The orbit of Furling Earth, 1100 hours.
A fissure opened up over the planet called Furling Earth by its current inhabitants; numerous scientists and archaeologists, as well as Cylons who were on the surface trying to rediscover a civilization that itself used to call this planet, Earth. Almost immediately, the Earth ship Avalon sped out of the fissure, which then promptly closed behind it, before it slowed down as the vessel achieved high orbit over the main Earth camp. Colonel Ronson was in his command chair as he pressed a button on the armrest which opened a communication channel with the camp on the surface.
"This is Colonel Ronson of the Earth ship Avalon calling the Earth Camp, do you copy?"
The Colonel then stood up and looked out the front window as he walked away from the chair to see the planet below.
"Colonel Ronson, this is Colonel Ferretti of SG-2. Good to hear your voice."
"We've started scans for any minute power fluctuations, Colonel," said Colonel Ronson as he turned away from the window and rushed over to one of the officers in the rear of the bridge. He then placed a hand on his shoulder before nodding his head at the young man. The junior officer then started a full scan of the planet below, and once he pressed a series of buttons, the screen that showed the planet below also showed a series of numbers that was counting downwards. The Colonel patted the officer's shoulder before he turned and headed back to his chair, "the scans should be completed in forty-eight hours, Colonel."
"Copy that," said Colonel Ferretti as he stood over the microphone under one of the large tents in the main Earth camp while he was staring out at the Astral Queen where the rebel Colonials were being held by a combination of his team in their armour, as well as the Colonial Marines who were sent through the Stargate from New Kobol. No one had come to a decision on where to place these particular individuals, the SGC and Home World wanted the Colonial's to make a decision. For now, however, their only request was that the traitors, as President Roslin had called these people, should not be allowed on New Kobol.
And right now, these people in the Astral Queen were the only Colonials on the planet since the ships in orbit had already jumped away yesterday morning to make their long journey to New Kobol, the new homeworld for the Colonials. Supplies had been sent for the Colonials from the Zeta site via the Stargate ever since the moment they were 'incarcerated' in their ship; the supplies had been key to their survival since there was a rumour floating around, spread by the Colonial Marines, that Zarek and the others were lucky to be under the protection of the Earthers since Roslin did not want the rebels to have any supplies at all. Colonel Ferretti looked into the distance at the black dots that represented his team, SG-2, as well as SG-15 who were guarding the perimeter of the ship while the Colonial Marines were taking care of the people inside the vessels; the Colonials had explicit instructions from Commander Adama that they were not to harm the rebels. The Commander told his people that they would be watched, and if anything untoward were to happen, then the Earthers would intervene and he didn't want that. The Commander wanted to show that they were a civilized people with rules for the treatment of prisoners.
'So far no problems,' thought Colonel Ferretti to himself while he continued to talk to the Avalon commander about the situation on the surface. Once he was done, he walked out of the large tent and watched as some of the other scientists continued working, while the team from SG-29 provided an extra layer of security to the main camp. He had already received status reports from the Cylon camps that were on the other continent, and they indicated that they were excited about having found new items every day that could shed some light on life here before the bombs fell and killed everyone. While it was good to know that the teams were finding more clues about the lives of the people who used to live here, there was another thought going through the Colonel's mind, as well as the minds of the other scientists and archeologists on the planet, 'let's see if we find anyone else in this world like Triana.'
Briefing Room, SGC, 1100 hours.
General Landry walked out of his office just as General O'Neill, Woolsey, and a few other delegates from the IOA, including the new Russian Colonel who had taken the place of Colonel Chekov who died with the destruction of the Korolev during the Battle of the Supergate. General Landry nodded at General O'Neill before shaking the hands of the new Russian representative, followed by the Chinese, French, German, and British representatives. One they had traded pleasantries, something that the two Generals were aware was just done for formalities sake since they all knew why they were at the SGC. General Landry was already aware that he wasn't going to like what the IOA was going to recommend. All thanks to the heads-up that General O'Neill had given General Landry two hours before the meeting was due to begin.
