Episode tags: SG: SG1 (Off the Grid [s09e16], Arthur's Mantle [s09e18] and Crusade Part 1 [S09e19])
Colonel Carter's Lab, six months later; 1100 hours.
The team had just returned from a mission against the Lucien Alliance following a skirmish between SG1 and Ba'al when he tried to steal Stagnates so that he could restart the empire that he had lost thanks to the Jaffa rebellion. During that skirmish, the SGC had used Nerus again not only to locate Ba'al and the stolen Stargates, but to also introduce a virus into his mothership so that it would disable his shields and all primary systems.
That was done so that SG1 could beam into the ship, attach locator beacons onto the Stargates and their DHD's, then beam them off the mothership and onto the Ha'tak vessel. However one Stargate was destroyed when the Lucien Alliance, being one of the victims in this instance due to the theft of Stargates from many of their worlds, attacked the mothership which was controlled by his clones. At the last moment, Willow reprogrammed the final Stargate's DHD and dialled Earth just before the last few shot from the Lucien Alliance vessels destroyed the ship.
As they walked down the ramp and handed their weapons to the SF's, the team went to get checked out at the infirmary before they went their separate ways with the Colonel and Willow off to finish their reports on what happened with Ba'al and the Lucien Alliance, Faith went for a hot shower while Daniel went back to his lab. Teal'c went back to his quarters on base to perform some meditation rituals.
It was a few weeks later when Willow was in Colonel Carter's lab talking about the latest project that the both of them were leading simply known as 'Project Avalon'. Due to Colonel Carter's pregnancy, she was confined to certain areas of the base on the orders of Dr. Lam while Willow had gone to Area 51 to check the progress of the project, and to help in adjusting the shield generators for the newest F-302's. After the Tegalus incident, the Asgard had helped to upgrade the shields to better deflect the Ori weapons fire.
"Hey" said Colonel Carter as she looked up at Willow after she had returned from Area 51, "how was it?"
"It looks fantastic" grinned Willow as she sat across from the Colonel, "they've already finished installing the new liquid Naquadria generators you designed, and the hyperdrive has been installed, as well as the operating systems. Basically, it's ready to be tested. I've already done a systems check with Colonel Fields and his team at Area 51 and everything looks good. The weapons are a bit iffy at this point in time though."
"Those generators are risky though" said the Colonel as Willow nodded her head, "too much power, and they could just blow."
"But for the power generation we need?" said Willow, "that's the only thing that makes sense. We've already tested Naquada, but it's just not enough. How's that device you've been looking at for the past few months?"
Willow was referring to a device they had found in the Glastonbury Tor cavern that looked like a strange keyboard with Ancient scripts. Willow saw that the device was connected to a computer that was running a program the Colonel created to measure some electromagnetic fluctuations the device was giving off.
"Found anything about this device, ma'am?" asked Willow as she touched the grey coloured device.
"Nothing yet" said Colonel Carter, "Dr. Lee's supposed to be coming to help me in an hour, or so."
"You don't want my help, ma'am?" said Willow with a pout.
"Don't you have wedding plans?" asked the Colonel as she leaned back and rubbed her abdomen while smiling at Willow, "I didn't want to swamp you… I know how busy one can get."
"Yea" said Willow as she smiled, "and shouldn't you be heading home, ma'am?"
"Well" said the Colonel, "I'm on leave starting from tomorrow, so I need to show Bill what I've been doing with this device. And only then can I stay home for an extended leave in the knowledge that everything will be safe and sound."
"Colonel" said Willow as she leaned forwards, "I know that New Year's eve is supposed to be your due date and the wedding is on the end of January, so if you'd like we could get to changed to the end of February. I mean, I'd like for you to be there and maybe if we push the date, it would give you enough time to recover."
"Don't" said the Colonel as she looked down at her abdomen, "I'll make it. My little girl will be out by then and I would be alright too. Have your other family members said yes?"
"Out of twenty?" asked Willow, "only ten said they'll come, the others said that they don't approve of my new age lifestyle. And that's a direct quote."
"Sorry" said the Colonel, "and Faith?"
"She didn't ask anyone" said Willow, "she has a cousin in Boston, but they haven't talked to each other in a very long time. Faith doesn't want to ask her to come. She's just glad that General O'Neill will be by her side, giving her away."
"Buffy and the others?" asked Colonel Carter.
"Yep" smiled Willow, "they're coming too."
"They've already got their hotels booked" said Willow, "as does my family."
"Tickets to Paris?" grinned the Colonel.
"In my lab's safe" said Willow, "first class all the way."
"And Faith's birthday present?" asked the Colonel.
"Should be here soon" said Willow with a grin.
"But how come another one?" asked the Colonel grinning, "didn't you already get her that thing from Victoria Secrets?"
"Yea" said Willow, "but she got me two things for my birthday… so, I decided to get her something else too."
"I have to admit that I also want to know what you'll be doing with trinium" said the Colonel, "and the Asgard."
"Just needed their help creating her gift" said Willow.
"Oh" said the Colonel with a eyebrow raised, "and what would that be?"
"It's a surprise" said Willow laughing.
"True… hey I'm hungry.. wanna join me?" said Colonel Carter as she slowly got up from her chair, which made Willow run across the table and help her walk out the door, "Willow, I'm not an invalid you know."
