Tara's Room, Joyce's House, 1800 hours; the next day.
It was only yesterday afternoon that Anya had called Angel and Cordelia at the BPRI to notify them about what Stargate Command had learned about the Ori and their planned crusade into the Milky Way. With the senior staff on missions in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, New York and Dallas, Angel and Cordelia called Tara into their office to break the news to her. As the two co-administrators talked to Tara about the information that Anya had relayed to them, the blonde witch felt fear grow within her. Her fears were for the Scoobies, the BPRI and what the Ori would do if they gained a foothold into the galaxy. She imagined death everywhere while Cordelia and Angel were talking to her, while at the same time reassuring her that they'll be doing everything they could as well. The final thought Tara had was what could an ascended being do with her powers, worshipping the Ori meant that a human would be giving them power. Her primary fear was what would happen if the Ori did manage to come into the galaxy, would they use the powers of every magic user on Earth to subjugate the others? Would they force the magic users to punish those who didn't bow to the Ori? Or would they force the magic users to turn on each other?
"Tara?" said Cordelia as she noticed the blonde looking off into space, "Tara!"
"Huh" said Tara as she shook her head, "Sorry Miss Chase, I was… I was…"
"It's alright" said Angel, "we did the same thing after talking to Anya and General Landry."
"What happens now?" asked Tara, "I mean what can we do?"
"Willow and her team have already headed out to that address we talked about" said Cordelia.
Tara recalled the both of them briefing her about a device that Merlin created that could pull in anyone who was close to it into another dimension. She heard that Colonel Carter and Daniel had been pulled inside that dimension where they found a gate address and details on a weapon that could destroy Ascended beings.
"Can that really be done?" Tara had asked as she leaned forward when they first told her about the weapon, "can you really kill energy?"
"They're not sure" said Cordelia, "they sent the data to the Asgard to check it out. But they're on a quest for it right now… or at least they will be."
"Wha.. what would you like for me to do?" asked Tara confused.
"I need you and Giles to talk to every Coven you can think of" said Angel, "I need all of you to work on a barrier spell."
"A ba… barrier?" asked Tara surprised, "for?"
"The entire planet" said Angel as Tara looked on in shock.
The shock passed on to the rest of the Scoobies when they came back from their missions with Buffy getting a little freaked out when she heard that Dawn too had gone with SG1 to the unknown planet. Eventually, Joyce had to calm the Slayer down when she reminded her that it was Dawn's decision to go.
"Mom" said Buffy after Tara had talked to everyone in Joyce's living room, "Dawn's…."
"Buffy" said Joyce, "Dawn chose to do this. You trained her, looked after her after I was gone… and now she's a grown woman. I trust her to come back to us safe and sound. Besides, Willow's with her and if I know that girl… she wont let Dawn risk her life unnecessarily."
"I know, mom" said Buffy as she sat on one of the chairs near the island in the middle of the kitchen, "but I still worry."
"Me too, honey" said Joyce as she held on to her daughter's hand tightly, "I feel that she's alright…. I can just feel it."
That conversation was yesterday, and now, as Tara lay on her bed alone she was uneasy. She couldn't keep her body still as she got up and then lay back down. She was tired the whole day, she had finished classes at the BPRI, worked at Joyce's gallery for a couple of hours before she came back home to Joyce's house. Wanting to take a nap before she helped the Summers matriarch with dinner, Tara found it difficult to sleep. Finally when she did fall asleep an hour later, she dreamt of a great battle.
After she closed her eyes, Tara opened them only to find herself in a room surrounded by grey walls. Looking around she saw computers everywhere and consoles with light blinking. Walking towards the exit in front of her, she looked at her left and her right only to see a long hallway that stretched into the distance on either side. However, from the hallway to the right, Tara could see a bright blue light at the end and despite all her senses tell her that it was wrong to go that way.. there was something pulling her in that direction. Walking slowly to the end, she found herself on what looked like the bridge of a ship. She saw various stations to her left and then turning to her right and a large chair, and two consoles that were on either side it. Then her attention was focused on a bright light at the large window that looked out into space. She walked over to the large chair, all the while looking at the bright light and then at the blue light coming into the bridge from the outside, before turning her attention back to the bright light. As she walked towards the bright light slowly, Tara noticed that the light itself was pulsing with what looked like tentacles flowing along its sides.
"Who are you?" said Tara at the light, "why are you in my dream?"
As she stepped closer to the light, Tara noticed a golden coloured plate on the wall of the bridge.
'Prometheus' thought Tara to herself as she looked around her surrounding again, "I'm on the Prometheus?"
"Yes" said a voice behind her and Tara turned around and immediately took a few steps back. She saw that the light was slowly dimming away to reveal a red haired woman in a white dress with gold accents looking out the window. The dress was classy, yet Tara noticed that it held well together in all the right places. She saw the woman glance back at her before looking out the window again.
"Hello Miss Maclay"
"Willow?" asked Tara, "is that you?"
"No" said the woman, "my name matters not."
"But why are you here" asked Tara as the woman stood looking out the window with her back to the blonde witch.
"For you to see" said the woman as she motioned Tara to join her at the window.
