The massive dreadnought lay in wait, sliding through space like a cunning and great serpent, awaiting it's prey. Soon, it would strike…
...when the great ship's master commanded it so.
That master sat in his great chair, monitoring the scanners intently.
Watching the dimensional aperture with a brutal calmness.
Without warning, the wait was suddenly at an end.
"My lord! Our prey arrives!" the captain declared eagerly, looking at Kall.
"Our cloaking still holds?" Lord Kall inquired.
"Aye sire!" the captain replied.
"Then prepare to attack. Shoot to disable captain." Kall commanded.
"As you wish Lord Kall."
The dreadnought's weapon batteries hummed to ominous life as they readied to acquire their target…
"Has our probe detected anything?" Dante asked its sensor operators.
"Not yet sir." they responded.
"Something's wrong, isn't it?" Sam asked.
"Yeah. My combat instinct is buzzing." Dante answered. It turned to Eppy and Spidey.
"You said Kall ambushed you, but now he's gone. Something smells bad." Dante said.
"This is one of those rare times I agree with you." Spidey replied.
"Does Kall possess cloaking technology?" Teal'c wondered.
"He does friend Teal'c, but his dreadnought is too large to use it. Or it should be…" Eppy trailed off thoughtfully.
"I'm taking no chances. Go from yellow to red alert. Raise shields and prepare for combat." Dante ordered. Warning sirens sounded as the cruiser swung into combat mode.
"Is the Retribution a match for Kall's ship?" Jack asked.
"No. Not in a straight fight." Dante answered.
"Oh great." Jack commented.
As Kall watched, a probe flew from the hole in space-time past his warship.
"Steady." Kall growled.
"Let them come…"
After a matter of moments, the dimensional aperture opened once more and the Retribution shot out of it like a bat out of hell!
Kall and his crew were startled by their quarry's rapid exit but they recovered quickly.
"Decloak and open fire!" Kall thundered.
The dreadnought decloaked and the giant vessel of war's massive artillery batteries blazed away, scarlet beams of light rushing to greet their assigned opponent…
They had been walking in darkness for the better part of an hour.
But what would you expect from deep underground caverns but perpetual night?
They walked in a square formation, ensuring security and surveillance in every direction. Giles was in the center, flanked by Buffy and Faith, with Neil, his personalities, and Minerva forming the border of the square. Everyone was well-armed with swords and shields. Neil, his personalities, and Minerva were also armed with rifles and pistols. Bellona and Ares were also sporting light machine guns (Saws to be precise.) Everyone was wearing armor and helmets as well. They also sported radios to keep in touch with the others at Neil's castle.
Giles and the Slayers played their flashlights along their surroundings. The others of course could see in the dark and needed no such light.
"Creepy down here B." Faith muttered.
"Yeah. No kidding. They could hide an entire army down here and we would never know it. Look at the size of this cave!" Buffy whispered back.
"Indeed. This cavern must be millions of years old." Giles commented, looking around.
"We're being watched." Helen murmured.
"I know. I feel it too." Buffy replied.
"From where are we being observed?" Giles asked quietly.
"Everywhere Giles." Athena responded.
There was silence as they kept walking, watching their surroundings carefully, until at last…
...they sighted it.
Before them was a grand temple, an edifice even, constructed in a Neo-Gothic style, but twisted and perverted somehow. There were demonic faces and symbols covering every inch of the church. It was immense, rivaling even the largest cathedrals in size, if not exceeding them. It sat in the middle of a great pit. The sheer age of the building seemed to weigh upon them as they warily approached.
"An impressive structure, to say the least." Lilith remarked.
"Yes. It is very awe-inspiring. I wish we had time to study it!" Giles stated.
"Unfortunately, Rupert, we do not." Diana commented.
"No, alas. We must hurry." Giles agreed.
"How far do we need to go in Giles?" Neptune wondered.
"We need to be in the exact center of the temple to utilize the magicks." Giles responded.
"Then let's get in there." Ares said.
As they proceeded to the great doors, they all noticed one indisputable fact:
Said doors were wide open.
"Isn't that nice and ominous?" Minerva observed.
"Not to mention an obvious set-up for a trap." Bellona growled.
Their guard up, they entered the foreboding house of worship.
Numerous sets of eyes watched them intently.
"Brace for impact!" Dante yelled.
The others did so as scarlet beams and bolts impacted the Retribution's defense screens. They flared blue as they absorbed the damage inflicted by the Hierarchy warship's huge guns. The cruiser shuddered from the impact violently. SG-1 and Jacob/Selmak were knocked from their feet from the shock waves.
"Jesus Christ!" Jack said as he and the others clambered to their feet.
"Are you okay friends?!" Eppy inquired as it rushed to tend to them.
"We're okay, I think." Jacob answered. He turned toward Samantha.
"Are you okay Sam?!" Jacob asked worriedly.
"I'm okay Dad. Daniel? Teal'c?"
