Unknown region of Space, two weeks later.
In the vast emptiness of space and amongst the pinpricks of light there was a very brief bright flash of light, followed by the appearance of a small ship. Nearly invisible to the naked eye, it was flown by one Kara 'Starbuck' Thrace of the Battle Galactica. As she sat in the cockpit, she looked out at the stars and breathed a sigh of relief that the ship, the first created on the Galactica by Chief Tyrol, didn't break apart after having made its third FTL jump towards Starbuck's eventual destination. It was a few days earlier that, by a miracle, the Galactica and her fleet of ships that were supposedly the only survivors of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol made contact with another surviving Battlestar… the Pegasus.
She recalled that day as a day of celebration for both sides, well.. for three sides. The two surviving military vessels and the civilian fleet. Admiral Helena Cain of the Pegasus welcomed them back into the Colonial Fleet before making sweeping changes to personnel on the Galactica herself. Starbuck, the ace pilot of the Galactica was now one of the pilots on the Pegasus, and even the Commander Air Group of the Galactica was transferred to the other massive ship in a shakeup of personnel that no one enjoyed. Especially Starbuck and Lee 'Apollo' Adama, the son of Commander William Adama of the Galactica. It was a day after their miraculous meeting that the pilots found out more information on a massive Cylon fleet that was trailing the Galactica. According to the CAG of the Pegasus, they were to conduct a recon run using a raptor on the trailing Cylon fleet which consisted of Basestars, Raiders and a large unknown vessel. However, it was Starbuck who suggested using the Blackbird which was the name given to the stealth ship that she was now piloting. Even that idea was shot down, which led to Apollo quietly giving Starbuck a surveillance package consisting of a camera and its associated software and controls. It was later on that the blonde haired pilot left the Galactica on a pretext of testing the ship for Admiral Cain.
After Starbuck made the final jump to the location of the Cylon fleet, she turned off her cockpit lights and activated the camera. In the quiet of space she pushed her ship's thrusters until she was elegantly flying towards the large ship at the end of the fleet. As she was flying and taking pictures, Starbuck noticed a light forming on her starboard side. Turning her head, she saw a blue cloud form out of nowhere and a then large ship simply appeared out of it.
"By the Gods" said Starbuck as she saw the ship decelerated at such a rate that she was sure nothing inside could survive. Turning her camera towards the ship, she took pictures of it as well while it just stood there hanging in space. However, she still had a mission to accomplish despite the new arrival, and she had to finish it quickly before the Cylon ships jumped out. When she started to take pictures of the largest vessel in the back, she suddenly noticed power spike in that ships FTL drive which meant that it was getting ready to jump. Worried that she may have been found out, she fired her thrusters to maximum, and then saw flashes of blue and orange reflected on her canopy.
Ori Vessel, two minutes earlier.
A Prior was one of four people on the bridge piloting the large Ori vessel, with the others being members of the Ori army trained in various functions in the running of the ship, when sensors created with the knowledge of ascended beings noticed a spatial distortion in normal space. Thinking that it was one of the representatives of all that was evil in this galaxy, he dropped the ship out of hyperspace and stood up as he saw a massive fleet in front of him. He smiled as he looked at the star-shaped ships of which there were at least five, complete with squadrons of fighters that flew in formation towards his ship. And then he noticed the other ship behind them, a massive ship that his sensors indicated contained thousands of bodies.
It was then that a light flashed on a console and the smile on his face vanished in an instant.
"Prior" said one of the soldiers on his left side, "one of those ships is attempting to transmit a virus onto our systems; they are unsuccessful."
"Scan those ships" said the Prior, "and search for that ship which created that distortion."
"I have found it, Prior" said the soldier, "it is flying towards that vessel behind these ships shaped as stars."
"I am reading artificial life on those ships, Prior" said another soldier.
"Artificial life" said the Prior as he smiled and stood up off his chair, "artificial life has no soul, and as such they have no right to walk on the path of enlightenment."
"Sensors are showing power spikes, Prior" said a soldier, "they seem to be charging some form of hyperspace generator."
"Let us show them that they cannot escape from the cleansing fires of the Ori" said the Prior as the crystal in his staff started to glow brightly. Almost immediately, the Prior smiled as the ship started to open fire.
Starbuck's Stealth Ship, moment of first attack by Ori vessel.
Turning the ship around a hundred and eighty degrees, Starbuck stared with her mouth open in shock when the grey coloured ship fired blue coloured bolts of energy as the Raiders that were attacking it. She then saw the Basestars firing missiles at the grey ship when, like something she would watch on a science fiction show, the missiles hit a grey shimmer that covered the entire ship.
"That… that's impossible" said Starbuck as she watched more missiles being fired at the grey ship, "those are only science fiction…. There's no way energy shields exist."
Despite all her misgivings about the existence of shields, she saw with her own eyes as the missiles impacted against the silver shimmer around the strange vessel. She then saw a tear shaped beam of light fire from the lower part of the ship as it went through one Cylon Basestar and into the next one leaving explosions in its wake. She then saw another orange energy beam being fired towards the largest ship. Looking at her instruments, she saw that the large ship's FTL was almost ready when the beam cut through through the top of the ship and exited through the bottom.
