Kassa Processing Facility, P1W-182, five days before Netan's death at the hands of the Cylons.
With information on the location of yet another Kassa processing facility transmitted to the SGC via a Tok'ra operative, three teams were gathered in the Gateroom. Consisting of SG-1, SG-30, SG-34, their jobs were to destroy the facility and the port which was used for loading the canisters that would eventually end up on ships, and then to the Lucien Alliance worlds… the consortium selling the addictive drug to various populations in their territory. The aim was to severely damage the Lucien Alliance's distribution network for the Kassa drug, hurting them financially in the process.
Having seen the schematics of the mechanized factory, and the port thanks to the Tok'ra operatives that gained intelligence about this particular planet, General Landry, Colonel Carter and Colonel Mitchel had come up with a plan. There was other intelligence gathered which involved the locations of several ships carrying Kassa to the Lucien worlds, but it was decided to go after one of the distribution centers instead of the ships themselves. The plan was for the teams to head for the factory, while Willow headed for the space port. All of them would be using the Sodan cloaking device where they would sneak in, and then set their charges before leaving as fast as possible. They were planning on getting out of the factory and space port before the timers on the charges finished counting down.
The teams would them head back to Earth through the Stargate, at least that was the plan.
Back in the Gateroom, Colonel Mitchell and Colonel Carter were standing on the ramp leading to the Stargate which looking at the gathered SG personnel. They had requested the loan of more cloaking devices from the Sodan, since the SGC only had one device with them. The devices were loaned to them with the permission of Lord Haikon with the guarantee that they would be returned following the completion of the mission.
"Listen up!" said Colonel Mitchell while Colonel Carter was fiddling with some buttons on the Sodan cloaking device attached to her upper arm, "we're going to get in, and then get out with a minimum of fuss. All of you know the game plan, but first… we synchronize our watches for five minutes. That should give us enough time to head to the factory and the space port before taking cover and deactivating the cloaks."
"The Sodan devices will push us into a parallel dimension," said Colonel Carter, "I know some of you haven't used this technology before, so here's what you need to know. The five-minute time limit is so that your body does not get irradiated with inter-dimensional radiation. Six minutes is the maximum amount of time a human body can remain in the parallel dimension without a symbiote or a healing factor, so we're leaving a one minute margin for error for us to head through the gate and disable the armed guards on the other side. Given Major Rosenberg's unique physiology, she can remain in the parallel dimension without any adverse effects. She'll be heading directly to the space port. The rest of us will use the five minutes of the cloak to break into the factory, and then take cover before deactivating the field. Once Major Rosenberg's charges have gone off, it'll create the distraction we need to set the charges in the factory, and then leave after reactivating the Sodan devices."
"Red?" Colonel Mitchell said as he looked at Willow who was carrying two belts of naquada enhanced explosives across her shoulders, "you ready?"
"Yes, sir," Willow said before confirming that once she had set the charges, she'll head straight for the Stargate.
"And remember," said Colonel Mitchel as he looked at everyone, "just because you're in a parallel dimension, it doesn't mean you can walk through solid objects."
"And he should know," said Vala with a smirk and an eyebrow raised, "he tried to walk through a wall."
"Vala," frowned Colonel Mitchel while a few of the officers chuckled, as did Faith and Daniel while Teal'c look on stoically.
"Walter," said Colonel Carter as she and the sighing Colonel Mitchel, nervously scratching his head, walked down the ramp, "dial the Gate."
While Walter was reading out the chevrons that were being encoded, Willow told Faith and the other members of SG-1 that she'll be too far away to be mentally connected to them. Urging them to be careful just as Colonel Carter and Colonel Mitchel reached them, with Willow turning to the both of them and saying that she'll use her healing ability on them once everyone returned to the SGC.
"We'll be fine," assured Faith as she gently squeezed Willow's arm just as the Stargate activated.