"The IOA are gonna push for a wait-and-see attitude," said General O'Neill when he was on the phone two hours ago with General Landry after the President had called the former with the news after having had a meeting with the IOA.
"That's dangerous, Jack," said General Landry as he sat back on his chair while talking to the head of Home World Security.
"Don't I know it," said General O'Neill, "of course, the IOA doesn't know that we know what they told the President, but he's kinda seeing their point too. That if we go on the attack, then it's highly likely that Cain would 'borrow' one of the Ori ships and come straight here. With just Prometheus Station protecting us, it's gonna be a bloodbath. And we're still in planning stages for the Europa Station."
"Europa?" asked General Landry confused.
"Another thing we have to talk about during the meeting," said General Landry nodding his head, "but as far as Cain...?"
"I have an idea," said General Landry, "let me run it by you, and you tell me what you think."
Back in the briefing room, everyone took their seats with General Landry at the head of the table and General O'Neill sitting right next to him to his left, and Woolsey to his right side. It was the SGC Commander who began the meeting by welcoming all the delegates to the SGC, and then he went on a quick summary of what has happened so far with New Kobol, Triana and the Five, and then the recon mission to Caprica. The representatives looked at each other and mumbled when they were told about the five Cyclons who Triana believed were really the ones based on the five Furlings who left, what the SGC was going to be referring to as, Furling Earth thousands of years ago. General Landry told the IOA members that the Five were being kept secured at the Beta Site, just as Walter walked through the hallway behind General Landry with some thick folders; once reaching the table, Walter handed out the files to the IOA representatives, as well as to General O'Neill, and then to General Landry.
"Thank you, Walter," said General Landry with Walter nodding his head before turning around and leaving via the stairs to the Control Room below. General Landry then turned to the IOA representatives and nodded his head before he leaned forward and placed his hands on the table, "I'd like to begin this briefing by saying that we need to find a quick solution to the potential problems in a person like Admiral Cain having access to Ori technology. I take it that everyone has read the report that we received from the recon mission to Caprica?"
"Yes," said Woolsey as he read the papers in the folder; papers that consisted of summaries of various talking points in regards to not just the issues with Cain, but New Kobol, Furling Earth, and various others.
"The IOA believes that the SGC and Homeworld should not be taking the place of aggressors by shooting down ships that may, or may not, pose a threat," said Shen Xiaoyi, the Chinese representative, "doing so would give Cain a reason to come directly to Earth. And given that we only have the Prometheus Station as a viable defence, we see it as a foolish endeavour."
"We can't let them continue having those weapons," said General O'Neill, "the fact is that the Colonials are resilient, Cain will find a way to make the weapons work with her ship, and that's dangerous. These people are much more advanced than the people of Tegalus who, if you people remember, managed to nearly destroy the Prometheus using their level of technology combined with the information a Prior had given them."
"Now imagine that same technology being built by a much more advanced civilisation," said General Landry as the representatives leaned towards each other and whispered among themselves, "with the Prometheus, it took one of the SGC's finest to risk her life so that the Tegalus-Ori satellite could be disabled, I don't think we'll be that lucky this time if we wait for them to finish their upgrades."
"We could send in another recon ship," said the Russian Colonel, "a long-term mission where the ship would remain cloaked and would continuously scan the Pegasus, and this new experimental vessel. Any sign of them having fully integrated Colonial technology with Ori technology, then our ships can burst in and destroy them. In the meantime, the cloaked Jumper can keep watch, and if the new ship and the Pegasus happen to destroy themselves while integrating their technologies together, then all the better for us."
"There is one course of action that we could seriously consider," said General Landry as he looked at the IOA members, "yes, we could sit back and hope that the two ships destroy themselves by making a mistake in integrating the two different technologies. Or we could simply send a team through the Stargate in a cloaked Puddle Jumper. The team would be fitted with Sodan cloaking devices, half of the team would gather intel on Cain's location while the other half would use the intel we received from our recon mission to take out the fuel depots on the planet itself."