"See what?" asked Tara as she slowly walked to the large viewing window and stood next to the woman. What she saw outside shocked her as a bright blue puddle of what looked like water hung in the vastness of space, and out from it came four strange ships, "Oh goddess, we… we failed. They've come here?"
"Yes" said the woman as she looked at Tara, "the Ori have arrived in this galaxy, at least their followers have."
For the first time Tara was able to see the woman's face before she turned her head to look out at the Ori ships lining up against other ships, including two Earth ships. Tara kept on looking at the profile of the woman next to her. She saw age lines on her face but she turned her head too fast to see the colour of her eyes even with the blue light of the Supergate out in space, but Tara could definitely see the red hair before she turned and looked at the standoff between the two forces.
"Are those…." said Tara as she pointed at the large contingent of different vessels.
"Yes, those are the allied fleet" said the woman, "two ships from Terra, one ship from the Asgard, five ships from the Free Jaffa Nation, two ships from the Tok'ra and three more ships from the ones calling themselves the Lucien Alliance are on the way."
"Who are you?" asked Tara as she looked at the profile of the woman again.
"Is it important?" asked the woman as she looked out the window.
"Are you a Power?" asked Tara, "you know, one of the Powers that be?"
"No" chuckled the woman.
"Are you an Ancient?" asked Tara.
"We are known by that name" said the woman as her voiced turned serious before she took a step towards the window and whispered, "it has started."
Tara stepped forward and looked on as every ship in the allied fleet started to fire their weapons. She looked on stunned as the Ori ships shrugged off railgun fire from the Earth ships, Ion cannon fire from the Asgard vessel and Plasma blasts from the Jaffa and Tok'ra ships. Tara then looked on in horror as the Ori ships fired their weapons at the allied fleet and destroyed most of the Jaffa and Tok'ra vessels in one shot. Tara saw their shields flare for a second before the orange coloured beam punched through and ran right through the large vessel.
"Goddess" said Tara as she saw another beam head towards one of the Earth ships as the shields flared but stayed intact as it absorbed the beam, "Willow… Faith, are they alright?"
The woman bowed her head low as Tara saw a tear fall down her cheek in another flash of light from outside as another ship exploded.
"No" said Tara as she looked out the window only to see a Ha'tak vessel explode just as three other ships came out of hyper-space and immediately started to fire on the Ori ships. She saw two of the Ori ships fire smaller, blue coloured blasts at the new vessels just as one of the Earth ships flew towards the Ori vessels.
"The one known as the Korolev" said the woman as Tara looked on stunned while two Ori ships fired their main weapon at the ship the woman had called the Korolev. Tara saw the shields flare as the first beam hit but looked on horrified as it completely failed when the second beam hit and punched through the entire vessel, destroying it.
"How many souls?" asked Tara tears ran down her face at the massacre that was occurring in front of her, "how many died?"
"Hundreds" said the woman as the Ori ships stopped firing. The two women looked on as debris floated in open space with other ships disabled or losing life support. In the debris however, Tara couldn't see the other Earth ship.
"Where's the other one?" asked Tara as she wiped her eyes before putting her hands on the glass and looking out, straining get a better view, "where the other Earth ship?"
"The Odyssey" said the woman as she pointed at a ship in the distance that was simply drifting in space, "the engines have been damaged, life support will soon be stretched to the limit since they will no doubt take in any survivors."
"My friends" said Tara, "are they alright? Dawn, Anya, Willow and Faith… don't tell me they died.. please."
"They are safe" said the woman as she turned her head towards the Supergate and pointed her finger towards the giant Gate that was just hanging in space, "there."
"What?" asked Tara as she leaned forwards and strained her eyes to see past all the debris. She finally settled her eyes on what the woman was pointing at, a white speck floating near a section of the now deactivated Supergate, "who is that?"
"One of your friends" said the woman as she continued to look out the window.
"Why" said Tara as she looked out at the aftermath of the Ori incursion into the galaxy, "why don't you help them? As an Ancient you have the power."
"It is against our highest law to interfere in the matter of the lowers" said the woman.
"But you're interfering right now" said Tara as she pointed out the window, "please, save them."
"I am showing you simply what is coming if you and the others of Terra do not do anything" said the woman as she turned away from Tara and faced the wall.
"Then why show me all this" said Tara as she saw another set of debris float past her. Looking closely, she saw Jaffa floating out of the ships and into open space before she closed her eyes and turned away.
"Because you must see" said the woman, "you have doubt in your heart as to whether you are capable of helping your friends.. helping the others in saving Terra from the Ori. This battle has only proved that you, you and the others of your kind have to make a stand as well."
"My kind?" asked Tara as she looked back at the woman, "what about.. are you talking about me having the Furling gene or are you talking about humans?"
"One day" said the woman as her body started to brighten, "your kind will be forgiven for what they have done. I have seen your heart, and while it is pure… it is still a part of what happened long ago."
"What are you talking about?" asked Tara confused.
"Tara Maclay" said the woman as she turned into a bright white light, "if the Ori come to Earth, then the Human race as you know it is done for. You and your kind can help defend Terra, all you must do is find the strength."
"Help me then…. Help us…" said Tara, "help us defend the planet."
"You know I cannot" said the woman, "farewell, Tara."