"Synchronize your watches," yelled Colonel Mitchell as he looked at his watch, along with the others while Colonel Carter counted down.
"Five, four, three, two, one, Mark" said the Colonel as everyone started their timers before pressing the buttons on the Sodan cloaking devices. Walter and the others in the Control Room watched as the SG teams vanished, and a few seconds later, the event horizon of the wormhole rippled as the teams headed through the Stargate and ended up facing an armed contingent standing guard at the front of the gate.
Just as the intelligence gathered by the Tok'ra had indicated.
The teams took out their Zats and fired at the Alliance personnel, taking them down soon after they found the Stargate activating... indicating an incoming wormhole. They had seen the ripples on the event horizon, indicating that there was something or someone coming through… but they couldn't see anything. It was then that they heard an electronic sound, the very familiar sound of a zat activation. But they couldn't see anything.
And then they were hit by a blue stream of energy from out of nowhere, and collapsed onto the ground.
In their parallel dimension, their surroundings looking as if they were tinged with a yellow filter, the majority of SG-teams prepared to move out in one direction. As for Willow, she nodded her head and headed off, running as fast as he could in the other direction towards the space port where there were already three ships being loaded in the distance. Once Willow set off, so did the other teams as they made their nearly four-minute journey to the factory.
It would be four and a half minutes later that the SG teams, running on radio silence, crept past several guards and entered the automated factory. The teams tripled up, and then headed for cover away from the guards on the gangways high above the floors while machines processed and packed the Kassa. Once they had found cover, the teams deactivated the cloak and counted down for two minutes before the devices could be activated again. In that time, two from each of the three-man teams would set the explosive charges in the pre-determined locations while the third looked out for any guards who were getting suspicious.
However, once they decloaked and had started to set the explosive charges, there was a green coloured scanning beam that sept through the entire factory, surprising both the SG teams and the guards on the gangway.
"What the hell?" asked Colonel Mitchell who was with Vala and a member from SG-30 as the beam passed over them. The man from SG-30 looked confused at Colonel Mitchell before looking up at the guards on the gangways, some of whom were running towards the stairs on the far wall that would lead to the main floor, while others remained on the gangways and aimed their weapons down at the dimly lit main floor searching for any intruders. The ones running towards the stairs were shouting into their radios that there were possible intruders while Colonel Carter whispered to everyone that they still had one and a half minutes to go before they could engage the cloak.
"Yeah," whispered Faith as she set a charge, "but what do we do about the guards? They'll find the charges."
"According to our intel, there's supposed to be twenty guards inside the factory, and thirty outside," whispered Colonel Mitchell, "no one said anything about a funny green light show."
"Yes, well," said Vala as she crept behind a piece of machinery and noticed the guards reaching the main floor and raising their weapons while organizing into teams and then spreading out, "these guy's are already looking for us."
"Set the charges to two minutes," said Colonel Carter before whispering that there was a minute left in restarting the cloaking devices on their arms. Everyone changed the timers to two minutes from four as Colonel Carter told them that they needed to run as fast as possible away from the blast zone of the naquada enhanced explosions. Their original plan involved setting the charges for four minutes, enough time to be far away from the blast zone.. but with the unexpected discovery of intruders by the guards, plans needed to be changed.
"Forty seconds," whispered Colonel Carter as everyone finished setting the charges to the new two minute countdown. Once the charges were set, the teams took positions that would provide further cover from the guards in the gangways above them, making it harder for them to notify the Alliance guards on the floor as to the intruders locations.
"Twenty seconds," whispered Colonel Carter as she and the others slowly made their way towards the area where they entered the factory which already had guards from the outside rushing in, "there is going to be a very bog shockwave. We'll be right in the middle of it. But I think being in the parallel dimension will negate the effects of the shockwave when it hits us."
"How so?" asked Teal'c who was with two other SG team members.
"We most likely won't die," whispered the Colonel.
"Most likely?" asked Faith.
"Theoretically," clarified Colonel Carter.