"Yeah, I'll make it." Daniel confirmed.
"I am uninjured, Major Carter." Teal'c answered.
"The bastard is firing again!" Spidey warned.
"Evasive maneuvers! Return fire!" Dante ordered.
The Retribution's weapons opened up with a ferocious barrage as it dodged it's hulking opponent's attacks with almost violent dodges!
Kall's dreadnought (the Warmonger) continued its attack as it closed in.
"They fight back, my lord." the captain reported.
"As expected. Maintain pursuit." Kall responded.
The Retribution accelerated away from the Warmonger, the two massive ships exchanging fire. Grav missiles and energy torpedoes launched from both battle vessels as their plasma, laser, particle beam, and magnetic guns roared with deadly fury!
"He's right on our ass!" Jack yelled.
"Warmonger closing!" a bridge officer reported.
"Keep our distance and keep our shields up! If he teleports troops aboard or gets a tractor beam on us we're finished!" Dante ordered.
"Holy shit." Sam whispered.
"How can we get away from him?!" Daniel wondered.
"Good question. Scan the surrounding space for anything useful." Dante commanded his bridge crew.
"There's a cryon fog ahead Captain!" one of the sensor operators reported.
"A what?" Selmak asked.
"A space storm, Mr Selmak." Spidey explained.
"Head right for it." Dante said somberly.
The Retribution spun nimbly about in response to its commanding officer's orders, belie the immense vessel's great bulk, and sped towards the green ominous fog, which crackled with distortion and strange yellow energy.
"Oh my god, that looks terrifying." Daniel muttered in awe.
"They move toward the great tempest, Lord Kall!" the captain commented nervously.
Kall was undeterred by this fact.
"We do not surrender our prey because of minor difficulties, captain. Do not cease our pursuance!" Lord Kall snarled.
"Aye my liege!" the captain replied.
After sealing the temple doors behind them, they moved forward, scanning the interior of the great cathedral.
Unsurprisingly, there was immense amounts of dust coating everything. Various insects crawled everywhere, all over the walls, the furniture, and the altar in front of them. They moved away from the lights that the Slayers and Watcher wielded, moving in and out of the mouths of the monstrous faces that decorated all that was in the worship hall. There were a few piles of inhuman bones scattered about, probably deceased demons.
"Shit, how many bugs are down here anyway?" Faith wondered, her mouth curled in disgust.
"Looks like thousands or hundred of thousands to me." Hera replied. Buffy, Faith, and Giles simultaneously made repulsed expressions at this revelation.
No surprise she wouldn't sugarcoat it for us. Buffy thought sourly.
"Wonder what slew these demons?" Artemis asked no one in particular.
"The bugs?" Helen replied.
"Unlikely fortunately. They appear to be scavengers." Giles commented.
"Well, that's a relief. And any ability to find a relief in this charnel pit is a miracle." Buffy remarked.
"Definitely not on my list of vacation spots, that's for sure." Apollo stated.
"Mine either, big guy." Buffy answered.
"We have reached the center." Diana observed.
They all took a defensive position, with the exception of Giles, who began setting up for the binding ritual.
Buffy picked up her radio and began speaking:
"Guys, we're getting set up. How is it at your end?"
Back at Neil's castle…
"We're getting ready, No Xander, at the other end!" Willow responded and scolded Xander at the same moment.
"Sorry. How's that?" Xander said.
"Perfect!" Willow said approvingly. Then she stated into the radio:
"Ready to go! This spell will boost the power of yours tremendously Buffy."
"Thanks Will. I jus-" Buffy's voice was cut off by a loud clanging and grinding sound!
"Buffy?! BUFFY?!" Willow shrieked into the radio speaker. The redhead looked up at the others in horror.
Xander took the radio from Willow and shouted:
"BUFFY?! GILES?!"
There was only ominous silence.
"What happened?!" Dawn demanded.
Joyce took the radio from Xander and made her own anxious and heated demand:
"BUFFY?! BUFFY?! GILES?!"
Nothing.
The four of them regarded each other in growing terror...
The Retribution shot through the pale void, its reactionless drives accelerating it to unimaginable speeds.
But this was still not enough to evade its massive pursuer.
"Accelerate! Continue to jam their communicator signals!" Lord Kall thundered. His underlings hurried to comply.
The Warmonger sped up and split along its length and emitted a massive crimson ray that its smaller prey nimbly avoided. Kall cursed under his breath at this.
However, the power of the weapon was thus that even a miss caused the Dominion cruiser to tremble!
"Oh my god!" Sam yelled as the bridge shuddered. She held onto a control panel for dear life.
"Christ on a broken crutch!" Jack hissed.
"That bastard does not give up!" Jacob cried.
"Shit!" Daniel yelped.
"He fires again!" Teal'c warned, his eyes wide.
"Dodge it!" Spidey shouted.