"What's your name?" asked Tara as she saw the light fly through the window and into the darkness of space, "wait… what is your name?"
"Tara!" said Kennedy as she shook her girlfriend awake, "are you alright?"
"Ke.. Kennedy?" asked Tara as she snapped her eyes snapped open and sat up, "yo… you're here."
"Silly girl" said Kennedy as she wiped the tears running down Tara's face, "we just got back from the BPRI and I found you crying in your sleep, and…"
"I…. I… I'm on Earth?" asked Tara as she looked around at the lightened room. She then jumped out of bed and looked out the window and saw that the sky had slightly darkened before she turned around and looked at a very confused Kennedy.
"Yea" said Kennedy, "where else would you be? On Mars? Or near that Supergate thing you told us about and…."
"Oh no" said Tara as she ran past Kennedy who immediately got off the bed and followed her down the stairs. Kennedy noticed that Tara had started sobbing again as she headed out to the kitchen where Joyce and Buffy were making dinner.
"Hey" said Buffy after she noticed Tara from the corner of her eye, "here's the sleepy head, what have…. Tara?"
Buffy immediately put down the bowl she was carrying and ran over to her friend who was crying with her hands over her face. The blonde Slayer immediately gave Tara a hug as her whole body trembled while Buffy looked back at Kennedy who shrugged her shoulders.
"Da….. Dawnie? A.. Anya?" asked Tara as she struggled to talk. "whe… where are they?"
"They're at the SGC" said Joyce as she walked up to Tara, "Willow sent them through the Stargate about four hours ago, you were asleep by then. They said something about having found a Supergate somewhere."
"They didn't find the weapon though" said Buffy as she brushed Tara's head with the hand before the blonde released Buffy and stepped back.
"Bu.. Buffy" said Tara as she wiped her eyes and smiled at Kennedy who held her hand in concern before looking back at the blonde Slayer, "you… you need to call the SGC. Tell them that the Ori just came through the Gate."
"Tara" said Kennedy as she looked worriedly at Buffy and then at Joyce, "how do you know?"
"Please" said Tara as she looked at Kennedy, Buffy and then at Joyce, "tell them that the survivors don't have long to go… it was a massacre."
"Buffy" said Joyce as she gently pushed Tara to the couch in the empty living room, "call the SGC, Kennedy call Angel and Cordelia.. tell them to come here… now."
"Right" said Kennedy as she ran up the stairs to get her cell phone while Buffy ran for her's in the living room.
General Landry's office, SGC, 1830 hours.
General Landry was sitting at the head of the briefing room table worried; he had just received a report from both Dawn and Anya about them having gone to the planet known as Camelot, the same planet where Merlin was to have kept his weapon which he called the Saangral, the holy grail. Instead of finding the weapon itself, all they found were more clues to planets the weapon could be located on.
"This is turning into a quest for the holy grail sort of thing" Dawn had told him during the briefing after she and Anya returned to the SGC, "according to the leader of the village, Arthur and his knights searched for the Sangraal in three faraway lands."
"He said the names were Castiana, Sahal and Vagonbrei" interjected Anya, "still can't believe that the Sangraal is just a red jewel. I've been searching in all the wrong places for that thing.. hell, I've been searching the wrong planet."
"Anyway" said General Landry during his briefing with the two of them after they had gone through the standard medical tests, "the Korolevwith Daniel and Mitchell should be reaching the site of the Supergate in three hours. Hopefully we'll hear some good news from them."
"Still can't believe I got forced back" said Dawn.
"Willow doesn't want to see you get hurt, Dawn" said Anya as she nodded her head, "but my Daniel, I love it when he gets a bit… well, you know."
"We don't need to know" said both the General and Dawn together.
"Miss Summers" said General Landry turning to the younger woman, "Major Rosenberg placed her trust in sending you and Miss Jenkins back with this information. If you'll be willing, we'd like to send you and another team back to Merlin's library to find out any other information you can find on the Sangraal."
'Cool" said Dawn as she perked up, "yes, please."
"Alright" replied the General as he stood up, "all of you are dismissed. Go home and get some rest. I'll call you once I hear anything from Mitchell or Major Rosenberg."
"Thanks General" said Dawn as she stood up and led Anya away.
It was at 1830, three hours after the briefing with Dawn and Anya that the General was looking at his wristwatch while pacing in the briefing room with a cup of coffee in his hand. It was about time, he had received a subspace message from the Korolev five minutes ago that they had reached the Supergate and had joined up with the allied forces that were amassing at the site of the Supergate. However, according to Colonel Chekov who was in command of the Russian Federation's first spaceship, the Supergate was already active. It was then the General knew that they were going to face a fight, a fight that hopefully they were ready for. It was five minutes later, however, that Walter ran up the stairs and approached the General.
"Sir" said Walter, "we've lost the subspace beacon from the Korolev."
"Lost?" asked General Landry in surprise, "what do you mean…."
Just then the General's phone rang in his office. He motioned for Walter to follow him to his office while he talked to the man at the same time.
"Walter" said the General as he put his hand on the receiver, "notify Home World about what's going on." As Walter nodded his head and left the office in a run, General Landry picked up his phone and heard in surprise at what the woman on the other line was saying.