"Not helping, Sam," whispered Faith while Vala moved to another location. As she moved, she scrapped against a device, a diagnostic tool, that the people who maintained the equipment needed to ensure that everything was running smoothly. Vala closed her eyes upon hearing the clang of the device hitting the ground before she quickly took cover.
"The south west side!" yelled one of the guards from the gangway as he started to open fire once he caught a glimpse of a diagnostic tool falling onto the ground without anyone touching it. The guard immediately fired at location, as did the others on the gangways, while more of the guards on the main floor started to run towards the weapons fire from above. It wasn't long before they caught glimpses of the flashes of muzzle flares and Zat fire from the main floor to the gangways.
"Now!" yelled Colonel Carter, who was taking cover, before peeking out at the oncoming guards. She opened fire at them while Faith pressed the button on her device. The Colonel was now cloaked as Faith joined her in the parallel dimension… soon followed by the others as the Lucien Alliance guards arrived at the location of the weapons fire that had emerged from the main floor. They didn't realize that the cloaked officers had already rushed past them, with a little under a minute left on the charges. Once the teams were out and running as fast as possible for their lives, the guards began a sweep of the main floor for the intruders.
"They couldn't have gone anywhere! Find them!" yelled one of the guards from the gangway who was hit by a round on the leg. He then reached into his pocket and grabbed a radio. He then pressed on the button and spoke into it, "Inform Netan that we have a breach. Send him the security feeds and…"
The man never got to finish what he wanted to say as a bright orange-red light enveloped him before everything around him turned black. The massive explosions killed the man, and the other guards, instantaneously as it tore through the Kassa factory. The shockwave created by the explosion was enough to fling the SG-teams, who had already made it several meters away from the explosion, was flung further forward, all of them eventually hitting the ground hard while still remaining cloaked.
Willow was already on her way out of the spaceport having finished setting her explosive charges. She knew that it would take another five minutes to head back to the Stargate, by which time the other teams should have returned to the Stargate before heading home together. However, it was a few meters after running unseen and unheard past several Alliance soldiers that she came to a dead stop upon seeing a bright orange and red coloured fireball rising in the distance. Willow knew that it was the direction of the Kassa processing factory as she broke radio silence between their teams while soldiers were rushing past her. Willow avoided the oncoming bodies and ran to the side of the road that led to the spaceport entrance before repeating her whispered call for the teams.
Willow then started to run as fast as possible towards the fireball in the distance.
In the meantime, Faith's ears were ringing as she slowly opened her eyes to find herself looking at an unconscious Colonel Carter who was lying next to her. She winced in pain she as placed her hand on the ground, and then slowly pushed herself up until she was on her knees. Faith shook her head, and then rubbed her temples and ears while looking around at the yellow tinted surroundings which indicated to her that she was still in the parallel dimension.
"Owww," Faith groaned as she slowly got to her feet, which felt heavy, while looking back over her shoulder at the burning and collapsing factory while debris started to fall all around them, and into the distance. She limped towards Colonel Carter, and then to Colonel Mitchel while the former groaned before opening her eyes. Faith looked down at Colonel Mitchel, and then at Teal'c who was lying face down until a few seconds ago… pushing himself up very slowly.
"I feel like I got hit by a truck," groaned Daniel as Faith slowly pulled him up to his feet while Colonel Carter and Colonel Mitchell, the both of whom were limping, helped the others to their feet. Daniel nodded his head to indicate that he was okay before Colonel Carter told everyone that they needed to get moving.
"We can't stay here," she said just as Willow's voice on their radio's came through. Colonel Carter contacted Willow, and told her what happened before ordering her to stay and wait for them at the Stargate. Willow told them that there were soldiers on foot and by air who were heading towards the explosion.
"We'll be careful," said Colonel Mitchell, "we'll need to find a secure location to disable the cloak in three minutes. After we're reset two minutes later, we'll re-engage the cloak and come to you.