"Yes, ma'am" said Willow nodding her head, "you're pregnant. And well, I'm kinda hungry too."
Just then, the klaxon's blared and Walter's voice came through the loudspeakers.
"Unscheduled off-world activation" he said.
"Go" said Colonel Carter as she put one hand on the wall of the hallway, "I'll be fine."
"Ma'am" said Willow as the Colonel motioned the redhead to run. Before she did, Willow turned as she saw an Airman rush past her and she called out to him.
"Ma'am?" said the Airman as he turned and ran towards Willow and the Colonel.
"Stay with Colonel Carter" said Willow as she raised her voice so that she could be heard over the klaxons, "take her wherever she needs to go."
"Willow" said the Colonel, "I'm fine."
"Airman" said Willow, "take her to the Mess Hall, make sure she eats. Go to the cook and tell him you're they to pick up the Colonel's order of the day. Understood?"
"Ye… yes, ma'am" said the Airman as he looked at Willow and then at the Colonel who was trying not to laugh.
"Remember what I said" said Willow as she ran towards the control room, "order of the day!"
"Yes, ma'am" said the Airman as he turned back towards Colonel Carter, "Ma'am, let me take you to the Mess Hall."
"Thanks" said Colonel Carter as she watched Willow run off towards the control room.
It took the redhead only a few minutes to reach the Control Room where Colonel Mitchell and Faith were already standing behind Walter.
"Sir, Faith" said Willow as she ran up the stairs, "what's up?"
"Hey Red" said Faith as Willow stood next to the brunette Slayer, "we just got in, Walter?"
"It's the Sodan" said Walter, "audio only."
"Colonel?" asked General Landry as he ran down the stairs with Teal'c, "what's going on?"
"It's the Sodan, Sir" said Colonel Mitchell as Jolan's voice came over the radio.
"This is Jolan of the Sodan" he said, "we request urgent assistance from Ath….. Major Willow of the Tau'ri."
Everyone looked at Willow who shrugged her shoulder before the General nodded his head. Willow then reached for the microphone and pressed a button on the side of the device so that she could transmit through the wormhole.
"Jolan" said Willow, "this is Major Willow from the SGC, what's going on?"
"It is my brother, Volnek" said Jolan as Willow looked back at Faith and Colonel Mitchell, "an illness has befallen him, Lord Haikon has requested your aid."
"Jolan, this is Colonel Mitchell. Are you saying that Volnek's the only one who's sick?"
"Yes" said Jolan, "we do not believe that this is the Prior Plague. We have administered the medication you gave us to combat the plague, but it is not working. Lord Haikon was told of Major Willow's healing abilities, he… I am asking for her aid."
"Stand by, Jolan" said Colonel Mitchell as he looked back at General Landry, "sir, this could be something else that the Prior's could be spreading. It would be worth it to take a look."
"Many off world team did report something about a 'Day of reckoning' that would soon befall the people who don't worship the Ori" said Faith, "maybe this is it?"
"We need more information" said the General as he turned towards Willow, "will you be able to heal him?"
"I'm not sure, sir" said Willow, "he said that this isn't the Prior Plague since only Volnek's the one who's sick. I can try… but I'll need to be there, obviously."
"General" said Faith, "Cam and I should go with Red; they know us pretty well over there."
"I'll have Dr. Lam and her team accompany you" said General Landry, "Prior's plague or not, I'm ordering full hazmat protocols."
"Sounds fair, sir" said Willow.
"Jolan" said Colonel Mitchell as he leaned into the microphone, "give us two hours."
"Very well" said Jolan, "we will be here at the Chappa'ai."
Sodan Planet, 1400 hours.
Since coming through the Stargate two hours ago, it had taken Dr. Lam about an hour for her team to gather blood samples from most of the population in the village. Once she and her large contingent of medical personnel had taken the blood, they returned to the SGC to conduct tests. She had even taken blood samples from Volnek who, upon Dr. Lam's orders, was isolated in a small home. When first encountering the sick Volnek, Willow and the others were shocked to see someone whose face was ashen, his eyes red and staring at them as he strained himself to tear through the strong robes that held him down onto the bed.
When they first laid their eyes on Volnek, Haikon had told them what happened. According to what Volnek had told him a few days ago, he went to a neighbouring world to acquire supplies for the village. On the way back to the Stargate, he encountered a Prior and was told that the Sodan had committed unforgivable treason against the Ori. Haikon continued on by saying that the Prior vowed a great ill would befall the village before he planted his staff into the ground and the crystal on the staff glowed a bright white light.
"Days passed without incident until he fell ill" said Haikon as Jolan looked on as another Sodan warrior placed a bag of ice on the growling Volnek's forehead, "he became irrational and incoherent. We isolated him and treated him with our best medicines but his condition worsened."
"How long?" asked Faith as they looked at Volnek who was snarling and growling at Dr. Lam as she took a sample of blood while three Sodan warriors held him down.
"Several days" said Haikon after the doctor got her sample and they headed out of the small home, "he became ill a day ago."
Later on that day, Colonel Mitchell, Willow and Faith were sitting across the table from Haikon in his home. Sitting next to Haikon was Volnek's brother, a very worried looking Jolan, as he asked Willow what was going on.