"Miss Summers" said the General, "please calm down. Just repeat what Miss Maclay told you."
"She said she had a dream or it could be a nightmare about the allied fleet get massacred, General" said Buffy as she spoke into her phone, "she's literally shaking right now, whatever she saw was bad."
"Damn" said General Landry as he sat down, "is she absolutely sure?"
"I trust her with my life, General" said Buffy as she looked at a distraught Tara, "I think they're in danger. She said that in her dream she saw the Korolev destroyed and the Odyssey just floating in space. Other ships were either destroyed or disabled."
"I see" said General Landry as he stood up again, "thank you Miss Summers, and please thank Miss Maclay for me as well."
"Do you have any extra ships?" asked Buffy as Tara, who was being comforted by both Xander and Kennedy, looked up at the blonde Slayer.
"We have a prototype" said General Landry, "let's just pray that it's prepared for a test."
"Good luck" said Buffy as she disconnected the call and walked towards Tara, "they'll bring them home, Tara."
"Buffy" said Tara, "we… we need to contact the Covens. We need to get that barrier spell ready."
"Alright" nodded Buffy, "I'll call Giles and Angel, ask them to get the ball rolling alright?"
"Th.. th.. thanks" said Tara.
Back in the SGC, the General put down the phone and sighed. The General had an instinct that Tara was right, that something had gone very wrong… it was just a feeling in his gut. HE knew this was bad, and he knew that the only ship left was the prototype that the crews at Area 51 were working on. He knew that even though the ship was still experimental and that the newer technology may not be fully operational, at least the beaming technology, the Asgard shields and the railguns should be working. The problem was the Naquadria reactors that powered the experimental weapon that the ship was carrying. He quickly walked down the stairs to the control room and walked over to Walter.
"Walter" said the General, "get me a line to Colonel Ronsen."
"Of course, sir" said Walter as he pressed some buttons on the console in front of him and Colonel William Ronsen's face appeared on the screen right in front of the General.
"General Landry, sir" said the Colonel as he stood up from his command chair and approached the LCD screen to his starboard side, "this is a pleasant surprise."
"Colonel" replied the General, "we just received intelligence that the Ori ships had come through the Supergate and laid waste to the allied fleet."
"Sir?" said a very surprised Colonel Ronsen as all activity around the ship's bridge stopped, "intel? But how?"
"A very reliable source" said General Landry, "how ready are you for an impromptu rescue mission."
"Sir" said the Colonel as she looked around at one of the officers who was holding up six fingers, before the Colonel turned back to General Landry, "maybe sixty percent ready."
"Life Support, Hyperdrive, Beaming technology and Shields among that sixty percent?" asked General Landry.
"Yes, sir" said the Colonel, "but we just finished installing the new weapon system and it hasn't tested yet in a battle situation, that test is scheduled for next month. The weapon is the main reason we were ordered not to launch."
"Colonel" said General Landry, "our intel stated that most allied ships have either been destroyed or disabled, as far as we know the Korolevis gone. No idea on the Odyssey. This is going to be a straight up rescue mission. As far as I know, the prototype has already had its railguns and Mark Eights loaded, yes?"
"Yes, sir" said the Colonel nodding his head.
"Then do it, Colonel" said General Landry, "I'm ordering the launch of the Avalon."
Site of the Supergate, 2245 hours.
As Willow remained telekinetically tethered to one of the sections that made up the Supergate, she could only watch in horror as hours ago, four Ori ships entered the Milky Way and cut through the allied force as if they were nothing. She had seen the total destruction of the allied forces and now, all she could do was float in the emptiness of space as she saw debris of destroyed ships everywhere. Looking at the small screen located at the arm of her spacesuit, she closed her eyes and groaned at the indication that read she only had another four hours of life support left. All the while she had tried to contact the Odyssey through her suit radio, but she received no response. She tried telepathic contact with Faith, or Colonel Emerson… but no response.
'I saw the Korolev explode' thought Willow to herself, 'Daniel, Colonel Mitchell…. I'm so sorry.'
Willow recalled being beamed away from Camelot and onto the Odyssey with SG1, Anya and Dawn. Colonel Emerson had told them that a fleet of Free Jaffa had detected the Supergate and were already at the location.
She looked back at Dawn and saw the look of surprise on both faces of Buffy's young sister, and Anya. Shaking her head, Willow told Colonel Emerson that she would contact the Asgard immediately in the hope that they could help, particularly in discovering what Merlin's weapon did. Daniel, however, had insisted on remaining on Camelot to search for the weapon in Merlin's library and Colonel Mitchell, Dawn and Anya had insisted on following. They said that three heads would be better than one, leaving Colonel Mitchell frowning at Daniel, Anya and Dawn who were grinning at him. It was just before the Colonel left that Willow took him to one side.
"Sir" said Willow, "when the Korolev comes to pick you and the others up, please have them beam Dawn and Anya back to the surface of the planet. They need to get back to Earth safely."
"I had every intention of doing just that, Major" said Colonel Mitchell.
"I didn't mean to imply you didn't, sir" said Willow as she glanced at Dawn who was talking to Daniel, "it's just that…. You can blame it on me, Sir. She'll be angry for a little while but she'll cool down later."
