Orbit of New Kobol, same time as the explosion at the test site.
"Galactica Actual, Raptor 118," the pilot, Apollo, spoke into his headset radio as he flew out into space on a Raptor. The man looked out at the stars as he flew the vessel with Skulls in the rear section manning the ECO console recording the upcoming test. "Heading to the forward section, twenty seconds."
The Raptor flew past the flight pod and the headed for the 'alligator' head section of the Galactica. It flew past the section and then came about before stopping at the prearranged coordinates. It had taken a week of deliberations to figure out a test of the shield emitters while some of the turrets were being removed to make way for the new Goa'uld energy weapons that were going to be installed; three at the Alligator head section of the ship, ten spread out throughout the dorsal section, ten more throughout the ventral sections of the Galactica. The first of the energy weapons though would be installed starting in two weeks using the naquada generators that were already installed.
In additions, there where several naquada plates on the hull of the ship that would absorb excess energy that would feedback into the shield emitters. The plates would store that energy, which could then be rerouted to feed power back into the emitters to strengthen the shield. On the other hand, the collected energy could also be used to add power to the energy weapons that were due to be installed.
Back to the present day, for the current test Apollo then targeted several areas of the 'head' while Cally was still running to the CIC to oversee the test with Chief Laird.
"Galactica Actual, Raptor 118," said Apollo as he targeted the 'head', "cannons are locked and loaded. Waiting for permission to fire."
"Apollo, stand by," said the Commander as he stood behind the central CIC table while staring at his second-in-command, Helo, who then took a deep breath after the Commander nodded his head. Next to the Commander stood President Roslin while Billy was standing next to Dee.
Helo, after the President too gave her signal, then asked Chief Laird at the Shield Control console to activate the naquada reactors. It was against the Commander's recommendation that the President stay on board the Galactica during the test since there was a possibility that the generators could overload and short the power relays resulting in a possible loss of power. But despite that, Roslin wanted to remain on board. The Chief then nodded his head while the two officers who would be eventually manning that station looked on from over the Chief's shoulder at the screen below showing an outline of the Galactica's profile, and then on the other half of the screen was an outline image of the front view of the 'head' section.
"Activating reactors," the Chief said as the reactors at the 'head' section started to power up after he pressed a button, and then slowly pushed a lever. The top of the screen showed power levels being generated by the naquada reactors in the 'head' section, "thirty percent, forty, forty five, sixty seven…."
The lights in the CIC and the majority of the ship started to blink on and off for a few seconds, just as it did during the tests. Five seconds later, the lights steadied themselves and the various panels all over the ship connected to the naquada generators came online. Since the forward emitters were the only ones connected to the power sources, the screen in front of Chief Laird showed a blue outline around the entire forward section, the Alligator Head, of the Galactica.
"Energy levels are holding steady at one hundred percent, sir," said Chief Laird as the crew in the CIC cheered while the Commander, who was afraid that the activation would blow out their circuits, gave of a sigh of relief before shaking hands with Helo, and then with the President who grasped his hand with both of hers. She gave him a wide smile while, in the jubilant cheers all around them, the door to the CIC opened and Cally slipped in.
The Commander glanced at Cally head for the shield station, and looked away. He was aware that Cally and his son were having dinner the past few months, and that they were getting closer. He had heard the rumours that Cally was getting closer to Apollo because she was trying to be closer to any open officer spot in the ship. It was something brought to him by Helo, who was aware of the link between Cally and Apollo, and the Commander asked him to squash the rumours.
The fact was that Cally had not asked the Commander for any favouritism. And the Commander couldn't show any. He glanced at all the cheering crew who were hugging at the prospect of the test being successful, a test that hadn't even begun yet. Commander Adama then nodded at Helo who yelled at everyone to return to their respective stations.
"Yes, we passed this one, small, detail," he said with authority in his voice as he looked at the crew who started to quieten down, "but there are several steps to go on from here" The new executive officer of the Galactica then turned his head towards Chief Laird, "Chief, how's the power supply?"
"All stations report green," said the Chief as he looked at the vertical screen in front of him, and then looked up slightly at the central screen which was angled perpendicular to the vertical screen. He made sure that all the sensor readings were coming in before looking at Helo and standing up. The Chief nodded his head while Cally stood next to him as she pressed a few buttons to show interior camera's showing Earth engineers with two of the Galactica's engineers on six of the stations in the forward section.
