding large weapon to try and stop the bad guy without paying attention to the little details."
"I took what action I felt was necessary to ensure the survival of my people," Se'tak stated grimly as he glared back at Spike. "I seek only to preserve my people; what is your excuse for your actions?"
"Save the sodding world; what else?" Spike replied, shrugging nonchalantly as he jerked his head at Adria. "I mean, don't get me wrong, grateful that you took out the rest of the crew on this thing- made it easier for me to focus on taking down this screwy bitch- but did you have to risk killing us as-"
"What my… colleague… is trying to say," Landry muttered through clenched teeth as he glared briefly at Spike before looking back at the Jaffa, resolving to try a more diplomatic tactic than just 'Don't use the weapon' this time around, "is that, while we don't deny the potential value of the Dakara weapon against the Ori, we object to its indiscriminate use against innocent people simply because you cannot see any alternative. We are not suggesting you simply stop using it, or only fire it where we tell you to fire it; we simply feel that we can better stand against the Ori if we work together rather than trying to attack the Ori independently and potentially jeopardising each other's plans. If we can determine the location of an uninhabited planet with an Ori ship in the vicinity, or a planet where it's clear that the Ori presence is so strong we won't be able to do anything to convert its people, the weapon can be considered, but trying to act independently against the Ori is a futile gesture when we can accomplish so much more against them as allies. "
"He speaks the truth, Se'tak," Bra'tac said, stepping forward to better address the new leader of the Jaffa council. "The Tau'ri do not seek to control us as the Goa'uld and the Ori would do; they simply acknowledge that, by fighting side by side, we are capable of delivering far more devastating blows to our enemies than we would be if we attempted to fight them separately. Striking out with this weapon does indeed have merits as a means of vanquishing the Ori, but if we do not coordinate our efforts to limit the danger to innocent people, we risk becoming as despised and feared as the very things we seek to defeat."
"What he said," Spike added, nodding briefly at Bra'tac before he turned back to Se'tak, taking care to make sure that Adria was still aware of his hands around her throat in case she tried to say something. "I've tackled some weird stuff in the last few years before I joined this organisation- long story there; maybe I'll tell you it later-, and I always learned one thing; the more big guns you're packing when the time comes for the final crunch, the better the chances you'll walk away at the end of it."
After a moment's silence, Se'tak nodded thoughtfully.
"You make… a good point, Landry and Spike of the Tau'ri," he said, nodding thoughtfully at them both before he focused his attention on Spike. "And, of course, we cannot overlook the fact that you have saved our people's most sacred place, when we had given you and your associates no reason to act in our defence. We owe you a great debt, and I shall be sure to inform my people of this fact."
"No need to thank me; I just have a thing about people blowing up worlds," Spike said nonchalantly; he somehow doubted these people would appreciate it if he started punching the air and yelling as Angel to take that on his stupid big forehead and . "It's a bad habit of mine I got into a few years back, and I'm not that interested in getting over it."
"I… see," Se'tak said, looking slightly confused as he looked back at Landry. "Is he… always like this?"
"He's a bit difficult to get used to, but he came with good recommendations," Landry replied, smiling slightly back at Se'tak as he began to relax for the first time since arriving on Dakara. "Trust me; his attitude's a bit… unusual, to say the least… but I'm pretty sure he can be counted on when you need him."
After a moment's silence, Se'tak looked inquiringly at Spike.
"You would truly fight to save any world from destruction at the hands of the Ori?" he asked, his voice neutral.
"The Ori, these Goa'uld and Replicator buggers I've heard so much about, the sodding minions of her Great Loonieness Glorificus; you name it, I don't want it to destroy a planet," Spike shrugged. "It's all a bit pointless, really; I mean, even when you're able to go into space, destroying planets'll probably result in you ending up destroying the bit you're standing on at some point, right?"
"An… intriguing philosophy, Spike of the Tau'ri," Se'tak said, nodding slightly at Spike before he turned to look at Landry. "Your colleague has given me a… great deal to think about. I shall order that all use of the weapon shall cease until we can both come to a mutual decision on what should be done with it."
"Thank you," Landry replied, nodding back at Se'tak before he indicated the ship around them. "In exchange for your generosity, any analysis made of this ship will be done on Dakara itself, and I will ensure that all Jaffa are made aware of any weaknesses or discoveries we make about the Ori technology-"
"Fools," Adria stated simply.
"Excuse me?" Spike said, looking down at her even as she glared up at him. "You're calling us the idiots? Who beat up who here, I might add?"
"You seek to understand what is beyond your comprehension," Adria stated grimly as she glared up at Spike before she turned her attention to Landry and the Jaffa gathered before her. "You cannot defeat the Ori; their will is all, and they shall bring enlightenment to this galaxy-"
"Blah blah blah; does it ever occur to you that this galaxy might be happy being the way it is?" Spike pointed out, walking around to stand in front of Adria and smirk slightly at her. "Now look, seriously, you've already had your head handed to you once today; don't you want to just give up now and come along quietly?"
"Never," Adria stated coldly, as she raised her hand to her necklace, pressed down the centre of it, and suddenly vanished in a burst of white light.
"What the hell?" Spike yelled, looking over at Landry in confusion. "What the sodding hell just happened?"
"She teleported away," Landry replied, groaning as he clasped his head in one hand. "God, I'm an idiot; I should have known she'd try something like that…"
"Se'tak!" one of the other Jaffa said, indicating a control console off to one side. "There is something taking place here; I believe that a ship is being launched."
"Look!" Bra'tac said, pointing at the window before them, beneath which was spread the vast shape of Dakara and the stars beyond it. As Spike, Landry and the Jaffa watched, a small tube-shaped spaceship flew through the space before the Ori battlecruiser before flying upwards, away from the planet, and subsequently vanished in a flash of white light.
After a moment's silence, Spike groaned and glanced back and Landry.
"Her escape pod?" he asked.
"Most likely," Landry acknowledged. "She must have had a short-range teleporter on her that allowed her to reach that ship in the event that this battlecruiser was ever boarded or attacked and she needed to get away."
"A sensible conclusion, General Landry," Bra'tac said, nodding in agreement at his friend, before he allowed himself a slight smile. "However, we must not let ourselves become downhearted. Today, we have not only deprived the Ori of another of their battlecruisers, but we have also acquired one of the very ships that have so plagued us since their arrival, and with it, access to the secrets of our enemies."
"Indeed," Se'tak said, nodding in agreement at Bra'tac. "Thanks to the actions of Spike of the Tau'ri, we have achieved a great victory, and demonstrated to the Ori that we shall not surrender to their advances across this galaxy. This day marks a turning point in our fight against our enemies."
"Uh… bravo?" Spike said, smiling slightly sheepishly at the Jaffa around him, once again trying to restrain the undignified urge to run around whooping like a loon at this latest turn of events.
His first mission and he'd already managed to make a significant impact on the fight with these Ori buggers? An impact on a fight on such a whopping big scale that none of the Sunnydale gang could have ever imagined fighting in a struggle of that size?
It's official, Spike grinned to himself as he looked around at his new allies, I am definitely liking the way things are going for me here!