"Oh my gods, Oh my gods" was all Starbuck could say as the grey ship which looked like a mask with a glowing blue energy in the middle fired two more bolts at the other three Basestars, which jumped just before they were hit. She looked on in shock as the ship took out the remaining Raiders using blue energy bolts that were being fired from all sides of the ship. Looking down at her console, she made sure that her gun camera was recording this amazing sight and well as taking pictures.
She recalled Sharon telling her and Helo the day they left Caprica a little over a month ago, that she met humans from the Thirteenth Tribe; that she met people from Earth.
"I'm telling you I met them" said Sharon as she was flying the Heavy Raider out of Caprica's atmosphere almost a month ago, "I met a version of me."
"Great" said Starbuck sarcastically, "another Cylon copy."
"No" said Sharon as she looked back at the blonde, "I didn't know who she was, I didn't know her name… which is impossible for me. She told me that she was human."
"You're lying" said Starbuck as she pointed at Sharon with her finger, "you're lying and the only reason you're not dead right now is because you are flying this heap."
"Kara" said Helo as he looked at his friend.
"Come on, Helo" said Starbuck, "she's a Cylon… she lies. And humans from Earth? Then where are they?"
"Lauren Satterfield" said Sharon, "my human copy… she said that they had another way back."
"Lauren?" said Helo, "Sharon… that's…."
"Look" said Sharon, "believe or don't, I saw humans from Earth… I asked them for help."
"Let me guess" said Starbuck, "they said that they'll come rescue us?"
"No" said Sharon shaking her head, "Lauren said that they're fighting a war… that the entire galaxy is being threatened."
"You think?" said Starbuck sarcastically, "they're called Cylons… and if these people you supposedly met were really human, then they would be here right now helping us. Please, what could be worse than the Cylons."
"Look" continued Starbuck, "get us the frak out of here, I need to get the Arrow of Apollo to Roslin. Then we're going to Kobol to find the Tomb of Athena. Do that, or else I blow your fraking head off. That's how we'll find Earth, not your lies about meeting imaginary people."
"Kara" said Helo as he looked at Starbuck.
"I'm telling the truth" said Sharon as she looked out the cockpit of the Heavy Raider, "I know I am. They're out there."
Back on the stealth ship, Starbuck had already spooled up her FTL drive when another tear shaped beam fired from the large ship and it ran straight through the mysterious Cylon vessel. Looking in shock at the explosions from within, followed by massive decompressions from all along the vessel… Starbuck continued taking pictures as bodies were thrown out of the massive Cylon vessel as another explosion occurred from inside tearing the ship apart. A few minutes later, the immediate area of the stealth fighter was littered with debris and bodies of various Cylon models that were floating away into space from the large vessel.
'Must have been one important ship to have this many bodies' thought Starbuck to herself, 'the skinjobs download after death, so was this a…. resurrection ship? A ship where their consciousness goes after they die?'
As she looked around, Starbuck noticed that the grey ship was heading towards her location. Hoping against hope that what Sharon said was the truth, she tried to make contact.
"Vessel of the Thirteenth" said Starbuck as she looked at the ship as it came closer to her, "I request…."
Just then a message came through her console, she looked at her screen and wondered what it said. She didn't recognize it, nor did she believe that it was really from any of the Twelve Colonies.
"I…. I received your message" said Starbuck as she looked up from the console and stared at the approaching ship, "but I don't know what you're trying to say…. Are you from the Thirteenth Tribe?"
She then received another message on the display that read, "Evil has permeated this land, Embrace the light so that you shall enter salvation and the road to enlightenment, hallowed are the Ori."
"I.. I still can't read what you're trying to say" said Starbuck as she looked at her console and then at the ship.
After a while, she received another message that read "Evil has made its way into this land, the Ori offer the light of enlightenment to all those who seek the truth. Those who do not accept the will of the Ori, shall be made into dust."
"I.. I still don't understand what you are saying" said Starbuck as she looked at the ship as it was almost on top of her.
"Dear gods" said Starbuck as she watched dish at the lower section of the ship light up. She then punched a button to her left as a bright orange light left the ship and headed straight for her. It was less than a split second for the blonde woman to realize that her jump was successful, and that she was in another area of space. Breathing hard into her helmet, she swallowed as she leaned her head back into her seat.
"Gods" said Starbuck to herself, "that Cylon frackker was right, either I just faced the Thirteenth Tribe or that enemy she was talking about. They beat the Cylons, can they help us? Or are we fraked?"
SGC, two months later; 2300 hours.
It was nearly a month earlier, that all of Dawn's dreams of going to Atlantis during a test of the Intergalactic Gate Bridge was torn asunder. During a preliminary test by the Atlantis personnel in a puddle jumper, they encountered an Ancient vessel known as the Tria that was travelling through the void between the Milky Way and Pegasus galaxies. The Daedalus, which had finished her refit of the Ancient weapons systems a few days ago was back on her regular duties of supplying Atlantis, was the ship that made contact with the Tria. The crew were surprised to learn that not only was that ship crewed by real life Ancients, but that they also wanted the expedition out of Atlantis.