The Galactica crew were being shown the intricacies of the panels which were connected to the Shield Control console in the CIC. The panels showed the level of power being put out from the naquada generators; and if there was an overload, the panels were supposed to automatically reroute excess power to the naquada plates on various parts of the hull to limit the impact of any explosions by absorbing most of the excess energy.
Once the energy weapons are installed, the energy would be channelled to the weapons.
At least theoretically.
"Shields are at a hundred percent, Commander," Cally said.
The Commander then nodded his head, picked up the phone at the corner of the table, and then placed it on his ear.
"Apollo, Galactica Actual," the Commander said, "fire cannons when ready."
"Copy," Apollo said a s the Raptor silently floated in space while the screen on the console in front of Skulls, at the ECO console in the rear of the Raptor, indicated they were over the test zone.
"Weapons are locked," Skulls reported to Apollo, who then notified the Commander. Once the final confirmation from the Commander was received, Apollo nodded his head. Major Adama was about to take in a deep breath when he suddenly remembered he didn't need to breath. Apollo had a smirk on his face when he said, "Weapons free," over the wireless.
Apollo depressed the red button on the joystick he was grasping and heard the sounds of weapon fire vibrate through the hull and into the cabin. Back in space, the rounds silently exited the barrel of the cannons on either side of the Raptor and flew one after another into space and towards the forward section of the massive ship. A second later, the rounds hit the energy barrier, which hugged the hull of the Galactica, which flared gold; with various dots of white erupting where the rounds were impacting against the shield.
And Apollo cheered upon seeing the flashes of the weapons impacting the gold coloured shield while he continued to fire, "the shield works, the shield works!" Even Skull released a cheer as he fisted the air while data started to pour into his computer. His gun camera was recording the entire session so that the Colonial leadership could see a working shield.
Cally closed her eyes in relief at hearing Apollo's cheer while the Chief was staring at the vertical screen and then at the central screen which was slightly angled upwards. He nodded his head while standing and then nudged Cally who leaned sideways to see the lines representing the shield holding steady. Cally nodded her head before the Chief raised his head to the Commander and gave a thumbs up sign, "shields are still at a hundred percent."
"Those were just our cannon rounds," the Commander said nodding his head. A small smile appeared on his lips before ordering Apollo to fire missiles. The ship shook slightly as the missiles impacted the shields with Cally saying that the shields were down to ninety five percent while the lights on the lower desks in the 'head' section were blinking in and out. The tests with the missiles went one for a few more minutes before stopping once the shields went down to sixty percent.
"Chief? Cally? Are the shields regenerating?" asked Helo.
"Yes," Cally nodded her head and looked at the Commander with an excited grin plastered on her face before looking back down at the screen in front of her, "there are some power surges, but the Earthers are showing our people how to manage them. Shield strength is still rising, sir. Sensors on the plates are showing some energy absorbtion."
"When we're back to a hundred percent," said the Commander turning away from Cally and the Chief. He looked ahead at Helo before continuing, "order Lee to fire a nuke."
"Understood." Helo replied before relaying the order to Apollo.
With various sections at the 'head' evacuated, the Raptor fired a nuke at the Galactica.
And everyone on board the Galactica held their breath as the missile flew towards the shield. As for Apollo, he didn't need to hold his breath as the missile flew towards the Galactica. HE knew that if his heart could still beat, it would be racing right now especially since he fired on his own ship.. the very ship that Starbuck and his father were on… the very ship that Cally was on. He manoeuvred his ship around and then fired his thrusters to get some distance before turning around once again. It had been the same with the other ships in orbit; it was only an hour ago that they were told to stay a certain distance away from the Galactica so that they wouldn't be affected by the nuclear weapons electromagnetic pulse and the resulting radiation.
So no, Apollo didn't need to hold his breath. But Skulls did; and his heart raced as the missile neared its target.
And then there was a bright flash of light; the sensors on the Raptor telling Apollo and Skulls that the missile impacted the shield. Back in the Galactica, Helo had been begun a countdown starting from five, "Five, four, three, two, one."