"I'm sorry, Jolan" said Willow, "I have no idea; you've seen what happened when I tried to heal him again just now."
"Nothing happened" said a very downcast Jolan.
"Usually my abilities work" said Willow, "but I do have to say something, he isn't broadcasting anything."
"What do you mean?" asked Haikon.
"Usually people would be thinking something" said Willow, "even if they know about my abilities, like you and Jolan, people would thing think about certain things like what they'll have for dinner.. or where they're planning to fight, or even what tactics they'll use when sparring. It's something that just happens and I can't help but 'hear' those thoughts. But from Volnek? There was nothing at all…. It's like his mind is static."
"What are you saying?" asked Haikon.
"Dr. Lam can confirm" said Willow, "but I think the Prior that he met on that other world may have done something irreversible to him which affected not just his body, but his mind as well."
"But" said Faith as she looked at Jolan, "like Red said, we need to wait for Dr. Lam's report."
All of a sudden, they heard a woman's bloodcurdling scream. Getting up as fast as possible, Haikon and Jolan followed by the three SG1 members ran down the stairs towards a woman who stumbled out of the small home that Volnek was being kept in.
"Lord Haikon!" shouted the woman as she shouted towards the leader of the village, "it's….."
Willow and the others looked on in shock as an orange plasma blast flew out of the small house and into the woman's chest before she fell onto the ground dead. After seeing even more plasma blasts shoot out of the house, Willow just managed to pull up a shield in front of a group of Sodan who were running away, some for cover while others were running towards a weapon's rack. Although she managed to put up a shield, it was still slightly too late as two more people were shot down.
"Haikon! Jolan! Weapons!" shouted Willow as she mentally grabbed two staff weapons from the weapons rack and flung them towards Haikon and Jolan. At the same time Willow, Faith and Colonel Mitchell brought their P90's up to their shoulder in preparation to fire.
"Major" said Haikon as the weapons fire from inside the home stopped after multiple hits to Willow's shields, "what has happened?"
"Still getting nothing" said Willow as she, and the others moved into combat positions waiting for whoever fired those shots to come out of the home.
"Sokan" shouted Haikon to another warrior, "take some Sodan with you and take the women and children into the forest until it is safe."
"But Lord Haikon" said Sokan, "you need more warriors here."
"I know" said Haikon, "tell half of the warriors to stay in the village and set up positions at every exit, they will need to kill whoever it….. no."
Haikon, Jolan and Sokan, along with SG1, looked on in shock as they watched Volnek walk out of the home and start firing again randomly. Immediately, Willow telekinetically pulled the staff weapon out of Volnek's hands and flung it towards the other end of the village. This action made Volnek, who looked wild and crazed, snarl at Willow.
"Did he just growl?" asked Colonel Mitchell.
"I'd say so" said Faith as she glanced back as Sokan ran to some of the other warriors to relay Haikon's orders.
"Volnek, my brother" said Jolan as he walked past them with his hands away from his sides after he lay his weapon onto the ground, "this is not you, you are a Sodan warrior… you are not some mindless creature."
"Jolan!" shouted Faith, "get back… he's not…"
"Jolan!" shouted Haikon as Volnek ran up to the unarmed Jolan and scratched his neck, drawing blood before he grabbed Jolan and flung him onto the ground. At the same time, the leader of the Sodan saw Faith throw her P90 to Willow before she ran towards the fallen Jolan who was still looking in shock at his brother.
Jolan put his hands on his neck and saw that it was covered in blood, before he looked up and saw a grinning Volnek who licked the blood that was on his fingers.
"That's just gross" said Faith who ran up to Volnek as he swung a punch at her. Ducking the swinging fist, Faith elbowed the man's ribs before she gave him an uppercut with all of her strength that caused Volnek to be flung back where he landed on the ground with a thud. The Slayer then ran back to Jolan and helped him stand up, while at the same time keeping an eye on Volnek who was now staring at her while standing back up.
"How?" said a very surprised Jolan after he witnessed his brother getting thrown back so easily.
"I work out" said Faith as Volnek started to run towards them.
"Get down!" shouted Colonel Mitchell as Faith pushed Jolan to the ground and lay on him as Haikon, Willow, the Colonel and six other Sodan who had just arrived at Haikon's side started firing their weapons.
Faith looked over her shoulder as the P90 rounds ripped through Volnek's body, along with the staff weapon blasts until Volnek fell down onto the ground.
"Hold fire!" shouted Haikon as the Sodan stopped firing, along with Colonel Mitchell and Willow who put down the P90's she was firing earlier from either hand. She and Colonel Mitchell then ran towards Faith who was already getting up off Jolan, before helping the Sodan warrior to his feet.
"OK" said Faith as she panted while she looked at Willow and Colonel Mitchell, "what was that?"
"I don't… oh hell no…" said Willow as she looked past Faith and Jolan as Volnek slowly got up off the ground and growled at the small group.
"Ummm" said Colonel Mitchell as he raised his weapon, as did the others, "don't tell me… Zombie?"
"What is a zombie?" asked Haikon.
"The undead" said Willow as her eyes widened in realization, "of course… that's what it is."