"Will you be secure?" asked Willow as she continued to run.
"We will," said Colonel Carter as she eyed the tall stacks of Kassa on either side of the road, "meet us at the Stargate, and take care of any reinforcements that block our access."
"Understood, ma'am," Willow said before reluctantly changing her direction. She ran to the Stargate while the SG teams rushed into the tall green stalks of Kassa, the red coloured 'space corn, and crouched down while death gliders circled over the destroyed factory. Heading deeper in the field, the group spread out. It was soon that they disable the cloaks and counted down before re-engaging the devices once again.
BY the time Willow had reached the Stargate, the space-port had erupted in fireballs that rose into the air. She smiled at the soldiers who were stationed at the Gate rushing towards the space-port, and then just leaned on the Gate waiting for the others who arrived a little over five minutes later. With panic being set in among the Alliance personnel on the planet in regards to the destruction of the factory and space-port, no one noticed the Stargate activating and a group of SG teams heading for a buffer world.
This mission was complete; they dealt the Lucian Alliance's Kassa trade a hard blow.
Willow and Faith's home, 1500 hours, Present day, four days after Netan's death.
Faith was sleeping, her arm wrapped around Willow's waist as the both of them lay on the couch facing the television. A glass of juice and a can of beer lay on the table in front of them while the television was turned on. The both of them were sleeping comfortably after what seemed like a long day after returning from New Kobol several hours ago following the death of Baltar at Starbuck's hands. Following the briefing at the SGC, Willow and Faith were given the day off while Buffy, Tara, Kennedy were sent teleported back to Sunnydale using the Prometheus Stations.
Their home lay quiet since Dawn was staying at Jon's apartment for that day. The both of them had gone on their own date before heading off to Jon's apartment; all thanks to having a week off from the SGC. It was the same with Willow and Faith, SG-1 had a few days off before leaving for a mission to Edina to meet with Jonas Quinn and the rebels from Langara. Until then, it left the others having their own things to do. Colonel Carter and Debbie went to Santa Barbara with General Carter to visit Mark and his family, Daniel had left for Sunnydale to visit Anya, while Teal'c left for the Hak'tyl world to visit Ishta. In the meantime, Colonel Mitchell had taken Vala to his High School reunion in the town of Auburn, Kansas.
Back in Colorado Springs, a motorcycle stopped at the entrance to the driveway, and a figure in black leather and motorcycle helmet got off the vehicle. The figure, a woman, had stolen the vehicle after killing the previous owner who was left with a smoking hole in his chest only thirty minutes ago. She crept down the driveway, using the trees and bushes as cover while approaching the house from the rear. She took off her helmet, and then threw it to one side before reaching into her left pocket and taking out a small device with a screen. The screen showed an arrow that was pointing straight towards the house before she placed it back into her pocket. The dark-haired woman, her hair tied into a neat bun, then reached around the device on her neck; she then affixed the visor over her eyes and smiled at the two life signs who were lying motionless, the visor allowing her to view inside the home as she took out two small plasma weapons from holsters on the small of her back, just under her jacket.
She then crept towards the front door while holding her weapons up while continuing to watch the two unmoving bodies. Stepping onto the wooden deck from the gravel of the walkway, the woman aimed her weapons just as she stepped on a wooden panel with her left foot, which then squeaked. Surprised, the woman glanced away from the door for just an instance just as Faith opened her eyes upon hearing the soft sound. She knew that Dawn was going to be away the whole day, in fact she took a bag with her to John's house before telling her and Willow that she was staying over at her boyfriend's apartment.
Faith knew that there was supposed to be no-one coming. She then heard another soft step, and then another while her eyes narrowed in worry.
The dark-haired Slayer kissed the back of Willow's head before whispering that she heard something on the other side of the front door. She then brought her head up, and looked around while Willow mumbled incoherently. IN the meantime, Faith looked at the windows where she could see out to the backyard, and then back to the front door when there was the sound of another soft step on the wooden floor boards.