"Thanks" said Colonel Mitchell, "I'll placed the blame on you them."
"Thanks, sir" smiled Willow as Colonel Mitchell walked back to the small group before they were beamed back down onto the planet. Once they were beamed down, Willow stood next to Teal'c behind Colonel Emerson as he ordered the ship into hyperspace.
Back in the emptiness of space, Willow had been trying for four hours to contact anyone over her radio. Either they were too far away for her telepathy, or their communications were down. One thing she was sure of was that Faith wasn't dead, if she was then the redhead would have felt it through her link.
"Major Rosenberg to the Odyssey" said Willow over the radio for what seemed to be the hundredth time, "do you read?"
Willow couldn't see anything, just some short bursts of light from explosions in the debris field before it was snuffed out.
"This is Major Willow Rosenberg, come in please" said Willow as she looked around her area, "can anyone hear me? Please respond."
With no other answer, Willow thought about how she got out here instead of being one of the Earth ships helping the others. Once they had reached the other allied fleet, Kvasir of the Asgard came out of hyperspace in his ship and beamed himself into the Odyssey. He said that he and the other Asgard discovered what Merlin's weapon really was, thanks to what Daniel had found in the phase shifting device, when he was talking to Willow later on in one of the labs on the ship.
"It is an energy transfer device, similar to a Zero Point Module, except that the energy is channelled not from sub-space into ordinary space-time, but rather into the dimension occupied by Ascended beings" Kvasir had told Willow.
"So this energy harms them in some way?" asked Willow as she looked at data on a screen from behind Kvasir.
"It is a form of interference. A simply analogy would be two standing waves cancelling each other out" said Kvasir as Willow nodded in understanding, "if the weapon indeed works the way Merlin's writings imply, we would simply need to activate it and send it to the Ori galaxy, and they would be eliminated."
"And we already have a way of sending the weapon through to their galaxy right in front of us" said Willow as she realized Kvasir's plan, "the Supergate."
"Yes" replied Kvasir, "however, this would still require that Daniel Jackson find Merlin's weapon."
"If it's on the planet" said Willow, "they'll find it."
"In the meantime" said Kvasir, "we would need to locate the dialling control crystal, and switch it with one that I will have to program."
"I'll help you in any way I can" said Willow as Kvasir nodded.
But little did Willow or Kvasir know how wrong they both were, that everything would soon go upside down. Once Willow and Kvasir had found the dialling crystal on a section of the Supergate and once Kvasir had programmed a replacement crystal, Colonel Emerson came into the lab with bad news; that Daniel and the others could not find the weapon.
"Sir" said Willow as she held up the crystal, "this is still the best way for us to prevent the Ori from sending ships to this galaxy. All we have to do is keep the wormhole open, and with the singularity powering it… it can remain open indefinitely."
"So I take it you'd like to go out into space?" asked Colonel Emerson, "with a spacesuit this time?"
"Yes, sir" said Willow with a smile.
"I would volunteer to go" said Kvasir, "but you do not have a suit that would fit me."
"Right" smiled Willow as she looked at the grey alien before she gently patted his shoulder and walked away to the ready room where she would get into her spacesuit. It was about thirty minutes later that Willow, in her spacesuit, was beamed out to one of the sections that made up the gate. She activated the magnets on her boot and walked toward a panel. Taking it out, she confirmed that she switched the control crystal with Kvasir's and said that it would take a few minutes for the program in the crystal to take effect. But it was already too late, a few seconds after having put in the crystal… Willow saw blue electrical energy crackling along the surface of the section as it short-circuited the connection between the magnetic boots and the surface of the section. Willow telekinetically latched on to a part of the section as she watched the gigantic event horizon forming within the Supergate.
"Dear God" said Willow as the first of four ships came through the Gate. Then the massacre started.
Back in the present, Willow was still trying to contact anyone on her radio.
"This is Major Rosenberg" said Willow, "I'm in a spacesuit holding steady, approximately two thousand feet off the front right position on the Supergate. Can anyone read me?"
Just then, Willow received heard a familiar voice in her ear and she smiled.
"Willow" said Colonel Mitchell weakly, "can you hear me?"
"Sir" said Willow as she looked around, "you have no idea how glad I am to hear your voice, are you alright?"
"In a 302" said the Colonel wincing in pain as he activated the controls on the small air craft, "just got off the Korolevin the nick of time. Can you sense me?"
"Now I can" smiled Willow, "I thought you died, I couldn't sense you earlier."
"I was out like a light" said the Colonel, "where are the Ori ships?"
"They left here approximately four hours ago" said Willow, "Daniel?"
"I don't know" said the Colonel, "he was still on the Korolev, I think."
Just then, Willow had a familiar warmth go through her entire body as she gave a wide grin.
"They found us, Sir" said Willow.
Willow: "Faith… Faith where are you? Are you alright?"
Back on the Odyssey, Faith was seated on the starboard console right next to Colonel Emerson after Womack was taken to the infirmary due to some burns she suffered during the first attack on the ship. The Brunette Slayer was already familiar with the systems aboard the Odyssey since most of them matched the ones on the Prometheus and the Daedalus during the months she spent training on those two ships. Luckily, she hadn't suffered a lot of injuries, just some knocks and scraps after she was pushed through the glass over the central console on the back of the bridge during the first attack when the Ori beam weapon hit the ship's shield, which resulted in some cuts on her arms, legs and forehead.