"Major?" asked Colonel Mitchell as he aimed his P90 at Volnek who was looking at the people in front of him like a predator who's found his prey, "what are you talking about?"
"Sir, there was one time that Daniel and Dr. Lee got kidnapped in South America" said Willow as she raised her P90 after handing the other one back to Faith who aimed it at Volnek, "they were searching for an Ancient device."
"You mean the Tel'chak device?" asked Colonel Mitchell as Volnek ran towards them causing everyone to fire their weapons at the former Sodan warrior again.
"Tel'chak device?" asked Jolan as Volnek fell onto the ground again, "what is that? And how is that able to do this to my brother?"
"Jolan" said Willow, "I'm sorry but Volnek's dead, that device has the capability of animating dead tissue until… well, until it becomes like Volnek. The device heals injured tissue in a live human, but when that human or a humanoid is exposed for too long, it makes the person who's being healed into a zombie like creature. It's the same device that Anubis used to create his Kull warriors."
"You mean he's been dead for the past few days?" asked Haikon.
"Yes, at least slowly dying" said Willow, "the Prior must have done something to him, caused effects similar to that device. He's gone, and no matter how many times we shoot him… he'll come back up and attack us. Just shooting him with our P90's and the staff weapons would be an exercise in futility."
"What is to be done?" asked Jolan as Volnek started to run towards them again, this time Faith ran towards him and kicked him straight into his chest before launching a series of punches into his body that drove him backwards.
Willow: "Can you keep him occupied?"
Faith: "How long?"
Willow: "Few seconds?"
Faith: "This guy's strong too and….."
Willow looked on as Volnek punched Faith, before grabbing her collar and slamming her down onto the ground. Immediately getting up from the hit, Faith swept her leg through Volnek's, causing him to stumble over before she grabbed him and flung him towards the center training ring. After hitting the ground outside the ring, Volnek got up only to see Faith running towards him before she kicked him into the ring itself.
Faith: "Whatever you have planned, be quick about it."
"The only way to stop him" said Willow as she looked at Jolan, "is to make sure the body is destroyed entirely. I'm sorry."
"You have said that my brother is dead" said Jolan.
"Yes" said Willow.
"Then I would wish for him to know peace with the gods" said Jolan, "not as… this."
"C4" said Colonel Mitchell as he took out a block of the explosive from his vest, "we can use this to blow him up?"
"Remote detonator?" asked Willow.
"Remote detonator" said the Colonel nodding his head as he put all the components together to make the explosive before handing it to Willow, "now, how are we going to get it to him?"
"Faith!" said Willow as she telekinetically grabbed her combat knife, "Duck!"
Upon hearing Willow's shout, the brunette slayer gave one last kick to Volnek before she dropped onto the ground. Looking up she saw a knife stab into Volnek's abdomen like a guided missile before it cut up, and into him. Looking back at Willow, Faith saw something rising in the palm of her head before she gave Faith another telepathic shout.
Willow: "Run! Run as fast as you can….. NOW!"
Faith quickly got up and ran as fast as she could towards Willow as she saw an orange coloured object with something blinking on top just whizz by her head. Turning around, she saw the object get pushed into the deep gash made by the knife and she knew… she knew she had to run faster.
"Now!" shouted Faith when she reached Willow, and Colonel Mitchell pressed a button on a remote control like device. A second later, Faith and the others dropped onto the ground as an explosion from inside Volnek completely obliterated his entire body. All that was left was a small crater in the middle of the ring, and body parts everywhere.
Daniel's Home, the next day, 1000 hours.
After returning from the Sodan village a few hours later, Willow and the others were shocked to learn that both Colonel Carter and Daniel were missing from the base for sometime while they were gone. Teal'c had told them once they returned that it took a few hours before anyone discovered what really happened, and that was only when Daniel and the Colonel were found again.
During the subsequent briefing, Colonel Carter and Daniel said that the device they received from Glastonbury Tor was really a device made by the Ancient called Merlin. Daniel told them that Merlin had retaken human form so that he could build a device that had the capability to destroy any ascended being.
"Daniel" said Faith surprised, "are you sure? Any ascended being? Even the Ori?"
"Yes" said Daniel, "he created that device to push himself out of phase into another dimension so that he could work on it without bringing attention about what he was doing to the other Ancients."
"Is there a gate address?" asked General Landry.
"Yes, sir" said Colonel Carter, "I'll be sending the data we collected on Merlin's weapon to the Asgard, we're hoping that they'll able to make sense of what it really is before the device failed."
"What happened?" asked Faith.
"Dr. Lee made an error" said Teal'c, "we almost lost Colonel Carter and Daniel Jackson."
"Ah" said Willow as she nodded her head.
"Alright" said General Landry, "Colonel Carter, go home. If we have any problems on base, I believe that Major Rosenberg and the other scientists will be able to handle things. Dr. Jackson, Colonel Mitchell, Major Rosenberg, Teal'c and Faith are scheduled to go to that planet in two days. In the meantime, I want all of you rested up before we look for that weapon."
"Yes, sir" said Willow as she and the other military personnel stood up before going their separate ways.