"Grab a hold of something!" yelled the Commander into the phone on his ear. Cally grabbed the sides of the console while the Commander held onto a corner of the table with one hand and the President's arm with the other hand. The President herself could feel her heart racing and stared at the Commander, but she had no regrets in coming on board the Galactica to witness the test. Once the missile struck the ship, there was a jolt that went throughout the ship as some of the crew lost their balance and fell to the floor, while other who grabbed items that were already bolted down managed to stay standing. It was then same in the CIC as Helo stumbled sideways but was still on his feet.
The Commander stumbled too as Roslin lost her balance, and then hold in the table, before stumbling into his chest. The Commander held on tight as the ship continued to shake while the lights flickered throughout.
"We're getting a power surge," said Cally a she looked at the reading before pressing a few buttons while the technicians at the panels were rerouting power due to the excess energy to the Naquada plates on the hull which would be used as an additional energy source when the Goa'uld energy weapons would be installed. Once the danger of an interior explosion had passed them by, and the ship stopped shaking, the CIC crew started to mumble as Cally and the Chief stared at the readings.
"Shields are at sixty percent and charging," said Cally as the mumbling among the crew increased while others clapped.
"Hull integrity is holding, and… wait… we have a breach… two breaches. Both in areas where the Cylons hit us during our last battle months ago," said the Chief reading the data on the screen while the Commander was, unconsciously, holding onto Roslin by her shoulders as they stared at the Chief and Cally. The Chief then looked up at them and smiled before saying that the shield kept out the radiation from the nuclear blast, "and the electromagnetic pulse too. We'll have to run more tests but we I think have a working shield."
The CIC crew cheered while Helo contacted Apollo and told him that the test was a success. The Commander ordered Cally and the Chief to supervise the Damage Control teams. He knew that there was a lot of testing to be done, but the Commander was confident, as he heard the loud cheers and claps around him, that the Galactica would be in fighting shape to battle the Pegasus.
"Mr. Gaeta," said the Commander, "take us back down to Condition Three."
Gaeta, who was back at his post following several hours of counselling, nodded his head before his voice rang throughout the ship telling everyone to stand down.
"Let's begin the next phase," the Commander told Helo who then nodded his head.
Furling Earth, at that same time.
"I cannot believe it's nearly time for me to leave," said Wesley as he sat on a dead tree trunk and looked out at the greyish coloured ocean. Next to him was seated Giles as her leaned forward and stared out towards the ocean as well. Wesley had come along with Giles after the vacation in Sunnydale. Giles remembered Wesley being stunned at the sight of the wormhole at the SGC, and then the young man was stunned even further after reaching Furling Earth with Giles. It was them that Wesley was introduced to the Archaeologist and the Major leading a new team to inspect a site, a Las Vegas sized city where the buildings had already crumbled down onto the ground where grass began forcing itself through the cracks in the roads.
While Giles and Wesley were in separate camps, they were only two kilometres apart; they were a part of ten teams that were supposed to examine the city. Giles had already introduced Wesley to his Cylon Number Three girlfriend, Anna, who had numerous questions for Wesley. And those questions included if Wesley knew about the supernatural. That was a little less than three months ago.
And now, Wesley had mixed feeling about going back home. For one thing he liked being on the field doing the work he was academically trained to do, but on the other hand, he missed helping people fight the supernatural back on Earth. And that's what he was going back to; a world where he could help people in the present day.
"Thank you, Mr. Giles," Wesley said as he looked out at the ocean, "for this opportunity."
Giles nodded his head before replying with, "your welcome, and look after Buffy and the others for me."
"I will," Wesley replied.
And Wesley wasn't the only one heading back home. It was about time for Racetrack's team to leave Furling Earth as well after their three-month stint neared an end. While the other members of her teams were taking a break, Racetrack was walking arm in arm… after the both of them received permission from their superiors to pursue the beginning of a relationship with each other; especially since Major Thompson outranked Racetrack. They were walking through another set of ruins on another continent away from the Cylon teams while a gentle breeze brushed past them.
With the permission having only just come through that very morning, ironically the very day they were due to be separated, the two of them wanted some time to themselves. It was true that they had dinners together, lunch together, and even watched movies together for the past three months… but nothing untoward had happened. And it was true that Racetrack requested another mission to Furling Earth to head another team after she was given approval for their relationship to go ahead.