The ship had been severely damaged by the Ori attack as it had lost all communications, and sub-light engines. Having just got the engines back online, the ship observed the Ori vessels using their long range scanners before they had gone into hyperspace. After confirming that the ships entered hyperspace, Faith turned back to Colonel Emerson to inform him that it should be safe to head back to search for any survivors.
"Life support?" asked the Colonel as he looked at Faith.
"Depending on the number of survivors we find?" said Faith as she looked at the console, "we're looking at a day, maybe less."
As the ship flew through the debris field in front of them, they started taking in survivors through the rings from the other Jaffa vessels, before Faith felt a familiar sensation throughout her body, and then she received the telepathic communication from Willow and smiled.
Faith: "Heya Red, I'm alright. The ship's a little banged up, just give us a sec."
"Colonel" said Faith as she turned around to face Colonel Emerson, "Message from Willow, she and Cam are still alive. No idea on Daniel."
"Marks" said the Colonel, "find the data recorder from the Korolev, get it on board and examined, find out what went wrong."
"Yes, sir" said Major Marks.
"Faith" said the Colonel, "open a channel to Mitchell."
"Done" said Faith.
"Colonel Mitchell" said Colonel Emerson, "can you get your 302 into the port flight pod?"
"Yes, Sir" said the Colonel.
"Come on, Home" said Colonel Emerson before turning his attention to Willow, "Major Rosenberg, I'm afraid you'll need to wait a little while longer. Our Asgard beaming technology isn't working, Kvasir's doing everything he can to repair it."
"Sir" said Willow as she looked at the ship as it flew though the debris, "I can see the ship, is it possible for you to stop moving?"
"Major, what are you planning?" asked the Colonel as he looked at Faith nervously.
"Sir" said Willow over the radio, "all I ask is that the ship be taken out of the debris field, and that Faith meet me at the nearest airlock."
"Colonel" said Faith, "I have an idea about what she wants to do. With permission?"
"Do I want to know?" asked the Colonel.
"After she comes back?" asked Faith.
"Alright" said the Colonel, "Major, head for airlock 1A on the bridge level. I'll have a medical crew standing by just in case."
"Thanks Sir" said Willow over the radio.
"Go" said the Colonel as Faith got up and another Captain took her place on the console.
Faith: "Red, you're using our link as a beacon. Right?"
Willow: "Yep. Just let me know once you're there."
Faith: "Gotcha."
"Marks" said Colonel Emerson, "all stop."
"Yes, sir" said the Major as he pressed at few buttons on his console and the ship slowly came to a stop outside the debris field.
"Major Rosenberg" said the Colonel, "we've stopped, do what you need to do."
"Yes, Sir" said Willow.
Willow: "Faith, You there?"
Faith stopped at an airlock where a group of medical personnel were already waiting for the doors to open.
"Colonel" said Faith into the intercom, "I'm already here, I've told Red to push off."
"Copy that" said Colonel Emerson as he looked nervously at Major Marks, who himself remembered what Willow did during the Tegalus incident.
Faith: "Do it, Red."
"Colonel Emerson" said Willow, "I'm pushing off the section of the gate."
Willow used her telekinesis and pushed off the section of the Supergate as she headed towards the large ship in the distance. Her link with Faith was acting as a beacon, telling her where to aim for. However, she soon discovered a problem.
"Sir" said Marks, "I have Major Rosenberg on scanners but she's going off course."
"Major" said the Colonel as he ran to the view port and saw Willow just float by, "you're going off-course, recommend you shift ten degrees to your left."
"Copy that" said Willow as she reached her hand out as she passed the bridge. She telekinetically grabbed a section of the hull and her body stopped floating aimlessly as pain racked her head and travelled down her spine and to the arm that was reaching out. Wincing in pain, she pulled herself down towards the long range communication array, "Sir, I'm alright. Heading towards airlock 1F."
"Notify Faith and the medical team" said Colonel Emerson as he pointed at Major Marks.
"Sir" said Willow as she pulled herself past the long range communication array, "the long range transmitters look fried at least from out here. I don't think we can do anything about it, unless we get back to Earth."
"Copy that" said Colonel Emerson, "our hyperdrive is out, so that's the first thing that needs repair once you get back."
"Yes sir" said Willow as she reached the airlock, and smiled when Faith and the medical team appeared on the opposite side of the pressurised internal door, "I'm heading in, Sir."
"Good" said Colonel Emerson, "welcome back. Marks, is Colonel Mitchell on board?"
"Yes, Sir" said Marks, "he just got in five minutes ago. He's heading towards the bridge, and we're getting a hail from one of the Jaffa vessels."
"On Screen" said Colonel Emerson as he turned his command chair to the left as Teal'c appeared on the screen. He was telling the Colonel that systems on the Lucien Alliance vessel he was on had been damaged and that they were still getting primary systems on line. Just when Colonel Emerson was asking him if his ship could take on more survivors, weapons fire erupted behind the Jaffa as the screen went blank.
"Marks" sighed Colonel Emerson, "is Major Rosenberg back on board?"