Eventually, Dr. Weir and the expedition had agreed to leave the city and had left Woolsey as the human representative so that talks could continue on letting some of the expedition members back into the city. Eventually, even General O'Neill had to leave for Pegasus on the Daedalus so that he could backup Woolsey in negotiations. The other members of the expedition were broken up with Dr. Beckett taking a position in the SGC, McKay had his own team in Area 51 and finally, Colonel Sheppard had his own SG team. However, even that was soon going to change and Dawn would finally get her chance to visit Atlantis… this time on a rescue mission.
During the two weeks that SG1 spent in Atlantis before the return of the Ancients, some of Daniel's translation team was in Camelot studying the contents of Merlin's library searching for more clues on the Sangraal. He had contacted the SGC through the Stargate from Atlantis thanks to the city-ship's ZPM which enabled the intergalactic call. The SGC was told about the two addresses that Morgan Le Fay had given them, and the next day teams were sent to Castiana and Sahal. However, all they found was a planet with a toxic atmosphere and forty thousand year old ruins respectively. There was nothing on the two planets to indicate any clue on the location of Merlin's weapon.
A few days after their return to the Milky Way, SG1 had their first encounter with Adria which ended in total disaster as, once again, the Ori showed their power in the form of Adria. The young woman was an Ori in the body of a human being, complete with their powers and most of their knowledge. Knowledge that she used to completely destroy the Dakara super weapon that the Jaffa High Council had used against human worlds that fell to the Ori. In a last ditch hope to kill Adria using the wave of the super weapon, the council fired it when her ship was in orbit of the planet. However, thank to a personal shield, Adria survived the wave although every single Jaffa on the planet had died.
SG1 had been on the ship earlier but they were beamed out at the last minute by the Odyssey just before the wave went through the Ori ship. Despite Willow losing in a battle of powers with the Orici, they had managed to gain some intel on what plans the Ori had for the galaxy. While she had held up Daniel and Vala telekinetically by their throats, Adria had been Willow's body firmly against a wall as she walked up to the redhead.
"Did you really think you could beat me?" smiled Adria as she looked at Willow who felt telekinetic pressure building throughout her body, "I am an Ori, I have their power.. their knowledge… "
"Adria" said Vala as she looked at her daughter, "stop this… stop this now."
"Oh, mother" said Adria as she looked back at Vala, "you will rule at my side, as the mother of the Orici… you will be placed in a seat of honour."
Adria then turned to Daniel and gave a wide grin.
"As for you, Dr. Jackson" said the young brunette, "I have so many plans for you."
"Wha… what plans?" said Willow as she struggled to speak. She felt a force that started to push against her throat and her chest.
"You shouldn't really be talking" said Adria as she turned and looked at Willow, "save your breath. You're weak, now I know that I was right in consolidating my power in this galaxy. If you are the best that your world has to offer… then I will take my time. Earth, can wait. But do not worry, more are coming."
"More?" asked Daniel.
"More ships will come through the Supergate" said Adria, "and then this galaxy will be under the control of the Ori in under a year."
It was a few minutes later that the team was beamed away just as the wave form the super weapon hit the ship. Adria smiled as they vanished, she knew that the game wasn't over… that they would encounter each other again. And the next time, she resolved to completely annihilate the red haired woman.
It was a few days later that Colonel Carter had come back to the SGC. She had started working out with Willow and Faith two weeks after Debra was born so that she could get back into full fitness for going off-world. Willow and the others knew that the Colonel loved Debra with all her heart, and that it would be immensely difficult for her to leave on dangerous missions once again but the Colonel had told them that she was doing this to protect her daughter. With General Carter having moved permanently to Colorado Springs where he was the Home Word Security liaison at the SGC, he was able to take care of Debra once the Colonel was cleared by Dr. Lam to participate in missions once again.
Walking into Daniel's lab while he was working on his computer, Colonel Carter knocked on the door frame as she stood at the entrance.
"Sam" said Daniel excitedly as he turned to look at his visitor, "you're back."
"Yep" said the Colonel as she gave the archaeologist a tight hug, "just got cleared by Dr. Lam."
"Neat" replied Daniel as he smiled at his friend as he got a chair for her as well, "how's Debra? Said her first word yet?"
"She's only a little over four months old, Daniel" laughed the Colonel, "you want her to talk, Dad is hoping that she walks soon, Faith wants to teach her how to defend herself, and Willow is hoping that she'd help her with some equations… you know you guys will drive her nuts?"
"It's because we love her too" grinned Daniel as the Colonel punched him in the arm. She then noticed that the archaeologist was looking at a star map on his computer.
"What'cha doing?" asked the Colonel as she looked at the computer.
"These are the locations of the planets that Arthur and his knights set off to in their quest for the Sangraal. Castiana, Sahal, and Vagonbrei" said Daniel as he pointed to the screen, "now we searched all three and came up empty, so I thought it was a dead end, until I noticed this…"
Daniel then pressed a button that changed the display to show the relative positions of the three planets. He then pressed a button that showed lines of equal lengths between the planets.