And it was a request that was granted. She would be returning to Furling Earth after a week's break while she was being debriefed.
"You know that they're going to ask you about the movies," the Major said while Racetrack chuckled as they walked past what used to be a four-story building. Debris lay all over the ground while the building itself was half collapsed. "Take them with you. It's good for some entertainment."
"Your supervisors are fine with giving me the discs and the player?" asked Racetrack as she and the Major stepped into what used to be another building. This one only had a wall standing while the other four side were turned into large chunks of debris.
"Yep," said the Major as he looked at the smiling Racetrack who gently pulled him to the wall. She then lay her back against it while the Major continued to speak, "make sure they see Alien first, and then Aliens. Aliens Three? Didn't like it as much, and…"
"It was still scary," Racetrack said as the Major placed a hand on her waist, just above her gun, and another hand on her cheek. The Major chuckled at the memory of Racetrack holding onto him tight during the movie while some of the other members of the team screamed when everyone watched it on a larger monitor.
"Not really that scary," the Major repeated while Racetrack frowned and then playfully slapped his arm.
"You just liked me holding onto you when that alien thing jumped out," Racetrack mumbled as the Major leaned in and brushed his lips against hers.
"You're the one who grabbed onto me," he whispered.
"You're the one who introduced those Alien movies to me," Racetrack whispered as her hear raced as how close the Major was while she thought about finally having the opportunity to kiss him. 'I had the opportunity, just we didn't know how it would impact us.'
"When do you leave?" the Major asked.
"Tomorrow," she whispered while tilting her head, leaning forward and then kissing his lips. She pulled back, and then took in a deep breath before slowly exhaling while staring into his eyes, "and then I'll be back in a week?"
The Major then smiled before he leaned in, and the both of them kissed passionately. As they kissed, their hands roamed over each other's bodies, eventually taking off one article of clothing after another.
The both of them had no idea of the battle coming up in nine months. A battle that both would be participating in against the Ori and Cain.
Infirmary, SGC, an hour and a half later.
Faith was seated next to the bed in the infirmary as she watched Willow, who was fast asleep after the operation to remove the metal tube shaped shrapnel from her leg. The sharp piece, it was confirmed, had gone through her flesh and femur, just missing the femoral artery. Once it was taken out the doctors needed something to cover the hole in the bone while the other muscle and flesh healed around it. In the meantime, they checked for any additional shrapnel, and when none were found, Dr. Warner…. The Chief Surgical Officer, then applied a biodegradable organic mesh to cover the holes on either side of the femur and the micro-fracturing that occurred as a result of the shrapnel going through her bone.
The mesh, a product of work between the Tau'ri and Orbanian scientists was an improvement on current Earth technology that was still being tested. The mesh would be able to speed up the regeneration of bone which was useful for the quick healing of fractures in two to three weeks instead of months. The mesh could also be used to heal slashes, and bullet holes once the bullets were taken out of the body.
Once the mesh was placed around Willow's bone, the operating areas was stitched back up, the holes in Willow's legs were then closed. And now, all she need to do was wait. It was over an hour later that the wounds and incision fully healed. However, the hole in her bone remained, and with her healing abilities... it was believed that the bone would finish healing in three days. In the meantime, though, Willow was given bed rest and then a week of physiotherapy until there was no pain from the bone wound.
Once the wounds were closed up, the doctor and the nurses pushed Willow's bed out of the operating theatre and towards the infirmary. Dr. Warner told Colonel Carter, Daniel, General Landry, and the other about Willow's prognosis before patting Faith's shoulder and saying, "she'll be just fine."
Back in the present time, the dark haired Slayer got off the chair, yawned, and then stretched her arms over her head while twisting her body to and fro. A few seconds later, Faith yawned before she put her arms down and then took a step towards her wife and placed her hand on Willow's warm forehead.
"Hey, B called," Faith said as she recalled the phone call she received from Buffy a little while ago, "guess what? She's pregnant." Faith stared at the sleeping Willow who was breathing steadily while the machine monitoring her heartbeat kept on beeping rhythmically. Faith looked at the oxygen counter, and then at the device measuring Willow's brain activity before looking back down on her face. Faith then crossed her arms on the railing of the bed and whispered, "I want a kid with you, Red. Looks like the people we're close to are having someone else to love in their lives; Sam has Debbie, Tara and Kennedy have adopted Camille, and B's pregnant. Maybe this isn't the right time, but I want a kid with you eventually."