"Yes, Sir" said the Major, "the med teams are attending to her now."
"Hyperdrive and shields?"
"Hyperdrive is still offline, long range communications are offline and shields are at twenty percent. And Kvasir is still working on the damaged Asgard beams" replied the Major.
"Sir" said Colonel Mitchell as he walked onto the bridge, "what's the situation?"
"Bad" said Colonel Emerson as he motioned to Colonel Mitchell to follow him out of the bridge, "our life support is being overtaxed. Taking on too many survivors will give us at best a day's worth."
"Any way to get to a Stargate on a nearby planet?" asked Colonel Mitchell.
"It would take weeks, if not months just on sub-light capability" said the Colonel as they both walked through the hallways towards the infirmary, "and we can't call for help since long range communications are out. But the SGC should know by now that something's wrong, we've missed two scheduled check-ins."
"Damn" said Colonel Mitchell as the both of them turned into the infirmary, only to see Willow sitting on the bed as Faith looked on while the redhead was being checked out by the doctor.
"Sirs" said Willow as she smiled at her superior officers.
"Major" said Colonel Emerson, "nothing too crazy out there?"
"No, Sir" said Willow, "I've had my quota of doing crazy things… only once per year I say."
"So" said Faith, "any idea why they left us alone? They had every opportunity to destroy us."
"My guess is that the Ori wanted to leave witnesses" said Colonel Mitchell, "they want us to go forth and tell others of how they kicked our asses."
"Great" said Faith, "egotistical nut jobs."
"You said it" replied Willow as she glanced over at Faith, and then at Colonel Emerson, "Sir, the beaming tech?"
"Kvasir's working on it" said Colonel Emerson, "and Teal'c is having some trouble on the Lucien Alliance ship."
"But to get him back we need the transporters" said Willow nodding her head.
"I need you to work getting the hyperdrive up and running" said Colonel Emerson, "in the meantime, you should….."
"Colonel Emerson to the bridge" said Marks over the intercom, "Colonel Emerson to the Bridge."
Colonel Emerson and Colonel Mitchell looked at each other before running out of the infirmary, followed closely by Willow and Faith. Once the four of them reached the bridge, Colonel Emerson had asked Marks to report what was going on.
"Sir" said the Major, "We've re-established contact with the Lucian Alliance mothership, sir. They're asking to speak with you."
"Open a channel" said Colonel Emerson as the screen turned on to a man standing behind a Ha'tak peltak, "This is Colonel Emerson of the Earth ship Odyssey."
"I am Netan, leader of the Lucian Alliance. You will surrender your ship to our control immediately."
Colonel Emerson looked at Colonel Mitchell, Willow and Faith in surprise. Colonel Mitchell then tapped a finger on Colonel Emerson's shoulder and asked him if he should be the one to talk to Netan, to which Colonel Emerson wholeheartedly agreed.
"Hey there" said the Colonel, "Lieutenant Colonel Cameron Mitchell here. Look, we were all in this fight together, weren't we? This is not how allies are supposed to treat each other. Granted, we got our butts kicked, but we still need each other if we're gonna survive."
"Our sensors detect your shields are at minimum" said Netan, "if you do not capitulate immediately, we will open fire."
"You do realize that you'll be destroying the only other ship out here with life support capabilities" said Faith as Netan glowered on the screen.
"You dragged us into this battle knowing it would deplete our forces" hissed Netan angrily, "I suspect intentionally."
"That's not true. We all lost. Badly. Why don't you tell us your situation? Maybe we can work something out" said Colonel Mitchell.
"The situation is, you will surrender or be destroyed" said Netan as Colonel Mitchell stared at the Lucien Alliance member, before turning to quietly talk to Colonel Emerson.
"What sort of ordinance do we have on board?" asked Colonel Mitchell.
"Not much, and he's right about our shields" replied the Colonel.
"So we're sitting ducks then" whispered Willow when Marks called out to Colonel Emerson.
"Sir" said the Major, "we're detecting a hyperspace window opening, its another ship."
"What is this?" said Netan as he looked at a screen from his end, "I knew that you would have done this intentionally, this was a trick.. a trap to destroy the Lucien Alliance."
"Sir" said the Captain who had taken Faith's place earlier, "the Lucien Alliance Vessel is charging weapons."
"Damn it" said Colonel Emerson, "how are our shields?"
"Twenty five percent, sir" said Willow, "we won't be able to survive."
"I'm getting IFF from the unknown ship" said Marks as he looked up at the screen in surprise, "it's…. huh.. its one of ours?"
"The Daedalus?" asked Colonel Emerson as he looked back at Colonel Mitchell, "but she's still in Pegasus."
"No way" grinned Willow as she ran to the main window as she tried to looked out before turning to Marks, "Major, where is she?"
"Major?" said Colonel Mitchell, "what's going on?"
"Sir" said Marks, "we're being hailed, and the Lucien Alliance vessel is powering down her weapons."
"OK" said Colonel Emerson as he looked at Willow in confusion, "open a channel."
"This is Colonel Emerson of the Earth ship Odyssey" said the Colonel, "unknown vessel, identify yourself."
"Colonel Emerson, this is Colonel William Ronsen of the Avalon. Stargate Command thought we should stop by and say hello."