"Their coordinates form an equilateral triangle" said Daniel as Colonel Carter nodded her head, "now, add their departure point, the Camelot planet, and you get…"
Daniel pressed another key on the computer and a fourth point emerged, which then offset the screen on a different plane. A few seconds later, a wire diagram of a pyramid appears and spins into place on the screen.
"A tetrahedron" said Colonel Carter amazed, "a perfect pyramid."
"I know it's one hell of a coincidence" said Daniel, "and I know it means something but…"
"You're not sure what exactly?" asked Colonel Carter.
"Yea" said Daniel as he rubbed the back of his head in frustration, "I know it's something there that…."
"Daniel… Daniel…." said Vala as suddenly burst in wearing a green coloured gel pack on her face. The Colonel and Daniel raised their eyebrows at the woman who was in her robe covered pyjama's and a severe case of bed head when she ran into the room.
"Daniel" said Vala ignoring Colonel Carter, "I have the answer! I figured it out."
"How?" asked a confused Colonel Carter.
"Hey Sam" said Vala as she excitedly hugged the blonde woman, "how's your baby? How come you haven't brought her to the SGC? Is it because Adria is my daughter? I swear to you that….."
"Vala… Vala" said the Colonel as the dark haired women tightened her hug, "I can't breathe."
"Oh.. sorry" said Vala s she let the Colonel go, "just a bit excited; you're back?"
"Yes" said the Colonel, "I'll be heading back home soon, so…. About that answer?"
"Oh" said Vala excitedly as she looked at Daniel and then at Colonel Carter, "Those three planets are part of a puzzle."
"Yea" said Daniel with a frown, "that much I already know."
"The pyramid is a visual representation of 'three into one,'" said Vala closing her eyes, "three addresses into one."
It was then that Colonel Carter and Daniel looked at each other, and then at Vala again.
"The Sangraal is located on a planet" said an excited Vala, "the address of which is made up of symbols from each of those three worlds: Castiana, Sahal, Vagonbrei. It just came to me in a dream."
"In a dream?" said Daniel.
"Look" said Vala, "it is possible right? Sam?"
"Daniel?" said the Colonel as she pointed at his computer, "may I?"
"Sure" said Daniel as he got off the seat and Colonel Carter took his place. She pressed a few buttons on his computer and accessed a program that she had created that would scan through every available gate address in the SGC's database.
"Okay" said the Colonel as she input some commands into the program itself, "I set this program to cross reference the addresses in the database with those of Castiana, Sahal, and Vagonbrei, searching out planetary designations made up of symbols from all three addresses."
As a new screen popped up with three row for the three addresses, the symbols started rotating like a slot machine as the search commenced.
"Given the number of symbols and the amount of addresses in the database" said Colonel Carter, "we could be looking at dozens, maybe hundreds of permutations."
Just as she finished speaking, the computer beeped and all three of them stared in shock at the computer as the program gave them one particular address.
"Or the one" said Vala as she looked at the blinking address in amazement.
Battlestar Pegasus, that same time.
Sharon was bruised and bloody, that was the only way that she could see herself right now as she looked at her reflection on the glass of her cell on the Pegasus. Helo and Chief Tyrol had protected her from being raped when she was questioned by the Pegasus' chief Cylon negotiator, Lieutenant Thorne. His idea of interrogation was to beat her and then, when she didn't give the answers he was looking for, he attempted to rape her in front of other Marines when Helo and the Chief intervened. In the resulting fight, Thorne was killed accidentally; Helo and Chief Tyrol were then arrested and taken to the Pegasus… without the knowledge of Commander Adama who didn't know about the incident until the last moment.
The last thing that Sharon heard was that the two battlestars had almost come to blows, at least until Starbuck returned with unbelievable news. Unbelievable until she showed Admiral Cain the pictures of a ship that not only had advanced shielding capabilities, it also destroyed nearly half of a Cylon fleet on its own. Smiling at the knowledge that there could be possible allies out there in the fight against the Cylons, she contacted Commander Adama and told him that the both of them will stand down… before meeting onboard Colonial One which would be neutral ground for the both of them. After the meeting, Admiral Cain and Commander Adama came into Sharon's cell with President Roslin and showed her the photographs taken with the stealth ship's gun camera.
"This single ship destroyed half of the Cylon fleet that was chasing us" said Commander Adama as Sharon looked at the pictures of the grey ship firing it's weapons, then another picture where the beam went through a Basestar, followed by pictures of debris scattered in space, "what do you know?"
"How.. how could I know?" said Sharon as he looked at one picture after another.
"You said that you met human's from Earth" said Roslin, "or what that a lie?"
'That was the truth" said Sharon, "I was telling the truth. But I can't tell you more than what I've been told by them."
"Then you will give all your knowledge on the Cylon" said Admiral Cain, "you are not to be trusted because I know if that silica constructed monstrosity you call your brain contains more information."
"I've already given you intelligence on the Cylons" said Sharon, "I already told you that I'm not like the others… I know who I am, I don't have hidden protocols like Boomer…."
"But you are still a machine" hissed Admiral Cain, "a machine that I will have my own interrogators deal with on Pegasus."
"What?" said Sharon as she looked at Commander Adama and then at Roslin, "you know what they tried to do to me."