The Retribution did a hair-raising turn again dodging the Warmonger's massive frontal cannon as the dreadnought's smaller weapon batteries continued their onslaught. The cruiser's own offensive systems kept returning the favor. The Warmonger's defense screen flashed red as it dispelled the Retribution's barrage.
"Fuck you Lord Bitch! How long until we hit the storm?" Dante snarled.
"Two minutes!" a crewman reported anxiously.
Two minutes flashed by quickly.
And then they were inside the maelstrom.
Kall's huge warship joined them a moment later.
"Why did we come in here? Does it mess up their scanners or something?" Sam wondered.
"It does. It interferes with ours too, but not as significantly, because ours are more advanced. It also disables teleporters and tractor beams and shields, putting us on more even ground." Dante explained.
"Huh. Just like Wrath of Khan." Jack mused.
"I don't get that reference Jack." Dante said.
Jack began to explain but Jacob shushed him.
"Later Jack. What now Dante?" Jacob inquired.
"Now we keep going, but this fog is huge. It'll take us a while to clear it." Dante responded.
"A while doesn't quite cover it. This crayon fog covers this whole system!" Spidey complained.
"Better than being dead or captured whiny-ass." Dante snapped.
Spidey bristled but Eppy shushed it and Dante.
"No squabbling at this time. Save our energy for Kall." Eppy said firmly.
"He's obviously not going to just give up so easily." Jack observed.
"No, he's not. He undoubtedly will send ships and probes to assist in locating us. But they will not be able to venture far from his dreadnought, since the fog dampens communication signals as well." Eppy agreed.
"Too bad we couldn't have signaled for assistance, but Kall was employing jammers to prevent us from doing so." Spidey sighed.
"Oh great." Sam stated worriedly.
"Shit!" Bellona snarled, startled by the sudden movement of the floor.
"Good lord! Is this some sort of lift?!" Giles cried out.
"Damnit! I dropped my radio!" Buffy shouted.
"This damn thing is shuddering and jerking all over the place! Fuck!" Ares yelled.
"Oh Jesus! I'm gonna fall off!" Faith screamed.
The Dark Slayer started to do exactly that, but Athena quickly grabbed her lover around her slim waist and swung her away from the edge!
"Thanks baby!" Faith said gratefully.
"No problem sweetheart!" Athena replied. She cast a wary look around.
"Everyone down on your hands and knees! We are less likely to lose our footing!" Diana ordered.
The others did not argue, and they rapidly did so.
"Where is this fucking thing taking us?!" Hera growled.
"Unknown, but we have ceased our vertical movement, and are now proceeding horizontally!" Lilith observed.
That was true. They were now moving down a dimly-lit tunnel. What was causing the light was uncertain, but it was not bright enough to make out any specific details of the subterranean passageway they were now traversing.
"Where is this platform taking us?!" Helen wondered.
"Probably nowhere good." Neptune answered.
"Worst roller-coaster ride ever." Buffy muttered.
"What is that?!" Artemis asked, pointing ahead of them.
"It looks like...another temple?" Neil responded, cocking his head in curiosity.
As they all watched, it was clear Neil's statement was correct.
The church they were now approaching had the same architecture as the one above, but it was far larger and grander. The massive structure stood upon a tremendous stone column, with four narrow bridges, one on each side, leading to it. The entire scene was illuminated by a sinister and fairly bright green glow, which emanated from the abyss that the bridges were hanging over.
Without warning, the platform halted, there was a flash of jade light, and they were suddenly hovering above the infernal place of worship. The round dais then lowered into a vast courtyard inside the walls of the ominous structure.
And into the unknown.
They were now in a briefing room, seating around a bizarre table. Its shape, and the chairs (?) upon which they sat, were of no design that the Tau'ri, Tok'ra and Jaffa had ever seen before.
"Do you think we can lose him in this green soup?" Jack asked Dante.
"I doubt it, Jack. Our best chance is to go on the offensive. With his defensive screens down, we have a chance." Dante answered.
"But ours are down too. We're just as vulnerable as he is." Sam pointed out.
"True. Which is why we'll exploit our sensor advantage. I have a plan." Dante answered.
"What is your plan?" Teal'c inquired.
"In the center of this crayon fog is a substance known as morgorite. It's highly explosive. I'll have my crew drop energy signals, like a trail to lead Kall into this area, which will be seeded with mines. Once he's close enough, I'll detonate those mines and the morgorite will ignite, catching Kall's dreadnought in its wake. Then we move in and take the bastard out." Dante explained.
"What if he doesn't fall for this trap?" Jacob/Selmak asked.
"Then we'll aim for his engines and disable him so we can escape. Those are our two best options." Dante said.
"Can he cloak in this fog?" Daniel wondered.
"He won't be able to. Cloaking is useless in this friend Daniel." Eppy explained.
"I hope this scheme of yours actually works." Spidey snapped.
"Oh please. My plans always succeed!" Dante snapped back.
"Yeah, like 75% of the time, maybe." Spidey muttered.