"Colonel" said Colonel Emerson as he recognized the voice of the first commander of the Prometheus, "good to hear your voice."
"We received intel on the situation" said Colonel Ronsen, "we never realized how bad it was until we came out of hyperspace and almost hit a piece of debris the size of a small building. How badly are you damaged?"
"We don't have hyperdrive, our life support has been taxed to its maximum, Kvasir is working on the beaming technology" said Colonel Emerson, "that's about most of it. Are you able to take some of the survivors?"
"We've already beamed a few on board" said Colonel Ronsen.
"Colonel" said Colonel Mitchell, "Teal'c's on board the Lucien Alliance mothership, are you able to get a lock?"
"Yes" said Colonel Ronsen, "he's been beamed straight to the infirmary."
"Thanks" replied Colonel Emerson as he sat back and leaned back on his chair while rubbing his temples, "our long range communications are shot to hell, have you been able to get in touch with Stargate Command?"
"Yes" replied Colonel Ronsen, "Stargate Command has been notified, and they wanted to let you know that three Jaffa vessels are on the way as well. They should be here in another thirty minutes."
As the two Colonels were talking on the radio, Colonel Mitchell and Faith walked up to the grinning Willow who was looking at a smaller ship that was simply hanging in space.
"Major?" said Colonel Mitchell as he looked at where Willow was looking and whistled.
"Red" said Faith as she saw the ship, "that's what you and Sam designed isn't it?"
"Major?" asked Colonel Mitchell.
"Sorry, sir" said Willow, "it was classified as Top Secret by the order of the President and General O'Neill. Only General O'Neill, General Landry, Colonel Carter, Dr. Lee and I had access to the plans for the ship. Meet the X-305; codenamed Avalon."
"Why wasn't I told about this?" asked Colonel Mitchell as he looked at Willow, "I mean don't get me wrong, it's a nice ship but…."
"I apologize, sir" said Willow, "with the Trust still on Earth, we had to keep this away from as many people as possible. Only Woolsey from the IOA is aware of its existence, but the cat's out of the bag now."
"You know they're not going to be happy" said Faith.
"Which is why the plan is to give Russia. China, France and England a ship once it passes all the standard tests" said Willow, "including the test for the new weapon."
"Weapon?" asked Faith excitedly as she came to a realization, "you mean the weapons research from the Death Valley outpost? You guys actually did it?"
"Yep" said Willow, "it was missing some key components which Dr. Lee helped to fill in, then came the problem with powering the whole thing which is why we're using Naquadria. The ship's drives are still powered by Naquada though because of the inherent instability of the Naquadria."
"But the more power you try to draw from the Naquadria, the more unstable it gets" said Colonel Mitchell, "I read the report on what happened to the X-302 during Anubis's attack using the weapon that threatened to blow up the Stargate, General O'Neill and Carter weren't able to open a window from here to Abydos to call for help."
"Opening a stable hyperspace window draws more power than shooting multiple plasma pulses, sir" said Willow, "plus Colonel Carter designed the generator that's running the weapon with safety in mind. If anything happens to it, if the Naquadria shows any signs of instability. Then all power conduits to and from the generators are immediately shut off. IF the generator still doesn't stabilize, then it's automatically ejected directly into space… and we have a few seconds to get into hyperspace."
"Has it been tested?" asked Colonel Emerson who had overheard everything as he walked up to the small group that was talking at the window, "has the weapon been tested?"
"Next month, Sir" said Willow, "and if it works, all other 304's would be refitted with the weapon."
"Looks like it's going to be tested" said Colonel Mitchell as Willow nodded.
"She looks smaller though" said Colonel Emerson.
"The Avalon's meant to be something akin to an escort or a cruiser that would take a shorter time frame to build." said Willow, "the Daedelus class takes about a year to build, but this could be built in about seven months. As you can see, we still have the similar form as the 304's but the neck is shorter, she doesn't have the fighter landing bays, but she has twenty five railgun emplacements, ten missile tubes, a complement of three Mark three, three Mark eight and one Mark nine nuclear weapon. Four turrents on both the Starboard and port sides for the Ancient weapon. We already have large Deep Space Carriers like the Odyssey and Daedalus, and I had an idea for smaller ships that could complement them. Dr. Lee, Dr. Felger and I designed the ship and refined the weapon to fit with our existing tech base with the help of the database in the Ancient outpost. Colonel Carter and I then further refined it. Now all it needs is a test."
"Major Rosenberg" said Marks as Willow walked over to his station, "we have the results from the Korolev's black box data recorder."
As Willow looked at the data, she looked at a surprised Marks before looking back up and grinned at Colonel Emerson, Mitchell and Faith.
"The Korolev sensors picked up fluctuations in the Ori ships shields when they fired the main weapon. They were going to ring a nuke over to the ship, but it was destroyed. However, someone did beam over to on of the Ori ships just before the Korolev was destroyed" said Willow, "the rings were activated and a matter stream was sent."
"Jackson?" asked Colonel Mitchell.
"Most likely" replied Faith.
"I guess we'll be giving the new weapon a test after all" said Colonel Emerson.
"I guess so, sir" said Willow.
TBC.