"She has agreed to commute Helo and the Chief's sentences, they will be allowed to return to Galactica where they would be reduced in rank and grounded for two months" said Commander Adama as he looked at Sharon with a hint of sadness in his eyes. He had seen the aftermath of what had happened to Sharon after the attempted rape, but now.. he had no choice. He had to balance the lives of two of his crew with that, despite all outward appearances, of a machine.
"And in return?" said Sharon.
"You will give us details on these ships" said the President as she pointed at the pictures, "we want to know where they are, how we can get their technology and…"
"I don't know" said Sharon, "they're not Cylon… I don't know who these ships belong to."
"If you don't know" said Roslin as she looked at the Commander and the Admiral, "then they must be from Earth… if they have technology like this available…"
"Then we can finally destroy the Cylons" said Admiral Cain as she glared at Sharon, "which would mean that we really don't have a use for you."
"Admiral" said Commander Adama, "this…. Cylon, is pregnant."
"What?" said the Admiral as she looked at the two humans behind her, and then at Sharon and her abdomen, "an abomination."
"Vice President Dr. Balter said that he would like to examine the baby once it is born" said Commander Adama, hoping that the Admiral wouldn't call him on this particular bluff. He also made a mental note to inform the Vice President, and resident genius, to keep Sharon alive for as long as possible until he could come up with a plan to get her back on Galactica.
"Commander" said Sharon as she looked at the old man with a look of betrayal in her eyes, "she'll order the baby killed… please don't."
"Either we trade you for Lt. Agathon and Chief Tyrol" said the President, "or they die. Truth of the matter is that we need our skilled people alive until we can find Earth… or Earth finds us. In the meantime, I will have Dr. Cottle accompany you to Pegasus…."
"No" said Admiral Cain as she glared at Sharon, "no doctor for this thing or the abomination it's carrying."
"Admiral Cain" shouted Roslin to everyone's surprise, "I am the President of the Twelve Colonies, and I am ordering you to allow Dr. Cottle to examine this Cylon who has been giving us valuable intelligence, and until we find these grey ships… or they find us will continue to give us intelligence on the Cylons. Are we clear?"
"I hear the elections are coming soon, Madam President" said the Admiral as she turned back to Roslin.
"Your point?" said Roslin as she stared at the Admiral.
The Admiral could only smile at the president before she turned back and faced Sharon again.
"Fine" said the Admiral, "have it your way, I'll allow the doctor to check on her once every three days. In the meantime, I assure you that the baby won't come to any harm."
The admiral had kept that promise as Sharon looked at her bruised and bloodied face, chest and arms. The day after she was brought on board, the new interrogator had started beating her for more information… but he was ordered by the Admiral to not hit her in the abdomen in any way. She touched the collar that was around her neck connected by a chain to a section of the floor. She then looked at a Number Six who was sitting at one corner of the room before the both of them heard the main hatch opening. Sharon closed her eyes as the interrogator closed the hatch, walked to the cell accompanied by three marines and opened the glass door to the cell she shared with the Number Six. The last thing she remembered was getting punched in the face before she blacked out again and fell to the floor before she felt a hand grabbing her hair and pulling her head back up. Sharon closed her eyes and hoped against hope that her nightmare would end and she would be rescued by the people of Earth.
'Help me, Lauren' thought Sharon to herself as she held her hands over her abdomen to protect her child, 'please help.'
Unknown Planet, Unknown gate address, 1700 hours, one day later.
Willow and the other members of SG1, and Ba'al found themselves in another room vastly different from the cave they had been in only a few seconds earlier. A few hours ago, SG1 had made their way to the planet that had been found by Colonel Carter through the use of her program at the SGC. With Colonel Carter and Mitchell leading the way, the team found themselves in a medieval village similar to the one they had been to earlier on Camelot. Colonel Mitchell introduced themselves and asked about where they could find the Sangraal. As the Colonel described how it looked like, one of the villager told him that he knew of the Sangraal and that they were the second group of adventurers who were asking about it.
"Second?" asked Colonel Carter in surprise.
"A number of Jaffa passed through here three days ago" said the villager as he stepped forward.
"Were they with anyone?" asked Faith.
"Yes" nodded the villager, "they were led by a man who clearly commanded their fear and respect."
"Who could that be?" asked Willow as she looked at Colonel Carter.
"Any number of Goa'uld" said Vala, "but I'm guessing Ba'al."
"Why Ba'al?" asked Colonel Mitchell.
"Think about it" said Vala, "he used to serve Anubis, I'm sure that he left information which Ba'al could have used to approximate any number of locations where the Sangraal could be located."
"I hate to say it" said Daniel, "but she does have a point."
"I know I do" grinned Vala as Daniel frowned.
"If you truly seek the Sangraal, you must consult with the Parchment of Virtues in the village library" said the villager as he pointed to another building behind the team, "it will prepare you for the journey to come."
"Ok" said Colonel Mitchell as he pointed at the same building, "that one over there?"
"Yes" said the villagers.
"Thank you" said Faith as the team walked towards the library, when the villager called out to them.
"But I should warn you" said the villager after the team turned around, "no one has ever returned from the Quest alive. If you value your lives, you would do well to reconsider."