"You're talking about crippling their infrastructure," said Woolsey while the others representatives looked at each other before the German leaned forward and spoke.
"That would cause some delays," he said, "but the question is will it be a permanent fix?"
"The ideal situation would be either to destroy the two ships," said General O'Neill, "but since you guys are against that, then we could use the other half of the team with the Sodan devices to gather intel on Cain's location.. and then we take her out."
"You're speaking of assassination," said Shen as she put her elbows on the table and brought her hands together over her mouth, "that is something the IOA will not condone."
"Then the IOA is basically just tieing our hands behind our backs," said General O'Neill with a frown.
"General," said Woolsey as he raised his hand, signalling the man to calm down while the bald man, at the same time, motioned towards Shen, "I believe what Miss Shen is trying to say is, that using the Sodan devices this way would most likely open us to using the device again on regimes we do not agree with, both off-world.."
"And here," said Shen as she looked at General O'Neill who was shaking his head, "we have read the mission report on the use of the Sodan device, that anyone who uses the device will be hidden from the abilities of Priors since they are within a parallel dimension; and you are correct that this may be the best way to stop Cain… but it opens a door that cannot be closed."
"If you're afraid that the SGC would use this device on Earth," said General Landry as Woolsey closed his eyes and shook his head, "then I can assure you that is something that will not happen."
"But there is no guarantee," said Shen as the British representative, Russel Chapman, interrupted her from speaking.
"We have to get back to the issue at hand," said Chapman putting his hands up, "there are valid concerns with the Sodan devices, in fact with any personal cloaking devices which could be used to conduct covert operations on Earth. We will have to devise a series of rules and regulations on their use. But on the assassination of Cain, I will have to agree with my colleagues."
"Even if getting rid of her could stop another front from opening up?" asked an annoyed General Landry, "we have the Cylon Colony on the board attacking defenceless planets, we have the Ori army still gathering followers on numerous worlds; we killed Priors using the Anti-Prior weapon, but we've heard rumours of an incoming storm among some of the Ori controlled planets when we sent SG teams to get a feel for how much the Ori army has gained since Adria was killed."
"Allegedly killed," said Shen.
"Be that as it may," said Woolsey, "the Ori have gained more planets than the SGC has managed to free."
"It's like a resurgence," said General Landry, "we still don't know if Merlin's weapon killed the ascended Ori, but if word of this resurgence is true? Then we have a huge problem coming if Cain manages to open up another front."
"The IOA will be willing to approve a mission to destroy the Colonial infrastructure," said Shen as she leaned back on the seat after having had a quick discussion with the other IOA members, "destroy their fuel depots, weapons facilities; anything to delay their entrance into the coming war. But this body will not approve assassinations, and once this mission is over… the Sodan devices are to be kept under lock and key off-world."
The two Generals knew that the IOA would be stubborn, and while they would have preferred taking Cain completely off the board; the two of them whispered to each other that taking out what remained of the Colonial military infrastructure on Caprica would be good enough to cause significant delays to Cain's plans; that is unless the Colonial Prior actually knows how to integrate an Ori power source with Colonial technology to power the two ships.
The two Generals then came up with a plan to have the Avalon stop all scans of Furling Earth so that they could take the Puddle Jumper in their cargo hold to a nearby planet. From there, the Jumper would travel by the Stargate to Earth while the Avalon returns to her duties over Furling Earth. And in the meantime, a team would be assembled for the mission to sabotage key military fuel depots on Caprica.
All based on the intelligence already gathered from the recon mission.
"Now that we've agreed on this mission," said the French representative, "what of this latest development from New Kobol about this Talia woman wanting to go back to Caprica, so that she could continue the fight against the Ori occupation?"
"Colonel Finn has come up with the idea of using the Galaran memory device," said General Landry.
"The same device that was used to accuse Colonel Mitchell of murder several months ago?" asked Woolsey as General Landry nodded his head.
"That very same one," said General Landry as he nodded his head. He then re-briefed them on the incident where Colonel Mitchell's memory replaced with a man named Marrel who had committed murder on Galar during a mission. The fake memory was so immersive that not even Willow was able to tell the difference, at least not until she had dug deeper.