The door was closed and locked, and then Faith looked back down as Willow shifted and turned her body towards her wife, snapped open her eyes and then grabbed Faith by the collar. The redhead mentally screamed at Faith to get down. Faith's head darted back down just as six pulses of plasma energy made holes through the wooden front door, and passed through the area where Faith's head used to be.
"What the hell?" yelled Faith as she and Willow fell onto the carpet as more pulses of orange energy was fired into the house. They crawled to cover while Willow mentally told Faith which way to go to avoid the bursts of plasma which seemed to follow them as they ducked wherever they could find some temporary cover. Smoke was rising up from the scorch marks on the couch, the floor, the carpet, and even the tables from where Faith and Willow were hiding before moving off. It was then that the door was kicked open and a woman dressed all in black rushed in, firing two weapons at Faith and Willow.
With very little cover, Willow placed a telekinetic shield in front of herself and Faith before mentally slamming the woman into the ceiling, and tearing the plasma weapons out of her hands. After the woman hit the ceiling hard, Willow let go of her mental grip, and the woman plummeted to the floor. She slamming onto the carpet before rolling to her side with a groan. A panting Faith rushed to the woman, reached down and grabbed her by the collar while Willow kept her immobile, and searched her jacket for any other weapons.
"Let… let go… of me," said the woman who was feeling pain all over her body, wondering how it was that she was flung into the ceiling. She felt pressure on her chest while she was on the ceiling, and then something ripped the weapons out of her hand. The woman then felt the pressure leave before plummeting to the floor, "I…"
"We get to ask the questions," growled Faith as she reached down and took out two knives that were in sheaths on the woman's left hip, and threw them to one side while Willow crossed her arms over her chest and looked down at the mysterious woman, "who are you?"
"It is not finished," said the woman as she looked at Faith, and then at Willow, "you will pay well for me."
"Why did you attack us?" asked Willow looking down at her, "who do you work for?"
Willow wasn't expecting an answer as the woman gave her a small smile of defiance before repeating that they were going to pay, "and pay very well." However, Willow did get her answer when the woman thought about standing in a Hatak vessel. She was facing a tall, tanned, scruffy looking man with white hair sitting on a command chair at the bridge of the Ha'tak ship. He was ordering the woman, and the others standing next to her to begin searching for the SG teams that broke into, and destroyed, the Kassa factory and the space-port.
"Netan had a plan to steal one of Earth's ships as compensation for the destruction of our facilities on Telaus," said the man, "but his death changes everything."
From the memory she was 'seeing' Willow could tell that the man was a Netan loyalist, but she was surprised upon hearing that Netan was dead.
"Wait," said Willow after she found out that Netan was dead while the woman snapped her head towards Willow's direction. She then sneered at Willow before looking away, "Netan's dead? How?"
"The Lucian Alliance leader?" asked Faith looking back at Willow who nodded her head.
"How did he die?"
Willow 'saw' the woman's memories of herself, and five others, being told about Netan's death at the hands of the Tau'ri. The redhead shook her head with a frown on her face as she 'listened' while the new leader, a man named Goras, sat on the command chair in front of them and exclaimed how they found Netan's body floating in space over their Kassa Processing facility. He continued to say that the death of Netan was an act of war against the Alliance.
Willow then 'saw' the man make a proclamation, "thanks to the security feed we have been able to reconstruct from the processing facility on Telaus, we know that SG-1 was one of the teams tagged after they broke into, and destroyed, it. I believe they were responsible for the destruction of the space-port as well. But now, with the death of Netan at their hands, I am offering a bounty to the six of you! Bring me the heads of all those who were tagged! Use any resources you require, but I want them here dead or alive."
"We didn't kill Netan," said Willow as she looked down at the woman who locked the sides of her jaw before she rushed to the coffee table to pick up her cell phone.