"I have a feeling that we'll be alright" said Colonel Carter as she glanced at Willow and then at Faith.
Once the reached the library, they met a man called Osric who was the Keeper of the village archives. Teal'c had asked him what he knew about the Sangraal and the way that they should go to retrieve. The man laughed heartily before he told Teal'c and the team that they journey itself was extremely dangerous. He continued to say that it was located in a cave beyond the outlying forest. He then reached into a wooden box and took out a parchment, before handing it to Daniel.
"This parchment was purportedly left behind by Morgan herself, as a guide for knights of noble spirit, since it is said that only the most virtuous will succeed in claiming the Sangraal" said Osric as he took a step back and smiled at Willow.
"Only those of virtue true may win the prize concealed beyond the reach of the flawed and tainted" said Daniel as he translated the parchment, "the Sangraal shall instead belong to he who speaks the guardian's name."
"Guardian's name?" said Faith.
"According to legend" said Osric, "the Sangraal is said to be protected by the most powerful of magical beasts, a dragon."
At the mention of dragons, SG1 turned back and looked at Willow who shrugged her shoulders, "hey, don't look at me. I swear even I thought dragons were mythical."
Smiling, Faith turned back around and looked at the elderly man before them. It was a few hours later that they discovered how wrong they really were.
Escaping a sudden invasion of the village by the Ori army, SG1 and Osric set off in secret towards the cave that the old man had mentioned earlier. On the way to the cave, they had to use prudence, wisdom, charity, kindness, and faith to guide them on this quest that they were undertaking. Each word had an equivalent trial along the road to the Sangraal which they had all passed. However, it was during the second trial that had found Ba'al and was trapped with him within a force field. When asked how he came to know of this planet, the Goa'uld said that he had someone on the inside give him information and that they would never find out who it is. However, he told them that he knew where the Sangraal was from Anubis' data files, which he cross referenced with what he had received from the SGC and he would be able to help them obtain it since he had an interest in destroying the Ori as well.
Still not sure about his true motives, SG1 agreed… but not before Colonel Carter and Mitchell conferred with Willow in [private while Teal'c and Faith watched Ba'al, and Daniel talked to Osric with Vala.
"Sorry, sir" said Willow, "it's the same with Nerus, I can't read his mind… but I'm pretty sure it's a trap. No Goa'uld is that nice without an agenda of his own."
"Agreed" said both Colonels together.
"Sir, Ma'am" said Willow as she glanced over at Osric, "I have a bad feeling about him."
"Any reason why?" asked Colonel Carter.
"None" said Willow, "but… every time I have a bad feeling… I mean…"
"I know" said Colonel Carter, "we'll keep an eye out on him. I suspect even Daniel's troubled, right?"
"Yeah" said Willow as she glanced at Daniel who was just emanating feelings of unease.
It was soon agreed among the three officers that Osric and Ba'al would come along with them to the cave, but not before Colonel Carter and then Willow gave two punches to Ba'al's face for what he had done to General O'Neill when the Goa'uld had held him prisoner. Once they had cleared the second test, the whole group reached the cave where Osric revealed who he really was; Adria the Orici. The three military members of the team then fired their weapons at her but it all bounced off her personal force shield. Willow and then Faith tried to punch her, but the field even protect her against those kinds of hits.. much to her pleasure.
After Adria had threatened the life of Colonel Carter, it was agreed that she come with them as well. However, Willow knew that Adria didn't have her Ori powers since the redhead herself didn't have her powers anymore.
'Must be some field similar to the Anti-Prior weapon, but on a massive scale' thought Willow to herself. She knew that Adria was harmless, but then again… no one could hurt her since her personal force shield was active. The redhead made a conscious decision not to tell the others about her power loss since Ba'al was in their company, and there was no need for any Goa'uld to know the truth about Willow.
After they entered the cave, the group was faced with the tests of kindness and faith. It was after the test of faith that Daniel discovered that Adria was powerless, and made a mental guess that Willow was too. Due to that knowledge, he taunted Adria once he and the young woman reached a pedestal at the end of a narrow walkway where a red jewel was resting.
"The Sangraal" said Daniel with a smile as he went to pick it up, but his hand passed right through it.
'A hologram' thought Daniel to himself when everyone heard a growl coming from the darkness in the bottom of the cave. Eventually, they encountered the dragon that was mentioned in the scrolls and they ran out of the cave to avoid its fiery breath. Running outside into a clearing, the group tried everything they could to beat the dragon. However it was Daniel who remembered that the parchment said that one must speak the guardian's name to defeat the dragon. He correctly surmised that the guardian, the one who set all of this up was Morgan Le Fay, or better known as Ganos Lal.
After he shouted her name, the dragon disappeared. Daniel and the others then walked back to the cave and grabbed for the red coloured jewel again. And Again, as the last time, their hands went thourgh the hologram. But unlike the last time, they now found themselves in another completely different room as a bright white light washed over them and their surround because blurred for a few seconds.
"What just happened?" asked Colonel Mitchell as he raised his weapon and looked around.
"Transportation beam?" asked Colonel Carter.
"I'll go check the outside of the cave" said Faith as she and Teal'c went to find the exit.