Daniel stayed back in his lab reading up on what he found in several of his books was described as Arthur's Mantle. When the Colonel had first disappeared, Dr. Lee had told Dr. Jackson that he had detected Lepton radiation, the same type of radiation that placed Daniel out of phase with this dimension during the Crystal Skull encounter years ago. After discovering, and communicating with Colonel Carter through the device thanks to her pressing a button on the device from the other dimension, Daniel found that the device itself existed in both dimensions and that in the other dimension, the device was projecting a screen of Ancient script.
Daniel smiled when her recalled how Dr. Lee attempted to recreated what Colonel Carter had done, which only served to bring Daniel into the dimension that the Colonel was occupying as the pregnant woman smiled and waved at Daniel. It was Dr. Lee who called General Landry and Dawn to his lab to help in the retrieval of both Daniel and the Colonel. It was a few hours later that Daniel discovered a combination key that would bring them out of the dimension while Dawn tried to help him from the other side as the General did not want her to get stuck in the other dimension. Finally, Dr. lee pressed a button that severely drained the power from the device, leaving Daniel and Colonel Carter no choice but to use that key combination despite him wanting to read more about the stored information.
Soon after the briefing, Daniel finished his report and sent it along to General Landry just as his cell phone rang. Looking at the caller I.D, he smiled and connected the call.
"Hey Anya" said Daniel as he leaned on his work station, "wait… you're here? At my house?"
"Yes" said Anya as she vigorously nodded her head while she sat on the front stoop with two bags next to her, "I wanted to surprise you with a visit, but you're not home. Plus you asked me not to just teleport into the mountain since you guys could be doing some weird experiments that could throw my teleportation off."
"Give me" said Daniel as he looked at his wristwatch and walked out his door, "twenty minutes?"
"Sure" said Anya grinning into the phone, "I'll be waiting."
The next day, Anya woke up expecting Daniel to be right next to her still asleep. He had told her last night that they had a late briefing on some new device they had found, but didn't go further than that; and Anya didn't push further. Sitting up in bed, she saw that the light in the attached restroom was on and she saw a shadow under the door.
'There you are' thought Anya to herself as she got off the bed without making any noise, 'boy are you going to be punished, but in a good way.'
Anya took off her nightie and threw it onto the bed, she hadn't heard the shower go off earlier or else it would have woken her up then. She tiptoed to the door and thought about giving Daniel a surprise wake up call, before they took a shower together. Slowly opening the door, Anya saw that Daniel was looking at the mirror as he caressed his own face with a look of confusion, before he looked down his chest and grinned before he suddenly perked up and turned around. Taking this as her chance, Anya silently walked behind him am quickly put her arms around him with one caressing his chest and the other one travelling slowly down his body.
"You know" said Anya seductively into his ear, "I was hoping that we could…."
It was at that exact moment that Anya knew something was very wrong as Daniel's body tensed up, but she was hoping that Daniel was simply surprised by her appearance in the restroom with him.
"Anya?" squeaked Daniel as his voice reached a higher pitch than usual.
"Daniel?" asked Anya as she turned him around and looked at his eyes, "are you… alright? AHHH!"
Anya immediately grabbed the hanging blue bath towel that Daniel kept for her visits to his home. She used it to cover her body as she took a step back and tried to grab anything that could be used as a weapon.
"Who are you?" asked Anya as she grabbed a picture frame and held it up, ready to throw it at Daniel… or whoever or whatever was possessing him.
"Anya" said Daniel as he stretched out his hand in front of him defensively, "it's not what you think… I mean it is what I think you're thinking, that it's someone that's possessing Daniel."
"Demon" said Anya as she threw the picture frame at Daniel, who ducked, before she ran to the bed and reached under it. Ever since she and Daniel had started to date, the vengeance demon had told Daniel to keep holy water in his home an insurance policy of sorts. At first Daniel laughed it off, but then he saw how insistent Anya was when it came to things such as this and he complied. Anya helped Daniel keep some of the small bottles in several parts of his house, including under his bed and that was the bottle that she was going for.
"Anya" said Daniel as he ran naked out of the restroom, "it's me… it's…. whoa."
Daniel stopped as he saw Anya holding the bottle between her hands as she recited a spell. He watched as the liquid inside the bottle started to glow before Anya took off the bottle cap, and threw the liquid contents onto Daniels face and shouted, "Expel!"
Anya half expected the demon inside Daniel to start screaming, and the cursing Anya before leaving his body. But nothing happened and Anya looked around worriedly for another weapon to use as the next bottle of holy water was in the living room.
"You must be a powerful demon to cut through the protective spell around Daniel's home" said Anya as she remembered asking Tara for a protection spell to protect Daniel's home from any demonic attack. Tara had given Daniel four velvet pouches that were supposed to have been buried at the four corners of his home, which he had done with Anya accompanying him. Now it seemed to the vengeance demon that even that had failed.
'I need to call Willow' thought Anya to herself as she leaped onto the bed and reached for the phone on the other side.
"It's me, Vala!" shouted Daniel just as Anya put her hands on the phone. Anya had her eyes opened wide in surprise as she turned on the bed to face Daniel, "please, I need help… I'm in the Ori galaxy and we have a problem… a very big problem. I need to talk to Colonel Mitchell, or Major Rosenberg.. please."
"Oh boy" said a stunned Anya.
The Girls House, 1020 hours.