While General Landry continued to talk to the IOA representatives about that incident on Galar, he remembered Willow saying that the Galaran Memory technology was dangerous. This was particularly true since SG-1 discovered that the fake memory was implanted into the Colonel in a hurry, so the memory implantation procedure was incomplete. If the procedure went as it was meant to, Willow believed that even if she had dug deeper into the Colonel's memories, she wouldn't have been able to find the truth; it was after she dug in deeper that the Colonel found his real memories clashed with the fake memories. It was due to that clash that SG-1 was able to prove the man's innocence. However, Willow had told General Landry after returning from the mission that since the Colonel's fake memories, and all the feelings that came with those memories, were good enough to trick even her; then that technology was a problem. But right now, at this precise moment in time, the fact that Willow couldn't see past the fake memory until she went deeper into the Colonel's mind was a gift.
General Landry told the IOA members that they could use the device as it was meant to in order to create an elaborate, and plausible, memory for Talia. He and General O'Neill told the representatives that it was highly likely that Cain would want to talk to someone who managed to 'escape' from the hands of Earthers, and that she would most likely run a scan of Talia's mind. It was the British representative who asked what would happen when she passes the scan from Cain and is put on her way again.
"She said that she would like to help free Caprica from the Ori," said the Briton, "but having her put under this immersive memory would mean that she would have forgotten her original intentions. She would support the Ori, instead of trying to free what Colonial's she could."
"I would need to speak to Major Rosenberg about this," said General Landry, "but I have a possible plan in place. She's currently in Sunnydale and is about to head to Nairobi on a personal mission with the BPRI. She would be…"
Generals Landry and O'Neill turned to the stairs at the side of the briefing room that led down to the Control room, when they heard footsteps running up towards them. It was a few seconds later that they saw Walter come up the last steps before he headed to General Landry and whispered into his ear. The older man then looked up at the Sergeant in surprise with his eyes wide open. General Landry then stood up before telling the representatives that it was time for a fifteen-minute break; the man then asked Walter to escort the representatives to the Mess Hall for some coffee and cake.
"Is everything alright?" asked Shen as she looked suspiciously at General Landry.
"Yes," said the General before he nodded at Walter who motioned towards the representatives to follow him. Just as Woolsey was about to leave as well, General Landry asked him to stay while Shen looked at the bald man and asked aloud what was going on. She was about to say something when General Landry told everyone that Willow had called with a problem, and she needed to run it by them in conjunction with a representative from the NID committee. General Landry told them that since a member of the Committee would be participating in the conference call, he would like Woolsey to participate in the call as the representative of the IOA, and the person that the NID committee had been dealing with in terms of gaining access to the shielding technology.
"I will file a report on what we will be talking about," said Woolsey as Shen and the other representatives nodded their heads before they followed Walter out of the room. It was then that the two Generals and Woolsey walked into General Landry's office.
Angel and Cordelia's office, BPRI, 1115 hours.
As Willow pressed the speakerphone function on the phone that was on Angel's desk, she stepped back next to Faith who was standing near some of the chairs facing the two desks. Kennedy and Buffy were standing around while Major Davis, Angel, Cordelia, Fred, and Wesley were on the couch when General Landry's voice came over the line. Everyone stood up and then walked towards the speakerphone when Willow introduced everyone who was standing around the desks.
Once everyone was introduced, Cordelia introduced the representative from the NID oversight committee, a Mr. Harold Strom, who was on their conference call. It was then that Woolsey introduced himself once again.
"Major Rosenberg," said General Landry to Willow, "Walter said that there's an issue over in Sunnydale?"
"A problem's an understatement, Sir," said Willow as she looked at the speakerphone, "ten minutes ago, Angel's sister got loose."
The Generals and Woolsey looked at each other in shock as they heard about the damage that Kathy had caused in a short amount of time, and that didn't include the number of people she killed in only a few minutes after her escape.
"Ten?" asked Woolsey stunned, "Major, ten deaths in three minutes?"