"Is everyone here?" asked Willow as she watched Teal'c and Faith walk out, while Vala was looking around the room with Daniel and the two Colonels were at another end of the room.
"Adria's gone" said Willow.
"Ba'al's still here" said Colonel Mitchell.
"Great" said Willow.
Willow: "I have my powers back."
Everyone, except for Ba'al smiled at Willow and nodded their heads.
"Must be some security measure" said Colonel Carter as she looked at the high ceilings, "something to prevent anyone with the powers of an Ori from beaming in."
Willow looked around the room again and she noticed torches on the walls, a pedestal similar to the one they found in the Sunnydale Outpost, a black coloured device on the wall that reminded her of the Ancient Repository of Knowledge devices, a table and a chair that had a blanket on it. She then saw something gleaming on the wall itself, and walked towards it.
"Guys!" shouted Willow as she saw a man inside what looked like a block of ice, "Guys!"
"Willow?' said Colonel Carter as she ran to the redhead and stopped in shock as she looked at an old man with a beard, "looks like he's been in stasis."
"Jackson" said Colonel Mitchell as he pointed at a sign written in Ancient, "what's it say?"
"Hold on" said Daniel as he leaned forward, "Here lies Myrddin, Archmage of the Round."
"How long was he in there?" asked Colonel Mitchell.
"Over a thousand year" said Daniel as he looked at the figure inside the ice like structure with amazement.
"So he's the real deal?" asked Colonel Mitchell pointing at Merlin, "he's not a hologram?"
"No" said Daniel as he turned around just as Vala headed towards the device on the wall, "Vala! Get back."
The device opened and extended its interface screen just as Vala took a few steps back in shock as Colonel Mitchell pulled her back. At the same time, the stasis pod that held Merlin slowly deactivated and the old man was grabbed by Willow and Colonel Mitchell before he could fall over onto the floor.
"Daniel" said Willow as she nodded at the table, "help put him on top of that."
As Willow and Colonel Mitchell helped move Merlin to the table, Daniel left his legs so that they could lay him down in the table itself. Once his head was placed gently down onto the surface, Merlin opened his eyes slightly and looked at the faces that surrounded him before he closed his eyes again.
"Guys" said Faith over the radio, "we need you all out here now."
"On the way" said Colonel Carter as she nodded at Ba'al and Colonel Mitchell to go outside and check up on what the brunette Slayer and Teal'c had found.
Carter: "Willow, heal him if you can."
Willow: "I can try. His body is already over a thousand years old… even I won't be able to heal everything, but I'll do my best."
"Daniel" said Vala as she looked at the lying Merlin, "is he….?"
"No, he's still alive" said Daniel as he felt for a pulse, "it may take him a while to revive completely."
"In the meantime" said Willow as she put her hands on his chest, "I'll heal him as best I can."
It was a few seconds later that the group outside this room told the others that they were on a completely different planet. Colonel Carter had told them over the radio that there was a transportation obelisk like that one on the Sodan planet, which activated the Stargate and beamed everyone into that particular room through the wormhole. But she told them that this was only a slight respite, and the Adria could come for them at anytime she has the knowledge of the Ori; and with that knowledge, she can hack into the DHD and find out their location.
Back inside the chamber, Willow had healed as much as she could… but she told Daniel and Vala that his body was already too old.
"Hopefully he'll be able to help us" said Vala as Faith and the other walked back into the chamber.
"So Morgan destroyed the device" said Willow.
"But saved the man who was capable of building it again" said Daniel as he nodded his head, "she left clues for people worthy enough to find Merlin, and… here he is."
"I guess we're lucky that she's the one who did it" said Vala as Willow and Daniel turned to face her, "think about it, if she didn't do it… the Ancients would have sent someone else, and they wouldn't have been as nice."
"True" said Daniel as he thought about what Vala had said.
Just then, Faith and the others walked back into the chamber.
"Well, it's official, we are stuck here" said Faith with a smirk as she looked at Willow, "wherever "here" is. The good news is, we found a gate. Teal'c is watching it. Bad news is…"
"The DHD was tampered with. We can't dial out" said Colonel Carter.
"I can fix it" said Ba'al smugly, "reprogramming dialling devices is my speciality."
"Carter?" whispered Colonel Mitchell.
"He's right, Cam" whispered Colonel Carter, "he's an expert. We may need him."
"Great" said Colonel Mitchell sarcastically.
"Look who's coming around" said Vala as she heard Merlin groan as he slowly opened his eyes and tried to sit up.
"Easy there" said Daniel as he grabbed his arm, while Colonel Mitchell ran over and grabbed his other arm. Slowly helping him sit up with his legs hanging off the edge of the table, Merlin looked around him confused.
"Where am I?" he asked.
"We were hoping you could tell us" said Colonel Carter as Merlin looked at her with eyes wide open.
"I know you" said Merlin as he slowly got up onto his feet and walked towards the blonde Colonel as a smile came to his face. He then rushed forward and gave the Colonel a tight hug, "Guinevere! Oh my dear, it has been too long."
"Ummm" said a nervous Colonel Carter as she looked at the grinning faces of Faith, Vala and the others, "nice to see you too?"