Dawn was sitting at the dining table drinking coffee and having pancakes while reading an email from Joyce, and another one from Jay and Rose. Ever since Joyce had returned from Edina, she slowly got back into the routine of her old life. She'd take Jay and Rose to school, before opening her new gallery in Sunnydale. Many of her old art dealer friends were surprised and shocked after hearing her cover story and the older blonde smiled when they heard about her having been in witness protection for witnessing a murder. Eventually, she re-established links while her old dealers and new ones. As the house had gotten crowded, Buffy and Xander eventually found a home down the street and moved in. Joyce had told Xander that he was always welcome to play the Playstation whenever he wanted which earned a grin from the younger man.
Dawn smiled at how fast they had agreed to a new tradition. They only recently had Thanksgiving at Buffy's home, while Christmas' would be spent at Joyce's. The brunette herself had signed up full time with the SGC a few days after Joyce returned to Sunnydale, much to Daniel's cheer and with Giles' and Buffy's blessing. A day after signing a new contract with Home World Security, she was officially on loan to the SGC and was one of the first to step into the Ancient outpost at Death Valley National Park. Utilizing a security system just like the one in Sunnydale, Dawn was able to access the main chamber thanks to her Ancient gene. Later, Hailey and Grogan, along with Riley in SG26 joined her in the large chamber that consisted of a chair control system and a console like the one in Sunnydale. Pressing the columns on the console made Dawn open her eyes wide in surprise as she looked at the screen in front of her. She just gave the SGC a massive pre-Christmas present of Ancient weapons research, sociological and cultural research carried out on various Gate addresses by the Ancients after they returned from Atlantis, and a full cache of Ancient drones that lay in silo's under the sand.
As for Tara, following her meeting with the Nox and subsequent talks with Kennedy, Cordelia and Angel, she joined in a consultant role with the SGC working with Daniel for two months out of the year while working on her healing abilities with help from the Nox. The rest of the time, she was with the BPRI and working with Joyce in her gallery thanks to her art history background.
As Dawn smiled to herself, she knew that she and the other Scoobies had only a few months left on their sentences and then they were finally free. She knew that even with the knowledge that they'd be free to do anything they wanted, the Scoobies would still remain in Sunnydale protecting the Hellmouth.
'At least now we have a lot of support' thought Dawn to herself as she stuffed the last pancake into her mouth just as the phone rang.
"'llo?" said Dawn with her mouth full of food.
"Dawn?" said Anya on the other line as she looked at Vala wearing Daniel's clothes, "are Willow and Faith awake?"
"No" said Dawn as she looked at the closed door to the master bedroom, "I think they're still asleep, what's up… and hey, how come you never told me you're coming by?"
"Vala's in Daniel" said Anya.
"Say what?" said Dawn in surprise with her mouth hanging open, "Vala as in the same Vala stuck in the Ori galaxy? That Vala?"
"Yes" said Anya, "I'm taking him… her… to the SGC, she said she needs to talk to Colonel Mitchell and the General… can you wake up Willow and Faith?"
"Yea" said Dawn as she ran to Willow and Faith's room and pounded on the wooden door, "you go, we'll be there."
"Willow!" shouted Dawn as she disconnected the call, "Faith! Wake up, it's urgent."
"Pipsqueek" said a groggy Faith as she opened the door while rubbing her eyes, "this better be the end of the world or else I swear to God that…."
"It's Vala" said Dawn before Faith could finish her sentence as the brunette Slayer looked on in shock and opened the door wide.
"Vala?" asked Faith, "what about her?"
Dawn walked into the room as Willow sat up on the bed looking at Dawn groggily in only a tanktop and panties.
"Dawnie?" said Willow rubbing her eyes, "did you say Vala?"
"She's in Daniel" said Dawn, "ok, that really does sound weird."
"Wait" said Willow as her eyes opened wide, "she's in Daniel?"
"That's what Anya said" replied Dawn, "she's taking him or her, to the SGC.. she said she needs to talk to you guys."
"Red" said Faith as she noticed the grin on Willow's face, "you know something don't you?"
"It was one of Dr. Lee's and Colonel Carter's experiments" said Willow as she looked at both Dawn and Faith, "ever since we disintegrated the Alteran Communication Stones and the base terminal in the unstable vortex of the Stargate, Colonel Carter and Dr. Lee have been working on a way of artificially emulating the Alteran technology. Dr Lee was able to collect quite a bit of data from the time that Vala and Daniel were unconscious and communicating with the people from the Ori galaxy. So using that and a Tok'ra subspace communicator they've been trying to mimic the frequency sent and received by the stones. But they just didn't think we were having any luck."
"Looks like it worked" said Dawn.
"Dawnie" said Willow as she got into the shower with Faith, "can you please contact Colonel Carter? Tell her what happened."
"Sure" said Dawn as she grinned at both Willow and Faith getting into the shower, "just so you know, we need to get to the SGC quick… so, no hanky-panky."
"Yes, dear" said both Willow and Faith together while Dawn closed the door to their room.
Interview Room two, SGC, 1115 hours.
As Vala in Daniel's body sat behind a table surrounded by SG1, Dawn, Anya and General Landry, she looked at the camera that was recording her interview, and then again at the small group.
"Where's Colonel Carter?" she asked.