"Yes, sir," said Willow, "one doctor, and nine NID guards; well-trained guards. Apparently she has telekinetic powers as well. We just managed to take her down, Cordy shot her with a Zat and she's out and.."
"Why hasn't she been killed?" asked Strom.
Willow looked up at Angel who nodded his head and took a step forward before telling Strom that it was his idea that Kathy be spared. He said that Buffy and Kennedy wanted her dead, and they had a solid case for wanting Kathy dead after all the pain she inflicted.
"But I know we can reach her," said Angel, "Willow was talking about putting Kathy in stasis until we can get approval for the brain implant… the one that would prevent her from harming humans. What she's done is beyond words… it happened on my watch and I take full responsibility and…"
"Me too, by the way," said Cordelia as she stood next to Angel, "despite my reservations, I agreed to put Kathy in the strongest holding cell we have… but none of us realized how different she really is from a regular vampire."
"Miss Summers? Miss Williams?" said Strum as the two Slayers looked down at the speakerphone and said that they were listening, "what are your opinions on this?"
"I'm sorry, Angel," said Kennedy as the ensouled vampire nodded his head, "Kathy's just too dangerous to have around. I say we have to get rid of her. The way this stasis thing was described, she'll just be sleeping… and she can be brought out at any time. When she gets brought out, we have the same problem all over again."
"Not if we put the chip in her brain," said Angel.
"What about this chip?" asked General O'Neill.
Strom told the Generals and Woolsey about the chip that was developed years ago by the Initiative to prevent vampires from feeding on humans; it was a way to modify their behaviour. It was something that Willow had attested to when she told them about the time that Spike tried to bite her in her room when she was in U.C Sunnydale, but he failed to bite her.
"He had a pain in his head that made him scream," said Willow, "I was thinking that Kathy could be put in stasis until the chip's ready to be put into her head."
"Miss Summers?" asked Strum, "your feelings on this?"
"She killed so many in a space of only a few days," said Buffy, "she's strong, has abilities that are boosted by the demon souls inside her…. Even Willow said she had trouble shielding our minds. I think she shouldn't live."
Buffy then looked at Angel, who looked back at her with a pleading face. She remembered the stories that he told her about Angelus, and how utterly evil he was… she remembered all of Giles' stories as well about the vampire's ruthlessness, but she also knew that Angelus didn't have a human soul. She knew that Angel, or Liam, in front of her right now was a completely different person.. someone who was seeking redemption.
So she said something before Strom could say anything else; something that she hoped wouldn't come back to bite her in her ass later on.
"But," said Buffy as she rubbed her forehead knowing that she'll be talking to her therapist about her insane suggestion later in the week, "like it or not, Kathy still has a human soul. She should be made to pay for what she did, and killing her is too easy."
"You recommending community service?" asked Kennedy sarcastically, "Buffy, she's a killing machine."
"So was Angel," said Wesley as he shook his head in disbelief at what he was saying. He understood what Buffy was trying to say and, even though he remembered Kathy callously killing Callie, Wesley knew that Kathy was still an ensouled vampire. Wesley had heard Angel's interview with Kathy along with Cordelia, Buffy, Fred, and Kennedy by his side before Willow and Faith arrived in the Puddle Jumper. Wesley told himself that he wasn't cheapening Callie's death, but they were talking about another girl; a girl who had her soul infused with those of two demons; a girl who was tortured; a girl who was told that she was paying for the sins of her brother; a girl who was completely and utterly broken by the time Aiden had forced those demons into her soul.
Wesley went on to say that with her having a soul, there was a slight chance that they could undo some of Kathy's conditioning. They could use the chip to curb her need to murder and feed on humans, and they could have Spike come down from L.A to talk to Kathy since Angel was too close to her, particularly since any other human therapists would be her plaything, "she may not be able to feed on them, but she could use her powers and cause them to kill themselves, or each other."
"I could make something that could keep her quiet; I'm thinking a mask or something," said Fred as everyone looked at her. The scientist looked back at Angel and told him that Kathy's telepathy seemed to work through her voice, "so, it's not telepathy in the traditional sense."