Willow: "Guinevere?"
Carter: "I wonder who Arthur is then."
Willow: "can I take a wild guess?"
Carter: "No!"
Willow smiled wider as the Colonel stuck out her tongue playfully at the redhead before smiling as Merlin as he took a step back, before looking at Colonel Mitchell who was standing next to her.
"Percival" said Merlin as he went to hug the male Colonel.
Merlin then turned around and saw Daniel.
"Galahad… Oh my brave….. no…." said Merlin when he noticed Willow and Faith standing behind the table with Vala. Faith saw that Merlin was staring straight at Willow with a look of surprise.
"Looks like Merlin's drawbridge no longer goes all the way across the moat, if you catch my meaning" said Ba'al as he grinned at the confused old man he thought Merlin was.
"Silence, Mordred" said Merlin as he continued to look at Willow with wide eyed surprise, "and may you forget what will be said here today."
Just then Willow and the others looked on as Ba'al tried to talk but no voice came out of his mouth.
"Oh" said Colonel Mitchell as he grinned at Ba'al, "this is much better."
"Athena?" said Merlin as he held on to the table with a trembling hand as everyone looked at the old man slowly walking towards Willow, "Athena, is that you? Have you returned?"
"Ummmm" said Willow as she looked at Faith with a confused look, and then at Merlin again, "I'm sorry, I think you have me mixed up with the real Athena. I just have that kind of face."
"Athena" said Merlin as he walked towards Willow until he was only a few steps away, "it is you. You have returned to me."
"Sir" said Willow as she looked nervously at Colonel Carter and the others, "believe me, I'm not who you think I am."
"Athena" said Merlin again as he took a few steps forward until Faith stepped in between her and Merlin. He then looked at the brunette in front t of him, and then at Willow again and smiled, "I have wished so much that you would forget about Janus, and it seems you have found someone for you."
"Merlin, Myrddin" said Daniel from behind him, "Willow.. Major Rosenberg, only looks like Athena… she's her descendent."
"I will not harm her" said Merlin as he looked at Faith, "I promise."
"Faith" said Willow as she put her hands on the Slayer's shoulder, "it's alright."
Faith then moved to one side as she looked at Merlin taking another step forward as he put a hand gently on Willow's cheek.
"You look as beautiful as ever" said Merlin as Willow saw tears gathering in his eyes, "I am sorry I was never there for you after Hera and…"
"Hold up here" said Colonel Mitchell as he looked at a very Confused Colonel Carter, "are you saying…"
"My daughter has returned to me" said Merlin as he smiled at Willow.
"Oh boy" said Daniel as he decided it was time to bring Merlin to reality. He then walked up and stood next to Willow while the elderly man still had his hand caressing her cheek gently, "Merlin, Willow's not Athena… we're not knights of the round table…. I'm sorry about that, but we know who you really are; look, a thousand years have passed... we know about Atlantis and we've encountered the Ori."
"Yes" said Merlin as he looked into Willow's eyes, "you really are my daughter."
"Sir" said Willow as Daniel rubbed the back of his head in frustration, they were running out of time and the one person who could help them in rebuilding the Sangraal was in a delusional state.
"May I prove it to you?" asked Merlin as he looked at Willow, ignoring all others around him.
"I don't know what there is to prove, sir" said Willow, "I'm sorry, but I am not your daughter."
"That is what you said the day I refused your request to avenge Hera's death" said Merlin as a tear fell down his cheek.
"Merlin" said Colonel Carter, "please.."
"Let me prove it to you" said Merlin as he looked at Willow, "let me offer proof that you are my daughter?"
Wanting to make the man happy, Willow nodded her head; she was sure in the knowledge that she wasn't who Merlin thought she was. She just hoped that he would understand once he finds out that he was mistaken.
Faith looked on as Merlin brought both of his hands to Willow's temples, and then he closed her eyes. Before anyone could react, she saw Willow pull her head back as her mouth opened wide and then Faith felt as it a spike was pushed into her mind as she grabbed onto Daniel and Vala's shoulder. Then she saw quick flashes… flashes of Atlantis, flashes of a baby, a red haired woman on a bed, a ship, an ice cave and then the flashes stopped. She then looked up at Willow who still had her head pulled back with her eyes closed, and a smile.
"Faith?" said Daniel as he looked on worriedly at the Slayer as Colonel Carter and Mitchell moved to separate Merlin and Willow.
"No!" said Faith holding her hand out, "don't…don't… separate them".
"Faith?" said Vala, "what's going on?"
"Red cut our connection so that I won't be overwhelmed" said Faith, "but we were wrong… we were so wrong."
"Faith?" asked Colonel Carter as he stepped towards the Slayer, "what are you saying?"
"All those dreams, nightmares.. some of those visions that Red had" said Faith as she looked at Colonel Carter, "the ones that I saw in my dreams too because of our link."
"Yea?" said Colonel Mitchell.
"They're not dreams" said Faith as she took few deep breaths because of what she just experienced, "those were not dreams. They were memories."
"Faith?" said Daniel as he looked at the brunette, "what are you saying?"
"Red isn't Athena's descendent" said Faith as she looked at Willow, "she is Athena."
TBC.