"She's pregnant" said Faith, "she's on leave till she gives birth."
"Oh" said Vala excitedly, "that's great, I'm not the only one then."
"Wait what?" said Willow, "You're pregnant?"
"Ok" said Colonel Mitchell confused, "let's start from the beginning."
Vala then told her story of how she escaped the clocked cargo ship just before the super gate was destroyed, and found herself in a village somewhere in the Ori Galaxy. She talked about the man who found her, Tomin, who eventually she married to hide the fact that she was pregnant. Vala explained that since the Ori like to burn sinners, it seemed the best thing to do at the time.
"Ok" said Colonel Mitchell as he looked at everyone before looking at Vala, "so you got pregnant out of wedlock, and who's the daddy?"
"That's the thing" said Vala nervously, "I don't know."
"You don't know?" said Dawn as she shook her head, "and so you married this Tomin person?"
"When I realized why I was feeling sick all the time, I figured I had to do something" said Vala, "I decided my only choice was to marry Tomin as quickly as possible and pray that the timing was close enough so he could be convinced the baby was his."
"But Vala" said Anya as Vala interrupted the vengeance demon.
"Look I swear I did none of the necessary bits" said Vala as she looked nervously at everyone present, "between my arrival in the Ori Galaxy and my wedding night, which was definitely after I knew for sure, there is no way humanly possible that I know of, that I could have gotten pregnant."
"Hold on a second" said Willow shaking her hand, "you're telling us that it was an immaculate conception?"
"Yes" said Vala as she looked around again at all the confused faces who were looking at each other, "have any of you ever heard of something like this happening? Ever?"
"Well…." Said Faith as she looked at General Landry and then the others, "there's J…..
"Darth Vader" said Teal'c as he looked at Vala and nodded.
Willow and the others turned to look at the Jaffa who was oblivious to everyone looking at him. Dawn even had to exit the room so that she could giggle in the hallway without hurting Teal'c feelings.
"Really?" asked both Anya and Vala as their eyes widened together.
"Willow?" asked Anya as Dawn walked back into the room while rubbing the tears off her face, "Darth Vader was that special? Xander or Daniel never told me that."
"He was special alright" said Willow as she covered her grin with her hands as she looked at Faith.
"There's King Arthur" said Colonel Mitchell to the surprise of Willow.
"Really, Sir?" asked the surprised redhead since she thought that with his upbringing in a religious family, the Colonel would most likely bring up Jesus just like Faith was about to earlier.
"Yeah, I've been reading everything I can find on our ancient friend Merlin" said the Colonel, "and according to some of the legends, he enchanted the Queen who bore Arthur."
"Look" said Vala as she waved her hands, "this is a problem.. me having this baby is a big problem for me. But there is another problem that's a lot bigger."
"You've been saying that since you were brought here, Miss Mal Doran" said General Landry calmly, "what's the problem?"
"General" said Vala as she took in a deep breath, "The Ori and their followers are building ships and armies by the tens of thousands."
Willow and the others sat up when Vala said those words. The redhead could sense the tension slowly rising in the room as Vala continued to speak.
"The village I am living in is one of many, on a world among dozens like it" said Vala, "as we feared since the day Daniel met the Ori, they have been preparing their followers for a crusade."
Anya looked around the room and noticed Willow and the others fear growing inside them. She knew that this was bad, ever since the SGC had let the senior staff of the BPRI know about what really was going on under Cheyenne Mountain. They had now known what was happening in the galaxy, but this… Anya could see the fear in Dawn's eyes as Vala described the ships, the people she saw… they were ready to come to this galaxy no matter what, or kill everyone in it.
Dawn listened as Vala talked about Tomin, how he was the gentlest soul she had ever known and the brunette could hear hints of love in her voice as her emotions laid bare. Vala talked about how she tried to convince Tomin that the non-believers that they were going after were so far away that there was no way they could harm them.
"Vala" said Dawn, "is there any other way to stop them from your end?"
"No" said Vala as she wiped tears that were falling down her face, "Tomin, and others like him, were raised since birth to believe in the Ori; to follow Origin. This isn't a fight anyone can win, not without a tragic amount of bloodshed."
"God" said Colonel Mitchell as he stood up and paced the floor.
"Miss Mal Doran" said General Landry, "recently we found some information that the Ori's followers may find interesting."
"It doesn't matter what the truth is about the Ori" said Vala as she shook her head, "the people won't hear it, no matter what you say."
"But some of them are suspicious enough to form a resistance movement" said Faith as Colonel Mitchell nodded his head.
"You're talking about a handful of people compared to millions who wouldn't know the truth if it was standing right in front of them" said Vala as she placed her hand directly in front of her face, "it's all lies and propaganda as far as they're concerned. We're wrong, they're right. They're good, we're bad. We must worship the Ori or die and they will fight until we are dead or they are. Period."
All everyone could do in the room was stay silent as they tried to contemplate what Vala was saying. There was no negotiating with the Ori followers, no negotiating with the Priors.. they had tried that and failed. As everyone in the room looked at each other, all of them, including Dawn and Anya knew that a war was coming, a war that had the potential to wipe out everyone who wouldn't follow Origin… a war to try and wipe out a people who was trying to force others to give up their free will so that the Ori could gain more power, and destroy the Ancients. The very same Ancients who wouldn't raise a hand to help.