"Like super-hypnosis," said Willow nodding her head, "it's powerful though, I still have those headaches from her hypnosis pounding against my shields trying to get into Buffy, Faith, and Kennedy's minds. The next big danger is the telekinesis."
"But the Anti-Prior weapon worked on her, right?" asked Faith.
"But it affected every magic user who used to be in the BPRI's main building," said Angel, "which is why we put them in the dorms while Kathy was here."
"Can that part of the brain be suppressed?" asked Woolsey through the speakerphone.
"It's possible," said Fred, "we have new medical staff coming in to help, so I'll talk to them."
"I'm not saying we let her off easy," said Angel as he spoke into the speakerphone, "I know she's dangerous, but I also know she's like this because of me. She should be punished, but.. but not by killing her. I think she can be helped…. She can be redeemed and… and I know we can't bring those she killed back but… I need to try and help her."
"She's been zatted, sirs," said Willow as she spoke to the two Generals and Woolsey, "I'd like to put her into the Stasis pod in Antarctica until the BPRI gets the chip ready, and whatever Fred could come up with to stop Kathy from talking to others. As for the telekinesis, we know that the anti-Prior weapon worked on her, but we don't know if the same areas of her brain are accessed when she's using those abilities."
"Since she's dead and all," said Kennedy frowning.
"Yeah," replied Willow, "so after she gets the chip put into her head, I'd like to suggest that she use her telekinesis on me."
"You sure?" asked Buffy as Faith looked at her wife with concern, a concern that Willow felt through her link so the redhead reached out and held Faith's hand tightly by her side. Willow then said that she could handle a sustained assault on her own if she didn't have to shield the mind of anyone else.
"She's powerful," said Willow nodding her head, "but she got to me cause I spread my telepathy shielding you guys, if its one on one, I can handle it."
"Just measure her brain activity then, huh?" asked General O'Neill, "that simple?"
"Oh, it's never simple," said Faith as she smirked at Willow who chuckled before looking at Angel, "so we put her in stasis first, and then wait."
"Then once everything else is ready, we bring her out of Stasis…. Stun her immediately with the Zats, and then implant the chip and prevent her from talking," said Angel, "then Willow does her thing, and then we bring in Spike to talk to her.. and… and maybe.. just maybe she could one day help with fighting off a threat. It could be a supernatural threat or an alien threat."
"Generals, Mr. Woolsey?" asked Strum.
"The IOA will approve the use of the stasis pod to hold her," said Woolsey, "but only if you agree, Mr. Strum."
"Can she be sent off to another world through the Stargate?" asked Strum.
"We can't risk exiling her on another world now, or if this plan fails in stopping her from killing indiscriminately," said General O'Neill, "we don't want to take the chance of a Goa'uld encountering her and then having her implanted with a snake. That would be more trouble than its worth. Angel, we'll be installing an SGC subdermal transmitter that'll be linked to the Prometheus. If what you're suggesting doesn't work, if she makes one wrong move… if she disables the chip somehow... then she'll be beamed up to space, and she'll know what it's like to burn up in the atmosphere."
"I understand," said Angel as he closed his eyes in relief.
"If the SGC and Homeworld are willing to talk care of implanting Kathy with one of their own chips," said Strum, "then I'm all for putting her in stasis. I do agree that all measures have to be taken to ensure that this does not happen again. If she even tries to take out the tracking chip, she'll be sent out to space. Is that understood, Angel?"
"Yeah," said Angel as he nodded his head, "I understand."
"Red," said General O'Neill, "do what you need to do. Take her to Antarctica with Faith and the Slayers, and then I need you to make a quick stop at the SGC. We need to talk privately before you guys leave for Nairobi."
"Understood, sir," said Willow nodding her head.
"Angel," said Strum, "you know your people aren't going to be happy about this?"
"Yea," replied Angel, "I'll take care of it."
"We'll take care of it," said Cordelia as she stood next to Angel.
TBC.