Faith stroked Willow's forehead while taking a deep breath before telling her about the briefing with Violet. "She's excited about Atlantis. And oh bot is she gonna have fun." Faith then continued to tell Willow about the rest of her plans for the day while she was 'getting a good night's rest' before leaning forward with a smile on her face, "I was going to call up a reservation for you and me. But we can wait for that until you're up and walking. I already called Dawn, told her what's going on with you. Oh, and she knows about B. She's excited that she'll be an aunt, and wanted me to tell you that she will, and I'm quoting, 'kill you if she finds that you did anything stupid during the Groundhog test'."
Faith smiled as she stared at the unconscious Willow before whispering, "Sam's checking out the Groundhog's black box. She just started so it's gonna take some time." Faith then sighed before shaking her head and saying, "anyway, I'm gonna get some work done, Red. Don't worry, I'm not going home or anything. Just some stuff I gotta finish up, but when you wake up I'll drop everything and be right by your side."
Faith then brushed her fingers through Willow's hair before leaning down against her hair and then whispering, "I love you."
Daniel's lab, ten minutes later.
"Hey Danny boy," Faith said with her hands in her pockets as she strode into the archaeologist's lab. Daniel was eying through Faith's dissertation on his laptop, he looked up from the marked-up document on the screen, and nodded his head.
"Willow's still unconscious?" asked Daniel as Faith took a seat and sat across from him at his workstation.
"Uh huh," Faith replied as she eyed several files spread out over a half of his table before her eyes shifted to Daniel, "so, how goes it?"
"If you mean your dissertation?" said Daniel as he typed on the keyboard before looking back up at the expecting look on the dark-haired Slayer's face, "it's great. There's some suggestions I'm putting in that'll make it that much better. I can have it back to you by tonight. Have you already handed a copy to Dr. Graves?"
"Yep," Faith replied when Daniel referenced her Graduate advisor, "already emailed him a copy."
Daniel nodded his head while he stared at the computer screen. Faith then got off the seat and said 'thanks' once again. Daniel glanced up and smiled before asking he if she'd confirm some research he had been undertaking.
"What research?" asked Faith as Daniel handed her on of the many folders on his table.
"It's based on Athena's research… you know, the Goa'uld Athena," Daniel said referring to the Goa'uld who was being held beneath Area 51 in a concrete cell. Faith nodded her head and stared at the writing before focusing on a few symbols that were Goa'uld in origin, which were in turn pointed to a description written in Ancient. Faith narrowed her eyes at the Ancient language before looking up at Daniel who translated it for her.
"The Clava Thessara Infinitas," Daniel said, "the Key to Infinite Treasure; supposedly a cache of powerful Ancient weapons and artefacts."
"Wait a second," Faith interrupted, "isn't that the same thing that Red reported after she and Sam interrogated Athena? If I remember the report, Red never heard of it when she was in Atlantis, or when she was Ascended? And didn't you say that it was a hoax? "
"That's why I want you to look through it," Daniel said, "I need a pair of fresh eyes to look through my research. Yes, the database in Merlin's library on Camelot indicated that it could be an elaborate hoax. But, Athena did a lot of research that could indicate it's not a hoax. Maybe I mistranslated it but the information in her research, when combined with our own database here, gave me a Gate address."
"But…."
"And Willow said that she never heard of it," Daniel clarified, "but it could have been kept somewhere before the Ancients left this galaxy for Pegasus. And Willow also did say that she has no knowledge of being Ascended. She doesn't remember seeing it, but she doesn't have the knowledge of where it could exist."
"I'll look through the research," Faith nodded her head as she opened the file and spread out the pieces of paper and Daniel's notes on the surface of the workstation, "and if you're right?"
"I'll asked the General to send a MALP to the address," Daniel said, "hopefully we find something and our mission tomorrow's changed to finding, and bringing back, this Clava Thessara Infinitas."
"Here's hoping," Faith said nodded her head as she went back to going through Daniel's research while the latter worked on Faith's dissertation.
TBC.