"The Tau'ri have declared open war on the Alliance by assassinating our leader," the woman hissed up at Faith while, from the corner of her eyes, she saw Willow with the phone in her hand. The woman then smiled, "and now you people are going to die."
Faith saw the woman flinch before biting down on something in her mouth. It was then that Willow got a memory flash from the woman while she was about to dial a number. Willow turned around while Faith was looking up at her with eyes wide open as the assassin started foaming in the mouth. The there was another memory flash as Willow ran as fast as she could towards Faith who was already getting up as the body lay limp on the floor. The white foam was dripping down the side of her mouth thanks to the poison from the capsule hidden in her molar. The poison was absorbed into her body, and then she died.
But it wasn't over.
Willow grabbed Faith and tackled her to the ground while placing a telekinetic shield that covered the both of them just as they nearly landed on the carpet. A landing that was interrupted thanks a massive explosion from the assassin's body.
The explosion destroyed the entire house, and threw the shield covered Willow and Faith out of the broken front door and onto the driveway. Willow and Faith landed hard onto the road, the shield taking the brunt of the explosion. The impact of the explosion feedback into Willow's mind as an intense pain permeated her entire body as well as leaving her with a bleeding nose, an intense headache, and dizziness as she lay on top of the unconscious Faith. The shield that covered them faded away once she was unconscious with the secondary explosions from the gas lines in the house stirring Faith as she opened her eyes. Getting her bearings, Faith slowly got up while cradling the unconscious body of her wife. She carried her in her arms as she slowly got up… her face wincing from the pain on her side and arms. Faith looked up from Willow and stared at the destroyed house, the heat radiating from the fire and hitting her face. She too felt the impact of the shield, but unlike Willow, she wasn't injured... just dazed and in pain from hitting the ground, and feeling Willow's pain thanks to the link that the both of them shared.
Faith got onto her feet with Willow, who was groaning in her arms, and limped towards the main road as debris started to rain down all around them. She limped faster as more items fell all around them, and then when she reached the main road, Faith turned around and watched the house burn down.
Faith gently placed Willow onto the soft grass at the side of the road while watching the debris continue to fall onto the driveway, the backyard, and on top of the garage. A few pieces of debris fell through the room of the garage and into the motorcycle that was parked inside. The entire living room was gutted, as were the hallway leading to Dawn's room, as well as Willow and Faith's bedroom. It was then that Faith groaned shaking her head before saying that she hoped the box of Charlie's items that General O'Neill kept under the floorboards in Dawn's room wasn't destroyed.
Faith looked down at the unconscious Willow, and then felt for a pulse. She sighed in relief that it was still strong, and then reached for Willow's left hand which was wrapped around her phone. Faith gently pried her fingers open, and then picked up the phone. Once she dialled the SGC, Faith stood up and told Walter to beam them directly into the infirmary at the SGC.
"Oh, one more thing," said Faith as she crouched down and placed her hand on Willow's chest, "we were attacked. Someone bombed our house. Willow took the brunt of the explosion and she needs medical attention fast."
"Understood," said Walter as he picked up another phone and contacted the Prometheus. He told Colonel Pendergast the situation, and he authorised beam out to the SGC. A white light then enveloped Willow and Faith who found herself at the SGC infirmary once the light faded away. She called for a nurse while picking Willow up in her arms and placing her on a bed. Faith told the nurse what happened, who then repeated it when Dr. Lam rushed into the infirmary a minute later. She immediately took Willow to a scanner in another lab, while Faith was taken to another one given that the both of them were in the exploding building.
In the meantime, Walter called out to the fire department and had them sent to the house which by now had already been burned down following several smaller explosions.
While Willow and Faith were being examined in the SGC, four other cloaked ships flew past the Prometheus station towards Earth, while one headed for Chulak. The other assassins were going to kill SG-1… their top priority, before killing members from the other SG teams whose pictures were spread among the Alliance from the security feeds out of the destroyed factory.
TBC.