"Vala" said Dawn, her voice laced with emotion as she understood what would soon happen, "do you know when they're coming?"
"I've seen the ships" said Vala as she looked at Dawn and then at the others, "I eventually met up with the resistance. The leader was the same man I thought was an Ori worshipper… the leader of the village. He told me that they were planning to sabotage the ships…. That they were ready to kill tens of thousands of men, women and children so that the Ori would lose their power… to prove to everyone that the Ori were not gods."
"That's something we could never do" said Willow as she stood up and walked to the back of the room and stood next to Dawn who looked at the redhead in worry.
Willow: "We'll be alright, Dawnie. We've faced bad odds before and we've made it through."
Dawn: "We've faced demons and monsters; and even the end of the world… but this? Genocide on a galactic level if we don't follow Origin."
Willow: "Dawnie, if you want.. I can put you and the others on the next milk run to Atlantis. I don't think they know about Pegasus, and it could be safer."
Dawn: "I'm scared Willow, but I'm not leaving…. And neither will the others. Just… tell me, we'll be alright?"
Willow: "We'll be alright… we'll fight."
While Dawn and Willow were 'talking' telepathically, Vala continued to talk about the plan the resistance had come with in detail. She even told the people in the room that the resistance managed to get a communication device and the stones form the Ori galaxy, which was how she managed to get in touch with the SGC. Then Vala said something that made everyone stop what they were doing, whether it be pacing on the floor or telepathically communication with each other. She was talking about a Prior who had come to see Tomin while she eavesdropped from the stairs.
"He told him that the injury he had since childhood, the one that gave Tomin a limp" said Vala, "the same injury that the Prior later healed; it made him infertile.. he was unable to have any children."
"Then how?" asked Anya, "how… I mean yeah you said you're not sure… but…"
"He told Tomin that it was the will of the Ori" said Vala, "he's ready to leave… I'm coming with him. He also said that the day of reckoning of coming for the unbelievers."
"We've been hearing that" said Faith, "many team came through the gate with that message from various villagers or townspeople, like a doomsday prophesy."
"Indeed" replied Teal'c, "a day when all who have renounced the Ori will feel their wrath."
"We've known that the Priors were just the first wave" said Vala shaking her head, "listen, the reason I'm contacting you now is because the plan to kill all those people and blow up the ships failed. The real crusade is about to begin. The ships are planning to leave."
"Wait" said Colonel Mitchell as he stood up and General Landry walked up next to him. Faith turned back to looked at a very shocked Willow, and Dawn who was pacing the area next to the redhead. Realizing the enormity of what Vala was about to say, Anya slowly shook her head, wrapped her arms around herself and looked at Faith, and then Willow. She knew, although they tried not to show it at all, Anya knew that they and everyone in the room were terrified of what Vala was going to say next.
"Somewhere out there" said Vala softly, "the Ori have a working Supergate."
"Sir" said Willow as she ran up to the General, "permission to notify the Tok'ra and the Asgard to keep a look out for energy fluctuations?"
"Go" said the General as Willow ran out of the room.
"General Landry" said Teal'c, "I will notify the interim Council about the intelligence we have found today."
General Landry simply nodded as Teal'c walked out of the room.
"Vala" said Dawn as she stepped forward, "do you… I mean… do you know how many ships?"
"I saw four" said Vala, "they were activated right in front of my eyes."
"Do you have any other intel we could use?" asked Colonel Mitchell, "You said earlier that the resistance leader, Seevis, had access to the specs on the ships. What kind of weaponry do they have?"
"And shields" asked Faith, "any idea on… Vala?"
"Guys?" said Daniel as he looked at everyone confused, "what's going on? Why am I in this room? Anya?"
"Briefing room, now" said General Landry as he walked out of the interview room.
"Cam?" said Daniel confused, "what just happened?"
"The shit just hit the proverbial fan, Daniel" said Faith, "they're on the way here."
"The Ori?" asked as very surprised Daniel.
"This is going to be a very long story" said Anya as she walked up to Daniel and helped him up.
While Anya was attending to a very confused Daniel, Faith looked back at Colonel Mitchell and then at Dawn who was standing to one corner. She walked over to Dawn and put her hands on the younger brunette's trembling shoulders.
"Hey" said Faith as she rubbed the younger woman's arms, "you're alright… we're going to be alright. You hear me?"
"Yea" said Dawn as she looked straight into the eyes of the Slayer, "Willow told me that we'll be alright."
"Then trust her… trust me when I say that we really will be alright" said Dawn who nodded her head.
"Miss Summers" said Colonel Mitchell as he noticed Faith comforting Dawn, "how'd you like to join SG1 for the mission to that planet Jackson found?"
"Can I go too?" asked Anya, "I mean, you need all the help you can get and I'm already fluent in Ancient like Dawn. I'd… I mean with what's coming… I don't want to be in the sidelines… I'd like to help in some way."
"Alright" said Colonel Mitchell, "but you'll have to inform the BPRI and get permission."
"If they ask why?" asked Anya.
"Tell Angel and Miss Chase the truth" said Colonel Mitchell, "war's coming to this galaxy."
TBC.